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Obama center opens after years-long saga as locals warn ‘monstrosity’ could price them out
Obama Presidential Center slammed as ‘architectural abomination’
‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ co-hosts express strong disapproval of the Obama Presidential Center’s design and execution. They label the Chicago-based project an ‘architectural abomination’ and the ‘ugliest monstrosity’ seen, highlighting local residents’ initial opposition.
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The Obama Presidential Center is opening to the public on Friday morning following an expensive and controversy-laden construction history.
Former President Barack Obama’s presidential center was initially estimated to cost $350 million; however, after a slate of setbacks and delays, the price of the project has more than doubled to a staggering $850 million. As construction was ongoing in Chicago, the center faced an array of controversies, including opposition from locals, anger over the use of tax dollars to support surrounding infrastructure, critiques of the building’s design, alleged failure to pay contractors and even a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.
Unlike a traditional presidential library, the Obama Presidential Center is designed as a broader civic campus, with a museum, public plaza, forum, Chicago Public Library branch, recreation space, gardens and community programming.
«It’s a monstrosity. It’s over budget, it’s taking way too long to finish and it’s going to drive up prices and bring headaches and problems for everyone who lives here,» one Chicago resident who grew up in the area near the campus’ location told the Daily Mail. «It feels like a washing away of the neighborhood and culture that used to be here.»
CHICAGO RESIDENTS CALL OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER A ‘MONSTROSITY,’ FEAR THEY’LL BE DISPLACED: REPORT
The Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side will open this week. (Fox Flight Team)
One of the most prominent lines of criticism levied against the new presidential center was that its construction materially harmed those it was seeking to serve.
Beyond its museum exhibits and planned displays of presidential records and artifacts, the Obama Presidential Center features prominent exhibits on slavery, racism, the civil rights movement and African American history. Additionally, the Obama Foundation wanted the center to be a boon for the local community, billing it as an «economic engine for South Side residents.»
To accomplish this, the center prioritized locals for contracting and staffing while also promising to provide workforce development services to surrounding communities.
These moves, however, were not enough to assuage the concerns of some residents that the racial justice-infused center would ultimately displace many predominantly Black American locals by increasing the value of nearby lots, thereby raising rents and driving up property taxes.
Former President Barack Obama reacts as he leaves 10 Downing Street in London following a meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on March 18, 2024. (Adrian Dennis/Getty Images)
OBAMA’S LEGACY PROJECT OFFERS LITTLE HOPE FOR CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE RESIDENTS
«What we got was a lease saying you have to pay $2,450 a month to stay in your home,» a lifelong resident of a neighborhood near the center told the Chicago Sun-Times, recounting how his rent had gone up after construction began. «My home that they had let fall into disrepair, my home that they had decided wasn’t worth caring for. So we had to move … our beautiful Black beach neighborhood was no longer ours to enjoy.»
Numerous residents have shared similar stories with the press, prompting Chicago to set aside $6 million to develop affordable housing in the area and providing residents with property tax relief.
Further complicating the Obama Presidential Center’s mission of racial justice was a lawsuit filed by a local subcontractor against one of the firms managing its construction in early 2025.
OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama join Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Sept. 28, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
One African American-owned concrete and rebar company working on the project alleged that the company overseeing structural engineering and design on the Obama Presidential Center unfairly singled out black-owned firms for errors.
The lawsuit alleged that those in charge of the presidential library’s construction «directly undermined the Obama Foundation’s DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) goals and commitments and mission to bring transformative change to the construction industry and local community,» a claim that was strongly denied by management.
Management argued that many of the subcontractors were «questionably qualified» and that they regularly underperformed or displayed inexperience, factors that contributed to the presidential library’s ballooning costs. The Obama Foundation emphasized hiring black-owned businesses when seeking out subcontractors for its center.
PROTESTERS RAGED, CRITICS MOCKED — NOW OBAMA SAYS HIS LIBRARY’S ACTUALLY OPENING
An Obama Foundation banner is displayed at the Obama Presidential Center construction site in Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois, on Oct. 18, 2022.
In yet another snag, many subcontractors who worked on the center are claiming that they have yet to be paid for their work on the Obama Presidential Center.
A Fox News Digital investigation previously identified multiple firms that say they haven’t received payments, with outstanding invoices ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions.
«I haven’t had eight hours or six hours sleep in over a year,» one African American subcontractor told Fox News Digital. «I’m cooked emotionally. I feel like an aluminum can that’s been thrown in front of a steamroller. We’re crushed. And I have to fight for my company and for my people.»
When pressed by Fox News Digital, the Obama Foundation passed the blame onto Lakeside Alliance, its primary contractor, stating that it was responsible for handling payments to subcontractors. Lakeside Alliance, meanwhile, said projects of this size are complex matters and that it is working to resolve all loose ends.
«That’s a bad signal to put out the fact that seven to eight to maybe 10 of our contractors in our community are going to be eliminated from doing business because of the debt that they incurred on this particular project,» Omar Shareef, the president of the African American Contractors Association, previously told Fox News Digital. «If they would have known it was a Trojan horse or a Pandora’s box, I don’t know if they would have raced as much as they did to be a part of it.»
Fox News Digital could not independently verify claims that firms had been forced to shutter due to their work on the Obama Presidential Center.
OBAMA CENTER TAKES HEAT AS CRITICS CRY FOUL OVER ID RULES FOR FREE ENTRY — WHILE DEMS BLAST VOTER ID LAWS
A view of the Obama Presidential Center from a nearby roadway in Chicago. (Michael Dorgan/Fox News Digital)
While most of the Obama Presidential Center’s rocky history was privately funded, taxpayers were on the hook for the infrastructure surrounding it.
Illinois has so far spent over $120 million on infrastructure improvements in South Chicago to accommodate the presidential center, with the total public cost estimated to reach around $200 million.
Even with roughly $1 billion spent on its construction and design, the appearance of the Obama Presidential Center has proven controversial, drawing comparisons to everything from a maximum security prison to a garbage can.
OBAMA DRAGGED FOR ‘HEADACHE’-INDUCING PRESIDENTIAL CENTER UPDATE THAT HAS VISITORS SQUINTING
Work continues on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Jan. 13, 2026, featuring former President Obama’s speech marking the 50th anniversary of «Bloody Sunday» inscribed on the building’s side. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
«The building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters,» The Guardian’s architecture critic wrote of the structure.
One person dubbed it the «Obamalisk.»
Some, however, have pushed back on these critiques.
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«Today’s punchline may become tomorrow’s civic treasure,» Justin Kaufmann, writing for Axios Chicago, said. He pointed to the center’s blending of modern architecture with the design language of classic civic buildings.
The Obama Presidential Center did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.
chicago, barack obama, housing, taxes, illinois
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DOJ warns former red state is becoming the next California as governor embraces ICE limits
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is warning that Virginia risks becoming «the next California» in the Trump administration’s fight against resistance to federal immigration enforcement after filing a new lawsuit last week.
«We are suing Virginia to prevent Virginia from becoming the next sanctuary jurisdiction, just like California,» DOJ Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Brett Shumate told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview.
The lawsuit, first shared with Fox News Digital earlier in June, argues Virginia is violating the Constitution by trying to regulate federal law enforcement operations, including restrictions on agents’ masks, identification requirements and conditions on local cooperation with ICE.
«Under our Constitution, the states do not get to regulate or dictate how the federal government performs its duties, and that is especially the case when it comes to law enforcement. Virginia passed two bills in this newest session, one that restricts the ability of law enforcement officers to wear facial coverings and requires officers, federal agents, to wear identification badges,» said Shumate.
FIRST ON FOX: DOJ SUES SPANBERGER’S VIRGINIA OVER LAWS KNEECAPPING FEDERAL AGENTS AS MASK WAR ESCALATES
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
He said the other bill «restricts cooperation agreements between local law enforcement agencies, like sheriffs, and ICE to voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.»
The lawsuit names Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones and left-wing Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano — who was previously backed by groups connected to George Soros.
While DOJ has not heard back from state officials, Shumate shared that the department feels confident about the previous case due to precedent.
FEDERAL COURT BLOCKS NEWSOM’S BID TO SHACKLE ICE IN TRUMP IMMIGRATION WIN
A redistricting failure is another headache for newly-elected Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
«We brought a nearly identical lawsuit against California earlier this year, and we won that case,» he said.
In April, a federal appeals court handed the Trump administration a legal victory over Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. The court blocked California from requiring federal immigration agents to display identification during operations.
He says they are asserting the same legal theory in this case.
NEWSOM ON COURTROOM COLLISION COURSE WITH TRUMP OVER ICE MASK BAN
Anti-ICE agitators attempted to block vehicles from leaving the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday night. (FreedomNewsTV)
«Under the Constitution, the Supremacy Clause in particular, the states do not get to regulate or discriminate against the federal government,» said Shumate. «That’s exactly what Virginia has done. They have attempted to regulate how the federal goes about its business. They do not have the authority to do that under the constitution.»
The two Virginia laws are set to take effect July 1 and Shumate shared the DOJ plans to move quickly to a district court judge to enjoin these laws from taking effect. Virginia was previously a solidly red state, voting for Republicans in nearly every presidential election for decades before shifting to the left in the last roughly 20 years.
«We will be filing very quickly in the district Court in Virginia to seek an injunction to stop these laws from taking effect, which these laws have criminal penalties that put federal agents at risk, not only of criminal prosecution, but also at risk of doxing and harassment,» he added.
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ICE has defended the practice of agents concealing their identities during operations, saying last summer as Trump’s intensifying immigration crackdown prompted anti-ICE protests and riots that rhetoric on the left had caused a spike in «threats and assaults against [agents’] families.»
Shumate shared the department is looking at several bills in other states that are considering mask restrictions.
«Any state that’s considering passing this type of bill is on notice that we will file a lawsuit and we will ask for an injunction to block those laws from taking effect,» said Shumate.
virginia, justice department, immigration, california, sanctuary cities
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces potential leadership challenge from newly-elected Andy Burnham
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Andy Burnham has officially won his special election and regained a seat in Parliament, setting him up to challenge the deeply unpopular Keir Starmer as the leader of the Labour party and as prime minister.
Burnham, currently the mayor of Greater Manchester in northwest England, won a seat in Makerfield and came away with 55% of the vote in a field of more than a dozen candidates, according to The Associated Press. The runner-up was Rob Kenyon of Reform UK, a right-wing populist party, who received more than 9,000 fewer votes than Burnham.
Burnham last served as a member of Parliament in 2017 but strongly implied in his victory speech that he is returning with the intention to lead the United Kingdom.
«Everyone knows that politics isn’t working. Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point,» he said, according to the AP. «This result will bring about a country that works fairly for everywhere and for everybody.»
TRUMP ALLY NIGEL FARAGE DEALS MAJOR BLOW TO STARMER IN LOCAL UK ELECTIONS AS RESIGNATION CALLS MOUNT
Britain’s Labour party candidate Andy Burnham speaks to supporters after the Makerfield by-election in Ashton in Makerfield, England, on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Jon Super/AP)
This special election, called by-elections in Britain, was unusually significant because the area’s Labour MP, Josh Simons, intentionally resigned to allow Burnham to win the seat and pursue leadership.
The potentially outsized impact of this election was juxtaposed with the strange scene that unfolded when all the candidates gathered on Friday morning to hear the results. Burnham stood in between an independent candidate dressed in a fox costume and another candidate known as «Count Binface».
As his name suggests, «Count Binface,» whose real name is Jonathan David Harvey, was wearing a trash can on his head and regularly runs in U.K. elections to advocate for increased voter turnout.
Starmer congratulated Burnham in a social media post on X, saying voters «chose Labour’s campaign of hope and optimism over division and hate.»
When asked about Burnham’s intentions to oust him as leader, Starmer said he will fight to remain prime minister, a position he has held for nearly two years.
«I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that,» Starmer told reporters.
Labour party candidate Andy Burnham, center, stands with other candidates on the podium at the Edge Wigan, awaiting the Makerfield by-election result announcement in Wigan, England, on Friday, June 19, 2026. (Jon Super/AP)
AS EPSTEIN-LINKED APPOINTMENT SPARKS BACKLASH, UK PM STARMER FACES PARTY REVOLT AMID RESIGNATION CALLS
Starmer led the Labour party to a landslide victory in July 2024 and ever since, his popularity has been eroding thanks to a persistently high cost of living, an anemic economy and a scandal over his willingness to accept gifts from wealthy donors.
Last September, Starmer was slammed for appointing Peter Mandelson as the British ambassador to the United States, when it was known as early as 2019 that Mandelson had a friendship with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Following an enormous public backlash, Mandelson was quickly dismissed from his post.
With Starmer as leader, Labour is increasingly losing liberal-minded voters to the Green Party, while also facing stronger challenges by Reform UK, a Nigel Farage-led party that advocates against mass migration and in favor of tighter border controls. Farage, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said he was disappointed by Burnham’s victory.
Burnham is expected to head to London to be sworn in as soon as Monday. Under the British parliamentary system, the governing party can hold leadership elections in the middle of the term. The winner of such a contest can become prime minister without there having to be a national election.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer awaits Switzerland’s Federal President Guy Parmelin on the sidelines of the G7 summit, in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026 (Isabel Infantes/Pool Reuters via AP)
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Under Labour rules, a lawmaker can challenge the leader if they win the backing of a fifth of their party’s members in the House of Commons. Burnham has enough lawmakers on board to trigger a leadership contest, according to a report from The New Statesman.
According to the AP, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said Burnham and Starmer will «have a conversation about what comes next» in the next few days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
united kingdom, elections, politics
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Tragedia en Central Park: un turista de 18 años murió al caer de un carruaje luego de que un caballo saliera desbocado
Un adolescente que viajaba como turista murió el miércoles por la tarde cuando el caballo que tiraba del carruaje en el que viajaba se asustó y salió al galope por Central Park.
Todo comenzó cerca de la fuente de Cherry Hill, en el parque, el cochero se detuvo para tomar una foto familiar a Romanch Mahajan, de 18 años, a sus padres y a su hermano pequeño. El conductor se alejó del carruaje rojo y blanco para encuadrar la foto, dijo Deepak Mahajan, el padre de Romanch.
En un instante, el caballo se desbocó. Se subió a la vereda y se metió en el césped, acelerando sin control, con el conductor corriendo detrás.
“Gritábamos: ‘¡Ayuda, ayuda!’”, dijo Mahajan. La familia se aferró desesperadamente unos a otros, pero cuando la mujer de Mahajan, Priya, se cayó del carruaje, Romanch saltó para intentar ayudarla, contó él.
“Mi hijo, solo para salvar a su madre, se cayó”, dijo Mahajan, de 44 años. “Gritaba: ‘¡Mamá!’”.
Romanch se golpeó la cabeza contra el suelo y se quedó inmóvil. Romanch Mahajan junto a su familia. (Foto: The New York Times).
Murió el miércoles por la noche en el NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. El resto de la familia salió ileso, aunque su carruaje chocó contra otro y se volcó, haciéndose añicos.
El accidente, que ocurrió sobre las 14:45, fue el último de una larguísima serie de percances relacionados con los caballos de los carruajes.
El sindicato que representa a los cocheros, los conductores de este tipo de transporte, dijo que esto nunca debería haber pasado.
“Parece que el cochero estaba al menos a un brazo de distancia de su caballo”, dijo Alexander Kemp, vicepresidente del sindicato Transport Workers Union Local 100, en un comunicado. “Esto es inaceptable. Un cochero no debe bajarse del carruaje para hacer fotos, nunca. Apoyamos que se lleve a cabo una investigación exhaustiva”.
Romanch Mahajan murió en el accidente del carruaje. (Foto: gentileza WNYW).
Dijo que el caballo, un ejemplar de 7 años llamado Sampson que parecía no haber sufrido lesiones, llevaba solo seis semanas trabajando en el parque y pidió que se le retirará del servicio. El propietario del carruaje suspendió al cochero de forma indefinida, añadió Kemp. Un agente de las fuerzas del orden, que pidió permanecer en el anonimato para hablar de una investigación en curso, identificó al cochero como Ertan Gokdepe, de Queens.
El accidente provocó de inmediato nuevos llamamientos por parte de defensores de los animales, funcionarios y la asociación Central Park Conservancy -que gestiona el parque- para prohibir los carruajes en el parque. Hay más de 100 caballos de carruaje en Manhattan.
“No podemos permitir que esto se trate como un incidente aislado más”, dijo en un comunicado el concejal Christopher Marte, que presentó un proyecto de ley para prohibir los carruajes a finales del año que viene. “El Ayuntamiento debe actuar con la urgencia que exige esta tragedia”.
La presidenta del Ayuntamiento, Julie Menin, anunció el miércoles por la noche que el Ayuntamiento debatirá el proyecto de ley de Marte el mes que viene.
La asociación de conservación del parque dijo que se habían producido ocho “incidentes relacionados con caballos” en el parque o en sus alrededores desde mayo de 2025, incluido uno el mes pasado en el que un caballo chocó contra otro carruaje y provocó que este volcara, y otro en enero en el que un caballo se adentró en el carril contrario y chocó contra varios coches. La semana pasada, un caballo de carruaje llamado Deniz murió tras comer tejo japonés, una planta tóxica para los caballos, en el parque.
Tanto la asociación como NYCLASS, que lleva años luchando para acabar con el uso comercial de caballos de carruaje, dijeron que esta muerte era la primera en un accidente de carruaje tirado por caballos de la que tenían constancia.
“La semana pasada estábamos en las escaleras del Ayuntamiento diciendo que alguien iba a morir”, dijo Edita Birnkrant, directora ejecutiva de NYCLASS. “Ahora ha pasado”.
NYCLASS pidió al alcalde Zohran Mamdani, quien apoya la retirada de los caballos de los carruajes del parque, que emita una orden ejecutiva para prohibirlos de inmediato.
Mamdani calificó la muerte de “incidente horrible” en un comunicado el miércoles por la noche. “Estoy deseando trabajar con el Ayuntamiento, los sindicatos, los cocheros, los defensores del bienestar animal y los líderes de la comunidad para lograr una transición justa que proteja a los trabajadores y, al mismo tiempo, acabe de una vez por todas con los carruajes tirados por caballos en Central Park”, dijo el alcalde.
La asociación de conservación del parque, que durante mucho tiempo evitó posicionarse sobre los caballos de carruaje pero que el año pasado empezó a pedir su prohibición, dijo que estaba consternada al enterarse de la muerte de Mahajan.
“Un joven vino a disfrutar de nuestro parque y perdió la vida”, dijo la asociación en un comunicado. “Ese no es un costo aceptable para una industria anticuada que opera en medio de uno de los espacios públicos más concurridos de Estados Unidos”.
Los videos publicados en X muestran cómo el carruaje toma una curva a toda velocidad y, segundos después, choca contra otro carruaje y vuelca.
A primera hora de la tarde del miércoles, el carruaje seguía volcado en West Drive, con las ruedas delanteras arrancadas de la carrocería.
Mahajan dijo que la familia había reservado un viaje especial para celebrar la graduación de Romanch de la secundaria. El lunes, el día que llegaron a Nueva York, se enteró de que lo habían admitido en la Universidad Manipal de Jaipur, que su padre describió como una de las mejores universidades de India.
“Este incidente hay que tomárselo muy en serio”, dijo Mahajan. “Le arrebató el sueño de mi hijo”.
The New York Times, data-cc, data-cc-nyt
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