Good morning. It’s Friday and we are on the cusp of a brand new month. There are 48 days to slog through until spring is here.
It has been many years, as you undoubtedly recall if you’ve been here awhile, since I engaged in the regular consumption of alcoholic beverages. But my drinking “career”, if you could call it that, definitely had an arc during which my palette developed and, I would like to think, became more sophisticated and cultured as time progressed.
What do I mean by this? Well, let’s say that over a period of two decades or so, I moved from preferring fruity, sweet, and often carbonated beverages (think wine coolers) to drinks that were more complex (Scotch), dry (white wine), and even a little bitter (in the case of, say, Campari or Bombay Sapphire gin).
I never was a big fan of creamy drinks – White Russians, for example, or Mudslides. These were popular among my sorority sisters back in the day, but I found them too filling. Why not just drink a milkshake and be done with it?
I also didn’t buy in to the concept of alcohol for dessert – though port is very nice – which is probably why I was not familiar with the classic cocktail known as a Brandy Alexander – a decadent combination of Crème de Cacao (a chocolate liqueur), cream, and brandy (often cognac). Some people like to gild the lily by adding a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or sugar.
Today, for some reason unbeknownst to me, is Brandy Alexander Day.
The Brandy Alexander is the next generation of a cocktail called simply The Alexander or Alexander #2, which was a gin-based drink. The brandy version, which apparently is a popular holiday/seasonal drink, first appeared in The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930, but its origins are murky – to say the least.
The backstory with the most credibility appears to be the one that involves a New York City bartender named Tony Alexander, who was commissioned to create a drink for a party that was being thrown to celebrate, of all things, a cleaner-burning, high-carbon coal called anthracite to fuel trains.
The marketing campaign involved a fictional character named Phoebe Snow, who was thrilled to be able to ride the train while wearing an all-white outfit that didn’t get soiled by dirty coal-burning and soot-producing engines. Naturally, an all-white drink was in order. Enter the Alexander.
Apparently, this drink has quite the following – including John Lennon and James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
A Brandy Alexander is not served warm (FWIW, today is also National Hot Chocolate Day), but it is a warming beverage – depending on how much booze you add to it. Warming beverages are definitely going to be on the menu for the next few days, given the weather forecast.
A winter weather advisory is in effect from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. Expect mixed precipitation with a total potential snow accumulation of less than one inch and – potentially more problematic – a light glaze of ice. Temperatures will peak in the mid-to-high 30s.
Tomorrow will be on the chilly side with cloudy skies and highs in the 20s. Sunday will be cloudy and slightly warmer (I’m talking low 30s) with snow showers developing as the day progresses.
In the headlines…
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal” at the time of the deadly late-night crash between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people, a preliminary FAA report said.
The internal report reviewed by The New York Times said the controller handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes landing and departing from its runways — jobs typically assigned to two different controllers.
Clues emerging from the moments before the deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet suggest that multiple layers of the country’s aviation safety apparatus failed.
Shortly before the collision, the plane’s pilots were reportedly asked to pivot its landing route from one runway to another.
President Donald Trump promised his administration would undertake a thorough investigation of the events that led up to the crash, while also claiming diversity, equity and inclusion policies could be to blame.
Even as he acknowledged he had no evidence, but was instead relying on “common sense,” Trump suggested that efforts to hire more people with disabilities and diversify the ranks of the F.A.A. were to blame for the accident that killed 67 people.
The jet that collided with a helicopter and crashed near Reagan National Airport was carrying figure skaters and coaches on their way to Washington from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, a major event in the sport.
One of the young figure skaters who died in the crash, Cory Haynos, a teenager from Northern Virginia, landed a triple axel, one of skating’s hardest jumps just before the U.S. Figure Skating national development camp ended.
The 67 victims also included a group of buddies who had been on a duck hunting trip, and the crews flying the helicopter and American Airlines flight, though an official list has not yet been released.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. battled his way through his second Senate confirmation hearing, defending his views on vaccination during a raucous three-hour session that featured shouting matches, angry accusations and a senator in tears.
The hearing also exposed the deep misgivings of a key Republican from Louisiana – Senator Bill Cassidy, the Health Committee chair – who could hold Kennedy’s future in his hands.
“Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” Cassidy said. “Can I trust that that is now in the past?”
A handful of senior F.B.I. employees have been told to resign in a matter of days or be fired, as the Trump administration moves to shake up the agency’s upper ranks, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to run the F.B.I., repeatedly evaded the question of whether he would investigate officials on a published list of his perceived enemies during his confirmation hearing , even as he sought to allay fears about his fitness to serve.
Doug Burgum, a promoter of oil and gas, was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Interior Department, a role in which he will oversee drilling and mining policies on federal lands and waters.
The 79-18 vote for Burgum puts him in charge of nearly 500 million acres of public land, 1.7 billion acres of offshore waters, and more than 70,000 employees who protect wildlife and endangered species, manage national parks and maintain tribal lands.
A conservative appeals court ruled that a longstanding federal ban on handgun sales to people between the ages of 18 and 20 violates the Second Amendment, pushing the question of age limits for handguns one step closer to the Supreme Court.
The 29-page opinion concluded the Constitution “includes 18- to 20-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” and a federal law criminalizing the sale of handguns to 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds was unconstitutional.
Trump will claim that he was the “target” of a “misuse” of criminal law as he appeals his conviction in the Manhattan hush money case that branded him a convicted felon, his new lawyer said.
The acting U.S. deputy attorney general called for an investigation of the Tomkins County Sheriff’s Office, which released an undocumented immigrant from custody in an apparent escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against sanctuary cities.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the U.S. attorney’s office in Syracuse will “investigate these circumstances for potential prosecution.” He called the local sheriff’s office “a self-described sanctuary city”.
The Trump administration is considering a move to halt New York City’s congestion pricing program, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke to Trump directly to defend her Manhattan congestion toll — with the commander-in-chief telling her he’ll make a decision on the plan as soon as next week, sources said.
Marc Molinaro, a former congressman and an outspoken critic of New York City’s new congestion pricing program, has reportedly been chosen by Trump to lead the federal agency that supports the nation’s public transportation systems.
Hochul wants the state Legislature to approve $90 million in new funding for an AI supercomputer center in Buffalo even though the initial $275 million in state money to start the project remains unspent.
A coalition of nearly two dozen environmental and climate change groups are coming together to put pressure on Hochul to implement the cap-and-invest program considered necessary for New York to meet its climate goals.
Subway fare evasion decreased by 26% over the past six months, Hochul announed, crediting the infusion of more officers underground as key to the turnaround.
Hochul announced a “transformational” $140 million investment in SBH Health System in the Bronx, which will increase emergency department capacity, upgrade equipment and expand community health partnerships at the 160-year-old institution.
The governor is proposing a tax break to reimburse volunteer organ donors for their gift. Meanwhile, the state has failed to implement a 2022 law that would do the same thing.
New York State Education Department Commissioner Betty Rosa said Hochul hasn’t presented a “clear vision” for her plan to revamp the Foundation Aid formula.
It could take years for the state Commission on Correction to complete a mortality review of an incarcerated man who was beaten to death by multiple officers at Marcy Correctional Facility last month, the oversight group’s chair said.
New Yorkers are paying more than ever to heat their homes with gas – and prices will continue to rise, according to new analysis from the Alliance for a Green Economy, or AGREE.
The New York Voting Rights Act, which sets guardrails for localities to follow in administering fair elections, was upheld as constitutional after a state appellate court reversed a decision that struck it down last year.
A national hotel chain has been forced to pay the city of Yonkers $515,000 for stashing dozens of migrants in a 103-room local Ramada — and leaving them there for nearly two years.
Hobbled politically, legally and physically, Mayor Eric Adams reemerged yesterday with a clear message: he’s not resigning, and don’t count him out for reelection either.
“Who started the stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday? Are you out of your mind?” Adams said Thursday during an annual interfaith breakfast as the crowd unleashed loud applause.
“You gotta focus on this, folks,” he added.” How do you print a rumor that I’m resigning on Friday, but don’t print the facts that we had more jobs in the city’s history on that same day. Not one tabloid covered it.”
The rumors about Adams’s possible resignation have bubbled up this week, with former City Council member Sal Albanese writing in a Tuesday night post that the mayor “is cutting a deal with Feds & resigning in 72 hours.”
Adams didn’t offer any details on the mystery illness that kept him uncharacteristically out of public view most of this week, but did say: “Last week was scary, it was hard, I’m not going to lie to you.”
The New York City Council is launching a probe into revelations that a private real estate firm scored a deal to redevelop the city government’s public health lab just months after one of the company’s executives joined Adams’ administration.
The Big Apple saw a 2% drop in major crime during this fiscal year’s first few months — along with a dip in transit crime, Adams’ annual report revealed.
City Comptroller Brad Lander says if elected mayor he would seek to use the municipal government’s pension funds to help city workers become homeowners — a proposal aimed at dampening some of the effects of the city’s deepening housing crisis.
New York City’s sprawling hospital system is debunking misinformation spreading via social media and reassuring the public it won’t report any undocumented “person or patients” to immigration enforcement agents.
“We care about your health, not your immigration status,” reads a Facebook post. “Despite misinformation on Instagram, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst is NOT reporting any person or patient seeking care to the police. All New Yorkers should seek care without fear.”
A Queens grand jury indicted a married couple from Jamaica Estates for abusing nine infants and toddlers at the daycare center they operated in the home on 188th Street near Midland Parkway, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
Queens DA Melinda Katz described the charges as “a working parent’s worst nightmare.” A mother herself, Katz empathized with the diligence parents exercise in selecting child care, expecting, at a bare minimum, their children’s safety to be secure.
A Pakistani man suspected of killing his U.S.-born 15-year-old daughter in a so-called honor killing after she apparently refused to stop sharing videos on TikTok appeared in court yesterday in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said.
Federal prosecutors say a Venezuelan migrant arrested in the Bronx this week is a fugitive and gang member involved in an armed home invasion that garnered national headlines in Colorado last year.
A legal filing this week by the publication, Newsday, signals that it will sue Nassau County for repeatedly violating its First Amendment rights. It accused the county and its powerful executive, Bruce Blakeman, of retaliating for its coverage of him.
Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, one of several Republicans vying to run in a special election for the seat expected to be vacated soon by Rep. Elise Stefanik, has pledged to launch a primary campaign next year if he is not picked as the party’s nominee.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained two individuals in a worksite operation in the town of Cairo this week, the immigrant support nonprofit Columbia County Sanctuary Movement said.
More than 140 newly arrived refugees in the Capital Region late last week lost the federal aid meant to help feed, clothe, and shelter them during their first 90 days in the United States.
An appellate court declined to overturn the conviction of a man who was found guilty of first-degree assault and other charges for stabbing two members of the far-right Proud Boys outside the state Capitol during a rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
Capitalize Albany, the city’s economic development arm, is broadening its outreach to potential developers of the Liberty Park site.
Construction is underway for a new a 96,000-square-foot, three-story charter school on Northern Boulevard in the City of Albany.
State Police staged a dramatic aerial rescue of an injured ice climber at Buttermilk Falls last week.
More than a year after a 23-year-old man died after opening fire on Saratoga County sheriff’s deputies during a police search, one of his associates in a Capital Region-wide drug ring was charged for drug trafficking and firearm crimes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Journavx (suzetrigine) oral tablets as a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic to treat acute pain in adults.
“Today’s approval is an important public health milestone in acute pain management,” Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement.
It’s the first new pharmaceutical approach to treating pain in more than 20 years, offering an alternative to both opioids and over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
Marianne Faithfull, who went from being a fresh-faced, feather-voiced pop star, as well as muse and girlfriend of Mick Jagger, to a homeless heroin addict, only to re-emerge as a critically acclaimed cabaret performer singing songs of dark honesty, has died at 78.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
