A WhatsApp group born at a Chabad Purim party in 2024 has grown into a monthly gathering that bridges two ancient traditions in the world's most diverse city An Only-in-New-York Story of Serendipity and Shared Identity New York City has always been a laboratory for improbable communities -- the place where people who would never find each other anywhere else eventually do. The story of Mazel Tofu, a collective of Jewish Mandarin speakers that began as a WhatsApp group and has grown into a monthly gathering that draws participants from across the city and the world, is one of the more vivid recent examples of that phenomenon. The origin story is almost too good to be true. At a Chabad Purim party in 2024, three men happened to find themselves in the same room: Jacob Scheer, a media relations associate at Chabad who had studied Chinese at the intensive Princeton…
Minor Hotels will bring the legendary London dining institution to Midtown Manhattan in early 2027, housed in a landmark 1905 building near Bryant Park A London Icon Prepares to Plant Its Flag in New York The Wolseley, the celebrated London all-day dining institution that has become one of the most culturally significant restaurants in the English-speaking world, is crossing the Atlantic. Minor Hotels -- the Bangkok-based global hospitality group that is part of Minor International PLC -- has announced that it will debut The Wolseley Hotels brand with a flagship property in New York City, scheduled to open in early 2027. The announcement marks Minor Hotels' entry into the United States market and sets the stage for what the company describes as a global brand expansion that will extend to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The Location: A Landmark Building Near Bryant Park The Wolseley Hotel New York will…
Comparing a Muslim mayor to 9/11 attackers, a GOP senator faces bipartisan rebuke The Post That Lit the Fuse It…
Reports that Rama Duwaji endorsed contested posts about October 7 spark scrutiny of the mayor's household Report: NYC First Lady…
A WhatsApp group born at a Chabad Purim party in 2024 has grown into a monthly gathering that bridges two…
Minor Hotels will bring the legendary London dining institution to Midtown Manhattan in early 2027, housed in a landmark 1905…
Playbill's curated list of pre- and post-theater restaurants offers everything from classic French bistros to Japanese izakayas steps from Broadway…
NYCHA Residents Push Back: Community Hearings Challenge Mamdani’s Rental Ripoff Framing – While the mayor holds hearings on private landlords, public housing tenants say their own living conditions demand equal attention
Mamdani Meets Mamdani: The Story of NYC’s New First Couple – Rama Duwaji, the Syrian-American artist who became New York City’s first Muslim and first Gen Z First Lady, redefines the role on her own terms
NYC Childcare Arrives: A $2-a-Day Revolution or a Phased Pilot? – The Hill analyzes what Mamdani’s 2K program actually means for working families and the broader national debate on childcare
Free Childcare Comes to These NYC Neighborhoods First: Is Your Block on the List? – Mamdani and Hochul announce the four school districts that will receive the first 2,000 free 2-K seats this fall
Mamdani Pushes 2-Dollar Childcare Plan as Siena Poll Shows Millionaires Tax Support – New survey data bolsters the mayor’s budget strategy as he visits childcare sites and praises his polling position
NYC Restaurant Scene Blooms: A Guide to Spring 2026’s Most Exciting New Openings – Resy and I Love New York offer a map to the city’s freshest dining experiences as the season turns warm
Who Is in Mamdani’s Cabinet? The Full Guide to NYC’s New Government – A comprehensive guide to every key appointment in the Mamdani administration and what each commissioner signals about the mayor’s priorities
New York’s Historic Nurses Strike: What It Means for Workers and Patients – Thousands of NYSNA nurses walked off the job for 41 days. Here is what they won — and why it matters beyond New York
What Zohran Mamdani Teaches Us About Academic Publishing — and Vice Versa – Times Higher Education asks what a socialist mayor’s battle with institutional power can tell us about transforming entrenched systems
Who Runs New York City? A Guide to the Mamdani Administration – From a DOT commissioner who loves bike lanes to a Corporation Counsel who once represented the homeless, here is who is actually in charge
NYC’s New Free Childcare Zones: A Closer Look at Who Gets Help First – Gothamist maps the neighborhoods receiving 2K seats and asks which families will benefit most
Rosenberg Apologizes But Mamdani Says Time Will Tell – The WABC host walked back his cockroach slur — but the city is still reckoning with what the incident revealed
NYC’s Crime at Record Lows — But What Does That Mean Under Mamdani? – Shooting incidents fell to historic lows in 2025. The mayor inherited good numbers — and complex challenges — on day one
Islamophobia at the Microphone: The Sid Rosenberg Scandal and What It Reveals About NYC’s Muslim Mayor – A WABC host called Mamdani a cockroach and a jihadist — and the backlash revealed fault lines in the city’s public discourse
What Is There to Do in New York? Spring 2026 Edition – From museum exhibitions to outdoor festivals and neighborhood food events, New York’s cultural calendar is packed
Heating Bill Crisis: Why New Yorkers Are Paying Record Amounts for Gas and Electricity – The City reports on a winter that is breaking energy cost records and what structural reforms could help
Advocates Push Mamdani to Add Bronx Student to ICE List Sent to Trump – Dylan Lopez Contreras, a Venezuelan public school student, was detained before Mamdani’s administration began — and was left off the White House list
Con Edison and National Grid Bills Are Soaring — Here’s Why New Yorkers Are Paying So Much – A brutal winter, rate hikes, and aging fossil fuel infrastructure are driving utility bills to alarming levels
NYC’s Crime Drop Is Real — But Nuance Gets Lost in the Victory Laps – A new analysis shows why 2025’s record low shootings mask persistent challenges in felony assaults and overall crime levels
Tax the Rich or Pay More Yourself: The Politico Playbook on Mamdani’s Budget Gamble – Politico’s New York Playbook examines the Council’s latest maneuver in the Albany tax battle
Cyclists Face Criminal Court — Mamdani Promises Change But Hasn’t Delivered – Dozens of New Yorkers are adjudicating bike summonses under a crackdown the mayor said he would end
What the CIA Told Starmer: The Intelligence Briefing That Shaped Britain’s Response to the Iran War When Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially blocked the United States from using British military…
Free Child Care for All 2-Year-Olds: What Mamdani and Hochul Are Actually Promising – NBC New York breaks down what the 2-K rollout means for families starting this September
Mamdani and Trump’s Secret Meeting Explained – Mayor says he followed White House protocol on the unannounced D.C. trip focused on housing
Mamdani Pitches Trump on 12,000-Unit Sunnyside Yards Housing Plan – A century-old dream for a Queens rail yard gets a new pitch at the Oval Office
Mamdani and Trump’s Secret Oval Office Meeting: What Was Really Said – The unannounced D.C. trip produced a housing pitch, an ICE intervention, and questions about transparency
Mamdani’s Property Tax Reform Promise Faces the Ghost of Eric Adams’ Failed Bid – New reporting reveals Adams quietly drafted a property tax bill that Albany would not sponsor
Trump Calls Mamdani’s Housing Plan Big Progress After Oval Office Meeting – An unusual bromance between ideological opposites produces a shared housing pitch in Queens
NYC’s 2-K Child Care Program Begins to Take Shape Under Mamdani – The New York Times examines what universal toddler care will cost, require, and mean for city families
