New York
New York State To End Indoor School Mask Mandate This Week
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Getty The governor of New York State has seen enough of a decline in coronavirus rates to make the decision to end the statewide mask mandate in schools, which will take effect this week. On Sunday (February 27th), Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the mandate would be lifted after consulting with health and educational experts and taking declining COVID-19 trends into account. The lifting of the mandate would take place throughout the state on March 2nd. “With more New Yorkers getting vaccinated, and the steady decline over the past several weeks in cases and hospitalizations from Omicron, we are now entering a new phase of the pandemic. Because New Yorkers have stepped up, we can confidently remove the statewide mask requirement in...
Netflix announces new series on Bitfinex hack involving 120,000 Bitcoin
Streaming and production giant Netflix will soon produce a documentary series on the infamous Bitfinex hack — one of the biggest financial crimes from 2016 stealing 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth $72 million at the time. The Netflix documentary will be centered around a New York-based couple and their link to laundering nearly 120,000 BTC tied to the crime. According to Netflix, the documentary will be directed by American filmmaker Chris Smith with Nick Bilton as the co-executive producer. The announcement read: “Netflix has ordered a documentary series about a married couple’s alleged scheme to launder billions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency in the biggest criminal financial crime case in history.” The plot is based on two main characters — Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather M...
Kanye West Joins Forces With Fivio Foreign and Alicia Keys on Drops ‘City of Gods’: Stream It Now
Kanye West does more surprises than Santa. The rap star jumps on board the surprise single “City of Gods,” an ode to the Big Apple with two of its favorite citizens, Fivio Foreign and Alicia Keys. If the west coast has the City of Angels, the east has its City of Gods. With an impassioned chorus, Keys inserts some soul into “City of Gods,” complementing the rhymes of her collaborators. On it, she sings: “New York City, please go easy on me tonight / Nеw York City, please go easy on this hеart of mine / ‘Cause I’m losing my lover to the arms of another.” The track dropped at midnight and is led by Foreign with assists from Keys and Kanye, who is credited on the release as Kanye West, not Ye as he now likes to be known. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and...
Event at New York Nightclub Ends Abruptly After Pepper Bombs Go Off
On Thursday, February 3rd at around 1:30AM, New York nightclub Nowadays hosted an event by black beyond, which featured an all-Black lineup. After attendees reportedly began coughing, excessively sneezing, and complaining of a burning sensation in their throats, the event abruptly ended. “At first, people were trickling out to the back patio,” Lamb, one of the night’s performers, told Resident Advisor. “I thought they were just getting some air or were part of a really big group who came together and were planning to leave. Then you could see a bit of commotion stirring–people were asking each other if they’d begun coughing and sneezing too. When the consensus was ‘yeah,’ almost everybody moved outside.” When the “mace-like&...
NYDIG offering allows participating companies to pay employees in Bitcoin
The New York Digital Investment Group, or NYDIG, has launched a benefit program allowing employees of participating companies to convert a portion of their paychecks into Bitcoin. In a Tuesday announcement, the NYDIG said several firms involved with sports, entertainment and digital currencies would be among the first to offer the crypto payments, including Everbowl, MVB Bank, StretchZone, crypto analytics firm The TIE, crypto mining firm Iris Energy and Fertitta Entertainment — the conglomerate behind restaurant giant Landry’s and the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets. Company employees who participate in NYDIG’s Bitcoin Savings Plan can choose how much of their pay will be converted into Bitcoin (BTC), with no transaction or cold storage fees. NYDIG chief innovation...
Yolanda Vega The Voice of The New York Lottery Calls it A Career
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: WENN / WENN The preeminent and highly popular voice that New Yorkers and many nationwide loved, Yolanda Vega, has officially retired from her decades-long position as an announcer with the state’s lottery commission. As reported on Wednesday by the New York Times(January 26th), the Twitter account for New York Lottery announced that Vega, the star announcer with the distinctive introduction “I’m Yo-LAHNNN-da Vega!” that fans across the state symbolized with hitting the jackpot retired. The tweet read, “Yolanda Vega, our iconic Draw Team member, has retired after an incredible 32 years. We truly hit the jackpot by having her as a part of the New York Lottery family. Let’s send her off in the comments below by posting our favorite Yolanda Vega memories. #pl...
RÜFÜS DU SOL, Solomun, More to Headline 27-Hour Brooklyn NYE Celebration, The Cityfox Odyssey
The City That Never Sleeps is sticking true to its name with a 27-hour dance music event to ring in the new year. Celebrated for expertly curating lineups on their events, The Cityfox Experience team have outdone themselves for their last hurrah of the year. Some of the biggest artists in house and techno are heading to the sprawling Brooklyn hotspot Avant Gardner for The Cityfox Odyssey, which is scheduled to take place from 9PM on Friday, December 31st till midnight on Saturday, January 1st, 2022. Seasoned dance music headliners Solomun, Maceo Plex, and Sasha lead the pack of 14 acts. Breakout techno stars like ANNA and Charlotte de Witte are also on the bill while HVOB and Rodriguez Jr make up the live performance offering. The performance that may have most fans flocking to the ev...
Shaun King Says Teen Daughter Was Struck By Car In Manhattan, In Recovery
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Screenshot / Instagram Shaun King and his family are rallied around the activist’s 19-year-old daughter after she was struck by a car in Manhattan. King said that his daughter suffered serious injuries, but hopes that she’ll make a full recovery. King shared the news via an Instagram post from the hospital where his daughter recovering with the following caption: Our daughter Kendi, who is 19, was hit by a car while she walking in Manhattan and suffered a brain injury. And several serious head and body injuries. I’ve been here in the ICU with her since yesterday morning. We have every reason to believe she will recover and she is receiving excellent medical care. The doctors and nurses and staff have been so kind and so thorough. Please pray for K...
Inside New York’s Cityfox Halloween House and Techno Music Festival
Cityfox Halloween took an unexpected turn this year. Featuring prominent artists like Dubfire, Lee Burridge, and John Digweed, the event was set to take over Brooklyn’s Avant Gardner for a two-day house and techno music festival. However, citing electrical issues, event organizers canceled the second day right around the start of the show. The first day, which took place on October 29th, welcomed swarms of party-goers to the urban music festival with Nora En Pure, Hot Since 82, and Vintage Culture among the lineup. Avant Gardner’s sprawling, 80,000-square foot event space was transformed into a five-stage, Halloween-themed extravaganza. The Great Hall, Avant Gardner’s largest indoor space, was morphed into “The Great Hell” with skull-adorned chandeliers, a dazzling array of LED lighting fi...
NYC Issues Indoor Masking Advisory Due Concerns over Omicron Variant
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty As news about the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 pandemic has many alarmed, New York City health officials have issued a new health advisory recommending people wear masks indoors and in public settings. NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi and Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the concerns at the daily press conference held by the Mayor’s Office on Monday (November 29th). They said that while there has been no detection of cases caused by the new variant in the five boroughs, there is some worry that it could add to the recent uptick in cases in the city. The announced mask advisory stops short of a full mandate. In addition to the advisory, the mayor extended the vaccination mandate for public educators to the 102,000 who w...
Meet Nebula, Manhattan’s Biggest Nightclub to Open Since 2020
Something big is coming to New York City’s 10036. The biggest, actually, since before the pandemic. This weekend, a brand new nightclub called Nebula will open in the heart of Times Square with performances from GORDO (Carnage’s house music alias) and Purple Disco Machine. It will be the largest nightlife space to open in the city for over a year. Featuring a 5,500-square foot dance floor and a moving ceiling built out with video panels, the venue’s specs are practically unmatched when it comes to Manhattan nightlife. And, with a maximum capacity of only 700 people, clubbers should be able to avoid being packed like sardines. Also taking the stage at Nebula this month will be Malaa on October 28th and Camelphat on October 30th. The club...
Skrillex Announces Rare Show at Brooklyn’s Avant Gardner
Taking a bite out of one of New York City’s most beloved concert venues, Skrillex is officially returning to The Big Apple. The dubstep legend is primed for a rare October 27th performance in the Great Hall at Avant Gardner, which the club’s operators have dubbed “the quintessential Brooklyn warehouse venue.” It’ll be the first time he’s performed in New York City since 2017, according to Avant Gardner’s announcement, which also revealed Wax Motif and Noodles as support. Back in August 2017 Skrillex gave Webster Hall a proper sendoff, headlining the last-ever club night of the fabled New York nightlife venue. The event was an end of an era of sorts, and has grown in legend to be considered one of the venue’s most memo...
