Free Republic

Before he became a famous actor, Steve Buscemi was a firefighter in Manhattan, and he donned his old gear on September 12, 2001 to help emergency responders dig through the rubble of the Twin Towers.

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul is exploring building a new 3,000-bed state prison — the largest in New York — in a baffling reverse-of-course after shuttering numerous correctional facilities. The state Corrections Department is seeking proposals to construct the massive proposed $750 million facility somewhere in the state, according to stunning documents released this week and obtained by The Post. “The proposed facility will include approximately 3,000 beds, multiple new housing and support buildings, security systems, and significant site and utility infrastructure improvements,” the documents said. As to where the new prison might be located, the documents only said it...

Republican Bruce Blakeman could pull off a stunning upset in New York’s closely watched governor’s race — with the conservative challenger just four points behind Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in a new poll. Hochul only leads the underdog and current Nassau County executive 49.6% to 45.7% among likely voters, according to the survey conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the Blakeman campaign. The remaining 4.7% of likely voters are undecided, the poll, based on interviews with 800 likely voters from Aug. 27-31, shows. The nail-bitingly close results reflect growing dissatisfaction with Hochul’s ability to lead the Empire State. More...

Why did British police patrol the streets unarmed while officers in New York considered carrying a gun essential to doing their job? In this 1966 report, ITN’s Peter Woods explores the stark differences between British and American policing. NYPD officers react with disbelief to Britain’s largely unarmed police force, with one lieutenant describing the idea as “sort of ridiculous” and predicting chaos if New York officers were expected to work without guns. The report also follows firearms training at the New York Police Academy and shows unarmed British police searching for Harry Roberts, wanted in connection with the murder of...

It’s snowing in August. Police executed the “largest cocaine seizure” in decades this week when they seized 580 pounds of the cartel-tied drugs stashed in a Long Island City storage unit, officials announced Friday. Nelson Salcedo, of Englewood, New Jersey, was arrested in the middle of moving the alleged $10 million in coke Wednesday in what cops say is tied to a wide-reaching drug trafficking scheme. “This was a massive shipment of narcotics, tied to an interstate trafficking network with connections across the country, including in New York and New Jersey. And because of the work of the investigators standing...

New York will get its first new nuclear plant in nearly 40 years as the state grapples with soaring energy costs while scrambling to meet increased energy demands. The new reactor would be built on the grounds of the US Army’s Fort Drum in the North Country with the goal of being fully operational within five years, officials said. “We are building the energy resilience necessary to project combat power globally, without relying on potentially vulnerable external grids,” US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said in a statement. The new plant — the Empire State’s first new reactor since 1988 —...

She’s breaking for Bruce. A dyed-in-the-wool Democratic donor who previously contributed to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign is raising funds for her Republican gubernatorial opponent Bruce Blakeman, The Post has learned. Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, a professional photographer and philanthropist who’s the widow of late New Jersey Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, plans to hold a fundraiser for Blakeman’s campaign, she confirmed Monday. “It’s the talk of the Hamptons,” said one Democrat who expressed surprise. “It’s a good get for Bruce.” The tongue-wagging switcheroo is all the more surprising given that Lautenberg, 79, donated $1,000 to Democratic incumbent Hochul’s re-election campaign in July...

The Battle of the Tappan Zee unfolded on the night of August 16–17, 1776. Patriot fireships attack HMS Phoenix and HMS Rose in an eighteenth-century engraving. Residents along the western shore of the Tappan Zee were awakened during the night by cannon fire as one of the American Revolution’s earliest naval battles erupted on the Hudson River. Looking across the water, families watched Patriot fireships drift toward two British warships while flashes of cannon fire illuminated the night sky. For nearly two hours, Patriot boats battled Royal Navy warships in a desperate attempt to drive away the British squadron. Today,...

RICHMOND (Town in Upstate NY) — A homeowner caught two burglars in his residence and held them at gunpoint until Ontario County Sheriff’s Office deputies could arrive, the sheriff’s office said Monday. Alexandria L. Mosher, 19, and Dominick J. Wood, 22, both of Lima, Livingston County, were charged Aug. 9 with second-degree burglary, a felony. Deputies responded to an Oneill Road home Sunday at 9 p.m. to check on a report of a burglary. The homeowner, seeing the car of the suspects in his driveway, shot out the tires of the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said. Upon hearing the shots,...

The NYPD is searching for a masked suspect seen on surveillance video vandalizing a church in Long Island City, Queens. What we know: Video shows the suspect jumping a fence into the courtyard of St. Rita's Roman Catholic Church on 11th Street, then taking a hammer from his pocket and smashing a Mother Mary statue. The statue was knocked off its pedestal and broke during the incident just after 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, police said. The suspect jumped back over the fence and fled the scene, police said. Local perspective: According to officials, this marked the fourth time since...

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A News10NBC investigation has uncovered payroll problems at a local tool and die shop, where some workers say they haven’t been paid in four weeks. Accurate Tools, located on Lyell Avenue, makes precision metal parts and components and employs about a dozen people. News10NBC reporter Brett Davidsen spoke with employees and the owner about the ongoing pay issues. “We work everyday, but we don’t get paid,” Bill Riesenberger said. “It started out as a day or two late, and then a week late, now it’s been up to 4 weeks late and there’s no end in sight.”...

The innocent 12-year-old son of a cop who was shot dead in the Bronx was identified early Sunday as Jacob Freytas — as heartbreaking video shows him collapsing in a bodega after running back in while clutching his chest. Freytas, of Mount Eden, was an innocent bystander when a stray bullet hit him in the chest during a fight outside a store on Elliott Place near the Grand Concourse, shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, cops said. Security video obtained by The Post shows Jacob leaving his bike outside the bodega to go in and buy a ball, before coming out...

NEW YORK, NY— New York City landlords are challenging the City’s first two-year rent freeze for regulated apartments, arguing the decision could make it harder for owners to maintain buildings as costs continue to rise. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by a group of small property owners, targets the Rent Guidelines Board’s June decision to keep rents unchanged for roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The owners claim the board ignored its own research and acted to fulfill Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign promise to “freeze the rent.” Small Property Owners of New York, whose members are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit,...

Friday marks as sad milestone. It was 30 years ago that TWA Flight 800 exploded in midair off of Long Island minutes after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport en route to Paris

Lacks the rich. New York’s share of US millionaires dramatically declined in recent years, causing a nearly $11 billion loss in much-needed tax revenue in just one year, according to a bombshell new analysis. The study released Monday by the Citizen Budget Commisison showed the Empire State’s share of the nation’s millionaires dipped from 12.7% to 8.7% between 2010 and 2022 – the largest decline of any state. “New York’s declining share of high-income taxpayers has meaningful consequences,” the analysis states. “Had New York maintained its share of the nation’s millionaires over the past decade, personal income tax collections would...

A resident of Hewlett, New York, has been accused of defrauding Medicaid out of more than $2.5 million through a scheme that denied children access to necessary nutritional products. Nduka Lewis Ekpenyong, 36, submitted over 6,000 Medicaid claims via his business, Duke Medical, Inc., for PediaSure with Peptides, a product he largely never actually procured, according to prosecutors. [snip] “Ekpenyong heartlessly charged Medicaid millions for pediatric formula that was never delivered, making it harder for kids to get the care they needed,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a post. “While Nduka Ekpenyong was buying luxury cars with...

A federal appeals court has revived a New York mother’s lawsuit against a public school that socially sex-transitioned her daughter without her knowledge or consent. Yesterday, the three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the lower court’s dismissal of her constitutional claims and remanded for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta. [snip] To recap briefly, New York mother Jennifer Vitsaxaki sued the Skaneateles Central School District in 2024, alleging school staff had treated her 12-year-old daughter “Jane” as a boy, referring to her by a new masculine name and new third-person...

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, bristled at fellow Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s growing clout after a slate of socialist candidates rode his endorsement to primary victories Tuesday night. "Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts, and are relatively new to the body politic," James, who famously prosecuted President Donald Trump on financial fraud charges, told CNN after the election results came...

A Long Island school clerk overseeing board of education elections tore up ballots and threw them in a dumpster to help her favorite candidate win, a newly revealed internal probe found. Hempstead Union Free School District Clerk April Keys allegedly rigged the May 19 trustee election by smuggling official ballots out of her office and handing absentee ballots to favored candidate Victor Pratt so he could trash them, according to a 51-page petition filed by the district with the state Education Department. Keys could now face criminal charges as the district is looking to overturn Pratt’s razor-thin win. “The Board...

President Trump cheered late Tuesday, after Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) lost his House primary to former New York City comptroller Brad Lander (D). “Weak and pathetic Congressman Dan Goldman just lost, BIG!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I guess people didn’t like him illegally targeting President TRUMP.” He added, “In any event, this jerk is finally GONE!” Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, was the lead majority counsel in House Democrats’ first impeachment inquiry against the president in 2019. Lander, with support from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), attacked the incumbent from the left....