Good Tuesday morning.
Do you want to feel old? Try this on for size: The original production of the hit musical Cats, which sparked a musical craze around the world and catapulted the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to stardom, premiered today in London’s West End in 1981.
Yes, it was THAT long ago that an unlikely sung-through musical that was based on the 1939 poetry collection Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot started on the road to becoming a massive phenomenon. Lloyd Webber actually started writing the piece in 1977.
The London production ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances, while the Broadway production ran for 18 years and 7,485 performances, making Cats the longest-running musical in both theatre districts for quite some time. The production ushered in an era of megamusicals, directing the industry’s interest and focus – for better or worse – on family-friendly and tourist-attracting shows.
For the record, The Lion King is the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time, earning $1,539,318,552 or so since its opening in 1997.
Broadway, of course, has taken a significant hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and despite the fact that New York City is reopening en masse later in short order, in-person live shows won’t be returning until September.
Oh, and for the record, I never saw Cats and though I am a feline fancier, I find the whole concept of singing cats a little…questionable. Come at me. We can debate offline.
BUT, be forewarned: Today is World Ego Awareness Day, so check yourself before you write that email about what an idiot I am.
I also should note that since we’re already well into May, it’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, which was originally called Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but officially made the switch in 2009.
The original concept for this month was generated in 1970s with resolutions introduced in Congress that started out with a weeklong recognition of the contributions of Asian Pacific Americans to the U.S. Then-President Carter signed a resolution establishing the week in 1978, and then President George H.W. Bush extended it to a month in 1990.
Given the disturbing rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans, this month has taken on a heightened importance and meaning.
We’re in for a lovely day, it looks like, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 50s.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden is plunging into the next phase of his administration with the steady approval of a majority of Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
State, city and county governments this week will receive their first infusion of direct aid from $350 billion in emergency funds approved in the American Rescue Plan, two months after Biden signed the COVID-19 relief package into law.
The Biden administration began to distribute $350 billion to state and local governments from his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill — with $12.7 billion going to New York state alone and billions more flowing to cities and counties.
Biden urged U.S. companies to boost pay for workers as he outlined the steps his administration is taking to spur hiring after disappointing job creation in April.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, which is looking to hire 20,000 new employees, announced that it is giving its restaurant workers a substantial raise in which workers will make an average of $15 an hour by the end of next month.
Americans receiving unemployment benefits must either take a job that is “suitable” or lose their benefits, Biden said, as he encouraged states to reinstate a pre-pandemic policy of requiring people to search for work.
“I never said and no serious analyst ever suggested that climbing out of the deep, deep hole our economy was in would be simple, easy, immediate or perfectly steady,” Biden said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a $100 billion economic stimulus plan that would triple the state’s direct cash assistance program to reach an estimated two-thirds of residents.
Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy first-time candidate who walked a line between his party’s Trump-centric base and appeals to business interests, won the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia.
America’s biggest cash crop has rarely been more expensive. Corn prices have risen roughly 50 percent in 2021 and a bushel costs more than twice what it did a year ago.
Marriott International swung to a loss for the first quarter, though it pointed to rising demand in the U.S. and Canada, its largest region, as Covid-19 vaccine rollouts accelerated.
The cyberattack that forced the closure of the top U.S. fuel pipeline threatens to disrupt gasoline supplies for millions, as the conduit’s owner estimated that restoring service would take at least through week’s end.
A criminal gang believed to be based in Eastern Europe was involved in the hack that has led to the shutdown of the main pipeline supplying gasoline and diesel fuel to the U.S. East Coast.
The attack by DarkSide, a relatively new criminal group believed to have roots in Eastern Europe, exposed the remarkable vulnerability of key American infrastructure.
The Biden administration is reversing a policy introduced under former President Donald Trump that limited protections for transgender people in health care, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.
The president will trade ideas with U.S. governors about how to vaccinate more Americans, after the number of people signing up for shots fell sharply over the last month.
The FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, a crucial step in the nation’s steady recovery from the pandemic and a boon to millions of American families eager for a return to normalcy.
This is the first Covid-19 vaccine in the United States authorized for use in younger teens and adolescents; the vaccine had previously been authorized for people age 16 and older.
Pediatricians and pharmacies across the U.S. are ready to administer Covid-19 vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds, a development the FDA predicts could begin as soon as Thursday.
Wealthy nations well stocked with Covid vaccines are gaining control of the virus while it continues to run rampant elsewhere, pummeling India and flaring in Southeast Asian countries that had been fending it off.
Amid a worsening coronavirus catastrophe in India, the WHO said that the variant first identified in the country is being classified as a variant of global concern, after research has indicated that it spreads more easily.
A terrifying and record-breaking wave of Covid-19 in India threatens to stall the country’s economic recovery and send shockwaves through several important global industries.
Hong Kong officials dropped a plan to mandate foreign domestic workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus, after hearing international criticism the move would be discriminatory.
A 23-year-old Italian woman was safely discharged from a hospital after mistakenly receiving six doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine.
Unilever, the maker of Breyers, Klondike and a Good Humor, among other food brands, is offering up free ice cream to health care workers and anyone getting vaccinated at a number of sites across the country starting Friday.
Both SUNY and CUNY will require students to get COVID-19 vaccines before the next academic year.
The governor is encouraging all private schools to require vaccinations for students, as well.
Union College in Schenectady is now requiring COVID vaccinations for students attending in the summer and fall. Ditto, RPI.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the requirement would be contingent on standard approval of the vaccine, which is being distributed under emergency authorization from the federal government.
Cuomo announced eight new pop-up vaccination sites at MTA station stops in the New York City, Long Island and Mid-Hudson regions.
From May 12 to May 16, the walk-in sites will be open at various times at subway stations including the ones at 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens, and at Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Libraries in all five boroughs began reopening their doors for browsing and computer use yesterday – another step forward in the city’s return to something resembling normal life.
The pugnacious Cuomo is back. He has begun to publicly undermine the state attorney general, Letitia James, who is overseeing investigations into his conduct.
The governor continues to insist he did nothing wrong amid calls from prominent Democrats in New York that he resign from the office he’s held since 2011.
Cuomo told reporters that former secretary to the governor Larry Schwartz “did a phenomenal job” as the state’s vaccine czar, adding, “I have total confidence in him,” though he’s being investigated by James.
The NY Post endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor, saying he’s “the candidate with the best chance of solving the issues bedeviling our whole city.”
The NY Times endorsed Kathryn Garcia “in perhaps the most consequential mayoral contest in a generation,” saying she “best understands how to get New York back on its feet and has the temperament and the experience to do so.”
Andrew Yang won a major endorsement in the New York City mayor’s race from Rep. Grace Meng, a top Asian-American leader in Queens.
Powerful teachers’ unions are not only sticking with embattled mayoral candidate Scott Stringer despite his sexual harassment scandal, they are offering a much-needed boost to his embattled campaign in the form of a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz.
Adams says he’ll get dangerous mentally ill people off the subways and into treatment facilities if elected by expanding the use of Kendra’s Law.
Liz Crotty is cementing a position as the most traditional, law-and-order candidate for Manhattan district attorney in a group of more progressive contenders, with former NYPD commissioner Raymond Kelly endorsing her campaign.
Former New York Gov. David Paterson gave Councilman Fernando Cabrera a hearty endorsement for his Bronx borough president run.
New York City taxicabs that idled for most of the pandemic are getting ready to hit the streets as Covid-19 restrictions ease and businesses prepare for a full reopening, city officials say.
Italian-American activists will hold a rally tomorrow urging the de Blasio administration to restore Columbus Day to the school calendar after city officials last week removed the famous explorer from the official holiday in his name.
The suspected gunman who allegedly wounded three people in Times Square – including a 4-year-old girl – is reportedly a career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet.
Mayor Bill de Blasio promised a strong response to the weekend’s shocking shooting at Times Square even as he played down its potential impact on tourism.
De Blasio shunted blame for the Times Square shooting to Congress, insisting the feds need to do more on gun control — while denying the shocking incident would hurt tourism.
A Queens family that says they were wrongly targeted by one of the NYPD’s “no-knock” drug raids has announced plans to sue the agency for defamation after top brass said cops acted correctly by bursting into the home.
Speed limits will drop by 5-to 10 mph on 45-miles of busy roadways, NYC officials announced, as part of a larger plan to crack down on reckless drivers.
The city’s effort to regulate moped-share services has hit the skids, officials admitted, nine months since they promised to set rules in response to three fatal crashes on Revel scooters in the span of 10 days.
The city has given the go-ahead for Staten Island’s 102nd annual Memorial Day Parade after initially nixing organizers’ request for a permit.
A beloved NYPD police dog named for a slain detective won top honors at a national police dog competition this month.
The New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association have filed a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn a new law banning prolonged solitary confinement in state prisons.
The New York State Comptroller’s Office said more than a year after its initial report, four casinos still owe the Gaming Commission $13 million in past oversight fees. The fees were incurred between April 2017 and March 2019.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is three days into dealing with a malware attack that has shut down much of its computer network, impacting the university’s students as they go into finals for the spring semester.
Four Troy police officers are on trial in U.S. District Court in Utica, accused in a civil case of beating a man during his arrest outside a Congress Street bar in 2018.
The City of Troy is spending nearly $40 million to build twin 36-inch water mains to its Tomhannock Reservoir in Pittstown to replace mains that have been in the ground for more than a century.
The Albany County Legislature replaced former legislator George Langdon IV, who resigned last month after making anti-gay remarks, with the man he defeated in the 2019 election: Richard Touchette.
Long Island Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin will back upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik’s bid to become the next House Republican Conference chair, announcing the endorsement during an upstate tour as he seeks the GOP nomination for governor in 2022.
Attorneys general for 44 states and jurisdictions called on Facebook to halt plans to create a version of Instagram for young children, citing concerns over mental and emotional well-being, exposure to online predators and cyberbullying.
Lincoln Center has laid the groundwork for a Manhattan oasis by blanketing its Josie Robertson Plaza with artificial grass.
The Zac Brown Band “Comeback Tour” has announced an Oct. 3 stop at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
If you are a Charter Spectrum cable TV customer, you may be facing some price increases in your next monthly bill.
Alec Baldwin, Andy Cohen and Whitney Cummings are among the celebs pressuring New York lawmakers to stop puppy sales in pet stores.
Growing Hollywood pushback against the scandal-plagued Hollywood Foreign Press Association became an avalanche yesterday, as NBC announced it won’t broadcast the HFPA’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony in 2022.
Actor Tom Cruise has returned his 1997 and 1990 Golden Globe Awards to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Ford issued a recall notice for more than 600,000 of its Explorer SUVs due to a hazardous roof rail cover that may become detached.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is headed to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes while trainer Bob Baffert said that he won’t attend the race to avoid being a distraction in the wake of scrutiny following the colt’s failed post-race drug test.
Baffert, a seven-time Derby winner, has been on the defensive in the two days after the announcement and has blamed the nebulous concept of “cancel culture” for the test failure.
RIP Aurelia Greene, a former Bronx assemblywoman and deputy borough president, who died at the age of 86.
