Nation’s first ‘vaccine passport’ coming to New York

The nation’s very first “vaccine passport” is coming to the Big Apple. 

The program, dubbed the “Excelsior Pass,” is an app that will allow New Yorkers to prove their vaccination status, or recent history of a negative COVID-19 test, in order to gain entry to events and businesses, Governor Cuomo announced in a news release Friday.  

“Similar to a mobile airline boarding pass, individuals will be able to either print out their pass or store it on their smartphones using the Excelsior Pass Wallet app,” the news release explains. 

Keep reading

Bill de Blasio Seems to Endorse Straight up Fascism, and His Idea Is Absolutely Insane

What’s so scary about the left in this country is that they truly have no lines. Every new authoritarian epiphany sounds better in their ears than the last. There’s no pause to consider how ridiculous what they are suggesting is. It’s just full bore “progress” all the time, unintended (and intended) consequences be damned.

Let’s be frank about what de Blasio is saying he wants to do here. He’s asserting that he wants the police, which he controls, to show up at the doors of people who did something non-criminal but that he deems “hateful” in order to scare the intimidate them. Of course, what qualifies as “hateful” is malleable, and in New York, that can literally mean anything that doesn’t fit left-wing orthodoxy. Call someone by their real pronoun and not one they “prefer?” A cop could show up and lecture on the finer points of “tolerance.”

Keep reading

Did Police Corruption Derail the Long Island Serial Killer Investigation?

In December 2010, law enforcement found four bodies along a scrub-covered stretch of highway on the south coast of Long Island. The following spring, six more sets of human remains were found in the same area. Six of the victims have been identified as young women who were sex workers. Four, including a toddler and a person with male anatomy remain unidentified. In late 2011, authorities announced they were looking for one murderer responsible for all of the deaths. A decade later, the mystery, which became known as the Long Island serial killer case, remains unsolved.

A new podcast looks at why. Hosted by crime podcast veterans Billy Jensen (The Murder Squad) and Alexis Linkletter (The First Degree), Unraveled: Long Island Serial Killer — and its accompanying TV special premiering March 9th on Discovery+ — examines how corruption in the Suffolk County Police Department may have stymied the investigation of one of the biggest homicide cases in Long Island history and questions what police were trying to hide.

Keep reading

New Yorkers would have to flash COVID-19 passport to enter venues under new program

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday the rollout of a new pilot program in which New Yorkers would have to flash a sort of COVID-19 passport in order to enter sports arenas, theaters and other businesses as the state continues reopening efforts.

The plan is to test the “Excelsior Pass,” which will use secure technology to confirm if a person has gotten vaccinated or has had a recent negative COVID-19 exam result, during events at Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center, Cuomo said in a statement.

The pass was tested at Tuesday night’s New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden.

Similar to an airline boarding pass, people will be able to print out their pass or save it on their phones using the Excelsior Pass’s “Wallet App.” Each pass will have a secure QR code, which venues will scan using a companion app to confirm a person’s health status.

Keep reading

Court officer kills himself inside NYC court bathroom

A court officer fatally shot himself in the bathroom of Manhattan’s family court Monday afternoon, sources told The Post.

The unnamed officer, who was believed to be in his 50s, shot himself in the head inside the building at 60 Lafayette Street just after 3:10 p.m., sources said.

Another court officer called 911 saying she believed he intentionally shot himself, sources said.

Keep reading

AOC Blasts NYPD’s New “Robo-Surveillance Ground Drones” For Poor Neighborhoods

For a couple of decades, police forces across the country have been militarized. Stepping into a new decade, police forces, like NYPD, are seeking to deploy automation and artificial intelligence systems to combat crime. 

NYPD first received the robot dog, called “Digidog,” a couple of months ago. At the time, NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit Inspector (TARU) Frank Digiacomo told ABC7 that the four-legged robotic dog “will save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal.” 

Digidog is like any Boston Dynamics Spot robot – though this one is equipped with lights, two-way communication, and video cameras.

The latest video shows the 70-pound robot being tested in the Bronx. The department also deployed the robotic dog back in October to a Brooklyn shooting. 

Keep reading

SUNY Geneseo Suspends Education Student for Saying ‘A Man Is A Man, A Woman Is A Woman’

State University of New York (SUNY) Geneseo has suspended an education student from required teaching programs after he expressed his views on biology in a social media post. In one video, the student says that “a man is a man,” and “a woman is a woman.” The university states that the student’s conservative social media posts call into question his ability to “maintain a classroom environment protecting the mental and emotional well-being of all of [his] students.”

Education student Owen Stevens received an email from SUNY Geneseo, informing him that he was suspended from his field teaching programs after his classmates saw his Instagram videos, according to a report by Daily Wire.

“A man is a man, a woman is a woman. A man is not a woman, and a woman is not a man,” said Stevens in one of the videos in question. “A man cannot become a woman, and a woman cannot become a man.”

“If I’m a man, and I think I’m a woman, I’m still a man. If I’m a woman who thinks I’m a man, I’m still a woman,” the student added. “Regardless of what you feel on the inside, is irrelevant to your biological status. It doesn’t change the biology.”

Keep reading

NYC Mayor: Double Face Masks “Through June”

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is instructing Big Apple residents to wear two face masks throughout the springtime on into summer.

de Blasio made the demand at a press conference Tuesday, advising New Yorkers to double mask “through June.”

“Through June, keep doing exactly what you are doing,” de Blasio stated. “Not just wear a mask, wear two,” later adding the city may “continue that guidance for quite a while depending on what is going on.”

Keep reading

Buffalo Public Schools ‘Forces Kindergarteners to Watch Video’ of ‘Dead’ Black Children ‘Warning Them About Racist Police’

In a Twitter thread that begins with “I’ve obtained whistleblower documents that will shock you,” City Journal writer Christopher Rufo “scooped” disturbing news about the indoctrination of students in the Buffalo Public Schools district — beginning in kindergarten.

SCOOP: Buffalo Public Schools claims “all white people” perpetuate systemic racism and forces kindergarteners to watch a video of dead black children warning them about “racist police and state-sanctioned violence.” I’ve obtained whistleblower documents that will shock you.

Spoiler: Rufo wasn’t kidding about the “shocked” part.

Keep reading