Tag: new york

New York Suffers Record Rise in Potentially Deadly Disease Caused by Rat Urine

New York City has seen a record jump in the number of human leptospirosis, a disease caused by rat urine that can cause kidney damage, liver failure, and even death.

The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued an advisory on April 12, warning that the number of human leptospirosis cases continues to trend upward.

The agency said that 24 cases were reported in New York City in 2023, the highest number in a single year on record.

In fact, 6 cases have been reported so far in 2024, twice as high as the average annual number of cases between 2001 and 2020.

While human leptospirosis infections can be caused by contaminated soil and water during natural disasters like floods and hurricanes, in New York they’re mostly caused by rat urine.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by several species of bacteria. In New York, it’s mostly associated with the Norway rat.

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NYC agrees to pay $17.5 million after cops force Muslim women to take off their hijabs for mugshots

On Friday, New York City agreed to a settlement of $17.5 million for a class action lawsuit after the city forced Muslim women to remove their hijabs to take mugshot photos when they were arrested.

According to Fox News, the lawsuit was filed by Jamilla Clark and Arwa Aziz in 2018, who claimed their religious rights were violated when had to remove the head coverings after being arrested for violating orders of protection.

Clark said in a statement that she suffered trauma when forced to remove her hijab, which is worn by Muslim women in accordance with Islamic tradition. “When they forced me to take off my hijab, I felt as if I were naked,” she said.

“I’m not sure if words can capture how exposed and violated I felt,” Clark added. “I’m so proud today to have played a part in getting justice for thousands of New Yorkers.”

Lawyer for the ladies, Albert Fox Cahn praised the ruling as a win for privacy and religious rights. He told the New York Times, “The NYPD should never have stripped these religious New Yorkers of their head coverings and dignity.”

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Chilling plan for the world’s tallest PRISON in NYC dubbed the ‘Jailscraper’ with 1,000 crooks stacked in 40-floor tower

CHILLING plans have been made for the world’s tallest prison where 1,000 prisoners will be stacked across a 40-floor tower.

Dubbed the “Jailscraper”, the high-rise slammer will be located on the grounds of the former Manhattan Detention Complex in lower Manhattan, New York City.

Also known as The Tombs to locals, the municipal jail is set to be demolished to make way for the brand new 300ft structure.

The new jail is set to be a third as high as the Empire State Building and have a shadow that stretches more than five blocks – plunging the local area into darkness.

Yet it’s just another problem for local residents.

Those who live within close proximity of the current institution are already dealing with a fresh wave of issues as the demolition gets underway.

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Chemical drums filled with toxic waste are dug up in New York ‘cancer hotspot’ – where families have been warning for years they are being poisoned

Chemical drums filled with toxic liquid have been dug up in a New York neighborhood where residents say there has been a mysterious rise in cancer over the years. 

Construction workers unearthed six barrels of chlorinated solvents and waste oil petroleum, which had been dumped within the Town of Oyster Bay in Long Island.

The drums were buried by North Grumman when it operated an aerospace facility in the town from the 1950s to 1990s.

Officials fear the waste may have leaked into the soil and is on the way to public drinking supply.

The town is home to more than 17,200 people who have long raised concerns about the Grumman Aerospace waste, specifically a four-mile-long carcinogenic plume flowing underground that they claim contributed to a rise in cancer diagnoses. 

Residents have also found toxic compounds in their attacks and the soil – and a family of three living close to the park were all stricken with cancer.

So concerned were locals about health issues that the state health department conducted a study into cancer diagnoses in the town in 2013.

The three-year researcher found no higher overall cancer rates in a 20-blocka area surrounding the former Grumman property.

But officials noted that there were scientific limitations that made it nearly impossible to link residential cancer clusters and pollution.

What officials did find is that within a one-block area, all those diagnosed with cancer were younger than expected.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino told local ABC 7: ‘The discovery of the drums in these coffin-like vaults is further proof that Grumman created an environmental graveyard of contaminants right here in this park.’

Bethpage Community Park was closed around 20 years ago over soil contamination concerns, but the site is nestled among homes and community centers.

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Illegal immigrant squatters released without bail after arrest on drug, gun charges near Bronx school

Six of the illegal immigrant squatters who were arrested last week in the Bronx have been released without bail, sparking outrage and raising concerns about public safety in the neighborhood.

The eight squatters were apprehended on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. On the property, located next to a school, authorities found a seven-year-old child in the basement.

Hector Desousa-Villalta, who allegedly brandished a gun on the property, was released on supervised release by a Bronx Criminal Court judge, despite the district attorney’s request for bail set at $150,000 cash or $450,000 bond. Subsequently, five more squatters were released after their arraignments, according to the New York Post.

Despite the severity of the charges, the six individuals were granted release without bail, with law enforcement failing to clarify why some men were being held and others were let go. 

The lack of clarity surrounding the rationale behind some individuals’ release while others remain in custody, despite facing identical charges, has added to the frustration. Neighbors, who had witnessed the troubling events unfold, expressed their frustration with the entire situation.

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When the solar eclipse arrives, N.Y. prisons will be locked down

Preparations for April’s solar eclipse have ramped up as the highly anticipated astronomical event nears — those preps, it turns out, include New York’s prisons.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced its plans to cancel visitations at nearly two dozen facilities in the path of totality on April 8.

In total, the department said 23 facilities “will experience total darkness ranging from approximately one and a half minutes to approximately three and a half minutes.” Those sites will be closed to visitations all day, while facilities not “directly” in the path will end visits early at 2 p.m.

The DOCCS solar eclipse plan doesn’t just affect visitations. According to Hell Gate, a “system-wide lockdown” will be put in place during the eclipse “as a safety precaution.”

A memo issued by the department earlier this month reportedly states that all persons in DOCCS custody will be locked in their housing units between 2-5 p.m. on April 8, Hell Gate reported. Despite this move, the department allegedly made a large purchase of solar eclipse safety glasses to distribute to the incarcerated population on the day.

April’s event will be New York’s first solar eclipse in almost a century, and the state has been preparing for this moment for months.

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NYC couple are sued by squatters who allegedly took over their $930K investment home and won’t leave: ‘It’s absolutely absurd’

A pair of alleged squatters accused of unlawfully moving into a Queens duplex are suing its rightful owners after refusing to vacate the $930,000 home.

It’s the latest logic-defying chapter in the ongoing squatter saga in the borough, which in recent weeks has seen multiple homes occupied by unwelcome invaders who claim rights to the properties under New York City’s permissive laws.

“It’s absolutely absurd,” said the owner of the latest targeted home, Juliya Fulman — who so far has racked up more than $4,000 in legal bills fighting the suit — to The Post on Sunday.

“These people literally broke into my house. It’s not fair to us as homeowners that we are not protected by the city,” said the Jamaica property owner.

“You can’t really even blame them in a way because it’s handed to them on a silver platter,” Juliya’s husband, Denis Kurlyand, said in a phone call with The Post, calling the squatters “opportunists.

“Something needs to be done because the issue is getting worse. People are taking advantage of these laws, manipulating the laws, and our hands are tied,” he said.

“What did we do? Nothing. We put up a property for rent, and that’s it, now we’re dealing with a nightmare.”

The couple spent $530,000 renovating the Lakeside Avenue investment property and secured tenants for both rental units when their real estate broker, Ejona Bardhi, discovered March 5 that the locks on the property had been changed.

After determining the lock change was not authorized, Bardhi returned to the home and saw through the window a silhouette of a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and holding a drill, the broker told the Daily Mail.

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FDNY firefighters forced to remove flag honoring 9/11 heroes after lefty pol questioned if it’s a ‘political symbol’

Fire Department brass ordered an East Village ladder company to remove its “red line” American flag honoring the squad’s six brothers killed on 9/11 – after a neighborhood resident complained it was “fascist” and a local lefty pol questioned whether it was a “politically charged symbol.”

The shocking order came March 22 after a man claiming he was a staffer for Democratic Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera confronted firefighters at Ladder Co. 11, sources said.

The man pedaled up to the East 2nd Street firehouse on a bicycle and told firefighters he worked for Rivera and that the councilwoman’s office “complained” to the FDNY three days earlier about the flag – which features a red stripe in tribute of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty.

He called it a “fascist symbol” and demanded to know why it was still up, sources said.

In a March 19 email to FDNY Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator Madison Hernandez, Rivera staffer Lisander Rosario said the councilwoman’s office was contacted by the “constituent” twice about the ladder company’s flag and asked if it’s violating department rules.

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Letitia James Faces Growing Pressure to Prosecute Jon Stewart over Property Overvaluation

New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing mounting pressure to prosecute comedian Jon Stewart after it was revealed that he overvalued his Manhattan home — the same so-called “offense” for which James is prosecuting former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), radio host Andrew Wilkow, and Trump attorney Alina Habba are among those calling for “Tish” to show that no one is above the law.

Jon Stewart was recently found to have overvalued his Tribeca duplex  by more than 800 percent when he was selling it back in 2014. The embarrassing revelation comes after the comedian used Monday’s episode of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to claim Trump was “lying” when valuing his own properties.

Now Stewart has egg on his face, with pressure building on James to ensure the equal application of the law.

Rep. Collins recently posted that he is looking forward “to Letitia James sending the NYPD to haul Jon Stewart to jail and seize his property.”

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Fringe Political Figure and Social Media Personality Identified as Assailant Who Allegedly Punched Multiple Women

The man accused of randomly punching multiple women in downtown Manhattan has been identified as a perennial fringe political candidate and purported scion of a prominent civil rights lineage.

Skiboky Stora, a 40-year-old from East New York, finds himself under arrest and facing assault charges after a reported incident involving TikTok influencer Halley Kate.

The New York Police Department identified Stora as the assailant in a seemingly unprovoked attack that took place in Chelsea, where Kate was punched in the face as she navigated the city streets.

This occurrence, detailed by the influencer to her 1.1 million TikTok followers, sparked widespread attention, amassing over 41 million views. The video catalyzed a series of reports from several other women, who shared their own experiences of being randomly assaulted in Manhattan.

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