Good morning. It’s Friday. Enough said.
Well, OK, maybe not. I have more to say, of course. Always.
I learned to ride a bike on a baby blue Schwinn with a white banana seat and navy blue streamers attached to the handlebars. I loved that bike, and I remember distinctly when the training wheels came off and I finally mastered the art of balancing on two wheels how accomplished I felt.
That bike to me was freedom. I wasn’t allowed to go very far at first – just really to the end of the block and back. But over time, my parents gave me permission to expand that radius, and I was able to transport myself to places like the local pool (just a few blocks away). No longer did I have to rely on them to chauffeur me any time I had the desire to go somewhere. Bliss.
I have long since left my Schwinn behind, but my bike is still baby blue. Now it’s a Quintana Roo QR designed specifically for triathlons, with orange trim (easier to find in transition), disc brakes, and electric shifting. Very fancy. Also fast, though much of that depends on how the engine (my body, that is) is performing on any given day.
Biking no longer feels like freedom to me – or, at least, very rarely do I experience that wind-in-my-hair, not-a-care-in-the-world feeling. Usually, it feels more like word, or, worse yet, torture, if I happen to be riding on the trainer indoors. There’s something distinctly depressing about peddling furiously to nowhere for hours on end.
I don’t enjoy riding on the roads as much as I used to. Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too many friends get hurt – either hit by cars, or derailed by gravel, potholes, trash, and other road maintenance (or lack thereof) issues. There are so many distracted drivers out there these days who are paying more attention to their phones than what’s on the road.
Also, there’s a special place in hell reserved for those who think it’s funny to drive too close to a cyclist, or to curse them out, catcall them, honk at them (friends, even if you recognize me and want to say “hi”, please don’t – it’s really unnerving and dangerously distracting).
Assuming cyclists are doing the responsible thing and abiding by the rules of the road and wearing their helmets (!), then cars should have no issues with them. None. Case closed.
This is starting to read a little too much like a screed, which I really didn’t intend. After all, it’s National Bike to Work Day, launched by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956 to promote the health benefits of getting out of four-wheeled vehicles and onto two to make the daily commute. I believe the hope was that once people discovered how enjoyable, easy, and affordable (no gas!) it was to commute this way, they would make it a habit. ‘
National Bike to Work Day comes in the middle of National Bike Month (all of May), which is also National Bicycle Safety Month, and at the tail end of Bike to Work Week. There’s also National Bike to School Day, celebrated in thousands of districts across the nation every year.
Lots of opportunities to get rolling. And these days, it’s easier than ever, thanks to pedal assist bikes. I know purists look down on them, but to me, whatever gets people outside and provides an entry into healthier habits and perhaps encourages them to graduate to a fully human-powered cycle is OK with me. (As long as the battery doesn’t catch fire).
It will be partly cloudy this morning, with clouds growing thicker as the day progresses. Temperatures will be a bit higher – in the high 70s. The weekend is not shaping up too badly, with clouds and sun and temperatures perhaps even reaching 80 degrees again on Sunday.
In the headlines…
Six months out from Election Day, a small handful of prominent Republicans have crossed party lines to support President Biden in his 2024 rematch against former President Trump.
Biden has asserted executive privilege over audio recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur, the Republican federal prosecutor who declined to recommend charges against him over his handling of classified documents.
The White House counsel’s office notified House GOP investigators of the move hours before Republicans were expected to recommend holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over the audio.
As expected, a pair of Republican-led committees in the House voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress.
The move is a major escalation in a dispute over the recordings between House Republicans and the executive branch that came after Biden asserted executive privilege over the files.
Biden is stepping onto a college campus for the first time in months since protests erupted nationwide calling for university divestments from Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza, but some are calling it “political blackface.”
If anyone interferes with Biden’s commencement speech at Morehouse College Sunday, all ceremonies will be canceled “on the spot,” David A. Thomas, college president, told CNN.
The House approved a bill to reverse Biden’s pause on some weapons shipments to Israel, a formal admonishment of the administration’s approach to the war in the Middle East that narrowly divided Democrats, who have struggled to unify on the issue.
The legislation has no chance of advancing in Congress or being signed into law. Republicans scheduled a vote anyway in an effort to spotlight Democratic divisions over Israel and rebuke the president.
The Arab League called for a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank until a two-state solution can be negotiated, and called for the U.N. Security Council to set a time limit for that political process.
A Republican-dominated congressional committee released a scathing report of Harvard’s efforts to combat antisemitism on campus, accusing it of suppressing the findings of its antisemitism advisory group and not implementing its recommendations.
Police officers raided a complex at the UC Berkeley that had been occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters, taking several people away in handcuffs. A university spokesman said at least 12 people had been arrested, but that the number was expected to grow.
Approximately 550 students, professors and religious leaders gathered near the Columbia campus for what organizers called an alternative graduation ceremony, featuring speeches by pro-Palestinian activists and writers, and clergy from various faiths.
The Justice Department formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug in a historic shift in generations of US drug policy.
“Today my administration took a major step to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug,” Biden said in a video posted to social media. “It’s an important move towards reversing longstanding inequities.”
A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledges it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs, but does not legalize it outright for recreational use.
The move would not make marijuana federally legal, but would lessen the tax burden on state-legal cannabis companies and make marijuana easier to research.
Trump’s defense team tried to undermine star witness Michael Cohen’s credibility in fiery exchanges at Trump’s New York hush money trial yesterday.
“That was a lie!” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche exclaimed about Cohen’s earlier testimony that a call with Trump’s bodyguard Keith Schiller was about paying porn star Stormy Daniels to stay silent about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
Blanche said there has been no decision on whether Trump will testify, and the attorney expects to finish his cross-examination of Michael Cohen before the morning break Monday.
After a grueling day of cross-examination for Cohen, the judge told lawyers to be ready to make closing arguments by Tuesday.
People who want to watch the first criminal trial of an American president are paying hundreds of dollars to people to wait in line for them. Space in the courtroom is very limited.
The House was in session at the Capitol yesterday, but thanks to the latest procession of Republicans reporting for duty in front of a Manhattan criminal courthouse to show support for Trump at his trial, the party risked ceding its control of the floor.
Rep. Matt Gaetz evoked language adopted by the far-right Proud Boys extremist group as he appeared to support Trump, reflecting the undercurrent of activist elements among the presumptive GOP nominee’s supporters as he seeks a return to the White House.
Gaetz had plenty of critiques to share outside the courthouse, but took it a step further on X, posting a photo of him behind the former president with the caption, “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is calling on Speaker Mike Johnson to honor the law enforcement officers who defended Congress during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, pressing the Speaker to dedicate a spot for a commemorative plaque.
Arts and Sciences faculty at Columbia University passed a vote of no confidence in the institution’s president, Minouche Shafik — a sign of growing dissent over her controversial handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Out of the 709 professors who voted for the resolution — introduced by the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors — 65 percent expressed no confidence in Shafik, while 29 percent voted against it and 6 percent abstained.
Shafik “continues to consult regularly with members of the community, including faculty, administration, and trustees, as well as with state, city, and community leaders,” Columbia spokesperson Ben Chang said in a statement.
Gov. Kathy Hochul briefly met with Pope Francis in an audience with other elected officials attending a climate change conference hosted by the Vatican. Hochul, who is Catholic, exchanged a few words with the pontiff before he presented her with a rosary.
The governor was in Italy for just over 24 hours to attend a summit on climate change hosted by the pope at the Vatican. It was the second such trip taken by a New York leader in a week: Mayor Eric Adams of New York City met with the pope on Saturday.
Hochul announced that the New York State Public Service Commission adopted a Statewide Solar for All program that will develop more retail energy projects across the state.
A state initiative aimed at helping homeless New Yorkers living on the streets and subways has placed more than 450 individuals in long-term or permanent housing in two years, new data from the governor’s office shows.
The Legislature passed a bill that clarified that the plant is an agricultural crop. It now awaits Hochul’s signature. The move means that farmers who grow cannabis would have access to different tax assessments and zoning regulations.
New York State will push to remove three top Boeing executives and block pay raises by using the weight of its pension fund after a series of company disasters.
The fledgling New York Public Campaign Finance Board approved nearly $3.6 million in matching funds to 37 candidates last week in the first round of disbursements.
Although more payments are expected to get approved next week, the money has already started flowing to competitive primaries throughout the state. Over 300 candidates have signed up for the $100 million program.
Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of a pilot program utilizing technology to protect public safety — including by combatting retail theft, quality-of-life offenses, and crime overall.
The community-based program will enable businesses to voluntarily share information in real-time with the NYPD through existing closed-circuit television cameras.
The pilot program will be rolled out in nine police precincts, in addition to 109th Precinct in Queens where it was first unveiled last June as part of a proof-of-concept partnership with the company Fusus by Axon, which is providing the technology.
Longtime Adams advisory Frank Carone has pulled himself into the orbit of Bill Hwang, who was an unassuming financier before a $36 billion blowup led to the prospect of life behind bars.
Joel Eisdorfer, Adams’ top Jewish aide, who helped garner Jewish votes and served as a liaison to the Jewish community and Israeli diplomats, will be leaving City Hall next month, but will continue to assist the mayor politically.
New York City squatters would be tracked and the properties they take over would be listed in an online database under a new City Council bill that would also criminalize freeloading in the Big Apple.
New York City is set to finance fewer affordable homes in the coming year, according to an analysis released this week, alarming politicians and housing advocates who worry the city is not doing enough to fight its worsening housing crisis.
The NYPD has plans to have drones respond to select 911 calls in five New York City police precincts — including Central Park, officials said at a hearing.
Lawmakers and advocates are asking the city to staff each of the city’s 77 NYPD precincts with a licensed social worker in a new City Council bill being introduced. But finding qualified social workers to fill the positions will be the hard part.
No City Council members affixed signs to their desks during the chamber’s full meeting yesterday, complying with a directive from Speaker Adrienne Adams aimed at curtailing use of the historic pieces of furniture for messaging about the Israel-Hamas war.
The New York City Housing Authority bungled its response to concerns about the water at the Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan two years ago, causing “unquantifiable stress” for residents, according to a watchdog report released yesterday.
MTA New York City Transit president Richard Davey is a finalist for the top job running Boston area air and sea ports, even as the subway and bus honcho seeks to tamp down speculation on his future in the Big Apple.
Queens lawmakers who voted for the unpopular $15 “congestion” toll to enter parts of Manhattan are demanding that the MTA increase express bus service to their neighboring borough before the new fee is imposed.
A whopping 71% of registered voters who live in or near Times Square oppose opening a casino at “The Crossroads of the World” pushed by partners SL Green, Caesars and Roc Nation, according to a survey released yesterday.
The Central Park Conservancy installed a new pizza-recycling bin last week near a popular picnic area behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art — a pilot effort that could lead to similar bins throughout the park.
A Middletown man is accused of setting a state trooper’s childhood home on fire in revenge for receiving multiple traffic tickets in 2023, authorities said.
A coalition of activists hoping to move the state Capitol and Empire State Plaza off fossil fuels is calling for a transition to renewable energy for the state buildings, currently powered by a steam generating plant on Sheridan Avenue in Albany.
Newly proposed state legislation would create a public redevelopment authority to oversee The College of Saint Rose properties after the school closes this summer.
Town officials cleared migrants from the Super 8 motel in Rotterdam earlier this week after a sensor in the building’s sprinkler system failed, according to an official familiar with the situation.
Police body camera footage of the 13-year-old arrested in Hoffman Park Tuesday for pulling a BB gun on police showed the teen likely came within an instant of being shot by officers.
A gift shop and eatery in Schoharie plans to open a location at Stuyvesant Plaza this summer, selling pantry food products, kitchen and dining accessories, as well as home decor.
The Swyer Companies said that preliminary work has begun on upgrades to the south side of Wolf Road Park, the first significant improvement to the plaza in decades.
A dean and full professor with Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts was named the 11th president of Russell Sage College.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
