Veterans
UPDATE VA Dismisses An Additional 1,400+ Probationary Employees as Hochul Announces Plans to Hire Some
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced Feb. 24 the dismissal of more than an additional 1,400 employees in non-mission critical positions. It followed a previous VA announcement of 1,000 dismissals on Feb. 13, which is part of what the Trump Administration says is its government-wide effort to make agencies more efficient.
UPDATE Trump Administration Layoffs on Advice of DOGE Worry Bronx Vets
Hours after rumors circulated on social media on Feb. 13 that members of the new U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by unelected billionaire Elon Musk, a special federal government employee, would visit the Bronx VA Medical Center in Fordham Manor on Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the dismissal of 1,000 employees at unspecified VA sites across the country.
Council Member Eric Dinowitz Holds Landmark 80th Anniversary Holocaust Remembrance Event
To mark the solemn occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation by the Allied Forces of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration and extermination camp where millions of Jewish people were killed and detained during World War II, New York City Council held a Holocaust Remembrance Event on Jan. 29, at City Hall.
UPDATE Fear Palpable among Immigrant Community as Feds Converge on Bronx amid ICE Raids
Federal agents from a host of different law enforcement agencies converged last month on at least three locations in The Bronx, one in Manhattan, and another in Queens in efforts to detain undocumented migrants. The raids came days after Republican U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 22, suspending “the physical entry of aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States through the southern border.” This order had, in turn, followed a prior Jan. 20 executive order authorizing the detention of “unregistered aliens,” among other immigration-related actions.
Neighborhood Notes: Congestion Pricing Live, Reduced MetroNorth Fares, Student Financial Aid Events & More!
Out & About: Restaurant Week, Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe, Whitney Houston Tribute & More!
Michael Blake Launches Candidacy for Mayor
Former Bronx Resident Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS & Sharing Info on Homemade Explosives
Federal prosecutors announced on Friday, Nov. 22, that a former 33-year-old Bronx resident, Erald Alimehmeti, was arrested in connection with a complaint charging him with allegedly attempting to provide material support to ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) and allegedly distributing instructional information regarding the making of explosives. Alimehmeti appeared in federal court Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron and was ordered detained.
