We brace for budget jousting in Albany, where Gov. Kathy Hochul, squeezed by President Trump’s Medicaid cuts and eyeing reelection, resists income tax hikes but flirts with hiking levies on business. Legislative leaders face headaches from both zeal…
The MTA began a six-month pilot in June granting Queens bus riders a second free transfer, aiming to finesse the borough’s tangled commutes, but the program risks being hoist by its own OMNY petard—riders report technical glitches and scant communication are sparking confusion, with a Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee survey claiming 74% of users hit snags and 31% suspect extra charges, leaving us braced for data-driven progress that’s presently stuck in fare limbo.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens has earned the 2025 Center of Excellence designation from GO2 for Lung Cancer, citing its effective low-dose CT screening, follow-up, and smoking cessation programs targeting historically underserved communities in southeast Queens. With a nod to its impending 90th birthday, the hospital now taps GO2’s knowledge trove—proving, if nothing else, that information may occasionally travel as swiftly as the city’s rumors.
In an enterprising twist on holiday cheer, America’s ICE shared an AI-generated video of Santa Claus arresting migrants—an ad for its voluntary self-deportation campaign, sweetened with a $3,000 incentive via the CBP Home app for those who depart by year’s end. The initiative, officials note, is far cheaper than forced removals—though perhaps next year Santa could just stick to cookies.
A Brooklyn federal jury convicted four MS-13 members—including national chiefs Edenilson Velasquez Larin and Hugo Diaz Amaya—of racketeering and grisly murders in Flushing, College Point, and Long Island, sealing their fate with mandatory life sentences. Despite MS-13’s continuing transnational reach, these top brass will henceforth lead only inmate roll calls, though America’s gang problem is unlikely to file for early retirement.
After a Queens man in crisis was fatally shot by NYPD officers responding to a 911 call at a Far Rockaway apartment, questions about the wisdom of sending armed police to mental health emergencies again rose to a boil. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposed Department of Community Safety may soon test whether specialists fare better—though for now, New York’s approach to care is still a bit hit-or-miss, emphasis on the latter.
The Anti-Defamation League claims roughly 20% of Zohran Mamdani’s 400-member New York City transition committees are linked to radical anti-Zionist groups, some of which, says the ADL, “openly promote terror.” The democratic socialist mayor-elect defends his record, though last week’s social-media scandal forced an aide’s exit. With critics wondering about vetting, Mamdani’s administration may inherit more heat than City Hall’s radiators.
Construction has topped out on a 90-unit affordable housing block at 19-19 Cornaga Avenue in Far Rockaway, where most apartments will go to former foster youth and struggling families, with others to be won by lottery. Favoured by sustainability-minded architects and PMG Affordable, the nine-storey building boasts solar panels, LED lighting, and a communal gym—offering locals a modestly sunlit future, at least until the winter fog rolls in.
As New Yorkers contend with grocery bills up nearly 25% since 2021, the ZARA Charitable Foundation is rolling out a monthly food pantry at P.S. 182Q in Queens, aiming to feed over 80 families straight off the bat. With help from The Child Center of New York and Mannan Supermarket, the scheme favours familiar staples—because even a crisis is easier to swallow with a side of roti.
