The Lightning Rod issue is related to the Governor’s race

Good morning. Today is Thursday. We’ll look at how the issue of abortion divides the two main party candidates for governor. We’ll also learn why dolphins are back in New York Harbor.

Wednesday, the ninth day of summer, is the first day of the fall gubernatorial campaign. And a divisive issue between the Democratic and Republican candidates, emerging from their victory celebrations following Tuesday’s primaries, was immediately apparent: abortion.

In reality, as my colleague Nicholas Fandos notesconfetti was still falling in the rain at Governor Kathy Hochul’s victory party as she articulated an emerging message during her campaign as the Democratic candidate: If the Republicans win, he may try to restrict abortion rights in New York.

That Republican was Representative Lee Zeldin of Long Island, who said nothing in his own victory speech about abortion or the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade case.

It was not an accident. In New York, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, Zeldin needed to recruit voters from outside his conservative base – independents and displeased with Democrats. owners worry about crime and inflation.

Hochul hopes to convince the bloc itself that Zeldin’s views are harsher than he admits, especially when it comes to women’s right to abortion.

The issue is likely to become unusually strong in New York, which had widely legalized abortion three years before Roe. Since then, New Yorkers have never elected a governor who opposes legalized abortion.

Zeldin has regularly voted in Congress to limit access to abortion and prevent federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood. He told a virtual “town hall” sponsored by the anti-abortion group New York State Right to Live in April that he supported the naming of a state health commissioner who “respects life is the opposite of what we are used to”, according to an audio recording of the event obtained by NY1.

And after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was issued last week, he said it was “another reminder that New York needs to do much better to promote, respect and protect life”.

Zeldin himself has said that the governor’s power to change New York’s abortion laws is relatively limited, given the Democratic Party’s control of the Legislature in Albany. “New York has codified more than what Roe offers,” he said in a recent interview with The New York Times, an explicit reference to the 2019 law that made federal protections the part of state law in the case of Roe being debunked.

By pledging $35 million in funding to promote access to abortion, Hochul demonstrated that governors can reinforce the message that New York is a safe haven for women wanting an abortion. And with millions of campaign donations to spend between now and November, she and her Democratic allies aren’t hiding their strategy.

“You have radical views held by Lee Zeldin, and we’re not going to keep that a secret,” said Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state’s Democratic Party. “Voters need to know what they’re buying.”

Weather

A sunny day is forecast at highs near the 80s. At night, it will be clear with lows in the 70s.

PARKING OUTSIDE

Valid until Monday (Independence Day).

The reporter who wrote that story – William J. Broad – tell me that the report of the return of dolphins in our backyard is a respite from the many months since President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine and put Russia’s nuclear weapons in place” special combat readiness”.

I asked him to tell us more about the dolphins and the researchers who eavesdropped on them.

Eavesdropping on dolphins? What are the researchers listening to?

Dolphin – type famous for their grin and energetic leaps – are highly intelligent creatures that use sound waves to communicate and hunt for food. Scientists have discovered that they can emit a rapid series of clicks known as feeding buzzes help them track their prey. Day and night for two years, the team listened to the bottlenose dolphins’ unique humming as a way to track their whereabouts.

Where did they put the microphone and what did they find?

Team Setting underwater microphones and recorders at six locations off Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey to listen to exceptional feeding sounds. It Find Dolphin activity is highest in Lower Bay off Long Island, particularly near the outer entrance to New York Harbor. The least active was found near Manhattan, in the Upper Bay off Brooklyn, in an area with high traffic and noise.

What unexpected places around New York have seen dolphins?

Last year, a couple shows in the waters of the East River off Greenpoint, Brooklyn, leaving viewers and scientists gaping in awe. Sometimes dolphins come close to shore and run aground when sick. But Howard RosenbaumA senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, who co-authored a recent study, said the couple showed no signs of distress.

Can you see dolphins on periodic cruises through New York Harbor or from the Staten Island Ferry?

Probably not, especially in areas with high train traffic. Dolphins appear to avoid the hum of many noisy engines. My wife and I recently went on a Circle Line cruise with our visiting daughter and her husband. When we got to the Statue of Liberty, it was like a traffic jam in Manhattan, just with all sorts of crafts large and small jostling and crisscrossing each other for a better view. We did not see dolphins.

On the other hand, several companies offer whale and dolphin sightseeing tours in and around New York Harbor. I can’t vouch for the companies, but it looks like they’ll go out of business if they don’t deliver on a regular basis.

Why do dolphins reappear? Is it the fruit of all the efforts to make the water cleaner?

Expert Citation clean up New York Harbor as a major factor but admits the general reason for the dolphin resurgence is murky. Other possible factors include warming water due to climate change and rehabilitation menhaden reserves along the East Coast. Dolphins eat small school fish, eating up to 20 pounds a day.

Is it possible that the coronavirus pandemic was behind the increase in sightings?

Yes, at least partially. Those who have never spent time on the riverbank find themselves hiking and can’t help but notice when a dolphin emerges nearby. Maxine Montello, an official at New York Marine Rescue Center, says another source of chance sightings during the pandemic is that people show a renewed interest in sailing — even if they have little or no experience. As she notes, it can be scary out there.

METROPOLITAN . Diary

Bird watching

Dear Diary:

Against the iron fence near the Town of Stuyvesant
I leaned over and watched a flock of birds soar
Exploit the summer sky and leisurely
Equally, as if they had been netted
The particles of a diffused mind.
Which roof has landed, which city’s roof is flat?
A bird alone, against the common will,
Slide closer to a cloud and a ravishing part
The space that she has become her own.
Then I took her away, more than a thousand meters away,
In the long time since extinguished
Mute against the grist, for my friend.

– Herbert Klein