Category Archives: New York

Andrew Cuomo apologises over harassment allegations but refuses to resign – video

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Andrew Cuomo made clear that he would not quit in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him. ‘I’m not going to resign,’ the New York governor said at his press conference. ‘I’m going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do.’

The Democrat apologised for engaging in behaviour that made anyone feel uncomfortable, but insisted he had never touched anyone inappropriately. A number of lawmakers of both parties have called on the Democratic governor to resign as the state attorney general investigates the allegations against him.

‘I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused anyone. I never intended it, and I will be the better for this experience,’ Cuomo said.

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Cuomo stays quiet amid calls to resign over sexual harassment claims

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  • New York governor has avoided public appearances this week
  • State attorney general to investigate allegations against Cuomo

New York governor Andrew Cuomo has avoided public appearances for days as some members of his own party call for him to resign over sexual harassment allegations.

The governor hasn’t taken questions from reporters since a 19 February briefing, an unusually long gap for a Democrat whose daily, televised updates on the coronavirus pandemic were must-see TV last spring.

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Cuomo faces new calls to resign as harassment investigation looms

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  • Three women publicly accuse the governor of sexual harassment
  • Former state legislative employees accuse Cuomo of ‘gaslighting’
  • US politics – live coverage

A collective of former New York state legislative employees on Monday denounced Andrew Cuomo’s apology for his past behaviour, after the governor was accused of sexually harassing multiple women, and called for his removal or resignation.

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Second ex-aide accuses Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment

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Move prompts New York governor to request independent investigation into allegations

A second woman has come forward to accuse New York governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment in a move that has prompted the under-fire Democrat to launch an independent investigation into the allegations.

Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until November, told The New York Times that he had harassed her last spring, during the height of New York’s fight against the coronavirus – which Cuomo led and which at the time gave him an international reputation for good leadership.

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Malcolm X family says letter shows NYPD and FBI conspired in his murder

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Ex-undercover officer claims in posthumous letter he was pressured to lure activist’s security men into committing crimes

Almost 56 years since the day Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City, lawyers and family members of the late civil rights and Black nationalist leader released new evidence they claim shows the NYPD and FBI conspired in his murder.

Related: 'The humanity of black characters is often forgotten': behind Oscar-tipped One Night in Miami

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Digested week: the soundtrack of this pandemic is teeth grinding

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Bruxism is now so severe that some patients can grind down with a 100kg force

Virus numbers are down in New York, while the positivity rate remains high – hovering at 8% – bringing new safety guidelines from the Centres for Disease Control. If you can’t find an N95-grade mask, says the CDC, try double-masking: putting a cloth mask over a disposable medical one, with a wire pin to close the gap over your nose.

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Charges dropped against woman who called police on Black birdwatcher

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  • Amy Cooper completes therapy involving racial bias instruction
  • Video of encounter in New York’s Central Park went viral in 2020

Prosecutors in New York have dropped a charge against Amy Cooper, a woman who achieved widespread notoriety after she confronted a Black man birdwatching in Central Park who asked her to put her dog on a leash.

Related: Amy Cooper made second call claiming black birdwatcher tried to assault her

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Johnny Pacheco, co-founder of New York’s Latin label Fania, dies aged 85

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The Fania All-Stars player and record-label impresario worked with Latin music giants including Celia Cruz and fostered a more intense, political salsa sound

Johnny Pacheco, the co-founder of trailblazing salsa label Fania Records, has died aged 85. The cause was complications from pneumonia.

A representative for Fania said Pacheco was “the man most responsible for the genre of salsa music. He was a visionary and his music will live on eternally.”

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Andrew Cuomo insists New York didn’t cover up nursing home Covid-19 deaths

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Governor, who has faced calls to resign, acknowledged that officials should have moved faster to release some information

Under fire over his management of the coronavirus’ lethal path through New York’s nursing homes, Andrew Cuomo insisted Monday the state didn’t cover up deaths – but the governor acknowledged that officials should have moved faster to release some information sought by lawmakers, the public and the press.

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Nicki Minaj’s father, Robert Maraj, killed in hit-and-run accident

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Maraj, 64, was walking along a road on Long Island at on Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, police say

The 64-year-old father of the rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said.

Robert Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6.15pm on Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, Nassau county police said.

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New York subway stabbings: two dead after series of attacks on homeless people

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Police believe four separate stabbings on the city’s A line are the work of one man

An unidentified man could be responsible for four separate stabbings that occurred within a few hours in the New York City subways, leaving two people dead, authorities said.

The assaults happened between Friday morning and early Saturday, New York police department officials said during a news conference. Authorities believe all four victims were homeless.

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New York Trump investigation looks at $280m in loans – report

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Wall Street Journal says prosecutors interested in loans relating to four Manhattan properties

While there was good news for Donald Trump in Washington on Saturday, as his second impeachment trial ended in acquittal, troubling news came out of his native New York.

The Wall Street Journal reported that prosecutors in the city are investigating about $280m in loans to the Trump Organization, related to four buildings in Manhattan: Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue; a skyscraper at 40 Wall St; a hotel and residential building on Columbus Circle near Central Park; and an apartment building on the Upper East Side.

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Paul Manafort can’t be prosecuted in New York due to double jeopardy, court rules

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Former Trump campaign chairman had faced mortgage fraud charges similar to federal case that put him in jail

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman, will not face mortgage fraud charges in New York, after the state’s highest court declined to revisit lower court decisions that barred prosecuting Manafort on double jeopardy grounds.

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Crash survivor speaks after world-first face and double hand transplant – video

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Doctors at New York University’s Langone Health have successfully completed the world’s first face and double hand transplant. Twenty-two-year-old Joe DiMeo underwent the 23-hour procedure two years after he suffered third-degree burns to 80% of his body in a car accident. The procedure is a world first and has allowed Joe to dress and feed himself as well as use weights as part of his recovery

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‘A second chance’: first successful face and double hand transplant completed

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Joe DiMeo underwent a 23-hour surgery in August after suffering third-degree burns over 80% of his body in a 2018 car accident

Doctors at New York University’s Langone Health have completed the very first successful face and double hand transplant, a historic first.

“We’ve succeeded in a tremendous undertaking that shows we can continue to take on new challenges and advance the field of transplantation,” Dr Eduardo D Rodriguez, who has led at least four face transplant surgeries, told NBC’s The Today Show.

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‘Simply horrible’: Rochester mayor laments police pepper-spraying girl

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Two officers have been placed on administrative leave and another suspended after video footage emerged

The mother of a nine-year-old girl has accused police of “excessive use of force” after her daughter was handcuffed and pepper-sprayed in Rochester, New York.

Two were placed on administrative leave and another suspended on Tuesday, after police released video footage of the incident, which showed the nine-year-old being pepper-sprayed as she sat in the back of a squad car.

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‘Blinding snow’ storm batters New York City and US north-east– video

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A powerful winter storm has engulfed the US north-east, blanketing much of the region in heavy snow. The storm is expected to bring nearly 2ft of snow to New York, Boston and several other cities. ’This is a dangerous, life-threatening situation,’ New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, said while declaring a state of emergency in 44 counties and New York City. Mayor Bill De Blasio also declared a local state of emergency - suspending in-person classes, restricting non-essential travel and putting coronavirus vaccination appointments on hold. ‘You're going to see two to four inches of snow per hour. That is extremely intense snow. That's blinding snow’

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New York Times ‘disciplined’ top Covid reporter accused of using racial slurs

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Paper says Donald McNeil Jr ‘showed extremely poor judgement’ in using racist language on a Times-endorsed educational trip

The New York Times has confirmed the paper investigated and “disciplined” its high-profile public health and Covid-19 reporter after he used racial slurs during a trip with high school students in 2019.

Donald McNeil Jr, a 45-year veteran of the paper and its lead reporter on the coronavirus pandemic, was accused by a number of students of using the N-word during a Times-endorsed educational trip to Peru. The reporter also suggested he did not believe in white privilege and used stereotypes about Black teenagers, according to complaints filed to the paper, which were reported by the Daily Beast.

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Inauguration week: tears, rage and a brief feeling of fondness for George W Bush | Emma Brockes

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It was overwhelming, joyous, pastry-filled, but then there was the comedown

It’s a subdued Martin Luther King Day in the US, and we take a bus across town to visit MoMA. I haven’t been to the modern art museum in New York since before my children were born and this feels like the week for it. Everyone is jittery about the inauguration on Wednesday, about news of the Covid death count hitting 400,000 in the US and about American democracy under strain. Perhaps art will lift us.

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Trump heads for new life in Florida, marking end of an era in New York

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The born-and-raised New Yorker seems ready to leave the city in which he made his name – and few will mourn his departure

When Donald Trump leaves the White House on 20 January, reports indicate that he will not return to his home town of New York City but rather, reside at his Mar-a-Lago home in south Florida. Indeed, Trump formally changed his residency to the so-called Sunshine State in fall 2019.

Related: Washington and state capitols brace for violence from armed Trump supporters

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