After a shooting near the White House left two National Guards critically injured, President Trump directed USCIS to re-examine all green cards issued to migrants from unnamed “countries of concern”—a sweeping move that comes days after suspending A…
With the New York City Housing Authority eager to raze Manhattan’s Elliott-Chelsea Houses by year’s end and replace them with new mixed-income towers, a handful of elderly residents are refusing to budge—prompting legal wrangling, a plea for delays from Attorney General Letitia James, and a flurry of holiday-season hand-wringing. Apparently, not everyone finds progress as straightforward as a demolition order.
Deportation centres across the United States now house 65,135 people—more than ever before, says ICE—with 31,000 of them lacking any criminal convictions or charges, a record 2,000% surge since Donald Trump’s return to office. The agency disclosed the numbers to Congress, though it omitted whether these detainees are hardened felons or simply visa overstayers; either way, it seems America’s welcome mat has grown notably threadbare.
Following Julie Menin’s announcement that she has enough backing to become New York City Council speaker, mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani assured us he and the moderate Upper East Sider will unite around “affordability”—though Menin, who pointedly did not endorse him, has been tipped as a brake on his more ambitious reforms. Still, New Yorkers longing for cheaper rents may settle for a little budgetary friction.
AAA expects nearly 82 million Americans to travel over Thanksgiving, a record even for a nation famous for big family feasts; most of the country’s weather, except for the Mountain West’s snow and Great Lakes’ persistent flurries, seems unusually well-mannered. Black Friday, though, may leave bargain-hunters braving winter chills in the Midwest, with soggy Southern roads and scattered New England snow—nature’s way of reminding us, perhaps, not to overindulge.
Mayor Eric Adams and Commissioner Jessica Tisch assure us that, despite no credible threats to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Manhattan will see enough NYPD, drones, and metal barricades to give Fort Knox pause. The 99th edition expects millions, with balloons from Snoopy to a KPOP demon, and officials tout both safety and seasonal merriment—a reminder that even in New York, hope floats, but vigilance hovers.
When Tony Hillery swapped boardrooms for Harlem classrooms in 2011, few expected his small volunteer stint to sprout Harlem Grown, a youth-focused non-profit that now hands out farm-fresh produce and mentors to local children—minus the soup-kitchen vibe. Forget stuffy charity: here, families choose their own veg, instructions come in three languages, and the only thing not recycled is Hillery’s optimism.
Beset by delayed flights and a whiff of déjà vu at NYC’s airports, many Thanksgiving travelers this year have swapped TSA queues for Amtrak’s more forgiving embrace—though, as ever, data on rail ridership remains coyly imprecise. While Secretary Sean Duffy assures us that air traffic woes are past, we suspect turkey-laden trains may be less a trend than a pragmatic holiday detour—at least until baggage reclaim regains its charm.
Moderate Democrat Julie Menin appears set to become New York City Council speaker, to the nose-wrinkling dismay of progressives who claim she’ll sabotage Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s affordability agenda; their preferred contender, Crystal Hudson, graciously conceded after marathon coalition-building stretched across party lines, with even right-leaning councilors courted by both sides—a spectacle proving that, in Gotham’s council chambers, ideological firebrands sometimes skip lunch together.
