Good one day away from Friday morning (AKA Thursday).
Today is a significant date in both New York and national history. On this date in 1901, the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley, (Albany Law School, Class of 1867), died of complications from bullet wounds inflicted by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz, who shot the president during his Sept. 6 appearance at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.
On the day of McKinley’s death, former New York Gov. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president by John R. Hazel, U.S. District Judge of the Western District of New York. He was the youngest president ever – 42.
(Interestingly, no Bible was used for this ceremony, and Roosevelt was one of just three presidents who opted not to use a holy book for their inaugural oaths).
The day after McKinley’s death, Sept. 15, a funeral train carrying his casket traveled from the Queen City to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, where he laid in state, and then on to his home state of Ohio, where he was buried.
McKinley had just ended a speech calling for an end to “isolationism” when he was shot on what is now Fordham Drive on the north side of Buffalo.
It is now a lovely neighborhood of stately homes, and the site is marked by a plaque. In 1901, the space was occupied by the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition, (sort of like the World’s Fair of its day).
Czolgosz had lost his job during the economic Panic of 1893 and turned to anarchism as a result. He regarded McKinley as a symbol of oppression and was convinced that it was his moral duty to assassinate him. One bullet grazed McKinley, bouncing off his coat button; the other entered his stomach.
McKinley was operated on at the Pan-American medical facility (such as it was) by Dr. Matthew Mann, a gynecological surgeon and the dean of the University of Buffalo Medical School.
Sadly for the president, Mann was really not up to the task. He didn’t manage to locate the bullet inside the president (layers of fat complicated the procedure), and closed his surgical wounds without inserting any drains.
The area’s best surgeon at the time, Dr. Roswell Park, had considerable experience in treating abdominal wounds. But he was miles away in Niagara Falls operating on a patient with lymphoma of the neck. He refused to leave the operating room – not even for the president of the United States.
McKinley ultimately died of gangrene. He was the third American president to be assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881.
Czolgosz tried on murder charges in Buffalo on Sept. 23 – nine days after McKinley was shot. He pleaded insanity, but the jury pronounced him guilty within just two days of deliberations. One month later, he was sentenced to death by the electric chair.
There are a number of buildings, parks, monuments, and other notable sites/landmarks named in honor of McKinley across New York and the nation – something to be on the lookout for if your a history buff on the move.
A nice early fall day is on tap. Sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s. Get outside and get some fresh air while you can.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden brushed off the House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry, saying the way he sees it, they launched the investigation against him because they want to shut down the federal government.
“Everybody always asked about impeachment. I get up every day, not a joke, not focused on impeachment. I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day,” Biden said.
By opening an impeachment investigation into Biden, McCarthy unleashed an unpredictable and treacherous new political force into what is already the most abnormal election of modern times.
Far-right Republicans are telling McCarthy they won’t soften their demands for spending cuts in government funding legislation as a result of his impeachment inquiry into Biden, even as a shutdown looms at the end of the month.
The IRS is planning to remain “fully operational,” if Congress triggers a government shutdown at the end of the month.
A federal judge again declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program unlawful, though he refrained from ordering officials to terminate deportation protections and work permits for 580,000 immigrant “Dreamers.”
At the request of Republican-led states, Judge Andrew Hanen of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that a Biden administration effort to codify the DACA policy into a federal regulation was unlawful.
In a lawsuit filed yesteray, the president’s son, Hunter Biden, accused former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler of violating California and federal computer privacy laws.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis continues to argue that Trump and his 18 co-defendants in an election racketeering case should be tried together starting Oct. 23, a brisk pace Trump has already opposed.
Trump offered to “exchange” his right to a speedy trial in his Georgia election-conspiracy case for an Atlanta judge ruling that would have the former president tried separately from 18 other defendants.
Trump remains the clear 2024 favorite among Republican grassroots leaders, and in strong position to win his party’s presidential nomination. But there’s some evidence that the contest could become more competitive.
A liberal group filed a lawsuit to block Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot in Minnesota, the second major lawsuit in two weeks that hopes to invoke the 14th Amendment’s arcane “insurrectionist ban.”
The top election official in New Hampshire says he won’t invoke the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in order to block Trump from the ballot in the state that holds the first primary in the Republican nominating calendar.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a former presidential nominee and a rare relative moderate Republican, has said he will not run for a second term next year, depriving the party of one of its fiercest critics in Congress of Trump and his political movement.
Romney announced his decision in a statement bashing both Biden and Trump while calling for “a new generation of leaders.”
During his video statement, Romney said age played into the decision, making a thinly veiled jibe to an ageing White House.
Former fugitive Danelo Cavalcante was led out of a Pennsylvania State Police station with blood drips visible across his hospital gown — while new images emerged showing the heroic K-9 that finally captured him hours before.
Gov. Kathy Hochul talked tough yesterday, telling Biden to “do something” to help New York get migrants work visas — but she also failed to call for an emergency legislative session for the state to confront the issue.
More New Yorkers positively view the recent influx of migration in the state than those who see it as a burden and support comprehensive immigration reform, according to a poll by the Siena College Research Institute.
Hochul said she is talking to state Assembly and Senate leaders about a bill to allow asylum seekers to work in New York and whether it would be debated in a special session of the legislature or could wait until lawmakers return to Albany in a few months.
Adams administration officials announced a three week “sprint” toward identifying asylum seekers who are already eligible for work authorization.
The Biden administration has skewered New York City for having “no exit strategy” for asylum seekers in shelters — as the feds themselves appear to lack any substantial plan to help US cities with the flood of migrants from the borders.
As Mayor Eric Adams doubles down on his criticism of the Biden administration over New York City’s ongoing migrant crisis, other city leaders are shifting their approach in recent weeks, focusing on moonshot ideas — and they’re gaining momentum.
A bipartisan push against housing migrants at Floyd Bennett Field could make its way to the state courts, as a group of elected officials are saying they plan to sign off on a lawsuit if Hochul allows migrants to stay there.
The CDC director says everyone six months and older should get the new COVID vaccine, and Hochul repeated that recommendation as she held a COVID briefing for New York.
Yesterday on Long Island, nurse Sandra Lindsay continued her trailblazing trend. She was the first person in New York to get the original COVID vaccine in 2020. Now she’s the first to get the brand new vaccine.
“I know everyone wants to be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us,” Hochul said at a news conference in Midtown Manhattan.
New vaccines designed to target the latest coronavirus strains will be available at local pharmacies this week, state health officials said.
Spending by tourists and travelers in New York state totaled a record $78.7 billion in 2022, according to a study released by Hochul’s administration.
These figures represent increases over 2021 and surpass the previous records set in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hochul signed legislation that aims to crack down on telemarketers by nearly doubling the fine for telemarketers violating the Do Not Call Registry, the governor’s office announced.
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is calling on Hochul to sign bipartisan legislation that would open new market relationships between cannabis growers and tribal retailers.
Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell will have to be retrained on the Assembly’s “Policy Prohibiting Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation and what conduct constitutes a violation thereof” after he was found to be in violation of that policy.
As students start a new academic year, New York state lawmakers in Albany are pushing to lower the number of lockdown drills in schools from four to one.
Hundreds of thousands of New York children have been issued emergency food stamps and may not know it.
Former New York City buildings commissioner Eric Ulrich was charged in five separate indictments with accepting more than $150,000 in bribes while serving in public roles.
Prosecutors allege Ulrich used his position and accepted bribes in exchange for favors and access. Ulrich, 38, and his co-defendants were led into the courtroom in handcuffs. All pleaded not guilty to charges that include bribery and conspiracy.
The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, said in a statement that Ulrich had accepted or solicited the bribes over just two years. And a court filing said that Ulrich had engaged in conduct antithetical to his oath of office “on an almost daily basis.”
The City Council will move to create the first New York City-run trade-in program for electric bikes and lithium-ion batteries, which have started deadly fires.
Vandals smashed dozens of train windows along several subway lines, causing half a million dollars in damage and disrupting the commutes of hundreds of thousands of passengers yesterday.
MTA officials said 97 subway car windows were shattered overnight across 45 different trains that run on the subway’s lettered lines.
More than two dozen alleged drug traffickers were busted for their involvement in three crime rings that peddled “tranq,” fentanyl and cocaine throughout Long Island – but most of them were cut loose almost immediately thanks to New York’s bail reform laws.
Stephen Kershnar, who teaches philosophy, is suing for the right to return to SUNY at Fredonia. The university defends its ban as necessary for safety.
After plunging 20 percent at the end of August, the stock of Orsted wind power hasn’t recovered, raising further questions about the spiraling cost of offshore wind developments.
State Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts-based travel agency and its owner, accusing the company of failing to refund thousands of dollars to hundreds of New Yorkers for trips that were canceled.
Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran, the official keeper of the city’s official seal, said he understands the concerns of Native Americans, but changing the image “is not in the top 100 things that I got to get done on a daily basis.”
The Albany Convention Center Authority — the quasi-governmental entity that runs the Albany Capital Center — needs a new executive director. Duncan Stewart, who was hired as the authority’s first and only executive director 16-plus years ago, is retiring.
The Schenectady ethics board says City Councilman Damonni Farley didn’t violate any ethics rules or municipal laws stemming from a consulting deal with the Schenectady school district and tax warrants issued against him for failing to pay property taxes.
NYRA is now “envisioning” the third leg of the Triple Crown – the Belmont Stakes – will take place at Saratoga Race Course in 2024 and 2025.
