Good morning, it’s Tuesday and Fall is officially falling into place this afternoon when the Autumnal Equinox arrives at 5:05 p.m., marking the astronomical (which is different than meteorological, remember) start of the season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Recall that an “equinox” occurs two times a year and is when the the sun crosses the celestial equator – an imaginary line in the sky that mirrors the Earth’s equator. Given that the word derives from The word equinox comes from Latin words maequus (equal) and nox (night), it stands to reason that this is the 24-hour period when the length of the day and the night are the same.
So both hemispheres receive about the same amount of sunlight on this day, which occurs because the Earth is at a point in its rotation when its axis does not point away from the sun.
The bad news is that after today, the Northern Hemisphere starts to tilt slightly AWAY from the sun, which brings us increasingly shorter days and longer nights until we reach the shortest day of the year – the Winter Solstice, Monday, Dec. 21., at 3:50 p.m. – and start to slowly claw our way back toward summer once again.
The Autumnal Equinox, aside from being a seasonal and astronomical moment, is traditionally a (second) harvest festival.
Around the world, there are a variety of festivals and observances around this time of year – including Mabon, which is a pagan and Wiccan holiday, and Higan, which means “the other shore.” This is a Japanese Buddhist ceremony observed on both the spring and fall equinoxes to honor ancestors and symbolize the crossing from existence to enlightenment.
Michaelmas, which falls a little latter – on Sept. 29 – is another example. It’s the Christian feast of St. Michael the Archangel (or, in modern-day parlance, Feast of St. Michael and All Angels), when it is common to eat roast goose and blackberries.
For our part, we’ll be all about all things pumpkin spice and apples and gourds until we turn our attention to the spooky-sweet topics of October and then it’s full-tilt into the holiday season, which will be here before you know it. Is it too soon to start the Winter Solstice countdown? (For all you snow and cold lovers out there, it’s 92 days away, formally speaking).
Fall-like weather is definitely here, with cooler nights and still a hint of warmth during the day.
We’ll see considerable cloudiness today, with temperatures topping out in the mid-60s. Thankfully, there’s no rain in the forecast. However, the first nor’easter of the fall is developing and could batter parts of the East Cost with high winds, heavy rain, and potential flooding.
In the headlines…
Three news organizations whose journalists were banned from the White House last week are suing President Donald Trump and three top advisers, calling the abrupt lockout a “direct assault on the First Amendment.”
The emergency lawsuit by POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW seeking to lift President Trump’s ban on White House access has landed in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in his first term.
Asked about his effort to ban journalists from certain outlets from the White House grounds, Trump claimed, falsely, that members of the press “said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me.”
President Trump launched his counter assault to a decision by the major TV networks to boycott his White House events — Trump TV.
China’s restrictions on exports of crucial rare-earth metals and rare-earth magnets remain one of the most difficult unresolved issues as President Trump and Xi Jinping prepare to meet this week.
A distinctly Cold War calculus is looming over this week’s Trump-Xi summit in Washington, as the U.S. and China weigh an emergency “red phone” for the day AI goes haywire.
The cryptocurrency industry, furious at Democrats for blocking the passage of a major business-friendly bill last week, is beginning to wage war on the party’s midterm candidates.
At least five airports along the East Coast, including four that serve the New York region, experienced significant ground stops on Monday after a radio communications system in Philadelphia and its backup failed.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at Newark, LaGuardia and JFK International Airports Monday morning due to an equipment outage, according to an agency advisory.
Princeton University is no longer No. 1. U.S. News & World Report, which had put Princeton atop its college rankings for 15 years, announced Tuesday that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had seized the top spot.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is looking to create a stark contrast with the federal government when it comes to how aggressively the state is policing artificial intelligence.
By the new year, A.I. developers will be required to register and provide regular reporting with the state’s new Office of Digital Innovation, Governance, Integrity, and Trust (DIGIT), which will oversee general compliance of new regulations.
Hochul said the state will look at additional ways to build on the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, including examining what she called AI “kill switches.”
Union leaders rallied in Lower Manhattan earlier this month to urge Hochul to opt New York out of a federal program offering up to $1,700 in tax credits for donations to scholarships that can be used as funding for private education.
Hochul announced $80 million in grants to reduce flooding, improve water quality and strengthen infrastructure statewide, with several locations in the southern tier seeing a chunk of the funding.
A new report from the state comptroller’s office found the rise in mobile sports betting has been accompanied by a surge in problem gambling as wagering on apps accounts for an increasing share of state gaming revenue.
Dru Rai, the private-sector technologist who has been CIO and director of the New York State Office of IT Services for three years, announced Monday he is stepping down effective immediately.
An association that opposes legislation seeking to establish a three-member board that would recommend a minimum wage for New York cannabis workers said survey data shows pay in the industry already exceeds that of other job sectors.
President Trump loves Gracie Mansion – and he thinks its current occupant, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has “great potential” to be an all-time great mayor too.
Emerging together after the roughly one-hour meeting, Mamdani and Trump chatted closely and informally before walking slowly to a lectern with the mayoral seal and beginning a joint news conference that the president had not been scheduled to attend.
Mamdani says the city is “sincerely invested and committed” to building Sunnyside Yard in Queens as an “idea” but didn’t provide any details about the timeline or dollar figure required to make the project happen.
Mamdani said he and Trump had “agreed to set up a new level of that conversation between our housing and operations team at City Hall and the White House team,” during a press conference with the president following the afternoon meeting.
A $77 million cash infusion from the state to flood the subway system with extra NYPD cops has already run dry — forcing the Mamdani administration to cover the added patrols.
“Broken-windows” style policing for minor infractions increased 13% during the most recent fiscal year, half of which fell under the Mamdani administration, leading the Legal Aid Society to call out the mayor for failing to deliver on his police reform promise.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Zohran Mamdani called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” while adding that he does not have the authority to arrest him despite his campaign pledge to do so.
NYU Langone has caved to the Trump Administration — agreeing to end transgender medical care for minors and pay the US Department of Justice $8.5 million after a short fight.
The MTA is looking to upgrade its public information systems in the subways with a replacement that goes far beyond swapping out aging speakers that spew garbled announcements.
The death of a 27-year-old woman who was injected with a substance at a Bronx wellness center in July has been ruled a homicide, according to a spokeswoman from the city medical examiner’s office.
Bally’s Corporation says it remains on track to build a sprawling casino and resort complex at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, despite recently warning investors of potential financial problems.
A teenager was fatally shot at a basketball court in Far Rockaway, Queens on Monday afternoon, according to the NYPD.
Rep. Mike Lawler’s battle to hold onto his seat in a critical swing district in New York received an unexpected boost on Monday when the Republican landed an endorsement from across party lines from Rep. Jared Golden, Democrat of Maine.
Lawler has accused his Democrat foe Cait Conley of being a carpetbagger in sync with fellow lefties unpopular in his district, from Hochul to Mamdani.
Lawler is getting $6.89 million in broadcast buys from the Congressional Leadership Fund, set to hit airwaves this week.
A Trump-aligned Super PAC is spending nearly $8 million to help Republican challenger Mike LiPetri in his bid to topple Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.
Suffolk County Democratic Chair Rich Schaffer, facing a challenge to his leadership post, allegedly offered money to one committee member to ensure they show up for the vote and pressuring county Board of Elections patronage employees to vote for him.
Major structural work to tear down the Central Warehouse, the city’s biggest eyesore and a symbol of some of the intractable municipal challenges Albany has long faced, began Monday night.
There are now more homeschooled students in the Capital Region than ever before — even during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stanley Rumbough was the sole bidder on 5,800 acres of forested land in Tupper Lake. The property sold for $9.9 million in a brief auction Friday afternoon at the Franklin County Courthouse in Malone.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
