This is already happening in NYC.

There are two chains -- one is called Matto and the other is Blank Street Coffee. They're both undercutting Starbucks on price significantly, and they both suddenly have locations EVERYWHERE.

Matto is especially cheap -- their gimmick is that every drink is $2.50. Doesn't matter if it's an espresso drink or a drip coffee or a flavored latte or whatever -- it's $2.50.

It's possible the hype has already died down. I walked by on Wednesday evening and there was no line outside (though there were probably a dozen customers inside).

Part of that might have also been the big sign on the door saying that they're completely sold out of edibles. I think edibles are going to be a bigger chunk of the market than anyone realizes.

I'm so invested in this now. I kinda want to go and time out both trips myself.

>Compare that to the subway trip from the 4/5/6 subway platforms at Grand Central to the LIRR platforms at Penn Station, which requires a ride on the Times Square shuttle and a transfer to the 1, 2 or 3 train. That trip took 13 minutes.

I call bullshit.

No chance you make that trip from 4/5/6 at GCT to an LIRR platform at Penn in 13 minutes. Even if every train departure aligns perfectly for you (which it won't) I don't think it can be done.

EDIT, 6 Days later: I tried it myself and it CAN BE DONE. Pretty easily in fact. I timed it, and it was almost exactly 10 minutes. (Granted, did I hit the 2 train and the shuttle almost perfectly. But even if I had waited a minute or two for each, I still would have been well under 13 minutes.

The podcast made the point that we actually saw something similar with the "hoverboards" in 2015/2016. In that case, the Consumer Product Safety Commission stepped in and said "All of these products have to meet this 'voluntary' certification or we're going to ban them from being imported." That seems likely to happen with e-bikes pretty soon.

No, compliance to these standards is currently voluntary. But if this continues to be a problem, I wouldn't be surprised to see either the city or the Feds step in and make it mandatory.

The Brian Lehrer Show just did an episode about this last week (should still be available on their podcast feed) and this is basically correct. There's an existing certification process that makes the batteries almost fail-proof, but the low-end manufacturers are skipping that process to save money.

A reporter on the episode had an interesting argument that the delivery app companies should be the ones who maintain and charge the bikes, rather than putting the responsibility on the deliveristas.

They'd be able to have better quality batteries, and centralized charging stations that were safely away from residential buildings.

>The line is because of the novelty and the tourists.

I don't think you're wrong here. I'm just saying that for the time being, licensed venues seem like they're not going to have any problem competing with the unlicensed spots. Maybe that will change further down the line, though, as more licensed shops open.

I mean, to be fair, the first licensed store at Astor Place has had a line down the block constantly since it's been open. It seems there's a fair amount of people who will go out of their way to patronize the legit shop instead of spinning the dice at their local unlicensed location.

Legs are coming soon

I feel about this the same way I feel about SantaCon. It was a fun idea in the beginning, but it ran its course after a year or two, and is definitely overstaying its welcome at this point.

This has been the case for the entire two decades I’ve been riding the subway.

Yes I found my guy on Task Rabbit. Cost something like $75 an hour but I think it was worth it.

A strong magnet will work as a stud finder!

I have the same walls as you, and also couldn't figure out why my electronic stud finder was going crazy. I was hanging a TV and didn't want to take any chances, so I hired a handyman. He pulled a magnet out of his toolkit and stuck it to the wall. (It finds the nails in the stud.)

This guy demonstrates here: https://youtu.be/JOLRl8aqWFw?t=61