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☆ Inside the Week That Shook Columbia University
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | Sharon Otterman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just after 2 p.m. last Wednesday, Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University, stepped out of an office building on Capitol Hill and into an idling black SUV. She had just endured an intense grilling by a congressional committee investigating antisemitism on elite college campuses. For a university trying to reassure Congress that it was getting its campus under control, the timing could scarcely have been worse. The secretive deliberations that followed over 24 frantic hours have sent Columbia into a crisis over free speech and safety unlike any the campus has seen since 1968. The events also set off a chain reaction rattling campuses across the country, just as one of the most trying academic years in memory neared its end.

Persons: Nemat Shafik, Shafik Organizations: Columbia University, Palestinian Locations: Columbia

The president of Columbia said the university had suspended 15 students. She promised that one visiting professor “will never work at Columbia again.”And when she was grilled over whether she would remove another professor from his leadership position, she appeared to make a decision right there on Capitol Hill: “I think I would, yes.”The president, Nemat Shafik, disclosed the disciplinary details, which are usually confidential, as part of an all-out effort on Wednesday to persuade a House committee investigating Columbia that she was taking serious action to combat a wave of antisemitism following the Israel-Hamas war. In nearly four hours of testimony before the Republican-led Committee on Education and the Workforce, Dr. Shafik conceded that Columbia had initially been overwhelmed by an outbreak of campus protests. But she said its leaders now agreed that some had used antisemitic language and that certain contested phrases — like “from the river to the sea” — might warrant discipline.

Persons: “, Nemat Shafik, Shafik Organizations: Columbia, Republican, Education, Workforce Locations: Israel

☆ The Battle Over Zaza Waza: A Lifelong Liberal Joins New York’s Weed War
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-12 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The informal walking tour came to a pause on Amsterdam Avenue, outside a brick building where a beloved Upper West Side pizzeria had recently been replaced by yet another rogue weed shop. 23 — an entry on an oversize spreadsheet tracking the explosion of unlicensed cannabis stores in her district since New York legalized the drug in 2021. “These guys are currently out of compliance with absolutely everything,” he muttered before moving on to the next shop. At last count, there were 56 unlicensed shops within about 200 square blocks, twice as many as a year ago. Brewer, a 72-year-old former Manhattan borough president, came to be a leading combatant in New York’s madcap battle against illegal weed, you need to know about just one: Zaza Waza.

Persons: Gale Brewer, Sam Goldsmith, Brewer, Zaza Organizations: West Locations: Amsterdam, New York, Manhattan

☆ Ocasio-Cortez, in House Speech, Accuses Israel of ‘Genocide’
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned on Friday that Israel’s blockade of Gaza had put the territory on the brink of severe famine, saying publicly for the first time that the nation’s wartime actions amounted to an “unfolding genocide.”In a speech on the House floor, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, forcefully called on President Biden to cut off U.S. military aid to Israel unless and until it begins to allow the free flow of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip. “If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes,” she said. “It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.”The comments were a sharp rhetorical escalation by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the de facto leader of the Democratic Party’s left wing, and they illustrated the intense pressure buffeting party officials as they grapple with how to respond to Israel’s war tactics and the deepening humanitarian crisis.

Persons: Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Ocasio, Biden, ” Organizations: New, New York Democrat, Democratic Party’s Locations: Gaza, Cortez, New York, Israel

☆ Menendez Leaves Re-Election Plans Murky, But Dormant Campaign Gives Hints
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Tracey Tully | Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Plagued by legal trouble and abandoned by his allies, Senator Robert Menendez has made clear what he will not do: quit before his term is over in January. He has taken to the Senate floor to profess that he is innocent of what he insists are trumped-up bribery charges pursued by overzealous federal prosecutors. And he has ignored widespread, sometimes mocking calls for his resignation. But when it comes to whether Mr. Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, intends to seek re-election, he has been uncharacteristically coy. “I don’t think announcing it in a courtroom would be the best idea,” he said after being arraigned Monday in Manhattan for the third time on charges that he participated in a yearslong bribery conspiracy.

Persons: Robert Menendez, Menendez, coy, “, ” Organizations: New, New Jersey Democrat Locations: New Jersey, Manhattan

The first shipment of aid to reach Gaza by sea in almost two decades was fully unloaded on Saturday on a makeshift jetty in the Mediterranean, marking a milestone in a venture that Western officials hope will ease the enclave’s worsening food deprivation. The ship, the Open Arms, towed a barge from Cyprus loaded with about 200 tons of rice, flour, lentils and canned tuna, beef and chicken, supplied by the World Central Kitchen charity. José Andrés, the Spanish American chef who founded the World Central Kitchen, said his team would begin dispatching the food by truck, including to Gaza’s north, an area gripped by lawlessness and badly damaged by Israeli airstrikes. But the distribution was set to unfold in the shadow of a series of attacks that have killed or wounded Palestinians scrambling for desperately needed food. United Nations aid groups had to largely suspend deliveries in northern Gaza last month, and its human rights office has documented more than two dozen such attacks.

Persons: José Andrés Organizations: United Locations: Gaza, Cyprus, Spanish American, United Nations

☆ Democrats Reject Bipartisan Map and Will Redraw N.Y. House Districts
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Democrats seized control over drawing New York’s congressional districts on Monday, rejecting a map proposed by the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission in favor of drafting new lines that could make key swing seats more Democratic. On a day of high drama inside the State Capitol in Albany, party leaders argued that the Senate and Assembly had no choice but to reject the commission map in lopsided votes because it improperly split counties, broke up naturally occurring communities and favored incumbents. But in private conversations, they made little effort to hide their true objective. The exact contours of the replacement districts remained to be seen Monday afternoon. State lawmakers were expected to release a draft of the replacement map as soon as Monday evening, teeing up a vote to approve it later this week.

Organizations: Democratic, Capitol, Assembly, Legislature, Republicans Locations: Albany, New York, Washington, Long Island, Syracuse

☆ A Redistricting Surprise in New York: A Map That Plays Few Favorites
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When New York’s top court ordered the state to redraw its congressional map late last year, the state’s ruling Democrats were widely expected to exploit the opening to aggressively reshape district lines in their favor. But on Thursday, a bipartisan state commission created to guide the redistricting process overwhelmingly approved a new proposed map that looks a lot like the current court-drawn map that helped Republicans pick up seats in 2022. The panel’s 9-to-1 vote now thrusts a politically and legally thorny choice on legislative leaders in Albany who have the final say on any plan. They can rubber-stamp the compromise, dashing the hopes of Representative Hakeem Jeffries and other powerful Democrats in Washington, or reject it and risk sending the whole process back to court by pushing for a more favorable alternative.

Persons: Hakeem Jeffries Organizations: Republicans Locations: Albany, Washington

☆ Leaning Into Migrant Woes, Suozzi Paves Election-Year Path for Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | Katie Glueck | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the heart of Long Island, where Republicans have won every major election in the last three years, Tom Suozzi fought through ripping political headwinds to claim victory on Tuesday in a special House election, seizing a coveted swing district that had been held by George Santos. The outcome flipped one of the five House seats Democrats need to retake the majority in November, giving the party a badly needed shot of optimism. But Mr. Suozzi’s campaign also provided something that may prove more valuable, a playbook for candidates across the country competing on turf where President Biden and his party remain deeply unpopular. The strategy went something like this: Challenge Republicans on issues that they usually monopolize, like crime, taxes and, above all, immigration. “It’s a very interesting lesson to Democrats that you can escape your opponent’s attacks on immigration by not only leaning into the issue, but doubling down on it,” said Steve Israel, a former congressman from the district who once led the House Democrats’ campaign arm.

Persons: Tom Suozzi, George Santos, Suozzi’s, Biden, Donald J, Trump, “, ”, Steve Israel Organizations: Republicans, Democratic, Republican, White, House Democrats Locations: Long

☆ Five Takeaways From the Democrats’ Recapture of a House Seat
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tom Suozzi’s victory in a special House election in New York on Tuesday gave Democrats a badly needed dose of election-year optimism and a model for how to navigate one of their biggest political liabilities: the migrant influx overwhelming the southern border. Abortion was once again at the forefront, too, but the race for the Queens and Long Island swing seat also turned on hard-to-replicate local issues. The candidates were competing to replace George Santos, a serial fabulist who made the district a national laughingstock, and an Election Day snowstorm gave Mr. Suozzi an 11th-hour boost. The outcome will narrow Republicans’ paper-thin House majority, but that party also emerged with reasons for optimism as they prepare for fall races in districts like this one where President Biden is unpopular. Mr. Suozzi may have just helped write a playbook for how to do it, especially in a handful of crucial House contests around New York.

Persons: Tom Suozzi’s, George Santos, Suozzi, Biden Organizations: Queens and, Republican Locations: New York, Queens and Long

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicVoters in New York are choosing the successor to George Santos, the disgraced Republican who was expelled from Congress in December. Nicholas Fandos, who covers New York politics and government for The Times, explains how the results of the race will hold important clues for both parties in November.

Persons: George Santos, Nicholas Fandos Organizations: Spotify, Amazon Music Voters, Republican, The Times Locations: New York

☆ Critical House Election in New York Is Altered by a New Dynamic: Snow
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Republicans and Democrats were locked in a desperate race Tuesday afternoon to turn out voters after an ill-timed Election Day snowstorm snarled the close of a tightly contested special House election to replace George Santos in New York. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republicans’ main super PAC, even hired private snow plows to help clear the party’s best precinct areas faster, according to its spokeswoman. The group, which had already spent $5 million on the race, did not share the cost of the last-minute service. Turnout plummeted during the heaviest snow Tuesday morning, an alarming sign for Republicans who had counted on an Election Day surge to offset Democrats’ apparent advantage in early and absentee voting. But by evening, Republicans suggested that they were recovering in the few hours left before polls close at 9 p.m.

Persons: George Santos, canvassers Organizations: Queens and, Congressional Leadership Fund, Republicans ’, PAC, Republicans Locations: New York, schlep, Queens and Long

☆ In the Land of George Santos, Machine Politics Fuels a G.O.P. Revival
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

It was the biggest event of Mazi Pilip’s campaign in a must-win special House election in New York. 3 House Republican had flown in. Mazi!”There was just one thing missing from the Republican show of force at an American Legion hall the other day: the candidate, who was home observing Shabbat. But on Long Island, the event vividly illustrated an open secret animating Tuesday’s contest to replace former Representative George Santos. Ms. Pilip’s name may be on the ballot, but the campaign belongs to the Nassau County Republican machine.

Persons: Mazi, “, George Santos Organizations: Republican, American Legion, Nassau County Republican, New Locations: New York, Long, Nassau County, New York City

☆ Who Will Replace George Santos? Takeaways From the Pilip-Suozzi Debate
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mazi Pilip, the Republican nominee, claimed that her opponent, Tom Suozzi, “opened the border.” He called her wholly unprepared for Congress. A victory by Mr. Suozzi would narrow Republicans’ paper-thin House majority at a time when they are already struggling to govern. Here are five takeaways from the debate, hosted by News 12. The migrant crisis is dominating the race. The only question is who will take the blame in the eyes of frustrated voters.

Persons: George Santos, tangling, Pilip, Tom Suozzi, “ Organizations: Republican, Congress Locations: New York, U.S, Mexico

☆ What to Know About the Race to Replace George Santos
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After nearly a year with George Santos as their local congressman, voters in New York finally have their chance to choose his replacement. It pits Mazi Pilip, a little-known Nassau County legislator running as a Republican, against Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic congressman. Here’s what you need to know. How we got hereMr. Santos, a Republican, won New York’s Third Congressional District in November 2022 amid a wave of Republican success. But it was just weeks before his résumé began to unravel based on reporting by The New York Times and other news media outlets.

Persons: George Santos, Tom Suozzi, Santos Organizations: Republican, Democratic, New, Congressional District, The New York Times Locations: New York, Nassau County

☆ With House Seat at Stake, Republicans Court Jewish Voters Rattled by War
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the campaign trail, Mazi Pilip wears a Star of David around her neck. And when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war, Ms. Pilip, the Republican nominee in a special House election in New York, adds no political polish. 7 changed me forever,” she said the other day, her voice cracking, at a vigil for a local man who was taken hostage by Hamas. Ms. Pilip, an Israeli military veteran, called him “my brother.”“The vicious attack of Hamas on my people, on my brothers and sisters, and our Jewish land — a vicious attack — we are never going to forget,” she said, as the packed gymnasium of the suburban Jewish community center nodded along. Many politicians have rushed to stand by American Jews since the war began.

Persons: Pilip, David, ”, Tom Suozzi Organizations: Republican, Democratic Locations: Israel, New York, American

☆ In the Race to Replace George Santos, National Issues Reverberate
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

National issues have dominated a special House election to replace George Santos in New York, as Republicans and Democrats take voters’ temperatures on issues that could tip November’s general election. The race pits Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic congressman who represented the Queens and Long Island swing district for three terms, against Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-born local legislator. The open seat was created after the House voted to expel Mr. Santos, a Republican facing federal criminal charges. The Feb. 13 contest carries unusual weight: A Democratic victory would narrow Republicans’ barely governable House majority to just two votes. A well-known veteran vs. a party machineAfter decades in office, Mr. Suozzi is one of the most recognizable and well-liked figures on Long Island, but his party is deeply unpopular.

Persons: George Santos, Tom Suozzi, Mazi Pilip, Mr, Santos, Suozzi Organizations: Democrats, Democratic, Queens and, Republican Locations: Israel, New York, Queens and Long, Ethiopian, Long

☆ With Adams Vulnerable, Scott Stringer Explores Run for N.Y.C. Mayor
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | More About Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Adams rolled back some of the most unpopular cuts to the city budget, but the updated spending plan he released on Tuesday still promised another year of hard fiscal choices. Mr. Adams has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the seizure of his electronic devices last year suggests a serious investigation that could result in charges against close allies, or even the mayor himself. In the interview, Mr. Stringer said Mr. Adams deserved the benefit of the doubt around the federal investigation. “It’s become clear to me over the last two years that New York City needs a new direction,” Mr. Stringer said. “We cannot move the city forward with what is a minimalist agenda.”He conceded that the flow of migrants had created a substantial financial burden for the city.

Persons: Adams, Stringer, It’s, ” Mr, “, ” Organizations: New Locations: Turkey, New York City

☆ In Race to Replace George Santos, Financial Questions Re-emerge
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | More About Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Republican nominee in a special House election to replace George Santos in New York provided a hazy glimpse into her personal finances this week, submitting a sworn financial statement to Congress that prompted questions and led her to amend the filing. The little-known candidate, Mazi Pilip, reported between $1 million and $5.2 million in assets, largely comprising her husband’s medical practice and Bitcoin investments. In an unusual disclosure, she said the couple owed and later repaid as much as $250,000 to the I.R.S. But the initial financial report Ms. Pilip filed with the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday appeared to be missing other important required information, including whether the assets were owned solely by herself or her husband, Dr. Adalbert Pilip, or whether they were owned jointly. And despite making past statements that she stopped working there in 2021 when she ran for the Nassau County Legislature, Ms. Pilip reported receiving a $50,000 salary from the family medical practice in 2022 and 2023.

Persons: George Santos, Mazi Pilip, Pilip, Dr, Adalbert Pilip Organizations: Republican, Legislature Locations: New York, Nassau

☆ Republicans Tap Israeli Military Veteran to Run for Santos’s Seat
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-14 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Republicans battling to hold onto the New York House seat vacated by George Santos chose on Thursday another relatively unknown candidate with a remarkable biography but a thin political résumé to run in a special election next year. It was a bold gamble by Long Island Republicans, a group better known for nominating older, white establishment figures. Republicans believe Ms. Pilip, a 44-year-old mother of seven, has the potential to become a breakout star before the Feb. 13 special election, particularly at a moment when Israel’s war with Hamas is reordering American politics. “She is the American success story,” said Peter King, a former New York Republican congressman involved in the nomination. She walks into the room, people notice her, they listen to her.”

Persons: George Santos, Mazi, Pilip, ”, Peter King Organizations: New, New York House, Israel Defense Forces, Long Island Republicans, New York Republican Locations: New York, Ethiopia, American

☆ Inside the Secret Meeting That Cleared the Way for Tom Suozzi’s Return
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With his successor, George Santos, expelled from Congress, Tom Suozzi appeared to be on the brink of a full-scale comeback campaign on Monday. Then he got a worrisome request: Gov. Kathy Hochul wanted to see him. Mr. Suozzi knew Ms. Hochul, a bitter rival, had been toying for weeks with trying to block him from becoming the Democratic nominee in a special election to replace Mr. Santos. Inside, Ms. Hochul presented Mr. Suozzi with multiple demands, according to two people briefed on the previously unreported meeting.

Persons: George Santos, Tom Suozzi, Kathy Hochul, Suozzi, Hochul, Santos Organizations: Democratic, Catholic, Ms Locations: Albany

The expulsion of George Santos from the House on Friday, after a year shaped by audacious lies and outright frauds, ended his 11-month congressional tenure. But as he stormed off Capitol Hill, Mr. Santos made abundantly clear that he had no intention of returning to obscurity. Mr. Santos, a New York Republican, is scheduled to stand trial next year on a lengthy rap sheet that includes charges he defrauded donors, lied to election officials and stole unemployment benefits. But in American politics, even convicted criminals are often given second acts — if not in elected office, then on reality TV or the big screen. Here’s what might be next — and what will not be — for the disgraced and recently deposed former congressman.

Persons: George Santos, Santos Organizations: Capitol, New, New York Republican Locations: New York

☆ George Santos Is Gone. Two Dozen Candidates Want His Seat.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | More About Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Political analysts rate the district, stretching from the outskirts of New York City into the heart of Nassau County’s affluent suburbs on Long Island, as a tossup. Democratic strategists said they would continue to use the embarrassment of Mr. Santos to attack Republicans, blaming them for aiding the former congressman’s rise. But recapturing the seat may be more difficult than many Democrats once hoped. Local Republicans moved decisively to distance themselves from Mr. Santos last January, and the strategy has shown signs of working. When Long Island voters went to the polls for local contests last month, they delivered a Republican rout that left Democrats scrambling to figure out how to rehabilitate a tarnished political brand.

Persons: Mike Sapraicone, Mazi, Biden, Mr, Santos, ”, Isaac Goldberg Organizations: Republican, New York Police Department, Israel Defense Forces, Democratic, Local Republicans, Long, Mr Locations: Ethiopian, New York City, Nassau County’s, Long

After months of congressional hand-wringing, Mr. Santos finally met his demise on Friday, after Republicans and Democrats each offered separate expulsion resolutions. The resulting debate on the House floor on Thursday captured the absurdity and unseemliness of Mr. Santos’s scandals. Mr. Santos is only the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the body’s history. Mr. Santos must still contend with the federal indictment in which prosecutors have accused him of multiple criminal schemes. (That company, Harbor City Capital, has been accused of operating a Ponzi scheme by the Securities and Exchange Commission, though Mr. Santos has not been implicated.)

Persons: George Santos, Santos, Mr, “ George Santos, ”, Anthony D’Esposito, Santos’s, Mike Johnson of, Kevin McCarthy of California, Kathy Hochul, Thomas R, Suozzi, Goldman Sachs, Nancy Marks, Marks, Nicholas Fandos Organizations: New York Republican, Queens, Republican, Republicans, World Trade, House, Local, Democratic, New York Times, Baruch College, Citigroup, World Trade Center, Devolder Organization, Harbor, Harbor City Capital, Securities and Exchange Commission Locations: Orlando, Long Island, New York, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Nassau County, Queens, New York City, Orlando ., Florida, Harbor City, United States

PinnedThe House of Representatives began a reinvigorated debate on Thursday on whether to expel Representative George Santos of New York, setting the stage for a vote that seems somewhat tilted against him. Whether Mr. Santos, 35, will be expelled is unclear, though he said on Thursday that he expected the vote would succeed. Mr. Santos held a news conference on Thursday morning in which he warned such a precedent would “haunt” lawmakers in the future. The committee’s Republican chairman introduced a motion to expel Mr. Santos, and a number of lawmakers who opposed previous attempts to remove him said that the committee’s report had swayed them to change their minds. Mr. Santos said on Thursday that the committee’s report was “littered with hyperbole” but again declined to address its specific findings.

Persons: George Santos, Santos, fabulist, Mike Johnson, ”, Mr Organizations: Representatives, Republicans, Republican Locations: George Santos of New York

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