Good morning, it’s Monday. It’s also Veterans Day, which is one of 12 federal holidays which is observed on Nov. 11 – the day the armistice ending World War I was signed – every year, regardless of what day of the week it falls on.
That means most non-essential federal government workers have the day off, most banks are closed, and the U.S. Postal Service will not be delivering the mail. The stock market is open.
By law, private sector companies do not have to give their employees federal holidays off. Only five states (Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Tennessee) require private employers to give their veteran workers time off (paid or unpaid) on this day.
In New York, both state and New York City employees get the day off, as do public school students. There will be parades celebrating past and current U.S. service members across the state, including a big one in New York City.
But behind all the pomp and circumstance there are some very troubling statistics that are worth elevating on this day when we are supposed to be honoring and supporting those who sacrifice to keep the rest of us free and defend small-d demoracy – truly, something we should be doing on the regular.
Did you know, for example, that the suicide rate among veterans is 1.5 time higher than that of the general population, and veterans make account for about a quarter of suicide deaths in the U.S. every year.
Though heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death among vets – also true for the general population – an estimated four times as many active duty service members and veterans died by suicide as died in battle since 9/11, according to one 2021 study. In 2020 alone, there were 6,146 veteran suicides – close to 17 on average dying every day.
Not surprisingly, given the pressures they’re under the traumas they experience, the things they witness, and the difficulties they face in transitioning back to civilian life – especially if they have experienced combat – veterans are also at increased risk for both mental health challenges and substance use. Between 2001 and 2020, the prevalence of both among those who sought treatment at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) rose from 27.9% to 41.9%.
In addition to, or perhaps as a result of, all this, veterans are 50% more likely to be homeless than other Americans (the Army has the highest incidence of veteran homelessness of all the military branches).
Veterans are not necessarily more likely to be poor than other Americans – in fact, the rate of poverty among those who served is lower than the national average – though younger vets have a higher poverty rate than other age groups. They are, however, nearly twice as likely to be impacted by disabilities, and the proportion of vets reporting having at least one disability has risen steadily over the past several years.
Though I am, generally speaking, a peacenik, I plan today to call the veterans in my life who are closest to me and thank them for their service. I try to do this every year, and the number of calls I make, sadly, has dwindled.
My maternal grandfather – a Korean War vet – passed a number of years ago. The last WW I veteran died in 2011 at the age of 110. Less than 1% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in WW II are still among us, and their number is falling fast, as the median age of these vets is 98.
All this is to say: Thank a vet while you still can.
It continues to be very dry with an elevated fire risk and an air quality alert is in effect until midnight tonight due to the fires that are raging in the Catskills. Sadly, there’s no rain to speak of in the forecast. Skies will be largely overcast with temperatures topping out in the low 60s.
In the headlines…
After his victory, Donald Trump declared that “it’s time to unite” and “put the divisions of the past four years behind us.” That was then. It took only 55 hours for him to begin threatening again to use his newly reclaimed power to investigate those who anger him.
Trump has talked about getting even with those he says mistreated him, but he has also suggested that his revenge will simply be his success.
Trump’s Florida residence and private club Mar-a-Lago is once again the Winter White House – the place to be seen for West Wing hopefuls as the US president-elect assembles a new administration behind its opulent doors.
Trump is projected to have won Arizona in the US presidential election, giving him a clean sweep of all seven battleground states.
Trump’s second administration has begun to take shape amid fears over extremist appointments and how far right the US will go while Republicans control the White House and probably both chambers of Congress.
Trump has announced in a post on his Truth Social platform that that Tom Homan, his former acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as the “border czar” in his incoming administration.
Homan, a senior immigration official in the last Trump administration, has said that workplace raids would restart under the new government.
“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” the president-elect said. “Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”
On Saturday Trump said that he would not invite Nikki Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, or Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state, to join the new administration.
New York North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik has accepted Trump’s offer to be his enforcer as United Nations ambassador.
The Republican Party is edging closer to overall control of the US Congress, having already secured a majority in the Senate and needing three seats to take the House of Representatives.
Trump held a phone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week advising him not to escalate the war in Ukraine according to the Washington Post, citing well-placed sources.
World leaders gathering in Baku today for a global climate summit face a bleak reality: The United States, the country responsible for pumping the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is expected to soon drop out of the fight against climate change.
Vice President Kamala Harris‘ former communications director floated a wild plan to make her the first female commander-in-chief — all President Joe Biden has to do is resign.
Jamal Simmons, who served as part of Harris’ team from 2022 until 2023, urged Biden to step aside so that Harris could make history — even despite her massive defeat to Trump.
A CNN liberal pundit floated nominating Harris to replace US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor while the Democrats still cling to power.
In a “very productive” call with Trump, Gov. Kathy Hochul made her case for federal funding to support major state projects, including the Micron semiconductor plant in Syracuse and the expansion of the Second Avenue Subway in Manhattan.
Hochul said she congratulated Trump on his re-election, pitched her federal priorities for New York, and signaled she was ready to move on from Democrats’ election losses.
While other big state Democrats are reviving the resistance, Hochul says she is open to working with Trump where possible.
Hochul is exploring options for reviving a congestion pricing plan for New York City before Trump has a chance to kill it, according to four people familiar with the matter.
In recent days, the governor’s office asked the U.S. Department of Transportation whether implementing congestion pricing with lower tolls than the planned $15 for drivers entering parts of Manhattan would require another lengthy environmental review.
Hochul is quietly calling lawmakers to say that she wants to reduce tolls for cars, trucks and other discounts across the board. For passenger cars entering Manhattan below 60th Street, the tax could be slashed from $15 to $9.
A former Israel Defense Force officer became the first Republican elected to a state assembly seat in northern Hempstead, LI, in more than 50 years. Daniel Norber, a 45-year-old dual US-Israeli citizen, will occupy a seat once held by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
New York’s disabled vets were seeing red on the eve of Veteran’s Day, fuming that they have been awarded a paltry 3.5% of all of the state’s cannabis business licenses issued so far, even though they are supposed to be considered a preferred group.
Former Staten Island Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, 45, has been left paralyzed from the chest down after falling off of a horse in a freak polo accident in September.
Grimm’s injuries are so severe that friends have started a GoFundMe to raise money for the extensive, yearslong medical expenses he is expected to incur.
State Attorney General Letitia James will not pursue charges against a city cop who struck and killed a 20-year-old Bronx woman in a caught-on-camera collision while trying to nab a speeding suspect, officials said.
At the post-election Somos conference, New York Democrats discussed how to navigate another Trump presidency and the five announced New York City mayoral contenders united against incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Tracey Collins, Adams’ longtime girlfriend, retired from her high-ranking position in the New York City public school system as an internal watchdog and the DOI are reportedly probing claims that her job amounted to a “no show” gig with a six-figure salary.
Collins earned $279,684 in the role, according to See Through NY, a database of information about New York government salaries.
“Ms. Collins served public school students for over 30 years as a teacher, principal and administrator, and we wish her the best in her retirement,” DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer said in a statement.
Adams has vowed to prevent the mass deportations Trump pledges to implement upon taking office, but migrants and immigration lawyers are preparing for them.
Adams’ third NYPD commissioner, Thomas Donlon, reportedly wants the job permanently, and he’s been acting as though he has it as he navigates friction and uncertainty.
Firefighters extinguished a second brush fire in Prospect Park on Saturday, roughly a mile away from the site of Friday night’s larger blaze, FDNY officials said. Adams banned grilling in city parks to curb the risk of more blazes igniting.
The Adams administration’s $700 million lawsuit against bus companies that brought migrants up from the southern border was dismissed Friday, a judge decided, writing the case was based on an “antiquated” and “unconstitutional” law.
Mohamed Bahi, Adams’ former Muslim City Hall community liaison, is in discussions with federal prosecutors about a potential plea deal after being charged with obstructing the investigation that led to the mayor’s indictment, according to a new court filing.
As New York City endures a historic drought, half of its usual water supply is shut down until June for repairs.
Columbia University activists are planning a protest of Veterans Day — which organizers want to “reclaim” from the “Israel-US wr machine” in the name of Palestinians killed in Gaza.
A sprawling new recreation center is set to open up next to the Harlem Meer lake in Central Park next year, marking the completion of a historically large investment in the northernmost section of the park.
St. Thomas Church in Manhattan, which has been grappling with serious financial problems in recent years, said on Friday that it would outsource the administration of its renowned boarding school for choristers in a bid to preserve the 105-year-old program.
At many corporate offices in Manhattan, the level of activity remains well below its pre-pandemic levels. But on and around some of New York City’s most iconic buildings, beehives are buzzing seven days a week.
Fifteen Staten Island Ferry workers are now millionaires after pulling down seven-figure paydays last fiscal year — including one marine engineer who was infamously caught on camera sleeping on the job, putting passengers’ lives at risk, records show.
An 18-year-old New York forest ranger has died while fighting a 2,000-acre wildfire burning in New York and New Jersey, according to New York State Police.
Dariel Vasquez was among those battling the fire Saturday in Greenwood Lake, near the New Jersey border, when he died, police said. Officials said a tree fell on him.
The fire has blazed across more than 2,500 acres in Passaic County, N.J., and Orange County, N.Y. — about an hour northwest of New York City. As of yesterday afternoon, it was completely uncontained, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
Smoky air from wildfires burning in the Catskills filled the skies over the Capital Region and much of the upper Hudson Valley with haze and a distinct burning smell as emergency services operators dealt with a flood of incoming calls from concerned residents.
Critics of using public money to build sports facilities dismissed the sale of bonds to fund the Buffalo Bills stadium, but some of the team’s devoted followers eagerly paid in.
Fraternity parties and social events at Cornell University have been suspended indefinitely after one person was reportedly sexually assaulted and at least four people were drugged at off-campus events, according to official communications from the school.
Hundreds of people were in Troy Saturday night for the 19th-annual Capital Region “Wing Wars.”
The city of Rensselaer could be getting a sludge incineration plant on the banks of the Hudson River. This shocked the community, its local leaders, and environmentalists, who gathered over the weekend to protest the project.
A massive wilderness retreat in the Adirondacks, used for decades by University at Albany students and alumni, has abruptly closed. Dippikill, more than 800 acres off a dirt road in Thurman, Warren County, is no longer taking reservations.
After months of arguing for a special election to replace the Commissioner of Public Works, Democratic Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran told the Saratoga Springs City Council last week that there will be no special election.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
