Good Friday morning – literally and on dual levels!
We are headed into Easter weekend, which is the culmination of the Holy Week (or Passion Week, depending on your preference) – the most sacred week in Christianity – that kicked off last weekend with Palm Sunday. It is the final week of Lent and is meant to serve as a period of profound spiritual observance and reflection.
Good Friday is arguably the most solemn day of Holy Week, as it marks the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death of Jesus, whereas Easter Sunday is a joyful celebration of Jesus’ resurrection and his triumph of life over death.
If you’re not familiar with the Jesus story, his arrest by Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane was facilitated by one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, who identified Jesus as the right target of his oppressors with a kiss. Hence the phrase “the Kiss of Judas”, which is an idiom for an act of betrayal that is cloaked in the appearance of friendship or love.
Jesus more or less called out Judas at the Last Supper, which some people believe was a Seder, though that theory has largely been debunked, from what I can tell, as the Seder that we currently know was developed AFTER the crucifixion. In other words, it was likely a Passover meal, involving the sacrificial lamb, wine, and reclining at the table, but wasn’t the modern-day ordered ritual that Jews around the world engaged in this past week.
Given the solemnity of this day, it is traditionally observed through prayer, reflection and fasting, (which in the Christain sense means eating two small meals and one regular-sized meal and abstaining from meat for those who are in good health and older than 18). If you’re very devout, you might abstain from speaking from noon to 3 p.m., which is the period when it is believed that Jesus suffered on the cross.
In the Roman Catholic Church, there is no mass celebrated on Good Friday – the only day of the year without a Eucharistic celebration. Instead, some churches hold a special service at 3 p.m. that might include the veneration of the cross and communion from hosts that were consecrated the day before (Holy Thursday).
Unfortunately for all the would-be egg hunt participants out there, it doesn’t look like the weather is going to cooperate with outdoor pursuits on Sunday.
There is (more) rain in the forecast, though it may well taper off to just showers in the afternoon. Generally speaking, though, it’s going to be cloudy, gray and on the chillier side for this time of year, with high temperatures struggling to break into the low 50s.
The rest of the forecast is more promising. Both today and tomorrow (Saturday) will see high temperatures in the low-to-mid 60s, with a mix of sun and clouds, though Saturday will see more of the latter than the former.
In the headlines…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday fired the US Army chief of staff and two other generals – a move that reflects growing hostility between him and the Army’s leadership, military officials said.
Hegseth told US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to retire immediately and fired two other Army generals – the chief of chaplains, Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., and the commander of Army Transformation and Training Command, Gen. David Hodne.
The tension between Hegseth and George is reportedly the product of Hegseth’s long-running grievances with the Army, battles over personnel and his troubled relationship with Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll.
President Donald Trump has fired Pam Bondi as attorney general. She will be replaced for now by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, whom the president called a “very talented and respected Legal Mind.”
Trump on Truth Social called Bondi “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend,” adding: “We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”
Bondi spoke out after being fired from her perch and teased her new private sector role, where she will “continue fighting” for Trump. “I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again,” she said.
While it remains unclear how long Blanche will stay in the job, whoever ends up taking over permanently will lead a department that he has shaped in his own image.
Trump is reportedly considering former Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, as a permanent replacement for Bondi.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken her affordability agenda on the road now that the state budget is delayed, stopping yesterday in the Southern Tier.
Energy experts and advocates say the spike in gas and oil prices since the United States and Israel went to war against Iran demonstrates the flaws in the governor’s “all-of-the-above” energy plan logic.
Hochul is reportedly weighing a possible deal with a top union to allow public workers from teachers to nurses hired after 2012 to retire at 55 — part of a proposal that would cost taxpayers a whopping $1.5 billion.
Hochul this week announced more than $25 million in grants to help 133 farms across 23 counties reduce their environmental impact and prepare for extreme weather.
A state panel says it recommended a judge’s removal from office for obstructing its investigation of allegations that he gave legal advice to landlords who appeared in his court and deleted 500 emails after he knew he was being investigated for misconduct.
State lawmakers are feeling bullish on buffer zones around houses of worship after the New York City Council voted to increase policing of religious sites.
State assembly members are set to personally enjoy a million-dollar renovation for their lounge space just off the chamber floor — even as they push to hike taxes on businesses while driving up spending.
Peeved City Council members roundly ripped Mamdani after he called out Speaker Julie Menin by name and portrayed the Council’s budget plan as slashing billions of dollars from city agencies.
“This is deeply misleading and potentially harmful! I thought these four years were going to be different,” Bronx Councilman Kevin Riley – an obviously disappointed Mamdani backer — posted on X.
In a post on X, former Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote that she had reviewed Menin’s budget proposals and “they do NOT slash services!They find redundancies & savings!
The City Council wants to expand the Fair Fares program so more than 1 million eligible New Yorkers would be able to ride Big Apple subways and buses all on the government’s dime.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department’s revised method for reporting bias crime was her decision, not the mayor’s, after scrutiny of the change.
Tisch slammed the shocking mixed verdict delivered in the slay case involving tragic hero NYPD cop Jonathan Diller, calling it a “gut punch” to all of New York’s Finest.
Officials are said to be examining whether a controller had to use an emergency phone just before the crash at LaGuardia. They have yet to determine the cause of the crash and are also focusing on other avenues.
Assemblywoman Claire Valdez has picked up the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
Valdez annually accepts as much as $20,000 from a Texas casino despite voting to foil a union-backed gaming project in her own borough.
Since August, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested 811 immigrants in New York City who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and 85% of those involved people with no criminal history.
The process of appointing board members to NYC community boards will change if a new bill proposed by the City Council becomes law.
Pete Davidson is finally parting ways with his Staten Island condo — but the exit comes at a steep cost. He bought the waterfront unit at 90 Bay Street Landing in his native borough for $1.2 million in 2020, and eventually lowered the asking price to $850,000.
Students at the Rosalyn Yalow Charter School in the South Bronx — where 22% of pupils are homeless and nearly all are economically disadvantaged — won a state chess championship and will compete in a national chess competition next month.
Airbnb is all but locked out of New York City, but short-term rentals are finding a home across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Republican Assemblyman Robert Smullen has received the endorsement of the New York Conservative Party to run for retiring Rep. Elise Stefanik’s seat, just weeks after earning the endorsement of the state GOP.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) students say Artemis II is making space careers feel closer to home as graduate Reid Wiseman leads the mission.
Albany County Legislator Mark Grimm is calling for a local tax break on clothing and footwear purchases. His proposal would remove Albany County’s 4 percent portion of the sales tax on items that cost less than $110 each.
Jack’s Oyster House has reopened in Albany after flooding forced the longtime restaurant to close last month.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy has announced a study to address the traffic patterns and safety in the town of Coeymans and Ravena.
A 34-year-old man faces up to 25 years in prison after admitting to hitting two Walmart employees in Wilton with his car, killing one of them, according to the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office.
Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello is tapping crisis powers in response to the City Council vowing to withhold money from Flock Safety until more is known about the controversial vendor’s automated license plate readers.
A Schoharie County man’s guilty plea for allegedly killing his father has been vacated for a second time, after the state’s second-highest court ruled his plea may not have been voluntary.
Photo credit: George Fazio
