The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, died yesterday at 76 and straphangers are taking note. New Yorkers have paid tribute by leaving their mark on the Franklin Street 1 station in Tribeca. (Bowery Boogie)

Where did the 3.6 million cubic yards of dirt excavated to dig the subway tunnels go? A myriad of places – among them,Donald Trump’s golf course in the Bronx. (Untapped Cities)

The city is trying to keep your local bodega in business. A new pilot program led by the NYC Department of Small Business Services will help bodegas in rapidly gentrifying areas update their exteriors. (Curbed)

Airbnb donated $10 million to New York-based charities to demonstrate the company’s local economic impact. The pledge was intended to showcase how much tax revenue New York state could collect if short-term rentals were allowed. (NY Post)

One in five dwellings under construction is a hotel. This marks the highest level of hotel construction activity since 2013.  (The Real Deal)

Parking on the street will cost as much as $2 per hour in some Brooklyn neighborhoods. Brooklyn is the first neighborhood to implement new street parking rates. Manhattan is soon to follow. (Bklyner)

You can blame El Chapo for all the traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. Add perpetrator of gridlock to the drug lord’s list of criminal offenses. (New York Times)