Good Friday afternoon in New York City, which is getting two new "beaches." Here's what else is happening:

  • The co-op board of a ritzy Upper East Side building is suing former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who owns an adjacent apartment tower, to keep him from taking control of a tiny vacant lot between the two buildings. (The board members don't want Spitzer to tear down his building and put up a luxury tower in its place, but they're also going after him because, back when Spitzer was the attorney general, he investigated the co-op board's leader for his involvement in a financial scandal.)
  • The MTA renovated and reopened some of the subway station bathrooms that closed at the start of the pandemic, and the official review is: They're gorgeous.
  • The NYPD said at least five people, including three patrons of a Chelsea gay bar, were robbed of thousands of dollars by thieves who "incapacitated" them and then used facial recognition to unlock their phones and access their bank accounts.
  • Cornell University researchers have found that thousands of white-tailed deer in New York state have fallen ill with COVID variants long after they've faded from human circulation.
  • The Empire State Building's management insists that the skyscraper is a "global brand" and will continue to light up in the colors of other cities' sports teams.
  • New York City's Department of Transportation is bringing back a contest for public school students to create PSAs promoting traffic safety.
  • In Japan, there's a growing phenomenon of "separation marriages" or "weekend marriages," wherein married couples have two households and happily spend most of their time apart, thus freeing up each person to eat, clean, sleep and do whatever else in a way that doesn't annoy their spouse.
  • Spanish designer and perfume magnate Paco Rabanne has died at the age of 88.
  • In other fashion news, Madonna's daughter got locked out of a Marc Jacobs runway show last night because she showed up late and that's not cool.
  • Is a giant slice of cheese a reasonable main course for dinner?
  • Drink your cocktail out of a dumb novelty glass, life is short.
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  • And finally, someone's gotta eat the Necco wafers: