Good morning, Happy Maundy Thursday, AKA the day before Good Friday.
Did you know, as an aside, that since the turn of the century, Easter has overlapped with Passover every year but three: In 2005, 2008 and 2016? Why is this?
Because Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, and the Jewish calendar is also a lunar calendar, and Passover is always on the 15th of the Jewish month of Nissan – also a full moon in the spring.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, back to Maundy Thursday.
Also known as Holy Thursday and Sheer Thursday (and apparently some other names, too, I personally like Thursday of Mysteries), this is is a Christian holy day that commemorates both the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper.
The word maundy comes from the Latin word “mandatum”, which means “command” (yes, it’s related to the English “mandate”, in case it sounds familiar), and refers to the instructions Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper to wash one another’s feet.
This tradition is carried on today with religious leaders – like the Pope, for example – engaging in ceremonial washing and kissing of the feet of church members.
There are actually four events commemorated on this day: The Last Supper (the final meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his crucifixion), the washing of the Apostles’ feet by Jesus, Christ’s agony and prayer in Gethsemane, and Jesus’ arrest.
Maundy Thursday initiates the Paschal Triduum, the period that commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus and includes Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
In the UK, a religious service is held in the Church of England on this day called “Royal Maundy,” during which the British monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as “Maundy money” as symbolic alms to elderly individuals.
The late Queen Elizabeth had a tradition of giving Maundy gifts” distribute “according to the number of years she has lived.”
She engaged in this ritual the first time in 1952 with The Duke of Edinburgh. At the ceremony, 26 men and women received 26 pence apiece in specially minted Maundy money.
King Charles will carry on this tradition with his Queen Consort (Camilla), presenting 74 men and 74 women – he’s 74 years old – with a Maundy gift and thank them for their “Christian service” and engagement in their respective communities.
If you don’t happen to be lucky enough to 1) be in the UK, and 2) be selected to receive the aforementioned Maundy money, you can observe Maundy Thursday by taking communion during services – perhaps a service known as Tenebrae, which can be translated as “shadows,” “darkness,” “death,” or “night.”
Today will be warmed – in the mid-to-high 60s – with cloudy skies and occasional showers in the afternoon. (I should really have a save string for that).
In the headlines…
Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 69, an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the country’s most famous political families, is running for president. He filed a statement of candidacy yesterday with the Federal Election Commission.
Kennedy Jr. is a longtime vaccine skeptic. He has promoted discredited claims linking vaccines and autism and founded the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense. He has also railed against the coronavirus vaccine.
Kennedy is the second Democrat to officially enter the 2024 race. Self-help author Marianne Williamson launched her second White House bid in March. Both are considered long-shots against Biden, who has not yet declared his candidacy for re-election.
Biden said he would be releasing a “comprehensive” and first-ever strategy to combat antisemitism, citing incidents of anti-Jewish attacks from across the political spectrum.
Biden said the strategy will “outline comprehensive actions the federal government will undertake, and that reflects input from over a thousand Jewish community stakeholders, faith and civil rights leaders, state and local officials and more.”
Biden will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland on April 11-14 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord on one side of the Irish border and visit his ancestral home on the other, the White House said.
“He will also hold various engagements, including in Dublin, County Louth, and County Mayo, where he will deliver an address to celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people,” the White House said in a statement.
First lady Jill Biden will represent the United States next month in London at the coronation of King Charles III — and while the president won’t attend, history shows that it’s not a snub of the new monarch.
The unsealed indictment against Donald Trump laid out an unexpected accusation that bolstered what experts have described as an otherwise risky and novel case: Prosecutors claim he falsified business records in part for a plan to deceive state tax authorities.
The indictment of the former president has unlocked a rush of fund-raising and has frozen the 2024 Republican primary, but he faces deeper legal peril in multiple inquiries.
As Trump was in New York for a date with legal jeopardy, a judge in Los Angeles quietly granted him a substantial legal victory.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered rare praise for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after he met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in California.
The House Speaker said meeting with Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen provided “greater peace and stability for the world,” even as China has lodged objections and warned of escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Another temporary stopgap budget measure by next week was not ruled out by Gov. Kathy Hochul as talks continued for a broader agreement on a spending plan.
With Passover beginning last night and Easter happening Sunday, talks are expected to drag well into next week.
Under pressure from scientists, environmentalists and lawmakers, Hochul backed off from a proposal to rewrite the state’s landmark climate law — an effort that her critics said would have fundamentally undermined the measure.
Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Basil Seggos and NYSERDA president and CEO Doreen Harris indicated that Hochul would not be pushing the controversial plan to change how New York accounts for its emissions.
They both agreed, under questioning by reporters, that the methane proposal would be revisited after the 2023-24 state budget is completed, and perhaps after the state Legislature finishes its session in late June.
Though Hochul did not explicitly link the two policy areas during an impromptu news conference at the state Capitol, the move gives the governor one less issue to fight about with progressives in the state Senate and Assembly.
Health care workers across the state walked out during their lunch yesterday to protest Hochul’s budget.
Members of New York’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sent Hochul a letter on Tuesday urging her to expand public health coverage to undocumented immigrants in the upcoming state budget.
Amid the ongoing budget negotiations between legislative leaders and the governor ahead of the April 10 extended budget deadline, New York City’s largest labor union DC 37 came out in opposition to Hochul’s proposed bail reform changes.
The 5,000 members of SUNY’s Graduate Student Employees Union are fighting hard to include one of the Legislature’s proposals in the next state budget to phase out double-digit fees taken out of their annual stipends.
Attorney General Letitia James shut down a pair of phony websites made to look like the official New York State Department of State page and used to overcharge New Yorkers for services provided by the agency.
State Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer visited Lockport High School to call on federal agencies to put a stop to ‘swatting’ calls.
Mayor Adams argued that his latest round of proposed budget cuts are “smart” at a time of fiscal uncertainty in the city — even as some municipal entities warned that his austerity measure could threaten their ability to operate.
As City Hall looks to cut back on spending, scofflaws owe more than $2 billion in fines incurred over the last five years, the city’s Independent Budget Office (IBO) found in an analysis released at the behest of Councilmember Gale Brewer.
However, the IBO said the exact amount owed is actually far higher, since its limited study excluded unpaid bills for local income and sales taxes as well as water and sewage invoices — which the watchdog said was “beyond the scope of this project.”
A recent crime spike in New York City’s parks has prompted the City Council to call for more security cameras and enforcement officers in green spaces across the five boroughs.
Adams and the Police Benevolent Association unveiled a tentative new labor agreement, marking the end of a seven-year stretch in which the NYPD’s biggest union worked without a formal contract.
The agreement gives roughly 23,000 uniformed NYPD officers yearly raises as high as 4% and a pilot program that would enable them to work as many as 60 fewer days a year in return for longer shifts.
The deal also bumps new officers’ starting salaries by more than $12,000 amid dwindling recruitment numbers and departures on the force.
Adams downplayed the importance of fixing New York’s bail reform law as a key solution toward curbing city crime rates, calling it a “bumper sticker slogan”.
Rudy Giuliani is hosting a fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams. But no – it’s not the one you’re thinking of. The former mayor, Rudy W. Giuliani, has a cousin with the same name, Rudy E. Giuliani, who seems to be a fan of the current mayor.
Adams has tried hotels, shelters and a cruise terminal to house an influx of more than 50,000 migrants, an effort that’s stretched the budget to the breaking point and strained services. He even considered opening the Javits Center to be used as a shelter.
An investigation is underway in Jamaica, Queens after a 22-year-old cop only three months into the job was shot in the hip yesterday afternoon, police said.
A heroin dealer who sold a fatal dose to Michael K. Williams, the actor who shot to fame with his powerful portrayal of a fearsome drug-world figure in the series “The Wire,” pleaded guilty to a narcotics conspiracy charge in Manhattan federal court.
Irving “Green Eyes” Cartagena, 39, was caught on surveillance camera near South 3rd St. around the corner from the actor’s apartment the day before his death making a hand-to-hand sale.
The city spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year to keep people housed through CityFHEPS, and more than 26,000 households have used the program to find apartments since 2018. But problems abound.
Last year, the city got nearly 5,000 complaints or inquiries from people reporting “issues” about renewing their CityFHEPS vouchers or landlords not receiving the voucher payments, data obtained by the Urban Justice Center shows.
Sections of Rockaway Beach will close to swimmers and sunbathers this summer as work to shore up the peninsula’s coastline extends into its fourth year, the parks department announced.
Days after closing, storied Upper East Side hot dog joint Papaya King is set to reopen soon at a new site across the street from its original flagship location, the shop’s manager says.
Retailers in the Empire State may want to stock their shelves and car dealers might want to fill their lots. A recent survey shows Consumer Sentiment in New York taking an overall jump compared to that of late last year and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
County officials, New York State and the Buffalo Bills have released the final details of a $1.54 billion deal to build the NFL team a new stadium with the help of taxpayer money.
The team tweeted that “(A)ll documents and contracts for the New Bills Stadium have been signed by New York State, Erie County, and our organization, a significant step in the stadium project.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz showed off the 19 documents now waiting to be signed by the County Legislature to green light construction of the Bills’ new $1.5 billion stadium.
It could cost more to attend Buffalo Bills games after the team’s new stadium opens in 2026, thanks to a new surcharge of up to 6% on purchases at the venue.
While the construction agreement for a new Buffalo Bills stadium will not be subject to all the same processes that a public project would, it is still being orchestrated in conjunction with Erie County and New York State and under many of their rules.
Civil rights activist Alice Green and an Albany County public defender want DA David Soares to show mercy and drop the criminal case against Jordan Young, who was shot by a city officer as he charged at Albany police while allegedly armed with a knife.
Two Albany Department of General Services workers were the first on scene and helped people escape from a massive blaze that destroyed four Grand Street buildings early yesterday morning.
General Electric Co. has settled its patent dispute with the European energy giant Siemens Gamesa over the design of Haliade-X, GE’s offshore wind turbine.
In Albany, the city buildings department is cracking down on property code violations — creating thousands more cases than ever. But when owners refuse to clean up their properties, those cases are sent to court, where they typically stall for months.
The Albany Public Library is under fire from an out-of-state nonprofit after posting a job internship only for Black candidates.
Indiana and Idaho have become the latest states to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
The witness list for the Fox News $1.6 billion defamation trial now has more big names than a prime-time lineup. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch could be forced to testify in person, the judge overseeing the trial said.
