Good morning, Washington. We’ve just been catching up on the rather scary looking but thankfully not terror-related explosion in Manhattan yesterday. Naturally, our parent site Gothamist has complete coverage of the steam explosion that occurred on East 41st and Lexington Avenue (41st between Lex and Third) just before 6 p.m. yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the explosion, which killed one person and injured 30, had New Yorkers worried for a while, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said…

Metrorail riders are very familiar with the distinctive voice of WMATA’s police chief, Polly Hanson, telling us over the intercom to ask: “Is that your bag?” when we see unattended items on the train or in stations. Polly has gotten us into the mindset of safety first, and we thank her. Click here for complete WMATA safety and security guidelines. Now we have a new guy to listen to, but you’ll be lucky if you…

Our friends over at Gothamist have reported on the opening of the second Juan Valdez Cafe coffee shop in the U.S., which just opened at 140 East 57th Street at Lexington Avenue in New York City. The first has been open since mid September here in D.C., in the Organization of American States building on F Street NW. Although we haven’t been to the store, it is wholly owned by the National Federation of Coffee…