Good morning, it’s Monday.
A little public service announcement before we get down to business: Early voting is underway across the state for the primaries that will take place on June 24. These are off-year, local elections, with some big mayoral elections creating the most interest. Contests are taking place in New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, among other locations.
Because New York has closed primaries (unlike in a number of other states), you need to be a registered member of a political party in order to vote in these elections. The generation election, which is open to all voters, will take place in November.
At a time when small-d democracy is under siege at some many levels, it has never been more important – in my opinion, anyway – to exercise your right to vote and express your point of view to our respective elected officials. Every vote always matters, but in low turnout races like these, they arguably matter extra.
I voted early in last year’s presidential and it was a very easy experience. There was a small line, but it moved pretty quickly, and I felt comforted that I had played my small part in trying to influence the future of our nation. Things didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped, but that, too, is the nature of small-d democracy.
Even though I appreciated the convenience of early voting, I still think I prefer voting on the actual Election Day because I like the ritual of going to the local firehouse that serves as our polling place, chatting with the volunteers, and partaking of the leftover Halloween candy that is usually on offer at the sign-in table.
Either way though – day-of or early – get out there and do your civic duty.
That PSA took a little longer than I meant it to.
What I wanted to write about today was Bloomsday, which is a celebration of the Irish writer James Joyce and takes place today – June 16 – because this is the day on which his landmark novel Ulysses takes place (in 1904). Ulysses came out in 1922 and chronicles how three characters – Leopold Bloom, his wife Molly, and Stephen Dedalus – experience the same day in the city of Dublin.
Bloomsday is named after the novel’s protagonist, Leopold Bloom. I only know this because the interwebs told me. I must confess that I have not read Ulysses, which is recognized as a catalyst for the entire genre of modernist literature, nor have I read any other of Joyce’s works. They are simply too dense, too wandering, and too damn complicated for me to even consider taking a crack at.
It turns out that I’m in good company, because Ulysses is widely considered the second most difficult novel in existence to read to completion, edged out from the top spot by another James Joyce work, Finnegan’s Wake.
While I have not read anything by Joyce, I have run – and finished – a very fun 10K created in his honor called the James Joyce Ramble. The race, held every April in Dedham, MA, features a looping and mildly hilly course, over which costumed actors read works of Joyce aloud as runners streak (or, in my case, plod) past.
The race, which is unique to pretty much anything I’ve ever experienced since, was conceived in 1984 by a local man who, while reading Finnegan’s Wake, thought the book was more or less as hard as training for and running a competitive contest. If you’re ever in the area and you enjoy running – or walking, even! – it’s well worth checking out.
It won’t be a bad day for getting your daily dose of exercise outside. We’ll see partly cloudy skies today, with temperatures again topping out in the mid-70s. That’s sort of disappointing, I know, but at least it won’t be raining.
In the headlines…
The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender yesterday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge.
Vance Boelter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. He is accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.
The man suspected of shooting two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota early on Saturday had served on a state board with one of the victims, records show.
Boelter, 57, was appointed several times by Minnesota governors to the Workforce Development Board, where he served with State Senator John A. Hoffman, who was shot and survived.
New York officials — stunned by the targeted shootings in Minnesota — said elected officials here are also vulnerable, with the danger and threats reaching new levels. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said more security measures are underway.
The deadly conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its fourth day, with both sides firing new waves of missiles overnight amid international pleas for diplomacy and de-escalation.
Israel said today that it had struck the command center of Iran’s Quds Force, a special military unit that coordinates support for Iranian allies in the Middle East and reports directly to the country’s supreme leader.
President Trump reportedly opposed an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amid ongoing waves of tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran as he makes publicly and privately clear he prefers to keep the US out of the fray for now.
Israel reportedly did not assassinate Khamenei on the first night of its operation against Iran to give him a final chance to completely ditch his uranium enrichment program.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reported “some minor damage” to the American Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv last night due to “concussions of Iranian missile hits” nearby.
American consumers are likely to start feeling the impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as more expensive oil causes prices at the gas pump to rise.
Global oil prices climbed about 1 percent in Asia today, hovering around $75 a barrel, after Israel struck several Iranian oil and gas facilities over the weekend.
Leaders of some of the world’s biggest economic powers arrived in the Canadian Rockies yesterday for a Group of Seven summit, overshadowed by an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran and Trump’s unresolved trade war.
European leaders gathering for a G7 summit with Trump in the Canadian Rockies plan to spend the opening day asking him to justify his confidence that Israel and Iran will make a deal that will mean “peace soon”.
Trump presided over a show of American military might in D.C. on Saturday, a celebration of the US Army’s 250th anniversary that became a test of wills and competing imagery, with demonstrators around the country decried his administration.
Trump, who was celebrating his 79th birthday, sat in a reviewing stand on Constitution Avenue as armored vehicles dating from two World Wars and overflights of 80-year old bombers and modern helicopters shook downtown Washington.
“No Kings,” which organized over 2,000 Anti-Trump protests across the nation, declared most were without controversy or violence.
A massive “No Kings” rally opposing Trump erupted into a scene of chaos in downtown LA Saturday, as rocks, concrete and “commercial-grade” fireworks were lobbed at officers. Another rally in Portland near an ICE facility was reportedly declared a riot.
Trump announced plans to flood Democrat-run cities, namely New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, with new, larger waves of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to bring about the “single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
A federal judge on Friday blocked Trump’s attempt to overhaul elections in the U.S., siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional.
A political consultant who sent artificial intelligence-generated robocalls mimicking former President Joe Biden to New Hampshire Democrats last year was acquitted Friday of voter suppression and impersonating a candidate.
The Democratic establishment descended on the Hamptons this weekend for something of a political royal wedding that brought together the worlds of big-money politics and Clinton-era insiders.
The newlyweds were Alex Soros, the son of George Soros, the Democratic Party’s most generous patron, and Huma Abedin, a political aide who has been described as almost a daughter to Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state.
The bride, who was formerly married to ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, wore two custom wedding dresses: one by Erdem and one by Givenchy, designed by Erdem Moralıoğlu and Sarah Burton, respectively.
Next week, another massive billionaire wedding will take place when Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, ties the knot with the journalist Lauren Sánchez.
Brooklyn Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, a prominent figure in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York City, is calling on Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado to resign as his split with Hochul has intensified.
The brutal deaths of two men in New York’s prison system have spurred legislation at the Capitol intended to prevent others in state correctional facilities from being met with the same fate.
Legislative candidates in New York spent more money last year than in any election in the past 25 years except one, in part due to a new program that poured millions of taxpayer dollars into state Senate and Assembly campaigns.
Law enforcement officers might be able to seek confidential counseling from trained peers without fearing their jobs are at risk, if a bill that passed the State Legislature is signed into law.
The state Assembly has some significant catching up to do starting bright and early this morning, having extended session by two days. The Senate completed its work late last week and left Albany for the summer.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has her eyes on Albany if her longshot mayoral bid fails. She’s reportedly on Hochul’s short list for lieutenant governor, and is in the process of using taxpayer money to open a fourth Council office to help bolster her popularity.
Early voting began on a rainy Saturday as New Yorkers cast their votes in a crowded Democratic mayoral primary largely shaped by concerns about affordability, housing, public safety and the rise in antisemitism.
The NYC Board of Elections dropped the figures for the first day of early voting in the 2025 primary. According to data out Saturday evening, more than 30,000 New Yorkers went to the polls on June 14.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, the two front-runners in the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, delivered closing-stage speeches over the weekend.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that if Cuomo wins the city’s mayoral race, he will use it as a stepping stone for a presidential bid.
Three days after endorsing Cuomo for mayor of New York City, Mike Bloomberg put his money where his mouth is, giving $5 million to Fix the City, a super PAC that is supporting Cuomo’s bid for mayor.
New York City educators are divided between two different candidates in the upcoming mayoral primary — Mamdani and Cuomo — and the split made it impossible for the union to endorse anyone, union president Michael Mulgrew said in an interview.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a searing interview that his political nemesis, Cuomo, should not be mayor of New York City.
A state judge on Friday indefinitely blocked Mayor Eric Adams from letting federal immigration authorities open an office at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, a priority for the Trump administration as it seeks to expand its immigration crackdown.
Adams is being criticized after hosting antisemitic influencer Sneako, who has previously proclaimed “down with the Jews,” for a friendly sit-down interview at Gracie Mansion.
Adams called for a statewide ban on face coverings at protests, arguing that current law doesn’t go far enough to deter disorderly conduct.
In an interview on NY1, Adams criticized the version of the mask restriction included in the state’s latest budget, which makes it a crime to wear a mask only while committing a separate offense. He called the measure “ill-advised” and too reactive.
The city’s only borough-president primary race in Manhattan, which is considered competitive by political observers, is heating up over the issue of public safety and the state’s controversial bail law changes.
Anthony Weiner isn’t the only one attempting a comeback for a City Council seat. Ex-Council members Andy King and Ruben Wills are also seeking redemption at the ballot box in Democratic primaries after being pushed out of office in the face of controversies.
The office of Staten Island District 49 City Council Member Kamillah Hanks has been the subject of multiple workplace complaints, with five current and former employees telling City & State the negative office culture has caused high turnover.
A massive technical glitch has delayed millions of dollars in property-tax rebates involving thousands of city co-op and condo owners.
StickerMule CEO Anthony Constantino alleges that New York Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar threatened to kill him.
Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello’s recent attempt to move City Hall out of rented space in Hedley Park Place is null and void, according to landlord First Columbia.
Turbine Services LTD, a supplier of aftermarket replacement parts for General Electric’s gas turbines, has been sold to EthosEnergy of Houston for $4.68 million.
A local man, who had a hate crime case against him dismissed after prosecutors determined a racist voicemail he is accused of leaving for a former Niksayuna supervisor was not a criminal act, is suing past and present town leaders for violating his civil rights.
Despite national reports of rampant cheating on schoolwork with AI, Capital Region colleges say they have reprimanded very few students.
Dennis S. Drue, the man responsible for killing two Shenendehowa High School students in a 2012 drunk driving crash, will not face additional prison time for failing to comply with the conditions of his release from prison.
Leonard A. Lauder, the art patron and philanthropist who with his mother, Estée Lauder, built a family cosmetics business into a worldwide juggernaut, died on Saturday at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He was 92.
The death was announced by the Estée Lauder Companies.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
