Since the pandemic began to wane, New York-watchers have stoked fears about an urban doom loop : Millennials like me — liberated from the chains of our desks — would abandon Midtown Manhattan and perhaps the city or state altogether in search of lower costs of living. The commercial tax base would be obliterated, leaving no funds to support essential services like the subway. To prevent this dystopian future, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams convened an expert panel that I served on, and they released the “ Making New York Work for Everyone ” plan (also known as the “‘New’ New York” plan) in December, a sweeping set of 40 proposals to keep the economy humming. The goals of the plan, broadly, are to reimagine the city’s business districts, to make it easier for New Yorkers to get to work, and to generate inclusive growth that positions the city to “lead the emerging industries of the 21st century.” But now, it is budget season in Albany. The proverbial “three men in a … [Read more...] about Will Ambitious Plans for a ‘New’ New York Get Crushed in Albany?
Hotels near lake placid new york
Health Insurer Hoped to Disrupt the Industry, but Struggles in State Marketplaces
Oscar Health was going to be a new kind of insurance company. Started in 2012, just in time to offer plans to people buying insurance under the new federal health care law, the business promised to use technology to push less costly care and more consumer-friendly coverage. “We’re trying to build something that’s going to turn the industry on its head,” Joshua Kushner, one of the company’s founders, said in 2014, as Oscar began to enroll its first customers. These days, though, Oscar is more of a case study in how brutally tough it is to keep a business above water in the state marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act. And its struggles highlight a critical question about the act: Can insurance companies run a viable business in the individual market? Oscar has attracted 135,000 customers, about half of them in New York State. And some of its efforts with technology have been successful. But for every dollar of premium Oscar collects in New York, the company is losing … [Read more...] about Health Insurer Hoped to Disrupt the Industry, but Struggles in State Marketplaces
Stocks rise on Wall Street as bank fears ease further
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are following markets in Europe and Asia higher Wednesday as Wall Street shakes off a bit more of the fear that dominated it earlier this month. The S&P 500 was 1% higher in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 230 points, or 0.7%, at 32,624, as of 9:40 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher. They followed similar sized gains in other markets around the world, and the S&P 500 is on track to close what’s been a tumultuous month with a modest gain. That’s despite the month being dominated by worries about banks and whether the industry is cracking under the pressure of much higher interest rates. Big actions by regulators recently have calmed some of the worries around banks, including a government-brokered takeover by one Swiss banking giant of another. In that deal, UBS said Wednesday it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to help it absorb its troubled rival, Credit Suisse. Ermotti led the bank … [Read more...] about Stocks rise on Wall Street as bank fears ease further
Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China
A former CIA officer who was charged Tuesday with unlawful possession of secrets is suspected of a much worse crime: betraying U.S. informants in China, sources familiar with the case told NBC News. The former officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, was arrested Monday after flying into New York on a Cathay Pacific flight from his home in Hong Kong, federal authorities announced. Lee, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was charged with a single count of unlawfully possessing national defense information, based on a 2012 search that found him to be in possession of two notebooks containing the true names of CIA assets and covert facilities, which are some of the agency's most closely guarded secrets. Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China Jan. 17, 2018 01:55 But sources familiar with the case say he is suspected of funneling information to China that caused the deaths or imprisonment of approximately 20 American … [Read more...] about Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China
Alleged CIA China turncoat Lee may have compromised U.S. spies in Russia too
The arrest last week of a former CIA officer suspected of spying for China exposed one of the most significant intelligence breaches in American history. But the damage is even worse than first reported, sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News. A secret FBI–CIA task force investigating the case concluded that the Chinese government penetrated the CIA's method of clandestine communication with its spies, using that knowledge to arrest and execute at least 20 CIA informants, according to multiple current and former government officials. American officials suspect China then shared that information with Russia, which employed it to expose, arrest and possibly even kill American spies in that country, said the current and former officials, who declined to be named discussing a highly sensitive matter. The possible sharing with Russia has not previously been reported. Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China … [Read more...] about Alleged CIA China turncoat Lee may have compromised U.S. spies in Russia too
FBI created job for suspected spy Jerry Lee to lure him to U.S.
The suspected betrayal of U.S. informants in China by a former CIA officer is "one of the biggest losses and intelligence failures in modern history," a former counterintelligence official told NBC News. "There was a period of time when reporting to the U.S. intelligence community out of China dried up almost completely, and you don’t rebuild that base of information overnight," said Frank Figliuzzi, who was an FBI assistant director in 2011 and 2012. That assessment comes a day after the Justice Department announced the arrest of former American spy Jerry Chun Shing Lee , 53, for illegal possession of classified information — including the real names of other CIA operatives. Lee, a naturalized U.S. citizen who served in the Army and worked for the CIA for 13 years, is suspected of funneling information to China that caused the deaths or imprisonment of approximately 20 American agents , sources familiar with the case said. Ex-CIA officer … [Read more...] about FBI created job for suspected spy Jerry Lee to lure him to U.S.
Struggling to Keep Up as the Crisis Raced On
“I feel like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Who are these guys that just keep coming?” — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. It was the weekend of Sept. 13, and the moment Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had feared for months was finally upon him: Lehman Brothers was hurtling toward bankruptcy — fast. Knowing that Lehman had billions of dollars in bad investments on its books, Mr. Paulson had long urged Lehman’s chief executive, Richard S. Fuld Jr., to find a solution for his firm’s problems. “He was asked to aggressively look for a buyer,” Mr. Paulson recalled in an interview. But Lehman could not — despite what Mr. Paulson described as personal pleas to other firms to buy some of Lehman’s toxic assets and efforts to persuade another bank to acquire Lehman. With all options closed, he said, the government’s hands were tied. Although the Federal Reserve had helped bail out Bear Stearns — and was within days of bailing out the giant insurer American … [Read more...] about Struggling to Keep Up as the Crisis Raced On
Betting on the Planet
In 1980 an ecologist and an economist chose a refreshingly unacademic way to resolve their differences. They bet $1,000. Specifically, the bet was over the future price of five metals, but at stake was much more -- a view of the planet's ultimate limits, a vision of humanity's destiny. It was a bet between the Cassandra and the Dr. Pangloss of our era. They lead two intellectual schools -- sometimes called the Malthusians and the Cornucopians, sometimes simply the doomsters and the boomsters -- that use the latest in computer-generated graphs and foundation-generated funds to debate whether the world is getting better or going to the dogs. The argument has generally been as fruitless as it is old, since the two sides never seem to be looking at the same part of the world at the same time. Dr. Pangloss sees farm silos brimming with record harvests; Cassandra sees topsoil eroding and pesticide seeping into ground water. Dr. Pangloss sees people living longer; Cassandra sees rain … [Read more...] about Betting on the Planet
Virtual Meets Reality: Inside NBA 2K and Pro Basketball
Sports Video games NBA Gamers The cramped room in Midtown Manhattan was packed wall-to-wall with YouTubers—a relentlessly cheery bunch—the lot of them excitedly live-streaming, likes and comments bobbing across their screens. It was August, and the crowd was previewing the latest product from the NBA 2K video game series—NBA 2K18, which was released Friday to those who pre-ordered—and the event was crowded with elite gamers, social media stars, 2K staffers and, pocked about the room, honest-to-God, in-the-flesh NBA players. Security stood at the front door. Booze flowed from a bar in the back. TVs pinstriped the length of the room, cutting it into even rows. That was the main attraction, with the gamers lining up, jostling through the morass of people to get their turn on the joysticks (all of this, of course, beamed over the internet to 2K devotees). In a room full of presumed NBA fans it was somewhat disorienting to see these NBA players—Brooklyn Nets guard … [Read more...] about Virtual Meets Reality: Inside NBA 2K and Pro Basketball
Mets NLCS hero signs with MLB partner league team
close Video Fox News Flash top sports headlines for March 29 Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Daniel Murphy hit four home runs and batted .529 with a 1.850 OPS in the 2015 National League Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs, lifting the New York Mets to the World series. Nearly eight years later, the former Mets infielder will be suiting up for a different team, and one that is not exactly in Major League Baseball . CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Daniel Murphy, #9 of the Colorado Rockies, reacts during the eighth inning towards Robinson Cano, #24 of the New York Mets, at Citi Field on June 8, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Adam Hunger/Getty Images) Murphy on Wednesday signed a deal with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Atlantic League is a … [Read more...] about Mets NLCS hero signs with MLB partner league team