The Afternoon Wrap: Friday

Did you know that New York's Ginkgo biloba trees are very interesting? Also, the gender differentiation of Ginkgo biloba ("the females produce fruit with a foul smelling fleshy cover") provides an odd metaphor for gender relations in Manhattan. [NYT City Room]

Horrifyingly, Manhattan's eerie maple syrup smell is back and better than ever. [NY1]

If the Gowanus Canal is landmarked, it will help one of the ugliest stretches of New York City get landmarked. (And then, of course, Gowanus will have shiny new "waterfront" condos.) [Brownstoner]

One of the hippest new music venues in New York, Market Hotel, was shut down last night--even though it's barely three weeks old. [Brooklyn Vegan]

In a real estate version of the school bus game "F/M/K" (in which you have to chose, among three things, which to sleep with or marry or kill), neighborhood obsessives are arguing over the value of Murray Hill, the Upper East Side, and Red Hook. [Curbed]

Same goes for eateries: Babbo, Balthazar, Nobu! (The Observer-approved answer is: sleep with Babbo, marry Nobu, and kill Balthazar.) [Eater]