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Following the footsteps of a public elementary school in Flushing, Queens, another public school in New York City has decided to go vegetarian. The Peck Slip School in lower Manhattan announced Monday that it will only be serving students plant-based meals due to its benefits not only for the kids but the planet as well, becoming the second non-charter public school in the U.S. to do so. […] The implementation of the vegetarian menu was done with the help of the Coalition for Healthy School Food, a non profit dedicated to getting whole foods into schools across the New York...

Famous "Night-Stick in Cumerbund Shot" Mr. Rizzo was one of those seemingly larger-than-life figures, destined to be hero to some and villain to others. One view was that the former Police Commissioner and two-term Mayor was the last bastion against threats to middle-class residents of the city's row-house neighborhoods. The other view was that Mr. Rizzo was a barely educated former police officer who used a hard line on crime and tactics bordering on the dictatorial to suppress opposition and keep blacks out of middle-class neighborhoods. 'Tough Cop' Image That he was a "tough cop" -- an appellation that particularly...

Monday, February 16, 2015 A Revisionist Muslim History of America Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blogTurkish President Erdogan’s claim that Columbus encountered a mosque in Cuba (the explorer actually saw a rock whose shape he compared to the dome of a mosque) and a Saudi Imam claiming that Columbus had sailed to America to attack Muslims are typical of an emerging genre of Muslim revisionist history that lays claim to America based on an imaginary earlier Muslim presence here. While these examples may be laughable, Muslim historical revisionism has taken root in academia. It can be found...

<p>He robbed banks, saying it was for “art” — and now the curator of the taxpayer-funded Queens Museum wants to honor him.</p> <p>Nutty Professor Joe Gibbons — who videotaped himself ripping off banks as part of a bizarre “art project” — has snagged the prestigious invitation from the Queens Museum to show off his felonious film project.</p>

José was looking for peace and quiet, in addition to work, when he decided to settle in the hinterlands of upstate New York 14 years ago. “A lot of farmland and trees,” he recalled, speaking in Spanish. “It reminded me of my village in Mexico.” But he quickly learned that being poor and undocumented and living far from the well-established immigrant networks found in the nation’s big cities made life especially difficult. Such challenges are a fact of life for the large and growing population of immigrants across the country who have bypassed traditional gateway cities like New York and...

President Obama’s pick to serve as the next attorney general is having a hard time finding Republican supporters. To be confirmed by the Senate, Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch only needs four Republicans to support her nomination. But it is unclear where those votes will come from. Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) is the only Republican so far who has signaled his intention to vote for Lynch, though several others have spoken favorably about her. But many Republicans are expressing concerns about Lynch's stance on immigration and what they suggest is a lack of “independence" from the White House. Lynch’s confirmation...

EXCERPT With the anthem not even halfway through, fans at Madison Square Garden erupted on Sunday night when Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was shown on the jumbotron.

Correction: February 15, 2015 An earlier version of this column incorrectly stated that teacher layoffs in Milwaukee in 2010 happened because Gov. Scott Walker “cut state aid to education.” The layoffs were made by the city’s school system because of a budget shortfall, before Mr. Walker took office in 2011.

Sometimes, the best education is the one life gives you. Students at the prestigious but liberal-leaning Cornell University found that out the hard way last week, when they stormed the office of school President David Skorton to protest a modern-day example of socialism at work. On Feb. 5, Skorton posted a memo on the school’s website notifying students that all who opt out of Cornell’s health care program next year will be charged a $350 fee, Fox News reported. Obamacare requires all students to have health insurance, but those already covered are also forced to pay the opt-out fee. And...

A can of Coke could soon look like a pack of Marlboros, if one Bronx lawmaker has his way. Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz has introduced the “Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Safety Warning Act” — which would require tobacco-style health- warning labels on all sugary drinks, such a cola, iced tea and energy drinks. The labels would read: “SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.”

More than 30 people have been nabbed for food stamp fraud in the North Country. Investigators say over the past couple month's people used their food stamps to get food or alcohol at the Old Time Butcher Block store in Brushton. Police also say it's not the first time the owner of that store, Dennis Sauve has been charged with allowing such fraud, Police say more arrests are expected.

Boris Johnson says he intends to renounce his American citizenship to prove his "commitment to Britain". He told the Sunday Times that his citizenship was "an accident of birth that has left me with this thing. I've got to find a way of sorting it out". The Mayor of London, who was born in New York, has in the past been forced to pay US tax because of his American citizenship. He has just completed a six-day tour of cities in the US. Mr Johnson said he would approach US ambassador Matthew Barzun to explore what steps he had to...

Senator Ted Cruz, the boat-rocking limited government constitutional conservative Senator from Texas, provided another one of his patented cross examinations of a smoke-blowing government official at a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Cruz, the son of legal immigrants from Cuba, asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about border security measures – the so-called “triggers” – contained in the “Gang of Eight's” immigration bill. Specifically, Senator Cruz asked, “If there are no objective metrics, if it is simply the subjective assessment of a host of factors, how can we have any confidence that the border will be secured and that any...

ALBANY — Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is joining Gov. Cuomo’s administration as a special adviser to the governor, the Daily News has learned. Quinn will be a part-time staffer until mid-April when she finishes her stint as a resident fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, a source said. After that, she will jump on board full-time. Quinn headed up the Cuomo-created Women’s Equality Party in 2014 during the governor’s reelection campaign.

There are two problems in this section of Collins's column: First, she accuses Walker of dishonesty, but she's just quibbling over semantics. Is it really inaccurate to describe someone named an "outstanding first-year teacher" by the Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English as a "teacher of the year" for short? I've never seen much of a difference: In the headline of this 2011 piece, I described Sampson as a "teacher of the year," but in the body of the piece I precisely described her award. Walker has been telling this story for four years, and no one thought his description...

A bill to reform the much abused 'gravity knife' law in New York has been introduced into the Assembly by Member of the Assembly Quart.  From the state.ny.us: Provides that possession of a gravity knife shall constitute criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree only if the defendant has intent to use the same unlawfully against another. The actual text of the bill only shows that the term 'gravity knife ' is removed from one paragraph.  It is a minor change, but it stops prosecutors from abusing the law as they have been.  From the proposed bill:...

According to the initial investigations of the NTSB, which include witnesses at the scene, the driver exited the vehicle on the tracks to inspect it being hit by a crossing gate: Reports so far show that 49-year-old Ellen Brody crossed onto the tracks, when the crossing gate slammed down on the back of her vehicle. Instead of pulling through the intersection though, she got out to inspect the back of her car. It was when she got back in her car and started to pull forward that she was struck by the passing train – going 58mph. The crash led...

--SNIP-- McManus is one of 4,481 members of the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System and the New York State Teachers Retirement System who earned pensions over $100,000 in 2014. The number was a stark increase from the 1,663 who earned a six-figure pension in 2009, according to the Empire Center. Teachers union officials defended their retirees, saying that the average teacher pension is a modest $44,978.

Cheektowaga police have arrested seven people after a brawl broke out at the Walden Galleria Mall in suburban Buffalo. The Associated Press reported that the fight broke out Wednesday afternoon in front of Dick's Sporting Goods, after which it spread to a nearby coat store. As the fight began, one onlooker recorded it on his cell phone and uploaded it to YouTube. You can watch the full video below. Police eventually broke up the brawl and arrested five men and two women. They are: Charles Kelly, 20; Isaiah Sanders, 22; Isaiah Dunston, 22; Devon Skipper, 21; Samuel Cornish, 22; Ashley...

February 12, 2015Bill De Blasio’s NYC Too Corrupt to Host DNCBrent ScherNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s bid to play host to the Democratic National Committee’s 2016 convention was derailed by corruption scandals surrounding Democrats such as former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the New York Post reports.Democrats announced on Thursday that they would be holding the convention in Philadelphia despite de Blasio’s full-scale campaign to bring the convention to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.The Post reports that a major reason Democrats passed on New York City was a fear that more federal corruption charges could be on the way. One national...