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Tag: New York City

  • New York Red Bull tickets usually cost $46. Here’s what they cost now that Messi is playing | CNN Business

    New York Red Bull tickets usually cost $46. Here’s what they cost now that Messi is playing | CNN Business


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Seeing superstar soccer player Leo Messi’s debut in the New York area could cost you as much as a steak dinner at Peter Luger.

    Saturday’s Inter Miami CF match marks Messi’s first regular season Major League Soccer game, and demand to see it is sending ticket prices nearly 1,000% higher than they usually are for the New York Red Bulls.

    Ticket reseller VividSeats told CNN that the average price for this weekend’s game is averaging $483. That’s well above the usual $46 it costs to snag a ticket to the MLS team, which plays in Harrison, New Jersey (a half hour away from Manhattan).

    A search on VividSeats reveals that some seats are costing as much as $3,600 for the first-row, but you have to buy all four, totaling nearly $15,000. Of course, there are plenty of cheaper seats, with some as “low” as $345.

    For the New York Red Bulls, Messi’s appearance is “trending as the Red Bull’s hottest ticket in over a decade,” a VividSeats spokesperson told CNN. The second costliest game for a ticket was a friendly with FC Barcelona in July 2022, when a ticket cost about $270.

    Prices for MLS games where Messi is playing have surged since the 36-year-old entered American competition. He’s also been on a hot streak since his American arrival last month. Last weekend, he helped Inter Miami capture the Leagues Cup title and scored the club’s first trophy. The Leagues Cup is an annual tournament between MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.

    The pressure is only intensified for Messi this weekend, when Inter Miami tries to climb out of last place in the MLS standings and possibly into playoff contention as the season nears its ending in October.

    “Messi mania” extends beyond the pitch, too. Apple said that subscriptions to its soccer streaming package have soared since Messi joined in July. And Adidas said that demand for Messi’s jersey has been “truly unprecedented,” sparking an order backlog until October.

    Retailer Soccer.com told CNN on Tuesday that top eight-selling jerseys on its website are Messi related, including his Argentina kit and Inter Miami shirt. The Florida team is now the top-selling MLS club kit in all US states, except Vermont. Previous to him joining, the Inter Miami jersey was the only top-selling jersey in Florida.

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  • By Design: NYC Gilded Age townhouse

    By Design: NYC Gilded Age townhouse

    By Design: NYC Gilded Age townhouse – CBS News


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    A symbol of the Gilded Age, this imposing 1897 mansion on Manhattan’s Riverside Drive, with a terrace to take in views afforded by the Hudson River and Riverside Park, was designed by high-society New York architect Charles P.H. Gilbert. Jane Pauley gives us a tour. (Originally broadcast May 21, 2023.)

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  • By Design: Central Park Tower

    By Design: Central Park Tower

    By Design: Central Park Tower – CBS News


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    A penthouse 131 floors up in the air, in what is the tallest residence in the Western Hemisphere, the penthouse at Central Park Tower in Manhattan offers unparalleled views, with an unparalleled price tag. Jane Pauley reports. (Originally broadcast May 21, 2023.)

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  • Dealer who sold fatal drugs to

    Dealer who sold fatal drugs to

    A New York City drug dealer was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for providing “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin, causing his death.

    Irvin Cartagena, 40, of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams. Cartagena had pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to distribute drugs. As part of a plea deal, Cartagena agreed that some of the drugs he sold resulted in the death of Williams. 

    Williams overdosed in his Brooklyn penthouse apartment in September 2021, a day after purchasing the drugs. Authorities said he bought the heroin from Cartagena on a sidewalk in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood in a deal recorded by a security camera.

    Williams famously portrayed Omar Little, the rogue robber of drug dealers, in HBO’s “The Wire,” which ran from 2002 to 2008. In addition to his work on the critically acclaimed drama, Williams also starred in films and other TV series such as “Boardwalk Empire.” He was nominated for five Emmys throughout his career, including three for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. 

    michael-k-williams-alleged-drug-deal-1.png
    A photo of the alleged drug deal captured on surveillance footage. 

    U.S. Attorney’s Office


    Cartagena faced a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and could have faced up to 40 years behind bars.

    “I am very sorry for my actions,” he said before the sentence was announced. “When we sold the drugs, we never intended for anyone to lose their life.”

    Abrams noted that those who knew Cartagena said that he was “helpful and humble and hard working” when he was not using drugs himself.

    “I’m hopeful that with treatment, … it will help you move forward on a more productive and law-abiding path,” the judge said.

    In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams noted that those who participated in the sale of drugs to Williams already knew that someone else had died from drugs they were peddling. CBS News previously reported that the drug trafficking organization had been identified by authorities and had been operating in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn since August 2020. 

    Prosecutors said Cartagena and others continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in Manhattan and Brooklyn even after Williams died, although Cartagena eventually fled to Puerto Rico, where he was arrested in February 2022. Three other men were arrested in Manhattan in February 2022. 


    4 arrested in connection to Michael K. Williams’ overdose death

    00:25

    In a defense submission prior to sentencing, Cartagena’s lawyer, Sean Maher, said his client was paid for his street sales in heroin to support his own use.

    “In a tragic instant, Mr. Cartagena was the one who handed the small packet of drugs to Mr. Williams — it easily could have been any of the other men who were there or in the vicinity selling the same drugs,” Maher wrote. “Sentencing Mr. Cartagena to double digits of prison time will not bring back the beautiful life that was lost.”

    Prosecutors in a presentence submission had requested a sentence of at least 12 years while the court’s Probation Department had recommended a 20-year term after citing Cartagena’s 14 prior convictions for drug-related crimes, including burglary, robbery and prison escape.

    Abrams, though, said the recommendations were “simply too high.”

    “This sentence, while severe, is sufficient but not greater than necessary,” she said.

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  • Preparing strangers’ favorite childhood meals has launched one man to TikTok fame

    Preparing strangers’ favorite childhood meals has launched one man to TikTok fame

    Preparing strangers’ favorite childhood meals has launched one man to TikTok fame – CBS News


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    Yiming Lin combs the streets of New York City looking for someone who will share the memory of a favorite childhood meal. Lin then researches the recipe, cooks the meal and shares it with that person. It’s his TikTok project called “Literally Starving,” and it has launched him to TikTok fame.

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  • ‘Subway Surfing’ Surge Is Being Fueled By Social Media: NYPD | Entrepreneur

    ‘Subway Surfing’ Surge Is Being Fueled By Social Media: NYPD | Entrepreneur

    New York City officials are working to curb the dangerous practice of “subway surfing,” where people climb onto the roofs of moving subway cars, following a surge in accidental deaths, NPR reported.

    The practice continues to gain popularity because of TikTok and other social media apps, and officials have repeatedly asked these platforms to remove videos of the stunts to prevent future incidents, per the outlet. Some videos related to subway surfing were removed following NPR’s inquiries.

    The NYPD told NPR that it has logged 82 instances of subway surfing between January 1 and July 9 this year.

    “Unfortunately, we’ve witnessed far too many tragic outcomes associated with this senseless act, which is fueled by social media, intention, clout, and poor decisions,” Michael Kemper, NYPD chief of transit, said in a press briefing in July.

    “Our message is clear to anyone who’s considering subway surfing. Don’t do it. Not only is it illegal and you will be arrested if caught, but people are literally dying while doing it,” he added.

    The practice of subway surfing has surged over the past year, raising concern for local NYC officials. David Dee Delgado | Getty Images.

    In the first six months of 2023 alone, four teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 16, have died while subway surfing, while three suffered “debilitating injuries” that could be “life-altering,” Kemper said in the briefing.

    The rise of the incidents is concerning and a stark increase from the five suspected subway surfing deaths that occurred between 2018 and 2022, Michael Cortez, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), told NPR.

    Meanwhile, the general practice of “riding outside of trains” which includes subway surfing and also moving between cars or “hanging outside of them,” jumped from 206 incidents in 2021 to 928 in 2022, according to MTA data, per The New York Times.

    Related: A 14-Year-Old Who Broke into Nearly 40 Cars Was Inspired by Viral TikTok Trend, According to Police Reports

    In response to these incidents, the NYPD has taken proactive measures, including engaging with the parents and guardians of identified subway surfers to dissuade their participation in the activity, NPR added.

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams has called upon social media companies to ban videos depicting subway surfing.

    “Social media must be socially responsible. Subway Surfing kills. We need everyone to be a part of ending this dangerous threat,” the mayor posted on X in June.

    This is hardly the first time trends on social media have led to unfavorable — and sometimes dangerous — outcomes:

    • The “Benadryl Challenge” involved users taking high amounts of the over-the-counter allergy medicine to induce hallucinations while documenting the experience on social media. It took the life of a 13-year-old teenager from Ohio in April.
    • The “Kia Challenge” gained popularity in 2021 when social media users documented how to easy it was to break into Kia and Hyundai vehicles. This led to a surge of car break-ins around the country, resulting in a $200 million class action lawsuit settled in May.
    • The “In My Feelings” challenge, which gained attention in 2018, involved people recording videos of themselves dancing to the Drake song, often alongside a slow-moving car, which sometimes led to accidents or injuries.
    • The “Tide Pod Challenge,” where individuals filmed themselves attempting to eat or bite into laundry detergent pods, emerged in 2018, leading to a concerning amount of youth fatalities.
    • The “Cha Cha Slide Challenge” emerged in early 2020, and had users singing along to the tune while driving, but due to the song’s lyrics (“slide to the left!”), people were swerving on the road.

    Related: TikTok Video Goes Viral After Starbucks ‘Surprise Me’ Trend Goes Wrong

    Madeline Garfinkle

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  • Trump stiffed his alleged co-conspirators, whose false claims brought in $250 million

    Trump stiffed his alleged co-conspirators, whose false claims brought in $250 million

    Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrive to speak to police gathered at a Fraternal Order of Police lodge during a campaign event in Statesville, North Carolina, Aug. 18, 2016.

    Carlo Allegri | Reuters

    Several of the attorneys who spearheaded President Donald Trump‘s frenzied effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election tried, and failed, to collect payment for the work they did for Trump’s political operation, according to testimony to congressional investigators and Federal Election Commission records. This is despite the fact that their lawsuits and false claims of election interference helped the Trump campaign and allied committees raise $250 million in the weeks following the November vote, the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot said in its final report.

    Among them was Trump’s closest ally, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Trump and Giuliani had a handshake agreement that Giuliani and his team would get paid by the Trump political operation for their post-election work, according to Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for longtime Giuliani ally Bernard Kerik.

    But the Trump campaign and its affiliated committees ultimately did not honor that pledge, according to campaign finance records. The records show that Giuliani’s companies were only reimbursed for travel and not the $20,000 a day he requested to be paid.

    Parlatore also told CNBC that the Giuliani operation was never compensated for its work. According to Parlatore, the failure to pay Giuliani and his team came up last week in a private interview between prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team and Kerik, a member of Giuliani’s team in late 2020.

    “Lawyers and law firms that didn’t do s— were paid lots of money and the people that worked their ass off, got nothing,” Kerik complained in a 2021 tweet.

    Bob Costello, Giuliani’s attorney, declined to comment further about the agreement, citing privileged conversations between his client and then-President Trump.

    Trump has a long history of not paying his bills. But the revelation that he likely stiffed Giuliani, a longtime friend, is all the more striking given that much of the work Giuliani did for the Trump operation is detailed in a sprawling RICO indictment in Georgia released Monday, in which Giuliani is a co-defendant alongside Trump and 17 other people.

    The indictment details trips Giuliani made, phone calls he placed and meetings he attended, all in service of what prosecutors say was a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election.

    Criminal or not, what is indisputable is that Giuliani and his team did a lot of legal and PR work for Trump. Over more than two months, Giuliani served as the public face of Trump’s election challenges, which ultimately failed.

    Nonetheless, these challenges helped Trump and his allies raise an unprecedented $250 million from small-dollar donors in the weeks following the November election, according to the final congressional report by the House select committee on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The money came in response to countless fundraising appeals that claimed it was needed to fund Trump’s election challenges in court.

    Yet instead of paying the lawyers who tried unsuccessfully to overturn his loss, the money went into Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America.

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    According to the final report by the House select committee, “After raising $250 million dollars on false voter fraud claims, mostly from small-dollar donors, President Trump did not spend it on fighting an election he knew he lost.” Trump’s entire political network, including his joint fundraising committees, spent over $47 million combined from the start of 2020 through the end of 2021 on legal fees, according to a report by OpenSecrets.

    Today, that money raised by Trump’s political operation is instead helping Trump pay his own legal bills in the criminal cases against him. Trump’s Save America PAC spent over $20 million in the first half of the year alone on legal fees as the president faced the first two of his four indictments.

    The PAC began the second half of the year with only about $3 million in cash on hand.

    Sidney Powell, an attorney later disavowed by the Trump campaign, participates in a news conference with President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., Nov. 19, 2020.

    Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

    Giuliani is not the only unindicted co-conspirator in the special counsel’s election case who got stiffed by the Trump operation.

    Federal Election Commission records and testimony from the House Jan. 6 select committee hearings reveal that none of the private-sector lawyers identified — but not indicted — in that case got paid for their post-election work: Not Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro or John Eastman.

    Giuliani and Eastman wanted a mix of reimbursements and payments, but records show they received virtually none of that money. Powell had to turn to her own law firm to pay her volunteers. All the while, the Trump team raised hundreds of millions of dollars off the false claims of election fraud that Powell and Giuliani promoted on TV and in court.

    Chesebro, for his part, told the House committee that the work he did for the Trump team was pro bono.

    On Monday, all four lawyers entered a new phase in their legal relationship with Trump, when they were charged alongside him in the Georgia RICO case.

    Giuliani, Chesebro, Powell and Eastman were among the more than a dozen other co-defendants in the indictment brought against Trump in Georgia on charges of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election results in the state and elsewhere.

    Giuliani wanted $20,000 a day

    Matthew Morgan, an election lawyer for the Trump campaign, recalled to the House select committee in 2022 that Giuliani requested $20,000 a day from the Trump political operation to fight the election results. Working five days a week for two months, November and December 2020, this would have amounted to around $800,000 in legal fees.

    But Giuliani never got it. According to federal records, two companies linked to the former New York City mayor got about $100,000 in travel fees and reimbursements from the Trump operation. Kerik’s company saw about $85,000 for travel-related expenses, according to the records. But not a penny more from team Trump for their services.

    Eastman wanted refunds and payment

    Longtime conservative attorney John Eastman had an alleged role in trying to stall the certification of the 2020 election results.

    Attorney John Eastman speaks next to President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, as Trump supporters gather ahead of the president’s speech to contest the certification by Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2021.

    Jim Bourg | Reuters

    Morgan told the House select committee that when Eastman first officially came on board in December, he did so on a voluntary basis, but he requested that his expenses be reimbursed by Trump’s team.

    Federal Election Commission records show that Eastman didn’t directly receive a single reimbursement from Trump’s campaign, despite that agreement.

    Shortly after Jan. 6, 2021, Eastman requested payment “for services rendered,” according to Morgan’s testimony to the select committee. Though Morgan did not recall how much Eastman asked for, he said his understanding was that “the services requested was for the totality of all the work he’d done for the campaign.”

    Morgan told the committee that he sent the request to another Trump campaign legal advisor, Justin Clark.

    FEC records show that no payments were ever made by any of Trump’s committees to Eastman.

    Eastman’s attorneys declined to comment.

    The fact that neither Giuliani nor Eastman got paid also reflected a deep rift that emerged after the election between top staffers on Trump’s formal campaign and the small band of lawyers pushing fringe theories of how Trump could overturn his loss.

    A group of Trump campaign leaders and legal minds, occasionally referred to as “Team Normal,” pushed back against the conspiracy theories being peddled by the outside attorneys.

    Ultimately, it was members of “Team Normal” that had a say in the campaign’s purse strings.

    Clark later recounted an email he received on Christmas Eve 2020 from Giuliani associates, seeking payment.

    “What I make of it is that I think these guys were reporting directly to Mr. Giuliani, and when it came time to get paid, they were looking to me to get money, and I was never in the position to be prepared to just write checks to people ….we’re not just going to set money on fire to do stuff,” Clark told the House committee.

    An attorney for Clark declined to comment.

    Powell paid staff through her own firm

    Sidney Powell is the likely third unnamed co-conspirator in Smith’s federal indictment, according to NBC News. She’s also one of the co-defendants in the Georgia case brought against Trump and his allies.

    Powell was one of the leading voices on Fox News shortly after the election, peddling the false claim that voting machine companies Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems were each involved in conspiracies to stop Trump from becoming president.

    Both companies have denied the claims and taken Fox to court. This year, Fox settled the Dominion lawsuit, agreeing to pay the voting machine company an unprecedented $787.5 million. The defamation suit levied against Fox by Smartmatic is still open.

    Powell later told the House select committee that her firm, Sidney Powell P.C., not the Trump campaign, paid assistants who helped her pursue those claims about the election.

    “When money was donated, I wanted to make sure they got paid,” she said in her interview with the House panel. “That’s all I remember about that part. And I paid them.”

    FEC records indicate that no payments from Trump and his allies ever went to Powell’s law firm.

    But her nonprofit group Defending The Republic raised over $16 million since the November 2020 election, according to the group’s 990 tax forms. The group does not reveal its donors, however, and it’s unclear how much of that money ended up in Powell’s personal coffers.

    Powell did not respond to a request for comment.

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  • Jay-Z-themed library cards spark increase in Brooklyn Public Library memberships | CNN

    Jay-Z-themed library cards spark increase in Brooklyn Public Library memberships | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    If anyone can make a trip to the library feel like a party, it’s Jay-Z, apparently.

    To celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the Brooklyn Public Library and Roc Nation have released 13 limited-edition library cards with artwork from Jay-Z albums. The initiative, which ends later this month, has already resulted in 14,000 new library accounts, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn Public Library told CNN.

    The library cards are tied to a Brooklyn’s Central Library exhibit that explores Jay-Z’s career through rare photos, original recordings, videos and other artifacts.

    “The community’s enthusiastic response to this exhibition is a testament to Jay-Z’s immense impact,” Linda E. Johnson, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Public Library, told CNN.

    The Jay-Z-themed library cards are available for free for New York State residents. New Yorkers can collect all 13 versions – but only one will be activated to a New York Public library account to check out resources, according to a library spokesperson.

    Though some people are trying to sell the limited-edition cards online, a library employee told CNN they represent only a small fraction of the thousands who have signed up for a new card.

    Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter grew up in the Marcy Homes, a public housing complex, in the Brooklyn neighborhood Bedford Stuyvesant, more commonly known as “Bed Stuy” or “the Stuy.” His rise to music fame came in the early ’90s as a performer and later a record label owner and entrepreneur. He became the first billionaire hip-hop artist, selling more than 140 million records and winning 24 Grammy Awards – the most any rapper has received.

    New York City’s other library systems have also released distinct cards for the hip-hop anniversary, as has the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). In collaboration with Universal Music Enterprises, 80,000 MetroCards featuring LL Cool J, Pop Smoke, Rakim and Cam’ron have been made available at various stations on a first come, first serve basis.

    This photo depicts the Blueprint 2 album on a library card.

    “From standing on top of the Empire State Building to grabbing a slice at the corner pizza shop, NYC creates iconic moments that are recognized around the world,” Rakim said in a news release for the collaboration. “It’s an honor to be celebrating the 50th Anniversary on the streets… and now below them… of the city where hip-hop was born.”

    A South Bronx house party in 1973 is credited as the birthplace of hip-hop, when DJ Kool Herc found a way to isolate the percussion and repeat the “break” on the vinyl he was spinning, according to the New York Public Library.

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  • The 10 most expensive cities for expats outside the U.S. — Hong Kong is No. 1

    The 10 most expensive cities for expats outside the U.S. — Hong Kong is No. 1

    For those looking to leave the U.S., pursuing life as an expatriate is often an appealing option. 

    That’s especially true for those living in pricey locales, such as New York City or San Francisco, where the cost of living remains persistently high. In fact, New York continues to be the most expensive city in North America, ranking sixth in the world. 

    Relocating to work abroad, however, can also come with a hefty price tag, according to Mercer’s 2023 Cost of Living Ranking, which ranks 227 cities across five continents, comparing the cost of goods and services in each location.

    The most expensive city in the world for expats: Hong Kong, which topped the list for the second consecutive year.

    Here are the 10 most expensive cities for expats, outside the U.S.:

    1. Hong Kong 
    2. Singapore
    3. Zurich, Switzerland
    4. Geneva, Switzerland
    5. Basel, Switzerland  
    6. Bern, Switzerland 
    7. Tel Aviv, Israel 
    8. Copenhagen, Denmark 
    9. Nassau, Bahamas
    10. Shanghai

    As for the U.S., the data finds that the cost of living has increased in all American cities analyzed. In the global ranking, New York lands in sixth place, followed by Los Angeles (11th), San Francisco (14th) and Honolulu (15th).

    Additionally, Detroit, Houston and Cleveland saw the greatest increases in cost of living among U.S. cities this year.  

    But keep in mind that cost of living is just one factor to consider when looking to move abroad. While Hong Kong is the most expensive city on the list, that doesn’t necessarily translate to a better quality of life. In fact, it ranks 78th in that category.

    On the other hand, some global cities may offer expats a lower cost of living and, perhaps, a higher quality of life. Barcelona, Spain, for example, ranks 75th for highest cost of living, but 47th for best quality of life.

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  • Three Trends Impacting New York City Commercial Real Estate

    Three Trends Impacting New York City Commercial Real Estate

    Tenant behavior in the office market, regulation in multifamily and a much higher cost of capital contributed to a 43% drop in New York City investment sales to $12.8 billion in 1H 2023 from 1H 2022, according to research compiled by Ariel Property Advisors.

    However, that drop was expected as we began to see a slow down at the end of 2022 due to rapidly rising interest rates. As a result, while the first quarter was lackluster, the market improved during the second quarter as savvy investors seized the opportunity to invest in repriced assets.

    Office: Letting Go, Holding On, Recapitalizing and Repositioning

    With New York City’s office occupancy rates hovering around 50% of pre-Covid levels, the dollar volume of office transactions fell 48% year-over-year to $2.4 billion in 1H 2023, one of the lowest levels in the past 10 years.

    Mortgage Maturities Force Decisions

    While mortgage maturities are presenting a major challenge in the office market, they are providing insight as to how office landlords and investors view the office world. Owners are essentially choosing which assets to save and which ones to let go. Therefore, when the underlying fundamentals are weak and there’s no immediate hope for the asset, keys are handed back to lenders.

    However, investors with a long-term outlook and the ability to withstand the storm are well-positioned, especially once they’ve shed their lowest performing assets. These owners have managed to successfully refinance, attract new capital, leverage the repriced values of their buildings and should be able to greatly benefit from this strategy in the long run.

    Letting Go

    Examples of major landlords letting go of their assets in the first six months of 2023 include RXR’s 61 Broadway; L&L Holding Company’s Metropolitan Tower at 142 West 57th; Related’s 2100 49th Avenue and 2109 Borden Avenue in Long Island City, Queens; and Blackstone’s 1740 Broadway.

    Holding On

    Some of these same owners, however, are holding onto office properties with strong underlying fundamentals by extending their loans and bringing in new capital. These include newer, well-located, occupied buildings with high rents such as SL Green’s 245 Park Avenue; Tishman Speyer’s 300 Park Avenue; RFR’s 375 Park Avenue; RXR’s 601 West 26th Street; Blackstone’s Willis Tower in Chicago.

    Recapitalizing

    The office tower at 245 Park Avenue is a great example of not only holding on, but also bringing in a new investment at a slight discount to the original 2017 purchase price, which is a great testament to the interest in investing in quality assets.

    Repositioning

    Office assets with weak underlying fundamentals but a strong future, traded nicely at a discount over the past six months either to investors or to user groups who believe in New York City’s office market long-term. These include the acquisitions of 40 Fulton Street, 126 East 56th Street and 529 5th Avenue by David Werner Real Estate Investments, Sovereign Properties and Namdar, respectively. Owner-users stepped up with Hyundai acquiring 15 Laight Street; NYU acquiring 400 Lafayette Street; and Enchanté acquiring 149 Madison Avenue.

    Multifamily: One Asset Class, Three Different Outcomes

    Multifamily dollar volume dipped to $1.1 billion in 1Q 2023 but soared 242% quarter-over-quarter to $3.9 billion in 2Q 2023, according to Ariel Property Advisors’ Q2 2023 Multifamily Quarter in Review New York City. However, each asset behaved differently depending on whether it was free market, rent stabilized or affordable housing.

    Free Market

    Free market multifamily accounted for 51% of the multifamily dollar volume in the first half of the year. Significant transactions included GO Partners purchase of 265 East 66th Street for $402 million; Slate’s acquisition of 600 Columbus Avenue for $120 million; Namdar’s $100 million acquisition of 552 West 54th Street; and Stonehenge and Carlyle’s $114 million investment in 408 East 92nd Street.

    There continues to be a deep bench of institutional, private and international capital available to invest in free market properties. These apartment buildings benefit from New York City’s favorable fundamentals such as job growth and government policies that discourage new development and, therefore, have created a housing shortage that is driving up rents by 10% year-over-year. The City has an estimated deficit of 376,000 units of housing today, a figure that will rise to 560,000 by 2030.

    Rent-Stabilized

    Prices for rent stabilized buildings in 1H 2023 dropped to their lowest level since 1H 2015 because of higher interest rates combined with the significant structural changes created by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA), a regulation that eliminated incentives to renovate buildings and vacant units. As a result, we saw buildings originally purchased in 2014, 2015 and 2016 sell in the first six months of 2023 for a discount of close to 30%.

    Lower prices for rent stabilized assets, however, are attracting smart, private money and high net worth individuals and families who understand the product, believe the regulations will be changed because they are unsustainable and are willing to stick it out for the long-term.

    Affordable Housing

    Affordable housing enjoyed 34% of the total multifamily pie in the first six months of the year. Investors in this asset class are mission-driven with a double bottom line; seeking to integrate financial success with social accountability. The opportunity drivers include lower property taxes, value-add opportunities that allow for rent increases over time, specifically for vouchered tenants, and agency financing.

    Several prominent affordable transactions took place in the first half of the year including Nuveen’s purchase of the Omni portfolio for close to $1 billion, and the $150 million sale of Sea Park, an 818-unit former Mitchell Lama building with a land opportunity, which was arranged by Ariel Property Advisors. Additionally, Ariel is currently marketing nearly 5,000 affordable units that will be sold this year or the first quarter of 2024.

    Land of Opportunity

    New York City land sales dropped 30% year-over-year to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022, which can be attributed to a number of factors including the failure of state lawmakers to approve a successor to the 421a tax abatement program, which expired over a year ago; the dramatic rise in construction costs, both hard costs and labor; and slower condominium sales due to higher interest rates.

    However, lower prices presented opportunities for developers such as Rockrose, which acquired the St. Francis College campus in Downtown Brooklyn for $160 million, and other investors that bought sites with the intention of land banking.

    Land that is 421a vested and qualified for the tax abatement before it expired last year also traded at a premium as did affordable housing developments supported by the city and state. Additionally, rezoned locations in the Jamaica, Astoria and Willets Point areas of Queens contributed to that borough enjoying an 80% increase in land transactions year-over-year.

    What to Watch For

    Looking forward, we expect to see:

    • Private lenders step up to fill the void left by the regional banks that are facing greater scrutiny from regulators following the bank failures in the first half of the year.
    • Mortgage maturities contribute to additional repricing for office and rent stabilized multifamily assets, opening the door for investors to acquire properties with strong fundamentals at a discount. The FDIC’s sale of the Signature Bank portfolio later this year also will present an interesting investment opportunity.
    • Although state lawmakers failed to approve a comprehensive housing policy in the last legislative session, the governor announced a new program that will provide some tax relief to developers in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, which is encouraging because it could be expanded to other parts of the City.

    While there are challenges, economic indicators in New York City are strong. Therefore, we believe smart capital, which is abundant, will return in a big way in the next six to 18 months.

    Content for this article was taken from Ariel Property Advisors’ 2023 Mid-Year Research Reports, which I presented at our firm’s Coffee & Cap Rates event on July 20, 2023. To access Ariel’s research reports and videos from the event, please click here.

    Shimon Shkury, Contributor

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  • The Political Wrangling Behind the Tragic Images of Migrants Stranded in Manhattan

    The Political Wrangling Behind the Tragic Images of Migrants Stranded in Manhattan

    As tens of thousands of migrants overwhelm New York City’s shelter system, Mayor Eric Adams has tried every tactic to enlist help in dealing with the crisis. He has been pleading with New York governor Kathy Hochul for assistance, with only modest success. He has praised Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, who are both Democrats from Brooklyn, for pushing to appropriate nearly $105 million in aid. He’s blasted President Joe Biden for failing to better manage the flow of people crossing the US southern border—an outburst that backfired politically, with Adams dropped from a list of Biden reelection surrogates. Yet the city’s freshest and perhaps most powerful tool is the product of an unhappy accident: More than a hundred migrants waiting to enter an asylum intake center in midtown Manhattan last week were seen sleeping on the sidewalk. The tragic spectacle generated a wealth of media coverage and gave Adams an opening to dial up pressure for federal help. “For someone to say they think it was strategic, to me, feels insulting,” says Anne Williams-Isom, the city’s deputy mayor for health and human services. “We’ve been killing ourselves 24/7 to try to make sure no one sleeps on the streets. This was a perfect storm.”

    There has been plenty to question in the Adams administration’s response to the yearlong surge of migrants. The city has erected, then rapidly folded—and now plans to install again—a large tent shelter on an island along the East River. It backed away from placing people in a Brooklyn public school gym after neighborhood protests. City Hall handed a no-bid $432 million contract for migrant case management to a company that had previously provided COVID testing. Adams has at times sounded jarringly hostile—once claiming that the city was being “destroyed” by the migrant crisis—especially given New York’s history as a haven for the tired and poor.

    Yet the mayor’s team has also opened 198 sites, as of this week, that give new arrivals a temporary place to stay, in keeping with a “right to shelter” mandate that’s unique for a major city (and a law that the city has been trying to weaken in court). And the city reportedly found beds for the roughly 100 migrants that were sleeping on the Manhattan sidewalk outside an intake center last week. Since the spring of 2022, nearly 100,000 migrants have arrived in New York, Adams has said. That’s a lot of people, even in a city of more than eight million, and it has pushed the nightly shelter population north of 100,000, Williams-Isom told me. The estimated cost of housing and caring for all those newcomers is even more staggering: $12 billion over three fiscal years, according to Adams. At some point, the migrant crisis was bound to become a numbers problem, even if the mayor had handled its management flawlessly.

    Last month, after a meeting between Adams and Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, a DHS “assessment team” was sent to the city to evaluate the migrant crisis. Otherwise, New York’s requests have largely gone unanswered, a City Hall official says. The more progressive Democratic members of New York’s congressional delegation, who have often been at odds with Adams, have largely been silent or supportive during the mayor’s recent push for more White House help, though Congressman Jerry Nadler last week offered a mild defense of the administration. “They’re doing what they can,” Nadler told New York’s Fox 5. “Of course, the real solution is comprehensive immigration reform, which we’ve been trying to do for decades, but the Republicans in the Senate keep blocking it.”

    The top priority, Williams-Isom says, is for the Biden administration to devise a “decompression” strategy for the southern border that would steer larger numbers of migrants to locations other than New York. She would also like to see Washington expedite work authorization for migrants, something the city has been seeking for months. But the list also includes items that seem eminently doable, including access to federal real estate within the city’s boundaries, such as Floyd Bennett Field, a decommissioned airport in Brooklyn.

    The White House has routinely—and correctly—pointed the finger at congressional Republicans who refuse to make a deal on comprehensive immigration reform. But the president’s reelection campaign next year may also be a factor. Last December, a Biden insider told me that immigration loomed as a major vulnerability, and the issue has only grown messier since then. An Adams associate wonders if Biden’s team is trying to avoid greater political ownership of New York’s migrant troubles, so as not to invite louder Republican campaign attacks.

    “We are committed to working to identify ways to improve efficiencies and maximize the resources the federal government can provide,” a White House spokesperson told me Thursday. Per the White House, the president’s senior adviser Tom Perez went to New York on Thursday to work with state and city officials on the migrant situation. “Since the administration’s border enforcement and management plan went into full effect, unlawful border crossings are lower than before Title 42 lifted. However, only Congress can reform our broken immigration system and provide additional resources to communities across the country.”

    Republicans’ barrages, many of them racist, are very likely to be launched against Biden anyway, especially if front-runner Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. And if the president plays it safe on immigration, he could miss an opportunity to win over crucial voters. “Immigration cuts both ways as an election issue,” says Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster who worked on both of Barack Obama’s victorious White House runs. “Republicans are a lot better at using it as a wedge and a motivating issue, because their rallying thematic is Gotham City, and it’s all fear and rage: ‘We are under attack and these people pouring across the borders are an invasion.’ But there’s also a group of voters who are incredibly important to us who care about immigration, some of them middle-of-the-road voters who don’t understand why there isn’t a pathway to citizenship.”

    The realist political calculation is for Biden to do the minimum on immigration, and hope that in a second term he’s working with solid Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. But the humane thing—the presidential thing—to do now is to give New York all the bureaucratic changes and financial resources that Biden can muster. And on Thursday afternoon, all the suffering and political pressure showed some possible signs of having an impact: The president, as part of a $40 billion appropriations request to Congress, included $600 million for “shelter and services program grants.” Here’s hoping the money is approved, and that some of it makes its way to New York. Or a whole lot more people may end up spending their nights on city sidewalks.

    Chris Smith

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  • New York City Mayor Eric Adams talks influx of asylum seekers

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams talks influx of asylum seekers

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams talks influx of asylum seekers – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    The five boroughs of New York City are currently hosting approximately 57,000 asylum seekers and the number continues to rise. Mayor Eric Adams sits down with “CBS Mornings” for a closer look at the humanitarian crisis growing there and what he hopes the Biden Administration will do to fix it.

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  • Luxury NYC buildings woo residents with coworking spaces as remote work lingers

    Luxury NYC buildings woo residents with coworking spaces as remote work lingers

    Private phone booth at One Wall Street

    Courtesy: One Wall Street

    The latest must-have amenity in luxury New York City apartment buildings: a designated coworking space for remote workers.

    Apartment developers are building out private offices, conference rooms and even podcasting booths to capitalize on a lingering work-from-home trend. Even as workplaces reopen, 59% of employees are still working from home three or more days a week, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. More than a third of workers with jobs that can be done remotely are still working from home full time, the survey found.

    “Coworking spaces were not a primary focus prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic shifts everything,” said Matthew Villetto, executive vice president of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing.

    Tenants are increasingly looking for a “third space” where they can work away from both home and the office but are still close by. And what’s closer than an elevator ride away.

    “A coworking space was actually the top of my list when I was touring,” said Lauren Wells, a fashion designer and a resident at 420 Kent in Williamsburg. “When I need to meet with a customer for work, I can just bring up some of my work create a little space up there.”

    At buildings such as The Reserve, a new luxury development project in East Harlem; 450 Washington, a Tribeca condominium; and One Wall Street, the city’s largest-ever office-to-residential condominium in the Financial District, developers are adding phone booths, printing services, ergonomic chairs, audiovisual equipment, high-speed internet and full-size kitchens. 

    Rent at each of the luxury rental buildings can run up to $7,950 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, while a studio for sale can cost nearly $1 million.

    Boardroom at 450 Washington

    Courtesy: 450 Washington

    For remote workers like Jessica Dang, a resident at The Set in Hudson Yards and the founder of the weight management and lifestyle brand the Essentialist Method, the price tag is worth it.

    “I’ve worked in coffee shops, Soho House and WeWork before, but this is a completely different experience because it feels like your own private office,” Dang said.

    She also said the coworking spaces offer a unique social aspect.

    “You need a second, or third space outside of your apartment, or else you’ll go crazy. With a coworking space that’s right upstairs, I can see other people from the building,” she said.

    Shifting focus

    Real estate trend watchers say the coworking concept is likely to stick, prompting more apartment buildings to follow suit.

    “I think as the work-from-home trend settles in, there’s going to just be increased pressure on residential buildings to pick up that slack,” according to Richard Dubrow, director of marketing at Macklowe Properties, which was behind One Wall Street.

    “A lot of buildings will be reconfiguring amenity spaces for the demands of their residents, so it’s just the new reality,” he said.

    Co-working space at The Reserve

    Courtesy: The Reserve

    The rise in residential working space comes against the backdrop of struggling public coworking spaces. On Tuesday, WeWork issued a “going concern” warning about its ability to survive, noting its coworking clients are canceling memberships faster than expected. 

    Developers’ new focus on workspace amenities in the residential space could also weigh on the city’s commercial real estate market. 

    In New York City, the office vacancy rate rose to a record 17.4% in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report by commercial real estate firm JLL. As demand for residential coworking spaces continues to rise and workers remain reluctant to return to the office, building owners may be forced to rethink how they grapple with vacant office spaces. 

    “If office spaces are vacant, clearly, landlords are going to be incentivized to figure out how to use that space,” said Realtor.com Economic Data Analyst Hannah Jones. “This creates opportunities on how you lean into flexibility, whether it be converting office space into something a little more flexible like a coworking space or into residential space.”

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  • Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork warns of

    Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork warns of

    Once worth as much as $47 billion, WeWork is now warning that there is “substantial doubt” about the company’s ability to stay in business over the next year because of factors such as financial losses and a need for cash.

    Shares of WeWork tumbled 2 cents, or 11%, to 19 cents in premarket trading as investors digested the announcement Tuesday by the office-sharing company that its future is contingent upon its improving liquidity and profitability over the next 12 months.

    WeWork was once the biggest tenant in New York City, and made its name leasing, renovating and subleasing office space in cities nationwide. It eventually sold shares to the public in 2021, two years after a spectacular collapse during its first attempt to go public — which led to the ousting of its CEO and founder, Adam Neumann.  

    But the company has faced ongoing scrutiny of its finances.

    “Substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” WeWork said Tuesday. “The company’s ability to continue as a going concern is contingent upon successful execution of management’s plan to improve liquidity and profitability over the next 12 months.”


    Requiring workers to return to office full-time hurting companies’ growth, data shows

    03:42

    The company leases buildings and divides them into office spaces to sublet to its members, which include small businesses, startups and freelancers who want to avoid paying for permanent office space.

    But over time its operating expenses soared and the company relied on repeated cash infusions from private investors. The company also said Tuesday it is facing high turnover rates by its members. It said it plans to negotiate more favorable lease terms, control spending and seek additional capital by issuing debt, stock or selling assets.

    WeWork’s interim CEO, David Tolley, sounded an optimistic note Tuesday in the company’s results for the second-quarter, during which it reported a loss of $349 million.

    “The company’s transformation continues at pace, with a laser focus on member retention and growth, doubling down on our real estate portfolio optimization efforts, and maintaining a disciplined approach to reducing operating costs,” Tolley said.

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  • What’s Listing And What’s Selling Right Now In NYC’s ‘Discerning But Liquid’ Real Estate Market

    What’s Listing And What’s Selling Right Now In NYC’s ‘Discerning But Liquid’ Real Estate Market

    In its July 2023 Market Update, Midtown-based brokerage Elegran described the Manhattan and Brooklyn markets as “neutral, where neither buyers nor sellers have a significant advantage.” While decreasing supply and a sharp decline in median listing discounts may point toward a seller’s market, a retreating demand and median price per square foot favor buyers.

    Just under 1,000 contracts were signed in Manhattan in June, or a sizable 14% decrease from the month before, while supply decreased by 3% to 7,300 listings, according to the update. Despite a quieting demand, sales above asking price increased 12% from Q1. In Brooklyn, demand similarly shrunk, down 8% with 670 contracts signed, and supply dropped 1% to 3,250 listings.

    As for the future, the report continues, “It remains uncertain which direction the market will shift and whether buyers or sellers will come out on top. Only time will reveal the outcome as we better understand the future market trajectory.”

    What seems all but certain is that the New York City luxury real estate market will continue to remain active with sales and exceptional new listings. Here’s a look at some of the latest $5-million-plus properties hitting or leaving the market

    FOR SALE | SoHo ($5.75 Million)

    Completely renovated by 2022 Architectural Digest 100 firm Ike Kligerman Barkley, this 3,000-square-foot apartment puts a luxury spin on the classic SoHo loft. 10-inch oak flooring runs throughout the two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. Stretching across the length of the sizable great room, a white brick wall is outfitted with sleek wood shelving.

    Massive wood beams run the width of towering ceilings. Some elements lean heavier on the luxurious than the traditional loft space, like a primary suite with a walk-in closet, soaking tub and heated floors. Other highlights include a mirrored wet bar, service elevator and open-concept kitchen complete with custom blue cabinetry, a seated island and top-of-the-line appliances.

    Kirk Eckenrode and Trevor Connolly hold the listing.

    SOLD | Park Slope ($7.2 Million)

    The Park Slope area of Brooklyn has one the highest resale values in the city, according to Jules Garcia, founder of Waterview Advisory Group at Elegran. This is in part due to the neighborhood’s collection of large, historic homes, such as the recently sold property.

    Garcia recently represented the buyers of a Park Slope townhome that sold for $7.2 million. Built just before the turn of the 20th century, the Romanesque Revival townhome blends modern comforts with old-world glamour. This merging of styles is best showcased in the dining area, with its original dado paneling and cabinetry, coffered ceiling and hand-painted wallpaper and the ultramodern kitchen, with sleek white cabinetry, stainless-steel appliances and minimalist lighting. Covering five floors including a basement, the 4,800-square-foot home fits five bedrooms and four bathrooms. Outside, the property includes an array of terraces, patios and garden spaces.

    FOR SALE | Chelsea ($6.5 Million)

    Housed inside Lifesaver Lofts, this 4,000-square-foot loft apartment is located across the street from the Hudson River Greenway and less than a block away from the High Line. This premier positioning paired with the home’s size and exceptional design make it one of the most expensive listings in Chelsea. An expansive great room with 11-foot ceilings fronts the four-bedroom residence, centered by an impressive two-sided fireplace that serves as a subtle partition for an open yet intimate floor plan.

    Restored cast-iron columns and brick walls recall the industrial charm of artist loft studios while high-end finishes like European oak floors, Carrara Gold marble kitchen countertops and wide trim put the home’s prestige on display. Luxury amenities include keyed elevator access, an integrated Sonos sound system and state-of-the-art lighting. Elegran’s Ignacio Cesped holds the listing.

    SOLD | West Village ($7.45 Million)

    After six weeks on the market and a bidding war, this 120-year-old townhome in historic West Village sold for just under the original asking price of $7.5 million. Standing four stories tall, the 3,500-square-foot home features a Federal-style brick facade complete with a quintessential New York City fire escape.

    Inside, the home marries turn-of-the-century charm with contemporary updates. Original oak plank flooring, woodwork and built-in shelves have been thoughtfully preserved. Two working fireplaces showcase ornate detailing and craftsmanship. A pitched roof, beach wood-paneled ceiling and triple exposure make for a rare Hamptons-inspired retreat in the middle of the big city. The home’s rarest amenity can be found outside—an enclosed private garden with an impressive Japanese Maple tree. Jules Garcia represented the buyers in the West Village sale.

    MORE FROM FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES

    MORE FROM FORBESA Fairy Tale Estate In Pennsylvania Has A Former Barn At Center StageBy Lisa ChamoffMORE FROM FORBES$8.4 Million Lakeside Cottage Brings East Coast Charm To Rustic MontanaBy Mary ForgioneMORE FROM FORBES$6.9 Million Santa Barbara Estate Scores Top Marks For Classic DesignBy Lauren BealeMORE FROM FORBESVilla In The Portugal Town That Inspired Ian Fleming’s 007 Asks $7 MillionBy Lauren Beale

    Spencer Elliott, Contributor

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  • Fact: The Fashion Set Can’t Get Enough of These 7 Telfar Bags

    Fact: The Fashion Set Can’t Get Enough of These 7 Telfar Bags

    From there, Telfar’s handbags began to bubble up as a favorite among the fashion set and were dubbed the “Bushwick Birkin” by makeup artist Xya Rachel. Still, Telfar didn’t get the love it rightfully deserved, despite its popularity among the fashion set, until 2020. After calls to support Black-owned businesses in the wake of protests following the murder of George Floyd, the brand began to blow up. Telfar’s shopping totes were everywhere—from being featured on The Wendy Williams Show to being spotted on celebrities such as Beyoncé and Oprah. Rather than letting the hype die down, Clemens has kept the brand more relevant than ever through cunning business moves like launching its Bag Security Program with Klarna so customers can preorder the totes in every size and color, along with establishing collaborations with Ugg, Moncler, and the Liberian Olympic team and its first-ever blind preorder with Eastpak. 

    Jasmine Fox-Suliaman

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  • I Just Got Back From a Hot, Rainy NYC Trip—These Are the Packing Mistakes I Made

    I Just Got Back From a Hot, Rainy NYC Trip—These Are the Packing Mistakes I Made

    I’ll preface this by saying that I used to live in New York and have traveled there countless times since. For these reasons, I considered myself to be a pretty good packer for NYC visits. But after the trip I just returned from, I’m questioning my skills a bit. Correction: I’m considering it to be a packing learning lesson.

    I realized as soon as I stepped out of LaGuardia that it’s been several years since I visited New York in the summer. I always seem to find myself there when it’s freezing, so I just stay bundled up in coats and boots the entire time. This time around, it was mid-July, and the humidity was high. On top of that, there were bouts of rain each day that I was there, and it always seemed to be when I was walking around outside. Unfortunately, not all of the outfits (and shoes) I planned were ideal, and I vowed to learn from my packing mistakes. But to be fair, dressing for summer in NYC is historically difficult. It gets very hot, you’ll inevitably be doing tons of walking, and I personally like being a bit more covered up in a big, busy city than elsewhere. 

    All that said, here are the mistakes I’m vowing to avoid for future summer trips to New York.

    Allyson Payer

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  • Migrant crisis in New York City worsens as asylum seekers are forced to sleep on sidewalks

    Migrant crisis in New York City worsens as asylum seekers are forced to sleep on sidewalks

    The migrant crisis in New York City is reaching a breaking point, with some asylum seekers now being forced to sleep on the streets. 

    In midtown Manhattan, asylum seekers are sleeping on the sidewalks outside the Roosevelt Hotel, which is now a migrant processing center for city shelters. 

    Adrian Daniel Jose is among the dozens of people waiting to get services. Leaving his wife and three kids in Venezuela, the 36-year-old said the journey to the U.S. was dangerous.

    He said he was robbed in Mexico, forcing him to cross the border with just the clothes on his back and a pair of taped-together glasses.

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday said of the crisis, “From this moment on, it’s downhill. There is no more room.”

    Since last spring, more than 95,000 migrants have arrived in New York City, according to the mayor’s office. 

    NYC Considers Tent Camps in Central, Prospect Parks to Shelter Migrants
    Migrants wait outside the Roosevelt Hotel hoping for a place to stay on August 2, 2023, in New York City. City officials are considering housing the influx of migrants in tents in Central Park in Manhattan and in Prospect Park in Brooklyn as the numbers arriving daily overwhelm available facilities.

    VIEW press


    To reduce the chaos, Adams and the mayors of Chicago and Denver are asking the Biden administration to expedite work permits for migrants coming to their cities.

    Thousands have been bused from Texas to cities across the country as part of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s controversial Operation Lone Star. 

    According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas troopers have begun detaining fathers traveling with their families, while children and their mothers are turned over to Border Patrol. The move is reminiscent of the Trump administration policy that separated some families for years. 

    Back in New York City, Russia’s Natalia and Maksim Subbotina are seeking political asylum. They arrived in Mexico after months of waiting, crossed into the U.S. and arrived from Texas on Tuesday.

    “It’s so hard. In my country, I was a famous professor. I have a home, but, uh, this is first day and I haven’t,” Natalia Subbotina said. 

    She told CBS News she hasn’t slept since she arrived because “I can’t sleep in this situation. I can’t sleep. It’s not safe for me. For him.” 

    To cut down on illegal border crossings, the Biden administration barred asylum claims from those who don’t first seek refuge in other countries. But a district judge halted that order last month, and officials must end that policy next week unless a higher court intervenes.

    Meg Oliver


    meg-oliver-promo-2019.jpg

    Meg Oliver is a correspondent for CBS News based in New York City.

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  • NY officials announce legislation aimed at protecting kids on social media | CNN Business

    NY officials announce legislation aimed at protecting kids on social media | CNN Business



    CNN
     — 

    Two new bills meant to protect children’s mental health online by changing the way they are served content on social media and by limiting companies’ use of their data will be introduced in the New York state legislature, state and city leaders said Wednesday.

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James made the announcement at the headquarters of the United Federation of Teachers Manhattan, joined by UFT President Michael Mulgrew, State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and community advocates.

    “Our children are in crisis, and it is up to us to save them,” Hochul said, comparing social media algorithms to cigarettes and alcohol. “The data around the negative effects of social media on these young minds is irrefutable, and knowing how dangerous the algorithms are, I will not accept that we are powerless to do anything about it.”

    The “Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act” would limit what New York officials say are the harmful and addictive features of social media for children. The act would allow users under 18 and their parents to opt out of receiving feeds driven by algorithms designed to harness users’ personal data to keep them on the platforms for as long as possible. Those who opt out would receive chronological feeds instead, like in the early days of social media.

    The bill would also allow users and parents who opt in to receiving algorithmically generated content feeds to block access to social media platforms between 12am and 6am or to limit the total number of hours per day a minor can spend on a platform.

    “This is a major issue that we all feel strongly about and that must be addressed,” James said. “Nationwide, children and teens are struggling with significantly high rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues, largely because of social media.”

    The bill targets platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube, where feeds are comprised of user-generated content along with other material the platform suggests to users based on their personal data. Tech platforms have designed and promoted voluntary tools aimed at parents to help them control what content their kids can see, arguing that the decision about what boundaries to set should be up to individual families. But that hasn’t stopped critics from calling on platforms to do more — or from threatening further regulation.

    “Our children deserve a safer and more secure environment online, free from addictive algorithms and exploitation,” said Gounardes. “Algorithms are the new tobacco. Simple as that.”

    The New York legislation comes amid a raft of similar bills across the country that purport to safeguard young users by imposing tough new rules on platforms.

    States including Arkansas, Louisiana and Utah have passed bills requiring tech platforms to obtain a parent’s consent before creating accounts for teens. Federal lawmakers have introduced a similar bill that would ban kids under 13 from using social media altogether. And numerous lawsuits against social media platforms have accused the companies of harming users’ mental health. The latest of these suits came on Tuesday, when Utah’s attorney general sued TikTok for allegedly misleading consumers about the app’s safety.

    Mulgrew called the New York legislation necessary in part due to a lack of action by the federal government to protect kids.

    “The last time, first and only time that the United States government passed a bill to protect children in social media was 1998,” Mulgrew said, referring to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal law that prohibits the collection of personal data from Americans under the age of 13 without parental consent. In July, the US Senate commerce committee voted to advance a bill that would expand COPPA’s protections to teens for the first time.

    New York officials on Wednesday also highlighted risks to children’s privacy online, including the chance their location or other personal data could fall into the hands of human traffickers and others who might prey on youth.

    “While other states and countries have enacted laws to limit the personal data that online platforms can collect from minors, no such restrictions currently exist in New York,” a press release from earlier Wednesday stated. “The two pieces of legislation introduced today will add critical protections for children and young adults online.”

    The New York Child Data Protection Act would protect children’s data online by prohibiting all online sites from collecting, using, sharing or selling the personal data of anyone under 18 for the purposes of advertising, without informed consent or unless doing so is strictly necessary for the purpose of the website. For users under 13, this informed consent must come from a parent or guardian.

    Both bills would authorize the attorney general to bring an action to enjoin or seek damages or civil penalties of up to $5,000 per violation and would allow parents or guardians of minors to sue for damages of up to $5,000 per user incident or for actual damages, whichever is greater.

    The US Department of Health and Human Services says that while social media provides some benefits, it also presents “a meaningful risk of harm to youth.” The Surgeon General’s Social Media and Youth Mental Health Advisory released in May said children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems like depression and anxiety, a finding the report called “concerning” given a recent survey that showed teens spend an average of 3.5 hours a day on social media.

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  • Does the US prosecute more Republicans or Democrats? Here’s some data | CNN Politics

    Does the US prosecute more Republicans or Democrats? Here’s some data | CNN Politics

    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted Friday for the second time in 10 years on bribery and corruption charges.

    In this new case, federal authorities allege he and his wife accepted a luxury Mercedes, envelopes full of cash and multiple bars of gold in exchange for influence and favors. It’s wild. Read CNN’s report.

    Menendez denies the allegations, and he has a track record of beating bribery charges. The last time the government took him to court, a jury deadlocked, a judge acquitted him of some charges and the government finally dropped that separate set of bribery charges. Menendez was able to win reelection.

    He’s up for reelection again next year, and Democrats badly need to keep his New Jersey seat if they have any hope of maintaining control of the Senate.

    The case, if nothing else, is a serious complication to former President Donald Trump’s often-repeated claim that he is the subject of a partisan “witch hunt.”

    An unusually feisty Attorney General Merrick Garland rejected any such claim during testimony on Capitol Hill this week.

    Watch Garland’s response to GOP accusations

    “Our job is not to do what is politically convenient,” he said. “Our job is not to take orders from the president, from Congress or from anyone else about who or what to criminally investigate.”

    The prosecution, again, of Menendez, which is a major headache for Democrats, could help prove this point. So should the prosecution of Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in a gun case that is rarely brought as a standalone charge.

    But it is worth looking at the recent history of Department of Justice prosecutions of lawmakers. Is one party targeted more than another?

    Here’s a look at active and recent federal cases against federal lawmakers and governors. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but it is what I could find going back to 2000 in CNN’s coverage and from other news outlets.

    There is one against a Republican, Rep. George Santos of New York, and one against a Democrat, Menendez.

    There is also a non-prosecution to mention. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican, was informed this year by the DOJ that he would not be charged in a long-running sex trafficking probe.

    These are federal cases against current or former federal lawmakers. I was able to find nine targeting Republicans and eight targeting Democrats.

    Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska – Found guilty in 2022 of three felonies in a case that centered on campaign contributions.

    Former Rep. TJ Cox, a Democrat from California – Still awaiting trial after his 2022 indictment, including for fraudulent campaign contributions.

    Former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California – Sentenced to 11 months in prison for misusing campaign funds, but later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. Chris Collins, a Republican from New York – Sentenced to 26 months in prison for insider trading, but later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. Corrine Brown, a Democrat from Florida – Served more than two years for setting up a false charity.

    Former Rep. Steve Stockman, a Republican from Texas – Sentenced to 10 years in prison for multiple felonies including fraud and money laundering, but pardoned by Trump after serving part of his sentence.

    Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York – Sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting with a minor.

    Former Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Pennsylvania – Sentenced to 10 years in prison for racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

    Former Rep. Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York – Pleaded guilty and sentenced to eight months in prison for tax evasion. Attempted to run again for Congress.

    Former Rep. Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona – Sentenced to three years for corruption. Pardoned by Trump after he served time.

    Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey – Acquitted by a judge and other charges dismissed after a jury deadlocked in a bribery case.


    Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a Democrat from Illinois – Sentenced to 30 months in prison for misusing campaign funds.

    Former Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican from Alaska – Conviction by jury for lying on ethics forms was later set aside over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

    Former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat from Louisiana – Sentenced to 13 years for corruption and soliciting bribes. There was video of him taking $100,000 from an African official. Served multiple years in prison, but many of the charges were later vacated by a judge based on a US Supreme Court decision.

    Former Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican from Ohio – Sentenced to 30 months after a guilty plea for corruption tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

    Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a Republican from California – Sentenced to eight years in prison after a guilty plea for bribery. Later pardoned by Trump.

    Former Rep. James Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio – Sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption after defending himself during trial. Was later expelled from the House.

    Two Republican governors and two Democratic governors have been convicted in federal courts in recent decades:

    Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, was convicted for bribery and corruption. But the US Supreme Court changed the rules in corruption and bribery cases when it threw out the case against McDonnell.

    Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was convicted for trying to sell his power to appoint a replacement to Barack Obama’s Senate seat. His sentence was later commuted by Trump.

    Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted by a jury of bribery and corruption and was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

    Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, was convicted on corruption charges after an FBI sting.

    Did we miss a federal lawmaker convicted or charged? Let me know at zachary.wolf@cnn.com.

    Local prosecutions – like the state or local cases against former Rep. Trey Radel, the Republican from Florida, for cocaine possession in Washington, DC, or former Sen. Larry Craig, the Republican from Idaho, for lewd behavior in the Minneapolis airport – don’t really fit here since they were not conducted by the Department of Justice.

    Some notable recent DOJ prosecutions have focused on Democrats at the state level, like Andrew Gillum, the Democrat and former Tallahassee, Florida, mayor who ran for governor and lost to Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2018. Gillum was recently acquitted of lying to the FBI.

    Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, also a Democrat, was sentenced to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges related to a scheme in which local nonprofit organizations bought her self-published children’s book.

    Trump likes to argue he’s the subject of a conspiratorial “witch hunt” engineered by a deep state.

    Why, he will often say, was Hillary Clinton not prosecuted for her email server while he is being prosecuted for mishandling classified material?

    This forgets the history of the 2016 election, which Clinton has said she lost because of then-FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the investigation of her emails. Comey did not charge her before the election but did criticize her, and then, 11 days before Election Day, he said the investigation had been reopened.

    These whataboutisms can go on and on without changing anyone’s mind.
    This story has been updated to include additional details.

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