A poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry found that 65% of Queens residents—mirroring the citywide squeeze—have recently chosen between food and essentials like rent, and nearly as many say rising grocery costs have battered their finances. Over half of…
A threatened May 16 strike by Long Island Rail Road workers—now at loggerheads with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority—could halt America’s busiest commuter trains and complicate life for hundreds of thousands from Queens to Montauk. The unions want wage increases; the M.T.A. claims empty coffers. If neither budges, New Yorkers may soon need to rediscover their fondness for traffic jams and timetables measured in hours, not minutes.
As primary races heat up in New York, several Democratic challengers accuse incumbents such as Erik Dilan, Jenifer Rajkumar, and Stefani Zinerman of shielding wealthy donors by avoiding tax hikes for the ultra-rich, even amid yawning budget gaps and federal cuts. With roughly a million city residents at risk of losing healthcare, we wonder if biting the hand that feeds might—on occasion—serve more than just the cat.
After Washington’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” slashed $187 billion from SNAP, a bipartisan hue and cry has reached Albany, with hundreds of groups urging Governor Hochul and legislative leaders to double state WIC funding and boost aid for SNAP outreach. While officials lament an impending $168 million hole in county budgets—and more red tape for millions of low-income New Yorkers—we’re advised this is but a rounding error in a $263 billion spending spree.
Marking his first 100 days, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a long-awaited racial equity plan and cost-of-living report, underscoring that the net worth of white households—$276,900—dwarfs that of Black ones, at $18,870. The city’s latest equity blueprint covers 45 agencies, but history suggests that fine intentions often face the uniquely Sisyphean challenge of navigating New York’s bureaucracy and budget cycles.
New York prosecutors claim two men plotted to kill as many as 60 in a homemade bomb attack near Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Gracie Mansion residence, invoking dashcam audio of the chilling line: “I want to start terror bro.” We note such grandiose evil rarely matches its own amateur logistics—though the city’s bomb squad, as ever, prefers to err on the explosive side of caution.
New York may soon smell less like ambition and more like neglect if some 30,000 building workers walk off the job, with 32BJ SEIU and the Realty Advisory Board wrangling over healthcare costs and wage bumps amid climbing rents and skimpier vacancies. Both sides say a deal is distant, but we suspect tenants will discover just how much “essential workers” really are—by scent, if not sight.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has taken East Harlem landlord Edgardo Kramer to Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming its $7 billion Second Avenue Subway extension hinges on emergency access to his building for inspections and reinforcement. Kramer, who fears a costly bill if flaws are uncovered, insists the MTA promise to foot the repairs—terms the agency deems unreasonable. The Q train’s future, it seems, is waiting in this landlord’s lobby.
Two teenagers from Pennsylvania, Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, now face federal terrorism charges after allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack with homemade explosives near Gracie Mansion in New York last month. Authorities claim the pair’s devices, laced with TATP, could have caused mass casualties; evidence includes a notebook, dashcam footage, and a rented storage unit. The legal proceedings now threaten to outlast even the career of the mayor in residence.
