Free Republic

A New York state lawmaker who sought to replace a retiring member of Congress refused to concede defeat Thursday following Tuesday’s Democratic primary, claiming the election was plagued by “intentional black voter suppression.” State Assemblyman Michael Blake, an African-American candidate, finished in second place in the 15th Congressional District contest’s in-person ballot count, the New York Daily News reported. The top finisher was New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres, who is also African-American.

Patrons at Miami eatery Versailles cheered when Donald Trump twice declared “Food for everyone!” during a surprise stop at the Little Havana hotspot. Then he left without buying food for anyone, according to a local report. Fresh off pleading not guilty to criminal charges in a Miami federal court, Trump was all smiles as he entered the crowded restaurant Tuesday. Well-wishers sang “Happy Birthday” to the former New Yorker on the eve of his 77th birthday. Trump supporters told NBC 6 South Florida they thought the 45th president was treated unfairly when he was indicted on more than three-dozen counts...

They are the buzzwords of New York City crime circa 2022: Random and unprovoked. A chilling spate of recent incidents involving innocent victims runs the gamut from a woman savagely beaten inside a Queens subway station to a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by a stray bullet to a Mexican immigrant nearly killed by a sucker-punch outside a Manhattan restaurant. The latest terrifying attack took the life of of a veteran city EMS lieutenant on her way to grab lunch in Astoria this past Thursday, with a schizophrenic stranger knocking her to the sidewalk before stabbing her 20 times for no...

Trump lied about value of business empire — and size of his Trump Tower penthouse, AG James says Lies about size matter. Former President Donald Trump and his children have lied about seemingly everything in the Trump Org empire — from the size of the patriarch’s luxury Manhattan penthouse to the value of properties around the globe — in order to score an array of financial benefits, New York Attorney General Letitia James charged in bombshell court papers. The lies to banks, government agencies and other regulators were “part of a pattern to suggest that Mr. Trump’s net worth was...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) witnessed a fight and called 911 to report the incident during his first commute to City Hall as mayor. Eric Adams, being followed by numerous reporters but no security detail, spotted three men fighting on the street “outside the J train station on Kosciuszko St. in Bedford Stuyvesant” around 8:00 a.m. Saturday, the New York Daily News reports. “Once a transit cop always a transit cop,” Adams said as he watched the men who were arguing, according to the New York Post. The argument then escalated to a physical altercation.

Freed after two recent stabbing arrests, a man knifed a straphanger in the Times Square subway station after falling onto the tracks with him during a struggle, police said Thursday. Bernardo Carbajal got into an argument with the 52-year-old victim, believed to be a stranger, on the N train subway platform about 11:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to cops. Carabajal, 27, charged the victim with a knife and the two men wrestled, plunging onto the tracks, authorities said. After their fall, Carabajal allegedly stabbed Carter eight times, wounding him in the back, arm and neck and leaving him on the tracks....

The acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in a Kenosha, Wis., courtroom sparked plenty of opinions on Friday — divided in the same way the country is. The baby-faced gunman, who killed two men and wounded a third at a Black Lives Matter protest last year, was hailed as a hero in right-wing circles, while those on the left decried the jury’s decision. President Biden expressed anger, but at the same time, urged calm. “While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken,” the president said in a...

Robby Walker is lucky to be alive. After the 52-year-old father from Florida contracted COVID-19-related pneumonia, a ventilator wasn't enough. He needed Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), a treatment in which blood is routed through a machine that purifies and oxygenates it, giving the patient's lungs a chance to recover. But no ECMO machines were available in Florida or nearby states because other ECMO patients were using them.

In an interview last year, Mr. Freeman argued that the austere cuts enacted at his newspapers reflected a more realistic understanding of the industry’s direction and better positioned Alden-owned publishers for the pandemic’s downswing. “We were prepared for a real step down in terms of a recession because we were honest about what was needed in the future,” he said. “Numbers don’t lie.” The newspaper industry’s numbers looked bleak even before the pandemic. Annual advertising revenue dropped 70%, or $34 billion, between 2005 and 2018, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center. More than 1,800 newspapers closed between 2004...

Luxury Manhattan building workers suspended for closing door on Asian hate crime victim after vicious sidewalk stomping By BRITTANY KRIEGSTEIN, MORGAN CHITTUM, THOMAS TRACY and LARRY MCSHANE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS MAR 30, 2021 AT 12:05 PM  An elderly woman walking through Hells Kitchen became the latest victim of an unprovoked anti-Asian attack, in a brutal, caught-on-video assault. A callous security guard at a luxury Manhattan building was suspended Tuesday after shutting the front door and offering no aid to a 65-year-old Asian woman kicked to the sidewalk outside and stomped in an apparent hate crime.

The parents of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich have settled a lawsuit against Fox News for fueling a conspiracy theory about his murder. The terms of the deal, announced in a Manhattan Federal Court filing, were not disclosed. “We are pleased with the resolution of the claims and hope this enables Mr. and Mrs. Rich to find a small degree of peace and solace moving forward,” Fox News said in a statement. Attorneys for parents Joel and Mary Rich did not respond to a request for comment.

A former employee with the New York Daily News has filed a lawsuit alleging that St. Lawrence University allowed one of their ANTIFA-affiliated staff members to extort his firing from the newspaper. In the lawsuit, defendants are listed as Christian M. Exoo, the New York Daily News, St. Lawrence University, Tribune Publishing Company, Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde, Twitter Inc., and Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP. The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey by Daniel D’Ambly. D’Ambly claims in the lawsuit that he was doxxed by Exoo, a notorious ANTIFA terrorist who leads targeted harassment campaigns...

The New York State Supreme Court last week granted a motion ordering the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to turn over the name, zip codes and license category of anyone who was granted a firearm license in 2018. The New York Daily News made the request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request process, which provides public information from government agencies to citizens and journalists. ... The Daily News argues that the information can be turned over because of a state law – known as the SAFE Act – that declared "that names and addresses of all firearms...

Washington has responded to the unprecedented economic disruptions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic with extraordinary measures to bolster our nation’s health-care system, keep businesses afloat and support tens of millions of unemployed Americans. Given the vast scope of the public health and economic challenges we face, our federal government must go further. Federal aid for state and local governments that matches the depth of the crisis is urgently needed. The language of “revenue shortfalls” and “fiscal cliffs” used to describe these challenges may seem distant from the concerns of New Yorkers who are struggling to pay their bills and...

… For 44 years, Robert Moses ruled over New York. Unelected, his power drawn from up to 12 concurrent city, state and federal appointments, he used his unparalleled control of public authorities with impunity. Deftly utilizing loopholes and creating new law, Moses had his own shadow government, with his own police force, flag, and an island under the Triborough (now Robert F. Kennedy) Bridge. There is no debate over the sheer magnitude of what he built. His accomplishments bestride New York: 416 miles of highways, 13 bridges, 658 playgrounds and housing for 150,000 people. He constructed parkways, tunnels, beaches, zoos,...

At least until the first week of August, it appeared to have been a pretty good year for Joseph Force Crater. He was 41 years old, a good Tammany Hall Democrat, widely regarded as a comer. Gov. Franklin Roosevelt had recently named him to the state Supreme Court bench. Some felt he was on the fast track to big things, perhaps even the Supreme Court of the United States. Then he stepped into a New York City taxicab and vanished from the face of the Earth. Maybe he ended up in the tropics with a sackful of cash and a...

This is a tricky one, but is worth examining: Yankees drop Kate Smith’s "God Bless America" after questions of possible racism arise https://t.co/mbDdQ5OrgT— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 19, 2019 From The Washington Post: The New York Yankees reportedly confirmed Thursday that they were no longer playing a Kate Smith version of “God Bless America” during the seventh inning of home games, after the team learned of a Depression-era song she’d recorded that raised questions of possible racism. Two songs cited by the New York Daily News, which broke the story, included “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” a 1931 hit for...

Meatless Mondays matter: In praise of New York City schools overhauling their menus once a week By Jessica Scott-Reid Mar 12, 2019 | 10:25 AM Building on a major expansion this past fall, Mayor de Blasio just announced that Meatless Mondays will be in public schools across the nation’s largest city starting next academic year. Not surprisingly, immediate online reactions ignited increasingly common debates over the consumption of animal products, from concerns about forcing vegetarianism on children, to calls to remove dairy as well. Ultimately though, eliminating meat from school meals one day a week is a positive and necessary...

A federal court of appeals in New York on Monday moved a step closer to unsealing documents that could reveal new evidence in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, who’s been accused of being part of an international sex trafficking operation. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals gave the parties until March 29 to argue their case that the documents detailing the alleged international sex trafficking operation should remain sealed. The evidence will be made public unless the lawyers make a convincing argument, the panel said, according to the Miami Herald. An unusual coalition of media organizations, a...

A former personal assistant for Harvey Weinstein claims she was sexually harassed for almost two years. Sandeep Rehal, who quit in February 2015, is filing a federal lawsuit in New York against Weinstein and his company, alleging gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation. Rehal claims that she was forced to buy erectile dysfunction medication for Weinstein and “play maid to his sexual encounters.” She also claims she was sexually harassed during her time with Weinstein, but said she was worried about coming forward with her allegations until dozens of other women made similar claims. “No one should have to endure...