UPDATE Relief Drive Launched in Bronx for Victims of Hurricane Melissa as Jamaican Consul General to NY Dies

State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36), chair of the Bronx Democratic Party, was among the New York elected officials who recently issued statements on the devastation caused to the island of Jamaica after it was recently hit by Hurricane Melissa. The hurricane later made its way to other Caribbean islands, and according to various media reports as of Oct. 29, 30 people had died across Haiti, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic as a result of the category 3 hurricane.

Mayor Announces First in Nation 911 Rapid Response Technology for Active Shooters in Public Schools

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Matthew Fraser announced Monday, Oct. 27, the nation’s first pilot program directly integrating public schools with 911 services for life-saving rapid response in case of an active shooter situation. City officials said more than 1,900 K-12 school shooting incidents occurred in the United States between 2015 and September 2025, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, and K-12 school shootings peaked at 351 in 2023. They said another 336 occurred in 2024.