TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2025
Today’s SCOOP is brought to you by our .
Dear New Yorkers,
The history of early Muslims in New York is invisible in lower Manhattan today, but a tour guide has made it his mission to bring Little Syria to life — starting with the first free Muslim settler in Manhattan, Anthony Jansen Van Salee, who landed in 1633.
The Dutch and North African rabble-ro became one of the largest landowners in what was then New Amsterdam, only to be banished to the hinterlands of Brooklyn for a litany of colorful misdeeds, including paying wages with a dead goat.
Van Salee was the son of a Dutch privateer who’d converted to the faith after he was captured by Barbary pirates, and whose descendants came to include New York City royalty like the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys.
His saga is just one of many intriguing stories that history-seekers encounter on 32-year-old Asad Dandia’s tour of little Syria, today part of the Financial District.
Read more here about how this tour guide is showing the history of Muslims in New York — while also trying to help elect the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Help your neighbors stay informed. Forward this email to a friend.
Weather ⛅
Low 70s and mostly cloudy. Not too bad!
MTA 🚇
There’s no 3 train overnight, starting at 9:30 p.m., through Friday. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.
Alternate side parking 🚙
It’s in effect today, May 27.
By the way…
Here’s how to avoid ticks and mosquitoes this summer in NYC.
Our Other Top Stories
- The latest campaign finance disclosures are out, and they show the field coalescing around five leading candidates for mayor — with Andrew Cuomo’s juggernaut and four others pushing hard to stop him.
- Last week, the Trump istration rescinded its stop-work order for the Empire Wind 1 offshore renewable energy project. But just as environmental advocates got a small win, the House budget bill is poised to present a new set of problems for wind energy.
- If you’ve wondered why more rooftops gleam with a bright white coating, it’s part of a plan to lower building temperatures by reflecting sunlight that would otherwise get absorbed. Hear from the roof painters on the front lines of the city’s efforts to fight climate change.
- There may be more mayoral candidates who want to freeze the rent than you think. Take the Meet Your Mayor quiz to see which candidates share your views.
Reporter’s Notebook
Tallying Tariffs’ Jobs Toll
President Donald Trump’s tariffs could reduce exports and imports enough to raise the city’s unemployment rate by one percentage point, according to a report issued Friday by the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School. It is the first effort to create a model to predict the impact of the tariffs.
New York City imported $103 billion in goods in 2023, with one-third coming from Europe. It exported $106 billion in goods with Canada and Switzerland each ing for 12% of the total, making it No. 2 in the U.S. trailing only Houston.
The uncertainty of Trump’s on-and-off approach to tariffs has also raised an international trade uncertainty index from near 0 to 7,000, the report notes, which is the highest since 1985 and could foreshadow a large reduction in the city’s exports and imports.
The city’s unemployment rate stands at 5.3%, a percentage point higher than the national rate.
— Greg David
Things To Do
Here are some free and low-cost things to do around the city this week.
- Tuesday, May 27: Play board games with friends and strangers at Bryant Park. 5 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 28: Share your with city agencies about the state of city nightlife at a Town Hall. Midtown at Annex417, 4:15 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 28: It’s Older Adult Health and Fitness Day — New Yorkers over 62 can take free fitness classes and activities at all NYC Parks recreation centers, all day.
THE KICKER: Charles Rangel, the former U.S. congressman who represented Harlem, has died at 94. Known as the “Lion of Lenox Avenue,” Rangel fought in the Korean War, marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, co-founded the Congressional Black Caucus and chaired the House Ways and Means Committee in 2007. (Listen to our wide-ranging interview with Rangel from 2021 here.)
Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Tuesday.
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 of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? us here.
Copyright © 2024 THE CITY, All rights reserved.
