Donald Trump has called on countries including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom to dispatch warships to the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran blocked the vital energy chokepoint following attacks on the Jarg oil terminal. Washing…
New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is advertising for a “czar” to oversee the tricky business of shutting Rikers Island jail by 2027, as required by law, and wrangling four new borough-based jails into being. The post promises $130,000 to $180,000, plus heaps of lawsuits, a dash of federal scrutiny, and the delicate task of emptying a facility famous for housing both mayhem and, more recently, Harvey Weinstein.
Donald Trump dismissed reports of Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Jamenei’s death as mere “rumor,” questioning whether he’s even alive and bluntly suggesting surrender would be “very smart.” While his defense secretary claims Jamenei was injured in a US-Israeli strike, Iranian threats and talk of more American bombing keep the oil-rich Gulf on edge—though apparently, any peace deal with Tehran must be robust enough to avoid awkward resurrections.
Anthropic, born from OpenAI’s castaways wary of Sam Altman’s fondness for power and lucre, has now sent its AI, Claude, into classified Pentagon service—albeit with a constitution and a conscience. Claude won’t select targets or spy on citizens, thanks to CEO Dario Amodei’s carefully worded contracts; still, we suspect “kill switches” are easier to sign for than to enforce when the chips are down.
Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian this week published a long-awaited report on the institutional failures that enabled Robert Hadden, a gynecologist now serving 20 years for decades of sexual abuse. Survivors, including Marissa Hoechstetter, dismissed the report as belated, toothless, and more a public-relations maneuver than a reckoning—especially given the $1 billion already paid out in settlements. Accountability, it seems, remains subject to higher learning curves.
New York City’s Department of Transportation is unleashing over 80 crews this weekend in a self-styled “pothole blitz,” aiming to patch thousands of winter-ravaged craters that have inspired more than 11,000 complaints since January—mostly from Queens, that borough of tire sacrifice. Having filled 50,000 potholes already, officials promise smoother rides ahead, or at least, fewer opportunities to test our suspensions’ mettle.
A swelling chorus of workers now report “AI brain fry”—the distinct mental fatigue that arises from wrangling chatbots and image generators rather than merely bingeing email. According to recent CNN Business analysis, the technologies meant to boost productivity instead saddle us with relentless supervision and decision-making, making even digital optimism a strenuous affair; no algorithm, it seems, lets us fully clock off.
A crudely drawn swastika appeared on a vacant storefront at 16 Court Street, Brooklyn Heights, last Friday, swiftly prompting calls to police and removal by New York’s sanitation department. The sighting comes as reported antisemitic hate crimes surged by 182% in New York City in January. Local officials trumpet vigilance, but, as these numbers suggest, graffiti artists seem unimpressed by strongly worded statements alone.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for New York City’s boroughs and several nearby counties from Monday afternoon through the wee hours of Tuesday, with gusts possibly reaching 50 mph. We are reminded that even in Manhattan, nature reserves the right to rearrange hats and tree branches as she pleases—leaving us to totter on, somewhat less stylish but no less data-driven.
