The Approval Matrix

highbrow

The New York State budget doesn’t include a raise in the minimum wage but does include a tax break for yacht buyers. The Met Museum sold Portrait of a Young Girl in 2013, thinking it wasn’t a Rubens— but now it turns out it is.

Cooper Union considering an “overload charge” for students who take more than 19.5 hours of credits.

Because they describe gang rape (which he describes as “exhaustingly unpleasant”), Stephin Merritt knocks two contenders for the Dallas Morning News’ annual Tournament ofBooks…

Robert Menendez is indicted for getting by with a little too much help from his friends.

If the developers of a 915-foot-tall Long Island City apartment tower start building by summer, they will qualify for tax breaks without having to include affordable housing. Someonehireda PI to investigate the prof who criticized the treatment of migrant workers building NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus and the Times reporter who wrote about it.

Pharrell is adorable and all, but why does he keep dressing like he’s a bellhop from the Grand Budapest Hotel?

The century-old Caffe Dante damned by the trendy smallplate-restaurant inferno. Looking, HBO’s low-key gay show that refused to exploit gay men, is canceled.

Yes, painis inevitable: For Buddhistswithatastefor megaclubs,anewTaois openingontheBowery.

Areyou stoned enough to buyWhite Castle sneakers? The preemptive Twitter inquisition of Trevor Noah.

UntilJeb’sflip-flop, notasingle Republican presidential contenderopposed theIndiana“religious freedom”law…

Good-bye,DonDraper (whoeveryouare)…

Whatkindof crackhead showis BetterCall Saul?

Actually,we werekind ofhopingthat thingsmight workout betterin Alexandriaon TheWalking Dead. …WhichEmily St.John Mandel’s StationEleven deservedly wins.

Carey Mulligan is rivetingly, radically transparent in David Hare’s Skylight.

AlexDaCorte’s haunted decorator showhouse atLuxembourg &Dayangallery.

LisaBatiashviliand PaulLewis’sviolinand-pianorecital atAliceTullyHallwas a quietmarvel.

Tracee Chimo lands and sticks four different characters in The Heidi Chronicles. “Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks” at the Brooklyn Museum.

Sam I Am’s transfixing solo dances at FLEXN at the Park Avenue Armory.

The crazyambitious ReThinkNYC proposaltoexpand LaGuardia bysubsuming RikersIsland.

Thanks to 3-D printing, Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia should be finally completed by 2026.

…ButWalmart stoodup against Arkansas’sversion.

…Welcomeback, Littlefinger.

JayZ’snew (andvery expensive)hi-fi streaming service,Tidal. ArtistMacPremo’sskateboards madeof garbage fora WorldWildlifeFundfund-raiser.

MarthaStewart bawdily, fearlesslysteals theshow attheroastof JustinBieber.

Hey, Cumberbitches! Youcanbuyan Enigmamachine attheApril13 auctionat BonhamsNew York(est. $140,000to $180,000).

Janelle Monáe’s “Yoga” should inspire everyone to downward-facing doggy style.

Justiceatlast!McDonald’s isnotonlyraising wagesbuttestingending thearbitrary10:30 breakfastcutoff.

The Atlanta Falcons were caught piping crowd noise into the Georgia Dome over the past two seasons.

A jury-rigged gas-siphoning plan may have destroyed half a city block in the East Village … TheCherryGrove hotelonFireIsland burned down…

… Meanwhile, it could cost $26 billion to replace all the old gas mains in NYC. …ButtheadjacentIce Palaceclubsurvived, whichmeanstheweekly gay underwear dancepartieswillgo onthissummer.

Future’s“FuckUp SomeCommas” videoishow kidsshouldbetaught grammarandthe valueof moneyand hardwork. Rihanna, furry leprechaun(and JimmyKimmel tormentor).

THE NEW YORK TIMES