Quality of Life
UPDATE Mayor Vetoes Dinowitz Bill on Protesting Around Educational Facilities
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani vetoed on Friday, April 24, City Council Intro 175-B-2026 sponsored by local Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), on free speech grounds. The bill, along with Intro 0001-2026, passed in the council in March. The former would require the police commissioner to establish a plan to address and contain the risk of physical obstruction, physical injury, intimidation, and interference at educational facilities while preserving and protecting the rights to free speech, assembly, and protest, according to Dinowitz’s office.
Department of Education Employee Arrested for Sexual Abuse
UPDATE Belmont: FDNY Stresses Door Closing after Fatal Fire as Property Owner’s Role Under Scrutiny
After the fatal fire at 660 East 187th Street in Belmont on Tuesday, April 21, claimed the lives of two people and left residents of the entire building displaced, the FDNY held a second press conference in Belmont on Friday, April 24, to provide an update on their investigation into the 5-alarm blaze. Officials highlighted once again the importance of closing doors in the event of a fire to stop it from spreading, and also confirmed that the two deceased people had been found in the stairwells of the building. Meanwhile, one relative of some of the building’s surviving tenants has raised questions about the responsibility of the property owner following the fire. Read our initial story on the fire here and its aftermath here.
A.D. 81 Candidate Morgan Evers Endorsed by Rivera, Jackson & Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
Morgan Evers, a teacher and disability activist who launched her campaign to challenge local, 16-term Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz on Dec. 7, 2025 for the 81st Assembly District seat in the upcoming June primaries, has received additional endorsements in recent weeks in the form of local State Senators Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33), Robert Jackson (S.D. 31), and the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club.
