Good Monday morning.
I try hard not to do too many repeat posts here but given that I’ve been at it for about five years now – hard to believe, isn’t it? – there is certain to be some degree of duplication.
There are a few days that I deliberately return to year after to year, either because they’re significant (major holidays, religious observances etc.) or simply because they tickle my fancy, and I like to be reminded that there’s still joy and frivolity in the world.
Dyngus Day is an example of the latter.
Now, I know that there are people who take their Dyngus Day celebrations very seriously, but from afar, you’ve got to admit that the whole thing seems just delightfully silly.
I mean, even the NAME sounds silly to the untrained ear, though the definition of Polish is exactly the exact opposite of silly, as it translates loosely into “”worthy,” “proper,” or “suitable”.
Dyngus Day marks the end of Lent and the joys of spring. It is observed on the Monday after Easter in Poland and in Polish communities across the U.S. Sometimes spelled Dingus, this holiday is marked by parties and parades and some unusual traditions – including the dousing of single girls with water by single boys intending to express their interest in getting together.
Another unusual tradition calls for the boys to lightly switch girls on the legs with pussy willow branches that featured in Palm Sunday services the week prior. There also may or may not be door-to-door processions in which participants dress up as bears or other creatures.
Other merriment-making activities include presenting friends and relatives with Paschal eggs, and enjoying a host of Polish foods like dumplings called” pierogi”, kielbasa sausage with sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage rolls called “gołąbki”, and shots of krupnik – a spicy and very sweet Polish liqueur.
There are many Dyngus Day origin stories, some dating back to pre-Christian, Slavic practices. The pouring of water is, of course, long associated with baptism and cleansing, as well as purification and fertility. Some believe that Dyngus Day officially started back in 966 A.D. to celebrate the baptism of Prince Mieszko I of Poland on Easter Monday.
Dyngus Day is very big in communities with a concentration of Polish Americans, including Cleveland, OH; Rotterdam, NY; South Bend, IN; Milwaukee, WI; and, of course, Buffalo, NY, AKA the Dyngus Day capitol of US, with the largest concentration of festival locations, polka bands and Polish traditions in the nation.
Some people have a hard time understanding Dyngus Day.
One of the most memorable slights to this venerable tradition occurred in April 2012, compliments of newsman Anderson Cooper, who experienced an on-air fit of the giggles while discussing Dyngus Day traditions and, more egregiously, seemed to call the celebration “really so stupid” and an “excuse to drink.”
Cooper ended up apologizing, insisting that he was referring to his inability to regain control over himself as “stupid” and not Dyngus Day itself. But the damage was done, though the good people of Buffalo, who are built of sterner stuff – perhaps thanks to all that snow and the Bills’ disappointing record – more or less took it all in stride.
More rain is in the forecast, though the morning will start out dry and partly cloudy. Temperatures will top out in the low 60s. ‘
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump raised $239 million for his inauguration festivities in January, a norm-shattering amount fueled by corporate America’s desire to curry favor with a famously transactional president.
The haul swamped the then-record $107 million Trump raised for his first inauguration in 2017 and is four times the nearly $62 million collected by his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden, for his pared-down swearing-in during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
Donations to the inauguration by tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta—apparently eager to display fealty to Trump—have previously drawn criticism, but the new filing reveals that a far larger group of companies and rich Americans also kicked in.
Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis at the pontiff’s residence in Rome yesterday, the Vatican said, in a previously unannounced visit during Easter celebrations.
The meeting came after the pope criticized the Trump administration’s deportation policies and urged Catholics to reject anti-immigrant narratives, in an unusually direct attack on the American government.
The Vatican said that during the meeting an “exchange of opinions” took place concerning migrants, refugees, and prisoners.
The pontiff, appearing frail from a balcony at St. Peter’s Basilica, blessed a crowd gathered on the square outside. But a Vatican aide delivered a papal address that focused on global conflicts.
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented in the Supreme Court’s decision to block the deportation of a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members under an 18th century wartime law, calling the order “hastily and prematurely granted.”
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enacting a policy that bans the use of “X” marker used by many nonbinary people on passports as well as the changing of gender markers.
Trump wished the US a happy Easter, “including Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, the Mentally Insane, and well known MS-13 Gang Members and Wife Beaters, back into our Country.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen accused the Trump administration of “outright defying” court orders to return a wrongly deported Maryland man whom Van Hollen met with in El Salvador, and urged the administration to stop releasing unfavorable records about the man.
A former top Pentagon spokesperson said in an opinion piece published yesterday that the Department of Defense is in “disarray” under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership,” wrote John Ullyot, who resigned last week.
Hegseth allegedly shared attack plans in a Signal chat including his wife, brother and personal lawyer, The New York Times reported, citing four people familiar with the conversation.
The information Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate chat that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic.
Opponents of the Trump administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals.
Former President Bill Clinton on Saturday urged unity in a speech on the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
“If our lives are going to be dominated by the effort to dominate people we disagree with, we’re going to put the 250-year-old march toward a more perfect union at risk,” Clinton said during a speech at an event marking 30 years since the bombing.
The Trump administration’s decision on April 1 to not renew contracts of 10 Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers after the contracts expired at the end of March has sparked fear of cuts to the entire national program.
New York City’s $9 congestion toll on drivers in Manhattan’s busiest areas will remain in effect, despite the federal government’s deadline to scrap it yesterday.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration joined a lawsuit with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to contest the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate congestion pricing.
Both the city and state departments of transportation on Friday joined the legal case, initially brought by the MTA, a spokesperson for the transit authority said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and North Country GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik have already begun trading barbs in the 2026 gubernatorial race amid reports that the Republican congresswoman is considering a run.
Hochul hosted the annual Easter Egg Roll at the Executive Mansion on Eagle Street Saturday, though the eggs in question were’t real.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin slammed New York’s Climate Act, advanced by Hochul and New York Democrats, as “delusional” and a “left-wing recipe for an energy and economic catastrophe.”
The state attorney general’s office is seeking to have corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III and the state of New York removed as defendants in lawsuits filed by the family of a man who was beaten to death by correction officers in December.
Brooklyn Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Democratic socialist, is allegedly blocking locals from making posts she doesn’t like on her social media pages — and she even dared one critic to take her to court.
Adams is calling on his Christian faith as he emerges from what he called one of the “darkest moments” of his life — a federal corruption case that was dismissed earlier this month.
Speaking yesterday at a packed Easter service at the Temple of Restoration in Brooklyn, Adams framed the now-closed indictment as a divine test and part of his spiritual journey.
Randy Mastro, Adams’ top deputy at City Hall, ordered the Sanitation Department to stop fining most building owners over failing to comply with the city’s new mandatory composting rules, despite the mayor’s strong backing of the program.
Adams appeared on a Fox News show hosted by Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, where he defended ICE, spoke of the troubling toll the migrant crisis had on the city and called all-out resistance to the Trump agenda “foolish.”
Adams ripped Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for proposing the state convene a never-used review process to review cops’ fatal shooting of a mentally ill Queens man who lunged at them with a knife, saying this is why voters feel abandoned by Democrats.
The Democratic primary for New York City mayor is increasingly turning into a two-person race — with support growing for both ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and socialist state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, according to a new poll.
Cuomo gained more support from prominent clergy leaders as he continues to lead in the 2025 NYC Mayor’s race, his campaign team announced on Easter Sunday.
An aide who worked in Cuomo’s executive office has agreed to a $450,000 settlement in her lawsuit over claims that state officials had not done enough to prevent his alleged sexual harassment against her, according to the settlement agreement.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bennett will receive a $100,000 payout for lost pay and personal injury among other things. Her lawyers will receive about $350,000 in reimbursed fees and other legal costs.
The state admitted to no wrongdoing in the settlement, and Bennett agreed not to seek future employment in the state’s Executive Chamber, which is the formal name for the governor’s office.
“I said when it started from the beginning that [the sex lawsuit] was all political, and that’s the way it turned out,” Cuomo, 67, told The NY Post outside Calvary Baptist Church in Jamaica, Queens, where he had just delivered a brief address to mark Easter Sunday.
Cuomo has filed new court papers threatening a defamation suit against Bennett before Albany could pass a law to hinder such cases targeting alleged victims.
Four Democratic candidates running to be New York City’s next mayor joined forces Friday morning to call out Cuomo on his housing record, warning that he would prioritize wealthy real estate interests over working-class tenants if elected.
Cuomo didn’t hold back with his criticism of the current state of the Democratic Party in a new appearance on The Daily Beast Podcast, slamming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“The Democratic party is outraged at Trump,” Cuomo said, adding that the “chaos” the president has created has led to “fear” and “anger.” Of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s messaging, Cuomo said: “I think they capitalize on that.”
State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who opposes a bill that would boost billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen’s bid to open a casino complex next to CitiField in her district, admits the measure may pass despite her.
The New York Times sent a wide-ranging survey to leading candidates for mayor about affordability, public safety, President Trump, homelessness, congestion pricing, immigration, schools and their one big idea.
Frank Romano, a radio talk show host running for City Council on Staten Island, became the latest New York pol targeted by vandals comparing Republicans to Nazis.
United Bodegas of America is renewing its calls for panic buttons and NYPD monitoring in all bodegas after two fatal incidents last week.
Advocates for closing Rikers Island, New York City’s sprawling 400-acre complex of notoriously dangerous and violent jails, have found an unlikely champion in Harvey Weinstein.
A new law that will require many landlords, and not renters, to cover broker fees is set to take effect in less than two months. It may change how New Yorkers move.
Three people died early Easter Sunday in a fire inside a Queens building riddled with fire hazards, according to the FDNY.
A mother and her 8-year-old son were found dead inside their Bronx apartment on Friday night, along with her 4-year-old daughter, who was alive and alone, according to the police and the woman’s family.
With allegations of fraud, four Saratoga County Republican candidates are taking their fellow Republicans to court to keep them from launching June primaries against them.
On the 250th anniversary of “the shot heard ’round the world,” several groups across the Capital Region sought to make their voices heard.
Keri S. Mazzuca was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for the death of her newborn, an infant boy whose remains were found beneath Washington Park’s statue of Moses nearly 30 years ago.
Nearly 100 alumni gathered Friday to beg the University at Albany Student Association to keep Dippikill, an 800-acre camp in the Adirondacks.
Residents and visitors to Old Forge and surrounding communities in the town of Webb could face stiff fines if caught feeding or harassing bears and other wildlife under a local law adopted by the board on April 8.
Former Western New York Rep. John J. LaFalce, who mentored Hochul and sponsored sweeping legislation to mitigate the Love Canal toxic waste disaster and to protect consumers from financial fraud, died on April 11 in Lockport near Niagara Falls, at 85.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
