Good morning! We made it to the other side of 2023. Welcome to a brand new year! The only saving grace of having to get back to the grind is that today is Tuesday, so it’s a shorter and more humane four-day workweek – a nice way to ease into 2024.
Be forewarned that from a news standpoint, I’m not going to even try to recap all that happened while we were in that hazy gray period between Christmas and New Years. Things of a newsworthy nature did occur, of course, notably related to a certain former president and whether he will or won’t be allowed on the GOP primary ballot. We can get into that a little more later.
Someone I ran into on New Year’s Eve told me one of their resolutions was to turn the news alerts on their phone off until after the presidential election was safely passed.
I think shutting oneself off from the reality of the world is probably not the greatest idea, though I certainly understand the sentiment. Sometimes things are just too horrible or hard and you just wish you could look away and focus on the nice things in life – like puppies and chocolate.
But when we disengage, people who are intent on pulling a fast one on society have an easier time of it. And we really can’t afford that, can we?
I admit that I did make a few resolutions of my own. I tried to keep them realistic and achievable, so several helpful online influencers encouraged me to do. One is to stretch more. After hitting 50, I realized that if I want to keep moving the way I do – hopefully well into my 90s and beyond – I’m going to have to stop ignoring mobility and make it part of my daily discipline.
I just wish it wasn’t so damn boring.
As for resolutions, why do we make them for the new year, anyway? It’s kind of a weird tradition, if you think of it. Apparently, though, the practice dates back many centuries – all the way back to the ancient Babylonians’ time.
This was 4,000 years ago, give or take. But the Babylonians knew how to party. Their new year’s celebrations lasted not merely a few hours, but well over a week – though the observed this in mid-March to coincide with the start of the planting season, and not January.
Among the traditions of the season was to make promises to their gods that they would return any items they had borrowed and pay any debts that they owed. Historians see this as a precursor to today’s resolutions to do better, be better, and act better.
If the ancient Babylonians stuck to their promises, they won favor with the gods. And if they failed, well, falling out of the eternals’ good graces is never a good place to be. Imagine if failing to stick to your pledge to hit the gym more or stop drinking alcohol earned you a year of bad luck? Talk about an incentive.
The Romans reportedly had a similar practice, as did knights in the Middle Ages, who took something at the end of every year called a “Peacock Vow“, in which they renewed their vows of chivalry by placing their hands on a live or roasted bird. (No idea what that’s about).
Jumping forward in time a bit, the 1700s Methodists had a ceremony called the “Covenant Renewal Service,” that was held on New Year’s Eve or Day, which featured hymn singing and prayers and was supposed to serve as an alternative to the otherwise raucous and potentially debauched ringing in of the coming 12 months.
These days, while a lot of people might be making resolutions, very few are actually keeping them – a whopping 9 percent manage to do so all year long, according to one poll.
That might be way less than half of individuals in the U.S. – just 37 percent -said they have a goal or resolution in mind to achieve in 2023. In terms of what people who bother making resolutions actually resolve to do, working out more, losing weight, and eating better are among the most common resolutions, along with saving money and focusing on mental health.
Personally, I like you just the way you are. Honest. But, then again, we all have room for improvement, right? If not, why the heck are we even here?
If you did make a resolution and it involved getting outside more, you’re in luck. Today will be dry with clouds in the morning giving way to mostly sunny skies in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the low 40s. Will we ever seen snow again? Maybe next week. I’ve got to admit that I wouldn’t mind a little of the white stuff. This cold and damp thing has got me feeling a little blue.
In the headlines…
As wars rage in Gaza and Ukraine, migrants streamed illegally into the United States in record numbers and an intense 2024 campaign season looms, President Biden stayed largely out of sight while on a tropical family vacation during the holiday week.
Biden revealed his New Year’s resolution for 2024 was to “come back next year,” as he gears up for what is expected to be a competitive election year.
Biden spent more than a third of the past year at a getaway spot — either one of his Delaware residences, a posh vacation site or Camp David, according to a NY Post review of public records.
For the second time in a month the Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism.
Biden warned that the United States is at risk of being pulled into a direct conflict with Russia if the Kremlin succeeds in its war against Ukraine.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia vowed to continue missile strikes on Ukrainian cities, in retaliation for what he called a “terror” attack on the Russian city of Belgorod last week.
Muslim leaders announced on Saturday that they are going national with an effort to dissuade voters from reelecting Biden in 2024 due to his failure to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
Israel’s Supreme Court overturned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial law that limited judicial powers in a decision that threatens to throw the country back into civil division as the war with Hamas continues.
The decision is likely to rekindle the grave domestic situation that began a year ago over the government’s judicial overhaul plan — which sparked mass protests that brought the country to a near standstill at times — even as Israel is at war in Gaza.
The 2024 presidential election will be unlike any other, political strategists and pollsters say.
Biden is staring down a new year with uncertainty over whether he can turn around his dismal polling numbers and low approval ratings in time for the November election.
Biden heads into the election year showing alarming weakness among stalwarts of the Democratic base, with Donald Trump leading among Hispanic voters and young people. One in 5 Black voters say they’ll support a third-party candidate in November.
From a sudden candidate exit to foreign interference, there are several unpredictable dynamics that would jolt the presidential race in the new year.
Trump has accused Biden of trying to rig the 2024 presidential election by allowing illegal migrants to vote.
The campaign to have Trump removed from the ballot over his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election has kicked into high gear, with decisions in two states, Maine and Colorado, barring him from the primary ballots.
Trump’s advisers are preparing as soon this week to file challenges to decisions in Colorado and Maine to disqualify him from the Republican primary ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Maine’s secretary of state was the victim of a “swatting” call to her home, the authorities said, the latest politician to be targeted in recent weeks by people reporting fake crimes to the police, hoping to provoke heavily armed responses.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said Trump is worried the Supreme Court may rule against him on recent decisions in Colorado and Maine that booted him from the 2024 ballot in those states.
There is almost nothing in the words of the Constitution that even begins to support Trump’s boldest defense against charges that he plotted to overturn the 2020 election: that he is absolutely immune from prosecution for actions he took while in office.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have given their clearest answers in recent days on why they would pardon Trump, who faces dozens of charges in four criminal trials.
Three of Trump’s former White House staffers issued stark warnings about his potential second term and pleaded for others in power to speak out against the former president.
Michael D. Cohen, the onetime fixer for Trump, mistakenly gave his lawyer bogus legal citations concocted by the artificial intelligence program Google Bard, he said in court papers unsealed recently.
Harvard was due to respond by Friday to a demand from lawmakers for wide-ranging documents linked to the plagiarism controversy swirling around embattled President Claudine Gay. But it has been given more time to turn over its information.
An undergraduate member of Harvard’s Honor Council believes Gay is “getting off easy” from her recent plagiarism allegations.
Scenes of devastation emerged along Japan’s western coast as rescuers raced to save residents trapped in the rubble of a 7.5 magnitude quake that has triggered multiple aftershocks and killed dozens of people.
Officials ordered evacuations and said that some people could be trapped under collapsed buildings after a quake struck the western prefecture of Ishikawa. Tsunami warnings were issued and then downgraded to advisories.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, was stabbed in the neck this morning, according to the police and live-streamed TV footage. No details were provided about his condition or his attacker.
A bipartisan bill that would revamp New York’s 175-year-old wrongful death statute was swiftly vetoed by Gov. Hochul for the second time, an outcome sponsors had expected as they continue to try and craft language that will appease myriad stakeholders.
In a veto memo, Hochul called the proposed bill “well-intentioned” but said that it would have “likely resulted in significant unintended consequences.”
New York’s governor vetoed a bill days before Christmas that would have banned noncompete agreements, which restrict workers’ ability to leave their job for a role with a rival business.
Hochul signed a bill intended to make it easier to find out who owns a building in New York state, but the bill’s sponsors said a key aspect was left out.
A proposal to form a Hasidic village in Orange County faces new obstacles after Hochul signed a pair of bills late last month that make it harder to incorporate villages in New York. But the new laws may face a court challenge.
The mobile sports wagering industry has raked in nearly $3 billion in revenues in New York in the first two years since it was legalized in New York.
New York’s overhaul of its busy Thruway stops includes several Chick-fil-A restaurants, which are closed on Sundays – much to some travelers; dismay. But lawmakers appear to be too late to force a change in the chain’s business hours.
Hochul vetoed an election bill that would have significantly changed the state’s newly established system to publicly finance political campaigns by raising the dollar threshold for candidates to qualify in state elections.
Hochul reminded New Yorkers across the state that the minimum wage will increase starting Jan. 1.
Travelers in the new year, take note. Tolls increased by 5 percent on Jan. 1, on the New York State Thruway.
Legislation touching on nearly every aspect of life in the state, including wages, health care and education, is going into effect in the coming months.
The state Legislature may have to consider whether to adopt congressional boundaries similar those already in place when lawmakers vote on establishing lines for the rest of the decade, following a Court of Appeals ruling that restarted the process.
Hochul announced nominations for state and national registers historic places throughout New York.
The state’s 2021 Green Amendment, which says New Yorkers have a constitutional right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment,” has sparked at least 10 lawsuits against landfills, planned solar farms and other projects.
A state Supreme Court justice has rejected a request from North Country GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik and the Republican Party to temporarily suspend a new state law that allows any registered voter in New York to cast their ballot early by mail.
Nearly 200,000 students — or one out of five — refused to sit for the state’s standardized reading and math exams for grades 3-8 administered in the spring, test data reviewed by The NY Post reveals.
Some observers worry that SUNY Stony Brook, where 16 percent of students come from families in the bottom fifth of American income levels, could be transformed into a school that is more elite in every sense due to its flagship status.
A move by Mayor Eric Adams meant to slow the surge of new arrivals being sent to New York from Texas encountered logistical hurdles within 24 hours.
Less than 48 hours after Adams signed an executive order to regulate arrivals of buses carrying migrants to New York City, more buses rolled in early last Friday morning.
Adams warned residents to expect another surge in migrants from Texas in the coming months even as he said the city is reaching its “breaking point.”
After Adams restricted bus arrivals last week in an effort to curb a surge of migrants, bus operators appear to have found a loophole by dropping migrants off at a New Jersey train station from which they can continue on into the city.
Adams rubs elbows with the city’s business and financial elite, attends to ethnic groups who make up his political base and appears at multiple ribbon cuttings and galas each week. But he avoids disclosing much about the daily encounters of his high-profile job.
Former New York Rep. George Santos went on an unhinged tirade against Adams after claiming his car was burglarized in Queens, but City Hall claims the truth-challenged ex-pol staged the crime himself.
Adams, an avowed booster of New York City’s nightlife scene, is dismantling a decades-old, multiagency enforcement task force that has long been accused of using heavy-handed tactics during inspections at bars and venues across the Big Apple.
Adams told a class of NYPD recruits that City Council members want cops to prioritize “paperwork” over “patrolling” — a thinly-veiled dig at a bill recently passed by the chamber that’d place new transparency requirements on the Police Department.
New York City will ban all vendors from the base of the Brooklyn Bridge starting tomorrow Adams’ office said, aiming to clear the tangle of sellers who have long crowded the bustling pedestrian level of the celebrated steel and stone suspension bridge.
From a new movie studio in Queens backed by Robert De Niro to high-rise affordable housing at the site of the World Trade Center, 2024 is poised to be another big year for New York City real estate. Here are 10 projects set to transform the city in the new year.
A controversial package of new laws aimed at expanding rental assistance for New York City’s poor will go into effect this month, but a key backer of those laws told the Daily News their fate is far from certain — and could become the subject of a lawsuit.
New York City started 2024 with a big bang as hundreds of thousands of revelers packed into Times Square Sunday night, while pro-Palestinian protestors filled streets outside the celebratory area.
The police presence was heavier than usual for New Year’s Eve, with thousands of officers deployed and canine units and officers on horseback monitoring an expanded security zone.
A Daily News reporter was arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian protest near Times Square on New Year’s Eve and held in custody for nearly 24 hours before the Manhattan district attorney’s office ultimately decided not to prosecute the case.
Anti-Israel protesters yelling inflammatory chants snarled traffic and caused chaos as they descended upon John F. Kennedy International Airport yesterday, creating a nightmare on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Five people were killed in a two-vehicle smash-up that caused their ride to flip over on the Cross Island Parkway in Queens early New Year’s Day, authorities said.
A 6-year-old girl died in a house fire on Staten Island yesterday evening, the authorities said.
Nearly 38,000 sites and buildings in New York City have been landmarked by the city’s preservation commission. More than 80% are in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Commission is trying to change that.
Yoko Ono and Yayoi Kusama. Roy Lichtenstein and Chuck Close are among more than 400 artists who have been commissioned by MTA Arts & Design, which brings public art to subways, rail stations, buses and elsewhere throughout the transit system.
When New York City’s first baby of 2024 entered the world at the stroke of midnight yesterday morning, the newborn boy immediately took after his father: They were both delivered by the same doctor.
The GOP formally took over the former Democratic stronghold of Suffolk County yesterday, as Republican Ed Romaine was sworn into office as County Executive.
George Soros’ posh Southampton estate was swatted over the weekend as the lefty-leaning billionaire became the latest high-profile victim of the 911 pranks.
A couple was killed and numerous others injured just hours into the New Year when a car filled with explosives barreled into a crowd of people leaving a rock concert in Rochester, police said.
As the U.S. Commerce Department refines its list of places where it might want to locate its new $11 billion federal computer chip manufacturing research center, it is going to have a hard time not including Albany among its top choices.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge appointed two mediators who have deep experience in litigation involving sexual abuse cases to lead efforts in the coming months to resolve hundreds of lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
It may have been bitterly cold on the roof of Franklin Plaza, but its panoramic view of the city, the Hudson River and the horizon offered a perfect setting for yesterday’s inauguration of Mayor Carmella Mantello – the first woman to hold that post.
The Capital Region’s first baby of 2024 was born early yesterday at Albany Medical Center.
A 44-year-old city man died early yesterday in the City of Albany’s first homicide of 2024, in a shooting that occurred near the intersection of Judson and Second streets.
Democrats are making an issue out of a pre-election fundraiser new Clifton Park Supervisor Angela Thompson, which was at a home of Francis Thomas Disonell, who in 2007 pleaded guilty to bilking banks and lending institutions out of nearly $2 million.
Historic trails that opened the second week of December at the Graphite Range Community Forest are already closed after drenching rains.
