Tag: New York City

New York City Could Lose Half of All Bars, Restaurants

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The Daily Caller reports, New York City could see up to half its restaurants and bars close permanently in the next six months because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new audit released Thursday from the New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

“New York City’s bars and restaurants are the lifeblood of our neighborhoods. The industry is challenging under the best of circumstances and many eateries operate on tight margins. Now they face an unprecedented upheaval that may cause many establishments to close forever,” DiNapoli said, according to an official statement.

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New York City Says Outdoor Dining Will Become ‘Permanent and Year-Round’

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New York City plans to make its flourishing outdoor dining economy a permanent fixture of the city’s landscape going forward, municipal officials said in a press release on Friday. 

The city’s “Open Restaurants” program, which has enrolled thousands of establishments since it debuted in June, “will be extended year-round and made permanent,” the city announced in the press release.

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New York City Has Worst Unemployment Rate as One in Three Workers Worry About Job Security

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As Americans approach Labor Day, with roughly 10.2 percent unemployed, a new survey conducted by WalletHub found that one in three Americans worry about job security.

In its nationally representative Coronavirus & Labor Day Survey, WalletHub found that Americans want extended COVID-19 relief. Of those surveyed, 74 percent said Congress should continue to extend additional federal unemployment benefits until their respective states fully reopen.

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Amazon to Add Thousands of Tech, Corporate Jobs in Six American Cities

The Associated Press

Amazon plans to create 3,500 new tech and corporate jobs in six cities nationwide, the company announced Tuesday.

Most of the company’s new hires will be located in Amazon’s New York office with the rest being added in Dallas, Detroit, Denver, Phoenix and San Diego, according to a press release. Amazon also announced plans to expand the six offices to accommodate the new hires.

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National Retail Chains, Restaurants Flee New York

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The New York Times reports that national retailers and restaurant chains such as J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, Le Pain Quotidien, and Subway are permanently closing locations in New York City in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s management of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a “mass exodus” of residents and businesses.

Business leaders warn that the city is facing a crisis of “historic proportions,” according to the Times.

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De Blasio Announces COVID-19 Checkpoints on Tunnels and Bridges to Enforce Quarantine Order

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Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday COVID-19 checkpoints will be established on tunnels and bridges leading into the city in order to enforce Governor Cuomo’s quarantine order.

The mayor tweeted, “New Yorkers worked too hard to beat back COVID-19 — we cannot lose that progress. 35 states have dangerously high infection rates. We won’t let the virus spread here.”

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Police Budgets Nationwide In Crisis After Covid, Activism Cut Funding in Half: Study

Ben Kolodny
Nashville Police

Police Departments across the country are in crisis as calls to defund the police, rioting, and the Covid Crisis threaten to sap existing resources. 

A new study by the Police Executive Research Forum showed that almost half of the 258 departments surveyed are facing budget cuts. Portland City council approved a $15,000,000 dollar budget cut last month as the city struggled with riots. The Portland Police Department was forced to pay over $5,000,000 in overtime to deal with the unrest. 

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Commentary: Anarchy, Seattle, and All That CHAZ

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Three cities, all supremely liberal, represent an American descent into anarchy against which no one is standing.

After New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wanted to slash the police budget, the New York City Council is going about cutting $1 billion from that budget, about 16%. That will inevitably cause a reduction of police presence around the city and, with equal inevitability, result in an increase in crime.

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Rudy Giuliani Says Mayor Frey, Other ‘Progressive Democrats’ Should Resign for Handling of Riots

Anthony Gockowski

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to resign for failing to protect his citizens from a week of riots that left portions of his city in ruins.

In a Friday interview with Fox News, Giuliani said “progressive Democrats are incapable of keeping their people safe because they have criminal-friendly policies that are pathetic.”

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Bill de Blasio Enters Race for the White House

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by Evie Fordham   Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he is entering the crowded 2020 field for president. “Doesn’t matter if you live in a city or a rural area, a big state, small state. Doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is. People in every part of this country felt stuck or even like they’re going backwards,” he said in the video announcing his bid. He said he’ll be running on the platform of “working families first,” and mentioned paid sick leave as well as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. De Blasio, 58, assumed office in 2014 and has become known for his progressive statements and policies. He has repeatedly said the “money in this country” is “in the wrong hands.” The mayor has been quietly tapping into City Hall staffers with national political experience. That includes Mike Casca, who became spokesman and communications strategist of de Blasio’s federal political action committee in April, reported The New York Daily News. Casca worked on Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, reported Politico. De Blasio also handpicked experienced City Hall employees Jon Paul Lupo and Jaclyn Rothenberg in February to help with…

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Commentary: What’s the Goal of New York’s Muslim Community Patrol?

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by CHQ Staff   Just in case you still believe that the Muslim threat to American civilization and constitutional liberty is a conspiracy theory we have a report from New York to share with you. Sounding quite benign, Brooklyn’s “Muslim patrol” says it hopes to work with police to help make their neighborhood more “Muslim-friendly.” According to reporting by Caleb Maupin the Brooklyn-based “Muslim patrol” was founded by a Yemeni migrant and boasts at least 30 members. He says the Muslim Community Patrol’s (MCP) main aim is to be the “eyes and ears” of Brooklyn’s Muslim community. Formerly known as the Muslim Civilian Observation Patrol & Services (MCOPS, or Muslim COPS), MCP has been patrolling Brooklyn’s streets since September 2016 and leaving behind traces of the Islamist agenda which guides its growing membership. With uniforms and marked cars complete with sirens, the group could easily be mistaken for regular police – but they’re not. The patrolmen are unarmed and have no police powers. Instead, the group claims it radios to police if they encounter something that requires police action. We are quite interested in exactly what kind of “eyes and ears” the Brooklyn Muslim community might need, because the “Muslim…

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Man Charged with Attempted Arson After He Walked Into a New York City Cathedral With Gasoline

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A 37-year-old man was charged Thursday with attempted arson, reckless endangerment and trespassing after he walked into St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on Wednesday with two full gasoline cans, lighter fluid and lighters, police said. The incident occurred two days after a massive fire severely damaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, causing global shock and sorrow. That blaze was most likely the result of an accident though a major investigation is underway. A New York City Police Department official said Marc Lamparello was charged with second-degree attempted arson, second-degree reckless endangerment and trespassing on Thursday after he entered the Roman Catholic cathedral in midtown Manhattan just before 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT) on Wednesday and was confronted by a security guard. As the man turned to leave, gasoline spilled onto the floor and the guard alerted police officers stationed outside. Lamparello is a resident of New Jersey and a faculty member in the philosophy department at the City University of New York, according to the university’s website. Local media reported that he has previously been arrested in New Jersey for trespassing. He has no arrest record in New York, a New York Police Department official said. It…

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How Measles Is Making a Return in New York and Elsewhere

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"Measles" by Dave Haygarth

New York City declared a public health emergency Tuesday and ordered mandatory vaccinations for measles in a part of Brooklyn that is home to a large Orthodox Jewish community. The city took the unusual step amid a surge of 285 measles cases in the city since September, most in one densely packed neighborhood where people now have to get vaccines or risk a $1,000 fine. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there have been 465 cases so far this year, two-thirds of them in New York state. That compares to 372 cases in the U.S. for all of last year. Besides New York, there have been outbreaks this year in Washington state, California. Michigan and New Jersey. The disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, which means it was not being spread domestically. But cases have been rising in recent years, in part the result of misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine. Most of the reported illnesses are in children. The CDC says roughly 80 percent of the U.S. cases are age 19 or younger. Here are some questions and answers about measles: Question: How dangerous is measles? Answer:…

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Marc Gomez Charged in Vicious New York City Subway Attack on 78-Year-Old Woman Caught on Camera

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by Neetu Chandak   A man was charged with assault Saturday after allegedly kicking a 78-year-old woman in the face on a New York City subway as others watched on in early March. Marc Gomez, 36, was arrested Saturday, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said to The Daily Caller News Foundation over email. He was charged with multiple counts of assault and harassment. NYPD: detectives walk out Marc Gomez, 36, after he’s charged with assaulted for attacking an elderly woman on a #2 train in the Bronx two weeks ago, A community tip led to his arrest this morning @ABC7NY The story at 6 PM pic.twitter.com/547G29lCdO — Naveen Dhaliwal (@naveencbs2ny) March 23, 2019 A community tip reportedly led to the arrest, according to a tweet from ABC 7 reporter Naveen Dhaliwal Saturday. The elderly woman, who has not been identified, was treated for swelling, cuts to the face and bleeding after getting assaulted on the subway March 10 around 3 a.m. Video footage shows onlookers watching and yelling as she got hit. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1109166322250850307 “It’s terrible,” an MTA worker said, the New York Post reported. “I can’t believe something like that could happen.” It is unclear why Gomez allegedly kicked the woman. NYPD Chief of…

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Commentary: How Do You Solve a Problem like AOC?

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by Michael Walsh   I first noticed something was up in the New York City backwater called the 14th Congressional District when a friend across the aisle, a well-respected political columnist, tweeted out the news of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “upset” victory against the incumbent Democrat, Joe Crowley, just minutes after it happened. Who cares? thought I. Crowley, one of the last of the Irish machine politicians, had safely sailed to reelection to the House for a decade, often without even a primary challenger. But the 29-year-old AOC, as she is colloquially known, beat him in the primary with 57 percent of the vote—a number that sounds impressive until you realize that it was a mere 15,897 votes to Crowley’s 11,761, a difference of 4,136 votes. In the foregone-conclusion general election, she beat the Republican tomato can, Anthony Pappas, 110,000 to 18,000. Pappas was so indifferent to the outcome that he brushed aside offers to help and did not actively campaign. Naturally, the media went wild immediately. Literally overnight, this former intern for Ted Kennedy, an ethnic Puerto Rican, became a national celebrity; you can tell the stories were prepped and in the can once her victory was assured. Crowley’s name stayed…

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New York City Experienced Worst Decline in Restaurant Jobs Since 9/11 After $15 Minimum Wage Win

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by Jon Miltimore   The Big Apple’s fast-food industry, The New York Times recently reported, has long served as a laboratory for progressive politicians and the nation’s labor machine. But new economic research suggests their latest experiment is not going as planned. Data show that following the labor movement’s “Fight for $15” victory, which imposed steep annual increases in mandatory wages for workers, New York City experienced its sharpest decline in restaurant jobs in nearly 20 years. Tight Profit Margins Restaurants tend to operate on famously low-profit margins, typically 2 to 6 percent. So a 40 percent mandatory wage increase over a two-year period is not trivial. In response to the minimum wage hikes, New York City restaurants did what businesses tend to do when labor costs rise: they increased prices and reduced labor staff and hours. For example, Lalito’s, a popular restaurant on Bayard Street, recently raised its menu prices 10-15 percent, Eater New York reports. A New York City Hospitality Alliance survey also showed that three out of four full-service restaurants said they planned to reduce employee hours. Nearly half of those surveyed said they planned to eliminate some job positions in 2019. In response, New York City…

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Gone in a New York Minute: How the Amazon Deal Fell Apart

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In early November, word began to leak that Amazon was serious about choosing New York to build a giant new campus. The city was eager to lure the company and its thousands of high-paying tech jobs, offering billions in tax incentives and lighting the Empire State Building in Amazon orange. Even Governor Andrew Cuomo got in on the action: “I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” he joked at the time. Then Amazon made it official: It chose the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens to build a $2.5 billion campus that could house 25,000 workers, in addition to new offices planned for northern Virginia. Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Democrats who have been political adversaries for years, trumpeted the decision as a major coup after edging out more than 230 other proposals. But what they didn’t expect was the protests, the hostile public hearings and the disparaging tweets that would come in the next three months, eventually leading to Amazon’s dramatic Valentine’s Day breakup with New York. Immediately after Amazon’s Nov. 12 announcement, criticism started to pour in. The deal included $1.5 billion in special tax breaks and grants for the…

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Commentary: Amazon’s New York Reversal Shows Exactly Why Crony Capitalism Fails

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by Rachel Greszler   Just months after announcing it would locate one of its headquarters in New York City, Amazon has announced that it’s pulling the plug on the Big Apple. Based on Amazon’s public statement, it seems the company couldn’t rely on the deals it had cut or the political support it had received to last beyond the next election. And businesses can’t base long-term decisions like this on shifting political sand. That’s part of the problem with crony capitalism. It may procure short-term wins for a select few politicians and for businesses that can afford to pay to play, but it’s not a strategy for long-term success. Employers want to set up shop in places where they can grow and succeed. The best environment for that is a level playing field with minimal government interference and low, broad-based taxes—not picking winners and losers through special-interest subsidies. A favorable business environment is one where local leaders work to help all businesses equally, not a select few. Employers want leaders who can listen to their needs without telling them how to run their business, and they want communities and leaders that welcome the jobs and economic growth that employers bring,…

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Amazon Pulls Plug on New York Headquarters, Promises to Continue With Nashville, Virginia Sites

Jason M. Reynolds

The Big Apple has taken a big bite out of big tech, with the world’s largest e-commerce site announcing Thursday it would not build its second headquarters in New York City. The massive retailer/cloud computing firm faced a battle from some politicians and others in New York over nearly $3 billion in tax incentives, Breitbart said. Amazon was poised to bring 25,000 jobs to New York with a $2.5 billion investment in offices. The decision will not affect the planned office space for Arlington, Virginia, and the center in Nashville, Breitbart said. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, “You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity.” You have to be tough to make it in New York City. We gave Amazon the opportunity to be a good neighbor and do business in the greatest city in the world. Instead of working with the community, Amazon threw away that opportunity. — Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 14, 2019 Amazon said in a statement it would…

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Commentary: Amazon’s New York Reversal Shows Exactly Why Crony Capitalism Fails

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by Rachel Greszler   Just months after announcing it would locate one of its headquarters in New York City, Amazon has announced that it’s pulling the plug on the Big Apple. Based on Amazon’s public statement, it seems the company couldn’t rely on the deals it had cut or the political support it had received to last beyond the next election. And businesses can’t base long-term decisions like this on shifting political sand. That’s part of the problem with crony capitalism. It may procure short-term wins for a select few politicians and for businesses that can afford to pay to play, but it’s not a strategy for long-term success. Employers want to set up shop in places where they can grow and succeed. The best environment for that is a level playing field with minimal government interference and low, broad-based taxes—not picking winners and losers through special-interest subsidies. A favorable business environment is one where local leaders work to help all businesses equally, not a select few. Employers want leaders who can listen to their needs without telling them how to run their business, and they want communities and leaders that welcome the jobs and economic growth that employers bring,…

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Amazon May Bail on New York Headquarters After Locals Rail Against It

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by Tim Pearce   Amazon is reportedly rethinking its promise to build a headquarters in New York City after receiving pushback from local officials and residents, sources told The Washington Post. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, are pushing for the Amazon deal after being instrumental in securing it. Many locals, however, have protested at stores and hearings, and the city’s council has badgered Amazon executives about the company’s position on unions. “The question is whether it’s worth it if the politicians in New York don’t want the project, especially with how people in Virginia and Nashville have been so welcoming,” one person familiar with the company’s plans told WaPo. Amazon is moving forward with plans to construct another headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, near the nation’s capital. Each project in New York and Virginia is expected to create 25,000 jobs. A smaller project in Nashville, Tennessee, is expected to create 5,000 new jobs. The company is considering other options for the New York location, including relocating thousands of jobs to other areas and withdrawing altogether. Amazon has not yet leased or bought any space in the area, so changing plans now would…

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Supreme Court Takes Up First Gun Rights Case in a Decade

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by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear its first gun rights case in almost a decade. The justices will decide whether a New York City ordinance which strictly regulates the possession and transportation of handguns outside the home is constitutional. Tuesday’s grant marks the first time that the Supreme Court has engaged with the Second Amendment since it issued a pair of landmark decisions in 2008 and 2010 which affirmed the constitutional right to keep guns in the home for self-defense. Since those two decisions, however, the federal courts have upheld a range of gun control measures against constitutional challenges, to the consternation of Second Amendment activists. The high court’s continued silence on gun rights in view of those rulings baffled many observers and periodically drew fierce dissents from the conservative justices. “For those of us who work in marbled halls, guarded constantly by a vigilant and dedicated police force, the guarantees of the Second Amendment might seem antiquated and superfluous,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a June 2017 opinion. “But the framers made a clear choice: They reserved to all Americans the right to bear arms for self-defense. I do not think we should stand…

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New York Rings in New Year by Offering Gender Neutral Birth Certificates

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by Grace Carr   New York City residents may now change their birth certificates to reflect a neutral gender identity after an October bill took effect after the new year. The New York City Council first passed the bill in September allowing any adult living in the city to change his or her gender to “X” on their birth certificate. The bill also permits parents to choose “X” on their newborn babies’ birth certificates. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the measure into law on Oct. 9, 2018, according to Reuters. “You be you. Live your truth. And know that New York City will have your back,” de Blasio said after signing, Reuters reported. The law took effect Tuesday. Effective today! People born in NYC can now change the gender marker on their birth certificates to “X.” The third category makes birth certificates more inclusive to all gender identities. Here's what you need to know: https://t.co/QyaSSVK7sE pic.twitter.com/38BcxCppzs — nychealthy (@nycHealthy) January 1, 2019 Prior to the bill, New Yorkers had to undergo gender confirmation surgery in order to change the designations on their birth certificates. “Transgender and gender non-binary New Yorkers will no longer need a letter from a…

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New York City Teachers Reportedly Abused Taxpayer Money at Nashville Gaylord Opryland Resort

Chris Butler

Teachers from New York City came to Nashville last year and spent nearly $3,000 of their own local taxpayer money without documenting how it got spent, according to a new report on Patch.com The teachers spent this money at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Resort, according to the story. The story did not specify why the teachers came to Nashville or for what event. This was among only part of $15,000 the New York City teachers spent without supporting documentation, according to the website. According to the Patch.com story, quoting an audit, New York City school officials often disregarded rules and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on lavish hotels, out-of-town trips and other travel costs last year, an audit released Wednesday shows. “City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office reviewed about $1 million of the Department of Education’s more than $20 million in travel expenses from the 2017 fiscal year. About nine in every 10 payments — 93 percent — violated an internal policy, a directive from the comptroller’s office, or both, the audit shows,” the website reported. The DOE blew more than $233,000 to host meetings and other events at outside venues without bothering to see if any schools or other facilities could be…

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New York City Just Sent Its Transportation Industry Back to the 1930s

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by Jason Snead   At 5 o’clock on Aug. 14, New York City turned its clocks back to the 1930s. The Taxi and Limousine Commission officially stopped issuing licenses to most for-hire vehicles, effectively declaring war on Uber and Lyft in an effort to protect taxis from competition. This is the first of many steps that aim to constrain popular app-based ride-sharing platforms within the antiquated regulatory structure that city officials first imposed on taxis when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president. The package of new laws signed recently by Mayor Bill de Blasio imposes a one-year moratorium on new for-hire vehicle licenses for any non-wheelchair accessible vehicles; requires the commission to set minimum pay; and mandates a 12-month study of traffic congestion and other issues. Once the study is completed, the commission will be able to artificially raise fares and restrict the number of ride-sharing vehicles. The upshot for New Yorkers: Getting around town will get harder and more expensive—mainly because lawmakers have been co-opted by a powerful special interest. The mayor has wanted to crack down on ride-sharing for years. He and others baselessly blame these services for everything from congestion to declining subway ridership. They even claim competition has encouraged taxi-driver suicides. De Blasio touted his victory…

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Former NYPD Commissioner: NYC Attack ‘ISIS Inspired’

Tennessee Star Staff

An explosion targeting the Port Authority bus station in downtown Manhattan Monday was allegedly carried out by an Islamic State-inspired Bangladeshi immigrant, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told MSNBC. Update: Bill Bratton is on @MSNBC’s #MorningJoe confirming that this was a terrorist attack in the name of ISIS near the Port Authority. https://t.co/v7r55XlYiy — Holly O’Reilly…

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BREAKING: 8 Dead in New York City Terror Attack, Suspect Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’

Tennessee Star Staff

UPDATE: CNN reported at 5:35 p.m. ET that the death toll in today’s terror attack in New York City has risen to eight:   The suspect in the Manhattan truck attack, a 29-year-old man, crashed his truck and then was shot by police in the abdomen, New York Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said. O’Neill said the suspect “did make a statement” after the crash, which led police to declare the incident an act of terrorism. Six people were declared dead at the scene and two were pronounced dead at the hospital, and 11 were transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro.   President Trump responded to the terror attack in a tweet late Tuesday afternoon:   In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017 The “six and deranged person” responsible for the attack was identified by ABC News as “29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov from Tampa, Florida.”   JUST IN: Multiple officials tell ABC News suspect in custody is identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov from Tampa, FL —…

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