Good Tuesday morning.
For those of you who pay attention to this sort of thing, the countdown to Valentine’s Day is officially on.
Personally, I’m not going to dwell too heavily on that holiday, being the sort of person who usually forgets sentimental milestones – including but not limited to anniversaries, birthdays, and Valentine’s Day.
I am that person. Go on and shame me. There is really no excuse in this modern day and age, when one’s phone and Facebook account serve up constant reminders of important – and unimportant – dates.
Anyhow. Arguably the anniversary and birthday thing is really bad. Those are days that certainly merit attention and celebration. As for Valentine’s Day, well, to me the jury is out. And now there are alternatives, too, like Galentine’s Day (celebrated the day before Feb. 14 in celebration of “friendship. in all its forms”). So you can pick your poison.
Of, if you’re me, you have one more thing to keep track of – and most likely forget.
In the “made up holiday” department, I bring you: Rose Day. (Not to be confused with Rose (accent on the e that I can’t figure out how to do on this keyboard) Day, which celebrates the summertime beverage of choice for for a certain subset of young, fashionable drinkers).
Rose Day supposedly marks the kickoff of Valentine’s Day week. It is followed by Propose Day, Chocolate Day, Teddy Day, Promise Day, Hug Day, and Kiss Day.
The word “rose” refers to one of two things: Either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae, or the flower of that plant. There are roughly 150 wild species of roses and some 30,000 cultivated varieties.
For those among us who are not horticulturalists, a cultivar is a variety of plant that was created via selective breeding that does not produce its own seeds). Roses are considered the royalty of flowers, and have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years.
They’re prized for their aroma (assuming they have one), their intense colors, their medicinal properties, and their use in everything from perfumes to flavoring – even ice cream.
How is it that roses came to be associated with romantic love? According to Greek mythology red roses were created by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who may or may not have injured herself with a thorn from a white rose bush, and as her blood fell onto the petals, it was stained red.
Another origin story: A white anemone allegedly grew on the spot where Adonis – one of two mortals that Aphrodite loved – died, and a red rose sprang up where her tears of grief in mourning him fell. As such, the red rose became a symbol of love until death.
There’s a lot more where that came from…down the rabbit hole you go – if you’re so inclined – by clicking here. Also, if you’re curious what the other colors of roses symbolize, click here. (Pink, for example, is for friendship, while white stands for purity and is often chosen by brides for inclusion in their marital bouquets).
A not-so-rosy day is on tap, with temperatures in the low 40s and clouds in the morning, with showers developing later in the afternoon.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden is ready to offer a reassuring assessment of the nation’s condition rather than roll out flashy policy proposals as he delivers his second State of the Union address seeking to overcome pessimism in the US and concerns about his leadership.
Biden’s message of unity, a hard sell already during his first two years in office, may prove even more out of sync tonight as he delivers his first State of the Union address of this new era of divided government.
Biden is the first modern president to have a stutter, which he has navigated since childhood and still speaks of in emotional terms. He marked up his speech with subtle lines and dashes that he has long used to help him through public addresses.
Long Island Rep. George Santos, a Republican facing scrutiny over a web of false claims, including a family connection to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, will bring a former firefighter who did rescue work at ground zero as his guest to the State of the Union.
According to a news release from Santos’ office, his guest, Michael Weinstock, joined first responders in New York City on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and was later diagnosed with neuropathy, a nerve disorder.
Several people questioned the way Santos’s charity, Friends of Pets United, handled funds that were raised to benefit the animals.
Biden said the US “did the right thing” when it shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on Saturday and maintained that he always wanted to bring it down “as soon as it was appropriate.”
The military command in charge of U.S. air defenses failed to detect suspected Chinese surveillance balloons before the recent intrusion and learned about them later from intelligence agencies, the general overseeing the command said.
The Chinese government said the balloon that Colombia spotted in its airspace on Friday was for civilian purposes and was being used for flight tests.
Biden said he was not sure if the US would ban the Chinese-owned video app TikTok.
A new poll shows a record number of Americans say they are worse off financially since Biden took office, the most ever recorded by the poll in its 37 years of asking the question.
Rescue teams hunted for survivors in freezing temperatures this morning as the death toll in a pair of earthquakes rose above 4,800 in Turkey and Syria, one of the deadliest natural disasters this century.
The initial quake was followed by dozens of powerful aftershocks, including one recorded at 7.5 magnitude in the same fault zone of south-central Turkey on Monday afternoon. Most of the damage is in southern Turkey and northern and central Syria.
People who have a healthy lifestyle before Covid-19 infection may have a lower risk of long Covid than their peers, a new study says.
Between 8 and 23 million Americans are thought to have long COVID. But there is no solid estimate of how many need caregiving help.
The Black community, which was disproportionately impacted by the virus, is facing another barrier: access to long COVID care.
Covid-19 vaccinations will no longer be mandatory for New York City municipal workers, Mayor Eric Adams said.
The vaccinations will be optional for current and prospective city workers beginning Feb. 10, following an expected passing vote at the Board of Health meeting next week, the mayor’s office said in a statement.
The vaccine requirement led to a 96 percent vaccination rate for city employees, but also prompted hundreds of workers to be fired and a series of lawsuits.
The nearly 2,000 public employees fired for refusing to get the shot won’t automatically get their jobs back.
New York needs to greatly expand its stock of housing in order to attract new jobs and private sector development in the state, Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a trip to Central New York.
Hochul announced details of key proposals from her Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget to grow jobs and boost the economy in Central New York.
Micron will invest $100 billion in the state over 20 years and will create 50,000 jobs, “It is not an overstatement to say New York is the capitol of the semi-conductor industry, and the Syracuse community is the epicenter of that world,” Hochul said.
Hochul’s spending plan for the next budget year includes $10 million to fund the first phases of a local project to renovate public housing in Syracuse.
Local government officials in New York have a mixed assessment of how Hochul’s $227 billion budget proposals will affect municipalities throughout the state. And a lot depends on where you stand in local government.
Lawmakers who head the housing committees of the state Assembly and Senate say they agree with the governor and the mayor that only building more units will solve New York’s housing crisis, but they want tenant protections and no developer tax breaks.
YIMBYs and leftists have conflicting visions for addressing affordable housing. But a growing number of them are finding common ground.
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin avoided ruling out a run against U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2024 election, comments which came during his first news conference since narrowly losing to Hochul in November.
“I do believe at some point there will be a re-entry to government,” Zeldin said. “Exactly what that will be and when — we’ll see.”
The former Republican gubernatorial candidate slammed the governor’s State of the State address and executive budget in his first public remarks since Election Day.
“What the governor’s State of the State address indicated, it was kind of like a college student who waits until the last possible minute to write that essay,” Zeldin said.
Zeldin is forming a new federal fundraising PAC, without his longtime campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, who also worked for embattled Rep. Santos.
Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages has introduced legislation to restrict the use of physical restraints and ban seclusion in schools following a Times Union investigation that uncovered overuse and abuse of these methods in some public and private schools.
Revenue from the sales tax rose 12.7% last year, reaching $22.1 billion statewide in New York, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office.
New York snowmobile groups, including a statewide organization, have endorsed Hochul’s proposal to raise the snowmobile registration fee.
The 128-year-old Aqueduct Race Track appears to be heading into the home stretch, according to Hochul’s 2023-24 executive budget proposal.
New York City’s rent stabilization system is safe for now, after a federal appeals court upheld laws capping rent increases and limiting evictions on roughly a million apartments citywide.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decades-old rent stabilization laws in response to two related court challenges from landlord trade groups and a collection of property owners seeking to dismantle the tenant protections.
The Community Housing Improvement Program and Rent Stabilization Association, landlord groups leading one of the lawsuits, have long made clear that their hopes rested with the nation’s highest court, as they anticipated being denied by lower venues.
NYC can’t afford to pay the $500 million a year Hochul wants taxpayers to pitch in to help bail out the financially floundering MTA, Adams said, noting the migrant crisis and Albany-imposed school class size mandate that are already breaking the city’s piggy bank.
In his strongest words yet on the subject, Adams said that taxpayers simply don’t have the cash to spare out of the city’s $103 billion budget.
Adams came under fire from North Country GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, who accused him of helping migrants illegally leave New York for Canada in violation of US law.
Adams shared more details about his recent experience spending one of the coldest nights of the year at a migrant shelter, saying the lodgings were “warm” and that the city plans to offer English language classes for the asylum seekers staying there.
City officials launched a hotline to help NYPD officers decide whether someone should be forcibly removed from the streets, the subways and other public spaces and sent to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
City outreach workers brought at least 42 New Yorkers to hospitals against their will in December as part of Adams’ controversial new mental health initiative, administration officials said.
An off-duty New York City police officer was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot during an apparent robbery as he tried to purchase a vehicle in Brooklyn Saturday night. The shooting prompted a sprawling manhunt for the suspect.
The family of an off-duty cop who was shot in the head and critically wounded is now in the process of making grave “decisions” about his medical treatment, Adams said.
A man suspected of shooting an off-duty NYPD officer in a Brooklyn alley after allegedly luring him with a phony car sale was taken into custody yesterday, according to police.
The New York Police Department must overhaul its response to large demonstrations and better train officers to control crowds while preserving the right to protest, according to a report released by an oversight body that examines police misconduct.
After Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh demoted three FDNY chiefs over the weekend, two of the department’s top uniformed officials gave up their own positions in protest.
This summer, from the same firm that brought New Yorkers the High Line, a brand new riverside retreat will open on the shores of Manhattan — becoming the borough’s first and only public beach, but without swimming.
New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman claimed in a fundraising email that Tyre Nichols was “killed by white supremacy” — rather than the five Black cops actually charged in the Memphis man’s death.
A minor earthquake shook Western New York yesterday morning, rattling residents in a region more accustomed to blizzards.
The 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Buffalo and was the strongest recorded in the area in 40 years.
Sir Salman Rushdie has spoken for the first time about being stabbed last year at an event in New York, saying he was “lucky… my main overwhelming feeling is gratitude”.
Druthers Brewing Co., which has opened four brewpubs in the Capital Region in a little more than a decade, is expanding again only a few months after its newest location, in Clifton Park, made its debut.
An ex-employee of Gardner’s Ice Cream and Coffee Shoppe is suing the Stephentown eatery and its owner, Neil Gardner, for alleged rampant sexual abuse she said included rape that allegedly began when she was a minor and continued until she was 18.
Complaints of what state officials said was a “strong odor’’ coming from the Norlite incinerator/aggregate plant prompted an investigation on Sunday morning.
