Republican George Santos, elected to represent parts of Long Island and Queens, admits ‘embellishing résumé’
A New York Republican congressman-elect has admitted that he lied about his job experience and college education during his successful campaign for a seat in the US House.
George Santos, who was elected in November to represent parts of northern Long Island and north-east Queens, told the New York Post: “My sins here are embellishing my résumé. I’m sorry.”
Continue reading...Rescue crews struggle to reach stranded residents in Buffalo, New York, where dozens have been killed in winter storms
Emergency crews in New York were scrambling to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the “blizzard of the century,” a relentless storm that has left 27 dead in the state and taken at least 60 lives nationwide, according to an NBC News tally.
In New York state, authorities have described ferocious conditions, particularly in Buffalo, with hours-long whiteouts, bodies being discovered in vehicles and under snow banks, and emergency personnel going “car to car” searching for more motorists, alive or dead.
Continue reading...Amid a deadly winter storm, heart-warming tales spring forth of neighbors assisting stranded tourists and helping deliver babies
As the US reels from a winter storm that has killed nearly 50 people nationwide, stories of hope and resilience have nonetheless emerged from America’s hardest hit region, western New York state.
This storm, which has resulted in 27 deaths around the city of Buffalo, brought hurricane-force winds and nearly four feet of snow in parts of the region, thwarting first responders’ emergency response and rescue efforts. “This is a war with mother nature, and she has been hitting us with everything she has,” New York’s governor Kathy Hochul said.
Continue reading...Officials warn the number of deaths might rise, while a quarter of a million people in the US have no electricity
The monstrous Arctic storm that has gripped most of the continental US over the Christmas holiday continued to batter the northern city of Buffalo, New York, on Sunday, as freezing temperatures trailing across the nation created what forecasters called a “potentially life-threatening hazard”.
Twenty-eight deaths attributed to the weather have been recorded across the nation, with officials warning that the number of fatalities would probably rise as “the Arctic air enveloping much of the eastern two-thirds of the US would be slow to moderate”.
Continue reading...The legislation aims to end the ‘puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline’ for abusive breeders of dogs, cats and rabbits
Animal welfare advocates in New York are heralding the recent approval of a statewide law that prohibits the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits at retail pet stores to “end the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline and stop abusive breeders” and help more stray and abandoned pets find homes.
The law, which goes into effect in 2024, will not outright bar pet shops from having four-legged friends on display as retailers may charge rescue organizations rent to present ready-to-adopt companion animals. But it has been hailed as a major achievement for animal welfare by its backers.
Continue reading...Lamor Miller-Whitehead, the ‘bling-bling bishop’ with hip-hop connections, is accused of swindling his own parishioners
The Brooklyn pastor who made headlines when he was robbed of an estimated $1m in jewelry during a church service being broadcast online in July was arrested on federal fraud charges on Monday after he allegedly swindled parishioners.
US prosecutors in Manhattan charged that Lamor Miller-Whitehead, 44, solicited money from victims – including $90,000 from a retired parishioner – using threats or false promises of enriching them, but then pocketed the money for himself and sometimes spent it on luxury goods.
Continue reading...The incoming congressman’s biography is now being re-examined as opponent claims Santos was ‘running a scam against the voters’
A news report on Monday questioned whether the career résumé of the incoming Republican congressman George Santos – who was elected last month to serve a typically Democrat suburban district north-east of New York City – may be largely fictional.
According to an analysis by the New York Times, the biographical sketch offered by the 34-year-old, first-generation Brazilian-American, who ran as a member of a “new generation of Republican leadership” as the “full embodiment of the American dream”, may not have worked at Citigroup or Goldman Sachs, graduated from a New York college, or run a pet rescue charity, as he has claimed.
Continue reading...Eric Adams issued summons by health department in May after inspector spotted ‘fresh rat droppings’ at his Brooklyn townhouse
New York City mayor Eric Adams is such an enemy of rats that he once called a press conference to demonstrate a contraption for drowning them in poison. Now Adams finds himself contesting a $300 fine issued by his own administration over a rat infestation at a building he owns in Brooklyn.
Adams was issued a summons by the city health department on 10 May after a health inspector spotted “fresh rat droppings” at his townhouse on Lafayette Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.
Continue reading...Richard Cottingham sentenced to 25 years to life for killing Diane Cusick in February 1968
A serial killer known as the “Torso Killer” already convicted of 11 homicides admitted on Monday that he also killed five women on Long Island in the late 60s and early 70s.
Richard Cottingham was sentenced on Monday to 25 years to life for the killing of 23-year-old Diane Cusick, who was killed in February 1968 after buying shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Nassau county.
Continue reading...Adult survivors of sexual abuse can now file lawsuits even if the statute of limitations on their claims had already run out
A trickle of high-profile sexual abuse lawsuits passing through New York’s civil courts is likely to become a flood in the coming months because of a new, one-year window for time-expired claims.
Already, some bold-faced names from the worlds of arts, finance and politics have become involved, including Donald Trump and banker Leon Black.
Continue reading...The city is looking for ‘somewhat bloodthirsty’ applicants to a new role designed to tackle its very old rodent problem
Hate rats? Are you a “somewhat bloodthirsty” New Yorker with excellent communication skills and “a general aura of badassery”? Then you might have what it takes to be the city’s new rat czar.
Mayor Eric Adams’s administration posted a job listing this week seeking someone to lead the city’s long-running battle against rats. The official job title is “director of rodent mitigation”, although it was promptly dubbed the rat czar. Salary range is $120,000 to $170,000.
Continue reading...Sydney sneaks into Top 10 as rising energy prices send inflation soaring globally, Economist Intelligence Unit survey finds
New York was the world’s most expensive metropolis in 2022, sharing the unwanted title with Singapore, as soaring energy prices doubled the inflation rate across the major global cities, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual survey.
Last year’s leader Tel Aviv dropped to third, while Sydney snuck into the Top 10 and Moscow and St Petersberg in Russia scaled the rankings by as much as 88 places as sanctions and buoyant oil prices propelled prices higher, the EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living report found.
Continue reading...Actor’s gesture draws gasps and cheers at charity auction, held after a performance of Jackman’s hit musical The Music Man
Nicole Kidman has surprised both Broadway audiences and Hugh Jackman by bidding US$100,000 (A$150,000, £83,000) for a hat signed by Jackman after a performance of her former co-star’s musical The Music Man.
During an auction for the charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids after the performance on Saturday, Kidman made her presence known by shouting her bid of $100,000 for the hat, which led to gasps and cheers in the crowd, then a standing ovation.
Continue reading...Security agent spotted cat inside bag last week and saved it from being transported on to aircraft luggage hold
A cat that sneaked into an air traveller’s luggage was trapped there until it was discovered by an X-ray machine at JFK airport in New York, possibly saving it from a grim fate in an aircraft luggage hold, travel authorities said.
NBC News reported that the cat’s brush with potential tragedy was detected on 16 November when a bag was checked from JFK to Atlanta for a connecting flight to Florida.
Continue reading...Lisa White, who earns $241,000 a year, is one of a number of Eric Adams’s friends, family and former colleagues hired to top roles
A career 911 dispatcher and longtime friend of New York City mayor Eric Adams who rented a room to Adams in her apartment in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights for four years now has one of the highest-paid jobs in city government, records show.
In May, the NYPD appointed Lisa White as its deputy commissioner for employee relations, at a salary of more than $241,000 a year – a nearly fivefold boost over her prior salary there and almost as much as the police commissioner makes.
Continue reading...Cannabis farmers have ‘an unclear path to market’ as the state has yet to approve retail dispensaries
A strong smell of weed hangs over many New York neighborhoods, the result in part of cannabis decriminalization in 2019 – but cannabis growers in the state are at an impasse when it comes to getting their crops to market.
Almost 300,000 pounds of the drug, worth as much as $750m, from last summer’s production at 200 state-licensed farms are stockpiled, without a place to be sold and in danger of deteriorating, according to a Bloomberg report on Saturday.
Continue reading...Lake-effect snow, caused by frigid air picking up moisture from warmer lakes, prompts driving ban and state of emergency
A dangerous lake-effect snowstorm has paralyzed parts of western and northern New York state, with more than 1ft of snow already on the ground on Friday morning in places and a driving ban keeping people off the roads in the Buffalo area.
The worst snowfall was expected in Buffalo, where the National Weather Service said up to 4ft might fall in some spots through Sunday, with periods of near-zero visibility.
Continue reading...Retail giant is latest major chain to settle lawsuits with state and local governments across the US over toll of opioids sold at its pharmacies
Retail giant Walmart on Tuesday become the latest major player in the drug industry to announce a plan to settle lawsuits filed by state and local governments over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies with state and local governments across the US.
The $3.1bn proposal follows similar announcements on 2 November from the two largest US pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co, which each said they would pay about $5bn.
Continue reading...Trump lawyer not charged after grand jury investigation in New York that led to seizure of phones by FBI
Prosecutors in New York do not plan to bring criminal charges against Rudy Giuliani in connection with an investigation into his interactions with Ukrainian figures, they revealed in a letter to a judge on Monday.
They said they made the decision after a review of evidence resulting from raids on his residence and law office in April 2021.
Continue reading...Proposal, a first in 26 years, aims to disburse benefits to communities most impacted by the climate crisis
On Tuesday, New York state voters passed a ballot measure that would fund up to $4.2bn for environmental improvement projects – including increasing flood resiliency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, electrifying school buses and creating more green and open spaces.
The proposal also aims to reach communities most affected by the climate crisis. If approved, it will allow the state to sell bonds in order to raise funds to finance several projects.
Climate change mitigation: Up to $1.5bn for projects including reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from state-owned properties and agricultural lands, reducing air and water pollution in environmental justice communities, and addressing the effects of extreme heat in cities with measures like increased green space and community cooling centers. The act also specifies at least $500m will go toward electric school buses.
Flood risk reduction and waterway restoration: At least $1.1bn to address flood-prone roadways, properties and infrastructure, and fund projects including coastal, wetland and stream restoration.
Water quality and infrastructure improvement: At least $650m to improve water infrastructure and projects like reducing chemical runoff from farms, upgrading wastewater systems and improving municipal stormwater management.
Open space conservation: Up to $650m for projects like preserving farmland and open space for recreation and improving parks, campgrounds and fish hatcheries.
Unallocated: $300m
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