She came, they talked, he didn’t budge. That’s how President Trump described his Friday meeting at the White House with Gov. Hochul that centered on congestion pricing.
“It was a very cordial meeting and she brought me a brochure with data about the effect of the new tax,” Trump told me Saturday. “It’s something she thinks is good.”
By no means was he persuaded to back off his plan to kill the program by withdrawing the federal approval granted by the Biden administration. “I don’t see how I can back off,” Trump said. “The tax is devastating.”
“Of course traffic is down, nobody wants to go there and pay the price. Working people don’t make enough to add that kind of charge.” He cited the example of a repairman driving into Manhattan from an outer borough. “If a guy comes to fix your television, you think he can just add a traffic surcharge and people will pay it?”
Trump, showing he was well prepared for the meeting, said he raised the fact that the MTA loses much more money to fare and toll beaters than the $1 billion a year the congestion tax is supposed to raise. The agency says it has lost more than $5 billion to toll evasion on its bridges and tunnels in the last four years. In addition, it lost $800 million in fares last year alone when subway and bus riders refused to pay.
“Those numbers are astronomical,” Trump said he told Hochul. “If you let the police do their job, they can stop that. You feel like a sucker if you pay the fare,” he added. “This is so bad for New York. It’s so bad what they’re doing.” Why doesn’t Hochul understand that?
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| Dr. Dovid Appelbaum and his daughter Nava, H'YD. |
Nael Abid, the terrorist released last week to his home in Jerusalem's Isawiya neighborhood, fell to his death from the roof of a three-story building.
Abid was one of 369 terrorists freed from prison in exchange for civilians Sagui Dekel-Chen (36), Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov (29), and Yair Horn (46), who were kidnapped during the October 7 massacre and held in Gaza for 498 days until their release last Saturday.
It is not yet clear what caused his death.
Abid was sentenced to seven life sentences and an additional 30 years in prison, and was one of the terrorists in the cell which aided the suicide bomber responsible for the Cafe Hillel terror attack in 2003, which killed seven Israelis and injured 57 others. including Dr. Dovid Applebaum, H’yd, and his daughter Nava, H’yd, the night before Nava’s wedding, that injured 57 people.
The Prime Minister's Office announced early Sunday morning that in light of Hamas' repeated violations, it has been decided to delay the release of terrorists that was planned for Saturday.
According to the announcement, one of the reasons for the decision is the ceremonies that humiliate the hostages and the cynical exploitation of the hostages for propaganda purposes.
The PMO clarified that the terrorist release will only take place after the release of the next hostages has been assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies.
Following the decision, the terrorists who were set to be released were removed from the buses and returned to their prison cells.
Israel was to have released 620 terrorists on Saturday, including 71 who were sentenced to life imprisonment and 60 with lengthy prison terms.
Hamas brought two additional hostages - Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal - to the release point on Saturday morning, along with hostages Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen - so that the two could watch the cynical "release" ceremony.
After the video was published, Guy Gilboa-Dalal's father told Channel 12 News: "This is the first time that I have seen my son in 16 months. This is the best sign of life I could have asked for, but on the other hand, there is nothing more cruel than this. This isn't surprising, but it is a new level - to torture people like this. This only shows the urgent and great need to get them out of there."
Ye'ela David, sister of Evyatar David, responded to the cruel sign of life and wrote, "They are alive, they put them both this morning in the most horrific and bad situation that they could be [in]. There is no end to the stupid cynicism of these animals. I admire you, my brothers."
The depraved video was not shown on Israeli media sites but the families of the two hostages, Evyatar David and Guy Dalal, were informed that a sign of life had been received from their loved ones.
Ya’ala David, the sister of Evyatar David, addressed on Instagram the particularly cruel video released Saturday evening by the Hamas terrorist organization and wrote:
“They are alive. They put both of them this morning in the most shocking and horrific situation imaginable. There is no limit to the sick cynicism of these monsters. I admire you, my brothers.”
Yossi Klein Halevi hates Netanyahu and is in favor of returning most of Israel's settlements beyond the green line to Hamas! He despises the settlers, and when I say "settlements' I mean areas where over a half million Jews presently reside!
We are talking about the entire Gush, Maalei Adumim, Chevron, and East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem includes the entire Old City which includes the Kotel! If it was up to Halevi, Israel would give back the Kotel, Mearas Hamachpeilah, and Kever Rachel!
To give you an idea of what I am talking about, I live in Beit Shemesh, Beit Shemesh is a 15-minute drive to the Gush! If Israel would G-d forbid return the Gush, Beit Shemesh would now be the border to a Palestinian State!
Halevi lives in Yerushlayim, and when I asked him once when I was responding to his vile column in The Times of Israel against the settlements if he would give up his home to the Palestinians, after all, Palestinians consider his home "occupied" as well, he didn't respond! He wants others to give up their homes but he won't give up his!
For Ami readers who don't have any idea who this Halevi is and what he stands for, Frankfurter, the "goilim" continued the interview even after he realized that Halevi was setting him up with his subtle niceties. Frankfurter should have never printed this garbage, but Yitzy is either not the sharpest blade in the drawer as I long ago suspected, or he printed the interview because Frankfurter himself "a Satmar tuchislekker" wanted to push this twisted agenda!
Halevi also despises Trump and that comes through reading the interview! In addition, Halevi is against Court Reform and is in favor of keeping these far-leftist self-appointed Judges on the Supreme Court! Don't forget it was the huge Far-leftist protests against Court Reforms that encouraged Hamas to invade Israel on October 7! Halevi supported and supports those protests!
In the magazine, Frankfurter posts a photo of Halevi with a Kipa, let me tell you guys that Halavie hardly ever wears a kipa even while living in Israel, I have seen him at conferences and have never ever seen him with a kipa. To place a photo of Haleivi with a kipa is either mocking his readers or trying to deceive them!
I see that in the "Letters to the Editor" in the Feb 19 edition, a sane reader by the name of Aryeh Blum calls out Haleivi stating that "Halevi's criticism of Trump's Gaza plan is that he is basing it on all the tired old canards and lies, while Trump sees things as they are."
You would think that in the midst of a war where Jewish Children are still dying, The Frank, would have some "seichal" and keep his dumb twisted ideas out of his magazine and stop interviewing haters of Netanyahu, Trump, and Israel! No such Luck!
Happy Purim!
By Rabbi Moshe Taragin
Dr. Chen Kugel, director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, also known as "Abu Kabir," on Saturday confirmed that his team had positively identified the remains of hostage Shiri Bibas, who was murdered in Hamas captivity in the early weeks of the war.
In a statement, Kugel stressed that there is "no evidence" that Shiri Bibas was killed in an airstrike.
The findings prove that Hamas' claim that Israel killed Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir in an airstrike is false, and an attempt to both mislead the international community and cause Israelis psychological harm.
"We identified Shiri Bibas two days after we identified her children," Kugel said. "Our examination found no evidence of injuries caused by bombing."
He added: "Since Thursday morning we have worked professionally and carefully to provide clear answers to the Lifshitz and Bibas-Silberman families. It’s a difficult day for the families, for us, the medical staff, and for the entire nation of Israel."
"We have witnessed unimaginable depths of cruelty and evil. Our hearts go [out] to the family and we continue to hope for the return of all the remaining captives."
