Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
I was driving across the Dunn Memorial Bridge the other day, gazing out at the mostly frozen Hudson River lined on either side by leafless trees, whose trunks stood out starkly silhouetted against the dull gray sky.
Does this sound depressing? Sorry. Winter is grinding me down. Around now I start yearning for spring and warmer weather and green, living things. I tried hard to remember what the river looked like when it was flowing freely, its banks devoid of snow and lined with fresh grass and trees with new, young leaves.
I couldn’t get there mentally. There are 26 days remaining until the official first day of Spring (March 20) and that seems to my cold-weary body and sun-starved mind like an eternity.
And that’s why it’s kind of hard for me to wrap my brain around the Jewish holiday Tu B’Shevat, which begins tonight at sundown and lasts through tomorrow – again, at sundown. You’ll perhaps understand more about my seasonal confusion when you learn that another name for this holiday is “Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot,” which translates into “New Year of the Trees”.
TREES? What trees?
OK, so apparently it’s about to be spring in Israel (March and April, the latter being a particularly good time, weather-wise, to visit the country, if you’re planning on doing so soon).
There are a variety of ways to observe Tu B’Shevat, one of which calls for planting trees – again, an activity that doesn’t make terribly much sense here in the U.S., but makes all the sense in the world in Israel, which is at the tail end of the rainy season, ensuring that any new plantings get all the water they require to thrive.
Tu B-Shevat is considered a minor Jewish holiday, mention of which does not appear in the Bible. In secular circles, it has morphed into an opportunity to highlight the importance of protecting the environment – a sort of Jewish Earth Day, if you will.
There are, however, very specific rules in Judaism related to the consumption of fruit – namely that you’re not supposed to eat it for the first three years of a tree’s life, and then the fourth year’s fruit is reserved for God. (If you want to go REALLY deep on this one, click here).
Tu B’Shevat is the annual milestone against which a tree’s age for the purpose of fruit-eating is calculated.
Since this is not a good time for tree planting on this side of the world, Jews in the U.S. sometimes observe by sending money to Israel to pay for a tree to be planted in their name. They might also hold a Seder – similar to the religious meal held for Passover – that features a variety of biblical foods (ie, things mentioned in the Torah) like grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, or dates.
Another mostly cloudy day is on tap, with temperatures in the low 30s.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would continue downsizing the federal workforce as he appeared with Elon Musk in the Oval Office, a rare joint appearance between the Republican commander-in-chief and his most powerful adviser.
Trump’s order directs agency officials to draw up plans for “large scale” cuts to the federal work force and further empowers Musk and his team to approve which career officials are hired in the future.
Must defended his “Department of Government Efficiency” against critics, saying the unaccountable cost-slashing task force represents the will of American voters who elected Trump.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
Musk said he was providing maximum transparency in his government cost-cutting initiative, but offered no evidence for his claims that the federal bureaucracy had been corrupted by cheats and officials who had approved money for “fraudsters.”
King Abdullah II of Jordan rebuffed Trump’s proposal for his country to absorb Palestinians living in Gaza, saying that he remained opposed to a plan the president has laid out to clear the territory so the United States can seize control of it.
During a “constructive” meeting with the U.S. president at the White House, King Abdullah said, he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
“I stressed that my foremost commitment is to Jordan, to its stability and to the well-being of Jordanians,” he said on X. “I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position.”
The future of the cease-fire in Gaza and the territory’s long-term fate is uncertain as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned Hamas that if the scheduled release of hostages did not take place Saturday, Israeli troops would resume “intense fighting.”
Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to Trump, pleaded guilty yesterday in a New York state criminal case related to a fundraising scheme that defrauded donors to a border-wall nonprofit.
Bannon pleaded guilty to one state felony count of a scheme to defraud in the first degree and was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge. He will not serve any time in prison, nor will he be required to pay any restitution under the deal.
In exchange for the guilty plea, Bannon, 71, agreed to a conditional discharge and waived his right to appeal. Bannon was sentenced to three years conditional discharge.
Google has removed diversity events like Pride and Black History Month from its calendar app and renamed the Gulf of Mexico on Google Maps.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he agreed “wholeheartedly” that the Trump administration could make sweeping cuts to federal spending without the approval of Congress, taking a position at odds with the Constitution’s separation of powers.
Ford Motor could be forced to lay off employees if the Trump administration ends subsidies and other financial support for electric vehicle manufacturing, the company’s chief executive said.
The U.S. Education Department urged organizations overseeing high school and college athletics to strip records, titles and awards from transgender women who competed in women’s sports.
The department’s office of general counsel sent a letter requesting the changes to the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NCAA. In a release, the department said the request was “entirely consistent with the NCAA’s new policy.”
An emotional Marc Fogel, the American teacher held captive in Russia for more than three years, told Trump last night that he was forever indebted to him for securing his release as he was greeted at the White House.
With an American flag draped around his neck, Fogel stepped out of a car and into snow falling on Washington, gripping Trump’s hand as they stood at the side entrance to the White House. “President Trump is a hero,” Fogel said.
The Department of Homeland Security announced that it fired four Federal Emergency Management Agency officials over payments provided to New York City to house migrants, arguing without evidence that the officials circumvented leadership.
Trump called for the “termination” of FEMA and said disaster relief should be handled by states. Repeating false claims about the relief effort for Hurricane Helene, Trump said FEMA is riddled with corruption and partisan bias and must be abolished.
“FEMA should be terminated. It has been slow and totally ineffective. Individual states should handle storms, etc., as they come,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “Big savings, far more efficient.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement the individuals were “circumventing leadership” to make the reimbursement payments for “luxury hotels” for migrants in New York City, but provided no details of the alleged misconduct.
In New York state, home to more than 53,000 civilian federal employees as of last year, federal workers have been left confused, frustrated, and in some cases out of a job, as Trump and Musk upend federal agencies in their quest to cut spending.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been sensitive to any measures that could raise household costs, sent a letter asking the DPS, which regulates utility companies, to reject Con Ed’s rate increases and to audit the company’s management compensation.
“Go back to the drawing board and figure this out, but you’re not going to get that kind of rate increase from our hardworking New Yorkers,” Hochul said during a Manhattan press conference.
A proposal to dramatically reshape how the state DOH maintains and releases records that include birth and death certificates has prompted an outcry from genealogists who say the move would intentionally limit their ability to conduct historical research.
Hochul’s administration wants an official investigation into the organizations behind a $10 million advertising blitz blasting her for changes to a home health care program for the elderly and disabled.
State lawmakers urged health officials to push back the April deadline to overhaul the CDPAP program that serves more than 250,000 New Yorkers with disabilities — or at least establish a contingency plan to ensure no one loses services.
Democratic lawmakers introduced legislation that could transform New York’s rent stabilization law, giving more options to localities across the state seeking to adopt the tenant protections.
A bill in the Legislature would prohibit flavored nicotine pouches from being sold in New York, following the precedent set by the state’s 2020 ban on flavored vape cartridges.
The average price for the same low-complexity, routine medical care was four times higher in New York when patients sought those services in outpatient hospital facilities instead of a doctor’s office, according to a report released this week.
Criminal justice advocates are ramping up opposition to proposed changes to the state’s discovery laws as prosecutors around the state double down on their push to tweak the statute that governs how long they have to hand over evidence to defense attorneys.
Linda Sun, a former Hochul aide, and her husband are facing new money laundering charges in connection with allegations that she used her position in state government to act as an unregistered agent of China and the Chinese Communist Party
The father of a man beaten to death at an upstate prison will visit the State Capitol today to advocate for reform, officials said, and he’s getting support from an unexpected ally: former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned in 2018.
More than 300,000 people will see bills for their COVID-19 tests from tests wiped away or refunded, Attorney General Letitia James said after accusing CityMD of improperly charging New Yorkers about $14 million.
He has already upended the federal government and roiled global affairs. But in the opening weeks of his second term, Trump is moving no less decisively to assert his vision over a far more familiar venue: New York City.
Mayor Eric Adams confirmed that the DOJ ordered federal prosecutors to dismiss the corruption charges against him, thanking the agency for a move he says will end “a monthslong saga that put me, my family and this city through an unnecessary ordeal.”
The mayor maintained that the demand by the U.S. Department of Justice to make Manhattan federal prosecutors drop corruption charges against him proves his innocence, insisting that he “never broke the law”.
Adams vowed to regain the public’s trust as the DOJ moved to halt his criminal corruption case – an extraordinary directive that officials said would free him up to assist in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York haven’t responded to the order yet, and it leaves open the possibility that Adams’ case could be revived.
“I think part of what that memo is saying is ‘pens down,’” said Jessica Lonergan, a former assistant U.S. Attorney at the Southern District. “You don’t get to spend the next year strengthening your case against Adams, essentially.”
With the Justice Department ordering federal prosecutors in Manhattan to drop corruption charges against Adams, the legal spotlight could shift to a local prosecutor — the Manhattan district attorney’s office, and its leader, Alvin L. Bragg.
Adams said his administration has delivered for working-class New Yorkers, reducing crime and boosting jobs – accomplishments he alleged have been covered up by “shocking headlines full of rumors and accusations,” and “innuendos and insinuations.”
After the Department of Justice’s memo, several people who have spoken to members of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inner circle were left with the impression that he is highly likely to run for New York City mayor, but other political observers remain skeptical.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime Adams ally, said he is convening top Black elected leaders from New York to “decide where we will go” amid concerns the Department of Justice is effectively holding the mayor “hostage” due to the terms of its order.
Even as dams embraces a non-prosecution deal explicitly intended to help him cooperate with Trump’s immigration crackdown, his administration is backing away from a controversial directive to rank-and-file city workers on their role.
In a video message, Adams’ corporation counsel, Muriel Goode-Trufant, presented a flow chart on what to do if federal immigration enforcement agents arrive at a city government building, consistent with New York City’s sanctuary city laws limiting cooperation.
Adams underwent a laser hair removal process at a Harlem small business while speaking to a reporter and touting an $85 million public investment initiative his administration has been pushing.
Photos posted on social media showed the mayor reclining in a chair at Harlem Zen, a wellness spa on Frederick Douglass Blvd., as owner Angela McTair lasered away his seemingly already hairless head.
The city has settled a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a group of nursing NYPD moms who claim that the department didn’t provide them with clean, safe spaces to express breast milk — then punished them when they complained.
New Yorkers may soon have a much better understanding of how the NYPD uses technology to conduct surveillance, track cell phones and maintain its facial recognition database.
The latest effort to revive Airbnb in New York City is sputtering, after a city councilmember gutted a bill meant to legalize more short-term rentals in the five boroughs.
A new report from the New York Housing Conference found that hundreds, if not thousands, of apartments sit empty for months after tenants leave, due largely to outdated city rules.
Authorities said the NYPD arrested a man accused of setting fires at two subway stations and torching a police car last month.
Hundreds of New Yorkers hurried across town for the chance to see Paul McCartney live, after he announced yesterday afternoon that he would be performing a rare, intimate show at 6:30 p.m. later that day at the Bowery Ballroom.
Various municipalities and school districts are discussing what some of Trump’s new executive orders mean, and how they should prepare if they will impact the services they provide to the community.
A union for employees of the City of Troy’s public library was officially recognized in December by the library’s Board of Trustees after a supermajority of workers signed union authorization cards.
After wandering for years in Albany County’s snowy wilderness without identities, seven lucky snowplows are about to get names.
The Saratoga County PBA president, who has been out front advocating for better wages and conditions for deputies, correction officers and dispatchers, is seeking to challenge the heir apparent for the county’s top law enforcement job.
A second person has been charged in connection with the alleged assault of a toddler last month at the SmartEarly Learning Center day care in Clifton Park after police said she failed to intervene after she witnessed the child being abused.
Monty, a regal giant schnauzer, was awarded best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, defeating a tough crowd of canine competitors that included an extremely silky Shih Tzu named Comet and a rugged German shepherd named Mercedes.
Canned tuna sold at grocery stores nationwide is being recalled over risk of botulism, the FDA said. The recalled products, made from Tri-Union Seafoods tuna, are sold under the Genova, Van Camp’s, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names in dozens of states.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
