Funding for the $16bn Gateway tunnel linking New York and New Jersey remains frozen, as the Trump administration appeals a court order to release more than $200m in federal funds. With nearly 1,000 workers laid off and construction halted on both si…
National Grid reports that New Yorkers shattered natural gas usage records during February’s arctic snap, with Long Island alone besting top marks six times in two weeks and Con Edison tallying its third-highest delivery day. This surge comes alongside a fresh rate hike and chilly advice—keep thermostats low and radiators clear—as the city’s phase-out of gas, once slated for this year, has been fashionably postponed until 2027.
After a record-setting cold snap left 18 dead in New York City—most recently announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani—his fledgling administration faces a City Council grilling over whether enough was done for the homeless and vulnerable. With agencies in the hot seat (and a key commissioner abruptly exiting), we’re left to wonder if political frostbite might spread faster than the city’s warming shelters.
On New York’s annual “Tin Cup” day in Albany, Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked legislators for up to $700 million yearly to make city buses free—down from his prior estimates, thanks to unspecified savings. With a $7 billion budget gap still looming, his pitch for new tax funding and restoring the G train to Forest Hills drew polite attention but little firm support—though a World Cup free bus pilot may at least score style points.
After a month of picket lines and patient limbo, some 10,000 nurses at Mount Sinai and Montefiore will clock back in, having secured three-year deals featuring salary bumps, more staff and workplace safety—though the finer points differ. Their peers at NewYork-Presbyterian, over 4,000 strong, rejected a similar offer and remain on strike, suggesting that hospital harmony, like a well-organized shift, remains a work in progress.
As New York State Nurses Association members mull ratifying tentative contracts with private hospitals like Montefiore and Mount Sinai, some 15,000 striking nurses may finally hang up their picket signs after nearly a month off the wards. The deal offers staffing guarantees, a 12% pay bump over three years, and some AI protections—decent antidotes for burnout, if not a cure for hospital management’s chronic headaches.
A recent City Council report spotlights New York City’s public schools—America’s largest system—where police routinely search tens of thousands of children, and even 8-year-olds face arrest. Despite efforts like restorative justice and school-based health centers, chronic underinvestment in youth mental healthcare persists, especially for Black students. We suspect investing in prevention could trump handcuffs, though New York’s school hallways remain stubbornly crowded with badges for now.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani heads to Albany, tin cup in hand, hoping state legislators will help plug New York City’s $12 billion budget gap—no easy feat with Governor Hochul opposed to tax hikes and legislators eager to see City Hall’s own belt tightened. His pitch includes expanding universal child care (a bargain at $75 million this year, $6 billion later); he may find sympathy in short supply, but irony certainly isn’t.
New York Mayor Mamdani has back-pedalled on his pledge to broaden the city’s rental voucher scheme, shelving expansion plans after eyeing a price tag north of $1 billion. What looked like an act of ideological conviction has now collided with the numbers, proving yet again that balancing idealism and municipal budgets in the five boroughs is rather less glamorous than on the campaign trail.
