Just back to NYC from a brief (4 day visit) to my sister in Florida.

The streets of NYC are largely cleared of snow despite the 2 feet of snow accumulated from the Blizzard of 26 earlier in the week.

Seems like the Mayor’s call for shovelers at $30-$40/hr. worked.

It is now a balmy 40 degrees F.

I am feeling very NYC and NYS proud, so here is some New York centric news.

Columbia student detained by ICE is abruptly released after Mamdani meets with Trump

NEW YORK — Federal immigration authorities arrested a Columbia University student early Thursday, triggering protests on campus along with allegations that agents had entered the university-owned residence under false pretenses.

Just hours after detaining student Ellie Aghayeva, though, the federal government abruptly reversed course, permitting her to walk free after the apparent intervention by President Donald Trump.

In a social media post Thursday afternoon, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he expressed concerns about the arrest during an unrelated meeting with Trump, who then agreed to release her immediately.

"I am safe and okay," Aghayeva wrote on Instagram, minutes after Mamdani's post, adding she was in "complete shock" from the experience. (NPR. TOread the full report, cause the link at the head of this story.).

One more thing.

Mamdani gifts Trump fake front page to cajole him into supercharging NYC housing development

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump pictured in the Oval Office on Feb. 26, 2026. | Zohran Mamdani/X

NEW YORK — For the second time since being elected New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani met with President Donald Trump at the White House. But this time, he showed up with two very specific requests for the Queens-born president.
Mamdani implored Trump on Thursday to provide $21 billion in federal grants for a long-stalled project that would involve building 12,000 affordable apartments and an entirely new neighborhood on top of Sunnyside Yards in Queens, according to a person with knowledge of the sit-down. He also came armed with the names of five students detained by ICE who he hoped Trump would agree to release.

The democratic socialist’s aides knew he shouldn’t just seal the deal with a handshake, though. So Mamdani arrived in the Oval Office with a mock New York Daily News front page casting the Queens-born president as the builder-in-chief and a would-be hero to his hometown. Trump, grinning and clutching the fake front page, posed for a photo with Mamdani — and the mayor quickly shared the image on X.

“I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,” Mamdani captioned the photo. “I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”

Mamdani’s gift to Trump was a play on the Daily News’ iconic “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD” front page, a reference to President Gerald Ford’s refusal to bail out the city during the 1975 financial crisis. The mock version Mamdani gave Trump featured a photo of the current president instead of Ford and the headline: “TRUMP TO CITY: LET’S BUILD.”

“Backs new era of housing,” the fake front page held up by Trump blared. “Trump delivers 12,000+ homes, most since 1973.”

Joe Calvello, Mamdani’s press secretary, confirmed that the mayor’s office mocked up the ersatz front page and brought it along as a gift in hopes of cajoling Trump into providing federal funding for a 12,000-unit affordable housing development in New York City. Calvello declined to comment on the specifics of the Sunnyside Yards proposal, however.

Calvello said Mamdani’s team crafted the plan after Trump asked during their first White House meeting in November for the mayor “to come back with big ideas to build big things together in New York City.”

“The mayor took him up on this invitation and came to D.C. today to do just that,” Calvello said, adding that the proposal would be “the biggest federal investment in housing” in the past five decades.

The president was very enthusiastic about this idea,” he added.

The White House did not immediately provide a readout of the meeting. Andrew Julien, the executive editor of the Daily News, did not return a request for comment on Mamdani’s use of the paper’s facsimile.

Mamdani traveled to the White House for Thursday’s meeting in secret, with his office not announcing the trip until he was already on the ground in the nation’s capital. His sit-down with Trump lasted about an hour, and Mamdani was joined by Morris Katz, his top political adviser who doesn’t have a formal role in his administration, as well as his chief of staff, Elle Bisgaard-Church, and communications director, Anna Bahr, according to a person with knowledge of the get together.

Mamdani’s return to the White House comes after POLITICO reported earlier this month that Trump grew particularly animated when the mayor brought up New York City land use reform during their first, surprisingly cordial meeting in the Oval Office in November. Trump, a former real estate developer, told Mamdani in that discussion he had “for years” wanted to reform the city’s land use process, known as ULURP, to make it easier to build in the five boroughs, a source with direct knowledge of that meeting previously said.

Beyond housing, Calvello said that Mamdani asked Trump in the meeting to order the release of Elmina Aghayeva, a Columbia University student who had been detained by ICE earlier in the day. Mamdani also provided the president’s staff with a list of four other New York City students recently detained by ICE that he hoped could be released.
As they were leaving the meeting, Mamdani received a call from the president informing him that Aghayeva would be released later Thursday, Calvello told POLITICO.
“He has just informed me that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani confirmed in a separate post on X.
Calvello did not immediately provide the names of the other four students detained by ICE.

Trump’s ties to the city run deeper than just business as well. In their last White House meeting, Trump noted that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, is friends with Jessica Tisch, Mamdani’s NYPD commissioner.

Tensions have simmered between Mamdani and Tisch over a snowball fight in Manhattan this week that landed in the headlines after two NYPD officers got pelted when they tried to break it up. Mamdani has downplayed the severity of the incident, arguing criminal charges aren’t warranted for any of the snowball throwers. Tisch, however, has called the incident “criminal” and touted earlier Thursday that a 27-year-old had been arrested on assault charges over the incident. (Politico)

Another New Yorker, Hillary began her testimony to Congress yesterday.

She has asked without success that the hearing be open to the public.

Joe Biden is an alumnus of a New York State Law School.

Who knew?

Looking for a way to support strong local government in New York City? Elect Stephanie Ruskay to the Assembly from the 69th District covering the UWS and Morningside Heights.

She is a community organizer, public school parent, and long time activist/educator at Jewish and other nonprofit organizations on the Upper Westside.

She wrote this on her LinkedIn page:👇

At a challenging time for the world, I have decided to run to be the NY State District 69 Assembly person. I cannot bear to live in a world in which immigrants are disappeared by masked agents of the government when they show up to their immigration hearings in good faith, or simply go about their lives and go to work.

I am motivated by how unaffordable the Upper West Side/Manhattan Valley/Morningside Heights have become and want to contribute to making it more affordable.

And in a time of authoritarianism, I want to be part of modeling a bright spot of democracy.

As a kid my father regularly asked me, "What did you do today to make the world safe for democracy?" Democracy didn't feel imperiled then. Today it does. So to make the world safe for democracy, I am running for office.

With regard to Gaza and Israel, Stephanie describes herself as a critical Zionist. She supports our new mayor.

Did I mention Stephanie is my cousin? She was also the Rabbi who married Eve and me.

When she is elected, Stephanie would be the first woman to represent the district in half a century, and the first female rabbi to ever hold elected state office in our country’s history.

Here are some of the endorsements Stephanie has received to date. The Primary is in June.

If you want to support a quality New York official ns quality New York government, donate to Stephanie through this link.

Or maybe join our friend Nancy Chassman as she hosts a house party for Stephanie on Sunday, March 8.

RSVP using the same email. Eve and I and Stephanie would love to see you there. Stephanie will be an awesome Assemblywoman for our city!