WORLD WORLDWIDE USA US - New York NY - New York City NYC - THE CITY SCOOP - Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.

 ​

[thecity.nyc/home]

Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

Dear New Yorkers,

The mayor made a surprise visit to the White House yesterday. He was there, he said, to talk about building a whole bunch of new housing with the president.

But the headlines from the trip became about a young Columbia University student taken by federal agents from her university housing at dawn — let onto the campus because the agents lied about what they were doing.

Ellie Aghayeva, a neuroscience and politics student from Azerbaijan, posted on Instagram in the early morning that she had been arrested, with the words “please help.” But before the day was through, she had been let go from federal detention because of a direct appeal by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to President Donald Trump. And it worked.

Mamdani also gave Trump the names of four other immigrant students targeted by the Trump administration for deportation, asking that the president halt attempts to deport them. It’s unclear how Trump responded.

Weather ☀️

Sunny and calm with a high near 40.

MTA 🚇

In Brooklyn, Manhattan-bound 2 and 5 trains skip Newkirk Avenue-Little Haiti. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s suspended today, Feb. 27, due to snow.

By the way…

Ballot petitioning for June’s primaries has begun this week, which means you’ll see clipboard-toting campaign workers asking for signatures in the street. From our archives, here’s how petitioning works — and whether you should sign.

Our Other Top Stories

More than a decade after a federal judge ruled that the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices violated the Constitution, the agency is still not following the law according to a new report by a court-appointed monitor. Leaky ceilings. Persistent pest infestations. Sky-high rents. These were just a few of the experiences voiced by the hundreds of New York City tenants who filed into a downtown Brooklyn high school last night to talk to agency officials at the first Rental Ripoff Hearing held by the Mamdani administration.

SPONSORED Bringing the Money Smart Financial Coaching Program to CUNY  Sound financial health helps set the foundation for strong and resilient households, communities and economies. That’s why JPMorganChase helped launch a new organization aimed at enhancing financial health and academic outcomes for college students called the Money Smart Financial Coaching Program, or MSFCP.org. The program, which combines financial coaching and education into one course, originated at SUNY Westchester Community College and is now offered at seven colleges and universities across New York. By leveraging local Chase Community Managers as guest lecturers, the initiative aims to improve students' financial skills, academic performance, and graduation rates. Learn more about the new nonprofit organization’s impact through the CUNY system. Member FDIC. Equal Opportunity Lender.  © 2025 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Reporter’s Notebook

Pols Call for Expanding Non-Police Crisis Teams

The chairs of the New York Senate and Assembly mental health committees Thursday said the recent police shooting of Jabez Chakraborty, a 23-year-old diagnosed with schizophrenia, "illustrates the systemic failures of New York's mental health system."

Citing a report by THE CITY about the Chakraborty family's futile efforts to get him help without involving the police, Sen. Samra Brouk (D-Rochester) and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn) called for expansion of a pilot program that triggers a non-police response to 911 mental health crisis calls.

The pilot, known as "Daniel's Law" after Daniel Prude, a man experiencing a breakdown who was killed by Rochester police, dispatches teams of health professionals and peers who've experienced mental health issues to handle crisis calls. Brouk and Simon said the bill would expand the pilot statewide, adding, "The evidence is clear: trained, non-police crisis teams reduce harm, improve outcomes, and build trust."

— Greg B. Smith

Children’s Services Gives $20M to Health

The Administration for Children’s Services will announce this afternoon that it’s transferring $20 million to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene over the next three years to expand access to perinatal, newborn and early childhood services. The money is intended to divert parents from child protective services involvement, outgoing ACS Commissioner Jess Dannhauser said at a Council Committee on Children and Youth hearing Thursday.

“ACS does this work with an understanding that there can be fear associated with our involvement,” Dannhauser said. “In addition to significant efforts to make our services more accessible, ACS is supportive of efforts to create solutions outside of ACS.”

The cash infusion will go towards the DOHMH’s Nurse-Family Partnership, which pairs first-time parents up to 28-weeks pregnant with a nurse offering in-home care through the child’s second birthday.

The money will allow the program to expand to parents in their third trimester through childbirth, as well as to families with more than one child, Dannhauser said. It will also increase the capacity of the health department’s perinatal and early childhood mental health clinics, he added, along with training to build out the perinatal mental healthcare workforce.

— Haidee Chu

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Friday, Feb. 27: An accountant, a spinal surgeon and an actor off from their day jobs will be performing in their multi-genre music trio “Mister Groove” at PAC NYC. Free, at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28: On a guided walk, learn from Urban Park Rangers about the biology and habits of coyotes who spend time in the city. Free, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Pugsley Creek Park, The Bronx. Sunday, March 1: Ready to say goodbye to winter? Us, too. Write a reflection on the season at this writing workshop around a campfire in Fort Greene Park. Free, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

THE KICKER: Tomorrow is the last day in business for the sex-positive retailer The Pleasure Chest in the West Village, which has been a staple in the neighborhood since 1971. It won’t disappear altogether, however; its Upper West Side location will remain.

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

Love,

THE CITY

PS. Love THE CITY? Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by readers like you. Donate here.

Want to view Scoop in your web browser? Click here.

THE CITY's work is made possible, in part, through the support of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? Contact us here.  Copyright © 2024 THE CITY, All rights reserved.