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PWHL 2025-26 playoff chances, projected standings and player ratings - The Athletic

Fri, 15 May 2026 00:40:50 +0000

PWHL 2025-26 playoff chances, projected standings and player ratings

Steph Chambers / Getty Images

May 13, 2026

Welcome to our PWHL projections and probabilities page, where you will find each team’s projected point total, as well as its probability of making the playoffs, advancing to the final, and winning the Walter Cup. The projections are based on 50,000 simulations of the remainder of the season, which factor each team’s projected strength, strength of schedule and home ice. Each team’s projected strength is based on the collective Offensive and Defensive Ratings of their roster. This page will be updated after every PWHL game day. All projections and probabilities are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Last updated May 6, 2026

Each team's underlying strength is based on how strong their skaters are projected to be. Each skater's value is listed below and based on their last three seasons of data in the PWHL.

May 15, 2026

Connections: Sports Edition

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See Where U.S. Sites Have Been Damaged in War With Iran - The New York Times

Thu, 14 May 2026 21:07:59 +0000

U.S. installations damaged in strikes

Iran

Israel

Oman

Jordan

Saudi
Arabia

U.A.E.

Turkey

Syria

Qatar

Iraq

Afghanistan

Persian
Gulf

Caspian
Sea

Red
Sea

U.S. Navy base
in Bahrain

Consulate
in Dubai

Embassy
in Kuwait City

U.S. base
at Erbil Airport

Radar
system

Embassy
in Riyadh

Radar
damaged
at air base

U.S. base or a base hosting U.S. forces

Air defense infrastructure

Diplomatic site

Note: Some sites shown were claimed to have been struck by Iran-aligned militias. Data are as of March 10. The New York Times

Iran has responded to the U.S.-Israeli assault on the country by launching drones and missiles at American targets across the Middle East, hitting embassies, killing U.S. soldiers, and damaging military bases and air defense infrastructure.

The New York Times has identified at least 17 damaged U.S. sites and other installations, several of which have been struck more than once since the war began. Our analysis is based on high-resolution, commercial satellite imagery, verified social media videos and statements by U.S. officials and Iranian state media.

The intensity of the retaliatory strikes has signaled that Iran was more prepared for the war than many in the Trump administration had anticipated, U.S. military officials say.

For this article, we are presenting satellite images to show the scale of the damage from Iran’s attacks on U.S. sites and installations. Many of these images have been circulating publicly on news sites and social media. But in cases where they have not been, we present the imagery we obtained from satellite image companies and show only a zoomed-out view of each location to limit the amount of detail viewable in those images.

Military sites

Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones at both U.S. and allied country military sites across the region. The United States and its allies have intercepted most of them, U.S. officials say, but at least 11 American military bases or installations have been damaged — nearly half of all such sites in the region.

On Feb. 28, the first day of conflict, Iran targeted several U.S. military facilities, including Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia; Ali Al Salem Air Base and Camp Buehring Base in Kuwait; and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. base in the Middle East.

Satellite images show extensive damage to buildings and communication infrastructure at several locations.

Ali Al Salem, Kuwait
March 1

Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
March 4

Shuaiba port, Kuwait
March 2

Camp Buehring, Kuwait
March 5

U.S. Navy 5th Fleet HQ, Bahrain
March 1

Prince Sultan, Saudi Arabia
March 1

Al Udeid, Qatar
March 9

Al Dhafra, U.A.E.
March 3

Jebel Ali port, U.A.E.
March 1

Muwaffaq Salti, Jordan
March 4

Erbil Airport, Iraq
March 1

Satellite images by Airbus DS and Planet Labs.

A video taken on March 1 shows an Iranian drone exploding near sports facilities at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. No casualties were reported.

It is difficult to estimate the full cost of damage inflicted by Iran’s retaliatory strikes. A Pentagon assessment provided to Congress last week put the cost of the single strike on the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain on Feb. 28 at about $200 million, according to a congressional official.

On March 1, an Iranian drone struck a structure housing military personnel at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait, killing six American service members.

Satellite imagery shows the roof of that building partially collapsed.

An additional U.S. service member was killed in a separate Iranian strike on March 1 at a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia, bringing the toll to seven, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

The pace of Iranian attacks has slowed since the war’s opening days, but the strikes have continued. Al Udeid Air Base, Ali Al Salem Air Base, Al Dhafra Air Base, Camp Buehring and the Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters have all been struck more than once.

Missiles launched from Iran have flown as far away as Turkey. On March 4, NATO intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, according to a senior U.S. military official. The base hosts a large U.S. Air Force contingent. Iran’s military denied firing the missile.

A second Iranian missile entered Turkish airspace and was shot down by NATO, according to a Turkish defense ministry statement on Monday.

Air defense and communication infrastructure

Among the costliest American losses to infrastructure have been to the air defense systems that protect U.S. and allied interests across the Middle East.

Iran has systematically targeted radar and communications systems, including components of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, which uses a radar to track and intercept incoming aerial threats throughout the region.

At Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, an important hub for the U.S. Air Force in Jordan, satellite imagery from February shows radar equipment at the base’s southern edge. An image taken two days after the war began shows severe damage to what appears to be an air defense sensor.

Military budget and contract documents indicate a single radar unit of this type can cost up to half a billion dollars.

A video from Feb. 28 shows an Iranian drone striking the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain, damaging what appears to be a communications radome, a weatherproof cover that protects radar and communication equipment.

Gulf nations have also bought air defense equipment from American companies and deployed them near critical infrastructure, including oil refineries. Those foreign radar systems share information with the U.S. military, forming what defense analysts describe as a de facto, expanded U.S. military sensor network.

Iran has targeted such sites where air defense equipment was recently observed, like the Al Ruwais facility in the United Arab Emirates. Satellite imagery of the site from last year shows a THAAD unit near storage structures.

A satellite image taken after Iranian attacks shows significant damage to the storage structures. The Times was unable to verify whether the mobile THAAD unit was inside the storage structures at the time of the strikes.

Near Umm Dahal in Qatar, a long range AN/FPS-132 radar — built at a cost of $1.1 billion to provide early warning coverage across a 3,000 mile radius — apparently sustained damage to its main radar structure, as seen in satellite imagery.

Umm Dahal, Qatar
Feb. 3, 2025

Radar system

Umm Dahal, Qatar
March 7, 2026

Damaged structure

Al Ruwais, U.A.E.
Aug. 13, 2025

Radar system

Al Ruwais, U.A.E.
March 1, 2026

Damaged structure

Al Sader, U.A.E.
Oct.. 22, 2025

Radar system

Hangar

Al Sader, U.A.E.
March 1, 2026

Damaged structure

Al Sader, U.A.E.
Oct. 22, 2025

Radar system

Hangar

Al Sader, U.A.E.
March 1, 2026

Damaged structure

Satellite images by Airbus DS and Planet Labs.

The full extent of damage to U.S. air defense and communication infrastructure remains unclear. Michael Eisenstadt, a director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that the affected radars would be difficult to repair or replace.

But Seth G. Jones, a president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the damage would most likely not significantly degrade U.S. military capabilities in this war. “The U.S. has such redundancy in collecting intelligence and other information from sensor networks, whether it’s land-based radars, aircrafts or space-based systems,” he said.

Diplomatic sites

Iran has also struck nonmilitary U.S. targets such as the consulate in Dubai, and embassies in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, forcing temporary closures. There have been no reported injuries in any of these attacks.

On Saturday night, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was targeted in a rocket attack. No casualties were reported. It was not immediately clear who was behind it and how much damage was caused. It is not included in The Times’s tally of damaged sites.

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, said on March 7 that Iranian ballistic missile attacks had dropped 90 percent since the first day of the conflict and drone attacks by 83 percent. Despite the declining pace, Iran has continued to strike American targets across the region.

Traveling to the U.K.? Here’s What to Know About ETAs. - The New York Times

Wed, 13 May 2026 21:53:21 +0000

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Traveling to the U.K.? You Need to Apply and Pay a Fee First.

Visitors from visa-exempt countries, including most Europeans and travelers from the U.S. and Canada, are now required to have an electronic travel authorization. Here’s what to know.

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An electronic travel authorization to enter or transit through the United Kingdom has gone into effect for all visa-exempt travelers. Credit...Matthew Childs/Reuters

By Christine Chung and Ceylan Yeğinsu

Feb. 25, 2026

This article was updated on Feb. 25, 2026, with information about who needs to apply for the travel authorization.

Travelers from the United States, Canada and most European countries who do not require visas to enter the United Kingdom now need to apply for digital authorization in order to visit or, in some cases, transit through the country.

The electronic travel authorization, called ETA and linked to a traveler’s passport, lasts two years. The requirement was introduced in late 2023 for nationals of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and four other Gulf nations and from Feb. 25 extends to all visa-exempt travelers, including those from the European Union, the United States and Canada.

Some travelers connecting through airports in the United Kingdom will also need to apply for the ETA, but only if they pass through border control.

The ETA system is part of a mission to “deliver a more streamlined, digital immigration system” that will enhance border security, according to a news release from the British Home Office.

Here’s what you need to know about the ETA and the process to apply.

It’s not a visa.

The ETA is for short-term visits under six months and only for visa-exempt travelers; the full list of applicable nationalities is available online. The ETA does not replace existing visa policies, which require citizens of dozens of countries and territories to apply for and receive a visa to enter the United Kingdom.

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New York/New Jersey World Cup host committee hires yellow school buses to slash matchday costs - The Athletic

Wed, 13 May 2026 21:01:11 +0000

The New York/New Jersey host committee has slashed the cost of its FIFA World Cup shuttle bus service to MetLife Stadium by 75 percent, reducing the fare for fans from $80 to $20 during the tournament.

The committee had previously committed to providing 10,000 bus seats for fans travelling to games at MetLife, but has now increased its inventory by hiring classic American yellow school buses.

There will be 18,000 bus seats available for the five World Cup games at MetLife, including the World Cup final on July 19, that do not take place on school days. There will be 12,000 seats available for the three group stage games at MetLife that fall on weekdays before the school year ends.

The Athletic can reveal that New York State, led by Gov. Kathy Hochul, has invested $6 million to help bring down prices, and fans who have already purchased $80 tickets will receive $60 refunds to bring their ticket cost down to $20. As a condition of the investment, Hochul told The Athletic that “around 20 percent” of bus tickets will be reserved exclusively for New York state residents who have purchased match tickets, ensuring the funding brings value to local taxpayers. According to those with knowledge of tickets purchased for games at MetLife Stadium, around 25 to 30 percent have been bought by residents of the New York/New Jersey region.

The investment by New York State was accompanied by an intervention by Highland Fleets, an American company that manages some of the largest electric school bus fleets. After witnessing the response to the original ticket pricing, Highland reached out to the office of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, asking how they might be able to support the event and help reduce costs. The mayor’s office, in turn, put Highland in touch with the New York governor’s office and Alex Lasry, the chief executive of the joint New York/New Jersey host committee. Lasry then worked with Highland and New York City School Bus Umbrella Services to secure the increased number of buses, with around 300 in total set to be in use on the busiest matchdays.

Lasry, who worked behind the scenes to secure more political and financial support for the services, said he was grateful to partners across the region “helping to make the entire World Cup experience more affordable”, insisting that “fan experience” is the host committee’s “top priority.”

The buses to MetLife will depart from three Manhattan locations: Port Authority Bus Terminal, a Midtown East location east of Grand Central Terminal and a Midtown North location west of Central Park.

Speaking to The Athletic, Highland chief operating officer Ben Schutzman said Highland’s goal of creating “affordable and accessible” bus services was in line with the objective of bringing down transport costs during the World Cup.

Upon helping to secure the bus price reductions, a spokesman for Mayor Mamdani said: “Mayor Mamdani supports any effort that makes transportation more affordable for New Yorkers — including reduced-cost buses for World Cup ticketholders. We look forward to rolling out additional free and affordable events to ensure that all New Yorkers can enjoy the World Cup.”

The NJ Transit price has also come down since first announced a month ago at $150. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill had directed NJ Transit to ensure ordinary New Jersey commuters would not carry the burden of the cost, meaning the $48 million cost of World Cup-related services to the agency would be transferred to World Cup ticket-holders rather than local taxpayers.

“Thanks to FIFA-related advertising revenue, higher-than-anticipated non-FIFA advertising revenue and additional federal grants, NJ Transit has cut the FIFA round-trip ticket from $150 to $98 — keeping Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s pledge not to pass on costs onto commuters or New Jersey taxpayers,” said Kris Kolluri, president & CEO of NJ Transit.

Sherrill claimed that FIFA, which has said it will earn revenues in excess of $11 billion from the World Cup, ought to share in the costs of public transportation during the World Cup. FIFA’s original hosting agreement with New York and New Jersey was signed during the tenure of Sherrill’s predecessor, Phil Murphy. According to documents seen by northjersey.com, New Jersey has already committed more than $300 million through all spending associated with the World Cup, a claim which is not disputed by the governor’s office.

Initially, host cities signed up to provide free public transportation for World Cup ticketholders, as was the case at the men’s World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and at the European Championship in Germany in 2024. However, in 2023, this was renegotiated to allow cities to provide at-cost services. Yet nobody at FIFA foresaw that those prices would spiral as dramatically as they did in New York and New Jersey last month.

In a media briefing in April, a World Cup transportation plan for the region forecast that 40,000 tickets per game would be available by rail, 10,000 by bus, 6,000 by ride share options, with just more than 20,000 being commercial-organized hospitality for FIFA-related hospitality, VIPs and affiliates. Despite the increased bus availability, the plan continues for 40,000 to travel by rail — meaning many fans will still be forced to spend just under $100 on a round-trip rail fare, with no reduced pricing for seniors, children or passengers with accessibility needs.

New Jersey did cut its price last week. Gov. Sherrill on Tuesday night tweeted to thank DoorDash, Audible, FanDuel, DraftKings, PSE&G, South Jersey Industries, and American Water for providing support to bring the price down — albeit still a steep cost of $98. Asked whether NJ Transit should seek to cut prices further, Gov. Hochul said: “Lowering prices is always a good policy.”

New York state took a different approach, instead choosing to dip into public funds to help reduce transportation costs. The bus shuttle service will start ferrying fans to games from Manhattan four hours prior to kickoff and will continue to run until three hours after the final whistle.

In a statement, New York State Director of Major Event Operations Justin Brannan, “Our focus on affordability and accessibility doesn’t change just because the World Cup is in town — we’re doubling down.”

Gov. Hochul told The Athletic: “This is an event we are so excited about. As New Yorkers, this whole region is anxiously awaiting the final. But then you think: ‘What does it cost to get out there?’ You can take the train, it’s more expensive. Ubers and Lyft are going to be a lot. So I thought, how can we do it better by getting people on buses? How can we just make it cheaper? They came out with the price. OK, $80. That’s a lot of money. If it’s a dad taking a child or a couple of kids over… it’s just too expensive. I’ve been driven by affordability. Everything I look at is how I, as the governor, can make life cheaper and less expensive for New Yorkers. When they said it was $80, I said we can do better. I put up some state money to drive it down. They said $60. I said no. They said $40. I said no. $20 round trip is a good price.”

Asked whether she considers the $6 million spend a necessary use of tax dollars, she says: “My answer is this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For us to spend this amount of money to allow more New Yorkers to participate in this experience and they’ll never forget, it’s worth it to me. It’s also a really spectacular summer. We’ve got America 250, we’ve got celebrations all summer long. So this is a time for us to showcase the eyes of the world are on us. But also, if I don’t make it affordable for local New Yorkers, then we failed. That’s my objective.”

The importance of the rail service is increased during the World Cup because, while there are ordinarily 23,000 parking spaces for cars available at MetLife Stadium, this number will be vastly lower during the tournament due to security demands and space requirements of the games.

Kolluri has also asked people to work from home — if they can — to help New York City and New Jersey manage the flow of passengers during the events.

Updated ticket prices for bus services will be live from 7 a.m. ET on Wednesday, while rail tickets will be available to purchase from midnight ET on Wednesday, May 13. Tickets for both services must be booked in advance by supporters.

New Jersey Transit to reduce round-trip rail prices for World Cup events to $105 - The Athletic

Wed, 13 May 2026 21:01:10 +0000

New Jersey Transit are to reduce their round-trip rail prices for World Cup events from $150 to $105 after securing support from “sponsors and other sources” which has enabled the price to be reduced by at least 30 per cent.

NJ Transit’s 18-mile journey from New York’s Pennsylvania Station to MetLife Stadium ordinarily costs $12.90 for a return ticket, but the price was hiked by more than eleven times for World Cup games at the venue.

The New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill directed NJ Transit to ensure ordinary commuters will not carry the burden of the cost, meaning that the $48m cost of World Cup-related services to the agency would be transferred to World Cup ticketholders rather than local taxpayers.

The decision to raise the prices to $150, first reported by The Athletic, provoked considerable criticism and led to a row between Gov. Sherrill and FIFA.

Speaking to The Athletic, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri confirmed: “Governor Sherrill made two broad points; first, she would not impose financial burden on New Jersey taxpayers or commuters but said the World Cup was an opportunity for New Jersey to showcase the state, the economy and its culture and we are excited to host the games.”

“Consistent with that commitment, the governor directed me to lower the cost of the tickets. We can now say we can lower the cost by at least 30 per cent or $45.”

Kolluri confirmed the funding for the new pricing, which may yet drop lower, will come from a mixture of “sponsors and other sources” after the Governor instructed the agency to seek private and non-taxpayer dollars to assist on costs. The specific identity of those funding sources has not yet been revealed, but FIFA has not been involved.

Gov. Sherrill cited FIFA’s own claim that the World Cup organizer will make $11 billion from the World Cup, while asking host cities to carry the burden of public transportation and safety costs. FIFA signed a joint hosting agreement with New York City and New Jersey during the tenure of Sherrill’s predecessor Phil Murphy, in which New Jersey agreed to take on the costs.

Following the announcement, Sherrill once again said that “FIFA should cover the cost of transporting its fans… If it won’t, we will not be subsidizing World Cup ticket holders on the backs of New Jerseyans who rely on NJ Transit every day.”

Heimo Schirgi, Chief Operating Officer for FIFA World Cup 2026, accused NJ Transit of developing a pricing model which will have a “chilling effect”, which would “increase concerns of congestion, late arrivals, and creates broader ripple effects that ultimately diminish the economic benefit and lasting legacy the entire region stands to gain from hosting the World Cup.”

Now, however, NJ Transit have responded to the criticism as The Athletic can reveal that the agency, in collaboration with Gov. Sherill’s administration, has secured sponsorship support which has enabled them to bring down the price to $105 — without impacting costs for local commuters – and they are continuing to seek additional private funding assistance to cut the price further.

Rail tickets will go live on Wednesday, May 13 and will need to be booked in advance by supporters.

The decision to raise the prices provoked considerable criticism and led to a row between Gov. Sherrill and FIFA. (Photo: Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

A spokesman for Gov. Sherrill told The Athletic: “Governor Sherrill has been clear that FIFA should contribute to transport its fans to World Cup games. Since it hasn’t, she directed NJ Transit to seek private and non-taxpayer dollars to significantly reduce the fare. The Governor appreciates all the companies that have already stepped up to lower the costs for ticket holders. She will continue to ensure the World Cup is an experience that benefits fans and all New Jerseyans.”

The Football Supporters’ Association’s fans embassy service for traveling England fans said the price remained too high.

Writing on X, they posted: “Now imagine it was announced initially as $105, the reaction would still have been the same.

“It’s still far too high, and this is hardly changing the situation for supporters.”

In April, the New York City/New Jersey joint host committee for the World Cup also announced there would be an alternative bus service, which will cost passengers $80 per seat. There are no reduced prices for children, senior or disabled passengers, which is also the case for the NJ Transit rail service.

In the media briefing, the transportation plan forecast 40,000 passengers travelling by rail, 10,000 by bus, 6,000 by ride share options and then just over 20,000 being commercial-organized hospitality for FIFA-related hospitality, VIPs and affiliates.

Pricing for World Cup fans varies dramatically between World Cup cities. On the day of NJ Transit’s $150 price announcement in April, FIFA, deep in a public relations battle, distributed to the media a document that outlined some of the steps other host cities have taken to keep transit prices lower for fans during the World Cup.

Kansas City rolled out a gentler pricing plan, with the host committee offering complementary bus services for visitors to travel downtown from the airport during the World Cup. Matchday round-trip buses to the stadium will be available for $15, and drivers will collect and drop off fans from four different locations.

Philadelphia also announced that its SEPTA subway service will remain priced at $2.90 for fans to get to World Cup matches at Lincoln Financial Field, while the journey home will be free for fans due to a partnership between AirBnB and the Philadelphia host committee.

FIFA’s list also said Houston’s light rail will cost $2.50 for a round trip to the venue, and LA’s metro train will cost $3.50.

However, FIFA’s list did not include the Boston host committee’s pricing. MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) took the decision to raise its pricing for travel from Boston to Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium to $80 for World Cup games, up from $20 for travel to an NFL game, sparking similar anger. It was also confirmed that Boston’s alternative bus service to the stadium would cost $95 per seat.

In that context, NJ Transit’s pricing will continue to appear expensive to many soccer fans. Sources at NJ Transit have previously explained that the overall cost to the agency to put on services for the eight games, and account for all the disruption to commuter services, will cost as much as $48 million to ferry fans to the suburban stadium.

The MetLife Stadium will host the World Cup final on July 19 (Photo: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

They say that FIFA’s security requirements are such that the games constitute the highest level security perimeter of any events hosted in New Jersey. While it is usually the case that around 10,000 fans per game go to a New York Jets or New York Giants game at MetLife via the rail service, NJ Transit is preparing for up to 40,000 supporters to use the service to get to the games this summer.

The importance of the rail service is also further ramped up because, while there are ordinarily over 20,000 car parking spaces available for use at the venue, this number will be much lower during the tournament, owing to the security demands of the games. Sources at NJ Transit have consistently denied that their increased prices are a case of profiteering.

During the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar, official ticket-holders received free access to Doha’s metro system throughout the tournament. Similarly, at the 2024 European Championship in Germany, match-ticket holders also had access to free public transport on game day in host cities.

The U.S. was never likely to follow the lead on this, with cities and states seeking to recover huge investments into the World Cup via the proposed economic impact of the tournament.

NYC to Spend $4 Billion From Pension Funds on Affordable Homes - The New York Times

Wed, 13 May 2026 07:30:14 +0000

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New York City to Spend $4 Billion From Pension Funds on Affordable Homes

The money could jump-start affordable housing projects across the metropolitan region.

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The $4 billion would help pay for mixed-income projects, conversions of offices to apartments, renovations to aging buildings and new middle-income apartments built by union workers.Credit...Vincent Alban/The New York Times

By Mihir Zaveri

April 16, 2026

A 33-story mixed-income high-rise in Midtown Manhattan, with rents as low as $1,000 for one-bedroom apartments. A 30-unit apartment building in the Bronx for survivors of domestic violence who have struggled with homelessness. A Brooklyn building for formerly incarcerated women and their families.

These are some of the affordable housing projects that have been financed in the past several years with money from New York City’s public pension funds, which provide retirement benefits for the city’s police officers, teachers, firefighters and more.

Now, the funds are set to invest more than $4 billion in affordable developments over the next four years, the city comptroller, Mark Levine, will announce on Thursday.

The significant infusion of money, which will more than double the funds’ current real estate portfolio, could help build or rehabilitate thousands of homes in and around the city, Mr. Levine said.

“It’s a pretty dramatic expansion in investment of housing in New York City — far beyond what we’ve been able to do historically,” said Mr. Levine, who is the legal custodian of the funds.

The city has five separate pension funds, totaling around $320 billion in assets. In addition to investing in real estate across the city and around the world, the funds invest in stocks, bonds and private equity.

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Inside the Turmoil at RFK Jr.’s CDC, as Told by Current and Former Employees - The New York Times

Tue, 12 May 2026 13:02:46 +0000

Almost as soon as he recaptured the White House, President-elect Trump announced that he was choosing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, who had amassed a substantial following while spreading falsehoods about vaccines — first through his nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, and then through his Make America Healthy Again movement, or MAHA — endorsed Trump after ending his own presidential bid. Trump promised to let him “go wild on health.”

Since his confirmation in February 2025, Kennedy has taken particular aim at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency charged with safeguarding the nation’s public health. He has called the C.D.C. “the most corrupt agency at H.H.S. and maybe the government” and vigorously defended mass terminations carried out by Elon Musk’s DOGE. At least 2,400 employees, or 18 percent of the C.D.C. staff, have been fired or have resigned since January 2025.

Kennedy has said that the C.D.C. — which comprises more than 20 centers focused on a wide range of public health issues, including infectious diseases, food-borne illness, substance abuse and violence prevention — had grown unwieldy and that its size was undermining its mission. As proof, he has cited the agency’s failures during the coronavirus pandemic. “We literally did worse than any country in the world,” he said at a Senate hearing in September, “and the people at C.D.C. who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving.”

Kennedy wants to move large parts of the agency to a new entity, the Administration for a Healthy America, while leaving the C.D.C. to focus on monitoring infectious diseases. The secretary’s critics say that his real goal is not to reform the agency but to dismantle the nation’s vaccination programs, in which the C.D.C. plays a key part.

I interviewed more than 40 people who work at the C.D.C. or who left during Trump’s second term. Some sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared that speaking out would cost them their jobs or subject them to retaliation from the administration.

Many of them acknowledge that the agency’s initial Covid response fell short: Its labs failed to develop reliable diagnostic tests, its communications were confusing and sometimes contradictory and its disease-surveillance efforts struggled to stay ahead of the virus’s spread. But they say that the C.D.C. has made significant strides in the years since. Now, they argue, agency scientists are being sidelined, political appointees are taking charge and a vital public health institution is being remade into a vehicle for ideologues.

In June, Kennedy fired all 17 voting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, a group of doctors and scientists that meets several times a year to develop vaccine recommendations for the nation, and largely replaced them with people who share his views. The former C.D.C. director, Susan Monarez, says she was fired for refusing to approve any changes to vaccine recommendations without first seeing the scientific evidence behind them. (Kennedy has denied this.) Monarez was the only permanent director to lead the agency in the past year. She lasted just 29 days. No one has yet been nominated to succeed her.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not make Kennedy available for an interview. In response to my requests for comment and a detailed list of questions, Andrew Nixon, a department spokesman, said in a statement: “Within a year, Secretary Kennedy restored the C.D.C. on its core mission of fighting infectious disease by eliminating mission creep and replacing leaders who resisted reform.”

I also reached out to the White House for comment. “The Trump administration is focused on restoring the public’s trust and accountability in public health bodies like the C.D.C. by re-establishing Gold Standard Science as the only factor behind policymaking,” a spokesman, Kush Desai, said in a statement.

The civil servants who spoke to me worry that, instead, a century’s worth of expertise is being lost — leaving Americans increasingly exposed to a wide range of health threats.

11 Best Lego Sets for Kids of 2026 | Reviews by Wirecutter

Tue, 12 May 2026 06:44:00 +0000

Courtney Schley/NYT Wirecutter

Top pick

A sly design

Lego Creator 3in1 Forest Animals Red Fox 31154

We love Lego’s Creator 3in1 line, which comes with instructions for three separate builds. Several of our kid testers have fallen for this set’s adorably expressive critters — a fox, owl, and squirrel.

$75 from Amazon

$50 from Walmart

We’re big fans of Lego’s Creator 3in1 sets due to their versatility. As the name suggests, each set comes with instructions for three separate builds, and former versions of this guide have included several now-retired selections from the 3in1 line.

One big hit at our Bring Your Kids to Work Day was the Lego Creator 3in1 Forest Animals Red Fox 31154, which transforms into a fox with a tree stump, an owl that can perch in a small tree, and a squirrel with an acorn.

One of our kid testers loves the owl you can build from this set and keeps it on display. Courtney Schley/NYT Wirecutter

Several kids we know who weren’t even at the event have also built and love this set, and we were particularly interested in feedback from a younger builder nearing 8 years old, since the recommended age is 9 and up. It took him a couple of hours to build the fox, but his father was surprised at how easy the process looked, given the number of joints involved. But all of that articulation pays off.

“Everything moves,” his dad said. “The ears, the mouth, the legs, even the ruff of the neck. And the tail is wonderful. The back legs were the weakest part of the build from a structural standpoint, but they weren’t difficult to build and attach.”

Our young builder also highly recommends the Lego Creator 3in1 Pirate Ship 31109, which transforms from a pirate ship to a pirates’ land hangout and a skull island straight out of Peter Pan.

We couldn’t resist also mentioning this Creator 3in1 Pirate Ship set after a young builder submitted this unsolicited photo with impressive prop styling. Doug Mahoney/NYT Wirecutter

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Over time, the joints of the back legs on the fox can become loose, especially at the hips, so those have to be occasionally pressed back in to keep the animal on its feet. But for the amount of movement overall, our tester’s dad has been pleasantly surprised that more weak points haven’t developed.

Key specs

Recommended ages: 9 and up
Tester age: 7
Pieces: 667

Toby Collyer interview: I was playing over Casemiro. But he was giving everything every day. I look up to him so much - The Athletic

Mon, 11 May 2026 04:07:38 +0000

When promotion-chasing Hull City held Championship leaders and now Premier League Coventry City on Easter Monday, one of the most impressive players was a blond-haired midfielder with whom home fans weren’t overly familiar.

“He showed that he’s a Man United player,” explained Hull manager Sergej Jakirovic afterwards. “This is his first start in many months. It was a great moment to put him in, and he can now show he is a player with great potential and talent.”

He started the game on merit, and in his 74 minutes on the pitch loanee Toby Collyer completed 30 of 38 attempted passes and was heavily involved, tackling and dribbling against the league’s best team. Beforehand, The Athletic visited Collyer, 22, at Hull City’s training ground. As we were about to speak, a three-hour power cut hit the area. Collyer and his team-mates just cracked on, another setback to overcome.

Hull have made a habit of it this season — an unfancied team overachieving — and they play Millwall in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Friday. Collyer will not be part of that, with an ankle injury suffered in training sidelining him again.

“I’m hoping that Hull can make it to the play-off final and I’ll be involved,” he says when we catch up again this week.

The midfielder was still in his training gear when he sat down the first time. Tall, pleasant, well-spoken and confident, this is he second Championship loan from United (the first was at West Bromwich Albion) of a season interrupted by injuries.

It’s a shame. Collyer was briefly ahead of Casemiro in United’s starting XI at the start of 2025 and played 13 first-team games after making his debut against Manchester City in the 2024 Community Shield.

Toby Collyer on his Manchester United debut (Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)

Signed from Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022, contracted at Old Trafford until 2027, Collyer holds ambitions to make it at United and here he tells of his career so far, his ambitions for the future and what he learnt from Casemiro’s reaction to him taking his place in midfield.

“I grew up on the south coast, a quiet little village called Angmering halfway between Portsmouth and Brighton,” he says. “I had a good upbringing, good mates around me, good family. I played football all the time. Middle-class life. None of my parents had anything to do with football. I’ve got two brothers. One’s one year younger, one four years younger. They don’t play football. I’ve got a half-sister too.

“I joined Brighton (at under 12s) and was training three or four times a week. I played football whenever I could, at school, after school. And tennis, swimming and running, which really helped me and my body. Like my coordination with a lot of things. If I hadn’t done those, I wouldn’t have been able to figure out my body quickly enough and maybe it would’ve hindered my development in football.

“School was decent, my grades middle of the road. I had a good relationship with a couple of my teachers, especially in secondary school. I still speak to my tutor who played professional cricket as well, so I can sort of relate to him.”

You’re at Brighton, you’re doing well. How did the move to Manchester United come about?

“The England coach, Justin Cochrane. My first experience with him was with England’s under-15s. I went for a couple of training sessions, then training camps and he liked me. We won one of the tournaments, a UEFA development competition, beating Spain. Then Covid happened and I didn’t have that much to do with England in the under-17s. It was my first proper year at Brighton, then Justin joined United and suggested it would be right step for me to join United. Justin had a massive impact on my career. I noticed how driven he was from his sessions where he had an ability to get the best out of every player.

“I was shocked when I heard ‘Man United’ but he said, ‘Come over, do three or four days just training. It’s not a trial’. I went and did a couple of training sessions with the 23s. Players like Zidane Iqbal, Charlie Savage and Hannibal Mejbri. I enjoyed it and decided to make the move.”

Rural Sussex to Manchester is some change…

“Big change. I moved to digs in Sale. I was on my own which I enjoyed with my own space. Lived with a good family. There were times where I thought, ‘Shall I move out, sort of get my own place?’ But I enjoyed it. I was training with the 21s under Mark Dempsey and had a few injury setbacks to do with growing out, a couple of stress fractures. That wasn’t easy to handle, but luckily, it’s all good now.

“Dave Hughes was a coach, Travis Binnion overlooked everything. It was a good first season for my development. I played different positions and had more opportunities where they could ask something different from me on the pitch.

“Whereas at Brighton, I was predominantly just a ‘six’. At United I could see the game differently and what I could offer. Then, going into the second season we played Wrexham pre-season in San Diego, my first experience around a proper crowd, maybe 30,000. I started the game; I trained with the first team. It was a real booster. By February (2024) I was with the first team every day.”

What’s the difference between 21s and the first team?

“The gap is massive. 18s to 21s is a decent gap, then the next gap to the first team is 10 times as big. The speed, the football intelligence of the players, players seeing things. You can’t get away with things in the first team where you can in the 21s. Make a mistake in the 21s, you can get away with it six times out of seven. In the first team, that one mistake can mean a goal. Every action must be 100 per cent, you must be switched on.

“I dropped back down to play a game for some match minutes, and Dave Hughes said he noticed the difference from me just training with them every day. I was sharper, stronger, quicker. It just shows being around an environment like that really does improve you as a player.”

Which first-teamers stood out?

“In terms of ability, Bruno (Fernandes). Some of the stuff he does in training would have me thinking, ‘That’s not normal, I don’t understand it’. Obviously, he’s clever, but he does turns where he just finds a pass out of nowhere. It’s incredible.

“Casemiro was a big role model too, a player I looked up to. These past four years, being around him, just watching him and seeing the little things he does. First into training, ultra professional. He’s always observing. People say he’s a warrior off the ball because he reads the game so well, but on the ball he’s exceptional as well with that one-touch around-the-corner pass. He leads by example.”

Bruno Fernandes and Toby Collyer (Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

What was Erik ten Hag like with you?

“Good. He recognised my biggest strengths and tried to help me put myself in situations where I’d utilise them: my ability off the ball, timing of runs. I’m good at making corner runs.

“Pre-season out in LA (in 2023), Erik gave me the freedom to go forward more and make those runs. I was taking each game as it came, showing myself to hopefully get a decent exposure. I never looked too far ahead, just tried to get as many minutes as possible.

“I played in SoFi Stadium vs Arsenal, an incredible experience, my first proper first-team game where I was getting a feel for the tempo, even though it was pre-season. I was up against (Martin) Odegaard. Tough. I managed to get the better of him a couple of times, but he’s an amazing player, so clever. He’d drag you into areas you don’t want to go, so you’d pick and choose when to go and when not to and you can’t always get it right every time.

“I was settled at United. Good mates with Ayden (Heaven) when he came in, another southerner. I was also sat next to Eriksen, Chris. Big help to me. Him, Tom Heaton, Harry (Maguire) and Jonny Evans. They were the first ones to properly help me when I first went across and made me feel welcome. Chris was good because he plays in my position as well. His technique is unbelievable. There was one time when he, I and Harry Amass were taking free kicks. He was trying to tell me what this technique was. I was like, I haven’t got a clue how to do this. It just shows how good he is.”

And moving into this season, what happened?

“I spoke to my agent and they spoke to the club. The main thing was just to try and get as many minutes as possible. I don’t think this season would have been the season to stay around United, with us not being in Europe. And look what happened with the likes of Kobbie (Mainoo) at the start of the season, even Ayden. No cups meant players had periods struggling for minutes. If I stayed, I could’ve had even less, would have had even less potentially. It was the right decision this season to come out on loan.”

And then West Brom.

“I enjoyed it. Ryan Mason, I liked the manager, staff around him. Mozza — James Morrison — who’s now in charge. The lads were great. But once you’re on the training pitch, you’re fighting for minutes. They had really good ideas, just didn’t really pick up the results.

“I got quite a bad calf injury, out for eight-10 weeks. I accidentally tweaked something before the game and then it’s just gone completely in the game. I did my rehab back at United and noticed that I felt I’d gained something being in a different environment, more of a man. And even though I was injured, I was in the United first-team dressing room still. They all welcomed me back. I had a great physio team around me. And other players had niggles, so I was in the gym with them: Kobbie, Josh Zirkzee, Maguire — H. It’s the best place to do rehab.”

And then into the second half of this season and another loan. How did the move to Hull City come about?

“It was a no-brainer. Hull showed interest in the summer and I had to make a tough decision to say no. I felt they really wanted me by coming back. The team were doing well with a slightly different style of play to West Brom. I thought I could benefit from that. West Brom was proper possession-based; you’re trying to play out from the back. At Hull, it’s more direct, a football I’ve not experienced at this level. The lads are good, the mood, we’re in a great spot.”

A contrast from the mood at United a year ago when you were 15th in the league?

“At United it became quite flat, you’re trying to find a spark from somewhere. You can feel it in the dressing room before and after games and stuff.”

And as a young lad, you’re just keeping your head down?

“Yeah. You’re giving your best, but it’s not an ideal environment to be in. You get the little peaks of the European games where you get a win but ultimately we knew in the league we weren’t doing great. People from the outside don’t always understand how hard it is to get out of those situations once you’re fully in it. It is psychological. I feel like here, obviously we’re in a great state at the minute. I wasn’t here last season when they survived relegation in the last game.

“Now, it’s different. Some proper leaders here like Lunny — John Lundstrom. He’s very vocal before games. It helps the lads, just for someone to voice their opinion and feel like everyone’s together. You don’t want to lose that, you’re in a great spot as a team, you need to be doing everything to make sure you maintain that.”

How’s your time been in terms of your minutes?

“I’ve not had as many minutes as I’ve wanted, but when I first came, I hadn’t played in 10 weeks. I had a tiny injury, which kept me out for a week and a half. I’ve just managed to get back up to speed, so it’s just about kicking on now. The ideal goal is to get promoted and it’s possible with the group of lads we’ve got here, the coaching staff, the people around the club. It’s a family and I want to contribute to that. Off the field, I’m in a little village near the training ground. It sort of reminds me of home, that’s what it was like growing up. I’m a country boy.”

And you’re loaned until the end of the season, and then where do you want to be in three years’ time, five years’ time?

“Everyone wants to play for Man United. That’s my main goal, but if not, just be playing in the Premier League as an established player.”

Who do you look up to in terms of other football players?

“Casemiro has been there and done it. When Ruben (Amorim) first came in, he wasn’t having him one bit. I was playing over Caza. I was just focused on my football. I was still obviously speaking to Caza in training. He was still helping me. His English has got a lot better. He was still training very well, and I think he’s a great example because people on the outside don’t see that. When he’s not playing, it’s easy for people to think, ‘Oh, he’s probably not doing well in training’. But he wasn’t. He was giving everything every day.

Toby Collyer says Casemiro helped him even as he was sidelined (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)

“He was the first one in every day. Even when he wasn’t getting picked, he was one of the last ones to leave. He was always in the ice bath, jacuzzi, always doing his gym work, always doing his prep, always giving everything in training. And you could see he was trying to implement what the manager wanted as well.

“Even so he wasn’t playing, so from me seeing that I could take so much from that. He’s been there and done that. Not getting picked was probably a big shock for him, maybe something he hasn’t experienced. For him to obviously carry on and keep doing the right things just shows how much of a pro he is. With me, he’d just call you over and explain things. That’s why I think I look up to him so much. There are players who are looked up to and then when other players are with them, their views change, but my views on Casemiro haven’t changed.”

What’s been your best and worst moments in football so far?

“Best, my first European start. Rangers. At Old Trafford. Big occasion, playing next to Bruno. We got the win.

“My worst has just been my injuries, especially last year. Everyone who knows me knows every training session I’ll be up there, giving my all. I feel like I find it hard to manage myself sometimes and I didn’t want it to become habit.

“I was in a good state, came back from England U20s after the international break having played 100 minutes of football. I was feeling really fit, good, I felt a good feeling off the manager in training, off Ruben. I had a good stint before that, then at the end of the session, I just got injured again. I’d done too much on a couple of days.

“That was hard to take, that one. I think that one hit me a lot because it was a crucial part of the season. We were getting in the latter stage of the Europa League and I missed out on a lot of opportunities.”

You sound like you’re learning from all this. You seem very level-headed. No one’s career is just linear going up, is it?

“You’re always going to have setbacks. Some people have more setbacks than others. Some have different setbacks. It’s just part of football and I’ve just tried to learn from it.”

The latest setback came with an ankle injury after that Coventry game.

“A week after that Coventry game, I got injured,” he says this week, back at United’s Carrington training ground.

“I’d been pushing hard to get in the team and got that opportunity against Coventry. The fact that I started against the top-of-the-league team shows how much Hull City trust me. I repaid that as well with a good performance. Then unfortunately, a freak incident happened. There was a scramble for the ball in training and a player fell on me. I went over on my ankle. I managed to see out the session but then my ankle just blew up. It’s just a really unfortunate, a freak incident.

“I was so happy with the Coventry performance too. It was a great environment. You’re not given too much information so each player has a lot of responsibility and own time to play and help their team. I felt my team-mates had confidence in me. I’d missed that buzz of starting in a big game, like I did for United.

“I’ve got no doubts about my ability going forward. It’s just about getting a run of games to showcase myself properly. I’ll get my rehab done, move forward in pre-season and the following season. I’m hoping that Hull can make it to the play-off final and I’ll be involved.

“What I’ve learned this season is that your development is never linear, but also when you go on loan, it’s not always just about on the pitch, it’s off the pitch as well. I felt like more mature as a person after two loans. Obviously I’ve not played as much as I’ve wanted, but just being around a different group of lads again, having to get to know different people, different styles of play. Meeting people who’ve had different upbringings, being out of your comfort zone. You have to grow up, mentally and physically. And that’s a good thing.”

The 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters - The New York Times

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:04:48 +0000

Together with his songwriting partner, the bassist Bernard Edwards (who died in 1996), Rodgers co-founded Chic, the de facto house band of New York’s late-70s disco boom. A legendary hard partyer, Rodgers was both a habitué of Manhattan’s club scene and its shrewdest chronicler. In the songs he and Edwards composed for Chic and other artists, the gritty glamour of the local demimonde — Black and white and Latino, gay and straight and in between — became a global ideal, immortalized in anthems of freedom and transgression that rippled across the planet.

Those songs traveled so well because they were one-size-fits-all: The only people not invited to Rodgers and Edwards’s bash were wallflowers who refused to hit the dance floor. Diana Ross’s “I’m Coming Out” was unmistakably a queer rallying cry, but its mantra — “I want the world to know / I got to let it show” — made room for just about everyone. Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” (1979) was likewise taken up by the gay and Black communities as a statement of solidarity; but it was also a sibling song, performed by real-life sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim and Kathy Sledge, and embraced as a theme song by countless families, biological and chosen. The songs carried sneakier messages as well. The lyrics were packed with historical references — to 1920s catchphrases and Depression-era hits like “Happy Days Are Here Again” — which linked the stagflation-era disco craze to an earlier age when Americans coped with hard times by dancing the night away.

Of course, what seals the deal is the groove, grounded in Rodgers’s radiant rhythm guitar. His tight chord stabs, jazzy voicings and glinting tone are an indelible sonic signature, up there with Louis Armstrong’s trumpet blasts and Aretha Franklin’s rolling, tolling gospel piano. It’s a sound that has reverberated through the decades: in the huge hits that Rodgers produced for ’80s stars (David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”), and in the hundreds of hip-hop tracks that sample Rodgers’s work, including, foundationally, the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (1979), which rode a wholesale interpolation of Chic’s “Good Times” into the Top 40, the first rap record to reach that landmark. Then, in 2013, Rodgers himself was back on the charts, joining Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams on the worldwide smash “Get Lucky.” The song is propelled by Rodgers’s silvery guitar chatter; the lyrics swerve between party-hearty slogans and spiritual woo-woo. “What keeps the planet spinning / The force from the beginning,” Pharrell coos. Is he singing about the mysterious movements of the Great Ineffable, or the down-and-dirty action in the dance club? Nile Rodgers songs have a way of erasing distinctions between the two. — Jody Rosen

The Chain of Failures That Left 17 Dead in a Bronx Apartment Fire - The New York Times

Sun, 10 May 2026 23:32:55 +0000

The main fire safety system failed disastrously in a blaze at a Bronx apartment building in January, killing 17 people, The New York Times has found.

The deaths were preventable, experts said. No one died from the fire itself, which was largely contained in the two-story apartment where it started, Apt. 3N.

But when multiple self-closing doors did not close properly, deadly smoke escaped the apartment and rapidly filled the building’s 19 stories, according to interviews, witness videos, analysis of 911 calls and a 3-D smoke simulation. A majority of the people who died had been at least a dozen floors above the fire.
Video via Citizen

How stairwells became chimneys

Twin Parks North West, an affordable-housing building constructed in 1972, is like many older residential high-rises in New York City that have minimal or no sprinklers in place: It relies primarily on compartmentation to keep smoke from spreading in case of a fire. That means doors must automatically close and latch after someone passes through. If the doors close, the smoke is largely contained. If not, residents are at risk of severe injury or death by smoke inhalation.

At Twin Parks North West, compartmentation broke down in at least three places on Jan. 9. Not only did the door to Apt. 3N, where the fire began, stay open, so did both doors to the third-floor stairwells for lengthy periods. Doors to stairwells in at least two higher floors also malfunctioned, allowing smoke to permeate the building.

“You have a gross failure of compartmentation, because there is smoke everywhere in a few minutes,” said Jose L. Torero, a professor at University College London who has investigated major fires including at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and Grenfell Tower in Britain in 2017.

There is certain to be considerable debate — technical, political and legal — over who was responsible for so many doors being partially or completely open when their closure could have saved lives. Maintenance of the doors and the actions of building personnel and some tenants are likely to come under scrutiny.

Using evidence The Times obtained and a 3-D model of the building The Times created, a team led by Albert Simeoni, head of the fire protection engineering department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, created a simulation of the smoke’s path on Jan. 9. The simulation was for hallways, stairwells and the apartment where the fire started — the main conduits for smoke — but not for individual apartments in the building, where information on door openings was limited.

The fire was sparked by a n electric space heater in a bedroom on the lower level of Apt. 3N.

A mattress in the bedroom had caught on fire, and smoke filled the lower level of the apartment.

Smoke quickly traveled to the apartment’s upper level. Residents described hearing fire alarms sometime before 11 a.m., but they did not take them seriously, given the history of false alarms in the building. “There’s an alarm that always goes off in our building,” said Desireth Melo, a sixth-floor resident. “To us, that’s normal.”

First compartmentation failure As the Wague family fled the fire in their apartment, the door never closed properly, creating the initial opening for smoke to enter the third-floor hallway.

The door to Apt. 3N, like most doors in the building, had relied on simple mechanisms to close automatically in case of a fire: spring-loaded hinges and a latch.

Interviews with residents and complaints lodged with the city indicate that, before the fire, doors routinely malfunctioned. Still, James Yolles, a spokesman for the building’s ownership group, Bronx Park Phase III Preservation LLC, said it had “no knowledge of self-closing-door issues prior to the fire.”

As the volume of smoke intensified, the building’s complex configuration only added to the confusion and made it even more difficult for residents trying to escape.

On the third floor, for example, eight units were duplexes with lower levels on the second floor. But the building stairwells and elevators were accessible only through hallways on the third floor — the second floor did not have hallways.

Four units on the third floor were single-story apartments.

The first 911 call came at 10:54 a.m., from Apt. 3M, next door to where the fire started.

In the next four minutes, calls were made from four other apartments on the third floor, all reporting smoke. One of them came from a resident from Apt. 3N, who cried, “Fire is in the bedroom!”

Among the most tragic calls came from Apt. 3J, directly across from where the fire started. A man yells into the phone for help as children are heard screaming. The apartment had been breached by smoke, as a video later confirmed. A city official said two people from the apartment died; public records indicate both were children.

Down the hall from the fire, a resident from Apt. 3E told a 911 dispatcher that she could not see outside her apartment door.

Smoke continued to pour out of Apt. 3N and into the hallway, trapping some residents as it seeped through gaps under their apartment doors.

As soon as she opened the door, the 3E resident said, a thick wall of smoke charged toward her, and it was pitch black. She went back in and put wet towels under her door, advice dispatchers gave to many residents to block the inflow of smoke. She survived.

Second compartmentation failure By now, smoke had infiltrated the building’s two stairwells. “If you lose the apartment door, you lose the floor, but losing the stairwell door, you lose the building,” Professor Simeoni of Worcester Polytechnic said.

Housed in a single central core, Stairwell A and Stairwell B were physically separated by a wall, with access on only certain floors.

Residents said the door to Stairwell B on the third floor often malfunctioned. That morning, it remained open for long stretches of time, along with Stairwell A.

When firefighters arrived shortly before 11 a.m., they left the door to Stairwell B open and designated it as the “attack stairwell.” A standard operating procedure, the move allowed them to run a hose to put out the fire. A city official said that the door had been opened before the firefighters’ arrival and had not closed properly, simply “burping,” or swinging partially open and closed, as large amounts of smoke escaped.

Third compartmentation failure There’s evidence that the stairwell doors on higher floors malfunctioned. A city official confirmed that the doors to Stairwell B on Floors 15 and 19 appeared to be open or partially open for a majority of the fire.

Video captured by a witness that morning shows thick smoke gushing out of the 15th floor, confirming that compartmentation failed on the top floors, experts said.
Source: Video via Citizen

“That shows that everybody in the building is under threat,” Charles Jennings, an associate professor in the department of security, fire and emergency management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said after reviewing the video.

Flames on the 2nd floor

Flames on the 3rd floor

Stills from videos by Citizen

A review of other video showed flames coming out of Apt. 3N’s upper level several minutes after appearing to have died down on the lower level, compounding the flow of smoke.

When the smoke rushed out of Apt. 3N, it initially pressed against the ceiling of the third-floor hallway as it spread from end to end, the simulation showed.

Within 20 minutes of the start of the fire, smoke shot up the stairwells, entering hallways on higher floors.

“It seems pretty clear that the stairwell shaft was the most likely source of smoke migration,” said Brian Meacham, a fire safety engineering consultant at Meacham Associates outside of Boston.

Paradoxically, the top floors were among the most dangerous. Of the 17 people who died, 14 had been on the 15th, 18th and 19th floors.

The hot air and combustion products of the fire — including deadly gases like carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide — made the stairwells and many hallways untenable. In addition to the deaths, which included eight children, more than 60 people were injured, according to the Fire Department.

Calls for help

The most direct indication of how swiftly the smoke moved through the building is also the most heartbreaking: calls to 911 from residents trapped in their apartments, struggling to breathe, some of them with children, pleading for help, guidance and information.

Within 10 minutes of the first 911 call, smoke was already reported on the 16th floor. Calls were made from more than 40 of the 120 apartments.

A number of frantic calls came from the 15th floor, where video captured smoke rushing out of two apartment windows and a stairwell door was stuck open even before the fire started.

“If I was to put my hand in front of my face, I wouldn’t have been able to see it,” Leslie Casanova of Apt. 15K told The Times.

Next door in Apt. 15J, smoke breached the apartment of a family of four, who later perished. Ms. Casanova had heard the family banging on the walls and screaming for help. Then, “one by one, the voices started silencing,” she said.

Four floors above, five residents from Apt. 19W and three people visiting Mabintou Tunkara — a 19V resident, according to public records — were among those killed. Two others from the 18th floor also died.

In the end, for those who decided to make a run for it, the only way out was through passageways that had become blinding: the stairwells.

These interlocking “scissor stairs” are legal under the New York City building code in residential buildings, but fire safety experts have criticized them.

Despite being the sole means of escape, they were not directly accessible from some floors.

“The reason why scissor stairs don’t work is you’re making the assumption that if you have access from two sides, there are two means of egress,” Professor Torero said. “It relies fully on the fact that the shaft is fully protected from smoke. In a way, you’ve created a single-point failure mode.”

An in-person inspection by Times reporters revealed narrow stairwells with little to no ventilation and no pressurization or smoke-extraction system on the roof.

Video by Yesbely Fernandez via Storyful

This video captured from a higher floor shows the inside of one of the stairwells as residents were being evacuated some time later.

Walter Williams, one of the evacuated residents, described what it was like. “I stepped on people that was passed out in the stairwell. People were already dead, laying there,” he said. All the fire victims died from smoke inhalation, but it is unclear where they were found.

“The loss of life here was totally preventable. Totally,” said Robyn Gershon, a clinical professor of epidemiology at New York University. “Anything that could go wrong, went wrong here.”

Photograph by Ryan J. Degan/New York City Department of Buildings, via Associated Press

As the city waits for the results of an official investigation, the scale of the disaster is unquestioned. “The Twin Parks fire is one of the worst in our city’s history,” said Laura Kavanagh, the acting fire commissioner, “with innocent lives taken from a deadly combination of a space-heater fire and open doors on multiple floors that allowed smoke to spread throughout the building.”

The investigation is likely to center around the self-closing doors. In interviews with The Times, Mr. Yolles, the spokesman for the building’s ownership group, and a city official said that when residents fled, the 3N door remained stuck open, possibly from an extra layer of flooring, though it’s unclear whether it was thick enough to make a difference. A lawyer representing the Wagues said there would be no comment from the family at this time.

Reliant Realty Services, the management company, said in a statement that the 3N door “was signed off as working properly” after an inspection last year, and that the Fire Department and building tenants were primarily to blame. “The third-floor doors were opened multiple times during the fire by residents and the F.D.N.Y. for firefighting operations, which caused smoke to fill the stairwells and reach the upper floors,” the company said.

The Reliant claims are difficult to square with visual evidence from security camera footage. This evidence has not been released publicly, but a city official described it to The Times. The official said the footage showed that a third-floor stairwell door never latched after a building worker opened it and that a 15th-floor stairwell door became stuck after a tenant opened it earlier.

“To be very clear, prior to F.D.N.Y. arrival at this fire, the third floor, stairwell and multiple upper floors were filled with thick, choking smoke due to multiple open doors throughout the building,” said James Long, a spokesman for the New York Fire Department. “To state that firefighters bravely working to save the lives of residents are the cause of the smoke reaching upper floors is insulting and a gross deflection of responsibility,” he said.

More modern high-rises in the city, or older ones that have been retrofitted, have numerous additional safety features, including sprinklers and fire alarms connected to “central stations,” and from there to firehouses. At Twin Parks North West, there was an alarm system, but it was not connected to fire stations, which the building’s owners confirmed.

Mr. Yolles, the spokesman for the building owners, said that, when the building was constructed, the system was consistent with the New York State code, and that the owners plan to upgrade it.

Additional protective measures provide “redundancies,” or backups in case another safety feature fails, said Jonathan Barnett, a fire safety expert who investigated the World Trade Center fires of Sept. 11 and has been a consultant on the official investigation into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London. “The point is that if you’re going to rely on one system and one system only, you’d better make sure it works,” he said.

See how smoke can change your visibility.

This augmented reality experience demonstrates how quickly smoke can change visibility.

To experience this in your space, you will need the Instagram app and an iPhone 12 or 13 Pro with lidar.

To view on Instagram, open the camera on your device and point to the QR tag below.

Experience in AR

Methodology

The 3-D model of the building is based on architectural drawings from the New York City Department of Buildings. The Times reviewed design and planning documents and inspected portions of the building in person, including one of the two stairwells, after the fire.

To better understand how the catastrophe unfolded, The Times spoke with residents about what they witnessed on Jan. 9 and about the conditions on many floors of the building before and during the fire. Times reporters reviewed photos and videos taken by residents during the fire and the evacuation as well as those officials took later. The Times also examined video that witnesses captured and uploaded to Citizen, an app that allowed people nearby to document the minute-by-minute progression of the fire. Through a Freedom of Information Law request, Times reporters obtained audio logs of 911 calls made by the residents the morning of the fire. To verify which apartments the calls were made from and when they occurred, we synced the 911 calls with the dispatch report of the fire obtained by the New York Police Department.

The Times asked scientists at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts to conduct numerous simulations to help explain how smoke could have raced so freely through the building. The simulations were led by Albert Simeoni, professor and head of the department of fire protection engineering, and carried out by Muthu Kumaran Selvaraj, a postdoctoral researcher in the department. The simulations were created using software called Fire Dynamics Simulator, developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and used widely by researchers and investigators to estimate the flow of smoke in structures.

Times reporting and public information from the New York Fire Department informed boundary conditions and other inputs for the simulation. These included the starting point and overall progression of the fire; the times when windows broke; and whether specific doors were open, closed or simply not functioning properly — including the opening of stairwell doors on the third, 15th and 19th floors. These inputs also included firsthand observations of the stairwells, which helped us determine, for example, that the stairwells had no pressurization or smoke-extraction systems to mitigate smoke flow. Many different scenarios were run in order to determine the influence of the opening or closing of particular doors, precisely how the fire progressed and other conditions in the building.

The simulations used ventilation calculations based on the 1964 New York State building code. Twin Parks North West was built in 1972. After consulting fire safety experts, we decided on a method to determine how long the stairwell doors were open purely for egress on each floor. We used a conservative estimate of the few seconds during which a properly functioning door would be open for each resident to be able to exit.

Where exact information on conditions inside the building were not available, some approximations were made based on reasonable estimates drawn from video observations, photographic evidence, descriptions contained in calls to 911, interviews with residents and city officials and public statements by Fire Department officials. For example, heavy smoke emanating from a few windows indicated that there was a path for smoke and air to flow from an interior hallway to the outside. Because the details of that path are not known, the simulation approximated the flow.

Sources: Jose L. Torero, University College London; Albert Simeoni, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Muthu Kumaran Selvaraj, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Charles Jennings, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Philip J. Landrigan, Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College; Robyn Gershon, New York University; Brian Meacham, Meacham Associates; Jonathan Barnett, Basic Expert; Jack J. Murphy, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Gregory A. James, JB&B; Rainald Lohner, George Mason University; Bryan Klein, Thunderhead Engineering; New York City Department of Buildings; New York Police Department; New York Fire Department

Is it an art gallery? A museum? A theater? A dream?

Sun, 10 May 2026 07:35:01 +0000

Google Owns a Big Chunk of Anthropic

Sun, 10 May 2026 01:25:16 +0000

The New York Times, back in March last year (gift link):

To win the artificial intelligence race, Google not only has developed its own technologies, but has also pumped money into prominent A.I. start-ups. And to preserve its competitive edge, Google has kept its ownership stakes in those start-ups a secret.
Court documents recently obtained by The New York Times reveal Google’s stake in one of those start-ups, Anthropic, as well as how its investment in the young company is set to change. Google owns 14 percent of Anthropic, according to legal filings that the A.I. start-up submitted as part of a Google antitrust case. But that investment gives Google little control over the company. The internet giant can own only up to 15 percent of Anthropic, according to the filings, and Google holds no voting rights, no board seats and no board observer rights at the start-up.
Still, Google is set to invest an additional $750 million in Anthropic in September through a type of loan known as convertible debt, according to the filings. The companies agreed to the convertible note in 2023. In total, Google has invested more than $3 billion in the A.I. company.

Anthropic’s latest funding round — a rare Series G — valued the company at $380 billion. So let’s say Google has invested $4 billion to date, and Anthropic really is worth $380 billion. Google’s slice of that would be worth a little north of $50 billion, quite the return on investment. And competitively, there’s a heads-they-win (with Gemini), tails-they-don’t-lose (with Claude) aspect. Maybe that’s not the best metaphor, since OpenAI would make it a three-sided coin, but still.

(Via today’s subscriber-only Stratechery update, where Ben Thompson noted this in the context of Google last week reporting a 30% increase in operating profit year-over-year, but an eye-popping 81% increase in overall profit. The difference was the growth in their investments, almost certainly Anthropic in particular.)

★

36 Hours in Memphis: Things to Do and See - The New York Times

Sat, 09 May 2026 23:47:50 +0000

Graceland, one of the city’s defining landmarks, offers a glimpse into a shag-carpeted world of Elvis Presley’s staggering fame.
Explore the National Civil Rights Museum to learn about the movement’s tandem legacies of pain and pride at a location that was ground zero for one of Memphis’s darkest days.
Walk down Beale Street to soak up the thumping heart of Memphis.

Visit Overton Park and wander through an old-growth forest tucked away in the middle of the city.
Memphis Listening Lab has a vast collection of records, all available to browse and listen to.
Stax Museum of American Soul Music digs into the traditions and history that shaped the sound of Memphis.
Take a 28-story elevator trip to the pinnacle of the Pyramid for sweeping views of the Mississippi River.

Earnestine & Hazel’s has live soul, blues and jazz playing deep into the night in a dive that reflects the gritty spirit of Memphis.
Absinthe Room in the King’s Palace Café is a late-night hangout on Beale Street hidden up a staircase behind a nondescript door.
B.B. King’s Blues Club is a Beale Street mainstay founded by the blues legend.
Lafayette’s Music Room features bands playing soul, rock, country and bluegrass in a spacious venue in Overton Square.
Bar DKDC is a snug spot with an eclectic vibe and mix of performers.

The Lobbyist is one of the most acclaimed additions to the Memphis food scene in recent years.
The Beauty Shop, the former salon responsible for Priscilla Presley’s beehive, is now a comfortable restaurant with refined dining options.
Cozy Corner has tender ribs and traditional sides in a no-frills setting.
Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies, a Memphis-born family business, has a wide selection of cookie flavors.
Sunrise Memphis has hearty Southern breakfast options that come highly recommended by locals.
One & Only has great ribs but also, quite possibly, the best turkey sandwich in Memphis.

An old Sears distribution center has been reimagined as a gathering place at Crosstown Concourse, with shops, art galleries and dining options.
Burke’s Books, a beloved bookseller in the lively mid-city neighborhood of Cooper-Young, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

The Memphian Hotel is an artsy upscale option in Overland Square with a restaurant and rooftop bar. King rooms on weekends typically start around $280 per night.
ARRIVE Memphis has industrial-style studio rooms in the South Main Arts District in the downtown area with a bar and bakery cafe. Rooms start around $162.
The Moxy Memphis Downtown has a trendy and vibrant vibe and is within walking distance of many attractions but has the benefit of having a little distance from the ruckus of Beale Street. King rooms start at around $118.
For short-term rentals, look downtown for centrally located apartments, or in the East Midtown area for guesthouses and bungalows.

A rental car is your best bet for easily maneuvering the city, but the downtown area is relatively compact and walkable. A trolley also links much of Main Street, running from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days, costing $1 per ride.

Rick Rojas - The New York Times

Sat, 09 May 2026 23:47:49 +0000

Rick Rojas

I am the Atlanta bureau chief for The New York Times, covering the South.

About
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What I Cover

I’m a reporter helping to lead coverage of a vast and varied region that stretches from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the marshes of Cameron Parish, La. A big part of my job is covering the onslaught of news produced in this part of the country, including pivotal moments like hurricanes and other natural disasters, elections, the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, the historic vote in Mississippi to abandon the 126-year-old state flag embedded with the Confederate battle emblem, and John Lewis’s final posthumous trip to Selma, Ala.

An equally significant and gratifying responsibility is working on stories that often stray from the news and try to capture and explain the texture and character of this diverse, complicated place. I’ve profiled an 18-year-old mayor and a 100-year-old priest. I’ve ridden on a tractor-pulled party trailer through downtown Nashville. I’ve sampled a lot of flavorful, if not always healthy, foods (crawfish and king cakes, most recently).

My Background

I grew up on the Gulf Coast, in the part of Texas that considers itself the South. I graduated from Texas A&M University with a political science degree. I returned to the South in 2019 as a national correspondent in Atlanta, and then opened The Times’s bureau in Nashville in 2020. I became the bureau chief for the South, based in Atlanta, in 2022.

I’ve been with The Times since 2014, starting as an inaugural writer for the newsletter that evolved into The Morning. Then, I spent several years on the Metro staff, covering crime and the New York Police Department; faith and values; and the broader tristate region. I’ve also had extended stints reporting from The Times’s bureaus in Sydney, Australia, and Phoenix. Previously, I was a staff writer for The Los Angeles Times, and I’ve also written for The Washington Post, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., The Dallas Morning News and Pacific Standard magazine.

Journalistic Ethics

As a Times journalist, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. I believe it is essential to go into every story with an open mind and an abundance of curiosity. I’m eager to challenge assumptions and be surprised by what I discover. To that end, I spent lots of time crisscrossing the region I cover, mostly by car, because the best reporting comes from being on the ground and the best stories are those stumbled upon.

Contact Me

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Explaining the South on Instagram, One Custom at a Time
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In the Heart of Nashville, Rolling Parties Rage at Every Stoplight
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A 100-Year-Old Priest Was Nudged From His Parish. He Has No Plan to Retire.
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Selma Helped Define John Lewis’s Life. In Death, He Returned One Last Time.
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Breakfast with Ohtani: In Japan, watching this World Series may be the national pastime - The Athletic

Wed, 06 May 2026 17:21:14 +0000

Shohei Ohtani has been a superstar in Japan for more than a decade, but one day earlier this year, a Tokyo resident named Tatsuo Shinke noticed something different.

Shinke, the CEO of Mint, a leading trading card store, had already watched as Ohtani’s soaring popularity had fueled the Japanese collectibles industry, spiked Japanese television ratings for Major League Baseball, and pushed baseball news into every corner and crevice of the country’s vast media ecosystem.

Yet as Ohtani made history in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first player in history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in one season, Shinke observed another data point: His mother, Emiko.

At 73 years old, Emiko had never followed baseball. But because Ohtani’s Dodgers games are aired live in the morning in Japan, and because he has become a daily fixture on the country’s popular morning variety shows — the equivalent of “Good Morning America” or “Today” — Emiko developed a new morning routine: She wakes up, eats breakfast, and then turns on Ohtani.

“Elderly people in Japan love Ohtani,” Shinke said. “It’s my mother. And all my mother’s friends. She’s retired already, so she has enough time to watch all the games in the morning.”

In the United States, the World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers is a matchup featuring the country’s two biggest cities and most high-profile franchises. The audience could surpass 20 million viewers per game for the first time since 2016.

In Japan, it will likely be even bigger.

In seven seasons in the majors, including six for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani has lorded his talent over Major League Baseball in a manner previously thought impossible. For his trouble, he has captured two Most Valuable Player awards while dominating as a hitter and a pitcher. If he wins his third this November, as is expected, he will become the first full-time designated hitter to win the award, a role he was forced to play after injuring his elbow last season.

At World Series Media Day on Thursday, no one was a bigger draw than Ohtani. (Katharine Lotze / Getty Images)

In America, his performance earned him a $700 million contract — the largest in history — and stardom in a sport that increasingly trails its rivals in cultural capital. But back home in Japan, where baseball is the most popular sport, Ohtani’s celebrity has reached stratospheric levels, akin to Michael Jordan or David Beckham, figures who transcended their field of play and whose fame turned them into international avatars for their home country.

“There isn’t a person in Japan who doesn’t know who Ohtani is, I don’t think,” said Robert Whiting, an American author in Tokyo who has written about Japanese baseball since the 1970s.

When the Dodgers defeated the Padres in Game 5 of the National League Division Series — a game that featured two Japanese starting pitchers — an estimated audience of 12.9 million Japanese viewers tuned in at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, at least 5.4 million more than watched in the U.S. When Ohtani chased 50-50 in September, his exploits often led the national nightly news and daytime “wide” shows, spaces that rarely mention sports. (The business newspaper Nikkei also ran a front-page story above the fold.) And when Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, spoke of Ohtani during a press conference in Tokyo earlier this season, he told reporters he wanted to speak not as an ambassador but “as a kid from Chicago” who watched Jordan rule the 1990s and transcend basketball.

“This is early on in Ohtani-san’s career,” Emanuel said, “but there’s no doubt that that’s what he has right now.”

The sheer volume of wall-to-wall coverage has even surprised Whiting, who first moved to Tokyo in the 1960s and has authored books on baseball and Japanese culture. Japan has seen this story before, the obsession over conquering baseball heroes in the form of Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui, who was World Series MVP for the Yankees in 2009. But perhaps not since Nomo in the 1990s, Whiting says, has a Japanese player embodied and lifted the national spirit.

When Nomo debuted for the Dodgers in 1995 — in the middle of a nasty trade dispute between the United States and Japan — Whiting recalled that Asahi Shimbun, one of the nation’s biggest newspapers, ran an editorial stating: “In Hideo Nomo, the Japanese have produced a product that no one is complaining about.” But whereas Nomo, Suzuki and later pitchers like Yu Darvish validated the quality of Japanese baseball, Ohtani has changed the equation: For the first time, Japanese fans can credibly argue that the most talented baseball player of all time is from Japan.

“In the global market, Japanese value and power is (becoming) a little bit weaker, year by year,” said Tomoki Negishi, a baseball marketing executive who worked for Japan’s Pacific League. “So Ohtani-san’s great performance is a beacon.”

To some, he says, Ohtani is “a symbol of Japan in the global market.”

To others?

“He is just a crazy superhero that I’ve never seen before,” Negishi says.

On the morning of October 12, the symbol beamed through a television into a living room in Ōta, a special ward in Tokyo. Masanori Ninomiya, an owner of an English reading company, finished a traditional breakfast of white rice, miso soup and fruit and then turned on the Dodgers and Padres.

Ninomiya, 59, grew up in the city of Oita, obsessing over books about Japanese baseball history. He attended business school at UCLA in the ’90s, as Nomo was breaking through. He is among those in Tokyo who work remotely, which allows him to put the Dodgers on in the background during the work week.

“Everybody will have a breakfast,” he said “And then it’s Ohtani.”

In Japan, all Dodgers games appear on NHK, the country’s free, over-the-air public broadcaster. The audience for NHK often skews older, especially in the mornings. Unlike the United States, where European soccer fans huddle in bars and pubs in the morning, there is less public consumption of Ohtani, outside of major events like the World Baseball Classic. According to Negishi, this is partly due to cultural norms and partly because of the sheer volume of baseball games.

“I’m sure I’m not the only one,” said Chen Liang, director of imports at Mint cards and collectibles. “But there’s a huge percentage of Japanese people who are at work, and they’re in front of their computer, and they’re just clicking on the box score while they look at Excel sheets and things like that.”

Ninomiya was awed by Ohtani when he emerged as a two-way player for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He followed him when he debuted with the Angels in 2018, when the morning ritual began. But he ascribes the national love affair to the way Ohtani has conducted himself on the MLB stage.

“For example, if there’s garbage on the ground, he tries to pick it up,” Ninomiya said. “We know he’s a superstar — and super rich — but he doesn’t behave like that.”

Ohtani and his representatives have cultivated an image in Japan of a modest, polite baseball star who is deferential to teammates and respectful to elders. The reputation helped Ohtani weather a wave of public scrutiny earlier this year, when his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was charged with stealing more than $16 million from an Ohtani bank account to cover gambling debts. (Mizuhara later pleaded guilty.) It’s also helped him land a raft of endorsements from companies on both sides of the Pacific and turn his personal life into daily fodder on television. (His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, and his dog, translated to Dekopin in Japanese, are regular characters on the daytime shows.)

The comings and goings of Mamiko Tanaka and Ohtani are regular fodder for Japanese morning shows. (Stringer / Getty Images)

“Those are traits that I think Japanese fans love to see in practice on a foreign land,” said Hiroshi Kitamura, an associate professor of history at William & Mary who specializes in U.S.-East Asian relations. “Japanese fans love to see MLB players like (Aaron) Judge, (Fernando) Tatis, (Ronald) Acuna say great things about Ohtani as being the unicorn. But I think they also appreciate seeing Ohtani kind of being Japanese. In that sense, I think Japanese fans see Ohtani as part of them.”

The face of Major League Baseball greeted Foster Griffin each day when he arrived in Tokyo. The billboards. The cardboard likenesses in convenience stores. Ohtani’s voice even features in advertisements on the subway.

Soon after Griffin, a former Kansas City Royals pitcher, moved to Japan to pitch for the Yomiuri Giants, he learned the cultural primacy of televised nightly news.

“And he has his own section of the news,” Griffin said. “They highlight everything he does every day over there. He’s everywhere.”

From an American perspective, it’s hard to conceive of the popularity of Ohtani in Japan. America does not revere any foreign sports in which they are not supreme. The Japanese media, a sprawling apparatus with five commercial television networks and five national daily newspapers, can be impenetrable for non-Japanese speakers. And contrary to hyperbole, not everyone in Japan cares about baseball.

“Culturally, I felt like in recent years, the interest of young kids seemed headed to new sports like soccer,” said Ema Ryan Yamazaki, a Japanese filmmaker raised in Osaka.

The sport, however, remains a cultural unifier, a source of connection at the office or during the morning commute. And Ohtani has transcended demographics, spawning new generations of fans while appealing to retired grandmothers in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Sapporo.

In Japan, Ohtani is the face of countless advertising campaigns. (Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty Images)

“The school teacher understands a balk and an intentional walk, throughout the entire country,” said Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager who had two stints in Japan as manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines. “It’s like a port of passage. Baseball allows you to be acceptable in the culture. It’s just one of those things.”

When Ohtani led the country to a World Baseball Classic championship last year, more than 42 percent of Japanese households watched Japan defeat the United States at 8 a.m on a Wednesday. Six of Japan’s seven WBC games drew more than 30 million viewers. Ohtani’s presence — along with starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto — could help the Japanese World Series audience approach those heights. The numbers are already so striking that MLB continues to target the Japanese market, and will open the 2025 season with the Dodgers facing the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo, a year after the Dodgers opened the season in South Korea against the San Diego Padres. Commissioner Rob Manfred told The Athletic this week that “If you’re going to open (the season) in Tokyo, the only choice was to take the Dodgers again. And the reason it’s the only choice is the audiences that those games deliver are so big that it drives what’s a real broadcast business for us in Japan.”

The first pitch of the World Series will come at 9:08 a.m. on Saturday, airing on both NHK and commercial network Fuji TV. Interest is so high that creators of the wildly popular manga show “One Piece” pushed back a season premiere, to not compete with Ohtani.

“Smart move to move the show on their part,” Yamazaki said. “I would, too.”

As Ninomaya puts it, the only figure in Japan who could conceivably surpass Ohtani in name recognition is the prime minister, and the current one, Shigeru Ishiba, just took office earlier this month.

“Some young people may not know our prime minister,” he said. “But even kids — junior high school students, senior high school students — everybody knows Ohtani.”

Yes, every generation in Japan is ready for breakfast with Ohtani. Even if there is one that appears most charmed.

Earlier this year, Whiting, 82, was talking to his wife, Machiko Kondo, who worked for years as a resettlement officer at the United Nations. For decades, Kondo never expressed any interest in baseball, even as Whiting wrote best-selling books about Japanese baseball history and the meaning of Ichiro, even as he followed games on both sides of the Pacific.

But then came Ohtani.

“I’ve written all these baseball books that have gotten national attention, and it doesn’t mean anything to her,” Whiting said. “But now with Ohtani, she’s started asking: ‘Did Ohtani have any home runs?’”

The Athletic‘s Andy McCullough and Sam Blum contributed to this story

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Photos)

How China Turned a City Into a Prison - The New York Times

Tue, 05 May 2026 07:13:47 +0000

For Uighurs, the surveillance is even more pervasive. Neighborhood monitors are assigned to watch over groups of families, as in this photo. An army of millions of police and official monitors can question Uighurs and search their homes. They grade residents for reliability. A low grade brings more visits, maybe detention.

Christopher Buckley, Paul Mozur and Austin Ramzy are foreign correspondents for The New York Times. Chris and Paul last visited Kashgar in October.

Produced by Josh Williams, Sergio Pecanha and Joe Ward.
Additional work by Malachy Browne and Meg Felling.

Brick Phone Lock Review: My Brain Feels Much Better | Reviews by Wirecutter

Sat, 02 May 2026 19:18:56 +0000

I Bricked My Phone for 2 Weeks. My Brain Feels Much Better.

Published October 17, 2025

Source photos by NYT Wirecutter, Brick

By Elissa Sanci

Elissa Sanci is a senior writer who has reported on label makers, tumblers, and more. She once dumped glitter in her car to test handheld vacuums.

Once I turned 30, I started carrying around an aching nostalgia for the way the internet was when I was a teenager, and how “being online” meant sitting in front of the shared family computer. Now that everyone carries devices that can do more than those kids could even dream of, it feels nearly impossible to log out.

These days, I’m so appalled by my recent screen-time reports that I’m embarrassed to share the stats. But I will anyway: almost eight hours a day. (Yikes.) I’m worried I’m wasting years of my life staring at the stupid screen in my hand. I spend hours at night swiping through videos of moms meal-prepping and strangers getting engaged without absorbing any of it. I can barely watch a 20-minute episode of television without simultaneously playing a mindless game on my phone.

I’ve tried to wean myself off my phone before. I’ve set up screen-time limits, downloaded app blockers, turned my bedroom into a phone-free zone, and even gone as far as locking my phone in a box. Those tactics worked for a while, but eventually I learned how to sneak around all the defenses I had set up for myself, rendering them ineffective.

A device that blocks your most distracting apps

Brick

The Brick temporarily blocks distracting apps and websites on your phone. To deactivate it, you have to physically touch your phone to the device. It’s an effective obstacle to doomscrolling.

$59 from Brick

The only thing I hadn’t tried, until now, was the Brick, an app-blocking device that I’ve seen ads for during my hours of daily scrolling. It’s a physical device that fits in the palm of your hand and works with a corresponding app to restrict access to the most addictive parts of your phone. The only way to regain access is to tap your phone against the device, which you can do only while you’re right beside it.

When I set out to try the Brick for an article (boss’s orders), I learned that it’s not so much a product but a way to live. After just two weeks, I feel my attention span regenerating, and it has given me hope that I can actually break my phone addiction.

Passkeys Are the New Passwords. You Should Start Using Them Now. | Reviews by Wirecutter

Sat, 02 May 2026 09:28:45 +0000

Software and apps

Passkeys Are the New Passwords. You Should Start Using Them Now.

Published April 29, 2026

Max Eddy/NYT Wirecutter

By Max Eddy

Max Eddy is a writer who has covered privacy and security — including password managers, VPNs, security keys, and more — for over a decade.

For 15 years, experts have told me that passwords are the biggest problem with online security and that’s just the way it is. The passwords that people make up are easily guessed by machines, and the ones that can’t be guessed are too hard to remember.

Over time, as more and more passwords became necessary, many people simply recycled theirs across different accounts — creating a precarious situation where one phished password or data breach gave an attacker access to the victims’ email, bank accounts, and anything else that shared that password.

Then came password managers, services and software in which a person could safely store all of their complex passwords and thus need to remember only a single password: the password for their password manager. This technology addressed, but didn’t solve, some of the problems. If people put in the effort, they could eventually have unique and complex passwords everywhere. But the majority of people did not opt to take on this herculean task that brought no immediate reward except that (maybe) in the future something bad might not happen to them (possibly). And a smart attacker could just phish even the best passwords anyway.

Two-factor authentication was the next bandage on the gaping wound of passwords. With 2FA protecting you, an attacker could have your password but wouldn’t be able to use it without a second confirmation, such as a code generated by an app or sent by text message. But another hoop to jump through for logging in remains a hard sell. And a smart attacker could just (you guessed it) phish most forms of 2FA anyway.

But passkeys are different. Instead of trying to fix unfixable passwords, passkeys are an entirely new technology that securely logs you in without your needing to remember your password or to perform a 2FA ritual. Passkeys are not perfect, and we’re still a ways off from their being commonplace, but learning what a passkey is and how to use it moves you a little closer to a more secure future.

The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:12:53 +0000

LIVE

April 30, 2026, 3:53 p.m. ET

House Votes to End Homeland Security Shutdown After Nearly 80 Days

It was a sudden resolution to the impasse after the Trump administration warned that money for paying employees would run out after today.

Trump Withdraws Nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General

Dr. Means’s nomination had stalled in part over her views on vaccines. President Trump said he was instead nominating Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist.

3 min read

Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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Booting the ball out from kick-off is a worrying trend – this rule change would curb it - The Athletic

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:12:48 +0000

In 1991, England travelled to Poland for their final qualification match for Euro 92. It was a crucial contest: the winners would qualify for the tournament, with a draw favouring England.

Considering the importance of the game, it was a surprise that England manager Graham Taylor handed debuts to two players: Queens Park Rangers winger Andy Sinton and Crystal Palace midfielder Andy Gray.

The latter was given an unusual role for the game’s opening moments. With David Platt and Gary Lineker taking the kick-off, Gray was instructed to stand just behind them and launch a diagonal ball downfield towards the corner flag, and out for a Poland throw-in. This was, Taylor reasoned, the best way to start the game: ‘box in’ the opposition from the start, and put them under pressure. It was an unusual approach, but it was also classic Taylor, a manager more concerned with territory than possession.

Platt and Lineker duly took the kick-off, knocking it back to Gray as planned. But because he stood rather too close to them, the backwards pass invited a Poland striker to nip in and attempt an interception. So as Gray wound himself up for a big diagonal ball, he was suddenly forced to rush. He slipped slightly, and sliced the ball barely 15 yards. Poland attacked, broke into the box, and England were the ones under pressure within 10 seconds. It was the complete opposite of what Taylor had wanted. Gray was substituted at half-time, and never played for his country again — possibly because, to twist Taylor’s unintentional catchphrase, he could not knock it.

All was forgotten because England recorded a 1-1 draw and progressed to the Euros. But it shows that the kind of kick-off routine taking over this season’s Premier League was attempted — if not perfected — by an England side renowned for their primitive, long-ball game.

Taylor, whose football was somewhat old-school, is an unlikely influence on the modern version. But then again, this era of Premier League football appears to be about going back to basics: long throws, big No 9s and a heavy emphasis on set pieces.

The kick-off routine is a little more unusual.

It has popped up now and again in the current era; Marseille used that approach throughout their 2017-18 campaign, including in that season’s Europa League final defeat to Atletico Madrid. And maybe it’s an unofficial Ligue 1 approach in European finals, because Paris Saint-Germain did the same at the start of their 5-0 thrashing of Inter in this year’s Champions League edition.

That has seemingly kick-started the trend. If PSG, the foremost exponents of technical football at the moment, are content to use that approach, why shouldn’t everyone else?

Arsenal did it in their 1-0 defeat away to Liverpool last Sunday, but the most prolific offenders have been Newcastle United (who have twice done it at the start of matches) and Crystal Palace (twice at the beginning of a first half, and once at the opening of the second).

Interestingly, they have slightly different approaches. Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali hits the ball directly towards the corner flag from kick-off, so his team can ‘box in’ opponents, with nine outfielders in the vicinity of the thrower…

… while Palace’s Adam Wharton stands in his own half, receives a backwards pass from kick-off, and then hits the ball out of play. Unlike his predecessor in the Palace and England midfield, Gray, he manages to complete the task.

Maybe this is all just a bit of fun, and something different. It’s certainly within the rules and hardly contravenes the spirit of the game. But it’s also a slightly worrying precedent, emphasising that the concept of pressing is now so valuable in modern football that teams think hoofing the ball straight out of play, rather than attempting to retain possession and build a passing move, is their best option.

There is nothing inherently wrong with pressing, but it has started to dominate the game to a slightly bewildering degree, with some managers basing their whole philosophy around the idea of creating turnovers high up the pitch. It brings to mind Ralf Rangnick’s comments on Cristiano Ronaldo not being right for his style of play: “He’s not a player, even when he was a young player, who was crying, shouting: ‘Hooray, the other team has got the ball, where can we win balls?” Well, of course not. Ronaldo prefers it when his own side have the ball, in keeping with most of the world’s best attacking players.

Of course, even the best possession-based sides have moments when the opposition have the ball, and they want to regain it quickly. That’s natural. But things are taken to the next level when teams are so desperate for the opposition to have possession that booting it off the pitch is a worthwhile attacking move.

Most sides at Premier League level are capable of getting out of these situations, but lower down the ladder — and particularly in youth football — it could make for quite a depressing spectacle. What if this became such a reliable way to put pressure on opponents that it became a standard tactic in other situations? What if, when the opposition has 11 players behind the ball, a centre-back decided it was more worthwhile to ‘kick for touch’ rather than attempt to play through midfield?

Howe’s Newcastle are among the teams sending it long from kick-off (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

The problem with having a throw-in near the corner flag, of course, is that there’s a limited amount of space the thrower can reach. You can’t go backwards, because of the byline. You’re dissuaded from going sideways, because you don’t want to throw the ball towards your own goal. So there’s really only one direction to throw it, and the emphasis is usually upon distance rather than finding a team-mate. Essentially, you’re just creating a 50:50 challenge.

The data largely supports this idea. For throw-ins from anywhere in midfield — between the edges of the two penalty boxes — the ball is touched first by a team-mate of the thrower 85 per cent of the time. But this drops to 68 per cent when throws are taken within 18 yards of a team’s own goal line — and presumably many of those first touches are simply flick-ons, or a player hoofing it up towards halfway.

One simple solution would be to allow teams to bring any throw-ins deep in their own half forward, level to a position with the edge of their own penalty box. This wouldn’t entirely solve the issue — and it’s worth pointing out that Wharton seems to be putting the ball out of play 25 yards from the corner flag, rather than right next to it — but at least teams forced to hurl the ball forward with their first action of the game would be conceding possession further away from their own goal.

An overreaction? Maybe, but football’s laws have always evolved to ensure that technical, possession-based play is able to compete with teams based around physicality and territory. This is partly why it has become such an attractive, popular sport to watch.

But if deliberately kicking the ball off the pitch becomes a regular attacking tactic, the game will have become dangerously close to rugby union, and some kind of reform will be required.

Get it launched — why long throw-ins into the penalty area are undervalued - The Athletic

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:12:47 +0000

About four times a game, most football teams do a small, dumb thing.

An opponent kicks the ball out of bounds in their defensive quarter, adjacent to their own penalty area. The attacking side gets the ball back on the touchline.

They’re barely 15 yards away from the other team’s box. The laws of the game say they can use their hands to throw it anywhere they want.

But most of the time, it turns out that where the attacking team throws the ball when they’re near the penalty area is… not into the penalty area. This is, respectfully, a bad choice.

Just. Throw. The. Ball… into the box.

A throw-in into the penalty area is more likely to lead to a goal — not just right away but over the next 30 seconds. That’s more than enough time for your more sophisticated possession teams to take a short throw, pass it around and try to create some other, prettier kind of chance.

By the numbers, short throws still come up short. You may not like it aesthetically but big fat hurls into the box are just better. It’s not even close.

Over the last four Premier League seasons, short throw-ins from the final quarter of the pitch are worth an average of 0.010 expected goals over the next 30 seconds, meaning they should produce 10 goals for every 1,000 throws. Throws into the box are worth more than double that, at 0.022 xG per attempt.

Worried about counter-attacks from long throws? Don’t be. Taken short, a throw-in in the final quarter of the pitch will lead to a goal for the non-throwing team in the next 30 seconds just two out of every 1,000 times. Throw it into the box and that rises to three out of every 1,000. The extra risk from throws into the box is an order of magnitude smaller than the reward.

Across leagues, levels and seasons, the numbers vary a little bit but the rule of thumb stays the same: a throw into the box is about twice as valuable as one taken short from the same part of the pitch. Long throws double your fun.

The remarkable thing about those league averages is that it’s not the best teams that are doing most of the long throws into the box. It’s teams like Brentford, who rank eighth in the Premier League for total non-penalty expected goals per game but who have been comfortably top of the league for two seasons running for the expected goal value of their attacking throw-ins.

What’s their secret? Simple. They throw the ball into the box.

Brentford’s owner, Matthew Benham, is a professional gambler who made his fortune searching for small advantages. When he started investing in football clubs, he found that one of the cheapest ways for a team to boost its goal difference was to squeeze maximum value out of dead-ball routines.

First, at his Danish club Midtjylland, then at Brentford, Benham’s teams fought their way up the table thanks in part to goals from set pieces, including long throw-ins.

You can see that training in a goal that Brentford scored from a throw-in against West Ham in December:

Mathias Jensen takes a running start to launch a throw all the way to the edge of the six-yard box. Brentford centre-back Ethan Pinnock, taking advantage of the rule that you can’t be offside from a throw-in, runs backward onto the ball from the byline and flicks a header away from goal, over West Ham’s retreating back line, to where Christian Norgaard’s trailing run has left him in space to shoot.

It’s a perfect routine. The fact that it doesn’t entirely work, and that it’s Ivan Toney who winds up scoring from a rebound, only hammers home why throwing the ball into the box is a good idea. You don’t do it in the hope that everything will go right. You deliver the ball close to the goal, where bodies get tangled and the ball bounces unexpectedly. and cross your fingers that something goes wrong… or, more accurately, right.

On average, less than half of the xG from long throw-ins comes in the five seconds after the throw (in the Premier League, throws into the box earn just 0.008 xG in the first five seconds compared to 0.022 xG over 30 seconds). The real value is in rebounds, loose balls and second-wave attacks while the defence is still rattled.

In order to create that disorganisation, you need a player who can get the ball in the box in the first place. One reason teams don’t take more long throws is the sheer physical difficulty of hurling a ball that far.

Not every squad is blessed with a Rory Delap and 40-yard throw-ins are probably too specialised a skill to be worth recruiting for.

“It’s much, much better to take a player who’s already good and then develop his throw-in technique,” says the throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark, who has worked with Midtjylland and Brentford. “I’m not only coaching throw-in tactics, I’m also coaching technique.” He says simple technical adjustments can improve most throwers’ range by five to 15 metres, enough to get the ball into a dangerous area.

Another reason some clubs don’t throw the ball into the box is that they don’t think they have the target men to score from them. It’s not clear how much that really matters, given the importance of rebounds and second waves, but it can become sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy when teams that wouldn’t think twice about putting corner kicks into the box for the same forwards simply choose not to throw to them.

The upshot is that a lot of teams don’t attempt enough throws into the box to know for sure how much it might help them. “It’s not a bad idea for anyone and it’s a good idea for a chunk of teams,” the data scientist Mike Imburgio says. “Not enough clubs try new things.”

Overall, though, the advantage is clear. Using a mixed-effects model to adjust for team effects, the real expected goal value of an attacking throw-in outside the box in the Premier League this season is about 0.008 xGD in the 30 seconds after the throw. The model estimates that a throw into the box adds another 0.008 xGD — right in line with the “box throws double your fun” rule of thumb.

It’s a small edge for a kind of play that doesn’t happen that much in the first place. If your average Premier League club put every single one of its 180 attacking throws over the course of a season into the box, it could expect to earn just a 1.44 goal advantage over, say, Wolves (who haven’t thrown a single throw into the box this season).

But in a league where a one-point difference can be worth millions, a goal and a half isn’t nothing. It’s a simple tactical choice. It’s free. All you have to lose is your dignity.

So go ahead, take a running start, and throw the ball into the damn box.

OpenAI Trial Starts With Two Very Different Tales of a Company’s Early Years

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:38:38 +0000

Cade Metz and Mike Isaac, reporting for The New York Times from the Ronald V. Dellums U.S. Courthouse in Oakland (gift link):

On the first day of testimony in a landmark trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, two notably different tales were offered of how OpenAI evolved from a nonprofit artificial intelligence lab into one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
In Mr. Musk’s telling, OpenAI’s shift was one of the greatest heists in history — a nonprofit ripped from its promise of altruism by the greed of Mr. Altman, who founded OpenAI with Mr. Musk and a group of A.I. researchers more than 10 years ago. In OpenAI’s recounting of those early days, however, it was Mr. Musk who was the voracious capitalist. And when the lab’s other founders refused to go along with his plans, he left in a huff.
“This lawsuit is very simple: It is not OK to steal a charity,” Mr. Musk said Tuesday on the witness stand in an Oakland, Calif., courtroom. If Mr. Altman and OpenAI are allowed to continue with their plans, he added, “It will give license to looting every charity in America.”
A nine-member jury, seated a day earlier in federal court by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, will hear from tech moguls, former OpenAI board members and employees in what is expected to be a monthlong trial. The jurors’ decision could shift the balance of power among A.I. companies, with Mr. Musk seeking $150 billion in damages and an order that OpenAI, now valued at about $730 billion, unwind its for-profit plans.

Gonzales Rogers, you will surely remember, presided over the Epic v. Apple case.

Isaac is live-tweeting the testimony and goings-on on Twitter/X. Here’s his thread of posts yesterday. Isaac is a terrific reporter, and I enjoy following his extemporaneous notes. It’s a little weird though that he’s posting these on Twitter/X, a site that is privately owned by one of the parties in the lawsuit. Musk’s empire is so sprawling that separate pieces inevitably collide.

★

With Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization, Trump’s Rhetoric Goes Beyond Bluster - The New York Times

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:03:44 +0000

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News Analysis

With Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization, Trump’s Rhetoric Goes Beyond Bluster

The president’s violent rhetoric risks damaging his credibility as a negotiator and the country’s standing in the world.

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With Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization, Trump’s Rhetoric Goes Beyond Bluster

The president’s violent rhetoric risks damaging his credibility as a negotiator and the country’s standing in the world.

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It was a stunning threat that promised to eliminate Iranian civilization, delivered with all the casual callousness that has become President Trump’s preferred style of communication.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

And that is what passed as a normal Tuesday-morning update from the Trump White House: a warning of mass destruction and what international law would define as war crimes, blithely delivered on Truth Social, posted alongside ads for bullet-shaped pens, patriotic hats and a gala dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

“However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?” Mr. Trump wrote in his message. “We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.”

The message arrived two days after Mr. Trump marked Easter Sunday by calling on the Iranians to end its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,” he wrote.

In the minds of the president and his supporters, the post is all part of Mr. Trump’s chaotic negotiation style, intended to prompt an end to his self-inflicted conflict and persuade Tehran to open the strait. Some of the president’s advisers saw Mr. Trump’s escalating rhetoric as a negotiating tactic that suggested he was more interested in finding a way out of the war than following through with a devastating attack.

On Tuesday evening, Mr. Trump had toggled back to diplomat mode, announcing that he had agreed to a proposal by Pakistan that calls for a two-week cease-fire and the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Opinion | The American Dream Is the Troquita - The New York Times

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:17:34 +0000

transcript

The American Dream Is the Troquita

“The troquita — the truck — it’s symbolic,” Senator Ruben Gallego tells David Leonhardt on “The Opinions.” “It really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country.”

This is the point where I have to ask about big-ass trucks. Troquitas, yes In an interview with The New York Times you said that what Latino men want is to own a big-ass truck, which is connected very much to what you were just saying. And I assume you would say the point is broader than Latino men. It’s men and women. It’s men and women. It’s everything Asian, Black and white Americans. I mean, I said that mostly just to break through this because I’ve heard it so much: Latino men go this way. I’m like, well, Latino men want things. There’s a lot of Democrats, and the more liberal side that would hope that Latino men are more reflective and look and vote like white liberal men. They don’t, they’re different. They’re entirely different. They have an entirely different experience. And they’re not like Black men either. They have entirely different experience. And so to break through you have to keep it simple. They want security, they want economic security, and they want physical security for their family. And their wants are legitimate. We shouldn’t just shy away from it or ignore it because it puts us in an uncomfortable spot so the troquita – it’s symbolic because it really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country. It means that you can afford a brand new nice truck that you take that truck to work, and that work brings dignity to your family. It helps you pay the bills. You get to load your kids on there. You get to go on vacation. It involves this whole symbolic gesture to your community that you are leading your family and that you are bringing them into the American dream. That’s what it really represents. I think a lot of people feel uncomfortable about that, but that really is, it’s as simple as that. Also, trucks are fun. Trucks are a lot of fun.

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Opinion | The American Dream Is the Troquita - The New York Times

The American Dream Is the Troquita

“The troquita — the truck — it’s symbolic,” Senator Ruben Gallego tells David Leonhardt on “The Opinions.” “It really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country.”