Category Archives: New York

Thousands of nurses in New York City to strike in pursuit of fair contract

Posted on by

Strike date at seven hospitals set for 9 January after 98.8% vote in favor, with wages, staff ratios and health insurance key issues

At least 12,000 nurses at seven hospitals in New York City are threatening to strike after their union contract expired at the end of last year. A strike date is set for 9 January.

The nurses are pushing for the hospitals to implement and enforce safe staffing ratios, improve wages in line with inflation, and maintain health insurance coverage as opposed to proposed cuts by the hospitals.

Continue reading...

Machete-wielding man attacks New York City police at New Year’s Eve event

Posted on by

Authorities are investigating whether the 19-year-old suspect was inspired by radical Islamist extremism, an official said

A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder.

Authorities were investigating whether the man was inspired by radical Islamist extremism, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter.

Continue reading...

New York governor legalizes human composting after death

Posted on by

State becomes sixth to pass legislation since 2019 and gives New Yorkers access to an alternative, green method of burial

New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, on Saturday legalized natural organic reduction, popularly known as human composting or terramation, after death.

The legislative move makes the state the sixth to do so since 2019 and gives New Yorkers access to an alternative, green method of burial deemed environmentally friendly.

Continue reading...

New York fans pay tribute to Brazilian icon who brought soccer to the US

Posted on by

Admirers of Pelé gather in Times Square and eulogize the three-time world champion and New York Cosmos crowd-pleaser

Fans of Pelé gathered at the store dedicated to him in New York’s Times Square on Thursday, to memorialize and celebrate a soccer player who electrified the city when he signed with the New York Cosmos in 1975 on a three-year, $7m (£5.8m) contract, a deal that made the 34‐year‐old player the highest‐paid team athlete in the world.

“I grew up hearing about Pelé,” said Larisa Belyansky in front of a wall celebrating the king of football. “The style of his play was so different, the way he moved.” “We remember him as the greatest player”, said her husband, Alex, “because he was the only one to win three World Cups.”

Continue reading...

Human toll of deadly US storm grows in ‘blizzard of the century’

Posted on by

Heartbreaking stories pour in about people missing a heart transplant or dying inside a car

One man never came home from a grocery run. Another man missed a chance at a new heart. A woman died after getting trapped in her car.

The human toll that the winter blast which gripped much of the US last week has continued to mount. Since the “blizzard of the century” swept through multiple parts of the nation last week, at least 60 people have died countrywide, and details about the heartbreak their families are enduring have been trickling out.

Continue reading...

‘Do you have no shame?’: Tulsi Gabbard grills congressman-elect George Santos

Posted on by

Adding to his woes, prosecutor in part of Santos’ legislative district launching investigation into his ‘nothing short of stunning’ claims

Republican congressman-elect George Santos is under fire on multiple fronts – including in a blistering interview with Tulsi Gabbard and an investigation by Long Island prosecutors – after admitting to lying about his heritage, education and professional pedigree.

Late Wednesday, Santos also faced questions on social media over contradictory tweets on the timing of his mother’s death. One post on his account suggested she died in the September 11 attacks in New York, another said she died in 2016. The tweets appear to have been sent from his official Twitter account.

Continue reading...

National guard check door-to-door in Buffalo after storm that killed 34

Posted on by

Officials fear more fatalities may be found after high winds and record snowfalls ravage western New York

Members of the US national guard went door-to-door in some neighborhoods of Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday to check on residents who lost power during a winter storm earlier this week that killed nearly three dozen residents of the region.

As the national guard made their way from house to house, members were confronted with the bleak possibility of encountering still more victims in frigid homes and piles of melting snow, according to the Associated Press.

Continue reading...

New York winter storm death toll at 34 with more snow on the way

Posted on by

Erie county executive says ‘this is not the end yet’ as forecasters say 9in more snow could fall through Tuesday

As Buffalo, New York, reeled from a historic winter storm that left at least 34 dead, first responders charged with the grim task of looking for more victims battled snow drifts and sub-freezing temperatures.

“We’ve had so many bodies that various hospitals are full and we’re just having to go through and determine if the individuals have died from a blizzard-related death,” Mark Poloncarz, executive of Erie county, told CNN.

Continue reading...

Suspect arrested over fatal knife attacks in New York

Posted on by

Roland Codrington, 35, accused of murdering two men three days apart in apparently random encounters

A suspect was named on Monday in two seemingly isolated and random outdoor murders in New York City at the height of the holiday season.

Roland Codrington, 35, is accused of murdering two men who were slashed to death in night-time killings three days apart.

Continue reading...

New York congressman-elect admits lying about college and work history

Posted on by

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...

US braces for more deaths as ‘blizzard of the century’ grips nation

Posted on by

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...

Stories of survival and rescue emerge from ‘war with mother nature’ in Buffalo

Posted on by

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...

‘Life-threatening hazard’: 28 dead in Arctic storm battering US

Posted on by

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...

Animal welfare advocates hail New York law banning sale of pets at retail stores

Posted on by

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...

Brooklyn pastor who was robbed on live stream in July charged with fraud

Posted on by

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...

Republican congressman George Santos reportedly fabricated parts of résumé

Posted on by

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...

New York mayor contests $300 fine from own administration over rat infestation

Posted on by

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...

US ‘Torso Killer’, convicted of 11 homicides, admits to five more killings

Posted on by

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...

Flood of sexual abuse lawsuits expected in New York as new law takes effect

Posted on by

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...

Do you have what it takes to be New York’s new rat czar?

Posted on by

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...