Well, it’s Monday.
It kind of seemed like we didn’t have a weekend. Given all the headlines – especially the new allegations and developments in the Gov. Andrew Cuomo situation and the Meghan Markle/Prince Harry Oprah interview – it seems kind of weird, but also oddly pertinent to say the following…
It’s International Women’s Day.
This is a global day celebrating the historical, cultural, and political achievements of women, and also a day of action in support of fighting gender inequality around the world.
International Women’s Day (IWD) has been observed since the early 1900’s – a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.
In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen. Clara Zetkin, leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, brought up the idea of a special annual day on which women would press their respective cases on a variety of issues important to them.
Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland obliged the next year, marking the day on March 19. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.
But less than a week later, on March 25, the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women – most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants – and shifted attention to workers’ rights in the U.S. The shift to March 8 occurred sometime over the next few years.
Interest in International Women’s Day has died down by 2000, but was revived in 2001 with the creation of the https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ platform. Observance is still going strong today, and, naturally, the Google Doodle has been changed to reflect that fact.
The status of women’s rights is in flux at the moment. Women have paid a disproportionately high price throughout the coronavirus pandemic, losing jobs in higher numbers than men and finding their careers derailed as they found themselves thrust into stay-at-home caretaker mode for remote learning kids and vulnerable elderly parents..
In addition, intimate partner violence, of which women are most often the victim, (though not always) has risen significantly during the pandemic as a result of lockdowns that required the vast majority of people to shelter at home to avoid spreading COVID-19.
As an aside, but since I mentioned Meghan and Harry at the top of this newsletter, it’s appropriate to mention that it’s Commonwealth Day for our friends across the pond.
In true upstate New York spring style, though officially speaking it won’t be spring for another 12 says, it’s supposed to be 38 or 39 degrees and sunny today and 50 degrees with sun and clouds tomorrow.
Oh, and looking ahead, after a few days of a tease of warm weather – low 60s!!!! on Thursday – we’ll be back into the 40s and 30s with rain and maybe even some snow.
Bah.
In the headlines…
New York’s legislative leaders – Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie – withdrew support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
Stewart-Cousins said in a statement that the three-term governor should resign, noting: “Everyday there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government.”
Heastie stopped short of demanding that Cuomo quit, but said in a statement “it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
Stewart-Cousins’ statement came shortly after Cuomo told reporters: “There is no way I resign,” adding: “They don’t override the people’s will, they don’t get to override elections. I was elected by the people of New York state. I wasn’t elected by politicians.”
Spokespeople for Cuomo didn’t immediately respond to the legislative leaders’ statements.
The governor insisted it would be “anti-democratic” for him to resign and went as far to suggest complaints against lawmakers handled by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics should be released publicly if lawmakers support his resignation now.
These calls came after two more women who worked for Cuomo on Saturday publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior.
A former press aide, Karen Hinton, said that Cuomo had embraced her in his dimly lit Los Angeles hotel room after a work event in 2000. Asked about Hinton’s account Cuomo said it was “not true” and noted that the two had been longtime political adversaries.
“Truth is the ‘longtime adversary’ that Cuomo fears the most,” said Hinton in a statement. “Trump may be gone but Cuomo has stepped right into his shoes by blaming the abused for his own abusive behavior.”
Ana Liss, another ex-aide to Cuomo, said the governor in 2014 hugged and kissed her and grabbed her waist, and also was patronizing and made her feel like “just a skirt.”
Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment, slammed the governor as a “disgusting monster” and called for his resignation after two more women shared their own allegations against the lawmaker, bringing the total to five.
The Working Families Party issued a statement calling on the Legislature to impeach Cuomo if he refuses to step down.
Attorney General Tish James reportedly is committed to seeing through her investigation into the sexual harassment allegations lodged against Cuomo – even if he does resign.
Cuomo reportedly called around to other New York elected officials, asking them now to follow the lead of Stewart-Cousins and Heastie and hold off on asking him to resign…NYC Comptroller and mayoral contender Scott Stringer didn’t heed that call.
What Cuomo has touted as an “aggressive” style goes far beyond that behind the scenes. Many former aides and advisers have described a toxic culture in which the governor unleashes searing verbal attacks on subordinates.
Amid calls for his resignation, the governor is relying on a shrinking circle of advisers to help him navigate the biggest crises of his political life.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he has “full faith” in the state attorney general’s investigation into the sexual-harassment allegations against embattled Cuomo, although he refused to say whether the governor should resign.
A whistleblower sounded the alarm about how broken bolts and structural problems on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge were covered up. Experts described the potential peril to the span, but the state’s investigation was lackluster.
Cuomo signed legislation curbing his own pandemic emergency powers.
The Times Union’s editorial board called on Cuomo to resign, writing that he “has squandered the public’s trust at a time when it’s needed more than ever.”
If ever there was a time for anyone not named Andrew Cuomo to mount a serious gubernatorial campaign, this is it.
Joe Biden is on the cusp of a presidency-defining first 100 days victory and tens of millions of Americans could soon get stimulus checks as the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 rescue bill heads back to the House for a final vote.
The U.S. Senate voted 50-49 for the package, capping more than 27 hours of debate.
Biden’s $1.9 trillion package will sail through the House when it takes up the bill tomorrow, according to Democratic lawmakers and aides, even after proposals progressives championed were scaled back.
Within the close to $2 trillion package, some $100 billion in aid will go to New York for the state government, education, the MTA, COVID-19 vaccines and testing, as well as aid to help restaurants, small businesses, and non-profits.
Calling it the biggest package to lift Americans out of poverty since the New Deal, Schumer said the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed by the Senate on Saturday would quickly put New York on a road to recovery.
The state government is expected to get $12 billion from Biden’s coronavirus stimulus plan, but Cuomo said he may still have to hike taxes to offset the financial damage caused by the pandemic over the past year.
The stimulus package will unleash historic levels of federal education dollars to public K-12 schools, universities and child care providers in the Capital Region.
Biden signed an executive order calling on federal agencies to expand voting access as part of his administration’s efforts “to promote and defend the right to vote for all Americans who are legally entitled to participate in elections.”
The signing fell on the 56th anniversary of “Blood Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, when more than 100 peaceful protesters on their way to Montgomery were met on the Edmund Pettus Bridge by a wall of police, beaten and tear gassed.
The Biden administration is still sheltering children separated from close family members in federal facilities for weeks on end – something immigrant advocates and attorneys had hoped the new administration would resolve by now.
The Biden administration will transform two Texas facilities where detained migrant families are held into rapid processing centers, meaning adults and children who cross the border will be housed for a maximum of 72 hours before being released into the U.S.
The U.S. is in the “eye of the hurricane” right now when it comes to COVID-19, according to epidemiologist Michael Osterholm.
Experts project the country is about to see another dangerous Covid-19 spike, one that is fueled by the highly infectious U.K. variant.
Most of England’s pupils will return to the classroom this week after schools were forced to close their doors to all but the children of key workers in early January as coronavirus infections spiraled out of control.
Online platforms directed by Russian intelligence are spreading disinformation about two of the coronavirus vaccines being used in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to put out guidelines for what’s considered safe for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in the “next couple of days,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said.
The Dalai Lama, the 85-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, has received the first shot of the coronavirus vaccine at a hospital in the north Indian hill town of Dharmsala.
To reach the coveted herd immunity threshold that will keep minor outbreaks contained, experts say the U.S. likely needs 75% of people fully vaccinated. According to the most recent Gallup polling, only about 50% to 65% of U.S. adults say they want a vaccine.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised New York City will administer 5 million vaccinations by June. The small army of candidates running to replace him are outlining steps to finish up the job after he’s out of office in January 2022.
De Blasio joined Bronx elected officials Saturday in touring a newly opened coronavirus vaccination site in Co-op City that is targeting homebound senior citizens.
Cuomo announced that restaurants outside of New York City will be allowed to increase to 75 percent capacity on March 19 – the same day Connecticut lifts many of its restrictions.
Capital Region restaurateurs cheered the news, but enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that other safety restrictions appear likely to remain in place, the most notable of which is the requirement that tables be at least 6 feet apart.
Hannah and Zachary Welton, married chefs who moved cross-country during the pandemic last summer to run the kitchen at New World Bistro Bar in Albany following the departure of its celebrated founding chef, Ric Orlando, have resigned.
New York City restaurant capacity will remain at 35 percent capacity.
There are still questions about when Broadway, an industry central to the city’s cultural identity and economic vitality, can begin again.
LIRR riders should brace for longer train waits starting today as the MTA implements its latest round of pandemic-driven service cuts.
A New York City police officer was hospitalized in stable condition after being shot in the chest last night while responding to an armed confrontation at an apartment building in Brooklyn, the authorities said.
Cuomo received a torrent of hate mail from New Yorkers in the days after his hand-picked subway boss Andy Byford quit the MTA – with many of the missives blaming the governor’s notoriously ego-driven leadership for the popular Brit’s exit.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd that sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
Before his trial begins, Chauvin could face an additional charge of third-degree murder, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled on Friday, in a decision that could delay the start of jury selection because he has the option to appeal.
Support to redistribute police department funding has decreased among Americans since August after a summer of protests had erupted across the country against racial injustice and police brutality, a recent Ipsos/USA TODAY poll found.
Meghan Markle struggled with suicidal thoughts during a tumultuous tenure in the United Kingdom, feeling she was silenced by the royal family, she confessed in an emotional interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Markle said she had asked officials at Buckingham Palace for medical help but was told it would damage the institution. She described herself as a sort of prisoner in Kensington Palace.
Markle also claimed that there were “concerns and conversations about how dark” her son’s skin might be.
Capital Region officials are urging members of the public to keep an eye on county websites and social media pages for information about upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinics as more doses become available in the coming weeks.
A pizzeria shop owner from Troy who imported about 125,000 masks from China in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic to sell far above market value pleaded guilty to a federal price-gouging charge in U.S. District Court.
Four Republican Saratoga County officials jointly announced their bid for reelection.
Despite the bracing winter temperatures, Jim’s Tastee Freez opened Friday for the spring season without its fearless leader and founder, Jim Sheldon, who died in January.
A Rochester police officer tackled and used pepper spray on a woman who had been accused of shoplifting and was with her young daughter last month, according to police body-camera videos of the episode that were released last Friday.
New York Times columnist David Brooks resigned from a think tank that had paid him to lead a project he has promoted in his columns, ending a relationship that had raised conflict-of-interest questions about him and the newspaper.
Former President Donald Trump was spotted outside Trump Tower last night in his first visit back to the Big Apple since leaving office.
