A New York moment:

After New York last week passed a law legalizing late-term abortions and removing protections for pregnant women facing violence, the state pivoted to take a positive step on a different issue involving children this week. 

New York, with a newly empowered Democratic legislature, legalized late-term abortion on Tuesday and removed criminal penalties for botched abortions or other violence that leads to an in utero baby’s death. The sweeping law would remove the state’s ability to prosecute a Kermit Gosnell–type offender or a person who kills a child in utero through domestic abuse, for example.

A New York moment: 

Last week a longtime used book store on the Upper West Side, Westsider Books, announced it was closing. Locals were heartbroken: another cherished shop driven out by rising rents. You might have seen the bookstore at some point on the big screen. The narrow, dusty shop has appeared in movies like 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? and 2017’s Wonderstruck.

In our coverage of the drug crisis over the last few years, we’ve asked ourselves regularly: Where are churches? Why are there so few Christian resources for a crisis that is killing 72,000 Americans a year? Kristen Gunn, a woman I interviewed last year who had become dependent on benzodiazepines, told me her church was “the hardest place to talk about any of this.”

A New York moment:

A recorded message played when I called the immigration court in New York to see if hearings were happening this week: “Please be advised that due to a lapse in appropriations, court operations are limited to cases involving detained individuals. Non-detained cases will be rescheduled when the court reopens for regular operations.”

A New York moment:

I took the train last week to Brooklyn, where the federal court is holding the trial for El Chapo, aka Joaquín Guzmán, the notorious Sinaloa cartel chief worth billions. Thanks to court fees, the trial is continuing for now despite the federal government shutdown. But the lawyers prosecuting Guzmán and the U.S. marshals providing heavy security for the case are working without pay.

A New York moment:

A rainy New Year’s Eve in Times Square went without a hitch thanks to tight New York Police Department security. We likely will never know the full extent of the NYPD’s security operation for this celebration that brings tens of thousands of people to Times Square each year, but at a press conference the department’s leaders shared a peek at how they do their work.