After a federal court ordered the restoration of funding for the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson, work remains stalled as the White House appealed—prompting laid-off LIUNA Local 472 workers to rally in North Bergen, New Jersey. With 200,…
New York City’s government, not famed for subtlety, vows to crack down on recalcitrant landlords after naming 250 buildings with nearly 55,000 housing violations and $4.5m in unpaid repair bills. The expanded Alternative Enforcement Program will push property owners, like A&E Real Estate Holdings in Queens, to fix mold, leaks, and vermin or foot the bill—an incentive scheme as old as rent collection, but with more paperwork.
Facing real-feel temperatures dropping to minus 20, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the city's deep freeze: reopening schools and CUNY centers as warming shelters, mobilizing nurses and peer outreach to coax the vulnerable indoors, and adding 65 hotel units for the shelter-shy. It seems even New Yorkers, famed for braving the elements, concede defeat to physics—at least this weekend.
Donald Trump’s second White House stint has seen over 500 immigration policy changes—already topping the 472 of his first term, says the Migration Policy Institute—mostly through executive fiat rather than Congressional debate. Encounters at the southern border have sunk to a 50-year low, but nationwide raids have netted record detentions, often of non-criminals. America, it seems, is discovering just how many levers a determined president can pull.
After a month on icy picket lines, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai have landed tentative contracts with their management, potentially ending New York’s largest nurses’ strike and returning 10,500 staff to duty, pending this week’s union vote. Talks with NewYork-Presbyterian continue to stall over staffing, though both sides seem to agree at least on their mutual exhaustion. Turns out, even hospitals can develop chronic negotiation fatigue.
After a record-breaking cold snap, New Yorkers bracing for a thaw now have another chill in store: utility bills set to rise by up to 10%, with Con Edison and National Grid coyly warning of sticker shock. Reliance on natural gas, policy-driven plant closures—such as Indian Point’s nuclear exit—and surging demand all combine to keep us warm, if not particularly thrilled with the warming effects on our wallets.
An arctic chill is gripping New York, with the National Weather Service warning that wind chills may plunge to minus 20 degrees, enough to turn a stroll into a survival exercise in mere minutes. Code Blue policies now direct urgent help to those outside, as 17 people have been found dead in the cold and complaints about unheated homes soar; at least spring, unlike the City Ferry, hasn’t suspended service—yet.
A New York City opinion piece reminds us we’re practically tripping over billions in untapped value: the so-called “air rights” floating above city-owned buildings. Pooling and selling these extras, much like the Theater Subdistrict scheme, could plug the yawning budget gap and spur affordable housing—assuming City Hall can weather both skyscraper envy and a chorus of not-in-my-backyard grumbles.
Nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospitals in New York reached tentative deals to end their strike after nearly five weeks, with 10,500 NYSNA members poised to vote on contracts granting pay hikes, stronger staffing protections, and AI curbs. NewYork-Presbyterian's 4,200 nurses remain out, still haggling over understaffing—proof, perhaps, that in Gotham, bargaining is a marathon best tackled in sturdy shoes.
