Good morning, it’s Monday of a holiday week. Now is as good a time as any to remind you of our traditional Thanksgiving week schedule.
I know some people have already scheduled out for the week, based on the number of calls and meetings that have fallen off my calendar, but we will be here with you right up until the bitter end.
We will Rise and Shine together through Wednesday morning, and then take a break through the four-day weekend, retuning on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, to kick off a brand-new month – and a new holiday countdown.
If you are preparing to host on Thanksgiving Day, we are rapidly coming down to crunch time. Some things you might consider doing today to make the day-of a little less stressful:
1) Check one last time that you indeed have everything you need to avoid 11th hour grocery store runs on a day when a lot of places will be closed.
2) Prep your fresh veggies – wash and chop and bag any crudities, green beans, Brussels sprouts. Cut up your squash. Maybe even peal and cut your potatoes (put them in water with a splash of white vinegar to prevent browning – though technically, this is a 24-hour ahead of time task).
3) Bake off your desserts and your pie crusts.
4) Make cranberry sauce and assemble and par bake casseroles.
5) Set the table and get those drinks chilling.
Things might be feeling a little tense right around now – especially if you’re going to be taking to the roads, the rails, or the air, and Thanksgiving is predicted to be a record-breaking travel day this year, with some 82 million Americans planning to go at least 50 miles from home this holiday season, most of them by car.
Tomorrow – Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025 – is expected to be the peak travel day, according to the FAA, with more than 52,000 flights taking off and landing. That’s assuming everything goes the way it should, which, if recent events are any indication, it most certainly won’t.
Mother Nature has some tricks up her sleeve for certain parts of the U.S., which could complicate things for some travelers. Locally, though, early forecasting models show rain — not snow — will slicken roads during the busiest travel days next week. Intermittent showers are expected tomorrow and Wednesday, with Thruway driving expected to be slick but not icy.
While researching for this post, I discovered something that I am shocked I wasn’t aware of: Thanksgiving wasn’t always on the fourth Thursday of the month! It’s true, for a very brief period – 1939 to 1941 – then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the holiday, moving it up a week to extend the shopping season and stimulate the economy on the heels of the Great Depression.
This made sense to FDR, given that November 1939 had five Thursdays, so Thanksgiving fell at the very end of the month, compressing the holiday shopping at a time when retailers really needed the money. Not surprising, however, the change was not at all popular, with some people dubbing it “Franksgiving“.
Among those who were unhappy – football coaches and fans, because nothing says Thanksgiving like competition on the gridiron.
Mass confusion followed, since when to celebrate Thanksgiving at the time was up to the states. Some picked the early date, others went with the later one, while still others decided to split the baby and celebrate both days.
Finally Congress put an end to the whole mess in late December 1941 and passed a law mandating that Thanksgiving would not only be a federal holiday, but that it would be observed on the fourth Thursday in November (not the last Thursday, so as to avoid the whole November-with-five-Thursdays issue again).
And here we are.
It will be partly cloudy today in the Capital Region, with intervals of sun peaking through from time to time. Temperatures will top out at a comfortable 46 degrees, give or take a few.
In the headlines…
Ukrainian and American officials said they had made good progress yesterday in talks about a contentious U.S. plan to end the war with Russia, even as President Trump lashed out at Ukraine, accusing its leaders of ingratitude.
Trump has set a deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to agree to the 28-point peace plan, an early draft of which many Ukrainians dismissed as capitulation because it acceded to longstanding Kremlin demands.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the U.S. delegation, sought to downplay widespread claims that the plan was originally written by the Russian side.
Over nearly four years of wartime leadership, analysts say the Ukrainian leader has repeatedly played weak hands wisely. A U.S. peace plan may be his biggest test.
FBI Director Kash Patel is facing criticism for using SWAT team members as security for his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins. There is an FBI security detail in place to protect the country singer, 27, from potential threats, MS NOW reported.
Resources have been diverted from the SWAT team to Wilkins several times in recent months. The use of agents with specialized and high-risk duties in this way is highly unusual, the outlet reported, citing both current and former FBI officials.
Patel and Wilkins have been dating since 2023 and do not live together—the FBI director lives in Las Vegas and frequently works in Washington, D.C. Patel has faced months of criticism for his use of jets owned by the bureau for personal travel.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said that he still believes Trump is a “fascist” and a “despot,” but he viewed their first face-to-face meeting at the White House on Friday as an “opportunity” to work together on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past. I say it today,” Mamdani told NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked whether he still views Trump as a fascist.
Mamdani vowed to maintain New York City’s sanctuary city status during a defiant speech yesterday, just two days after he and Trump had an apparently rosy sit down in the Oval Office.
Trump and Mamdani seemed to put aside their differences in a remarkable scene at the White House, saying they looked forward to working together after months of bruising public criticism.
Speaking to reporters after their first meeting in the Oval Office, both men said they had a productive conversation that mostly focused on improving New York. “The better he does, the happier I am,” the president said.
After the friendly White House meeting on Friday, the mayor-elect of New York City, the prospect of the National Guard being deployed to the city in the coming months seems less likely.
After his meeting with Mamdani, Trump he would still deploy the National Guard to New York City, but right now, “other places need it more.”
Prominent conservative influencers had different interpretations of the Trump-Mamdani meeting as they processed it on podcasts and in social media posts.
The candidates in next year’s governor’s race came after each other following comments Trump made at his meeting with Mamdani.
Trump said he talked about the need for New York utility Consolidated Edison Inc. to lower rates during his meeting with Mamdani at the White House.
Shares of New York utility Con Edison fell after Trump and Mamdani both said the utility should lower its rates.
Tensions over right-wing antisemitism have burst to the forefront of Republican politics, and show signs of becoming a fierce point of contention in the midterms and beyond.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote disgraced political reporter Olivia Nuzzi an outrageously raunchy “poem,” which was dramatically revealed by her ex-fiancé and reporter Ryan Lizza in the second part of his series exposing the secrets of his ethics-challenged ex.
Tatiana Schlossberg, the 35-year-old daughter of Caroline Kennedy and a granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, revealed in an essay published in The New Yorker on Saturday that she is fighting a rare and aggressive blood cancer, acute myeloid leukemia.
Lizza began telling his side of the story after Nuzzi revealed she would be publishing a tell-all about the sordid affair with the once-presidential candidate, titled “American Canto.”
After championing clean energy policies as a means to lower costs for New Yorkers, Gov. Kathy Hochul in recent months has been using the same affordability message as a justification to slow their implementation.
Lobbying firms for fossil fuel and utility companies have spent about $16 million to influence Hochul since she took office in 2021, according to a new report by a consortium of environmental groups – a 52% spike from the start of the reporting period.
Hochul signed legislation (A7613B) that establishes an alternative route for candidates to obtain a certified public accountant license that doesn’t require 150 hours of college credit — typically the equivalent of five years of post-secondary education.
Hochul announced that New Yorkers facing food insecurity will now have access to additional benefits through the state’s FreshConnect program, providing immediate relief at participating farmers’ markets during the holiday season.
Hochul backtracked and admitted she is having conversations with Mamdani’s team about his socialist freebie bus plan — despite initially slamming the brakes on it.
A New York Times investigation has found that state prison guards have been credibly accused of engaging in such behavior — putting inmates in restraints and then assaulting them — far more often than was previously known.
As the use-of-force rate has risen, the rate of assaults on staff members and among inmates has kept pace. But the share of assaults recorded on use-of-force reports has fallen.
With a lament that the 43rd Senate District is being left behind, Democrat Devin Lander, 48, the state historian at the New York State Museum, said that he will challenge incumbent Republican Jake Ashby next November for the state seat.
The state’s ethics panel has closed its investigation into former state Sen. Jeff Klein without substantiating allegations that he forcibly kissed a staffer a decade ago.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is reversing a recent policy change that canceled naturalization ceremonies in at least seven New York counties, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler announced last week.
Christopher G. Baldner, the first state trooper to stand trial for murder in connection with a vehicle pursuit, was found not guilty of that charge and six lesser charges. But after four days, the jury couldn’t agree on a final charge of manslaughter.
Mamdani’s father compared Israel to apartheid-era South Africa and called Holocaust survivors “today’s perpetrator’s” in a resurfaced video of a victim-blaming 2002 university lecture.
Mamdani made clear on “Meet the Press” yesterday that he wanted Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, of Brooklyn, the Democratic minority leader, to become speaker should the party regain control of the House.
A key group within the New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter narrowly voted against endorsing City Councilman Chi Osse’s Dem primary challenge against Jeffries.
Osse is all but certainly giving up his challenge of Jeffries in next year’s congressional elections after members of New York City’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter voted against offering Osse the group’s endorsement on Saturday.
As Rep. Nydia Velázquez, the Puerto Rican progressive pioneer nicknamed “La Luchadora” for her willingness to fight for her community, exits her historic 16-term seat, her retirement announcement leaves a competitive primary in its wake.
Mayor Eric Adams put Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in his place yesterday after a trolling social media post that hinted he would step in to lead the city if Hizzoner didn’t hurry home.
NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos is engaged “in a loving relationship” with Julian Sepulveda, son of Bronx state Sen. Luis Sepulveda, whose support she was counting on to help keep her job under the Mamdani administration.
The top aide filling in for Adams while he’s out of the country, Randy Mastro, ripped the NYPD for failing to keep hate-spewing anti-Israel protesters from the entrance of a Manhattan synagogue last week.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch issued a heartfelt apology to the congregation of an historic Manhattan synagogue Saturday — conceding cops should have done a better job of keeping away hateful anti-Israel protesters.
Tisch, speaking to the congregation during Saturday services, said the NYPD should have set up a “frozen zone” outside the entrance Thursday, after about 75 pro-Palestinian and 75 pro-Israel protestors squared off outside the 68th St. synagogue.
The City Council is planning to vote on giving its members and other local elected officials — including the mayor — pay raises in the final days of this year’s legislative session.
The union representing FDNY firefighters is demanding answers after City Hall discovered 68 boxes of information on the dangers of Sept. 11 toxins despite claiming for years they couldn’t find records on what authorities knew about Ground Zero health hazards.
An FBI memo that claims “anarchist violent extremist actors” are targeting law enforcement cites a private text message chat that included immigration court observers, raising questions about whether the spy agency is monitoring political activity.
As fewer people carry cash, vendors, street performers and people experiencing homelessness and unemployment are at a disadvantage.
Gotham FC is getting the Key to New York City after winning the National Women’s Soccer League championship Saturday night, city officials said.
City workers uncovered thousands of artifacts during a historic restoration of dozens of cobblestone blocks in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood.
Fed-up Big Apple residents can now help monitor and police excessive ear-piercing noise in their neighborhoods through a new “NYC Noise” app launched by the city Department of Environmental Protection.
Nechemya Weberman, an Orthodox Jewish man convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl in a politically charged case, is seeking a new, shorter sentence with the Brooklyn district attorney’s support.
Holiday revelers searching for twinkling light displays in Washington Park or the Altamont Fairgrounds will be largely out of luck this year and, perhaps, in the years to come.
There’s little information available about the planned soccer stadium and other proposals received for the Liberty Park district because Capitalize Albany Corp. has refused to disclose anything about what was submitted by its September deadline.
Executing her veto powers for the first time, Republican Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello rejected a measure that would allow members of the public and councilors to participate in meetings remotely.
All ballots will be recounted in Rensselaer County after formatting errors were discovered during the recanvassing process.
Agriculture is changing, and the State University of New York wants to prepare the next generation of farmers for the new world.
Despite months of negotiations, federal prosecutors and defense attorneys who represent Alain Kaloyeros and three upstate businessmen in the “Buffalo Billion” bid-rigging case say they need more time to decide whether to retry a case.
More than two weeks after Election Day, two town council races — one in Milton and another in Moreau — remain unresolved and so close that both are headed for a hand count of ballots in order to determine the winner.
James De La Fuente is leaving WTEN-Channel 10. He made the announcement in a private Facebook post last week and said that he is not able to afford to keep living on the salary afforded to him.
The person who prosecutors believe killed a 76-year-old man on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike Trail in April 2024 is set to appear in court on murder charges today.
County Executive Dan McCoy’s sudden announcement about the potential sale of two buildings on the former College of Saint Rose campus to the Henry Johnson Charter School caught neighbors and local officials off guard.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
