Good Wednesday morning. Look! It’s the middle of the week already. Things are moving right along.
I have made the train trip down and back from Rensselaer to New York City more times than I can count. And yet the view on the river side never gets old for me. Sometimes I forget what a beautiful state we live in. There are a few landmarks I always look for – Bannerman Island, of course; West Point; the decommissioned Indian Point nuclear power plant.
These are all fairly far south of Albany. Closer to home, though, is the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, which is only accessible by boat and therefore fills me with all sorts of romantic fancies.
The 150-year-old lighthouse, sadly, is in very bad shape and is perilously close to falling into the river. Its outlook is so dire that the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the structure on its 2024 list of the 11 most endangered places in the nation. Advocates are rushing to raise millions of dollars to try to save the lighthouse and keep it open to the public.
This story, while perhaps alarming for those of us who are attached to this particular lighthouse, is unfortunately nothing new. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were approximately 1,500 lighthouses around the U.S. Today, that number has dwindled to somewhere between 700 and 800, depending on which source you’re citing.
We really should take this problem seriously because we are in danger of losing a unique piece of our history. Despite the neglect with which we have treated our American lighthouses, we still have more of them than any country in the world.
Interestingly, the state with the most lighthouses is NOT on the east or west coast, but rather one of the Great Lakes states – Michigan, which has more than 150 of them, active and inactive. New York, by contrast, has just under 70 of them, scattered from Montauk to Buffalo.
The precursors to the lighthouse were pretty primitive, really just piles of rocks, atop which fires might be built to try to prevent sailors from being shipwrecked on rocky shores. These were followed by sturdier braziers – metal containers used to contain hot coals or wood fires.
The first recorded history of a formal lighthouse of the sort with which we are familiar today was Egypt’s Pharos of Alexandria.
Located on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria, the lighthouse was said to have towered an eye-popping 350+ feet. It was built around 280 BC and had an open fire at its summit. (For reference, the only man-made structures at the time that were any taller than that would have been the pyramids of Giza). It was, for a time, considered one of the world’s seven wonders.
There’s a plethora of information out there about lighthouses just a few clicks away on the interwebs. For example, a publication called “Lighthouse Digest” has compiled a so-called “doomsday list” of structures that are teetering on the edge of extinction. I can’t tell exactly how up to date it is, but it does provide a good idea of the scope of the problem.
Many lighthouses have largely fallen out of use, thanks to a combination of factors, including but not limited to how expensive they are to maintain, and the advent of cheaper and more effective electronic navigational/GPS systems. There’s also a broad network of buoys, radar beacons and other modern navigation aids that assist mariners in keeping them safe.
A point of pride for New Yorkers: The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which was built in 1764, is the oldest operating lighthouse in the entire nation. It was declared a National Historic landmark on June 11, 1964 – the 200th anniversary of its first lighting. It’s still in operation, thanks to the U.S. Coastguard.
You can go and visit The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, if you’re so inclined, as the National Park Service offers tours on a seasonable basis. Perhaps look into that in observation of National Lighthouse Day, which was established on this day in 1789 when Congress approved an act for the “establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.”
It’s a day when lighthouse services might indeed come in handy if one was out on the water locally. It will be cloudy with a slight chance of a rain shower with temperatures topping out in the high 70s.
In the headlines…
Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, elevating a former football coach whose rural roots, liberal policies and buzzy takedowns of former President Donald J. Trump have recently put him on the map.
The vice president formally announced her selection in a post on Instagram.
“Tim is a battle-tested leader with an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families,” Harris said in a text message to supporters. “He will bring the same principled leadership to our campaign.”
Walz introduced himself as Harris’ running mate at a joint rally in Philadelphia, PA, positioning himself as both a folksy populist and a fierce defender of the Democratic ticket.
The governor described following in the footsteps of his late father — a former educator who served in the Army — first as a member of the Army National Guard and later as a teacher.
How Harris chose Walz: The ambitious Josh Shapiro asked about his role as vice president. The battle-tested Mark Kelly was already seen as a third option. And the go-lucky Walz promised to do anything for the team.
Ultimately, it was his ability to deliver searing yet accessible attacks against their Republican opponents that won Walz a place on the national ticket, and during his first rally, he did not miss his marks.
Former President Donald Trump responded to Harris’ selection of Walz as her running mate with an uncharacteristically short statement that didn’t mention the Minnesota governor by name.
The GOP presidential nominee shared a cryptic post on his social media platform, Truth Social, shortly after Harris announced her pick that simply stated: “THANK YOU!”
Critics of the former president were quick to point out that, if not for policies like the one Walz signed in Minnesota, Trump himself would be barred from voting.
A Siena College poll showed Harris leading Trump 53-39 among likely voters. That 14-point lead is still relatively narrow — each of the past four Democratic presidential nominees have enjoyed advantages of 18 to 30 points in summertime Siena surveys.
The gender gap has widened with Harris replacing Biden, with women supporting her over Trump by more than 30 points. Among men, they prefer Trump 49-43%.
Trump spent Monday morning labeling the turmoil in the global financial markets the “Kamala Crash,” giving Republicans hope that he might turn his focus to an economic message. It didn’t last.
Fewer voters believe Trump is in good health, and more think the 78-year-old Republican is too old to run for office now that President Joe Biden is no longer in the 2024 race, according to a new poll.
The Justice Department said that it had charged a Pakistani man who had recently visited Iran with trying to hire a hit man to assassinate political figures in the U.S. Investigators believe that potential targets likely included Trump.
Asif Merchant, 46, arrived in the U.S. around April and contacted a person he thought could help him carry out the scheme, the DOJ alleged. However, that person told law enforcement about Merchant’s plans and became a confidential source.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed several pieces of legislation into law that are aimed at improving voter protections and accessibility, her office announced.
More New Yorkers than ever despise the Big Apple’s proposed congestion pricing toll, Hochul’s move to indefinitely halt the plan hasn’t meant any popularity boost for her, a new Siena poll shows.
According to the statewide Siena College poll, 59% of New York voters want to scrap the congestion pricing scheme for Manhattan entirely.
Hochul’s cannabis regulators are considering loosening the rules to allow more licensed pot shops to open in city neighborhoods — a half-baked idea that immediately ignited not-in-my-backyard opposition.
Mayor Adams suggested that senior NYPD official Kaz Daughtry might need to be “communicated with” for getting into the face of a Daily News reporter and berating him for recent coverage of the Police Department.
Adams has doubled down on a proposal that will make it easier for property owners to build accessory dwelling units, pushing back against backlash from community boards and elected officials in the outer boroughs.
The first neighborhood-wide rezoning plan of Adams’ administration, which aims to bring thousands of new apartments to the East Bronx, was approved by a key City Council committee.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander’s office issued a scathing audit that found Adams’ administration failed to sufficiently oversee a $432 million no-bid contract with DocGo.
A former NYPD narcotics detective resigned from the force after pleading guilty to stealing bottles of champagne worth thousands of dollars at the Electric Zoo festival in 2022 when he was supposed to be patrolling for drugs.
The Adams administration deployed a fleet of drones to hover above homes in low-lying areas and blast out audio messages warning local residents about the potential for flash floods and serious storms as the city braced for Tropical Storm Debby to roll in.
Adams, an avowed technology geek, is using the city’s drones to deliver a recorded message warning vulnerable New Yorkers of flooding dangers.
Rain storms drenched the city yesterday, with evening downpours so intense the New York City Department of Emergency Services issued a flash flood warning for Manhattan and the Bronx.
A “handful” of people had to be rescued from their cars after rising water trapped them on the Henry Hudson Parkway and Major Deegan Expressway, New York City’s Office of Emergency Management said.
The union representing New York City police officers has endorsed controversial legislation to more strictly regulate hotels, which owners of inns claim will crush the Big Apple’s lodging industry.
Even as office buildings in Manhattan struggle with vacancy rates hovering just below 25 percent, the assessed market value of New York City office buildings has continued to rise, fueling a slight increase in city tax revenue, a state comptroller report found.
Two people have been charged with hate crimes, accused of being part of a group of vandals in June who smeared red paint and graffiti at the homes of the Jewish director of the Brooklyn Museum and other leaders of the institution.
Planned Parenthood announced this week that its only Manhattan clinic would stop performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, a significant shift in a state that has maintained and even expanded access to abortion since Roe was overturned.
Ismael Zambada García, the Mexican drug lord who was apparently kidnapped by a son of his former partner in crime last month and flown across the border into the hands of U.S. federal agents in Texas, will soon be sent to stand trial in Brooklyn.
One of the robbers who stuck up Brooklyn Bling Bishop Lamor Whitehead “gleefully” re-enacted the caught-on-video heist to his buddies — and his attempt to blame the crooked man of cloth for the crime is “despicable,” prosecutors said.
A New York City landlord, Daniel Ohebshalom, already served a 60-day sentence on Rikers Island this year. But officials and tenants say he still didn’t fix his apartments, so he’s being jailed for a second time.
Famous Bronx Zoo’s elephant “Happy” apparently hasn’t been spotted publicly for more than two weeks, sparking concern from activists over the massive mammal’s wellbeing.
The Whitney Museum of American Art has named two curators from its ranks to organize the next edition of its Biennial, what is arguably the most important art show in the United States.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was registered to vote at an address in New York where he neither lived nor owned property but still voted in the 2016 election, it was revealed yesterday.
Kennedy Jr. faced hours of heated questioning in the case accusing him of lying about his New York residency in order to get on the state’s presidential ballot.
Tropical Storm Debby is expected to hit the Capital Region this weekend.
While the area won’t see the torrential rain and high winds pummeling Florida and Georgia, meteorologists say heavy rain and flooding are possible.
A pair of French bulldogs are missing after they were reportedly snatched off their City of Albany owners’ porch Sunday morning, becoming the latest members of the hugely popular breed to be stolen from owners.
The board empowered to investigate and review complaints of misconduct by Albany Police could soon become a city agency under the Common Council’s oversight.
A lawyer representing Schoharie County DA Susan Mallery in opposing Nauman Hussain’s effort to overturn his manslaughter conviction in the limousine crash will make the case next month that the 2023 trial was fair — and the conviction should be upheld.
Thirty days after the first chemical control of invasive plants on Lake George, divers assessing two bays treated with herbicide found dead Eurasian watermilfoil and growing native plants on the lake bottom, just as prescribed.
Alpin Haus, one of the region’s largest outdoor recreation stores, has purchased the High Adventure Ski Shop on Route 7 in Colonie.
A lawsuit against a former Saratoga political candidate and businessman accuses him of raping a woman who says she believed he was training her for work in the CIA has been moved from New York City to Saratoga County.
Scott Meyer, co-owner of Spectrum theater and New World Bistro that were the lifeblood of Albany’s Delaware Avenue for a combined 45 years, died Sunday at home, more than a decade after a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease with Lewy body dementia.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
