&Quot;New York City&Quot;

Does a viral image show the Sail4th250 tall ships Independence Day parade in New York Harbor on July 4, 2026? No, that's not true: Despite claiming to show one of the real vessels, the picture was "completely fabricated", a representative of the event organizer told Lead Stories. It was an AI-generated image. The claim appeared in a post (archived here)…

Was New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani barred from Katz's Deli in New York? No, that's not true: The story originated on a Facebook page known for its satirical content, which carries the warning "Nothing on this page is real." The image supporting the claim is stamped with a warning label that says the same thing. The claim appeared in…

Did New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani only put Iran's flag on New York subway trains? No, that's not true: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which serves New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut, decorated trains to represent each of the 48 countries competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Each train features the colors of a competing…

Does a viral video show a real robbery attempt of a pregnant woman on the New York City subway? No, that's not true: The video contains hallmark signs of AI. Three online detectors confirmed that the clip is a product of generative AI. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X by @princeayyo on June 29, 2026. The…

Does a video show people in New York shooting fireworks along the ground during the 2026 NBA Finals? No, that's not true: The video is from a 2024 protest in the European country of Georgia and not from New York City following the Knicks' win against the Spurs on June 10, 2026. The video was published by international news outlets…

Does a viral image show a real journalistic article saying that Melania Trump used to work as a recreational drug seller at a New York City gay bar in the 1990s? No, that's not true: The writers named in the shared byline did not work together in 2021, the year the article claims to have been published. Lead Stories found…

Does an unaltered photo show the true height difference between Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter? No, that's not true: The photo of Swift and Carpenter together in New York City has been digitally edited. The edit did not alter the size of either singer in the original photo but achieved the illusion by shifting Carpenter's position on the sidewalk. Originally…

Does a real photo show Melania Trump and Ghislaine Maxwell posing with three young women whose faces have been redacted? No, that's not true: This fake photo was made to look like a Polaroid photo from 1998. The high resolution fake image was featured as a clickbait thumbnail for a YouTube video, with black redactions as if it originated from…

Does a real photo of Zohran Mamdani as a child with his mother Nora Nair and Jeffrey Epstein prove the new mayor of New York City is Epstein's illegitimate child? No, that's not true: The image, which includes Ghislaine Maxwell, former President Bill Clinton and Bill Gates, was made with an artificial intelligence tool. It originated on a parody account…

Were Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein photographed with Mira Nair holding her baby son, Zohran Mamdani? No, that's not true: This image is fake and was posted on X by an account carrying a parody disclaimer. The fake image has a discreet DFF watermark from the account in the place of a monogram on Bill Clinton's shirt. The parody account's…