Good morning, it’s Tuesday.
With a Nor’easter bearing down on us – the first big storm of the season – people will no doubt be rushing around to do their pre-snow prep, stocking up on provisions and making sure their homes are buttoned up tight against the coming wind, snow and cold.
Since we’re coming off Thanksgiving and heading into the holiday season, thesis a good time to remember that there are a lot of people – more and more, unfortunately – who struggle to afford basic necessities like warm clothes, heat, and groceries, and perhaps don’t have a roof over their heads at all.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, at least one measure of poverty – the Supplemental Poverty Measure – increased dramatically in the U.S. in 2022 as a result of the expiration of pandemic-related aid. (If you want to go deep on that, click here).
The takeaway: about 13 million Americans (44 million people) lived in poverty in 2024, and 33 percent of those (14 million) were in deep poverty (household cash below half of the federal poverty level), and another 15 percent of all Americans (51 million) lived just above the poverty line, with Black, Latino, and Indigenous people disproportionately represented in all those numbers.
Meanwhile, wealth inequality between the haves and have nots is growing in the U.S., with the country’s richest families enjoying 71 times the weather of those in the middle class. If you need that translated into plain English: The ultra rich are getting richer all the time – again, this has been exacerbated by the end of COVID subsidies that helped sustain a lot of people, particularly kids, at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.
Against this backdrop of growing need and growing wealth disparities, it probably will come as no surprise that while Americans are giving more to charity – a record estimated $592.50 billion (yes, with a “b”) in 2024, which was a 3 percent increase over 2023 after adjusting for inflation- the NUMBER of people giving has gone down considerably.
Depending on which source you believe, the percentage of U.S. households that give to charity has fallen from more than two-thirds in the early 2000s to under 50 percent in recent years.
Some of this has to do with the change in the tax law, which increased the standard deduction in 2017 and made it less financially beneficial to itemize your contributions. Other factors include everything from the ongoing affordability crisis, which leaves a lot of people tightening their proverbially purse strings, to the decline in religious affiliations.
If you’re the type that pays attention to changes in the tax law, then you already know that the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (now law) will reduce some tax benefits from the very rich next year, which one estimate suggests could reduce charitable giving by up to $4.1 billion.
On the flip side, the law also creates new incentives for middle and lower-income files to give, though experts say that it’s unlikely that these donors will make up for the expected significant drop in tax-shelter-driven generosity by the 1 percent.
Why all this philanthropic talk? Well, today is Giving Tuesday, which, since its inception in 2012 has grown into one of the largest fundraising days of the year for nonprofits across the U.S.
Giving Tuesday was conceived as a social media campaign launched by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation to counter the consumerism of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and (likely to a lesser extent) Small Business Saturday, and has now grown into a worldwide movement.
Many nonprofits receive a sizable amount of their annual donations in this month, as people look at their respective bottom lines in preparation for filing their tax returns for the coming year. Some estimates suggest that organizations count on bringing in as much as 50 percent of their overall revenue in the final quarter of the year, and 10 percent in the last three days of December alone.
I’m sure you’ve heard already, but there’s a winter storm warning in effect from early this morning (around 7 a.m.) through 1 a.m. tomorrow. Heavy snow is expected with as much as a foot of accumulation in some areas.
Get ready.
In the headlines…
The Trump administration defended the legality of a Sept. 2 attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea as calls grew in Congress to examine whether a follow-up missile strike that killed survivors amounted to a crime.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean following a Washington Post report that claimed he ordered the military to “kill everybody.”
Hegseth backed Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, who ordered a second strike on the alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean Sea.
“Lets make one thing crystal clear: Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support,” Hegseth said on X. “I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made – on this September 2 mission and all others since.”
A federal appeals court said that Alina Habba had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, dealing a blow to the Trump administration and most likely setting up a showdown at the Supreme Court.
A panel of three appellate judges with 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s finding that the administration violated the law when it used of a series of maneuvers to install Habba in the position after failing to win Senate support.
Judge Michael Fisher wrote for the three-judge panel, “It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place,” saying the steps it took to install Habba run afoul of the law.
Trump underwent an MRI scan for cardiovascular and abdomen checks. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the tests, which were “standard” for an executive of Trump’s age (79), found that the president “remains in excellent overall health.”
Calls for the release of the MRI results have swirled since Trump announced that he had undergone the “very standard” tests earlier this month.
The White House released a letter from Trump’s physician about the results of “advanced imaging tests.” Some medical experts said it was unclear what tests doctors conducted, why they were done or what the results mean.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that several of his New York offices have faced bomb threats via an email with the subject line “MAGA.”
Local and federal law enforcement is addressing the matter, and no one was hurt, the New York Democrat said in a statement, while thanking the officers for the response.
“As I have said many times, these kinds of violent threats have absolutely no place in our political system,” Schumer said. “No one—no public servant, no staff member, no constituent, no citizen—should ever be targeted for simply doing their job.”
Rep. Joe Morelle, the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have discussed a proposal to further boost security for lawmakers with their GOP counterparts, a senior Democratic committee aide.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proposed a “full travel ban” on unnamed countries “flooding” the US with dangerous migrants, after a meeting with President Trump.
“I just met with the President. I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” Noem wrote on X.
“Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom – not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS.WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE,” she added.
Trump shared Noem’s X post on Truth Social but did not comment on it.
The Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in New York City as part of a broader disruption across the country, which is taking place as the president seeks to accelerate deportations.
Gov. Kathy Hochul urged New Yorkers to exercise caution ahead of a nor’easter system forecast to bring the first major snowfall for much of the state beginning early this morning.
Hochul said a new survey shows that the bell-to-bell ban on cellphones in K-12 schools is “delivering outstanding results for New York students and teachers.”
The survey found that 92 percent of schools reported a smooth transition to the new policy. Feedback from schools highlighted the positive impact of the initiative, the governor noted.
Hochul is returning roughly $70,000 after facing heat for accepting illegal campaign funds from people on state panels — contributions her adversary, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, slammed as “pay-to-play.”
Hochul signed a bill into law to bring the first state-sponsored Holocaust memorial in New York to the Empire State Plaza in Albany, her office announced.
An analysis by the Democratic-leaning think tank the Progressive Policy Institute found a “clear and undeniable pattern of failure” across the most critical mandates of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Act.
New Yorkers can now apply for heating assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program, Hochul announced. The program can provide up to $996 to eligible households.
A measure pending with Hochul could shape how much New Yorkers pay for renewable energy for years to come — but she only has a few days left to sign it and deliver the full savings promised, the bill’s supporters say.
Artificial Intelligence companies have the right to decide how much New Yorkers pay in rent, according to a federal lawsuit filed against the state attorney general’s office last week on behalf of the world’s leading provider of AI real estate software platforms.
Mayor Eric Adams announced a $38.9 million settlement with Starbucks over violations of New York City’s law guaranteeing fair working conditions, a resolution that city officials said was the largest worker protection settlement in the city’s history.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that Starbucks had violated the law more than half a million times since 2021 by failing to provide stable schedules. More than 15,000 hourly workers are expected to receive restitution payments.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders joined Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on a picket line in Park Slope, Brooklyn, marching with striking Starbucks workers in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to demand better wages and working conditions.
Speaking from the picket line outside a Gowanus Starbucks, Mamdani tied the coffee chain union’s wider strike to his campaign’s — and incoming City Hall’s — focus on affordability and elevating the lives of downtrodden workers.
But Mamdani wouldn’t say whether he supports another set of workers — City Council members and their push to give themselves and Mamdani a pay raise.
Mamdani has spoken about integrating America’s largest education system in striking terms rarely heard from big city leaders.
Mamdani’s election has the city on the precipice of what could be a transformative period for its slowest-in-the-nation buses — but only if the incoming mayor is willing to put his political capital on the line for bus riders.
The city’s affordable housing landlords are in need of a colossal $1 billion in spending from the next mayor to dodge default, according to an affordable housing nonprofit.
A New York state government committee recommended that three downstate casino projects — one in the Bronx and two in Queens — be awarded casino gaming licenses.
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board, tasked with approving up to three bids for potential downstate casinos, approved all three remaining finalists — two in Queens and one in the Bronx — in a 5-0 vote.
Scores of Christmas tree slingers have descended on Gotham’s streets well before Thanksgiving, breaking a rarely-enforced city administrative code which bans their streetside sale.
A McDonald’s manager calling 911 from Altoona, PA, one year ago told a dispatcher a man there “looks like the CEO shooter,” amid a dayslong manhunt to find the person responsible for gunning down a health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan.
Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, accused of killing Brian Thompson of UnitedHealthcare, are asking a judge to throw out materials gathered when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Saritha Komatireddy, 41, a former federal prosecutor is seeking the Republican nomination to run against state Attorney General Letitia James, the embattled Democratic incumbent and rival of President Trump.
Former Deputy Chief James “Jim” Riches Sr., who died on Thanksgiving at 74, was memorialized as an “inspiration” to his colleagues at his emotional funeral in Brooklyn yesterday.
New York Army National Guard recruiters are No. 1 in recruiting and retention of citizen-soldiers in the nation for the fourth year in a row.
Business lives on at Herrington Farms without the Herringtons. The 98-year-old dairy, compost and landscaping materials operation in northern Rensselaer County is now in the hands of the Easton-based Allen family as a result of a recent sale.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has canceled upcoming naturalization ceremonies in at least two New York counties because they did not have enough candidates, according to emails sent to the county clerk’s offices that were shared with the TU.
City of Troy police said a 41-year-old man was critically wounded Saturday night after he exchanged gunfire with patrol officers, who responded to a report of him chasing his ex-girlfriend and putting a gun to her head.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
