Happy Wednesday in New York City! A mayor may not have the power to enforce their agenda by creating brand new laws, but they can accomplish something similar by choosing which laws to enforce. For Zohran Mamdani, that process begins right now.
One week into his mayoral tenure, Mamdani decided to take on the ticketing and subscription industry. Mayor Mamdani announced at a press conference outside a gym in Long Island City that he would direct the Department of Consumer and Worker Protections to crack down on companies that add last-minute charges and hidden fees by creating a new Junk Fee Task Force.
A procession of speakers took to the mic during the press conference to lambast a laundry list of companies for their deceptive charging practices, including Uber, GrubHub, Amazon and TicketMaster. For his part, Mamdani focused on the 2026 World Cup and Taylor Swift.
“When you scrimp and save for a Taylor Swift concert that you have been looking forward to all year, only for a massive corporation to add hundreds of dollars at the final moment, that is disrespect.”
Something tells me our mayor has been burned before.
Mayor Mamdani instructed the Department of Homeless Services on Monday to come up with a plan by mid-February to phase out what remains of the city’s migrant shelter system and bring the remaining facilities into compliance with prior laws.
Yesterday, Mayor Mamdani swore in 31-year FDNY veteran Lillian Bonsignore as commissioner of the Fire Department of New York.
An ambulance crash in East New York on Sunday night left the vehicle overturned and four people injured.
Starting Jan. 9, the MTA is adding the B63 and B11 bus routes to its automated camera enforcement program. The program fines vehicles improperly using busways and bus lanes, blocking bus stops or illegally double-parking.
The city government requires tenants to complete and return the Protect Your Child From Lead Poisoning and Window Falls Annual Notice by Feb. 15, 2026.
For the third year in a row, enrollment increased at CUNY community colleges. In total, CUNY welcomed 9,000 more students this year.
A Silver Alert was issued for Calvert Constantine, a 67-year-old black male who went missing near the vicinity of Troy Avenue and Avenue H in Brooklyn. Anyone who finds him should contact the 63rd precinct.
Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose legal name is Daniel Hernandez, turned himself in for a three-month sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center after pleading guilty to violating the terms of his supervised release.
La La Anthony put her 5,582-square-foot Clinton Hill townhouse on the market for $8.5 million. The property includes a dedicated glam room.
Our World In Photos
Photo: Ivan Valencia/AP
COLOMBIA — An idea before its time — ancient celebration symbolizing liberation, identity, and the cycle of life: Revelers take part in the Black and White Carnival, recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, in Pasto, Colombia, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. Begun in 1546, this festival celebrated cultural unity — particularly the differences in color of skin — centuries before other civilizations learned to incorporate it.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
RFK Jr. guts the US childhood vaccine schedule despite its decades-long safety record
Dr. Robert Malone chairs a meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 to consider changes in hepatitis B vaccine recommendations for infants. Photo: Ben Gray/AP
The Trump administration’s overhauling of the U.S. childhood immunization schedule, announced by federal health officials on Jan. 5, has raised alarm among public health experts and pediatricians. The schedule recommends a set of vaccines given from birth through adolescence to prevent a range of serious infections. The basic structure has been in place since 1995, when federal health officials and medical organizations first issued a unified national standard, though new vaccines have been added regularly as science advanced.
🔎 Today’s dangerous crossing
As whale populations rebound near New York Harbor, so do collisions with ships
Whales are increasingly colliding with ships in one of the nation’s busiest maritime corridors. As humpbacks and other endangered species of whale rebound in population and linger near the harbor to feed, they face a rising danger of being hit by a ship.
The latest casualty, a dead whale found on the bow of a container ship docked in New Jersey, is under investigation. Authorities were working Tuesday to remove the carcass and determine the endangered animal’s cause of death.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday confirmed its enforcement office has opened an investigation into the death but declined to comment further. It said anyone with information about the dead whale should call the agency’s hotline.
The deceased animal is believed to be a fin whale between 25 and 30 feet long. The endangered species is known to swim in waters from southern New Jersey to the New York City area.
Populations of the massive mammals have gradually recovered in the Atlantic Ocean thanks to conservation efforts after becoming nearly extinct from commercial hunting. At the same time, cleaner waterways, rising fish stocks and warmer temperatures have drawn the whales closer to New York’s shores, instead of to waters further north. The city’s dense boat traffic has since led to more strikes and entanglements.
Cargo volumes and vessel traffic have climbed since the pandemic, while federal efforts to tighten speed limits and protections have stalled or been rolled back, according to The New York Times.
Conservation groups and boaters are testing fixes, from AI-assisted cameras to training sessions for boaters and industry professionals on recognizing whales, but researchers warn that the risks remain high.
The Mini
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Cartoon Sketchbook
By Harley Schwadron
For the Road
Reverse Reverse: Casa Azul, a beloved Oaxacan-style Mexican restaurant in Park Slope, announced that it is, in fact, not closing. The restaurant announced in early December that New Year’s Eve would be its final day of operations. After lease changes, the restaurant will remain open and continue to serve diners. Learn more.
Happy Birthday to “Footloose” singer Kenny Loggins.
On This Day in 1912, the Eagle reported, “Trade between the United States and South America in the calendar year just ended was practically $300,000,000 in value, a total in excess of that of any earlier year.”
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