Want a no-fee apartment that's not on the market yet? Check Reddit.

Plus: 10 essential NYC etiquette tips [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [Reddit? LinkedIn? NYC’s brutal rental market inspires social media crowdsourcing.]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ⛅ Cloudy and humid, with highs in the mid 80s. It's Thursday in New York City, where the hypercompetitive real estate market is still causing long lines at apartment open houses, sky high rents and exorbitant broker's fees. One way to get around all that: Snag a soon-to-be-vacant apartment before it hits the market. Here's a look at [the crowdsourced spreadsheets popping up on Reddit and LinkedIn that help renters pull this off](. And here's what else is happening: - Police said a 60-year-old MTA bus driver was in critical condition early Thursday after he lost control of the vehicle and [crashed into a Brooklyn Burger King]( shortly after midnight. - Harlem residents are demanding that the city do more to clean up the [drug refuse, discarded clothes and bags of feces]( being dumped in Central Park's North Woods. - Nassau County Democrats are accusing Republicans of withholding critical infrastructure funding in Democratic districts [for things like fire safety and water treatment](. - The NYPD said a domestic dispute prompted the police department's bomb squad [to locate and remove an "explosive device" inside a car]( in East Harlem yesterday. - At least six people have drowned at New York City beaches so far this summer, prompting calls for [more lifeguards and water safety education](. - Put away your phones and candy wrappers in the theater. Don't clip someone's head with your umbrella. Be ready to pay when you step to the register. An etiquette expert shared these and seven other [essential guidelines for behaving yourself in New York City](. - We want to hear from you: Do you have an addition to our list, or an etiquette story the rest of NYC needs to hear? [Take our survey!]( - While we're on the topic, here's how to [double-park]( and [walk down the sidewalk]( in a courteous way. - [All this heat and humidity]( has been great for the city's mushroom population. - The Bronx's Fulton Fish Market is [a scene at 3 a.m.]( - Louis CK is selling his [impressively preserved 1901 Shelter Island house]( for $9.25 million. - A Brighton Beach homeowner who appeared to be [flying the flag of the Taliban]( has taken it down after a local City Council member complained. - Reality TV casting directors are facing new challenges from would-be contestants who submit [portfolios of AI-altered pictures]( instead of honest images of themselves. - Adam Lambert of "American Idol" and "Moana" star Auli’i Cravalho are [taking over for Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin]( in the Broadway production of "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" this September. - If at any point in the last year you saw the viral Eastern European video clip of an animated head popping out of a toilet singing "skibidi" and thought, Michael Bay will want to develop this as a film and TV franchise, [you guessed right](. - Maybe Trump's ear just got [hit by shrapnel]( [“Great apartments are passed down anyway, and we’re just giving a platform to streamline it.”]( - Giulio Colleluori, a tech entrepreneur who created an [ONLINE SPREADSHEET FOR NOT-YET-LISTED APARTMENTS]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [As Kamala Harris' candidacy soars, women of color in NY politics ask others to step up]( Women of color in New York occupy some of the most important seats in state and local government — and they aren’t naïve about the barriers to their ascents. Gothamist spoke with more than half a dozen women in New York politics about how Harris could overcome the attacks and mount a formidable campaign. [Here are the best places to watch the Olympics in NYC, from beer halls to arcades]( From the opening ceremony on Friday to the closing ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 11, you can fill your days watching everything from archery to swimming to skateboarding to fencing. Here, we break down the best places to watch the Olympic Games in the city. [We Rely On Your Support]( [Beloved Vietnamese pop-up Ha’s Đặc Biệt to open permanent location on LES]( Ha’s Đặc Biệt was initially the side project of Anthony Ha and Sadie Mae Burns, who met as line cooks working at Mission Chinese. Their pop-up began churning out Vietnamese street food at street fairs and other locations in 2019. [Faulty AC units on NYC’s 1 train put riders on fast track to hell]( “These [1 train] cars have a history of having air conditioning problems,” said Steve Halvax, who oversaw subway train maintenance before he retired from the MTA in 2020. “When it gets really hot, the s--- hits the fan because the units, they’re just not taken care of.” [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 [TERMS OF USE]( You can update your [PREFERENCES]( or [UNSUBSCRIBE]( from this list.