Good morning, it’s Thursday.
If you’ve been here a hot second, you are more than well aware that I am 100 percent a dog person.
All day, every day, I am here for the dog petting, dog discussion, dog videos, etc. and so forth. I cannot imagine life without my three fur children, even at their worst moments when they are barking their fool heads off or eating rabbit shit or throwing up in the bed.
Surprisingly, though, this was not always the case.
Once upon a time, I was a staunch cat person. I grew up with cats – my parents had a German Shepherd named “Twigs” when I was a baby. I do not remember him but he looks very cute in the few photos that remain of him. I think he was tragically run over and killed by the neighbor. After that, we were strictly a feline family.
We had a few different cats throughout my life. One was an orange tom named Nicholas who was a big drooler. Another was a tabby named Moonshine who wasn’t too bright and once came into the house dragging a stick three times her length that had gotten caught in her collar.
As a young adult, I cycled through a number of cats, including Cole, who was the sweetest gray long-hair, and Nelson, who was a stripped demon spawn from hell.
When Cole (AKA Coley Bear) got sick and needed to be put down, I ugly cried so loud that I think the entire vet’s office heard me. Nelson, on the other end, one day walked out the door and never came back. I like to think that he’s living his best feral cat life, but the truth is probably that he made a nice snack for one of the local coy dogs.
I’m not sure why I made the switch from cats to dogs, but I know that when Henry – my first Doodle – came into my life, I finally understood the meaning of unconditional love. I have never looked back. My littler box days are over forever. Long live the leash.
The whole “dogs versus cats” question is complicated as there are passionate arguments to be made on both sides, but one thing is quite clear: There are more dog households in the U.S. than cat households – 45.5 to 32.1, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. There are, however, MORE cats than dogs per pet-owning household (1.8 compared to 1.5).
Cat owners spend slightly less overall on their furry friends than dog owners – $73.8 million to $89.7 million (perhaps this is because most cats refuse to wear clothes and cute hats?) But felines are still a pretty damn big business.
While adorable and cuddly (sometimes), it should never be forgotten that cats are hunters and vicious killers, responsible for the deaths of millions of birds and small mammals every year. It’s really better for the ecosystem and for your cat’s health to keep them indoors, thereby extending their lives and the lives of countless other warm-blooded creatures.
The number of feral cats – free-roaming. homeless, cats who don’t “belong” to anyone and have never had any significant human contact (as opposed to strays, former pets that have gotten lost or been abandoned) – is hard to pin down. Estimates range anywhere from 60 to 100 million, which is more than the 94 million registered pet cats. Whatever the number these cats can have a detrimental effect on communities and wildlife. They also reproduce fairly prodigiously, which only exacerbates the problem.
What to do about feral cats is a hotly contested debate. Some people advocate for trapping and euthanizing them, while others prefer the more humane route of trapping, neutering, and releasing or trying to find forever homes for them.
Today is both National Feral Cat Day AND Global Cat Day, which should not be confused with International Cat Day, which is on Aug. 8, although in Japan it’s Feb. 22, because 2-22 can be read as “ni ni ni” and that somehow resembles the words “nyan nyan nyan”, which I guess sounds like “meow meow meow”?
Any way you slice it, there’s a lot of opportunities to celebrate our furry feline friends. Pick your poison.
There will be some clouds again this morning, giving way to mainly sunny skies in the afternoon. Temperatures will peak in the mid-to-high 50s.
In the headlines…
The Trump administration is considering a radical overhaul of the U.S. refugee system that would slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration.
The Trump administration has secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela, according to U.S. officials, stepping up a campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian leader.
“I authorized for two reasons,” the president said. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. They came in through the, well, they came in through the border,” Trump said as he took reporter questions in the Oval Office.
President Trump said he was considering expanding his military operations in the Caribbean to include ground strikes in Venezuela, which would be a significant escalation of the campaign that has so far targeted vessels at sea.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said that his administration has “almost totally stopped” drug trafficking by sea and “now we’ll stop it by land.”
Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said last night that it had handed over all of the remains of Israeli hostages that it had been able to recover without additional equipment, potentially putting a cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip at risk.
Hamas freed the 20 living hostages on Monday, and militants in Gaza have handed over the remains of eight people; 19 remain unaccounted for. Israel identified six of those bodies as Israeli and one as Nepali. The identity of the eighth was not yet clear.
The US has downplayed claims that Hamas is violating the ceasefire deal with Israel by not returning all the bodies of dead hostages.
A video this week captured Hamas fighters in Gaza executing Palestinian rivals as the militant group tries to assert that it is still the dominant force in the territory after two years of war with Israel.
The Trump administration has reportedly targeted a federal office that oversees a $300 million family planning program for layoffs, raising fears that it is effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception for millions of low-income women.
Trump yesterday hosted a dinner for donors helping to fund the cost of a planned White House ballroom, including leaders of major businesses.
Pentagon beat reporters left the building en masse yesterday after they turned in access badges rather than agree to new restrictions on how they gather and report the news while covering the U.S. military.
Scores of journalists with access to the Pentagon handed in their press passes rather than sign on to new rules laid out by Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense.
NBC News yesterday began laying off about 150 people, or roughly 7 percent of its staff, as the news division rebounds from a corporate spinoff and the continued headwinds affecting the traditional television industry.
The Supreme Court’s six conservative justices indicated yesterday that they would limit the use of race to determine the boundaries of congressional districts — a move that could dramatically shake up biennial House elections for decades to come.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it is withholding more than $40 million in federal highway safety funding from California, over the state failing to comply with English language proficiency guidelines for commercial drivers.
A federal grand jury yesterday indicted Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, who is accused of starting the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles earlier this year.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, after dropping off an Uber passenger, Rinderknecht drove towards Skull Rock Trailhead and listened to a rap song whose music video included things being lit on fire.
Some local G.O.P. officials who participated in the text exchanges are losing their jobs or being pressured to resign. But top Republicans have been dismissive.
The chair of a group representing young Republicans in New York is getting no sympathy from local political leaders after deeply offensive text messages he and others authored were published online this week.
Kathy Hochul weighed in on the controversial remarks made by young Republicans in a Telegram group chat tied to the Young Republican National Federation, a 15,000-member political group for GOP voters between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.
“This is not one person saying they love Hitler. This is a whole lot of people saying things that are so disgusting and so abhorrent that everybody from the president on down should condemn them. And there’s got to be consequences,” Hochul said at a press conference.
As Hochul weighs reviving a thrice-rejected plan to build an underwater gas pipeline off New York City in an effort to meet rising energy demands, a growing number of high-ranking Democrats from New York are urging her not to.
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, and nine other congressional representatives from New York, including Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, sent a letter to the governor voicing their concerns about the pipeline.
National Grid’s natural gas customers will pay about $13 a month more for home heating this winter, the energy company announced this week.
Trump said his administration “terminated” a long-delayed commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River, one of the nation’s most critical infrastructure projects, just two weeks after federal funding for it was suspended at the start of the government shutdown.
Communities in New York that were swept up in the state’s decades-long fight against marijuana will see a benefit from the legal sale of cannabis after state officials approved $5 million in grants to nonprofits serving some of the hardest-hit areas.
A long-dreamed-about line that would link Brooklyn and Queens via light rail can begin the environmental-review process, Hochul announced yesterday.
Mayor Eric Adams told senior officials in his administration that he has received at least one offer for a job once he leaves City Hall at the end of the year, with Adams later confirming he is “looking at” three jobs.
Adams said yesterday that he’s in talks with Andrew Cuomo about potentially endorsing the ex-governor’s comeback attempt. “I am in conversation with Andrew,” the mayor said on the “Reset Talk Show.”
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, directly addressed President Trump during a Fox News interview yesterday, vowing to work with his administration to help fulfill his own campaign pledge to make the city more affordable.
Mamdani also apologized directly to NYPD officers yesterday for declaring years ago that the entire Police Department is “racist.”
“I apologize because of the fact that I’m looking to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, they put their lives on the line every single day,” Mamdani said during his appearance on Fox.
The mea culpa from the democratic socialist marks the first time he has apologized en masse to members of the nation’s largest police force for comments that the department should be defunded and it is “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”
During the interview, Mamdani repeatedly refused to say that Hamas should lay down its weapons — as he stood by his promise to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to New York City.
At least two law enforcement experts with deep experience in police reform efforts are reportedly emerging as possible contenders to become Mamdani’s choice for NYPD commissioner should he win next month’s election.
A productive relationship with the NYPD is still within Mamdani’s reach, law enforcement experts and former NYPD officers and executives from across the political spectrum told Gothamist, rejecting the notion that he has irreparably alienated the force.
As the mayoral race enters its home stretch, the candidates for NYC mayor are expected to face off in the first general election debate tonight, with Mamdani and Cuomo both saying the plan is to hit at the other hard.
At the debate, Mamdani has a lead to protect. Cuomo can’t be too gruff. And Curtis Sliwa can simply be his iconoclastic self.
With the Nov. 4 general election closing in, the former governor is hoping that this televised rematch with Mamdani can provide the spark he desperately needs to ignite a comeback of his own.
Standing near the Chinatown site of a proposed 16-story new detention center, Cuomo yesterday detailed his proposal to scrap a planned shutdown of the Rikers Island jail complex if he is elected mayor.
Mamdani is stepping up his Jewish outreach, as he holds private meetings with rabbis and other leaders across New York City who oppose his stance on Israel.
Mamdani said that it was “too early” to give Trump credit for negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying he would be willing to do so if the ceasefire is “lasting” and “durable.”
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has donated $1 million to a Super Pac opposing Mamdani’s candidacy for New York City mayor, in an eleventh-hour attempt by the hedge fund billionaire to derail the odds-on favorite for City Hall.
In a bid to make it easier for New York City to comply with the state’s class-size law, Mamdani wants to boost the number of teachers in the system by footing the bill for aspiring educators to earn degrees.
Mamdani’s campaign launched another TV spot tied to a popular reality show franchise – this time an ad that debuted last night during CBS‘ Survivor: The Island of Redemption.
Mamdani is now kissing Hochul’s ring, claiming she’s been “successful” in addressing New York’s affordability crisis — just two years after he ripped her for failing to drive down costs.
To help New York City hire thousands of extra teachers to lower class sizes, Mamdani wants to offer prospective educators tuition assistance in exchange for a commitment to teach three years in city schools at an annual cost of $12 million.
The mother of an Afghanistan veteran who was brutally murdered in the Big Apple nearly a decade ago endorsed Sliwa for mayor, while blasting Cuomo for passing the state’s “soft-on-crime” bail reforms.
Millions of people across the U.S. are expected to take to the streets Saturday in a massive demonstration against the Trump administration’s controversial policies.
The head honcho of the Central Park Conservancy infuriated the operator of Wollman Rink this week by bragging about an op-ed she wrote bashing the city and the firm to her board.
The public will get a chance to see hidden places around New York City when the annual Open House New York festival returns Oct. 17-19, featuring a behind-the-scenes peek at more than 300 typically off-limits sites.
A driver reversed an SUV onto a sidewalk in Coney Island yesterday afternoon, killing an 89-year-old woman, police said.
If you spot a fishy-looking ketchup packet in Prospect Park or Upper Manhattan, don’t panic: It’s part of the city’s annual effort to vaccinate raccoons against rabies.
A Rikers Island correction officer was suspended for failing to provide lifesaving aid to a detainee who had a seizure in a jail cell and died last month — the night before the man was scheduled to move to an upstate prison, according to city records and officials.
The attorneys for three former correction officers on trial for murder and manslaughter charges tried to convince a jury during closing arguments that their clients weren’t responsible for the beating death of Robert L. Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility.
The state Office of Court Administration is threatening to withhold $13.3 million in state aid in a high-stakes showdown with the City of Schenectady over “deficiencies” at two municipal court facilities.
An Afghan refugee who resettled with his family in Ulster County more than three years ago was detained by ICE agents after a routine asylum hearing in Long Island, according to his sister and the reverend of a church that works with refugees in the area.
Months after police saw over a dozen calls involving flare guns in the city, including one incident that ignited an apartment building during a confrontation, Albany County lawmakers are looking to limit who can purchase the devices.
For the first time in recent memory, Democrats have a chance to get the upper hand on the Republican-dominated Saratoga County Board of Supervisors.
On the final day of witness testimony in his trial, Austin Breyette, the man charged with striking Alexa Kropf with his dirt bike just before midnight on April 26, 2024, took the stand and admitted he was riding the lightweight motorcycle and that he left the scene.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
