Julie Menin speaks at the 40th Annual Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Jan. 19, 2026 in New York City. (Natasha Moustache/Getty Images)

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What you need to know today

• NYC is funding a Cornell Tech project tied to Israel’s Technion. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and other officials announced on Wednesday a $250,000 investment in a Cornell Tech initiative aimed at expanding the city’s tree coverage, the Jerusalem News Syndicate reported. Cornell Tech is a partnership between Cornell University in Ithaca and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, said during his mayoral campaign that he would reassess the partnership if he were elected.

• Satmar leaders met with Mamdani at City Hall. Rabbi Moishe Indig, a Satmar Hasidic leader who endorsed Mamdani during the mayoral race, said he discussed community safety issues in the meeting alongside Rabbi David Niederman on Thursday. “Zohran Mamdani has been a staunch friend of our community and will continue to be so in the future,” Indig said on X. 

• Temple Emanu-El is adding a new home. The Upper East Side synagogue announced it will open Emanu-El Downtown, a new permanent location in Chelsea for young families. This space, launching ahead of the High Holidays, will host Shabbat and holiday celebrations, a religious school, early childhood education and life-cycle events including baby namings and b’nai mitzvah.

• “Gay Shabbat” is celebrating its third birthday. The queer Jewish group will open its party to non-Jewish and non-queer guests tonight at Jolene Sound Room in Williamsburg at 8 p.m.