Good Friday morning – literally.
Today is the day that Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It’s a somber day of sorrow, mourning and reflection, but is also deemed “good” because of what’s to come – the hope and joy of Jesus’ victory over death through his resurrection, which will be celebrated this coming weekend on Easter Sunday.
The aforementioned explanation of why a day that marks something so bad is called “good” is just one theory; there are multiple others that you can go down the rabbit hole and learn about here. In other cultures, this day is called “Long Friday” or “God’s Friday”.
Good Friday is not a federal holiday, but a lot of people who observe it take the day off. (Not sure about you, but I’ve been getting an increasing number of “OOO” responses to my emails throughout the week).
Good Friday is a state holiday in 12 states – Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, and Tennessee – where government offices are typically closed. Although today is not a holiday in New York, the Stock Exchange and other financial markets will be closed. Many businesses also shut their doors.
It’s traditional on Good Friday to attend mass, where one might witness the reenacting of the Stations of the Cross. There are actually 14 stations, but the 12 leading up to Jesus’ death are usually the focus for this day.
The reenactment, which is also known as the “Way of the Cross” or “Via Crucis”, often might feature a procession through the church and/or outside it, with participants stopping at each station to reflect on a particular event in Jesus’ Passion.
This is the last Friday in the Lenten fast, which means the last big day for fish fries. I haven’t had a single one this season, though I am a big fan. Even though, as a Jew, I am not observing Lent, I rarely pass up the opportunity to slather fried seafood with tartar sauce – a most underrated condiment, IMHO.
An interesting fact that I learned while combing the interwebs for this post: 25 percent of all McDonald’s Fliet-O-Fish sales occur during Lent. The sandwich has its roots in Lent and was created in Ohio by a local McDonald’s owner who noted that sales were lagging due to customers temporarily abstaining from meat and wanted to capture that market.
Some people fast on Good Friday, which in this case means not only abstaining from meat but also eating just one full meal and two smaller meals that don’t add up to a full meal. I’m not sure how this constitutes a fast, which to me means forgoing food and water altogether for 25 hours, as Jews do for Yom Kippur.
This is not a criticism, mind you, just an observation.
Another interesting bit of Good Friday trivia: Some people believing washing your hair and/or getting a haircut on this day will either prevent you from experiencing headaches for a year or help your hair grow longer and thicker. Conversely, shaving on Good Friday is a no-no as potentially drawing blood on the day of the crucifixion was believed to be unlucky.
I know its’ not remotely germane, but I feel compelled to take a moment to note that it’s International Day for Monuments and Sites, AKA World Heritage Day, which was approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983 to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts to protect them.
There are 26 such sites in the U.S. (the country with the most of them is Italy, with 60), most of which are administered by the National Park Service. That federal agency, like so many others, has seen its funding and staffing eviscerated by the Trump administration. The idea that some of our world’s most precious and significant locations are under siege and may not be available for public enjoyment much longer just kills me.
It’s just wrong. Sorry, I had to say it.
Temperatures will be soaring into the 70s today and tomorrow, though things will be deteriorating on the precipitation end. Today we’ll see a mix of sun and clouds in the morning, followed by all clouds in the afternoon.
Tomorrow (Saturday), will be even warmer than today with the possibility – however slight – of hitting 80 degrees, and there could be showers or even a thunderstorm. Sunday, Easter, will be slightly cooler, with temperatures in the low 60s, but dry. Enjoy those egg hunts and chocolate bunnies!
In the headlines…
Two people were killed and six wounded at Florida State University yesterday, when a student — identified as the son of a sheriff’s deputy — opened fire near the student union building, investigators said.
The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, 20, was an active FSU student, had access to his mother’s weapons and brought one of her pistols with him to campus, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil said. Neither of the two people killed were students.
McNeil of Leon County said Ikner was shot and wounded by responding officers after he failed to obey officers’ commands. He was also a member of the sheriff’s office’s citizen advisory or Youth Advisory Council.
The Supreme Court announced that it would hear arguments in a few weeks over President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. The brief order by the justices was unsigned and gave no reasoning, as is typical in such emergency cases.
The unusual move is a sign that the justices consider the matter significant enough that they would immediately hold oral argument on the government’s request to lift a nationwide pause on the policy.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) met with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador, yesterday with the approval of the country’s authorities.
In the images, Abrego Garcia was dressed in plainclothes and sat for a conversation with Van Hollen at a hotel in San Salvador. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said on social media that Abrego Garcia would remain in his country’s custody.
“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar. Tonight I had that chance,” Van Hollen wrote in a post on X. “I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return.”
A federal appeals court in Virginia reaffirmed that the White House needed to play a more active role in seeking Abrego Garcia’s release, expressing exasperation at the Trump administration’s continued recalcitrance in refusing to help free him.
Trump escalated his long-running attack on the Federal Reserve, by lashing out repeatedly at the head of the nation’s central bank, Jerome H. Powell, for not doing enough to fortify the economy as the effects of tariffs take hold.
The Trump administration is cutting nearly 90 percent of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) employees in a push to significantly downsize the watchdog agency formed to shield U.S. consumers from financial fraud and abuse.
Buzz is buliding around a potential 2028 presidential run by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the progressive lawmaker smashes fundraising records and draws record crowds to rallies in red states.
Polling guru Nate Silver Thursday even predicted Ocasio-Cortez will be the next Democratic nominee for the White House.
The Department of Justice asked the courts to go hard on disgraced former New York Rep. George Santos when he’s sentenced next week, citing his remorseless behavior on social media.
“The government respectfully submits this letter to advise the Court that Santos’s recent behavior continues to demonstrate that he remains unrepentant for his crimes,” prosecutors wrote in a legal filing.
Among the examples of his unacceptable behavior was a social media post from April 4 in which Santos portrayed himself as a victim being targeted by prosecutors wanting to “break [his] spirit.”
Alphabet’s Google created a monopoly that allowed it to control parts of the online-advertising industry, a federal judge ruled yesterday, a decision that could upend one of the technology giant’s core businesses.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, found Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in markets for publisher ad servers and the market for ad exchanges which sit between buyers and sellers.
Trump is taking over the reconstruction of Penn Station and kicking the MTA off the project, federal transportation officials announced yesterday.
The move was laid out in a letter to MTA Chair Janno Lieber from Federal Railroad Administration Chief Counsel Kyle Fields, who said the work will instead be overseen by Amtrak, which owns Penn Station.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she had requested “that the federal government fund the long-overdue overhaul of Penn Station,” and she called the DOT’s decision to take the project over “a major victory for New Yorkers.”
Advocates for a key climate bill are touting a new report that contends the legislation would save the state $1.3 billion over the next decade.
Hochul has been slammed by the Republican Long Island district attorney for her decision to release hundreds of inmates due to staffing shortages at state prisons.
“Governor Hochul’s decision to release hundreds or even thousands of prisoners before they have served their full prison terms is a reckless and shortsighted response to a crisis of her own making,” said DA Anne Donnelly, who is running for re-election this fall.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is saying the Trump administration’s criminal referral for mortgage fraud is “baseless” but declined to give details.
“Let me just say to all New Yorkers and to all Americans: the allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour,” James told NY1 political anchor Errol Louis. “…as any good attorney, I will not litigate this case in a camera.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch promised not to pull punches if Albany’s deal to change discovery law doesn’t close “dangerous, unforeseen loopholes” that allow criminals to go free.
The federal judge who could decide the fate of congestion pricing dismissed a number of arguments in lawsuits seeking to stop the toll, a move likely to strengthen New York State’s defense of the program in its fight against the Trump administration.
Recent numbers from the MTA showed a reduction of around 70,000 to 80,000 vehicles every day in March on average due to the congestion pricing tolls, with most weeks seeing over 500,000 fewer cars in the city — translating to a 13% reduction in vehicles.
Mayor Eric Adams offered rare pushback against the Trump administration after the President ordered a stop to a Brooklyn project slated to become the country’s largest offshore wind port.
The mayor brushed off concerns about the $3 million debt he owes his defense lawyer and others involved in his criminal case, saying that how he pays off his legal fees is “between Eric Adams and his attorney.”
The CFB has selected NBC 4 New York/WNBC, Telemundo 47/WNJU and POLITICO New York to host the first mayoral Democratic primary election debate, the first mayoral general election debate, and the second primary election debates for Public Advocate.
The full debate scheduled can be found here.
New York City can’t afford to elect former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as Big Apple mayor because his “mental acuity is in decline” — and residents can’t afford a “Joe Biden moment” at City Hall, a rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Jessica Ramos, said.
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has long had a chilly relationship with Cuomo. So for many, it may come as no surprise that the former chief executive of the city is not supporting the former chief executive of the state’s bid for his old job.
There’s still a lot of uncertainty in the New York City mayoral race, but one thing is for sure: the mayor will have less power than his or her counterpart in Albany.
City DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and a former senior NYPD official with reputed links to China’s Communist Party agreed to pay fines after admitting they misused their positions by campaigning and fundraising for Adams and Kamala Harris.
Hundreds of college students, faculty members and others took to the streets and to the campus of Columbia University to protest the federal detention of organizers of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and what they regard as an assault on higher education.
The Elizabeth Street Garden in Lower Manhattan was going to be razed to make way for affordable housing for older New Yorkers. Now the plan may be on hold.
The disgruntled former operator of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport has renewed calls for the city to replace the waterfront landing pad with a park after a deadly crash in the Hudson River killed a family of five Spanish tourists and its Navy veteran pilot.
Two former dancers for Shen Yun Performing Arts filed a lawsuit accusing the group of amassing a financial fortune and worldwide renown by subjecting an “army of child laborers” to brutal working conditions and psychological coercion.
The lawsuit by the former dancers, Sun Zan and Cheng Qingling, is at least the second civil action targeting the group and its leaders since The New York Times last year detailed the treatment of performers and financial practices at the arts company.
Visas have been canceled for multiple students studying at universities around the Capital Region, including students at the University at Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Siena College, spokespersons for the universities confirmed yesterday.
Staff at the Albany headquarters for the New York Republican Party showed up to work Wednesday morning to find that swastikas had been affixed to the building in an apparent act of vandalism.
Barnes & Noble in Colonie Center reopened yesterday morning, after a broken pipe temporarily closed the book retailer last Friday, the store announced.
The owners of a Wolf Road hotel that housed migrants lost their appeal of a lower court’s ruling that allowed Colonie officials to enforce town code at the business.
After decades of being a hot spot to purchase newspapers, magazines and cigarettes, Coulson’s News & More in Newton Plaza is closing.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
