Reuven Blau

"Some pages had strikingly similar handwriting among many residents in a single building, for example. Others showed a single campaign worker collected more than 700 signatures on a single day."

‘Welcome to hell’: Inside the megaprison where the U.S. deported migrants Interviews with 16 former detainees of El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center offer the most complete view yet of conditions inside the notorious prison.

One was beaten unconscious. Others were covered in bruises, struggling to walk or vomiting blood. Another said he’d been sexually assaulted.

These are the stories of 16 former detainees who were deported to El Salvador’s mega prison.

Heavy Rain Again Scrambles Commute for NYC, But City Escapes Forecast’s Worst The National Weather Service had predicted up to 5 inches of rain in the area and issued flash flood warnings for all five boroughs.

“Subway stations flooded. Cars got stuck on a Queens parkway. Park staircases became waterwalls in Brooklyn. But, overall, New York City mostly avoided the worst possible outcome from Thursday evening’s torrential rain storm.” — @smaldo.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/31/n...

Welp, I guess I’m not taking the subway home!

“It is a testament to Wesley that a reform rabbi, and an orthodox rabbi are co-officiating her funeral, a first for both of us,” Rabbi Buchdahl said.

Adams Vetoes Bill to Decriminalize Street Vending The mayor acted at the last possible moment to strike down, for now, a bill the City Council had passed with enough votes to override his veto.

"Mayor Eric Adams on late Wednesday night vetoed a City Council bill that would have eliminated all criminal enforcement for licensed street vendors as well as misdemeanor penalties for unlicensed sellers — just hours before his deadline to so." — @haidee.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/31/v...

Security Guard Slain in Midtown Shooting Remembered as ‘Hero’ by Union, Family Aland Etienne, a Haitian immigrant who was killed at a Park Avenue office building on Monday, was mourned by his family and union colleagues at the headquarters of 32BJ SEIU on Wednesday.

“Aland was a brother, son, a loving father — fantastic father. He was a smart dude and as the oldest brother I looked up to him in everything I do.” — via @clauirizarry.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/30/s...

Campaign Board Voided $1 in Every $3 Eric Adams Submitted for Matching Funds Rampant irregularities and evidence of possibly phony donations prompted reviewers to reject more than $200,000 in small-donor contributions, as the reelection campaign and board battle over whether t...

"Campaign finance officials could not verify the billing address of more than 200 credit card contributions Mayor Eric Adams’ re-election campaign has submitted for public matching funds." — @gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/28/e...

“You can’t fix Staten Island by having buses breaking down in Brooklyn,” JP Patafio, a Transport Workers Union Local 100 vice president for Brooklyn bus operators, told THE CITY. “That’s not an appropriate fix.”

'A Hot Mess': Chaos Engulfs Probation Department Under Juanita Holmes On the eve of a City Council oversight hearing, critics say the department is in disarray, with commissioner’s NYPD-style approach alienating youth and veteran staff.

Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes has ordered all officers to carry guns. Asked what data that was based on, she repeatedly said NYC is a dangerous place and she was relying on her own experiences as a former NYPD official. "That's not data," said @tiffanycaban.bsky.social. "That's vibes."

Home From Woodlawn to Coney Island, every neighborhood in New York City is part of a Council District. There are 51 of these Districts, each represented by an elected Council Member.

The @council.nyc.gov is currently holding a hearing detailing caseload figures (45 average per officer including a mix of low and high risk), complaints from probation officers, and other major changes put in place by Holmes, who has close ties to Mayor Eric Adams.
council.nyc.gov#location-cha...

'A Hot Mess': Chaos Engulfs Probation Department Under Juanita Holmes On the eve of a City Council oversight hearing, critics say the department is in disarray, with commissioner’s NYPD-style approach alienating youth and veteran staff.

There are currently 147 city probation officer vacancies. Last May, Commissioner Juanita Holmes, who previously served as chief of the NYPD’s Training Bureau, vowed to "overcome" the staffing shortage. That hasn't happened.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/28/p...

'A Hot Mess': Chaos Engulfs Probation Department Under Juanita Holmes On the eve of a City Council oversight hearing, critics say the department is in disarray, with commissioner’s NYPD-style approach alienating youth and veteran staff.

“People are leaving in droves, the programs are being chopped without explanation, technical violations are spiking, and frontline workers — many of whom are women of color — are being pushed to the brink.”
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/28/p...

Trump Administration Sues NYC to Upend ‘Sanctuary City’ Protections Local laws prohibit most cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. A weekend shooting of a customs officer appears to have prompted the federal case.

"Mayor Adams has long criticized his own city’s sanctuary policies, and attempted to re-open an ICE office on Rikers Island. He was blocked from doing so last month."
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/24/t...

Arizona inducing the labor of pregnant prisoners against their will Medical records reviewed by The Arizona Republic show all three women were induced before their due dates.

I'm still haunted by your 2023 story about the Arizona Department of Corrections inducing pregnant prisoners against their will. A masterclass in investigative reporting. Best of luck in the new gig! www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

Sweeping Brooklyn Marine Terminal Development Project Vote Postponed, Again Amid persistent local pushback in Red Hook, the city’s Economic Development Agency says it will continue to press for local support for a project to build thousands of apartments and revive a port on ...

"The city’s economic agency has paused its proposed makeover of a mile-long stretch of industrial Brooklyn coastline for the fifth time this year — once again leaving the future of a $3.5 billion port redevelopment plan up in the air." — via @jmartineznyc.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/24/b...

Four Months After Guard Strike, Prison Staffing Crisis Persists The prison agency's security ranks are 4,700 corrections officers and sergeants short of what it says it needs to run every program and housing area…

"Dozens of New York’s 42 state prisons aren’t holding weekend visitation. They’ve canceled summer school, sports leagues, religious study classes, and other programs. They’ve paused work release, counseling, and are cutting rec time short." — @chrisgelardi.bsky.social
nysfocus.com/2025/07/22/n...

‘Commanders Saw Us as Expendable’: A Russian Soldier’s View of the War Mikhail Simdyankin was lured into the military by a generous sign-on bonus and was stunned by what he found in Ukraine. ‘If I could, I would rewind and give all that money back.’

“I’m really angry at myself. I made a stupid mistake,” he said. “If I could, I would go back in time and give all that money back.”
www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Adams Asks Feds to Probe Conditions at ICE Lockup in Manhattan The mayor’s letter came after reporting by THE CITY led the comptroller and public advocate to demand city agencies inspect the site where people are being locked inside packed rooms for days. But the...

“As of mid-June, publicly available information indicates that individuals have been held at the facility for an average of 103 hours — more than four days."

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/23/2...

New Eric Adams ‘Donors’ Say They Never Gave to His Reelection Campaign An investigation by THE CITY uncovered Adams donors who insist they didn't donate, a donor who paid with a credit card linked to their employer and donors who don't live where they claimed to.

New: An investigation by THE CITY uncovered Adams donors who insist they didn’t donate, a donor who paid with a credit card linked to their employer and donors who don’t live where they claimed to. — @gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social @haidee.bsky.social report
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/24/e...

‘Finally, Relief Is on Its Way’: NY to End Prison Phone Fees Once a crushing cost for families desperate to stay in touch with loved ones behind bars, phone calls will now be covered by the state.

In a sweeping shift years in the making, people locked up in state prisons will soon be able to make free phone calls to family members and loved ones, the state prison system announced Tuesday.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/22/p...

Inbox: A man died at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island this morning. He’s the ninth death this year so far. The population has spiked to 7,716 of Monday. Jail officials are seeking to expand dorms from 50 to 60 beds and open previously closed space on the island.

$241 Million Later, Brand-New Bellevue Hospital Jail Unit Sits Empty A 104-bed facility for seriously ill detainees is mostly finished but unopened — three years late and nearly double its original cost — because the Department of Correction says it lacks enough office...

A 104-bed facility for seriously ill detainees is mostly finished but unopened — three years late and nearly double its original cost — because the Department of Correction says it lacks enough officers to secure it and it hasn’t passed state inspection.
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/21/2...

NYPD Bypassed Facial Recognition Ban to ID Pro-Palestinian Student Protester Barred from using Clearview AI, NYC police relied on a marshal in the fire department to run a search that turned up photos of the student at his high school graduation.

A fire marshal used FDNY’s access to a facial recognition software to help NYPD detectives identify a pro-Palestinian protester at Columbia University, circumventing policies that tightly restrict the Police Department’s use of the technology. — @smaldo.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/18/n...

Pool Closures Leave New Yorkers Heated as Summer Scorches An Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool in Brooklyn won’t open until the season is nearly over.

“Pools are not a luxury, they are essential to communities, so to have this pool close on the first day the pools were supposed to open — that’s heartbreaking. And it’s salt in the wound to also learn that the pool won’t open until summer is almost over.”
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/17/r...

“The fact that everybody still gets together for a little cake and schnapps after services,” Bruce adds, “it’s our heritage.”

‘It’s a Miracle’: Queens High Schooler Detained for Weeks in Louisiana After ICE Courthouse Arrest Reunites with Family Joselyn Chipantiza-Sisalema, 20, arrived at the Port Authority bus terminal early Wednesday morning after a federal judge ordered her release from ICE custody.

“We had to beg the people working there that they gave us something to eat, they didn’t even give us water. Sometimes a few cookies they’d throw in there. They had us in there like animals.” — via @gwynnefitz.bsky.social
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/16/q...

Former Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon alleges corruption, misconduct in top ranks at NYPD Thomas Donlon, a former federal agent who served as police commissioner last fall, sued Mayor Adams and top current and former NYPD officials Wednesday, alleging they operated a “corrupt ente…

“This lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity,” Donlon said in a statement.
www.nydailynews.com/2025/07/16/f...

Andrea Gibson, Colorado’s poet laureate and a national voice on LGBTQ issues, has died “Come See Me in the Good Light,” a documentary film made by the poet and their wife dealing with Gibson’s cancer diagnosis in 2021, won festival favorite at Sundance this year. Gibson was 49.

“My love, I was so wrong. Dying is the opposite of leaving,” Gibson wrote in “Love Letter.” “When I left my body, I did not go away. That portal of light was not a portal to elsewhere, but a portal to here. I am more here than I ever was before.”
coloradosun.com/2025/07/14/a...

Thousands of Legal Workers in NYC To Potentially Strike by Week’s End Joined at a rally Tuesday by mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani and Attorney General Letitia James, UAW urges tapping the city’s rainy-day fund to pay for lawyers’ raises.

Thousands of staff who provide legal services to low-income people are preparing for a possible strike by the end of this week. They generally seek COLA, higher pay minimums, and reduced case load cap per attorney to combat burnout. @clauirizarry.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/15/p...