Free Republic

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa has claimed that then-Mayor Bill de Blasio deliberately failed to deploy enough cops during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in New York City because he feared violent clashes between the NYPD and protesters would embarrass him. Like many other issues, how to handle the protests that erupted over the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota triggered disagreements between Cuomo and de Blasio, recounts DeRosa in her forthcoming memoir, “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.” “We learned that a high-ranking member of the police...

Manhattan-Brooklyn congressional candidate Yuh-Line Niou has endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel in her platform — provoking condemnation from a leading opponent and the head of the state Democratic Party. Niou, a state assemblywoman who represents Chinatown and the Lower East Side, is running for an open seat in the 10th Congressional District that takes in brownstone Brooklyn, parts of heavily orthodox-Jewish Borough Park and downtown Manhattan. Yuh-Line Niou endorses boycott of Israel in crowded NY Congress race By Carl Campanile July 11, 2022 8:36pm Updated Yuh-Line Niou campaign video Manhattan-Brooklyn congressional candidate Yuh-Line Niou has endorsed...

Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is running for Congress, he announced Friday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." De Blasio, a 61-year-old Democrat who served as New York City mayor from 2014 to 2021, will run in New York's newly drawn 10th Congressional District. "Joe, the polls show people are hurting. They need help," de Blasio told MSNBC's Joe Scarborough. "They need help fast. And they need leaders who can actually get them help now and know how to do it. I do know how to do it from years of serving the people of this city. And so...

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday accused scandal-scarred foe Gov. Andrew Cuomo of lifting coronavirus restrictions based on his “political needs” — after the governor defied the mayor to reopen indoor fitness classes in New York City. “I want to ask a question — is this being done because of what the data and science is telling us or is this being done for political reasons?” de Blasio railed during a City Hall press briefing. “Cause it sure as hell looks like a lot of these decisions are being made by the governor because of his political needs.” De Blasio’s...

Over the past three years, dozens of cities across the country have banned natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings as part of a growing campaign to reduce carbon emissions from homes. The movement scored a major victory last month, when New York City’s outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law a ban on gas hookups in new buildings. Though new laws apply to the entire home, the policy debate often focuses on one room in particular: the kitchen. Gas stoves account for a relatively small share of the emissions released by a typical household, but they’ve become a...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said he would decide soon whether to run for governor after his second term as mayor ends. De Blasio, who is in his final week as mayor and is barred from running for a third four-year stint, said he’s focused on fighting the coronavirus pandemic in his final days in office but could make a decision shortly after.

On Friday’s “CNN Tonight,” New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams (D) said that “temporarily shutting down the schools” in areas of the city that have large coronavirus outbreaks is “smart, it’s a great way to go, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that there could be lockdowns again without widespread “tough” vaccine mandates like the one he implemented in New York City. De Blasio said, “Look, right now, here’s what I fear. Omicron is here. It’s all over the country. This variant moves fast. We have to move faster. I’ll tell you what I hear from our business community that their greatest fear is shutdowns. Their greatest fear is going back to where we were in 2020 to restrictions, to people losing their livelihood. You mentioned unemployment....

Judge Frank P. Nervo on Tuesday issued a temporary stay on Bill de Blasio's vaccine mandate for city employees De Blasio's order was issued on October 20, and all city employees - except uniformed correction officers - had until October 29 to get their first dose Staff were given a $500 bonus for getting vaccinated: if they refused, they were placed on unpaid leave The mandate applied to 160,500 city workers, of whom 71 per cent had already been vaccinated Last month reports suggested that 9,000 city workers, representing 5.6pc of the work force, were put on leave for failing...

Bill de Blasio has managed in less than a decade to inflict as much damage on New York City as multiple Democrat mayors did in the 1960s through the 1980s. He's the overachiever of awful. And with his administration winding down in a matter of weeks, he decided to lob one more bomb at his beleaguered city. The mayor announced that any children over five who wish to participate in indoor activities must be double-vaccinated. And if attacking NYC's children isn't bad enough, he also mandated that all private-sector workers must be vaccinated by December 27. It's all in the...

Mayor Bill de Blasio sprang a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on all private businesses in New York City on Monday — drawing immediate rebuke from trade groups, New York office workers and some fellow elected officials who said the backbone of the Big Apple was “blindsided” by the stunning move. De Blasio, whose mayoralty ends at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, labeled making vaccines compulsory for private businesses a “pre-emptive strike” against an expected surge in COVID infections this winter amid the emergence of the Omicron variant. ... Kathryn Wylde, head of the business group Partnership for NYC,...

Incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams can’t get into office quickly enough when it comes to his pledge to restore law and order and beef up the NYPD. After eight long years of Bill de Blasio running the police into the ground, some of the officers aren’t waiting around to see if things are going to improve under Adams. Quite a few of them have continued to either take early retirement or simply quit the force and head out in search of greener pastures. And a bunch of them have already landed in a new home that’s far away...

Three armed suspects reportedly used the subway to commit a multi-borough robbery spree on Thursday, allegedly victimizing four individuals in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the New York Post reported Saturday. The incident began just prior to 8:00 p.m. at the Lafayette Avenue station in downtown Brooklyn, according to law enforcement. Video footage showed the suspects, one wearing a yellow hoodie and yellow shoes, another in what appeared to be a black hoodie and white shoes, and another individual wearing a dark colored hoodie and red shoes. The Post article continued: The masked suspects approached a 33-year-old man on the C train,...

A man stood atop the Brooklyn Bridge Wednesday with a flag reading, "F*** Biden," initiating chants from protesters. The man led protesters in chanting, "F*** Joe Biden," as the crowd, holding American flags and signs, marched over the bridge during a demonstration against vaccine mandates, a tweet containing a video of the event says. **SNIP** New York Mayor Bill De Blasio has imposed strict vaccine mandates on the city, prompting fierce pushback from residents in some cases. De Blasio has previously pleaded with New Yorkers to comply with his mandate, saying that getting the vaccine will allow people “to enjoy...

The deadline for New York City firefighters to get vaccinated was yesterday. Enforcement of the vaccine mandate is anticipated to begin Monday. Today, the New York Post is reporting that 26 FDNY firehouses are currently closed due to short staffing directly related to the vaccine mandate. But the vaccine mandate is all about the public health, right? New York – The FDNY shut down 26 firehouses across the Big Apple as of 7:30 a.m. Saturday because of staff shortages caused by the vaccination mandate, The Post has learned. […] “Twenty six companies out of service is an unconscionable number,” said...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he expects to see a rise in vaccinations among municipal workers in line with his mandate, telling reporters that the “human reality” is city employees will decide to get the shot rather than face unpaid leave. De Blasio made the remarks during an Oct. 28 press conference, on the eve of a looming Oct. 29 deadline for municipal workers to receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with no testing opt-out, or face being sent home without pay starting Monday, Nov. 1. Thousands of municipal workers took to the streets...

NEW YORK (AP) — Mounting trash. Closed firehouses. Fewer police and ambulances on the street. That’s the possibility New York City is bracing for come Monday as a COVID-19 vaccine mandate looms and thousands of municipal workers remain unwilling to get the shots. Police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and most other city workers faced a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to show proof they’ve gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Workers who don’t comply will be put on unpaid leave starting Monday. Mayor Bill de Blasio held firm on the mandate even as tempers flared on Friday with...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) on Thursday said he is “not having second thoughts” about mandating vaccines for first responders and other city workers ahead of Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline. He predicted many will get vaccinated anyway “once they really realize that they’re not going to get paid.” When asked about the likelihood of shortages of city workers Monday — from sanitation workers to first responders — the Democrat mayor made it clear he has no regrets.

A 29-year-old man accused of trying to strangle an 11-year-old girl in a Manhattan park was arraigned and released on $7,500 bail on Saturday night.Nathaniel Direnzo, of Saint Marks Place, was arrested on Saturday morning for a bizarre, broad-daylight attack on the young girl and another minor on Wednesday afternoon.

Mayor Bill de Blasio paid tribute to Colin Powell, who died Monday from COVID-19 complications, saying the Harlem-born first black secretary of state exemplified the best of the Big Apple and made New Yorkers “very proud.” “General Powell served this nation with just tremendous distinction,” he said Monday morning during his daily press briefing, held remotely in City Hall. De Blasio noted Powell’s “absolute classic New York City story” of being born to Jamaican immigrants, growing up in Harlem and The Bronx and graduating from Morris High School before attending City College of New York. “Just an absolute great example...