Good middle-of-the-week morning. Wednesday has arrived.
My dad, who might be reading this right now – HI, DAD! – and who some of you probably know, is famous (infamous?) for many things: His encyclopedia knowledge of state government and politics, his booming laugh, and his sometimes gruff manner.
Less well known is the fact that he has a completely corny sense of humor. Yes, if you knew him in a professional capacity, you might be surprised to discover that my dad is the king of dad jokes.
Case in point: Every time we drove past a cemetery when I was young, he would say one of two things: 1) That’s the dead center of town, or 2) People are just dying to get in there.
Rim shot.
Cemeteries, while perhaps not a popular thing to think about, are an incredibly important part of any community. Some of the older ones – I’m thinking of Troy’s Oakwood Cemetery or Brooklyn’s Green-Wood (a National Historic Landmark) or Woodlawn in the Bronx (ditto on the National Historic Landmark front) – are quite beautiful and well maintained.
These well known cemeteries tend to get a lot of attention. They are peaceful and lovely to walk in. They even have donors and programming (other than, you know, the traditional burial thing). But this is not the norm. In fact, it’s the exception to the rule.
Abandoned cemeteries are a growing problem for many municipalities. They need to be maintained, which is not something that occurs for free. Grass needs to be mown, roads need to be plowed, headstones that fall need to be righted. The state Association of Cemeteries estimates that it costs about $25,000 per acre per year to maintain a cemetery correctly.
In New York alone, again according to the NYSAC, more than 1,900 cemeteries are nonprofit organizations, which have rules related to ongoing maintenance funds, while some 4,000 others are religious or municipal operations (and therefore not regulated or overseen by the state).
When you start going down the rabbit hole of cemeteries, you stumble on some really wild stuff. For example, did you know that the City of San Francisco BANNED burials in 1900?
That happened in part because they ran out of room, but also because the cemeteries were sitting on prime real estate that the city fathers, in their wisdom, thought would be better used for something else. Actually, they didn’t only ban new burials, they unearthed some 150,000 bodies and relocated them entirely – to the Town of Colma.
A number of very famous people – including Levi Strauss and Joe DiMaggio – are buried in Colma.
Also, the oldest known and still maintained burial ground is not too far from the Capital Region – right next door in Massachusetts, in fact.
It’s the Myles Standish Burial Ground, located in Duxbury – an unassuming 1.5-acre plot in a residential neighborhood that is the resting place of a number of Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower, including Standish himself, (hence the name) although it took not one but TWO exhumations for experts to be satisfied that yes, those were indeed his remains.
If you believe the data compiled by this site, which appears to be run by a memorial company and thus perhaps has a hidden agenda – or at least skin in the game, so to speak, New York is among the top 10 states most likely to run out of burial space.
Also according to this site, there are 20,272 registered cemeteries in the U.S., though that’s not counting hidden graveyards, pet cemeteries, or natural graves used by Native people.
Oh, and here’s one more factoid for you: Natural burial (just you in the ground, in other words) is legal in the federal government’s eyes, but state and local regulations might apply and the cemetery where you choose to be buried might have its own requirements. You’re welcome.
BTW it’s Love Your Burial Ground Week, in case you’re wondering where this particular brain dump came from.
The weather has been, shall we say, unsettled. Downright weird, really. (More on that below). But today should be relatively calm, with temperatures in the low 70s and mostly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
The wildfires in the eastern provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia sent smoke pouring back into the New York City area again yesterday, causing smoky, hazy skies and some of the poorest air quality in the country this week.
New York City ranked seventh among major cities for the worst air quality worldwide as of around 6 p.m., according to IQAir, a Swiss air monitoring company.
“Try to limit your outdoor activities today to the absolute necessities,” Mayor Eric Adams, advised on Twitter to anyone with breathing issues.
Late last night, New York City had the second-worst levels of air pollution in the world after New Delhi, India, IQair reported. Other cities on the list were Doha, Qatar; Baghdad, Iraq; and Lahore, Pakistan.
At least 10 school districts in central New York state canceled outdoor activities and events. Those activities include academic, athletic and extracurricular events, while outdoor recess and gym classes were also canceled.
Some 414 fires were burning in Canada as of yesterday evening including 239 considered “out of control,” according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos and DOH Commissioner Dr. James McDonald issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for the Long Island, New York City, Lower and Upper Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, and Central New York regions.
The Biden administration took a victory lap yesterday, declaring that its immigration plan is “working as intended” nearly a month after a major shift in policy at the nation’s southern border.
Biden convened his Cabinet yesterday, bringing his top lieutenants together to discuss a wide range of topics for the first time since he declared his candidacy for reelection and days after Congress passed a bipartisan bill to avert a default.
This week, the White House has begun warning anew that Republicans are coming after those social insurance programs, in what seems destined to be an oft-repeated line between now and November 2024.
A group of hard-line Republicans hijacked the House floor yesterday, grinding legislative business to a halt for several hours in a striking display of ire at Speaker Kevin McCarthy for making a debt deal and banding with Democrats to muscle it to passage.
The Biden administration is staying out of the PGA Tour’s merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf as former President Trump hailed a “big, beautiful and glamorous deal” and families of 9/11 victims said they were “shocked and deeply offended” by the agreement.
The partnership is a major victory for Saudi ambitions in sports, but the announcement split players. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan described his meeting with golfers late in the afternoon as “heated.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was eclipsed by Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries, filed paperwork to seek the 2024 Republican nomination, setting up a rematch with the former president and expanding the field of G.O.P. candidates.
Christie began his bid under the slogan “Because the truth matters” with a town hall in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first Republican primary following Iowa’s leadoff caucuses.
In running for the Republican nomination against Trump, Mike Pence will be the first vice president to directly challenge the president who originally put him on the ticket.
Mark Meadows, the final White House chief of staff under Trump and a potentially key figure in inquiries related to the former president, has testified before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the investigations being led by the special counsel’s office.
The latest twist in the inquiry into Trump’s handling of classified documents is the surprise revelation that a previously unknown federal grand jury in Florida has recently started hearing testimony in the case.
Trump used his social media platform to criticize a possible indictment in the Department of Justice’s investigation of the former president over classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
A federal judge has granted a request from media organizations to make public the identities of three people who signed the bond for Rep. George Santos’ release after his indictment, but said their names should remain hidden for now to allow Santos to appeal.
The decision by Judge Anne Y. Shields came after media organizations requested their release, arguing that the identities of the three individuals who initially stepped in to help Mr. Santos after his indictment were a matter of intense public interest.
Asked why it’s important to shield the identities of the people who guaranteed his $500,000 bond, Santos told CNN: “Because it is.”
Lawmakers reportedly reached a deal to seal many criminal records, a long-sought measure for criminal justice advocates for a proposal known as the Clean Slate Act. But Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office in a statement stopped short of announcing she’s on board.
In the new version of the Clean Slate Act, murder convictions and most other Class A felonies would not be eligible to be sealed, and felons would need to be at least eight years removed from the end of their sentences to have their records shielded.
Legislation that would overhaul New York’s wrongful death statute will be sent to Hochul’s desk once again, less than six months after she vetoed the measure while citing concerns about the potential effect on high-liability industries.
Hochul announced a record $90.5 million in funding for large-scale capital projects at 19 arts and cultural organizations across New York State through the New York State Council of the Arts Capital Projects Fund.
New York state lawmakers are considering a plan to bolster tenant protections in New York City and extend an expired tax break for developers as part of a last-ditch effort to salvage a deal on housing policy, according to people with knowledge of the proposal.
State lawmakers this week are considering advancing a measure to move New York’s presidential primaries from April 30 to April 2, creating what would amount to a regional primary for the presidential race.
State Democrats are expected to pass tweaks to New York Election Law that experts view as an effort to limit litigation in what’s expected to be a contentious and expensive ’24 election cycle that could determine control of Congress and the White House.
State legislators plan to pass a bill this week to create a commission tasked with studying the history of slavery and racial discrimination in New York and recommending possible reparation payments, three individuals familiar with talks said.
Lawmakers have given final approval this week to a bill that would expand penalties for violating the Do Not Call Registry.
New York prisons may have effectively banned journalism behind bars.
Many bills will fall short of the legislative finish line this year, but approving a ban on AI-generated revenge porn will not be among them.
Andrew Cuomo’s lawyers have asked a federal judge to order Lindsey Boylan to turn over a trove of records related to her sexual harassment allegations against the former governor, including documents regarding her resignation from state employment.
The migrant crisis in New York City has become so dire that Mayor Adams says he’s now considering the possibility of housing asylum seekers inside Gracie Mansion.
“I wanna lead from the front, that’s the type of leader I am,” he said. Adams said he’ll share his waterfront view with a migrant family as long as city guidelines agree.
“If it doesn’t go against legal protocols — there are protocols in place so I can’t use the building in any way I want — but I don’t have a problem if I could put a migrant family in Gracie Mansion,” Adams added.
The City Council is pressuring the Biden administration to fast track work permits for the 45,000 and counting migrants housed in taxpayer-funded facilities across the five boroughs amidst ongoing city budget negotiations.
Citing a “discriminatory motive,” a federal district court judge said that executive orders issued by Rockland and Orange counties that sought to bar New York City from sending migrants there were unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Nelson Roman issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the counties from enforcing their local bans targeting migrants.
Adams rejected calls for disbanding the NYPD’s Neighborhood Safety Teams in light of a damning federal monitor report finding that cops in the new street crime units have unlawfully stopped and frisked scores of New Yorkers of color.
Adams revealed a roadmap that he says will give students the tools to improve healthier eating in public schools across all five boroughs.
More than 300 New Yorkers convicted on the word of crooked cops were set to get their records cleared in the latest effort by law enforcement to right its own wrongs.
Hundreds of misdemeanors were thrown out in court yesterday, and eight felonies are expected to be tossed today. The reason was due process violations, according to a statement from the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg.
It’s getting harder to find an affordable place to live in New York City, but no one knows how many low-cost apartments are being held off the market — a practice known as “warehousing” that is fueling intense backlash from tenant groups and policymakers.
The City Council will hold an oversight hearing today examining ways to boost civic participation in local elections from mayor to district leader, including a resolution to move city elections from odd to even years, in line with the state and federal cycles.
New York City is delaying a long-awaited rental registration rule for Airbnbs and other short-term rentals — again – just days after Airbnb and a trio of hosts filed lawsuits against the city’s Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with enforcing the new rule.
Enterprise Community Partners, one of the nation’s largest affordable housing and community development organizations, announced that former cabinet official Shaun Donovan will serve as its next chief executive officer and president.
Tesla, the world’s largest maker of electric vehicles, plans to open a sales and delivery outlet with service and expanded charging locations just off the New York State Thruway in Madison County.
Suspended city fire Chief Joseph Dolan, who is accused of double-dipping with an intent to defraud, is now under investigation by the State Police.
Town of Guilderland residents seeking to block the planned Costco Wholesale store and apartment complex next to Crossgates Mall have filed a new lawsuit against the town Zoning Board of Appeals before construction begins.
Transcripts of the judge’s inquiry into a grand jury’s deliberation regarding the Saratoga Springs shootout on Broadway will not be available to either the prosecution or defense.
A day after formally declaring that he’s running for mayor, Republican Matt Nelligan said that he and the party faithful had garnered enough signatures to create a new general election ballot line called Save Schenectady, in hopes of doing just that.
Michelle Ebanks, who most recently served as the president of Essence Communications, the global media and communications company dedicated to Black women, will be the next president and chief executive of the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Columbia University announced its undergraduate schools would no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report college rankings, the first major university to refuse to supply information to the influential undergraduate guide for students and parents.
Prince Harry finally got his day in court against the British tabloid press that he has long reviled, taking the stand in London to accuse the Mirror Newspaper Group of hacking his cellphone more than a decade ago.
