New York City’s boroughs have hit record-high market rents as Mayor Zohran Mamdani moves forward with a policy to freeze rents for roughly two million residents.  Gary Malin, chief operating officer of real estate brokerage Corcoran Group, said Manhattan and Brooklyn posted record median monthly rents of $5,295 and $4,350, respectively.  “Across the board, quality apartments are commanding a premium, and renters have little room to negotiate,” Malin said, attributing the high prices to decades of supply and demand mismatches. The record highs come after Mamdani announced that rents for one million rent-stabilized apartments will be frozen in the coming year, directly affecting roughly two million residents, following a 7-1 vote by the Rent Guidelines Board. Arpit Gupta, the lone dissenting member of the Rent Guidelines Board and an associate professor of finance at NYU Stern, called Mamdani’s rent freeze “troubling,” warning that rising costs combined with the price ceiling would force landlords to reduce apartment quality and worsen the city’s housing crisis. “Freezing [rent-stabilized buildings’] rents while their expenses remain uncapped is therefore a threat to their long-term financial viability,” Gupta said Friday. “Residents might continue to enjoy low rents, but at the cost of being trapped in units that no longer fit their needs, and with few alternatives and steadily deteriorating conditions.” Landlords have been preparing for a rent freeze since Mamdani made housing affordability and rent freezes a centerpiece of his campaign. The rent freeze approval came after landlord representative Christina Smyth resigned from the Rent Guidelines Board before the vote, arguing the outcome had been predetermined. Landlord groups have said they are considering legal action to challenge the rent freeze.  Although the freeze applies only to rent-stabilized apartments, critics argue it could place additional pressure on New York City’s market-rate housing.

A crime-ridden homeless encampment in New York City expanded to twelve blocks of Manhattan’s West Side, where drugs, prostitution, and theft are rampant. The multi-block eyesore of tents and temporary shelters stretches from 34th Street to 46th Street along 11th Avenue near the Intrepid Museum, according to the New York Post. The encampment continues to be a growing concern for many residents who have not seen any change or enforcement. “We can’t get rid of them,” said a city parks enforcement officer on Sunday. “These ones here are stealing everything. They stole our key for the hose. They stole our ladder. They take what they can. And there are escorts in there too. Prostitutes. I see them, they’re right there.” The NYPD is no longer authorized to clear homeless encampments under new measures enacted by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration. The Department of Homeless Services was supposed to manage the encampment sweeps, but has yet to do so, according to the Post. Theft flourishes in the encampment as homeless vagrants display expensive electronics and relax on stolen furniture. Broadway theater lights and even upscale telescopes are flaunted, the Post reports. Prostitution and drug peddling also run rampant throughout the tents and grimy public restrooms in broad daylight. “It stinks,” said a maintenance worker from the nearby Jacob Javits Center. “They were setting up in the park at 3 this morning and it’s just too much. It’s getting bad again, very bad.” “We kicked them out, now they’re over here,” he said. “One thing is for sure though, there are more today than there were last month, that’s for sure.” Mamdani’s handling of the homelessness crisis has been under scrutiny after he promised to take a more humane approach to homelessness. A vagrant called Mamdani “awesome” for stopping police sweeps and permitting the lawless encampment to continue.  “The scariest parts are on 36th and 37th right now,” said a supervisor from the Javits Center. “It’s just heroin addicts.” City records showed that calls to the 311 number to complain about vagrants in the area increased from 40 calls in 2025 to 48 in 2026, according to The Post. The records revealed that so far this year, 28 of the 48 calls were for homeless people in need of help. The other 20 calls were about the 12-block encampment. Thirty calls were received in June and eight in July. “Most people would agree that leaving people on the street indefinitely isn’t compassion, it’s neglect,” said Steve Fulop, the president and CEO for the nonprofit Partnership for the City of New York. “We’ve seen in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco that letting encampments grow unchecked fails the homeless and erodes quality of life for everyone else.” Cristyne Nicholas, chair of the New York State Tourism Advisory Council, said the encampment “doesn’t put New York tourism in a positive light.” “Tourists are forced to walk around squalor and stench,” she said. “We want visitors to feel safe and welcome.”

Congressman Ro Khanna, the California Democrat considering a 2028 presidential bid, has spent the past week accusing Israeli settlers and soldiers of unlawfully detaining him and other Americans on an overseas trip. On July 8th, Khanna joined a delegation organized by Breaking the Silence, a left-wing activist group known for its criticism of Israeli military operations and policies in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank. The group attempted to visit Khirbet Zanuta, a disputed site in the South Hebron Hills that has become a flashpoint in legal battles over unauthorized Arab construction. Israeli authorities designated the area a closed military zone, requiring advance coordination before entry. According to Israeli authorities, the delegation had entered a closed military zone without prior authorization and was stopped by civilian security personnel coordinating with military forces. Video released after the incident appears to show Israeli soldiers directing the group to wait for police. Khanna has described the encounter in far more dramatic terms. During a Fox News interview, he claimed “the only reason we’re safe” was because U.S. Embassy official David Brownstein contacted senior Israeli officials. “The only reason our lives are saved is because of the excellent work of the American embassy,” Khanna said in a Fox News interview, later adding that “American lives weren’t lost” because of the intervention. Khanna has not publicly provided evidence that members of the delegation faced an imminent threat to their lives. Khanna claimed that “Israeli settlers, brandishing American made M4s, detained me & other Americans on my trip to Palestine.” Available footage from Khanna’s group shows armed local security personnel carrying rifles on slings, but does not appear to show weapons being drawn or pointed at members of the delegation. Naomi Kahn of Regavim, an Israeli advocacy group that tracks illegal Arab building in Judea and Samaria, said Khanna used the situation as a publicity stunt. “Ro Khanna’s visit was designed to be an anti-Israel PR stunt,” Kahn told The Daily Wire. “Khirbet Zanuta is an illegal outpost that was voluntarily abandoned after the outbreak of the war and the increased military presence in the area.” Kahn said the High Court of Justice instructed the Israel Defense Forces to protect residents who wished to return to the site and that the military subsequently maintained the area as a closed zone.  She noted that Khirbet Zanuta sits atop an archaeological site dating back thousands of years that was designated for preservation when Great Britain controlled the area in the mid-20th century. Regavim has argued that unauthorized construction at the site damaged archaeological remains. Israeli police likewise disputed Khanna’s account. “By law, civilian access to these areas is prohibited for safety and security reasons,” police told Jewish News Syndicate, adding that officers “witnessed no violence at the scene.” Police said body camera footage showed that Breaking the Silence Executive Director Nadav Weiman, who was guiding the delegation, had previously been warned about entering the area and was informed that future violations could result in arrest. “A review of body-worn camera footage confirms that the group leader was explicitly warned by officers, as this was not his first time violating the closed military zone order,” the statement said. “He was issued a final warning that any future violations would result in immediate arrest.”  Khanna’s group was briefed on the military order once police arrived and then were allowed to leave the restricted area, according to police. The presence of armed civilian security personnel at the scene was not unusual. Communities throughout Judea and Samaria maintain civilian security teams that coordinate with the IDF and police because of persistent terrorist threats in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced those security concerns during a recent appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, where he was asked about settler violence and Khanna’s allegations. “We’re a country of laws and people who break the law, we take them to court,” Netanyahu said. While acknowledging that a small number of Israelis engage in vigilante violence, he described the overwhelming majority of settlers as law-abiding citizens and argued that such incidents should be viewed in the context of “thousands” of attacks against Israeli civilians. “There are 150 juvenile delinquents that are not part of that community,” Netanyahu said. “I don’t want vigilantes of any kind, and we are working to put them under the law.” According to Israeli authorities, the security personnel who encountered Khanna’s delegation were not acting as vigilantes but as members of a civilian security team responding to reports that vehicles had entered a closed military zone. When The Daily Wire visited the same site last summer, a civilian security team quickly arrived, confirmed that reporters had authorization to be there, and departed the scene. But according to Israeli authorities, Khanna’s delegation had not coordinated entry into the closed military zone, prompting local security personnel to contact the army and police. The Har Hevron Regional Council, which oversees Israeli communities in the southern Judean Hills, likewise disputed Khanna’s account of the encounter. “Despite efforts to portray the incident as a ‘violent assault,’ the facts on the ground tell a very different story,” the council said. The council cited an eyewitness who said Palestinian activists and anti-Israel groups had repeatedly attempted to enter Khirbet Zanuta in recent weeks and had been turned away because of the area’s status as a closed military zone. According to the eyewitness, two IDF reservists who also serve as local security volunteers approached the group and informed them they were in a restricted area. The group’s security guard allegedly responded that they would wait for the IDF and police to clarify the situation. “At no point did the residents block the vehicles or assault anyone,” the eyewitness said. “A few minutes later, an IDF patrol arrived. At that point, the residents left the area and allowed the military to handle the situation.” The IDF also disagreed with Khanna’s characterization of events. According to the military, troops were dispatched after receiving reports that Israeli civilians were blocking vehicles carrying foreign nationals and journalists. The IDF said soldiers dispersed the civilians and reopened the road, adding that soldiers “did not take part in blocking the road.” “This should be an outrage to any American citizen,” Khanna said. Kahn called Khanna an agitator and rejected that his status as an American congressman entitled the group to special treatment after entering a restricted military area. “In any normal country, people who violate the law and trespass are blocked from entering, and are detained (at the very least). They are then arrested, arraigned, and either held over for trial or released on bail. Foreign agitators are either deported and banned re-entry, or sent to prison if there is no treaty with his or her home country.” She added that “Khanna should have been treated to far less courtesy and hospitality.” The confrontation was not the only aspect of Khanna’s trip that generated controversy. During his visit, the congressman met with Hebron Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh, a Palestinian official convicted for his role in a deadly 1980 terrorist attack. Abu Sneineh was one of the gunmen involved in an attack on Jewish worshippers returning from Sabbath prayers near Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs. Six people were murdered and 16 wounded in the shooting. Among those killed were two American citizens and a Canadian national. An Israeli court sentenced Abu Sneineh to life in prison for his role in the attack. He was released three years later as part of a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and later returned to the West Bank following the signing of the Oslo Accords. During the Fox News interview, Khanna accused Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Leiter of lying about the trip. Leiter had previously said Israeli officials encouraged Khanna to meet with survivors of the October 7 Hamas massacre, visit Israeli border communities, and hear from families affected by the war. According to Leiter, Khanna declined those opportunities and instead chose to coordinate his itinerary with Palestinian activists. “We suggested he visit with survivors of the October 7 massacre,” Leiter said. “He ignored that and he decided to coordinate his trip not with Israel, but with Palestinian activists.” Khanna rejected the characterization, insisting Israeli officials had been informed of his travel plans and saying he specifically wanted to participate in a Palestinian-led tour because he had already visited Israel multiple times and heard the Israeli perspective.

It looks like we finally found something we can all agree on. Mitch McConnell’s time in politics has come to a close. Tragically, he is not fit to serve out the remainder of his term. I’m not going to play the fool’s game of “but he’s only x years older than this or that competent politician.” Henry Kissinger and Thomas Sowell remained sharp well into their 90s. Most people do not. You don’t judge a person’s mental competency solely based on how many years they’ve been alive. You judge based on what you can see. Everyone seems to understand that the empirical evidence reflects McConnell’s profound mental and physical decline. But I wonder, where was all this agreement four years ago when Joe Biden, a veritable corpse, was running the entire country? Behind closed doors, the president was reciting Shakespeare while juggling with his eyebrows. It was only when all the cameras showed up that he turned into a gaffe machine who couldn’t read a teleprompter. That’s a mean case of stage fright for a politician who’s been in the game for 53 years. And, of course, our skeptical media bought that, no questions asked. Alex Thompson, a White House correspondent for Politico during the Biden administration, recently co-authored a book detailing the cover-up of Biden’s mental decline. Conveniently, this book comes long after the decline was obvious, and Biden is no longer running for office. Thompson has insisted that the media was simply “lied to” about the president’s mental state. News flash: if I can see the decline on my television, it shouldn’t take you five years to figure it out when it’s quite literally your entire job to track his affairs. What kind of media waits for the White House’s permission before holding it accountable? But don’t worry, they’re here now to bravely stand for the truth. As usual, they’re a day late and a dollar short. And then there was a cadre of Biden’s fellow Democrats. In a debate with Ron DeSantis, California Governor Gavin Newsom (one of the top Democratic contenders for president in 2028) insisted that the president was perfectly sharp and on top of everything. Would — or should — an aspiring president take at face value that “behind closed doors,” Chinese President Xi Jinping has no plans to invade Taiwan, he’s simply looking to grab a beer with Lai Ching-te? And if not, which means he was lying, why should the American people place their trust in a man who lies through his teeth about something as consequential as the mental state of their own president? So which is it? Is he too foolish to be president or too dishonest? Of course, nobody is asking this question. It’s much more interesting to keep beating the dead horse that is McConnell’s competency. This is not a matter of respect for the statesman that Joe Biden used to be. The squirrely nature of that characterization aside, respect does not demand dishonesty. Mitch McConnell was perhaps the most effective legislator of my lifetime. He played an instrumental role in seating a Republican majority on the court. He forced significant concessions from the Democratic majority during the Obama administration (including dropping the socialized insurance option) and blocked progressive climate legislation. He guided the clown show that is the congressional Republicans into confirming three conservative Supreme Court Justices and 54 appeals court justices in a single presidential term, orchestrated the passage of 2017 tax reform, and spearheaded one of the only unanimous consequential legislative packages in modern history. His legacy is unmatched. Such is my tribute to his tremendous influence and my respect for the great man. But he’s too old to be in office. To pretend otherwise would not be an act of respect towards him, but an act of disrespect towards his constituency. When I last saw Senator McConnell, he required the assistance of several men simply to move in and out of the chamber. He never spoke a word despite being addressed directly by several other Senators. This was shortly before his recent hospitalization. But McConnell is taking hits left and right from the media. And therein lies the distinction: left and right. The conservative press never tried to run interference for the man, and they certainly never tried to invalidate legitimate depictions of his decline. In 2023, MS NOW published an op-ed insisting that McConnell was unfit to serve and that he step down immediately. They were joined in their concerns by the National Review, one of the most prominent outlets on the American right, which called for McConnell to step down from leadership positions.  Only when Biden decided to shoot himself in the foot on live television in front of the entire country did it start to become apparent that he was a lost cause, and the media started to turn on him. After years of lying to the American people, it was no longer taboo for Thompson to publish his book. As members of the press, our first responsibility is to the American public. A press that shirks that responsibility for political gain disgraces the very people it’s meant to serve.

The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has triggered a scramble inside the Senate Republican Conference over who will inherit some of the chamber’s most influential committee posts.  While attention has focused on South Carolina’s special election, Republicans must also decide who will take over his powerful committee assignments.  Senate seniority rules make Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) early favorites after Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), who outrank them, were effectively ruled out because they already chair full committees.  Johnson signaled he is ready to step into the role if called upon. “Senator Johnson is prepared to serve as Budget chair when announced,” spokeswoman Grace Carnathan told Politico. Under Senate Republican seniority rules, Johnson is among the most senior Budget Committee Republicans who do not already chair another full committee, making him an early favorite to inherit the gavel. The Budget Committee gavel carries additional importance this year because President Donald Trump has been pressing Senate Republicans to advance another reconciliation package that could include roughly $350 billion in additional defense spending along with other GOP priorities. Graham had been one of the administration’s most aggressive advocates for using the filibuster-avoidant process to boost Pentagon funding. The reshuffling extends to Appropriations, where Graham chaired the powerful State and Foreign Operations subcommittee. The panel oversees funding for the State Department, foreign assistance programs, and diplomatic operations, and its next chair will immediately face the September 30 government-funding deadline. Among the senators viewed as potential successors are Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and John Boozman (R-AR), all senior appropriators with significant foreign-policy experience.  The timing is particularly sensitive because Graham had been one of the Senate GOP’s most outspoken advocates for continued U.S. engagement abroad, including military support for Ukraine and a recently negotiated sanctions package targeting Russia. But the most immediate consequence may be on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Graham’s death reduces the Republican majority on the committee to 11-10 ahead of Wednesday’s confirmation hearing for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. GOP leaders had been counting on Graham to help whip support for Blanche. Beyond the formal leadership positions, Graham’s absence also removes one of the conference’s most influential foreign-policy hawks at a moment when Republicans remain divided between traditional “peace through strength” conservatives and a growing isolationist wing aligned more closely with Trump’s skepticism of foreign entanglements. The broader political picture also shifted Monday after South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster appointed Graham’s sister to temporarily fill the Senate seat until at least January.  The temporary appointment restores Republicans’ 53-seat majority, but the battle over Graham’s committee assignments is only beginning.