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      In Rome, Adams Sees a Model for Helping Migrants Assimilate

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      The mayor praised the work of a migrant welcome center, which he visited at the end of a three-day trip, during which he also met with Pope Francis.It didn’t take long for Mayor Eric Adams of New York to articulate what he liked about a welcome center for migrants and asylum seekers that he visited on Sunday in Rocca di Papa, a town about 15 miles outside Rome.“In two months they’re going from migrant to participating in society,” Mr. Adams said after a 30-minute tour of the center, where migrants from countries including Syria and Sudan are processed, take Italian lessons and receive health care before being sent out for job opportunities.The mayor, who has called on the federal government to expedite work permits and relocation assistance for migrants, repeated that appeal after visiting the center, which is run by the Red Cross and receives funding from the Italian government. He said he wanted help from the Biden administration to develop something similar in New York, where more than 190,000 migrants have arrived over the last two years.Mr. Adams’s visit came on the last day of a three-day trip to Rome, where he met Pope Francis at the Vatican and spoke at an international conference on peace. The trip was a brief respite from varied troubles at home — protests over the Israel-Hamas war, a federal investigation into his campaign’s fund-raising, lagging poll numbers and possible challengers in next year’s primary — and Mr. Adams said it had inspired him and given him ideas that he would use in New York.“The big takeaway for me is the similarities of these cities,” he said.Mr. Adams met with Victor Fadlun, president of the Jewish Community of Rome, a nonprofit organization, in the city’s Jewish Quarter.Alessandro Penso for The New York TimesThe mayor was received warmly in Rome: On Saturday, his often-used line comparing New York to other cities — in this case, “New York is the Rome of America” — drew applause. On Sunday, a child asked for his autograph.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      NYC Mayor Adams Meets Pope Francis at the Vatican

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      The meeting was a highlight for the mayor, who is in Rome to speak at a conference about world peace and often talks about how his Christian faith informs his leadership.Mayor Eric Adams, who talks often about his faith, acknowledged on Saturday that he had felt some uncertainty — if not anxiety — about meeting Pope Francis.But at the Vatican, as Mr. Adams stooped before the pope, he felt any disquiet he had wash away. Pope Francis placed his hand on the mayor’s right arm. Then, the two shook hands.“I think that some people have a level of aura and energy and the ability to just calm people,” said Mr. Adams, who is Christian but not Catholic. “I think that’s what he possessed. In my prayers, I thank God for having the opportunity this morning.”The meeting came on the second day of a three-day trip to Italy for Mr. Adams, who said he is trying to better understand the global conflicts that touch New York. The visit came as the mayor, who is up for re-election next year, faces difficulties in New York City, including lagging poll numbers and a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising.There was no specific agenda for the meeting between the mayor and the pope, which came as the pope met with participants of a conference about peace. But after the meeting, Mr. Adams said the two spoke about conflicts in Haiti, Africa and the Middle East. They talked about the Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism, a nonprofit created by Robert Kraft, the owner of the N.F.L.’s New England Patriots.“He responded affirmatively and said: ‘Eric, please pray for me as well,’” the mayor said.After their meeting at the Vatican, Mr. Adams said that Pope Francis asked the mayor to pray for him.Vatican MediaWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Ronn Torossian, an NYC Executive, Arrested After Confrontation at Syracuse Protest

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      Ronn Torossian, a New York City public relations executive and an associate of Mayor Eric Adams, was arrested last weekend at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of Syracuse University, where he and other parents were protesting what he described as the school’s inaction toward student safety issues, including violence and antisemitism.Mr. Torossian, who is Jewish and the parent of a Syracuse student, confronted a student protester who had a sign that said, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.” University officials described him as “especially aggressive” toward students. When Mr. Torossian refused to leave, campus security arrested him.“Harassing behavior or conduct from anyone that creates a safety concern will not be tolerated,” the university said in a statement about the episode.The arrest followed an off-campus incident the day before involving a pro-Palestinian protester who the school says was not a Syracuse University student. The protester said “Heil Hitler” as he made a Nazi salute at a Jewish student and then punched the student in the face, according to a police report and an email from university officials.The assault on the Jewish student and Mr. Torossian’s arrest reflect the increasingly murky situations around the country that university administrators, students and parents are trying to navigate as lingering protests draw students and non-students alike, at locations both on and nearby campus.Mr. Torossian, who helped organize fund-raising events for Mr. Adams’s election campaign, said he and other Jewish parents have been exasperated that the university chancellor has declined to meet with a group of concerned Jewish parents since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      After Student Encampment Ends, New School Professors Set Up Their Own

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      Faculty members at The New School in Manhattan this week set up what may be the first professor-led pro-Palestinian encampment on a college campus since the Israel-Hamas war has prompted waves of protests at schools across the country.The New School’s urban campus in Greenwich Village lacks the open spaces and green lawns of other universities that have been the site of protest encampments, so the professors set up their camp inside the lobby of a university building on Fifth Avenue.On Thursday afternoon, eight tents were visible on the same spot where some of the school’s students had previously set up a lobby encampment for several days. The university called in the police last week to remove it and arrest the student protesters.One green-and-white tent had “faculty against genocide” written in red on it. A number of posters were affixed to the building’s windows, including one that read “All Eyes on Rafah,” an area of Gaza where many have taken refuge and where Israel has made incursions and is threatening a ground invasion.Professors pitched their tents inside a building lobby where students had set up an earlier encampment.Sarah Yenesel/EPA, via Shutterstock“We call on faculty across all universities to escalate and take risk in solidarity with the student movement, their demands, and the people of Palestine,” the protesting faculty wrote in a social media post. A spokesman for the group declined to comment further on Thursday.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Custodial Witnesses Affirm Basic Facts in Trump’s Hush-Money Trial

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      They have provided some of the more quotidian testimony in a trial populated by porn stars and presidents: a series of witnesses who have discussed such matters as FedEx labels, Sharpie usage and stapling protocol.But each of those witnesses has provided a link in the chain of custody of the 34 business documents at the heart of the case against Donald J. Trump, whose trial is completing its fourth week on Friday.Mr. Trump is accused of disguising those records as payments for legal services to cover up a reimbursement to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer. Mr. Cohen in 2016 had paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, to bury her allegation of a sexual encounter with the former president.Such witnesses, known as custodial witnesses, are used to authenticate documents and events that have not otherwise previously been agreed to — stipulated, in legalese — by prosecutors and defense lawyers.Witnesses this week have included Madeleine Westerhout, a former executive assistant to Mr. Trump during his time in the White House. Ms. Westerhout, who spoke affectionately of Mr. Trump and broke into tears on the stand on Thursday speaking about her 2019 firing, testified about having received checks for Mr. Trump to sign, which he sometimes did in the Oval Office.Jeffrey S. McConney, the Trump Organization’s former corporate controller, also described in painstaking detail how Mr. Cohen requested the checks by invoice. They were then cut by Deborah Tarasoff, an accounts supervisor at the organization, and sent via FedEx to the White House by Rebecca Manochio, a junior bookkeeper at the company.Those checks left Mr. Trump’s headquarters in New York stapled to Mr. Cohen’s invoices and arrived in Washington, making their way to the White House through two of Mr. Trump’s aides, including Keith Schiller, Mr. Trump’s personal bodyguard, at their home addresses.A defense attorney, Susan Necheles, sought to downplay the sending of checks to an outside address, suggesting in questioning Ms. Westerhout that such an arrangement was simply “a workaround” to avoid things getting delayed in a crush of mail being received at the White House. Ms. Westerhout agreed.Once the checks were signed by Mr. Trump — often in Sharpie, according to testimony — they were sent back to New York, and eventually to Mr. Cohen, who is expected to be a key witness for prosecutors, beginning on Monday. More

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      Tadhana Showcases Filipino Cuisine With a 16-Course Tasting Menu

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      Inday serves fast-casual Indian American fare, Summer at the Rink Rock Center provides al fresco dining and more restaurant news.OpeningTadhanaWith no shortage of ambition, Frances Tariga, 42, who came to New York from the Philippines in 2011 as the chef for a diplomat, is opening her first restaurant. Dinner, a 16-course tasting divided in seven categories, is $185. Intended to showcase her native cuisine, it progresses from a special mountain bread to vegetable preparations, including a spring roll, then several ceviches, street food items like okra tempura and, with a touch of gastronomic luxury, a traditional duck egg custard topped with caviar. There is soup followed by salo-salo, an array of grilled and steamed items, then dessert. With the chef Mark Nobello at her side in the kitchen and a staff that’s entirely Filipino, she’s running a tight, 24-seat ship in a mere 700 square feet. (Friday)151 Allen Street (Stanton Street), 617-858-0420, tadhananyc.com. IndayThe largest and now flagship for this chain of quick-serve Indian American spots, where customers layer their ingredient choices in bowls, has opened. Curries, vegetable sides, chutneys and other sauces and toppings like pickled chiles and onions are some of the choices. It also has a chai bar and serves cocktails, beer and wine.1 Rockefeller Plaza (entrance on West 48th Street), indayallday.com. Summer at the Rink Rock CenterDining al fresco in the central rink area of Rockefeller Center involves extensions of two established Rink Level restaurants, Naro and Jupiter. Naro has a new casual menu that includes Korean fried chicken and pork chop sandwiches, an omelet with kimchi fried rice and a strawberry creamsicle. In addition it its regular menu, Jupiter is serving lobster with zucchini fries and a 30-layer chocolate cake.Naro, 212-202-0206, naronyc.com, Jupiter, 212-207-0060, jupiterrestaurant.nyc. Rink Level, 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Due MadriJocelyn Guest and Erika Nakamura, who run this stand on the James Beard Foundation’s Market 57 at Pier 57, have opened a new outpost in the plaza of the Park Tower Group’s building near a sculpture garden by Christie’s. The kiosk serves assorted Italian sandwiches layered with meats and vegetables, and also a salad and meatballs.535 Madison Avenue (54th Street), duemadri.co. Nan Xiang ExpressThe fifth location and the first in Manhattan for this growing chain of spots for Xiao Long Bao has opened just off Restaurant Row. A kiosk takes your order. The Upper West Side, Philadelphia and Lawrenceville, N.J., are coming; other locations can be found in Brooklyn, Queens and Boston.654 Ninth Avenue (46th Street), nanxiangexpress.com. Pizza Fun HousePizzas here come topped with “disco meatballs” and “Boogie Boogie pepperoni,” pulling from the childhood memories of “Happy Days” by Fabio Granato, a co-owner of Serafina Hospitality. Several Parms, lasagna, salads and pastas are also on the menu in the bright space.402 Avenue of the Americas (West Eighth Street), pizzafunhousenyc.com. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Three Faces of Don

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      When I worked at Time magazine in the early ’80s, I bought a frame at the company gift shop that was a mock-up of the Time Man of the Year cover, but it was Mother of the Year. I put in a picture of my mom, looking chic in a suit, holding me as a baby.I gave it to her for Mother’s Day as a goof.But for Donald Trump, whose office at Trump Tower was an infinity mirror of his magazine covers, the annual Time rite has always been a serious obsession. He complained after it was changed in 1999. He asked women at a rally in 2016, “What sounds better, Person of the Year or Man of the Year?”In 2015, when Time made Angela Merkel Person of the Year, he whined that he wasn’t the choice. “They picked person who is ruining Germany,” he sour-grapes tweeted.Even though the prestige of the once-mighty Time had dwindled, Trump was thrilled when he finally got Person of the Year in 2016. About the cover line, “President of the Divided States of America,” he demurred that the country would be “well healed” under his leadership.Well, turns out he was just a heel.In 2017, David Fahrenthold revealed in The Washington Post that the framed copies of Trump on the cover of Time, hung in at least five of the president’s golf clubs from Florida to Scotland, were fakes.The red border of the faux covers was skinnier; even my Mother of the Year frame got that detail right.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Prosecutors Ask Judge to Hold Trump in Contempt for a Second Time

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      Two days after former President Donald J. Trump was held in contempt and fined for violating the gag order placed on him in his criminal trial in Manhattan, the judge overseeing the case conducted a hearing to determine if Mr. Trump had broken the rules again.Justice Juan M. Merchan did not reach a decision on the question during the 40-minute proceeding that took place on Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court, where Mr. Trump is being tried on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election.But during the hearing — the second in the past two weeks concerning violations of the gag order — Justice Merchan heard arguments from prosecutors and Mr. Trump’s lawyers about whether the former president should be sanctioned again for ignoring the protective measure four more times. The allegations stem from Mr. Trump’s recent remarks in interviews and news conferences, including one that took place outside the same courtroom where his trial is being held.On Tuesday, Justice Merchan fined Mr. Trump $9,000 for nine earlier violations. In that ruling, the judge bemoaned the fact that he lacked the authority to issue steeper fines and warned the former president that continued disobedience could land him in jail.The two contempt hearings were the latest reminder of the extraordinary measures that judges have taken to keep Mr. Trump from lashing out at participants in the wide array of legal matters in which he is embroiled.Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor, opened Thursday’s hearing by asking Justice Merchan to fine Mr. Trump $1,000 for each of the four new violations of the gag order that he said took place in recent days as the jury heard evidence.Mr. Conroy reminded the judge that he had imposed the gag order to begin with “because of the defendant’s persistent and escalating rhetoric,” adding that Mr. Trump’s “statements are corrosive to this proceeding and the fair administration of justice.”Mr. Conroy went on to say that Mr. Trump had violated the gag order not only repeatedly, but also willfully.“The defendant thinks the rules should be different for him,” he said.Todd Blanche, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, reprised arguments he made last week. He sought to persuade Justice Merchan that his client’s statements had been made merely in response to political attacks from others — including President Biden.Referring to the rows of reporters behind him in the courtroom, Mr. Blanche said that in a case that has attracted such immense publicity, it was unfair that Mr. Trump was constrained from reacting to verbal assaults.While Justice Merchan seemed open to the idea that Mr. Trump should not be defenseless against attacks from enemies or rivals, he pointed out that the gag order did not bar him from saying whatever he wished about Mr. Biden.The judge also noted that no one has forced Mr. Trump to speak daily to reporters who gather in a courtroom hallway at every break in the proceeding.“The former president of the United States is on trial, and he’s the leading candidate of the Republican Party,” Justice Merchan said. “It’s not surprising we have press in the courtroom.”The first incident the judge was asked to consider took place on April 22 as testimony began. Mr. Trump went after one of the state’s main witnesses, Michael D. Cohen, describing him as a liar to reporters outside the courtroom. Mr. Cohen, who was once a lawyer and fixer for Mr. Trump, is expected to take the stand in the coming weeks and describe how he paid $130,000 to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, on his boss’s behalf to keep her from going public with her story of a sexual encounter with him.Later that same day, Mr. Trump made disparaging remarks about jurors during a telephone interview with a right-wing media outlet, Real America’s Voice. The jury, he said, was “mostly all Democrat,” adding, “It’s a very unfair situation.”The next morning — just before he was scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on his previous violations of the gag order — Mr. Trump attacked Mr. Cohen again during a television interview with an ABC affiliate in Pennsylvania.“Michael Cohen is a convicted liar,” Mr. Trump said, “and he’s got no credibility whatsoever.”Another incident took place on April 25 when Mr. Trump, appearing at a news conference in midtown Manhattan, made a comment to reporters about David Pecker, the former publisher of The National Enquirer. Later that morning, Mr. Pecker would continue his testimony about deals he had reached with the former president to “catch and kill” negative stories about him.“He’s been very nice,” Mr. Trump said. “I mean, he’s been — David’s been very nice. A nice guy.” More