Only the most affluent can afford to live there and many of them are choosing to leave. Recent trends over the past two years have seen an indisputable exodus from a city that is known for its lifestyle options. It was once considered a privilege to live there. Today, it’s such a burden that the people are trying to escape.

As Gemini AI details, New York City continues to break records for rent prices:

As of September 2024, the average rent in New York City is $3,869 per month, which is 147% higher than the national average. The average rent for different apartment sizes is:

• Studio: $3,145 per month for an average of 444 sq ft
• One bedroom: $3,869 per month for an average of 597 sq ft
• Two bedroom: $5,268 per month for an average of 791 sq ft
• Three bedroom: $6,509 per month for an average of 1,009 sq ft

In June 2024, the median rent in Manhattan was $4,667 per month, which was a record high.

Unfortunately, many are unable to leave without giving up their careers. The city is still one of the world’s hubs for all things finance and those who work for companies embedded in New York City keep the outrageously priced apartments in high demand.

According to NY Post:

The hunt for a New York City apartment has gone from frustrating to downright feral.

This summer, renters are battling it out like never before, all for a shot at a roof over their heads in a city where landlords are calling the shots and jacking up prices to astronomical levels.

Take Aurielle Catron, a 29-year-old security engineer who braved the NYC jungle in search of a two-bedroom in Bushwick. After a brutal month-long search and 52 viewings, Catron landed a rent-stabilized fourth-floor walk-up for $3,200 a month.

It wasn’t her dream pad — it’s missing a laundry room and elevator — but after losing a bidding war that saw a $2,800 unit shoot up to $3,600, she was just relieved to have a place to call home.

“Today, the New York City Council voted to pass legislation establishing municipal efforts to acknowledge and address the legacy and impact of slavery and racial injustices in New York City.” – New York City Council. This announcement raises eyebrows. Why now? What’s the real agenda behind this sudden urgency?

After seemingly rushing through this legislation, Hudson and Louis are touting it as a transformative step for the city. Hudson claims, “I hope the legislation will identify racist, anti-Black policies at the foundation of our city’s institutions and it will yield material solutions to address these foundational cracks.”

Louis added, “This legislation is a crucial step towards justice and equity.”

“Equity” has become synonymous with woke discrimination as “white guilt” permeates the left. And, of course, the timing of this legislation, with the 2024 elections looming, certainly raises questions about its motivations.

Hudson further elaborated, “The passage of these bills represents a significant step for New York City. The harm slavery caused Black Americans continues to be felt today. Our nation’s inability to properly redress such a historic wrong allows this deep injustice to continue to manifest itself in distinct, tangible ways––be it the prison-industrial complex, predatory lending, redlining, or inequality in our school systems.”

Why should taxpayers today be held accountable for the sins of the distant past? They shouldn’t.

“When I first ran for office in 2021, I released A Black Agenda for New York City, outlining six bold recommendations that would meet the urgency of the racial reckoning facing our city. One of those recommendations was the creation of a citywide Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation process centered on acknowledging the city’s racist practices and historic treatment of Black New Yorkers.” Hudson said.

Not everyone is on board with this initiative. Minority Leader Joseph Borelli voiced his discontent, stating, “I’ll move before I’ll pay. If they can introduce me to one New Yorker who owned a slave I’d be happy to consider it. But until then, I am not paying a dime as a reparation for a harm I did not cause, nor condone, nor once participated in.”

His words resonate with many who feel that this reparations program is not only unjust but also a idiotic. Will there be a mass exodus as a result of this move? If it sticks, yes, there will be many who leave out of principle and practicality.

This is election year pandering that will have lasting real world consequences as white people are pressured to accept responsibility for something they neither wanted nor allowed.

The NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) offered 150 families $4,000 each through the Asylee Moveout Assistance (AMA) program to pay for housing, as well as up to $1,000 in gift cards for necessities and moving expenses, according to Fox News Digital. The AMA program pilot began in December 2023 in partnership with city shelters that housed asylum seekers.

“The city is using every tool at its disposal to implement innovative and cost-effective solutions to help recently-arrived asylum seekers residing in shelters take the next steps in their journey,” a Department of Social Services (DSS) spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Since December, DSS has been working with a few not-for-profit providers operating emergency sites to pilot a new effort to reduce barriers to obtaining housing by helping asylum-seeking families who have identified permanent housing with the upfront cost of moving into their new home.”

To be eligible for the payouts, the migrants must be asylum seekers or pregnant women in select DHS shelters who have identified permanent housing, according to Fox News Digital. The $4,000 can cover security deposits, moving expenses, first and last month’s rent and household necessities.

“This is a very small pilot only available to asylum-seeking families in select emergency shelters operated by DHS,” the DSS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “This is not a citywide effort and not available to migrant families residing across the shelter system,”

Migrants who return to the shelters would not be eligible to receive the payment again, according to Fox News Digital. The funding for the program comes from existing funds within the agency and no city funding is used, the DSS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Since the spring of 2022, at least 201,200 migrants have come to New York City, with more than 65,000 in the care of the city, ABC 7 reported in June. New York City has spent $4.6 billion on projects, a city spokesperson told the outlet.

The DHS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

In addition, giant banners that featured dragons with the ominous message “all must choose” were draped over iconic landmarks all over the Big Apple, and restaurants throughout the city were featuring dragon-themed menu items.

All of this was being done to promote the second season of “House of the Dragon”, and those behind this campaign probably did not intend to deliver any sort of a spiritual message.  But as Jonathan Cahn correctly observed in his new video, there are times when people do things that are highly symbolic without even understanding the true significance of their actions.

In Revelation chapter 12, Satan is identified as “the Devil”, “the dragon”, and “the great dragon”…

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

In Revelation chapter 20, Satan is once again identified as “the Devil” and “the dragon”…

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Considering what the Bible has to say, should we be alarmed that a colossal dragon was just perched atop the Empire State Building?

In the middle of this month, a gigantic 270 foot dragon was literally coiled around the upper portion of New York City’s most famous skyscraper…

No, it’s not just you — there is, in fact, a giant inflatable dragon clutching the Empire State Building’s spire 102 stories above midtown Manhattan.

It’s Vhagar, the 270-foot (at least in this version) dragon queen in the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of Dragons,” which premiered its second season Sunday night.

It’s part of an immersive “House of Dragons” experience from HBO Max and the Empire State Building to promote the show, and includes a photo op with the famed “Iron Throne,” among other features.

It took an enormous effort to pull this off, and the scale of the project was absolutely immense…

The huge version of — Vhagar, Aemond Targaryen’s dragon from Game of Thrones — appeared Sunday wrapped around the top of the iconic skyscraper. It was secured by 153 rigging points, 1,700 pattern pieces and more than 600,000 sewn stitches.

It was a very impressive promotional stunt.

But those behind it also sent a very powerful spiritual message without even realizing it.

New York is the financial center of our nation.  Without the stock exchange and the financial institutions that are based in the Big Apple, we wouldn’t even have a functioning economy.

And the entire city is absolutely saturated with evil.

In addition to the giant dragon on the Empire State Building, massive banners featuring enormous dragons with the message “all must choose” were hung on the New York Stock Exchange, the Manhattan Bridge, Penn Station, Citi Field, Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, and in Washington Square Park.

We have never seen anything quite like this before.

On top of everything else, restaurants all over the city were selling “show-branded menu items” to their customers…

In real life, restaurants and bars are running House of the Dragon pop-up promotions featuring show-branded menu items with #TeamGreen or #TeamBlack packaging and décor June 10–16. The houses waging war are Leon’s Bagels, Murray’s Bagels, John’s of Bleeker, Roberta’s, Ray’s, The Flower Shop, Mile End Deli, and Gray’s Papaya. They span the kingdom from Bushwick to the Upper West Side. A kingdom pulled violently atwain!

Needless to say, these unprecedented promotional efforts got a ton of attention.

And in general, most New Yorkers were responding positively…

Some fans of the original show, which won 59 Emmy Awards in its eight-season run, said it’s been exciting to watch the ads take over the city in recent days.

“I’m a big, big fan,” said Ali Wong of Austin, Texas.

“It’s interesting to see all the banners and everything you know, in Grand Central Station even. There’s so much advertising in the city and everywhere you go you see it.”

Of course this promotional campaign was not just limited to New York City.

It is being reported that there were digital banner “takeovers” of major landmarks all over the globe…

Cities around the world followed suit, with digital (CGI) banner takeovers of iconic landmarks and buildings, including the Eiffel Tower (Paris), Sugarloaf Mountain (Rio de Janeiro), Sydney Harbor, Al Ula (Saudi Arabia), Petronas Twin Towers (Kuala Lumpur), Obelisco Buenos Aires, Marina Bay Sands (Singapore), and many others.

Interestingly, this is all happening during “the Year of the Dragon” according to the Chinese calendar.

Is that just some sort of a bizarre coincidence?

We live at a time when the battle between good and evil is building up to a grand crescendo, and events that are talked about in the Book of Revelation are starting to take place right in front of our eyes.

So was it just an accident that iconic locations all over the planet were just “taken over” by dragons and “all must choose” was the primary slogan of the campaign?

The Bible does speak of a time in the future when the Antichrist will take authority over our planet, and when that day arrives everyone will be forced to make a choice.

Those that submit to the Antichrist and take the Mark of the Beast will be allowed to live, and those that refuse will be put to death.

Whether those behind this promotional campaign realized it or not, the truth is that they just foreshadowed a choice that billions of people will be faced with someday.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Meanwhile, rampant theft, out of control violence, endless migration, predatory gangs and the worst drug crisis in the entire history of our nation have combined to create a “perfect storm” of social decay that is unlike anything that any of us have ever seen before.  Millions of law-abiding citizens and countless businesses have been fleeing America’s largest cities, and property values in our core urban areas have been absolutely crashing.  We really are in the early stages of a full-blown societal “collapse”, and things just keep getting worse with each passing day.

In this article, I want to focus on the three largest metropolitan areas in the United States: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

John Williams recently took his camera with him as he walked through downtown Los Angeles, and he described what he witnessed as “hell”…

Decades of failed policies have transformed one of the greatest cities in the entire country into one of the worst.

At this point, theft has become so rampant that even the ultra-progressive politicians in California have come to the conclusion that something must be done.

So several bills that would “crack down on shoplifting” have been introduced in the state legislature…

Shoplifters beware.

The California Assembly has introduced a comprehensive package of seven bills aimed at addressing the rising concerns over retail theft across the state.

One of the key initiatives is Assembly Bill 2943, jointly authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D) and Speaker Robert Rivas (D). The bill targets serial retail thieves by introducing a new crime with penalties of up to three years behind bars for possession of stolen property with intent to resell. It also allows for the aggregation of similar thefts from different victims to charge grand theft, under specific criteria.

Hopefully something will get done, because right now a criminal in the state of California can “literally walk into a retail store every single day of the year and steaI $949 worth of merchandise” and never spend a single minute in jail.

"You can literally walk into a retail store every single day of the year and steaI $949 worth of merchandise"

"And you will NEVER do a minute in jail"

"Under California law, assauIt on a peace officer with anything other than a fully automatic weapon is not a vioIent crime"… pic.twitter.com/jX0l4OK6pA

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 19, 2024

Los Angeles has become a paradise for shoplifters, but many would argue that things are even worse in the Big Apple.

As I discussed a few days ago, New York City has “a $4.4 billion shoplifting economy”. And approximately 90,000 packages are stolen in New York City every single day.

This is just one of the reasons why we have seen a mass exodus.

Countless New Yorkers have already left for greener pastures, and lots more are thinking of leaving…

About 7 million New Yorkers plan to leave the state, a new survey revealed this month.

In a new Marist poll, 37 percent of New Yorkers—roughly 7 million people—said they plan to move away. The number was slightly more concentrated among Republicans, as 46 percent said they plan to leave the state compared to just 29 percent of Democrats.

Unsurprisingly, many of those that are fleeing are heading to Florida…

For many, Florida remains one of the top places to move, but Southern states in general have been recording the biggest influx in transplants.

According to Realtor.com, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando remain some of the top locations for New Yorkers to start again.

I wouldn’t want to live in the Big Apple either.

The rat problem alone would be enough for me to move.

It just continues to escalate, and politicians are now proposing to use “rat contraceptives” to deal with “the millions of rats lurking in subway stations and empty lots”…

In New York City, the idea to distribute rat contraceptives got fresh attention in city government Thursday following the death of an escaped zoo owl, known as Flaco, who was found dead with rat poison in his system.

City Council Member Shaun Abreu proposed a city ordinance Thursday that would establish a pilot program for controlling the millions of rats lurking in subway stations and empty lots by using birth control instead of lethal chemicals. Abreu, chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, said the contraceptives also are more ethical and humane than other methods.

Unfortunately, New York City doesn’t have the worst rat problem in America. That title actually belongs to the city of Chicago…

Chicago has once again been declared the rattiest city in the U.S. according to Orkin’s annual ranking.

Los Angeles surpassed New York on this year’s list now holding the #2 spot and bringing the Big Apple down to #3, Orkin shared.

Other notable shifts included Houston, which moved 10 spots up to #20, and Charlotte, North Carolina that rose 16 spots to #21.

Somehow, the rat problem in Chicago has gone to an entirely new level in 2024.

In fact, one local resident says that it is now the worst that she has ever seen in her entire lifetime…

A resurgence of rats has gotten out of control in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood, multiple residents explained Friday as they called for city leaders to take further action.

Diana Gazda, a resident of the Far Northwest Side community for seven decades, said she has never seen an infestation like it.

“We never had a rat problem like this,” she stated. “I’ve been here 71 years in my house.”

In addition to being world famous for rats, the Windy City is also world famous for violence.

In Chicago, you can be gunned down at any time of the day or night. Nobody is safe, and that is especially true for police officers…

A Chicago police officer was shot to death early Sunday in Gage Park on the Southwest Side in what sources are saying was an apparent carjacking.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert about 2:55 a.m. and found Officer Luis Huesca with multiple gunshot wounds in the 3100 block of West 56th Street, a police spokesperson said in a statement.

Huesca, 30, was driving home from work, according to city officials. Huesca, who was still wearing his uniform, was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

So which of these cities will completely collapse first? I think that is a very good question.

They are all headed downhill very rapidly, and they are all being run by radical leftists. Of course the exact same things could be said about dozens of other U.S. cities.

For years, I have been warning my readers about the “cultural transformation” that has been taking place in America.

How we raise our kids really matters. We have been failing them for decades, and now the consequences can be very clearly seen in the streets of our major cities.

A horrific societal collapse is upon us, and yet this nation continues to refuse to change direction.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

One of the policies in question was a law enacted in 2014 during the tenure of Mr. Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio. As part of the commitment to make sure no city resources will be used to help the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with deportation, the law shut down the ICE offices that had operated across city facilities and orders the city’s police and correction departments to not honor any detainer requests from ICE that’s not specifically accompanied by a warrant signed by a federal judge.

A detainer request is a notification to local law enforcement to hold a certain person for the purpose of future deportation. Under the 2014 law, New York City agencies will ignore such requests, unless they involve individuals who are on federal terrorist watch list or have been convicted of a serious or violent crime.

Another de Blasio-era policy, issued in 2018 in the form of citywide guidance, goes further by demanding that any requests for help from federal immigration officers must be first reviewed by “senior city agency officials” to determine that they were not made to assist with deportation.

Speaking at his weekly press briefing, Mr. Adams complained about the current version of “sanctuary city” laws as being so lax that they become problematic amid rising concerns over crimes involving illegal immigrants.

“We should be communicating with ICE. And if ICE makes the determination of deporting, then they should,” he said.

The Democrat mayor also indicated that he prefers standards from the era of Michael Bloomberg and before.

“I want to go back to the standards of the previous mayors [whom] I believe subscribed to my belief that people who are suspected of committing serious crimes in this city should be held accountable,” he told reporters.

New York City’s “sanctuary” policy dates back to the mayoralty of Ed Koch, whose executive order in 1989 mandates that no city employee should share information about illegal immigrants with ICE without the immigrant’s written permission or unless the immigrant was suspected—not convicted—of committing a crime.

That order was reissued by succeeding mayors, including Rudy Guiliani, who now advocates a tougher stance on handling those who entered the United States illegally.

At Tuesday’s briefing, Mr. Adams also pointed to a recent bust of a phone robbery ring in the Bronx. The criminal group allegedly consisted of migrants and was run by a Venezuelan national, whom the mayor said could have already been removed from the country if his previous criminal history was shared with the feds.

“This person was a menace,” Mr. Adams said of the alleged robbery ring leader. “You want to leave him here, have him have two years before he’s actually convicted and continuing to do his criminal behavior? I just philosophically disagree with that.”

“The mere fact we cannot share with ICE that this person has committed three robberies, that this person is part of an organized gang crew, [the] mere fact that we can’t say that, and can’t communicate with that, is problematic for me,” he added.

The mayor’s newly found push for changes, which almost certainly will anger the progressives in the city council, won him rare cheers from conservative voices on social media.

“Wow! Mayor Adams is asking for a change in New York City’s sanctuary city law. Good for him,” Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA wrote on X. “Now he needs to go all the way and move to abolish it.”

“There was a cup of what I thought was somebody’s discarded hot chocolate that turned out to be not hot chocolate,” said street cleaner John Cashvan.

“On warmer days, it can smell like a toilet over here — and not a well kept-toilet.”

In the past week, locals and volunteers said they’ve spotted cups filled with urine around the park’s entrance near the former school, along with human-sized poop in tree beds and between parked cars.

“Most of them want to pee in plastic cups rather than the ground, and they leave them on people’s door steps,” said longtime resident Garrett Rosso, 64, who said he spotted a dozen cups filled with urine.

One migrant had no problem taking an al fresco whiz on a tree Wednesday afternoon as The Post surveyed the stomach-churning scene.

Authorities in the Big Apple have run out of places to put all of the people that have come flooding into the city.

And more are arriving with each passing day.

Of course the same things could be said about Los Angeles.

At this point things are so bad that even the Hollywood Walk of Fame “has become overrun with homelessness and violent crime”…

The Hollywood Walk of Fame has become overrun with homelessness and violent crime, leaving tourists and locals feeling unsafe.

The iconic LA landmark, once the epitome of glitz and glamour, is disappointing visitors with its dirty sidewalks and repulsing locals who have experienced violent attacks.

Decades ago, the streets of Los Angeles were very safe and very clean.

But now if you wander the streets of Los Angeles by yourself you are literally putting your life at risk…

One local, Amy Michele, said she was punched in the face when running errands on the boulevard.

‘I’ve seen people with machetes and knives just slicing the air in front of them hoping to get someone who passes by,’ she said in a TikTok video warning others.

‘I’ve seen people sell drugs out of the back of a truck.

‘I’ve witnessed a hostage situation at one of the apartment complexes on Hollywood Boulevard.

‘I’ve been punched in the back of the head by a homeless person’ she added.

At this stage, virtually the entire city is becoming just like Skid Row.

Los Angeles is an extremely dirty city, and all of that filth has spawned a massive explosion in the rat population. But Los Angeles is not “the rattiest city” in America.  For the ninth year in a row, Chicago has taken that title…

Orkin Pest Control named Chicago the Rattiest City for the ninth year in a row. Los Angeles follows Chicago in second and New York City finishes in third place.

More than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, and so what is happening to our cities really reflects what is happening to the country as a whole.

In Oakland, auto theft has increased almost 50 percent during the past year, and there is one square mile near the airport that has become world famous for how lawless it is.

In particular, there are three gas stations where criminals steal from rental vehicles dozens of times a day, and the police seem powerless to do anything about it…

Less than a mile away from the Chevron, a Shell gas station on Hegenberger Road is also plagued by thefts. Around five hundred yards from the Shell, another Chevron is another hotspot. And next to that, the parking lot of an In-N-Out Burger is hit daily.

Police say the criminals, who operate in well-organized groups, follow the same playbook: a spotter keeps watch for targets, usually rentals headed to or from the airport, as they pull up at the gas stations.

They then alert accomplices, who pull up in a vehicle when the targets start to pump fuel. Often, they smash a rear window or pop the trunk of unlocked vehicles before making off with luggage and valuables. The thefts take just seconds.

The spike has earned the Shell the nickname ‘America’s most dangerous gas station’. The two Chevron sites are also top contenders for the unwanted title.

There are police that patrol the area, but they are restricted from chasing non-violent criminals, and so the thieves know that they will be able to get away if they flee rapidly…

But the officer, who’s picked up an overtime shift to keep watch and act as a deterrent, wasn’t just referring to the theft epidemic when he made the strikingly blunt assessment.

He was referring, in his words, to the ‘restrictive’ policies passed by city and state lawmakers which mean police officers can’t even pursue the thieves because smash-and-grab theft is a ‘nonviolent crime’.

‘We can’t do a car chase on nonviolent crime,’ he told DailyMail.com from the seat of his police cruiser. ‘I can go behind the cars and try and turn on my lights, but why would they stop?’

I would strongly advise not visiting Oakland.

But of course most of our other major cities are not much better.

In Denver, so many migrants have been pouring into the city that the city’s primary public hospital is on the verge of financial collapse…

The migrant crisis in Denver has plunged the city’s main public hospital deep into the red after patients received $136 million in treatment they couldn’t pay for.

Denver Health lost $2 million in 2022 – but that was substantially-reduced by a $20 million cash injection from the state.

In 2022, the hospital system lost $35 million, with bosses warning of ‘dire consequences’ for the hospital if 2024 is as bad as the previous two.

Our cities were already filled with hordes of extremely desperate people, but over the past few years our politicians have allowed millions more to enter this country.

Now we live in a permanent atmosphere of lawlessness, and our society is absolutely teeming with predators.

Earlier this month, I was absolutely horrified to read about what seven of those predators did to two children at a mall in Houston, Texas…

Very few things shock me in this age of social media extremism, live-streamed terror and international permacrisis.

But the headline last week truly forced the bile to rise in my throat:

Seven Texas men filmed themselves gang-raping two toddlers in a bathroom of Houston’s Galleria Mall.

Sickening, indescribable evil.

A 29-year-old mall worker Arthur Hector Fernandez was identified as the suspected ‘ringleader’ and arrested in December, charged with assault. His accomplices are yet to be identified.

This is what America has become.

That story actually didn’t stay in the news cycle for very long at all, because this sort of thing has become very common in our society.

The truth is that the fabric of our culture really is coming apart at the seams all around us and we really are on the brink of societal collapse.

I believe that 2024 will be the most chaotic year that any of us have ever seen, and I believe that the years beyond 2024 will be even more chaotic.

If we had made much different choices as a society, we could have gotten much different results.

But now our cities are being turned into open sewers, and our entire nation is becoming a little bit more lawless with each passing day.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

In total, e-bikes caused 267 fires, causing 18 deaths and 150 injuries in the city, the New York Fire Department (FDNY) told Fox News, which notes that the figures represent the highest levels of each statistic – with deaths jumping 200% and fires increasing 21% over last year.

“As we rely more and more on micromobility vehicles to earn a living in our daily lives, we increase the risk of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries. And as mentioned, we had over 100 deaths in this city alone on these batteries,” said Mayor Eric Adams (D) during an e-bike safety event last year.

When we tell you unregulated, illegal lithium-ion batteries are a hazard, WE MEAN IT. FDNY Fire Inspectors continue to check e-bike & e-scooter shops to ensure compliance, but many of devices & batteries are in private homes. They’re ticking time bombs, just watch our new PSA. pic.twitter.com/Y4Pl2grR80

— FDNY (@FDNY) January 16, 2024

“And one of the problems that we’ve noticed, when you look at those taped-up batteries, you see that they are refurbished,” he continued. “These shops are going inside attempting to refurbish the batteries and do it their own way. This is a safety issue.”

Amid the uptick in e-bike fires and deaths, New York City leaders led by Adams and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh — who said last year that e-bikes are “incredibly dangerous devices” and called for additional regulation — have spearheaded a public education campaign about the dangers of the device and pushed policies to ensure safety.

In March 2023, Adams unveiled the city’s Charge Safe, Ride Safe plan to prevent further harmful e-bike incidents. Then, months later, he announced the city had been awarded $25 million in federal funding to install 173 outdoor e-bike charging stations. In December, Adams said his administration would soon launch a battery-charging pilot program for delivery workers. -Fox News

“We know these fires can cause serious injury, and even death. We are grateful to our partners in city government for their out-of-the-box thinking on how we can embrace this new technology while also protecting lives,” said Kavanaugh.

Meanwhile, NYC has passed several laws to regulate lithium-ion batteries sold within city limits, and has implemented a policy to expedite investigations into the dangers. Last June, NY AG Letitia James warned of “significant risks” associated with e-bikes.

WOAH! An e-bike battery caused an abrupt explosion, with the bike bursting into flames shortly after the owner noticed an odd smell and put it outside, as seen in a video released by the London Fire Brigade. pic.twitter.com/xMuaLvunc1

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 26, 2023

Earlier this month, an e-bike battery exploded in a Queens bike store, resulting in a two-alarm fire. The incident came just days after another e-bike battery fire caused an explosion in a public housing complex in the Bronx, resulting in one death and injuring six others.

Chabad, the Hasidic Jewish sect, has secret tunnels that were discovered under their headquarters in NYC, and are now being shut down by the NYPD.

Arrests are being made….. pic.twitter.com/q7Mq2sHsim

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) January 9, 2024

New York

This story just gets stranger & stranger.

Why do the Jews have a series of tunnels under the city?

Call me a crazy conspiracist but I suspect they’re up to no good……? pic.twitter.com/UC1IGpDDSl

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) January 9, 2024

#WATCH : : A chaotic scene at the Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, after Bochurim ripped wooden panels to prevent a cement truck from sealing off the recently discovered tunnels.#CrownHeights #Brooklyn #NewYork #Secrettunnels #tunnels #NYPD #underground #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/sKaOB5c07P

— mishikasingh (@mishika_singh) January 9, 2024

This story is developing and we will monitor closely for further updates.

UPDATE: The Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters released a statement:

STATEMENT BY CHABAD-LUBAVITCH HEADQUARTERS

The Chabad-Lubavitch community is pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue below Chabad Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway Monday night.

These odious actions will be investigated, and the… pic.twitter.com/Ysn0jr7FTr

— Chabad Lubavitch HQ (@Lubavitch) January 9, 2024

Original Story:

(Daily Caller)—A New York City synagogue erupted into chaos Monday night after members refused to have a secret tunnel sealed off, according to CrownHeights.info.

Video footage of the incident circulated on Twitter, displaying a chaotic scene between Jewish synagogue members and New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. Shouting ensued as officers and members clashed, with some Jewish members appearing to flip tables and crossing over crime tape NYPD officers were behind.

Another shot displayed a member crawling out from what appears to be a hole connected to the synagogue, then walking out onto the NYC street.

#BREAKING: Riot Unfolds as NYPD Responds to Discovery of Underground Tunnel in Brooklyn Temple ⁰
#CrownHeights | #Brooklyn

Currently, numerous law enforcementare at the scene of a riot at the Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where individuals tore wooden… pic.twitter.com/U4oSYL0Fkb

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 9, 2024

The incident began Monday afternoon after a cement truck was sent to the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, known as the 770 due to its address in Crown Heights, according to Col Live. The truck was ordered to fill up an underground tunnel that had run from the main synagogue to a now closed building next door, the outlet reported.

First reports of the tunnel surfaced in late 2023, after a homeowner had called authorities about suspicious noises in his neighborhood for some time, CrownHeights.info first reported. Simultaneously, a construction project was in progress to install new plumbing in the 770. However, following excavation of a trench for the project, the underground secret tunnel had been discovered, according to the outlet.

The tunnel had reportedly been worked on during nights for an unknown amount of time, stretching the tunnel to a next door building’s women’s section, CrownHeights.info reported. Following the discovery of the tunnel, many worried about the stability of the building.

The NYPD was called to the synagogue after a group of men began to allegedly disconnect the hosing and vandalize the cement trucks, according to CrownHeights.info. As the men went inside the building, they allegedly began to vandalize the place, ripping off walls of the downstairs 770, as well as exposing the tunnel, the outlet reported.

The NYPD has arrested ten people, with claims that a man inside had attempted to pepper spray an officer, according to CrownHeights.info.

The NYPD has not made any reported statements about the incident.

Authorities such as the TSA and law enforcement agencies informed Fox News Digital that they are aware of the video and are closely monitoring the situation. Although there haven’t been credible threats resulting from the video so far, the TSA remains on high alert due to the anticipated high volume of people gathering in major cities for New Year’s celebrations.

“Foreign terrorist organizations often emphasize transportation modes during the holidays,” noted the TSA, emphasizing their heightened security measures and continuous vigilance.

The initial video, reportedly released on Christmas Day, called for heightened attacks on American, British, and French airlines. The video specifically mentioned various airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, British Airways, EasyJet, Air France, and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

In response to the ongoing Israel-HAMAS conflict, the FBI highlighted that several foreign terrorist media organizations have advocated for lone-wolf attacks in the U.S. since October 7.

James Smith, assistant director in charge of New York’s FBI Field Office, emphasized their vigilance against potential terror threats and urged the public, especially those celebrating in crowded areas like Times Square, to remain alert and report anything suspicious.

The TSA assured that they maintain an intelligence-driven approach to safeguarding U.S. airlines, using both visible and hidden security measures, including computed tomography scanners, credential authentication technology, explosive-detecting canines, and the presence of Federal Air Marshals.

Smith reiterated the need for people to enjoy the New Year’s festivities while staying watchful, encouraging everyone to report any concerns promptly to law enforcement or the FBI.

The FBI requested the public’s assistance in reporting anything deemed suspicious to law enforcement or contacting their local FBI Office. Tips can also be submitted through tips.fbi.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL FBI.

Article generated from corporate media reports by Discern Reporter.