Good morning, it’s Monday and we finally have a state budget. It’s late, yes, but what’s three weeks among friends?
It’s still a far cry from the bad old days (that I actually personally experienced) of budget stalemates that dragged on throughout the summer an d lasted more than 100 days. (I believe the late budget record in modern history was 133 days set in 2004).
You could be forgiven for having not noticed that the budget got passed on Saturday, since it was also 4/20 – AKA weed day, and National Cold Brew Day, an interesting mix of mellowing out and ramping up.
Today is one of those embarrassment of riches sort of days when there’s so many options in terms of the direction in which I could take this missive – too many options, really, because making decisions is not one of my strong points. In the end, I decided to go with two of the most obvious choices and attempt to find the through line that logically marries them together.
Today, as I’m sure you’re aware, is Earth Day, which was first observed in 1970, thanks to the evangelical insistence of a perhaps ill-named senator, Gaylord Nelson.
The Wisconsin Democrat was the one who came up with the idea of harnessing the enthusiasm and passions of students who demonstrated in opposition to the Vietnam War, and applying it to the policies and practices that were leading to the degradation of the planet.
Twenty years later, more than 200 million people in 141 countries around the world had participated in Earth Day events, and that number has only continued to rise.
So, Earth Day is a celebration of all things green and growing. It is a hallmark of spring – both a new beginning and a testament to all the hard work and history that it took to reach this moment (such as it is). And much the same could be said of Passover, the Jewish holiday that also starts today and ends Tuesday, April 30.
Passover often coincides with Easter, but it came late this year. That’s because it is dictated by the Jewish calendar, beginning on the on the 15th day of the month of Nisan that can typically anywhere between March and April.
Passover, AKA “Pesach” in Hebrew, is observed for eight days in the U.S. Shorthand: It is the annual retelling of the biblical story of how the Jewish people escaped enslavement by Pharaoh in ancient Egypt. But the holiday – and the ritual meal called a “Seder” that marks it – is about a lot more than that. It is about liberation, birth, and renewal – much like spring.
This Passover is tinged with sadness and worry, as it comes amid the ongoing war in Gaza and a significant uptick of antisemitism and violence targeted against Jews in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack. The FBI has warned of potential threats against Jews as the holiday is scheduled to get underway at sundown tonight.
This, coupled with a lot of other personal challenges that have arisen over the past several weeks, just makes me inexplicably sad.
At least the weather is cooperating today – why, oh why are crummy, cloudy, cold and drizzly weekends always followed by sunny Mondays? It’s like a curse. Anyway, we’ll have sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 50s today. Enjoy your matzoh, for those who will be observing. Personally, I’m looking forward to the macaroons.
In the headlines…
The House on Saturday passed a nearly $95 billion foreign funding package, which includes three bills that aim to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific Region.
A potential US ban against TikTok took a major step toward becoming reality on Saturday as House lawmakers approved a hot-button bill targeting the app as part of a wide-ranging aid package for Israel and Ukraine.
The largest piece, $60.8 billion for Ukraine, passed in a 311-112 vote after lawmakers from both sides of the aisle turned aside GOP amendments intended to gut that bill, including one from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to strike every dollar from the package.
The vote marked the first time the House had approved billions of dollars in Ukraine aid since December 2022, when Democrats still controlled the chamber.
The legislation will be combined into one amendment before being sent to the Senate, where lawmakers will begin voting on it tomorrow. The Senate is likely to pass the package, which would then head to Biden, who has signaled that he would sign it.
Today will see opening statements in the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. The state’s case seems strong, but a conviction is far from assured.
Prosecutors for the Manhattan district attorney’s office will go first, giving a preview of the evidence and seeking to persuade and charm the 12 jurors.
A jury of seven men and five women will weigh whether Trump’s alleged efforts to conceal damaging information about extramarital sex, to protect his bid in the 2016 election, were illicit.
Two prospective jurors who were excused from serving in the Trump hush money trial contacted The New York Times to describe their experience in the fraught environment of an unprecedented trial.
With cases involving Trump, abortion bans, battling baristas, homeless camps and scary tattoos, the Supreme Court enters a week packed with arguments that will affect everything from the tumultuous 2024 election to health care, the workplace and policing.
Max Azzarello, who burned himself to death Friday near the courthouse where Trump is standing trial, was a registered organ donor whose kidneys have been donated to two patients in need, according to an organization that coordinates transplants.
Trump’s presidential campaign committee ended March with $45 million on hand, federal filings showed Saturday, as he tries to close the fundraising gap with Biden.
Trump’s leadership PAC spent as much money as it took in last month, with his legal bills remaining a top expense as he grappled with the aftermath of losing a civil fraud case and prepared for the start of a historic criminal trial in a Manhattan court.
Trump led Biden by two percentage points in a new national poll from NBC News, though Biden appears to be closing the gap as the 2024 race for the White House heats up.
The share of voters who say they have high interest in the 2024 election has hit a nearly 20-year low at this point in a presidential race, the poll also found, with majorities holding negative views of both Biden and Trump.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both touted their support for marijuana law reform to mark the cannabis holiday 4/20 at exactly 4:20 p.m. on Saturday.
Biden’s campaign is ramping up efforts to reach this highly important group of voters.
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape accused Biden of disparaging the South Pacific island nation by implying that an uncle of the U.S. president had been eaten by “cannibals” there during World War II.
Biden had “appeared to imply his uncle was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down over PNG during WWII”, Marape’s office said in a statement.
Israel abandoned plans for a much more extensive counterstrike on Iran after concerted diplomatic pressure from the US and other foreign allies and because the brunt of an Iranian assault on Israel soil had been thwarted, according to senior Israeli officials.
The United States is considering imposing sanctions on one or more Israeli battalions accused of human rights violations during operations in the occupied West Bank, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.
The highly significant move, which would be the first time the US government has targeted an IDF unit, comes as Congress voted for $26b billion in new emergency aid to Israel.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to reject any sanctions on the country’s military, after reports that the US plans to cut aid to one unit. “I will fight it with all my strength,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu said Israel would soon land “additional and painful blows” and increase “military and political pressure” on Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza, according to a video statement released by the government.
Israeli troops have ended a two-day operation in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, the military said.
By the time the state budget was officially passed by the Legislature on Saturday, it was clear that Gov. Kathy Hochul had achieved her goal: a final $237 billion budget that included a checklist of her priorities.
Hochul’s top priorities included: funding to combat retail theft, illicit marijuana shops, and an increasing number of highway toll evaders. The budget does not raise income taxes, nor does it include initiatives to address the ongoing opioid crisis.
In the end, state leaders agreed to a package of housing bills that creates a new incentive program for developers to build affordable housing in New York City and implement a version of “good cause” eviction tenant protections.
New York State will not shutter a state-run central Brooklyn teaching hospital that had landed on the chopping block under a state budget draft, Hochul’s office said Friday.
Drivers in New York who obscure their license plates to avoid paying tolls will face steep penalties — including the potential loss of their car registration — under legislation passed on Saturday as part of the state budget.
Assemblyman Ed Ra, a Long Island Republican, is the founding force behind the Future Caucus — a new bipartisan body in the state Legislature exclusively for members below the age of 46.
Students who camped in tents to protest the war in Gaza, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, and were arrested after refusing to leave the encampment, may be barred from finishing the semester.
A prominent rabbi at Columbia University took the drastic step of warning Jewish students to go home and not return to campus because of “extreme antisemitism” at the Ivy League school.
After reports of harassment by demonstrators, some Jewish students at Columbia said they felt unsafe. Others rejected that view, while condemning antisemitism.
“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.
The atmosphere is so charged that Columbia officials announced students can attend classes and even possibly take exams virtually starting today – the first day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday set to begin in the evening.
Prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn is being accused of promoting antisemitism with a proposed Israeli boycott — and its top advisory panel was set to vote on it during Passover, when no observant Jews could likely participate.
New York Mayor Eric Adams says he is “horrified and disgusted” by reports of antisemitism at Columbia University, and that police “will not hesitate to arrest anyone who is found to be breaking the law.”
Adams said he condemns the hate speech heard during the protests such as a woman who yelled “We are Hamas” and another woman who held a sign with an arrow pointing to Jewish students stating “Al-Qasam’s Next Targets.”
Adams is cobbling together more than $500 million in city and state funding to plug a hole in the Education Department’s budget left by the federal COVID relief funding that’s expiring this year, he announced.
Adams has announced progress in the city’s “24 in 24” plan, which aims to advance 24 affordable housing projects on public sites in 2024. The initiative has already surpassed the halfway mark ahead of schedule, with 13 developments currently underway.
As Adams passes the halfway mark of his administration, supermajorities (68 percent) of likely New York City voters believe that things are on the wrong track, according to a Manhattan Institute poll conducted in the second week of April.
Two men were stabbed and another was hit in the head with a bottle on a crowded party boat in Brooklyn on Saturday evening, the authorities said. The men were hospitalized with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, police and fire officials said.
Police leaders and Adams have trumpeted sharp decreases in the number of murders, rapes, robberies and burglaries since 2022, but felony assaults, defined as an attack where a dangerous weapon is used or a serious injury results, are up in recent years.
Adams took some shots at the Big Apple’s newspapers Saturday night during the annual Inner Circle charity show in Manhattan.
The Inner Circle opened its annual charity show in Manhattan Saturday with a touching tribute to Conor Skelding, an esteemed member of The Post’s Sunday team who lost his battle to pancreatic cancer almost exactly a year ago.
Two of the canceled NYPD academy classes are back on, Adams announced Saturday afternoon.
The mayor said the city will fund two additional police academy classes, which are set for June and October 2024. Recruits in those classes will become officers in January and April 2025 respectively.
The Correction Department recently selected a small company founded by a retired NYPD sergeant for a contract potentially worth up to $1 million to supply women’s hygiene products to the city jails, records show.
A new apartment complex is rising atop one of Brooklyn’s most polluted sites after its developers and state environmental regulators abandoned their plan to fully remove the deeply contaminated soil underground.
The resistance to the Albany police review board’s demands by the city police department is emblematic of the struggles such panels continue to face across the United States, decades after being created to increase police accountability.
The city police officer who was shot by a suspect last Wednesday has extensive injuries to his leg and will likely be off the job for months as he recovers, according to a GoFundMe set up in his name by a retired Albany police detective.
A Westchester County town is mired in a legal dispute with a suburban childcare center to keep migrant kids from moving into the facility.
The state Health Department is investigating the circumstances surrounding a near drowning that happened at Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark Saturday.
A collections chief with a Virginia library will become the Guilderland Public Library’s new director on May 22, the library’s board of trustees said last week.
The Papscanee Island Historic District, with its 21 archaeological sites and cultural significance to the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, could be removed from the state Register of Historic Places if a lawsuit filed by the Sunoco company is successful.
Christian Brothers Academy hosted an opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Dome Friday morning and unveiled the official name, The Karen and Frank Willey ’71 Dome.
Adirondack organizations are poised to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of one of the region’s most historically significant and notable trails: the 130-mile Northville-Placid Trail, which set the stage for outdoor adventure tourism in the Adirondacks.
State Police said Friday the remains of a person found on the Taconic Crest Trail on April 15 are that of a Massachusetts woman reported missing in early March.
Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Frampton and Mary J. Blige are part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2024, along with Dave Matthews Band, Kool & the Gang, Foreigner and A Tribe Called Quest, the hall announced.
RIP Terry Anderson, the American journalist who had been the longest-held Western hostage in Lebanon when he was finally released in 1991 by Islamic militants after more than six years in captivity, who died in the Hudson Valley at the age of 76.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
