Good morning, it’s Monday. You might not be reading this at the regularly appointed hour, as it’s a federal holiday and you might be one of the lucky individuals who have the day off.
What, exactly, to call this day – one of the most inconsistently celebrated of the 11 official federal holidays, (which basically means all federal workers get a paid day off, most banks and the bond markets – but not the stock markets – are closed and there’s no mail delivery), is a bit of a sticky wicket.
In 1971, the second Monday in October was officially designated a federal holiday in honor of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus whose voyage with three boats – the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria – to the so-called New World marked the beginning of a new era of exploration and colonization of North and South America.
Actually, Columbus sailed from Spain across the Atlantic four times in search of a direct water route west from Europe to Asia – a quest he never did realize. (As an aside, he sailed on behalf of Spain and not Italy, though he was born in Genoa, because he couldn’t find financing for his trips in his home country).
In fact, it was someone else entirely – a different Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci – who realized quite a bit after the fact that what Columbus had found when he landed in what is now the Bahamas was actually an entirely new continent, which is why we are all living in “America” and not “Columbusland” or some such.
Columbus was not the first to “discover” America, contrary to what we used to be taught in elementary school. (And maybe a lot of children still are? Not having school-aged kids leaves me at a distinct disadvantage on this front).
In fact, there were quite a number of people already living in the New World when Columbus first arrived; it wasn’t so new to these indigenous individuals whatsoever. And his arrival was not at all the harbinger of good things to come for them.
Here’s where things start to get complicated.
Over the years, there has been pushback against Columbus Day on a variety of fronts. In the 1920s, for example, the Ku Klux Klan opposed any celebrations in his name and/or monuments or statues erected in his honor as part of the organization’s broad anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic world view.
(This is something I only just recently learned. Again, the interwebs are a marvelous thing; and again, I am humbled by the vast amount of information about which I am completely ignorant).
More recently, however, opposition to honoring Columbus in any way has hinged on the mistreatment of indigenous people.
In 2021, President Joe Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day. Last year, he issued a proclamation that recommitted “to upholding our solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, strengthening our Nation-to-Nation ties.”
Although Indigenous Peoples’ Day is not yet a federal holiday, (legislation has been introduced in Congress to change this), 17 states as well as Washington, D.C., have established holidays honoring Native people – often held on the second Monday in October as a Columbus Day replacement, according to the Pew Research Center.
Pew also found that only 16 states and the territory of American Samoa continue to observe the second Monday in October as an official public holiday exclusively called Columbus Day. Twenty-six states and the territory of Guam observe nothing at all on this date; it’s just another average workaday Monday.
Dozens of cities and school systems observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day. South Dakota is believed to be the first state to have officially recognize Native American Day in 1990. Even Columbus, Ohio, the explorer’s namesake city, has opted for Indigenous Peoples’ Day as of 2020.
New York has tried to split the baby in a lot of ways. For example, the New York City school district celebrates BOTH Indigenous Peoples’ Day AND Italian Heritage Day (not Columbus Day). Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both Italian Americans, infamously fought over this – like they did over pretty much everything.
Keeping Columbus Day was one of the few things Gov. Kathy Hochul and her 202 GOP opponent, then-Rep. Lee Zeldin, agreed on. There is a bill pending in Albany to remove Columbus Day from the state calendar and replace it with a holiday honoring Native people. It has not yet passed, though it has been gaining traction.
If you do happen to have the day off, maybe take the chance to get outside. It will be in the low 60s with partly cloudy skies.
In the headlines…
Israel vowed retaliation after Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel in the broadest invasion of its territory in 50 years. Scores of Israelis have been injured in the fighting and over 100 were killed.
More than 40 hours after militants from Gaza surged across the border, Israel’s military said its forces were still battling gunmen on Israeli territory. At least 700 Israelis are believed to have been killed and more than 413 Palestinians are dead.
Iranian security officials reportedly helped the Palestinian terror group Hamas plan its Saturday sneak attack on Israel — and gave the final go-ahead at a meeting last Monday in Beirut.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night urged Palestinians living in Gaza to “leave now” and telling Israelis to brace for a protracted campaign.
The attack on Israel was timed to coincide with a major celebratory Jewish holiday, Simchat Torah, and came on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 War in which Arab states bombed the country on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
American and Israeli officials said none of Israel’s intelligence services had specific warning that Hamas was preparing a sophisticated assault.
The attack drew condemnation from Jewish communities and organizations spanning from Miami to Vancouver.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan called Hamas’s attack on Israel “unprecedented”, comparing the terrorism to the 9/11 tragedy.
Hamas terrorists kidnapped a 25-year-old Israeli student while she was attending a rave near the Gaza Strip to celebrate the end of the Jewish holiday Sukkot, distressing video released by her family shows.
Hundreds of people fled an all-night outdoor music festival early Saturday morning that was being held in the Negev Desert in southern Israel to try to escape incoming rockets and gunfire from Palestinian militants, according to Israeli news outlets.
At least 260 bodies have been recovered from a concert that was one of the first targets in Palestinian militants’ brutal attack on Israel, an Israeli rescue service said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul directed landmarks statewide to be illuminated blue and white Saturday evening in solidarity with the State of Israel, in the wake of the terrorist attacks from Hamas.
“I’ve been in personal conversations with many New Yorkers who are in Israel right now, some in Tel Aviv, which is under attack as we speak,” Hochul said Saturday night. “…There’s no flights in or out. We’re talking about how we can get New Yorkers back safely.”
New York feels uniquely impacted. I spent the day making phone calls to check in on people, figuring they were in New York. I can’t tell you how many answered and said, ‘No, I’m in a shelter in Jerusalem,’” relayed Hochul.
Hochul condemned a rally in support of Palestinians set to take place yesterday in the wake of the Hamas-led attack in Israel over the weekend, calling the event “abhorrent and morally repugnant,” in a statement Saturday night.
Dozens of anti-Israel demonstrators faced off against counter-protesters in Times Square, shouting “Free Palestine” from behind police barricades as cops kept watch on the two increasingly confrontational sides.
The rally appeared to divide New York Democrats, with pols including Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres blasting the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America for organizing the demo so soon after the Palestinian militants’ deadly attack.
Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories has prompted New York officials to bolster security measures and deploy additional police resources across the state.
Leaders of the Capital Region’s Jewish community and local elected officials plan to attend a rally tonight in support of Israel as the death toll from the surprise attack by Hamas militants into southern Israel continues to rise.
Lawmakers are vowing to get their constituents out of Israel in the wake of the attacks launched by the militant group Hamas.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, whose city is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, called the attack by Hamas militants near the Gaza Strip a “cowardly action by a terrorist organization.”
New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirstin Gillibrand, joined by Adams and Jewish New Yorkers, condemned the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas for its shocking and lethal Saturday surprise attack on Israel.
“The terrorist attacks by Hamas on the people of Israel are absolutely horrific,” said Schumer in a statement. “The U.S. stands with Israel in its unwavering right to defend itself. I stand ready to ensure Israel has the support to do so.”
The death toll from two major earthquakes in northwestern Afghanistan rose to at least 813 people yesterday, according to the local authorities, making the dual shocks one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the country in decades.
The two earthquakes, both 6.3 magnitude, hit Herat Province, along the country’s border with Iran, on Saturday.
House Republicans, divided and demoralized after the ouster of their speaker last week, are now quietly feuding over how to elect a successor.
The attacks in Israel and demand for U.S. aid are injecting new urgency into recent talks among centrist House Republicans to attempt to reinstate Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, with scores of Republican lawmakers now discussing the effort.
Once a tormentor of the Republican Party’s speakers, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, an unapologetic right-wing pugilist, has become a potential speaker himself.
Some Republicans are calling for the weapon that dethroned McCarthy to be weakened. But it is not that easy.
McCarthy is denying reports that he is expected to step down from Congress before the end of his term – telling reporters on Friday that he still has “work to do,” after sending signals in private conversations that he could step down early from Congress.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi denied a suggestion that she broke a promise to McCarthy when he was removed from the role during this week’s historic vote.
The Hochul administration is shelling out at least $150,000 in taxpayer money to survey New Yorkers about banning the sale of tobacco products — but isn’t asking them about banning pot.
Faced with staff shortages and declining birth rates, more than two dozen maternity wards in New York have closed in the last 15 years, forcing expectant mothers like Holcomb to travel farther for care.
A newly released audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that the state Department of Transportation failed to adhere to the state’s Freedom of Information Law and actually “obstructed” the comptroller’s auditors during the inquiry.
Cyberattacks are a growing threat to New York’s critical infrastructure, with more than 83 incidents in the first half of this year, a new report from the state comptroller’s office found.
Col. Dominick Chiumento, who has served in an administrative role for the State Police that includes overseeing the agency’s budget, facilities, records and forensic laboratory system, has been appointed acting superintendent.
Adams traveled to three countries – Mexico, Ecuador, and Columbia – to discourage migrants from coming to New York. At each stop, people said they were still determined to make the trek.
Adams spent the final night of his trip in Colombia on Saturday, where he called on the federal government to find pathways for migrants and asylum seekers to work legally in the United States.
He spoke during a visit to Necocli, the northern Colombia town where thousands of migrants start the perilous trek across the roadless Darien jungle into Panama, as they head for the U.S.
New York is a sanctuary city, but Adams indicated that won’t stop him from cooperating with federal immigration officials in any legal way as the city still struggles to accommodate over 110,000 migrants seeking asylum that have arrived over the past year.
As the city’s resources strain under the influx of thousands of migrants, New Yorkers are still resolutely in favor of welcoming newcomers. But for how long?
During a “Face the Nation” interview, Adams said that in the last week of September, over 3,700 asylum seekers arrived — numbers that he says are “not sustainable.”
The Adams administration says it conceptually supports a controversial bill weighing whether black New Yorkers deserve reparations for slavery, roiling critics who ripped the measure as one of the most “divisive” to ever emerge from the City Council.
Sideya Sherman, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity, said the controversial bill should be tweaked to avoid overlapping with two comparable state bills.
A new bill being pushed by progressive City Council members that attempts to wipe out Mayor Adams’ recent imposition of 30-day-stay limits at city-run shelters is finding fierce opposition from conservatives and some moderate Democrats.
Adams dispatched a cadre of top administration officials to deliver an emergency briefing to New Yorkers about potential heavy rain this past weekend – a week after coming under fire for failing to issue any public warnings ahead of last week’s flash floods.
On Friday, the MTA asked a federal court in New Jersey if it could join with the federal government to help fight a lawsuit filed by Governor Phil Murphy over the MTA’s congestion pricing program.
The two kids of city Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and his top-ranking DOE educrat wife, Cristina Melendez, were racially discriminated against at the private Ethical Culture Fieldston School in the Bronx, according to a shocking lawsuit.
For as long as many New Yorkers can remember, the M.T.A. has needed more money. Now its budget is finally whole, and the pressure for good service is on.
The girlfriend of slain New York City activist Ryan Carson was unable to pick her boyfriend’s suspected killer from a photo lineup — and that could potentially hurt the case, according to legal experts.
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a 13-year-old on a city bus on Friday afternoon on Staten Island.
New aerial sea rescue devices are under testing by the New York City’s Fire Department — drones, equipped with floats that automatically inflate when they’re dropped in the water next to troubled swimmers.
Hidden behind scaffolding, a metal gate and piles of trash on a bustling corner of the South Bronx is one of the last remaining art works by Banksy in New York City — and now that the building is heading for demolition, the owner isn’t sure what to do with it.
New York City’s sprawling public health care system contains one of the largest public art collections in the country.
Coyotes have “expanded their turf” throughout much of New York City, with several sightings of the four-legged friends recently in Claremont Park in the Bronx.
The New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center’s grand reopening celebration was held Saturday at 61 Lake Ave. in Saratoga Springs.
Three researchers whose work looks at the human microbiome and its role in disease have received the 2023 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research following nominations from colleagues including Anthony Fauci.
A new study has an encouraging message for Americans who shy away from Covid shots because of worries about side effects: The chills, fatigue, headache and malaise that can follow vaccination may be signs of a vigorous immune response.
A Florida man and three sons who used a business masquerading as a church to sell more than $1 million of a deadly bleach solution they claimed was a “miracle” cure for Covid-19 and other diseases were each sentenced Friday to several years in prison.
Gymnast Simone Biles is truly the GOAT.
