Good Monday morning.
This is a big day, historically speaking, for the City of Albany, because on this day in 1900, His Master’s Voice was registered with the U.S. Patent Office.
Maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you because you are far to young to remember RCA Victor (originally known as the Victor Recording Company). But believe me, if you are a Capital Region resident, you are VERY familiar with His Master’s Voice, AKA Nipper.
Yes, the logo in question depicts a black-and-white terrier named Nipper looking into the horn of a gramophone machine – the very same dog that appears atop the warehouse at 991 Broadway, all glorious 28 fiberglass feet of him. Along with the state Capitol and the Empire State Plaza (particularly The Egg), Nipper is one of Albany’s most iconic and beloved landmarks.
Nipper was placed on his perch in 1958 after the building on which he sits was refurbished and became home to an appliance distributor called RTA, which specialized in RCA products.
Nipper was the brainchild of architect Harris Sanders, who also designed the Washington Avenue branch of the Albany public library and was hired by the owner of 991 Broadway to spruce it up and also make it memorable.
Nipper was fabricated in Chicago and shipped to Albany in five different sections. The total cost of the product was $32,000, which is about $337,000 in today’s dollars. Nipper got a fresh coat of paint in 1998.
The building was sold in 1997 to Arnoff Moving & Storage and then sold again in 2016 to some local developers who wanted to turn the warehouse into a mixed-use development with housing and retail. Sadly, that project is tied up in legal battles and the building sits empty and deteriorating while that plays out.
The original Nipper belonged to a 19th century English artist named Francis Barraud, who painted His Master’s Voice. (Actually, he painted the portrait from memory, because Nipper, who originally belonged to Francis Barraud’s brother, a scenery designed named Mark Henry Barraud, had died three years earlier).
Francis Barraud sold the rights to the portrait of his apparently music-loving dog to the Victor Talking Machine Co., which manufactured the Victrola, a version of the gramaphone to which the pooch seems to be attentively listening.
Nipper went on to become one of the most well recognized dogs in history – right up there, I would argue with Lassie and Scooby-Doo. Maybe he’s a little less well known than Snoopy, but it’s a tossup in my opinion.
This week is looking, well, in one word, wet. There’s a flood watch in effect through this evening due to excessive rainfall. A slow-moving storm system brought heavy rain across a wide section of the state last night, flooding streets and prompting rescues for drivers whose vehicles were stranded on inundated roads, the authorities said.
There’s a possibility of thunderstorms every day for as far out as the forecast stretches, which is to say quite a while. Today will be on the cooler side – mid-to-high 70s – with a 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms.
Good thing I invested in new calming drugs for the dogs. Poor Henry. He hates loud noises.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe this week may feel familiar, coming under the shadow of an increasingly stalemated war.
After arriving last night in London, Biden will meet today with King Charles III for the first time since he was crowned. Next is the centerpiece of the trip, the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Biden and Charles come from wildly different backgrounds but are of a similar generation — the king is six years Biden’s junior — and share a strong commitment to tackling climate change, as well as a deeply-held love of Ireland and Irish culture.
Despite hints of tension between Washington and London, Biden and the King share interests — and have faced comparable challenges — that should help smooth their meeting.
Biden will also meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for discussions on a range of issues, including Ukraine, a topic on which the two leaders have closely coordinated.
The UK and Canada are among those who voiced concern about supplying the Ukraine with cluster bombs, which are widely banned because of the danger they pose to civilians.
Biden and other NATO leaders are making a last minute push before an annual summit to address crucial disagreements that threaten to overshadow the alliance’s unity in opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Biden said that he doesn’t think Ukraine is ready for NATO membership, adding that it’s premature to call for a vote to accept the war-torn country into the alliance.
“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” the president said.
Biden said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has some “of the most extreme members” he’s seen in Israel, and that cabinet ministers who back settling “anywhere they want” in the West Bank are “part of the problem” in the conflict.
Biden defended what he called his “very difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine in an interview that aired Sunday, saying the war-torn country “needed” the controversial weapons to fight off invading Russian troops.
A top House Republican said he agreed with Biden’s contentious decision to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, while a prominent progressive Democrat said the US risks “losing our moral leadership” over the move.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew the ire of some of her fellow progressives over the weekend after endorsing Biden’s 2024 bid for re-election.
A New York Times investigation revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was brought access to the wealthy through relationships he built with members of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called out Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito for accepting “lavish gifts and vacations from their powerful, billionaire friends,” though he didn’t mention them by name.
The Times reported that just months after Thomas joined the bench in 1991, he was welcomed into the Horatio Alger Association, a nonprofit scholarship organization, where he forged relationships with a select group of largely wealthy conservatives.
A state of emergency was declared in Orange County yesterday due to “life-threatening” flooding from storms and heavy rain that moved through the Tri-State Area, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
Hochul’s declaration came after a reported eight inches of rain. Photos shared by State Police showed impassable roadways.
Trooper Steven V. Nevel of the New York State Police described the search-and-rescue efforts last night as an “all hands on deck” endeavor, saying that several bridges had collapsed and many roads were impassable.
A woman in her 30s drowned as she tried to flee her Orange County home with her dog, County Executive Steve Neuhaus said.
Hochul also expanded a state of emergency issued in areas of New York hit by flooding to include Ontario County.
Hochul blamed the state’s soft-on-crime bail-reform mess on former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Albany lawmakers, claiming she “held the budget up” this year to fix it.
Cuomo’s legal team wants a federal judge to compel the AG’s office and Assembly Judiciary Committee to answer subpoenas for records from their sexual harassment investigations of the ex-governor, including unredacted transcripts of all witness statements.
Hochul reportedly proposed extending a controversial housing development tax break via executive order, but the plan appeared to stall after major construction unions demanded wage provisions she and real estate industry groups weren’t willing to accept.
Lawmakers amended and reintroduced legislation Friday to create a statewide universal health care system after months of negotiations with labor union leaders concerned they would absorb a significant portion of the cost.
Legislation has been proposed by Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly Member Latrice Walker that would end the practice of “legacy admissions” in New York.
Dozens of new shark-monitoring drones will be sent to New York beach towns amid an uptick in incidents, Hochul announced.
Prosecutors in New York indicted a half dozen people who allegedly used a straw donor scheme to steer tens of thousands of dollars in public matching funds to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ successful 2021 campaign.
“We allege a deliberate scheme to game the system in a blatant attempt to gain power,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement on Friday after the court filing was unsealed.
The indictment does not accuse Adams of wrongdoing, but says the six accused were trying to curry favor with his campaign with the goal of landing city business.
Criminal charges involving donations to high-profile New York City candidates are why government watchdogs say strict enforcement of public financing of campaigns is needed.
A trial court judge has temporarily blocked Adams from switching retired city workers to a cost-cutting Medicare Advantage Plan.
A New York judge on Friday hit the brakes on a planned city-ordered raise for food delivery workers, as he considers a court challenge to the wage hike.
A gunman killed one person and wounded three others on Saturday as he drove a scooter across Brooklyn and Queens, randomly firing at groups of people and at stores in a chaotic two-hour stretch before the police arrested him, the NYPD said.
An audit by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander revealed that the cost of a city career placement program skyrocketed from $870 per person to $7,544 between 2020 and 2022 — even though enrollment during that period dwindled significantly.
City Hall wants to hire private security guards to patrol the Big Apple’s packed migrant facilities — a gig considered too “volatile” and “dangerous” by even trained peace officers, The Post has learned.
Michael Vaughn, the communications chief at the city Department of Education, has quit in the wake of a series of public relations missteps.
A Brooklyn pol who narrowly lost the Republican primary to represent the Big Apple’s first Asian-majority Council district will remain in the race on the Conservative line –potentially splitting votes and costing the GOP a shot at scoring a high-stakes seat.
New York City council members from both sides of the aisle blamed “lack of enforcement” after a CVS worker stabbed to death a serial shoplifter in Manhattan — a less than subtle dig at Manhattan DA Bragg.
The wildly popular energy drink PRIME should be investigated by the FDA for marketing its potentially dangerous “cauldron of caffeine’’ to kids, Schumer said.
Rep. Elise Stefanik pulled in $2 million in the second quarter of 2023 for her own campaign, raised $1 million for other candidates, and transferred $1 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to election filings.
The Capital Region’s second retail cannabis store opened Friday on the first floor of a former bank building in Rensselaer where the vaults have been kept in their original condition and are being used to store inventory.
A three-act rock concert Saturday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center was canceled due to a bomb threat just before the beginning of the headline set by Noah Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
St. Peter’s Health Partners will voluntarily conduct a community impact study on the proposed closure of its Troy maternity ward and devise a closure plan that includes transportation options for maternity patients who need help accessing nearby hospitals.
Brown’s Beach on Saratoga Lake’s south end remained closed yesterday after an algae bloom was spotted floating on the lake’s surface over the last two weeks.
Days before heading to her fourth World Cup, Megan Rapinoe announced Saturday she’ll retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League season.
Rapinoe, 38, made the announcement on Twitter, saying she “never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever.”
Remember: You’ve got to be in it to win it.
