Good morning, it’s Thursday, which is one day closer to Friday, in case you needed a friendly reminder.
Another friendly reminder: There are 43 days remaining until the vernal equinox (AKA the first day of spring). Given that we’re headed back down into the sub-20s territory of temperature highs in the coming day, it seems like a good time to focus on something uplifting and synonymous with warmth, sun, and color: Butterflies!
Monarch butterflies, to be specific.
The Monarch butterfly (AKA (Danaus plexippus) are striking orange-and-black pollinators that are probably among the most iconic and easily recognizable butterfly species in North America.
Their bright colors help signal to any potential predators that they would be a toxic and decidedly un-tasty meal – a result of the cardenolides found in the milkweed plants that are the Monarch caterpillars’ sole food source. (Once they transform into butterflies, they feed on the nectar of a wide variety of flowers).
There are two populations of Monarch butterflies – Eastern and Western – which are the same aforementioned species, but differ in their population size, migratory behavior, and wintering locations.
Monarchs are not the only butterfly that migrates in one direction, but they are the only butterfly species known to make a two-way, multi-generational migration as far as 3,000 miles – first to escape the cold by winging to either California or Mexico, and then to return north to breed.
To be clear, however, not all Monarchs migrate. Yes, it’s a little confusing.
The average lifespan for this species is only two to six weeks, EXCEPT for every fourth generation, the members of which are born in August or September. These butterflies are the migrating generation, living up to nine months so they can overwinter. And lucky them! They live longer so they can engage in a crazy feat of endurance, delaying their sexual maturity so as not to waste precious energy on reproduction, saving it instead for the long journey ahead.
These amazing migrating butterflies have the ability to pinpoint the exact overwintering locations favored for generations by their ancestors, despite having never been there themselves, and return there year after year. How they do this remains a mystery.
Not surprisingly, Monarch butterflies – like so many other species – have suffered in recent years due to loss of habitat, pesticide use, and climate change. The Western colonies, which winter in California, peaked at just over 9,100 in 2024-25, which was the second-lowest population since tracking began and a significant reduction from previous years.
The news is better for the Eastern population, which winters in Mexico, which saw its numbers nearly double last year, increasing the acreage of forest it occupies by just over 2.2 acres from the previous winter. This was a very good sign and demonstrates what can be accomplished through dedicated conservation efforts, but their numbers are still way down overall compared to previous years and much more work needs to be done to protect the Monarchs.
Today is California Western Monarch Day, established by the state Legislature in 2004 to celebrate the population’s annual winter migration, which takes place from October through March, and raise awareness about the need to protect this unique and delicate species.
You can spot Monarchs here in New York mid-May through early June, with peak sightings occurring July through September. The best way to attract them to your property is to plant milkweed so their caterpillars have something to eat, along with nectar rich flowers that the adults like. And, it should go without saying, but avoid chemical pesticides that might be toxic.
It is decidedly NOT butterfly weather at the moment. Today will bring highs in the mid-to-high 20s, as mentioned earlier, with considerable cloudiness in the morning that MIGHT disperse as the day progresses, though don’t expect full sunshine anytime soon.
In the headlines…
President Donald Trump told NBC News yesterday that he believes his administration could use “a softer touch” in its immigration enforcement operations after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens last month in Minneapolis.
Democratic leaders laid out their demands for reform at the Department of Homeland Security in a letter to Republican leadership on Wednesday, as lawmakers race to reach a compromise before the agency’s funding runs out in less than 10 days.
Democrats have sought to rein in federal agents participating in President Trump’s crackdown, a push that recent polling suggests has broad public support.
Senate Republicans are concerned a public backlash to Trump’s handling of the economy and his aggressive deportation policies could give rise to a Democratic wave that not only ends the House majority, but also threatens their own three-seat majority.
Trump wants to close the Kennedy Center’s doors for two years so the performing arts center can undergo construction. House Democrats say that’s illegal.
Beijing, Moscow and shaken American allies are seeking new warheads as President Trump ends more than a half century of nuclear arms control with Russia.
Trump and President Xi Jinping of China had a lengthy phone call yesterday during which, Trump said, the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues — including Iran, the war in Ukraine and soybeans — ahead of Trump’s visit to China this spring.
Brad Karp, the longtime chairman of Paul Weiss, one of the nation’s top corporate law firms, suddenly resigned yesterday evening after a series of embarrassing emails between him and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier, became public in recent days.
The law firm’s statement announcing Karp’s resignation as chairman gave no explanation for his decision. But it included this quote from him, “Recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.”
Epstein helped Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn as one of their daughters was applying to colleges, connecting the family with the president of Bard College, a long time acquaintance of Epstein, emails released by the Justice Department show.
David A. Ross, a luminary in the contemporary art world and leader of some of the top museums in the US, resigned as department chair at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan after emails he sent to Epstein were made public, revealing a long friendship.
The Washington Post carried out a widespread round of layoffs yesterday that decimated the organization’s sports, local news and international coverage.
The company reportedly laid off about 30 percent of all its employees at the behest of its owner, Jeff Bezos. In a newsroom Zoom call, Executive Editor Matt Murray called the move “a strategic reset” it needs to compete in the era of artificial intelligence.
Don Graham, whose family owned The Washington Post for 80 years, published a touching eulogy for the newspaper’s sports department after he learned it was being eliminated by Bezos, the man who bought his family business.
The television news anchor Savannah Guthrie said in an emotional video that she and her siblings were ready to listen to ransom offers from whoever might have abducted their mother, but that the family would first need proof that she remains alive.
Guthrie’s desperate appeal to her mom Nancy’s alleged captors is a strong signal that the “Today” star’s family has yet to receive a legitimate ransom demand, according to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Gov. Kathy Hochul selected former New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to be her running mate, creating the first all-female statewide ticket for a major party in New York history – and only the fifth in the history of the entire country.
“Adrienne and I are no strangers to rolling up our sleeves and getting results for working New Yorkers,” Hochul said. “Together, we’re going to continue investing in public safety, bringing costs down, and making this state a place where all families can thrive.”
Adams said she was “honored” by the selection. The announcement capped several months of speculation in which Hochul, who is white, considered other Black and Hispanic officials with ties to New York City, according to some potential candidates.
Upset by the governor’s choice of Adams as her running mate, the Brooklyn Democratic Party promptly rescinded its endorsement of Hochul.
At its convention in Syracuse later this week, the state Democratic Party will pass a resolution condemning ICE and calling for it to be restructured, but stopping short of pushing for it to be fully abolished.
With the election nine months away, Hochul is heading to Syracuse for the State Democratic Party convention on Friday in a somewhat surprising position of strength.
New York is expected to remain in a deep freeze for the coming week, but forecasters say there is a strong chance that temperatures will warm up in mid-February as the polar jet stream shifts overhead.
After billions in Medicaid money was stolen by fraudsters in Minnesota, all eyes are on New York — where spending on health programs is set to top $115 billion in 2026.
Cybercriminals stole personal data about employees at the SUNY Research Foundation, the foundation told its staff.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reportedly set to endorse Hochul’s re-election run this week, providing her a critical inroad with progressive voters in New York.
A US Senate panel launched a probe of Mamdani’s administration, citing “serious concerns” about the “rescission of executive orders related to antisemitism and boycotts of Israel.”
Mamdani’s film-director mother’s name was mentioned several times in the newly released trove of documents tied to Epstein, prompting a slew of misinformation online that the mayor said is “incredibly difficult.
“ We also have to work to ensure that we have a city, we have a state, we have a country that actually has a regulatory system when it comes to AI,” said Mamdani, adding that the current system is “ill-equipped for the speed and reach” of emerging technologies.
Mamdani is defending his administration’s handling of this historic, deadly cold stretch — as the City Council plans oversight hearings to assess the response.
A spokesperson for the Council said that the Public Safety and General Welfare committees are expected to hold a Feb. 10 hearing that will primarily address the cold-weather deaths.
Mamdani’s pick for top Big Apple lawyer, Steve Banks, yesterday praised the administration’s “extraordinarily high-level” handling of the current deadly cold snap — even as the death toll climbed to 17 people.
Banks, Mamdani’s choice to head the city’s Law Department, promised the New York City Council at his confirmation hearing he’d be a “lawyer for the entire city” — not solely, or even primarily, an adviser to the mayor.
Preliminary assessments indicate that 13 of those deaths were related to hypothermia, while three were related to substance overdose, the mayor said. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner has yet to determine the cause of one of the deaths.
Mamdani has picked Phylisa Wisdom, the executive director of the progressive New York Jewish Agenda, to lead the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism – another signal that the mayor’s anti-Zionist posture will continue to factor into his leadership of the city.
Mamdani is being criticized for visiting a man in the hospital after he charged at a police officer with a knife.
Ali Najmi, a close Mamdani ally who will help him pick judicial nominees, is a “special adviser” for a Manhattan law firm accused of being involved in a massive insurance fraud scheme.
City Comptroller Mark Levine is requesting an independent investigation into the immigration enforcement and homeland security work of Palantir Technologies, a data analytics company in which millions of dollars of the city’s pension funds are invested.
Two weeks after the Trump administration formally withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization, the New York City Health Department joined a W.H.O. network aimed at countering new pathogens and emerging outbreaks.
New York City health officials have moved to permanently shut down a Manhattan branch of the child care giant Bright Horizons where prosecutors say employees committed disturbing acts of child abuse, documents show.
New Yorkers remain largely cooped up in their same old rentals, snowed in by frozen housing supplies, according to Realtor.com’s year-end rental market report for New York City, which found that nearly 90% of Big Apple renters stayed put in 2024.
After a three-year rise, fewer immigrants settled in New York in 2025, according to Census Bureau data. The drop in foreign-born people moving to the U.S. occurred nationwide, but immigration advocates said the Empire State’s affordability is a big problem.
Another Democrat, tenured Albany Law School professor Sarah Rogerson, has entered the competition to unseat state Sen. Jim Tedisco — forcing the candidates into a primary this June.
The likeness of the beloved community leader and sage, Walker Simpkins, who died in 2025, has a permanent place in the form of a 12-by-8-foot mural at the C.O.C.O.A. House, Inc., the nonprofit based at Rivas’ childhood home.
Forest rangers and staff at Gore Mountain worked to rescue an estimated 60 to 70 people who were trapped when the ski resort’s gondola system broke down yesterday, State Police said.
Residents in Bethlehem overwhelmingly backed a $60 million project to renovate schools in the local district on Tuesday.
Colonie residents expecting their usual water bill will likely see a higher total after the town restructured its payment system this year.
After the Republican-controlled Troy City Council shot down a proposal to embrace “good cause” eviction legislation last year, Council President Sue Steele vowed to resurrect it if Democrats flipped the chamber.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
