Tag: new york

New York Sues Valve Over Loot Boxes, Calls Them Illegal Gambling

Valve, the maker of Steam and many of PC gaming’s most popular titles, is being sued by New York for its use of loot boxes. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed the lawsuit, claiming that loot box systems enable gambling habits and are particularly harmful for younger people.

The lawsuit specifically cites three games: Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. It wants the video game developer to stop using loot boxes in its titles and to pay fines for previously promoting them.

A press release from Attorney General James notes that Counter-Strike 2’s loot box system resembles a slot machine, featuring a spinning wheel that reveals a virtual item. Loot boxes are common in online titles, acting as a randomized treasure chest that may provide valuable in-game items.

It explains that valuable items found in loot boxes can be sold on Valve’s Steam Community Market and other third-party stores, indicating they have real-world value. It points to reports of a virtual gun skin within Counter-Strike 2 that sold for over $1 million in 2024.

However, the likelihood of gamers finding a valuable item is low, and the lawsuit alleges that Valve intentionally makes some items harder to win than others to increase value.

“Illegal gambling can be harmful and lead to serious addiction problems, especially for our young people,” said Attorney General James. “Valve has made billions of dollars by letting children and adults alike illegally gamble for the chance to win valuable virtual prizes.”

“These features are addictive, harmful, and illegal, and my office is suing to stop Valve’s illegal conduct and protect New Yorkers.”

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The not-so-hidden agenda behind Mamdani’s budget bumbling

Mayor Zohran Mamdani is making a show of cutting the budget, with videos of him looking for millions under sofa cushions.

He’s pretending he’s leaving no stone unturned to close a $5.4 billion budget gap.

Don’t buy it. These are token gestures meant to suggest the city has cut all it can, giving Albany cover to justify what he hopes comes next: Mamdani’s tax hikes on high earners and employers.

Sure, cutting low-value government spending deserves some credit, but the problem is that Mamdani’s savings are mostly speculative or trivial.

Even the largest cut so far, $100 million from removing ineligible health-care dependents, would only materialize if auditors find such dependents.

And even if he reaps all the $1.7 billion in savings that he’s seeking, it would still leave that $5.4 billion hole untouched.

In other words, his budget assumes those savings are real, even though they may never materialize, leaving not a $5.4 billion but a $7.1 billion gap.

Meanwhile, he’d be spending on things like a three-year, $1.86 billion, no-bid deal with the hotel industry to provide homeless shelters, including for migrants, who now have no time limit on their stay.

He somehow found another $260 million for a new “Mayor’s Office of Community Safety,” an office with just two staffers.

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NY AG Letitia James referred again for criminal prosecution for alleged homeowner insurance fraud

The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has again referred New York Attorney General Letitia James to the U.S. Department of Justice for criminal prosecution, proffering allegations that New York’s top cop may have falsified information on her homeowner’s insurance application. 

The FHFA Director William Pulte, who oversees Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, asked U.S. Attorneys in Florida and Illinois on Wednesday to “authenticate and investigate” the information, according to two letters reviewed by Just the News. 

Pulte cites a series of social media posts by attorney and President of The Article III Project, Mike Davis, who explained how he believes the evidence laid out in previously published court documents demonstrate that James misled her home insurer when applying for coverage.

You can read the referrals here:

2026-03-25_14-03.pdf

2026-03-25_14-02.pdf

James allegedly classified a home in Norfolk, Virginia as her principal residence 

This is the second time Pulte has turned over criminal referrals to the Justice Department targeting James for alleged wrongdoing related to her homeownership.

The New York Attorney General’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News. 

Last April, Pulte sent a similar letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche alleging James “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government-backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.” Among the allegations, Pulte said James classified a home in Norfolk, Virginia as a principal residence even though, as a New York State officer, she was required to maintain residency in the state. 

Later that year, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia indicted James, charging her with bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution. However, the charges were later dismissed after a judge ruled that the prosecutor, Lindsay Halligan, was not lawfully appointed, and the merits of the case were not reached. The grand jury declined to issue a new indictment after the disqualification, Just the News previously reported. 

In response to those earlier allegations, James accused President Trump and his administration of “weaponizing the justice system” and called the charges “baseless.” 

The new allegations from Pulte cite court exhibits attached to filings as part of this earlier legal action against James. 

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City that never sleeps to get 11 pm lights out order under Dem NY state lawmaker proposal

A proposed bill from a New York state lawmaker could dramatically change the nighttime atmosphere of New York City, potentially leaving landmarks like the Empire State Building and nearly half of the city dark after 11 pm.

Manhattan assemblywoman Deborah Glick has sponsored the “Dark Skies Protection Act,” which would require many businesses and residential buildings in New York City to turn off non-essential lighting between 11 pm and 5 am. The proposal aims to reduce energy consumption, cut down on light pollution, and protect migratory birds.

According to the legislation, its goal is to “preserve and enhance the state’s dark sky while promoting safety for people, birds and other wildlife, conserving energy and reducing our carbon footprint, and preserving the aesthetic qualities of the night sky.”

“Our ancestors were able to experience a night sky full of stars, but now 80% of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way and experience its profound beauty,” the bill states. “Exposure to excess artificial light can disrupt the body’s natural circadian rhythms – causing changes to brain wave patterns, hormone production, cell regulation, and other biologic activities.”

If passed, the measure would take effect in 2028. The bill includes exemptions for lighting “used for travel and public safety would be exempt.” However, the proposal has drawn criticism from those who argue that reduced lighting could lead to increased crime, including theft and gang-related activity.

“I guess Glick wants to push one last ridiculous idea before she retires,” said NYS Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar, according to The New York Post.

Despite the concerns, Glick appears to be prioritizing environmental concerns. The bill notes that 70 percent of bird species migrate annually, with 80 percent migrating at night using the night sky for navigation. Bright city lights, the bill argues, can disorient birds and lead to fatal collisions.

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‘Borderline Barbaric’: Troubled Dem Payroll Vendor Accused of Punishing Employees For Taking Paid Family Leave

The human resources software company Rippling emerged as a top Democratic Party vendor after receiving tax breaks from Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul. It’s also accused of cultivating a “borderline barbaric” culture that penalizes employees who take paid family leave, according to lawsuits and complaints from several former employees.

Newsom and Hochul, the Free Beacon’s Andrew Kerr reports, awarded Rippling nearly $20 million in combined tax breaks between 2023 and 2025, money that helped the firm build offices in San Francisco and New York City. ActBlue and the DNC have processed more than $23 million in payroll expenditures through Rippling in the 2026 midterm election cycle, campaign finance disclosures show. And while Newsom and Hochul have made expanded paid family leave a cornerstone of their political platforms, Rippling is accused of taking a different approach.

Former employees have alleged in lawsuits that the company fired them after they took family leave or expressed their intention to do so. A March 2025 suit from former engineering manager Fu Zhou alleged that she was fired after taking medical leave to undergo IVF treatments—and that her replacement, a man, was terminated “shortly after expressing his own intention to take family leave.” An anonymous former employee, meanwhile, posted on the employer review site GlassDoor describing the company as “borderline barbaric in today’s workplace culture.”

Rippling responded to the Free Beacon with a legal letter from the leading defamation lawyer Tom Clare, whose firm ClareLocke represented Matt Lauer amid his #MeToo battles, former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler amid revelations of her close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, and former Harvard president Claudine Gay amid her plagiarism scandal. Clare, who penned a seven-page letter filled with veiled legal threats—and marked “Confidential—Not For Publication Or Attribution,” a condition to which the Free Beacon did not agree—said the Free Beacon did not afford the company adequate time to comment, demanded the Free Beacon “identify all its sources,” and said Rippling could not comment on pending litigation anyway.

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Transgender Illegal Alien Who Raped 14-Year-Old Boy in NYC Bodega Bathroom Gets Sweetheart Plea Deal, May Walk Free on April 27 Unless ICE Deports

In a case that highlights the danger and absurdity of sanctuary city and soft-on-crime policies in New York City, a 31-year-old transgender illegal alien from Colombia pleaded guilty Tuesday to raping a 14-year-old boy in a Manhattan bodega bathroom but will serve no additional jail time.

Nicol Alexandra Contreras-Suarez, a biological male who dresses up as a woman, has pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in Manhattan Supreme Court for the sexual assault of the boy inside the restroom of a bodega across the street from Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem last year.

According to the New York Post, Contreras-Suarez followed the 14-year-old victim into the bodega bathroom and raped him.

The boy was able to leave the bathroom afterward and flag down bystanders, who alerted police.

Contreras-Suarez was arrested the next day.

However, under the plea deal struck by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Contreras-Suarez was promised a sentence of just six months in jail, time he has already served while awaiting trial.

The illegal alien rapist is scheduled to be sentenced on April 27, at which point he could be released unless federal immigration authorities take him into custody for deportation.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA’s Office confirmed the resolution was reached “in close consultation with the victim’s family” to spare the teenager from having to testify before a grand jury or at a full trial, according to the Post report.

The office added in a statement, “We expect the defendant to remain detained and be deported following sentencing, due to the felony conviction.”

ICE has a detainer in place for Contreras-Suarez and did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment on the plea outcome.

Contreras-Suarez illegally entered the United States in March 2023 and was released into the country by Customs and Border Protection, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release.

He later racked up warrants in Massachusetts for armed robbery, prostitution, and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Due to sanctuary policies in Massachusetts, the sexual predator was released and went on to commit the New York rape.

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NYC’s First Lady Exposed Approving of Suicide Attack Propaganda, Plane Hijackers, and Outrageous Attacks on US Troops

New York City’s First Lady and wife of Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Rama Duwaji, has a history of glorifying terrorism, as evidenced by her past social media posts.

The Washington Free Beacon investigated Duwaji’s accounts on platforms Tumblr and X, finding posts she made in her teens and 20s that may raise an eyebrow with anyone thinking the Muslim couple now residing in Gracie Mansion are moderate in their politics.

In September 2017, she posted an image on Tumblr of Leila Khaled, captioned, “If it does good for my cause, I’ll be happy to accept death.”

Khaled is famous for her role as a militant who took part in two plane hijackings. She is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

In 1970, according to The Washington Free Beacon, Khaled threatened to set off a grenade during one of those hijackings if she was not allowed in the cockpit of the plane.

In another post from March 2015, Duwaji praised another terrorist, Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, on International Women’s Day. Her post on X read “shadia abu ghazaleh, first palestinian woman to fight in resistance after 1967 occupation #InternationalWomensDay.”

Ghazaleh died in 1968 after a bomb that she was making to use on a building in Tel Aviv, Israel, accidentally blew up in her home. She had previously bombed a bus and committed other acts of terrorism.

In June 2015, she reposted an attack on the U.S. military, commenting, “*taps mic* American soldiers fighting in imperialist wars are not brave nor are they fighting for anyone’s freedom. They are mercilessly slaughtering 3rd world civilians and fighting to maintain American hegemony. That is all, thank you! *drops mic*”

After video sharing platform Snapchat added Tel Aviv to a live story feature allowing users to share footage from the city, Duwaji reposted an account that reacted to the decision in July 2015. “But in all reality, @Snapchat has disappointed me. Fuck #TelAviv. Shouldn’t exist in the first place. They’re occupiers. You celebrate them.”

Another post said, “And finally. Hey @Snapchat, as you give Israelis an outlet to celebrate their atrocities, youre supporting a genocidal state. Bye. #TelAviv.”

Some are chastising an investigation into Duwaji’s past, noting that it’s a page right out of the left’s playbook.

But there’s a distinction. Destroying someone’s life for calling their friends edgy insults on Facebook does not equate to revealing that the wife of a prominent public official has a love affair with a terrorist organization and downplays the sacrifice of American service members.

Duwaji is Syrian, moving with her family to Dubai in 2006, where she attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar before transferring to the campus in Richmond, Virginia. She was living in the Middle East, praising Middle Eastern terrorists.

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Kathy Hochul: Oops, That Climate Law Was a Mistake…

Kathy Hochul is up for reelection this year, and has a big, big problem: for all the talk about an “affordability” agenda, every single policy the Democrats like to push increases costs, reduces quality of life, and drives people out of Blue states. 

And one of the worst problems she faces is skyrocketing energy bills, and the prospect that those prices will rise even more and faster in the next few years as climate deadlines rapidly approach. 

The pressure is so great, both because consumers are pissed off and businesses that can move begin doing so, that Hochul wants to “delay” the climate goals she and the Democrats were so excited about just a few years ago. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday moved to alter and delay the implementation of New York State’s landmark 2019 climate law, which calls for gradually decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by certain deadlines.

Those proposed adjustments include delaying issuing the regulations for enforcing the law — already two years late — until 2030 and amending how certain emissions are measured.

“We need more time,” Ms. Hochul wrote in an editorial that was published on Friday morning in The Empire Report, a news site that covers state politics. “So much has radically changed since the Climate Act was enacted, necessitating common-sense adjustments.”

The proposal, anticipated by lawmakers in Albany, comes late in the budget negotiation process. Although Ms. Hochul has considerable leverage to push for her agenda during this time, members of the Legislature will need to approve the final budget, which would include changes to the climate law.

So much has changed since 2019? Not really. Every sane person then knew that these goals were unattainable, but the pursuit of them would inevitably mean skyrocketing energy costs. 

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Mamdani Furious After Judge Orders Deportation of NYC City Council Employee

The nerve of a judge to deport an illegal immigrant who held the lofty status of a staff member for the New York City Council has left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in high dudgeon.

Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst for the council, will be deported to Venezuela. The Department of Homeland Security said Rubio overstayed his 2017 tourist visa, has an arrest for assault, and does not possess work authorization, CBS News noted.

Mamdani argued his version of reality should take precedence over the law.

“Today, an administrative immigration judge ordered the deportation of Rafael Rubio, a City Council employee. This is an affront to justice,” Mamdani posted on X.

“A dedicated public servant with legal authorization to remain in the country, Rafael showed up for a routine immigration appointment and, despite following the rules, he was detained and has now been held for months. He should be immediately released,” Mamdani wrote.

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‘Smoking Gun’ Emails Show New York City Officials Played Role in Firing Unvaccinated Workers

Unredacted internal emails obtained after a three-year legal battle may reshape ongoing lawsuits over New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, according to attorneys who spoke on “Good Morning, CHD” this week.

The records, obtained through New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), show top city officials and government lawyers working together behind the scenes to push back on religious exemption requests, privately dismissing workers’ beliefs while building arguments to help arbitrators deny them.

Attorney Jimmy Wagner, who led the records fight, said the documents expose a “smoking gun.”

In the lawsuits over the documents, the unredacted versions were visible to everyone in the courtroom except the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Wagner said. City lawyers knew exactly what the emails contained while making arguments that directly contradicted them.

“They’re literally arguing out of both sides of their mouth,” Wagner said.

The government attorneys claimed they were acting with integrity and protecting religious rights. Yet “in the same breath, they have this … smoking gun piece of evidence that shows the city from the beginning … believed that anyone making a religious accommodation request, especially as it was associated to abortion, it was BS. That’s their language — ‘BS,’ in capital letters,” he said.

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