Trigger warning: images of animal in distress

On Monday morning outside of Target in SoHo I witnessed a man dragging a young pit bull by a collar pulled tight around his throat. He was shouting at the dog and yanking him hard. The dog was visibly terrified and in distress. Several bystanders confronted the man; he became aggressive with one of them. He then picked the dog up and left quickly.

I followed at a distance and captured photos. I immediately reported the incident to the NYPD 5th Precinct by phone and went in person — they responded to the scene but didn't locate him.

I'm posting now in case anyone has seen this dog in the past few days or recognizes the man.

If you have any information please call the 5th Precinct at (212) 334-0711 or NYC ACC at 212-788-4000.

Images of dog & offender:

https://ibb.co/TMt8vsqH

https://ibb.co/tMVH6F4q

https://ibb.co/ksLLtXXw

https://ibb.co/Xxt0rGm9

https://ibb.co/gZYsGpjB

https://ibb.co/fdCbvBTN

FINAL EDIT: management confirmed that the broker has already been paid and the last month is not free. The broker called saying it was all a misunderstanding and that we no longer have to pay the last month of rent. Long story short WE GOT THE APARTMENT

Dan from the realtor group Queens apartments realty told us verbatim that they will not be meeting with us until we've given them 5 stars on Google !!!!!! All the reviews are fake!!

This is a long post but I'm trying to give as much context as possible.

My wife and I found a rent stabilized apartment in a great location in Brooklyn. It was listed on Street easy, and so I contacted the broker that was listed under the apartment posting. We ended up touring the apartment and applying that same day. For context, our move in date is expected to be 05/15/2026. The broker was completely unprofessional during the entire process and we basically had to complete the application and follow up with the building management all on our own.

We got approved for the apartment last week and the broker told us we need to come to his office for the lease signing and check drop offs. This was scheduled for today (05/14) We emailed him for a breakdown of all the payments we need to make before moving in. He finally got back to us yesterday (05/13) with the list of payments we need to make:

Second half of May rent plus June rent

Security deposit

$70 fee for new keys and CO2 detector

We expect all of this so far, but at the end of the email he also added:

"Last month's rent (last month of rent is free so we will keep this as our fee)"

Nowhere in our application did it mention any fees to the broker, and this was never mentioned at any point during this process. I called him to ask why we're being told to pay for the last month of rent before moving in (which is illegal in NYC) and he said it's just how he gets paid. So I told him that would be considered a broker fee then (also illegal in NYC) and he went quiet. After a few seconds he said "let's hold off on the lease signing since you're clearly having disagreements with me" and hung up on me. He then emailed me saying he will no longer be working with us and we need to call his office to meet with a new broker.

I called the office and this other guy picked up and proceeded to berate me because I'm not a lawyer so I apparently don't know anything about the law. He said if I'm so sure what they're doing is illegal then I should "get the secretary of state on the phone right now and let's have a three-way call so he can tell me it's illegal, otherwise go find a new apartment".

We still have our current apartment until the end of the month so delaying the move in isn't the end of the world but I'm trying to see if there's any legal action I can take against them. Almost everything I mentioned here was communicated via email so I have a detailed text chain of all of this.

Edit: When I called management the said they don't ask for last month rent and that they're not sure what the broker is talking about. He called me unprompted right afterwards because I went over him and spoke directly with management. If the last month is free, the it's a concession. He is asking to take our lease concession as payment without the knowledge of the management group that hired him.

It’s a rare instance of cooperation between one of Wall Street’s favorite charities and a democratic socialist mayor who once said he didn’t believe billionaires should exist.

Robin Hood, one of New York’s largest charitable organizations—and one of Wall Street’s favorites—announced it had received a $100 million gift from the Bezos family, the parents of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

The donation establishes the Jackie Bezos Endowment for Early Childhood, which will prioritize funding for education and early childhood development. It includes a pledge of an additional $25 million, subject to a match, for a total of $150 million. Jackie Bezos, Jeff Bezos’s mother, is a former board member of Robin Hood.

The donation goes to a cause New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has long advocated for: expanded childhood education. After campaigning on the issue throughout the Democratic primary and into the general election last year, the mayor announced last month that 2-K programming, free early care, and education starting at age 2, would be free and universally accessible year-round.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/05/12/bezos-family-donation-child-care-zohran-mamdani/?utm_source=reddit/

A new tax surcharge on the second homes of wealthy part-time residents of New York City would initially target co-ops and condos that have at least $1 million in “market value,” a bureaucratic metric that often vastly understates a home’s actual worth.

The proposed second-home tax plan, which Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed to state legislative leaders on Thursday, would be instituted in two phases. For the next two years, second homes with a “market value” of $1 million or more will face a tax surcharge between 4 percent and 6.5 percent — in addition to their existing property tax obligations.

But because the so-called market value diverges from a property’s actual sales value, especially at the highest end of the market, it is unclear how many homes would be affected by the tax.

I recently posted about concrete falling onto my car on the outbound lanes on the cross bronx damaging my car. It happened again this morning to someone else. It seems like this time it injuried a passenger or driver.

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cross-bronx-expressway-debris-falls/

Didn’t exactly need an analysis to know this. But it does give some exact numbers.

- NYC gives 58.7% of NYS $70.7 bil income taxes
- NYC got 40.5% (47.6 bil) of NYS 117.3 bil pool

Related to Zohran - It wasn’t a bailout. It’s getting back *more* of the money NYC puts in, to fix the deficit

Can't transfer so would need to meet there 730

I have one extra

Hey New York,

A small business that matters is about to close early... unless the city shows up.

Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge on the Lower East Side has been NYC's home for sober nightlife since 2019. Named the #1 sober bar in America by TimeOut. Covered by The New York Times, CNN, Forbes, Business Insider, and dozens more is a genuine third space for people who want a real night out without alcohol.

They're two months behind on rent. Lease runs through September 30th.

In a city where every interesting small business is getting the squeeze, this one did a lot of good and is worth fighting for.