Category Archives: New York

Percival Everett wins National Book Award for fiction with retelling of Huckleberry Finn

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Everett’s novel, James, which focuses on Twain's enslaved character Jim, won the $10,000 prize

Percival Everett has won the $10,000 National Book Award for fiction, one of the US’s most prestigious literary prizes, for James, his acclaimed reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The 67-year-old author was also shortlisted for this year’s Booker prize for James, which focuses on Huckleberry Finn’s enslaved character Jim. The Guardian’s Anthony Cummins called the book “gripping, painful, funny, horrifying” in his review.

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Man charged with murder after three stabbed in New York City rampage

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Suspect in custody as investigators work to understand what propelled random attacks in Manhattan

A man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbings of three people in random attacks across Manhattan, police said on Tuesday.

Ramon Rivera, 51, was taken into custody after he was found with blood on his clothes and the two kitchen knives, authorities said.

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New York priest demoted after Sabrina Carpenter video inquiry reveals $1.9m scandal

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Gigantiello, who let singer film in church, stripped of duties after inquiry shows he sent parish funds to Eric Adams aide

The leader of a New York City church where pop star Sabrina Carpenter filmed provocative scenes for a music video was stripped of his duties on Monday after church officials said an investigation revealed other instances of mismanagement.

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at his church located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.

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Democratic leaders across US work to lead resistance against Trump’s agenda

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Democrats from California to Illinois prepare to ‘Trump-proof’ and ‘fight to death’ against his extreme proposals

After the November elections ushered in a new era of unified Republican governance in Washington, Democratic leaders across the country are once again preparing to lead the resistance to Donald Trump’s second-term agenda.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said he would convene a special legislative session next month to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights”.

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New York City ends broker fees for new tenants in cost-cutting move

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Move can significantly lower upfront expenses for renters in city with one of the world’s highest costs of living

The New York City council passed a bill on Wednesday that will prevent tenants from having to pay fees to brokers hired by landlords.

The move can significantly lower upfront expenses for renters in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the world. The median asking rent in New York City was $3,500 in 2023.

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New York state parks employee dies while battling wildfires

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Dariel Vasquez died when tree fell on him as he battled major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border

A New York parks employee died battling one of a number of wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said on Sunday.

The Eastern Dutchess county fire and rescue said the New York state forestry service reported that the worker died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border, officials said.

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Judith Jamison, acclaimed dancer and Alvin Ailey artistic director, dies aged 81

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Jamison joined Alvin Ailey’s dance company in 1965 and performed there for 15 years, premiering solo Cry in 1971

Judith Jamison, an acclaimed dancer and choreographer who for two decades was artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, died on Saturday in New York, at the age of 81.

Her death came after a brief illness, according to a post on the company’s Instagram page.

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Anti-Trump protests erupt across US from New York City to Seattle

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Thousands of people take to streets to protest threats to reproductive rights and pledges of mass deportations

Protests against Donald Trump erupted in the US on Saturday as people on both coasts took to the streets in frustration about his re-election.

Thousands of people in major cities including New York City and Seattle demonstrated against the former president and now president-elect amid his threats against reproductive rights and pledges to carry out mass deportations at the start of his upcoming presidency.

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US model ‘elated’ that sexual assault suit against agency boss revived in New York

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Carré Otis speaks after court reverses decision and rules lawsuit accusing Gérald Marie of rape in Paris can proceed

The American model Carré Otis has said she is “elated” her sexual assault lawsuit against the former modeling agency boss Gérald Marie and New York talent agent Trudi Tapscott was revived by a federal appeals court more than two years after a crushing dismissal.

“Definitely mixed feelings and really elated,” Otis told the Guardian in her first interview since the ruling earlier this week, when asked how she felt about the US second circuit court of appeals reversing a lower court’s decision.

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US elections 2024: 10 key House races to watch

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Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on

Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.

With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.

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Drugs and weapons seized in sweep of jail where Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is held

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Brooklyn detention center holding 1,200 has been under scrutiny since two fatal stabbings this summer

Federal authorities have confirmed that they seized drugs, homemade weapons and electronic devices during a sweep of the jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held on sex trafficking conspiracy charges ahead of a trial next year.

The Bureau of Prisons, which headed up the interagency sweep of the Metropolitan detention center (MDC) in Brooklyn that began on Monday, said the action was not related to Combs’s detention but was “preplanned and coordinated to ensure the safety and security” of staff and inmates.

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Columbia pays $395,000 to student suspended over protest ‘fart spray’

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Israeli student filed lawsuit after suspension for spraying pro-Palestinian protesters with foul-smelling substance

Columbia University has reached a $395,000 settlement with a student who was suspended in January after spraying student protesters with a foul-smelling substance at one of several campus demonstrations in support of Palestine.

The Israeli student who received the payout had been suspended until May.

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Peanut the Instagram-famous squirrel is seized by New York officials

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Wild squirrel that was taken in by Mark Longo seven years ago was confiscated after conservation officials received reports of ‘potentially unsafe housing of wildlife’

A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.

Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut – also spelled P’Nut or PNUT – brought at least six officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to Mark Longo’s home on Wednesday, Longo said.

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Racist jokes about Puerto Rico at rally bring anger and disgust: ‘Truly how the Trump party sees us’

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Tony Hinchcliffe’s series of racist jokes at Donald Trump’s rally on Sunday were widely condemned

Some Americans, particularly those of Puerto Rican descent, said that the racist remarks aired at Donald Trump’s Sunday night rally at Madison Square Garden in New York helped them decide who to vote for.

The speaker and comedian Tony Hinchcliffe took aim at Puerto Rico, in a series of racist jokes including one in which he called it “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean”.

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Trump fills Madison Square Garden with anger, vitriol and racist threats

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Marking final stretch of campaign in New York, Trump and cabal of surrogates attack Harris and mock Puerto Rico

Anger and vitriol took center stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, as Donald Trump and a cabal of campaign surrogates held a rally marked by racist comments, coarse insults, and dangerous threats about immigrants.

Nine days out from the election, Trump used the rally in New York to repeat his claim that he is fighting “the enemy within” and again promised to launch “the largest deportation program in American history”, amid incoherent ramblings about ending a phone call with a “very, very important person” so he could watch one of Elon Musk’s rockets land.

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‘Working-class New Yorkers are being pushed out of the city they built’: why Zohran Mamdani is running for mayor

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The socialist millennial, and first south Asian man in the state assembly, is entering an already crowded mayoral race

In a quiet and unassuming coffee shop in Astoria, a once affordable, diverse neighborhood in Queens where rent is skyrocketing to the heights of other parts of New York, a man in a black jacket sits against the window.

He doesn’t look the part of a large metropolitan city’s typical politician, but Zohran Mamdani represents this area in the state legislature as the assembly member for district 36 – the first south Asian man in the state assembly and only its third Muslim.

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Iranian general charged in plot to murder US-based dissident journalist

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Justice department says eight were charged ‘for their efforts to silence and kill a US citizen because of her criticism of the Iranian regime’

A general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has been charged in New York in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate a dissident Iranian American journalist.

The target of the alleged assassination plot was not named in unsealed court documents, but she has been widely identified as Masih Alinejad, who lives in New York.

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Delta pauses flights between New York City and Tel Aviv due to regional conflict

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Airline says postponement will last until at least 31 March and is providing travel waivers to some customers

Delta Airlines has postponed all flights between New York’s John F Kennedy airport and Tel Aviv until at least 31 March because of the conflict in the Middle East, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Delta is continuously monitoring the evolving security environment and assessing our operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports and will communicate any updates as needed,” the airline said.

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Ka, Brooklyn rapper and New York firefighter, dies aged 52

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Kaseem Ryan, a member of Natural Elements and an FDNY captain, died unexpectedly, according to Instagram post

Ka, a Brooklyn rapper, producer and firefighter, died unexpectedly on Saturday at age 52, according to a post on his Instagram account.

Kaseem Ryan was a member of the group Natural Elements and also served in the New York City fire department (FDNY). He collaborated with artists Roc Marciano and GZA and earned praise from artists such as Erykah Badu and Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, BET reported.

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Police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters outside of New York Stock Exchange

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Hundreds partake in demonstration, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, against Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon

New York City police arrested numerous pro-Gaza protesters outside the New York Stock Exchange on Monday after a demonstration highlighting Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

Demonstrators voiced chants such as “Let Gaza live!” and “Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!” and managed to get inside a security fence outside the exchange on Broad Street in downtown Manhattan.

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