Howard Gertler

A graphic featuring a photo of Judy Heumann on the right, wearing a black patterned shirt and glasses and smiling at the camera. On the left, a quote in large blue text reads: “Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.” Below the quote, in smaller blue text, is Heumann’s title: “Disability rights activist.” In the bottom right corner is a blue box with the text “Disability Pride Month” in purple. In the bottom left corner is the ACLU logo in blue.

Judy Heumann was a global disability rights leader.

She helped shape and implement key legislation, and organized movements to secure and enforce the civil rights of people with disabilities.

New Eric Adams ‘Donors’ Say They Never Gave to His Reelection Campaign The campaign sought public matching funds from donors who insist they didn’t donate, just weeks after a judge dropped his corruption case.

Once again, great reporting from @thecity.nyc

www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/24/e...

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.

The feds may have dropped their case, but investigative journalism never sleeps. Blockbuster new reporting from @gregbsmithnyc.bsky.social and @haidee.bsky.social

How Trans People Can Update Their Passports — And Why to Do It Now With a federal ban on passport gender marker changes currently blocked, THE CITY spoke with legal experts in NYC about how trans, nonbinary and intersex people can file these updates.

If you are trans in NYC and wondering about when and how to update your passport gender marker -- here's the guide for you, with LOCAL resources:

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

‘Like Dogs in Here’ — Videos Expose ICE Lock-up Inside 26 Federal Plaza An analysis of ICE data by THE CITY shows that dozens of people have packed into locked rooms and increasingly held for days inside a Manhattan building the feds say isn’t a detention site.

‘Like Dogs in Here’ — Videos Expose ICE Lock-up Inside 26 Federal Plaza www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/22/v...

The Titans Annual, which I wrote and drew, will be available in just a little more than a week (July 30), and — FUN FACT, there’s a nice nod to JLA/Titans, the series Devin Grayson and I created, that should make eagle-eyed fans smile (tho you don’t have to read it to understand the Annual!).

The Trump administration is trying to censor LGBTQ people and our history, but we won't be erased and we won't be silenced.

NYPD Bypassed Facial Recognition Ban to ID Pro-Palestinian Student Protester www.thecity.nyc/2025/07/18/n...

the seed of this story was born when I saw this incredible bike six months ago 🔥

its owner was one of many deliveristas interviewed and photographed by @clauirizarry.bsky.social + @fractenberg.bsky.social:

He Fled Death Threats for Being Gay, Applied for Asylum and Married a U.S. Citizen. ICE Arrested Him Anyway. Mamadou fled violence and hatred in Guinea and found a supportive LGBTQ community in New York City before he was swept up in Trump’s mass deportation push.

NEW: He Fled Death Threats for Being Gay, Applied for Asylum and Married a U.S. Citizen. ICE Arrested Him Anyway.

buff.ly/duaYHlt

RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort Kennedy ripped into Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a video address at its pledging summit.

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible.
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

All-timer!

LOOKING FOR HOW HE DID IT? we covered it!

After 104 days in ICE detention, Mahmoud Khalil has landed in Newark, NJ greeted by a small crowd of supporters. reporting for @thecity.nyc

Take the Quiz: Meet Your Mayor 2025 Candidates for NYC mayor told us where they stand on issues. Which is the top match for you? Find out before heading to the polls.

212,444 people had voted by the end of Thursday. As of 10 minutes ago, 200,000 have used Meet Your Mayor. projects.thecity.nyc/meet-your-ma...

This was the Rivoli in NYC. 50 years ago this AM I was in a car with the nervous director of “Jaws” and Albert Brooks heading over there. The director wondered whether there’d be a line. There was. It went around the corner and far beyond. He really hadn’t known this could happen. What a day!

Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.

Here's a longer video of Brad Lander's detention just now inside 26 Federal Plaza as he tried to walk a man out of immigration court, by masked federal agents.

#NoKings Hudson turning out!

Congressmembers Barred from ICE Lockup in Lower Manhattan Nydia Velazquez and Adriano Espalliat were seeking to inspect holding cells inside 26 Federal Plaza, as concerns have grown among advocates about conditions inside amid a surge of arrests.

Yesterday, Congress members Nydia Velazquez and Adriano Espalliat tried to visit an ICE holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza as concerns about conditions inside are mounting...

www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/08/v...

Remembering Tom Robbins, Journalist Who Crusaded for New Yorkers in Need A stint on THE CITY’s investigations team capped a career exposing the corrupt and the criminal on behalf of tenants, workers and incarcerated people.

There is no one post or piece that can capture the force that was @tommyrobb.bsky.social, but my colleagues and I at @thecity.nyc did our best. Thank you, Tom, for your relentless focus on leaving the world better than you found it, knowing It’s not only possible to change things, but imperative.

Migrants, and a Pastor, Arrested Inside Manhattan Immigration Courthouse Dozens of masked agents in plainclothes searched for targets exiting the elevators.

Dispatch from 26 Federal plaza where plain clothes federal agents detained at least 7 people leaving immigration court, plus a priest attempting to observe the arrests. www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/28/i...

Do read Mark’s excellent piece about the complexities of the closet - a spot-on and revelatory re-appraisal of how it’s worked in pop culture.

RFK Jr. said multiple times during his house and senate hearings today that no scientists have been fired from federal agencies. Our reporting has shown that hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists have been let go from NIH/CDC/FDA

Take the Quiz: Meet Your Mayor 2025 Candidates for NYC mayor told us where they stand on issues. Which is the top match for you? Find out before heading to the polls.

We built this for you, the NYC voter. Because elections are about your views and your opportunity to express them.

Who should you rank on your ballot to be the next mayor of New York City? Take the same quiz the candidates did and find your closest match.

projects.thecity.nyc/meet-your-ma...

Opinion | The Science I Would Be Doing if I Weren’t in ICE Detention

read this please

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

I share, with sorrow, the passing of Elizabeth Pochoda. Betsy was the first editor of the Books section of Entertainment Weekly, and curated those pages with fierce wit, intellectual rigor, and absolutely no concession to anything the name "Entertainment Weekly" suggests to you. She was a force.

R.E.M. helps federally funded Radio Free Europe after Trump administration freeze R.E.M. has given its first single "Radio Free Europe" a new remix. The song was named after the service that provides crucial, uncensored information in places with limited press freedom. Now, Radio F...

Here’s the full clip of CBS Mornings Anthony Mason’s interview with @michaelstipe.bsky.social about Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe 25.

www.cbsnews.com/video/r-e-m-...

Rick in December 2019 at the Townhouse piano

Rick Unterberg, whom I wrote about in Last Call, died five years ago this week. Rick was the much-loved piano player at the Townhouse Bar. Severely immunocompromised, he was wiped out during the first weeks of Covid. He made many people gloriously happy for years, and deserves to be remembered.

Today is the 93rd birthday of the astonishing trailblazer and multifarious talent Elaine May. Just adding my voice to the chorus of appreciation!