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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025

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Dear New Yorkers,

When Fitz Smith, 43, first met Mamadou on the dating app Grindr in December 2023, he immediately saw a younger version of himself.

Mamadou, then 27, had fled Guinea just after his father, a conservative imam, learned he was in a relationship with a man.

Sex between people of the same gender is punishable with prison time in Guinea, and vigilante violence is common. Fearing his father would have him killed, Mamdou left overnight, made his way to the United States and applied for asylum.

Smith had undertaken a similar journey decades earlier, fleeing his home country of Jamaica to apply for asylum and eventually become a U.S. citizen.

Over a year and a half, their relationship grew deeper. They got married on June 3, planned to move in together in July and were even talking about adopting children.

But the couple’s future is now upended.

Mamadou was arrested by masked federal agents on June 23, moments after an immigration judge dismissed his asylum case — despite his pleas that returning to Guinea would amount to a death sentence.

Read more here about the gay man who came to the U.S. seeking asylum who has been arrested by ICE.

Weather ⛅

Partly cloudy with temps in the mid 80s, and a chance of rain at night.

MTA 🚇

Overnight, the Manhattan-bound E and F local trains skip 67 Ave, 63 Drive, Woodhaven Boulevard, Grand Ave, Elmhurst Ave, 65 Street, Northern Boulevard, 46 Street, Steinway Street and 36 Street all week. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s in effect today, June 30.

By the way…

It’s the last day to submit feedback on New York’s urban forest plan, which will create a strategy to increase the city’s tree canopy by 30%. Weigh in here.

Our Other Top Stories

The task of becoming a whistleblower exposing corruption in city government is a stressful high-wire act — made even more dangerous by the fact that just 3% of city workers who sought whistleblower status from the Department of Investigation were awarded official protection. The move of the Department for the Aging to a Wall Street tower owned by a billionaire Adams donor gets the green light after a months-long pause — even as an investigation of the city official who steered the deal continues. Early morning lap swims are back for the first time in five years — see which pools offer the program in your borough. Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams officially shook hands on a nearly $116 billion city budget late Friday for the last time.

Things To Do

Here are some free and low-cost things to do around the city this week.

Monday, June 30: Finally, a concert with chutzpah: see a Klezmer band and Yiddish musicians at SummerStage in Central Park. 7 p.m. Monday, June 30: Hear Michael Grunwald, author of new book We Are Eating the Earth - The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate in conversation with CNN’s Bill Weir. At the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, 7 pm. Tuesday, July 1: Go on a 5K in Brooklyn Bridge Park. 7 p.m.

THE KICKER: You’ve got one week left to see The Year of Flaco, an exhibit at the New York Historical about the iconic owl who escaped Central Park Zoo and took to the city skyline.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Monday.

Love,

THE CITY

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