Poverty in New York City edged up for the third consecutive year in 2024, as the price tags on housing and groceries stubbornly outpaced stagnant incomes and static government benefits. We note that, despite Manhattan’s skyline suggesting otherwise,…
Heights University Hospital in Jersey City, once Christ Hospital, shut its doors on Saturday, trimming the city’s emergency rooms to a lone option for 300,000 residents. Hudson Regional Health, citing $74 million in losses last year, closed the hospital before state approval—eliciting outcry from local leaders and a stern look from regulators now eyeing enforcement, proving that in healthcare, closure can be swifter than compliance.
Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna unveiled the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would slap a 5% annual wealth tax on America’s 938 billionaires, aiming to raise $4.4 trillion over ten years. The plan promises $3,000 direct payments to individuals in households earning up to $150,000, as well as funds for social programmes—assuming, of course, the ultra-wealthy don’t find a new fondness for Swiss chalets.
New York City, ever in search of a cleaner grid, will receive hydropower from Canada's Hydro-Québec by 2027, courtesy of a $6 billion transmission line dubbed Champlain Hudson Power Express. The move trims reliance on fossil fuels and may green up 20% of the city’s supply. Whether these imported electrons will make Gotham sparkle or simply dampen Canadian spirits remains to be seen.
Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, two weeks and $11.3 billion in, have proven costly both to the US Treasury and the average Texan’s wallet, with petrol now up 23.5% and oil jumping 40% since hostilities began. As Republicans fret over lost seats and cost-of-living worries sharpen—thanks in part to a closed Strait of Hormuz—November’s midterms may offer the president a price not even he can negotiate down.
After a grumpy month of delays, NJ Transit trains have finally resumed regular schedules as service shifted onto the gleaming new Portal North Bridge, which now arches over the Hackensack River in place of its cantankerous 1910 predecessor. While $2.3bn later, commuters still faced 20-minute Monday hiccups, at least trains will now sprint toward Manhattan at 90 mph, if only the rest of life moved as smoothly as Newark’s new crossing.
Donald Trump’s administration has detained a record 70,000 people across the United States as his government presses ahead with mass-deportation plans, brushing off Cabinet reshuffles and a partial DHS shutdown. With overcrowded jails, minors stuck in legal limbo at places like Dilley, and dubious improvisation at East Montana’s tent camp, the White House’s “efficiency drive” seems determined to set a benchmark—albeit not one for humanitarian pageants.
Street arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City’s heavily Hispanic neighborhoods have reportedly soared 212% since the return of a Trump administration, with ICE agents now a more common sight from Sunset Park to the Grand Concourse. Locals recall similar icy waves under Clinton and Trump—though the latest round, amplified by social media, ensures few can mistake La Migra for friendly door-to-door salesmen.
California is pressing ahead with a trial against Meta, TikTok, and friends, challenging the broad legal shield (Section 230) that has long allowed social-media firms to dodge blame for user-posted content harming children. Jonathan Haidt’s much-debated warnings about adolescent mental health have found legislative traction from Sacramento to Sydney—though saving kids from an algorithm’s siren song may yet prove trickier than nabbing poetry from the clouds.
