Hotels in NYC Converted to Immigrant Housing

Shuttered hotels are opening in New York City, but it’s not because of a wave of tourism.

Thousands of immigrants are headed to the Big Apple thanks to the surge at the Mexican border, and the city is mandated by law to provide shelter to asylum seekers.

The Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan is an example of a once-closed establishment that has a sudden and lucrative source of revenue—immigrants arriving in town with no place to stay.

A representative from a Holiday Inn in Manhattan (once closed but now reopened) says that renting rooms to the city brings in “substantially more revenue” than normal operations.

Western Powers Send More Firepower to Ukraine

The presidents of France and Ukraine held a surprise meeting in Paris over the weekend.

The top item on the agenda? Military aid. France is joining Germany and the U.S. in providing additional weapons and training for Ukraine’s coming offensive.

Tanks, artillery, ammunition, and cash are flowing toward Ukraine as Western nations continue to fuel the resistance against Russia’s invasion without placing their uniformed soldiers in the conflict.

In the U.S., GOP Senators Susan Collins and Lindsay Graham pushed Defense Secretary Llyod last week to deliver deadly Abrams tanks as quickly as possible.

Celtics Blow by 76ers in NBA Playoffs

Boston Celtics all-star Jason Tatum scored 51 points against Philadelphia—the most ever scored in game 7 of a playoff series—and sent his team to the Eastern Conference Finals yet again.

The 76ers’ season ended with disappointing performances from its star players: league MVP Joel Embiid and James Harden combined for just 24 points.

"It's a movie," Tatum’s teammate Marcus Smart said about watching his teammate dominate the game. "It's a big movie. Being able to just sit back, eat your popcorn and watch."

The Celtics will now try to punch their ticket to The Finals against the Miami Heat.

➤ Ron DeSantis took advantage of Donald Trump’s canceled rally in Des Moines, Iowa, and made a timely appearance near the rally’s planned location. The 2024 hopeful took questions and said that governing is “not about entertaining or building a brand or talking on social media. It is about winning and producing results.” (More)

➤ Turkey’s authoritarian president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is locked in a close election with challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Erdogan’s competition has focused his campaign on the struggling economy and the government’s culpability for and response to the recent earthquake disaster that shook the nation. (More)

➤ James Comer (R-KY) hints that the informant for the recent whistle-blowing against the Bidens may be missing. The information pointed to influence-peddling abroad while Joe Biden was the Vice President. (Watch)

➤ A Russian news outlet is reporting that four Russian military planes were shot down over the weekend—including two advanced fighters and two attack helicopters. The attack was apparently a well-timed ambush that took down all four aircraft quickly. (More)

➤ GOP Senators have introduced a bill that would ban taxpayer-funded drag shows. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) calls the practice “a threat to our national security and gross misuse of taxpayer funds.” (More)

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➤ Car owner Rick Hendrick had a strong message for Ross Chastain after he caused yet another wreck for Kyle Larson. “If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back.” He also noted that it’s “tough to win a championship” when you make enemies on the track. (More)

➤ Ja Morant recently completed his NBA suspension and apology tour for brandishing a gun inside a Denver nightclub during a social media live-stream. Shortly after an interview with Jalen Rose in which he promised to make better decisions, Morant appeared in another live-stream—waiving around a handgun. He’s likely to face a long suspension. (More)

➤ WNBA player Brittany Griner played in her first game since being imprisoned for 10 months in Russia. Griner said that the national anthem before the game “hit different” and that it felt like the Olympics. She previously criticized the playing of the national anthem before WNBA games. (More)

Market Report   Previous Week

➤ Only 58.5 of Americans paid for live TV subscriptions during Q1. That’s the lowest number since 1992, and it’s almost certainly due to the popularity of streaming services like Netflix. (More)

➤ The developers of the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, set a record for a post-rake-hike loan: $340 million to complete the luxury condos. (More)

➤ Twitter has confirmed that its new CEO will be Linda Yaccarino. She’s a veteran advertising executive who will be expected to return advertiser dollars to the platform. (More)

➤ Google’s Magic Editor allows users to shift objects within photos and uses AI to populate the uncovered backgrounds. (Watch)

➤ An antenna was jammed for weeks on a European Space Agency craft headed for Jupiter, but flight controllers were able to jar it loose. (More)

➤ A Florida man has set the record for the longest consecutive days lived without coming above the sea’s surface. He’s been down there for 75 days and is aiming for 100. (More)

➤ Poker legend Doyle Brunson died at the age of 89. He’s known as the Godfather of Poker and leaves behind a long legacy of winning, teaching, and making the game popular. (More)

➤ A TikTok trend has caused Fruit Roll-Ups to fly off the shelves in Israel and created an underground market for the treats. Americans were caught smuggling 720 pounds of them into the country. (More)

Today’s Trivia

A baseball game in 1939 was the first athletic event to be broadcast on live TV in America. Which two teams were playing?