Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
Let’s review right off the rip the schedule for the remainder of the week, which is to say – there is none. Rise and Shine is taking the holiday weekend off and will return bright and early on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, ready to tackle the sprint to the end of the year.
If you’re hosting and cooking for tomorrow, take heart! You’re almost at the finish line!
The goal today is to get as much as humanly possible done ahead of time, which means prepping and assembling your stuffing, baking and chilling any custard pies (like pumpkin), peeling your potatoes and storing them in cold water in the fridge (if you haven’t done so already), making what will hopefully be your last trip to the grocery store, setting the table, and getting all your dishes and utensils cleaned and ready to go.
Good luck! Personally, I’ll be turkey trotting and then putting on some nice clothes and heading to Mohonk for the annual family tradition of eating Thanksgiving out. There are no leftovers, which is a little bit of a bummer, but it’s a lot easier on everyone to have someone else do the cooking and the cleaning.
Tonight is a very big deal for folks who like to party. Known as “Blackout Wednesday“, “Thanksgiving Eve”, or “Drinksgiving“, this is widely considered one of the biggest bar nights of the year. This is driven in large part by college students who are returning home for the holidays, but also by those who have the next four days off from work and perhaps want to enjoy themselves with friends before spending a lot of (ahem) quality time with their families.
As far as holidays go, Thanksgiving is not – by far – the booziest. That “award”, so to speak, goes to Mardi Gras, during which the average number of drinks consumed is 4.5, according to Alcohol.org, followed closely by New Year’s Eve (4.4), and St. Patrick’s Day (4.2).
This is a good time to offer a PSA: Do NOT drink and drive. Identify a designated driver. Take a cab or an Uber. Walk if you need to (assuming you have warm clothes and decent shoes and it’s not pouring down rain or snow). Call your mom or dad or friend or Aunt Flo for a ride. Also don’t get into a car with someone who has been drinking.
It’s hard to enjoy the holiday season when you’re behind bars, in the hospital – or worse yet no longer on the planet altogether.
Thanksgiving will, of course, be following by Black Friday, which is not what it used to be. I remember the days when people got up at dawn to wait on line outside stores that threw their doors open early and experienced stampedes of eager shoppers. This turned violent – and even deadly – leading some people to just avoid the whole thing altogether, buying from small local businesses (my preference) or doing their holiday shopping entirely online.
Black Friday isn’t actually the biggest shopping day of the year. The Saturday before Christmas – AKA Super Saturday – long ago surpassed Black Friday in customer traffic and sales.
Whatever you decide to do over the next four days, do it safely and with patience. It’s going to be real peopley out there, give yourself – and everyone else – some grace.
It will be warm and wet today, with showers in the morning that taper off to mostly clouds int he afternoon. Highs will flirt with 60 degrees, but probably will stick in the mid-to-high 50s in most places, which is still unseasonably warm.
Thanksgiving Day is also going to be on the warm side – perhaps hitting a high of 60 degrees (!) depending on where you’re spending the holiday – with mostly cloudy skies. Temperatures will drop back down into the 30s on Friday, with some potential rain and/or snow showers in the forecast.
You’re on your own for the extended forecast. Things are changing too quickly around here for me to be able to keep up. I’ll “see” you next week!
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump has always used his stamina and energy as a political strength. But that image is getting harder for the 79-year-old – the oldest person ever elected to the presidency – to sustain.
A full year after making a public pledge to do so, Trump has disclosed a list of donors who helped pay for his transition. The list of 46 individuals includes billionaires like Jeff Yass and Paul Singer as well as several supporters who went on to be appointees.
The FBI is seeking to question the six Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a video urging U.S. troops to defy orders that are illegal or unconstitutional, signaling a possible investigation into the matter.
“Last night the counterterrorism division at the FBI sent a note to the members of Congress, saying they are opening what appears to be an inquiry against the six of us,” Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin said, criticizing Trump for “attempting to use the FBI to scare us.”
Republican Sens. John Curtis and Lisa Murkowski backed Sen. Mark Kelly amid a Pentagon probe into “serious allegations of misconduct” after he and five other Democratic lawmakers told service members to disobey illegal orders from the administration.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have deep misgivings about President Trump’s emerging deal to end the war in Ukraine, as key GOP lawmakers fear the administration could set the stage for further Russian aggression toward NATO allies in Europe.
Trump said that he would prefer not to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, but he acknowledged it may be necessary to reach an agreement on health care legislation.
If you’re planning to visit a national park in 2026, especially if you live outside of the U.S., be prepared: the Interior Department has announced several changes coming in the new year that may impact you.
Announced yesterday, the changes are meant to make “national parks more accessible, more affordable and more efficient for the American people,” the department explained in a press release.
A federal judge ruled that OpenAI needs to turn over all its internal communications with lawyers about why it deleted two massive troves of pirated books from a notorious “shadow library” that the tech company is accused of using to train ChatGPT.
Manhattan Federal Court Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ruled that the tech giant’s shifting reasons for deleting the data tanked any argument that those reasons could be protected by attorney-client privilege.
A new state law in New York will allow close friends to authorize organ, eye or tissue donations on behalf of deceased individuals with no available next of kin.
The State Police face a leadership shake-up after the TU asked about whether high-ranking members abused their law enforcement credentials to obtain special access for themselves and family members at the Ryder Cup golf tournament on Long Island.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of more than a dozen states in asking a federal judge to block the Trump administration from cutting funds used to house thousands of formerly homeless New Yorkers.
The Trump administration is pushing a new approach to America’s homeless crisis, favoring shelters and rehabilitation centers over long-term housing for people who use drugs and alcohol.
James heads a coalition of 19 state attorneys general and two governors seeking to block what they describe as illegal and dangerous conditions placed on grants distributed through the HUD’s Continuum of Care program.
New York is leading an effort to pressure members of Congress to reject a proposal that would prohibit states from creating and enforcing their own rules around the development and use of artificial intelligence.
New York has enacted new regulations governing medical cannabis, including allowing people with prescriptions in other states to purchase products here and also streamlining the process for certifying patients.
Most inflation refund checks from New York state have been mailed out as of Tuesday, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Hochul and Cardinal Timothy Dolan hosted a special Thanksgiving turkey distribution event in Harlem to help families in need this holiday week.
Hochul justified a $1 billion natural gas project by appealing to affordability. But the main reason the state needs the energy is because data centers are hogging it.
Rep. Elise Stefanik issued a challenge to rival Hochul over a member of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team who has voiced support for infamous cop killers.
A lefty academic who literally penned a book titled “The End of Policing” sits on Mamdani’s transition team focused on public safety – along with a rag-tag roster of other anti-police reformers.
In vying to become the City Council’s next speaker, Julie Menin has in private conversations floated bringing back use of the chamber’s subpoena power, a tool that could be a check on Mamdani’s administration.
Mamdani has raised $2 million for his transition efforts in less than 20 days as he prepares to take office on Jan 1. The cash has flowed mostly from small donors — with 25,620 individual donors and an average contribution of $75.
Mamdani has requested the resignations of 179 staff members in Mayor Eric Adams’s administration, the incoming mayor’s spokeswoman confirmed.
If fulfilled, Mamdani’s free child care promise could reshape family life in a city that has become far from affordable for many Americans—and help stem the drain of people leaving New York for cheaper pastures.
A pro-Palestinian protest outside a New York City synagogue last week has sparked accusations of antisemitism and underscored the balancing act that Mamdani faces on Israel.
Outgoing FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said ideological differences with Mamdani factored into his decision to resign from his post.
Tucker, a Jewish philanthropist and businessman who was reportedly turned off by the mayor-elect’s anti-Israeli ramblings during the campaign, made his first comments over the bombshell decision during an interview on “CBS Mornings”.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she isn’t “interested in a bromance with the federal regime” days after Mamdani’s chummy visit with President Trump.
City Planning Director Dan Garodnick could become a holdover for Mamdani after he has been involved in some of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration’s most important initiatives.
Moms on Manhattan’s Upper East Side are embroiled in a Facebook feud over Mamdani’s election.
Councilwoman Nantasha Williams (D-Queens) pushed a bill to bump pay for the city’s elected officials by more than 16%, with an eye to sending it to Mamdani’s desk after he’s sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1.
Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams is racing to fill key positions before Mamdani takes office, including on the powerful Rent Guidelines Board, which could undermine the incoming mayor’s pledge to freeze rents on more than 1 million stabilized apartments.
The New York City Council rejected two of Adams’ appointees to the city Board of Health after three others withdrew their applications in the final weeks of his term.
Adams isn’t letting the bell ring on any legal consequences for the brawl inside Madison Square Garden at UFC 322 earlier this month.
Just three days after they sued the city, the developers of the scuttled Elizabeth Street Garden housing project abruptly halted their lawsuit as they negotiate with Adams’ administration about building on an alternate site.
The city Department of Education wants to phase out the thousands of archaic landlines at its 1,800 schools and is set to seek bids from companies to install a strictly online system.
Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress, claimed “there’s a reason” behind his online trolling and oddball social media posts, saying it partially goes back to his famous family.
Schlossberg wants to double federal funding for security at houses of worship after “calls for violence” during a vile protest outside a historic Manhattan synagogue.
The Manhattan district attorney is ready to retry a man whose conviction in the decades-old murder of Etan Patz was overturned in July, the office told a judge in a letter yesterday.
Seventy New York City Housing Authority employees have been convicted of bribery, fraud or extortion after what federal prosecutors called the largest single-day corruption sweep in the Department of Justice’s history.
The New York City Housing Authority said it won’t yield to pressure after Attorney General James and other elected officials asked it to stop relocating senior citizens in Chelsea who don’t want to leave their homes.
New York City’s “Fan Man” has pleaded guilty to illegally flying above the Big Apple, but he’s vowing to form an advocacy group to defend every American’s right to fly.
The group Nightlife United was founded during the pandemic to raise money and distribute grants for people and businesses who power New York City’s nightlife industry and is now one of the first recipients of the Office of Nightlife’s new Nightlife Grant.
New York’s highest court has rejected an effort by the town of Newburgh to strike down a key section of the state’s voting rights law, which will allow a lawsuit that accuses the town of diluting minority citizens’ voting power to move forward.
Matthew Merriman, the Rotterdam man accused of killing Matthew Mardon while driving drunk on Everett Road in late September, has been indicted by an Albany County grand jury.
Most, but not all, of the funding for a 24/7 low-barrier homeless shelter was restored to the Saratoga Springs 2026 budget. But it won’t be enough to sustain it through the end of next year, according to the facility’s director.
A Troy woman will serve one and a third to four years in state prison after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the death of a 60-year-old woman last August.
An advisory panel is urging Town of Rotterdam leaders to consider shifting the supervisor position to a full-time job and extending the term of office from two to four years to better meet daily operational demands for the growing suburb.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
