Good morning, it’s Friday!!!
I am a long way removed from grade school Social Studies, which apparently has changed quite a bit since I was a student. I am sure that I could do longer label on a map all 50 states or the countries and oceans of the world. I’m assuming that I’m probably not alone in this, and so consider today’s post a bit of a refresher course.
You may or may not recall that while the U.S. does have 50 states, (not yet 51, despite the president’s best efforts to co-opt Canada), it also has five major inhabited and unincorporated territories – American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – which are collectively home to some 3.6 million people, give or take.
These territories have local governments, but are subject to the federal authority of the United States. This is a point of varying degrees of contention, depending on which territory we’re talking about. Those who advocate for the territories argue that their residents are largely treated like second class citizens of the U.S., even though they ARE, in fact, citizens, or at least U.S. nationals.
The residents of these locations are beholden to the federal government and can vote in U.S. presidential elections, but those votes don’t translate into Electoral College votes, which, as we know, is where the race for the White House is ultimately decided.
Also, though they have to abide by U.S. federal rules, these territories don’t have much of a say in federal policy since they’re represented by non-voting members of the House, who can participate in debates, introduce legislation, and work on committees, but don’t get to formally weigh in on any votes. None of them have representation in the U.S. Senate.
Puerto Rico, which is the largest territory with a population of about 3.2 million people, fairs the best (comparatively speaking) with representative in Congress called the Resident Commissioner, who has a four-year term, while other territories just get delegates.
It must be particularly galling for those who have been advocating for Puerto Rican statehood, or even full independence, to “look” (I use this term loosely, since we’re speaking of a matter of 80 miles or so) across the Mona Passage and see is Caribbean neighbor, the Dominican Republic, which is a wholly independent nation.
That has been the case since Feb. 27, 1844, when the Dominican Republic officially ended its 22-year unification with Haiti, with whom it shares an island (Hispaniola), but though that’s about where the similarities end. The two nations have vastly different economic, social, and environmental histories, speak different languages (Spanish versus French and Haitian Creole) and governing structures. If you really want to go deep on the complex and tangled history here, try this site or this one.
Dominican Independence Day is one of the country’s most significant holidays, observed with parades, music, patriotic displays, and lots and lots of food. Since Independence Day falls on a Friday this year (today), the celebration will stretch across a three-day weekend, as all schools, government offices, and many businesses are closed.
There are quite a few individuals of Dominican descent living in the U.S. – perhaps as many as 2.7 million – making them the country’s fifth-largest Hispanic/Latino group. (By contrast, where are as many as 6.1 million people of Puerto Rican origin, the second-largest population of Hispanic/Latino origin, behind individuals who moved here from Mexico).
A fair number (as many as 700,000) of the Dominicans living in the U.S. are here in New York, though their numbers are falling steadily, according to a 2021 CUNY study. Still, that’s a fairly significant portion of the diaspora, and so there will be Dominican Independence Day celebrations to be found across the five boroughs, as well as in other cities across the nation.
I am incredibly excited to report that we’re getting a temporary break from the cold today and tomorrow, with temperatures rising up into the 40s today and even flirting with 50 degrees on Saturday. Skies on both days will be partly to mostly cloudy. This brief taste of spring will be short-lived, sadly, as Sunday will bring morning snow showers and temperatures in the low 30s.
Looking ahead, though, I see more 50-degree days and even one day that might hit a high of 60 (!) in our future. Hang in there!!
In the headlines…
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied ever meeting convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein or knowing anything about his crimes during a more than six-hour, closed-door deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee.
The deposition briefly devolved into chaos after Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert leaked a photograph of the proceedings to a right-wing blogger, which Clinton said was “very upsetting, because it suggested that they might violate other of our agreements.”
“As I stated in my sworn declaration on January 13, I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not ever recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein,” Clinton said in a statement. “I never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that.”
Clinton criticized questions she said she got from House Republicans about UFOs and the “Pizzagate” conspiracy during her deposition as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into Epstein.
A federal judge yesterday declined to halt construction of the ballroom Trump plans to build over the demolished East Wing of the White House, concluding that the lawsuit, as filed, focused on the wrong questions about the president’s authority.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid to temporarily halt Trump’s project because it had relied on a “ragtag group of theories”.
The Trump administration’s proposed new rules for Obamacare plans next year would shift more health care costs to Americans, with much higher deductibles that could lead to larger medical bills.
Under the proposal, people who rely on the Affordable Care Act could choose plans with much lower monthly premiums, but also could face medical expenses totaling thousands more than current A.C.A. plans before their insurance would kick in.
The Defense Department used a high-energy laser to shoot down a drone belonging to the Department of Homeland Security over a small border town near El Paso Thursday, prompting the FAA to shutter the airspace nearby.
The strike was startlingly reminiscent of a similar episode earlier this month, also near El Paso.
Anthropic said there has been “virtually no progress” on negotiations with the Pentagon, as CEO Dario Amodei said it could not accept what defense officials had labeled their final offer on AI safeguards.
The two sides are hurtling toward a 5:01 p.m. deadline today over a Pentagon demand that Anthropic provide unfettered access to its A.I. system without safeguards demanded by the company, as part of the negotiations over a $200 million contract.
Netflix said that it had backed away from its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a stunning development that paves the way for the storied Hollywood media giant to end up under the control of a rival bidder, the technology heir David Ellison.
Netflix said that it would not raise its offer to counter a higher bid made earlier this week by Ellison’s company, Paramount Skydance, adding in a statement that “the deal is no longer financially attractive.”
Once again, CNN is facing an uncertain fate. Netflix’s stunning surrender all but assures that the 24-hour news channel will soon be controlled by Ellison, who is best known in the journalism world for his recent revamp of CBS News.
Gov. Kathy Hochul suggested that the cost of fully complying to the state’s climate law could cost average New Yorkers up to $3,500 each. A new memo from the NYSERDA places the estimated cost for upstate gas and oil households even higher.
Convenience stores and business groups are urging Hochul to scrap a plan to heap heavy new taxes on nicotine pouches. The so-called “Bro Tax” would put the “alternative” nicotine products under the same 75% tax as cigarettes.
Mark Schroeder, the commissioner of the New York state Department of Motor Vehicles, will retire after more than seven years on the job, Hochul announced. His last day will be April 30.
A former Queens Republican district leader who was convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection and later pardoned by Trump has filed to challenge Democratic incumbent State Assemblymember Ed Braunstein.
A new Marist poll found Hochul’s job approval rating is at its highest point since 2021, and she’s leading her Republican rival in the gubernatorial contest, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, by 17 points among registered voters statewide.
New York state failed to give parents a timely chance to remove their names from a statewide database meant for people who have mistreated or abused children, defying an earlier agreement to reduce wait times, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he’s received assurances from Trump that a Columbia University student detained at her campus housing by ICE agents yesterday morning would be released without delay. Columbia confirmed she was indeed freed.
Mamdani snuck off to Washington, DC, to talk housing with the president, and brought along a photoshopped version of a New York Daily News front page (AKA the “wood”) in an attempt to flatter him.
At the summit – the mayor’s second in-person meeting with Trump since he took office – Mamdani pitched a 12,000 unit, federally supported housing project. The get-together was not on his public schedule at the president’s request, Mamdani’s office said.
“I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,” the mayor wrote in a post on X. He confirmed early reports that the two of them talked about New York housing, adding, “I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”
Mamdani implored Trump to provide $21 billion in federal grants for a long-stalled project that would involve building 12,000 affordable apartments and an entirely new neighborhood on top of Sunnyside Yards in Queens
When Mamdani boarded a flight to Washington early yesterday morning, he wore a dark hat and a face mask to obscure his identity. He gave the president mock New York Daily News front page featuring the blaring headline “Trump to City: Let’s Build.”
More than 200 NYC-DSA members have signed a resolution calling out the mayor for his reversal on homeless encampment sweeps during the recent cold snap.
Public housing residents clamored to join Mamdani’s first “rental ripoff” hearing in Brooklyn yesterday, decrying the “inhumane” conditions at their city-run apartments.
One of the men who allegedly pelted NYPD cops with snowballs in Washington Square Park was a 27-year-old who was arrested for attempted robbery just weeks ago, police said.
Manhattan prosecutors declined to pursue an assault charge against Gusmane Coulibaly, instead charging him with misdemeanor obstructing government administration and a harassment violation in connection with the viral snowball fight.
A top FDNY official fanned anti-safety flames at a City Council hearing this week, claiming without evidence that protected bike lanes hobble first responders, countering Mamdani’s support for long-proven strategies for reining in traffic violence.
Federal and state authorities in Oklahoma this week raided a sprawling marijuana farm there, seizing more than 1,200 pounds of processed cannabis and arresting the owner, a member of a New York City heritage club with ties to the Chinese government.
Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian put on their scrubs for the first time in more than a month and returning to work yesterday, marking the end of a historic strike involving nearly 15,000 nurses across three New York City hospital systems.
FoCo TaCo in Delmar will close at some point this week, Saturday at the latest. The date depends on when inventory is gone. To facilitate the process, FoCo is selling all tacos, normally $4.49 to $5.99 apiece, for $3.
Workers at two Capital Region Eddie Bauer outlets will be laid off in the coming weeks after the venerable outdoor retailer filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
A hiker from Florida was found dead Tuesday at the edge of a pond several miles from a cabin in Essex County he had been renting for the last month.
The Applebee’s restaurant in Glenville is closing, according to the state Labor Department. The franchise-owner, TJ Cannon Management, expects the 268 Saratoga Road restaurant’s closure to affect about 15 workers.
Anthony Krolikowski is departing News10ABC for a new role at CBS6 Albany, where he will serve as weekend evening anchor and reporter.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy began inviting supporters to a “special election announcement” in March, though he isn’t up for reelection until 2027. Speculation is that he’s worried about a primary challenge from the left.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
