Good morning, it’s Thursday, which (in case you need reminding) is one day away from Friday.
Hang in there, people! We’ve got this!
I know it’s a kind of trite trope – the sort that elected officials like to bring up with regularity – but this nation, and New York in particular, was built by immigrants.
In the case of the Empire State, especially upstate, which, in this case means everything north of say, the upper Hudson Valley, outmigration and loss of political clout that goes with it has been tempered significantly by an influx of individuals from all over the world, who come here in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
According to the Pew Research Center, America’s foreign-born population reached a record 46.1 million in 2022, which means immigrants account for just shy of 14 percent of the overall population. That’s a very big increase since 1970, when the number of immigrants living in the U.S. was less than a quarter of what it is today.
The U.S. is home to one-fifth of the world’s international migrants, and this has long maintained that status.
A quick aside: I am NOT going to delve into immigration policy here, which would likely devolve rather quickly into a place that I don’t want to go – especially as the presidential election and various key congressional races are heating up by the minute. I will say as an aside, however, that the aforementioned numbers are likely low, given the fact that depending on documentation status, individuals aren’t all that eager to get counted when census workers come knocking.
As of 2022, the largest immigrant population – 10.6 million people, or 23 percent of all U.S. immigrants – were born in Mexico. The second largest (though considerably smaller) origin group is individuals born in India (6 percent), followed by China (5 percent), the Philippines (4 percent) and El Salvador (3 percent).
The more than 4.9 million Indian Americans in the nation make up approximately 1.35 of its overall population. The largest single concentration of Indian Americans is in New York City (about 700,000 people) and the greater metro area is home to the Western Hemisphere’s largest metropolitan Asian Indian population.
So, it should come as no surprise that today – Independence Day in India, marking the 78th anniversary of the nation’s Aug. 15, 1947 independence from the United Kingdom and the end of British colonialism – is a very big deal, especially downstate.
The annual India Day parade in New York City, which runs from -East 38th Street to East 27th Street in Manhattan, is the largest celebration of India’s Independence Day outside India. The 42nd annual parade will take place this Sunday, Aug. 18.
Sadly, there’s some controversy brewing around the event related to a float that critics say is anti-Muslim. The float depicts a Hindu temple in India that was built on the site of a mosque torn down by religious extremists.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is inserting himself into the dispute, saying: “The city’s open to everyone and there’s no room for hate. And if there is a float or a person in the parade that is promoting hate, they should not.” Adams participated in the parade in 2022 and 2023, but said he hasn’t been invited this year (the parade organizers disputed this claim).
Aides to Gov. Kathy Hochul did not respond to The Gothamist’s requests for comment about the parade, despite the fact that a number of interfaith groups sent a letter highlighting their concerns to both the governor and Adams and asking them to prevent the float from appearing in the parade.
I can’t say that I am well versed in the history here, but the Indian Independence Act, which was effective on midnight on Aug. 14, 1947, split the country into two parts – India (Hindu-majority) and Pakistan (Muslim-majority) – and they’ve been at odds to varying degrees more or less ever since. They can’t even agree on what day to celebrate their independence.
Interestingly, though less high-profile perhaps here in the U.S., several other countries also celebrate their independence days on this date:
- South Korea and North Korea. National Liberation Day marks the end of 35 years of Japanese colonial rule; the day is also known as “Gwangbokjeol”, which means the Time of the Restoration of Light.
- The Republic of the Congo, which became fully independent from France on this day in 1960.
- Liechtenstein, which gained independence from German rule in 1866.
Bahrain gained independence from British rule on this day in 1971, (it was a protectorate up until this time), but celebrates its national day on Dec. 16.
It will be partly cloudy today with the chance of a stray thunderstorm or shower. Temperatures will max out in the low-to-mid 80s.
In the headlines…
Columbia University’s president has resigned, becoming the third Ivy League leader to be forced from office after anger over the Israel-Hamas war resulted in widespread protests and a sharp rise in complaints of religious discrimination on college campuses.
Minouche Shafik, the first woman and first person of color to lead Columbia, announced her resignation amid lingering bitterness among students and faculty over the forced removal of protesters from an encampment and a building they took over on campus.
“This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community,” she said. “Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead.”
The university’s board of trustees named Dr. Katrina A. Armstrong, a medical doctor who has been the chief executive of Columbia’s medical center and dean of its medical school since 2022, as the interim president.
Republican politicians, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, applauded Shafik’s sudden resignation, with some accusing the scholar of allowing antisemitism to run rampant on the Ivy League campus.
Campaigning in separate states yesterday, both former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, sought to tie Vice President Kamala Harris to President Biden’s economic record.
The energy and size of an ebullient rally of elected New York Democrats hyped for Harris’ candidacy met a massive crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanting, banging drums and waving banners last night.
The Democrats’ rally was interrupted repeatedly by the protesters — a reminder of one of the party’s biggest internal divisions. Demonstrators were seen lining the street following a Harris rally in Harlem attended by Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Trump held a rally and speech in North Carolina that his campaign billed as a significant economic address, though the former president spent much of his time airing grievances against his rivals and veering toward familiar topics like the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump’s top advisers have urged him to focus on policy issues, and he vowed in an Asheville auditorium that he would do just that, giving a speech that he said would focus squarely on the economy and inflation – but also one rife with personal jabs.
Harris’ presidential campaign is launching a $90 million advertising effort over the next three weeks to introduce the Democrat to voters and sharpen the contrast with Trump. The media buy marks her campaign’s largest-yet investment in messaging to voters.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate whose standing has dropped in the polls, reportedly sought a meeting with Harris to discuss endorsing her in exchange for a promise of a cabinet post.
His effort has been unsuccessful. The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
“We’ve reached out repeatedly through the highest level intermediaries,” Kennedy wrote in a text message last night. “We’ve been told that they have no interest in talking with me.”
The Republican campaign for president is quietly being remade by new federal guidelines that empower big-money groups and threaten to undermine party control well beyond the 2024 election.
The New York judge who presided over Trump’s hush-money trial once again refused to step down from the case in court filings made public this week as the Daily News obtained new information about death threats targeting the judge’s family.
Judge Juan M. Merchan declined to step aside and said Trump’s demand was a rehash “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims” about the political ties of Mercan’s daughter and his ability to judge the historic case fairly and impartially.
A Harvard University study examining the influence of stars such as Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Trevor Noah and Kerry Washington found that celebrities can impact American elections and strengthen democracy without hurting their own brand.
The rapid spread of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, in African countries constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization declared yesterday.
This is the second time in three years that the W.H.O. has designated an mpox epidemic as a global emergency. It previously did so in July 2022.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and called for international help to stop the virus’ spread.
Arguments began yesterday in a lawsuit Democrats hope will force election officials to include the term “abortion” in an explanation of a proposed constitutional amendment that voters will see when casting their ballots.
New York’s Nassau County enacted a first-in-the-nation post-pandemic mask ban yesterday, but don’t expect it to be rolled out statewide as Hochul threw off her mask of support for a law targeting face coverings.
The head of the powerful United Federation of Teachers union supports Hochul’s push to ban smartphones in New York schools — but says individual districts should have the “flexibility” to implement it the way they want.
First-term Republican Rep. Mike Lawler has launched a new multi-million dollar ad campaign claiming credit for forcing Hochul to shelve the controversial $15 congestion pricing toll to enter Midtown Manhattan.
The New York state attorney general’s office is asking the country’s largest social media companies to disclose the measures they are taking to protect voters from misinformation this presidential election cycle.
Facing a public backlash over the plan, DraftKings says it will not charge New Yorkers a surcharge for winning bets.
Manhattan businesses hidden under scaffolding and sidewalk sheds lose thousands of dollars a month in potential revenue, according to a new city-commissioned study announced by Mayor Adams yesterday.
Evaluating aggregated and anonymized spending averages from Mastercard, the study shows that cardholders spend between $3,900 and $9,500 less each month at businesses located in buildings with sidewalk sheds.
There is growing pressure on the City Council to amend New York’s sanctuary city laws so that migrants who commit crimes can be deported.
Brooklyn Council Finance Committee Chairman Justin Brannan has filed paperwork to run for city comptroller next year and says he is looking at overhauling the city’s byzantine budget process as a key priority should he be elected to the fiscal watchdog post.
The race for New York City’s next comptroller took an ugly turn this week as Democratic candidates entered the fray – and parody campaign sites surfaced to mock and attack them.
New York City’s Department of Probation Commissioner Juanita Holmes violated civil service law when she demoted an assistant commissioner in charge of the Bronx who asked not to have to wear a firearm while on duty, court papers allege.
The NYPD said it will nearly double the number of police officers patrolling Central Park starting last night, after a major uptick in robberies there since last year.
The Federal Transit Administration issued a scathing assessment of the worker safety on NYC subway lines, saying there was “an escalating pattern of safety incidents” affecting MTA transit workers — a finding MTA brass said they’ll appeal.
Barnard College is embroiled in a controversy after a social media post depicted a liberated Palestine, then deleting it in an attempt to quell backlash — and outraging both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine advocates in the process.
A Jewish man in Brooklyn was arrested and charged with attempted murder and hate crimes after repeatedly attacking his Muslim neighbor over several months, according to a criminal complaint.
“Portal,” a viral art installation that provides a real-time video link between 23rd Street in Manhattan and Dublin, Ireland, will leave its current location on Sept. 2. But its creator Benediktas Gylys says he expects to bring it to a new, more permanent home this fall.
While serving in the NYPD, Alison Esposito, the Republican challenger to Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, was named in two police misconduct lawsuits, which the city settled for $120,000.
Newark Liberty International Airport leads the nation with the most complaints related to the Transportation Security Administration, according to a report.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik called for the resignation of a Postdam Town Council member who allegedly compared the assassination attempt against Trump to “putting down a rabid dog” in a since-deleted social media post.
Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy claimed he was not made aware ahead of Monday’s meeting of the Albany County Airport Authority Board that they would inform airport CEO Phil Calderone that day his contract would not be renewed.
Embattled Niskayuna Supervisor Jaime Puccioni is stepping down at the end of the month to return to full-time teaching as an associate professor at the state University at Albany’s School of Education.
A mother bear and two cubs were euthanized Sunday after officials said they gained access to food and garbage and became aggressive at an Adirondack campsite.
Modena, a contemporary Italian restaurant opened by a couple who for years worked at Cafe Capriccio in Albany, is closing indefinitely after about 14 months, according to a Monday announcement on the business’ Facebook page.
“The Gilded Age” moved on to Lark Street in Albany yesterday to film scenes for season three of the HBO series as crews continued work in Troy and Schenectady.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
