State lawmakers are set to include Sammy’s Law in the forthcoming state budget, allowing New York City to lower its speed limit to 20 miles per hour, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday. Hochul confirmed during an unrelated news conference in Manhattan Thursday afternoon that the measure would make it into the budget, which has still not been finalized nearly three weeks after it was due. In her remarks, Hochul noted that she is not keen on the fact that local speed limits, in New York City and elsewhere, are up to Albany rather than the localities themselves. “It should be up to localities. So ..read more

Around fifty restaurant and small business owners from Corona, Jackson Heights, and East Elmhurst signed a letter asking state Senator Jessica Ramos to support the $8 billion Metropolitan Park proposal from New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International to build a casino and entertainment complex on the parking lot adjacent to Citi Field. Jessica Rico, the owner of Mojitos Restaurant & Bar in Jackson Heights, hand-delivered the letter to a Ramos staffer while the Senator was in Albany on April 19. Jessica Rico, owner of Mojitos Restaurant & Bar in Jackson Heights, poses fo ..read more

Columbia University played host to a historic moment Thursday afternoon as the NYPD arrested students on the campus’ great lawn, making it the first time people were placed in cuffs on the grounds since 1968. Cops in riot gear led by Police Commissioner Edward Caban, Chief of Patrol John Chell, and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry descended upon the encampment. Thousands looked on in fury and hostility, booing and chanting, “No pigs on campus.” Cops in riot gear led by top cop Edward Caban, Chief of Patrol John Chell, and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry descended u ..read more

The two alleged Kips Bay squatters accused of brutally murdering a woman and stuffing her body inside a duffel bag left in her apartment last month have been indicted on second-degree murder charges, prosecutors announced Thursday. Kensly Alston, 18, and Halley Tejada, 19, are accused of killing Nadia Vitels, who apparently walked in on them squatting inside the residence on East 31st Street on March 12. The pair had fled following the homicide to Pennsylvania, where they were eventually picked up earlier this month. Alston and Tejada were since indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-de ..read more

When a New Yorker battling lung cancer visited his pharmacy to pick up his inhaler that for years had allowed him to breathe, he was shocked to learn it was no longer covered by his insurance. He was forced instead to use an alternative. When it proved ineffective, leaving him gasping for air, he tried yet another, with similar results. Ultimately, he was forced to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket for the medication his doctor had prescribed.  If you or your loved ones have had similar experiences at the pharmacy counter, it’s important you understand who’s responsible. At the center ..read more

A group of Bed-Stuy tenants are asking for a court-appointed executive to replace their landlord, alleging they have been “effectively abandoned” to deal with issues of vermin infestations, persistent roof leaks, as well as inadequate heat and janitorial services, according to recent Housing Court filings. Six of the nine tenants residing at 201 Pulaski St. are seeking to have the non-profit Food First Housing Development Fund Company, Inc replaced by the courts through the city’s 7A program, which appoints an administrator to take over ownership of a dangerous building to ensure repairs are m ..read more

The City Council approved on Thursday a measure that would legalize casinos in certain corners of the five boroughs — though over a dozen lawmakers voted against it. The council passed the “Gaming Facility Text Amendment,” which Mayor Eric Adams’ administration introduced last year in conjunction with council leadership, by a 35 to 15 vote on April 18. The city’s legislature had approved the plan after it cleared the City Planning Commission last month. The zoning changes would make it possible to open casinos in certain commercial and manufacturing districts across the Big Apple, as the gamin ..read more

The children crumple and fall to the stage, victims of King Herod’s assassins. Then the Virgin Mary, in a voice brimming with anguish and outrage, memorializes the student protesters who were massacred by Mexican armed forces in 1968. This is “El Nino,” a retelling of the birth and early life of Jesus through a mix of biblical verses and modern Latin American poetry, medieval texts and apocrypha. Set to music by John Adams from a libretto compiled by him and Peter Sellars, it is having its Metropolitan Opera premiere nearly a quarter-century after it was first performed in ..read more

Police are searching for the suspect who fatally stabbed a teenager after getting involved in a verbal dispute — allegedly over a parking spot — in the Bronx on Thursday morning. Police from the 46th Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a person stabbed near Inwood Avenue and Featherbed Lane in Mount Eden at approximately 8:23 a.m. on April 18. Upon their arrival, officers were told that a 19-year-old man — later identified as Dominic Aguilera, of Featherbed Lane — was stabbed in the chest after getting into a verbal dispute with another man, whose identity remains unknown. Reports indic ..read more

Police are searching for the suspect who fatally stabbed a teenager after getting involved in a verbal dispute — allegedly over a parking spot — in the Bronx on Thursday morning. Police from the 46th Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a person stabbed near Inwood Avenue and Featherbed Lane in Mount Eden at approximately 8:23 a.m. on April 18. Upon their arrival, officers were told that a 19-year-old man — later identified as Dominic Aguilera, of Featherbed Lane — was stabbed in the chest after getting into a verbal dispute with another man, whose identity remains unknown. Reports indic ..read more