The New York Post covers that defined 2021

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The New York Post covers that defined 2021

Natalie O'Neill

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Dec 31, 2021

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Robert De Niro claimed in April that he was being worked to the bone to keep up with his estranged wife’s extravagant lifestyle. The acting legend was “forced to work at this prodigious pace” to satisfy Grace Hightower’s shopping sprees and jewelry — including $1 million-plus diamond rings, according to his lawyer.

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Former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in the death George Floyd during a May 2020 arrest that sparked nationwide protests. Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on April 20.

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After months of scandals that plagued his administration, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in August that he would resign rather than mount a defense against sexual harassment allegations. “I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside,” Cuomo said.

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Taliban fighters took over Kabul as Afghans and foreign nationals scrambled to flee the country on Aug. 15. The militants seized power after Joe Biden pulled US troops out of the country, rendering the US’ 20 years in the nation all but useless.

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President Joe Biden stumbled in his first press briefing on Afghanistan’s fall to the Taliban, falsely claiming no Americans had had trouble getting to the chaotic Kabul to flee. He also insisted that al Qaeda was “gone” from Afghanistan and that allies weren’t upset about the US’ pullout.

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A total of 13 US service members were killed by an ISIS-affiliated suicide bomber outside the Kabul airport while helping to oversee the US-led evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghan allies on Aug. 26. Victims included 11 Marines, one Navy corpsman and one Army soldier.

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President Biden came under fire in August for glancing at his watch during a solemn ceremony honoring the lives of the 13 American heroes killed in the Kalbul airport terror attack.

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The man Jussie Smollett paid to help him stage a hate crime told jurors the “Empire” actor instructed him to “fake beat him up.” Abimbola Osundairo, 28, testified in December that Smollet told him to yell “MAGA!” and “pull the punch” without actually hurting him in January 2019.

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Just weeks before Christmas, a vagrant known to cops for having a lengthy rap sheet set ablaze the Fox News Christmas tree on a tourist-packed corner near Rockefeller Center in Manhattan. Craig Tamanaha, 49, was busted for arson then quickly freed due to bail reform laws.

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Jussie Smollett was convicted of staging a hate crime in an attempt to raise his public profile nearly three years after he claimed two Trump-boosting bigots beat him up and tied a noose around his neck. The 39-year-old actor was found guilty of five of six counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

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Inflation in the US soared to its worst rate in 39 years at a rate of nearly 7 percent — a surge not seen since the Reagan administration.

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Nearly 80 people were killed and countless homes destroyed when tornadoes tore across six states, including Kentucky and Arkansas on Dec. 11. The twisters leveled two towns, destroying a candle factory and ripped the roof off an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.

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Post columnist David Marcus writes that excessive measures in enacted by gubernatorial despots in the country’s bluest states have caused the US to make the same COVID-19 mistakes over and over.

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At age 43, Tom Brady led Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. The win came during his first NFL season after leaving the New England Patriots.

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Eric Adams won the Democratic nomination in the race to replace Mayor Bill de Blasio in July — eking out a narrow victory in the ranked-choice primary. The Big Apple’s mayor elect emerged ahead of Kathryn Garcia, 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent.

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Nearly 3.5 million Americans were still on state unemployment benefits as inflation soared in June.

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A 10-year-old girl and her brother were trampled and nearly shot in June when their trip to buy candy became a stunning look at the city’s escalating gun violence.

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Pop star Britney Spears broke her silence over her dad’s conservatorship — telling an Los Angeles judge, “I just want my life back.” She added, “I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK.”

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A 12-story apartment building collapsed and “pancaked” near Miami in June — killing a total of 98 people and prompting a massive search and rescue effort.

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At least eight people died and scores more were injured when a stampede broke out during opening night of rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Texas in November.

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Hunter Biden finally showed up at the Manhattan art gallery where his novice paintings are being offered for up to $500,000 — amid concerns about influence-peddling by the president’s son.

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Rioters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, smashing through police barricades and breaching the Senate floor after a rally in which President Donald Trump claimed the 2020 election was stolen. csuarez

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President Joe Biden was sworn in as president and took office on Jan. 20 — then quickly rescinded several of President Trump’s executive orders. Kamala Harris became America’s first female vice president. csuarez

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Investors drove up the price of previously unloved stocks such as GameStop in January, costing some investors billions of dollars. csuarez

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Bruce Springsteen was arrested for DWI and reckless driving in New Jersey in February — days after he appeared in a much-hyped Super Bowl commercial for Jeep. csuarez

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A third woman came forward to accuse Gov. Andrew Cuomo of inappropriate sexual behavior in March, saying he grabbed and kissed her at a 2019 wedding. “I was so confused and shocked,” Anna Ruch said.

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At least 21 children died in street violence in the Big Apple by October 2021 — more than triple the number for the same period in both 2019 and 2020, the Post found.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland said he’d look into getting the FBI involved after school board members called parents “domestic terrorists” for complaining about mask mandates and critical race theory.

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A man plunged nine stories from a high-rise in Jersey City, New Jersey, landed on a BMW — and miraculously survived.

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Actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and injured a director with a prop gun on the Santa Fe, New Mexico set of the film “Rust” in October.

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The Big Apple was hit by flash flooding in September that submerged subway stations in water and turned stairwells into wild waterfalls, prompting Mayor de Blasio to declare a state of emergency.

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Yankees legend Derek Jeter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in September. “There was only one thing in my life that I wanted to be, and that was the shortstop for the New York Yankees. Now, I’m a Yankee forever,” he said.

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The relatives of those slaughtered in the terror attacks of September 11 were serenaded by rocker Bruce Springsteen as they gathered to honor their lost loved ones on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.

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The family of missing Long Island native Gabby Petito accused her boyfriend’s family of withholding information on her whereabouts, slamming their silence as “infuriating.”

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Despite the Biden administration claiming that more than 10,000 illegal immigrants at a makeshift migrant camp in Texas were being deported, they were in fact released into the United States on a “very large scale,” officials said.

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