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      De Blasio Will Run for House Seat in Newly Drawn District

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      Bill de Blasio, the ex-mayor of New York City, said on Friday that he would run for Congress in a new district that includes parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan.Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City, announced on Friday that he would run for Congress in a newly created district stretching from Lower Manhattan to his home in Brooklyn, jumping into a crowded Democratic primary field.Mr. de Blasio, who left office with low approval ratings in December after two terms, had been publicly mulling a campaign this week after a state court released a slate of new proposed congressional districts that would open up a safely blue seat in the heart of New York City.He announced his comeback attempt early Friday morning on his favorite television program, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” hours before the map was set to be finalized, and potentially tweaked.“The polls show people are hurting, they need help, they need help fast and they need leaders who can actually get them help now and know how to do it,” said Mr. de Blasio, 61. “I do know how to do it from years of serving the people of this city, so today I am declaring my candidacy for Congress.”After eight years as mayor and a disastrous run for president in 2020, Mr. de Blasio will enter the race better known than almost any potential opponent, with a record of progressive accomplishments and a trail of political disappointments.But several other Democrats have already shown interest in running for the seat and could compete with him ahead of an Aug. 23 primary.They include State Senator Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan progressive; State Senator Simcha Felder, whose district includes the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn’s Borough Park; and Assembly members Yuh-Line Niou, Robert Carroll and Jo Anne Simon.Ms. Niou, a left-leaning former political aide who represents Chinatown and parts of Lower Manhattan in the Assembly, was scheduled to make a “major announcement” on Saturday. More

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      The Man Who Many Democrats Wish Would Not Run

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      Representative Tom Suozzi could be re-elected to Congress. But he is running for governor instead.Good morning. It’s Wednesday. We’ll look at Representative Thomas Suozzi, a centrist Democrat who is giving up his House seat to try to unseat another centrist Democrat, Gov. Kathy Hochul. We’ll also look at plans to renovate Penn Station and redevelop the surrounding neighborhood.Stephanie Keith for The New York Times“I could stay in Congress the rest of my life if I wanted to and keep on getting re-elected, I believe,” Representative Thomas Suozzi said — and many Democrats wish he would.Among them: Representative Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, who is widely talked about as a potential speaker of the House. And former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who beat Suozzi handily in a primary 16 years ago. And Hillary Clinton, who urged Suozzi to do his part to help keep Democratic control of the House.Running for governor would not further that objective. But Suozzi is building a campaign around fighting crime, cutting taxes and claiming that Gov. Kathy Hochul is not up to the job.My colleague Nicholas Fandos says the race is probably Hochul’s to lose. She has a double-digit lead in recent polls, far more cash to spend and the support of a Democratic establishment eager to see New York’s first female governor win a full term. But Suozzi seems to be finding an audience among New Yorkers who have doubts about Hochul. “New Yorkers are just not going to forget about this poor judgment she’s exercised,” Suozzi said the other day after Hochul’s handpicked lieutenant governor resigned amid corruption charges.The question is whether he can attract the broad spectrum of voters needed to win.Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive whose congressional district stretches across Nassau into Suffolk County and also includes two chunks in Queens, is clearly targeting Mayor Eric Adams’s coalition of working-class Black and Latino voters around New York City. He chose Diana Reyna, a former city councilwoman who was the first Dominican woman elected in New York State, as his running mate. Fernando Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president, is his campaign chairman.But at times Suozzi seems to have gone out of his way to alienate another powerful block of primary voters — progressives. Other prominent Democrats dislike the tone of his attacks on the state’s first female leader, whom he often refers to as an unqualified “interim governor.”“What he seems to be saying is, ‘I should be governor because I can do it better,’” said Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chairman. “The underlying implication is that he is a male and she is a female. That’s not where this party should be going.”Suozzi said that Jacobs, who chaired his 2006 campaign, was “absolutely wrong.” He also defended his approach on Hochul: “Kathy Hochul has not been elected governor of New York State, and she is serving from now until the end of Andrew Cuomo’s term,” he said. “The definition of that is interim.”A spokesman for the governor declined to comment.WeatherIt’s another mostly sunny day near the high 60s with temps dropping to the mid-50s during the partly cloudy evening.alternate-side parkingIn effect until May 26 (Solemnity of the Ascension).The latest Metro newsCrimeAn 85-year-old former member of the Black Liberation Army won parole after serving 49 years for the death of a New Jersey state trooper. Aaron Nathaniel Jr., who was only 14 when he killed a 16-year-old on a Brooklyn playground in 2018, was sentenced after delays that frustrated families on both sides. Other big storiesStoops are coming to the city’s Open Streets program. Here’s a first look.Andy Warhol’s 1964 silk-screen of Marilyn Monroe’s face sold for about $195 million, making it the highest price achieved for any American work of art at auction.The plan to revitalize Penn StationJohn Taggart for The New York TimesNew York State wants to remake the shabby Penn Station transit hub with a big real estate development. I asked my colleague Matthew Haag, who covered the revitalization with Dana Rubinstein, to explain what’s in the works.How much is it going to cost? Who’ll be on the hook if the project doesn’t go as Gov. Kathy Hochul expects it to?It’s best to think of the overall project in two parts: Penn Station and the 10 skyscrapers.The reconstruction of Penn Station, along with cosmetic improvements there and an additional tunnel under the Hudson River, is expected to cost $30 billion to $40 billion. The new towers, with more than 18 million square feet, would be privately financed. Most of the towers would be built on properties owned by Vornado Realty Trust, one of the city’s largest real estate groups.New York State is leading the upgrades at Penn Station, and state officials said that New York’s share of those costs is expected to be just a fraction of the total — around $10 billion — because New Jersey and the federal government would also contribute. But nothing has been written in stone, so the cost, and how it would be shared across all stakeholders, could change. If it goes as planned, construction would start in 2024 at Penn Station and be completed in 2032.To pay for the work at Penn Station, Hochul wants to build the 10 skyscrapers around Penn Station, which will mostly contain office space but will also include hotel rooms, retail space and residences. The revenue brought in by the buildings would be used to pay off the construction costs at Penn Station.The last tower would be finished in 2044, creating a 12-year window between the completion of Penn Station and the last building. If revenue from the new buildings falls short of what would be needed to pay off the debt, taxpayers would be forced to cover the bill.If there were a shortfall, the city would be protected because the state would cover the costs, state officials said. Still, it would be taxpayers on the hook.But there are doubts from some quarters. What did the city’s Independent Budget Office fault about the plan? And what is the Independent Budget Office, anyway?The Independent Budget Office, the agency that monitors city budget and tax revenues, said it was nearly impossible to analyze the plan on its merits. The agency said there was a dearth of information, especially about projected construction costs and estimated revenues from the towers.State officials told us that they shared the budget office’s desire to get a full accounting of the costs and claimed that all the numbers would be finalized before the project is approved in the coming months by the Empire Development Corporation, the state agency overseeing the project.The renovations announced by Hochul appeared to be a reduced version of what her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, had envisioned. So New York State is in charge. What about City Hall?When Cuomo unveiled the scope of the development, there was immediate concern among local residents, elected officials and community leaders that it was too big. After Cuomo resigned and Hochul took office, she put her imprint on the project with some modest changes. But the broad parameters of the project — 10 towers and a new Penn Station — stayed largely the same as under Cuomo’s plan.While New York State is leading the project, City Hall has taken a back seat. A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams told us he still supports the project but “in a fiscally responsible way.”Community opposition has continued. What do critics of the plan say?The budget office report echoed many criticisms raised by opponents, including those of Layla Law-Gisiko, a community board member in Midtown Manhattan. Law-Gisiko, who is running to represent the area in the State Assembly, told us “the project needs to be retired.”What we’re readingGrub Street interviewed the “pasta machine” behind Nonna Dora’s Pasta Bar, Dora Marzovilla, and listed some of the dishes with her creations.The DiscOasis, a roller disco experience, is coming to Wollman Rink in Central Park this summer, Gothamist reports.Curbed spoke to 10 executives in New York City who are encouraging their employees to return to the office.METROPOLITAN diaryRock-paper-scissorsDear Diary:It is 2 a.m. I dash up the subway stairs to catch the F back to Manhattan.Just as I get to the platform, the train doors close and the train begins to pull away. The digital message board says the next one will arrive in 20 minutes.I wander over to a bench and sit. As I wait for the train, a boy runs merrily up the stairs onto the platform. He has a huge smile on his face while he stares across the tracks at the other platform.A girl there beams back at him. They start to play rock-paper-scissors. They don’t say a word. They play about six rounds, laughing and giggling at the end of each one.The train on the opposite track whooshes into the station, cutting the boy and girl off from each other. Seconds later, she appears in the train window, smiling again and waving goodbye.The boy waves back as he watches her train pull away.— Pamela IngebrigtsonIllustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.Melissa Guerrero More

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      The Secrets Ed Koch Carried

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      Edward I. Koch looked like the busiest septuagenarian in New York.Glad-handing well-wishers at his favorite restaurants, gesticulating through television interviews long after his three terms as mayor, Mr. Koch could seem as though he was scrambling to fill every hour with bustle. He dragged friends to the movies, dabbling in freelance film criticism. He urged new acquaintances to call him “judge,” a joking reference to his time presiding over “The People’s Court.”But as his 70s ticked by, Mr. Koch described to a few friends a feeling he could not shake: a deep loneliness. He wanted to meet someone, he said. Did they know anyone who might be “partner material?” Someone “a little younger than me?” Someone to make up for lost time?“I want a boyfriend,” he said to one friend, Charles Kaiser.It was an aching admission, shared with only a few, from a politician whose brash ubiquity and relentless New York evangelism helped define the modern mayoralty, even as he strained to conceal an essential fact of his biography: Mr. Koch was gay.He denied as much for decades — to reporters, campaign operatives and his staff — swatting away longstanding rumors with a choice profanity or a cheeky aside, even if these did little to convince some New Yorkers. Through his death, in 2013, his deflections endured.Now, with gay rights re-emerging as a national political tinderbox, The New York Times has assembled a portrait of the life Mr. Koch lived, the secrets he carried and the city he helped shape as he carried them. While both friends and antagonists over the years have referenced his sexuality in stray remarks and published commentaries, this account draws on more than a dozen interviews with people who knew Mr. Koch and are in several cases speaking extensively on the record for the first time — filling out a chapter that they say belongs, at last, to the sweep of history.It is a story that might otherwise fade, with many of Mr. Koch’s contemporaries now in the twilight of their lives.Mayor Ed Koch “compartmentalized his life,” his former chief of staff said.Neal Boenzi/The New York TimesThe people who described Mr. Koch’s trials as a closeted gay man span the last 40 years of his life, covering disparate social circles and political allegiances. Most are gay men themselves, in whom Mr. Koch placed his trust while keeping some others closest to him in the dark. They include associates who had kept his confidence since the 1970s and late-in-life intimates whom he asked for dating help, a friend who assisted in furtive setups for Mr. Koch when he was mayor and a fleeting romantic companion from well after his time in office.The story of Mr. Koch that emerges from those interviews is one defined by early political calculation, the exhaustion of perpetual camouflage and, eventually, flashes of regret about all he had missed out on. And it is a reminder that not so long ago in a bastion of liberalism, which has since seen openly gay people serve in Congress and lead the City Council, homophobia was a force potent enough to keep an ambitious man from leaving the closet. More

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      Hochul Chooses a Congressman Who Has Won in a Swing District

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      Antonio Delgado will replace Brian Benjamin as the governor’s running mate in the upcoming Democratic primary.Good morning. It’s Wednesday. We’ll meet the man Gov. Kathy Hochul has chosen to be the new lieutenant governor. We’ll also check on how a federal rule about light bulbs will make New York look a little different.Monica Jorge for The New York Times“Upstate, downstate, doesn’t matter,” said Representative Antonio Delgado, above, who grew up in Schenectady, N.Y., and now lives in Rhinebeck, N.Y. — places many people in the five boroughs would consider upstate. “We all want the same things: security, family and opportunity.”The immediate opportunity for him is a new job, as lieutenant governor. It means leaving Congress, a prospect that compounded the anxiety for Democrats already worried about losing control of the House after the midterm elections this fall. He was facing a difficult fight for re-election in a district that was likely to be more competitive than the one on the Democratic-drawn map struck down by the state’s highest court last week.My colleagues Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Nicholas Fandos write that Delgado, 45, has shown that he can win contested elections, raise large sums of money and appeal to a broad range of voters. On Tuesday a special state committee moved to add his name to the primary ballot as the favored Democratic candidate in the June primary, replacing former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, who resigned last month after federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed bribery charges.Hochul chose Benjamin, a Black former state senator from Harlem, last summer when she ascended to the governor’s office following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation. A Buffalo native, she had been the lieutenant governor for slightly more than six and a half years. Like Delgado, she had served in Congress.Before settling on Delgado, Hochul and her team also considered Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, and Vincent Alvarez, the president of the New York City Central Labor Council, as well as other Latino candidates, according to two people familiar with the process.Delgado, a former corporate lawyer who is Black, said on Tuesday that he said he was well positioned to represent the city along with the rest of the state. And as a prospective running mate, he offered Hochul considerable political attributes, including twice winning one of the most competitive swing districts in the country and fending off Republican opponents who branded him a “big-city rapper.”He also proved to be a prolific fund-raiser. He has nearly $6 million in his House campaign account, money he can spend on a lieutenant governor’s campaign.In Congress, Delgado has largely avoided the partisan fights that dominate cable news; he rarely speaks with reporters. In the primary for lieutenant governor, he will face two opponents, both Latina women: Diana Reyna, a former member of the New York City Council, and Ana María Archila, a progressive activist. His centrist credentials, paired with institutional party support, could allow him to push Reyna out of the moderate lane she was looking to occupy.WeatherPrepare for showers and a possible thunderstorms early in the day, with temps in the mid-60s. At night, there’s a chance of showers with temps in the mid-50s.alternate-side parkingSuspended today (Eid al-Fitr).State lawmakers promise to protect access to abortionReacting to the leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, Democratic leaders in Albany said they were working to make New York a safe haven for women seeking reproductive care.The State Senate majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said that it was “an outrage that the Supreme Court is poised to reverse the rights of women in this country” and that she expected to pass legislation to reaffirm abortion rights before the end of the session.If the court overturns the 49-year-old decision, New York and other states with strong support for abortion rights could see a rush of people from states that have banned abortions. State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan has introduced a bill to protect New York doctors who treat those patients by prohibiting law enforcement from cooperating with out-of-state investigations of abortion cases.The latest New York newsDr. David Sabatini, a biologist facing accusations of sexual harassment, is no longer in the running for a faculty position at N.Y.U. News of his potential hiring had sparked a protest.National Democrats made an 11th-hour appeal to a federal court to intervene in New York’s heated redistricting dispute.New York’s Law Department fired the city lawyer who handled lawsuits from George Floyd protesters after discovering she had made a misrepresentation in court filings.A sommelier charged last year with arson will be required to pay thousands of dollars to two restaurants whose outdoor dining structures he set on fire.For the second time in less than a week, New York City canceled plans for a shelter in Chinatown after protests from the community.A teacher in Rochester was placed on leave and is being investigated after parents said he told students to pick cotton during a lesson on slavery.The look of lightAlex Wroblewski for The New York TimesLights always shine brightly in New York, and a lot of them are old-fashioned incandescent lights — the roundish bulbs with filaments in the middle that Thomas Edison would recognize.Some New Yorkers don’t want to give them up.“The government is trying to get us not to sell them,” said David Brooks, the owner of Just Bulbs, a store on the East Side of Manhattan that carries — well, you figure it out. “There’s really no good reason why you shouldn’t want to switch to LED, but a lot of customers are dinosaurs.”Selling incandescent bulbs, which are less energy efficient than LEDs, is just “giving them what they’re asking for,” Brooks said, adding that he had “scrounged the corners of the earth to find the old bulbs people want.”His scrounging may become more difficult before long. Last week the Biden administration adopted energy-efficiency standards that would phase out most incandescent bulbs — the familiar household ones, anyway — next year. There are exceptions for many of the so-called specialty bulbs that Brooks keeps in stock.LEDs already illuminate much of New York, just as they illuminate much of the country. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services does not use incandescent bulbs in the 55 city-owned buildings — City Hall among them. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is converting fluorescent bulbs on station platforms to LEDs. It is also preparing to “transition” light banks for track workers in tunnels to LEDs, a spokesman said.The move away from incandescents has been going on for years — a decade ago, The New York Times said decorators were “laying in light bulbs like canned goods,” buying large quantities because they were not happy with the light from LEDs.What to Know About Lt. Gov. Brian BenjaminCard 1 of 5Who is Brian Benjamin? More

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      Judge Tosses Out New York’s New Political Districts

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      The ruling puts the state’s June primary elections in doubt, but Democrats said they would appeal.Good morning. It’s Friday. We’ll look at the latest twist in redistricting in New York. We’ll also catch up on the state budget in Albany, about to be officially late.Pool, Vaughn Golden/WSKGThe decision surprised even some Republicans: A judge declared New York’s new legislative maps unconstitutional, saying the map-drawing process led by Democrats had been irrevocably tainted.The ruling by Justice Patrick McAllister of Steuben County Supreme Court, above, blocked the maps from being used in this year’s elections, potentially throwing midterm congressional contests into turmoil. Candidates have already begun campaigning in the new districts for the primaries, scheduled for June 28. McAllister also invalidated the maps for the Assembly and the State Senate.The judge, a Republican, said the new congressional maps had broken New York’s new prohibition on partisan gerrymandering — essentially accusing Democrats of the same tactics they have complained about when Republicans used them in red states. “The court finds by clear evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt that the congressional map was unconstitutionally drawn with political bias,” McAllister wrote in his 18-page opinion. The New York congressional maps favor Democrats in 22 of 26 new districts.McAllister gave the Democrat-led Legislature until April 11 to prepare new “bipartisanly supported maps” for Congress, the State Senate and Assembly. He said that he would appoint an independent special master to draw the lines if lawmakers failed to do so, raising the possibility that June’s party primaries could be delayed.Gov. Kathy Hochul and Letitia James, the state attorney general, issued a statement together saying they intended to appeal. My colleague Nicholas Fandos writes that such a move would be likely to stay McAllister’s decision and could allow this year’s elections to go ahead using the districts adopted in February.“This is one step in the process,” said Michael Murphy, a spokesman for the State Senate Democrats. “We always knew this case would be decided by the appellate courts.”Democrats could challenge the ruling in either the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court or the State Court of Appeals — New York’s highest court. Both tribunals are expected to be more favorable to Democrats than Steuben County, which borders Pennsylvania. It is home to Corning Inc., the glass manufacturer.“The plaintiffs got what they wanted by going to court in Steuben County,” said Jeffrey Wice, an adjunct professor at New York Law School’s Census and Redistricting Institute. “Whether they carry their victory all the way to the State Court of Appeals is an uphill battle for them.”What to Know About RedistrictingRedistricting, Explained: Here are some answers to your most pressing questions about the process that is reshaping American politics.Understand Gerrymandering: Can you gerrymander your party to power? Try to draw your own districts in this imaginary state.Analysis: For years, the congressional map favored Republicans over Democrats. But in 2022, the map is poised to be surprisingly fair.Killing Competition: The number of competitive districts is dropping, as both parties use redistricting to draw themselves into safe seats.Republicans hailed the ruling and expressed confidence they would win on appeal. John Faso, a former congressman who is serving as a spokesman for the Republican plaintiffs, called it a “complete victory” for the petitioners, who were voters from across the state. But the lawsuit was financed and overseen by Republicans in Washington and Albany who filed it soon after Hochul had signed the new maps into law.WeatherPrepare for a chance of showers in the early afternoon, with steady temps in the mid-50s. The evening is partly cloudy with temps in the high 30s. alternate-side parkingIn effect until April 14 (Holy Thursday).Missing a deadline in AlbanyCindy Schultz for The New York TimesAs a reporter, I don’t like to think about blowing a deadline. But the State Legislature just blew a big one. The state budget was supposed to be signed, sealed and delivered by midnight — or at least agreed to and maybe voted on.But my colleagues Luis Ferré-Sadurni and Jesse McKinley write that the State Senate adjourned on Thursday until Monday. The Assembly — which tends to be the slower-moving chamber — also gaveled out.Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement offering a hopeful prognosis, even though her first budget is late. “We are getting closer to agreement, with consensus on major policy items,” she said. “New Yorkers should know that progress is being made.”While the April 1 deadline is in the State Constitution, the state comptroller’s office said no state checks would be delayed unless a deal is delayed past 4 p.m. on Monday.Hochul, a Democrat, had proposed a $216.3 billion budget with an eye to jump-starting the state’s recovery from the pandemic. The Legislature, controlled by fellow Democrats, wanted to spend at least $6 billion more. They proposed pumping more money into the State University of New York and the City University of New York — we’re unlikely to know how much until other issues have been settled.One of those issues is re-reforming the state’s bail law, which the Legislature revised in 2019. Hochul, responding to a pandemic-era rise in crime and perhaps to Republican success in attacking Democrats, called for making more categories of crimes eligible for bail. She also suggested allowing judges to consider how dangerous a defendant was in making bail decisions for those accused of serious felonies. Mayor Eric Adams supports those changes, but they have run into resistance from progressives in the Senate and the Assembly.Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who leads the State Senate, flatly rejected the dangerousness provision on Thursday. “We’ve always stood the same way,” she said. “We’re not introducing dangerousness.”Everybody into the poolMarian Carrasquero for The New York TimesIt’s a sign that summer is coming: The Department of Parks and Recreation is making a final push to recruit lifeguards for the city’s eight beaches and 53 outdoor pools.Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, the first deputy parks commissioner, said that finding enough qualified swimmers had been more difficult than before the pandemic. “It’s a national issue, trying to get lifeguards,” she said. “Because of Covid, there were fewer high schools that had swim teams competing. Swimmers missed out on training time because of closed pools. They’re not in as good shape.”How U.S. Redistricting WorksCard 1 of 8What is redistricting? 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      Socialists’ Response to War in Ukraine Has Put Some Democrats on Edge

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      The Democratic Socialists of America’s view that U.S. “imperialist expansionism” through NATO fueled Russia’s invasion has created challenges for politicians aligned with the group.Not long after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Democratic Socialists of America released a statement that drew instant reproof.The group condemned the invasion, but also urged the United States “to withdraw from NATO and to end the imperialist expansionism that set the stage for this conflict.”The position — a watered-down version of a prior, even more pointed statement from the group’s international committee — drew rebukes from a White House spokesman and from a number of Democratic candidates and elected officials, from Long Island congressional contenders to officials in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. But in the New York City area, where the D.S.A.’s largest chapter wields substantial influence, it has also created a challenging dynamic for politicians aligned with the organization.In the state’s 16th Congressional District, a refugee from Kosovo is making foreign policy central to his primary challenge of Representative Jamaal Bowman, a former middle school principal from Yonkers who rose to power with support from the Democratic Socialists of America.In New York City, Democratic congressional candidates are debating America’s role in the world. And even before D.S.A.’s most recent statement, City Council members were clashing over the history of American and NATO intervention.With a majority of Americans backing Ukraine as it struggles to repel a bloody, often live-streamed Russian invasion, the D.S.A.’s desire for a policy discussion about NATO appears to have sown unease in campaign circles: None of the nine New York City candidates the D.S.A. endorsed this year would consent to an interview on the topic, even as more centrist Democrats are now using the subject as a cudgel.“We’re refugees from Kosovo, a country where me and my family had to flee because of ethnic cleansing and were saved, frankly, by U.S. and NATO intervention there,” Vedat Gashi, a Democrat challenging Mr. Bowman, said last week. “Blaming Ukraine and NATO for the escalation of this Russian invasion of Ukraine is to me, at the very best case, naïve and certainly wrong.”The D.S.A. argues that NATO promotes a militarized response to conflict at the expense of diplomacy, and that economic sanctions too often victimize working people. In the case of Ukraine, many D.S.A. members say that the United States, by encouraging the expansion of NATO eastward, provoked Russia.“There is a longstanding tradition with the U.S. left as well as in Europe that NATO has played a role, especially since the collapse of the Soviet Union, in emphasizing militarized solutions when diplomacy could lead to more long-term stability,” said Ashik Saddique, a member of the D.S.A.’s National Political Committee. “It feels a little bit absurd for people to be acting like it’s a political crime to criticize NATO.”Mr. Gashi called on Mr. Bowman to fully disavow the D.S.A. stance.Rep. Jamaal Bowman, in Washington earlier this year, represents a district that has a sizable population of Ukrainian immigrants.Shuran Huang for The New York TimesMr. Bowman has chosen a subtler tack, signaling distance from the D.S.A.’s position, without the sort of direct condemnation that might alienate a component of his base and play into his opponent’s hands. He declined to comment for this article, but in a prior statement, he said he supports NATO, “and will continue to do so during this crisis.”Mr. Bowman’s district includes a sizable population of Ukrainian immigrants, and last week, he called more than a dozen who have written him letters, his office said. He has also joined the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and has put together a bipartisan letter asking President Biden to let at-risk Ukrainians enter the country without visas.But Ukrainians are not the only constituents D.S.A.-aligned politicians need to consider amid the crisis, said Drisana Hughes, the former campaign manager for India Walton, the D.S.A.-backed candidate for mayor of Buffalo, and a campaign strategist at Stu Loeser and Co.“I don’t think it’s just Ukrainian constituents; I think it’s Polish constituents, Finnish constituents,” Ms. Hughes said. “It’s a lot of countries that are sensitive to Russian aggression and anyone concerned about the future of Europe in particular.”Certainly, whatever the balancing act for some Democrats, tensions are clearly evident for Republicans. Even as many express solidarity with Ukraine, former President Donald J. Trump has lavished praise on Russian President Vladimir V. Putin — just a few years after Mr. Trump’s first impeachment centered on issues including pressuring Ukraine for political favors. The only people to vote against a recent House resolution in support of Ukraine were three Republican members of Congress. And some right-wing media figures, like Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have until very recently sounded protective of Mr. Putin.Still, in New York, the rifts around the Russian invasion have taken on more urgency on the Democratic side, including in the battle for New York’s 11th Congressional District, which was recently redrawn to take in both Staten Island to Park Slope, and where the two most prominent Democratic contenders are military veterans.Brittany Ramos DeBarros, a member of D.S.A., has endorsed working “with international partners to supply and support civil-military defense tactics,” and said “no” when asked directly in an interview if the U.S. should withdraw from NATO. But in 2019, she was listed as a speaker at an anti-NATO event, and acknowledged that she “attended a meeting about that” in her days as an antiwar activist. Her campaign said that she does not support withdrawing from NATO “at this time.”“‘Not at this time’ means that right now is the time to save lives, and to de-escalate the situation,” she said in an interview. “If people would like to have a broader conversation about understanding how we got here and diagnosing what we need to do in order to, you know, shape a different future, then that can come once we have removed ourselves from the brink.”Her campaign has noted that her main Democratic primary opponent, former Representative Max Rose, initially voiced skepticism of the first impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump, citing concerns at the time about a partisan process.Mr. Rose, seen by party strategists as the likely front-runner, did vote to impeach Mr. Trump and said he took the subject “very seriously. But I did not blink in the face of holding Donald Trump accountable for his egregious actions.”He also condemned the D.S.A.’s position regarding NATO and called for building “an even stronger NATO alliance.” Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 3Russian oil imports. More

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      How Redistricting Made Park Slope and Staten Island Into an Unlikely Pair

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      New congressional maps that merge conservative Staten Island with liberal Park Slope will aid Democratic efforts to win a Republican-held House seat in New York.At The Original Goodfella’s, a well-known Staten Island pizzeria where photographs of Republican politicians are prominently displayed, the news sank in painfully: This borough, a rare conservative outpost of New York City, was being tossed into a congressional district with the liberal residents of Park Slope, Brooklyn.“Park Slope is more of a younger crowd with yuppies, hipsters,” said Carlo D’Angelo, 28, a Trump supporter who, when asked about who won the 2020 presidential election, said, “Only the man in the sky, only God, knows.”Staten Island was more “family-oriented and traditional,” he added, speaking near a framed display of a fork that ex-mayor Bill de Blasio, a Park Slope resident, scandalously used to eat pizza. “It’s two different, completely different, viewpoints.”The feeling was mutual outside the Park Slope Food Coop, the famously liberal Brooklyn grocery where social consciousness pervades every aisle, in a neighborhood that is home to many left-leaning families. Pamela Plunkett, 57, stood nearby, across the street from a meditation center, as she questioned how the wildly divergent politics and needs of residents in the new district would work.“I hate to say it, they’re one of the five boroughs, but it’s almost like they’re an outlier,” she said of Staten Island, noting differences in attitudes around issues including politics and the pandemic. “That’s why I’m worried about being grouped in with them.”The once-in-a-decade redistricting effort has created unusual congressional district lines all over the country, reflecting a partisan process embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike. But perhaps no other district in New York City contains constituencies so clearly in opposition to each other as the reconstituted 11th, whose new lines are expected to better position the Democratic Party to seize a seat now held by Representative Nicole Malliotakis, the lone Republican in the New York City delegation. Max Rose, a Democrat, is hoping that the inclusion of Park Slope, Brooklyn, in the 11th Congressional District will aid his chances of regaining his seat.Dave Sanders for The New York TimesOn Staten Island, the occasional “Thin Blue Line” flag in support of law enforcement flutters in spacious front yards of single-family homes, while in dense brownstone Brooklyn, “Black Lives Matter” signs have often dotted windows, reflecting national debates over both crime and police brutality. Voters on either side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge are often vocal about their political identities — but many liberal Brooklynites joined marches to protest the Trump presidency, while conservative Staten Islanders embraced him early, even with other Republicans in the running in 2016.“They put two communities together that have literally nothing in common other than they happen to all live in the same city,” said City Councilman David Carr, a Staten Island Republican. “In terms of values, in terms of interests, they couldn’t be further apart. And they’ve created a district that’s going to be permanently at war with itself.”The new lines reflect an aggressive reconfiguration of the state’s congressional districts led by Democratic lawmakers, creating clearer opportunities to flip several House seats in this year’s midterm campaigns, as Democrats strain to maintain their congressional majority in a difficult political environment.What to Know About Redistricting and GerrymanderingRedistricting, Explained: Answers to your most pressing questions about the process that is reshaping American politics.Understand Gerrymandering: Can you gerrymander your party to power? Try to draw your own districts in this imaginary state.Killing Competition: The number of competitive districts is dropping, as both parties use redistricting to draw themselves into safe seats.New York: Democrats’ aggressive reconfiguration of the state’s congressional map is one of the most consequential in the nation.Legal Battles: State supreme courts in North Carolina and Ohio struck down maps drawn by Republicans, while the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily restored Alabama’s map.Before redistricting, the district was anchored in Staten Island and included parts of more conservative southern Brooklyn enclaves. Under the new lines, the district sweeps into many neighborhoods that are home to wealthy liberal voters and younger left-wing activists — though neither part of the district is monolithic: There are Staten Island Democrats and some Brooklyn conservatives, especially in the Bay Ridge area.In 2020, the district supported Mr. Trump by about 10 percentage points. If the new district lines were in place for the 2020 election, the district would have backed President Biden by roughly the same margin, according to data compiled by the City University of New York.Ms. Malliotakis said the new lines seemed aimed at “silencing the voices of the current district, and tilting the scale to give whoever the Democratic nominee is an advantage.”Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, defeated the Democratic incumbent, Max Rose, in New York’s 11th Congressional District in 2020.Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesThe Staten Island Republican Party dubbed redistricting plans “cancel culture,” an effort to “subvert the voices of Staten Islanders by tying our borough to de Blasio’s Park Slope.”Democrats have defended the congressional maps as fair, while Republicans have filed a lawsuit, which may face an uphill battle.“Had we sought out people that voted the same way in order to keep them together, that would have been the definition of illegal gerrymandering,” said State Senator Michael Gianaris, a Democrat and leader of a task force that drew the lines. “Maybe at the end of the day, this will have the effect of bringing people together,” he said.That will be exceedingly difficult in the 11th, should the lines hold.But whatever the evident governing difficulties, a fierce battle is unfolding to represent the district as Ms. Malliotakis, who has tied herself closely to Mr. Trump and voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election, runs for re-election. She also broke with her party to vote for the infrastructure bill.While candidates in many races face difficult balancing acts between appealing to the most die-hard partisans in a primary and achieving broader appeal in a general election, those tensions will be thrown into sharp relief in the 11th District.“It certainly gives the Democratic nominee a very good chance,” said John Mollenkopf, director of the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of CUNY, of the new district lines. “But that’s going to take a Democratic nominee who can appeal to the more conservative Democrats on Staten Island.”How U.S. Redistricting WorksCard 1 of 8What is redistricting? More

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      After an Unexpected Rise, Hochul Cements Her Front-Runner Status

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      Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will become the state Democrats’ standard-bearer today, was not a sure bet when she replaced Andrew Cuomo last summer.Good morning. It’s Thursday. We’ll look at how Gov. Kathy Hochul assembled a campaign juggernaut. We’ll also look at the difficulties facing would-be small business owners who dream of becoming marijuana retailers in New Jersey.Cindy Schultz for The New York TimesThink back to last summer, when Kathy Hochul became governor. She had made friends, but not headlines, in her six years as lieutenant governor. New York’s political class did not see her as the kind of powerhouse they were accustomed to — assertive, even audacious. And perhaps most of all, male.The Democratic primary was little more than nine months away, to be followed by the election for a full four-year term a few months later. Many Democrats figured there would be a battle for the Democratic nomination for governor, with Hochul struggling to keep her job.My colleague Nicholas Fandos writes that they could scarcely look more wrong now.She is set to win the Democratic Party’s endorsement for nomination to a full term on Thursday. And, in a nod to Hochul’s history-making status as the first woman to lead New York, Hillary Clinton is scheduled to introduce her at the state Democratic convention in Midtown Manhattan.[How Kathy Hochul Went From Unexpected Governor to Clear Front-Runner]Hochul has reached this moment after a brisk campaign to corner party leaders and crowd out potential rivals that was as efficient as it was congenial. She put a new face on a state government mired in scandal. She also amassed $21 million in campaign contributions by January, more than her rivals combined.It is all the more remarkable given that just a year ago, her political career appeared headed toward a dead end. Before former Gov. Andrew Cuomo became caught up in allegations of sexual harassment, his aides had curtly informed Hochul that he planned to remove her from the ticket when he ran for a fourth term in 2022.Since then, Hochul has benefited from repeated good fortune, including the decision by her most serious rival, Letitia James, the state attorney general, to abandon a campaign for governor. Polls now show Hochul with a comfortable lead.But she faces accusations from her primary opponents — Representative Tom Suozzi and Jumaane Williams, the New York City public advocate — that she is obfuscating on issues like crime and housing, or kowtowing to special interests that have contributed to her campaign. And political strategists say there are signs that Hochul is not yet generating the kind of enthusiasm among the Black, Latino and young voters around New York City that she may need to assemble a winning general election coalition.“Enthusiasm means everything,” said Gabby Seay, a labor strategist who served as James’s campaign manager. “She has to work in order to build that relationship where folks are on fire about her candidacy. The question is, does she have time to do that while she is governing?”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-1kpebx{margin:0 auto;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-1kpebx{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1kpebx{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1gtxqqv{margin-bottom:0;}.css-1g3vlj0{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1g3vlj0{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-1g3vlj0 strong{font-weight:600;}.css-1g3vlj0 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1g3vlj0{margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0.25rem;}.css-19zsuqr{display:block;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}For her part, Hochul told reporters on Tuesday that she intended to “run like an underdog until it’s over.”WeatherA southwest wind will drive in mild air with temps approaching 60. Expect rain overnight and a low of 54 as a cold front approaches.alternate-side parkingIn effect until Feb. 21 (Washington’s Birthday).Slimming down the city budgetMayor Eric Adams’s first budget proposal called for across-the-board cuts of about 3 percent for most city agencies along with a gradual reduction in the city’s work force, which had grown to the largest ever under his predecessor, Bill de Blasio.Adams’s $98.5 billion spending plan is $4 billion less than the current budget. He said it fulfilled a campaign promise to uncover savings and make city government more efficient.Adams announced higher funding for priorities like a summer youth jobs program. But he said funding for the Police Department would remain “basically flat” at about $5 billion. Saying he disagreed with efforts to defund the police, he said he could improve public safety by moving officers from desk jobs to street duty.“We’re going to redeploy our manpower, we’re going to make sure that everyone who is supposed to be on the streets doing their job is doing their job,” said Adams, a former police captain, “and then we will make the analysis if we have to put more money into it.”Adams shielded some city agencies from his budget cutting, among them the Correction Department, which faces a crisis at the Rikers Island jail complex, and the Health Department, which oversees City Hall’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.The latest New York newsKen Kurson, a close friend of former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was facing felony charges of spying on his former wife. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in a plea deal.Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro retired after 53 years in the F.D.N.Y.A city program gives 260,000 low-income New Yorkers half-price transit rides. Advocates and transit leaders want Mayor Eric Adams to expand financing and eligibility.The New York attorney general’s office recovered over $400,000 for consumers who said they were misled by coronavirus testing labs.The rocky road to a retail marijuana storeBryan Anselm for The New York TimesNew Jersey is legalizing marijuana, and hundreds of entrepreneurs are scrambling to be ready to apply for licenses to become cannabis retailers. But there are twists and turns on the road to opening a business in a new industry.Lawmakers drafted the cannabis law to remedy wrongs in the state’s criminal justice system, which disproportionately ensnarls Black and Latino people. As recently as 2018, Black residents were more than three times as likely as white residents to be charged with possessing marijuana, although roughly the same numbers of Black and white New Jerseyans use marijuana.For Black men like Michael White, who was charged with low-level drug possession as a teenager decades ago, running a shop that sells marijuana would be a way to write a new ending to a familiar war-on-drugs story.His mother, Bessie White, is 78 and determined to get a license for a store that she, he and the next generation of the family could oversee. They have a name for it — Simple ReLeaf. The play on the word “relief” reflects their focus on homeopathic remedies. But they say the hurdles are high for small-business owners in an industry dominated by deep-pocketed corporations.If they win approval, they will face competition. At least eight companies that already operate medical marijuana dispensaries have applied to become retailers. Each claims it has stockpiled enough cannabis to satisfy patients and recreational users alike — a gauge for dispensaries that want to move into the adult-use market.Some companies have pressed the state to speed the process. Lawmakers had hoped the adult-use market would be up and running by Feb. 22, but the state will not meet that deadline. Some of the companies claim that cannabis they stockpiled to sell to retail customers will grow moldy if it is stored much longer. Others have said they may fire workers they have already hired.The Whites and their relatives also face another roadblock — marijuana remains illegal under federal law. My colleague Tracey Tully writes that this makes banks reluctant to lend money or open accounts for cannabis businesses. Landlords, worried that a cannabis store could jeopardize their federally backed mortgages, are similarly reluctant to sign leases.Bessie White’s niece, Theresa Howard, said the owner of a storefront they considered renting in Plainfield, N.J., increased the price to $7,200 a month — from $3,500 a month — after learning what business they had in mind. They are considering buying property instead, with help from a consultant who runs a private equity fund and has offered $500,000 in start-up money.“We’re trying to have Plan B and C, and, if we need it, D,” Howard said.What we’re readingBlack unemployment rates in New York City are stuck above 15 percent, The City reports.Gothamist says the future of outdoor dining is “roadway cafes.”METROPOLITAN diaryHistory lessonDear Diary:My husband, son and I were on a Q train from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The car was fairly crowded, and we had to stand near one of the poles.A young girl who was sitting next to her father leaned over to him. She might have been about 8.“This train is really old,” I heard her whisper into his ear.A young man of perhaps 22 with hair dyed bright yellow was standing nearby.“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he said, “I couldn’t help overhear. But did you know they started making this train when my grandfather was a boy?”Other passengers started to smile.“And now they put them into the ocean when they’re done with them,” the young man added.“Yeah,” someone else said. “They grow reefs in them!”People started to nod in agreement.“Your hair is golden!” an older woman shouted to the young man.He laughed.“My friends and I had a little bit too much fun last night and this is what happened,” he said. “My mom’s going to kill me.”“Well, I think you look spunky,” the older woman said.— Suzanne PettypieceIllustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.Melissa Guerrero, Sadiba Hasan, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Olivia Parker and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. More