Thousands of police officers from across the New York metropolitan area and beyond gathered at the Parkchester Jame Masjid on Virginia Avenue on Thursday, July 31, to pay their respects and say goodbye to slain Police Officer Didarul Islam, 36, a Bangladeshi American immigrant, father of two, with another baby on the way, who was promoted to detective first grade by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch during the service.

As reported, police said Islam was one of four people killed by gunman, Shane Tamura, 27, from Las Vegas who carried out the killings using an assault rifle which he carried inside 345 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on Monday, July 28, and who reportedly had mental health issues. Police said Tamura later turned the gun on himself and also died. Islam’s body had been transferred from Midtown to Parkchester on Tuesday, July 29, as reported, as New Yorkers reacted to the shocking events and Gov. Kathy Hochul and others called again for a nationwide ban on assault rifles.

On Thursday, members of the Bangladeshi community from Parkchester, Norwood, and elsewhere joined thousands of other residents as police officers flooded the surrounding streets of Islam’s local mosque, and several NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) trucks blocked nearby intersections. Tisch had previously served as DSNY Commissioner.

In addition to Tisch, elected officials in attendance included Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), who represents parts of the West Bronx and northern Manhattan, and Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who represents a large section of The Bronx stretching from the northwest to the south.

Also seen were Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and City Councilman Dr. Yousef Salaam (C.D 9) who represents parts of Harlem and is one of the Exonerated Five having spent between several years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Addressing the congregation, Hochul said in part, “Today our hearts are broken. The dam is searing.” Referring to Islam’s relatives, she said, “They’re a family that expected to see their beloved son, husband, father for many more dinners, birthdays and life celebrations, but because of a madman who traveled a thousand miles with such evil in his heart to come and destroy all that is good about New York City.”

For his part, the mayor, a former police officer, said in part, “This murder and the murder of others who were in the building, it cut me to my core. I spent my entire life defending and fighting for innocent people of this city, and each death I take personal because as a mayor, I am responsible for the safety of New Yorkers.”

For her part, Tisch said of Islam, “He stepped into a new land and chose to become part of its promise to believe in its dream, and he did believe in the American dream, not as something handed down, but as something built with your own hands.”

She continued, “Didarul Islam came to this country as an immigrant with no guarantees, only the hope that hard work, that humility, that purpose might lead him somewhere meaningful and it did. He earned the respect of his peers. He believed in this department. With only four years on the job, he did the work of a cop with twice that time, and in a command where the work never slowed.”

The commissioner said in addition to his work assignment in Midtown Manhattan on the day he was killed, Islam had been on duty the previous day at the Bronx Dominican Day Parade, a day which proved very challenging for the NYPD due to several shootings reported after the parade. Such was the number of violent incidents on the day, when contacted by Norwood News on Monday, the NYPD press office said they had to be provided with a specific time and location before they could share details of each incident.

At times sounding almost defiant on Islam’s behalf in the wake of Monday’s tragedy, Tisch added, “But no matter what this job threw at him, you could count on Didar to get it done, and to get it done right, and though his journey was cut too short, the way he lived his job, with steadiness, with heart, with conviction, it reflected everything this title represents. So, today, it is my honor and my great privilege to promote Police Officer Didarul Islam to Detective First Grade.”

The congregation applauded as NYPD personnel rose to their feet. Tisch was later seen embracing one of Islam’s mourning family members. Islam’s brother-in-law, Police Officer Kamrul Hasan, who called Islam his “protector” and “best friend,” shared some memories to demonstrate their solidarity and Islam’s strength of character. “Anything, everything anybody needed, anything, they come to us,” he said. “He was helping everybody.” Hasan concluded, “On behalf of our whole family, I would like to thank everybody for coming here and staying with us and being here for us.”

In addition to public statements already made by a number of elected officials including the mayor and governor, other elected officials had also shared their reaction to the tragedy. Clark lamented what she called “yet another act of senseless gun violence with a high-powered weapon brought to the city by an allegedly mentally disturbed man.”

The district attorney added in part of Islam, “My heart goes out to his pregnant wife, sons, the members of the NYPD, and the families of all the victims. This incident is a reason I urge and advocate for mental health services in our city!”

On Tuesday, Gibson had offered her condolences and paid tribute to Islam, writing, “On behalf of our Borough, we extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the four victims of yesterday’s horrific shooting in Midtown, including one of our own, decorated Police Officer Didarul Islam of the 47th Precinct.”

A gunman with mental health issues opened fire in a central Manhattan skyscraper on Monday, killing four people including a policeman before apparently taking his own life, officials said. Mayor Eric Adams said the fallen police officer was a 36-year-old immigrant from Bangladesh.

Two other males and a female died and another man remained in a critical condition, officials said without giving any preliminary motive for the shootings.

An NFL employee was stable after being ‘seriously injured’ in the attack, ESPN reported, quoting an internal memo from league commissioner Roger Goodell. A fifth victim was in critical condition after being shot, Eric Adams told a late-night press briefing at a nearby hospital.

The gunman was caught on surveillance footage leaving a black BMW and carrying an M-4 rifle, police commissioner Jessica Tisch told the news conference.

On entering the building, he immediately opened fire on a police officer before ‘spraying the lobby’ with bullets, she said.

The gunman then took an elevator to the 33rd floor of Rudin Management, which owns the building, and continued his spree before apparently shooting himself. He was later discovered by officers next to his weapon.

The office tower block at 345 Park Avenue — home to the National Football League, hedge fund giant Blackstone, and auditor KPMG — was apparently targeted by the gunman, who is believed to have acted alone, Tisch said.

The police commissioner identified the shooter as Shane Tamura from Las Vegas and said a revolver, ammunition and magazines were found in his vehicle.

Tamura had a history of mental health issues, she said.

The incident began around 6:00pm (2200 GMT) when reports of gunfire prompted hundreds of police to swarm a busy office district on Park Avenue, an area popular with tourists and businesspeople.

A worker from a nearby office building wept as she left the area after a local lockdown was lifted. Another office worker described the gunman going floor-to-floor as staff prepared to leave for the day.

‘We lost four souls to another act of senseless violence,’ the city’s mayor said, excluding the shooter, who died by an apparently self-inflicted gunshot. CNN and NBC cited unnamed officials as saying the shooter had a grievance with the NFL and its handling of CTE, a brain condition linked to head trauma.

The gunman had a note in his pocket saying he suffered from CTE, the news channels said, quoting a source with knowledge of the investigation. Office worker Shad Sakib said that he was packing his things to leave work when a public address announcement warned him and his colleagues to shelter in place.

‘Everyone was confused with like, ‘wait, what’s going on?’ And then someone finally realised that it’s online, that someone walked in with a machine gun,’ the witness said.

‘He walked right into a building right next door. We saw the photo of him walking through the same area that I walked through to get lunch here.

‘You would think it won’t happen to you, and then it does.’

Another witness, a woman who declined to give her name as she left the vicinity of the shooting, said: ‘I was in the building. He went floor by floor.’

A second woman wept as she left the scene.

There have been 254 mass shootings in the United States this year including Monday’s incident in New York, according to the Gun Violence Archive — which defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot.

A total of 39 Bangladeshi nationals, including one woman, were deported from the United States and arrived in Dhaka today (2 August). They were flown back on a special military aircraft (C-17), which landed at 6:45am at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, an officer of the Immigration Department of the Special Branch (SB) of police confirmed to The Business Standard.

Upon their arrival, the returnees were provided with transportation assistance by Brac, while food support was arranged by the expatriates’ welfare desk, Brac Migration Programme said in a press release. Several of the deportees alleged that they were kept in handcuffs throughout the long flight from the US.

“We are not criminals. We simply sought asylum. But we were treated like dangerous prisoners,” said one of the returnees.

Commenting on the deportation, Shariful Hasan, associate director of Brac Migration Programme and Youth Platform, said, “From what we have learned, most of them had sold their homes or taken heavy loans to finance the journey — some spending as much as Tk30 to Tk40 lakh — trying to reach the US in an irregular approach through Mexico or various South American countries.”

Upon reaching the US, they applied for asylum, but their applications were rejected by the courts and immigration authorities, Shariful said, adding that the US administration later decided to deport them.

The Bangladesh Army on Thursday said that they had taken major Sadikul Islam Sadek into custody over the allegation of training Awami League men, adding that they would take necessary actions if Sadek was found guilty in the investigation. Brigadier General Md Nazim-ud-Daula, director, Military Operations Directorate at Army Headquarters, disclosed the information in response to a question at a press conference at the Officers Mess at the Dhaka cantonment over some media reports and social media posts which claimed that serving Major Sadikul was training Awami League people to create instability in the country.

‘We have taken Sadek into custody. We are investigating into the allegations. If he is proved guilty in the investigation, necessary actions would be taken against him,’ said Nazim. Replying to a question over the fighter jet crash on Milestone School and College killing at least 34 people, mostly students, he claimed that a Bangladesh Army team reached the spot first within two minutes after the incident as there was an army camp within 150-200 yards from the spot.

‘There were criticisms that bodies were concealed and teachers beaten. If any children’s bodies were concealed, parents would have come and said that their children were missing,’ he said, posing a question why the Bangladesh Army would conceal bodies and what they would benefit from concealing bodies.

Brigadier General Nazim said that all the allegations against army were rumors. Asked about the home adviser’s remarks that the army opened fire during the Gopalganj violence and the army gave protection to the National Citizen Party, he said that army used force as there was a possibility of killing leaders of a political party.

‘A high-powered government investigation committee was formed headed by a justice over the Gopalganj violence,’ he added. Remarking that the army did not give special attention to any political party, he said that the army would come forward when any citizen’s life would be at stake.

Asked about Kuki-Chin National Front buying arms from the Arakan Army in the absence of army camps along Myanmar borders in Bandarbans and KNF’s dominance in the area, he said that it was nothing abnormal about the link between the KNF and the Arakan Army considering the Arakan Army’s situation.

‘The Arakan Army and the KNF are from similar groups with allied intentions. I would not be surprised if the KNF bought arms from the Arakan Army,’ he said.

Denying the allegations of KNF control in these areas, he said that the area was under the Bangladesh Army control.

At the press briefing, Colonel Md Shafiqul Islam, colonel staff at the Army Headquarters’ Military Operations Directorate, said that they had arrested 813 people, including listed and identified crime suspects, members of teenage gangs, and robbers, and other crime suspects in the past four weeks, raising the total number of arrestees to 16,459 so far during the interim government’s tenure.

The army officer said that the Bangladesh Army had recovered 37 illegal arms and 179 rounds of bullets in the past four weeks. Thus, the army has recovered 9,729 arms out of the 12,119 looted ones and 2,87,033 rounds of bullets out of 3,90,975 looted ammunitions during the government’s tenure.

Bangladeshi companies witnessed huge responses from buyers at the ‘Texworld NYC 2025’, and the representatives of the companies were busy during the show with trade inquiries from USA and other countries. Texworld NYC, Apparel Sourcing, and Home Textiles Sourcing – the largest textile and apparel sourcing shows on the East Coast – concluded successfully at the Javits Centre in New York City, USA, from July 23 to 25, said a press release on Friday.

The event hosted over 424 international exhibitors from 26 countries and emphasized ethical sourcing, sustainable fabrics, and innovation across the textile, apparel and home textile industries. This summer’s exhibition featured a wide array of global exhibitors from major sourcing regions, offering attendees direct access to premium apparel and textiles.

From cutting-edge materials to sustainable sourcing solutions, the show floor was designed to empower industry professionals with the resources and connections needed to succeed in today’s fast-evolving global market.

Three Bangladeshi companies – 24/7 Sourcing Private Limited, GenXt International and Just James BD Ltd – took part in the exhibition, showcasing the country’s strengths in fashion apparel and denim. Their participation underscored Bangladesh’s expanding footprint in the global textile industry, driven by a strong focus on innovation, quality and cost-effective manufacturing.

Bangladeshi exhibitors presented a diverse range of fashion products and joined leading manufacturing nations such as Pakistan, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Vietnam and Sri Lanka on the global stage.

Bangladesh’s presence at Texworld NYC Summer 2025 reaffirmed its potential as a competitive and reliable sourcing destination, with a strong focus on sustainability, innovation, and high production standards.

Rakib, CEO of 24/7 Sourcing Pvt Ltd, said he was happy with the fair and glad to meet many buyers. Rizvana Hredita, CEO of GenXt International, also shared that the fair went well and they were pleased with the buyer response.

The 25th annual Colombian Day Parade was held on Sunday, July 27, between 69th Street and 89th Street in Jackson Heights. Attendees of all ages showed off their Colombian pride. Numerous Queens residents were on hand for this celebration of Colombian independence. There were also local elected officials present for the event, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, State Senator Jessica Ramos, Assemblymembers Catalina Cruz and Larinda Hooks, District Leader Hiram Monserrate and New York State Court Judge Gary Miret.

For Ramos, the parade reaching a milestone of 25 years was very important. “My dad helped found this parade 25 years ago,” Ramos said. “We have been working very hard to increase visibility for the Colombian community and to celebrate our heritage. This is a great way to end our month of celebration here in Jackson Heights.”

Over the course of the quarter-century of the parade’s existence, the Colombian Day Parade has grown to become one of the largest Hispanic parades in the New York metropolitan area.

Former New York Governor and current New York City Mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo served as the grand marshal of this year’s parade. He was chosen for the role in large part based on his history of public service to the city and the state as a whole.

The State Department began firing more than 1,350 U.S.-based employees on Friday as the administration of President Donald Trump presses ahead with an unprecedented overhaul of its diplomatic corps, a move critics say will undermine U.S. ability to defend and promote U.S. interests abroad. The layoffs, which affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States, come at a time when Washington is grappling with multiple crises on the world stage: Russia’s war in Ukraine, the almost two-year-long Gaza conflict, and the Middle East on edge due to high tension between Israel and Iran.

“The Department is streamlining domestic operations to focus on diplomatic priorities,” an internal State Department notice that was sent to the workforce said. “Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found,” it added. The total reduction in the workforce will be nearly 3,000, including the voluntary departures, according to the notice and a senior State Department official, out of the 18,000 employees based in the United States.

The move is the first step of a restructuring that Trump has sought to ensure U.S. foreign policy is aligned with his “America First” agenda. Former diplomats and critics say the firing of foreign service officers risks America’s ability to counter the growing assertiveness from adversaries such as China and Russia.

“President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio are once again making America less safe and less secure,” Democratic senator Tim Kaine from Virginia said in a statement.

“This is one of the most ridiculous decisions that could possibly be made at a time when China is increasing its diplomatic footprint around the world and establishing an overseas network of military and transportation bases, Russia is continuing its years-long brutal assault of a sovereign country, and the Middle East is careening from crisis to crisis,” Kaine said.

Dozens of State Department employees crowded the lobby of the agency’s headquarters in Washington holding an impromptu “clap-out” for their colleagues who have been fired. Dozens of people were crying, as they carried their belongings in boxes and hugged and bid farewell to friends and fellow workers.