Good morning, it’s Monday.
This is a big week for lovers. Not only is it Valentines Day week, but the big day itself falls on a Friday – not a work or school night – which I imagine opens up for opportunities for those who will be celebrating.
If you are indeed planning on going out on the town, I hope you’ve already locked down your reservations, because Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest nights of the year for those in the restaurant biz. From what I was able to glean from the interwebs, some popular spots book up weeks in advance, though if you’re an early or late-night diner, you probably can still score a table.
Don’t be surprised when you arrive to be handed a special holiday menu, which likely will include higher prices than you’re used to if you’re at a restaurant you frequent. Of course, this could also be due to rising food costs. (For goodness’ sakes, given the price of eggs these days, don’t order a souffle or a quiche).
Most people are willing to dig a little deeper for that special someone, however. At least according to OpenTable data, which found that diners spent more on Valentine’s Day 2023 than any other holiday.
A fair number of people will be having sex on Valentine’s Day. A 2017 poll found that 32 percent of respondents got busy on the holiday that year, which, I have to confess, is lower than I expected. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Valentine’s Day fell on a Tuesday that year and people were just tired from a long day at work?
Whatever the reason, there were undoubtedly some people who made it a point not to have sex on Valentine’s Day. These people might have been participating in Chastity Week, which lasts from Feb. 9 -15 and, as far as I can tell, has its roots in religious organizations that encourage young people to practice abstinence until marriage.
According to the CDC, in 2017, about half of U.S. teens have had sex by the time they turn 18, and 80 percent of those used some form of contraception at least the first time they engaged in intercourse.
If you believe the interwebs, the percentage of teens (and in this instance, we’re speaking of high schoolers) who never had sex increased from 45.9 percent to 70 percent between 1001 and 2021. (Remember, March 2020 was when COVID was declared a pandemic, and schools were largely shut down, which probably put a pretty serious dent in things, from a teenage sex perspective).
I’m not sure if the whole chastity thing is catching on or people are just having a tougher time connecting than they used to. The average age that people in this country lose their virginity is about 17, according to various sources, including Teen Vogue. I’m not weighing either way here in terms of what the “right” age might be. Since I don’t have any children of my own, I’ve never had to have “the conversation” and, quite frankly, I’m not sad about it.
There’s a mix of sun and clouds in the forecast with temperatures in the high 20s. It will also be pretty breezy, with the wind blowing up to 20 mph at times.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, to stop producing new pennies, a move that he said would help reduce unnecessary government spending.
“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he said in a post on Truth Social, adding that pennies “literally cost us more than 2 cents.”
The penny has been under fire for years, with the movement to eliminate it picking up steam last month after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted on X calling attention to the high cost of producing the single-cent coin.
Trump yesterday said that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all foreign steel and aluminum imports into the United States as of today and would soon announce reciprocal tariffs on America’s trading partners.
Speaking from Air Force One en route to the Super Bowl, the president said his metal tariffs would apply to “everybody,” including Canada and Mexico, America’s allies and its largest trading partners.
Shares of steelmakers in Asia mostly fell this morning, save for those with operations in the United States. The dollar rose and U.S. Treasury yields ticked higher.
Trump also reaffirmed that he would announce “reciprocal tariffs” — “probably Tuesday or Wednesday” — meaning that the U.S. would impose import duties on products in cases where another country has levied duties on U.S. goods.
Before becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, Trump played a round of golf with Tiger Woods and issued a proclamation making it “Gulf of America Day”, ceremoniously cementing last month’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
A federal judge, citing a risk of “irreparable harm,” has temporarily restricted Musk’s government efficiency team from accessing a critical Treasury Department payment system.
The judge’s emergency order, issued early Saturday, temporarily halts access to a sensitive payment system that distributes Americans’ tax returns, Social Security benefits, disability payments and federal employees’ salaries.
Trump insists he trusts Musk to overhaul the federal government and expressed awe at the tech titan’s work ethic while reaffirming his next targets — the Education Department and Pentagon.
The National Institutes of Health announced Friday that the agency is making cuts to grants that support research institutions by limiting the amount of indirect funding for research projects to just 15%.
That’s far below what many institutions have been getting to maintain buildings and equipment and pay support staff and other overhead expenses. For example, Harvard receives 68% and Yale gets 67%, according to the NIH.
“The United States should have the best medical research in the world,” NIH said in its announcement. “It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead.”
Trump said Friday that he’s revoking former President Joe Biden’s access to government secrets and ending the daily intelligence briefings he’s receiving in payback for Biden doing the same to him in 2021.
More specifically, Trump said he would immediately revoke Biden’s “security clearances,” though in reality, Biden did not have a security clearance to begin with.
In 2021, then-President Biden barred then-former President Trump access to intelligence briefings, arguing that Trump could not be trusted because of his “erratic behavior.”
Trump said he would fire members of the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and naming himself chairman.
He also indicated that he would be dictating programming at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, specifically declaring that he would end events featuring performers in drag.
“I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social.
Trump also dismissed Colleen Shogan, the U.S. Archivist, who was responsible for overseeing government records and heads the National Archives, which Trump has criticized since it alerted the DOJ to his handling of classified documents in early 2022.
Two Democratic senators from New Jersey said that their party would not rule out forcing the federal government to shut down to stop President Trump’s legally questionable actions in dismantling federal agencies.
Sen. Andy Kim warned that Democrats won’t be inclined to throw Republicans a lifeline to avert a government shutdown next month unless Trump cedes power back to Congress.
“We are in a crisis right now, and Democrats will use every tool possible to protect Americans,” Sen. Cory Booker said on CNN.
Since last Tuesday, the Senate has confirmed eight Trump nominees; Booker and Kim did not vote for any of them, though Booker was absent for two of the votes.
GOP ex-Gov. George Pataki — who set up a relief fund to help Ukrainians after the Russian invasion — said that he backs Trump’s move to gut the “far left” international USAID agency.
Hamas released three Israeli hostages Saturday in exchange for 183 Palestinians jailed by Israel, in a staged handover where rifle-toting Hamas fighters prodded their gaunt captives to thank the militants who had held them captive for 16 months.
A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza said it was “horrified by the visible physical and mental condition” of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were paraded on a makeshift stage before the handover.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “take appropriate measures” after Saturday’s release, pointing to “the serious condition of the three hostages.” Dr. Hagar Mizrachi, a Health Ministry official, said the trio had arrived in Israel malnourished.
About two million baked goods, including some doughnuts and coffee rolls sold at Dunkin’, were recalled over concerns of potential contamination with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, federal safety regulators said.
The manufacturer FGF Brands, which distributes baked goods in the United States and Canada, issued the voluntary recall because of the “potential for contamination with Listeria monocytogenes,” according to a report released by the FDA.
The recall of over 2 million donuts isn’t just about one brand. It highlights how private-label food production distances consumers from the companies behind their food—and why tracking food recalls isn’t always as simple as checking a familiar brand name.
Trump said that he was considering using the federal Department of Transportation to “kill” congestion pricing, which he claimed was deterring people from coming into Manhattan.
But Trump, in a weekend interview with The New York Post, was vague about how he might try to stop the program. Options could include withholding federal transportation funds or revoking a key federal authorization to toll drivers.
All live poultry markets in New York City and some of its suburbs were ordered Friday to close for a week after the detection of seven cases of avian flu, which has also hit farms nationwide, led to the slaughter of millions of birds and driven up egg prices.
While issuing the order, Gov. Kathy Hochul said there is no immediate threat to public health and that the temporary closure of bird markets in the city and its Westchester County and Long Island suburbs comes out of an abundance of caution.
Three ducks at the Queens Zoo died because of bird flu, and as many as 12 more birds at the Bronx Zoo that died after possible exposure were being tested for the virus, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the nonprofit that operates the parks.
Hochul and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand warned that the possible Department of Education eradication President Trump has alluded to will cause property taxes to spike across the state.
Hochul has proposed to earmark $400 million to revitalize the capital of New York, Albany, where poverty rates are high and the downtown is moribund.
Leaders of the union representing thousands of state correction officers issued a vote of “no confidence” last week for Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III, who has been dealing with intensifying turmoil across New York’s prison system.
The administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams is planning to clarify a memo outlining what city workers should do when confronted with federal immigration agents in the wake of an outcry from advocates, a powerful union and elected officials.
A former City Hall aide charged last year with witness tampering tied to the federal corruption case against Adams intends to plead guilty, according to a court document that prosecutors filed in the mayor’s case on Friday.
All city agencies, including public schools and the shelter system, can let federal authorities searching for undocumented immigrants onto their property without warrants if city personnel “reasonably feel threatened” by their presence, the city said.
The guidance, first reported by local outlet Hell Gate, marks a departure from previously issued instructions that stressed these protections, which bar city workers and resources from being used to further federal immigration enforcement.
City Council leaders are mulling legal action to block what they call Adams’ “appalling” new policy letting municipal workers allow federal immigration workers onto city property without warrants if their presence makes them “reasonably feel threatened.”
Advocates and over a dozen elected officials this weekend highlighted that these sites are meant to be protected by sanctuary laws and that the mayor’s decision is only causing more fear for the migrant community.
The NYC teachers’ union is coaching educators on how to help migrant kids and families avoid getting picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at home or in public – going beyond the city’s guidance limited to keeping ICE out of schools.
New York City Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos released a video yesterday urging immigrant families not to keep their kids home from school.
Five of the eight Democrats challenging Adams in the mayoral race tackled climate change and his immigration policies during the “Climate Jobs Justice” candidates forum last week at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in Midtown Manhattan.
Despite sagging poll numbers amid and facing federal corruption charges, Adams says he is still in it to win it when it comes to the mayoral race. But the wildcard remains: Will former Gov. Andrew Cuomo jump in?
A top Adams aide who leads the city’s sports and recreation programs invoked her position to declare her support for Trump’s executive order banning trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, conflicting with city and state education rules.
Queens Councilmember Joann Ariola was elected to be the City Council’s minority leader in a vote on Friday — the caucus’s second try at elevating a member to the role.
GOP Councilwoman Inna Vernikov said she is quitting the City Council’s Women’s Caucus to protest its “anti-Israel” agenda and “woke” ways.
Bells, drums and chants rang out Saturday afternoon in Union Square in Manhattan as thousands of New Yorkers gathered to protest an executive order from the Trump administration targeting transgender children and teens.
A Brooklyn woman has been charged in the death of her 6-year-old daughter, who had been found unconscious on Friday in a bathtub filled with water, the police said.
The NYPD chief in command of Manhattan above 59th Street held a contest for “best dressed,” targeting female cops, with a $700 prize during a 2023 holiday party, claiming he had approval from the department’s Legal Bureau, a sexual harassment suit alleges.
State lawmakers representing Orange County have filed legislation to withdraw the county from the MTA’s commuter district, which would eliminate fees and taxes on Orange County residents that help fund the public transportation agency.
Yet another winter storm hit the New York City area over the weekend, dumping up to 5 inches of snow across the region and creating hazardous travel conditions ahead of Super Bowl LIX Sunday.
Within the five boroughs, the most snow fell in the Bronx, where 4.6 inches was measured in Fordham, according to the National Weather Service.
The Democrat vying for the House seat vacated by former New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik once ridiculed his fellow upstaters as too lazy and too boozed-up to work for him compared to migrants.
Top-paid workers in the Capital Region’s three largest cities last year were police and firefighters who often made more than $100,000 in overtime each to boost their pay well past $200,000, according to payroll records obtained by the Times Union.
The state Department of Environment Conservation approved permits Friday to expand two Hudson Valley compressor stations along the Iroquois gas pipeline.
Kevin Colwell, the founder and CEO of the Colwell Law Group, was killed in a skiing accident on Gore Mountain, the firm said in a news release Saturday night.
The Albany County Legislature is set to approve a $225,000 settlement to a former Albany County Sheriff’s Department correction officer.
With less than nine votes dividing the candidates for Saratoga Springs commissioner of public works, Democrat and write-in candidate Hank Kuczynski fought for every ballot in his favor on Friday in state Supreme Court.
The Albany County Legislature is considering two pieces of legislation that would allow Democrats in the chamber to raise Deputy Chair Wanda Willingham’s salary in the middle of her term.
Teenagers who make school threats face almost no punitive consequences for actions that would be felonies if they were adults, a Times Union investigation has found.
The Eagles (18-3) registered six sacks on their way to a 40-22 victory over the Chiefs (17-2) in Super Bowl LIX as the confetti came down at the Caesars Superdome to deny Kansas City a chance to three-peat.
In the process, the Eagles claimed their second Super Bowl after winning their first one in 2017. There have been 59 Super Bowls played and still no team has won three of them in a row.
Taylor Swift was briefly shown on the Jumbotron during the 2025 Super Bowl, eliciting a loud chorus of boos from Eagles fans. Swift, 35, appeared confused at the time, turning to friend Ice Spice to ask, “What’s going on?”
Many sports fans have turned against Swift, whom they believe gets far too much television time during NFL games. And even more fans have turned against the Chiefs.
With an efficient three-touchdown effort, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts earned the Most Valuable Player award of Super Bowl LIX following a 40-22 win over the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.
There was never a question what Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show was building up to. The first rapper to headline the N.F.L.’s biggest stage solo made his Drake diss “Not Like Us” the centerpiece of his set at the expense of a larger statement.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
