Someone Is Climbing the Manhattan Bridge!

It’s lazily convenient to lump these two “extremists” together. But there’s no comparison in what they’ve said and how they’ve dealt with criticism.

3:25 p.m.

covid-19

Life As You Knew It Is Coming Back to New York

By Paola Rosa-Aquino

Cuomo lifts COVID restrictions on almost all businesses.

3:15 p.m.

explainer

What We Know About the Dangerous COVID B.1.617.2 Delta Variant

By Chas Danner and Paola Rosa-Aquino

The more transmissible strain, originally discovered in India, has now spread to more than 60 countries. It could soon become dominant in the U.S.

Most Popular

1:15 p.m.

the city politic

Tali Farhadian Weinstein Donated $8.2 Million to Her Own Campaign

By James D. Walsh

Her personal contributions dwarf the millions she’d raised from Wall Street mega-donors.

12:02 p.m.

pivot

Why the CEO-Worker Pay Gap Is Wider Than Ever

By Intelligencer Staff

A clubby corporate atmosphere is a major contributing cause.

9:41 a.m.

Was anyone crying out for more fireworks?

Not to be outdone, Hearing reports that @NYGovCuomo is coordinating a fireworks display tonight in towns throughout New York State to celebrate milestone of hitting a 70% Covid vaccination rate.

Yesterday, @NYCMayor announced a ticker tape parade for essential workers July 7.

—@ZackFinkNews

9:39 a.m.

With a Week to Go, Eric Adams Turns Fire on Kathryn Garcia

By Nia Prater

After slugging it out with Andrew Yang for No. 1, the frontrunner finds a new nemesis.

9:00 a.m.

2021 elections

Virginia Is in for a Close, Expensive Governor’s Race

Terry McAuliffe has an edge, as Virginia has been trending blue. But the “businessman outsider” Glenn Youngkin has the money to keep it tight.

8:42 a.m.

Haaland is recommending that Biden reverse Trump’s massive rollback of federal land protections

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has advised President Biden to restore sweeping environmental protections to three major national monuments that had been stripped away by former President Donald J. Trump.

In a report sent to the White House earlier this month that has not been made public, Ms. Haaland recommended that Mr. Biden reinstate the original boundaries, which included millions of acres at Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante, two rugged and pristine expanses in Utah defined by red rock canyons, rich wildlife and archaeological treasures.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Spencer J. Cox of Utah confirmed Monday that Ms. Haaland had made the recommendations.

Haaland Wants to Restore Environmental Safeguards for Three National Monuments

—New York Times

8:00 a.m.

games

This Is the Biggest Challenge of Kevin Durant’s Career

By Will Leitch

If he can manage to defeat the Bucks (almost) singlehandedly, he may even quiet some of the haters.

7:00 a.m.

media

Out-of-Touch Media Elites Ignore Working-Class Biden Voters

By Eric Levitz

George Packer’s breakdown of America’s political tribes overlooks the one that just chose the president.

U.S. to Ban Dog Importations From 113 Countries for One Year

cdc

By Matt Stieb

The move comes in the wake of an increase in puppies arriving in the U.S. with falsified rabies certificates.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Apologizes for Holocaust Gaffe, But Not for Her Ignorance

More than three weeks after her deeply offensive comparison of mask mandates to the Holocaust, Greene shows how little she’s learned.

6/14/2021

Another poll shows Eric Adams ahead

New from @DataProgress:

Adams: 26%
Wiley: 20%
Yang: 16%
Garcia: 14%
Stringer: 8%https://t.co/hPFXrNPRGG

—@freedlander

U.K. Delays End of Lockdown Amid Spread of Delta COVID Variant

covid-19

By Paola Rosa-Aquino

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pushed back the easing of pandemic restrictions in the country to July 19.

Reality Winner Is Finally Out of Prison

By Sarah Jones

The NSA contractor remains in federal custody in a reentry program after getting five years behind bars for leaking secrets.

McConnell All But Admits He Would Never Confirm a Biden Supreme Court Pick

supreme court

With McConnell pledging obstruction, Democrats need to make the Supreme Court a major campaign issue for the midterms.

6/14/2021

Former NSA contractor Reality Winner has been released early from prison

Reality Winner, a former intelligence contractor jailed for leaking classified information, has been released from prison to serve her remaining sentence in a halfway house program. Winner’s attorney Alison Grinter tweeted the news this morning, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website lists Winner in custody of San Antonio’s Residential Reentry Management field office, which oversees community-based programs for incarcerated people.

“I am thrilled to announce that Reality Winner has been released from prison. She is still in custody in the residential reentry process, but we are relieved and hopeful,” Grinter tweeted in a statement. “Reality and her family have asked for privacy during the transition process as they work to heal the trauma of incarceration and build back the years lost. Her release is not a product of the pardon or compassionate release process, but rather the time earned from exemplary behavior while incarcerated.”

Reality Winner has been released from prison

—The Verge

All the Endorsements in the NYC Mayoral Race

nyc mayoral race

By Nia Prater

With the June 22 primary approaching, Democratic mayoral candidates are racking up endorsements from politicians, organizations, and celebrities.

Very Few People Voted in the Mayoral Primary This Weekend

2021 mayoral race

By Benjamin Hart

Judging by the paltry early-voting numbers so far, interest in the race is not sky-high.

GOP Senator: Democracy, Majority Rule Aren’t What Our Country Stands For

the national interest

By Jonathan Chait

Rand Paul gets a little too honest about his beliefs.

We’re Probably Getting a Fourth COVID Vaccine

covid-19

By Paola Rosa-Aquino

Novavax says its shot is safe, 90 percent effective, and will be put up for emergency-use authorization in the U.S.

‘We Have to Do What It Takes to Protect Our Delicate Democracy’

By Jessica Huseman

Texas lawmakers may leave the state to save voting rights.

Can Biden Make America Lead the Free World Again?

foreign interests

By Jonah Shepp

His Europe trip is meant to reassure allies that the U.S. is back in the business of global leadership, but long-term credibility will be a hard sell.

Eric Adams Criticized for Proposing 400-Kid Zoom Classes, Year-round School

nyc mayoral race

By Matt Stieb

His resurfaced idea, for a “full-year school year … using the new technology of remote learning” with huge Zoom classes, wasn’t received well.

Trump DOJ Even Seized Records of Top White House Lawyer in Hunt for Leaks

department of justice

By Matt Stieb

The latest abuse of power scandal within the Trump administration is a reminder of the chaos within the last White House.

Netanyahu Ousted As Prime Minister of Israel

international affairs

By Chas Danner

Naftali Bennett has been sworn in as the country’s new leader, ending Netanyahu’s 12-year reign, but the new governing coalition remains fragile.

Las Vegas Is Back, But I’m Not

sin city

By Eve Peyser

What it’s like to return to normalcy when everyone else is already there.

6/13/2021

The Great Resignation?

More Americans are quitting their jobs than at any other time in at least two decades, adding to the struggle many companies face trying to keep up with the economic recovery. The wave of resignations marks a sharp turn from the darkest days of the pandemic, when many workers craved job security while weathering a national health and economic crisis. In April, the share of U.S. workers leaving jobs was 2.7%, according to the Labor Department, a jump from 1.6% a year earlier to the highest level since at least 2000. …

Several factors are driving the job turnover. Many people are spurning a return to business as usual, preferring the flexibility of remote work or reluctant to be in an office before the virus is vanquished. Others are burned out from extra pandemic workloads and stress, while some are looking for higher pay to make up for a spouse’s job loss or used the past year to reconsider their career path and shift gears.

Forget Going Back to the Office—People Are Just Quitting Instead

—The Wall Street Journal