Good morning, it’s Monday.
In case you, like me, needed a reminder, Father’s Day is coming up (Sunday, June 21).
This day always gives me a little bit of anxiety, because the fathers in my life are difficult to buy for. Once upon a time, traditional gifts like ties and mugs etc. would be fine, but since they’re mostly retired (with the exception of my husband, who retired and then went back to work), those things are no longer really needed.
And honestly, how many mugs, or ties, or polo shirts, or golf tees, does one man need?
Books are always an option. Ditto art. And I’m fairly sure that most dads would tell you that what they really want is time with the people they love – especially kids and grandkids.
This year, I’m adding to the list the gift of good health, because really nothing else can be enjoyed fully without it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve watched people around me struggle to maintain their health – and in some cases, that has been a losing battle. The cruel irony of living is that the longer you get to stick around, the more loss you have to handle.
Sorry to be a bummer there.
Men, generally speaking, are less likely to pay attention to their health than women. This may be why men in the U.S., on average, live five years fewer than their female counterparts. Men suffer from higher rates of preventable chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers (skin, for example, as well as lung and colorectal) – all driven by lifestyle choices like drinking, smoking, and poor diet, according to the CDC.
Another problem men face in greater numbers than women is undiagnosed mental health conditions.
Again – they are less likely to seek help than women, which contributes to the fact that men die by suicide at about four times the rate of women. There’s a caveat here, which is that women are more likely to try to commit suicide, but men – since they more often use lethal means (like a gun) in their attempts to take their own lives, therefore more often succeed.
And despite all our medical advances and the fact that the medical research establishment for a long time focused largely on men to the expense of women, the state of men’s health is somehow getting worse instead of better.
There’s a lot of hypothesis as to why this is – aside from the aforementioned doctor visit avoidance tendencies that men have and their general lack of attention to wellness, both mental and physical. Some experts note, for example, that education is tied to health and fewer men are matriculating in college than ever before. Another problem is that average levels of testosterone, which is linked to overall health and mortality, in men have been steadily declining.
The reality, though, is that while men are perceived to be physically stronger than women, they are biologically weaker. This is not a man-hating comment, for the record, it’s just a fact. The answer isn’t rocket science: Preventative care (regular checkups), better diet, exercise, sleep and stress management.
Today kicks off Men’s Health Week, which falls in Men’s Health Month (June), and culminates in Father’s Day.
After last week’s heatwave, today is going to feel downright chilly, comparatively speaking. Highs will only reach into the low 70s, and skies will be partly cloudy.
In the headlines…
The United States and Iran agreed yesterday to a framework extending their ceasefire for 60 days, with a formal signing ceremony expected Friday and nuclear talks to follow.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that the country had finalized a memorandum of understanding with the United States after “months of long and difficult negotiations.”
The agreement could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ease pressure on global energy markets and create a window for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump turned 80 over the weekend. even for a president known for imposing his own reality on every situation, he is facing scrutiny over his age that has grown more intense with each passing year.
In one of the most surreal sporting events in history, the UFC hosted a fight card on the South Lawn of the White House yesterday attended by top GOP leaders, Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and Trump’s entire immediate family.
Even with rain and gusty winds threatening to derail the mixed martial arts card, the event mostly went on as planned with Trump watching all night from cageside next to UFC President Dana White.
At one point, the crowd even sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump as he sat in the audience.
The price tag for the U.F.C. and its affiliates was more than $60 million, far higher than a typical event. But the chief executive of U.F.C.’s parent organization, TKO Group Holdings, said the publicity was worth it.
Trump is demanding that Congress attach his sweeping voting overhaul to legislation renewing a key U.S. surveillance authority.
Top White House officials believe New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan obtained audio recordings of Situation Room meetings for their forthcoming book, “Regime Change.”
The streets of New York will be bathed in blue and orange as the city hosts a ticker-tape parade Thursday — the first in Knicks history —to celebrate the team’s NBA Championship win.
The parade will include a City Hall ceremony where the heroic hoops stars will get the keys to the city, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced.
The parade is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. near Battery Park and travel north along Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes before concluding at City Hall.
“It was incredible,” Mamdani said. “I mean, it’s hard to believe it was real, but it’s beautify to wake up to know, yes, it was, and we’re the champions.”
All of a sudden, New York seems like the center of the sports world. And the city has a mayor who is taking full advantage.
The New York Knicks’ first NBA title in 53 years drew a huge crowd outside Madison Square Garden and on the surrounding blocks, which ultimately led to dozens of arrests.
Chaos erupted overnight on Sunday as rowdy fans celebrated the New York Knicks’ championship victory, leading to several school buses set on fire, a teen shot, dozens of people arrested and at least 10 members of the NYPD injured.
In all, 15 people were arrested, including a 28-year-old man who was charged with assault for punching a police officer, officials said. Another 48 people were taken into police custody and issued summonses, the police said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul slammed Ticketmaster and the San Antonio Spurs for barring fans who live outside the San Antonio area from purchasing tickets to Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Hochul on Sunday taunted Texas about the Knicks’ hard-earned victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA finals. She told reporters she is now “basking in the glory of being the governor in the state with the greatest basketball team on the planet.
Hochul and Mamdani celebrated the Knicks’ championship at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan on Sunday. “This is our moment!” the governor said.
Hochul has dismissed concerns raised by Buffalo private sector leaders that center on development plans for a large scale North Aud block project.
Hochul was at the Buffalo Museum of Science on Friday and discussed regional investments in cities like Buffalo and affordability for families.
Hochul met with community activists and immigrant groups last week to assure them she has their back amid threats from President Trump’s border czar about sending in more ICE agents as the World Cup kicks off.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is calling for the state’s ban on fracking to be overturned.
For years, New York elections officials could help oversee contracts for voting equipment while maintaining financial relationships with the companies selling it. Now, state officials are attempting to close that loophole.
While the legislative session may be over, for those behind any of the more than 700 bills that passed both houses of the state Legislature this year, the second phase of their work is just beginning.
A coalition of state attorneys general, led by New York’s Tish James, has opened an investigation into OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest in a series of legal actions by states directed at artificial intelligence companies.
After months of planning, some griping and a few tit-for-tats, the three top Democrats from New York and New Jersey showed up to watch the World Cup — together.
In the northeastern United States, eight World Cup games, including the final, will be played in what FIFA calls “New York New Jersey.” But elected leaders from this portmanteau place are jostling over where exactly it is.
The New York City Democratic Socialists of America — a group closely aligned with Mayor Mamdani — issued a rebuke of his move to drive up the Police Department’s headcount despite his campaign trail pledge to keep NYPD numbers flat.
In a statement posted on social media, the group rebuked Mamdani for his support of a plan that would increase the NYPD head count by 580 officers, a policy it said “runs counter to the values of the socialist and working-class movement that elected him.”
A bipartisan majority of NYC Council members is demanding that Mamdani seize privately owned property in order to save a piece of Manhattan history tied to the Underground Railroad.
Mamdani scored exclusive high-priced tickets to multiple World Cup matches for free, his reps confirmed Saturday, while insisting he’s not snubbing city ethics rules.
Mamdani proposed slashing 264 school safety agents from city schools in the coming fiscal year — a reduction parent groups warn could spell disaster in the wake of rising felony assaults in schools.
Top black elected leaders from House Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries to the Congressional Black Caucus are rallying behind Rep. Adriano Espaillat as he battles a far-left candidate backed by Mamdani.
Darializa Avila Chevalier won Mamdani’s backing in her bid to unseat Espaillat. Then her social media history took center stage.
Mamdani named construction executive Celeste Ramirez as president of the New York City School Construction Authority, putting fresh leadership atop the publicly funded organization responsible for building and modernizing the city’s public schools.
Mamdani used SpaceX’s historic IPO — and founder Elon Musk’s newly minted status as a trillionaire — to push his “tax the rich” policy.
Missed your chance to snag one of Mamdani’s affordable World Cup jerseys? You might now have to pay resellers a very unaffordable price.
Knicks owner James Dolan’s dispute with New York City officials could have implications beyond the controversy surrounding a canceled public viewing party, according to radio host and former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Early voting started Saturday in New York’s Democratic primaries — with several high-profile races involving far-left insurgents backed by Mamdani aiming to take down moderate incumbents.
Ex-con “violence interrupters” hired in some of the Big Apple’s roughest neighborhoods to stop crimes before cops get involved are getting millions of dollars worth of free therapy.
Councilmember Julie Won, a Queens Democrat running for Congress, could be skirting city conflict-of-interest laws by failing to disclose that a political consultant provided her a free, long-term apartment at a condo complex, government watchdogs said.
Sharks in City Hall are circling around NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, insiders said, as the first elected official – Councilmember Phil Wong, a Queens Democrat – has publicly called for his head.
New York City’s police watchdog is probing allegations by the NYPD’s biggest union that its investigators are anti-cop radicals.
Housing debates often involve theatrics. But when a group of actors, many of whom are renters, discovered they had been hired to join a pro-landlord demonstration while portraying zombies, several said they felt deceived.
The beautiful game made an absolute mess of the Big Apple Saturday, as mass gridlock shuttered Midtown streets and left traffic snarled to make it easier for fans to get to MetLife Stadium for the region’s first World Cup match.
A Queens pilot about to take off in his seaplane from the East River near the Throgs Neck Bridge had to abandon ship when a large wave smashed into the plane, which began sinking, officials said.
A Schenectady property manager’s difficulty obtaining a certificate of occupancy is prompting a City Council discussion over how new state lead exposure regulations are being enforced in the city.
Fifteen new Albany police officers will be hitting the streets in the coming days after six months of training at the city’s police academy, which celebrated its graduation Friday.
A longtime Times Union columnist, Paul Grondahl, the founders of Yono’s and a prominent local philanthropist were among those named Citizen Laureates by the University at Albany Foundation this week.
This month’s primary for Ballston supervisor is a replay of 2025. The same candidates. The same party line. And the same big issue: development.
The iconic brownstones at Russell Sage College have a new benefactor. An anonymous donor is giving the college $10 million over the course of the next five years, partly to maintain those historic buildings.
The first major development project seeking to tap some of the $200 million in state funds devoted to revitalizing downtown Albany has been met with significant public opposition.
A donation boosted enrollment by 10% at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam. Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, who is running in the GOP House primary against Assemblyman Robert Smullen, is paying for up to 100 students to attend his alma mater.
The Duanesburg baseball team capped a historic season in style Saturday, as the Eagles broke a tie by scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth to help secure a 9-4 victory over Fillmore in the Class D state championship game at Binghamton University.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
