Good Tuesday morning to you!
In the headlines…
I am a big fan of breakfast food. I do not consider it limited only to the morning, but really any time of the day (or night) is a good time for toast, eggs, oatmeal, muffins, fruit, yogurt, or bagels. Eggs in all forms, in particular, as a favorite of mine. I like them hard boiled, in egg salad, sunny side up, scrambled, in omelettes, quiche, frittata…you get the idea.
Eggs are fast, easy and practical. They are widely available AND they are a complete protein, which means it contains all nine of the amino acids that the body does not produce on its own. Animal proteins are all complete, as are a handful of plant-based protein sources, including quinoa, buckwheat, hempseed, blue-green algae and soybeans.
Eggs have been a staple of the human diet for centuries, but Americans have been eating fewer of them. That’s reportedly largely due to rising prices – at least over the past year or so – and, to a lesser extent, health concerns, though research suggests that if you’re a healthy person and consume eggs in moderation you should be OK.
The price for eggs rose to a record-high of $6.32 per dozen this past March, surpassing a previous record of $5.897 in February, though what you were paying depended a lot of 1) where you were located in the state/nation, and 2) what store you were shopping at.
There were reports of bodegas charging as much as $12 to $13 a dozen, while at least one enterprising outpost in the Bronx started offering baggies of loose eggs for a reduced charge. In addition, due to the reduced supply caused by bird flu and other disruptions, some stores were (and maybe still are?) rationing eggs.
The cause of the price spike was a classic case of supply and demand. The shortage was spurred by the death of more than 30 million chickens due to the bird flu epidemic, with many not succumbing to the disease outright but rather being killed by farmers in an attempt to slow its spread.
By April, the price of eggs had fallen considerably, only to be threatened again by the Trump tariffs on eggs that were being imported from countries like Turkey and South Korea to make up for the lack of availability from U.S. farmers, though, quite frankly, I can’t keep track of which of those is on and which is off – or at least delayed.
Eggs are not the biggest U.S. export, though with $599 million worth of them sent out of the country in 2024 alone, it’s not exactly a small commodity, either. Worldwide, the Netherlands is the leading exporter of eggs, followed by China, which is the world’s largest egg producer, exporting not just fresh eggs in the shell, but processed egg products, which are apparently in high demand in some parts of the world where refrigeration is not necessary a foregone conclusion.
Today is National Egg Day, the origins of which I have had some trouble nailing down. This is not to be confused with World Egg Day, which falls on Oct. 5 and was established by the The World Egg Organisation (WEO) (yes, that’s an “s” the British way, not a “z”) to “to raise global awareness about the mighty egg, a naturally nutritious, accessible wholefood that supports nourishment and wellbeing around the world.”
I know what I’ll be having for breakfast…and maybe lunch, too.
Yesterday was as close to a perfect weather day as we’ve seen of late. Not too hot, plenty of sun, nice breeze. Just gorgeous. Too bad most of us had to spend so much of it inside working.
Today will be another stunner – sunny and warm, with high temperatures flirting with 80 degrees. FINALLY it’s going to feel like summer, and things are only going up from here, temperature-wise, at least in the short term. More on that tomorrow.
In the headlines…
The man who attacked individuals in Boulder, Colo., as they called for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza was charged with a federal hate crime after telling police he researched for a year to find a “Zionist group” to target and asserting he would do it again.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, accused of setting 12 people aflame at the pro-Israel protest, told investigators he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished all of them were dead, according to an FBI affidavit released yesterday.
Trump falsely blamed former President Joe Biden for the weekend flamethrower terror attack, saying lax immigration security allowed Soliman to remain in the U.S.
But Soliman had a legal work permit that expired March 28, meaning he could not have been deported while Biden was in the White House.
The attack in Colorado on a march in support of hostages held in Gaza contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous.
The Trump administration’s more detailed budget request seeks to decimate science, staffing and other programs at multiple environment-related federal agencies.
The Trump administration said that it planned to eliminate federal protections across millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness, a move that would allow drilling and mining in some of the last remaining pristine wilderness in the country.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the Biden administration had exceeded its authority last year when it banned oil and gas drilling in more than half of the 23 million-acre area, known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The Trump administration is confident that a massive liquified natural gas project in Alaska will find investors despite its enormous cost.
The acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told employees yesterday that he did not know the United States has a hurricane season, according to two people who heard the remarks and said it was unclear if he was serious.
After losing nearly 600 employees to layoffs and retirements as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the federal work force, the National Weather Service is planning to hire additional staff members to “stabilize” the department.
Erica Grow Cei, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service, said “a targeted number” of permanent positions would soon be advertised after massive layoffs at the agency left several offices understaffed.
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether roughly a dozen prominent advertising and advocacy groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers that did not want their brands to appear alongside hateful online content.
New York Rep. Jerry Nadler demanded a congressional investigation into a incident last week, in which Department of Homeland Security police handcuffed a member of Nadler’s staff in the lawmaker’s Manhattan office.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado will challenge Gov. Kathy Hochul for the Democratic nomination in next year’s race for governor, the former congressman announced.
“People are hurting and New York deserves better leadership,” Delgado told the New York Times. “There’s an absence of bold, decisive, transformational leadership.”
That phrase has become the theme for Delgado’s campaign, the first official challenge to Hochul, and a message he repeats in a video announcing his candidacy.
“Let’s not drop the ball on figuring out what it is we’re fighting for. We believe in facts, truth, liberty, the rule of law and justice for all,” Delgado said. “Listen, the powerful and well-connected have their champions. I’m running for governor to be yours.”
A Hochul campaign spokesperson declined to comment on Delgado’s announcement.
“Governor Kathy Hochul is a proven leader with a strong record of delivering for New Yorkers,” said Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, adding that the group “is 100 percent behind” the governor.
An ad campaign is pressuring Hochul to force insurance companies to pay claims to thousands of alleged sexual assault victims on behalf of churches, hospitals, schools, Boy Scouts troops and other employers they represent under the Child Victims Act.
New York’s ethics commission has identified $18.1 million in compensation for lobbyists that was inaccurately reported to the agency last year by the clients they represent or the firms themselves.
New York lawmakers are pushing to ban the sale of nonstick cookware over a chemical coating they say is dangerous — but that the federal government has deemed safe for decades.
An annual report by the NYISO warns that the state’s reliability margins are continuing to decline as fossil-fueled power plants are aging and being taken out of service while new sources of energy are not keeping pace with expected increases in demand.
The state Department of Transportation seems ready to run out the clock on a $10 deal to help electrify Long Island’s busiest LIRR line — which could cost Suffolk County over $2 million in federal funds if the agreement falls through, local officials charged.
Jordan Coleman, Mayor Eric Adams’ 29-year-old son, is back in the Big Apple after competing abroad in the Albanian equivalent of “American Idol” — and has dropped an EP of five “party” songs inspired by his Eastern European travels.
New York City’s comptroller, Brad Lander, who is himself a candidate for mayor, has dismissed a plan by Adams to back municipal bonds with bitcoin, calling it “legally dubious and fiscally irresponsible.
As New York City continues its battle against rats, West Harlem is taking the lead on trash containerization — a system set to replace the city’s longstanding tradition of piling trash bags on pedestrian sidewalks for pickup.
One-hundred percent of trash in Manhattan Community Board 9 in West Harlem is now fully covered by containerization requirements.
Adams belatedly offered support for a Big Apple high schooler rounded up in Trump’s deportation blitz — reversing his original assertion that the Venezuelan migrant’s arrest by ICE wouldn’t discourage other migrants from seeking city services.
In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times, mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo said he would not have resigned as governor if he had to “do it again” because none of the sexual harassment allegations against him had merit.
Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign received a key endorsement from state Sen. John Liu, one of New York City’s most prominent Asian American politicians.
“He and I have a big disagreement, which is the issue of Israel and how the Jewish community needs to be viewed in this social climate,” Liu told reporters outside City Hall, while insisting Mamdani has “never lost in his integrity in the process.”
Brad Lander rides Coney Island’s famed Cyclone roller coaster while taking notes on a legal pad in the second TV ad of his mayoral campaign, pitching himself as a steady choice and hoping to improve his third-place standing three weeks before the election.
State Sen. Liz Krueger has endorsed Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Manhattan borough president, citing his record in Albany on tenants’ rights, his opposition of casinos in Manhattan and stance against anti-Jewish hate as why she’s throwing her weight behind him.
Closing arguments in the second New York sex crimes trial of Harvey Weinstein are set to begin today, six weeks after prosecutors began laying out their case against him.
In the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, a pastor is devoting his time to building affordable housing for his congregation in hopes of stemming the tide of Black families leaving the city.
The board chairman of CUNY’s School of Labor and Urban Studies resigned after the public university’s chief demanded his ouster for spreading “antisemitic conspiracy theories” about Israel.
Travelers in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport should soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief thanks to an incoming equipment upgrade, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Some 250 students enrolled in workforce training programs at the Glenmont Job Corps will lose their vocational instruction and, in many cases, their housing, after the Department of Labor announced it would wind down the decades-old antipoverty initiative.
Tessa Bentulan is leaving WNYT she announced on social media. Her last day will be Thursday. In addition, weekend meteorologist Waneik Martinez is leaving WNYT-Channel 13 after two years at the station.
The city’s Industrial Development Agency is threatening to revoke the tax exemptions for Air Albany, the yet-to-be completed apartment building at 1211 Western Ave.
A feminist who pressed for women to be admitted to Albany Law School, and who possibly threw rotten eggs in Saratoga Springs during protests for the women’s right to vote, will be honored at a luncheon later this month.
The State Museum was briefly evacuated Sunday afternoon after a tour bus backed into the building off Madison Avenue in downtown Albany.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
