Good Wednesday morning.
So here is where I think people expect me to opine on the sad state of affairs that passes as New York politics and government, given what I used to do for a living.
You know, the whole “the former lieutenant governor’s appointed lieutenant governor resigned in the face of corruption charges and now she needs to appoint a new one” thing.
But I must confess that I am truly at a loss for words. I am just done with the whole sorry situation.
New Yorkers, you deserve so much better, and I am just beyond able to understand how we got to where we are. I love this state, I really do. But I feel so let down by its leaders right now.
I’d rather focus on something else, something easy to understand, like board games.
If you are a word person, as I am, today is a very good day – a day that celebrates a game that I used to really enjoy, until I started playing it competitively (I mean, not officially, but against my Mom, who is a whiz and kicks my butt nine times out of 10).
She is a crossword person, though oddly, is not a fan of Wordle. Maybe she’s too low-tech?
If you hadn’t already guessed, it’s National Scrabble Day.
Here’s a cool factoid I didn’t know before I started Googling about the origins of this game – it was invented by a Hudson Valley native! Poughkeepsie, to be exact. (He went on to live in New York City, and died in Rhinebeck).
At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, Alfred Mosher Butts was an out-of-work architect with time on his hands. He started analyzing popular games of the day, and determined that the reason word games weren’t more popular was because they didn’t require the players to keep score.
He sought to create a game that required both skill and luck, and came up with something he called Lexico, which was a merger between anagrams and crossword puzzles. It was later refined further and renamed to become Criss Cross Words.
Game manufacturers were not initially enthusiastic. Enter, James Brunot, a game-loving entrepreneur and the director of the President’s War Relief Control Board in Washington, D.C., during World War II.
Brunot really loved Cross Cross Words, and he offered to buy the manufacturing and distribution rights to the game from Butts, who would then receive a royalty of 2.5 cents for each game sold.
It was Brunot who added new design elements and new rules and came up with the iconic name Srabble, which was trademarked in 1948.
Legend has it that the president of Macy’s discovered Scrabble, which prior to that moment was being handmade in a former schoolhouse in Connecticut, and ordered some to sell in his department store. Smash hit! The game was so much in demand that it had to be rationed. Bu n 1954 , sales had jumped from a piddly 5,000 to almost 4 million.
The rights to Scrabble have changed hands several times, but they are now owned by Hasbro, owner of the Milton Bradley Company, which is the leading game manufacturer in the U.S.
The North American Scrabble Players Association (NASPA) hosts a National Scrabble Championship in a major U.S. city every year, which attracts more than 500 players who compete in 31 rounds of one-on-one play over a five day period. (The event was cancelled due to COVID for a few years, but looks to be back on for this July in Baltimore, MD).
I could never go very far there, were I to try to compete. I just don’t know enough high-value words – especially of the two-letter variety, which is how Mom gets me. Every time.
I think we might safely say that spring is officially here. It will be in the low 70s today, and the high 70s tomorrow. Cloudy today, and rain tomorrow (thunderstorms in the evening).
In the headlines….I guess we had to get to them sooner or later, right?
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, as President Vladimir Putin said Russia would “rhythmically and calmly” continue its operation and achieve its goals.
Biden made the remark when discussing recent efforts to address higher gas prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“I called it genocide because it’s become clearer and clearer that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is just trying to wipe out even the idea of being Ukrainian. The evidence is mounting,” Biden told reporters in Iowa after using the term earlier in a speech.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Biden, saying on Twitter: ““True words of a true leader @POTUS. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil.”
Putin pledged to carry out Russia’s invasion of Ukraine until its “full completion,” but for the first time he effectively defined a more limited goal of gaining control of the separatist eastern Donbas region rather than the entire country.
Biden was in Iowa to announce new steps his administration is taking to address rising gasoline prices across the country, including emergency measures to expand biofuel sales, countering rising energy prices amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biden came into office promising to tackle the planet’s climate crisis. But rising gas prices, driven in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have pushed the environmental-minded president to do something unlikely: embrace oil.
Biden was met with ridicule on social media after users responded to what appeared to be a bird defecating on his jacket during a speech. (Or maybe it was corn?)
International approval of U.S. leadership declined in the wake of the final withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 despite making notable gains since Biden came to office.
The Consumer Price Index – a measure of inflation in the economy – hit a four-decade high in March, a brutal reminder for Democrats of the political headwinds facing them as they seek to keep their majorities in the House and Senate this fall.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) blamed the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve for rising inflation after Labor Department data found that inflation had increased by 8.5 percent over the past 12 months.
Prominent GOP pollster Frank Luntz said in a recent interview that Republicans in private are mocking former President Trump and they are “tired of going back and rehashing the 2020 election.”
Days before Jan. 6, a onetime aide to Roger J. Stone Jr. told Trump backers to make lawmakers meeting to finalize the 2020 election results feel that “people are breathing down their necks.”
Dr. Oz put out a new ad touting the endorsement of Trump in a heated Pennsylvania Senate race, but the TV doc was quickly slammed by rivals who say he’s got some very un-MAGA views in his closet.
A right-wing congressman persuaded fellow Republicans to abruptly turn against a routine measure to name a federal courthouse in Florida for a Black State Supreme Court justice.
While the world was contending with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, sexually transmitted diseases were causing their own brand of stateside chaos, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The coronavirus is continuing to stalk the world at an astonishing clip, racing past a succession of pandemic milestones in 2022: totals of 300 million known cases around the world by January, 400 million by early February and, as of yesterday, half a billion.
The coronavirus pandemic pushed 77 million people into extreme poverty last year, according to a new report from the United Nations (U.N.) released on Tuesday.
The 208-page report from the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs also says 1 in 5 developing countries will not see a gross domestic product return to 2019 levels within the next year.
All children should be screened for anxiety starting as young as 8 years old, government-backed experts recommended, providing fresh guidance as doctors and parents warn of a worsening mental-health crisis among young people in the pandemic’s wake.
Japan has reported its first case of omicron XE — a new Covid-19 strain first detected in the U.K. — just as British cases of the subvariant rise.
More factories in and around Shanghai, including two run by an Apple Inc. supplier, are halting production because of extended Covid-19 lockdowns in the region, adding to pressure on the global supply chain.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was fined by police for attending a lockdown party in Downing Street that broke coronavirus laws made in the very same building.
Coronavirus cases are again climbing in the Northeast as the BA.2 omicron subvariant — which is even more contagious than its predecessor — becomes the predominant strain in the United States.
COVID-related hospitalizations are again on the rise in the Finger Lakes region, according to Monroe County officials.
A team of researchers from RPI and Albany Medical College that is developing a nasal spray to prevent infection from diseases like COVID-19 were among the first recipients of a new state Biodefense Commercialization Fund grant this week.
New daily cases have nearly tripled in New York City since March 1, reaching a peak of 2,477 in a single day last week, according to New York health department data.
Some colleges and universities in New York City have reinstituted mask mandates amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.
A new production of “Macbeth” starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga resumed performances last night, 11 days after it shut down because of positive coronavirus tests among company members.
“I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately. While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
A five-count indictment said that Benjamin conspired to direct $50,000 in state funds to a Harlem real estate developer’s charity while he was a state senator.
In exchange, the developer orchestrated thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Benjamin’s unsuccessful 2021 NYC comptroller and Senate campaigns.
The indictment also said Benjamin falsified campaign donor forms, misled municipal regulators and provided false information in vetting forms he submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor.
Benjamin pleaded not guilty in federal court in Manhattan yesterday hours after he surrendered to authorities.
Benjamin’s attorneys said he will “focus his energies on explaining in court why his actions were laudable — not criminal.” adding: “He looks forward to when this case is finished so he can rededicate himself to public service.”
Hochul selected Benjamin to be her No. 2 last summer despite a string of ethics questions that had followed him and that centered on some dubious campaign finance practices during his time as senator and his unsuccessful run for city comptroller last year.
Hochul must decide who will fill the lieutenant governor vacancy. It was unclear if she would also seek to remove Benjamin from the Democratic ballot, an extremely complicated task because of the timing of his resignation and New York’s archaic election laws.
Hochul could select another lieutenant governor to serve out the remainder of the term, but doesn’t legally have to do so. She could also leave the position vacant until January.
Despite his resignation, Benjamin is likely to remain on the Democratic primary ballot in June, along with two main challengers (and maybe three).
But in a statement shortly after Benjamin’s resignation, Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chairman, said he would “explore every option available to seek a replacement for Brian on the ticket.”
Hochul’s primary challenger Rep. Tom Suozzi and his running mate Diana Reyna called the Benjamin mess “an indictment on Kathy Hochul’s lack of experience and poor judgment.”
Hochul defended her handling of the key sticking points of the late state budget — declaring she “got the sweet spot” on bail reform changes and that the publicly funded new stadium for the Buffalo Bills was justified because other cities wanted the team.
A fraction of the criminal cases that would have been impacted by Hochul’s initial proposal to alter the state’s bail laws will end up being affected by the final product.
Hochul vowed to get legislation passed that would extend Mayor Eric Adams’ control over New York City public schools.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has identified a “person of interest” in its investigation of the subway shooting this morning that injured more than two dozen individuals.
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters that authorities are trying to locate Frank R. James, 62. The department posted photos of him on Twitter, and is asking the public for information on his whereabouts. He was not named as a suspect.
A neighbor of James said in an interview that he was gruff and standoffish, and once confronted her over a key left in her apartment door.
James appears to have posted dozens of videos on social media in recent years — lengthy rants in which he expressed a range of harshly bigoted views and, more recently, criticized the policies of New York City’s mayor.
Five miles away from where a man opened fire in a subway train in Brooklyn and shot 10 people during the morning rush, the police recovered a rented U-Haul van that they believed had been driven by the gunman, a senior law enforcement official said.
One source close said the gun may have jammed, potentially preventing further loss of life. A weapon was recovered at the scene, along with a bag with smoke canisters and fireworks, lending credence to the theory of a premeditated attack.
Two days after testing positive for the coronavirus, Adams was overseeing New York City’s response to a mass shooting in Brooklyn from Gracie Mansion, where he is in quarantine.
Facing a growing public-safety crisis, Adams said that the mass shooting had turned a Brooklyn subway into a “war zone,” and that gun violence was a national problem New York City could not solve on its own.
As officers scoured a Brooklyn neighborhood for a man who opened fire in a subway car, at least one security camera at a nearby station recorded nothing, thanks to “a malfunction,” Adams said.
A Metropolitan Transportation Authority source said preserving footage from subway cameras feeds has been an ongoing challenge in recent years.
New York City will double the number of NYPD officers on the subway system, Adams vowed.
Uber says New Yorkers who were charged surge pricing during the shooting during rush hour can get a refund.
A former lawyer for New York City and his husband have filed a complaint against the city saying they were denied insurance coverage because of a definition of infertility that excludes gay men.
Schenectady’s Mohawk Harbor is poised to host a new arena for Union College’s ice hockey program after receiving $10 million in state financing.
The Albany County Redistricting Commission and the majority minority subcommittee will hold their second public hearing from 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Following years of delays, funding gaps and a global pandemic, the construction of a long-planned new homeless shelter in Schenectady will see liftoff this spring.
A General Electric Co. shareholder, the SOC Investment Group, wants the company to cut its CEO’s compensation.
Scenic Hudson estimated General Electric damaged the Hudson River to the tune of $11.4 billion by dumping carcinogenic PCBs in the river from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Mark Zuckerberg, who donated nearly half a billion dollars to election offices across the nation in 2020 and drew criticism from conservatives suspicious of his influence on the presidential election, won’t be making additional grants this year.
Gilbert Gottfried, a Brooklyn native and the comedian who gave voice to the parrot in the hit Disney animated feature “Aladdin” and the duck in commercials for Aflac insurance, died in Manhattan. He was 67.
