A Center for American Progress report warns that tougher eligibility rules for the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—rolled out nationwide in March and enshrined by 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act—could leave 2.4 million people a month …
With New York City facing a projected $5 billion deficit, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and local Democratic Socialists are pushing Albany to tax earners above $1 million by an extra 2%, while Governor Kathy Hochul, citing her “affordability agenda,” resists tweaking the top bracket. The alternative, a proposed 9.5% property tax hike, has property owners and seniors eyeing their deeds with considerably less cheer than usual.
Four major rating agencies, including Moody’s and S&P, now say New York City’s finances merit a “negative outlook,” warning that Mayor Mamdani’s plan to boost spending from $118 billion to $127 billion rests on hopes for $5 billion in state aid and unlikely property tax hikes. The city’s economic engine may need a tune-up—unfortunately, wishful thinking doesn’t fuel municipal coffers.
Documents reveal Harlem Hospital skipped its own promised weekly tests for Legionella ahead of last summer’s outbreak that killed seven and hospitalized 90 across Central Harlem—despite earlier warnings in June that a cooling tower was at risk. While regulators and hospital officials now debate whose rules matter most, we suspect patients would have preferred less regulatory hot air and more cold, clean water.
New York City’s plan to plug its $5.4 billion budget hole by raiding $1.2 billion in reserves drew fire from Comptroller Mark Levine, who warned that draining the rainy-day pot while the economic sun still shines may ensure a far wetter forecast next year. Former Governor David Paterson, meanwhile, noted that Florida, with a tighter belt and far more people, seems to keep its shoes dry.
As New York’s lawmakers spar over loosening mayoral control of the city’s public schools, we recall that when “everyone” ran the show—local boards, distant officials, and assorted patrons—few students graduated, and responsibility dissolved into finger-pointing. The current, centralized system lifted graduation rates above 80%, but nostalgia for the old days persists; perhaps memory, like the city budget, is always open to interpretation.
Donald Trump, faced with a tsunami of TSA staff shortages as the federal shutdown rumbles on, says he’s moving swiftly to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement take over key airport security duties—a creative stopgap, he claims, since apparently much of what agents do doesn’t require “specialized training.” We trust air travellers will draw their own conclusions about the joys of improvisation at 30,000 feet.
With Transportation Security Administration employees at major American airports unpaid since February due to a partial shutdown—thank a deadlocked Senate and duelling presidential priorities—Tom Homan, White House border tsar, confirmed that starting Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would pick up non-technical duties to speed lines. The public is promised efficiency, if not the aviation industry’s usual sense of calm before takeoff.
Tehran insists the Strait of Hormuz remains open to most international shipping, but not to vessels from America or Israel—an unsubtle rejoinder to Donald Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum demanding full access. Iran’s ambassador Ali Musavi assured cooperation with the International Maritime Organization, while threatening tit-for-tat strikes if U.S. forces target Iran’s infrastructure. Given Hormuz’s pivotal oil role, it appears everyone but “enemies” gets passage—or at least a reasonably polite inspection.
