A snowstorm is rolling into the city and suddenly Zohran Mamdani is facing his first real mayoral stress test: do you give New York City a real, old-school snow day… or do you hit the big red “REMOTE LEARNING” button and let chaos unfold on Wi-Fi? We’ll break down why this decision is harder than it sounds, how shockingly rare a true NYC snow day actually is, and why the words “log in” strike more fear than sleet ever could. Then, a reminder that cash is a budget with an expiration date—because once it’s gone, it’s gone, and your debit card does not feel shame the way folded bills do. And finally, today’s Honorable Mention takes a hard left across the Atlantic, where historic love letters—written by royals, rogues, and romantics who somehow survived without read receipts—are going on display at The National Archives. Proof that long before texting ruined romance, people were pouring their hearts out with ink, paper, and absolutely no autocorrect.

In the headlines on #TheUpdate this Thursday, striking Big Apple nurses and the major hospital systems they’re battling are expected to return to the bargaining table, the staffers’ union revealed as the work stoppage reached its 10th day.

A judge threw out the boundaries of the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ordering the state to redraw its borders because its current composition unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.

And in the world of weather, warm Arctic waters and cold continental land are combining to stretch the dreaded polar vortex in a way that will send much of the United States a devastating dose of winter weather later this week with swaths of painful subzero temperatures, heavy snow and powerline-toppling ice.