New York: Queens-based Bangladeshi business leader Fahad Solaiman has withdrawn his support for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, citing the lawmaker’s stance on decriminalizing prostitution. Solaiman, a resident near Roosevelt Avenue, told The Post that backing prostitution equates to supporting human trafficking. He urged his mosque community to instead support former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate.

“After sunset, you can’t walk down Roosevelt Avenue without seeing prostitutes,” Solaiman said after Friday prayers at Darul Hidaya Mosque.

Once a Mamdani supporter for his views on Palestine, Solaiman said he now sees the assemblyman as “a hypocrite.”

Mamdani, who co-sponsored a state bill to decriminalize sex work among consenting adults, has recently avoided detailed comments on the issue. Local mosque leaders joined Solaiman in endorsing Cuomo, who trails Mamdani by about 20 points in recent polls.

“We’re proud to support Andrew Cuomo to unite our city,” said Imam Qazi Qayyoon.

Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the opening of the newest Flushing Bank location on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 37-44 74th St. in Jackson Heights. Hosted by the Flushing Financial Corporation, the parent holding company for Flushing Bank, the event’s attendees included multiple local business owners and community leaders. Among those on hand for the ribbon-cutting were Flushing Bank President and CEO John R. Buran, Council Member Shekar Krishnan and Foundation for a Better World President and CEO Abdus Sobhan and Director of Youth Development Farhan Abdur Rahman.

“We are excited to be a part of this vibrant and diverse community,” Buran said. “Our multilingual branch staff can provide in-language support to customers. They have been busy developing new relationships and introducing themselves to the residents and businesses within this market.”

During the ceremony, Buran presented a $3,000 check to the Foundation for a Better World, which provides career skill training to community members. The donation will help fund the charitable organization’s youth development program.

“We want to make sure that we are supporting our community, building roots in the community,” Krishnan said. “And the fact of the matter is, as the world changes and the city changes around us too, to know that we have small businesses here that understand the importance of building relationships in our community and do so from the beginning really stands out to me, and that’s especially true for our financial institutions and our banks.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday he is suspending his re-election campaign, effectively making him a one-term mayor. In an eight-minute video, Adams blamed negative press and being denied public campaign financing for crippling his chances, despite touting achievements on housing, crime reduction, and economic recovery.

His exit turns the November race into a three-way contest between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Adams declined to endorse anyone but warned against “chaos” from radical promises.

Polls show Mamdani leading but without majority support. Cuomo now has a chance to consolidate moderates, though Sliwa remains in play. Adams’ name will still appear on the ballot due to deadlines, but his campaign is over.

Jubo League leader Mizanur Rahman, who was arrested for throwing eggs at National Citizens Party (NCP) Member-Secretary Akhtar Hossain, has been released on bail. The Queens County Criminal Court granted him bail at 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday in New York. At that time, Awami League leaders and activists greeted him with flowers and chanted slogans. Mizan said that Awami League President Sheikh Hasina also called him to congratulate him.

Mizanur Rahman stated, “I was supposed to be presented before the judge at 11 p.m., but to avoid the crowd of hundreds of Awami League activists, the court brought me before the judge at 8:30 p.m. Since the charges against me were not proven, the court granted me bail and set a date for next month. I don’t even know Zahid Khan, who filed the case against me. I believe this false case and my arrest were pre-planned, linked to the airport incident.”

The incident occurred on Monday, September 22, around 5 p.m. at Terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy Airport, when Mizanur Rahman threw eggs at Akhtar Hossain, who was part of the delegation of interim government Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus attending the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Later that night, around 9:30 p.m., police arrested Mizan from Bangladesh Street in Jackson Heights.

Security was heightened at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside on Friday, a day after a 16-year-old student was arrested for bringing a loaded handgun onto campus and posting a shooting threat on Instagram.

Meta flagged the post, prompting the FBI and NYPD to quickly trace it to the school. Police recovered a loaded 9mm Taurus GX4 with 13 rounds from the teen’s backpack. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and making terrorist threats.

Mayor Eric Adams credited the swift coordination between federal and local agencies with preventing potential tragedy. “We potentially saved the lives of a lot of students and staff today,” he said.

Students and parents expressed both relief and concern over the new security measures, including metal detectors. The Department of Education said weapons have “no place in schools” and promised additional safety support.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has thrown her support behind New York City mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani, handing the Democratic state assemblyman one of his biggest endorsements yet. In a New York Times opinion piece, Hochul called Mamdani a “a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable” despite previous “disagreements”.

The Democratic party has been deeply split on the 33-year-old’s candidacy, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – both New Yorkers – holding back their support. President Donald Trump has repeatedly described Mamdani as a “communist” and said on Monday that Hochul’s endorsement was a “shocking development”.

Hochul had withheld support for Mamdani – a self-proclaimed democratic socialist – for two months, and declined to endorse him after he stunned New York by defeating his main rival, former governor Andrew Cuomo, in the Democratic primary in June. At the time, she noted misgivings about Mamdani’s proposal to tax wealthy New Yorkers, arguing that it could lead to an exodus from the state.

“In the past few months, I’ve had frank conversations with him. We’ve had our disagreements,” Hochul wrote in her opinion piece. “But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family.”

“I heard a leader who is focused on making New York City affordable – a goal I enthusiastically support,” she added.

While Mamdani already counts on the support of left-wing progressive politicians including New York Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, he has been at odds with the wider Democratic establishment – partly as a result of his strong support of Palestinians and harsh criticism of Israel.

“I’ve been glad to see him meet with Jewish leaders across the city, listening and addressing their concerns directly,” Hochul added. “I look forward to working together to make sure New Yorkers of all faiths feel safe and welcome in New York City.”

Polls showing Mamdani with a commanding lead over the other candidates -including Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams – ahead of the city’s election on 4 November.

In the editorial, Hochul took a thinly veiled swipe both at Cuomo – her former boss – and Adams, both of whom have been seen as becoming increasingly close to Trump. The US president has, in recent weeks, called on other candidates to rally behind Cuomo to defeat Mamdani.

“In light of the abhorrent and destructive policies coming out of Washington every day, I needed to know the next mayor will not be someone who would surrender one inch to President Trump,” she said. Despite Trump’s public opposition to Mamdani’s candidacy, late last week he said he believed that “it would look like he’s going to win”.

“And that’s a rebellion,” he told Fox. “It’s also a rebellion against bad candidates.”

Trump added that he is already thinking of ways in which he could impose some influence over Mamdani, whom he again referred to as “my little communist”.

“He has to come to Washington for money,” he said.

Three people were shot and wounded in New York’s Times Square, the New York Police Department said on Saturday (9 August). The people – an 18-year-old female, 19 19-year-old male, and a 65-year-old male – are in a stable condition in hospital, an NYPD spokesperson said. A 17-year-old male is in custody, the NYPD added. The police also recovered a firearm.

The shooting took place at around 1:20am ET (0520 GMT) and followed a verbal altercation with one of the victims, the NYPD added. It said it was not known at this time whether the shooter or the victims knew each other. Mass shootings are relatively common in the United States, where guns are widely available.

The incident at one of New York’s most iconic tourist spots comes after July’s high-profile shooting in a Manhattan office tower, which left four people dead, including a senior Blackstone executive and an NYPD officer.

New York experienced record-low shooting incidents and victims in the first seven months of this year, and in July, according to a statement published by the city’s police department on 4 August. Crime is a key electoral issue for America’s largest city, which is set to hold mayoral elections in November.

Thousands of police officers from across the New York metropolitan area and beyond gathered at the Parkchester Jame Masjid on Virginia Avenue on Thursday, July 31, to pay their respects and say goodbye to slain Police Officer Didarul Islam, 36, a Bangladeshi American immigrant, father of two, with another baby on the way, who was promoted to detective first grade by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch during the service.

As reported, police said Islam was one of four people killed by gunman, Shane Tamura, 27, from Las Vegas who carried out the killings using an assault rifle which he carried inside 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, July 28, and who reportedly had mental health issues. Police said Tamura later turned the gun on himself and also died. Islam’s body had been transferred from Midtown to Parkchester on Tuesday, July 29, as reported, as New Yorkers reacted to the shocking events and Gov. Kathy Hochul and others called again for a nationwide ban on assault rifles.

On Thursday, members of the Bangladeshi community from Parkchester, Norwood, and elsewhere joined thousands of other residents as police officers flooded the surrounding streets of Islam’s local mosque, and several NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) trucks blocked nearby intersections. Tisch had previously served as DSNY Commissioner.

In addition to Tisch, elected officials in attendance included Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), who represents parts of the West Bronx and northern Manhattan, and Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who represents a large section of The Bronx stretching from the northwest to the south.

Also seen were Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and City Councilman Dr. Yousef Salaam (C.D 9) who represents parts of Harlem and is one of the Exonerated Five having spent between several years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Addressing the congregation, Hochul said in part, “Today our hearts are broken. The dam is searing.” Referring to Islam’s relatives, she said, “They’re a family that expected to see their beloved son, husband, father for many more dinners, birthdays and life celebrations, but because of a madman who traveled a thousand miles with such evil in his heart to come and destroy all that is good about New York City.”

For his part, the mayor, a former police officer, said in part, “This murder and the murder of others who were in the building, it cut me to my core. I spent my entire life defending and fighting for innocent people of this city, and each death I take personal because as a mayor, I am responsible for the safety of New Yorkers.”

For her part, Tisch said of Islam, “He stepped into a new land and chose to become part of its promise to believe in its dream, and he did believe in the American dream, not as something handed down, but as something built with your own hands.”

She continued, “Didarul Islam came to this country as an immigrant with no guarantees, only the hope that hard work, that humility, that purpose might lead him somewhere meaningful and it did. He earned the respect of his peers. He believed in this department. With only four years on the job, he did the work of a cop with twice that time, and in a command where the work never slowed.”

The commissioner said in addition to his work assignment in Midtown Manhattan on the day he was killed, Islam had been on duty the previous day at the Bronx Dominican Day Parade, a day which proved very challenging for the NYPD due to several shootings reported after the parade. Such was the number of violent incidents on the day, when contacted by Norwood News on Monday, the NYPD press office said they had to be provided with a specific time and location before they could share details of each incident.

At times sounding almost defiant on Islam’s behalf in the wake of Monday’s tragedy, Tisch added, “But no matter what this job threw at him, you could count on Didar to get it done, and to get it done right, and though his journey was cut too short, the way he lived his job, with steadiness, with heart, with conviction, it reflected everything this title represents. So, today, it is my honor and my great privilege to promote Police Officer Didarul Islam to Detective First Grade.”

The congregation applauded as NYPD personnel rose to their feet. Tisch was later seen embracing one of Islam’s mourning family members. Islam’s brother-in-law, Police Officer Kamrul Hasan, who called Islam his “protector” and “best friend,” shared some memories to demonstrate their solidarity and Islam’s strength of character. “Anything, everything anybody needed, anything, they come to us,” he said. “He was helping everybody.” Hasan concluded, “On behalf of our whole family, I would like to thank everybody for coming here and staying with us and being here for us.”

In addition to public statements already made by a number of elected officials including the mayor and governor, other elected officials had also shared their reaction to the tragedy. Clark lamented what she called “yet another act of senseless gun violence with a high-powered weapon brought to the city by an allegedly mentally disturbed man.”

The district attorney added in part of Islam, “My heart goes out to his pregnant wife, sons, the members of the NYPD, and the families of all the victims. This incident is a reason I urge and advocate for mental health services in our city!”

On Tuesday, Gibson had offered her condolences and paid tribute to Islam, writing, “On behalf of our Borough, we extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the four victims of yesterday’s horrific shooting in Midtown, including one of our own, decorated Police Officer Didarul Islam of the 47th Precinct.”

A gunman with mental health issues opened fire in a central Manhattan skyscraper on Monday, killing four people including a policeman before apparently taking his own life, officials said. Mayor Eric Adams said the fallen police officer was a 36-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh.

Two other males and a female died and another man remained in a critical condition, officials said without giving any preliminary motive for the shootings.

An NFL employee was stable after being ‘seriously injured’ in the attack, ESPN reported, quoting an internal memo from league commissioner Roger Goodell. A fifth victim was in critical condition after being shot, Eric Adams told a late-night press briefing at a nearby hospital.

The gunman was caught on surveillance footage leaving a black BMW and carrying an M-4 rifle, police commissioner Jessica Tisch told the news conference.

On entering the building, he immediately opened fire on a police officer before ‘spraying the lobby’ with bullets, she said.

The gunman then took an elevator to the 33rd floor of Rudin Management, which owns the building, and continued his spree before apparently shooting himself. He was later discovered by officers next to his weapon.

The office tower block at 345 Park Avenue — home to the National Football League, hedge fund giant Blackstone, and auditor KPMG — was apparently targeted by the gunman, who is believed to have acted alone, Tisch said.

The police commissioner identified the shooter as Shane Tamura from Las Vegas and said a revolver, ammunition and magazines were found in his vehicle.

Tamura had a history of mental health issues, she said.

The incident began around 6:00pm (2200 GMT) when reports of gunfire prompted hundreds of police to swarm a busy office district on Park Avenue, an area popular with tourists and businesspeople.

A worker from a nearby office building wept as she left the area after a local lockdown was lifted. Another office worker described the gunman going floor-to-floor as staff prepared to leave for the day.

‘We lost four souls to another act of senseless violence,’ the city’s mayor said, excluding the shooter, who died by an apparently self-inflicted gunshot. CNN and NBC cited unnamed officials as saying the shooter had a grievance with the NFL and its handling of CTE, a brain condition linked to head trauma.

The gunman had a note in his pocket saying he suffered from CTE, the news channels said, quoting a source with knowledge of the investigation. Office worker Shad Sakib said that he was packing his things to leave work when a public address announcement warned him and his colleagues to shelter in place.

‘Everyone was confused with like, ‘wait, what’s going on?’ And then someone finally realised that it’s online, that someone walked in with a machine gun,’ the witness said.

‘He walked right into a building right next door. We saw the photo of him walking through the same area that I walked through to get lunch here.

‘You would think it won’t happen to you, and then it does.’

Another witness, a woman who declined to give her name as she left the vicinity of the shooting, said: ‘I was in the building. He went floor by floor.’

A second woman wept as she left the scene.

There have been 254 mass shootings in the United States this year including Monday’s incident in New York, according to the Gun Violence Archive — which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.

Bangladeshi companies witnessed huge responses from buyers at the ‘Texworld NYC 2025’, and the representatives of the companies were busy during the show with trade inquiries from USA and other countries. Texworld NYC, Apparel Sourcing, and Home Textiles Sourcing – the largest textile and apparel sourcing shows on the East Coast – concluded successfully at the Javits Centre in New York City, USA, from July 23 to 25, said a press release on Friday.

The event hosted over 424 international exhibitors from 26 countries and emphasized ethical sourcing, sustainable fabrics, and innovation across the textile, apparel and home textile industries. This summer’s exhibition featured a wide array of global exhibitors from major sourcing regions, offering attendees direct access to premium apparel and textiles.

From cutting-edge materials to sustainable sourcing solutions, the show floor was designed to empower industry professionals with the resources and connections needed to succeed in today’s fast-evolving global market.

Three Bangladeshi companies – 24/7 Sourcing Private Limited, GenXt International and Just James BD Ltd – took part in the exhibition, showcasing the country’s strengths in fashion apparel and denim. Their participation underscored Bangladesh’s expanding footprint in the global textile industry, driven by a strong focus on innovation, quality and cost-effective manufacturing.

Bangladeshi exhibitors presented a diverse range of fashion products and joined leading manufacturing nations such as Pakistan, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Vietnam and Sri Lanka on the global stage.

Bangladesh’s presence at Texworld NYC Summer 2025 reaffirmed its potential as a competitive and reliable sourcing destination, with a strong focus on sustainability, innovation, and high production standards.

Rakib, CEO of 24/7 Sourcing Pvt Ltd, said he was happy with the fair and glad to meet many buyers. Rizvana Hredita, CEO of GenXt International, also shared that the fair went well and they were pleased with the buyer response.