Good morning, it’s Monday.
When I was in college, we threw a surprise birthday party for my paternal grandfather, who at the time I believe was turning 80. (If you are questioning the intelligence of taking a man of that age unawares by subjecting him to the loud cheers of his extended family – some of whom he had not seen in quite some time – you are not alone…I did, too, as I recall).
Anyway, grandpa did recover from – and survive – the shock, and the party was very nice. I don’t remember all that much about it, other than that I had somehow missed my initial flight from Rochester to Florida and was worried I wouldn’t make it in time. I also had the opportunity to mingle with some family members with whom I hadn’t spent a lot pf time, including one who bore a faint – yet still distinctly readable – number tattooed on her wrist.
Having spent many formative hours in Saturday and Sunday school by that point, I knew what that tattoo was. And I also knew, of course, that I had relatives who were impacted by – and in some cases, did not survive – the Holocaust. Yet seeing that tattoo somehow brought it all into sharp relief for me.
I asked my father about it later, and he shared some high-level details about what this particular relative had to do to stay alive during that time. It wasn’t pretty, and I remember feeling very angry and also very lucky to be connected to such strong, resilient people, without whose determination to make it through the horrors of that war, I would not be here today.
Today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On this day in 1945, soldiers from the Soviet Army opened the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and liberated the prisoners who had managed to somehow survive the torture, starvation, gas chambers, forced work, disease, and whatever other atrocities inflicted upon them by the Nazis.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation and the 20th anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s declaration of this day to remember the 6 million Jewish Holocaust victims, as well as millions of non-Jewish individuals including Romani, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political dissenters, those accused of homosexuality and more.
These numbers have been calculated based on Nazi documents as well as pre-and-post-war demographic information. Truth be told, however, there is no single document maintained by the Nazis that accounts for exactly how many people they slaughtered. It could be far more.
As a Jew, the Holocaust remains very real to me. I spent many years watching films and reading books about the war, and also listening to the stories of survivors. I understand that this is likely an experience unique to other Jews and/or to students of history.
But I did – naively, apparently – think that most people knew something about the Holocaust, except for deniers, which I can’t even begin to entertain in this space. But a survey conducted in 2000 by the Claims Conference, found a disturbing lack of basic knowledge – and some rather shocking belief in outright misinformation – about the Holocaust among young people.
This makes me sad, and also afraid. You know what they say about those who do not learn history (they are condemned to repeat it). I have written in this space before about the rise in antisemitic incidents, which reached a record high in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks. Quite frankly, I find it simply too depressing to go through the data yet again.
It’s enough for me to say, proudly and loudly: We remember them.
At the least the weather will be cheerful today. We’ll have sunny skies and temperatures flirting with 40 degrees. I’m breaking out the shorts and t-shirts. Get outside while the getting is good.
In the headlines…
Colombia has walked back from the brink of a damaging trade war with the United States, reaching an agreement on accepting deported migrants being returned on military planes, after a flurry of threats from President Trump that included steep tariffs.
Colombia said last night it had agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms,” including the “unrestricted acceptance” of immigrants who entered the US illegally, after two US military planes carrying deportees were blocked from entering the country.
Earlier, the U.S. president had ordered visa restrictions, 25% tariffs on all Colombian incoming goods, which would be raised to 50% in one week, and other retaliatory measures.
This was sparked by President Gustavo Petro’s decision to reject two Colombia-bound U.S. military aircraft carrying migrants and announcing a retaliatory 25% increase in Colombian tariffs on U.S. goods.
The White House yesterday released an executive order by President Trump that laid out a plan to exert the federal government’s role in California’s complex water management operations and claimed its authority to overrule state officials.
The order, dated Friday, comes after Trump traveled to the state to see the devastation from wildfires that have been raging in Los Angeles for weeks. It put formal directives behind Trump’s steady criticism of California’s leaders and their response to the fires.
Trump discussed several of his top foreign policy priorities in public comments over the weekend, including his desire to purchase Greenland and the possibility of turning Canada into a U.S. state.
Trump took a victory lap at a Las Vegas casino on Saturday after a five days of issuing executive orders on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.
For those who may have crossed Trump, the message is sinking in: Payback is coming, and coming fast.
The CIA now believes the virus responsible for the Covid crisis most likely originated from a laboratory, according to an assessment that points the finger at China even while acknowledging that the spy agency has “low confidence” in its own conclusion.
There is no new intelligence behind the agency’s shift, officials said. Rather it is based on the same evidence it has been chewing over for months.
When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed in a tie-breaking Senate vote by VP JD Vance, starts his first official day this morning, he will face a daunting array of issues to tackle — from global conflicts and border security to administrative tasks.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is the latest agency that is disbanding all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs following Trump’s executive order terminating all federal DEI programs.
As part of a dedicated, increased effort from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials since Trump took office, ICE reported 956 arrests yesterday.
Vance, in his first interview since taking office, offered a fierce endorsement of Trump’s first week in office on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” including the beginnings of a promised immigration crackdown.
The Justice Department said it had begun making arrests in Chicago as part of a multiagency enforcement operation. TV show host Dr. Phil McGraw joined Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” and ICE officers for “targeted operations” to enforce immigration law.
The Justice Department announced that its acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, had traveled to Chicago to oversee the effort to address what he called a “national emergency.”
Homan defended the administration’s plans to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into schools.
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker vowed to “stand in the way’’ of certain Trump deportation policies, including those targeting “law-abiding’’ illegal migrants.
Federal agents rounded up dozens of members of Tren de Aragua in an overnight raid on a “makeshift nightclub” in Denver — after the vicious Venezuelan prison gang terrorized the city and the suburb of Aurora.
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began trekking toward their old neighborhoods in the northern part of the Gaza Strip today, nearly sixteen months after they were forced to flee their homes at the start of the war.
The Israeli military has confirmed that it has opened Gaza’s coastal road to Palestinians heading northward. It is the first time in roughly 16 months that civilians who fled south in October 2023 have been able to return home.
A state program that delivers little for taxpayers but doles out hefty subsidies to Hollywood to film shows like “Billions” and “Blue Bloods” in New York would be extended — and pay $100 million more yearly — through Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new budget proposal.
Hochul — the Bills most ardent supporter in New York politics — is sitting on a fat lump of cash from a host of major sports teams owners, including the Bill’s most infamous rivals.
Hochul has a football signed by Jim Kelly in her office and a customized jersey signed by Josh Allen hanging on the wall.
Hochul was perhaps never more popular than yesterday while watching the Bills-Chiefs game at McGeary’s Irish Pub in downtown Albany.
Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres has accused Hochul of bungling oversight of New York’s early intervention program for toddlers with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome.
Hochul finds herself in a curious position as the top Democrat in New York who must work with the Trump administration on behalf of New Yorkers, but also hold a hard line on issues like birthright citizenship and congestion pricing.
The Empire State is expected to generate $161.8 million in tax revenues from its legal weed business for the fiscal year ending March 31 — or four times what it raked in last year.
State lawmakers and local news publishers are pushing for a bill that they say will help small businesses and small news outlets simultaneously.
Several workers at Upstate Correctional Facility in Franklin County were transported to a hospital following a second incident in less than a week in which multiple staffers became ill after being exposed to some type of synthetic drug possessed by an inmate.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s relationship with Trump is alarming Democrats, who question the embattled mayor’s motives amid his ongoing legal challenges.
Eleonora Srugo is setting the record straight about her relationship with Adams. The star of Netflix’s new real estate docusoap “Selling the City” said there s “no truth” to the rumors that she is dating the mayor.
Adams, 64, will keep a limited public schedule this week as he attends doctors’ appointments and undergoes routine medical tests, his office said early this morning.
“Over the last few days, Mayor Adams hasn’t been feeling his best,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Adams, said on social media as he made the announcement. No specific condition was cited and no other details were provided.
“While he will continue to communicate constantly with staff and ensure city business continues undeterred, during this time, the mayor will have a limited public schedule,” Levy said.
Five Democrats are competing to become the left-leaning wing’s candidate of choice in the June mayoral primary. Can one of them beat Adams?
Socialist Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani has raised $641,816 since beginning his mayoral campaign three months ago, the most of any candidate during this stretch in the heavily contested race.
As Adams’ administration sets records on special education spending, new legal filings shed light on alleged “fraud” that city and state officials say is driving up costs.
Staten Island’s longest-tenured City Council member, Joe Borelli, will resign from his post at the end of the month, leaving a massive void on the South Shore.
Borelli — who makes $148,000 as a lawmaker, but was term-limited come November — will become a managing director at Chartwell Strategy Group and open their New York office.
Republicans in the New York City Council are bracing for a fight to fill the power vacuum left by Borelli’s impending departure, and Councilmembers Joann Ariola of Queens and David Carr of Staten Island are at the center of it.
An Asian immigrant, Ling Ye, is seeking to topple Democratic Socialist Brooklyn Councilwoman Alexa Avilés in the June 24 primary election.
Simon the Bassett cattle dog was sworn in as the second honorary dog mayor in New York City yesterday afternoon following a whirlwind of an election drowning in bizarre cryptocurrency drama.
Many commuters continue to oppose the new tolling program in New York City even as some drivers and bus riders are spending less time trapped in traffic.
Deadbeat drivers racked up $5.1 billion in unpaid MTA tolls and violations over four years – a number likely sent skyrocketing since “cashless” systems replaced the old payment booths, records reveal.
At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a so-called corpse flower bloomed for the first time on Friday. The smell was not unlike rotting flesh. But people lined up for the rare opportunity to take a whiff.
Vandals slapped anti-Semitic screeds across the windows of a Brooklyn Israeli restaurant — but the owner wants to leave the messages up in a defiance to shed a light on hate local Jewish residents are experiencing.
Residents of a ritzy community on Long Island’s North Shore are protesting plans to build a “mega NYC-style apartment complex” in their village — saying the development would threaten the “legacy, character and exclusivity” of the area.
A Canadian cargo freighter carrying 17 crew members that had been wedged in ice on Lake Erie for three days amid a prolonged cold snap was dislodged on Saturday after the Coast Guards of both the US and Canada deployed ice-breaking vessels to free it.
The Troy City Council Democratic minority is criticizing Mayor Carmella Mantello’s administration for missing a $241,600 interest payment on $12.87 million in city debt this month and not filing the 2023 audit of city finances.
Multiple federal, state and local agencies plan to participate in a large-scale training exercise in the Capital Region this week designed to prepare them to respond to a nuclear emergency.
Siena College triumphantly unveiled a new $35 million building Friday, which they managed to build without a multimillion-dollar bond. For a decade, the college has avoided adding debt.
A Colonie used car dealer was sentenced to probation for failing to pay sales tax on cars he sold for the better part of a decade.
It had been five years to the day since the Union College women’s hockey team was able to hoist the Mayor’s Cup Trophy at center ice Saturday afternoon following its annual non-league matchup with rival RPI at MVP Arena in Albany.
Invasive experts are asking the public to be on the lookout for a new invasive pest found last year in the Lake George region. Red pine scale, an insect native to Japan, was first found on Lenni-Lenape Island on Lake George last summer.
The state has purchased 965 acres near Cranberry Lake in the northwestern Adirondacks, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced.
Josh Allen took a deep breath before he started his news conference last night. The moment was familiar. The Bills quarterback was visibly frustrated as he tried to explain how he felt after Buffalo came up short again.
The Chiefs’ quest for a historic Super Bowl 3-peat is still alive. The defense got the one stop it needed inside of the two-minute warning and Kansas City held on for a memorable 32-29 win.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
