Chef Jake Leiber of Chez Ma Tante in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, shares his perfected pancake recipe, renowned for being “crispy, fluffy and delightfully simple” (according to The New York Times). The process involves building the batter with eggs, extra egg yolks, sugar, salt, baking powder, whole milk, clarified butter, and a touch of lemon zest. Chef Leiber emphasizes resting the batter for at least an hour to hydrate and cool it, resulting in a thick consistency. The pancakes are then fried in a generous amount of clarified butter (also known as ghee) on a hot griddle, ensuring a crispy edge and a toasted marshmallow flavor. Finally, they are stacked high, topped with whipped salted butter, and drenched in Pennsylvania maple syrup.

This video delves into the unique and often overlooked history and infrastructure of Randalls Island (which merged with Wards Island), revealing its transformation into a central hub of crucial but often undesirable city services. Once two separate islands, it became a dumping ground for facilities like orphanages, hospitals, asylums, and reformatories starting in the mid-1800s. The video highlights how urban planner Robert Moses dramatically reshaped the island in the 1930s with the construction of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, turning it into a major highway interchange for Manhattan, Queens, and The Bronx. The island also hosts the Hell Gate Bridge, a vital rail link on the U.S. East Coast, and the massive Wards Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Despite being filled with extensive recreational areas like Icahn Stadium and numerous ball fields, it remains geographically central but largely isolated from the rest of the city, accessible primarily by car or pedestrian bridges, with no direct subway access.

This video delves into the Myrtle Avenue Elevated line in Brooklyn, highlighting a section that has been abandoned for decades and an even older, underground station that was also abandoned. The current M and J subway lines utilize a portion of the original elevated structure, which once extended to Downtown Brooklyn and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge before 1944. The video illustrates the complex junction where the M train diverges towards Middle Village, emphasizing the capacity challenges this creates. It also points out the remains of the abandoned elevated structure, where tracks have been removed but the ironwork still stands. Additionally, the narrator discusses an abandoned underground station of the BMT line, located beneath Flatbush Avenue near Myrtle, which closed in 1956 and notably lacked a connection to the elevated line. This missed connection is cited as a factor in the elevated line's eventual closure in 1969, with its route largely replaced by the B54 bus.