New York City

New York City

I mean, I was excited cause I thought maybe Macy's coming back,

Uncontrolled rat infestations, thousands of dollars lost in destroyed items, misleading advertising and unnoticed rate increases are just some of the issues Extra Space Storage renters have dealt with for years, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the New York City government. The civil action is the first filed by the city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) against a self-storage company, and comes as the agency pledges to be more aggressive in its efforts to hold the industry to account.

During a walk to get a slice at midday yesterday - more than 15 days after the routine 12-inch snowfall of Jan. 25 - Managing Editor David Meyer saw that the protected bike lanes on Grand and Lafayette streets in Little Italy had still not been plowed (even though we mentioned them in a story two days earlier and had posted about this on our popular social media channels, too).

On New Year's Day, Zohran Mamdani completed his inauguration festivities and departed for Brooklyn. In the working-class neighborhood of East Flatbush, the new mayor stepped into the lobby of an old apartment building on Clarkson Avenue and met with tenants on rent strike. Their grievances were many: The building has 201 outstanding housing-code violations, including leaks, roach infestations, black mold, and that most perilous of winter derelictions, a lack of consistent heat and hot water.

NEW YORK, NY- During the Albany budget hearing, Assemblyman Ranker Chan raised alarms over a series of car break-ins in his district, noting that 30 airbags were stolen overnight across two precincts. Overnight in neighborhoods including Bath Beach, Gravesend, and Bensonhurst, at least 30 cars had airbags stolen, officials said. Airbags, which can cost $1,000 or more to replace at dealerships, are targeted by thieves because they sell for $50-$200 on the black market.

Persico Jr., 62, of Todt Hill, is facing a maximum of two years behind bars but was reportedly expected to receive anywhere from five to 11 months. In 2023, Persico Jr. was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a labor union extortion plot carried out by top leadership within the Colombo crime family. He was granted supervised release last summer on the condition he avoid all contact with members of organized crime.

The suspect - who wore a black mask and bright-red puffer coat - approached the 25-year-old victim on board a northbound N train approaching 86th Street in Gravesend around 2:20 a.m. Saturday and demanded his wallet and some money, police said. When the victim did not comply, the perp slashed him multiple times in the head, face, back and knee, authorities said.

Pudgy Penguins is waddling into Valentine's Day weekend with a limited-time Pudgy Petals pop-up in Manhattan that's a perfect daytime date destination for couples, friends, and families from any colony. The three-day pop-up between Feb. 12-14 from noon to 6 p.m., will bring the brand's lovable characters, Paxton and Polly Pengu, to the Bowery Showroom at 55 Delancey St. on the Lower East Side.

New York City renters can now sign up to testify at the city's first-ever Rental Ripoff Hearings, a series of public forums announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration aimed at gathering tenant experiences with unsafe conditions, hidden fees, and other common rental complaints. The hearings, established through an executive order signed on Jan. 4, will take place in all five boroughs between late February and early April.

Rowynn Dumont, a curator, painter, photographer and writer, lived in about 25 places around the world before settling in New York in 2017. It's where my community and the art world infrastructure already were, said Dumont. Exhibits in Union Square, the Flatiron District, Long Island City and the Lower East Side featured her work. She also co-founded a popular monthly new wave dance party, Black Rainbow, on the Lower East Side that would go until 10am.

New York City's shelter intake system for families with children-known as Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing, or PATH-is the single point of entry for parents seeking emergency shelter when they have nowhere else to go. Each year, thousands of infants in New York City are born into homelessness or enter the shelter system within their first year of life. According to the city's own Department of Homeless Services, once a family reaches PATH, the crisis has already begun.

Macken began the project in 2004 and stuck with it for the next 21 years, quietly recreating the five boroughs by hand in his upstate New York home. Built from everyday materials like balsa wood, cardboard and glue, the finished model measures roughly 50 by 27 feet and is made up of more than 300 individual sections. It captures the city's skyline, neighborhoods and landmarks with obsessive detail, from Midtown towers to outer-borough blocks.

The brutal cold snap gripping New York this winter has left utility customers feeling the burn of skyrocketing heating bills. National Grid customers in NYC are outraged over skyrocketing heating bills, coinciding with the utility giant's Monday announcement of record usage during the city's ongoing cold snap. The astronomical costs, several readers told amNewYork, are overwhelmingly driven not by increased consumption but by soaring delivery fees and other unclear charges listed on their monthly bills.

The immediate problem is that the city does not adequately manage its Citi Bike contract. That critical document includes a long list of performance measures that the city must enforce. These include ensuring bikes are available for use, maintaining operational stations, providing quality customer service - and, yes, removing snow. Each measure carries specific penalties when the company doesn't fulfill them. For example, each broken dock that has not been repaired within 48 hours of notification is subject to a penalty of $10 per dock.

I wasn't able to make that event, but I do look forward to sitting down with the cardinal, and I'm so excited, frankly, at his leadership in this city. We see so often, frankly, that New Yorkers do not actually turn to elected officials in moments of need. They are turning to their faith leaders, he said, adding that he hopes to collaborate closely with Hicks moving forward.

Those of us who don't have a gym membership for showering, or a friend nearby, resort to boiling water,

The successful bargaining came on the heels of a major speak out on the Montefiore picket line on Friday, where nurses, labor leaders and politicians demanded the hospital settle the contract issues. The rally was in support of nurses at Montefiore, as well as those at the other two hospitals affected by the strike, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian in Manhattan. We really appreciate all the solidarity we have received, Pat Kane, RN, NYSNA executive director, said.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has a new calling. The former archbishop of New York will soon serve as co-chaplain of the NYPD, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is expected to announce on Tuesday. According to sources familiar with the appointment, the announcement will come during Tisch's State of the NYPD address on Feb. 10, and will see Dolan and Reverend A.R Bernard, who founded Christian Cultural Center megachurch in Brooklyn, named as the department's co-chaplains.

Mohammed Riyaj, a 26-year-old delivery worker in Brooklyn, had high hopes for a new city law intended to increase tips for him and thousands of other delivery workers who ply New York City's streets daily. Nearly two weeks into the initiative, however, his expectations have been diminished. Despite assurances that the law would make tipping more straightforward for customers and result in a pay bump for him and other delivery workers, Riyaj said the increased tips simply haven't materialized so far, leaving him frustrated.

Leaving Mexico City, the place I grew up, wasn't impulsive. It was calculated - shaped by ambition and the stubborn belief that opportunity still lives somewhere else. I headed to New York City in 2020, hoping to prove myself on what I thought was the world's biggest stage. I enrolled in law school, eager to work hard and prove myself.