Happy Thursday in New York, where, if your house was cartoonishly swept up into the sky on Tuesday, it might have been because of the tornadoes.

According to the National Weather Service, three EF-1 tornadoes — the second weakest category with 86 to 110 mph — and one EF-0 rolled through New York and northern New Jersey during the severe storms on Tuesday. While no houses were reported missing, the tornado did uproot several trees, down power lines and damage utility infrastructure.

But it seems the NY/NJ area is not the only one experiencing a windfall. After months of concern that hotel bookings ahead of the FIFA World Cup were falling short of expectations, it appears the excitement of the final match produced a last minute surge.

Early numbers from the Hotel Association of New York City show that tourists poured into the city for the last week of the tournament, generating nearly $100 million in revenue for local hotels and driving overall earnings close to the original prediction of $300 million.

“This was unexpected but welcome,” Vijay Dandapani, the Hotel Association’s president and CEO, told The City Reporter.

The city’s thousands of bars and restaurants fared even better. According to Open Table, overall seated diners increased by 15% in June and 13% in July. A survey from the New York Hospitality Alliance revealed that, among venues that showed the games on their TVs, 63% of respondents reported a sales boost, and nearly a third reported a significant boost.

Compare that to venues that did not stream the games, in which two-thirds of respondents reported that overall sales fell from normal levels during the World Cup period.

Tornadoes and unreasonable amounts of green? The last time those two things met, the Wicked Witch of The West got melted. Stay away from NYC, Cynthia Erivo.

Nearly 90 dancers from Williamsburg-based Lithuanian folk dance group Tryptinis traveled to Chicago, Illinois, earlier this month to perform in one of the largest celebrations of Lithuanian culture outside the Baltic nation.

The group performed at the Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival on Sunday, July 12, at Wintrust Arena, joining thousands of dancers from across the U.S., Canada and Lithuania for the international event, which is held every four years in North America.

Tryptinis, which translates to “foot-stompers,” brought a multigenerational delegation to the festival, including nearly 40 student dancers, 20 child dancers and 30 adult dancers. They performed traditional Lithuanian folk dances in authentic regional costumes, celebrating centuries-old traditions and representing Brooklyn’s vibrant Lithuanian American community.

Read on to learn more.

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