visit fire department new york

The New York City Fire Museum

A complete guide to visit the fire museum in nyc.

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The New York City Fire Museum is a small museum in SoHo which tells the story about the FDNY. You’ll get to see fire-related art, artifacts, gear, and apparatus from the late 18th century to the present.

Fire Museum NYC: What you can expect

Located in the former quarters of the FDNY’s Engine Company No. 30, a renovated 1904 firehouse at 278 Spring Street between Varick and Hudson Streets, the NYC Fire Museum is hard to miss. In beautiful SoHo , it offers on three floors everything you need to know about the history and present about the FDNY.

Expect to see everything from fire-related art, artifacts and their original gear to apparatus from the late 18th century to the present which will blow your mind. It’s a great place to take your kids but also for you to learn more about the FDNY.

NYC Fire Museum for Kids

They have special events for the little ones, where the kids learn how the FDNY operates during a fire in a building. Get ready, because there will be (real) smoke/fog to stage a real fire situation. Our kids were amazed by it.

ADMISSION PRICES Reservations not needed for General Admission $10.00 for Adults $8.00 for Students, Seniors , Firefighters, AAA members, Federally Disabled (with ID) $5.00 for Children

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New York City Fire Museum

About the landmark.

The New York City Fire Museum in Manhattan’s Hudson Square District (or West SoHo area) is housed in a 1904 Beaux Arts former firehouse. Inside, you will find one of nation’s most important collection of fire-related art and artifacts from the late 18th century to today.

There is also a gallery honoring 343 fire department members who lost their lives on September 11th. The exhibition is expanding to honor those who continue to die from 9/11 related illnesses.

The mission is to collect, preserve and present the history and cultural heritage of the fire service of New York and to provide fire prevention and safety education to the public, especially children. The museum regularly hosts school groups and special events.

Plan Your Visit – 278 Spring Street between Varick and Hudson Streets. For hours and directions, visit nycfiremuseum.org

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How the Fire Department of New York Changed After 9/11

• Gregory P. Shea,
• Andre Kotze,

In the wake of the tragedy, the FDNY transformed into a modern emergency management and response organization.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) was transformed in a matter of minutes. It took three months to extinguish the flames at the World Trade Center, and all the while, the FDNY was preparing for the possibility of other attacks, tending to New York City’s ongoing daily needs, and mourning the loss of 343 colleagues, including many officers and several members of top leadership. In the months and years to come, the organization took a hard look at itself and converted an unspeakable tragedy into an occasion for learning and changing, ultimately transforming from an effective yet dated firefighting force to a modern emergency management and response organization. This piece offer lessons on leading through hard times, drawn from a five-year research project on the FDNY’s transformation.

Most of us remember September 11, 2001 as a horrific day. For the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), however, the horror stretched on. Fires around the World Trade Center Plaza, including two of the biggest in New York’s history, took three days to subdue. It took three months to extinguish the smoldering fires in the stories upon stories of rubble, rubble which included more than 90 vehicles and spewed out toxins and hampered the search for identifiable remains. All the while, the FDNY was grieving the loss of 343 colleagues, including many of its officers and several of its top leaders, preparing for the possibility of additional terrorist attacks, and tending to ongoing needs of its surviving firefighters — and of the massive and complex city it serves.

• GS Gregory P. Shea , Ph.D. works extensively with organizations and especially their senior leaders, including boards, on leadership and organizational change.  He is a longstanding member of Wharton’s Management Department and Aresty Institute of Executive Education as well as senior fellow at Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management.  His writing appears in multiple books and journals, as listed on his website https://www.gregoryshea.com/
• AK Andre Kotze is an executive coach, educator and organization development specialist. His work is focused on improving the quality of conversation and decision-making in teams at all levels.
• PB Paul Brown is a retired New York City Fire Department captain. He now works as an experiential educator and executive leadership coach and can be reached at:  [email protected]

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FDNY tour? Can you arrange one with a firehouse? - New York City Forum

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FDNY tour? Can you arrange one with a firehouse?

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My son 12 year old son is obsessed with FDNY stuff. He gets 1 hour a day on the computer and 95% of his time is consumed with youtube videos of FDNY and NYPD stuff. We are going to tour both museums on our visit but he is telling me you can visit a fire house. Can anyone give me some advice on this?

As a firefighter myself, people show up at the station all the time in my city. The guys are always ok with this as we were little kids with dreams too, once. Giving a tour also gets us out of doing station dirty work:)

I would just show up at any station you come by and just ring the doorbell. Most stations, especially the FDNY, sell shirts for their station fund. Not sure if you know but the city of NY only provides supplies for the truck bay forward, meaning that the firefighters have to pay for their own food, sofas, TVs, bedding and etc. Buy a shirt for your son and help out the FDNY. Im not from NY, but I hope this helps.

This question has been asked a number of times before. I would suggest you go to your local firehouse, get some t shirts that say Pawley's Island and then either email some stations about visiting or just show up and ask.

Previous post with some info

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k405125-Manhattan_Fire_Departments-New_York_City_New_York.html

Don't miss the FDNY Fire Zone - crawling through a smoke filled room, exhibits etc:

http://www.fdnyfirezone.org/

as a bigapplegreeter tour guide, i have taken tourists to visit firehouses in and around the city...my favourite house is the one on Great Jones Street. and 3rd street east of Broadway...it was once the Headquarters of the fire dept. A beautiful French Renaissance designed building.. A few weeks ago, myself and a touring couple from Holland, were by this station in the evening, just as a truck returned from assignment. A Lieutenant permitted the couple to come into the station and actually sit in the driver's seat , wander around the trucks for picture opportunities.

Engine Ladder Co 10 opposite the WTC on Liberty St sometimes has it's doors open and tourists may talk with the firefighters and purchase Tee shirts and take photos.

The engine/ladder company on 8th ave near 52nd st lost quite a few men on 9/11..they are always willing to talk and allow for photo shots.

Thank you so much for your posts on this topic of fire houses.

My husband is a volunteer fire fighter in Australia and whenever we travel we always make sure we go the the local stations and try and talk to them if they are available and take pictures to post on our Facebook World Tour of Firestations.

This topic has been a great assist to me (i do most of the trip planning and making sure we always make time for the fire station visits).

Thank you so much again.

PS - if anyone else has any further tid-bits, please feel free to message me.

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

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FDNY Engine 10 . FDNY Ladder 10

"the story behind this photo".

FDNY Engine Company 10 - Organized September 8, 1865 at 28 Beaver St. FDNY Ladder Company 10 - Organized October 20, 1865 at 28 Ann St.

FDNY Engine 10 FDNY Ladder 10 New York City

Home of FDNY Engine Co. 10 and Ladder Co. 10, and the FDNY Memorial Wall, a 56 foot bronze bas-relief Sculpture.

We are located at 124 Liberty Street, New York City, across from the World Trade Center site and the 9/11 Memorial.

Our website is optimized for all screen sizes. Enjoy a better experience on your mobile device.

Lieutenant Gregg A. Atlas

Firefighter paul pansini, lieutenant stephen g. harrell, firefighter sean p. tallon, firefighter jeffrey j. olsen, captain (ret.) james j. corrigan.

The Early Years (1867 - 2000):

Firefighter William F. Healy

Firefighter thomas p. eglinton, firefighter miles l. sowarby.

The Officers and Members of FDNY Engine Company 10 and FDNY Ladder Company 10 would like to express our sincere thanks to all those that have supported us and continue to show your appreciation. Words can not adequately express our feelings of gratitude for the tremendous outpouring of support.

We join the thousands of other FDNY Firefighters serving New York City from more than 200 Firehouses in saying we are truly grateful to all.

Thanks and thanks.

We do not have an official Facebook page.

Information

Site credits, members only, top stories, engine 10 ff makes cover of the 2016 nyc firefighter calendar, honorary fdny firefighter trucker dukes, mayor of london visits fdny ten house 2.13.2015, frank sansonetti - champion of syfy opposite worlds, 3d alarm fire, fox news rise of freedom, patriot's journey "an inspiring story", world trade center progress, ten house memorial, first due at the big one, patch history.photos.

Patch adopted 1984

This is the official website of FDNY Engine Co. 10 and FDNY Ladder Co. 10. It is not an official City of New York or FDNY website. All information shall not be considered that given by the New York City Fire Department or FDNY. The FDNY acronym and the FDNY Shield Design are federal registered trademarks owned by the City of New York and are used herein with permission.

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Prince William Visits FDNY Firehouse to Wrap New York City Trip — and Does a Surprise Walkabout!

The Prince of Wales met some of New York's bravest and discussed the importance of prioritizing their mental well-being

Stephanie Petit is a Royals Editor, Writer and Reporter at PEOPLE.

Prince William  is meeting some of New York's bravest.

The Prince of Wales, 41, headed to an FDNY firehouse on Tuesday as part of his two-day trip to New York City. While most of his overseas tour surrounded his Earthshot Prize and other environmental issues as well as meetings at the United Nations , the firehouse visit surrounded another cause close to William's heart: the mental well-being of first responders.

The Ten House fire station is located downtown near the World Trade Center, and six members of the firehouse were killed in the terrorist attacks in 2001. Despite suffering severe damage, Ten House served as a critical command center and recovery site in the days following 9/11, and it was two years before the firehouse was fully rebuilt. The west façade of the building features the FDNY Memorial Wall, which the Prince of Wales viewed upon arrival.

When Prince William and Kate Middleton visited New York City on a royal tour in 2014, they visited the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty 

Prince William met both new recruits and long-serving firefighters to hear about their experiences working in the city and discuss the importance of prioritizing their mental health.

Hamza Ahmed, one of the firefighters who showed Prince William around during the visit, said the royal was "very interested."

"He was very intrigued by everything. He had a lot of different questions. We discussed the helmets, where they come from, the embroidery with all the patches, he inquired about those as well," he said.

Ahmed showed Prince William how they stage their gear so they're ready to go as quickly as possible to an emergency.

"He discussed military stuff, first responder stuff," the firefighter explained. "I always appreciate anybody who’s interested in that because you do have to take an oath to put forth the service, and it takes a lot to go through that. It’s really nice to see somebody who appreciates that.”

Lt. Drew Kane, who is also a licensed social worker, said he gave Prince William pamphlets on suicide awareness and PTS disorder.

"It was apparent that he understood the topic," he said. "You could just tell in his presence that he knew what he was talking about with firsthand experience."

"He seemed to be very, very impressed with where we were and where we are now," he added.

The royal has dedicated much of his time to visiting with emergency workers, from first responders to care teams during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also has spoken about his own experiences working as an air ambulance helicopter pilot and an RAF Search and Rescue pilot.

“I took a lot home without realizing it,” he said in 2018 . “You see [so] many sad things every day that you think life is like that.”

William added, “You’re always dealing with despair and sadness and injury. The attrition builds up and you never really have the opportunity to offload anything if you’re not careful.”

Jordan Greene

The royal was given a few gifts to bring home to his kids: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. They received small rubber fire trucks with the fire house's logo, pens, notebooks and T-shirts from their stair climb.

After leaving the fire station, Prince William walked across the street for an impromptu walkabout, shaking hands, chatting and posing for photos with locals and tourists who had gathered outside hoping for a glimpse of the future king.

He was gifted three classic "I Love NY" shirts for his children and said that he would "love" to bring George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5 to the Big Apple "one day," according to reporter Carly Ledbetter on X (formerly Twitter).

A mother and daughter who spoke with Prince William tell PEOPLE that the royal was asking everyone their names and where they're from. The daughter told him she had seen him earlier this year at King Charles' coronation and shared with him that she studied abroad in London.

A man named Safwon tells PEOPLE he joked with Prince William that he was following the royal because he also saw him in U.K., where Safwon is from. He took a selfie with the prince, calling it "the money shot!"

Can't get enough of  PEOPLE 's Royals coverage?  Sign up for our free Royals newsletter  to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

After landing at Newark airport on Monday afternoon, Prince William's trip headed to Governors Island by boat to hear from the Billion Oyster Project's efforts to revitalize New York’s waterways. By restoring oyster reefs in New York Harbor, they will provide a habitat for many marine species, filter water and help shield New York City shorelines from storm damage.

On Tuesday, Prince William spoke at the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, where the 15 finalists for this year's awards were announced. The five winners, who will be revealed during the awards ceremony in Singapore next month, will each receive $1.2 million to promote their organizations' sustainability projects.

DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/POOL/AFP via Getty

It's likely that Prince William will head back to the U.K. after his final engagement in the Big Apple wraps, as King Charles  and  Queen Camilla  are also heading overseas this week. Buckingham Palace previously announced that the royal couple will head to France from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22 for a state visit. King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 76, were originally scheduled to visit the country in March, but they  postponed the trip  due to riots happening across France at the time.

While Prince William is not required to be in the U.K. when his father is traveling, he is one of the King's  Counsellors of State  — a member of the royal family who can carry out constitutional duties for King Charles if he is abroad or unwell.

Prince William was last in the U.S. in late 2022 when he and  Kate Middleton  attended the  second Earthshot Prize awards show  in Boston. The city was a natural choice to host the ceremony — the Earthshot Prize was  inspired by Boston area native John F. Kennedy's Moonshot , the president's bold mission to send mankind to space.

In addition to the star-studded ceremony that saw David Beckham and Shailene Woodley (among other famous faces) announce winners, the Prince and Princess of Wales undertook a number of engagements during their trip across the pond, from the pair sitting  courtside at a Boston Celtics game  (including a Jumbotron moment!) to Kate  visiting Harvard's Center on the Developing Child  to William  meeting with President Joe Biden .

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Senate Passes 2024-25 Budget Addressing Critical Priorities for New Yorkers & Enacting Key Majority Proposals

April 20, 2024

• 2024-2025 Budget

File New York State Senate Majority Passes SFY 2024-25 Budget Addressing Critical Priorities for New Yorkers & Enacting Key Senate Ma

(Albany, NY) — The New York State Senate is proud to announce the successful passage and enactment of the New York State budget, a testament to the dedication and tireless efforts of the Senate Majority in delivering meaningful relief and progress for the people of New York. This comprehensive budget reflects the Senate Majority’s commitment to addressing the pressing needs of working individuals and families, safeguarding public education, and implementing a holistic approach to housing reform and affordability.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, “The enactment of this budget represents a significant step forward in advancing the Senate Majority’s vision for a fairer and more prosperous New York. By prioritizing the needs of working families and investing in critical areas such as affordability, education, housing, environment and healthcare, the Senate Majority remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering tangible results and building a brighter future for all New Yorkers. I thank Governor Hochul, Speaker Heastie and all of my colleagues for their dedication and collaboration in delivering this vital budget. I am confident that this budget will make a meaningful difference in the lives of New Yorkers across the state.”

Senate Majority Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said, “The State Senate worked hard to build a budget that serves our communities and delivers tangible benefits for New Yorkers. I am proud we achieved important policy priorities, including my proposals to provide additional funding for school security to combat increasing hate crimes, and improved reliability on public transit and express bus routes. The restoration of education aid was also a victory for students throughout the state. Though this budget reflects progress in tackling the decades-long housing crisis, that work remains unfinished and more remains to be done to further protect tenants and find comprehensive solutions to our affordability crisis.”

Finance Committee Chair Senator Liz Krueger said, “As is always the case, we did not get everything we wanted in this final budget, but it represents progress for the people of New York across many important areas. We have defended schools across the state against drastic cuts while laying the groundwork for long-term solutions on school funding and mayoral control; we have taken steps toward protecting all tenants in the state and supporting new affordable housing development; we have eased the tax burden and the child care burden for working families; we have given localities new tools to stop illegal cannabis shops; and we have successfully restored clean water and environmental funding. I thank Leader Stewart-Cousins and my colleagues for their dedication and collaboration, and I particularly thank all our staff for their tireless work throughout this extended budget process.”

Carrying on the proud legacy of being the “education conference,” the Senate Democratic Majority ensured that no cuts would be made to school funding, and that kids across the state would still receive the investments that they both need and deserve. Thanks to the Democratic Conference’s advocacy, this year’s budget will also include transformative investments in higher education to make continued learning more accessible These wins include: 

School Funding

• Rejecting the Executive’s proposal to eliminate Hold Harmless and also increasing Foundation Aid for the poorest 63 districts in the State. This is a Foundation Aid increase of $934 million, or 3.9 percent, over the current school year, which is an increase of $430 million, or 1.8 percent, over the Executive’s Foundation Aid proposal.
• A Comprehensive Study by The Rockefeller Institute and NYS Department of Education to develop a modernized school funding formula.
• $180 million to continue our historic commitment to providing universal school meals for thousands of New York children.
• Extending Mayoral Control for two years. 
• An additional $100 million for Universal Pre-K to allow school districts throughout the state to serve at least 90% of eligible four year olds.
• A study to work towards a pathway for expanded afterschool across New York State.

Higher Education

• The Enacted Budget increases SUNY Operating Aid by $60 million, Capital by $60 million and Community College Support by $6 million over the Executive’s proposal. 
• Increases CUNY Operating Aid by $40 million, Capital by $40 million and Community College Support by $4 million over the Executive’s proposal.
• The Senate also provided significant support for the SUNY Hospitals, providing operating assistance to cover their debt service and $150 million in capital. 
• Increasing the household income limit for dependent students from $80,000 to $125,000
• Increase the married, no children income ceiling from $40,000 to $60,000 (Net Taxable Income) 
• Increasing the max income limit from $10,000 to $30,000

Amidst the ongoing housing crisis in New York, the Senate Democratic Conference put forward and secured a transformative housing deal that targets both the affordability and supply of the current market through meaningful tenant and homeowner protections, along with real incentives to replenish the stock. This historic deal includes: 

Hard fought Senate Majority proposals in final package:

• Housing Opportunities for the Future - a new $150 million program to build affordable homes and rentals across New York State. 
• A new opt-in construction or commercial conversion tax exemption for affordable housing outside the City of New York.
• Authorization for municipalities to adopt a local tax exemption to make it easier for individuals to build accessory dwelling units.

Historic Tenant and Homeowner Protections: 

• A rent increase is presumptively unreasonable if it is greater than the annual change in CPI plus 5%, or 10%, whichever is lower. 
• A lease can only be terminated for one of the good causes lined out within the bill. 
• Takes effect immediately in New York City, while localities in the rest of the state may opt in and provides for flexibility in defining the small landlord and high-rent exemptions. 
• Sunsets in ten years. 
• The SFY 2024-25 Enacted Budget also establishes the crime of Deed Theft, to protect homeowners from having someone steal the title to their home through fraudulent or deceptive practices, often which are targeted towards elderly homeowners. This provision would allow for the prosecution of individuals who intentionally alter, falsify, forge, or misrepresent property documents unlawfully transfer ownership rights of real property.
• $140 million in capital funding for NYCHA, 
• $80 million to support Mitchell-Lamas and $75 million to support public housing authorities outside of New York City.
• $40 million in the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP)
• A total of $10 million in Eviction Protection Funding in New York City and $40 million for outside New York City 

Needed New York City Specific Housing Advances:

• The Enacted Budget includes an extension of the 421a construction completion deadline until 2031 to ensure that vested projects that had started construction prior to the expiration of 421a are able to continue. 
• It also implements 485x, a new version of 421a, to build new multifamily buildings across New York City with stronger labor and wage standards and requires levels of affordability.  It also lifts the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) cap to allow for higher density buildings.
• This budget includes a pilot program to legalize basement and cellar apartments within identified geographic locations in the City of New York and to ensure those apartments are brought up to code to allow individuals to live in them safely. 
• And, it builds on previous conference wins to include a tax incentive program for Commercial Conversions with higher affordability requirements. 

In this year’s state budget, the Senate Democratic Conference continued its efforts to ensure New York remains affordable and opportunity-filled for working and middle class families to put down roots. This year, those measures included:

• A historic $350 million for a new supplemental tax credit for families eligible for the Empire State Child Tax Credit to provide direct support to working families, and continues to implement the lowest Middle-Class Tax rate in over 70 years, saving average New Yorkers millions of dollars. 
• Allowing children ages 0-6 to remain continuously enrolled in Medicaid or Child Health Plus without having to redetermine eligibility, to ensure children have stable and affordable health insurance for their first years. 
• Advances $50 million for customers enrolled in the NYSERDA EmPower+ Program to electrify their homes, providing subsidies to guarantee customers don’t spend more than 6% of their income on an electric bill.   
• Thanks to the Senate’s efforts, this budget will also include long overdue and critical Tier 6 reform by changing the final average salary calculation window for Tier 6 members from five to three years to help incentivize workforce retention. 
• The successful Senate inclusion of a 2.84% COLA for Human Services includes a 1.7% target salary increase for specific support, direct care, clinical, and non-executive administrative staff. This represents a notable increase over the Executive’s 1.5% COLA proposal.
• $50 million in transformative new funding for Anti-Poverty Efforts in Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo. 

Access to Affordable Child Care: 

• The Enacted Budget includes $1.78 billion for the New York State Child Care Block Grant, an increase of $754.4 million, which will provide subsidies for 119,000 eligible children. 
• It further includes $280 million in underutilized federal pandemic funds to continue the Workforce Retention Grant program and provide another round of bonus payments to employees at 14,000 programs statewide. 
• The Enacted Budget will also continue $6.25 million for the Child Care Facilitated Enrollment program in New York City and $5.6 million to the rest of the state. This program is designed to help qualifying working parents get access to child care in New York City.  

In ongoing efforts to bolster New York’s economy from the ground up, New York State Democrats are continuing to invest in small businesses and development at all levels of the economy. This year’s state budget includes:

• Empire AI, a pioneering consortium to develop and inaugurate a cutting-edge artificial intelligence computing center in Buffalo, with statewide partners to ensure New York’s leadership in the burgeoning AI space. 
• It will create a personal income and corporate franchise tax credit for certain qualifying, independently owned print media or broadcasting entities, including those that have experienced workforce or circulation decline in the last five years.  
• It places a total cap on the credit per entity of $300,000, and an annual cap of $30 million. It sets aside $4 million to provide a $5,000 credit for the hiring of new employees, and $26 million set aside for the retention of current staff. Half of the funds will be set aside specifically for those with 100 or fewer employees.
• This budget adds $365,000 over the Executive proposal in additional funding for the Minority and Women-Owned Business Development lending program, for a total of $1 million.
• It also increases the grant amounts for Entrepreneurial Assistance Centers from $175,000 to $250,000 to support small businesses and MWBEs across the state and help establish EACs in unserved areas. 
• This budget successfully enacts the Retail Security Tax Credit, which helps small businesses make the investments needed to keep employees safe.
• The Senate Majority successfully added its investment of $1 million for beginning farmers, along with $1 million for socially and economically disadvantaged farmers.
• Language to lower the medical cannabis tax rate from 7% to 3.15%  and direct revenue to counties in order to keep them whole. 
• $100,000 for the Cannabis Farmers Alliance, and $50,000 for the Cannabis Association of New York.
• Increased enforcement powers for the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to enable cities and counties to crack down on illegal cannabis shops.

In a continued effort to support the wellbeing of all New Yorker’s at every stage of life, the Senate Majority fought to bolster health care resources and continue investing in mental health services for everyone throughout the state. The SFY 2024-25 budget includes:

• $7.5 billion invested in New York’s health care system through modifications to the state's 1115 Medicaid Waiver to be used for promoting health equity, diminishing health disparities, and enhancing access to primary and behavioral health care.
• $800 million in support for distressed and safety-net hospitals.
• Continuing to increase the minimum wage for home care workers.
• Establishing minimum collection policies for medical debt, increasing eligibility for hospital financial assistance, a uniform financial assistance application for all hospitals, prohibiting hospitals from using immigration status as a criterion for financial assistance eligibility, requiring reporting on users of financial assistance, and clarifying that the notice requirements on medical credit cards apply to hospitals as well as other health care providers. 
• Eliminating cost-sharing for insulin in commercial insurance for thousands of New Yorkers.
• Requiring commercial insurance to reimburse outpatient behavioral and substance use disorder treatment services at no less than the Medicaid rate.  

Mental Health  

• Providing $55 million to establish 200 new inpatient psychiatric beds at State-run facilities.
• Investing $33 million to enhance mental health services targeting first responders and aiding individuals with mental illnesses involved in the criminal justice system.
• Allocating $19 million for mental health services for school-aged children.
• $75.8 million increase for Crisis Services, which includes improving public safety by addressing serious mental illness, and providing critical care to young people.
• $8 million increase to the Judiciary to support Mental Health Court operations. 
• Extending the Mental Health Support and Workforce Reinvestment Program for an additional three years, allowing Office of Mental Health to reinvest savings from the closure of State-operated inpatient facilities for workforce development activities and community mental health services

As New York continues to be a beacon for the nation amidst ongoing attacks on reproductive rights, the Senate Democrats used this year’s State Budget to advance greater protections and resources for those who utilize these services, ensuring that they remain available to all who need them. This includes:

• Passing First in the Nation Paid Prenatal Leave, providing 20 hours of paid sick time for pregnant employees to use for their prenatal care visits.
• Codifying the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Grant Program to provide funding for abortion providers and non-profit entities to support increased access to abortion.
• Enacting the Community Doula Expansion Grant Program to provide funding to community-based organizations for recruitment and retention and startup and administrative costs to increase the number of community doulas.
• Allowing the Health Commissioner to issue a statewide, non-patient specific order to provide doula services for any pregnant, birthing, or postpartum individual.
• Requiring Paid Breaks for Breast Milk Expression in the Workplace for 30 minutes.

The New York Senate Democrats have always understood that a brighter future starts with investments into our youth. Through this advocacy, the SFY 2024-25 Budget includes vital funding for youth programming and intervention services, with:

• $103.2 million for After School Programs, an increase of over $20 million from last year’s budget 
• $10 million for the Youth Sports Initiative. 
• $1.5 million in additional funding for the Youth Development Program, for a total of $15.6 million.
• $1 million in additional funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act program, for a total of $8.1 million.
• $2 million in additional funding for Child Advocacy Centers, for a total of $7.2 million.

The SFY 2024-25 Enacted Budget continues the Senate Democratic Majority’s commitment to meeting New York’s climate goals by forging ahead on key investments and advancing modern policy to address the needs of the moment so we can not only stop, but also reverse the effects of climate change. This includes:

• Adding $250 million over the Executive proposal for the Clean Water Infrastructure Act for a total of  $500 million.
• Successfully reversing cuts to the Environmental Protection Fund for an investment of  $400 million to support climate priorities across New York State.
• Expediting the siting and construction of electrical transmission and commercial energy storage through the RAPID Act, with the addition of Senate Majority proposals to preserve prime agricultural land, incorporate greater community input in the siting process, and improve labor standards. 
• $300 million in Capital for enhancing and improving parks statewide and $150 million for the New York Statewide Investment in More Swimming (NYSWIMS) program to improve pools and build new ones in communities across the State. 

The New York State Senate Majority is building on record investments to infrastructure and local municipalities by restoring roads funding and putting more money into local government. This includes: 

• $50 million increase in AIM funding for local governments, the first increase in AIM in over a decade for a total of $765.2 million.
• The Senate’s successful inclusion of Sammy’s Law, which will authorize citywide speed limits to be reduced at DOT’s discretion, upon authorization from the New York City Council, allowing for the speed limits to be changed from 25 mph to 20 mph, and to lower special traffic-calming zones from 15 mph to 10 mph. 
• $2.5 million added by the Senate Democrats to establish and support the Dr. John L. Flateau Voting Rights and Elections Database of New York to assist in efforts to enforce the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York, increasing both accountability and transparency in New York’s elections system, and $5 million in assistance for Local Boards of Elections.
• $10 million in additional funds for Upstate STOA funding, for a total of $333.2 million.
• $4.2 billion for the MTA, an increase of $140 million or 3.4 percent from SFY 2023-24. 
• $551 million for non-MTA downstate systems, a 5.4 percent increase in funding. 
• $60 million in additional funding for CHIPS, for a total of $598 million.
• $40 million in additional funding for State Touring Routes, for a total of $140 million.
• $200 million per year for BRIDGE NY
• $150 million per year for PAVE NY
• $200 million for Pave our Potholes
• $100 million for Extreme Winter Recovery

The SFY 2024-25 Enacted Budget puts meaningful resources into public safety and the protection of all New Yorkers, of all backgrounds. This year’s funding builds on previous Senate Majority efforts by: 

• Expanding the range of offenses that can be prosecuted as hate crimes.
• Investing an additional $35 million in the Securing Communities Against Hate Grant to safeguard houses of worship, religious schools, and other vulnerable locations.
• Allocating $347 million to continue efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence in New York.
• Providing $35.7 million to combat and prosecute domestic violence crimes.
• Investing $7.1 million to provide more intensive supervision for individuals on parole through the Supervision Against Violent Engagement (SAVE) program
• Expanding transitional housing and college programming across all state prisons.
• $1 million for transportation for visitors to and from State Correctional Facilities.
• Implementing measures to combat toll evasion on roads and fare evasion on subways, commuter rails, and buses, including cracking down on vanish plates and fraudulent paper plates. 
• Creates a Class E felony for assaulting a retail worker. 
• Allowing for aggregation of retail theft crimes to make it easier to prosecute repeat offenders. 
• This budget creates a new Class A misdemeanor, Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree, which would make it a crime for an individual to intentionally subject a transit worker to unlawful physical contact.
• Protecting against Sexually explicit Artificial Intelligence- expands the existing statutory right to privacy, which says that it is unlawful to use a person’s name, portrait, or picture for commercial advertising without consent, by adding “likeness and voice” to the list of protected characteristics. 
• Combatting the use of Deep fakes in Elections- the legislation requires distributors or publishers of “materially deceptive” political communications to disclose the use of digitization. It also gives candidates a private right of action to seek injunctive relief and court and attorneys’ fees.
• The Senate fought to include $30 million for AAPI Equity Coalition priorities for crisis intervention initiatives and community-based programs to combat bias crimes.
• The Senate fought to enact the Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force’s recommendations, including increasing the minimum fine for operating a stretch limousine that has been suspended with an out-of-service defect, requiring stretch limos to be equipped with a window break tool as well as a fire extinguisher, equipping stretch limos with anti-intrusion and roll-over protections, improving safety data reporting and requiring a pre-trip safety briefing for limo passengers.

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What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers

One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the  Fair Labor Standards Act ’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The  Department of Labor ’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when: 

1. An employee is paid a salary,  

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and 

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.

The department’s new overtime rule was developed based on almost 30 listening sessions across the country and the final rule was issued after reviewing over 33,000 written comments. We heard from a wide variety of members of the public who shared valuable insights to help us develop this Administration’s overtime rule, including from workers who told us: “I would love the opportunity to...be compensated for time worked beyond 40 hours, or alternately be given a raise,” and “I make around $40,000 a year and most week[s] work well over 40 hours (likely in the 45-50 range). This rule change would benefit me greatly and ensure that my time is paid for!” and “Please, I would love to be paid for the extra hours I work!”

The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA. 

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees.

The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025.

Starting July 1, 2027, these earnings thresholds will be updated every three years so they keep pace with changes in worker salaries, ensuring that employers can adapt more easily because they’ll know when salary updates will happen and how they’ll be calculated.

The final rule will restore and extend the right to overtime pay to many salaried workers, including workers who historically were entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA because of their lower pay or the type of work they performed. 

We urge workers and employers to visit  our website to learn more about the final rule.

Jessica Looman is the administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on Twitter at  @WHD_DOL  and  LinkedIn .  Editor's note: This blog was edited to correct a typo (changing "administrator" to "administrative.")

• Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• overtime rule

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N.Y. district attorney under fire after video showed her cursing at police during traffic stop

A n upstate New York district attorney is under investigation after police bodycam video showed her getting into a heated confrontation with an officer who had stopped her for speeding, calling him an “a--hole" and demanding “leave me alone.”

Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley apologized on Monday, a day after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul referred the April 22 incident to the State Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.

"What I did was wrong — no excuses," Doorley said in her apology. "I take full responsibility for my actions.”

The bodycam video, obtained by NBC affiliate WHEC of Rochester , showed that the exchange started when a Webster police officer pulled up to Doorley's garage, where she had just parked.

The officer, identified as Cameron Crisafulli by the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper, asked Doorley why she didn't pull over when he had his lights and sirens on.

She admitted she was going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone. Later in the 26-minute video, she said she didn't think he was trying to pull her over, claiming there were other people on the road. “I was right behind you,” the officer replied.

Throughout the video, Doorley did not cooperate with demands to stay in front of the garage. Instead she walked around her garage, at one point trying to go inside her home.

“Ma’am, do not go inside,” Crisafulli said. “Ma’am, come outside. You can’t just go inside, this is a traffic stop.”

“I understand the law better than you. Get out of my f------ house,” she retorted. 

Doorley appeared agitated and boasted multiple times, “I am the DA of Monroe County,” and repeatedly said “leave me alone.” When told she had violated speeding laws, she said, “I don’t really care.”

Doorley said she was calling Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier and she put Crisafulli on the line. Crisafulli then called a supervisor to the scene.

“I just don’t understand the hostility towards me. I'm just doing my job,” Crisafulli said. She quipped back: “You're being an a--hole. I am the DA of Monroe County.”

“If you give me traffic ticket that’s fine. I'm the one that prosecutes it. Go ahead,” she said at one point. 

“I'm having a really bad day," she said. "I've been dealing with murders all over the city.”

A supervisor ultimately came to the home and spoke with Doorley, and Crisafulli ended up writing her a ticket for speeding.

When he presented it to her, she simply nodded and said, “I apologize.”

“I'm sorry you had a bad day, and I'm sorry it went this way. I do respect what you do. Have a good day,” the officer replied.

An apology and investigation

Hochu, in her statement Sunday, said Doorley's behavior was "in contravention of her responsibility as a District Attorney and undermined her ability to hold others accountable for violating the law."

Doorley issued an apology video Monday, WHEC reported, saying: “Last Monday I failed you and the standards that I hold myself to. And for that I am so sorry."

She added, "I fell short of the values I’ve held for my entire 33-year career. I didn’t treat this officer with the respect that he deserved. All police officers deserve respect."

She said that she had come home from work that day and dealt with three homicides that had occurred the weekend before.

" I was still reeling from a frightening medical concern that my husband received that afternoon," she explained. "But we all have bad days and stress, and it was wrong on me to take it out on an officer who was simply doing his job. While I had previously apologized to him, I will say it again, I’m sorry."

She said she pleaded guilty to the speeding ticket and will pay the fine, and is referring the matter to a different district attorney's office for review. She said she'd also self-report the case to the grievance committee.

"If one of my assistant district attorneys had acted this way, I would have disciplined them, so I’m disciplining myself. I will take ethics training to remind myself that professionalism matters," she said. "I’ve been humbled by my own stupidity and I am fully to blame. I will make this right — I ask for your forgiveness."

NBC News has reached out to Doorley's office and Webster police for comment.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Middle East Crisis U.S. Won’t Suspend Aid, for Now, to Israeli Unit Accused of Abuses

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• Israeli police detaining protesters during a demonstration by Israeli and American rabbis near the Erez crossing into Gaza. Reuters
• Palestinian children waiting for a water supply tank in Rafah, southern Gaza. Mohammed Abed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
• Damage in the area of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. Ramiz Dallah/Anadolu, via Getty Images
• Walking past posters in Tel Aviv of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
• Hanging around the apparent remains of a ballistic missile near the southern Israeli city of Arad. Amir Cohen/Reuters
• Palestinians on a hot day at a beach west of Deir al Balah in southern Gaza. Mohammed Saber/EPA, via Shutterstock

Follow live news updates on the crisis in the Middle East .

Blinken says the U.S. could take action if Israel fails to hold its troops accountable.

The Biden administration, which has been under pressure for its support of Israel’s war in Gaza, will not withhold military aid from a troubled military unit accused of human rights violations in the West Bank, so long as Israel continues with steps to hold the members of the unit accountable.

In an undated letter, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told the House speaker, Mike Johnson, that the United States was working with Israel to address charges against the unit, the Netzah Yehuda battalion. Though the letter did not mention the battalion’s name, a U.S. official confirmed that Mr. Blinken was referring to Netzah Yehuda, which has been investigated for crimes in the West Bank predating the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that set off the war in Gaza.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss delicate diplomacy, said that the Biden administration could still take action against Netzah Yehuda if it concludes that Israel has not taken sufficient steps to hold its members to account.

The letter, obtained by The New York Times, said the State Department had determined that Netzah Yehuda had committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

U.S. officials had reached similar findings about two other Israeli military units and two civilian units, the letter said, but in those cases the Biden administration had decided not to withhold military aid because Israel was already acting to “bring to justice” culpable service members.

Mr. Blinken assured Mr. Johnson in the letter, reported earlier by ABC News , that the United States “will not delay the delivery of any U.S. assistance, and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress.”

Under federal statutes commonly known as the Leahy law , the U.S. government must deny aid to foreign military units found to have committed gross violations of human rights without accountability. The law allows for the targeting of individual units without cutting off entire foreign militaries.

It was not clear what practical effect any such move might have, given that funding of specific Israeli units is hard to track, and it is unclear whether the units mentioned in the letter receive American training or equipment.

Still, the news last week that U.S. officials were considering withholding aid from Israeli military units for abuses prompted a furious response from Israel and from Mr. Johnson, a strong supporter of the current Israeli government. Mr. Johnson said this week that he had called the White House in protest and had received an assurance in writing that none of the billions in additional U.S. aid to Israel approved by Congress this week would be affected.

The Biden administration has faced growing calls to restrict American aid to Israel over its military offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attacks in October. President Biden so far has declined to place conditions on U.S. aid over Israel’s devastating tactics in the Gaza war, though he has taken several steps in response to violence by Israelis in the West Bank, including placing sanctions against several Israeli settlers for what the U.S. has called “extremist” acts of violence against Palestinians.

In his letter to the Republican House speaker, Mr. Blinken said that two Israeli battalions and “civilian authority units,” none of which he named, had committed human rights abuses but that he had “determined that the Israeli government has conducted effective remediation of the units involved.” He defined remediation as a process in which a foreign government takes “effective steps to bring to justice the responsible members of the unit.”

In the case of Netzah Yehuda, which he did not cite by name, he said that “there has not been effective remediation to date” but that the Israeli government “has presented new information regarding the status of the unit, and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit.”

Mr. Blinken is planning to travel to Israel next week for meetings with Israeli leaders to discuss efforts to free hostages from Gaza and an impending Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an Israeli official said on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether he would discuss Netzah Yehuda. Mr. Blinken has discussed the matter by phone with senior Israeli officials in recent days.

Under the terms of a 10-year security agreement that the United States and Israel reached in 2016, the United States must consult with Israeli officials before placing restrictions on security assistance. That consultation is ongoing, according to the U.S. official.

Netzah Yehuda, which was created to accommodate the religious practices of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, has been repeatedly accused of mistreating Palestinians.

In January 2022, according to witnesses, its soldiers bound and gagged a 78-year-old Palestinian American who died of a heart attack while in military custody. An investigation concluded that the two soldiers who bound the man thought he was sleeping. The soldiers faced disciplinary action but no criminal charges were brought.

The unit was transferred in 2022 from the West Bank to the Golan Heights in northern Israel, according to Mr. Blinken’s letter.

Mr. Blinken added that no other Israeli units had been found culpable of rights violations under the Leahy Law and that the administration’s deliberations “will have no impact on our support for Israel’s ability to defend itself against Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah or other threats.”

— Michael Crowley reporting from Washington

Blinken will make another wartime trip to Israel.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will visit Israel next week, an Israeli official said on Friday, as talks on a cease-fire deal that would allow for the release of hostages held in Gaza appear stalled and tensions have risen between Israel and the United States over the war.

The Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of lack of authorization to speak publicly on the matter, said talks with Mr. Blinken would center on hostages and an impending Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Mr. Blinken last visited Israel in March, when he warned that its plans to invade Rafah , where more than a million displaced people are sheltering, would pose severe risks to civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with those plans, saying that such an operation is necessary to eliminate Hamas battalions in the city.

Still, the Biden administration has stuck by Israel as mediators have failed to broker even a temporary cease-fire in Gaza that would give Palestinians some respite and allow for the release of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel .

The United States has proposed a deal through Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries in which Hamas would release 40 of the most vulnerable hostages in exchange for a six-week truce and the release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. A senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on Thursday on condition of anonymity under official ground rules put the blame solely on Hamas for blocking the deal.

The official said that while Israel had signaled it would accept those terms, the response from Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader hiding underground in Gaza, had been “totally nonconstructive.” Hamas has since signaled that it is not completely rejecting the deal and is willing to sit down again, the official said, adding that the United States and its partners would test that in coming days.

President Biden and the leaders of 17 other nations called on Hamas on Thursday to release all the hostages in a joint statement that appeared intended to send the message that the world is not entirely against Israel and that Hamas is the main impediment to ending the war.

Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington.

— Patrick Kingsley reporting from Jerusalem

Israel fires into Lebanon after a deadly Hezbollah missile strike.

An Israeli man was killed in an anti-tank missile attack from Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Friday, the latest in a growing string of civilian casualties on both sides of Israel’s northern border as tit-for-tat strikes intensify with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .

The Israeli military said in a statement that the man had been carrying out “infrastructure work” when two anti-tank missiles were fired late Thursday into the area of Har Dov in northern Israel, a disputed sliver of land where Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet. Also known as the Shebaa Farms, the area is claimed by Lebanon but occupied by Israel, and has long been a crucible for violence.

Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful regional proxy , described the overnight attack as an “ambush,” claiming that two vehicles had been destroyed in a combined missile, artillery and rocket assault on an Israeli military base in the area. The Israeli military statement did not say whether a base had been hit.

Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, identified the man killed as Sharif Suwayed, 35, and said that his truck had been hit while he was working to improve defenses at a military base, modifications that were being carried out at night to protect against Hezbollah attacks. The Israeli military was investigating, the broadcaster reported.

Israeli forces responded by striking Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, among them a weapon storage facility and military compound, according to a military statement. Lebanese state media reported on Friday that multiple towns had been targeted by heavy Israeli bombardment, damaging dozens of houses. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, the heaviest between the sides in nearly two decades, has shown no sign of subsiding. Israeli strikes inside Lebanon have begun to creep deeper into the country’s interior, though the hostilities for now have been confined largely to areas along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

In Israel, 19 soldiers and civilians have been killed in the recent violence, which began after Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel in support of the deadly Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7.

More than 70 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, along with roughly 270 Hezbollah fighters, the group has said, a figure that exceeds its losses in the 2006 war with Israel .

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said this week that its strikes had eliminated half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon, although experts expressed skepticism about that claim . They also have cast doubt on whether targeted killings of commanders could achieve Israel’s goal of pushing Hezbollah farther from the border, reducing the threat of attacks and allowing the tens of thousands of Israeli civilians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes.

Patrick Kingsley contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

— Euan Ward Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

A baby born in Gaza after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike dies less than a week later.

A baby who was delivered through an emergency cesarean section after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike died on Thursday, a relative said, less than a week after news of her birth brought a glimmer of hope to war-torn Gaza.

The baby, who was born prematurely after a strike in southern Gaza that also killed her father and sister, suffered respiratory problems, and doctors were unable to save her, said her uncle, Rami al-Sheikh.

“I buried her in her father’s grave,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.

The mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was killed along with her husband, Shukri, and their 3-year-old daughter, Malak, when an Israeli strike hit their home in the city of Rafah shortly before midnight last Saturday. Rescue crews took the bodies to the Emirati Hospital in Rafah, where doctors performed a cesarean section on Ms. al-Sakani, who was 30 weeks pregnant.

The girls’ uncle said that Malak had wanted to name her little sister Rouh, the Arabic word for soul. The extended family decided instead to name her after her mother, Sabreen.

Sabreen weighed just three pounds at birth, said Dr. Mohammed Salama, head of the neonatal intensive care unit at Emirati Hospital. Her birth was captured on video by a journalist from the Reuters news agency, who filmed doctors providing artificial respiration to her after she emerged, pale and limp, from her mother.

Instead of a name, doctors initially wrote, “The baby of the martyr Sabreen al-Sakani” on a piece of tape across her chest.

“The baby was delivered into a tragic situation,” Dr. Salama told Reuters, adding, “Even if this baby survives, she was born an orphan.”

— Hiba Yazbek Reporting from Jerusalem

Drone attack kills 4 workers in an Iraqi gas field, but no one claims responsibility.

A drone attack on a large gas field in Iraq’s Kurdistan region killed four workers and plunged much of eastern Kurdistan into darkness because it relies on gas to fuel its electrical plants, according to a Kurdistan regional government spokesman.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. While Iranian-backed armed groups have bases in the area, there are many competing interests in Kurdistan, leaving it unclear whether the attacks are part of the larger regional fight between Iran and Israel, which has intensified during the war in Gaza.

The Kurdistan region’s president, Nechirvan Barzani, condemned the attack and called on the government in Baghdad to investigate. “These attacks endanger the peace and stability of the country,” Mr. Barzani said, adding, “The representatives of the Iraqi federal government must do their duty to prevent these attacks and find the perpetrators from any side and punish them according to the law.”

Iraq’s joint command in Baghdad issued a statement calling the attack “sabotage,” confirming that a drone was used. The statement said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani had ordered an investigation.

Friday’s drone attack was the second so far this year on the Khor Mor field in Sulaymaniyah Province. The last one, in January, did not inflict casualties.

“Four Yemeni workers have been killed, and the field has been severely damaged, which will cause electricity shortages,” said Peshawa Hawramani, a spokesman for the Kurdistan regional government.

Almost a million people in Sulaymaniyah Province were left without power, along with thousands more in adjacent provinces. It took about 24 hours to restore electricity after the last attack, but because the damage was greater this time, Kurdish authorities said it could take longer. While hospitals and security services have large generators, many ordinary residents have access only to limited power from shared generators.

Claims of responsibility were never made for previous attacks on the gas field, which is operated by Dana Gas, based in the United Arab Emirates, and a related company, Crescent Petroleum.

While the drone attack could stem from the regional conflict between Iran and Israel, there are other tensions in the region — between internal Iraqi factions and between Baghdad and Kurdistan. There has been a multiyear effort by the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and the courts to reduce the Kurdistan region’s control over its natural resources.

At the same time, there is tension between Iran and Iraq over any efforts by Iraq to expand domestic gas production. Iran sells about $4 billion of gas to Iraq each year because Iraq does not have enough gas to fuel its electricity plants. Kurdistan and the Iraqi government had been discussing expansion of the Khor Mor field.

Kamil Kakol contributed reporting from Sulaymaniyah Province, Iraq .

— Alissa J. Rubin Reporting from Baghdad

Rabbis are arrested near the Gaza-Israel border at a rally to highlight starvation.

Police arrest group of rabbis and activists near gaza, the israeli police arrested rabbis and peace activists near the border with gaza..

[singing] You can arrest us, but we’re going to walk slowly, our way towards the crossing.

Seven rabbis and peace activists were arrested on Friday near the border with Gaza after they tried to take food supplies into the territory, according to two participants and the campaign group that organized the effort.

The detainees were among a group of roughly 30 rabbis and activists from Israel and the United States who were stopped by police officers as they tried to reach the Erez crossing, a major transit point between Israel and northern Gaza.

Organized by Rabbis for Ceasefire, a peace movement based in the United States, the effort was intended to build support for a truce and to highlight rising reports of starvation in Gaza . A global authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, has predicted an imminent famine in northern Gaza, the area of the territory closest to Erez.

The protest was timed to coincide with the week of Passover , a Jewish festival that celebrates the biblical story of the liberation of Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt.

“We were making the point that Jewish liberation is bound up with Palestinian liberation, that we want freedom for all,” said Toba Spitzer, a rabbi from Boston who attended the protest but was not arrested.

The group had tried to drive into Gaza with a pickup truck carrying half a ton of rice and flour but was stopped roughly a third of a mile from the border, Rabbi Spitzer said. The effort was largely symbolic and the organizers expected it to fail given the restrictions along the border; the supplies will now be donated to needy Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Rabbi Spitzer said.

The Israeli police did not respond to requests for comment.

The author Ayelet Waldman of Berkeley, Calif., was among those arrested, her husband, the author Michael Chabon, said on Instagram .

There are widespread food shortages in Gaza. Israeli restrictions on where convoys can enter the strip, Israeli bombardment and widespread damage to roads, the collapse of Gazan agriculture, and a breakdown in law and order have all made it harder to distribute aid safely.

Aid groups and United Nations officials have accused Israel of systematically limiting aid delivery. Israel denies the assertion, blaming the shortages on logistical failures by aid groups, and has recently increased the number of trucks entering the strip.

Israeli officials say that the Erez crossing, which was primarily used for pedestrian traffic before the war, is difficult to use for aid delivery because it lacks the right infrastructure and was also badly damaged during the Hamas-led raid on Israel in October.

A majority of Jewish Israelis oppose the delivery of more aid to Gaza, according to a poll conducted in February by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group.

Israeli protesters regularly gather at another crossing point farther south, trying to block aid convoys entering Gaza .

— Patrick Kingsley and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Reporting from Jerusalem and from Haifa, Israel

The U.S. Army has begun work on a floating pier to move aid from ships into Gaza, the Pentagon says.

Army engineers on Thursday began construction of a floating pier and causeway for humanitarian aid off the coast of Gaza, which, when completed, could help relief workers deliver as many as two million meals a day for the enclave’s residents, Defense Department officials said.

The construction on the “initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea” means that the project’s timing is in line with what Pentagon officials had predicted, Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Defense Department’s press secretary, said. The construction is meant to allow humanitarian aid to bypass Israeli restrictions on land convoys into the besieged strip.

General Ryder said that defense officials expected the project, ordered up by President Biden early last month, to be completed early next month. The facility is meant to include an offshore platform to transfer aid from ships, and a floating pier to bring the aid to shore.

Aid organizations have welcomed the plan, which will be an addition to the airdrops of humanitarian supplies that the U.S. military has been conducting over Gaza. But aid workers say, and defense officials have acknowledged, that the maritime project is not an adequate substitute for land convoys. Such aid convoys fell sharply when the war began more than six months ago and have only partly recovered .

Some U.S. military officials have also privately expressed security concerns about the project, and General Ryder said that the military was looking into a mortar attack on Wednesday that caused minimal damage in the area where some pier work is supposed to be done. However, he said, U.S. forces had not started moving anything into the area at the time of the mortar attacks.

The floating pier is being built alongside an Army ship off the Gaza coast. Army ships are large, lumbering vessels, so they have armed escorts, particularly as they get within range of Gaza’s coast, defense officials have said.

The United Nations says famine is likely to set in within Gaza by the end of May.

Aid workers have described bottlenecks for aid at border crossings because of lengthy inspections of trucks, limited crossing hours and protests by Israelis, and they have highlighted the difficulty of distributing aid inside Gaza. Israeli officials have denied that they are hampering the flow of aid, saying the United Nations and aid groups are responsible for any backlogs.

Senior Biden administration and military officials detailed a complex plan in a Pentagon call with reporters on Thursday afternoon, explaining how the pier and causeway are being put together, and how it is supposed to work. Army engineers are constructing the facility aboard Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean. One official said that the “at-sea assembly of key pieces” of the pier began on Thursday.

Biden officials are insistent that the Pentagon can carry out aid deliveries through the floating pier without putting American boots on the ground in Gaza. Officials described a complicated shuttle system, through which aid would be loaded onto Navy ships in Cyprus and transported to a causeway — a floating platform — at sea.

The Pentagon’s military acronym for the project is J-Lots, for Joint Logistics Over the Shore.

The causeway at sea is different from the floating pier where the aid will be offloaded into Gaza. An engineering unit with the Israeli military will anchor the floating pier to the Gaza shore, a senior military official told reporters in the Pentagon call.

Shuttle boats run by aid organizations, the United Nations or other countries are then expected to transport the aid to the floating pier, where it is to be loaded onto trucks driven by “a third party,” the official said. He declined to identify the third party.

The official said that Israel was dedicating a brigade to provide security for the American troops and aid workers working on the pier.

The operation is expected to bring in enough aid for around 90 trucks a day, a number that will increase to 150 trucks a day when the system reaches full operating capacity, the official said.

— Helene Cooper Reporting from Washington

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The man who set himself on fire outside the courthouse where Trump is on trial dies of his injuries

Person rushed away on a stretcher after fire extinguished outside Trump hush money trial

A metal can sits on the ground at the scene where a man lit himself on fire in a park outside Manhattan criminal court, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. Emergency crews rushed away a person on a stretcher after fire was extinguished outside the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection was taking place Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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New York law enforcement and fire department personnel inspect the scene where a man lit himself on fire in a park outside Manhattan criminal court, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

White fire extinguisher residue marks the spot in Collect Pond Park where a man lit himself on fire outside Manhattan criminal court, Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. Emergency crews rushed away a person on a stretcher after fire was extinguished outside the Manhattan courthouse where jury selection was taking place in former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

NEW YORK (AP) — The man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said.

The New York City Police Department told The Associated Press early Saturday that the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital.

The man was in Collect Pond Park around 1:30 p.m. Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said.

A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed to the aid of the man, who was hospitalized in critical condition at the time.

The man, who police said recently traveled from Florida to New York, had not breached any security checkpoints to access the park.

The park outside the courthouse has been a gathering spot for protesters, journalists and gawkers throughout Trump’s trial, which began with jury selection Monday.

Through Friday, the streets and sidewalks in the area around the courthouse were generally wide open and crowds have been small and largely orderly.

Authorities said they were also reviewing the security protocols, including whether to restrict access to the park. The side street where Trump enters and leaves the building is off limits.

“We may have to shut this area down,” New York City Police Department Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said at a news conference outside the courthouse Friday, adding that officials would discuss the security plan soon.

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'Total disbelief': Friends shocked by man setting himself on fire outside Trump trial, say he was kind but troubled

When Doug Johnson received a text that his friend of over a decade, Maxwell Azzarello , had died after setting himself on fire in New York City, he didn't believe it.

"I was like, 'No, you got the wrong person. I don't know anybody that would do that,'" Johnson told NBC News.

Johnson did some research online out of curiosity, and that's when he saw Azzarello's face pop up in an article.

"Just immediately, chills up my spine, like, in total disbelief," he said.

Azzarello set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial  was taking place on Friday.

According to police, he walked into the center of the park where protesters were allowed across the street from the courthouse, opened a backpack and threw numerous pamphlets on the ground. He then pulled out a canister, poured a liquid accelerant on himself, lit himself on fire and then fell to the ground.

Azzarello, 37, later died of his injuries, leaving friends and strangers alike wondering what drove him to his actions.

Johnson, who was part of the same friend group as Azzarello in North Carolina, describes him as smart, funny, charismatic and the most intelligent human being he had ever met.

"I keep hearing on the news, you know, how he was a conspiracy theorist, an extremist — and obviously, you have to be extreme to do something like he did," Johnson said. "But as far as the way the picture's been painted of him so far, I feel like it's a really inaccurate depiction of him."

Selfless, but troubled

A glimpse at social media gives a small window into Azzarello's thoughts. Multiple pictures of pamphlets entitled "Dips--- Secrets of our Rotten World" and "The True History of the World," were posted to his Facebook and Instagram, expressing anti-government views. In his pamphlets, he accused powerful people of running Ponzi schemes and warned of an imminent economic collapse and coup.

On Friday, a user on Substack going by the name M. Crosby — Crosby is Azzarello's middle name — published a blog post where he wrote that he set himself on fire outside of the Trump trial in New York City. The writer said that this "extreme act of protest is to draw attention to ... an apocalyptic fascist world coup."

Mary Pat Cooney, who worked with Azzarello nine years ago at the Liberty Hill Foundation, an L.A.-based social justice nonprofit, described him as a selfless person who was "always happy to help people" if they had a problem.

"He was highly intelligent, thoroughly dedicated, funny and kind — that's the person that I remember," Cooney said.

Azzarello attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in public policy and anthropology, according to a university spokesperson. He also earned his master's degree in city and regional planning, with a major in urban planning and policy development from Rutgers University in New Brunswick in 2012.

"I swear, as far as history and politics and, you know, social studies, social matters, stuff like that, there wasn't a topic that he wasn't knowledgeable in," Johnson, Azzarello's friend from North Carolina, said. "And it was like the equivalent of me typing something into Google and then Max is spitting out the information to me, and he was accurate with it."

But beyond Azzarello's brilliance, he seemed to be troubled, according to his friends. Both Johnson and Cooney said Azzarello appeared to change after the death of his mother in April 2022.

Cooney, who kept in touch with Azzarello through Facebook, said the character of his posts became less good-natured after his mother's death.

"In his previous posts, and all our communication — (he was) concerned, righteous, knowledgeable, a good-spirited guy," Cooney said. "The guy that came a little later was a bit more of a ranter, had a different level of anger, and was expressing it in a — I don't know what the right word is, but it was kind of like he was yelling at us to pay attention to him, rather than pleading his case and sharing it for the world."

In August of last year, Azzarello posted a picture of grippy socks to his Facebook with the caption, "Three days in the psych ward and all I got were my new favorite socks."

"I was handcuffed, shoved, and put into a psych ward," Azzarello wrote toward the end of the caption. "I was given no information about why I was there until after my discharge. Though I committed no crime and was released upon my first evaluation, all background checks (like the ones for jobs) will show an incident with police officers that cannot be expunged (until we abolish the government, of course)."

It's not clear what events took place before Azzarello said he was committed to the psych ward.

A string of arrests

Azzarello's alleged stint in a psych ward seemed to precede a string of arrests in St. Augustine, Florida, where he lived before his death.

On Aug. 19, 2023, Azzarello was charged with criminal mischief when he allegedly threw a glass of wine at an autograph by former President Bill Clinton that was on a wall at the lobby of the Casa Monica Resort & Spa, according to a warrant affidavit from the St. Augustine Police Department.

Two days later, Azzarello allegedly returned to the resort and stood outside, where he stripped down to his underwear, yelled and cursed at customers, and was blasting music from a speaker, per an arrest report.

An officer who attempted to make contact with Azzarello said "he just began yelling and was not making any sense." He was arrested for disturbing the peace. Azzarello was put on probation for this incident, which ended earlier this month.

Three days after that, Azzarello was arrested again for criminal mischief after he was seen on surveillance video allegedly vandalizing property belonging to a nonprofit in St. Johns County, including writing with permanent marker on one of their signs, court documents state. He was also seen climbing into the bed of someone's pickup truck and going through their belongings, as well as removing a sign placed at a home by pest control warning them to keep pets and children off the lawn.

"Azzarello was misinterpreting the sign and was telling me that the pest control company was there to exterminate children and dogs," an officer with the St. Augustine Police Department wrote in the arrest report.

Azzarello was also put on probation in connection with these incidents, which ended earlier this month.

His final moments

Two years after the death of his mother, Azzarello made his way to New York City where he self-immolated. It's not clear why or when Azzarello came to the city, but NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said he arrived early last week and that family members were unaware that he was there.

When asked if he felt there was a reason Azzarello would self-immolate outside of the Trump trial, Johnson said Azzarello wasn't specifically concerned about Trump, but would speak generally about the corruption of all politicians.

While struggling to understand why his friend would do this, Johnson hopes people don't remember Azzarello just for his final moments.

“He deserves at least to be remembered for the good person that he was, the selfless person that he was, the charismatic, loving, giving person,” Johnson said. “All he wanted was better for people and it didn’t matter if he knew you or not. He wanted better for everyone.”

 If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741 or visit  SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources .

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