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    Inspector Let Recruits Who Failed Psychological Exam Join the N.Y.P.D.

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    Terrell Anderson, the former head of a unit charged with assessing candidates, has been transferred. He has been praised as an innovative officer.A New York police inspector was transferred after allowing dozens of prospective officers to continue in the hiring process even though they failed to meet mental health standards set by the department, according to two people briefed on the matter.Terrell Anderson, who had commanded the candidate assessment division, was sent to the housing unit because officials learned he had overridden negative psychological reports for 80 candidates. That allowed them to go into the Police Academy even though they should have been disqualified based on their psychological assessments, according to the two people.It is not clear how many of the candidates went on to graduate from the academy and become police officers. The psychological reports had been overridden over the past several years, according to one of the people.In a statement, the police said that Inspector Anderson had been transferred and that the matter was under investigation. The inspector declined to comment.The inspector’s decisions came as the department, the nation’s largest police force, has been hemorrhaging officers. The department’s head count has been falling since 2020. There were 33,531 uniformed officers in the department as of April 1, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office, down from a peak of 40,000 in 2000.Chris Monahan, the president of the Captains Endowment Association, the union representing Inspector Anderson, said the inspector was always “open and above board” about overriding psychological reports he did not agree with. “He’s not wrong here,” Captain Monahan said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Breuer Building Gets Landmark Status Before Sotheby’s Moves In

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      The modernist former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art had its interior designated for protection by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.The modernist Breuer building, formerly home to the Whitney Museum of American Art and purchased by Sotheby’s auction house in 2023, on Tuesday had much of its interior designated as a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.The designation, which was voted on Tuesday morning, will protect much of the building on Madison Avenue from any changes that had concerned preservationists as the building undergoes a renovation by the Pritzker-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron. The museum’s galleries were not included as part of the designation. The designation protects parts of the lower level facing Madison Avenue, as well as the first-floor lobby, coat check, vestibules and the main stairwell from the lower level through the fifth floor.“We would have preferred the galleries were included in the designation,” said Liz Waytkus, the executive director of Docomomo US, an organization dedicated to preserving modern architecture which filed the request with the Preservation Commission seeking interior landmark status for the Breuer. “But we’ve spoken to Sotheby’s and they have assured us they are treating all gallery surfaces as if they are designated and using a light hand in their restoration.”The 1966 building by Marcel Breuer has become an important symbol of Brutalist architecture, with its concrete grid ceilings and its inverted stepped pyramid exterior.The structure most recently housed the Frick Collection and served as an exhibition space for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary collection. The renovated building will contain Sotheby’s sales room, as well as exhibition and dining spaces. Work is expected to be completed by this fall.Herzog & de Meuron — known for projects such as Tate Modern in London, the de Young Museum in San Francisco and the Park Avenue Armory in New York — has made a specialty of adaptive reuse, or transforming existing structures. The firm, based in Basel, Switzerland, is working with PBDW Architects, a New York firm, on the design.“We fully endorse the landmark designation, as reflected in our initial plans for the building,” said Steve Wrightson, Sotheby’s global head of real estate, in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming the public back and honoring the Breuer’s enduring legacy as we usher in a new chapter.” More

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      Mexican Ship in Fatal Crash Accelerated Before Hitting Brooklyn Bridge

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      As a federal investigation began, officials said the Cuauhtémoc backed into the bridge, killing two, less than five minutes after leaving a Manhattan pier.A Mexican naval ship in the East River accelerated suddenly in the wrong direction before slamming its masts into the Brooklyn Bridge in a crash that killed two crew members, federal transportation officials said on Monday.The ship, the Cuauhtémoc, was moving at a speed of about 2.3 knots after shoving off from a Lower Manhattan pier Saturday night with a tugboat’s help, Brian Young of the National Transportation Safety Board said at a news conference.The 300-foot-long ship, which had 277 people on board, maintained that pace for “a bit of time” before “the speed began to increase,” said Mr. Young, the investigator leading the safety board’s inquiry into the crash. The Cuauhtémoc’s speed had risen to six knots when it hit the bridge less than five minutes after leaving shore, he said.It was unclear what caused the sudden acceleration, Mr. Young said. But it will be among the issues investigators focus on in the course of an examination that is in its earliest stages and that could take up to two years to complete.“This is a start of a long process,” Michael Graham, an N.T.S.B. board member, said at the news conference, noting that the agency expected to issue a preliminary report of its findings within 30 days. “We will not be drawing any conclusions. We will not speculate.”Mr. Graham said agency officials were working with their Mexican counterparts to gain access to the ship so that investigators could inspect the engine, interview crew members still on board and recover any data recorders the vessel may have. The damaged vessel is now docked at Pier 36 in Manhattan.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why New York City Is Removing Padlocks on Illegal Weed Shops It Closed

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      With the court orders that allowed the city to seal illicit cannabis stores starting to expire, questions remain about whether the shops could reopen.Mayor Eric Adams of New York on Wednesday visited a pizzeria in Queens that was once an illegal smoke shop to celebrate the success of his administration’s crackdown on illegal cannabis shops, even as the city is bracing for a potential resurgence.Mr. Adams said the pizzeria, which is named Salsa and opened in Rego Park in March, demonstrated how the enforcement against illegal weed sellers has paved the way for other small businesses to open and for the legal cannabis industry to thrive.“We went from illegal items that were harmful to communities to pizza, good food, good-paying jobs and a support system,” he said.The mayor said his administration has shut down about 1,400 smoke shops since the crackdown started last May. At the same time, the number of licensed cannabis dispensaries in the city has surpassed 160 and generated more than $350 million in sales.In the wake of state lawmakers’ decision to legalize recreational marijuana in 2021, the number of unlicensed weed shops exploded throughout the city, undercutting licensed dispensaries before they had the chance to open. The move to shutter the renegade shops — which in Manhattan alone vastly exceeded the number of Starbucks coffee shops — was widely applauded.But the court orders that allowed the city sheriff to seal the illegal businesses with padlocks for one year have begun to expire, requiring the city to remove the locks.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Why Did Eric Adams Have So Many Cellphones?

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      Mayor Eric Adams of New York was said to have used seven different phone numbers. He argued that “many New Yorkers have several phones.”One surprising detail emerged in the trove of documents released about Mayor Eric Adams’s federal corruption case: The mayor used at least seven different cellphone numbers during the yearslong period in which he was under investigation.Mr. Adams had a ready explanation for why he had so many phones.“You have your office phone, you have your personal phone — you can’t mix the two,” Mr. Adams told reporters over the weekend, adding: “Many New Yorkers have several phones. I had also my campaign phone. So there’s a series of phones that you have.”The mayor said that he had to get additional phones after federal authorities stopped him on the street in November 2023 and took his electronic devices as part of the investigation.It was a glimpse into the personal life of a man whose habits have often been shrouded in uncertainty — his place of residence has at times been hard to pin down, and he has rarely been seen in public with his longtime partner — and have long been the subject of public curiosity.The mayor’s many devices were a prominent part of the federal investigation that led to his indictment in September on five counts, including bribery, wire fraud and solicitation of illegal foreign donations. Mr. Adams has maintained his innocence.The F.B.I. obtained warrants to track Mr. Adams’s location using cellphone data and found that he had used seven different phone numbers since the investigation began in August 2021, according to the roughly 1,700 pages of documents from his case that were released on Friday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Just About Everything That’s Changed Since Congestion Pricing Took Effect

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      <!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–> –><!–> [–><!–>Almost immediately after the tolls went into effect Jan. 5 — charging most vehicles $9 to enter Manhattan from 60th Street south to the Battery — they began to alter traffic patterns, commuter behavior, transit service, even the sound of gridlock and the on-time arrival of school buses.–><!–> –><!–> [!–> […] More

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      Eric Adams to Meet With Trump in Washington About NYC ‘Priorities’

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      The meeting on Friday between Mayor Eric Adams of New York City and President Trump comes as documents related to his abandoned federal corruption case are set to be released.Mayor Eric Adams of New York City was scheduled to meet with President Trump in Washington on Friday just hours before documents related to his abandoned federal corruption case were set to be released.The mayor’s office announced on Friday morning that Mr. Adams would visit Mr. Trump at 3 p.m. to “discuss New York City priorities.”The timing coincides with the expected release of material related to the shuttered criminal case against Mr. Adams, which the Trump administration dropped earlier this year. The material, which is scheduled to be filed by the Justice Department late Friday afternoon, includes search warrants related to the investigation, as well as affidavits describing the evidence.The material is expected to elucidate the charges against Mr. Adams, which a federal judge, Dale E. Ho, dismissed last month after a request from high-ranking officials in the Justice Department who said it was hindering the mayor’s cooperation with the president’s immigration agenda.Earlier this week, the New York Police Department announced it was investigating why its officers gave investigators from the Department of Homeland Security the sealed arrest record of a New Jersey woman who was detained at a protest as part of their efforts to deport her.The Justice Department’s move to abandon the case against Mr. Adams caused an uproar within the department and led to the resignation of at least eight prosecutors in New York and Washington, including the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Danielle Sassoon.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Man Is Charged With Federal Hate Crimes in Assaults on Jewish Protesters

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      Tarek Bazrouk, 20, on three occasions kicked and punched Jewish protesters who were wearing religious attire or carrying Israeli flags at demonstrations in Manhattan, prosecutors said.A New York man has been charged with federal hate crimes in three assaults on Jewish protesters at demonstrations over the war in Gaza, according to an indictment released on Wednesday.The man, Tarek Bazrouk, 20, was arrested at three separate protests in Manhattan over roughly nine months after he kicked and punched Jewish protesters who were wearing religious attire or carrying Israeli flags, federal prosecutors said.“Despite being arrested after each incident, Bazrouk allegedly remained undeterred and quickly returned to using violence to target Jews in New York City,” Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news release on Wednesday.Mr. Clayton said his office was “dedicated to seeking justice for victims of hate crimes and will aggressively prosecute those who spread bigotry and discrimination through violence.”Mr. Bazrouk was charged with three hate crime counts, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.According to prosecutors, Mr. Bazrouk was arrested in April 2024 at a protest outside the New York Stock Exchange after he “lunged” at a group of pro-Israel demonstrators and then, as he was being taken to a police vehicle, kicked one protester in the stomach.He was arrested again in December at a protest in Upper Manhattan after punching a Jewish student who was draped in an Israeli flag and stealing another flag from the student’s brother, prosecutors said. Mr. Bazrouk was arrested a third time in January, prosecutors said, after he punched a protester wearing an Israeli flag at a demonstration near First Avenue and East 18th Street in Manhattan.In the release, Christopher G. Raia, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York field office, accused Mr. Bazrouk of “demonstrating a pattern of supporting antisemitic terrorist organizations.” A search of his cellphone after his arrest revealed pro-Hamas propaganda and text messages in which he identified himself as a “Jew hater,” prosecutors said. The two-page indictment does not address those allegations.The charges come at a time when the Trump administration has taken an aggressive posture toward pro-Palestinian demonstrations, accusing them of antisemitism and seeking to deport some protesters.Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, who were both active in protests at Columbia University, were detained by immigration authorities earlier this year, as was a Tufts graduate student, Rumeysa Ozturk, who had criticized Israel in an opinion essay for a student newspaper. Mr. Mahdawi was released last week; Mr. Khalil and Ms. Ozturk remain in federal detention in Louisiana.Protests in New York City over the war in Gaza, once a near-daily occurrence, have become less frequent. Dozens of people were taken into police custody on Wednesday evening after pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied part of Columbia’s main library for several hours in an effort to rekindle the movement that swept the campus last spring. More

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      Flu Killed 25 Children in New York This Season, the Most in Many Years

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      Amid declining vaccination rates, the 2024-25 influenza season exacted a heavy toll, with 216 pediatric deaths nationwide.Amid dropping vaccination rates, 25 children in New York State died from influenza during the 2024-25 flu season — more than in any recent flu season, state health authorities said on Wednesday.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that more than 47 million people nationwide caught the flu between fall and spring and that more than 600,000 have been hospitalized. The hospitalization rate for flu is the highest it has been in 15 years.A number of factors have probably contributed to influenza’s heavy toll. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, more people have chosen not to be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. And some researchers believe that the mix of strains circulating this year tend to be associated with more intense flu seasons.The C.D.C. has attributed 216 pediatric deaths nationwide to the flu this season, a number that is expected to climb before the end of the season, which is receding. More than 10 percent of those deaths occurred in New York State, which is home to less than 6 percent of the nation’s children.Of the 25 children who died from flu, only one was vaccinated, the state health commissioner, Dr. James V. McDonald, noted. Five were too young to be vaccinated, he said in a statement. The flu vaccine is not approved for children younger than 6 months.The decline in flu vaccinations reflects a rising tide of distrust of the scientific establishment, which has left many people questioning the safety or effectiveness of vaccines. Before the pandemic, the share of Americans who received an annual flu shot had been slowly climbing.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More