New York
As Trump Attacks Elite Colleges, Their Usual Allies Are Nowhere in Sight
In a very short time, Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist who was questionably detained by federal immigration officials, has become a symbol of the Trump administration’s escalating antagonism toward elite universities. Columbia finds itself up against the impression that whatever it has done to combat what it perceived as antisemitism — suppressing campus protests of the war in Gaza with the help of the police; evicting and expelling rallying students; severing ties with a law professor who had been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause — it has not been nearly punitive enough.
However egregious these measures might seem to champions of civil liberty, they strike people like Jeffrey Lichtman as cowardly and insufficient. Last year, Mr. Lichtman, a lawyer, represented a Columbia student and former member of the Israel Defense Forces in a suit against the university after he was suspended for showering protesters with foul-smelling joke spray that sickened some of them. Columbia settled for close to $400,000. Still, Mr. Lichtman believes that the university is so rife with hatred and disrespect for Jewish interests that it “should be taken over by the federal government” — at least in the short term, he said to me recently.
Just before Mr. Khalil was apprehended, the Trump administration took the comparatively modest step of canceling $400 million of Columbia’s federal grants. A few days later, it warned 60 universities that a similar fate could await them. Among the schools listed were Harvard, Cornell and Johns Hopkins, where Michael Bloomberg, who once called President Trump “a carnival barking clown,” made a $1 billion gift in July.
The goal of the current White House to dismantle higher education — while running for the Senate, JD Vance plainly called universities the enemy — has elicited alarm from many quarters, but it is striking how little we have heard from the megadonor class. Their contributions of billions of dollars to major universities would suggest a significant investment in the mission (or at the very least a vain interest in keeping alive the buildings and centers and divisions to which they have purchased naming rights).
The quiet was punctured this week when Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund manager who was instrumental in getting Claudine Gay removed from the presidency at Harvard last year, weighed in on X. He did not express concern about potential cuts to universities; rather he wanted to say that only “financial and legal pressure” will get them back to a point at which “sanity” might prevail.
Under a different set of conditions, it would be easy to imagine wealthy Ivy League Democratic donors rising up to fill in the gaps left by an unwelcoming government. But in the current environment, the grievances of those donors — against diversity initiatives and unruly agitators — stand in precise alignment with the agenda in Washington.
Even before the cuts were announced, the Stand Columbia Society, a consortium of alumni and current and former faculty committed to dissecting the wonkier aspects of campus operations, laid out in its newsletter just what would be at stake if the university lost hundreds of millions dollars in federal grant money. The society has pushed both for Columbia to take a position of institutional neutrality, as the University of Chicago has done for decades, and to work harder to fight campus antisemitism (so that the university does not “dissipate due to the actions of a violent and nihilistic fringe mob”). It also made a persuasive argument that the disappearance of so much money would be catastrophic.
Reviewing the university’s 2024 financial statements, the writers pointed out that of the $1.3 billion Columbia receives annually from federal agencies, the bulk — $747 million — comes from the National Institutes of Health. About half the money goes to overhead, the cap for which has now been reduced. Whatever visions “overhead” conjures of boondoggle trips to conferences in Prague, much of the money that does not go directly to research covers expenses like salaries, lab renovations, student supports and the administrative work required to comply with federal regulations, 168 of which were adopted over the last decade.
Prestigious universities have come to find adversaries in many worlds, among the working class, among rich alumni, among highly educated progressives who find them self-regarding. “Universities are good targets for resentment,” said Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University who has written about modern campus politics. “They take such enormous pride in how many people they reject.
“We at universities have not done enough over the years to pay attention to those groups — conservative groups, religious groups — around the country that are essential parts of a democratic culture. The isolation makes us very vulnerable.”
It has become common in the narrative of the current moment to compare campus upheaval to the disruptions of the late 1960s, but the sense of vindictiveness and distaste directed at the academy now can seem of a different order entirely. In 1968, Richard Nixon — famously hostile to campus radicals, and soon to be president — was asked by an interviewer about the public pressure “to get tough and crack down on the student rebels.”
What, the interviewer wanted to know, was his view of the role of dissent on the college campus? “I’m for it,” Nixon responded. “I’m for dissent, because as I look back at the 190-year history of this country, I find that dissent is the great instrument of change.”
new video loaded: Historic Brooklyn Church Destroyed in Fire
By Meg Felling
June 22, 2026
How can people possibly afford to live in one of the most expensive cities on the planet? It’s a question New Yorkers hear a lot, often delivered with a mix of awe, pity and confusion.
We surveyed hundreds of New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save. We found that many people — rich, poor or somewhere in between — live life as a series of small calculations that add up to one big question: What makes living in New York worth it?
Maruf Abubakari Sadick left Ghana for New York in April 2023, confident he was prepared for chilly weather.
When he arrived that morning, the temperatures were in the 50s. He might as well have arrived during a snowstorm.
“‘It’s really cold,’” he told his brother, who laughed and reminded him it wasn’t even winter. His brother brought him a warm jacket, sparking a love affair with outerwear, as well as clothes and colognes.
Three years later, these are the little luxuries on which Mr. Sadick splurges when he is not working two jobs as a security officer in the city.
“I really like to look good, and I like to smell good,” Mr. Sadick, 37, said. “I just tell myself ‘I work too hard. It’s self care.’”
Together, his security jobs bring in close to $46,000 a year, which pays for rent, remittances to his family in Ghana, Wi-Fi, his phone bill and groceries. At the end of the month, he squirrels away what he can so he can one day pay for nursing school.
His rent is $700 a month, which affords him a room in a four-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in the East Bronx that he shares with two other men and one woman.
“Funny enough, we don’t have a schedule for the bathroom,” Mr. Sadick said. “It’s not easy.”
He buys a 30-pound bag of rice for $30 from the nearby bodega that lasts him about three months and a 40-pack of Poland Spring water for $20 so he can bring a bottle to work.
The housemates often share food, usually fish stews and okra soups that Mr. Sadick pours into a thermos, along with the rice, which he then takes to work. It helps him avoid paying for takeout which can cost more than $20.
Mr. Sadick said he learned quickly that to survive in New York, you need to share.
Two Jobs, Little Sleep
Mr. Sadick makes $17 an hour at both jobs, earning the current minimum wage in the city. By next year, he could be making at least $22.20 an hour, with two weeks of paid vacation and paid holidays.
The bump in pay is part of the Aland Etienne Safety and Security Act, a city law that Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed shortly after he took office that set a minimum wage for security guards. The law, which also requires employers to contribute to paid time off and health benefits, was named after the security officer who was fatally shot in July 2025 at 345 Park Avenue by a gunman who killed three others before killing himself.
Mr. Sadick did not know Mr. Etienne, but he said his death terrified him and other security officers, who realized how vulnerable they were at work.
The job “seems easy,” he said. “It seems quiet. Then, one moment, it’s all chaos.”
From Tuesday to Friday he works a four to eight-hour shift when he guards a sprawling office complex in Long Island City, Queens.
On weekends, he guards a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in East Harlem from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. When his shift ends, he takes the subway for a 40-minute commute back to the office complex in Queens, where he works 12-hour overnight shifts on Saturday and Sunday.
Three days a week he takes GED classes in the morning, which are free to state residents. Mondays are his one day off, which he uses “to make up for the two days that I don’t sleep,” Mr. Sadick said.
During the summers, when school is not in session, he tries to make some money selling bus tours to tourists around Times Square. On a good day, he will make $250 to $500 in commissions. On bad days, he will spend five hours in the heat with nothing to show for it.
He said he was exhausted, but driven to pursue a career in medicine.
“I like to take care of people,” he said.
Sending Help Home
A big part of Mr. Sadick’s salary goes to his family in Ghana. On average, he will send $500 a month to help pay for his parents’ food, his grandmother’s health aide and his sister’s schooling.
Last month, he sent a $1,200 so that his parents could buy two sheep. He sent the money through Taptap Send, an app that lets people send money to countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.
The sheep should provide enough meat to last them a couple of months, he said. His brother sent over $2,000 around the same time so that their extended family could buy a bull.
Sending money home is “expected,” Mr. Sadick said, adding that he feels “very good” about being able to help.
“We are brought up in a system where it’s all about family,” he said. “You are brought up to provide.”
Self-Care Is Worth the Splurge
When Mr. Sadick has extra money in his pocket, he will pop into Zara or Macy’s, where he shops for shoes, jackets and button-down shirts.
He has six bottles of cologne. His favorites are Al Rehab Lord Eau De Parfum and Mountain Woody Forest from Zara. The Al Rehab cologne, which sells for $10.95 an ounce on Amazon, is for daytime. He saves the Mountain Woody Forest — $74.99 on Amazon — for special occasions.
He owns 18 pairs of shoes, including red and white Air Jordans that he bought for $200 and a pair of brown, suede boots from Zara that cost $100.
“These are my favorites,” he said, stroking the soft Zara boots. “I look a bit professional in them.”
He is still trying to figure out what he will do when his salary goes up.
Most likely, he said he would keep working both jobs so that he could save more money. But he daydreams about quitting one of them.
It would be nice, Mr. Sadick said, to get more sleep, have time to play soccer and visit art museums.
What he would really like is more time to take long walks.
One of his favorite places to walk is Dumbo, where he worked briefly guarding a construction site and fell in love with the sweeping views of Manhattan and the cool breeze that comes off the water.
A place in Dumbo, he said, would be the ultimate indulgence.
“That would be a dream come true,” Mr. Sadick said. “It’s so nice there.”
We are talking to New Yorkers about how they spend, splurge and save.
new video loaded: Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
transcript
transcript
Fans Show Up to the Parade in Their Best Knicks-Themed Attire
New York Knicks fans showed up in droves to a ticker-tape parade in Manhattan in their best orange and blue outfits to honor the N.B.A champions.
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“Patrick Ewing. He didn’t get a ring. But I wear your sneakers, bro. When I was in high school, back in the ’90s, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, they were the team that I rooted for in the ’90s. They didn’t make it. So as a tribute to him because this is where I started at being a fan, Patrick Ewing. Knicks hat in denim — I’m a denim fanatic. So I love denim — Knicks hat. And yeah, that’s it.” “This is my style. I usually dress like this every day. But I did a special Knicks edition. It’s all really fun. I start with my makeup. I did really cute flames on my eyes because the Knicks are fire. I don’t really know what I’m going to do before I put it on. I just figure it out along the way. Like, this is a piece of fabric and I just layer in stuff.” “This is from my online boutique and the hat I just bought on the way to the parade because I wanted to match the jumpsuit, and that’s how I came up with the outfit.” “She was ready to go, man.” “Can you show your fingernail?” “She’s been sleeping in her Jalen Brunson jersey for the last 10 weeks. We’ve been watching all the games. You want to tell them who’s your favorite player?” “Jalen Brunson.” “I’m pretty sure this jersey was actually made for a human baby. But they’re selling them around the block. And we threw it on Chester and everyone started clapping. So — he wears it well.” “Blue and orange.” “So I did blue and orange.” “It had to be orange and blue. “Orange and blue. Orange and blue.”
By Meg Felling, Jeremy Raff, Ang Li and David Cheung
June 18, 2026
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