Thirty days into the government shutdown, and for the first time in weeks, there’s a faint glimmer of hope cutting through the fog in Washington — senators are actually talking again, which in itself feels like breaking news. But as D.C. tries to find its way out of the darkness, the rest of the country is feeling the changing times in more ways than one: from job cuts and media shakeups, to familiar faces suddenly “gone in a flash.” And speaking of flashes — according to new research, the average American spends more than a third of their paycheck within the first twelve hours of getting it. Twelve hours! Some people don’t even finish celebrating payday before their bank account’s already crying for help.

In the headlines on #TheUpdate this Thursday, we continue our coverage of The Road To City Hall. With 5 days to go until the general election, it’s time for a brief history lesson. In 1977, at the tail end of another bruising battle for New York City mayor, Mario Cuomo publicly spoke up against bigoted remarks leveled at his opponent. Almost 50 years later, his son is taking a different approach. Meanwhile, Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber hit the brakes on mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s key campaign promise to provide free buses across the Big Apple — criticizing the plan as half-baked and much more expensive than proposed.

It’s a Central Park-ing lot! A recreational trail in Central Park meant for joggers and horseback riders has been taken over by city workers using it as a parking lot — with and without official government placards.

And in New Orleans, Immigration authorities did not receive word of a court order blocking the removal of a man living in Alabama until after he had been deported to Laos, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security say, dismissing claims that officials violated the order.