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    The Accusations Against Scott Stringer

    [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Monday. Weather: Chance of an early sprinkle, then gradually clearing. High in the mid-60s. Alternate-side parking: In effect until Thursday (Solemnity of the Ascension and Eid al-Fitr). Sarah Blesener for The New York TimesLess than two weeks ago, the mayoral campaign of Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, appeared to be on the upswing.But on April 28, a woman who had worked unpaid on Mr. Stringer’s unsuccessful 2001 campaign for public advocate, Jean Kim, accused him of sexual misconduct, upending the mayor’s race some eight weeks before the June 22 primary.During an interview with my colleague Katie Glueck last week, Ms. Kim, shown above, described several advances that she said were unwanted.[Mr. Stringer has denied allegations that he misused his position of power with Ms. Kim.]The allegationsMs. Kim moved to New York in 1998, she said, and later became active in a political club, the Community Free Democrats, that Mr. Stringer was also involved in. In 2001, she took an unpaid role in Mr. Stringer’s unsuccessful campaign for public advocate.In a cab that summer, Ms. Kim said, Mr. Stringer grazed her knee. He touched her leg again — it was “a little bit more insistent”— a few weeks later as they shared another cab, she said.About a week before the scheduled primary in September, Ms. Kim said, Mr. Stringer kissed her at a bar. Ms. Kim said she tensed up, then Mr. Stringer kissed her again more passionately.Days later, Ms. Kim said, she shared one more cab ride with Mr. Stringer, during which he made more advances, asking why she would not have sex with him.“He constantly reminded me of his power by saying things like, ‘You want me to make a phone call for you to change your life,’ ‘You want me to make you the first Asian district leader,’” Ms. Kim said. “There was no doubt in my mind that he was powerful and he could make or break me.”The responseMr. Stringer has denied making unwanted sexual advances.He said he never suggested he could give Ms. Kim a political position.“Virtually every one of my friends volunteered on the campaign,” Mr. Stringer said in a statement. “There was no sense in which they were subordinates. While I obviously can’t speak to how any individual felt, I don’t think most people who were part of our social circle would say there was a power dynamic at play.”Mr. Stringer said Ms. Kim’s description of unwanted advances amounted to “a fundamental distortion of what happened.”He offered an account of what he has said was a consensual relationship.“I would estimate that on at least a dozen occasions over four to five months, an evening out ended with us kissing,” he said.Ms. Kim denied that she and Mr. Stringer ever had a consensual relationship.From The TimesA Photographer Captures ‘Generation Covid’No Scrum for Seats. No Quiet-Car Brawls. Is This Really My Commute?After Times Square Shooting, Adams and Yang Stress Support for N.Y.P.D.Who’s the ‘Comeback’ Candidate? 5 Takeaways from the Mayor’s Race.Want more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingA right-wing Brooklyn radio host running for New York City Council pleaded guilty to directing a crowd to attack a journalist. [Gothamist]The head of New York City Transit said she expected that the subways will be safer after ridership numbers rise. [N.Y. Post]A 28-year-old man walked into a police station and confessed to killing his mother in her Queens home, police said. [NBC New York].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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}And finally: The New York Philharmonic’s new reality The Times’s Zachary Woolfe writes:There are no seats at the moment in David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic’s home at Lincoln Center. There is no lobby, no stage, no stairs. The theater — currently in the midst of a long-delayed renovation — is a raw shell of concrete and steel; the only music within it, the shouts of workers and the deafening screech of metal being sawed.If some part of us believes that life over the past 14 months has been waiting to be resumed more or less intact — on ice, just needing a thaw — the gutted Geffen speaks to the other part, the sense that things have fundamentally changed, or should.Late Friday afternoon, the Philharmonic was in an empty lot at Domino Park, on the Brooklyn waterfront just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, making a rough, modest sketch of some of those changes. As construction continues at its hall, the orchestra has produced a sequel to its mobile Bandwagon program, an avatar of a more nimble, responsive, community-connected organization. With performances now staged from a shipping container, it will travel over the remaining weekends of May for three-day stints in parks in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens.This reflects a new sense of how our large legacy classical arts institutions should interact with their cities. Those interactions are not new for opera companies and orchestras, but they’ve often had a permeating sense of noblesse oblige: The big symphony deigns to play at an acoustically subpar neighborhood high school or community center, and expects community organizations to bring in a local (read: diverse) audience. (This comes complete with a moralizing whiff of the “elevating power of classical music” and such.)It’s Monday — hit the road.Metropolitan Diary: Gaming away Dear Diary:I was on a downtown No. 1. The young man across from me was furiously playing a game on his phone and didn’t notice when one of his gloves dropped to the floor.An older man who was sitting next to the young man picked up the glove and held it out to him, but he was so absorbed in his game that he still didn’t notice.The older man balanced the glove on the young man’s knee. A few minutes later, it fell to the floor again and, again, he didn’t notice.By this time, the older man was standing by the doors and waiting to exit the train. He leaned toward the young man.“Your glove is on the floor,” he said loudly while pointing.Without looking up from his screen, the young man reached down and picked up the glove.“Thank you,” he said, eyes still on the screen. “Appreciate it.”The older man looked toward me, rolled his eyes and smiled.— Elisabeth LadensonNew York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.What would you like to see more (or less) of? 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    How the Mayoral Candidates Plan to Help New York Rebound

    [Want to get New York Today by email? Here’s the sign-up.]It’s Monday. Weather: Chance of rain increases as the day goes on. High around 70. Alternate-side parking: In effect until May 13 (Solemnity of the Ascension). Laylah Amatullah Barrayn for The New York TimesNew York City’s reopening looks to be near. Vaccinations are widely available, infection rates are dropping, the tulips are in full bloom.Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he wanted the city to be fully reopened by July 1, about a week after the June 22 Democratic primary election, which will likely decide the next mayor.How the city re-emerges after more than a year of lockdowns, sickness and economic devastation will depend on the next mayor’s plans.“For a large amount of people suffering in this pandemic,” said Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president, “their question is going to be, ‘Reopen the city for whom?’”[As New York City reopens, its recovery will hinge on the next mayor.]Here are what some candidates have in mind:Andrew YangMr. Yang, the former presidential candidate and current front-runner, is banking on voters’ wanting a hopeful mayor with a simple message. He has unveiled several policy proposals based on accelerating the city’s opening, and has proposed a basic income program for the city’s poorest residents.Though Mr. Yang brands himself an ambitious entrepreneur, a report from The New York Times shows he didn’t deliver on his bold promises while leading his nonprofit.Maya WileyMs. Wiley, a civil rights lawyer and former counsel to Mr. de Blasio, is particularly focused on racial justice and equity.She wants to invest in caregiving by, in part, paying more informal care workers, and has proposed a $10 billion capital spending program for creating jobs and improving infrastructure.Eric AdamsMr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, often speaks from his experience as a Black former police captain and has presented himself as a candidate focused on inequality. He’s recently become the candidate most clearly focused on combating gun violence.A Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll found that crime and public safety are on Democratic voters’ minds. Mr. Adams has said that public safety is the “prerequisite to prosperity.”Dianne MoralesMs. Morales is a left-wing former nonprofit executive who sees racial justice and public safety as integral to the city’s reopening.She is proposing an overhaul of city institutions to address inequality, which has been deepened by the pandemic. Her proposals include “basic income relief for every household” and cutting $3 billion from the New York Police Department’s budget to reinvest in community responses.Read more:Sexual Harassment Allegations Roil N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race: 5 TakeawaysHelp, We Can’t Stop Writing About Andrew YangFrom The Times‘We’re Suffering’: How Remote Work Is Killing Manhattan’s StorefrontsN.J. Teacher Suspended After Calling George Floyd a ‘Criminal’After Years of Protests, a New Jersey County Ends Its ICE Jail ContractDebate Erupts at N.J. Law School After White Student Quotes Racial SlurWant more news? Check out our full coverage.The Mini Crossword: Here is today’s puzzle.What we’re readingFour people who were killed in a stampede in Israel were New York and New Jersey residents. [Gothamist]A teenager and a woman were targeted in anti-Asian hate crimes over the weekend in New York City, the police said. [New York Post]The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission will stop testing cabdrivers for marijuana, after the state recently legalized it. [1010 Wins].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-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;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-w739ur{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-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.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-1rh1sk1{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-1rh1sk1 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-1rh1sk1 em{font-style:italic;}.css-1rh1sk1 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:#ccd9e3;text-decoration-color:#ccd9e3;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#ccc;text-decoration-color:#ccc;}.css-1rh1sk1 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}And finally: Philharmonic in a shipping containerThe Times’s Zachary Woolfe writes:Late last summer, the august New York Philharmonic took a swerve toward scrappiness.With its theater closed by the pandemic, the orchestra rented a Ford F-250 pickup truck, wrapped it in red, white and black, and drove around the city over eight weekends for short, impromptu chamber events.The Philharmonic recently announced that it would be bringing the NY Phil Bandwagon concept back this spring, but for a shorter period and in more stable surroundings — reflecting the glimmers of a transition back to concert-hall trappings.Bandwagon 2 will trade in the pickup truck for a 20-foot shipping container atop a semi truck, which will visit four parks around New York City — including Domino Park in Brooklyn and Marcus Garvey Park in Manhattan — for weekend-long residencies through May. (Because of “health and safety guidelines,” the events will not be announced in advance, the Philharmonic said on its website.) Tricked out with a foldout stage, video wall and integrated sound and lighting, the setup is now more arresting and theatrically attuned.The offerings will also move beyond classical and new chamber music into more varied, genre-crossing collaborations with six community arts organizations, including A Better Jamaica in Queens and El Puente in Brooklyn.“Bandwagon 2 allows us to center the voices of our partners, and utilize the Philharmonic’s resources to amplify the work of our collaborators,” Deborah Borda, the orchestra’s chief executive, said in a statement. The countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, who helped create the Bandwagon last year, will have another stint as the program’s producer.It’s Monday — enjoy the show.Metropolitan Diary: Circle line Dear Diary:Some years ago, my wife and I drove down from Connecticut to take the Circle Line around Manhattan.Once aboard, we noticed some groups of people sticking together. We learned that they were engineers from other countries who had come to the United States to study the traffic patterns in large cities here.Approaching one nattily dressed, well-groomed member of the group, I bent forward slightly at the waist and began to speak to him in a halting tone.“And. What. Country. Are. You. From. Sir?” I asked.“I. Am. From. Phoenix. Arizona. U.S.A.,” he said. “I. Am. In. Charge. Of. This. Group.”— Jack LupkasNew York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.What would you like to see more (or less) of? Email us: nytoday@nytimes.com. More