By SAMANTHA CASTRO Alessandra Ruiz is a Cuban-American nonunion actress. She took acting classes starting at the age of 5 and auditioned for television, film, and theater. After she earned…
COVID-19 Deaths Strike Western New York
By ALLISON RAPP Buffalo -- County Executive Mark Poloncarz in a Facebook livestream Wednesday afternoon said that at the moment of streaming only one person in Erie County had died…
Mayor Appeals for Federal Help
By SAMANTHA CASTRO Mayor de Blasio warned on Thursday that the city could possibly run out of coronavirus testing kits and necessary medical supplies in about three weeks unless the…
Erie County Runs Out of Virus Test Kits
By ALLISON RAPP When it began testing, Erie County Public Health started with 450 test kits, but as of Wednesday, the has officially run out of the materials needed to…
Ban Menthol Smokes, NAACP Says
By ELIJAH HAMILTON Members of the New York City NAACP Chapter urged the City Council on Thursday to pass a bill that would prohibit the sale of flavored cigarettes in…
Stuy Town Tenants File Lawsuit to Block Looming Rent Increases
BY SAMANTHA CASTRO Tenants announced on Thursday a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against the corporate landlord of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village to prevent what they allege would…
Fund Programs Not Prisons, Activists Say
By ELIJAH HAMILTON A coalition of community activists urged Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council on Thursday to take the money derived from the planned closing…
Local Activists of Color Say No to Bloomberg Candidacy
By SAMANTHA CASTRO A group of influential African-American New Yorkers on Thursday voiced strong opposition to Mike Bloomberg's presidential candidacy, contending that his policies as mayor for three terms had…
High Fashion — Muslim Style
By ALLISON RAPP “Fashion is an ambassador for world peace,” said Carmen Muhammed in a video viewed at a press preview Thursday at Contemporary Muslim Fashions, a new exhibit at…
Suspense in Weinstein Courtroom
BY SAMANTHA CASTRO & ALLISON RAPP The Manhattan jury deciding the fate of disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein ended its third day of deliberations Thursday still without reaching a verdict…