Free Republic

A City Council member from Queens is urging her constituents to arm themselves following a terrifying home invasion in which robbers posing as Amazon drivers tied up a family and snatched thousands of dollars in cash, according to cops. Republican Vickie Paladino offered to help residents in her district — which covers Whitestone, where the ordeal took place — obtain gun permits in light of the break-in Monday morning. “I want to remind my constituents that New Yorkers have a constitutional right to protect themselves,” Paladino said in a statement. “I urge my constituents to avail themselves of their rights...

A liberal City Council member known for anti-Israel remarks funneled more than $149,000 of taxpayer money to various Arab immigrant groups tied to her husband, The Post has learned. Brooklyn Councilwoman Shahana Hanif (D-39) used her discretionary funding to pay various nonprofits where her husband is involved, including Arab American Association of New York, The Arab American Family Support Center and the New York Immigration Coalition. And the pro-Palestinian lawmaker increased or decreased the amount she gave away to several groups depending on her husband’s involvement, according to public records. Hanif’s husband, Abdullah Younus, joined the board of the Arab...