The Gateway Development Commission has sued the Trump administration for withholding funds that threaten to derail a $16 billion rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River; the Commission warns that construction may grind to a halt within days. Washington…
Though America’s headline inflation in 2026 stubbornly cools, households from Houston to Hartford still feel the pinch as car insurance, rent, food, utilities and transport costs all outpace wallet recovery. Experts advise reading the fine print—scrapping seldom-used subscriptions or braving generic brands—but the real key may be accepting that the only thing shrinking faster than your grocery bill is the average American’s patience for thrift.
A fresh feasibility study and a sharper political will—courtesy of Mayor Mamdani—have revived New York’s long-stalled plan to shutter Rikers Island, where nearly 50 detainees died during Eric Adams’s tenure and the air, like the prison system, remains toxic. We note fanciful talk of turning the tainted landfill into a renewable energy hub, proving there’s at least energy behind grand ideas, if not always their execution.
Donald Trump urged Republicans to "nationalize" U.S. elections—currently managed by states per the Constitution—citing his unproven belief in widespread voter fraud and state-level corruption, remarks made on Dan Bongino’s podcast following an FBI search at a Georgia elections center. While Congress can tweak election rules, a federal takeover seems unlikely; apparently, local control still has friends in high places—and in hallowed documents.
A coalition of New Yorkers and others has asked a Manhattan federal judge to block the Trump administration’s sweeping freeze on visa processing for 75 mostly nonwhite nations, including Ghana, Jamaica, and Ethiopia. Plaintiffs argue the “public charge” justification rings false and targets half of all applications, with echoes of previous anti-immigration rhetoric from Donald Trump—though, as ever, the administration seems more talkative on X than in court.
New York’s transit wish-list has swelled, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani touting free, faster buses and NYU’s Marron Institute proposing a $48 billion subway expansion—nearly 17% more track and 64 new stations, mainly in poorer boroughs. Both plans compete for scarce funds, yet their mutual promise hints we might one day rise above either/or choices—provided someone nabs a magic capital-financing wand.
Nurses in New York, clad in resolute red, entered their fourth week of strikes by marching from Grand Central to Governor Kathy Hochul’s Midtown office, demanding she do more to break the stalemate over pay, staffing, and hospital safety. With 15,000 nurses out and hospitals coughing up $100 million for temporary staff, both sides resumed talks—though neither seems to be running out of stamina, only patience.
As Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2026 budget lands in Albany, one highlight is a push for New York City to curb “super speeders” by mandating speed-limiters for serial offenders—no small feat, considering the city’s 3,147 vehicles boasting 16-plus camera tickets each. With crucial details left to the city’s transportation bureaucracy and skeptical legislators, we suspect the real winner will be confusion, not just the Super Bowl.
The American Medical Association has issued a warning as measles cases creep upwards across the United States, thanks in part to sagging vaccination rates—a phenomenon not entirely helped by misinformation’s stubborn stamina. The group urges the public to get jabbed, arguing that science beats nostalgia for Victorian-era diseases, however romantic pale complexion and fever dreams may have seemed in 19th century Brooklyn.
