Good Monday morning.
I know I’ve written about this holiday many times before – probably at least five years running, which is as long as this morning post situation has been going on (if you can believe that). I’m too lazy to go back into the archives and check, but it’s a safe bet, I think, that I delved into the history of this day on multiple occasions.
And you know what? I’m still confused.
Not about it’s origins, necessarily. (More on that in a moment). But rather what it’s called – if you can believe that something so deceptively simply can actually be so darn complex – and who observes it. Because though this is a federal holiday, it turns out that not everyone in the nation has the day off.
Let’s start with the debate over the name of this day. Is it Presidents Day? President’s Day? Presidents’ Day? All or none of the above? The answer is…yes.
If you follow AP style, then it’s no apostrophe – one president’s day, such as George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, whose birthday observances are what started this whole mess.
But according to Chicago style, it’s plural possessive – as in the day belonging to ALL presidents. Then again, some state governments and federal agencies go for the apostrophe-free “Presidents Day” option, in keeping with the style of Veterans Day, which is not a day that belongs to veterans, but rather a day to honor and acknowledge them.
For what it’s worth, New York City falls into the “Presidents’ Day” category, while the state goes with “Washington’s Birthday (observed) and also considers Lincoln’s Birthday (Feb. 12) a floating holiday.
So that settles pretty much nothing, other than to say that whichever version you use, someone else is probably also using it.
To make things even more complicated, the federal government doesn’t even called it President’s Day (or Presidents Day, or even Presidents’ Day). In D.C., this is still officially Washington’s Birthday. The name “Presidents’ Day” (or however you spell it) was proposed in 1951 – the idea being that we would also honor Lincoln, but that switch was never codified.
In nine states – Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Rhode Island or Wisconsin – no one quibbles about what this holiday is called, because it’s not observed. (States aren’t required to recognize federal holidays and can’t be compelled to do so, they also can recognize OTHER days as state holidays, if they so choose).
Alabama, on the other hand, has decided to ADD a different president to the mix – Thomas Jefferson instead of Lincoln – to honor on this day, even though Jefferson was born in another month entirely (April).
So how the hell did we get here, anyway? After Washington died on Dec. 14, 1799, his birthday – Feb. 22 – was informally celebrated nationwide. It wasn’t until many years later – January 31, 1879 – that Feb. 22 became a federally recognized holiday.
But then came the signing of the Uniform Holiday Bill in1968, which moved some federal holidays to Mondays to prevent midweek shutdowns and give families longer weekends, which ostensibly is a boon for the travel, hospitality and tourism industries. And also good for the retail industry, which is largely responsible for making “Presidents Day” a household word.
Cool aside: and another thing I didn’t know about this day until I started Googling around for this post: Since 1862, the U.S. Senate has recognized the tradition of having one of its members read aloud Washington’s 7,641-word farewell address on the first president’s official birthday.
In what may be one of the few remaining and longstanding examples of bipartisanship, they alternate parties every year, and when the member is done, they inscribes their name and brief remarks in a black, leather-bound book maintained by the secretary of the Senate.
If you are off today, you’re getting some nice, clear weather for it – sunny skies are in the forecast, though it will be cold (in the low 30s), so bundle up if you’re heading outside. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, it’s business as usual. So let’s get to it.
In the headlines…
A new poll of historians coming out on Presidents’ Day weekend ranks Biden as the 14th-best president in American history, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan and Ulysses S. Grant and far ahead of Trump, who placed dead last.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., is urging Democrats in Dearborn, Michigan, to vote against Biden in the state’s upcoming Democratic primary.
“If you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted,” Tlaib said in a new video posted to social media on Saturday while standing outside an early voting location.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of Biden’s top Democratic surrogates, urged the president’s other supporters to start putting in the work to reelect him amid worries over his prospects at the ballot box.
Daniel Roher, director of the award-winning “Navalny” documentary, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death of prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an interview with the Washington Post.
The death of Navalny in a Russian prison has been a blow to an opposition movement in which he was the figurehead. But it has also raised hopes of a united front against Putin.
Biden said Friday that the apparent death of Navalny brings new urgency to the need for Congress to approve tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine to stave off Moscow’s invasion.
As thousands of Russians across the country tried to give voice to their grief for Navalny, who died in a remote Arctic penal colony on Friday, Russian police officers cracked down, temporarily detaining hundreds and placing more than two dozen in jail.
Rep. Michael R. Turner, of Ohio, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, defended his decision to hint publicly about classified intelligence that Russia is moving to deploy a new space-based nuclear weapon.
Lawsuits seeking to hold Trump personally accountable for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol can move forward after the former president chose not to take his broad immunity claim to the Supreme Court.
As he closes in on the Republican presidential nomination, Trump made a highly unusual stop Saturday, hawking new Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con,” a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.”
The shoes, shiny gold high tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website that also sells other Trump-branded shoes and “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle.
The sneakers sold out just hours after their launch, and came a day after a judge in New York ordered Trump and his company to pay a whopping $355 million in penalties, finding that the former president lied about his wealth for years.
The ruling in Trump’s civil fraud case could cost him all his available cash. The judge said that the former president’s “complete lack of contrition” bordered on pathological.
Ten days before the state’s GOP primary, the former president immediately unleashed an angry tirade against the country’s legal system on his return to Waterford Township, Michigan, on Saturday.
Manhattan condominiums in high-rise buildings emblazoned with Trump’s name have underperformed, according to sales data from two real estate tracking firms, and an analysis of the data by the Columbia University economist Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh.
Lara Trump expressed optimism for the prospect of becoming the next co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and emphasized the importance of November’s election to reverse what she called the nation’s “bad leadership.”
No Labels national co-Chair Ben Chavis said that the organization is “talking with several exceptional leaders” about potential bids for the White House.
In a concession to automakers and unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change, limits on tailpipe emissions designed to get drivers to switch from gas-powered cars to EVs.
The EPA’s change would implement less stringent requirements for vehicle pollution in the short term — effectively allowing car manufacturers to have a smaller percentage of their fleet be electric in 2030 than under the Biden administration’s initial proposal.
In the days since special counsel Robert Hur released a report that described Biden’s memory as “significantly limited,” presidential appointees and friendly lawmakers have been stepping forward one by one to attest to his acuity.
Patti Davis, daughter of former President Reagan, said the United States should “probably” administer cognitive tests to presidential candidates in an interview that aired yesterday.
Biden on Friday criticized the House for taking a two-week break amid a heated push for additional funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said he feels “very optimistic” about a path forward in Congress for passing Ukraine aid and enhanced border security, throwing his conditional support behind a bipartisan funding bill released by House moderates in recent days.
Gov. Kathy Hochul addressed New York business owners in a new interview and told them there was “nothing to worry about” after Trump was hit with a $355 million fine and a ban on conducting business in the Empire State for three years.
Hochul said: “Law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are businesspeople have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.”
Hochul apologized on Friday night for remarks she made at a Jewish philanthropy event in New York City that implied that Israel would be justified in destroying Gaza because of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
In a keynote address last Thursday at a Jewish philanthropy event in New York City, the Democratic governor said Hamas “must be stopped,” video posted on social media shows, and went on to draw an analogy between Canada and Hamas.
Hochul, a lifelong upstater, dropped a geographic bombshell yesterday, saying “I live in Manhattan” while ranting about Big Apple congestion and reckless e-bikers and cyclists. (Her team said she maintains a Buffalo “residence” and recently rented in NYC).
Hochul walked back a proposed transfer of $100 million in funds designated to boost legal representation for low-income New Yorkers following an outcry from the state’s legal community, according to amendments to her financial plan late last Thursday.
Judges on a state appellate court tasked with deciding the constitutionality of New York’s fledgling ethics agency expressed skepticism during a hearing Friday on whether its investigative and enforcement powers should be restored.
Half of New York’s dairy farms from a decade ago no longer exist as rising production costs and national market changes have shuttered thousands of small- and mid-size dairies.
The state Cannabis Control Board, which abruptly canceled its monthly meeting last month, on Friday adopted rules that would allow anyone 21 or older to cultivate their own marijuana plants at home.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has done a U-turn on plans to convert an abandoned luxury apartment complex into a shelter for illegal migrants after the community in Harlem opposed the proposal.
The change came during Adams’ surprise appearance at a St. Nicholas House Resident Association meeting packed with residents furious over the city’s plan for a building development on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd once marketed as upscale housing.
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, New York Focus found that the city’s notices to vacate shelters have been disproportionately served to migrants from Mauritania and Senegal.
E-bike safety checks and enforcement would be a key role of the new city agency Adams is contemplating to regulate New York’s growing food and package delivery industry.
Adams announced “Chinatown Connections,” an initiative between the city and state aimed at revitalizing Park Row and Chatham/Kimlau Square in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood.
Lamor Whitehead, a criminally indicted pastor and longtime friend of Adams, called the mayor the “key” to his financial success and boasted about his connections to notorious street gangs while extorting a businessman for a $500,000 real estate investment.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral has held a rare “Mass of Reparation” at the historic Midtown church to atone for the “sacrilegious” funeral service of a trans woman there last week, Catholic leaders say.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral, calling the event an insult to the Catholic faith and saying it was unaware of the identity of the deceased — or her vocal atheism — when it agreed to host the service.
Big Apple first-responders took longer to get to fires and other emergencies, while more people died in blazes, at the start of this fiscal year compared to last year’s, continuing a troubling trend, City Hall figures show.
Nearly 700 Queens casino workers are blasting a bill that would legalize online betting in the Empire State – saying it’s an attack on their jobs
Hudson Valley commuters ripped into the MTA’s congestion toll in a town hall in Ulster County Saturday, begging the Big Apple and Albany to put the controversial pricing plan on-hold.
A retired New York City detective is lining up major support in the suburbs and upstate to take on three-term Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
A day care center at the Harriman State Office Campus is under review and could have its license or registration revoked after an infant suffered burns there last week.
Police are investigating robberies on the University at Albany’s main campus and its downtown campus that left victims with injuries, according to campus police.
An ambitious proposal by The Miracle on Craig Street in Schenectady to revive the former Carver Community Center is beginning to look more like a pipe dream.
Long considered more affordable than New York City, the Hudson Valley presents a stark example of how the nationwide housing crisis is squeezing renters.
Remington is leaving Ilion, N.Y., after two centuries, abandoning upstate for a gleaming new factory in Georgia. With it goes the village’s identity.
