“Through a tax on the mega-rich, the Livable New York Act would fund 100,000 units of deeply affordable housing and transition every building in New York off of fossil fuels over the next 10 years—all while creating tens of thousands of good union jobs for New Yorkers.”

Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul at a press conference in 2023. (Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Somehow, inexplicably, Eric Adams is still mayor of New York City, despite clear evidence that he persuaded the Trump administration to drop his corruption case in exchange for enforcing the president’s controversial agenda. 

New Yorkers have a right to be worried. The president’s stated priorities—mass deportations, billionaire tax breaks, corporate giveaways, and planet-warming fossil fuels—won’t do anything to make our city better or more livable for the 8 million people who call it home. 

What New Yorkers really need are solutions to the crises they face every single day: soaring rents, low-paying jobs, and a rapidly heating planet. And since we can’t count on Mayor Eric Adams to fix our most pressing problems, we need Gov. Kathy Hochul to step in.

Where should she start? Easy. The beginning. At our most basic level, every human needs a few key essentials to survive: clean air and water, food, and a safe home to protect them and their loved ones from the elements. It sounds simple, but it’s remarkable how many politicians have taken these fundamentals for granted. 

Just look at New York. In one recent analysis of the most affordable states in the nation, the Empire State ranked dead last. Residents here will spend 78.7 percent of their income on basics and have just $16,913 of their median annual income left over.

The affordability crisis is painfully real, and yet it’s only half the problem. The other half is global warming and pollution. Filthy air, contaminated drinking water, rising temperatures, and growing flood risks are all top of mind for families across the five boroughs. 

The good news is that the legislative session is still underway, and there’s a piece of sweeping legislation that meets the scale of these crises head on: the Livable New York Act.

The Livable New York Act is the kind of ambitious public works project that New York used to be known for, and could be again under Gov. Hochul’s leadership.

Here’s how it works: Through a tax on the mega-rich, the Livable New York Act would fund 100,000 units of deeply affordable housing and transition every building in New York off of fossil fuels over the next 10 years—all while creating tens of thousands of good union jobs for New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status and criminal history.

It’s exactly the kind of big-thinking that New York needs. A new New Deal that answers the affordability and climate crises and puts people immediately back to work in family-sustaining jobs. 

New Yorkers can’t afford to wait. Buildings currently produce two-thirds of the city’s climate-heating emissions, while competition for limited housing forces more and more residents into substandard homes. 

Corporate interests will surely balk at a tax on New York’s ultra rich, but Gov. Hochul shouldn’t cave. Everyday New Yorkers are fed up with unchecked corporate greed and rising inequality and they’re looking to Democrats to step up and be the visionary leaders that working families need. 

New York has always paved the way for progress, and there has never been a more important moment for our state to lead the fight for a safer, more affordable future. Gov. Hochul must step in and be the antidote to Trump and Eric Adams. She can do that by standing firmly on the side of everyday New Yorkers for a more livable New York.

Olivia Leirer is co-director at New York Communities for Change.

The post Opinion: Gov. Hochul Must Do What Eric Adams Won’t—Solve NYC’s Affordability & Climate Crises appeared first on City Limits.

More than 180 construction projects will take place on Minnesota roads and bridges this year, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced.

One major project will require closures this weekend in Minneapolis as MnDOT performs maintenance and repair work on five bridges over and near the Mississippi River.

(Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation)

Eastbound Interstate 94 will be closed between 11th Avenue South and Franklin Avenue Southeast from 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday. The ramp from northbound I-35W to eastbound I-94 also will be closed.

Meanwhile, several lanes of westbound I-94 will be closed at various times over the weekend in the same 11th Avenue to Franklin Avenue segment.

Find out more about ongoing ramp and lane closures in the I-94 Minneapolis project area at dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/i94minneapolis.

Here are some other significant projects planned for 2025, according to MnDOT:

Minnesota 5 and U.S. 61 in St. Paul and Maplewood: Reconstruction.

I-94 and I-35E in St. Paul: Repairing 11 bridges including the John Ireland bridge.

I-35W in Burnsville: Resurfacing and repairing or replacing three bridges.

I-494 between Edina and Richfield: Replacing or repairing bridges over the Minnesota River.

I-394 and I-94 in Minneapolis: Repairing 34 bridges and ramps.

U.S. 10 in Coon Rapids: Adding a third lane in each direction.

I-35 Hinckley Bridge: Completing a three-year replacement project.

Visit mndot.gov/construction for the statewide view of the 2025 construction season’s projects. The site includes interactive maps linking to more detailed construction project websites, full project lists and other information.

Get real-time information about traffic and road conditions at 511mn.org or get the free 511mn smartphone app at Google Play or the App Store.

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According to advocates who spoke with City Limits, the memorandum is yet another effort by the Trump administration to target immigrants and doesn’t constitute a basis for eviction.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announcing the “American Housing Programs for American Citizens” memo on March 24, 2025. (YouTube/HUD)

On March 24, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which will create “a point of contact” between the two federal agencies to share data about undocumented immigrants living in government-subsidized housing.

“By working more closely together and with greater collaboration, we will identify illegal aliens who are ineligible for Federal housing assistance and take remedial measures to end this waste and abuse, including referral for immigration enforcement actions,” reads the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU.

But local officials are so far unsure of what the memo, dubbed “American Housing Programs for American Citizens,” means for their agencies and the city’s sanctuary laws.

Undocumented people are already prohibited from receiving federal housing subsidies directly. Eligibility for federal housing assistance is limited to U.S. citizens and non-citizens with a qualifying immigration status, such as a lawful permanent resident (also known as a “green card” holder), refugee or asylee, among others, according to advocates and the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD). 

Immigrants who don’t qualify, however, can live in a household that receives a federal subsidy as long as other members of that household qualify, with the amount of aid based on the number of people who are eligible. 

For instance, if an immigrant without legal status is living with U.S born children who qualify, the household would receive a smaller subsidy and pay a higher portion of the rent to take the ineligible family member into account. This is known as prorated support.

“Their assistance is already pro-rated to only cover eligible household members,” the Alliance for Housing Justice, a national advocacy group, said in a statement last week in response to the memo, saying HUD Secretary Scott Turner is “misrepresenting how his agency’s programs actually work.”

“This isn’t about program integrity—it’s about surveillance, fear, and falsely blaming immigrant families for the failures of a housing system that puts profits over everyday people,” the group said.

A HUD spokesperson said that “the purpose of the MOU is to establish information sharing between HUD and DHS to ensure illegal aliens are not in public housing,” but did not elaborate.

According to Anna Luft, project director of the New York Legal Assistance Group’s Public Housing Justice Project, the memorandum applies to all HUD-subsidized housing, including Section 8—also known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which provides rental assistance to low- and moderate-income families—and public housing authorities that run such programs.

In New York City, there are three major public housing authorities: The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), which administers a Section 8 program as well Section 9 public housing developments, HPD, and the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which is part of the the state’s affordable housing agency, New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR).

Only HPD said it falls within the scope of the MOU. A NYCHA spokesperson said, “NYCHA is not a party to this MOU,” despite being the largest public housing agency in the city. An HCR spokesperson did not specify what the MOU means for its programs, only saying that “as we continue to monitor the impact of these actions, Governor Hochul is fighting to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all New Yorkers.”

According to advocates who spoke with City Limits, the memorandum is yet another effort by the Trump administration to target immigrants and doesn’t constitute a basis for eviction. Even before the election, Donald Trump was on the campaign trail blaming immigrants for the “housing crisis” and the “rising housing costs,” even though economists and researchers disagree.

Like many of Trump’s proposals in his second term so far, this one has roots in his first time in office. In 2019, the Trump administration proposed a policy rule change that would have essentially banned families with mixed immigration statuses from living in public or federally subsidized housing. In 2021, the Biden administration withdrew Trump’s proposed rule, so it was never implemented.

A 2019 HUD regulatory impact analysis estimated that approximately 25,000 households receiving a federal subsidy nationwide had at least one ineligible member.

“Geographically, 72 percent of mixed families are concentrated in three states—California (37 percent), Texas (23 percent), and New York (12 percent)—while the rest is scattered around the country with 3 percent or less mixed families per state,” reads the HUD’s analysis.

An HPD spokesperson reiterated that HUD regulations for federal rental subsidy programs, including Section 8 vouchers, already limit eligibility to households with at least one member who has a qualifying immigration status, with the housing subsidy a household receives prorated based on the number of eligible members.

In NYC, HPD provides rental vouchers, including Section 8, to a total of 42,000 households, a spokesperson detailed. Of those, approximately 5,900 have members with eligible immigrant status, and about 350 Section 8 households are of mixed immigration status.

It’s unclear whether the city’s sanctuary laws, which restrict local agencies from sharing identifying information with federal immigration authorities, might play a role under the new data-sharing agreement and if so, how.

Because households must declare their citizenship and eligible immigration status when applying, HUD already has information on the immigration status of households receiving federal housing benefits, according to HPD, NYCHA, and advocates.

Both HPD and NYCHA must report citizenship status information to HUD, per HUD voucher rules, spokespersons for both agencies explained. HPD added that the actual impact of the MOU will depend on how that information is used by HUD and DHS.

The memorandum details that HUD is devoting just one full-time staffer to this data-sharing effort, to “help stem the tide of illegal immigration in the United States and incentivize illegal aliens to voluntarily depart the country, we enter into this MOU,” it reads.

An HPD spokesperson said HUD hasn’t contacted local agencies about the measure, and since the MOU is very new, its goal right now is to gather information, avoid causing harm or panic, coordinate with partner public housing agencies, and then communicate with clients (though the agency did not provide details on those communication efforts). 

As this is the first time this memorandum of understanding has been in effect, there is a great deal of uncertainty. Advocates recommend that households consult with immigration attorneys for individualized assessments.

“Our advice for people who are concerned and are living in HUD subsidized housing,” Luft said, “is for them to talk to their immigration attorneys and assess what their individual removal risk is and what they should do.”

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post HUD Struck a Data-Sharing Agreement With Immigration Enforcement. What Does it Mean for NYC? appeared first on City Limits.

A Little Canada man has pleaded guilty to strangling a woman who was working as a prostitute in an Eagan hotel room in 2023.

Philip Jedidiah Wong, 27, told police he paid the woman for sex but said he didn’t learn she was dead until someone from her “organization” called and told him, according to the criminal complaint charging him with second-degree intentional murder and first-degree manslaughter.

Philip Jedidiah Wong (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Wong said he did not believe she was dead and thought it was a scam and they were trying to get more money from him, the complaint says. However, Wong’s roommate told investigators he said he “choked her out” after she tried to blackmail him.

Wong reached an agreement with the prosecution and pleaded guilty last week to second-degree intentional murder. The agreement calls for a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines to between 15 and 20 years in prison. The manslaughter charge will be dismissed at sentencing, which is set for July 22.

Wong entered an Alford plea on the element of intent, meaning he maintains innocence while acknowledging the state likely has enough evidence to convict him.

Wong’s attorney, Adam Johnson, argued in a February court document that the state had no direct evidence establishing that he intended to take the woman’s life. Johnson pointed out that Wong told officers she was alive when he left.

He left his hat behind

According to the complaint, the woman, identified as 53-year-old Jianqin Zhang, was discovered dead Oct. 12, 2023, by a housekeeper and Zhang’s friend at Microtel Inn & Suites, east of Interstate 35E and west of Lexington Avenue.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office found hemorrhaging on Zhang’s neck, along with petechiae — small spots caused by burst blood vessels — on her eyes, mouth, lips and scalp. The cause of death was ruled to be strangulation. She was from Shanghai, China.

A friend told police that Zhang was a sex worker and that she checked on her because the “organization” had not heard from her for a while after meeting with a client. The friend gave police a phone number of the client, later identified as Wong.

Video surveillance from the hotel shows Wong entering the hotel around 2:54 p.m. wearing an Atlanta Falcons hat, and leaving the hotel about an hour later.

Zhang was the only registered guest of the room, which she had reserved from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14. After a search warrant was executed on the room, police found several cellphones, used and unused condoms, a locked wallet, bloody sheets, pill bottles, food, clothing and an Atlanta Falcons hat.

One of the phones belonged to Zhang, and an examination showed a message was sent to the “organization” at 3:39 p.m. in Mandarin. When translated in English, the message said, “walk.” She stopped answering her phone around 3:45 p.m.

Police searched Wong’s apartment and found clothing that appeared to match those he was seen wearing on video surveillance. His cellphone was also seized.

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Wong gave a statement to police, saying he responded to an online ad for a massage and cuddle. He said he met Zhang in her room, paying her $200 for a massage, then another $50 for sex. He said he took a shower before leaving. He realized on his way home that he forgot his hat, but did not go back for it.

Wong’s roommate then told police that he had told her Zhang said she had a hidden camera in the room and wanted more money from him. “In response, (Wong) ‘choked her out,’ but he believed she was still breathing,” the complaint states. “(Wong) then searched the room for the hidden camera, and left when (the victim’s) phone rang.”

In a follow-up interview with police, Wong said he didn’t have anything to add to his earlier statement.

Court records show Wong has no prior criminal convictions, beyond two petty misdemeanor driving offenses.