new york city
NYC bail reform slammed after repeat offender makes 42nd attack
- Robert Kelley, vice president of New York City’s Transport Union, slammed the city’s bail reform on “Fox & Friends First” on Monday in protest after officials put repeat offender Alexander Wright under the new bail reform.
- Wright, 49, was charged with assault and harassment for attacking Pelham Bay Park Station subway cleaner Anthony Nelson, 35, on Aug. 11. Wright also has over 40 prior arrests, including one for attacking an Asian woman in New York City’s Chinatown in May 2021.
- “The new bail reform must be changed,” Kelley told “Fox & Friends First” host Todd Piro. “Time and time again, this guy [Wright] shouldn't have even been privileged to be under the new bail reform in terms of him being free. After 40 beatings, you'd think they'd lock him up and throw away the key.”
- "I never thought I'd say this, but, at the end of the day, the MTA employees have a more dangerous job than the NYPD," Kelley added. "At least they [the NYPD] have weapons to protect themselves… our members don't."
Robert Kelley, vice president of New York City’s Transport Union, slammed the city’s bail reform on national television following a repeat offender’s attack on a “hero” subway employee nearly two months ago.
Kelley criticized the city’s bail reform during his appearance on “Fox & Friends First” on Monday, more than a month after Alexander Wright, 49, was accused of assaulting an off-duty subway worker in the Bronx in August.
NYPD asks for help after man follows woman into Chinatown apartment building and sexually assaults her
- Surveillance footage showed a man sexually assaulting a woman in her New York City Chinatown apartment building.
- The attacker followed the 27-year-old woman into her building near Market Street and Madison Street on Sept. 24, the New York Police Department said.
- In the video, the woman is seen being pinned against the wall in her vestibule before the culprit tries to kiss her and forcibly gropes her buttocks, breasts and groin.
- The man, who police described as an adult male, approximately 160 pounds, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a medium build, medium complexion and bald, fled eastbound on Madison Street towards Catherine Street.
- He was last seen wearing a beige New York Yankees baseball cap, a plaid collared shirt, light colored sweater, blue jeans and black sneakers.
The New York Police Department is asking the public for help in finding a man sexually assaulted a woman in her Chinatown apartment building.
The attacker followed the 27-year-old woman into her building near Market Street and Madison Street on Sept. 24, police said.
‘Great taste is universal’: Behind the scenes of Times Square’s Jollibee flagship store
The six-foot-tall, red-and-yellow statue of a smiling bee has made its way to the heart of New York.
On Aug. 18, shortly after being named the “best chain fried chicken” in the U.S. by Vox Media’s food website Eater, Filipino fast-food restaurant chain Jollibee opened a flagship restaurant in the heart of Times Square in New York City.
New York City reverses on controversial high school admissions process
- New York City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announced that the city is rolling back a pandemic-era moratorium that allowed more low-income students to enter some of the city’s most elite schools via “random lottery.”
- The move, which Banks said was based on feedback from families, will regrant selective schools the option to reserve admissions for top-performing students.
- “It’s critically important that if you’re working hard and making good grades, you should not be thrown into a lottery with just everybody,” Banks was quoted as saying.
- He clarified that since the city is not imposing a blanket rule, it will be left to the district superintendents to work with school communities to implement admissions processes they deem best for them.
Top high schools in New York City are expected to tighten their admissions criteria with the return of grade-based admissions.
On Thursday, City Department of Education Chancellor David C. Banks announced that the city is rolling back a controversial pandemic-era moratorium that allowed more low-income students to enter some of the city’s most elite schools.
New York state Sen. John Liu pushes for return to merit-based high school admissions
- Sen. John C. Liu (NY-D) sent a letter to New York City’s Department of Education (DOE) Chancellor David Banks on Friday requesting to remove the high school lottery admissions process from the city's public high school system.
- “The high school admissions process has been rife with uncertainty and confusion under the current system causing outrage during an already stressful time in families’ lives,” Liu said in a press release on Monday.
- “The DOE must abandon this lottery as a relic of the pandemic, and reinstate an admissions system that values diligence and achievement,” he continued.
- Liu noted in his letter to Banks that the uncertainty ingrained in the lottery-based admission process has driven many families out of the public school system, with some even opting to move out of New York.
Sen. John C. Liu (NY-D) has called on New York City’s Department of Education (DOE) to remove the city’s high school lottery-based admissions process and return to a system that “values diligence and achievement.”
In his letter addressed to DOE Chancellor David Banks on Friday, Liu requested that the DOE return to its previous admissions process that considered academic performance for students, calling the current lottery-based process “unpopular and ineffective.”
First Singaporean hawker center in the US opens in 14,000-square-foot New York City space
- Urban Hawker, a traditional Singaporean food hall that hosts stalls and vendors, opened its doors to its soft-opening at 135 W 50th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York, last week.
- The food hall, which was curated by Singaporean food expert KF Seetoh, will introduce Southeast Asian food culture with 17 vendors to its New York City location on Sept. 28.
- The 14,000-square-foot space brings together the flavors of Singapore cuisine, as well as Malay, Peranakan, Chinese and Indian food.
The first authentic Singaporean hawker center in the U.S. is set to open in New York City on Wednesday.
Urban Hawker, a traditional Singaporean food hall that hosts stalls and vendors, opened its doors to its soft opening in Midtown Manhattan at 135 W 50th Street last week. The highly anticipated food hall, which was curated by Singaporean food expert KF Seetoh, will introduce Southeast Asian food culture with 17 vendors to its New York City location on Sept. 28.
CIX member Seunghun reveals he was mugged in NYC
- Seunghun of K-pop boy group CIX revealed he was mugged while in New York City earlier this week.
- CIX was performing at the Korea-U.S. SMEs go TOGETHER event alongside K-pop soloist BoA and YG Entertainment boy group WINNER.
- During a livestream, Seunghun shared that he went out to get tacos sometime after the mini concert and was momentarily separated from his manager and bodyguards.
- He was approached by six men who cursed at him and demanded all of his money, which he gave to them.
- Seunghun assured fans that he is OK and is still excited to perform in New York.
- CIX released their fifth EP “OK Episode 1: OK Not” last month.
Seunghun of K-pop boy group CIX shared during a livestream that he was mugged earlier this week in New York City.
CIX were in New York alongside K-pop icon BoA and YG Entertainment boy group WINNER for the Korea-U.S. SMEs go TOGETHER event, which was held at the The Rooftop at Pier 17.
Man arrested, then released without bail, for destroying Gandhi statue in NYC
- Sukhpal Singh, 27, was arrested for his alleged role in vandalizing a Mahatma Gandhi statue outside the Shri Tulsi Mandir in Queens, New York City, on Aug. 16.
- Surveillance footage of the incident shows five people pushing over the statue and taking turns smashing it with a sledgehammer.
- The statue was found decapitated with all four limbs severed, along with the words “Kutta Dog” graffitied on its back.
- Singh was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime, criminal mischief in the second degree and aggravated harassment in the first degree.
- He was released without bail following his arraignment on Sunday.
A man has been arrested and charged in connection to the early morning vandalism of a Mahatma Gandhi statue in Queens, New York City, last month.
Sukhpal Singh, 27, was apprehended on Saturday for the Aug. 16 incident at the Shri Tulsi Mandir, a Hindu temple located at 103-24 111th St. in South Richmond Hill.
EXO’s Lay Zhang, Amber Liu of f(x), ØZI, Tia Ray, Sury Su and more to perform at inaugural MetaMoon Music Festival
- The inaugural MetaMoon Music Festival will bring the likes of EXO’s Lay Zhang, Amber Liu of f(x) and other Asian artists from all over the United States and Asia together at the Barclays Center in New York City on Nov. 26.
- Leading up to the festival will be the MetaMoon Food Crawl starting on Nov. 1, where food lovers can explore local Asian-owned restaurants, all of which will donate to Heart of Dinner, a nonprofit organization combating food insecurity and isolation within New York City’s elderly Asian community.
- On the day of the festival will be the MetaMoon Market, featuring a slew of Asian-owned businesses and brands.
- Founded by Graceful Media in collaboration with LiveNation, the MetaMoon Music Festival mission aims to “bridge the gap between Asia and the US and showcase the fact that pop culture and music are universal languages that can foster a stronger understanding.”
The first-ever MetaMoon Music Festival at Barclays Center in New York City on Nov. 26 will be headlined by Lay Zhang of EXO.
Newly announced talents Amber Liu of f(x), Chinese R&B singer-songwriter Tia Ray and Hong Kong-based indie artist Tyson Yoshi will join previously announced artists Sury Su, 9m88, Karencici and ØZI. The event will be hosted by MC Jin.
NYC student pleads guilty to murdering his mother to collect $11 million inheritance
- Jared Eng, 25, pleaded guilty on Friday to murdering his mother in a New York City apartment before disposing of her body in a garbage can in New Jersey in 2019.
- Eng slashed his mother’s throat and brutally beat her in their shared Tribeca apartment on Jan. 31, 2019. With the help of his girlfriends, they disposed of the corpse into a garbage can at a family home in Morristown.
- Eng changed the passwords for Chin’s bank accounts and searched for inheritance lawyers.
- His motive was to speed up his inheritance of $11 million, according to prosecutors.
- Eng faces a minimum of 18 years to life in prison. He was ordered to be held without bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 18.
A college student pleaded guilty to murdering his mother in a New York City apartment before disposing of her body in a garbage can in Morristown, New Jersey.
Jared Eng, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Sept. 16 for the murder of his 65-year-old mother, Paula Chin, in 2019.
South Asians in Queens say new redistricting maps divides their communities
- A redistricting map set to be released by the New York City Districting Commission later this month has the South Asian community in Queens fearful of losing electoral power over the next 10 years.
- Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park in Queens, which have large numbers of Punjabi, Indo-Caribbean and Bangladeshi residents, will be covered in the revised map.
- Experts and advocates argue that the city’s redistricting process will further separate these populations.
- South Asian immigrants in Queens could be adversely affected by the redistricting.
A new redistricting map set to be released by the New York City Districting Commission later this month has the South Asian community in Queens fearful of losing electoral power over the next 10 years.
The location of district lines determines which voters can vote in each representative race. The U.S. Constitution requires legislative and congressional districts to be redrawn every decade based on new census data.
Lawsuit accusing New York City officials of discriminating against Asian American students thrown out by judge
- Southern District of New York Judge Edgardo Ramos has junked a lawsuit that aimed to stop a 2018 diversity initiative that the plaintiffs say discriminated against Asian American students.
- The lawsuit, filed by civil rights organizations and Asian American parents of public school students, claimed that the admissions changes made by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former City Education Chancellor Richard A. Carranza violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
- The diversity initiative changed the admissions processes of eight prestigious high schools in a bid to increase the number of low-income students in the most selective high schools in New York.
- By altering the eligibility criteria to target admissions from lower-income schools, more slots were made available at such schools, resulting in a 5-20 percent increase in each school's incoming class.
- Several Asian American civic and parent groups argued that the initiative violated the Equal Protection Clause since most of the low-income students who qualify for it are Black or Hispanic.
- In his ruling, Ramos made note of 2019 and 2020 data that showed the number of Asian American students at selective high schools still rose even after the changes were imposed.
A New York court has junked a lawsuit accusing city officials of discriminating against Asian American students during the 2018 selective high school admissions process in the city.
According to the lawsuit filed by civil rights organizations and parents of public school students, the admissions changes made by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and former city education chancellor Richard A. Carranza violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
