Northeast
NJ lawmakers urge schools to follow Trump's order against 'radical indoctrination'
Schools should be following President Donald Trump’s executive order “ending radical indoctrination in K-12,” say two New Jersey lawmakers who put forward a bill to repeal the Garden State’s countervailing law.
Assembs. Gregory McGuckin, R-Brick, and Paul Kanitra, R-Point Pleasant Beach, have put forward bill A-5560, which would repeal the 2021 state law requiring instruction on DEI and topics like unconscious bias, gender identity tolerance and disability tolerance.
Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic attorney general remains party to multi-state legal guidance countering Trump’s order.
“DEI is not appropriate in any part of our children’s curriculum. It is nothing more than rebranded Marxist ideology that destroys people, relationships and communities,” McGuckin said in a statement announcing the repeal effort.
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“[I]n schools, [it] wrecks merit-based rewards and an ambition to excel. True diversity, equity and inclusion leads to free associations which foster innovation and progress.”
McGuckin went on to call DEI lessons “garbage” that don’t belong in New Jersey schools.
Kanitra said it “boggles the mind” why “telling students their skin color determines their success or failure is true or helpful.”
“They are either stupid or evil, or maybe brilliant, because the experts pushing this stuff are quite wealthy, I hear,” he said.
Both lawmakers highlighted the decline in state education and test scores since the COVID-era school lock-outs ordered by Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
McGuckin said students have yet to collectively return to 2019-level proficiency scores.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin characterized Trump’s order to end DEI curricula as having little effect on established law and pledged to continue to fight purported federal overreach.
In a statement last week, Platkin said New Jersey’s schools are excelling because of the system’s ability to embrace the state’s diversity.
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New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin in Trenton (AP)
“No toothless threats from the Trump administration will change that,” he said. “Along with my [AG] colleagues across the country, we are issuing legal guidance to schools so that they can continue to foster diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible environments that benefit all students.”
Platkin added he and the other state AGs will continue to fight any effort by the White House to withhold federal funding from schools or special-needs students.
He was backed up by neighboring New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in a statement that the Trump administration “cannot ban diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts with a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter.”
New Jersey’s DEI law, spearheaded by former Gov. Richard Codey — now a Democratic state senator from West Orange — mandated school districts incorporate such instruction beginning in the 2021 school year.
“The instruction shall highlight and promote diversity, including economic diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, and belonging in connection with gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance,” the bill reads.
It also “examine[s] the impact that unconscious bias and economic disparities have at both an individual level and on society as a whole; and encourage safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students regardless of race or ethnicity, sexual and gender identities, mental and physical disabilities, and religious beliefs.”
Assemb. Carol Murphy, D-Burlington, said in 2020 it guarantees students will be “accepted and understanding of what each student goes through in life and making sure there is no stigma attached to that student, regardless of what culture… race… sexuality or where they are in life.”
As of Monday afternoon, the repeal effort had gained three additional co-sponsors: Assembs. Gregory Myhre of Barnegat, Brian Rumpf of Little Egg Harbor and Erik Peterson of Readington, all Republicans.
Fox News Digital reached out to Platkin and GOP gubernatorial frontrunner Jack Ciattarelli for additional comment for purposes of this story.
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Northeast
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani set to earn nearly $260K, about 80% more than his prior salary
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is set to earn nearly $260,000 a year, in line with the salary paid to his predecessor.
The figure is based on public payroll records showing that former Mayor Eric Adams earned $258,750 in total pay.
Mamdani previously earned about $142,000 as a state assemblyman, according to Ballotpedia, an increase of roughly 80%.
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on whether he plans to accept the full salary or donate a portion of it.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his inaugural address Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, outside City Hall. (Fox News/Pool)
New York City consistently ranks among the most expensive cities in the country, with housing costs far above the national average.
An annual salary of about $260,000 would place Mamdani among the city’s top earners, more than three times New York City’s median household income of roughly $80,000, according to the most recent Census Bureau data.
Mamdani posted on his Instagram account in December that he and his wife Rama would move from their home in Astoria, Queens, to Gracie Mansion, the official, rent-free residence of the mayor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, in January.
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Gracie Mansion in New York, on Sept. 26, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg)
“This decision came down to our family’s safety and the importance of dedicating all of my focus on enacting the affordability agenda New Yorkers voted for,” he wrote.
Mamdani was sworn in Jan. 1 as the 112th mayor of New York City, becoming the first Muslim to hold the office.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after speaking during his inauguration ceremony, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)
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“City Hall will deliver an agenda of safety, affordability and abundance—where government looks and lives like the people it represents, never flinches in the fight against corporate greed, and refuses to cower before challenges that others have deemed too complicated,” Mamdani said in his inaugural address.
“In so doing, we will provide our own answer to that age-old question—who does New York belong to? Well, my friends, we can look to Madiba and the South African Freedom Charter: New York ‘belongs to all who live in it.’”
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Boston, MA
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Pittsburg, PA
Hemingway’s Cafe in Oakland closing after more than four decades
A longtime staple near Pitt’s campus is closing its doors after more than four decades of business in Oakland.
Hemingway’s Cafe announced Thursday that it will be closing for good in May after more than 40 years along Forbes Avenue in the heart of Oakland.
“Since opening in 1983, Hemingway’s has been more than just a bar – it’s been a home, a meeting place, and an Oakland staple for generations of students, alumni, locals, and friends at the heart of the University of Pittsburgh,” the bar said.
The bar said while they are sad to be closing, they’re also grateful for the decades of memories, laughter, friendship, and traditions over the years.
“Thank you for making Hemingway’s what it has been for over four decades,” the bar said.
A final closing date for Hemingway’s hasn’t been announced.
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