Good Thursday morning.
I got some health news the other day that, in the grand scheme of things, was not (thankfully) life-changing, but does require me to alter my diet fairly significantly.
One of the things that has to go is coffee. The problem isn’t just the caffeine, I was told when I asked if perhaps a switch to decaf might suffice, but rather the acidity. (Other things on the fairly lengthy “no” list include chocolate, citrus, and tomatoes).
Caffeine IS indeed a problem, though, which means no substituting matcha or other forms of tea.
This was a fairly big blow, as coffee – just one cup a day, usually – is one of my few remaining vices. I am, I must confess, enjoying a cup right now, even though I know I will physically pay for it later. I just haven’t gotten my head around what needs to be done.
I have ordered some powdered additive that claims to reduce coffee acidity by 90 percent. Maybe this will be a temporary fix until I am able to wean myself off the coffee train. I know this can be done, of course. A good friend is in a similar situation and has dramatically altered his diet and lifestyle, losing a lot of weight and gaining comfort and better health in the process.
I am right now in a mourning period, I think, mentally cataloguing all the things that I won’t be able to enjoy any more and indulging in them for what I am telling myself is the last time before I get on the straight and narrow. One of the things on the “to try” list is bubble tea, which I have been meaning to sample but never quite got around to.
For the uninitiated, bubble tea is a Taiwanese invention that was created in the 1980s (two different tea houses claim to have invented it and battled in court for 10 years to establish supremacy over the trend) and then steadily gained in popularity until it seems to be nearly ubiquitous. Decades later, bubble tea is now deeply ingrained in the Taiwanese identity and culture.
It’s a tea-based drink that usually features some sort of milk or fruit, and a layer of chewy tapioca pearls (boba) at the bottom. It’s those pearls or “bubbles” that give this drink its name, and also require an extra-wide straw to consume.
You can also choose from a variety of toppings and/or customizations like grass jelly, yogurt, syrups, fruit, pudding, and even aloe vera.
This is sort of a drink-snack combo with an unusual sensory experience. The slightly slimy and chewy tapioca pearl “bubbles” are, I would assume, not everyone’s (ahem) cup of tea. It’s also not a diet friendly drink. Though tea itself – both green and black – has a lot of health benefits, a single serving of boba tea, thanks to a hefty dose of sugar and carbs, can run up to 500 calories or more.
Today, for no apparent reason that I can determine, is National Bubble Tea Day, which seems as good a reason as any for me to seek out this treat and scratch it off my list.
They say all good things must come to an end, and such is the case with the stretch of lovely spring weather we’ve been enjoying of late. Today will be on the cooler side, with highs only reaching into the mid-to-high 50s. There will be rain in the morning, followed by clouds in the afternoon.
In the headlines…
The House yesterday adopted a Senate-approved budget plan, the first step in a strategy that would allow Republicans to fund federal immigration agencies through the rest of President Trump’s term without the help of Democrats.
House Republicans succeeded in harnessing the special budget power to advance up to $75 billion for the immigration enforcement agencies Democrats refuse to fund without new guardrails — bringing Congress closer to ending the DHS shutdown.
Speaker Mike Johnson quashed a rebellion over the farm bill to allow the House to adopt a budget blueprint for a second reconciliation bill that would fund immigration enforcement.
An appeals court declined to rehear President Trump’s challenge to an $83.3 million verdict for defaming magazine writer E. Jean Carroll.
Oil prices continued to surge today, hitting a fresh wartime high above $126 a barrel on concerns that the war in Iran could escalate, leading to a longer disruption of fuel supplies from the Middle East.
After surging more than 13% in 24 hours, the price of Brent crude futures reached its highest price since the war began on 28 February. Not since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has Brent topped $120, with the price then peaking at $139.
Trump maintained his stance that the naval blockade of Iran’s ports would persist until Tehran gives up its nuclear program, suggesting the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trading route for oil and natural gas supplies, isn’t nearing a resolution.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth castigated members of Congress in both parties for questioning the war in Iran, during a contentious Capitol Hill hearing dominated by a conflict that the Pentagon said had cost $25 billion and 14 American lives so far.
Republicans see a clear win in yesterday’s Supreme Court decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional maps and that victory could keep them in control of the House after November’s election.
The Supreme Court, in a major 6-3 decision, struck down Louisiana’s majority-black House district and weakened the Voting Rights Act, giving Republicans a chance to rewrite the congressional maps, particularly in Southern states.
For some civil rights leaders who have watched what they describe as the rise and fall of the Voting Rights Act over time, the Supreme Court’s decision felt like an abrupt end to decades of political progress.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a direct assault on the promise of the Voting Rights Act. It risks disenfranchising millions of Americans along racial lines and weakening the very foundation of our democracy,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a post on X .
Jerome H. Powell capped off his tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve with the most divisive policy meeting in decades, as three officials suggested the central bank should more directly signal the Fed’s next move could just as likely be a rate increase as a cut.
For the third time this year, the Federal Reserve said it is holding interest rates at their current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. However, four Fed officials dissented from the consensus, the most in 34 years.
Powell said he will stay on the Board of Governors for an indefinite period – the first time a Fed chair will remain on the board as a governor since 1948 – while a probe into the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters continues.
“I worry these attacks are battering this institution and putting at risk the things that really matter to the public,” Powell said in remarks at a press conference after the Fed announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
An analysis of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s newly released tax and public calendar information indicates she spent all or part of at least 162 days last year in New York City.
Hochul and state leaders appear to be approaching a deal on immigration, but a final deal likely won’t include provisions to limit informal cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration agents.
Some 17 current and former legislators admitted they knew all along that the Empire State’s green energy law would send costs soaring but want to ram the policy through anyway.
An arm of the state Board of Elections will be in state Supreme Court tomorrow to defend a decision last month to deny campaign matching funds to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman and his running mate.
Blakeman dared Hochul to come to Long Island to debate after her campaign sent her running mate, former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, on an “anti-Blakeman” press tour.
Assemblywoman Larinda Hooks (D-Queens) is pushing proposed legislation that would force energy companies to keep the lights on for legislators even if they don’t fork over their dough while they aren’t getting paid due to a late budget.
Students across New York were unable to log in to the digital platform for the state’s grades 3-8 math exam yesterday morning, raising fresh questions about the transition to computer-based assessments.
Mamdani’s decision to endorse Lindsey Boylan in the special election for New York City Council District 3 was reportedly made on the advice of his close political adviser Morris Katz.
Mamdani announced a campaign to encourage New Yorkers to testify at upcoming Rent Guidelines Board meetings as the board considers whether to deliver on Mamdani’s campaign promise of a rent freeze.
The mayor and his Office of Mass Engagement commissioner, Tascha Van Auken, both stressed that the initiative is about civic engagement more broadly. They did not explicitly advocate for the rent freeze.
Mamdani said the initiative by his Office of Mass Engagement won’t push his political agenda and will seek input from both tenants and landlords, but real estate advocates argue it’s a “pressure campaign” to deliver on his freeze-the-rent campaign promise.
When Mayor Mamdani announced that he was creating an office to overhaul New York City’s policing of mentally ill people, one part of his plan to change domestic violence prevention efforts quietly sparked a behind-the-scenes uproar.
A community meeting at the lefty Park Slope Food Coop over a proposed boycott of Israeli goods erupted into chaos on Tuesday night after a member declared, “Jewish supremacism is a problem in this country,” and compared Jews to Nazis.
Mamdani said he would urge King Charles III to return a massive crown jewel to India if the two were to speak privately — a comment marking the first tinge of animosity in an otherwise warm stateside royal visit.
The stone has become a point of contention between England and India, which was under colonial rule for two centuries until the end of World War II. A spokesperson for the royal family declined to comment on Mamdani’s remarks.
Mamdani met the King briefly and the visit appeared cordial. The mayor was all smiles as he shook hands with Charles, though hours earlier had said he wanted to demand the king return a crown jewel diamond that symbolizes bloody British colonialism.
On at least one planning document viewed by The New York Times for the king’s visit to Harlem Grown, an urban farming nonprofit in Harlem, “Mayor Mamdani” was listed as a participant in the tour. Mamdani did not appear at the event.
Street closures and an enhanced police presence were evident across Manhattan yesterday as King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited NYC as part of their diplomatic tour to the U.S.
Manhattan thoroughfare Park Avenue will be reimagined as a pedestrian-friendly destination with a walkable greenspace down its center — complete with benches and maybe even a bike lane, according to new renderings released yesterday.
The MTA is barreling toward a Long Island Rail Road strike as the agency remains deadlocked with a group of unions over pay increases and changes to work rules.
Lawyer Joseph Corozzo Jr. has been booted from another organized crime case, after a judge in Brooklyn ruled he was too personally connected to his Gambino-linked client — who compared the lawyer to Tom Hagen from The Godfather.
Costco has posted dozens of job listings ahead of the opening of its new warehouse in Guilderland. The 163,000-square-foot warehouse is projected to open in August and employ over 150 people, according to developer Pyramid Management Group.
Last fall, the Capital Region had three locations of Blaze Pizza. Today there is one. The Blaze Pizza in a standalone building in Village Plaza, across from Clifton Park Center mall, closed recently after almost eight years.
Schenectady County Legislator Omar Sterling McGill is expected to announce Sunday afternoon that he plans to run for mayor of the Electric City, in what could be a crowded field for next year’s election.
On his way out of local politics, Republican Rensselaer County Legislator Wayne Gendron isn’t at ease with the state of government oversight.
The SUNY Board of Trustees approved Nicole Reaves as the eighth president of SUNY Schenectady County Community College, placing her in charge of a once-thriving two-year school that has seen enrollment declines over the past decade.
As local artists heaved a sigh of relief, Hudson Valley Community College leaders announced the college will buy the Massry Center for the Arts on the former College of Saint Rose campus.
Drivers in the Capital Region may have spotted a sleek new gray-colored, two-door New York State Police vehicle on the road this week. The vehicle, a Ford Mustang GT, is the newest addition to the State Police’s patrol fleet.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
