New York City in brief

In a sweeping overhaul, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, steered by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has axed several childhood vaccines—hepatitis A and B, meningococcal, rotavirus, flu, and RSV—from its standard recommendations, rattling medical bodies like the American Academy of Pediatrics. Yet, at least the HPV vaccine now requires just one jab, proving even haphazard policymaking can occasionally stumble into progress.

A winter storm barreled up the American East Coast, putting over 40 million people from Delaware to Maine under blizzard alerts and prompting governors—including in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts—to declare emergencies. Authorities shuttered schools, suspended transit, and warned of hazardous travel, as forecasters predicted up to 60cm of rapid-fire snow and hurricane-force gusts—a frosty reminder that climate does, after all, still have seasons.

New York’s Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, once an engineering showpiece, now risks upstaging Boston’s infamous Big Dig as officials juggle 13 patch-or-overhaul options and years of public hand-wringing. Mayor Eric Adams’ plans are under review by his successor and the city’s Department of Transportation, while the crumbling 0.4-mile “triple cantilever” limps along—proving that, in New York, gridlock refers to both traffic and decision-making.

After 41 snowy days of picketing, 4,200 NewYork-Presbyterian nurses ratified a new three-year contract with 93% approval, ending New York City’s largest-ever nursing strike. They secured a 12% pay rise, broader staffing, enhanced workplace safety, and, for the first time, contract language on artificial intelligence—enough to make any robot fret over job security in the city that never sleeps.

New Yorkers dusted off their snow shovels after the city’s heftiest storm since 2016 blanketed Central Park with nearly 20 inches and LaGuardia with 22, pausing all but the hardiest commutes and prompting Mayor Zohran Mamdani to plead for anyone non-essential to stay put. Thousands lost power, flights stacked up like pancakes, and students enjoyed a rare snow day—though, alas, even that reprieve melts away by Tuesday.