New York City in brief

A new Urban Institute report finds that six in ten New Yorkers now fall $40,000 short of what’s needed to afford the city’s “true cost of living”—about $160,800 annually for families with children. While Mayor Zohran Mamdani touts moves on affordable housing and free childcare, most families (especially in The Bronx) are still pinching pennies, as even Staten Island offers only the faintest breath of relief.

After contract talks between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and five unions collapsed in New York, Long Island Rail Road services ground to a halt, stranding 300,000 commuters from Brooklyn to Suffolk County. Both sides insist they bent over backwards; neither is yielding. With shuttle buses unlikely to save the day, we suspect flexible working will see a renaissance—at least until someone blinks or the coffee runs out.

With contract talks between the MTA and five unions at the Long Island Rail Road inching past midnight, the clock ticks down to a potential system-wide strike that could strand up to 250,000 daily riders. Contingency plans offer shuttle buses from six stations, but officials freely admit these won’t match regular service—a subtle hint that working from home may soon be the real express route.

Nearly 450,000 New Yorkers are set to lose state health coverage as federal funding dries up and eligibility rules tighten, with groups such as Cabrini Immigrant Services and the New York Immigration Coalition sounding the alarm. Efforts in Albany, including a bill from Senator Gustavo Rivera, may cushion the blow, but for now, public hospitals and soup kitchens are bracing for a summer of record demand—and little legislative enthusiasm.

The Long Island Rail Road ground to a halt at midnight after contract talks between the MTA and unions—including the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers—collapsed, idling trains for the first time since the 1990s. With no talks scheduled and 275,000 commuters left improvising, officials are rolling out expensive shuttle plans and urging remote work; in New York, the path of progress still sometimes runs on wheels.