No electric eels

In what Benjamin Kabak at Second Avenue Sagas calls "what is possibly the weirdest MTA-related story in years", we are assured that the 7 (Flushing Line) subway extension is safe from electric eels.

An MTA board member appears to have some very confused memories of the building of the Javits Convention Center, which got special permission to use plastic pipes, but for reasons that have nothing to do with eels, electric or otherwise. DNAInfo quotes an eel project coordinator, who explains that the Hudson estuary has lots of eels, but electric eels are tropical freshwater fish, and could survive neither the salt levels nor the New York winter.

Wednesday reading meme

I haven't done much reading lately, because until a few days ago all my books were in boxes, and I was between library cards. Having unpacked one bookshelf worth (miscellaneous) and gotten a King County library card, I've done a bit of rereading: Changing Planes by Ursula Le Guin (from the library) and The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett (our very own copy), both of which stood up well.