Part of our “News That Matters“ Series, “Weekend Update” is a weekly feature that offers brief overviews of important news that might have been overlooked in the course of a busy weekend. Here’s what you may have missed in the period January 31 through February 3, 2025.
@PASSINGS
Wolfgang Zwiener, Luger Waiter Who Built His Own Steakhouse Empire, Dies at 85
Wolfgang Zwiener, who came to the United States from Germany in 1960 and spent almost four decades working as a waiter at Peter Luger in Brooklyn before founding what became an empire of 35 steakhouses, died on January 23 at his home in Honolulu. He was 85.
Mr. Luger’s son Peter said the cause of death was lung cancer.
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse opened its doors to diners in 2004 in what was formerly the Vanderbilt Hotel, which offered the benefit of a very striking main dining room with vaulted ceilings, tiled in blue and white, a designated landmark and a glory to behold.
FBT and The Travelist Editorial Director Jonathan Spira and Publisher David Goldes were among the first patrons when Wolfgang’s opened up, situated diagonally across from their Park Avenue office. Mr. Zwiener would stand outside in his elegant suit, silk pocket square and buffed leather shoes, and his trademark crisp mustache, trimmed as straight and even above his upper lip as the teeth of a comb, and talk to passers-by, and Spira was one of those with whom he spoke. As Spira relates it, he responded to Mr. Zwiener in German, and the two hit it off. A few days later, Spira and Goldes crossed Park Avenue to enter Mr. Zwiener’s inner sanctum and were enthralled by just about everything.
A sign advising of a park closure in the Northport (Long Island) Nautical Mile
@COVID
Five Years Since Covid Was Declared a Public Health Emergency in U.S., Thousands are Still Dying Monthly
Although Friday marked half a decade since the SARS-CoV-2 was declared a public health emergency by the United States, the virus is still killing thousands each month across the globe, statistics reveal. The world has partially learnt to live with Covid, but it’s far from having become trivial.
Focus on Long Covid
Researchers are still unpacking how SARS-CoV-2 affects brain function and what its lasting impact on cognitive health is. Long Covid remains an unsolved puzzle, with no consensus on how to treat or prevent the condition. One thing is clear: Most of the tens of millions of Long Covid patients worldwide find themselves adrift without a paddle and with a lack of any real diagnostic criteria.
@CHINESE NEW YEAR
Year of the Snake Celebrated by Over 1 Billion People Worldwide
The Lunar New Year, also referred to as the Chinese New Year, the Korean and the Vietnamese New Year, among others,began last week.
This marks the start of the Year of the Wood Snake in the Chinese zodiac. The 15-day celebration, observed by billions across the world, begins with the new moon and concludes with the Lantern Festival on February 12. The Chinese government anticipates nine billion trips during the 40-day travel period, marking the world’s largest annual human migration.
The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year zodiac cycle. It symbolizes wisdom, growth, and transformation, and people born in snake years are traditionally regarded as charismatic, intelligent, and creative, but also strategic, mysterious, and stubborn.
The holiday is celebrated with family gatherings and reunions, red decorations, and red envelope gifts.
@DEADLINE
TRUMP’S TARIFFS
President Donald Trump on Saturday, via multiple executive orders, slapped brutally high tariffs on the United States’ two closest trading partners, both monetarily and geographically, as well as a somewhat lower tariff on goods from China. The 25% tariffs apply to everything from Canada and Mexico, save for Canadian energy imports such as gas and oil, which will see a 10% tariff. In retaliation,
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced a 25% tariff that affects $155 billion in U.S. goods, warning Trump that “the better path is to partner with Canada, not to punish us,” while the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, also promised that her country would put retaliatory tarriffs in place. A trade war seems imminent, as Trump’s executive orders allow for the United States to bump up tariffs in the event of retaliatory tariffs from Canada, China, or Mexico.
Brunch at Kaffeehaus Schloß Spira
@BRIEFLY NOTED
If Eggs Crack, Make Omeletes
American consumers are truly feeling shell shocked as egg prices continue to soar. The higher costs come as farmers are being forced to contend with avian flu outbreaks. The ever-increasing prices pose a political problem for President Trump, who won the election, in part, by hammering Biden for rising food costs, specifically promising that, if elected, Trump himself would see the price of eggs lowered.
Mapmakers Are Lost Over Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ Order
Pity the mapmaker. For centuries, he has labeled the ocean basin known as the Gulf of Mexico thusly. In January, President Trump issued an executive order changing the name to the Gulf of America, although that order is only binding on federal agencies. Now mapmakers face myriad questions: When should they update? Will the change affect the entirety of the gulf? Is the change binding just on the U.S. portion? Should the change be reflected for everyone, or only for Americans? Unfortunately for the cartographer set, there are no answers, just these and more questions.
Apple Watch Series 4 with Infograph watch face
Civil Servants Ask, But What If We Don’t Want to Go Back…
Many federal employees are unhappy with President Trump’s demand that they return to the office five days a week, with many of the disgruntled workers making other plans and publicly discussing how to work less and “relax” more. Workers said they would use more leave, find more distractions in the office to lower productivity, and take advantage of the nice open-office environment for extensive socializing with co-workers.
Apple to Compensate Early Apple Watch Owners in Lawsuit Settlement
Apple said that it has reached a $20-million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging that certain early Apple Watch models suffered from a battery defect that caused screens to detach or crack. The suit accused Apple of manufacturing the original, Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 Apple Watches without allowing for sufficient internal space to accommodate normal battery swelling.
Jesse Sokolow, Timothy Perry, Jonathan Spira, Kurt Stolz, and Anna Breuer contributed to this issue of Friday Update.
(Photos: Accura Media Group)
