Those Promises of 15-Minute Grocery Delivery Could Be Illegal Under New Bill

NYC legislators are cracking down on the 15-minute grocery delivery services popping up all over the city. The New York Post reports that councilmember Christopher Marte, who represents downtown Manhattan neighborhoods including the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and the Financial District, has proposed a bill that would ban the delivery apps from advertising 15-minute delivery times due to worker and pedestrian safety concerns.

The bill is part of a larger package of legislation, to be introduced in the coming weeks, in an attempt to further regulate the delivery services and add “more oversight and accountability,” Marte tells the Post. Many of the services, including Gorillas, Buyk, and Fridge No More, launched in the past year by taking over dark storefronts and converting them to grocery warehouses while advertising uber-fast delivery times. Bodega owners and local residents have spoken out against the apps, citing unfair competition and unsafe working conditions.

Step inside the Ebony test kitchen

The New York Times has a look inside a restoration of the famed test kitchen at Ebony — a vital foundation for Black American food media in the latter half of the last century — which is now on display as part of the latest exhibition from Brooklyn’s Museum of Food and Drink, “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table.” The ticketed exhibit, located at the Africa Center in Harlem, runs from February 23 through June 19, the Juneteenth holiday.

Shake Shack to hike its prices

Burger chain Shake Shack is raising its menu prices in March, and hiking its third-party delivery prices, the New York Post reports. This isn’t the first time the company has had to raise prices during the pandemic; but in this case, it is resorting to the price hike after the omicron surge put a dent in its projected sales over the past few months. The company did not say by how much it’d be raising prices next month.

A Tel Aviv crowd-favorite lands on the Upper West Side

The first local outpost of Sherry Herring, a popular Israeli sandwich shop in Tel Aviv with big NYC expansion dreams, has landed on the Upper West Side, at 245 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue. It actually opened last fall, according to Gothamist, but is only now serving up its two most popular herring sandwiches — Schmaltz and Matjes — after some pandemic shipping delays forced the shop to open without its two big-ticket items. Roving food writer Scott Lynch checks out the scene.

Brooklyn pizza institution Di Fara heads out to Staten Island

Pizza icon Di Fara is partnering up with popular Staten Island barbecue restaurant Juicy Lucy to launch a joint shop selling both pizza and barbecue, according to SILive.com. The space is aiming to open by mid-March, on St. Patrick’s Day.