Good Tuesday morning.
T-minus nine days and counting until the big bird debuts, for those of you who are keeping track of this sort of thing.
Today is the International Day for Tolerance. I thought this would be fitting to mention, because really, who couldn’t use a little more tolerance in their life?
I know I am guilty of being a little too quick to anger and judge. I am working on it. But a short fuze – particularly when driving – is something that requires lifelong effort to manage, I find, especially as one gets older and more set in one’s ways.
The UN in 1996 established this day, which came on the Year of Tolerance, held in 1995 to honor the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
That same year, UNESCO created a prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, which is “awarded to institutions, organizations or persons, who have contributed in a particularly meritorious and effective manner to tolerance and non-violence.”
The UN’s goal is to strengthen tolerance by fostering mutual understanding among cultures and peoples. Because intolerance and hate tends to steam – not always, mind you, but often – from a lack of knowledge. One often fears what one doesn’t comprehend.
You don’t have to agree with someone in order to peacefully coexist with them. That is the underlying tenet of tolerance. More on that here.
Sadly, we seem to be going in the opposite direction of improving tolerance. Last year, hate crimes reached their highest level in more than a decade, according to the FBI.
The number of recorded bias incidents was the highest since 2008, when 7,783 hate crimes were reported to the agency, federal data shows. Advocates and experts suggested the number was probably far higher, because so many incidents go unreported.
Worse yet, the 2020 numbers represented a 6 percent increase from the year before. Not a good trend whatsoever.
To mark this day I’m going to try to be a little more tolerant in my small neck of the woods, because really, we can only control ourselves and our responses to others. If I have been intolerant of you lately, I am most sorry. Please accept this blanket apology, and I will buy you a coffee next time I see you.
Oh, and a very happy 220th birthday to everyone’s favorite NY tabloid, the Post.
There were snow showers last night and it really bummed me out. Today, we’re in for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-40s. We’re heading back into the 60s on Thursday, but it’s going to rain. I don’t like rain, but I’ll take it over snow, hands down.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden signed the more than $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law yesterday, checking off the first piece of his party’s sprawling economic agenda.
While the bill stopped short of realizing his full-scale ambitions for overhauling America’s transportation and energy systems, Biden pointed to it as evidence that lawmakers could work across party lines to solve problems in Washington.
“The bill I’m about to sign is proof that despite the cynics, Democrats and Republicans can come together and deliver results,” Biden said during a ceremony at the White House that included lawmakers, state and local officials, and business leaders.
But the limits of bipartisanship were starkly evident during the bill signing ceremony. While Biden thanked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for supporting the bill, McConnell was notably absent.
The new law will be significant for the crypto industry. As part of its revenue-raising provisions, the infrastructure included new definitions for ‘broker’ among cryptocurrency network participants.
Biden is headed to New Hampshire to tout the infrastructure law.
Across America, historically anomalous weather is overwhelming infrastructure and government systems designed to withstand the weather of the past, forcing cities and utilities to rethink resiliency plans.
Biden, who is facing low approval ratings, hopes the infrastructure bill will help him project sustained progress in confronting a surge in inflation and growing alarm about the midterm elections.
Biden’s reliance on I.R.S. enforcement to pay for $1.85 trillion bill hit a snag.
Gov. Kathy Hochul made her first trip to the White House in her new role as New York’s chief executive to witness the signing of the infrastructure bill into law.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brought Kevin Cushing, who lost his son Patrick in the October 2018 limousine crash in Schoharie, to the White House for the signing of the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill.
Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met virtually in the closest communication between the two countries’ leaders since Biden took office in January.
Biden raised concerns about human rights, Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and trade issues. Throughout, the leaders engaged in a “healthy debate,” according to a senior administration official present for the discussions.
The discussion didn’t produce any major resolutions, officials said. The White House had sought to manage expectations of the meeting in recent days.
Gold prices have surged near their highest level in five months, a sign of growing unease that inflation will slow the economy and undercut the stock market’s steady run up.
Tyson Foods reported a jump in sales after sharply raising prices for its beef, chicken and pork, citing growing costs the company said were likely to persist.
Steve Bannon, 67, won’t be detained before trial on charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with subpoenas from the House committee investigating January 6.
Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, appeared in federal court for the first time yesterday. He will be arraigned on Thursday.
Before entering the FBI’s Washington field office, where he surrendered at around 9:30 a.m., and after leaving court later that afternoon, Bannon made statements that falsely implied that Trump had won the 2020 election.
Trump says only one thing could’ve made him go to Biden’s inauguration: His dislike for McConnell, who reportedly tried to get the former president barred from the swearing-in ceremonies.
Several of the nation’s largest labor unions are suing over Biden’s vaccine and testing requirements, not to overturn them, but to expand them to cover more businesses.
In its filing, SEIU 32BJ said the directive “fails to adequately protect all workers who face a grave danger from COVID-19 exposure in the workplace.”
California said it has secured an agreement with Amazon to rectify how the company handled Covid-19 notifications to warehouse workers and local health agencies.
As temperatures drop and coronavirus infections spike across Europe, some countries are introducing increasingly targeted restrictions against the unvaccinated who are driving another wave of contagion.
Austria has placed some 2 million unvaccinated people on partial lockdown, while neighboring Germany has reintroduced free coronavirus testing, as the two countries contend with soaring rates of COVID-19 amid a Europe-wide wave of new infections.
While COVID-19 booster shot eligibility is continuing to expand in the U.S., not all doctors believe that’s where the focus should be in the fight against the coronavirus.
Going into a second holiday season amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans have a better sense for how to celebrate safely with their loved ones — and better tools to do it.
The fatal beating of a pet corgi by epidemic prevention workers disinfecting a residential building linked to a Covid-19 outbreak in southeastern China has sparked outrage across the country.
New York’s COVID-19 cases increased again over the past week, and the disparities among regions grew even wider.
New York City’s top doctor said that all New Yorkers age 18 and older can get a COVID booster if they want one – and he issued a commissioner’s advisory reminding providers not to deny anyone who wants that added protection.
Anyone who is 18 or older and seeking a booster shot in New York City should not be turned away, said Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, as long as they received their first vaccines within the proper time frame.
Hochul also urged all vaccinated New Yorkers who believe they are at risk of Covid-19 to get booster shots.
“I received the booster, and believe no one who feels they are at risk should be turned away from getting a COVID-19 booster shot,” Hochul said. “If you feel at risk, please get the booster.”
A group of Moog employees plan to file lawsuits against Moog, a precision control components manufacturer in Elmira, and the federal government over the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The City Planning Commission voted to make Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pandemic era outdoor dining permanent.
Residents of New York’s wealthiest neighborhoods were almost five times more likely to flee the five boroughs during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic than those living anywhere else in the city, a new analysis from Comptroller Scott Stringer found.
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is calling on eligible Americans to get their Covid-19 booster shots as the holiday season approaches and cases rise nationwide, driven by upticks in the Midwest and Northeast.
A Texas hospital suspended the privileges of a doctor who promoted ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment and criticized vaccine mandates, saying she spread “dangerous misinformation” that is “not based in science.”
With the traumas of COVID still freshly seared into their minds, New York City nurses are once again sounding the alarm that staffing shortages at local hospitals are jeopardizing the well-being of themselves and their patients.
It’s the least likely venue for social distancing, but city officials say they are going ahead with plans to ring in the New Year the old-fashioned way — with crowds in Times Square to watch the ball drop.
Thanks to an expected influx of federal infrastructure cash, the MTA will wait at least six months to contemplate raising transit fares — while kicking any possible service cuts to 2025 or later, Hochul announced.
Acting MTA chief Janno Lieber later said that the agency was also helped by federal coronavirus relief packages, including nearly $11 billion New York would receive after resolving a protracted funding fight with neighboring Connecticut and New Jersey.
“I’m really excited to say that we will not have to raise the fares or have any service cuts – the service cuts that were planned for 2023-2024 are now off the table for MTA commuters,” she said.
Hochul met with the New York Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus at the Executive Mansion, and later said that bail reform was discussed.
Western New York Rep. Brian Higgins became the latest Democrat to back Hochul’s bid for a full term in 2022 ahead of what’s expected to be a crowded party primary in June.
This week, Housing Justice for All and elected officials will launch a campaign under the banner #HouseNY, calling on the governor and legislators to repeal Affordable Housing New York, a tax break also known as 421a, and to pass good cause eviction.
The state Department of Health has improved transparency and pandemic data sharing under her new administration, Hochul said after testimony by a former state health official described difficult working conditions under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Long Island Congressman Tom Suozzi — inching closer to announcing a run for governor — accused Hochul of mishandling the firing of the state director of Italian-American Affairs.
New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has been quietly amassing a group of influential big-money donors as he prepares for a potential primary battle for his seat.
A female event organizer told state probers in cringe-worthy detail how Cuomo allegedly “grabbed my butt” — and her shock at being “assaulted by the governor.’’
Heeding requests to move the statue of Thomas Jefferson from the NYC Council chamber because of his legacy as an enslaver, the city approved a plan to relocate it to the New-York Historical Society.
Republicans in New York’s state Senate like what they see in Democratic mayor-elect Eric Adams — and are extending an olive branch to the ex-NYPD captain in a bid to boost public safety.
Adams is fundraising to prepare his new administration to hit the ground running Jan. 1. In an email, “Team Adams” invites donors to give $1,000, $2,500 or $5,100 to become a “founding member” of his transition team.
Adams will start naming top administration members after Thanksgiving.
The Blasio administration has apologized for presenting retired city workers with confusing information about a new health care plan that the retirees fear could leave them with worse benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs.
Investigators for state Attorney General Letitia James are probing alleged civil rights violations by Saratoga Springs police for their arrests of Black Lives Matter activists and are interviewing potential witnesses.
MVP Health Care has won the naming rights to what’s now known as the Times Union Center. The insurance company intends to rename the 17,500-seat venue MVP Arena.
After days of counting absentee ballots, Democratic candidate Alvin Gamble appears assured to win a seat on the town board — making him the first Black person elected to town office in Colonie’s history.
Daniel Goldman, a trial attorney who served as majority counsel for Democrats in the first impeachment inquiry against Trump, is eyeing running for New York attorney general.
Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham Law professor, rolled out a series of upstate New York endorsements ahead of her formal announcement of her campaign for attorney general held yesterday in Brooklyn.
Teachout said her top priorities if elected to the post would be rooting out corruption in Albany and demanding transparency for New Yorkers, in addition to putting an end to wage theft, tax fraud, unsafe working conditions and corporate consolidation.
Schumer will recommend Colonie attorney Anne Nardacci, a commercial litigator who once worked for Rep. Michael McNulty, to fill a long-awaited vacancy following the ascension to senior status of Senior U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe.
Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and the longest serving US senator still in office, announced that he won’t seek reelection for a ninth term next year, after serving in the chamber since 1975.
“It’s time to come home,” said Leahy, 81. He made the announcement in the Vermont State House, blocks from where he grew up. The decision by Leahy, among the Senate’s more liberal members, marks the end of a political era.
Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic U.S. presidential candidate, said he is running for governor of Texas, setting up a face-off next year in the nation’s second-largest state against a historically popular Republican governor.
Ohio’s attorney general is suing Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook, alleging the company misled the public about how it controlled its algorithm and the effects its products have on children.
“Sesame Street” is welcoming its first Asian American muppet to the neighborhood. Ji-Young, a Korean American 7-year-old who loves playing her electric guitar and skateboarding, will make her debut next week.
