Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
We are at peak summer, and I have been enjoying all the seasonal eats. This means trips to the local farm stand for produce and ice cream, watermelon, cold gazpacho (which I am a BIG fan of, but am still trying to perfect – if you have tips, please send them my way), ALL the stone fruit, and, of course, tomatoes.
Yes, I know that there are tomatoes in gazpacho. I am speaking here of tomatoes straight up, just perfectly ripe and juicy and needing nothing more than to be sliced and dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a sprinkle of salt.
Perfection. The only thing that can improve a tomato eaten in this manner, in my humble opinion, is some toasted sourdough bread spread with a smear of homemade mayo, some crispy lettuce and a few slices of well-done bacon.
A good BLT – preferably eaten while sitting poolside – is one of the best summertime lunches I can think of. Made right, it is the perfect balance of salt, fat, sweet, and acid. An indulgence, to be sure, but what else is summer for, if not a little hedonism?
I had one recently at the home of a good friend who has the most amazing compound just outside of my hometown of New Paltz. I am not exaggerating when I call this a “compound” by the way – there are multiple buildings, a pool, and incredible landscaping with an unobstructed view of the Shawangunk Ridge.
It might have been the setting, or maybe it was the company, or the fact that it was extremely hot and the tomatoes were perfectly cool and ripe, but that sandwich was the best bite I’ve had in some time. (I should confess here that I ate it open-faced, which is my preferred sandwich consumption method; I always deconstruct my sandwiches because they usually cone too overstuffed to fit comfortably in my mouth AND the bonus is the last longer that way).
Anyway, back to the BLT (this stands for “bacon, lettuce, and tomato” in case you’ve been living abroad and without any access to the internet for a long time), which for some reason that I can’t quite figure out, is having a day all to itself today.
There is no agreed upon origin story for the BLT, which appears to be a hybrid of the club sandwich – minus the turkey, which apparently was created in Saratoga Springs in what is today the Canfield Casino!? Personally, I think a triple decker sandwich is gilding the lily (see the aforementioned open sandwich commentary), but I know a lot of people swear by this diner staple.
These days, one can get any number of BTL variations, with additions including but not limited to: Eggs, avocados, garlic aioli, cheese, lobster, even hot dogs. Personally, I am a purist when it comes to the BLT, and also I will not order one unless tomatoes are actually in season, since there is nothing sadder than a mealy, mushy tomato.
The fleeting season of perfect ripeness is what makes a BLT extra special – that and fried belly clams, which I have also been enjoying of late. (Go to Hooked for these, if you haven’t been there yet already).
Today is shaping up to be pretty much perfect from a weather standpoint, with temperatures in the high 70s and sunny sides, save for a few stray clouds in the afternoon. Get out there and enjoy it while you can!
In the headlines…
More than 6,000 documents related to the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., totaling nearly a quarter-million pages, were posted to the website of the National Archives, in what the Trump administration hailed as a triumph of transparency.
But several noted King historians said they found few new revelations about the death of the civil rights leader in the documents, noting the trove does not include F.B.I. wiretap recordings and other materials that remain under court seal until 2027.
The Jeffrey Epstein saga is causing chaos in the House for the second week in a row, as threats of Democrats forcing politically tough votes are prompting House GOP leadership to toss out many of their plans for the week.
Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not hold a House vote this summer on whether the Justice Department should release files related to the accused sex trafficker Epstein, retreating from his demand last week that the material must come out.
The White House yesterday barred Wall Street Journal reporters from the traveling press pool for President Donald Trump’s coming trip to Scotland, attacking the publication again for its reporting on ties between the president and Epstein.
The Journal had published an article saying Trump sent Epstein a lewd birthday note in 2003 with a drawing of a nude woman that ended with Trump writing, “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump said they were fake.
Dogged for weeks over his administration’s refusal to release the Epstein files, Trump spent the weekend posting on social media about, well, anything else.
Senate Republicans are weighing whether to heed Trump’s call to cancel some or all of the August recess to approve key nominees or to use the full month to go home and sell the party’s tax and spending law to voters.
A federal judge yesterday blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s new tax cut and health law, granting the organization’s request for a temporary injunction while the lawsuit progresses.
Several states including New York sued the Trump administration, seeking to block a policy change barring undocumented immigrants from accessing a range of federally funded safety-net services.
The complaint, filed in a U.S. district court in Rhode Island, argues the Trump administration did not follow the proper rulemaking process before implementing the changes and failed to consider the negative impact these changes would have on states.
Three Brooklyn yeshivas found in violation of state educational standards will be spared of any real consequences for now, a state judge has ruled in a lawsuit sparked by New York lawmakers’ recent changes to government oversight of religious schools.
Gov. Kathy Hochul held a roundtable discussion about her upcoming “bell-to-bell” cellphone ban. School districts in New York State are required to publish how they will implement the ban by Aug. 1.
“This is really more about restoring the human connection that has been lost over the last decade or so that has increased since phones have increasingly gotten into our students hands,” said Melinda Person, president of New York State United Teachers.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and women’s reproductive healthcare are urging Hochul to sign the Shield Act 2.0 into law.
The Charter Revision Commission, voted to place five measures on the ballot. Most of them are intended to remove some political and bureaucratic barriers to development that have made New York’s housing shortage difficult to fix, the commission said.
One measure would create a “fast track” by giving the City Planning Commission, instead of the City Council, the authority to approve or reject affordable housing projects in the 12 community districts that have allowed the least housing to be built.
Citydwellers will vote this fall on five charter revision proposals that could speed up the construction of affordable housing, but chip away at City Council member’s power — including a measure that would limit “member deference.”
Yet more independent expenditure committees are popping up to try to influence the outcome of the New York City mayoral election.
For a political protest, especially in the dead of July in New York City, a colorful demonstration by Italian Americans both for and against Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy outside Assembly district office in Queens had it all.
Mamdani capitalized on his media literacy when White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to him as “Zamdani” during a press briefing. “The name is Mamdani. M-A-M-D-A-N-I,” the democratic socialist said in a viral TikTok video.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed some of Mamdani’s campaign proposals in New York City as “nonsense,” saying the Democratic mayoral nominee would only serve one term if elected in November.
The New York Young Republican Club is calling on Congress to invoke the Constitution’s “insurrection clause” to disqualify Mamdani from potentially becoming the new mayor of New York City.
The 15-page NYYRC memo already has two potential supporters in Washington DC, New York Rep. Claudia Tenney and Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman, both Republicans, who would have to put the motion up for a vote.
A top New York restaurateur’s anti-Mamdani stance has led him to bump up against his former idol Keith McNally, who has become a passionate supporter of the Democratic socialist.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had a special request for mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo after the former Democratic governor joked that he would move to the Sunshine State if he loses to Mamdani.” Don’t New York our Florida!” DeSantis posted on X.
New York Democrats cool to their party’s mayoral nominee Mamdani are weighing their options as the 33-year-old progressive makes his own pitch to centrists that they should back him. They’ve been looking for alternatives, but none really satisfy.
Former New York City Police commissioner and FBI agent Tom Donlon plans to sue Adams and his ex-top spokesperson for claiming he was an old man with cognitive issues.
Donlon’s notice of claim, which was filed yesterday with the office of the New York City comptroller, said the disparaging comments “are targeted smears designed to destroy a whistle-blower’s reputation and silence the truth.”
The Department of Homeland Security said it has arrested two men after an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent was shot during an attempted robbery in northern Manhattan Saturday.
Border czar Tom Homan said that the Department of Homeland Security will “flood the zone” with ICE agents in New York City after the City Council blocked federal law enforcement agencies from opening an office in the city jails.
In response, Adams said he would support any efforts to “go after dangerous people like this individual who shot an innocent Customs and Border Patrol agent.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem placed the blame for the attack of an 42-year-old off-duty Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer on Adams and his city’s sanctuary policies.
“There’s absolutely zero reason that someone who is scum of the earth like this should be running loose on the streets of New York City,” Noem told reporters from Harlem Hospital, where she and Homan said they met with the wounded agent’s family.
After closing more than 1,400 illegal cannabis operations in New York City while nearly 200 legal businesses bloomed, Adams said over the weekend that he wants the city to become a “cannabis capital” easier to open and do business.
The front of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx campaign office was defaced with red paint and a sign accusing her of funding “genocide in Gaza, following her vote against an amendment to cut aid to Israel’s defense
A pro-Palestinian activist who has clashed with police officers at demonstrations has been arrested and charged with arson after federal authorities said he sneaked onto a Brooklyn parking lot last month and set fire to 10 police vehicles.
Pedro Hernandez, a store clerk who confessed to kidnapping and killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979, should get a new trial and be released from prison in the meantime, a federal appeals court ruled.
A three-judge panel found that the trial judge had improperly instructed the jurors, who had asked about the several confessions that Hernandez had made, including one that he offered without being read his Miranda rights.
A woman who alleges her cat was kidnapped by a former friend won a legal victory earlier this month when a Manhattan judge granted her full custody of the elderly feline — but the pet parent said she’s yet to be reunited with her companion.
Many New Yorkers have been surrendering their pets because they can no longer afford to keep them, outpacing animal shelters’ capacity, a shelter official said.
The father of the nine-year-old Montreal girl who was found dead after being reported missing in northeastern New York was arrested yesterday morning and charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse.
Luciano Frattolin, 45, reported his daughter, Melina Frattolin, missing near Lake George, N.Y., on Saturday night. The child’s body was found in the shallow portion of a remote pond on Sunday, July 20, at 10:50 a.m. in Ticonderoga, N.Y., near the Vermont border.
Luciano Frattolin may have been struggling to cover child support for his daughter, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors despite depicting a high-flying lifestyle on social media.
A genetically modified chestnut tree designed to survive a deadly fungus is moving through the federal approval process as the SUNY ESF continues its efforts to restore a tree that once dominated Eastern forests.
A slew of comedy’s stars — Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Adam Sandler and more — took over the audience of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert in a show of support after news of the talk show’s cancellation.
“The Cosby Show” star Malcolm-Jamal Warner has died at 54. Warner was in Costa Rica on a family vacation and drowned while swimming near Cocles after allegedly being caught by a high current on Sunday afternoon.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
