As congressional debate on dismantling parts of the Affordable Care Act gathers steam—backed by Donald Trump—over 4.6 million Latinos who gained coverage since 2010 may see it slip away, according to U.S. health data. Florida and Texas, already insu…
A peer-reviewed study in *Nature* suggests Manhattan’s congestion pricing—a $9 daily toll rolled out by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority—has cut the borough’s fine airborne particles by 22% over the past year, with smaller gains in surrounding areas. While air in Midtown now hovers just above EPA healthy thresholds, we’re not yet mistaking New York for Lake District pastures—though at least our lungs may find less drama crossing Broadway.
New York City’s economy is holding its nerve, according to the Economic Development Corporation’s latest report, with job growth shifting beyond Manhattan and unemployment dipping to 4.9%. Yet, familiar irritants persist: affordability woes, housing shortages, and those relentlessly climbing bills. While young professionals still flock here, middle-income families decamp for cheaper suburbs—suggesting that even in a “resilient” year, survival in Gotham remains an expensive hobby.
The Trump administration pressed ahead with dismantling protections for young undocumented immigrants, targeting the long-standing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. U.S. officials announced they will expedite deportations, leaving thousands of children and young adults in legal limbo. As Washington’s wrangling over immigration drags on, it seems the American dream remains a fiercely contested tourist attraction for the world’s hopeful minors.
The New York State Gaming Commission is set to give final approval to three full-scale casino sites—Bally’s in the Bronx and two contenders in Queens—at its Monday meeting in Manhattan. Developers, having survived years of bids and protests, anticipate $7 billion in gaming taxes by 2036, plus a “transformative” windfall for schools and subways. New York may soon gamble on making chance pay steady dividends.
Eric Adams seized his last radio moments as New York mayor to advise successor Zohran Mamdani against a rent freeze and ending homeless encampment sweeps, warning that good intentions face harsh budget arithmetic in a city where costs climb and buildings don’t repair themselves. Mamdani insists he’ll muscle through change via the Rent Guidelines Board, though Adams is quietly swapping seats—reminding us that idealism meets reality, often at a committee meeting.
Donald Trump's second term has tested the mettle—and the consciences—of America’s public servants, with a conspicuous exodus of officials unwilling to rubber-stamp his administration’s more controversial orders, from labeling asylum seekers as “terrorists” to shelving corruption probes into the likes of Eric Adams. Even the Pentagon seems rattled, as retirements and whispers of “war crimes” pile up. The history books, we suspect, await their casting call.
Sean Duffy, Secretary of Transportation and erstwhile reality-TV personality, is pitching a “Golden Age of Travel”—by encouraging Americans to be nicer, not by, say, restoring regulations or funding. While his civility campaign aims to soothe tempers aloft, critics counter that his department’s blitz of deregulatory moves on roads and skies may do more to endanger travellers than any cross word ever could—a classic case of manners over matter.
A 2009 New York City law still ties the Department of Transportation in red tape, letting lawsuits and council formalities delay even basic street redesigns—most recently, a Queens judge halted a protected bike lane over paperwork technicalities. While officials gamely consult ever-wider circles of residents, the law’s baroque process seems to stymie both progress and pavement, all in the name of democracy’s slowest lane.
