Good Friday morning – literally. There’s only one day a year when that sentence means more than one thing and today is IT.
I’m wondering if all the religious content of late is turning people off. It’s not often that there’s a confluence of observances by different faiths – really, only around Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza in the winter and Easter/Passover/Ramadan in the spring.
I’m sure there are some of you out there who would prefer that I turn my attention to something less – weighty? – like International Mermaid Day or National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day. (Perhaps those links will satisfy you?)
Others who lean more toward the history buff category might like to know that we’re on the cusp of the anniversary of the fateful day in 1848 when Niagara Falls ran dry when an ice jam from Lake Erie stopped the Niagara River. At the time, this was an incident of epic proportions, and some thought it portended the end of the world.
To be clear, the falls have been dry since then, but it was a man-made event in 1969, compliments of the U.S. Army Corps, and needed to be done, they said, to study the rock bed beneath the falls and its erosion patterns. This is a process known as “dewatering,” and ostensibly, that’s going to happen again in the not-too-distant future to facilitate bridge repair and replacement.
Reading the accounts of what it’s like to witness a “dry” Niagara Falls, it strikes me that the absence of sound would be just as striking – if not more so – than the sight of the bare rock without its usual rushing water covering. If you’ve ever been to the falls (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for???), you’ll know that the roaring of the falls is a constant backdrop. It must seem eerie and quiet without it.
But where was I? Right, Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday and Black Friday, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. Interestingly, it is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation – a day on which practicing Catholics are expected to attend mass – but it is a day of strict fasting and abstinence (from meat, though “fasting” in this case means eating less, not nothing at all).
Generally speaking, those who observe attend church services on Good Friday, which could include the Stations of the Cross, a 14-step devotion that involves moving from one place to another (sometimes indoors, sometimes outside, sometimes both), reciting specific prayers, and meditating on events from Christ’s last day on earth.
Another interesting aside, Pope Francis is, for the first time in his 11-year pontificate, is writing his own Stations of the Cross meditations this Easter. The service will be broadcast worldwide.
The weather for this Easter weekend isn’t looking too bad. We’ll have partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 50s both days. That’s more or less what today looks like, too, though it will be very windy, with gusts up to 30 mph possible in the afternoon.
Hang onto those hats!
In the headlines…
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters descended on Radio City Music Hall last night ahead of President Joe Biden’s star-studded campaign fundraiser as part of a “Flood Manhattan for Gaza” demonstration.
The droves of demonstrators surrounded the iconic venue on Sixth Avenue, where former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will join Biden for the fundraiser that includes a discussion moderated by CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
Obama and Clinton joined Biden at the most lucrative fundraiser of the 2024 campaign, warning fellow Democrats that Donald Trump must be defeated while making forceful cases for Biden’s reelection. The event was expected to raise $25 million.
The frequent protests — including shouts of “blood on your hands” — drew flashes of frustration from the former presidents on stage as Biden faces intensifying domestic fallout from the Israel-Hamas war.
When one protester interrupted, Obama snapped back, “You can’t just talk and not listen…That’s what the other side does.”
The four men – including comedian Stephen Colbert, who moderated a discussion with the president and former presidents – ended their time on stage by putting on aviator sunglasses in an impression of Biden, which earned a standing ovation.
Biden said Arab countries including Saudi Arabia were prepared to “fully recognize Israel” in a future deal as he and his Democratic predecessors pushed back on critics of his Middle East policies at a campaign event.
Trump attended the wake of a New York City police officer gunned down in the line of duty and called for “law and order,” as part of an attempt to show a contrast with Biden and focus on crime as part of his third White House campaign.
As hundreds of police officers and family members stood outside a Long Island funeral home, Trump proclaimed the need for the country to “get back to law and order.”
Guy Rivera, 34, was charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Police Officer Jonathan Diller. He was also charged with attempted murder for aiming his gun at a second police officer, who pushed it away before Rivera could fire.
Trump’s presence at the Massapequa funeral home promises to shine a spotlight on Diller’s senseless death during a traffic stop in Queens on Monday, with the slain cop serving as another tragic example. It is unclear what led to Trump’s attendance at the wake.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced that he has raised $1.5 million for Diller’s family after he vowed to match contributions.
Trump’s campaign reportedly is seeking to out-raise Biden next week in Florida, aiming to take in more than $33 million to top a new single-event fundraising record set by Biden last night with $25 million.
The spectacle of Trump selling $60 Bibles is “a spit in the face of people that really believe”, the Rev Al Sharpton said, amid widespread backlash over the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s latest moneymaking scheme.
The Republican chairman of the House Oversight panel formally invited Biden to testify before his committee as a part of its impeachment probe.
Comer wrote a letter asking Biden to testify so he can explain the role he appears to have played in his family’s alleged influence-peddling schemes, the main focus of the House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into the president.
The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was expected to arrive in Baltimore to help dismantle the twisted wreckage of the bridge that collapsed this week, killing six construction workers and threatening the livelihoods of thousands of others.
The battle over Congress’s role in repairing a landmark bridge in Baltimore is already heating up on Capitol Hill, just days after it collapsed.
The U.S. government authorized $60 million in relief to Maryland for a bridge that collapsed in Baltimore after being struck by a cargo ship.
The massive cargo ship crash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge will likely lead to billions of dollars in liability claims. Marine insurance companies will be on the hook for much of the costs.
The six men who were killed in the bridge accident were all immigrants from Latin America. Their deaths have shaken the growing Hispanic community in and around Baltimore.
The construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday were on break in their cars, according to the wife of one of the construction workers who survived.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange who was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers, was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors had sought as much as 50 years, while Bankman-Fried’s legal team argued for no more than 6½ years. He was convicted on seven criminal counts in November and had been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said that in determining the sentence he weighed the brazenness of Bankman-Fried’s actions, his lack of remorse and the possibility he’d commit future crimes.
The intensifying battle for Senate GOP leader between Senators John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota and possibly others, is a throwback to an earlier era, when leadership races in Congress were crowded and sometimes messy affairs.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott met to discuss border security legislation.
Abbott told Johnson the border crisis “is both unacceptable and avoidable, urging the Speaker to pass border security legislation that will help stop illegal crossings between ports of entry along the southern border,” a press release from Abbott’s office reads.
Johnson wrote to Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, demanding that the Senate hold an impeachment trial next month of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary.
Lawmakers voted to extend current state funding to Thursday of next week as they flee Albany for the Easter holiday weekend without passing the vast majority of the state budget.
Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said on the Senate floor that the late budget should not be “critically disturbing to anyone in New York state.”
The New York State Workers Compensation Board has sued Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign — Friends of Kathy Hochul — for failing to pay a $50,000 fine for not carrying employees’ insurance coverage.
A push by leading Democrats to restrict how social media companies use algorithms to serve content to children has been met by a high-stakes lobbying effort.
A bill would ban the sale and use of glue traps in New York, but some exterminators say the method is no worse than other ways of killing rodents.
Mayor Eric Adams announced that New York City planned to test technology to detect guns in its subway system as officials seek to make transit riders feel safe after a deadly shoving attack earlier in the week.
Adams has launched a global search for the best system, which he hopes to have for a pilot program in 90 days.
The devices, which are used in sports stadiums and museums across the city, could be rolled out in subways following a mandatory 90-day waiting period required for all new police technology.
“This is our Sputnik moment,” Adams said. “Like when Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon … Let’s bring on the scanners.”
Adams zeroed in on repeat offenders, blaming the violence that swept over the city Monday night on recidivism, saying: “These are bad people who are doing bad things to good people. It’s the good guys against the bad guys and we have to recognize that.”
A top Adams administration official raged against the “extremist” City Council online — blaming their policies for driving recidivism and disorder in the wake of the slaying of a Big Apple cop.
Joel Eisdorfer, a top adviser to Adams, is being sued for allegedly stiffing a real estate agent on a $355,000 broker fee owed as part of a scuttled business deal he initiated while working at City Hall.
Literacy at New York City schools remains low amid Adams’ focus on reading, internal data shows.
Members of the City Council’s Women’s Caucus are being called out as hypocrites for suddenly caring about crime when they’ve been accused of voting for laws to handcuff the NYPD.
City Hall tried to assure critics that a possible end to residential building size restrictions now being debated in Albany won’t lead to a forest of 1,500-foot-tall towers blighting Manhattan — but will encourage the construction of wider classic buildings.
A string of reported attacks on New York City women has reached viral status on TikTok, prompting some online conspiracy theories. But police haven’t publicly dispelled the speculation or said the attacks were connected.
Queens Councilman Francisco Moya endorsed Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to build an $8 billion casino complex next to Citi Field — but state Sen. Jessica Ramos, another influential political player who can make or break the project, is not on board.
New Yorkers will be able to snag a free pair of eclipse viewing glasses at any New York City library branch on a first-come, first-served basis, officials announced.
A coalition representing alleged survivors of child sexual abuse are calling on state lawmakers to investigate the insurance industry’s practices as many of those companies are fighting efforts to have the insurers pay settlements to victims.
Downtown Albany will look very different for the next few days as the NCAA women’s basketball tournament is in town. Road closures and parking restrictions will be significant.
The former home of Grandma’s Pies & Restaurant could soon be gone after Stewart’s Shops officially closed on the property at 1273-1275 Central Ave. Wednesday, according to Albany County records.
Clinton County and its insurance carrier paid more than $362,000 to settle federal lawsuits that had been filed by four former female correction officers who said they had been subjected to sexual harassment and abuse by male co-workers.
It wasn’t entirely spring-like in Scotia yesterday, but that didn’t thwart Jumpin’ Jack’s plan to open for the season. And there was no lack of customers ordering burgers, fries and other menu items from the landmark Scotia eatery along the Mohawk River.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
