Good morning, it’s Tuesday and I am fully prepared to be running a day behind all week long, thanks to the fact that yesterday was a holiday. I already checked the calendar three times so far today to make sure that it is, in fact, the day I have said it is up above.
We saw some significant and historic events this past weekend, with the release of all the remaining 20 living hostages who were taken captive by Hamas during its attack on Israel just over two years ago on Oct. 7, 2023, plus the freeing of close to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, in a fragile peace deal that (hopefully) marks the end of the war in Gaza.
President Donald Trump was given a hero’s welcome in Israel, as he showed up to celebrate the ceasefire that has been holding since taking effect last Friday. He then flew to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, where the truce was negotiated, to take part in a formal signing ceremony that neither Israel nor Hamas attended.
I am not a big fan of the current president, but I do think he deserves credit for getting us to this moment.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about the past two years and I am realistic about how much work remains ahead when it comes to rebuilding Gaza and cementing lasting peace in the Middle East. I am nevertheless hopeful that we have crossed the Rubicon in a good way (can that saying be deployed in a positive sense?)
Anyway, fingers crossed.
It seems fitting, given the celebratory nature of this moment, that Simchat Torah – one of the most joyful holidays on the Jewish calendar – starts tonight at sundown.
It marks the completion of the year-long Torah reading cycle (the last part of Deuteronomy) and its immediate restart from the beginning of the scroll (Genesis). This is both a physical and conceptual renewal, providing an opportunity for Jewish people to recommit to their relationship with the Torah, which, in case you are not familiar, is compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
“Simchat Torah” translates into “Joy of the Torah”. Observance of this holiday involves the conclusion of the Torah, as well as much singing and dancing around the synagogue with the Torah scrolls while waving flags and sometimes miniature Torahs (for kids). It is preceded by Shemini Atzeret, which translates into the “Eighth Day of Assembly” and is (very basically) the bridge between Sukkot and Simchat Torah. In Israel, Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret are combined into one big joyful observance.
It looks like the worst of the storm is over. We’ll see cloudy skies today, but no precipitation is in the forecast. Temperatures will peak in the low 60s.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump pronounced the war in Gaza to be over in a speech to the Israeli Parliament and at a summit in Egypt, as 20 hostages in Gaza were returned to Israel in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Trump landed in Israel minutes after the first of 20 hostages were released by Hamas, and spent the day basking in the applause of a country that credits him, more than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for joyous family reunions and a cease-fire.
Former President Bill Clinton gave credit to Trump and regional actors in a statement released after the signing of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The agreement is based on the first stage of a detailed plan put forward by Trump. But the future is murky: Many of the plan’s ambitious ideas for postwar Gaza have yet to be negotiated.
Trump left the door open for a potential Palestinian state, telling reporters “we’ll have to see” if a one-state or two-state solution would be the better path forward for Gaza.
With the release from Gaza of the last surviving captives, many Israelis said it was time for the country to heal after years of polarizing war.
Newly released Palestinian prisoners flashed victory signs to cheering crowds who gathered yesterday to watch them step into freedom under the new cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Trump ushered in new tariffs on imported furniture, kitchen cabinets and lumber on Tuesday, adding a fresh round of levies as he once again threatened to expand his trade war with China.
Tariffs ranging from 10 to 50 percent on foreign wood products and furniture snapped into effect just after midnight.
Democrats’ hardline opposition to rising health care costs isn’t earning them voters’ trust on economic issues — a disconnect that lays bare the party’s challenge heading into next year’s midterms.
An Economist/YouGov survey of 1,648 Americans showed 41 percent hold the GOP accountable for the lapse in federal funding, compared to 30 percent who point a finger at Democrats and 23 percent who hold the parties equally responsible.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is telling agencies to hold the line on spending, a sign of a tough budget cycle as the Democratic governor runs for reelection.
Hochul declared a State of Emergency for eight southern New York counties on Sunday as a Nor’easter began to make its way to New York.
The governor faces what she called a “very weighty” decision on whether to sign into law the Medical Aid in Dying Act.
Hochul may have warmed to the idea of adding more nuclear power to the New York’s energy mix, but her plans don’t include restarting Westchester County’s Indian Point power plant.
Hochul has expressed a desire to purchase the majority of acreage of Whitney Park, the 36,600-acre tract of vast forests and lakes in the Adirondacks.
Hochul vetoed her first seven bills of 2025, citing lack of funding in the budget or “burdensome barriers” the legislation would create.
State Sen. James Skoufis said that Hochul’s decision to veto seven of his bills is political retaliation as his investigation into changes her administration made to a $9 billion Medicaid home care program moves forward.
Hochul has until the end of the year to decide whether to sign a repeal of the “100-foot rule,” excised from a broader bill which what was up until this spring the NY HEAT Act.
Hochul, speaking at a faith conference, expressed the urgent need for unity in the face of political differences, encouraging religious leaders to enlist faith to mend the divide.
The state Education Department isn’t doing enough to embrace a more modern literacy curriculum, a Brooklyn lawmaker is charging as states like Mississippi soar past New York in critical reading scores.
Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani initially didn’t offer any comment on the release of the last Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza, as Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa celebrated the development as a critical step toward peace in the region.
Mamdani waited more than 12 hours to address the release of the last remaining living Israeli hostages early on Monday morning — drawing criticism from Cuomo that he remained silent for too long.
Attorney General Letitia James delivered an impassioned speech in support of Mamdani in her first public appearance since her federal indictment, saying “he, like me, knows what it’s like to be attacked, to be called names, to be threatened, to be harassed.”
James and Mamdani presented themselves as a united front against Trump, assailing his agenda and arguing that he was seeking political retribution.
Mamdani used a raucous rally in Washington Heights with over 3,000 supporters in Manhattan’s Washington Heights to assert his mayoral campaign as proof of a politics much bigger than his bid for City Hall.
Mamdani spent Sunday night raising money for a United Nations organization that employed Oct. 7 terrorists, just hours before the final living Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity.
Mamdani fundraised for an infamous United Nations relief agency with well-documented ties to Hamas over the weekend — drawing outrage from Republican North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Mamdani welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, but also took clear shots at Israel over the “lasting stain” he said the country’s U.S.-backed war in Gaza will leave behind.
The Democratic Socialists of America — the organization backing Mamdani — denounced the “conditional” cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas and called for continued resistance against the Jewish state in a statement released yesterday.
A surprising thing has been happening when Mamdani gets behind closed doors with New York’s elite. They are finding themselves, unexpectedly, charmed.
New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s wife publicly mourned the death of a Palestinian influencer who openly glorified the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
Since Mayor Eric Adams dropped his reelection bid, his longtime political confidant, Frank Carone, has quietly tried to broker an agreement for Adams to endorse Cuomo’s independent mayoral campaign, according to sources familiar with the matter.
A New York political strategist with a history of working for both Democrats and Republicans has launched a super PAC to boost GOP mayoral nominee Sliwa’s campaign in the final weeks of this year’s heated race for City Hall.
On Saturday morning, the PAC aired its first television ad, a 30-second hit deriding Mamdani’s “destructive socialist policies,” including his past calls for defunding the NYPD.
A 76-year-old Brooklyn woman became the first known NYC fatality tied to the powerful nor’easter that battered the region when she was struck in the head and killed by a solar panel that blew off a carport at an outdoor parking lot, officials said.
The gambling industry has long dreamed of opening a casino in the largest metropolitan area in the United States. Four proposals are vying for approval from state authorities.
Broadway musicians voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike Sunday night, threatening significant disruptions to New York City’s iconic theater scene if their demands are not met at the bargaining table this week.
New Yorkers were up in arms after the annual Columbus Day Parade was canceled because of the nor’easter blowing through the city, the first time in its nearly 100-year history it was scrapped due to weather.
Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, asked a judge in New York to drop some charges in his federal case, including the only count eligible for the death penalty.
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers receiving food stamps will have to prove starting next month that they’re working, or risk losing the federal benefit that helps them pay for groceries.
In 2019, New York passed a law allowing upstate municipalities to adopt rent stabilization protections that were previously limited to New York City. Six years later the City of Kingston remains the only municipality to adopt rent control measures in upstate.
As utility companies continue to increase energy bills, the companies and regulators overseeing them are facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and New Yorkers desperate for solutions.
Contractors found human remains yesterday while digging in a lot at the corner of Westover Place and Georgetta Dix Plaza in Schenectady, several police officials confirmed.
A 23-foot crack in the earth off Delaware Avenue abutting the Normans Kill in Bethlehem poses an “imminent threat to public safety,” the town of Bethlehem said in a statement Sunday.
The 80th anniversary of the end of World War II was celebrated at the New York State Military Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in Saratoga Springs.
A person earning $23.65 an hour in Schenectady County must work 48 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom, a new study has found. It’s an experience shared among low-to-moderate income renters and prospective home buyers across the Capital Region
Three people died in two serious crashes on Interstate 787 in Albany that occurred around the same time on Sunday, State Police said.
The sudden loss of a beloved star always causes pain and shock in her public. But for many of us who grew up watching Diane Keaton, this feels different, as if we have lost a kind of ageless sprite we expected to have floating alongside us forever.
Keaton, whose death at 79 was announced on Saturday, would quickly become Woody Allen’s creative muse as well as his romantic partner and eventually, after their split, a trusted friend.
“Why we parted, only God and Freud might be able to figure out,” Allen, 89, wrote in a remembrance published on Sunday in The Free Press.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
