Yes, thanks to inflation, everything is more expensive these days: your coffee, your rent, your cocktails, your cab rides, everything. (Manhattan is the most expensive place to live in the U.S., after all.) But thanks to a new happy hour special from Xeno’s Pizza in midtown (163 East 52nd Street), you can still get a hot, high-quality slice of ‘za for less than three bucks in New York City. 

RECOMMENDED: The 29 best pizza places in NYC include simple slices and elaborate whole pies

Launching on Monday, July 8, the gourmet pizza spot will introduce a new summertime “MetroCard Special” to provide an upscale alternative to the classic dollar slice. During happy hour on Mondays through Fridays from 4pm to 6pm, you can get some of the city’s best slices for only $2.90 a pop, or the price of a metro fare. (Until, you know, the transportation powers that be crank the already pricey subway fare up even more.) 

That means, for less than three singles, you can indulge in slices that combine “artisan style with boundary-pushing creations while keeping pizza classically New York,” per the restaurant. On the menu, you’ll find delicious stuff like the “Hot Voddy” (made with house-made vodka sauce, freshly pulled mozzarella and fragrant basil), “The Bugs Bunny” (topped with shiitake mushrooms, peppers, onions and balsamic glaze), a classic and crisp “The Xeno” (San Marzano tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella, which was given a “highly rated 7.7” by notable pizza lover Dave Portnoy) and the recently added “The Hot Ice,” which ups a plain slice with creamy stracciatella and our spicy Calabrian chili sauce.

Take a gander at that latter beaut below and add Xeno’s to your post-work happy hour plans. Because if there’s anything we love more than great pizza, it’s cheap great pizza. 

* This article was originally published here

This interactive shark tracker may come in handy more often than we’d like it to at the beach this summer as National Geographic has revealed that more than just beachgoers are swimming offshore the Long Island coast.

Just offshore in the New York Bight, the Atlantic Continental Shelf waters off Long Island, NY, and NJ, hundreds (yes, hundreds) of baby great white sharks live together in “what researchers now believe to be the North Atlantic’s primary—and probably only—great white shark nursery.”

And while this isn’t exactly new news–shark scientists have had an inkling this shark nursery has been here since the mid-1980s–its existence has only recently been confirmed.

Megan Winton, a research scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, stated:

As far as we know, the Long Island shark nursery is where all baby [great white] sharks in the North Atlantic spend their first year of life. And it just happens to be near one of the most densely populated areas of the U.S. coastline.

As part of an ongoing research project, Winton and her colleagues attached a camera tag to a young female shark (named Liberty as an homage to the NYC landmark) for the first time ever. Not only does the camera track the shark’s movements, it also provides vital insight critical to protecting them.

You can watch Winton and her team catch Liberty and attach the camera tag here:

Winton stated, “We know virtually nothing about baby white sharks…It’s really uncharted territory as far as white shark science goes.”

One thing they do know though–”while no one has ever seen a white shark give birth, the fact that they show up every year in May and June in such numbers suggested they’re born nearby,” according to Tobey Curtis, a fishery management specialist with NOAA’s Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

So, naturally, it’s important to study them, especially since baby sharks spend almost all their time within the nursery, according to research. In fact, National Geographic writes that “more than 90% of them remain within 12 miles of the shore, swimming parallel to the eastern Long Island coastline.”

So, where is the nursery exactly, and what are these baby great white sharks doing there?

The nursery–which can produce up to 200 great white sharks per year–is located in a triangular area between Montauk Point, Long Island, Cape May, NJ, and NYC.

As for what the sharks are doing, they’re learning how to feed, navigate, and evade predators.

At the end of the day, Curtis states that Long Island’s great white shark nursery should be looked at as a “conservation success story.” The North Atlantic population of great whites was once nearing extinction due to overfishing, though it’s grown in recent years due to the resurgence of the gray seal, i.e. their prey.

The population is now estimated at around 800.

Curtis stated:

It’s amazing that the ocean is healthy enough to have these abundant fish populations, including abundant shark populations, right outside New York City and Long Island. Even with all those millions of people near the shore and the impact on the waterways, the ecosystem is healthier now than it’s been in a long time.

Oh, and by the way, yes, these are the same waters that the world’s second largest animal are also living in.

The post A Great White Shark Nursery Is Home To Hundreds In These NY Waters appeared first on Secret NYC.

* This article was originally published here

Believe it or not, it took this long for the first-ever baggage sanitation system to debut in the U.S. and New Yorkers (or folks traveling to town, for that matter) are the lucky recipients of such a necessary gift. 

Clean’s machine, stationed inside Terminal 7 at JFK, supposedly eliminates 99.9% of bacteria and viruses from a suitcase’s surface in just a few seconds using UV-C light. Now in trial phase, the service only costs $10 per luggage pair. 

Considering that our travel bags are touched by a whole lot of people, thrown this way and that when embarking on a voyage, being able to clean it before heading home or to a hotel sounds like a no-brainer.

“As passengers return en masse to traveling the globe freely, it’s crucial that we implement safe, effective solutions to maintain passenger confidence and ensure a healthier travel experience for all,” said Rodney Jones, the CEO of Clean, in an official statement. “Clean will allow passengers to sanitize their baggage after every flight—because what you bring home with you matters!”

While in JFK, you might want to make a stop at Terminal 4 as well, now home to the biggest Delta lounge in the world.

Spanning nearly 40,000 square feet, the destination offers access to a slew of amenities, including spa-like wellness treatments, valet services and a hefty amount of fine-dining options. It is, effectively, a destination in and of itself and not only the perfect stop-over before a long flight. 

Speaking of lounges: JFK is also now home to the first-ever Capital One Lounge, which pays homage to the city it calls home.

Expect a specially-trained cheesemonger to be on site to serve local cheeses from artisans from he nearby Hudson Valley and New York region, plus cured meats, house-made accompaniments and paired wine and beer selections—among many other things. 

Suddenly, JFK is the place to be… whether you’re taking a flight or not.

* This article was originally published here

Summer travel is underway and it’s important to stay up to date on all of the latest tips & tricks to make sure everything goes smooth sailing when it’s time for your vacation.

Moreover, you should always check your boarding pass to see if there are any codes you don’t understand. You might see what appears to be random letters like SPTC, S/O or SSS, but they all have a purpose and could even mean you’re eligible for a free hotel stay during your travels! So let’s get into what codes to look for on your boarding pass and what they actually mean.

What does SPTC stand for?

If you see SPTC somewhere on your boarding pass that stands for Stopover Paid by the Carrier. Instead, you might also see S/O on your boarding pass. This just means stopover.

Is there a difference between S/O and SPTC?

Though both S/O and SPTC involve a stopover, SPTC generally tends to be for longer stopovers that could entail further accommodations and benefits provided by the airline.

Which airlines use the SPTC code?

TAP Air Portugal and Turkish Airlines are two common airlines that use the SPTC code. These airlines specifically offer certain stopover programs, hence where the further benefits come into play. For example, Turkish Airlines’ stopover program provides passengers that have at least a 20 hour stopover with a free stay at a 4-star hotel in Istanbul.

What does SSSS mean on a boarding pass?

Passengers may also notice another code, SSSS, on their boarding pass. This stands for Secondary Security Screening Selection. The SSSS assignment requires the flier to undergo additional security procedures. This could be a result of random selection or the passenger was potentially flagged as a risk to security.

When were boarding pass codes introduced?

Codes for boarding passes have been around for decades. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) sets certain standards for the content of a boarding pass, but it’s the airlines themselves that are responsible for adding the specific SPTC code.

The post Know Before You Fly: What SPTC Really Means On Your Boarding Pass appeared first on Secret NYC.

* This article was originally published here