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Weather: Early rain with scattered showers throughout the day. High around 50. Strong winds.
Parking on the alternate side: Suspended today for Holy Thursday, tomorrow for Good Friday and during the weekend for Passover.
Pot lovers, rejoice: New York has officially legalized the recreational use of marijuana.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday signed a law that made New York the last state to legalize recreational weed, positioning it to quickly become one of the largest legal cannabis markets in the country.
The new law ends years of failed attempts to make marijuana legal in the state. It includes provisions to reinvest millions of dollars in tax revenue from the sale of cannabis in minority communities that have been devastated by the war on drugs.
[New York legalizes recreational marijuana, tying move to racial equity.]
Here’s what you need to know:
What is now legal
Individuals are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of recreational cannabis, or 24 grams of concentrated forms of the drug, such as oils.
New Yorkers are allowed to smoke marijuana anywhere it is permitted to smoke tobacco, although localities and a new state agency may restrict where it can be smoked in public. It is still illegal to smoke weed in schools, workplaces, or a car, and in New York, it will be banned in parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas, and playgrounds, all places where smoking is prohibited.
What will ultimately be legal
Over the next few months, other changes will come into effect.
People will eventually be able to consume marijuana at “consumption sites,” have the drug delivered to their homes, and grow up to six plants for personal use.
Dispensaries will not open for more than a year and localities may refuse to allow them. (The New York Post reported on Wednesday that several Long Island mayors have already said they plan to ban the sale of marijuana in their communities.)
Why it took so long
The Democratic Party had made legalizing marijuana an annual priority since taking control of the Legislature in 2018, but efforts have collapsed each year, usually due to disagreements with Mr Cuomo.
But this year, the governor, pursued by calls for his party members to resign over multiple allegations of sexual harassment, made several concessions to push the bill over the line and secure a political victory.
“This is a historic day in New York, a day that rightes the wrongs of the past by ending harsh prison sentences, embraces an industry that will grow the Empire State’s economy and prioritize marginalized communities to may those who have suffered the most. be the first to reap the rewards, ”Cuomo said in a statement.
Time
As Cuomo searched for $ 4million book, Aides hid a damaging death toll
New York to end long-term solitary confinement in prisons and prisons
The push to vaccinate 20,000 Holocaust survivors in New York
How New York’s population expert says the city will bounce back
And finally: the pandemic brings a flood of goods to the city’s ports
Winnie Hu of The Times writes:
There were living room sets from Bob’s Discount Furniture for busy families redecorating; kitchen appliances for new home buyers; espresso machines for coffee lovers who have become their own baristas; and cases of sparkling wine from France, Spain and Italy for those who drank more when they could afford to indulge themselves.
These are just a few of the items that have filled piles of cargo containers flooding the Port of New York and New Jersey, a sprawling network of docks, terminals and open storage areas that span half a dozen of sites, since the start of the pandemic, when consumers have turned to shipping many items to complement their new home lifestyle.
“Never before have we had anything like this,” said Bethann Rooney, deputy director of port operations. “The cargo was arriving quickly and furiously in the country.”
The port, which is operated by the New York and New Jersey Port Authorities, saw its cargo volumes increase 23% each month from August to December 2020, compared to the same months in 2019.
And the stuff just keeps happening. There was no lull after the holidays this winter, with freight volume increasing 17% in January from a year earlier. In February, it was up 7%, a new high for that month.
The peak in navigation turned out to be a positive point for the port authority: the port is the only part of the agency’s vast portfolio. which flourished during the pandemic.
But surging cargo volumes created more traffic and congestion at the port and depleted equipment and supplies. And there is no indication when or if the pace of deliveries will slow down.
“We are currently operating at the breaking point,” Ms. Rooney said. “It’s going to be our normal at least for the first half of the year, and that’s what everyone is prepared to predict at this point.”
It’s Thursday – go shopping.
Metropolitan Newspaper: Ringside
Dear Diary:
The Ringling Bros. Circus was at Madison Square Garden, but all shows were sold out. I was 12 at the time, my sister was 5, and my parents owned a kosher deli restaurant in Brooklyn.
At a dinner party on a Friday my dad said we would go to the circus the following Tuesday.
When Tuesday arrived, we took the subway to Manhattan. I noticed my father was carrying a package. I asked him what it was.
“It’s not important,” he said.
Madison Square Garden was then at West 50th Street and Eighth Avenue. We got out of the metro and walked to the stage door. My father spoke to a security guard.
About 10 minutes later a man came to the door and my father followed him inside. Five minutes later, my father and the man came back and we followed them inside. My father no longer had the package.
A usher gave us seat cushions and we were told to sit on the steps next to the first two rows at ringside. The man who drove us told the usher not to disturb us. We were his special guests.
On the way home, my mom asked my dad what was in the package. He said that two weeks earlier, while talking to a client, he had mentioned that the circus was sold out.
The client had said he had a friend who was a manager at Madison Square Garden and that he would speak to him.
About a week later the client told my dad that he spoke with his friend and was able to get us in to see the circus for free, but the man wanted a special favor.
what was that? my father asked.
“A 10-pound salami,” replied the customer.
– Evelyn Oberstein
New York Today is published on weekdays around 6 a.m. register here to get it by e-mail. You can also find it on nytoday.com.
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