Tag: new york

Hantavirus Case Reported at NY High School Not Linked to Deadly Cruise Ship Outbreak

Health officials in Ontario County, New York, are investigating a suspected case of hantavirus involving a student at Geneva High School, just after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship sparked international concerns about a COVID-2.0 scenario.

According to health officials, the case is not connected to the rare Andes strain that killed three passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship and prompted the quarantine of 18 Americans, including three New Yorkers.

Officials emphasize this is a locally acquired infection typical of the hantavirus strains already present in the United States, and there is no evidence of risk to other students, staff, or the general public.

The Ontario County Department of Health received the alert Thursday morning.

Geneva City Schools sent a letter to parents Friday afternoon confirming the investigation and reassuring families that the situation poses no threat to the school community.

“The Ontario County Department of Health is investigating a suspected case of locally acquired hantavirus involving a Geneva High School student,” the district said in the announcement. “The Department of Health has advised that there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff related to this situation. Health officials have also emphasized that this situation is not tied to the hantavirus strain currently receiving national media attention.”

Ontario County Public Health Director Kate Ott described the timing as “horrible” given the ongoing national attention to the cruise ship outbreak, but stressed that the student’s symptoms have been mild fatigue, aches, and lethargy for several weeks, according to a report from local station WHAM.

“We thought surely this can’t be Hantavirus in relation to what’s going on in the media at this time,” Ott said.

“The case is mild, and hantavirus is not always mild,” Ott added. “It can be really severe, so we’re really grateful for that.”

She noted this is only the second suspected hantavirus case in Ontario County in the past two decades.

The student is not required to quarantine.

Officials are urging residents to take standard precautions when cleaning areas that may have rodent droppings, such as attics, cabins, sheds, and garages, by wearing masks and gloves and wetting down debris before sweeping to avoid aerosolizing particles.

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Hochul forks over another $4B to bail out Mamdani’s NYC budget woes as she faces intense election pressure

Look what the Kat dragged in.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a whopping $124.7 billion executive budget for New York City on Tuesday – built on the back of $4 billion in funny money from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The governor’s bailout – announced hours before the city budget’s reveal – was quickly criticized as a fiction used to help out her reluctant ally Mamdani as she faces re-election and pressure to appease the lefty mayor’s comrades.

Mamdani, for his part, got to save face by backing away from his months-old threats to impose a nearly 10% property tax hike and drain the city’s reserves to help close a reputed $5.4 billion budget gap – both of which he warned would be necessary if his “tax the rich” dreams evaporated.

“Only fools believed our young mayor would follow through on a property tax hike and service cuts as his first act,” a New York City Democratic strategist said.

“The threat was tactical chess. The Governor blinked, so the gambit worked but he may have bankrupted his own credibility in the process.”

The supposed state assistance largely consisted of kick-the-can measures delaying massive spending, namely a move to restructure $2.2 billion in pension plan payments.

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Communist Mamdani’s Latest Redistribution Scheme: Tax On All New York Homes Over $1 Million Bought With Cash

Two days ago crestfallen commie mayor Zohran Mamdani abandoned his desperate plan to aggressively hike property taxes (even more) on New Yorkers following unprecedented pushback (but not before earning the former capitalist mecca a credit rating downgrade warning from most rating agencies). However, since communists who are not redistributing wealth (eventually under the barrel of a gun) are useless communists, it only took Mamdani administration 48 hours before pitching his latest idea how to take: according to Bloomberg, New York lawmakers are planning a new tax on New York City homes purchased in cash for at least $1 million.  The lawmakers are also considering expanding the tax to all-cash purchases over $1 million in New York, including those in the suburbs and upstate.

The New York City levy alone is expected to raise $160 million to help fill the city’s budget hole. The proposed tax would be levied at 1% of the purchase price and would be paid by the buyer, according to the people. 

A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul said she “announced a general agreement with the State Legislature on many of the major elements of the FY 2027 Budget. The final budget bills will provide additional details.”

All-cash transactions have risen in New York as soaring mortgage costs have deterred financing, and instead buyers opt to be hit with capital gains taxes and liquidated other securities to fund real estate purchases. They are also an attractive option for sellers in New York City’s ultra-competitive real estate market as it’s faster than dealing with the lengthy mortgage approval process, and less likely to fall through.

Such purchases made up more than 60% of the nearly 18,000 transactions in New York City in the first six months of 2025, according to data compiled by the Center for New York City Neighborhoods. The report found that in Manhattan, nine out of 10 purchases over $3 million were done in all-cash transactions between January and June of 2025.

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said the tax would be included in the final budget as “part of the plan to help close the city’s deficit.” State Senator James Skoufis, who sits on the chamber’s finance committee, also said in an interview the new levy was discussed.

Mamdani unveiled his $124.7 billion budget plan for the fiscal year that starts on July 1 that includes more assistance from Albany. He is also counting on funds from a proposed tax on second homes worth more than $5 million that state and city lawmakers are still figuring out how to implement. Hochul said the state will send $4 billion in new aid to the city to help close the budget hole.

“New Yorkers are already the most heavily taxed residents in the country, and the city’s budget issues will not be solved by more taxes,” said James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. He said that the new proposal would further burden home buyers and sellers in the city and threaten existing revenue. 

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Mamdani Brags He Eliminated NYC’s $12 Billion Budget Deficit, But Then a New York Outlet Dug Into the Numbers

On Tuesday morning, New York City’s ultra-progressive mayor, Zohran Mamdani, took to X to take quite a boastful victory lap.

“When we came into office, we uncovered a $12 billion budget deficit,” Mamdani posted to X. “Today, I’m proud to say we brought it down to zero.”

“We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people,” he continued. “We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets and making historic investments in public housing. Call it Pothole Politics. Call it Democratic Socialism. It’s government that delivers for the people who make this city run.”

“That’s what New Yorkers deserve. And that’s what we will keep fighting for every single day.”

In a vacuum, this certainly sounded like it should’ve been a good Tuesday for NYC residents. But shortly after Mamdani’s post went up, the New York Post came out with a blistering rebuttal of Mamdani’s claims — and a much closer look at the numbers that Mamdani largely avoided delving into.

Blasted for including “a menu of hidden fee hikes” in his budget plan, the outlet pointed out that this deficit “fix” from Mamdani was anything but.

And notably, some of the harshest criticisms lobbied against Mamdani came from a fellow Democrat.

“Banking on yet to be determined revenue-raising gimmicks and identifying fake savings are not wins,” an unnamed Democratic operative told the New York outlet.

The operative savagely added, “This budget plan is as real as Kim Kardashian’s lips.”

So why is this budget plan so inauthentic?

Critics argue that the holes in Mamdani’s budget vision become glaringly obvious once you look beyond the lofty rhetoric and into the actual revenue proposals being floated by City Hall.

According to city budget documents cited by the New York Post, officials are eyeing a laundry list of new fees, fines, and enforcement crackdowns to help plug fiscal gaps.

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Democratic Socialism Works! Leftists Go Nutty for Mamdani After He ‘Balances’ the NYC Budget

Well, friends, if you support President Donald Trump and oppose the left, the game is up. He’s done it. Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s bright young communist mayor, has balanced the city’s budget without raising taxes or cutting a dime from social services. Leftists already loved him for being a Muslim, a migrant, and an America-hating Marxist, and now they love him all the more, for don’t you see, he has proven, in the teeth of racist, xenophobic, far-right opposition, that socialism works!

If you believe that, I have a very fine bridge that would make a lovely addition to your backyard, and it’s extremely reasonably priced. But over at Threads, Mark Zuckerberg’s leftist facsimile of Elon Musk’s X, they’re in full celebratory mode, and from the looks of things, the champagne is flowing freely. One leftist laid out the sober (alleged) facts: “They called him a communist. Said he’d destroy New York. 131 days in he balanced a $12 billion deficit without cutting a single service. This is what we’ve been asking for.” Another responded: “This is exactly what they were afraid of. He’s proving that it can be done and all their fear mongering is just bulls**t.”

Many leftists were sure that Mamdani had performed this particular trick by doing what patriots refuse to do: soaking the rich the way they deserved to be soaked. One wanted even more: “i’m sorry am i getting this right? NYC Mayor Mamdani taxed wealthy people on properties they own if they don’t live in them, it balanced the city’s multi-billion dollar budget immediately, and all the wealthy people are still wealthy? am i getting this right? they’re still wealthy, right? and no middle or lower financial earners saw any additional tax? am i getting this correct?” In a word, no, but don’t let me spoil the party.

The reality, as the New York Post explained Wednesday, is that New York City’s budget is “only ‘balanced’ with gimmicks that guarantee oceans more red ink in the years ahead. With a late assist from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s own flim-flammery, the new, $124.7 billion Mamdani spending plan relies on one-time cash infusions, postponed payments and dubious calculations of future tax windfalls and theoretical savings.”

Hochul helped out by giving the city $4 billion, so Mamdani’s balanced budget is indeed a triumph of socialism: the city is solvent not because it spends responsibility and within its means, but because it got a handout. As long as the handouts keep coming in and Mamdani can keep on spending other people’s money, everything will be fine.

A crash is coming, however. City Comptroller Mark Levine explained that Mamdani’s “balanced” budget “‘relies on $2.8 billion in one-time measures’ and short-term savings, without addressing ‘the fact that City government continues to spend more than we take in, even in a year of record revenues.’” One day the money is going to run out. Mamdani can hope that he will be out of office by then and can blame someone else. One Threads user tried to sound a note of caution amid all the celebrations: “I am a Mamdani supporter and proud leftist. Please understand that he did this by delaying funding pensions, which has historically been a disastrous way to kick the can down the road.”

But the can is kicked, and so for the time being, Mamdani can bask in the glory of an accomplishment that he didn’t really accomplish. Another Threads leftist rejoiced in this triumph of socialism: “Mamdani socialist a** is on these other politicians NECKS honey. Balanced the budget. Banned ICE. Created a snow shoveling workforce, handled two storms, filled thousands of potholes, extended free childcare, opened an office for deed theft, held numerous town halls for tenant rights. Got the city to engage civically in multiple initiatives. He’s even killing it on social. lol.”

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Democrat State Assembly Candidate May Be Kicked Off Primary Ballot After 90% of Her 5,258 Total Signatures Were Invalidated By City Board of Elections

Democrat State Assembly candidate Marie Mirville-Shahzada and her slate of Democratic district leaders in New York may be kicked off the ballot after the city Board of Elections invalidated 90% of her 5,258 total signatures.

Mirville-Shahzada is running for the New York State Assembly in District 46, which covers parts of Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Coney Island.

Signatures were invalidated for a variety of reasons, including the inclusion of two dead Brooklyn voters as well as voters who do not live in the district or were not even registered to vote.

Per the rules for appearing on the ballot, candidates must provide signatures of at least 500 verified voters for the district in question in order to run for Assembly.

After the city’s assessment, Mirville-Shahzada has been left with only 479 verified signatures.

Per a New York Post exclusive:

A review of signature petitions by The Post confirmed that at least two signatures are of dead voters while a third signature is from a woman whose family said she wasn’t even in the Big Apple on the day she allegedly put her John Hancock on the form.

Despite records showing both voters would be over 100 years old and that they passed away more than a decade ago, fresh ink was signed last month to support Mirville-Shahzada’s bid to get into the party primary.

And 99-year-old Lucia Gelbfish’s family said she didn’t sign the petition either and that her “blood pressure would go through the roof” if she knew her signature had been used fraudulently.

Her Democrat appointment, Chris McCreight, said in a statement, “This is why people lose faith in government, because you have people running for office who are willing to lie and cheat because they can’t compete by following the rules.”

“It’s dead wrong and should not be tolerated when anybody, of any party, does it.”

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Brooklyn Turns Into War Zone as Over 180 Bullets Fly in Shocking Gang Shootouts Caught on Camera

Brooklyn has once again become a symbol of what happens when law and order take a back seat to political correctness and soft-on-crime experiments, as reported by the New York Post.

In a horrifying display of urban warfare, rival street gangs exchanged more than 180 rounds in broad daylight across several neighborhoods, leaving blood on the pavement and fear in the hearts of residents.

The footage shown by prosecutors looked more like scenes from a war documentary than the supposed “safest big city in America.”

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch revealed disturbing videos of these brazen shootouts while announcing the arrests of 15 suspected gang members.

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New Yorkers ‘Stunned’ as Mamdani Admin’s Orders ‘Ruined’ Mothers Day for Countless Families

It’s telling when you finally find a rich person or moneyed entity that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani can get behind.

Sure, he’ll berate Citadel hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin outside Griffin’s home with a video touting new property taxes, even though it wasn’t terribly far from where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was assassinated not long ago.

And sure, he’s the kind of guy who talks about the city’s hemorrhaging of wealthy New Yorkers due to his tax policies as an “imagined exodus.”

But at least the infamously leftist mayor knows where to draw the line: He’ll let Hollywood millionaires ruin Mother’s Day for everyone who wanted to go in or around New York City’s Chinatown to let a studio film a movie.

According to the New York Post, Mamdani’s office issued filming permits for “A Quiet Place 3” for Sunday in the historic neighborhood, where residents “were jolted awake with predawn sounds of explosions and had to navigate traffic and parking chaos all day.”

“Residents were left not-so-quietly fuming at the Mamdani administration for issuing permits to Paramount Pictures to film the blockbuster sequel on the special day, gobbling up parking spots on a dozen streets and creating a Mother’s Day madhouse in the neighborhood,” the paper reported.

One woman, who crossed into the movie set with her daughter as a protest, decried the disruption.

“My Mother’s Day is terrible because they’ve blocked the whole f***ing place. It’s already ruined,” she told the newspaper.

A man who spoke to reporters wasn’t much happier.

“This is unexpected and annoying. I just want to get home so I can cook for my wife,” he said.

And this wasn’t an ordinary disruption put upon by billionaire moguls and millionaire actors and directors, either.

At 4 a.m., the whole shindig began with military vehicles and fake weapons lining up around the neighborhood.

By the time Mother’s Day brunches were beginning hours later, the filming had congested traffic around the intersection of Bowery and Canal Street — the heart of the district — making it difficult to reach the not-insignificant number of restaurants there.

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Teen Girl Raped in NYC After Uber Driver Skipped ID Check, Attacker Had Just Completed Soft on Crime ‘Alternative-to-Prison’ Program for Criminals Under 27-Years-Old

A 16-year-old girl from Long Island was allegedly raped, filmed, and terrorized in Brooklyn after an Uber driver picked her up without checking her ID, delivering her straight into the hands of a 26-year-old repeat offender who had just completed a lenient “alternative to incarceration” program designed for criminals under 27.

The horrifying March attack took place in Bushwick after the victim had been communicating with rapist Ralfy Figueroa on Snapchat since at least January.

Figueroa allegedly paid her $35 for a nude photo, to which she sent a fake image from the internet, and later used threats to lure her into meeting him.

On the day of the assault, Figueroa sent chilling Snapchat messages, including, “You have to, I know your address. Confirm your address, if you don’t, I’m gonna hurt you and your family.”

The terrified teen got into an Uber from her Long Island home, which was sent by her attacker.

The driver never asked for identification, in clear violation of Uber’s own policies for unaccompanied minors under 18.

The New York Post reports:

Uber bars strangers from calling for rides for passengers under 18, and youngsters are not supposed to ride alone, unless they have a specific account intended for teenagers, according to the company.

“When picking up riders, if you feel they are underage, you may request they provide a driver’s license or ID card for confirmation. If a rider is underage, please do not start the trip or allow them to ride,” according to the company’s web site.

But instead of ending the ride, the driver brought the victim to Bushwick and dropped her off without making sure she was safe or with a guardian, allegedly breaking another tenet of Uber’s policies regarding youngsters.

There, she met Figueroa, who allegedly forced her into his car and sexually assaulted her.

According to the criminal complaint, he demanded oral sex, offered her $1,000 if she complied, continued the assault until she vomited, filmed the entire act, and threatened to send people to her home while claiming he had guns.

Afterward, Figueroa called another Uber to send her home, but canceled it once she was inside the vehicle, leaving her stranded.

At the time of the attack, Figueroa had just completed a program called Cases ROAR (Reframing Opportunities, Alternatives and Resilience), a court-mandated alternative to incarceration run by the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) for 16 to 27-year-olds facing misdemeanor or felony charges.

Figueroa was placed in the program as part of a plea deal after a July arrest for selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer in Bushwick, a crime that was not bail-eligible.

Figueroa was arrested shortly after the March assault and charged with first-degree rape. He pleaded not guilty and is being held at Rikers Island on $100,000 bail.

The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor has already requested a hearing to revoke his plea deal in the earlier drug case, which could send him to prison for up to nine years.

“We have requested a hearing to determine whether defendant Ralfy Figueroa has violated the terms of his plea to felony and misdemeanor narcotics charges and should immediately be sentenced on those charges,” spokesperson Kati Cornell told the Post.

The victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against Uber, claiming the driver’s failure to follow basic safety protocols directly enabled the assault.

The lawsuit states the girl “did not understand the danger of the situation” and that the company’s lax enforcement left her vulnerable.

“My daughter has told me that, if the videos of the assault were to be made public, she would kill herself,” the mom said in the lawsuit against Uber, according to the New York Post report.

The teen is now receiving mental health treatment at an out-of-state facility.

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REPORT: As People Flee New York City Over Mamdani’s Policies, NYC Public School Enrollment is Going to Drop Dramatically

As New York City’s new Democratic Socialist (communist) Mayor Zohran Mamdani implements his new policies, there has been a lot of talk about wealthy people fleeing the city, but that is only part of the story.

Everything is connected on some level. As people leave the city, the number of children enrolled in their public schools is going to drop, which will have other rippling effects.

At some point, too much of the foundation is eroded away and things start to crumble. Then the real problems begin.

FOX News reports:

New York City’s declining public school enrollment projected to lose over 150K more as population declines

New York City’s public schools are projected to drop, mirroring the downward trend of its overall population since last year.

According to a “Statistical Forecasting” prepared for the New York City School Construction Authority, New York City is projected to lose thousands of students in the 2034-35 school year.

“Enrollment is projected to be 721,251 in 2034-35, which would be a decline of 153,000 students from the 2024-25 enrollment,” the outlet reported.

“Over the next ten years, enrollments are projected to decline in each of the five boroughs. Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are projected to have the largest declines in the next ten years, losing 45,000, 43,000, and 35,000 students, respectively,” it added.

The projected shortfall was attributed to continuing falling birthrates, an exodus of residents, and an aging population. “Statistical Forecasting was retained by the New York City School Construction Authority (“SCA”) to perform enrollment projections for the New York City Public Schools for the ten-year period beginning with the 2025-26 school year and ending in 2034-35,” the document states…

New York City public schools lost 22,000 students this year from last year’s 906,248 students. According to preliminary Department of Education data, a total of 884,400 students were enrolled in the city’s traditional public schools. NYC had more than 1,002,000 students enrolled at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, meaning it has since lost more than 117,000.

New York City currently spends more per school student than any other place in the country and gets mediocre results on reading and math.

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