Free Republic

It’s the blue state blues. Democratic strongholds New York and California will lose a combined six congressional seats after 2030 to the booming Sun Belt, according to an analysis of census figures released Tuesday. The Redistricting Network projected that New York state will lose two more seats in the House of Representatives in the next decade because of stagnant population growth, which critics say is more evidence of an Empire State in decline. And Americans are no longer California dreamin’ after decades of population growth — with the Golden State projected to lose four seats, the analysis said. By contrast,...

Two years ago, Zakia Khan and her son Ahsan Ijaz hosted an NYPD promotion ceremony for the first Pakistani inspector in the New York City police department. After an Imam recited a prayer and everyone, including NYPD personnel, rose and put their hands on their hearts for the Pakistani national anthem, hailing Pakistan as the ‘citadel of Islam’ in the “shadow of Allah.” Last year, Khan pleaded guilty to a $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme involving her adult day care centers, which had been the sponsors of the NYPD event, and earlier this year more members of the Muslim fraud...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's push to stop the bankruptcy sale of more than 5,000 rent-subsidized apartments in the city has been blocked, temporarily, by the federal courts. Mamdani, who was sworn into office last week, directed the city’s Law Department shortly after taking over City Hall to intervene in the bankruptcy proceedings of more than 90 buildings with apartments all owned by Pinnacle, a real estate group. The Mamdani administration says the company owes the city $12.7 million in unpaid fines for housing code violations. The company declared bankruptcy in May after defaulting on more than $560 million...

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Friday from cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding to five Democrat-led states over fraud concerns. New York District Judge Arun Subramanian, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued the 14-day temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by state attorneys general in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York – the states targeted by the Trump admin’s funding freeze. “This relief is preliminary in nature and is designed to protect the status quo while plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is...

Taking advantage of a generous New York state program to aid his ailing mother, Ballal Hossain signed up a dozen family members to work as her caregivers. Over six years, they were paid $348,000 to look after the elderly woman at a Manhattan apartment. Except the mom was in Bangladesh the entire time. Incredibly, Hossain got away with the fraud by having his brother pose as their sick mother for whenever inspectors showed up, before finally being caught. He was later sentenced for grand larceny, according to prosecutors. It’s just one egregious example of a welfare program — called the...

The Hochul administration is being accused of covering up crimes in prisons by downgrading attacks committed by inmates against guards as “harassment” or “disruptive behavior” instead of assaults. A bombshell Dec. 31, 2025 memo issued by the state Corrections Department’s deputy commissioner Michael D’Amore lays out examples of what constitutes an assault and what’s considered the lower classification of harassment or disruptive behavior. “The Department has redefined the Unusual Incident (UI) category, and created harassment as a reportable UI,” D’Amore said in the memo sent to all prison superintendents and watch commanders. For example, an inmate who rips off the...

This “block party” was a bust. Scores of Zohran Mamdani fans who braved freezing temperatures to celebrate the new mayor as he was publicly sworn into office Thursday were left disappointed by the bash the socialist pol had promised. Around 10,000 supporters stood outside City Hall during the event — billed as an “Inauguration for a New Era Block Party” by Mamdani’s staff — crammed into several barricaded pens without access to bathrooms or any food concession stands. “It’s definitely not a block party,” said Danny Mahabir, 30, an Astoria resident who told The Post he’d been expecting a mix...

New legislation would require schools to teach students about the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. According to the New York State Senate, the legislation will amend the Education Law to include instruction about the Jan. 6 insurrection as part of the state’s required courses regarding patriotism, citizenship, civic education and values, shared history of diversity, religious tolerance and human rights issues. The legislation, proposed by John C. Liu from New York’s 16th Senate District, is currently in the Senate’s Education Committee. If passed and signed into law, the amendment would take effect in July.

The U.S. Supreme Court has revived a lawsuit filed by a group of Amish parents against a New York state law that removes a religious exemption to school immunizations. In an orders list released Monday, the Supreme Court vacated a lower court ruling against the parents and other plaintiffs in the case of Joseph Miller et al. v. James McDonald et al. The case was sent back to the lower court for consideration in light of Mahmoud v. Taylor, a Supreme Court decision from June in which the high court ruled 6-3 that parents can opt their children out of...

(The Center Square) – The New York City Council has struck down Mayor Eric Adams' attempt to rein in a city-funded housing voucher program, saying it could cause rents to spike for thousands of low-income residents. More than 60,000 families rely on the CityFHEPS program to help pay their rent. Participants are required to pay 30% of their income toward it. Adams wanted to raise that to 40%, arguing the city needs to contain the program's costs, which rose to more than $1.25 billion last year. In November, Adams vetoed the council's bill rejecting the increase, saying it "would undermine...

A former longtime Drug Enforcement Administration agent who rose to help oversee the agency’s financial operations has been charged with agreeing to launder millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds for a Mexican drug cartel, according to an indictment unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The former agent, Paul Campo, worked for the DEA for about 25 years, the indictment said, first as a special agent in New York and eventually rising to become a high-level official — the deputy chief of the Office of Financial Operations. He retired in January 2016 and...

Repaired cracks cover the walls of every large New York Thruway rest stop near Rochester, according to a recent News10NBC investigation. The damage is visible at sites like Clarence, Pembroke, and Clifton Springs — all finished in 2023. The walls were built by Nexii, a Canadian company promoting eco-friendly materials. Applegreen, the Irish firm that rebuilt 27 rest stops with private funding, says the cracks aren’t a safety concern and repairs are ongoing. No toll or tax money funded the construction, officials confirmed.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on President Donald Trump to release $400 million in federal funds for the Home Energy Assistance Program. Governor Hochul said 1.5 million New Yorkers will rely on HEAP to help them heat their homes this winter. Hochul noted that, despite the government shutdown ending after 43 days, the longest hiatus in history, the Trump Administration has yet to release the funds. New York State will begin accepting HEAP applications on Nov. 24, but Hochul said that this will only be possible if the funding is provided. CNY Central spoke to one local...

Although the legal and clinical definitions may differ, popular conception defines “insanity” as repeating the same behavior and expecting different results. By that definition, leftist voters in New York City, California, and elsewhere recertified themselves as insane last week. Year after year, election after election, voters in “blue” cities and states follow the same recipe that has brought self-imposed economic and demographic decay for decades: bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation, unsustainable benefits, and sprawling public-sector obligations. They keep repeating their behavior, even as jobs evaporate, families leave, and businesses take investment elsewhere. Decades of left-leaning politicians and public policies...

A new analysis finds that the states of New York and New Jersey have lost billions of dollars from their tax base amid an exodus of residents in recent years. Unleash Prosperity released a report on Tuesday that found New York lost $517.5 billion in resident incomes from 2013 to 2022, while New Jersey lost $170.1 billion in that period, according to data from the Census Bureau and IRS. The report covers cumulative gains and losses in each state's resident income, as a mover takes their income to another state for subsequent years – not just the first year after...

Internal planning documents reveal that the Democratic Socialists of America is preparing to use its influence over newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani to advance an aggressive political program that reaches far beyond ordinary city governance and deep into socialist and anti-Israel activism. According to a leaked strategy file from the group’s Anti-War Working Group (AWWG), obtained by Just the News, the DSA intends to “make the terms clear going in” for Mamdani’s administration, explicitly linking its support to his willingness to carry out the organization’s agenda. Notes from internal meetings stress the need to “make it clear to electeds that...

In a tiny town called Tappan, NY sits the country's most revolutionary (and oldest) restaurant. Step back in time without leaving the metro area: tucked away in Tappan, New York, just 40 minutes from Manhattan, sits The ’76 House — America’s oldest restaurant. Though today it’s known for its Sunday brunches, candlelit dinners, and live music by the fire, this Revolutionary-era tavern was once the stage for one of the nation’s most dramatic spy stories. During the height of the war, The ’76 House served as the makeshift prison of Major John André, the British officer who conspired with Benedict...

The exodus from New York City has already begun. Within minutes of his mayoral win, dozens of parents in New York City began unenrolling their kids in NYC public schools, with plans to flee the city for other locations such as Connecticut. This is only going to get worse. As Mamdani puts his agenda into action, people are going to realize that they need to leave the city, which is only going to further depress the city’s tax base. The New York Post reports: Parents began planning to take their kids out of NYC schools minutes after Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral...

Curtis Houck @CurtisHouck: WATCH: @ScottJenningsKY unloads on Zohran Mamdani's long, angry victory speech: Oh, are you saying he didn't -- he wasn't the unifying voice of a generation that you predicted mere moments ago. Axe, where was the -- where was the man that you predicted would not slice and dice the -- guys, he started his speech by quoting Eugene Debs, who ran for president of the United States five times as the Socialist Party of America candidate. He repeatedly attacked people in this -- no, I know my socialists. I keep a close eye on them." "So, here's...

Ahead of NY elections.. 70% are non-White, 10% are Muslim. Some 70% are non-White 57% are Christians some 10% are Muslim (immigrant or children of (Arabs, Pakistanis/Bangla), etc.,