Category Archives: New York

Severe US weather: California heat puts firefighters on high alert for wildfires; Canada wildfires cause air quality alerts in US midwest – as it happened

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Extreme dry conditions raising fire risk; air quality alert for Minnesota took effect at 8am on Friday

Vermont governor Phil Scott said his formal request to President Joe Biden for a major disaster declaration has been approved.

The major disaster declaration unlocks federal disaster funds to assist individuals and communities recover from the devastating floods earlier this week.

The disaster declaration provides federal support for recovery. It’s separate from, and in addition to, the federal emergency declaration the president already signed when he was overseas to help with the initial emergency phase.

It’s incredibly important to get flooded homes, businesses and public buildings as dry as possible to prevent other outcomes like mould. We’re working on resources to help with that.

I’m very grateful for the speed of Fema in the White House. It will open up significant federal resources for communities, individuals, businesses [...] In anticipation of these funds, we are working to develop a concrete list of resources to help impacted Vermonters and making sure it’s as easy as possible for Vermonters to access those.

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Floods, tornadoes, heat: more extreme weather predicted across US

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Over a third of Americans under extreme heat warnings as Vermont, still recovering from historic flooding, prepares for more storms

The US is bracing for more extreme weather from coast to coast, with a heatwave hitting California, tornados in the midwest and the east expecting more rain as it continues to reel from historic flooding.

Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.

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US faces week of dangerous weather with flooding and heatwave alerts

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While the north-east was inundated by heavy rains, southern states are gripped by record heat levels predicted to intensify

Deadly flooding in the north-east on Monday coupled with alerts over longer, hotter heatwaves set to boil much of the southern and western US kicked off a week of dangerous weather, as July warnings about the climate crisis intensify.

Rescue teams raced into Vermont after relentless, torrential rain drenched parts of New England and north-east overnight, washing out roads, forcing evacuations and halting some airline travel.

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One dead as heavy rain causes flooding in New York’s Hudson valley

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Several people missing as much of rest of north-eastern US braced for potentially punishing rains

Heavy rain washed out roads and forced evacuations in the US north-east on Monday, with more downpours forecast throughout the day. One person in New York drowned as she was trying to leave her home.

The slow-moving storm reached New England. Heavy downpours with possible flash flooding were forecast in parts of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

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Republican fabulist George Santos compares himself to Rosa Parks

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Congressman who has pleaded not guilty to 13 fraud-related counts condemned as ‘disgrace’ by prospective opponent

George Santos, the Republican congressman whose résumé has been shown to be largely fabricated and who has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, stoked outrage by comparing himself to the great civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks.

“Rosa Parks didn’t sit in the back, and neither am I gonna sit in the back,” Santos told Mike Crispi Unafraid, a rightwing podcast.

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New York steps up patrols off local beaches after slew of shark attacks

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Drones and personal watercraft among measures to protect beachgoers but expert calls for perspective over shark attack data

New York lifeguards are being trained to use drones and personal watercraft after recent shark bites off local beaches – but one shark expert believes such solutions lack specialist input.

Officials in New York’s Long Island say they are upgrading training after five people were reportedly bitten by sharks since Monday, including two minors.

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Central Park Five’s Yusef Salaam wins Democratic city council primary

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Salaam prevails over two veterans in improbable feat for political novice wrongly accused with four others of raping a woman in 1985

Yusef Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park Five, is all but assured of a seat on the New York city council after being confirmed as the winner of a Democratic primary, an improbable feat for a political novice who was wrongly accused, convicted and imprisoned as a teenager for the rape and beating of a jogger in Central Park.

Additional votes released on Wednesday showed Salaam as the clear winner of the primary to represent Central Harlem, which took place last week.

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‘Times have changed’: New York’s veteran subway announcer on coming out as trans

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Bernie Wagenblast’s voice is known to millions of passengers on the AirTrain service. Now, at 66, she’s happy with a new life

One of the first voices millions of commuting New Yorkers hear each morning is the measured tone of former traffic reporter Bernie Wagenblast reminding them to stand away from the platform edge. Wagenblast, AKA “the voice of New York”, reminds AirTrain passengers at JFK or Newark that the doors are closing, and hosts a podcast about infrastructure, including episodes on Ohio’s bridges and wildlife crossings in Oregon. But that neutrally pan-American male voice, honed by years of practice to impart clarity and authority but not alarm, is changing.

Earlier this year, Wagenblast, 66, went on the radio to present herself publicly as a transgender woman, and has this month been participating in US Pride celebrations with gusto, including the march at Asbury Park on the Jersey shore. Wagenblast is still Bernie, but that’s now derived from Bernadette, not Bernard.

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United canceled flights for thousands of passengers while the CEO took a private plane

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Scott Kirby apologized but blamed the disruptions last weekend on a shortage of FAA air traffic controllers

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby apologized Friday for hopping on a private plane to get out of the New York area earlier this week while thousands of United passengers were stranded because the airline canceled so many flights.

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days – often through severe weather – to take care of our customers.”

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Man accused of killing Jordan Neely with chokehold due in court

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Daniel Penny, 24, expected to enter plea to grand jury manslaughter indictment after incident on New York subway

The man accused of fatally strangling Jordan Neely with a chokehold in a New York City subway car last month is due in court on Wednesday to enter a plea to a grand jury indictment charging him in the killing.

Daniel Penny, 24, was captured in videos recorded by bystanders choking Neely from behind for several minutes on 1 May while they rode on a train on the F line, in Manhattan.

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Cleaner accidentally ruins decades of US college’s research by turning off freezer

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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York sues cleaner’s employer after freezer turned off to mute ‘annoying alarm’

A cleaner at a college in New York state accidentally destroyed decades of research by turning off a freezer in order to mute “annoying alarm” sounds.

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in Troy, is suing the cleaner’s employer, alleging improper training. According to a lawsuit filed in the New York supreme court in Rensselaer county earlier this month, the university is seeking more than $1m in damages, the Times Union newspaper reported.

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Kamala Harris warns of threats to LGBTQ+ rights during visit to Stonewall

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‘We won’t be deterred,’ says Kamala Harris, urging Americans to fight for LGBTQ+ equality amid rightwing attacks

Kamala Harris urged Americans to continue to battle for equality in the face of fresh waves of anti-LGBTQ+ action and rhetoric by conservatives, as she made a surprise visit to the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City on Monday.

The US vice-president celebrated the bar’s place in gay rights history while warning that many queer Americans are living “in fear” as rightwing legislatures pass draconian anti-LGBTQ+ laws and Republican leaders step up hostile rhetoric and conspiracy theories, particularly aimed at transgender and non-binary people.

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Three men including ex-NYPD officer convicted of harassing Chinese exile

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Prosecutors say ‘Operation Fox Hunt’ is a Beijing effort to pressure Chinese nationals in the US to return home to face charges

A former New York City police sergeant and two Chinese citizens living in the US have been convicted of various charges in a trial showcasing Chinese efforts to pressure expatriates into returning home, part of a program called “Operation Fox Hunt”.

Michael McMahon, who now works as a private investigator, Zheng Congying and Zhu Yong were accused of taking part in scare tactics aimed at a former Chinese official.

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The best way to raise cows sustainably? Set them free

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An old farming technique called silvopasture, which allows cows to graze on a variety of plants in forests and tree-filled pastureland, is seeing a resurgence across the world

Brett Chedzoy and his wife, Maria, live on a 300-acre farm in Watkins Glen, a small town along the Finger Lakes in New York, with 100 cows – primarily Black Angus, with a few White Galloways scattered throughout the herd.

The farm, Angus Glen, has lush green pastures and wooded areas, where black walnut and black locust trees stretch skyward out of rolling seas of tall grasses, shrubs and clovers. When Chedzoy, 54, walks through the pasture at sunset, the cows pop their heads up, follow him and wait patiently at the gate. As he pulls it aside, the cows rush forward into the wooded area to nibble on tree branches and shrubs, before turning their attention to the emerald grass around the trees.

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Second Trump defamation trial brought by E Jean Carroll set for January 2024

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The ex-president is being sued for $10m by the New York writer who already was awarded $5m in an earlier trial against Trump

A federal judge has set a date for a second defamation trial brought by E Jean Carroll, the New York writer who last month won a $5m jury verdict against Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation.

US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said the civil trial, in which Carroll is seeking at least $10m in damages, will begin on 15 January 2024, “unless this case has previously been entirely disposed of”.

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Trump celebrates as Westchester prosecutor closes tax investigation

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No charges filed against ex-president or Trump Organization in New York inquiry into potential golf-course tax irregularities

Make that one less legal headache for Donald Trump.

A suburban New York prosecutor said on Thursday that she has closed a multi-year investigation that focused in part on whether the twice-indicted former president or his company misled authorities to reduce taxes on properties they own.

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Poor air quality returns to US north-east from Canada wildfires

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New York City, parts of Pennsylvania and Baltimore all issued warnings as 421 wildfires continue to burn up north

Poor air quality returned to the north-east US on Sunday, although it was nowhere near as bad as the heavy haze that recently shrouded the region and triggered global headlines as wind-borne smoke from raging Canadian wildfires caused orange skies, thick smog and record-setting pollutant levels.

On Sunday morning, a smoke plume moved across New York City, leaving the air quality index in the city at 103 and categorized as “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, particularly for those with heart or lung problems.

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Surviving the smoke-pocalypse 101: Californians offer advice to New Yorkers

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Orange smoky skies might be a new phenomenon for those on the east coast, but for the American west, it’s just the average summer

It was a sight all too familiar to Californians: orange skies and thick smoke blanketing the sky, emitting the eerily out-of-place smell of a campfire.

But this time the scenes were in New York City, as smoke from more than 400 wildfires darkened the famous skyline and gave the US its worst day of air pollution in recent history.

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Canada wildfires: blazes intensifying due to climate crisis, says Kamala Harris; Trudeau accuses opposition of inaction – as it happened

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US vice-president said administration working with Canada to tackle the crisis; Canadian PM accuses opposition leader of fighting climate plan

Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked.

Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.

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Canada wildfires smoke could linger over parts of US for days, officials warn

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Millions of Americans remain under air pollution warnings as schools close and air travel is disrupted

Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could linger over vast swathes of the US for days, officials warned, as millions of Americans remained under air pollution warnings.

Across the eastern US residents were again urged to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities on Thursday, as schools in some cities closed, sporting events were canceled, and air travel was disrupted.

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