Good morning, it’s Tuesday, the second workday of the new year. I hope you’re hanging in there so far.
Just when you thought you were free of the holidays, it turns out that we’re not quite done with them yet. Today is Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, which occurs 12 days after Christmas – believed to be the span of time between Jesus’s birth and the visit to the holy infant and his parents by the three wise men known as the Magi.
On this day, Western Christianity focuses on this trio – likely Persian priests and/or astrologers who may or may not have been named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar – who, while bearing gifts of gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, (symbolizing Jesus’s kingship, divinity, and mortality), followed a star to Bethlehem that guided them to the manger where Christ was born to Mary. In that sense, this holiday commemorates the revelation of Jesus to the non-Jewish wold.
And yes, the three wise men got to Baby Jesus almost two weeks AFTER he was born. Remember: Travel wasn’t so easy back then.
Eastern Christianity, meanwhile, celebrates the Feast of the Holy Theophany, commemorating the Baptism of Christ and the revelation of the Holy Trinity – the moment when Jesus was “manifested” as both fully human and also divine.
“Theopany” has at its root the word “theos“, which in Greek means “God”, and “phainein“, which translates into “to show”, which is how we get to “the manifestation of God.” Epiphany, meanwhile, is derived from the Greek word “epiphaneia,” which means… “manifestation.” So, yeah, these two are very closely related.
People all over the world will be celebrating the Epiphany/Theopany today, though not for those who follow the Julian calendar still, (largely the Eastern Orthodox tradition, but not the Greek Orthodox tradition), who will observe the holiday on January 19.
For Catholics here in the U.S. – at least since the 1970s – the faithful have been instructed by the liturgical calendar to mark Epiphany on the first Sunday after Jan. 1, which this year fell on Jan. 4.
If you are celebrating Dios de Los Reyes (Three Kings Day, AKA the Feast of the Epiphany), observed by Christian traditions in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Spain as well as in the Caribbean, France, Poland and Puerto Rico (among other locations), you might watch a parade, engage in some post-Christmas gift-giving, and enjoy a celebratory feast with friends and family.
That meal traditionally ends with something akin to a Louisiana King Cake, the colorful twisted and iced dough ring that is most often associated with Mardi Gras. This version – the Rosca de Reyes – is also iced and festooned with candied and/or crystallized fruits that symbolize jewels on a crown.
Like the King Cake, it features a hidden baby Jesus doll, which brings good luck to the finder, though they’re also charged with hosting the next scheduled celebration on Feb. 2 (Candlemas).
It’s also traditional to place chalk markings on your door. In 2026, the markings should read “20+C+M+B+26”, with the letters standing for the three Magi as well as the Latin blessing Christus Mansionem Benedicat (“May Christ bless this house”), and the numbers representing the year.
It may or may not be Twelfth Night, depending on how you count – starting with either Christmas Day or Boxing Day – which, in certain corners, means you’re going to be cursed with bad luck if you haven’t already managed to get your holiday decorations down and packed away. If you haven’t gotten around to that yet, either keep them up until the aforementioned Candlemas OR until Twelfth Night 2027, your call.
I’m starting to feel like we live in the Arctic, or some other such place where it never stops snowing. Today, though, will bring something different – freezing rain! Temperatures will zoom up into the mid-30s, and skies will be cloudy with periods of rain and/or freezing rain as the day progresses.
In the headlines…
Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and his wife, politician and attorney Cilia Flores, made their first court appearance at a federal court in New York City yesterday afternoon, when they both pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Maduro, 66, and his 69-year-old wife were charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
Maduro, the deposed Venezuelan leader who pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a Manhattan courthouse, was insistent that he was not a common criminal defendant, but a “prisoner of war.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), on her last day in Congress, expressed hope that Americans will speak out against the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela.
Even before American forces blasted their way into Venezuela’s capital and seized Maduro on Saturday, the nation was already facing dire economic prospects.
President Donald Trump predicted that in less than 18 months American oil companies will have an increased presence — and could already be “up and running” — in Venezuela.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she ripped Trump for acting without Congressional approval in Venezuela after he called her yesterday, and also claimed credit for sparking the nationwide “No Kings” protest movement against the Trump administration.
Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump, asserted that Greenland rightfully belonged to the United States and that the Trump administration could seize the semiautonomous Danish territory if it wanted.
Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said that he was abandoning his bid for re-election to a third term. And Senator Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Democrat, is considering seeking the office, two people briefed on conversations between the politicians said.
Walz’s decision comes as his administration faces mounting scrutiny over a massive social services fraud scandal that investigators say may involve nearly $9 billion in misused taxpayer funds.
The House Ethics Committee announced that it’s extending a review of allegations against Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Brandon Phillips, Collins’s chief of staff who transitioned to the congressman’s Senate campaign.
In an unprecedented change, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children from 17 to 11.
The announcement represents a momentous shift in federal vaccine policy, and perhaps the most significant change yet in public health practice by RFK Jr., the health secretary, who has long sought to reduce the number of shots American children receive.
The Trump administration is cutting off more than $10 billion in social services and child care funding meant for a handful of Democrat-led states – including New York – over concerns that the benefits were fraudulently funneled to non-citizens.
Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois and Colorado will be cut off from around $7 billion in funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance to households with children.
Hochul wants to make mental health first-aid training available to every 10th grader in the state, expanding a program that teaches students to recognize and respond to mental health and substance use challenges among friends and peers.
Hochul has found success in tackling childhood mental health concerns and attempting to wrangle Big Tech and social media companies when it comes to kids.
Hochul revealed the first of her topics to be covered in her upcoming State of the State address in WNY, while the Republican looking to unseat her in November discussed taxes on tips, claiming the incumbent is copying an already existing GOP idea.
Hochul called for a state law to require online companies to install default privacy settings that protect vulnerable youths under 18 from predators, scammers and AI chatbots she said are “lurking in the shadows” of seemingly harmless internet gaming platforms.
When the state Legislature returns to the Capitol tomorrow, it will have the power to propel Hochul’s “all-of-the-above approach,” or to try and shut it down. So far, many Democrats, who hold commanding majorities in both chambers, are not thrilled.
In Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s first appearance with Hochul since his inauguration, the duo were all smiles yesterday, as they celebrated the anniversary of Manhattan’s embattled congestion pricing program.
There has been an 11% average monthly dip in traffic in the zone since congestion pricing was implemented, according to the MTA and a report from the Regional Plan Association and the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s communications director, Anna Bahr, will head to City Hall to serve in that post for Mamdani, he confirmed.
Bahr, 33, will oversee the entire communications department, which includes Mamdani’s speechwriter Julian Gerson, his deputy communications director Lekha Sunder, his campaign communications aide Dora Pekec, and Sanders’ former aide Joe Calvello.
Mamdani was forced to clarify that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch still directly reports to him — after an executive order he signed sparked confusion and rumors that the city’s top cop had effectively been demoted.
Mamdani is facing a budding international conflict at his doorstep, the growing threat of striking health care workers and fallout from rescinding his predecessor’s executive orders dealing with antisemitism. And he hasn’t spent a full week on the job.
Five days into his mayoralty, Mamdani signed two executive orders targeting deceptive business practices like junk fees or making it difficult to cancel a gym membership in an effort to make the city more affordable.
The Democratic Socialists of America, the nation’s largest socialist group with ties to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, published a lengthy rebuke of the U.S. capture of Maduro, demanding he and his wife be returned to power as they face criminal charges on U.S. soil.
After Mamdani scrapped two executive orders on antisemitism and boycotts, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued an aggressive response to what it saw as an aggressive act.
Mamdani and presumptive City Council Speaker Julie Menin appeared together for their first joint press conference yesterday, signaling a desire to work together – despite underlying tensions.
The Queens Democratic Party formally nominated democratic socialist Assembly candidate Diana Moreno to be its nominee in the upcoming special election for Assembly District 36 – once represented by Mamdani – and the special election is set for Feb. 3.
Former conservative lawyer-turned-Trump-critic George Conway officially launched a Democratic bid for New York’s 12th Congressional District, joining an increasingly crowded field to represent the Manhattan-based seat.
“We have a corrupt president, a mendacious president, a criminal president whose masked agents are disappearing people from our streets, who’s breaking international law, and he’s running our federal government like a mob protection racket,” Conway said.
A spokesperson for Wegmans defended the use of facial recognition at its Brooklyn and Manhattan locations, saying the popular supermarket chain only deploys the technology on a “case-by-case basis” at stores with “elevated risk.”
New York City’s congestion pricing tolls went into effect a year ago, and much of the controversy over the program has all but disappeared since it launched.
State fire investigators have taken the lead in examining the cause of a recent blaze that gutted Unity House’s Kathryn Allen Building in Lansingburgh.
Troy police detective Justin Ashe is eyeing a GOP primary challenge against Sheriff Kyle Bourgault, believing he can boost morale among the department’s rank-and-file, improve anti-drug trafficking enforcement and bring more experience into the elected role.
A state Supreme Court judge has ruled that a law firm representing Mavis Discount Tire can continue to defend the company in two civil lawsuits tied to the Oct. 6, 2018, limousine crash that killed 20 people in Schoharie.
The Saratoga Springs City Council is expected to sign a settlement with the state AG’s office to resolve complaints the city police department violated the constitutional rights of civil rights protestors who rallied in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 killing,
Photo credit: George Fazio.
