Good morning, it’s Friday
First up, a programming note: There will be no “Rise and Shine” this coming Monday, May 25, given the Memorial Day holiday.
As mentioned yesterday, it’s going to be a bit of a bust of a weekend, weather-wise. If you were planning on the traditional summer kick-off activities (picnic, parade, beach, hiking, BBQ etc.), you might want to consider alternative plans – or, at the very least, dress a heck of a lot warmer than you normally would.
Today will be the best of the lot, with highs in the low 70s (best case scenario) and partly cloudy (or partly sunny, if you’re a more optimistic sort) skies. Saturday and Sunday will see highs only in the 50s, with cloudy skies both days and rain in the morning on Sunday.
Monday – Memorial Day proper – will be a repeat of today – 70s, clouds, etc.
Since we won’t be together on the holiday, now seems as good a time as any to do a little refresh on the whys and wherefores of Memorial Day, which is about a lot more than just ushering in the summer vacation season.
Memorial Day dates back centuries and got its start as Decoration Day, which was held in the years following the Civil War to honor fallen soldiers by laying flowers and wreaths and their graves. This practice was fairly common in both the North and the South, which has caused a number of communities across the nation to insist that they were the first to establish this observance.
As far as Congress is concerned, the “birthplace” of Memorial Day is none other than Waterloo, NY, and was a tradition reportedly was started by a local druggist named Henry C. Welles in 1866.
This story may well be apocryphal, according to a number of historians and experts.
But that hasn’t stopped Waterloo from continuing to perpetuate the myth, claiming on its official town website that it held the nation’s “first formal, village wide, annual observance of a day dedicated to honoring the war dead.” The community continues to take its Memorial Day celebrations very seriously, decorating Civil War graves and hosting a parade and re-enactment.
Memorial Day officially became a federal holiday in 1971, which is when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, passed in 1968, took effect, moving the traditional May 30 observance to the final Monday of the month, creating a three-day weekend for government employees.
Unlike Veterans Day, which honors the living AND deceased members of the Armed Forces, Memorial Day is all about remembering those to died in the line of duty. It is a somber affair, and so wishing someone a “happy” Memorial Day is kind of gauche – not that you would, of course, I’m just saying.
In the headlines…
Congressional Republicans are lashing out over a nearly $1.8 billion fund created by the Department of Justice (DOJ) this week to give payouts to those who claim to have been the target of a “weaponized” government.
Senate Republicans, after the president targeted two of their own, stood up to Trump on two of his biggest priorities: money for his White House ballroom, and a $1.8 billion fund to reward Trump supporters who claim political persecution by Democrats.
House Republicans yesterday abruptly canceled a vote on a resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after it became clear they lacked the votes to defeat the measure.
A draft autopsy report released by the DNC yesterday sent shock waves through the party as it reflects on former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 election loss, which it blames in part on decisions made throughout the Biden administration.
Rep. Marc Veasey, a Texas Democrat, said that he thought DNC Chair Ken Martin should “move on” following the botched rollout of the report, the findings of which Martin said he did not endorse, but released anyway in the name of transparency.
Martin is facing growing backlash over his handling of the flawed and incomplete postmortem, which he released only after months of pressure from within his own party.
A New York Times/Siena poll found a lot more common ground than one might expect within the Democratic coalition — a group defined here as Democrats, Democratic-leaning independents and independents who voted for Harris.
A surprisingly clear majority of the Democratic coalition is mostly fine with where the party stands on the issues overall. Only 20 percent say it’s “too far” to the left; only 17 percent say it’s “too far” to the right.
One of NASCAR’s most renowned drivers, Kyle Busch, has died at age 41 after being hospitalized with a severe illness yesterday. No cause of death was revealed.
“We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport’s greatest and fiercest drivers,” NASCAR said in a statement posted to X.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are considering pledging $175 million to help developers build a platform over train tracks at the long-delayed Atlantic Yards project, according to five people with knowledge of the plan.
Hochul’s administration has agreed to pension changes expected to cost around $557 million annually affecting over 830,000 public employees statewide, that will also change the retirement age for teachers and lower benefit contribution rates for workers.
Hochul this week announced what she called a “historic” economic milestone for the new Buffalo Bills Highmark Stadium, saying more than $490 million has been paid to minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) during construction.
Health care and LGBTQ advocacy groups are calling on state lawmakers to pass a bill requiring insurers in to cover gender-affirming care in New York, regardless of federal policy changes.
A proposal to levy a new tax on all-cash real estate transactions over $1 million in New York City is likely to be dropped from the state budget.
New York will provide non-citizens with a slate of new protections against federal immigration officers, who will also face certain restrictions and accountability measures under legislation set to be approved yesterday.
While school-age MMR vaccination rates are estimated by the federal CDC to be around 98% in New York, state data show coverage among some of the state’s youngest children, aged 2 and under, is below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity.
New York state is seeing a sharp, three-year drop in overdose deaths, with new provisional federal figures showing thousands of lives saved since 2022.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani launched a recurring Twitch series called “Talk With the People,” where he will answer questions from New Yorkers in real time on a platform better known for gaming than government.
The series will also be available on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other major social platforms. “With the launch of ‘Talk with the People,’ we’re bringing City Hall directly to the platforms where New Yorkers already spend their time,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani’s attempt to connect with Gen Z voters during his first Twitch stream exposed a generational divide, as the progressive leader admitted he’d never played Minecraft, struggled with internet slang and appeared unfamiliar with modern rap culture.
During the broadcast, which was also available on other social media platforms, numerous Twitch viewers questioning why there were no moderators in the chatroom, as spam and explicit messages filled the message board.
Mamdani was given a hard lesson on how livestreams can go wrong — as trolls bombed Hizzoner’s weekly Twitch chat show with a hail of penis drawings.
Mamdani’s administration announced it recovered more than $9 million in unpaid idling fines tied to Amazon’s delivery network, a day after its founder, Jeff Bezos, criticized New York City’s taxes, school spending, and Mamdani’s approach to wealthy residents.
Some lucky New York City residents will soon get a chance to snag cheap seats to this summer’s high-priced World Cup. Mamdani announced that 1,000 tickets costing $50 will be made available to residents for the world’s most watched sporting event.
Mamdani announced a deal that will allow residents of NYC to buy 1,000 World Cup tickets for $50 each. And before he even finished his news conference, New Jersey officials made it clear what they thought of an arrangement that leaves them out.
The World Cup doesn’t kick off for another month — but tensions over how to police it are already flaring in New York City.
U.S. men’s national team winger Tim Weah appeared at an event with Mamdani, where the city announced access to 1,000 tickets to matches at the upcoming World Cup finals priced at $50, which will be distributed by ballot to residents.
Mamdani said Wednesday night’s storm, which flooded parts of Brooklyn and Queens, was so intense the amount of rain it dropped overwhelmed the city’s sewer system.
Mamdani quietly attended the Knicks’ Game 2 win over the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden last night — paying face value for tickets near a section that boasted $700 seats.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned Mamdani about his hard-left vision for the Big Apple, warning the millennial mayor that he can relentlessly preach morality and ideology — but if the city keeps struggling, he’s failing to do his job.
Mamdani has mandated over two dozen policy changes aimed at bolstering the city’s sanctuary laws protecting immigrants, including requiring city agencies to provide more training for workers and stepped-up reporting of interactions with ICE.
Mamdani’s decision not to reappoint certain judges—despite favorable recommendations from a judicial vetting committee—set off ongoing debate within New York’s legal community over whether the process is becoming politicized or more inclusive.
Polling numbers published show former City Comptroller Brad Lander heartily beating incumbent U.S. Representative Dan Goldman in the upcoming Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District.
Wear and tear from a rough winter caused chunks of concrete and sheet metal to fall onto the Trans-Manhattan Expressway in two frightening episodes earlier this month, the head of the Port Authority said.
A national Jewish civil rights group is demanding that the Park Slope Food Coop Board protect Jewish members from “intimidation, retaliation, social targeting, and coercive pressure” ahead of a vote on a proposed boycott of Israeli products.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating the owners of an Inwood apartment building with more than 100 housing code violations where a deadly fire broke out earlier this month, a spokesperson said.
IBM says it plans a major expansion of its Albany operations after the federal government awarded the company and GlobalFoundries a combined $1.375 billion in grants for quantum computing.
Police were called and board members stepped out of a public meeting to speak in private — again — at a Schuyler Heights Fire District board of commissioners meeting Wednesday night.
Albany County turned down a $2.6 million request from Mayor Dorcey Applyrs to fund major parts of her agenda, including the Office of Violence Prevention and an expansion of the ambassador program designed to make downtown Albany more welcoming.
The owner of the former Kenwood Convent site in Albany has filed an application with regulators as they seek to connect a mixed-use retail and residential complex to the electrical grid that would include a data center.
John Williamson, a Black member of the Common Council, has accused the Albany Police Department this week of racially profiling him during a traffic stop on Clinton Avenue. Police Chief Brendan Cox vociferously rejected the claim.
Hedley Park Place, home of Troy City Hall, and other sites in the downtown area were emblazoned with spray paint referencing Flock Safety automated license plate readers — a heated subject in the city over the last three months.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
