ICE arrested five immigrants inside Manhattan immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway, then filed court documents Monday claiming that sanctuary-city protests make the streets unsafe, leaving federal courthouses as "the safest location" for arrests; advocates are asking a judge to find ICE in contempt. [39]
02
The Upper East Side Legionnaires' cluster has reached at least 36 confirmed cases and 22 hospitalizations; after testing 139 of 160 cooling towers in three ZIP codes without finding the source building, Council Speaker Menin sent a formal letter Wednesday demanding mandatory disinfection of every tower in the affected area. [49]
03
Nearly 20,000 New York City taxi, livery, and rideshare drivers won a $140 million settlement, closing a case that took 20 years to resolve. [105]
04
Documented found the demolition subcontractor at 235 East 42nd Street had 146 Department of Buildings violations and $255,000 in penalties since 2015, along with two worker fatalities linked to affiliated companies; MetroLoft founder Nathan Berman dismissed the record as "nonsense essentially." [4]
05
Mayor Mamdani's joint bus plan with Gov. Hochul focuses entirely on speed and all-door boarding, with Mamdani insisting the fight for free buses is "not at all" over, despite no mention of it in the 51-page document. [2]
ICE arrested at least five immigrants inside Manhattan immigration courthouses in recent weeks, two at 26 Federal Plaza and three at 290 Broadway, and on Monday filed a court declaration defending the arrests. [39] The moves came despite a May 18 ruling by U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel that barred mass courthouse arrests and forced ICE back to Biden-era 2021 guidelines permitting them only when "a safe alternative location does not exist." [39] ICE's filing now claims New York's sanctuary-city environment makes street arrests untenable because protests and bystanders intervene, making courthouses the "safe alternative." [39] Among those arrested: a man whose only U.S. criminal record was a 2024 trespassing charge from his border crossing, who had since appeared in immigration court three times and complied with all supervision requirements. [39]
“At-large arrests in sanctuary cities like New York tend to trigger protests and intervention by agitators and bystanders, making alternative locations in New York unsafe and [the Executive Office of Immigration Review] the safest location for the arrests.”
“The government cannot reasonably contend that an individual whose sole criminal history stems from a charge arising from his entry into the United States poses a threat to public safety, necessitating his arrest at an immigration courthouse, particularly when he has been fully compliant with immigration authorities since that time.”
Katherine Rosenfeld, attorney for Make the Road New York and African Communities Together · [39]
By the numbers
5courthouse arrests inside Manhattan immigration courts in recent weeks [39]
2locations: 26 Federal Plaza and 290 Broadway [39]
1of the five had a criminal history limited to a 2024 trespassing charge from his initial U.S. entry [39]
The thread
May 2025Masked ICE agents began walking NYC immigration courthouse hallways; The City Reporter found the practice more concentrated in New York than any other major city [39]
May 18, 2026Judge Castel ruled against mass courthouse arrests, forcing ICE back to the 2021 narrow-exception guidelines [39]
TodayICE filed Monday that New York's sanctuary-city environment makes the streets unsafe, classifying its immigration courts as the "safest" arrest location under the existing exceptions [39]
WatchJudge Castel is reviewing advocates' June 29 letter asking him to find ICE in contempt; his response will determine whether the "sanctuary city streets are too dangerous" defense survives judicial scrutiny. [39]
FromThe City Reporter
The Contractor Behind 235 East 42nd
Three years before two columns buckled, a union was already protesting the subcontractor's record of fatalities and wage theft.
Documented found that Northeast Service Interiors LLC, the demolition subcontractor at 235 East 42nd Street, shares an owner and a Maspeth, Queens address with two affiliated companies; together, the three have accumulated 146 Department of Buildings violations and $255,000 in penalties since 2015. [4] Pedro Basilico, 26, died in 2015 when five floors collapsed at a Manhattan hotel conversion where Northeast was working; a Nordest Services employee died in 2020 when a pressurized fire extinguisher exploded. [4] In 2019, six immigrant workers sued owner Stephen DeFlorio's companies in federal court over systemic wage theft, settling for $215,000. [4] Laborers Local 79 has picketed outside 235 E. 42nd since 2023 specifically over MetroLoft's decision to hire this contractor. [4]
“Northeast exploits their workers. They pay them low wages, with multiple issues in the past.”
Mike Vatter, Local 79 assistant director of organizing · [4]
“It's nonsense essentially. We have very reputable contractors who do great work. Accidents do happen and will happen on union jobs or non-union jobs.”
146DOB violations and $255,000 in penalties against Northeast and affiliates since 2015 [4]
2workers killed at DeFlorio-linked sites: Pedro Basilico in 2015, a Nordest employee in 2020 [4]
81%of New York State's construction deaths in 2026 occurred on non-union job sites, per a New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health report [4]
$215,000paid to settle a 2019 federal wage-theft class action involving six immigrant workers [4]
The thread
2015Pedro Basilico, 26, dies in a five-floor collapse at a Manhattan hotel conversion; Northeast is the contractor [4]
2023Local 79 begins picketing MetroLoft's 235 E. 42nd conversion over the Northeast hiring [4]
July 8, 2026Two structural columns buckle on the 21st floor, triggering FDNY evacuation of 400 schoolchildren and surrounding blocks [95]
TodayDocumented reports Northeast had seven immediately hazardous DOB violations at the site in 2025, none resulting in paid fines; MetroLoft calls the record "nonsense" [4]
WatchThe Department of Buildings is still investigating whether the planned bump-out expansion on floors 23 through 32 contributed to the column failures; that finding will shape any broader DOB response to oversight gaps in large office-to-residential conversions. [95]
FromDocumentedLatest New York Real Estate News
Legionnaires' Cluster, Week Two
Seven days into an Upper East Side outbreak, health officials have tested nearly all the neighborhood's cooling towers and still have not found the source building.
The Upper East Side Legionnaires' cluster has reached at least 36 confirmed cases and 22 hospitalizations in Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, with city health officials having tested 139 of 160 cooling towers in the three affected ZIP codes without identifying the source building as of Wednesday night. [49] Council Speaker Julie Menin sent a letter to Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin demanding an emergency order requiring every building owner in the area to proactively disinfect their cooling tower, rather than waiting for a positive test result. [49] The health department said Menin's request is "under review." [49] The relevant comparison is the 2025 Harlem outbreak, which killed 7 people and hospitalized 90 after a hospital cooling tower ignored its own maintenance plan; in that case, the source was identified only after the cluster grew past 100 cases. [49]
“Every day, more of our neighbors are falling ill from Legionnaires' disease. This district has some of the densest zip codes in the nation and a high number of seniors who are especially susceptible to the disease, making this request even more necessary and urgent.”
7deaths and 114 confirmed cases in the 2025 Harlem Legionnaires' outbreak [49]
The thread
Summer 2025Harlem Legionnaires' outbreak kills 7 and hospitalizes 90; city confirms a hospital's cooling tower was the source, after the facility had ignored its own maintenance plan [49]
July 2-8, 2026Upper East Side cluster emerges in Carnegie Hill and Yorkville; city orders towers tested in ZIP codes 10028 and 10128 [49]
TodayCluster reaches 36 cases and 22 hospitalizations; Menin demands mandatory disinfection of all towers; health department says request is under review [49]
WatchWhether the health department issues Menin's mandatory-disinfection order before the source building is identified; and whether the case count continues to rise given how long the Harlem outbreak ran before its source was confirmed. [49]
FromBreaking NYC News & Local Headlines | New York Post
Around the Boroughs
Manhattan (Midtown): Street restrictions around 235 East 42nd Street narrowed Wednesday but four buildings remain under full vacate orders, leaving hotel guests, workers, and business owners locked out more than 24 hours after the evacuation. [54]
Brooklyn (Coney Island): Police arrested a man in connection with the July 4 mass shooting at Coney Island that wounded eight people, including four children. [66]
Manhattan (Hudson Square): Anthropic signed a lease for the entire 466,000-square-foot building at 330 Hudson Street, one of the largest commercial leases in the city this year, as AI companies drive an office-market comeback. [94]
Queens (Flushing Meadows): NYC launched a pilot replacing gas generators with electric battery packs for food vendors at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the first permanent infrastructure test ahead of a possible broader rollout across city parks. [37]
Bronx: Fieldston Power expanded its solar network to 72 rent-stabilized buildings across New York City, connecting tenants who cannot install rooftop panels to off-site solar to help building owners meet Local Law 97 carbon deadlines. [65]
Brooklyn (Sheepshead Bay): The senior center at 1960 East 7th Street, which served the neighborhood for more than two decades, has permanently closed, eliminating the communal meals, social programs, and health services it provided to elderly residents. [91]
Queens: Gotham FC, the National Women's Soccer League team, officially confirmed it will relocate from Red Bull Arena in New Jersey to a Queens stadium in 2028. [179]
Brooklyn (Downtown): Developers announced a mixed-use project called BKX to redevelop the Macy's building at 422 Fulton Street with housing and retail. [101]
Brooklyn (Greenpoint): The owner of Peter Pan Donuts, a neighborhood institution on Manhattan Avenue since 1953, has died; the shop plans to remain open. [92]
Brooklyn (BQE): The city posted a job listing for a "BQE Project Director" to lead the reconstruction of the triple-cantilever section of the expressway, the aging stretch over the Brooklyn Heights Promenade that has defied a fix for decades. [67]
Citywide: A court ordered Extra Space Storage to refund New York City customers charged for rat-infested units and hit with unauthorized price increases. [68]
Citywide (Schools): Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels asked all New York City schools to pause new software purchases while the Education Department finalizes its AI guidance, amid a backlash against the pace of ed-tech adoption. [133]
Only in New York
Wikimedia Commons / Brooklyn Bridge
Wednesday evening, a man walked out onto the suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge just before 7:40 p.m., strolling high above the East River while NYPD closed the eastbound span below him. [53] The Emergency Service Unit established dialogue with him and took him into custody several hours later; lanes reopened around 10 p.m. [53] The stunt echoed a 2022 incident in which a man scaled the same cables and snarled rush-hour traffic for 90 minutes. [53]
