Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
Today we mark a significant moment in U.S. history – ratification of the 1784 Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War and established this country as an independent nation.
Of course, as well know – or, at least, those of us who are either history buffs or dimly recall what we learned in middle and high school – our young nation had a very long way to go after this moment to reach its ability to fully govern itself.
The Treaty of Paris was actually one of a series of treaties signed that also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations of France, Spain and the Netherlands.
For the purposes of these United States, however, it was based on a preliminary treaty drafted a year earlier in 1782, which both recognized the erstwhile 13 colonies’ independence and granted them significant western territory (from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and the Great Lakes to Spanish Florida) in the new world.
It was the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 that paved the way for peace talks between the colonies and the British, who were finally willing to consider the possibility of U.S. independence.
The key negotiators of this treaty, which formally acknowledged the former colonies as a free, sovereign, and independent nation were none other than Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay (on the U.S. side) and David Hartley (the younger – a politician and inventor) for Britain. Hartley, for the record, had opposed the Revolution, believing that peaceful resolution to the conflict was both preferable and possible.
At least three copies of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which was signed on Sept. 3 at the Hotel d’York located at what is now 56 Rue Jacob, exist and two of them are in the National Archives.
Ratification by the Congress of Confederation, the colonies’ legislative body at the time, took place in the Old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House and copies were then sent back to Europe for ratification of the other involved parties. Travel being what it was at the time, these copies did not reach their intended destinations until 1784.
There was an earlier Treaty of Paris, reached in 1763, which ended the French and Indian/Seven Years’ War between Britain and France, in which France agreed to give up all its territories in the North American mainland.
The unseasonably warm temperatures, with highs reaching into the mid 40s, continue – but this might be the last day in the warmer-than-usual stretch. It will be cloudy with occasional rain showers developing in the afternoon.
In the headlines…
Six federal prosecutors reportedly resigned yesterday in reaction to the Justice Department’s handling of the ICE shooting of Minneapolis woman Renee Good.
Senior career prosecutors, including Joseph Thompson, Harry Jacobs and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez, left their posts as the DOJ appeared to prioritize investigating the widow of the woman who was killed last Wednesday by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.
The DOJ is reportedly not investigating the fatal shooting of Good by a federal immigration officer as a civil rights case. “There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN.
Arrests and aggressive tactics by ICE and the Border Patrol in and around Minneapolis, many seen on viral videos, have intensified the frustration and fear among residents.
Federal immigration agents in recent days have arrested dozens of refugees in Minnesota who had passed security screenings before being admitted to the United States, according to their lawyers and immigrant rights advocates.
The family of Good, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week after clipping him with her SUV, was forced to address unsubstantiated rumors she had a lengthy rap sheet in an emotional plea.
Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan says she has learned that federal prosecutors are investigating her after she took part in a video urging military service members to resist illegal orders.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland are expected to meet today with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House, with tensions rising over President Donald Trump’s push to buy or take over Greenland.
The high-stakes meeting comes shortly after Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen portrayed a united front against Trump’s repeated takeover threats.
Greenland’s prime minister has said “we choose Denmark” before high-stakes talks at the White House as Trump seeks to take control of the Arctic territory.
The Secret Service has placed an agent who served on Vance’s detail on administrative leave and suspended his security clearance after an undercover video showed him discussing sensitive parts of his duties.
Trump threatened to take “very strong action” against the Iranian regime if anti-government protesters are executed.
Users of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service in Iran were able to use the service for free yesterday, according to U.S.-based organizations that work on international technology issues.
Bill and Hillary Clinton refused to testify in the House’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, escalating a monthslong battle with its Republican leader, Rep. James R. Comer of Kentucky, who quickly said he would take steps to hold them in contempt of Congress.
“Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences,” the Clintons wrote to House Oversight Committee Chair Comer. “For us, now is that time.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed inclined to uphold a pair of state laws barring the participation of transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams.
The oral arguments in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. focused on state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that ban transgender women and girls from competing on sports teams aligned with their gender identity.
The outcome of the cases from West Virginia and Idaho has implications for the 25 other states with similar laws, and for athletes who compete in school and collegiate sports around the country.
Saks Global, the company that owns Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, filed for bankruptcy protection late yesterday, crumbling under billions of dollars in debt, a fraying relationship with vendors and lagging sales.
The move cast uncertainty over the future of U.S. luxury fashion, though the retailer said early this morning that its stores would remain open for now after it finalized a $1.75 billion financing package and appointed a new chief executive.
It may mean the end of the Saks and Neiman Marcus near you. And it may mean the end of some small designers that sell their clothes directly to department stores like Neiman and Saks and rely on it for the bulk of their revenue.
Ahead of a tough reelection, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled an agenda in her annual State of the State aimed at bridging the divides in the Democratic Party, while also tending to anxiety among moderates about public safety and protests outside synagogues.
Hochul largely tap-danced around thorny election-year issues as she gave her 2026 “State of the State” address yesterday, focusing instead on crowd-pleasing measures such as universal child care.
The 47-minute, 47-second speech offered a preview of the goals Hochul will try to meet and the political constituencies she must please as she faces a contested primary and general election this year.
For the second year in a row, the high cost of living in New York was at the top of Hochul’s agenda as she pledged once again to lower prices for child and health care, utilities and insurance rates because “too many families are under real strain.”
To help spur construction and lower housing costs, Hochul is proposing changes to the state’s environmental review laws for certain residential projects.
Hochul is keeping families with young kids at the center of her political agenda this year, vowing to make child care universal and affordable across New York.
Hochul plans to undo an old “Footloose!”-style state law that makes it illegal to dance in some restaurants and bars. The governor’s 2026 State of the State policy book said she will direct the State Liquor Authority to create a hybrid restaurant-dance license.
Hochul announced that she will boost subway safety funding by $77 million as she gave a big gift to transit advocates in the war on drivers — backing a plan to allow cities to slam “super speeders.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman slammed Hochul’s State of the State address, making it clear he’s running on President Trump’s script — down to an Empire State version of the MAGA hat.
Hochul has taken up the cause of the New York City Council data analyst taken into ICE detention, decrying the arrest in her State of the State address, saying: “[Analysts] are not the baddest of the bad. Is that person really a threat?”
Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez, 53, was labeled an “illegal alien” with a criminal history by federal authorities after he was taken into custody on Long Island — but city officials have maintained he has done nothing wrong and had permission to be in the US.
A militant pro-Israel group accused of using violence, harassment and intimidation against Arab, Muslim and Jewish New Yorkers has agreed to cease operations in the state under a settlement announced Wednesday by Attorney General Letitia James.
Former Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani returned to Albany for the first time as mayor and embraced his new role by lobbying state leaders for more money to fund his lefty agenda in the Big Apple.
Mamdani’s return was warmly welcomed and rewarded at Hochul’s State of the State address – despite his own frequent absences from the Assembly last session.
When Mamdani talked to reporters, he was sure to shout out the Herbie Burgers in the State Capitol complex and his favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in town. But he was careful not to upstage Hochul, as he sat in the third row to watch her speak.
While speaking to reporters after Hochul’s speech, Mamdani made clear that his own “affordability agenda” means taxing the rich.
Mamdani named Midori Valdivia, who currently sits on the board of the MTA, as the commissioner of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. She served as the TLC’s commissioner for finance and administration from 2015 to 2017.
Valdivia’s appointment is subject to City Council approval. As TLC chair, she’d be tasked with determining policies that govern the more than 84,000 Uber and Lyft vehicles licensed to operate in the city, as well as the city’s beleaguered yellow taxi industry.
Mamdani and President Trump have been exchanging “friendly” missives at least twice a week — as the unlikely bromance between the socialist and conservative commander-in-chief continues to blossom.
The back-channeling between the democratic socialist mayor and Trump — who once derided Mamdani as a “communist” — indicates their private communications have been more extensive than previously thought.
Mamdani vowed to defend the city’s sanctuary policies after Trump announced that, starting Feb. 1, the federal government will stop sending payments to states and cities with laws that set limits on how local authorities cooperate with ICE.
Mamdani condemned the Iranian regime over its deadly handling of anti-government protests after a startling period of silence on the growing crisis in the Middle East that caught the attention of critics.
Anti-Zionist Mamdani’s scholar dad ripped Columbia University’s antisemitism task force as a “prosecutorial agency” — comparing it to the race-based “divide and rule” approach utilized by British colonists.
DoorDash and Uber Eats prevented delivery workers from earning over $550 million in tips by requiring customers to leave gratuities after checkout, the Mamdani administration alleged.
Tony Herbert, a former official in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and longtime fixture in New York City politics, was arrested by federal authorities on sweeping public corruption charges alleging he took bribes and kickbacks during his stints at City Hall.
Herbert, who was fired for calling Charlie Kirk’s assassination “karma”, has been indicted for running two separate pay-to-play schemes that netted him $16,000 total in bribes.
A foul-mouthed flier unleashed on Eric Adams at an airport, prompting the former Big Apple mayor to snap “Go f–k yourself” and warn “You’re gonna see the Brooklyn in me.”
In the minutes after trading opened, Adams’ NYC Token rocketed to a market capitalization of nearly $600 million, then crashed after an account linked to the coin’s launch withdrew about $2.5 million in early proceeds without notice, unnerving investors.
This was not how Adams had hoped to begin his business career, especially after ethics scandals and his own federal criminal indictment cut his mayoralty off after a single term.
Politicians are piling on criticism of New York City hospitals as executives scramble to weather a historic nurses strike.
Thousands of New York City nurses returned to the picket lines yesterday as their strike targeting some of the city’s leading hospital systems entered its second day.
Mount Sinai is claiming cracks are already appearing in the nurses’ resolve. And union officials, for their part, claimed that one hospital illegally fired three nurses in the hours before the strike as an act of intimidation.
The criminal trial of a New York Police Department sergeant who killed a Bronx man with a cooler as he was fleeing arrest on a motorbike will begin today.
Carnegie Hall has settled a lawsuit accusing the operator of several Carnegie Diner & Cafe restaurants of infringing trademarks belonging to the world-famous music venue.
Just weeks after pleading guilty to a single charge of wire fraud conspiracy in Manhattan to settle his decadelong criminal case, Alain Kaloyeros is back in court seeking money he says he’s due from the Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.
A state Supreme Court judge dismissed former Malta GOP Chair Marcia Murray’s lawsuit claiming the leaders of the Saratoga County Republican and Conservative committees harassed her and caused her emotional distress.
Nearly a week after a bevy of department heads — for reasons undetermined — skipped Rensselaer County Legislature committee meetings en masse, lawmakers want assurance from the administration that it won’t continue to happen.
Bills introduced in the state Assembly and Senate at the start of this year’s legislative session establishing a “school speed zone camera demonstration program” have been referred to the chambers’ respective transportation committees.
Despite the Clifton Park Town Board’s decision to replace Town Attorney Paul Pelagalli at its organizational meeting earlier this month, he will remain in the position, for now.
More than four dozen workers will soon be laid off from AngioDynamics Corp., a company that manufactures medical instruments in Warren County.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute razed a wooden Gothic Revival gatehouse designed by famed architect Alexander Jackson Davis to avoid the risk of an “imminent” collapse, according to Chris Ingraham, a spokesperson for the college.
The Capital Region is getting its first suburban charter school, as well as its first Montessori charter school, amid a deluge of support that far exceeds the number seats that will be available.
Slingerlands-based Plug Power is suing its former president, once in line to become the company’s next CEO, for allegedly violating various agreements he signed with the company both before and after his October 2025 resignation.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
