Good morning, it’s Tuesday and a brand-new month is upon us.
Happy October, which will bring all things Spooktacular to these “pages” (I’m not sure what other word to employ there). But we’ll get there eventually. It’s still early yet in my book, though not in the minds of retailers, who were displaying pumpkins, skeletons, and all other matter of Halloween ephemera weeks ago.
Today, we’re focusing on something very near and dear to my heart: Caffeine, especifically coffee. It’s International Coffee Day!
The irony of the fact that I’m writing this in a Starbucks – the de facto home office of many remote workers who are looking for a little change of pace and human connection (but not TOO much human connection) – is not lost on me.
Starbucks, which grew from its first-ever home base in Seattle, which opened in 1971, to become one of the world’s largest coffee chains, with 38,038 stores worldwide as of 2023, is as much to blame/credit (depending on your world view) as anyone for the U.S. coffee culture boom.
Also in 2023, 50 percent of consumers said Starbucks was their favorite coffee, followed by Dunkin’ and the humble old standby, Folgers. The US and the UK are among the world’s top coffee-consuming countries, with 66 percent of Americans saying they consume java daily. The US is, in fact, just ahead of Brazil when it comes to the most coffee consumed annually.
Interestingly, Starbucks has 2,000 more stores internationally than in North America, and its most-ordered drink worldwide is the Caramel Frappuccino, (in the US, specifically, it’s the iced caramel macchiato).
In my humble opinion, the frappucccino is actually closer to milkshake than it is to actual coffee, which sort of gets to the heart of what many purists don’t like about Starbucks, which is that it focuses more on speciality drinks. Some think the coffee itself is too “burnt” tasting. Personally, I don’t think it’s nearly strong enough, which is why I almost always opted for a double espresso.
Another Starbucks criticism has to do with its union dealings, which is a battle that made it all the way up to the US Supreme Court. (If you’re really into that sort of thing, you can read the decision here in short, the company won).
I should probably be clear here that I am a big fan of independent coffee shops and I patronize them on the regular. But Starbucks is predictable – a good place to land when you have work to do and nowhere to do it. They’ve got WiFi, heat and/or AC, snacks, and caffeine – which is GOOD FOR YOU, (in limited amounts), praise the Lord!
In terms of where or how coffee was initially discovered, no one quite knows for sure. It may or may not have originated on the Ethiopian plateau – thanks to some intrepid (and very awake? goats. The cultivation and trade of coffee began in earnest on the Arabian Peninsula, and the world’s first coffee house is believed to have opened in Constantinople in 1475, (now Istanbul).
The first ever International Coffee Day was held in 2015, launched by the International Coffee Organization in – where else? – Milan, Italy. If you’re really into some deep coffee talk, click here – the official International Coffee Day website (I think) – which is full of lines like:
“Our favourite brew is the result of wide collaboration, often unseen, among numerous actors across the global value chain, all working together to bring us that perfect cup, every day. On International Coffee Day 2024, join us in celebrating the power of collaboration by drinking a cup of coffee and telling everyone what coffee means to you in our shared journey.”
We’re in for another foggy start to the morning, which I have to confess to be really enjoying. It’s perfect hot coffee-on-the-deck weather. Temperatures will eventually rise in the low-to-mid 70s and the fog will burn off, leaving us with a mostly cloudy day.
In the headlines…
Dockworkers at ports from Maine to Texas began walking picket lines early today in a strike over wages and automation that could reignite inflation and cause shortages of goods if it goes on more than a few weeks.
The contract between the ports and about 45,000 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association expired at midnight. Even though progress was reported in talks, the workers went on strike.
The strike affecting 36 ports is the first by the union since 1977 in a standoff over wages, benefits and job security.
The International Longshoreman’s Association, the largest maritime union in North America, rejected an offer from the port management group USMX that included a wage hike over six years near 50%.
Transportation and warehousing sectors are poised to first feel the pinch, with a broader economic fallout expected if the strike drags on.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a series of steps state agencies were taking to prepare for a possible strike. New York consumers could see shortages of popular goods — including bananas — in the coming weeks.
“We are very focused on this,” Hochul said. “Do not have the level of anxiety that drives you out to get your groceries unnecessarily soon. We don’t think there will be disruption to the food supply.”
One food item that could ultimately see shortages, and by extension price surges, are bananas, which are imported by sea from Latin America, the governor noted.
Israel has launched a ground incursion into Lebanon targeting the militant group Hezbollah, opening a new and dangerous phase in almost a year of war.
U.S. officials said that they believed Israel’s invasion would be limited and that they had been assured by Israel that there was no plan for a bigger operation by conventional forces or a prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon.
The “limited” incursion, which Israel’s security cabinet called the “next phase” of its war with Hezbollah, is the fourth time Israeli soldiers have publicly entered Lebanese soil in nearly 50 years, and the first since Israel’s 34-day war in the country in 2006.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity, which was battered after the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, has been boosted by his country’s military successes against Hezbollah, a new opinion poll suggests.
Israel’s leaders believe they now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East, one that goes well beyond pulverizing Hamas and Hezbollah.
Former President Donald Trump is seeking to put Vice President Kamala Harris on the back foot as both candidates respond to the devastation unleashed by Hurricane Helene.
Trump visited Georgia yesterday, where he knocked the federal government’s response to the storm. His visit comes days after he criticized Harris and President Joe Biden over the crisis.
Trump falsely claimed that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has not been able to reach Biden to discuss Hurricane Helene’s impacts on his state.
Trump sat down for an hourlong interview with Kellyanne Conway, one of his former top aides who now supports his campaign, which ran on the streaming platform Fox Nation.
New polling shows Harris losing ground among a key voting block, one that has supported Democrats by wide margins for the last four presidential elections.
An NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC Latino poll found Harris lagging her left-leaning predecessors among Latino-identifying voters, even as millions more join the nation’s second largest voting block and get set to cast their ballots in the 2024 general election.
The New York Times endorsed Harris, calling her the “only patriotic choice for president.”
Caroline Giuliani, the daughter of Trump’s longtime ally and former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, announced her support for Kamala Harris in a grim Vanity Fair article.
Before he was known to the nation as an affable Midwestern dad and a vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz was a fast-talking political long shot in an ill-fitting suit, spoiling, in his Minnesotan way, for a debate-stage fight.
Walz and his Republican opponent, Sen. J.D. Vance, face off tonight on the debate stage – one of the most consequential vice presidential debates in U.S. history that could make or break their respective tickets in the final five weeks White House race.
The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET. It will run 90 minutes — the same length as the two presidential debates — and end at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Harris, after visiting the FEMA headquarters yesterday, called the damage from Hurricane Helene “heartbreaking” and said she planned to visit the region as soon as it could be done without disrupting emergency operations.
Sen. Rick Scott , a Florida Republican, called for the Senate to “immediately reconvene” once damage assessments are completed so lawmakers can consider an emergency aid package in response to the devastation left by Hurricane Helene.
New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand has a 17-point lead as she seeks her third full term in the U.S. Senate, an exclusive poll from PIX11, The Hill and Emerson College shows. But it was not great news for all Democrats — especially Hochul.
Hochul said that she might not fill the $33-billion hole in the proposed 2025-2029 MTA capital plan because it might just end up smaller than the $68.4-billion package that the MTA Board approved last week.
Asked where the state expected to find $48 billion toward the MTA big-ticket projects — many of which involve repair and replacement of aging infrastructure and equipment — Hochul demurred.
New York officials have chosen a Georgia-based company to receive a multibillion-dollar state contract to take over a popular Medicaid home care program that has been riddled with accusations of fraud.
A wrongful death lawsuit against Andrew Cuomo over a state directive that forced nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients was tossed by a judge – with the ex-governor’s camp claiming “justice has prevailed.”
Hochul told Mayor Eric Adams to clean house during a private phone call with the embattled mayor this past week, according to multiple sources. She didn’t ask him to resign, but she made it clear he needs to work to regain New Yorkers’ trust.
“This is still fairly new,” the governor said. “We must convince New Yorkers, let them know that there is responsible leadership that knows how to govern and I have to restore that.”
Timothy Pearson, one of Adams’ top advisors, stepped down from his role as senior adviser for public safety — a job that earned him a $257,374 salary, one of the highest in the administration. His resignation, goes into effect this Friday.
“Tim has had a long career in both the public and private sectors, where he has spent over 30 years keeping New Yorkers safe,” Adams said in a statement. “We appreciate Tim’s decades of service to this city and wish him well.”
Pearson’s lawyer said he submitted his resignation letter to City Hall last night. Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector, has been one of the mayor’s most trusted confidants, whose friendship with Adams dates back to their NYPD days.
A former FDNY chief, who was arrested earlier this month and accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to speed up the fire-safety approval process, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bribery conspiracy, federal prosecutors said.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said that it’s now making more sense why the Turkish consulate tried giving him free flights and a gold-plated tea set when he got the job. (He said he turned the gifts down.)
At the suggestion of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, Reynoso met with F.B.I. officials, who warned him to be wary of officials representing particular foreign countries, including Turkey.
Adams asked a federal judge to throw out a bribery charge included in his indictment last week, saying the Justice Department failed to support the allegations.
Adams’s lawyer is trying to get his federal bribery allegations dismissed by arguing that even if the mayor did accept gifts and favors from one Turkish official for years, it didn’t constitute bribery because it happened before Adams was elected mayor.
Alex Spiro held a news conference to explain his argument that upgrades in Adams’ travel on Turkish Airlines came while he was Brooklyn borough president − years before he became mayor − and without any demand for any official act in exchange.
A safety-tech firm that hired the right-hand man of a top Adams aide may now be seeking to expand what was a small, trial run of school bus cameras into a citywide program, the Daily News has learned.
Top Democrats are pushing for state Attorney General Tish James to be ready for a special election run for mayor — in case embattled Adams leaves before the end of his term.
Sabrina Carpenter uses her concerts to ask the real questions. The realest of which popped up at her Madison Square Garden show on Sunday: “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?”
Adams made somewhat of a cameo in The Notorious B.I.G.‘s video for the rapper’s debut single “Juicy.”
Adams made a cameo appearance at the NY Post 2022 holiday party, and even worked the coat check line for a while.
Federal prosecutors say that a network of people in the United States, India and the Dominican Republic used seemingly innocuous online sites to distribute deadly narcotics manufactured by secret pill mills in New York City to tens of thousands of customers.
Students across New York City are waiting up to an hour for school buses as a driver shortage and conflict over a contract hamstring the city’s ability to find a solution.
New York City’s Department of Health has health problems of its own: There aren’t enough restaurant inspectors and it’s stressing out some owners.
Federal authorities have charged nine inmates and a guard at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn with crimes including assault and murder, in an effort to clean up a deadly facility that has housed some of the city’s highest-profile defendants.
Recent betting scandals on The Strip could be potential roadblocks for two major bidders — Wynn Resorts in Hudson Yards and Resorts World at Aqueduct in Queens — vying for New York City’s highly coveted casino licenses, a state gaming regulator said.
Manhattan’s Henrietta Hudson — one of the oldest lesbian bars in the country — is suing an angry “woke” crusader who has been ranting online that the gay watering hole is racist to patrons of color.
Somewhere in a 35-mile circle in western Massachusetts and a sliver of southern Vermont a 10-ounce, 24-karat gold statuette worth nearly $30,000 is just sitting on the forest floor.
State lawmakers who represent the City of Rensselaer have advanced to regulators a list of changes sought by an environmental group regarding the Dunn construction and demolition debris landfill, the permit for which is under review by the DEC.
NY CREATES, the nonprofit that operates Albany NanoTech, was awarded a $4.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a workforce development program for the computer chip industry.
It closed after the COVID-19 pandemic but the WellNow urgent care clinic in Glenmont is open again.
Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s hit king who then became a pariah for gambling on the game, has died at the age of 83, the medical examiner in Clark County, Nevada, confirmed.
Rose was found at his home by a family member, according to the medical examiner. There were no signs of foul play. The coroner will investigate to determine cause and manner of death.
One of the sport’s greatest players, Rose set a record with 4,256 career hits. But his gambling led to a lifetime ban and kept him out of the Hall of Fame.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
