16: Congestion Pricing, Blimp Disaster, and the Twin Towers

A Great Big City — New York City News, History, and Events

• New York will become the first American city to instate congestion pricing — Quinnipiac poll shows little support for congestion pricing

• 39 years ago on April 1, 1980 — 33,000 transit workers go on strike, bringing subways and buses to a standstill for 12 days

• 34 years ago on March 31, 1985 — The First WrestleMania is held at Madison Square Garden — WrestleMania 2019 — Sunday, April 7th at MetLife Stadium

• 160 years ago on April 4, 1859 — The Civil War anthem 'Dixie' debuts in New York as part of a blackface minstrel show

• Deterioration of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial in Riverside Park

• 86 years ago on April 4, 1933 — The USS Akron, one of history's largest airships, crashes into the ocean off the coast of New Jersey

• 52 years ago on April 4, 1967 — Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech at Riverside Church in Morningside Heights — Hear the full audio of the speech.

• 46 years ago on April 4, 1973 — The twin towers of the World Trade Center officially open ☮️

• 101 years ago on April 5, 1918 — Glass and pieces of wire are found in various foods in Brooklyn

• 98 years ago on April 1, 1921 — Greenwich Village Chase after Bleecker Street Armed Robbery

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Park of the day

• Bridge Park (Brooklyn)

• Coney Island Volunteer Beach Grass Planting — April 6, 2019 — 9:30am — RSVP by emailing [e-mail] or [phone]

Concert Calendar

• Towers are playing Rockwood Music Hall on Friday, April 5th.
• Whitey Morgan and the 78's is playing Gramercy Theatre on Friday, April 5th.
• Teen Body, Sean Nicholas Savage, and Romantic Thriller are playing Sunnyvale on Friday, April 5th.
• Arthur and Ghost Orchard are playing Baby's All Right on Friday, April 5th.
• Broncho is playing Elsewhere on Saturday, April 6th.
• Patty Griffin and Bayard Rustin are playing The Town Hall on Saturday, April 6th.
• The Royal They, Lumps, Stuyedeyed, and The Next Great American Novelist are playing Our Wicked Lady on Saturday, April 6th.
• The Rott N Roll Tour: Zomboy, Badklaat, Habstrakt, and Space Laces are playing Avant Gardner on Saturday, April 6th.
• Real Clothes, Plastic Waves, Stefa, and Von Sell are playing Bowery Electric on Sunday, April 7th.
• Japanese Breakfast and Long Beard are playing White Eagle Hall on Sunday, April 7th.
• Ulthar is playing Saint Vitus Bar on Monday, April 8th.
• Muse and Walk the Moon are playing Madison Square Garden on Monday, April 8th.
• Andrew Bird is playing National Sawdust on Monday, April 8th.
• Aldous Harding is playing Rough Trade NYC on Monday, April 8th.
• Steve Wilson & Wilsonian's Grain is playing Village Vanguard on Tuesday, April 9th.
• Colleen Green and Degreaser are playing Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, April 10th.
• Jozef van Wissem is playing Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, April 11th.
• Arturo Sandoval is playing Blue Note on Thursday, April 11th.
• SWMRS, Beach Goons, and The Regrettes are playing Brooklyn Steel on Thursday, April 11th.
• Aphex Twin is playing Avant Gardner on Thursday, April 11th.

Find more fun things to do at agreatbigcity.com/events.

New York Fact

• 1.8 million New Yorkers benefit from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that helps families and individuals supplement the cost of their diet with nutritious foods

Weather

The extreme highs and lows for this week in weather history:
Record High: 92°F on April 7, 2010
Record Low: 20°F on April 4, 1874

Weather for the week ahead:
Light rain tomorrow through Monday, with high temperatures rising to 70°F on Tuesday. Now that Spring has arrived, so have weather warnings: Now is the time to start protecting your skin and eyes from ultraviolet radiation, which will be higher during the Summer months. Look for a skin protectant that is labeled as "broad spectrum" and at least SPF 50 and wear sunglasses if you'll be venturing outside the shadowy caverns of high-rise buildings in Midtown.

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Intro and outro music: 'Start the Day' by Lee Rosevere — Concert Calendar music from Jukedeck.com