Free Republic

A Big Apple mayoral candidate forum turned ugly for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday night when a mob of angry protesters ambushed the stage and chanted, “Cuomo lies, people die.” The disgraced pol, who resigned from the governor’s office in 2021 following a slew of scandals, was answering a question about public safety at the Black Agenda’s Democratic mayoral forum at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn when a horde of demonstrators funneled into the auditorium and stormed the stage. The stunt, which elicited audible groans from the audience, only lasted for a few moments before the NYPD attempted...

Andrew Cuomo has picked up another key hard hat endorsement Tuesday in the race for New York City mayor, winning the backing of the Laborers’ International Union. The New York affiliate of the Laborers Union represents 40,000 members in New York State, which further cements the former governor’s support within the construction trades. The union backed Cuomo’s rival in the June Democratic primary, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, in the 2021 mayor’s race. “New York City is the cultural, economic, and social engine of the world—and leading it requires vision, grit, and proven experience,” said Donato Bianco, Jr., LIUNA vice...

LOS ANGELES, California — Mayor Karen Bass tried to strike an upbeat tone as she delivered the bad news Monday in her “State of the City” speech, cutting 400 civilian jobs in the L.A. Police Department next year. The Los Angeles Times reported: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released a proposed budget on Monday that would eliminate a nearly $1 billion financial gap by cutting more than 2,700 city positions — about 1,650 of them through layoffs. … The $14 billion spending plan, which covers the 2025-26 fiscal year, would provide funding for scores of new hires at the fire...

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has won the special election for Oakland mayor in a close contest over “moderate” Loren Taylor, giving “progressives” hope and defying efforts by Democrats to shift their party to the center. Lee, 78, defeated Taylor, 47, thanks to late-arriving postal ballots, after Taylor led on Election Night. She will take the helm of a city suffering from poor left-wing governance in the wake of a corruption scandal involving former mayor Sheng Thao, also a “progressive.” Oakland had recently begun to emerge from the shadows of San Francisco — its wealthier, glitzier neighbor across the Bay —...

A Southern California mayor is under fire for wanting to eliminate his city’s homeless population by giving them “all the fentanyl they want” — a shocking remark he reinforced by calling for a federal “purge.” Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris shared his controversial views during a Feb. 25 city council meeting when a resident took issue with the city’s attempt to address the homeless crisis by “enclosing” the unhoused at an abandoned golf course near a residential neighborhood. “What I want to do is give them free fentanyl,” Parris said as he interrupted the woman’s comments, according to footage of...

Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo would prevail over socialist Zohran Mamdani in a ranked-choice voting Democratic primary for mayor, according to a new poll released Tuesday. Cuomo led Mamdani 34% to 16% when voters were asked about their first choice even as Mamdani chipped away at Cuomo’s dominance in early polling, the Siena College/AARP survey of 556 registered city Democrats found. Three other candidates in the crowded primary each got 6% support — city Comptroller Brad Lander, his predecessor Scott Stringer and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. State Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos received 4% apiece, according to the survey.

They’re deep thinkers. Mayor Eric Adams copped to believing the “deep state” is real this week — echoing President Trump and the MAGA movement. “I don’t want to sound conspiracy theory, but there’s a permanent government,” Adams told comedian Andrew Schulz on the “Flagrant Podcast” Wednesday. “There are people that see presidents and mayors come and go. Their attitudes will wait you out.” The admittedly tin foil hat stance from Adams came on the same day a judge dismissed the federal corruption case that has dogged him since September.

Eric Adams will not seek the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor — instead pushing all his chips in on a longshot run as an independent candidate. Hizzoner dropped the bombshell news in a campaign video announcement Thursday — just the day after a federal judge killed his corruption case for good. “More than 25,000 New Yorkers signed my Democratic primary petition, but the dismissal of the bogus case against me dragged on too long, making it impossible to mount a primary campaign while these false accusations were held over me,” Adams said in the six-minute spiel. “But I’m...

The former mayor of Syracuse says then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo forcibly kissed her several times when she was in office, and she angrily describes the encounters as “all about power.’’ Longtime Cuomo foe Stephanie Miner, speaking to The Post on Monday about her new book, “Madam Mayor,” recounted passages in her tome in which she claims she was kissed against her will by the then-governor while they were at loggerheads over policy issues during her two terms. “It was clearly unwanted. It was about power with him,” the Democrat said of the encounters — while blasting Cuomo’s administration as a total...

EVERETT, Mass. (AP) — For years, the mayor of a Boston suburb dreaded Wednesdays. That was the day when a local weekly would publish shocking allegations that he was on the take, sexually harassing women or under investigation by the FBI. Friends trashed Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria on Facebook over what the Everett Leader Herald printed. His father threatened to disown him — over stories the mayor knew were lies. “They labeled me as a ‘Kickback Carlo.’ Accusations that I was settling all kinds of sexual harassment lawsuits, that I put a knife to a girl’s throat and asked for...

Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu is taking heat from local leaders for doubling down on liberal sanctuary city laws, and insisting “we stand with immigrants.” Wu has previously stated that Boston will not cooperate with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations — which she reiterated during her State of the City address Wednesday night. “No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies,” she said in her speech. “You belong here,” she told immigrants. Wu’s speech outraged conservative local leaders who oppose...

A Washington state mayor scolded an LQBTQ+ activist who was outraged that the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag was allowed to fly over City Hall but the Pride flag was not. Newcastle Mayor Robert Clark was berated by activists at a public hearing Tuesday night as citizens of the city — about 12 miles from Seattle — were upset over the council’s decision last year to stop the Pride flag from being flown at City Hall during Pride Month. Toward the end of the three-hour session, an activist stood in front of the council and called Clark “disgusting” and...

A New Jersey mayor accused of drunk driving allegedly drove her toddler home from day care on St. Patrick’s Day, nearly crashing on the road only days after resigning from her job with another town. Lumberton Township leader Gina LaPlaca was arrested for her alleged booze-induced stunt on March 17 after she picked up her 2-year-old son from day care. The 45-year-old Democrat was allegedly captured on video by another driver swerving all over the road, nearly crashing into a utility pole before the footage was shared with police, WPVI reported, citing charging documents. Police traced the car back to...

During an interview with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stated that the city is releasing people wanted by ICE because “ICE is choosing not to go and get these criminal warrants.” And then claiming “so and so was extremely dangerous and a threat to the community. And yet, they’re not taking the action that reflects what they should be doing if they believed that to be true.” Wu stated, “[A]ny agency that gets a judicial warrant, a criminal warrant signed by a judge that has verified probable cause and has gone through that process in the...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is deleting her text messages, thus defeating efforts by media organizations to obtain them as government communications subject to public records requests, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Times reported that it had been unable to obtain Bass’s text messages concerning her overseas trip to Ghana, during which the L.A. fires broke out, because they were automatically deleted and the city had not retained them.

While removing a shotgun from the office of his restaurant in Morton Grove at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, Niles Mayor George Alpogianis dropped the weapon and it discharged, injuring himself and a co-worker. “On Saturday, Feb. 15, while leaving my restaurant office, I accidentally discharged my personal firearm while preparing to take it for routine cleaning,” Alpogianis said in a written statement. “As I removed the weapon, it slipped from my grip, and when I attempted to catch it, it discharged. It was pointed at the ground. “The incident resulted in flesh wounds to me and a co-worker...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that an incident where there was a suspected gang member who ICE said assaulted ICE agents after he was released from Denver’s custody is the first time he knows of that there’s been a problem with how the city interacts with ICE when they have people in custody that ICE wants access to and “If there are procedures we can adjust to make it safer, we’re open to that. But this has been a procedure that’s worked for a long, long time. We’ve never had an issue until this...

Leaders of an advocacy group for nursing home residents who blame ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the COVID-related deaths of thousands of relatives, urged New York City voters to reject his expected comeback bid for mayor. “New York deserves better than Andrew Cuomo, and we’ll be there every step of the way as a reminder,” an open letter to the three-term Democrat drafted by the group Voices for Seniors said. “We will not forget,” the letter, obtained by The Post, said. “Silence is not an option.” Chief among the group’s grievances is the Cuomo administration’s controversial March 25, 2020 edict that...

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston wants to add a 20% service charge to local restaurant tabs — and then tax it — to help restaurants cope with the city’s minimum wage and promote what he called pay equity among tipped and non-tipped employees. On Monday, Johnston told City Cast Denver, a popular podcast, that he has already been discussing the idea with restaurant owners. He didn’t say whether they are on board. He also did not discuss if increasing people's dinner costs would decrease restaurant visits. Johnston has incurred the ire of some local restauranteurs, who this month penned a letter...

This self-proclaimed “super mayor” is now a super loser. Dolton “Dictator” Tiffany Henyard suffered a landslide loss in Tuesday’s Democratic primary after more than a year of seedy scandals, wild antics and haughty remarks finally caught up to her at the ballot box. The under-fire Illinois mayor finally ran into her kryptonite — voters in her own Chicago suburb who overwhelmingly picked village Trustee Jason House as the Democratic nominee. With all precincts reporting, House notched nearly 88% of the vote while Henyard gained a measly 12%, according to Cook County election results. Earlier Tuesday, Henyard confidently claimed she would...