On March 21, a cow ran through the streets of Canarsie, Brooklyn, to get away from a nearby slaughterhouse. Fake cowboys were right on her tail. Getting her seemed to take a lot of people working together. Footage from the scene showed a pizza shop worker wildly waving his apron, and people on the street joined the chase.
At one point, a man tried to grab the tail of the escaped dog as she flew by. Cars close by moved slowly forward and stayed far away from the cow that was running away. Even though she was caught in the end, she didn’t run away for nothing. The latest news is that she’ll live at Skylands Animal Sanctuary in New Jersey from now on. Read on for more of the most important news of the week.
Bragg gets a lot of attention
The news that a grand jury investigating hush money payments to a porn star could soon indict former President Donald Trump put Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in the national spotlight. If it happens, which is looking more and more likely, he would be the first prosecutor to bring charges against a former president. That’s a lofty, but perilous distinction. Bragg has already been questioned, second-guessed, and attacked by Trump, who has denied doing anything wrong. New York City meanwhile has braced itself for the potential fallout of a Trump indictment.
Outside of Trump Tower and Manhattan Criminal Court, the New York City Police Department put up barricades. Members of the force have also been told to wear their uniforms and be ready to move if necessary. Other security groups have also gotten together to talk about what the best plans are. So far, there haven’t been many people who have come out to protest Trump’s impending indictment. So far, there have been more protesters who want him to be charged than MAGA supporters.
The budget and Bloomberg
Albany is in the middle of budget talks, and Gov. Kathy Hochul is getting some help from outside the state. A group called American Opportunity, which has ties to the Democratic Governors Association, has been sending out a lot of mailers, social media campaigns, and TV ads about her budget ideas.
Michael Bloomberg, who used to be mayor of New York City, helped them. He gave the group $5 million to keep going. Their growing friendship may come as a surprise. Bloomberg didn’t give money to Hochul’s campaign for 2022, and he hasn’t spoken up in recent policy fights. It’s still not clear if his support now will help her budget proposals get passed. When reporters asked Hochul about the money yesterday, she didn’t say much more than that she’s happy to have support.
Summer Rising is a fairly new take on
Summer Rising, a free summer school program for public school students in New York City, is getting a little bit of a makeover. The program will once again be available to 110,000 kids, but it won’t be based on who gets there first.
Last year, there was such a rush of parents trying to sign up their kids for school that almost every spot was taken within a week of applications opening. In response to parents’ concerns, families will now be able to rank their top choices for school sites and sign up at any time during the enrollment period. During a City Council hearing, officials from New York City said that a lottery system might be in place. However, authorities have not yet confirmed whether or not this will be the case.
Libraries in danger
Would the public library system in New York City be as useful if it closed on Saturdays, had shorter hours during the week, and didn’t have any educational programs? Most likely not. The city’s branches have been important places for people with low incomes to get help for a long time. Leaders of the library systems in New York, Brooklyn, and Queens are worried that these changes could happen soon.
In recent days, their worries about New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to cut their budgets by more than $36 million next fiscal year have taken center stage. Last week, people in charge of libraries spoke out against the plan, saying that the cuts would make it hard for the systems to help New Yorkers when demand was high.
Things are not all bad. Many people on the New York City Council, like Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, agree with the cause. On the ground, there are also allies. Over 30,000 letters were sent to City Hall in one week as part of a new campaign against the cuts.
