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VOL. CLXX . . . No. 58,864 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 $6.00

Intense Battle Days From the Election,

To Earn Votes
Of Black Men
A Crucial Competition
for Both Candidates
This article is by Astead W. Hern-
don, Nick Corasaniti and Kathleen
Gray.
DETROIT — Four years after
an election that came down to
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wis-
consin, the campaigns of Joseph
R. Biden Jr. and President Trump
are waging an intense and sur-
prising battle in those states for
votes among a crucial demo-
graphic: Black men.
The outreach is vital for Demo-
crats, who lost the three industrial
states in 2016 partly because of di-
minished support from Black vot-
ers. They worry that not enough
Black men will cast ballots — or
that Mr. Trump might make
enough marginal gains to help in
close races.
The Biden campaign is now
heavily focused on getting Black
men to turn out to vote: Mr. Biden
and former President Barack
Obama are campaigning together
for the first time this year on Sat-
urday in Detroit and Flint, Mich.
Mr. Biden is also running a series
of ads featuring young Black men
from Flint, tying local issues to the
election. One walks through the
history of Black voter suppres-
sion; another starts with Mr. Bi-
den saying “Black Lives Matter,
period.”
In Philadelphia, where Hillary
Clinton had strong but not surging
support from Black voters in 2016,
the Biden camp also deployed Mr.
Obama for a day of campaigning,
sent Senator Cory Booker to Sun-
day round tables in the city’s
northern neighborhoods, and re-
lied on leaders like Sharif Street, a
state senator and the son of for-
mer Mayor John F. Street, to can-
vass neighborhoods multiple
times.
The Trump strategy has aimed
to erode Mr. Biden’s support with
a negative campaign. One televi-
sion ad replays Mr. Biden’s contro-
versial “you ain’t Black” com-
ment, in which he questioned how
Black Americans could support
Mr. Trump, and reprises his role in
the 1994 crime bill. A set of 40 dig-
ital ads claiming “Joe Biden In-
sulted Millions of Black Ameri-
cans” has been running across the
country for the past week.
The battle for Black men is one
of the more surprising develop-
Continued on Page 22
Campaign 2020: Let’s Get to 2021 in One Piece
A tour of the final, furious campaign days for Joseph R. Biden Jr. and President Trump
makes clear that the abiding theme of 2020 is something like survival. Pages 20-21.
Foiled Once, Giuliani’s Team Peddles More Dirt
This article is by Kenneth P. Vogel,
Jim Rutenberg and Maggie Ha-
berman.
On the weekend of Oct. 10, Pres-
ident Trump’s personal lawyer
Rudolph W. Giuliani, his former
adviser Stephen K. Bannon and a
prominent new ally, a Chinese bil-
lionaire and Mar-a-Lago member
named Guo Wengui, gathered at
Mr. Guo’s luxury apartment over-
looking Central Park for dinner
and cigars.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Each faced some combination
of legal or credibility issues, but on
this night they had reason to cele-
brate: a plan was coming togeth-
er.
That weekend, Mr. Giuliani had
delivered to The New York Post a
copy of a hard drive purported to
be from a laptop belonging to
Hunter Biden, the son of Mr.
Trump’s Democratic opponent,
former Vice President Joseph R.
Biden Jr. The hard drive was filled
with what the men claimed was
compromising material about the
younger Biden that they hoped
would sully his father’s reputa-
tion.
It was the latest in an often-
bumbling series of attacks that be-
gan two years ago with the goal of
undercutting Mr. Biden as a threat
to Mr. Trump’s re-election by link-
ing him to the messy personal and
business affairs of his son.
The main impact of the attacks
to that point had been a spectacu-
lar backfire: the impeachment of
Continued on Page 23
An Astonishing Number
Of Ballots Already Cast
As Record 90 Million Votes Pour In,
States’ Officials Gird for Count
By NICK CORASANITI and STEPHANIE SAUL
PHILADELPHIA — An un- tered Democrats, and 37.9 percent
nerved yet energized America is from registered Republicans, and
voting with an urgency never in heavily Democratic Miami-
seen before in the approach to a Dade County, registered Republi-
presidential election, as a record cans are turning out at a slightly
90 million people have cast ballots higher percentage than Demo-
despite an array of challenges: a crats. Included in those returns
pandemic, postal delays, long are millions of ballots marked no
lines and court rulings that have party affiliation, with no indica-
tested faith in the country’s elec- tion whether Mr. Biden or Mr.
toral system. Trump is leading.
In Texas and Hawaii, turnout A recent national poll by The
has already exceeded the total New York Times and Siena Col-
vote from 2016, with days left for lege found that Republicans were
absentee ballots to be returned. more likely to vote on Election
Ten other states, including major Day than to vote early, while Dem-
battlegrounds like Georgia, Flor- ocrats showed a preference for
ida, North Carolina, Arizona and voting early. Polls in Georgia,
Nevada, have surpassed 80 per-
cent of the turnout from the last
presidential election. Over all, the
early turnout has set the country
on course to surpass 150 million
votes for the first time in history.
The impact of this huge surge in
turnout is one of the most unpre-
dictable facets of the election, as
strategists in both parties parse
early returns for signs of any ad-
vantage. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the
Democratic nominee, is counting
on a strong early vote to help him
flip states like Florida and Ari-
zona that President Trump car-
ried in 2016. But Republicans are RUTH FREMSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
banking on their voters to turn
out in bigger numbers on Election Sorting ballots in the election
Day and deliver battleground office of Kittanning, Pa., in
wins, as they did in key states in Armstrong County on Friday.
2016.
Mr. Trump, campaigning on Iowa and other battleground
Saturday in Bucks County, Pa.,
predicted a race that will be unde-
cided on Election Day with chaos
states showed a similar trend.
As the nation enters one of the
most consequential weeks for vot-
to come.
ing in recent years, with swaths of
“We’re going to be waiting,”
Americans nervous about
said Mr. Trump, who has spent
whether their ballots will be re-
months disparaging voting by
mail. “Nov. 3 is going to come and ceived and counted and others de-
termined to push through con-
go, and we’re not going to know.
cerns about the virus to vote, offi-
And you’re going to have bedlam
cials across the country have been
in our country.”
mounting a furious effort to shore
Though Democrats have main-
up election systems that have
tained an edge in early turnout in
nearly every state that has seen been pushed to the brink. They
record participation, Republicans are recruiting tens of thousands of
have been closing the gap. In Flor- additional poll workers, working
ida, for example, 40 percent of the around the clock to process ballots
ballots returned came from regis- Continued on Page 21

SEAN CONNERY, 1930-2020

Original ‘Bond, James Bond,’
Who Refused to Be Typecast
By ALJEAN HARMET
Sean Connery, the irascible Scot
from the slums of Edinburgh who
found international fame as Holly-
wood’s original James Bond, dis-
mayed his fans by walking away
from the Bond franchise and went
on to have a long and fruitful ca-
reer as a respected actor and an
always bankable star, has died in
Nassau, the Bahamas. He was 90.
His death, in his sleep either
late Friday or early Saturday, was
confirmed by his family.
“Bond, James Bond” was the
character’s familiar self-introduc-
tion, and to legions of fans who
have watched a parade of actors
play the role — otherwise known
as Agent 007 on Her Majesty’s Se-
cret Service — none uttered the
words or played the part as mag-
netically or as indelibly as Mr.
Connery.
Tall, dark and dashing, he em-
bodied the novelist Ian Fleming’s
suave and resourceful secret
agent in the first five Bond films
and seven over all, vanquishing
diabolical villains and voluptuous
women alike beginning with “Dr.
No” in 1962.
As a more violent, moody and
dangerous man than the James
Bond in Fleming’s books, Mr. Con-
nery was the top box-office star in
both Britain and the United States
in 1965 after the success of “From
Russia With Love” (1963), “Gold-
finger” (1964) and “Thunderball”
(1965). But he grew tired of play-
Sean Connery as James Bond on the set of “Goldfinger,” the
1964 film. He played Agent 007 in a total of seven movies.
ing Bond after the fifth film in the
series, “You Only Live Twice”
(1967), and was replaced by
George Lazenby, a little-known
Australian actor and model, in
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Serv-
SUNSET BOULEVARD/CORBIS, VIA GETTY IMAGES
ice” (1969).
Mr. Connery was lured back for
one more Bond movie, “Diamonds
Are Forever” (1971), only by the
offer of $1 million as an advance
Continued on Page 31
Tracing Now All but Impossible
As Outbreaks Tear Through U.S.
By SARAH MERVOSH and LUCY TOM
When the coronavirus first tested positive for the virus.
erupted in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the As the coronavirus soars across
spring, Mayor Paul TenHaken ar- the country, charting a single-day
rived at work each morning with a record of 99,155 new cases on Fri-
clear mission: Stop the outbreak day and surpassing nine million
at the pork plant. Hundreds of em- cases nationwide, tracing the path
ployees, chopping meat shoulder of the pandemic in the United
to shoulder, had gotten sick in States is no longer simply chal-
what was then the largest virus lenging. It has become nearly im-
cluster in the United States. possible.
That outbreak was extin- Gone are the days when Ameri-
guished months ago, and these cans could easily understand the
days, when he heads into City virus by tracking rising case num-
Hall, the situation is far more neb- bers back to discrete sources —
ulous. The virus has spread all the crowded factory, the troubled
over town. nursing home, the rowdy bar.
“You can swing a cat and hit Now, there are so many cases, in
someone who has got it,” said Mr. so many places, that many people
TenHaken, who had to reschedule are coming to a frightening con-
his own meetings to Zoom this clusion: They have no idea where
past week after his assistant Continued on Page 8

NATIONAL 15-30 SUNDAY BUSINESS

Battleground Dispatches
The Times looks at 10 states that Presi-
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Gertie, a luncheonette in Brooklyn that
President Trump turned American
was just about to expand when the
foreign policy inside out, and foreign
pandemic hit, has shifted gears over
nations are watching the election to see
and over to stay afloat. PAGE 4
which direction the U.S. goes. PAGE 14
ARTS & LEISURE
SUNDAY STYLES
Reveling in Being Cut Off The Art of the Scream
Doing the 2020 Time Warp After chafing against their isolation for What’s more fundamental to scary 5.3%
movies than a bone-chilling shriek? But 4.8%
The isolation, monotony and chronic so long, Australians these days are 3.9%
stress of this pandemic year are jum- finding island life a privilege when delivering a terrifying wail isn’t easy. In 3.8%
bling our sense of chronology. PAGE 1 pestilence lies beyond. PAGE 10 fact, it’s an entire discipline. PAGE 6
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a handy guide. PAGE 7
2 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
A. G. SULZBERGER
Publisher
The truth Founded in 1851
ADOLPH S. OCHS
Publisher 1896-1935
is essential. ARTHUR HAYS SULZBERGER
Publisher 1935-1961
ORVIL E. DRYFOOS
Publisher 1961-1963
ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER
Publisher 1963-1992
ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR.
Publisher 1992-2017
Inside The Times
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
P.J. Anthony, left, in 1988 with Steven R. Weisman, then The Times’s New Delhi bureau chief.
Mr. Anthony was a beloved manager of the bureau for decades. He died on Oct. 21 at 82.
A Guiding Hand in India Is Gone
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
NEW DELHI — For more than half a
The joys.
century, Parambaloth Joseph Anthony, a
shrewd and sweet-natured man, served as
The New York Times’s secret weapon in
The tribulations.
India.
As the New Delhi bureau manager from
the mid-1960s until just a few years ago,
Mr. Anthony, whom everyone called P.J.,
The twists.
played as many roles as anyone at The
Times. He was a bookkeeper, a translator, a
guide, an archivist, a newshound who
could track 10 stories at once, and a be-
loved and indispensable friend to many
correspondents and their families.
One former correspondent even called
him Kojak, after the 1970s TV private eye.
The reason was that many years ago, after
a bunch of people fell ill at a dinner party,
P.J. took it upon himself to investigate.
Sure enough, he solved the mystery.
After canvassing the neighborhood and
chatting up staff, he learned that an envi-
ous servant had sprinkled gasoline over
the chicken that was served that night, to
sabotage the cook. P.J. shared his findings
and gently suggested replacing the ser-
vant.
Modern Love But now P.J.’s gone.
On Oct. 21, P.J. died at 82 from complica-
Read, watch and listen to the stories. tions related to Covid-19.
nytimes.com/modernlove P.J. was my entry point to India, just as
he was for so many other correspondents
going back 50 years. He was standing at
the airport curb to scoop me and my family
up after an exhausting 20-hour journey,
with a shy smile on his face. As the bureau
chief in New Delhi for the past three years,
I saw him nearly every day and I can still
hear his voice in my ear. It is hard for me
to think that I will never see him again.
His job was running The Times’s small
office in Connaught Place, in the heart of
India’s capital, working closely with the
bureau chiefs. (He tended to call the bu-
reau chiefs “Doctor,” even when that was
far from the case.) Bureau chiefs are in
charge of the journalism and bureau man-
agers are in charge of just about every-
thing else — handling expenses, renewing
visas, translating documents and in the
case of India, decoding one of the most
On This Day in History
A MEMORABLE HEADLINE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
EGYPTIAN JET, CARRYING 217,
PLUNGES INTO THE ATLANTIC
November 1, 1999. An Egyptian jetliner bound to Cairo from New York City suddenly
plummeted into the North Atlantic southeast of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket,
Give the gift they’ll
The Times reported. There were no survivors. The crash of EgyptAir 990 initially left
investigators perplexed because there hadn’t been a distress call from the cockpit before
the abrupt descent. The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that the
open every day. actions of the co-pilot caused the crash, though Egyptian officials disputed that assertion.
Among the dead were 100 Americans and 89 Egyptians.
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NEWS EDITORIAL
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THE MAGAZINE, PAGE 46
OBITUARIES
PAGES 31-32
WEATHER
PAGE 28
VIDEO
This week’s “Behind the Cover”
segment previews The New York
Times Magazine’s latest cover
story, which argues that the Re-
publican Party has become almost
completely defined by its mem-
bers’ loyalty to President Trump.
nytimes.com/magazine
ELISABETH BUMILLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES
bewilderingly complex countries on Earth.
P.J. loved every day of it.
AUDIO
Even into his 70s and 80s, he was often
On a new episode of the “Still
the first one in the office, and you could
Processing” podcast, Wesley
always tell when he was approaching. The
Morris and Jenna Wortham dis-
street dogs outside the bureau would go
cuss recent events that point our
crazy, howling in delight.
culture toward the future, from the
Then a stooped figure, wearing thick
N.B.A. bubble to the HBO series
glasses and sometimes a droopy trench
“Lovecraft Country” (below).
coat, would emerge from the Delhi mist
nytimes.com/stillprocessing
and a cloud of scrappy dogs would envel-
ope him.
He always arrived with a bag of bones
and pieces of meat. That was the first thing
P.J. did every morning. He fed the strays.
About eight years ago, after P.J. broke
his hip, Jim Yardley, the bureau chief at the
time, discovered that P.J. had worked long
past retirement age and that his retirement
benefits exceeded his salary. Still, P.J.
didn’t want to quit.
“I explained that retirement, of course,
A Reminder
can be defined in many ways,” Mr. Yardley
recalled.
Thus began a somewhat unorthodox
Daylight saving time ended
arrangement that at first confounded the
at 2 a.m. today. Clocks should
downstream bureau chiefs and other staff
have been set back one hour.
members and lasted until this March, when
India imposed a strict lockdown that closed
The Times’s bureau. Every day, P.J. volun-
teered to come to the office, where he
continued to sit behind a towering fortress
of old newspapers on his desk and help out.
A devout Catholic, he brought in the
most delectable box of chewy chocolate
brownies every Christmas. Each night,
before leaving the office, he would stand
up, walk toward the door, press his palms
together, and make a subtle bow.
Firm, formal, stoic, skeptical, fastidious,
and most of all, fiercely loyal is how Delhi
staff members described him.
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 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N 3

Of Interest
NOTEWORTHY FACTS FROM TODAY’S PAPER

Often, the screams we hear in The United States has 22 million

movies and TV are created by
doubles and voice actors. One stock
scream is so well-used it’s got a
name, the Wilhelm. It’s in hundreds
of films.
They Scream and Scream Again
ARTS & LEISURE, PAGE 6
• version, the garden-variety
McDonald’s began selling pizza in
the mid-1980s, hoping to grab
market share from national pizza
chains. It gave up a few years later.
Answering a Fast-Food Question,
If You Care SUNDAY BUSINESS, PAGE 1
• 1968 presidential election, George
In the 2019 baseball season, after the
Washington Nationals started 19-31,
their chances of winning the World
Series were 1.5 percent.
Baseball’s Quiet Season
THE MAGAZINE, PAGE 34
CHANEL MILLER
Alcohol consumption is up by 14
percent (and 17 percent for women)
compared with a year ago, according
to a recent report in the JAMA
Network Open.
Everything’s a Blur SUNDAY STYLES, PAGE 1
naturalized citizens.
One of Us BOOK REVIEW, PAGE 15
•
In Eminem’s song “My Fault,” a
woman has a bad reaction after
being given hallucinogenic
mushrooms. In the cleaned-up
mushrooms are on a pizza, and the
woman is merely “allergic to fungus.”
Song Censorship? It’s Good Business
ARTS & LEISURE, PAGE 8
•
As a third party candidate in the
Wallace, the former governor of
Alabama, received 13.5 percent of the
popular vote and carried five states in
the Electoral College.
1968 and 2020: Two Perilous Years
BOOK REVIEW, PAGE 10

The Conversation Spotlight

THREE OF THE MOST READ, SHARED AND DISCUSSED POSTS STORIES CONTRIBUTED BY READERS
FROM ACROSS NYTIMES.COM LAST WEEK OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Upshot on Today’s Polls
With the campaigns winding down, the poll averages indi-
cated Joe Biden had the upper hand in the battleground
states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina.
Nate Cohn’s analysis of the figures was the most read article
last week.
In The Times’s Parenting newsletter, readers are invited to
submit a Tiny Victory, the celebration of those small moments
of triumph in the long days of parenting. For instance, the
ingenious way a parent headed off a toddler meltdown on a
long car ride or persuaded a youngster to take a bite of some-
thing foreign. Find a Tiny Victory one reader submitted below.

Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice,

Cementing Conservative Majority
For the first time in 151 years, a justice was confirmed without
a single vote from the minority party — a sign of how bitter
Washington’s war over judicial nominations has become. The My 3-year-old was terrified
addition of Justice Barrett could sway cases on hot-button
issues such as abortion rights and the environment. to go to bed after seeing a
cockroach in the bathroom.
I took two stuffed panda
bears and placed them on
each side of his bed as
“bug guards,” and he fell
soundly asleep.
CATHERINE QUINLAN, CHATTANOOGA, TENN.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count

Case numbers reached record levels in more than 20 states as
outbreaks continued to grow across the country. Last week,
the case total increased 42 percent from the average two
weeks earlier, and the nation surpassed the nine-million mark
in infections.
Sign up for the Parenting newsletter at nytimes.com/parenting. To get
your Tiny Victory published, find us on Instagram @NYTparenting or
email us at parenting_submissions@nytimes.com.

Sketchbook
MODERN CIVICS

Tuesday is Election Day, but the BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NEW ADVENTURES
election is well underway: Close Hot Air Balloon Necklace - Designed in 18k Gold
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Time just changed.
Again.

Quote of the Day Here to Help

TRACING NOW ALL BUT BOOKS FOR PLACES TO GO
IMPOSSIBLE AS OUTBREAKS
TEAR THROUGH U.S. PAGE 1
The Times Travel desk’s annual list of
“You can swing a cat 52 Places to Go spotlights destinations
worth a voyage. These books, described
and hit someone who here in part by Times reviewers, can help
you explore some of those 52 places in
has got it.” your mind, never mind the coronavirus.
MAYOR PAUL TENHAKEN OF SIOUX CONCEPCIÓN DE LEÓN
FALLS, S.D., a city that extinguished
an outbreak of coronavirus in the LEIPZIG, GERMANY

spring only to see the virus spread all
over town as fall arrived.
‘Memoirs of a Polar Bear,’ by Yoko Tawada
Three generations of polar bears tell their
stories in this novel, which is “a study of
blurred lines: the line between human and Vita’s life, exploring a mysterious crime she
and ACCUTRON are registered trademarks.

animal, the line between one person’s (or
creature’s) story and another’s, the line
between love and exploitation.”
LIMA, PERU
‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter,’
by Mario Vargas Llosa
“This screwball fantasy — interwoven with
a realistic tale of an improbable romance —
is the Peruvian novelist Vargas Llosa’s
homage to two people who gave shape to
his artistic and personal life during his
adolescence: an ascetic Bolivian who all
day, every day, wrote scripts for radio soap
operas, and the author’s Aunt Julia.”
MOLISE, ITALY
‘Murder in Matera: A True Story of Pas-
sion, Family and Forgiveness in Southern
Italy,’ by Helene Stapinski
In a “streetwise Hemingway” style, Stapin-
ski examines her great-great-grandmother
committed and speculating how her “crimi-
nal genes” might have been passed down.
COPENHAGEN
‘The Torso,’ by Helene Tursten
After an unidentifiable partial torso washes
up on a Swedish beach, Detective Inspector
Irene Huss must work with her Danish
counterparts, who have a similar open
case, to solve the mystery.
RICHMOND, VA.
‘Southern Cross,’ by Patricia Cornwell
A Charlotte police chief is brought to Rich-
mond to clean up the city’s police force, and
under intense public scrutiny, she attempts
to bring order to the city as it struggles
with corruption, scandal and murder.
Find more book reviews at nytimes.com/books.
4 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Tracking an Outbreak
N

NEW YORK CITY

A Restaurant Reinventing Itself, Again and Again, to Survive

Half of the city’s 24,000 restaurants
could go under. Gertie is fighting to
avoid becoming one of them.

By MATTHEW HAAG
On the second Saturday in March, the
owners of Gertie, a Jewish-American
luncheonette in Brooklyn, finalized a last
step in the makeover of their year-old
restaurant. They hired a new sous chef,
an up-and-comer who had landed hours
before on a one-way flight from Detroit.
By dinnertime, though, the restaurant
was unraveling.
After spreading silently for weeks, the
coronavirus had infected hundreds of
people in New York and cast an eerie
emptiness over the city and inside the
restaurant, which had planned to debut a
new menu. Instead, by the end of dinner
service that Sunday, the owners pulled
aside nearly all 25 employees and told
them they were being let go.
Seven months later, Gertie is still
standing, if barely, a battered symbol of
an industry wrecked by a sweeping re-
cession. Gertie is a shell of its former self
— tables have been pushed aside in the
darkened dining room, the espresso ma-
chine turned off, a case once filled with
baked goods gathers dust — as the hand-
ful of remaining employees scrambles to
reinvent itself on a nearly weekly basis.
The restaurant, located in Williams-
burg, is now several ventures col-
lectively trying to keep it afloat: a soup
kitchen in the mornings, preparing
meals for the hungry; an outdoor restau-
rant three nights a week; and a get-out-
the-vote operation on Thursdays, with a
phone bank on the patio and postcards
diners are asked to send to undecided
voters.
A year ago, Gertie made about $30,000 PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

a week, packing dozens of diners at a
time inside its bright, cavernous dining
room. During the worst days of the pan-
demic, it made $50 selling coffee and pas-
tries on some mornings, not enough to
pay the barista and baker. Sales slowly
climbed through late summer to about
$1,000 per day.
The owners worry what the colder
weather will bring.
“I feel like we have opened six restau-
rants just in the past seven months,” Flip
Biddelman, 33, the general manager and
co-owner, said after unfurling canvas
awnings outside and stretching them
over the sidewalk. “It’s just been quite
taxing, emotionally and physically.”
“How long can this go on?” he added.
The pandemic has spared almost no
business in New York. Some have
thrived, like liquor stores. But no indus-
try has been clobbered like restaurants
and bars, a multibillion-dollar lifeblood
that gives the city vibrancy and diversi-
ty, employs hundreds of thousands of
people, including many immigrants, and
attracts millions of tourists every year.
From Michelin-starred fine dining to
hole-in-the-wall restaurants, the indus-
try brings in about $46 billion annually in
sales and pays out about $10 billion in
wages to employees, according to the
state.
Today, it is a major feat for a restaurant
simply to stay open. There is no defini-
tive count of how many restaurants have
gone out of business, but the number is
thought to be in the thousands.
At the height of the pandemic last
spring, more than 200,000 restaurant
workers were out of work, according to
the state comptroller. Some have been
rehired, but few are working the same
number of hours. Restaurants are open
for indoor dining, but at a 25 percent ca-
pacity limit.
By some estimates, the continuing
devastation could eventually topple up
to half of the city’s 24,000 restaurants.
The economics of operating a restau-
rant in New York were never favorable,
but the pandemic exposed just how pre-
carious the business was. Restaurants,
even those far from Manhattan’s upscale
precincts, can pay more than $100,000 a
year in rent and tens of thousands on
other bills, including insurance policies
that have provided no assistance during
the pandemic.
Many restaurants have blamed their
landlords for not reducing their rent. But
landlords say they are suffering, too, un-
able to pay their own bills because ten-
ants cannot pay full rent.
Since the pandemic, Gertie’s landlord
has cut its base rent by 50 percent, down
to $5,000 a month, and offered to extend
the discount, which included a separate
increase in rent payments based on Ger-
tie’s percentage of sales, for another 16
months. Nate Adler, who started Gertie
with Mr. Biddelman, accepted the offer
despite concerns that business will not
substantially improve for months.
“These restaurants were built to house
people, to comfort people, to feed people
in a really beautiful environment that
had tons of thought, time and money put
into it,” Mr. Adler, 31, said. “Every restau-
rant has become a shell of a restaurant,
like nothing is noticeable inside. Nothing
is being used the way that it’s supposed
to be used or the way that it was initially
intended, and that’s just a hard pill to
swallow.”
Gertie is limping along without most of
its employees. About 9 of its 25 workers
have returned, some of whom are also
collecting unemployment benefits be-
cause they work so few hours. Several
former employees declined to return, cit-
ing health concerns, while others moved
to another state and started a new job.
Gertie opened in February 2019 on the
corner of Marcy Avenue and Grand
Street, a quiet intersection, offering up-
dated Jewish-American deli food. Mr.
Adler modeled Gertie, which was named
for his maternal grandmother, after pop-
ular Los Angeles restaurants that offer
counter service and a mix of bakery, deli
and all-day hangout.
Mr. Adler and Mr. Biddelman have ex-
tensive backgrounds in some of the city’s
most respected restaurant groups. Mr.
Adler worked for Union Square Hospital-
ity Group, the food service empire owned
by Danny Meyer, where Mr. Biddelman
had also worked. They also worked to-
gether at another restaurant started by
Mr. Adler, Huertas, in Manhattan.
Gertie, however, did not take off in the
way that the owners had hoped. Break-
fast, lunch and weekend brunch did well,
selling dishes like smoked whitefish sal-
ad, Reuben sandwiches with sauerkraut
and smoked salmon with cream cheese
on bialys.
But dinner service, which was sup-
posed to be the star meal with entrees
like lamb with horseradish sauce, whole
fish with tartar sauce and whole rotisser-
ie duck, never attracted a robust crowd.
The owners fiddled with the concept.
They turned the basement into an event
space. They booked groups with D.J.s
and brought in visiting chefs for pop-up
events. Then in February, they hired a
new executive chef, Mike Cain, 35, who
had worked at a Mediterranean restau-
rant on the Brooklyn waterfront.
Gertie expanded in July for outdoor dining and spent thousands of dollars constructing a deck for tables and chairs. But sales never really took off — about
$2,300 per day at its height. Its Thursday events, right, feature food from other restaurants, such as Di An Di, a Vietnamese restaurant in nearby Greenpoint.
But the virus upended their planning.
On the first weekend in March, more
than 300 people ate at Gertie for brunch
both days. The next weekend, only a few
dozen people showed up each day.
“I could see people around me sweat-
ing when people weren’t coming in,” said
Eleanor Bellamy, 27, a former server.
On March 15, a Sunday, the city or-
dered all bars and restaurants to close
except for delivery and pickup. Gertie
had no delivery or takeout operation. Af-
ter her shift that night, Ms. Bellamy
opened an email from the restaurant an-
nouncing that most of the staff had been
let go.
Like many people, Ms. Bellamy ini-
tially believed the disruption would be
temporary and decided to go to Durham,
N.C., her hometown. She packed light —
some pants and shirts in a small bag.
In August, Ms. Bellamy returned to
the city — to gather all her belongings for
a permanent move to North Carolina,
where she got a job at a fabric and wall-
paper company.
“I stayed here longer and longer and it
almost felt like I had started a brand-new
life,” Ms. Bellamy said. “It was the right
choice for me.”
Jovanni Luna’s phone lit up with the
same email Ms. Bellamy got. Just six
days before, Mr. Luna, a porter at Gertie,
had been laid off from a part-time server
position at another restaurant.
“In the hospitality industry, it’s not al-
ways the best job, but it’s something that
always felt very secure in New York,”
said Mr. Luna, 31, who has been rehired
at Gertie, but is collecting unemploy-
ment benefits because he’s working so
few shifts.
That night, Mr. Cain found comfort at
the Sparrow Tavern, a favorite bar near
his home in Astoria, Queens, with fellow
chefs facing the same dire future.
“It was kind of nice to be able to see
each other and crack jokes a little bit,”
Mr. Cain said.
The following week, Mr. Cain, Mr. Ad-
ler and Mr. Biddelman mapped out a new
plan. Gertie started offering takeout and
delivery, and the two partners looked for
nonprofit opportunities to use the restau-
rant to help frontline workers.
Delivery and takeout proved a dead
end. There were just a handful of orders,
and it was hard to know how much food
to keep in stock without spoiling.
“We needed to double-down on the
nonprofit stuff, or we needed to say,
‘Screw it, we’re out,'” said Mr. Adler, us-
ing a four-letter expletive.
Mr. Adler and his partner, Mr. Biddel-
man, connected with the LEE Initiative,
a foundation in Louisville, Ky., that be-
came a restaurant-relief effort in the
early days of the pandemic. With the
foundation’s help, Gertie’s kitchen came
to life, hiring back four workers, as the
staff handed out hundreds of boxed
meals a day.
The meal program ended after only a
few weeks. The staff was exhausted and
worried that they were at risk of catching
the virus. The restaurant shut down for
at least two weeks.
“Our lives were essentially: Wake up,
worry about getting Covid and go to
work and feed all these people who are
Nate Adler, above right, and Flip
Biddelman, at left in background,
started Gertie in February 2019 as an
all-day Jewish-American restaurant
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Just nine
of its 25 employees have returned to
work; below left, two cooks in the
restaurant’s basement preparing
food for a nonprofit meals delivery
and an upcoming wedding.
also worried about getting Covid, come
home, eat dinner and repeat,” Mr. Adler
said.
Then in May the restaurant partnered
with City Harvest, a nonprofit that dis-
tributes food to the hungry, and the
group Rethink Food in another meals
program. Rethink Food provides funding
to Gertie for food, $5 per meal, and City
Harvest picks up the meals four days a
week.
In July, the restaurant expanded out-
side for outdoor dining and spent thou-
sands of dollars constructing a deck for
tables and chairs. But sales never really
took off — about $2,300 per day at its
height, though a couple of weekends
have brought in up to $5,000.
Though restaurants were allowed to
bring diners back indoors in late Septem-
ber at 25 percent capacity, Gertie has not
reopened indoors because of concerns
that both diners and staff could get sick.
For now, Gertie is trying to get by with
its various initiatives.
One recent morning, two cooks
crammed into a tiny kitchen in the
restaurant’s basement preparing meals
for the food program. Mounds of roasted
new potatoes were piled high in a plastic
bin, while dozens of roasted pork loins
were stacked nearby, waiting to be sliced
for individual meals.
That afternoon, the staff began pre-
paring for another outdoor event, the
weekly political get-together on Thurs-
day nights as a way to drum up business
and promote Democratic candidates.
The crew tasted the dishes on the
night’s menu: lemongrass chicken over
scallion rice and a chicken banh-mi pre-
pared by Di An Di, a Vietnamese restau-
rant. Gertie brings in guest chefs on
Thursdays to help them and to build ex-
citement for the night’s event.
“It’s eye-opening when you’ve spent
this much time building a space and you
want to see it through and you always
want to leave a place better than you
found it,” Mr. Biddelman said. “I don’t
know if it’s possible in this situation.”
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N 5

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6 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Tracking an Outbreak The New Reality
FAMILY LIFE
Parents’ Stress Mingles
With Joy of Side Effect
Of Novel Quality Time
By JASON DePARLE
In six months without steady
work, Gregory Pike, a single fa-
ther in Las Vegas, has fallen be-
hind on his rent and utilities, bor-
rowed money he cannot repay,
turned to food stamps and charity,
and fretted that his setbacks may
cloud his daughter’s future.
Research dating to the Depres-
sion warns that parental unem-
ployment places children at risk:
When finances fall and adult ten-
sions rise, young people tend to do
worse in school and suffer psycho-
logical strains, reducing their
prospects for adult success.
But despite the problems he has
experienced since March, when
the coronavirus eliminated his
job, Mr. Pike has found an unex-
pected consolation: time with his
6-year-old daughter, Makayla,
whom he has raised alone for
three years.
“As much as this pandemic has
brought me some hardship and
uncertainty, it’s kind of a blessing
— it’s let me focus more on parent-
ing,” Mr. Pike said. “It’s bad but it’s
also been good. It’s really brought
us a lot closer.”
With parental unemployment
having recently hit a record peak,
the risks to children are formida-
ble. Nearly 22 percent of children
had an unemployed parent in
April, the highest rate on record,
according to Zachary Parolin, a
researcher at Columbia Univer-
sity who analyzed data at the re-
quest of The New York Times. By
August, the rate had fallen nearly
in half, but still approached the
peak of the Great Recession and
was much higher among Black
and Latino children.
No place has felt the impact
more deeply than Las Vegas,
where in recent months the share
of children with an unemployed
parent has averaged nearly 36
percent. Accompanied by school
closures and fear of contagion, the
scars left by parental joblessness
now may run uniquely deep.
“These levels of unemployment
are huge,” said Jennie E. Brand, a
sociologist at the University of
California, Los Angeles. “There’s
a lot going on in these families
that’s going to be hard to recover
from.”
In recent interviews, Las Vegas
parents echoed the experts’ view
that their joblessness posed risks
to their children. But like Mr. Pike,
many also said they had found re-
wards in the extra family time, as
if newly realizing how little of it
had been available in their earlier,
overscheduled lives.
“Work-life conflict” is often dis-
cussed as a problem of the privi-
leged classes, but low-wage work-
ers may suffer it most, with unpre-
dictable hours, less help with
chores like cooking and cleaning
and little economic choice. The
sudden increase of time with their
children has reminded some low-
income parents of what they have
been missing.
“You know, I’ve gotten to know
my kids a lot more,” said Aileen
Kelly, a single mother of five who
lost her job as a casino house-
keeper at the pandemic’s start.
“When you’re working, you don’t
get the real feeling of raising your
kids. You’re providing for them
but you’re not teaching them.”
Such rewards do not reduce the
risks that unemployment brings
CONTAINMENT STRATEGY
Hoping to Salvage Christmas, England Plans to Shut Pubs, Restaurants and Shops
By MARK LANDLER
and STEPHEN CASTLE
LONDON — Prime Minister
Boris Johnson announced plans
on Saturday to shut down pubs,
restaurants and most retail shops
throughout England, a stark re-
versal in the face of grim projec-
tions that the country could face a
deadly winter from the coronavi-
rus unless it takes draconian ac-
tion.
Mr. Johnson presented the
measures as part of a new tier of
restrictions that will cover all of
England. But the steps, which
would take effect on Thursday
and last until Dec. 2, amount to a
nationwide lockdown — some-
thing Mr. Johnson resisted for
weeks because of the damage he
said it would do to the economy.
“We’ve got to be humble in the
face of nature,” Mr. Johnson said
at a hastily called news confer-
ence at 10 Downing Street. “In this
county, alas, as across much of Eu-
rope, the virus is spreading even
faster than the reasonable worst-
case scenarios of our scientific ad-
visers.”
The measures, announced after
a tense day of meetings of Mr.
Johnson’s cabinet, would bring
England into line with France,
Germany, Belgium and Ireland,
— Ms. Kelly has doubled up with a
friend, in an apartment with 10
children — but they do offer a win-
dow into an overlooked strain on
the lives of poor families.
“No one’s saying that families
would choose to be unemployed,
but I think we forget how short of
time low-income families are —
short of time, short of money and
often short of sleep,” said Jane
Waldfogel, a professor at the Co-
lumbia School of Social Work. “If
people are telling us they don’t
have enough time with their chil-
dren, that’s worth listening to. It’s
an odd silver lining, but it’s there.”
Research on parental unem-
ployment is abundant, detailed
and mostly concerning. Studies
have found that, compared with
peers, children with jobless par-
ents on average experience lower
test scores, more school suspen-
sions, increased likelihood of re-
peating a grade, lower graduation
rates, lower college attendance,
lower adult earnings and a great-
er adult reliance on public aid.
“Even when the parents get re-
employed quickly, you still see
negative effects,” Ms. Brand said.
Lost income offers one explana-
tion, making it harder for families
to afford everything from food to
Little League. Elevated stress of-
fers another, increasing the risk of
parental depression or harsh par-
enting.
The risks unemployment poses
to children may depend in part on
the safety net, which was signifi-
cantly expanded at the start of the
pandemic but is now contracting.
When Maria Guerrero, a single
mother in Las Vegas, lost her job
at an airline caterer in March, her
unemployment benefits were de-
layed for two months. Worried
about losing her house, she found
herself sniping at her 14-year-old
daughter.
“You get anxiety, you get de-
pression, you don’t sleep at night,
thinking what if they kick me
out?” she said. “I was so frus-
trated I would take it out on my
daughter. She goes, ‘You’re al-
ways in a mood, you’re always
mad.’”
When the benefits arrived, they
fully replaced her salary through
July, and the household conflict
ended. “The relationship got bet-
ter when I started making my
payments again,” Ms. Guerrero
said. “We eat together, we’re
bonded. This pandemic — it made
us closer.”
Three researchers at the Uni-
versity of Chicago — Ariel Kalil,
Susan Mayer and Rohen Shah —
recently found that government
aid had reduced the harm of un-
employment during the pan-
demic. They surveyed nearly 600
low-income single mothers before
and after the crisis began.
Parents who lost jobs reported
greater depression and stress and
more negative interactions with
their children — but only if their
income declined. Jobless parents
who replaced their income,
through government aid or sec-
ond earners, experienced no neg-
ative effects. If anything, those
parents reported that their inter-
actions with their children had im-
proved.
“Parents really prize their time
with their kids, and the support al-
lowed them to enjoy it,” Ms. Kalil
said. “Their normal lives are
all of which have shut down large
parts of their countries in recent
days amid a rapid-fire resurgence
in infections.
As in March, when the virus
first engulfed Europe, England
has been slower to respond than
other countries. That equivoca-
tion, critics say, has deepened the
misery, with England suffering
one of Europe’s highest death tolls
and heaviest economic blows
from the pandemic.
Even as a second wave of infec-
tions swept in recent weeks, Mr.
Johnson was caught between a
faction of his Conservative Party,
which argued that another lock-
down would devastate the econ-
omy, and his scientific advisers,
who argued that it was unavoid-
able, given the exponential spread
of the virus.
Under the current trajectory,
the scientists said, hospitals
would be stretched to capacity by
the first week of December, even
including the giant field hospitals
that the government built, but
never used, last spring.
Mr. Johnson had initially
planned to roll out the new meas-
ures this coming Monday, but re-
ports of the government’s deliber-
ations leaked out on Friday
evening, forcing the prime min-
3-6-1-6-6-7-5-1-3
Gregory Pike helping his daughter, Makayla, at their home in Las Vegas. He said the pandemic has brought him closer to his daughter.
stressful, and having that paid
time off is salutary for their men-
tal health.”
Yet even without aid, some Las
Vegas parents found satisfaction
in the family time their involun-
tary joblessness brought. Ms.
Kelly, the casino housekeeper, be-
came all but homeless after losing
her unemployment benefits (for
reasons she does not understand),
Unemployment rates
among those with
children have peaked.
but has had more time for a dis-
abled son and a daughter who was
cutting herself. “She wasn’t get-
ting my attention because I was at
work,” Ms. Kelly said. “I see a big
difference.”
“We can’t live like this forever,”
Ms. Kelly added. “I have to go
back to work.”
The April rate of parental un-
employment — 21.7 percent of
children had unemployed parents
— shattered the previous monthly
record of 16 percent from January
1983. At this year’s peak, that was
about 16 million children.
Maria Guerrero’s benefits were delayed, and she found herself sniping at her teenage daughter.
ister to move up his timetable.
“They have no choice,” said
Devi Sridhar, head of the global
public health program at the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh. “It’s better
today than tomorrow, and it would
have been better yesterday than
today.”
The government said the meas-
ures would be voted on by Parlia-
ment next Wednesday, and there
were indications that some Con-
servatives would try to block
them. But with an 80-seat major-
ity in Parliament and the support
of the opposition Labour Party,
there was little chance that these
measures wouldn’t be adopted.
To cushion the economy from
the worst effects of the lockdown,
Mr. Johnson said the government
would extend until December a
wage-subsidy program for people
whose jobs are threatened by the
measures.
Under the plans, people would
be required to stay at home unless
their workplaces, such as fac-
tories or construction sites, need
them. They would be allowed to go
to school or college and leave
home for a few other reasons, like
buying food or seeking medical at-
tention. But nonessential shops
would be closed, people would be
urged not to travel, except for
“That’s really an alarming num-
ber,” said Mr. Parolin, the Colum-
bia researcher. “Even if parents
quickly return to work, I wouldn’t
underestimate the psychological
toll unemployment takes, particu-
larly in the context of the pan-
demic.”
Parental unemployment varies
greatly by race, with the August
levels among Black children (16.2
percent) and Latino children (14.3
percent) nearly twice that of
white children (8.3 percent). Like-
wise, unemployment is much
higher among less-educated
workers than college graduates,
and higher among mothers than
fathers, reversing a trend toward
gender equity in work rates.
“With schools out, it’s more of-
ten mothers who stay home from
work,” Mr. Parolin said.
Parental unemployment ex-
ceeded a five-month average of 20
percent in a dozen major metro-
politan areas, including New
York, Los Angeles, Miami, Bos-
ton, San Francisco, Detroit and
Orlando. Recent Census Bureau
surveys showed that households
with a jobless parent were about
twice as likely as others to miss
rent payments or lack sufficient
access to food.
In annual terms, previous
peaks of parental unemployment
came in 1982 (15.3 percent of chil-
business, and pubs and restau-
rants would only be allowed to
serve take out food.
Scotland, Wales, and Northern
Ireland have already instituted
similar restrictions, leaving Eng-
land as an outlier within the
United Kingdom.
Until now, the prime minister’s
approach had been to order tar-
geted lockdowns in hot spots, but
the latest numbers suggest the
tailored approach was no longer
enough.
The government’s scientific ad-
visory panel, known as SAGE, es-
timated in a report dated Oct. 14
that there were between 43,000
and 75,000 new infections a day in
England, a rate that is above the
worst-case scenarios calculated
only weeks before that. The virus
has spread beyond the initial hot
spots in the north of England.
Hospital admissions are also
running ahead of the worst-case
scenario, the panel said, raising
the specter that within weeks, the
National Health Service will not
be able to cope with the influx of
patients.
On Saturday, Britain reported
21,915 new infections, passing a
grim milestone of one million peo-
ple who have tested positive. It ad-
mitted 1,444 patients to the hospi-
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIDGET BENNETT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
dren) and 2009 (13.2 percent), but
the current crisis is more com-
plex.
“We’ve never had a recession
that brings with it this major inter-
ruption in schooling as well,” said
Ann Huff Stevens, an economist
at the University of Texas. “It’s
hard to see how that won’t make
the impact of unemployment even
worse.”
A recent questionnaire from
The Times, distributed by Fresh
EBT, a smartphone app that helps
people manage their food stamp
benefits, asked parents how the
pandemic had affected their rela-
tionships with their children.
Many simultaneously lamented
the lost income but praised the in-
creased family time.
“We are struggling financially,
but we have grown closer,” a
North Carolina mother wrote.
“We love time together but I am
a single parent and need work,” a
Washington parent wrote.
“We have benefited having
more time together but not having
money is not good,” a single
mother in Michigan wrote. “I’m
being evicted.”
When Mr. Pike, the Las Vegas
single father, described his
months of unemployment, he of-
fered competing narratives, with
no pat resolution.
tal with symptoms of Covid-19, the
disease caused by the virus.
Nearly 1,000 patients are in inten-
sive care units, while 326 people
died on Saturday alone.
Britain’s total death toll from
the virus is 58,925, one of the high-
est in Europe.
For weeks, politics has colored
the debate over how to curb the vi-
rus. The leader of the opposition
Labour Party, Keir Starmer, called
on Mr. Johnson in mid-October to
impose a two-week lockdown that
scientists said would act as a “cir-
cuit breaker” on the chain of
transmissions. He cited a report
from SAGE that warned Britain
faced a “very large epidemic with
catastrophic consequences.”
Mr. Johnson accused Mr.
Starmer of failing to take into ac-
count the economic fallout from
such a lockdown, which has led in-
fluential cabinet ministers, includ-
ing the chancellor of the Excheq-
uer, Rishi Sunak, to raise alarms.
Imposing the lockdown now, an-
alysts said, could hurt Mr. John-
son within his party because it will
look like he is buckling to pressure
from the opposition. But polls indi-
cate that the British public is more
sympathetic.
Locking down the economy in
One is the classic story of falling
income and rising strain. When
the pandemic broke out in March,
Mr. Pike, 41, lost a job building
booths for trade shows. Unable to
collect unemployment aid (the
state is disputing a previous
claim), he borrowed from a bank,
exhausted his savings and found a
few odd jobs but still fell behind on
utilities and rent. Sometimes he
eats less to make sure his daugh-
ter gets fed.
Obliged to supervise Makayla’s
online kindergarten class, Mr.
Pike has less time to leave home
and search for jobs. After five bill
collectors and the bank called one
morning — he was overdrawn —
he lost his temper and sent her to
her room for flubbing her ABCs.
“I had to catch myself and go in
there and apologize,” he said. “She
gets the short end of the stick
sometimes. It’s stressful not
knowing where you next dollar is
coming from.”
But Mr. Pike also said the break
from the job has allowed him and
Makayla to grow closer. He prizes
the relationship all the more be-
cause his own childhood lacked
close parental ties. He rarely saw
his father and said his mother
turned to abusive men. Mr. Pike
said he dropped out in ninth grade
and spent a decade in prison for
assaulting one of her boyfriends.
He missed most of Makayla’s first
three years while serving a sec-
ond sentence, for drugs, and then
got custody.
“I came out on a mission to get
her,” he said. “She gave me a pur-
pose in life.”
Pre-pandemic, father-daughter
life began with a 4:30 alarm —
work, school, dinner, bath, bed.
“We get to be like robots,” he said.
Now he and Makayla are all but
kindergarten classmates. “We
have little conversations, more
and more every day. We’ve grown
so much from this.”
On a recent day, the air condi-
tioning broke and the indoor tem-
perature hit 98. Mr. Pike was jug-
gling ABCs and a calls from col-
lection agencies. He sounded
weary.
“Don’t get me wrong — I can’t
wait to get back to work,” he said.
“I’m stressed out about my bills.
But watching her progress as a lit-
tle person is amazing. It’s not a
bad thing that we’re spending a lit-
tle time with our families.”
November is also a way to salvage
Christmas. By cutting the trans-
mission rate, the government
could relax restrictions in Decem-
ber to allow families and friends to
celebrate together.
British papers have been full of
headlines about whether Mr.
Johnson will “cancel Christmas.”
He has insisted that he wants uni-
versity students to be reunited
with their families during the holi-
days.
While medical experts general-
ly applauded the planned lock-
down, some questioned why the
government did not act sooner,
like during the midterm school
break, which began last month, as
public health experts proposed.
Others said the government
still had not fixed its test-and-
trace system, which continues to
fall far short of its goals. Until it
does that, experts said, Britain
would not be able to identify or
break the chains of transmission
— setting the stage for further out-
breaks after the lockdown is lifted.
“You use lockdowns to build up
test and tracing,” Ms. Sridhar
said. “We will be stuck in these cy-
cles of lockdown and release until
they decide we can’t live with this
virus because it’s killing our econ-
omy.”
8 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Tracking an Outbreak Global Fallout
NEW CASES
Tracing All but Impossible
As Outbreaks in U.S. Soar
From Page 1
the virus is spreading.
“It’s just kind of everywhere,”
said Crystal Watson, a senior
scholar at the Center for Health
Security at the Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public
Health, who estimated that trac-
ing coronavirus cases becomes
difficult once the virus spreads to
more than 10 cases per 100,000
people.
In some of the hardest-hit spots
in the United States, the virus is
spreading at 10 to 20 times that
rate, and even health officials
have all but given up trying to fig-
ure out who is giving the virus to
whom.
There have been periods earlier
in the pandemic when infections
spread beyond large, well-under-
stood clusters in prisons, business
meetings and dinner parties, tear-
ing through communities in ways
that were nearly impossible to
keep track of. But for the most
part, that experience was isolated
to hard-hit places like New York
City in the spring and portions of
the Sun Belt in the summer.
This time, the diffuse, chaotic
spread is happening in many
places at once. Infections are ris-
ing in 41 states, the country is re-
cording an average of more than
79,000 new daily cases, and more
Americans say they feel left to do
their own lonely detective work.
“I was so careful,” said Denny
Taylor, 45, who said he had taken
exacting precautions — wearing a
mask, getting groceries delivered
— before he became the first in his
family and among his co-workers
to test positive for the virus. Lying
in a hospital bed in Omaha this
past week, he said he still had no
idea where he caught it.
Uncovering the path of trans-
mission from person to person,
known as contact tracing, is seen
as a key tool for containing the
spread. Within a day or two of test-
ing positive, residents in many
communities can expect to get a
phone call from a trained contact
tracer, who conducts a detailed in-
terview before beginning the
painstaking process of tracking
down each new person who may
have been exposed.
“We were pretty successful and
we were very proud of how the
case numbers went down,” said
Dr. Sehyo Yune, who supervised a
team of contact tracers in Massa-
chusetts this spring. It was one of
several strategies that helped
tamp down earlier outbreaks in
places like Massachusetts, New
York and Washington, D.C.
But as cases skyrocket again in
many states, many health officials
have conceded that interviewing
patients and dutifully calling each
contact will not be enough to slow
the outbreak. “Contact tracing is
not going to save us,” said Dr.
Ogechika Alozie, chief medical of-
ficer at Del Sol Medical Center in
El Paso, where hospitalizations in
the county have soared by more
than 400 percent and officials is-
sued a new order for residents to
stay at home.
The problem, of course, is that
failing to fully track the virus
makes it much harder to get a
sense of where the virus is flour-
ishing, and how to get ahead of
new outbreaks. But once an area
spins out of control, trying to trace
back each chain of transmission
can feel like scooping cupfuls of
water from a flood.
In some places, overwhelmed
health officials have abandoned
any pretense of keeping up.
In North Dakota, state officials
announced they could no longer
have one-on-one conversations
with everyone who may have
been exposed. Aside from situa-
tions involving schools and health
care facilities, people who test
positive were advised to notify
their own contacts, leaving resi-
dents largely on their own to fol-
low the trail of the outbreak.
“We weren’t supposed to get to
this point,” said Dr. Arnold S.
Monto, a professor of epidemiolo-
gy at the University of Michigan,
who said the process of tracking
cases and notifying people who
may have been exposed is a gold
standard of disease prevention
but impractical after a certain lev-
el of infection.
A testing site in El Paso, where hospitalizations are up more than
400 percent and officials issued a new stay-at-home order.
“If you have five clusters going
on at the same time,” he said, “it’s
hard to say where it came from.”
When a first major outbreak hit
Grand Forks, N.D., in April, the
problem was clear: More than 150
employees of a wind turbine blade
factory were infected. The factory
shut its doors for several weeks,
and public health officials tested
and contact traced each case.
For the rest of the summer,
Grand Forks, a college town of
56,000 on the border with Minne-
sota, saw almost no new infec-
tions. An uptick in August was
quickly tied to students at the Uni-
versity of North Dakota and large-
ly contained.
Now, though, any sense of con-
trol has vanished. New cases of
Covid-19 have tripled since the be-
ginning of October to 850 a day in
Grand Forks, and about half the
people contacted by the health de-
partment say they are not sure
how they became infected.
“People are realizing that you
can get it anywhere,” said Kailee
Leingang, a 21-year-old nursing
student who also works as a state
contact tracer in Grand Forks.
Even Ms. Leingang has fallen ill,
along with several of her col-
leagues. She traces her case to her
parents, who first started showing
symptoms. Beyond that, the trail
goes cold.
“They have no idea,” she said of
where her parents came in con-
tact with the virus.
Ms. Leingang, isolating at her
home with her cat, feels sicker by
the day. Dishes have piled up in
the sink — she is too weak to stand
long enough to wash them. But
she is still working, calling at least
50 people a day to notify them that
their tests came back positive,
though her job is no longer to
track who else they may have in-
fected. “With the high number of
cases right now,” she said, “our
team can’t afford to have some-
body not work.”
In earlier, quieter periods of the
pandemic, the virus spread with
some degree of certainty. In all but
the hardest-hit cities, people could
ask a common question — “Where
did you get it?” — and often find
tangible answers.
A popular college bar in East
Lansing, Mich., Harper’s Restau-
rant and Brewpub, became a hot
spot this summer after dozens of
people piled into the bar, drinking,
dancing and crowding close to-
gether. At least 192 people — 146
people at the bar and 46 people
with ties to those at the bar —
were infected. Afterward, Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer shut down in-
door dining in bars in parts of the
state.
In Ingham County, which in-
cludes much of East Lansing, it is
far harder to tell where the virus is
spreading now. Of the county’s
4,700 reported cases over the
course of the pandemic, more than
2,700 have come since the begin-
ning of September.
Much of the new spread may be
tied to students at Michigan State
University, where students are
living off campus and taking
classes online. But every day, em-
ployers and residents call the
Health Department to report
cases that defy easy explanation.
“It’s just a hodgepodge,” said
Linda Vail, the Ingham County
health officer.
Heidi Stevens is among the
newly infected who considers her
case a mystery. As a columnist at
The Chicago Tribune, Ms. Stevens
works from home. Her children at-
tend school online. She wears a
mask when she goes for a run, and
she has not had a haircut since
January.
So when she got a precaution-
ary test a few weeks ago, with the
hopes of inviting friends over to
have cake for her daughter’s 15th
birthday, Ms. Stevens was
shocked to learn she was positive.
“I would drive myself crazy if I
tried to really nail it down,” said
Ms. Stevens, 46, who was hospital-
ized for three days and still wakes
up with headaches. Did she pick
up an infected apple at the gro-
cery store and somehow touch her
eye? Should she have been wear-
ing a face shield, in addition to her
mask? The possibilities feel end-
less.
“It’s just out there,” she said.
JOEL ANGEL JUAREZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Piazza Duomo in Milan was almost deserted last Monday, the first day of a ministerial decree that provided new restrictions.
EUROPE’S SECOND WAVE
In Italy, ‘Scenario 3’ Stirs Protests and Despair
By JASON HOROWITZ
ROME — When the coronavi-
rus first hit Italy, overwhelming
the country’s hospitals and
prompting the West’s first lock-
down, Italians inspired the world
with their resilience and civic re-
sponsibility, staying home and
singing on their balconies. Their
reward for months of quarantine
was a flattened curve, a gulp of
normalcy and the satisfaction of
usually patronizing allies pointing
to Italy as a model.
Italy is now a long way away
from those balcony days and its
summer fling with freedom. In-
stead, as a second wave engulfs
Europe and sets off new nation-
wide lockdowns, Italy has become
emblematic of a despair, exhaus-
tion and fear that is spreading
throughout the Continent.
France has applied a new na-
tional lockdown to contain sky-
rocketing cases. Germany has put
in place softer, but still severe, na-
tionwide restrictions. Ireland has
restricted movement and barred
visits to other people’s homes.
Throughout Europe, govern-
ments are scrambling to deliver
relief, keep schools open and sal-
vage their economies.
And everywhere, if people are
not sick with the virus, they are
sick of it. In Italy, the discontent is
exploding.
The country that gave the West-
ern world a preview of Covid’s aw-
ful human toll — that demonstrat-
ed the necessity, and success, of a
national lockdown — now stands
for something darker. Italy has be-
come a symbol of Europe’s squan-
dered advantages, the impotence
of half measures in the face of a vi-
rus that does not abide by compro-
mises, and the social and political
costs of not making good on prom-
ises of relief.
Italians, coming down hard
from their summer euphoria, are
exasperated.
“We’ve reached the end of our
rope,” said Emanuele Tudini,
whose wife applauded doctors
from their apartment window and
whose children drew “Everything
Will Be OK” rainbows at the be-
ginning of the crisis.
He spoke in his bar in front of
the Pantheon in central Rome,
where angry cooks in chef hats,
restaurateurs and fellow bar own-
ers protested new government re-
strictions that shut them down af-
ter 6 p.m. It was one of dozens of
predominantly peaceful protests
that have erupted across the
country in recent days. “There’s a
ton of rage and suffering.”
Italian hospitals, which deliv-
ered a searing global preview of
the horror to come in March, are
again under strain and intensive
care units are filling up.
Milan, Italy’s economic engine,
is the new capital of its contagion
and seems on the brink of quaran-
tine. The poorer and vulnerable
south is exposed, and Neapolitans
have rioted against early closures
imposed to avoid a massacre. Ro-
mans are swinging erratically be-
tween last-days-of-disco day
drinking and holing up during
eerily quiet nights.
All around the country, unease
is morphing into unrest, with vio-
lent protests breaking out Friday
night in Florence. Large crowds in
Trieste chant that they just want
to work. And demonstrators have
taken to the streets in nearly ev-
ery major Italian city, from Paler-
mo to Bologna to Verona.
Mobsters, hooligans and far-
right extremists have exploited
the frustration and anger, infiltrat-
ing protests in Naples, Turin and
Rome and pushing burning dump-
sters and tossing Molotov cock-
tails. The police, on edge and in-
ALESSANDRO GRASSANI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Savini restaurant in Milan. Under the new measures, all
clubs, bars and restaurants are required to close by 6 p.m.
creasingly present, have put down
the violence with water cannons.
Italians seem increasingly in-
tolerant of a government that
spins out ephemeral emergency
decrees with the ease and fre-
quency of a casino dealer.
In October, Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte, who first assured
the arrival of a vaccine by Decem-
ber and now promises a “serene”
Christmas, said, “I exclude lock-
downs and say that after due con-
sideration.”
Last week he was less defini-
tive, saying that Italy had entered
something he called “Scenario 3”
and urged Italians to follow the
new measures or else the “virus
will spread beyond control.” On
Friday, the government prepared
for “Scenario 4,” with lockdowns
in the most infected regions.
But for many Italians the dam-
age is already significant. Mr.
Conte announced more relief
packages for businesses worth
about 5 billion euro last week, and
on Friday banned firings through
March. The government insists
that it is working to cut down on
bureaucracy and that the aid will
reach Italians much sooner. But
its track record of delivering on
promises is not promising.
Many workers say they haven’t
received unemployment benefits
since May. Business owners who
once embraced the hashtag, “I
Stay Home,” now defiantly type, “I
Stay Open.” Education experts
are vexed that keeping schools
open seems less of a priority than
it does in France or Germany.
And only last month, months af-
ter Mr. Conte’s committee of ex-
perts called for more medical
staff, did his government get
around to beginning the process of
Anti-riot police stand guard in Naples, after protesters threw objects and set garbage cans on fire.
ALESSANDRO GRASSANI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
hiring thousands of medical work-
ers and contact tracers.
The same government commit-
tee of experts in April urged the
government to procure more
buses to alleviate overcrowding
on public transit. Instead, images
of overcrowded buses packed Ital-
ian media. Mr. Conte has said
avoiding crowded public trans-
portation is the main driver of the
current restrictions.
“The restaurants and bars are
safer than the public transporta-
tion,” said Sergio Paolantoni, the
president of the association that
organized the Rome protest at the
Pantheon, which was coordinated
with protests in 23 other cities
around the country.
With tourism devastated and
lunchtime traffic decimated by
workers staying home, he said the
6 p.m. cutoff for restaurants
amounted to a death blow. “It’s
better to have a total lockdown in-
stead of targeting only us.”
The restrictions were part of
new measures that also closed
cinemas, gyms and theaters until
Nov. 24. The government also re-
quired 75 percent of high school
students to return to online learn-
ing, and continued bans on large
parties, including wedding recep-
tions. But they seem likely to be
replaced with stricter measures.
Some critics of the govern-
ment’s response have come from
within its own parliamentary ma-
jority.
“Better a total lockdown than
these half measures,” former
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told
reporters last week. He argued
that closing restaurants for dinner
but not lunch made no sense, and
did nothing to limit infections, but
increased unemployment.
CARLO HERMANN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
The populist opposition also has
supported the protests around the
country. Matteo Salvini, the leader
of the nationalist League party
and former mask skeptic, showed
up in a mask to talk to chefs at the
Pantheon protests, where some
onlookers jeered him.
Despite previously expressing
skepticism about a second wave,
Mr. Salvini now criticizes the gov-
ernment for dallying on its laurels
over the summer. If the state of
emergency were real, he said,
then a total lockdown, not a half
measure that targeted business,
was in order.
Amid the political jostling, some
regions have gone beyond the na-
tional restrictions in fear of the vi-
rus overwhelming their hospitals.
Campania, the southern region
that is home to Naples, where vio-
lent protests broke out last week,
has banned movement across pro-
vincial lines except for work,
health or extenuating circum-
stances. It has also canceled nurs-
ery school and mandated remote
learning for students from ele-
mentary school to college. Other
vulnerable southern regions, in-
cluding Calabria and Sicily, have
also adopted strict measures.
Lombardy, which bore the
brunt of the first wave of the virus,
is getting walloped again and has
imposed curfews and more re-
mote learning. But this time a
nightmare scenario is unfolding
that was avoided last time — the
infection of Milan, with a popula-
tion of 1.3 million. It now has the
country’s highest virus reproduc-
tion number, significantly above 2.
“In Milan you can catch the vi-
rus by simply entering a cafe or
getting on a bus,” Walter Riccia-
rdi, an adviser to Italy’s health
minister, said as he called for the
city to be locked down. But others
oppose going so far.
“It’s a bad decision,” Giuseppe
Sala, the mayor of Milan said in a
video address, adding to the news-
paper Corriere della Sera that he
thought the city had at least 10
days before it came to that cross-
roads.
Many Italians, though, believe
that a return to a national lock-
down was only a matter of time.
Fabiana Gargioli returned from
the protest to her restaurant, Ar-
mando al Pantheon, to greet din-
ers for lunch service and to turn
away couples seeking to make
dinner reservations. She recalled
joining millions of Italians in sing-
ing “The Sky Is Always Bluer”
from her balcony in March.
“Now it’s different,” she said.
“The money is gone.”
10
The Yarra River in Melbourne, home to the novelist Jane Harper. The pandemic, she said, has given Australians the sense that “we can dig deep and help each other deal with whatever is facing us.”
Isolated Again, Australia Finds Silver Linings
By DAMIEN CAVE
SYDNEY, Australia — They used to
call it “the tyranny of distance.” Austral-
ia’s remoteness was something to es-
cape, and for generations, the country
that hates being referred to as “down un-
der” has been rushing toward the world.
Trade and immigration made Austral-
ians richer than the Swiss, creating a cul-
ture where life can be complete only with
overseas trips and imported purchases.
Until the pandemic. The virus has
turned this outgoing nation into a hermit.
Australia’s borders are closed, interna-
tionally and between several states. Its
economy is smaller, and its population
growth has fallen to its lowest rate in
more than 100 years.
Rather than chafing against isolation,
though, Australians these days are more
willing to smile in the mirror. Island liv-
ing looks like a privilege when the world
is pestilent. Those gnawing questions
about travel, recession and the loss of
global experience are being shoved
down, below a more immediate apprecia-
tion for home and a search for silver lin-
ings.
In dozens of interviews, Australians
have said they’re quite happy with their
country’s response to the pandemic.
Even with travel rules so strict they
seem like something out of China or
North Korea. Even with a 111-day lock-
down in Australia’s second-largest city of
Melbourne, which just finally ended.
Even when the people kept away are
grandparents longing to see new grand-
children.
That’s the case for Jane Harper, a best-
selling novelist in Melbourne, who has
traded getting to know every building in
her neighborhood for seeing her parents
in Britain.
“I had my second child in November,
and they would have come out at least
once and possibly twice by now,” she
said. “Not knowing when that will lift — I
guess it gives us more appreciation for
how lucky we are to be able to visit in nor-
mal times, and it makes you realize how
far away Australia really is.”
Not that she would have it any other
way. After so much isolation, she added,
“there is a real sense among Australians
that we can dig deep and help each other
deal with whatever is facing us.”
Other countries have cut themselves
off from their neighbors, and other island
nations (Singapore, Japan, New Zea-
land) have kept the virus in check. But in
Australia, the ever-smaller circle is more
intertwined with the pursuit of safety.
Coronavirus deaths remain under
1,000. Schools and restaurants are open,
sports are being played, and friends are
gathering for dinner parties. But people
stick to where they can drive and what
they know, and a lot of work still occurs
from home.
If many of its citizens are still stranded
abroad by border restrictions, Austral-
ians argue, so be it; if states like Western
Australia seem determined to keep out
everyone from Sydney and Melbourne
for as long as possible, well, at least the
virus has been brought into submission.
Forced into a bell jar existence, many
Australians are focusing on what they
love about their country. The collectivist
spirit. The fresh food. The beaches and
The Sydney Fish Market, which has grown quieter during the pandemic. Right, visitors at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney.
small towns that equal or supersede the
beauty of anywhere else in the world.
“It’s been kind of fun to see domestic
travel go crazy again,” said Fred Siggins,
39, the brand manager for Sullivans
Cove, a whiskey distillery in Tasmania.
“That’s how it was in the ’90s before ev-
eryone started hiking off to Bali or what-
ever.”
Australia’s mood also seems to be ben-
efiting from another reversal — many of
those who had taken their ambitions to
New York, London or Los Angeles have
returned.
Edwina Throsby, the head of Talks and
Ideas for the Sydney Opera House, said
she knew several academics and cre-
ative types who had come home and now
intended to stay. Like many others, she
wondered if an Australian cultural ren-
aissance might follow.
At the very least, self-reflection seems
to be blooming.
Manly Beach in Sydney. Cut off from the world, Australians are focusing on what they love about their country.
MATTHEW ABBOTT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
In one small sign among many, Aus-
tralia’s most prestigious portrait prize in
contemporary art was awarded this
year, for the first time, to an Aboriginal
artist, Vincent Namatjira.
On a recent morning at the Art Gallery
of New South Wales, his large-scale self-
portrait with a well-known Indigenous
Australian football player drew a cluster
of avid fans, young and old.
The gallery featuring Asian art was far
less crowded.
Each exhibit hall had a plaque show-
ing the maximum number of people al-
lowed in because of coronavirus restric-
tions. Masks were not required (Sydney
is mostly virus free) and visitors re-
spected the rules. They booked a time in
advance and stayed socially distanced.
Michael Brand, the museum’s director,
who previously ran the J. Paul Getty Mu-
seum in Los Angeles, said it pointed to
how the pandemic was making people
more thoughtful users of time and space.
Maybe fewer options and more plan-
ning will “liberate our minds,” he said.
Technology, he added, will save Aus-
tralia from fully retreating into itself. He
said he had been frequenting museum
collections online, while also using the
time gained from a lack of travel to ex-
plore new realms — such as Nordic
crime dramas.
Ms. Harper, who recently published a
new novel, “The Survivors,” said she had
also been encouraged by larger-than-
usual audiences for her readings online.
“There are so many people there who
would never come to an in-person book
event,” she said.
Some surprising businesses are
adapting, too. Frank Theodore, a fish-
monger at the Sydney Fish Market, up-
graded his Get Fish website after a bleak
April and said total sales were up last
month compared with a year ago.
MATTHEW ABBOTT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
ASANKA BRENDON RATNAYAKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
MATTHEW ABBOTT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
And yet the virtual has its limits. Ms.
Harper’s parents can’t hug their grand-
children over Zoom. Mr. Brand has
started posting photos to Instagram of
past trips with the phrase “museums I’m
missing during the pandemic.”
Social norms are also under strain. Mr.
Siggins, a chatty former bartender, re-
cently ordered a cocktail delivered to his
home in Melbourne from a local bar and
met an acquaintance at the door. He said
it felt like an awkward date.
“It’s such a strange interaction,” he
said, “because you can’t just tell them to
come in and have a beer, and you are just
really out of practice, reacting to conver-
sation, even facial expressions.”
Could something similar happen for
Australia’s relationship with the world?
Former Prime Minister Malcolm
Turnbull, sitting in his Sydney office
above quiet streets missing both tourists
and workers, scoffed at the idea of Aus-
tralia giving up on globalism.
“I think there is broad agreement on
both sides of the political fence,” he said.
“Free trade and open markets are keys
to our success.”
Still, there are signs of a narrowing
perspective. Incidents of racism have
been increasing, with anyone who looks
Chinese bearing the brunt of the abuse.
Australian universities have had to slash
their budgets and research ambitions be-
cause of a lack of foreign students.
“We’re going to be more insular,” said
Geoff Raby, an economist and a former
ambassador to China. “We’re sleepwalk-
ing right into that.”
Hermetically sealed safety seems
likely to exact a toll for as long as it
lingers. Silver linings hide on dark
clouds. Australians are only just starting
to wonder about long-term costs and
what to do with their isolation.
“We’ve all worked so hard to keep our
cases down, and that’s such a fragile, pre-
cious thing that I can completely under-
stand the strong urge to protect it,” Ms.
Harper said. “My desire to see my par-
ents, does that outweigh my desire to
never go into lockdown again?”
“It’s not my decision to make,” she
said. “But nationally that’s the question
we are all asking ourselves.”
 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N 11

Biden’s Team Keeps

gation from a Middle Eastern
country asked for a meeting with
Mr. Blinken. The request, which
was shared with The New York

Envoys at a Distance Times, stated that Mr. Blinken and

Fears of Foreign Meddling Limit Access
This article is by Lara Jakes, Mark
Landler and Jonathan Martin.
WASHINGTON — In July, as
Joseph R. Biden Jr. was about to
accept the Democratic nomina-
tion for president, the British am-
bassador to Washington invited a
few of the former vice president’s
close friends and advisers to an in-
timate dinner.
Among those who attended, ac-
cording to one of the guests, was
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware,
who now holds Mr. Biden’s seat in
the Senate. Others included Sena-
tor Tim Kaine, the Virginia Demo-
crat and 2016 vice-presidential
nominee, and Terry McAuliffe, the
former Virginia governor and
Democratic Party chairman.
In years past, the British Em-
bassy would have had a direct line
to officials in both presidential
campaigns — Democrat and Re-
publican — to coax information
about the policies and priorities of
the next U.S. leader, which the am-
bassador would have cabled back
to the Foreign Office in London.
But in this strangest of cam-
paign years — disrupted by a pan-
demic and haunted by fears of for-
eign influence — such privileged
access to the Democrats has been
cut off. The ambassador, Karen
Pierce, has had to content herself
with cultivating people one step
removed from Mr. Biden’s inner
circle.
Mr. Biden’s campaign, con-
cerned over any possible percep-
tion of foreign meddling in the
presidential election — or any
comparison to Russian interfer-
ence on President Trump’s behalf
in 2016 — has ordered its high
command to refuse nearly all con-
versations with foreign officials or
members of Washington’s diplo-
matic corps, campaign officials
said.
That has left the emissaries
along Washington’s Embassy
Row to woo Mr. Biden’s informal
and unpaid political advisers, or
lawmakers who are close to him,
for any crumb of information that
might be spilled during the gossip
swapping that is the lubricant of
their lavish parties and quiet
soirees.
Lara Jakes and Jonathan Martin
reported from Washington, and
Mark Landler from London.
“During any campaign in nor-
mal times, any embassy that con-
siders itself worth its salary is try-
ing to get to know as many people
as possible,” Ambassador Pierce
said in an interview this past
week. “That would be the same
whether it’s the Republican or
Democratic candidates.”
The night before the July din-
ner, for example, the embassy had
hosted a similar gathering with
prominent Republicans, accord-
ing to a person familiar with the
event.
For decades, Britain and other
allies used to dispatch junior dip-
lomats to travel with the Demo-
cratic and Republican campaigns,
where they could pick up policy in-
sights and forge ties with future
White House advisers.
For some foreign officials, who
spent the past four years assidu-
ously cultivating Mr. Trump, his
family and his senior aides, the
prospect of a Biden victory is forc-
ing a sudden shift in focus.
“A lot of these foreign govern-
ments, especially those in the
Middle East that thought Trump
was going to win again, are pan-
icking now that reality is setting
in,” said Mr. McAuliffe, who has
known Mr. Biden for 40 years. “So
they’re scrambling to meet with
anybody they can that has a con-
nection to Democrats.”
Diplomats have invited Mr. Bi-
den’s friends and associates to
cocktail receptions and pool par-
ties. Many have tried to pick up in-
sights by attending public appear-
ances by his paid campaign offi-
cials, like a Chamber of Commerce
video chat in September that fea-
tured his chief foreign policy ad-
viser, Antony J. Blinken, who
served as deputy secretary of
state during the Obama adminis-
tration.
The British Embassy also has
reached out to experts with ties to
Mr. Biden by inviting them to take
part in video calls on policy issues,
such as climate change, the future
of artificial intelligence, or wom-
en, peace and security.
While the Biden campaign has
only a handful of paid foreign pol-
icy advisers, there are dozens of
people who do not have a formal
role and volunteer their assist-
ance and ideas. The majority of
them have irregular contacts with
Mr. Biden’s formal advisers and
The British ambassador, Karen Pierce, above, has had to content herself with cultivating people
one step removed from Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s inner circle. Top, the British Embassy in Washington.
do not feel as bound to avoid em-
bassies and other foreign officials.
In strikingly similar state-
ments, representatives of Mr.
Coons and Mr. Kaine said the sen-
ators regularly meet with ambas-
sadors as part of their duties as
members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
“The dinner with the ambassa-
dor for the U.K. was one of many
such meetings over the past eight
years,” said Katie Stuntz, a
spokeswoman for Mr. Kaine. Also
at the dinner was John Podesta,
who was chairman of Hillary Clin-
SAUL LOEB/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
ton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
A foreign official from one allied
country said that the contacts
have been strictly limited to peo-
ple who make clear, at the outset,
that they do not represent Mr. Bi-
den or speak for his campaign.
Still, the limitations have not
stopped some envoys from trying
to send a message to Mr. Biden.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the United
Arab Emirates’ ambassador to
Washington since 2008, has been
telling Democrats in the capital
that his country’s decision to es-
tablish diplomatic relations with
SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israel was not a coup for Mr.
Trump but something they “took
off the table” for Mr. Biden, ac-
cording to senior Democrats who
have spoken with him.
Being held at arm’s length has
provoked complaints among
some foreign officials who are
irked at being treated as suspi-
ciously as diplomats from Russia
or China. Others have been bewil-
dered as to why their longtime
contacts in Washington’s Demo-
cratic circles have now gone cold.
Last summer, a senior official
who was part of a high-level dele-
the senior official “are friends on a
personal level.”
The response came several
hours later. “Unfortunately, Tony
is prohibited from engaging with
foreign officials, including diplo-
mats, through the conclusion of
the election in November,” it said.
Still, at a time when even unsub-
stantiated allegations about the
foreign dealings of Mr. Biden’s
son, Hunter, quickly become cam-
paign fodder, most envoys under-
stand the ethics line that has been
drawn.
At the Embassy of Qatar, offi-
cials have played host to Demo-
crats close to Mr. Biden who now
are working at think tanks or
other private-sector jobs in Wash-
ington’s national security estab-
lishment, for discussions on for-
eign and domestic policy. Most of
the larger events are held at either
the embassy or the ambassador’s
residence, with its lush gardens
and elaborate display of roses, in
suburban Virginia.
One senior Qatari official said
the larger dinners and round-ta-
ble discussions almost always in-
clude a mix of Democrats and Re-
publicans. Qatar also hosted a din-
ner for Democratic policy advis-
ers at think tanks last spring, and
gatherings are often held at the
homes of other Qatari diplomats.
But the Qatari official said em-
bassy officials try to avoid con-
tacting Mr. Biden’s team for what
he described as ethical reasons.
Even informal advisers to Mr.
Biden who have steered clear of
the embassies’ outreach acknowl-
edge that the campaign’s edict
against foreign contacts does not
stop the usual networking of
Washington.
“Any diplomat would want to
understand the dynamic of who is
in power and who is out of power
— that’s their job,” said Lee A.
Feinstein, a former diplomat and
adviser to Democratic presiden-
tial campaigns who is now dean of
the Hamilton-Lugar School of In-
ternational Studies at Indiana
University.
Foreign officials who have
failed to heed what George P.
Shultz, who was Ronald Reagan’s
secretary of state, referred to as
“garden diplomacy” may now find
themselves scrambling to sow
contacts with Democrats after
four years of trying to decode the
Trump administration’s policies,
Mr. Feinstein said.
“You plant the seeds and har-
vest them,” he added. “That’s a
much better position to be in,
rather than pulling an all-nighter.”

New York Times

Book Review
Editorsʼ Choice

A prominent conservative scholar traces

the post–1960s divisions between the
Right and the Left, taking aim at liberals’
victimization of African Americans and
their failure to offer a viable way forward
for American society.

“Shelby Steele is one of the very few writers able

to tell home truths about the plight of
Black Americans. . . . In Shame he has produced
his most complex and challenging work.”
—WALL STR E ET J O U R NAL

“Steele speaks with passion,

eloquence and unremitting honesty.”
— N E W YO R K TI M ES B O O K R E V I E W
12 0 N
Emergency workers searched for survivors trapped under the debris of a collapsed building in Izmir, Turkey, early Saturday, one day after a powerful earthquake struck.
Rescuers in Turkey Seek Scores Still Trapped by Quake
‘They Pulled Me Out From Four Meters Depth — I Was Down There for Half an Hour’
By The New York Times
After a day of dramatic rescues,
residents in the Turkish city of Iz-
mir clung to hope Saturday night
that survivors might still be found
in the devastation of the magni-
tude-7.0 earthquake that killed at
least 39 people in Turkey and
Greece, injured more than 800 and
leveled numerous residential
buildings.
“The building is flattened, but I
survived,” Oguz Demirkapi, a
technology manager who had
been rescued from the rubble of
his apartment building, said in a
video message posted from his
hospital bed. He described being
pulled from beneath 12 feet of de-
bris.
“Life is beautiful,” Mr.
Demirkapi said.
In all, President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said late Saturday, more
than 100 people had been ex-
tracted from the debris of build-
ings flattened by the Friday after-
noon quake, which was centered
in the Aegean Sea off Samos, a
Greek island near Turkey’s coast.
“We are receiving miraculous
news,” Tunc Soyer, the mayor of
Izmir, said in a televised interview
earlier in the day. Rescue teams,
he said, were “working meticu-
lously.”
Rescue efforts continued at
nine sites late Saturday night,
with officials saying they planned
to continue around the clock. Esti-
mates of the missing ranged as
high as 180 early Saturday.
As Tanzania’s President Wins Second Term, the Opposition Calls for Protests
By ABDI LATIF DAHIR
CAIRO — After a pivotal poll
marred by violence, opposition ar-
rests and accusations of rigging,
Tanzania’s electoral commission
said late Friday that President
John Magufuli had won a second
five-year term — a move that led
the opposition to call for peaceful
protests on Saturday and urge the
international community to reject
the result.
Electoral observers, both for-
eign and domestic, said that the
vote, held on Wednesday, took
place amid censorship of political
speech that undermined the poll’s
credibility and led to widespread
fraud and irregularities.
Yet based on the country’s Con-
stitution, once the electoral com-
mission declares a candidate
president, no court has the au-
thority to investigate the vote.
Given this, the opposition said
that its only recourse was to hit
the streets to demand an election
rerun.
“If we accept this reality, we are
going to send the country into a
one-party system as Magufuli
wants,” Zitto Kabwe, the leader of
the opposition Alliance for
Change and Transparency, or ACT
Wazalendo, said on Twitter.
Tanzania, a nation of about 58
million people, was once seen as a
paragon of stability and a growing
democracy in East Africa. But
over the past five years under Mr.
Magufuli, the country’s fifth presi-
dent, it made an about-face as he
restricted political and civic free-
doms and clamped down on the
press and human rights organiza-
The leader of a civilian search
and rescue team, Murat Boz, said
in a telephone interview that the
work would continue “nonstop,
without a break, for 24 hours, day
and night.”
“We have experienced survival
at the 187th hour of a previous
earthquake,” Mr. Boz added. “So if
we take that as a benchmark, we
are at the very beginning.”
“It is out of the question for our
hope to fade,’’ he said.
Mr. Erdogan said his govern-
ment would set aside 24 million
Turkish lira, about $2.8 million, to
help survivors pay for lodging,
furniture and other goods.
In the city’s Bayrakli district
alone, which took the brunt of the
tremors, 17 buildings collapsed
entirely, Serdar Sandal, the dis-
trict’s mayor, said. He estimated
that tens of thousands of people
would ultimately be displaced
once all the damaged buildings
were accounted for.
Many who had escaped unhurt
spent Friday night into Saturday
morning with blankets over their
shoulders, afraid to return home
as a wave of aftershocks shook the
city. The government said it had
provided 10,000 beds and 3,000
tents for them.
‘‘It was an emotionally intense
night,’’ Ozgur Ozel, a member of
Parliament who represents the re-
gion, said of the hours immedi-
ately after the quake. ‘‘People
waiting at the wreckage of col-
tions.
The win gives Mr. Magufuli a
platform to continue with plans
for ambitious mega-infrastruc-
ture projects, including reviving
the national airline, building rail
lines and constructing a much-
criticized hydroelectric dam. A
former chemist and school-
teacher who has also held several
cabinet positions, Mr. Magufuli,
61, gained popularity as “the Bull-
dozer” for his handling of a pro-
gram to build roads and for his
tactics fighting corruption. Mr.
Magufuli has declared the country
“coronavirus free” and has criti-
cized the use of masks or social
distancing practices.
The chairman of the National
Electoral Commission said that
Mr. Magufuli had received over
12.5 million of the 14 million valid
votes counted. His main oppo-
nent, Tundu Lissu of the Chadema
Party, received 1.9 million votes,
while Bernard Membe, a former
foreign minister representing
ACT Wazalendo, received just
over 81,000 votes, according to the
Commission.
The governing Chama Cha
Mapinduzi party, or Party of the
Revolution, which has dominated
Tanzanian politics since the na-
tion secured independence in
1961, also won a majority of the
parliamentary seats in the coun-
try’s over 260 constituencies.
Yet even before the final figures
were announced, the opposition
had already dismissed the results.
Mr. Lissu, who was shot 16
times in an assassination attempt
in 2017 and just recently returned
home, on Thursday called on the
THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
People watch rescue operations in Izmir on Saturday. Thousands
are projected to be displaced because of the damage to residences.
lapsed buildings were feeling that
they had a narrow escape — but
minutes later they felt there was
something wrong as one building
was standing while the one next to
it collapsed.’’
The earthquake-prone city has
many older buildings that are not
quake resistant.
“Today what needs to be done is
being done, but the important
thing is what is to be done on Mon-
day in the cabinet meeting,’’ said
Mr. Ozel, an opposition lawmaker,
who criticized the government for
not taking pre-emptive steps to
make buildings more resistant to
quakes.
The death toll in and around Iz-
President John Magufuli has received over 12.5 million of the 14 million valid votes counted.
international community to dis-
miss the figures. He said that his
poll agents had been denied ac-
cess to voting booths and were
harassed and beaten by security
officers.
“What happened yesterday
was not an election,” Mr. Lissu told
reporters. “It was not an election
by any measure whatsoever,
whether it’s in accordance with
Tanzanian laws or international
laws.”
The electoral commission has
KEMAL ASLAN/REUTERS
mir rose to at least 37 people on
Saturday, Mr. Erdogan said. More
than 243 people were being
treated in hospitals, including
eight in intensive care, he added.
Two more people died on the
Greek island of Samos.
Dramatic scenes unfolded
throughout Saturday. At one
apartment building, rescuers fo-
cused their efforts on saving five
members of a family. After man-
aging to open a tunnel through the
rubble, they were able to talk to
Seher Perincek, 38, who was
trapped along with her 11-year-old
twins, 7-year-old son and 3-year-
old daughter, according to local
news reports.
denied accusations of ballot tam-
pering and stuffing, and called
them unsubstantiated claims.
The ACT Wazalendo party said
that five of its top leaders in Zanz-
ibar, including its chairman, Seif
Sharif Hamad, were arrested on
Thursday and some badly beaten.
It said that the police had killed 10
people and injured 50 others in
Zanzibar before and during the
elections, and the party docu-
mented numerous cases in which
its agents were denied entry into
BURAK KARA/GETTY IMAGES
Finally, 23 hours after the
quake, Ms. Perincek and two of
her children were removed from
the wreckage alive, as seen in pic-
tures shared with the press by lo-
cal officials. One child had died,
news reports said, and rescue
workers continued late into the
evening in search of the fourth.
“For three hours we communi-
cated with her,” Cem Behar, one of
the rescuers who helped Ms. Per-
incek and her children, said in a
televised interview.
“When we first entered, she
was hitting the walls to identify
where she was,” he added. “As we
went further inside the wreckage,
we were able to hear her voice, al-
though muffled.”
Joy was tempered with grief at
every stop. Rescue workers
pulled 20 people alive from a sev-
en-story building in the city, but
they also found 12 bodies in the
structure, the news agency DHA
reported.
Mr. Demirkapi, the technology
manager who had been rescued,
was in his third-floor apartment in
the Bayrakli district, when the
tremors started Friday afternoon.
He ran to a corner of his apart-
ment and curled up in fetal posi-
tion, he said, as his home crum-
bled around him.
“They pulled me out from four
meters depth — I was down there
for half an hour,” Mr. Demirkapi
said. “I was very, very, very lucky
— especially after I saw the pic-
tures of the building.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
polling stations, along with in-
stances of prefilled ballots and
multiple voting.
Tibor Nagy Jr., the assistant
secretary for the U.S. State De-
partment’s Bureau of African Af-
fairs, said on Twitter that he was
“concerned about reports of sys-
tematic interference in the demo-
cratic process,” and a State De-
partment spokeswoman said that
the United States would hold “ac-
countable” those responsible for
the “use of force against unarmed
U.S. Rescues
An American
Held Hostage
In Nigeria
By ERIC SCHMITT
WASHINGTON — U.S. Special
Operations commandos carried
out a predawn raid on Saturday to
rescue an American citizen who
had been kidnapped last week
from his home in southern Niger.
Commandos from the Navy’s
elite SEAL Team 6 rescued the
American, Philip Walton, 27, after
tracking the phones of his attack-
ers to a hide-out in northern Ni-
geria, U.S. officials said.
“U.S. forces conducted a
hostage rescue operation during
the early hours of 31 Oct. in north-
ern Nigeria to recover an Ameri-
can citizen held hostage by a
group of armed men,” Jonathan
Hoffman, the chief Pentagon
spokesman, said on Saturday.
Mr. Hoffman, who did not iden-
tify Mr. Walton by name, said he
“is safe and is now in the care of
the U.S. Department of State.” An-
other official said that Mr. Walton
had been taken to an American air
base in Niamey, Niger’s capital, to
reunite with his family.
Mr. Hoffman said no American
military personnel were injured
during the operation, which re-
quired President Trump’s approv-
al. Several of the captors were
killed, U.S. officials said.
Mr. Walton, the son of mission-
aries, lives with his wife and
young daughter on a farm near
Massalata, a small village close to
the border with Nigeria. Ameri-
can and Nigerien officials had said
that Mr. Walton was seized from
his backyard Monday in front of
family after assailants asked him
for money. He offered them $40
and was then taken by the gun-
men on motorbikes, the officials
said. The captors demanded
nearly $1 million in ransom for Mr.
Walton’s release.
One U.S. official said the assail-
ants intended to sell Mr. Walton to
terrorist groups. The operation
was organized with the assistance
of officials in Niger and Nigeria,
the official said.
According to U.S. officials, the
rescue started just after midnight
local time Saturday when about 30
Navy commandos parachuted
into the remote area where the
kidnappers had taken Mr. Walton.
Members of the team hiked about
three miles until they came upon
the captors’ encampment.
In the brief but intense firefight
that ensued and with surveillance
drones overhead, all but one of the
half-dozen or so kidnappers were
killed. One captor escaped. Mr.
Walton was not harmed in the gun
battle, and he walked to a make-
shift landing zone, where a U.S.
helicopter whisked him to safety.
Several Westerners are hostage
in the region, including the Ameri-
can aid worker Jeffery Woodke.
He was kidnapped Abalak, Niger,
in October 2016 and is believed to
have been taken to Mali.
Mr. Walton’s kidnapping was
the latest spasm of violence in Af-
rica’s Sahel region, which has ex-
perienced attacks by Islamic State
and Qaeda affiliates especially in
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Six French aid workers and
their guide were killed by Islamic
extremists in August near Ni-
amey. Four U.S. soldiers were
killed in an ambush in October
2017 near the Niger-Mali border.
civilians.”
“It has been tragic to see Tanza-
nia, once a promising democracy,
slide into autocracy under John
Magufuli’s leadership,” United
States Representative Eliot L.
Engel, the chairman of the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
said in a statement.
The Tanzania Elections Watch,
an independent observer group
made up of civil society leaders
from eastern and southern Africa,
accused the country’s security
forces of creating “a climate of
fear and intimidation” before and
during the polls.
The elections were also marred
by social media restrictions, with
widespread disruptions in plat-
forms like WhatsApp and Twitter
experienced across the country.
The authorities also directed tele-
communication companies to sus-
pend bulk voice and short mes-
saging services.
Peter Micek, the general coun-
sel of the digital rights group Ac-
cess Now, said that technicians
from the Tanzanian telecoms reg-
ulator had installed equipment
that would allow them to throttle
entire networks, block websites
and degrade traffic so that video
or photos could not be transmit-
ted.
“It appears the regulator
rushed to have the technology in
place for this week’s election and
the aftermath,” Mr. Micek said in
an email. Internet providers, he
said, “knew the installation was
coming for several months but
were notified only last week of the
impending installation and had lit-
tle say in the process.”

‘It Makes My Hair Stand Up’: A Vacated Afghan Post Haunts Marines
Odd Occurrences
On a Cursed Hill
By THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF
and TAIMOOR SHAH
KABUL, Afghanistan — It
seemed the perfect vantage point
for the Marines: a 30-foot-high
dirt pile overlooking the low-lying
poppy fields of Helmand Prov-
ince. What they could not explain
were the strange lights at night,
the whispers in the darkness, the
mysterious radio static, the sud-
den chill in a summer breeze and
the recurring whiff of corpses.
Only later did the Marines and
British soldiers stationed there
begin to understand the place
they called Observation Post
Rock.
The post and its surrounding
area were considered cursed by
residents of the Amir Agha vil-
lages, an area where the Taliban
insurgents now reside following
the failed campaigns of the Ameri-
can, Afghan, Soviet and British
militaries there.
The vacated outpost has ce-
mented itself in both American
and local Afghan culture as part of
a legend, a peculiar intersection of
history, spiritualism and the para-
normal. It is the backdrop for a
ghost story built along the spine of
Afghanistan’s unending wars and
its countless dead.
The Taliban roam freely now
among the clusters of small vil-
lages and poppy fields in Hel-
mand’s Garmsir district, all irri-
gated by a canal system built dur-
ing the Cold War and funded by
the United States.
It was different 12 years ago,
when the Marines deployed in
Garmsir to help drive the Taliban
out. The dominant height of what
the Marines described as a hard-
ened dirt pile offered the best posi-
tion for an outpost to see their ene-
my.
Cpl. Andrew Rouser, one of the
first Marines assigned to the out-
post, simply called it “the Rock.”
But before the Marines de-
stroyed what they believed to be a
Taliban defensive position on the
mound with a demolition charge,
Lance Cpl. Brendan Kelly discov-
ered evidence of the hill’s ancient
design: small tunnels dug into its
base that led to a single chamber
— maybe a fort or tomb.
“It was creepy,” Corporal Kelly
recalled.
The blast from the Marine’s ex-
plosives collapsed the tunnels.
In the months and years that
passed, buried human bones were
discovered in the Rock as Ameri-
can units rotated in and out of the
outpost, and the destruction of
Corporal Kelly’s discovery in 2008
morphed into part of its mystique.
An American missile had struck
the outpost before the Marines
had seized it, the Americans
would later say, burying Taliban
fighters inside.
But the bones were almost cer-
tainly not Taliban: they were dec-
ades and, likely in some cases,
centuries old.
A local scholar in Garmsir, who
spoke on the condition of ano-
nymity out of fear of retribution,
said the hill had originally been a
fort, but that hundreds of years
ago its use changed. Local people,
he said, and eventually ethnic
Pashtuns, saw it and the other
structures like it in the area as
spiritual sites and transformed
them into burial sites.
In the years before the 1740s,
before Pashtuns had made their
way to Garmsir, is when the fort,
Observation Post Rock’s founda-
tion, is thought to have been built,
according to local officials and res-
idents.
Who built it is unclear, but the
Taimoor Shah reported from Kan-
dahar, Afghanistan.
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Clockwise from top: A bazaar in the Amir Agha villages in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in 2008 that has since been destroyed;
the remains of two Soviet armored personnel carriers; a machine gun position on the hill known as Observation Post Rock in 2009.
Safavid, Mughal and Ghaznavid
empires, as well as Alexander the
Great, all left their mark on the re-
gion. Residents of the area some-
times call these mounds (there
are several in the district) a ves-
tige of Maliko Tawafee, an Arabic
phrase, also used in Persian, that
describes a governing system
where each tribe is led by a local
king or elder.
The Rock’s last likely use as a
graveyard may have been around
1980, at the start of the Soviet-Af-
ghan war, the local scholar said,
when fighters, some led by the in-
surgent commander, Nasim
Radio static, voices in
the dark and a feeling
of being watched.
Akhundzada, surrounded and
captured roughly 40 Afghan com-
munist police officers near Amir
Agha.
Mr. Akhundzada is infamous for
legalizing poppy cultivation for
the area in 1981 (now the primary
driver of Helmand’s economy).
His nephew, Sher Mohammed
Akhundzada, was the governor of
Helmand Province from 2001 to
2005 and was removed after inter-
national forces raided his com-
pound and found opium there.
The captured communist po-
lice, the scholar said, were taken
to the top of what became known
as the Rock. Mr. Akhundzada’s
men and other local insurgents
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ERIC COLDWELL
executed all of them. The dead
were buried in the mound. Though
family members came and disin-
terred some of the bodies, many
remained entombed within the el-
evated earth. Local officials dis-
pute this event, saying Mr.
Akhundzada was not in Garmsir
when the communists were
present.
It would take only a few months
after the Rock’s construction in
2008, when the Marines left and
British troops took their place,
only to be replaced by Marines
again, that it would come to be
known as the haunted outpost.
“It is a conduit” for paranormal
activity, said Jose Herrera, then a
lance corporal and one of the Ma-
rines that had spent time at the
Rock in 2009. When he was there,
Mr. Herrera said he saw mysteri-
ous lights, heard strange static on
the radio and had the creeping
feeling, much like several Marines
who had spent time there, that
someone, or something, was
watching them.
Locals would often tell the Ma-
rines on the Rock that the area
was haunted.
“The smells were like some-
thing was dying,” said Corporal
Herrera, who has since left the
Marine Corps. “It was really bad
at night. And it was like it came in
whiffs or gusts.”
Tom Coghlan, a former journal-
ist for the London Times, wrote
about a group of Marines at the
Rock in the summer of 2009 bat-
tling much of the same seemingly
paranormal issues described by
Mr. Herrera: drastic changes in
temperature from hot to cold,
lights and voices in the night.
Visit us on:
In 2015, the Syfy television
channel aired an episode on their
“Paranormal Witness: True Ter-
ror” series about the outpost, ti-
tled: “Beneath The Rock.” The
show featured the same Marines
Mr. Coghlan had interviewed in
2009.
“It first seemed like stress-in-
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THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF
duced hokum,” Mr. Coghlan said
of the Marines in a recent inter-
view. His subjects had endured
the blistering heat of the Afghan
summer, friends killed at the
height of the fighting and long ro-
tations staring out into the night
from the sandbagged confines of
the Rock, waiting for an attack.
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N 13
But the Marines, he said, had
told him “there were some things
they just couldn’t explain” despite
their acute awareness of the anxi-
ety that comes with combat. One
Marine, Mr. Coghlan said, had
sworn he had heard Russian
voices whispering in the dark-
ness.
The Marines Mr. Coghlan inter-
viewed warned a squad that re-
placed them that the outpost was
haunted. A corporal who was part
of the replacement squad, Dutch
Perkins, said, “No one believed
them.”
But it wasn’t long after that Mr.
Perkins heard some detached
voice speaking in what he de-
scribed as Russian while he stood
guard, at his lone machine gun po-
sition, from midnight to dawn.
“Just thinking about it makes
my hair stand up on my arm,” Mr.
Perkins said. “It was real faint at
first but eventually sounded like
someone was standing post with
me.”
To the Marines and British who
passed through, the sparse evi-
dence of the Russians ever being
around Amir Agha were the
rusted hulks of two Soviet ar-
mored-personnel carriers several
hundred meters to the east. They
had been destroyed in 1982, in
what was the Soviet Union’s first,
and failed, offensive into Garmsir.
The bloody battle was outlined in
the book, War Comes to Garmser,
as the Soviet’s “most famous
sweep” in the district. The book
said Amir Agha, “with its shrines
and expansive villages was a sym-
bol for the resistance and a regu-
lar meeting place.”
Abdul Ghani, a longtime resi-
dent of Garmsir, said the entire
area was considered holy after the
battle. When the Soviet armored
columns approached the Amir
Agha shrine, the tanks became
stuck in the mud. He added that a
Soviet rocket, or bomb, hit the
shrine but did not explode, attrib-
uting this to a divine intervention
from Amir Agha, a revered de-
scendant of Muhammed who set-
tled in the area hundreds of years
ago. Afghans have long seen
shrines as conduits for miracles,
from physical health to history-al-
tering events.
“Several tanks went into the
earth and disappeared,” Mr.
Ghani said, adding that the
ground around Amir Agha and the
Rock is still considered “heavy
and fearful” after dozens died
there.
“The area is full of dead bodies
and haunted,” he said.
14 N THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

A Frazzled World Holds Its Breath as the U.S. Chooses Its Leader
ernment. “Trump was the one
who helped to make Venezuela’s
4 Years of Chaos problems visible — and that made
the rest of the world care about
Heightens Stakes what happens here,” said Julio Ur-
ribarrí, 66, a university professor
in Maracaibo.
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER In Nigeria, where the popula-
JERUSALEM — If the world tion is split between Muslims and
could vote in Tuesday’s presiden- Christians, churches will echo
tial election, Israel would be one of with prayers for Mr. Trump on
the reddest places on the globe. Sunday, said the Rev. John Joseph
Israel’s right-wing government Hayap, chairman of the Christian
has been showered with political Association. “You have to go with
favors by the Trump White House Trump,” he said. “He has brought
and backed to the hilt, culminating Christianity to the White House.”
in normalization deals with three And the South Korean presi-
Arab countries that made the Mid- dent, Moon Jae-in, has vocally en-
dle East suddenly feel a bit less couraged Mr. Trump’s diplomatic
hostile to the Jewish state. engagement with North Korea’s
A victory for former Vice Presi- leader, Kim Jong-un, saying it
dent Joseph R. Biden Jr. would be stands a better chance of reaching
a substantial loss for Prime Min- a breakthrough than the more
ister Benjamin Netanyahu. Sallai painstaking lower-level talks that
Meridor, a former ambassador to Mr. Biden is likely to resume.
the United States, said there But the public is weary of Mr.
would be “more daylight” be- Trump’s flirtation “with a dictator
tween the White House and Mr. who had his uncle executed, killed
Netanyahu than under President a South Korean citizen and blew
Trump. “We may lose what we away an inter-Korean liaison of-
achieved, and we may not gain fice,” said Cheon Seong-whun, for-
more,” he said. mer head of the Korea Institute for
American presidential elec- National Unification, a govern-
tions always seize international ment-funded Seoul think tank.
attention, but this year is excep- “Trump has shocked South Kore-
tional: Mr. Trump has dominated ans repeatedly, putting them on a
news cycles and frayed nerves in constant alert,” he said. Polls
almost every corner of the earth show they favor Mr. Biden by
like few leaders in history. Having SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES nearly four to one.
lived through his impulsiveness, A poster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump in Tel Aviv. A Trump loss on Tuesday could hurt Israel’s leader. Mr. Trump has continued to an-
and his disdain for allies and dalli- tagonize other parts of the globe
ances with adversaries, the world in the final weeks of the campaign,
is on tenterhooks waiting to see speculating that Egypt might
whether the United States will “end up blowing up” a contentious
choose to stay that rocky course. $4.6 billion hydroelectric dam on
Germans are obsessing over the Nile that Ethiopia is building.
the contest on newspaper front Many Ethiopians are backing
pages, in countless podcasts and Mr. Biden by default, analysts
in a string of documentaries with said. But Yasser Rezk, an Egyp-
titles like “Crazy Trump and the tian journalist close to President
American Catastrophe.” Austral- Abdel Fattah el-Sisi — whom Mr.
ians are working out their worries Trump once called “my favorite
by gambling on the outcome, with dictator” — said Egyptians are
the odds tilting heavily in Mr. Bi- rooting hard for a Trump victory.
den’s favor. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a
And in Ukraine, where Mr. vote,” he said.
Trump’s demand for political dirt In the Middle East, where Mr.
on Mr. Biden got him impeached, Trump’s foreign policy has had the
some are worrying that in a close biggest impact, the biggest im-
election he could press President pact of a Democratic victory could
Volodymyr Zelensky for another ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
be to leave the autocratic leaders
favor, a congratulatory message of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey
to bestow legitimacy on a prema-
A victory for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would be welcomed in Europe as “a return to civilization,” a French defense with few friends in Washington,
ture claim of victory. analyst said. Right, President Xi Jinping of China, which may have more at stake in the U.S. election than any other foreign power. said Hisham Melhem, a columnist
“We are vulnerable because we for the Lebanese newspaper An-
are dependent on U.S. political en Mr. Biden’s increasingly hawk- country’s most popular tabloid. ison, would be welcomed as “a re- fewer misgivings. Mr. Trump was nahar Al Arabi.
support,” said Alyona Get- ish “get tough on China” cam- But a majority of Russians say it turn to civilization,” said François so unpopular that his visits had to That could prod Saudi Arabia,
manchuk, director of the New Eu- paign rhetoric, they seem to be makes no difference to them who Heisbourg, a French defense ana- be planned to avoid huge protests, which Mr. Biden has called a “pa-
rope Center in Kyiv. treating him as a more compli- wins. “Trump was a good presi- lyst. and polls show Mr. Biden favored riah state,” into offering to nor-
No country has watched the cated challenge. dent for Russia, but it didn’t mat- Attitudes among British offi- by a lopsided margin. malize ties with Israel, if only to
American election unfold with State media and ordinary Chi- ter,” said Arsen P. Arutyunyan, 25, cials are more ambivalent, given But Mr. Trump does have his blunt calls to re-evaluate the
greater anger and grievance than nese online have portrayed the a small-business owner in Mos- Mr. Trump’s staunch support of partisans: Central and Eastern Saudi-American relationship, he
China — and few have more at presidential campaign as an em- cow. “Let Putin be a good presi- Brexit — Mr. Biden said he would European leaders appreciate his said.
stake. Tensions over trade, tech- barrassing battle between two ge- dent for Russia.” have opposed it — and close rela- bolstering the American troop Conversely, a Trump victory of-
nology and the coronavirus have riatrics, with one magazine, Cai- To the Europeans, a Trump re- tionship with Prime Minister presence along Russia’s borders. fers Israel no guarantees. A sec-
brought relations to their worst jing, asking, “Why does the Amer- election would confirm that the Boris Johnson. The Bosnian Serb leader, Milorad ond-term President Trump, unfet-
level since Washington first rec- ican presidential debate look like a United States is giving up its lead- British officials worry that Mr. Dodik, called Mr. Biden a “Serb tered of his need to please pro-Is-
ognized the People’s Republic in quarrel in a wet market?” ership role in the western alliance. hater” and urged Serbian-Ameri- rael evangelical voters, might
1979. But President Xi Jinping ap- Beyond questioning member- cans to vote for Mr. Trump. rush into an overly forgiving new
Even so, few Chinese officials peared to be taking a direct shot at ship in NATO, Mr. Trump has la- The stakes on Tuesday are per- deal with Iran, many Israelis fret.
appear to harbor much hope that a
defeat for Mr. Trump would usher
Mr. Trump last month when he
said, “In the contemporary world,
beled the European Union a com-
petitor and rival, tried to drive
For allies and rivals sonal for thousands of asylum
seekers stuck on Mexico’s north-
Mr. Meridor, the former ambas-
sador, said that though there was
in any improvement. Rather, giv- any unilateralism, protectionism wedges among European coun- alike, ties that hinge ern border in hopes of applying for no question that Mr. Trump had
or extreme egoism will never tries — supporting Brexit and refuge in the United States. been good for Israel, Israelis were
Reporting was contributed by Me- work.” wondering to German and French on a single contest. Joel Fernández Cabrera, a Cu- not blind to America’s diminishing
lissa Eddy in Berlin; Julie Turke- In Russia, which the C.I.A. ac- leaders when they intended to ban who has been waiting for a leadership of the world over the
witz in Bogotá, Colombia; Steven cuses of mounting a clandestine leave the bloc — and promoted year in Matamoros, Mexico, said last four years. “The most impor-
Erlanger in Brussels; Monica effort to re-elect Mr. Trump, pro- right-wing populism. his spirits were buoyed by Mr. Bi- tant concern for Israel,” he said,
Mark in Johannesburg; Mark Kremlin news organizations have Many Europeans fear a more Biden would give short shrift to den’s commanding lead in the “is that America will be strong.”
Landler in London; Kirk Semple in played up the possibility of vio- radical and even less constrained their top priority with Washing- polls. “Everyone is following it be- Given China’s energy needs and
Mexico City; Sheyla Urdaneta in lence and chaos, allowing com- Mr. Trump in a second term, freer ton, an Anglo-American trade cause it’s the only ray of hope that Russia’s oil-price sensitivity, he
Maracaibo, Venezuela; Anton mentators who depict American to act on his instincts — like those agreement. And Mr. Johnson may we have,” he said. “Our hope is said, “American presence and in-
Troianovski and Ivan Nechepuren- democracy as rotten to the core to that guided his response to the need to repair some scar tissue very, very high. If Biden wins, fluence in the Middle East can be a
ko in Moscow; Declan Walsh in declare the campaign an I-told- Covid-19 pandemic, in which he ig- with Mr. Biden’s aides, dating we’re all going to celebrate.” check and a bargaining chip” on
Nairobi, Kenya; Steven Lee Myers you-so moment. nored epidemiologists, mocked back to disparaging remarks Mr. Venezuelans say they are its rivals.
and Choe Sang-Hun in Seoul, “Is America one step away from mask wearers and insisted the vi- Johnson made about Mr. Obama counting on Mr. Trump to help op- He added: “I don’t want my
South Korea, and Damien Cave in civil war?” read a headline in rus would just go away. in 2016. ponents of President Nicolás Ma- grandchildren to live in a world
Sydney, Australia. Komsomolskaya Pravda, the A Biden presidency, by compar- But ordinary Britons have far duro’s flailing, authoritarian gov- dominated by China or Russia.”

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Border Patrol agents near the Arizona border wall last Monday. In the last presidential election, building the wall was a driving priority. This year, the prevailing grievance is “law and order.”
Once the Defining Issue, Immigration Takes a Back Seat
By JENNIFER MEDINA
YUMA, Ariz. — It might be seen as a
monument to the massive changes the
Trump administration has brought to the
country’s immigration system. Or it could
be seen as a reason people are fighting
fiercely to vote him out.
Four years ago, President Trump prom-
ised voters he would build a big, beautiful
wall. Whether the 30-foot, dark brown,
steel fence towering over the sandy bor-
derlands here is considered new, or beau-
tiful, depends on one’s perspective. But it
certainly is big.
And it is a tangible example of how radi-
cally Mr. Trump has tried to make good on
his promise to transform the immigration
system, even if most of the changes have
little to do with any physical barrier.
In 2016, immigration was among the
most defining aspects of Mr. Trump’s cam-
paign. The idea of a border wall and the
hard-line policies against asylum-seekers
and undocumented migrants that it repre-
sented, helped sweep Mr. Trump into the
White House. Four years later, the issue
has taken a back seat, not only to the pan-
demic, but to protests over racial equity.
The “build the wall” chants that reliably
fired up the crowds at Trump rallies in
2016 has been replaced in large measure
by rhetoric about “law and order.”
It’s not as if Mr. Trump has shunted the
issue of immigration aside entirely. Sev-
eral days ago, Department of Homeland
Security officials stood under a stretch of
the border barrier in McAllen, Texas to
promote the near completion of 400-miles
of border wall. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials have held news con-
ferences and purchased billboard adver-
tisements to draw attention to what are
typically routine arrests.
And Stephen Miller, the chief architect
of the administration's immigration poli-
cies, recently outlined a second-term
agenda that would include more limits on
migrants seeking asylum and further ex-
panding travel bans, blocking entry for
citizens from some countries.
Immigration is, after all, the policy
where the Trump administration has ar-
guably had the most impact, and it has
been an area that keeps his base commit-
ted. But, as indicated by his closing rallies
— where immigration gets relatively little
attention compared to policing and co-
ronavirus restrictions — the issue may not
be the strong motivating factor for Trump
supporters as it was in 2016. In the key bat-
tleground state of Arizona, for example,
the voters most focused on immigration
are those who are terrified by the prospect
of a second term for Mr. Trump.
“Everything has changed now,” said Re-
gina Romero, the Democratic mayor of
Tucson whose parents emigrated from So-
nora, Mexico, with her older siblings. “But
if anything, it has made the public senti-
ment shift in our favor. People here under-
stand that we need people to come from
Mexico to fuel our economy. People here
understand more and more that this is
about a strength, not a threat.”
Kassie Waters, a 33-year-old medic in
Tucson, said that four years ago, immigra-
tion was close to the top of her list of most
important political issues. But this year,
the mother of three, whose husband
works as a police officer, said she is more
concerned about “rioters, looters and po-
Giovanni Russonello and Hank Stephen-
son contributed reporting.
lice officers being prosecuted for doing
their jobs.”
“Four years ago, my concerns were to-
tally different — immigration was a big
one,” said Ms. Waters, who attended a re-
cent book signing with Joe Arpaio, the for-
mer Maricopa County Sheriff who cham-
pioned draconian immigration policies.
Ms. Water, who voted for the president in
2016 and plans to do so again this year,
said that Mr. Trump is still backing law en-
forcement by focusing on cities rather
than the border and said she had no prob-
lem that “the issue of immigration has
been put on the back burner.”
Many Latino families in Arizona have
mixed immigration status — undocu-
mented parents, for example, who raise
children who have received DACA or who
are U.S.-born citizens. Putting immigra-
tion on “the back burner” is not an option
for them. In the southern part of the state,
many families have for generations rou-
tinely gone back and forth over the border,
living a kind of binational life.
And many young Latino voters formed
their own political identity in the wake of
anti-immigration sentiments in the early
“Everything has changed now,” said Regina Romero, left, the mayor of Tucson, who sees public sentiment
shifting in favor of immigrants. At right, Nayeli Jaramillo-Montes, 19, who was canvassing for Democratic
candidates on Wednesday. Below, a secondary wall under construction at the United States-Mexico border.
2000s, and the issue remains resonant.
“This isn’t some abstract concept for us,
some theoretical attack — this is some-
thing that impacts the way the world sees
us, the way we are treated,” said Graciela
Martinez, 34, who works in marketing in
Phoenix. “We’ve had to fight for every-
thing we have, and we have to keep fight-
ing.”
For decades, immigration has undeni-
ably shaped politics in Arizona.
It was here that a group of anti-immi-
gration vigilantes formed the Minutemen
militia along the border in the early 2000s.
As the Maricopa County Sheriff, Mr.
Arpaio implemented his own anti-immi-
gration raids, which he claimed were de-
signed to sweep up those living in the
country illegally. And in 2010, the State
Legislature passed Senate Bill 1070, which
allowed local law enforcement to detain
anyone suspected of living in the country
illegally. Critics called the legislation sanc-
tioned racial profiling and it was later
struck down by the courts.
Since then, Americans’ attitudes have
shifted significantly. In the years since Mr.
Trump took office, voters have grown
PHOTOGRAPHS BY GABRIELLA ANGOTTI-JONES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
markedly more positive on immigration.
In a June Pew Research Center poll, 28
percent of Americans said illegal immi-
gration was a big problem, down from 43
percent last year. That included less than
half of Republicans, compared to two-
thirds the previous year.
Pew survey data in recent years has
also shown that ICE stands as the coun-
try’s least popular agency. Pew regularly
asks Americans for their opinion on fed-
eral agencies, and almost every one tends
to get a positive rating. But in a poll this
spring, for the third year in a row, ICE was
the only exception: Americans were di-
vided in their opinion, 46 percent favor-
able and 45 percent unfavorable.
And the partisan division is notable:
Seventy-seven percent of Republicans
gave ICE a positive rating, while just 28
percent of Democrats did. No other
agency had nearly as stark a split.
On the left, the fight against “kids in
cages” — referring to the Trump adminis-
tration’s 2018 policy of separating migrant
children from their parents — has been
something of a rallying cry for critics. Ac-
tivists believe the policy has changed the
15
N
2020 landscape.
“Family separation means that there
was an issue everybody cared about, from
a human rights perspective, and it gives
us completely different political terrain,
which is really significant,” said Jess Mo-
rales Rocketto, chair of We Belong Togeth-
er, the National Domestic Workers Alli-
ance immigration reform campaign. “We
galvanized a ton of people. We have used
people’s anger to make them understand
that the way we treat our most vulnerable
is related to who they elect.”
In Tucson, Mayor Romero knows immi-
gration is a deeply personal issue for
many voters here. At a rally with Kamala
Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential
candidate, in Tucson this past week, Ms.
Romero referred to the border barrier as
“the wall of hate,” and has repeatedly criti-
cized the environmental impact of the new
construction and deaths along the border.
Still, Ms. Romero is optimistic about Dem-
ocrats’ chances in the state, where Latinos
are expected to make up at least 25 per-
cent of all voters for the first time.
For supporters of Mr. Trump, however,
the administration’s immigration policies
have created a kind of fierce loyalty. The
union for the Customs and Border Protec-
tion gave Mr. Trump its first presidential
endorsement in 2016 and did so again this
year, convinced that the president has
done what others have shied away from.
“The morale is higher, it is much higher
because border patrol agents feel like they
have an administration that actually
cares,” said Brandon Judd, the president
of the union and an ally of Mr. Miller. “At
the end of the day, border patrol agents
want to feel like they are productive; they
want to feel like they’ve made a differ-
ence.”
For the most part, Mr. Biden and other
Democrats have defined their own poli-
cies by what they are not — promising an
end to family separations, an end to draco-
nian asylum policies, an end to the travel
ban — rather than what they are.
After news broke last month that sev-
eral hundred migrant children who had
been separated from their parents at the
border had not been reunited with their
parents, the topic of family separations
surfaced during the last presidential de-
bate. Mr. Biden has said he would end the
practice and has vowed to work to reunite
families.
But deportations also skyrocketed un-
der the Obama administration, and immi-
gration activists eventually dubbed the
former president the “deporter in chief.”
And while Mr. Biden has tried to distance
himself from those policies, he is certain to
face pressure to address the estimated 11
million undocumented immigrants now
living in the United States should he win
the presidency.
“Frankly speaking, immigrants are not
a priority for the Democrats,” said Pablo
Alvarado, who has helped campaign for
Mr. Biden in several battleground states
and is the executive director of the Na-
tional Day Laborer Organizing Network
“We’re more of a priority for the Republi-
cans for the wrong reasons — to attack us,
to stigmatize us, to persecute us.”
Still, he added: “This time around, we
are not going to be so polite, because oth-
erwise what happens is exactly what hap-
pened the last time — they decide to do
many other things first. We’re going to
have to be a little more aggressive this
time. At this point, what other choice do
we have?”
16 0 N
Election
Trump Tries to Chip Into ‘Blue Wall,’ as Biden Works to Bolster It
This article is by Maggie Ha-
berman, Thomas Kaplan and Mi-
chael D. Shear.
President Trump predicted
“bedlam” and a lack of clarity
about the presidential results until
weeks after Election Day as he
barnstormed Pennsylvania, while
former Vice President Joseph R.
Biden Jr. made his first joint ap-
pearance with former President
Barack Obama at an event in
Michigan.
The last Saturday before Elec-
tion Day offered traditional last-
minute frantic campaigning in bat-
tleground states played against
the backdrop of the extraordinary
rancor, high stakes and sense of
disruption reflecting a pandemic,
an economic downturn and recur-
ring protests and unrest at the
close of Mr. Trump’s first term.
The dueling schedules — partic-
ularly Mr. Biden’s — showed the
intensity with which the two cam-
paigns are approaching the final
days of the election and illustrated
differences in their basic approach
to the worst public health crisis in
a century.
Mr. Biden talked about taking
the coronavirus pandemic seri-
ously, while Mr. Trump mocked his
opponent for his focus on the virus
and falsely accused him of favor-
ing “deadly” lockdowns.
In remarks in Newtown, Pa.,
and Reading, Pa., Mr. Trump
stoked fears of an election left un-
settled after voting closes on Nov.
3 and about the prospects that bal-
lots would not count.
“You’re going to be waiting for
weeks” as votes are counted, Mr.
Trump declared in Newtown.
“Many, many days,” he went on.
“So you’re going to be watching on
Nov. 3. I think it’s highly likely
you’re not going to have a decision,
because Pennsylvania’s very big.
We’re going to be waiting. Nov. 3 is
going to come and go, and we’re
not going to know. And you’re go-
ing to have bedlam in our country.”
At his next stop, in Reading, Mr.
Trump derided a Supreme Court
decision rejecting a request from
Pennsylvania Republicans to de-
cide whether the state could con-
tinue accepting ballots for three
days after Nov. 3.
“You see what’s going on,
right?” Mr. Trump said of Demo-
crats. “Somebody’s going to play
games, and they just got an exten-
sion. What’s the extension all
about? Wouldn’t you like to hear,
Nov. 3, we win, we lose? We win,
we lose. Whatever.”
The president called the deci-
sion “disappointing” and added,
“Many, many disappointing opin-
ions from the Supreme Court.
They talk about we control the Su-
preme — well we don’t control the
Supreme Court. That was a terri-
ble decision.”
The question of how long ballots
can be accepted in battleground
states has been a dominant one as
Nov. 3 approaches. So has the
question of whether Mr. Trump
will try to declare victory if he is
leading in specific states on Elec-
tion Day, regardless of whether
they have been called in his favor.
Mr. Trump barely addressed the
coronavirus pandemic at his first
two stops, other than to praise his
administration, complain about
Mr. Biden’s focus on the pandemic
and falsely claim once again that
the country was “rounding the
turn” as the number of daily new
cases nationally has spiked to al-
Kathleen Gray contributed report-
ing.
Hungry for Cash, Trump Team Automatically Signs Up Donors to Keep Giving
By SHANE GOLDMACHER
President Trump’s campaign is
raising money for a prolonged po-
litical and legal fight long after
Nov. 3 and recently began auto-
matically checking a box to with-
draw additional weekly contribu-
tions from online donors through
mid-December — nearly six
weeks after Election Day.
Predicting “FRAUD like you’ve
never seen,” the language on Mr.
Trump’s website opts contribu-
tors into making the weekly post-
election donations “to ensure we
have the resources to protect the
results and keep fighting even af-
ter Election Day.” Users must pro-
actively click to avoid making
multiple contributions.
The unusual post-election reve-
nue stream would help Mr. Trump
pay off any bills that his campaign
accumulates before Tuesday — a
campaign spokesman said no
such debts had been incurred —
and could help fund a lengthy le-
gal fight to contest results.
“This race will be very close,
and it is possible that multiple
states will require recounts and
potential additional spending
from our campaign,” said Tim
Murtaugh, a spokesman for Mr.
Trump’s campaign. “The election
process this year is under extraor-
dinary circumstances, and we are
also anticipating that Silicon Val-
ley will attempt to interfere with
our online fund-raising efforts
post-election.”
Democrats said automatically
opting contributors into post-elec-
Former President Barack Obama, with Joseph R. Biden Jr., above, in Flint, Mich., on Saturday, laid into President Trump over his
handling of the pandemic. In Newtown, Pa., below, Mr. Trump’s effort to appear in a “presidential” light during his rally seemed to
unravel as he complained about media coverage and mocked Mr. Biden for focusing on the virus, and for wearing sunglasses.
most 100,000.
Mr. Obama, appearing with Mr.
Biden in Flint, Mich., at their first
stop of the day, mocked Mr. Trump
as heartless.
Noting Mr. Trump’s baseless
claim a day earlier that doctors
were profiting from coronavirus
deaths, Mr. Obama said, “He can-
not fathom — he does not under-
stand — the notion that somebody
would risk their life to save others
without trying to make a buck.”
Mr. Trump is continuing to hold
crowded rallies as the pandemic
rages, and Mr. Obama ridiculed
him for his fixation on crowd sizes,
asking: “Did no one come to his
birthday party when he was a kid?
Was he traumatized?”
In the past two weeks, Mr.
Obama campaigned solo for Mr.
tion giving was a misleading tac-
tic.
“They’re inventing new decep-
tive tactics to essentially steal
money from people,” said Mike
Nellis, a Democratic digital strat-
egist with an expertise in fund-
raising. “They’re going com-
pletely and totally scorched earth
on their own supporters. I’ve
never seen anything like this in
my life.”
Mr. Murtaugh said that no one
would receive a “recurring charge
without their knowledge” and that
donors could opt out of recurring
contributions both before donat-
ing and afterward. “Three days
before each recurring charge, do-
nors are emailed a reminder that
the charge is about to occur,” he
said. “There is a one-click link in-
side this email for donors to cancel
if they wish. Our process is ex-
tremely transparent.”
“When the recount or litigation
process ends,” Mr. Murtaugh add-
ed, “the recurring payments will
end."
The extra donations are just the
latest hyperaggressive tactic em-
ployed by the Trump operation as
it struggles to keep up financially
with Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s cam-
paign. On Friday, the campaign
promised supporters that their
contributions would be matched
“1000%,” after months of ratchet-
ing up the levels of matches that
campaign experts said almost
surely do not actually exist. (The
Trump campaign declined to say if
the matches were real; Mr. Mur-
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Biden in Pennsylvania and Flor-
ida, but Saturday was the first
time in the general election that he
and Mr. Biden had campaigned to-
gether in person.
Mr. Biden spoke next, praising
Mr. Obama and ripping Mr. Trump
over the pandemic as well. He too
invoked Mr. Trump’s baseless
statement made at a rally on Fri-
day about doctors and coronavi-
rus-related fatalities.
“What in the hell is wrong with
this man?” Mr. Biden asked. “Ex-
cuse my language, but think about
it. It’s perverted. He may believe it
because he doesn’t do anything
other than for money.”
And he spoke of the stakes for
the nation in this year’s vote.
“I don’t care how hard Donald
Trump tries,” Mr. Biden told the
taugh said only that it was a “com-
mon fund-raising approach” used
by both parties)
“Today in record-breaking
achievements of grift,” Caitlin
Mitchell, a top digital strategist
for Mr. Biden, wrote mockingly on
Twitter of the purported 1,000 per-
cent match. The Biden campaign
said it had never offered donation
matches.
The Trump email, which had
two flashing light emojis in the
subject line, was one of 21 that
blitzed supporters’ accounts on
Friday — nearly one per hour —
almost all asking for money. The
Biden campaign sent eight emails
on Friday.
In the final stretch of the 2020
race, Mr. Trump is being signifi-
cantly outspent on the airwaves,
and as of Oct. 14, his campaign
treasury had dwindled to $43.6
million, with $1.2 million in debts.
Mr. Biden’s campaign reported
$162 million cash on hand that day.
Combined with party funds, Mr.
Trump had about $224 million,
compared with $335 million for
Mr. Biden, but party funds cannot
be used to pay for many key costs,
including campaign personnel
and most advertising costs be-
yond a strict limit. Since then, Mr.
Trump’s campaign canceled a net
total of about $19 million in re-
served television ads, according
to data from Advertising Analyt-
ics, and the Republican National
Committee stepped in to pay for
the ads instead, using the limited
funds it can spend in coordination
crowd in Flint. “There’s nothing —
let me say it again — there’s noth-
ing that he can do to stop the peo-
ple of this nation from voting in
overwhelming numbers and tak-
ing back this democracy.”
Where both Mr. Trump and Mr.
Biden campaigned on Saturday
was as revealing as what both
men said.
The two states were part of the
so-called Blue Wall of Michigan,
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania,
which have leaned Democratic in
recent national elections but
which were crucial to Mr. Trump’s
victory in 2016 over Hillary Clin-
ton.
Mr. Trump has struggled in all
three states throughout the 2020
campaign and is pressing to keep
at least one of the three as part of
with the campaign.
The Twitter account @TrumpE-
mail, which has cataloged all of
Mr. Trump’s email solicitations for
nearly three years, provided The
New York Times with access to its
database, which shows Mr.
Trump’s climbing number of
monthly emails this year — from
January (63) to May (159) to July
(239) to September (330) and
roughly 400 in October.
Many messages employ sham-
ing tactics to prod backers into
giving. “The President selected
Arming for a battle
over the election, or to
help pay off debts.
YOU to be a part of this exclusive
group, so he was really surprised
when we told him you STILL had-
n’t stepped up,” read one email.
Patrick Ruffini, a Republican
pollster who has worked in digital
fund-raising, said the Trump cam-
paign’s digital marketing tactics
mirrored Mr. Trump’s personality.
“The president doesn’t have a
filter, and there aren’t a lot of re-
straints on what they’ll say or do
from a fund-raising standpoint ei-
ther,” Mr. Ruffini said. He called
the campaign an “optimization
machine” designed to maximize
revenue above all else.
ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES
ANNA MONEYMAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
his map this year.
In Newtown in Bucks County,
Mr. Trump delivered a subdued
speech to several hundred people
seated in folding chairs arrayed in
a field.
The president criticized Mr. Bi-
den’s record on trade in a state hit
hard in recent years by job losses,
and he criticized Mr. Biden’s com-
ments about restricting the prac-
tice of fracking. He also defended
his record on the coronavirus.
On Saturday, he said of Mr. Bi-
den’s concerns about the pan-
demic, “We agree, we agree it’s se-
rious,” but added that his rival’s
“only plan is to make you a pris-
oner in your home, a prisoner in
your own country.”
After his third rally, in Butler,
Pa., a CNN reporter posted on
“The matching inflation is a
running joke,” Mr. Ruffini said of
the promised phantom matches
that have climbed from 500 per-
cent in May to 600 percent in June,
700 percent in July and, occasion-
ally, 900 percent — and now 1,000
percent in October.
Privately, some Republicans
wonder if Mr. Trump’s campaign
deployed such tactics far too early,
exhausting a supporter list that
had been considered one of its
strongest assets. At this point,
however, most see little downside
to the most aggressive marketing
tactics, arguing that the risk of
turning off supporters was no
worse than losing the election.
Mr. Trump’s campaign has used
a tool created by WinRed, the do-
nation-processing site, that auto-
matically opts supporters into
making donations for months, and
it has generated millions of dol-
lars, according to people familiar
with the matter. As far back as
June, the campaign had asked
supporters to give a second dona-
tion timed to Mr. Trump’s birth-
day. The campaign announced a
record-breaking $14 million online
haul that day but did not mention
that it had piled up promised con-
tributions in advance.
ActBlue, the Democratic dona-
tion-processing site, began re-
moving a feature that automati-
cally opted donors into recurring
donations from its platform earli-
er this year. A representative said
that no candidates were now us-
ing that tool but declined further
K
Twitter photos of crowds search-
ing for buses to leave the event in
41-degree weather, an echo of the
debacle in Omaha last week when
the campaign’s outdoor rally
ended and the buses were no-
where to be found on a frigid night.
A Trump campaign official in-
sisted there were dozens of buses
and that it was simply taking
awhile for the line to move.
Ending his day with a rally in
Montoursville, Pa., Mr. Trump
cackled about his supporters
“taunting” Mr. Biden at his out-
door events by driving by and
honking horns, and then cheered
on his supporters who surrounded
a bus full of Biden supporters in
Texas. Biden campaign officials
said they had to cancel a planned
event because the Trump support-
ers tried to force the bus off the
road.
“Anybody see the picture of
their crazy bus driving down the
highway, they are surrounded by
hundreds of cars, they are all
Trump flags all over the place,” Mr.
Trump said, chuckling.
And he tried to sow doubt about
the safety of voting in Philadel-
phia, a city with a large Black pop-
ulation, similar to what he did in
2016.
“Are they going to mysteriously
find more ballots” after polls close,
he asked. “Strange things have
been known to happen, especially
in Philadelphia.”
After making stops in Iowa,
Minnesota and Wisconsin on Fri-
day, Mr. Biden devoted Saturday
to Michigan. He enlisted a
marquee surrogate to help his
cause: Mr. Obama, whose pres-
ence the campaign hoped would
excite voters and help drive turn-
out in the campaign’s final days.
In the past two weeks, Mr.
Obama campaigned solo for Mr.
Biden in Pennsylvania and Flor-
ida, but Saturday was the first
time in the general election that he
and Mr. Biden had campaigned to-
gether in person. The former pres-
ident has the potential to help Mr.
Biden, who served two terms as
his vice president, with key groups
like Black voters as well as young-
er people who might not be natu-
rally drawn to a septuagenarian
moderate like Mr. Biden.
Mr. Biden and Mr. Obama ended
with a rally in Detroit, where hun-
dreds of people waited in cars to
see Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden on
Belle Isle, a state park on an island
in the middle of the Detroit River
with expansive views of the sky-
lines of Detroit and of Windsor, On-
tario.
Stevie Wonder performed at the
rally before Mr. Obama and Mr. Bi-
den addressed the crowd. In his
speech, Mr. Obama added another
jab as he talked about Mr. Trump’s
“obsession with crowds,” asking,
“Is Fox News not giving him
enough attention?”
Mr. Biden mocked Mr. Trump
for having written off as business
expenses more than $70,000 paid
to style his hair during “The Ap-
prentice.”
“I tell you what, man,” Mr. Biden
said. “I hardly have any hair, but
I’d rather have what I have.”
For many drawn to the rally, it
was time for a change.
“The last four years have been
hell,” said Miriam Pizana of De-
troit, who came to the rally with
her daughter Kristen. “We never
knew what the chief of staff or
communications directors’ names
were before, and now we know
them all, and not for anything
good.”
comment. The Democratic Con-
gressional Campaign Committee,
however, still does use the opt-in
tool for automatic monthly dona-
tions. The Biden campaign has di-
rected some Facebook ads to ex-
isting donors specifically seeking
to convert them to weekly and
monthly contributors, and the
landing pages after people click
on those ads have the recurring
donation option prechecked.
The total hauls online via
WinRed for Mr. Trump’s cam-
paign itself and the Trump Make
America Great Again committee,
which he operates jointly with the
R.N.C. to raise small donations,
rose only marginally from $91.1
million in July to $106.1 million in
August to $118.5 million in Sep-
tember. At the same time, Mr. Bi-
den’s online hauls in his equiva-
lent committees exploded from
$46 million in July to $191 million
in August and $193 million in Sep-
tember.
And in the final stretch, Mr.
Trump’s campaign is still spend-
ing heavily to raise money.
The Trump Make America
Great Again Committee spent $32
million as it raised $36.9 million in
the first two weeks of October — a
burn rate of nearly 87 percent, ac-
cording to federal filings. Some of
that advertising for donors did
double duty mobilizing Mr.
Trump’s base.
“It’s clear they are just trying to
squeeze every penny out of this
thing while they still can,” said Mr.
Nellis, the Democratic strategist.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N 17

THE NEEDIEST CASES FUND

Where the Pandemic Left Holes, Volunteers Stepped In

By JENNIFER HARLAN
On a blustery day in May,
Vanessa Fransen rolled her wag-
on up to a house in Makoti, N.D.
She deposited a bundle on the
doormat, rang the doorbell and
sprinted away. But this wasn’t
your typical ding-dong-ditch:
When her neighbors opened their
door, they found a bag full of
books.
“May Day surprise!” Vanessa
hollered.
In the midst of the pandemic,
this was the way that Vanessa, 12,
helped people in her community
feel less alone.
Her desire to make a difference
through books began two years
ago, when she saw a Little Free Li-
brary box in a neighboring town.
Makoti does not have a public li-
brary, and residents rely on a
county bookmobile or travel doz-
ens of miles for library services.
The Free Library’s free-standing
model seemed like a great fit.
“It was all her idea,” Vanessa’s
mother, Laura Fransen, said. “I
didn’t even know Little Free Li-
braries were a thing. And then we
found out it’s a worldwide, global
phenomenon.”
In 2018, Vanessa installed the li-
brary in her town square. The
next summer, she added a com-
munity garden, so that Makoti
residents could enjoy a snack and
view along with a book.
This spring, when the coronavi-
rus brought everything to a halt —
including the bookmobile —
Vanessa saw another opportunity
to help.
With a grant from First Book,
one of 10 organizations supported
by The New York Times Neediest
Cases Fund, Vanessa purchased
160 books to distribute to more
than 40 families across her com-
munity.
“We tried to pick books that
their families could use,” Ms.
Fransen said, including cook-
books and coloring books with
postcards people could send to
loved ones.
In August and October, Vanessa
worked with First Book again, this
time focusing on Makoti’s young-
ONLINE: THE NEEDIEST CASES
The 109th annual fund-raising
campaign for The New York
Times Neediest Cases Fund is
under way and continues through
December. To make donations or
read previous articles:
nytimes.com/neediest
RYAN CHRISTOPHER JONES FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Members of the Farragut Food Club distributed backpacks and
books in Fort Greene in early October. Since the lockdown, the
organization has distributed food to over 1,500 families in need.
In 2018, Vanessa Fransen, 12, installed a little free library in her town. After the lockdown, she distributed books to her neighbors.
er residents. Through the non-
profit, she got 140 additional
books; 90 of them were from the
Magic Tree House series and were
provided thanks to a donation
from the author, Mary Pope Os-
borne. She distributed them to
children around her community
as well as to a local school and the
Little Free Library.
Vanessa, who recently started
seventh grade, hopes Ms. Os-
borne’s books, which combine his-
tory and education with adven-
ture, will help children feel less
isolated.
“What I love about reading is
that it takes you to different places
and you learn about new things,”
she said.
Ms. Fransen added, “Right now,
when everything’s being taught
virtually, it’s important for kids to
have a tangible book in their
hands.”
It’s been particularly reward-
ing, Vanessa says, to know she’s
making a difference where she
lives.
Joyce Bryant and Virginia Mo-
ses, friends from Brooklyn who
are both 70, echoed that senti-
ment. They are retired — Ms. Bry-
ant was a home care worker, and
Ms. Moses worked at an electron-
ics store — but neither is content
to relax.
“Retirement is not just sitting
down,” Ms. Bryant said. “You
have to keep this mind going.”
“And these legs!” Ms. Moses
added.
In 2018, concerned about their
Fort Greene community’s access
to affordable fresh food, especially
for those receiving benefits from
the Supplemental Nutrition As-
sistance Program, Ms. Bryant and
Ms. Moses helped organize the
Farragut Food Club. The group is
a co-op that allows residents to or-
der food from online retailers and
have it delivered to Farragut Cor-
nerstone, a community center run
by Brooklyn Community Serv-
ices, one of the organizations sup-
ported by The Fund.
When the city locked down in
March, Brooklyn Community
Services turned to Ms. Bryant and
SARA NAOMI LEWKOWICZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
“While volunteering, we give back, but there’s a lot we receive
from doing it, too,” said Ned Rogers, 74, who delivers on a regu-
lar route for Meals on Wheels with his wife, Bonnie, also 74.
Gifts recorded through Oct. 24:
$2,697,539.93.
Ms. Moses, who helped identify
people in need of assistance. Kent
Victor, the director of Farragut
Cornerstone, said they had helped
the organization distribute food to
more than 1,500 families strug-
gling from the economic effects of
the pandemic.
“It was really a miracle how
people came together and showed
love and care,” Ms. Bryant said.
Bonnie and Ned Rogers, both
74, have also spent their retire-
ment helping others. They were
born and raised on Staten Island,
met in college on a blind date and
have been married for 52 years. In
2000, after retiring from the tele-
com industry, Ms. Rogers saw an
ad in her church newsletter for the
Retired and Senior Volunteer Pro-
gram, run by Community Service
Society, another organization sup-
ported by The Fund.
“I wasn’t quite old enough at the
time to join,” Ms. Rogers explains,
JENN ACKERMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
“but they let me be a sort of wel-
come volunteer.”
Two years later, when a friend
and fellow volunteer passed
away, the program asked if Ms.
Rogers could take over his route
for Meals on Wheels, a food assist-
ance program for seniors. Mr.
Rogers joined her after he retired
in 2004, and they’ve been working
it as a team ever since.
“You have a route with dedi-
cated people, and over time you
establish a relationship with
them,” Mr. Rogers said. “A lot of
the clients are homebound, and
they look forward every day to
having this interaction with some-
body.”
Those relationships were
brought to an abrupt halt by the
pandemic. In March, the service
shifted to providing weekly deliv-
eries of frozen food instead of pre-
pared food five days a week, and
volunteers like Mr. and Ms.
Rogers were put on the bench.
“We really missed it,” Mr.
Rogers said. “While volunteering,
we give back, but there’s a lot we
receive from doing it, too. It’s not
true altruism. It gives us a reason
for being.”
In May, Mr. and Ms. Rogers re-
turned to their Meals on Wheels
route as community organizations
found ways to adapt.
The couple worried about those
whom they hadn’t seen in weeks.
But on their first day back, they
were pleased to see many familiar
faces. “The thank you’s, the smiles
— even with masks on — were
wonderful,” Ms. Rogers said.
The couple is hopeful that the
difficulties of the pandemic will in-
spire more people to give back, as
is Ms. Bryant.
“If more people got involved in
their community, it would make it
better for everybody,” Ms. Bryant
said. “Maybe this is the wake-up
call we need for everyone to come
together.”
How to Help
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To delay may mean to forget.

Kentucky Police Training Promoted Hitler’s Violence Internet Radio, CD,

By NICHOLAS
BOGEL-BURROUGHS
A slide show once shown to ca-
dets training to join the Kentucky
State Police includes quotations at-
tributed to Adolf Hitler and Robert
E. Lee, says troopers should be
warriors who “always fight to the
death” and encourages each
trooper in training to be a “ruthless
killer.”
The slide show, which came to
light on Friday in a report from a
high school newspaper, brought
harsh condemnation from poli-
ticians, Jewish groups and Ken-
tucky residents, but not from the
Kentucky State Police department
itself, which said only that the
training materials were old.
Morgan Hall, a spokeswoman for
the Kentucky Justice and Public
Safety Cabinet, which oversees the
State Police, said that the slide
show was “removed” in 2013 and
was no longer in use but declined to
answer a list of questions, includ-
ing queries about how long the ma-
terial was used and how many ca-
dets had seen the training.
Ms. Hall said in a statement that
it was “unacceptable” that such
material had ever been included in
law enforcement training. “Our ad-
ministration does not condone the
use of this material,” she said. She
added that the cabinet agency ”be-
gan an internal review” after learn-
ing about the material on Friday.
Kentucky State Police have as-
sisted the Louisville Metro Police
Department during protests over
Louisville police officers’ killing of
Breonna Taylor, a Black emer-
Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio
contributed reporting.
gency room technician shot by the
police when they raided her apart-
ment in March. The state agency
also helped to investigate the Tay-
lor killing, providing a ballistics re-
port to the state attorney general
before he determined that the offi-
cers who shot Ms. Taylor were jus-
tified.
The quotations attributed to
Hitler, the genocidal leader of Nazi
Germany, and Lee, the Confeder-
ate general, are included among 33
slides that were shown to cadets in
the Kentucky State Police Acad-
Slides shown to officer
cadets urged them to
be ‘ruthless’ killers.
emy as part of a slide show entitled
“The Warrior Mindset.”
“The very first essential for suc-
cess is a perpetually constant and
regular employment of violence,”
reads one quotation attributed to
Hitler, who is quoted more than
anyone in the training document.
Some of the statements attributed
to Hitler link to a website providing
biographical information about
him and listing books by and about
him.
The training itself emphasizes
that troopers must be ready to em-
ploy violence in order to do their
jobs properly. One of the slides that
quotes Hitler — under the heading
“Violence of Action” — also says
troopers should “be the loving fa-
ther, spouse, and friend as well as
the ruthless killer.” Another says
warriors “always fight to the death,
they never quit” and that they must
be willing to “commit to the fight.”
The title page indicates that the
training was created by a retired
captain, Curt Hall, who could not be
reached for comment. Local news
reports, Mr. Hall’s LinkedIn page
and a news release from the State
Police in 2018 indicate that Mr. Hall
was an assistant commander at the
police academy from 2005 to 2015
and later served as a commander
in the internal affairs department
and as the commander of one of the
agency’s 16 regional posts.
The lesson appears to be at least
partially in line with “warrior train-
ing,” a controversial practice that
often begins during basic training
in academies and is modeled on
military boot camp, which many
police departments embrace.
Many of the nation’s police acade-
mies and departments have long
emphasized a warrior mentality,
experts have said, with officers
trained for conflict and equipped
with the gear and weapons of mod-
ern warfare. Critics have said the
specialized training can lead offi-
cers to believe they are under con-
stant threat of being harmed and
can intensify encounters with civil-
ians.
The slide show was obtained by a
lawyer who is suing a Kentucky
State Police trooper who shot and
killed Bradley J. Grant, 37, in 2018.
David Ward, the lawyer, said he
had received a copy of the slide
show after filing a public records
request for documents that the
trooper had seen when he was go-
ing through training at the acad-
emy in 2013.
Mr. Ward said he was shocked by
the material, and that it seemed to
coincide with the combative nature Spotify Streaming,
of the trooper’s encounter with Mr.
Grant that preceded the fatal
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before he was killed, but Mr. Ward
said Mr. Grant had been pointing
the shotgun at his own chin and
asking officers to shoot him.
“This type of training — these
quotes — creates a mind set that
these troopers are at war, that they
need to come to work ready for bat-
tle,” Mr. Ward said. “This type of
mind set is likely to create an ad-
versarial situation or a violent en-
counter, and I think that becomes
even more likely when you encoun-
ter a person who is suffering a men-
tal health crisis and is less likely to
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20 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Election

President Trump’s supporters turned out at a car rally for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Atlanta. A trailer served snacks outside an early-voting site at Florida’s South Dade Regional Library.

Campaign 2020: Let’s Never Do This Again

By MATT FLEGENHEIMER
ATLANTA — The masks, when
used, can muffle the dueling
chants of a live-action partisan
clash. But the messages of this
election season still have a way of
carrying.
“No more years!” anti-Trump
locals shouted at his supporters
late last month in Atlanta, where a
Joe Biden appearance had lured
both camps to a patch of grass be-
tween a gas station and a creek.
“Four more years!” the incum-
bent’s backers called out even
louder, largely unencumbered by
face coverings.
“Black Lives Matter!”
“Black Lives MAGA!”
“Lock him up!”
“Lock HIM up!”
Ah, consensus.
In the course of human events
that should probably be taking
place virtually this year, in a house
so divided that talk of jailing oppo-
nents registers as typical fare, in a
country asking not what can be
done, exactly, but whether any-
thing can at this point, an election
is happening on Tuesday.
It is not a hope-and-change kind
of year. It is not a moment for be-
ing made great again.
Instead, a tour of these final, fu-
rious campaign days makes clear
that the abiding theme of 2020 is
something like survival: getting
to 2021 in one piece, individually
and collectively.
“At this point, civil war is one
bad joke away from happening,”
said Jorge Puertas, 21, ducking
the rain outside an early-voting
site in Hialeah, Fla. “One misun-
derstanding.”
By the dismal standards of the
times, the election’s very arrival
can feel like a feat: Here is a date
transpiring as scheduled, un-
moved by a president who floated
delays that he lacked the author-
ity to impose. Here is a national
appointment kept.
It is merely everything else that
seems different, especially to the
comparative few absorbing it all
at close range.
On one side, campaign rallies
have often been reduced to car-
bound honk-fests, for epidemiolo-
gy’s sake. On the other, they are
undimmed — and discouraged by
public health authorities.
Taken together, these last cam-
paign snapshots can double as a
sort of rolling testament to na-
tional contradiction, rendered of-
ten in dizzying succession: the
swagger and the nihilism, the
faith and the faithlessness (“Jesus
2020: Our Only Hope” is a popular People waited in line for early voting at the Hialeah John F. Kennedy Library in Florida. Some venues doubled as virus-testing sites.
sign choice), the blithe invocation
of outright fracture.
“Guillotine 2020,” read another
sign displayed on a West Philadel-
‘It’s almost like tioning in a “Defund Police” mask
up the road from a John Lewis mu-
television forum with Mr. Biden,
scheduled because the second Photographs by TODD HEISLER
a hail of expletives, then began an
E-A-G-L-E-S chant that no one
phia porch recently, among the picking your first ral. presidential debate was canceled The New York Times joined.
wind chimes and planters. “No
More Presidents.” alcohol. You know it’s “Kind of feels like everything,”
said Elizabeth Miller, 29, cradling
after Mr. Trump’s coronavirus di-
agnosis and subsequent refusal to
Mr. Jenkins went to his parked
car and blasted smooth jazz in a
Mr. Puertas, who said he not good for you, you a French bulldog named Adelaide appear remotely. But others had tem and strong feelings about
when life begins.
futile bid to drown out the driver.
worked for a local Democratic
group and cast his ballot for Presi- know you’re going to outside the National Constitution
Center in Philadelphia.
gathered, too: climate activists
who suspect the Democrat will “ABORTION IS MURDER,” he
He shrugged.
“This,” he said, “is where we go
dent Trump anyway to avoid dis- feel bad in the She had come one October disappoint them if elected; a pres- said on a loop, blocking a lane. off the rails.”
appointing his grandfather, de- evening to take stock of a scene idential spoofer in a red tie, wob- “So is ignorance!” Ty Jenkins, There is plenty of that this year.
scribed his inaugural presidential morning. But you’ve that, like so many others lately, bling into traffic with a golf club 57, hollered back, ticking off co- And yet the homestretch has
voting experience like this: “It’s
almost like picking your first alco-
still got to make that would make little sense to a politi- (“I’m supposed to be mimicking,” ronavirus statistics. also accommodated flashes of
cal time traveler from even the re- the man said, reading the stage di- A third man in a Sixers basket- whimsy and community endemic
hol. You know it’s not good for you, choice.’ cent past. rections a bit); a bus-driving vis- ball jersey stepped in front of the to any campaign. In Reading, Pa.,
you know you’re going to feel bad JORGE PUERTAS, 21, of The block was the site of a solo itor with a deafening speaker sys- bus, tried to order the driver out in faces swung skyward at the sight
in the morning. But you’ve still got
Florida, voting in his first
to make that choice at one point or
another.” presidential election.
Most conversations across the
ideological expanse tended to-
ward such fatalism almost imme-
diately.
There is the virus to outlive, the
opponent to outlast, the threats
that must be outrun, many say —
eroding liberties, police violence,
institutional rot — if the whole en-
terprise is to endure in recogniz-
able form.
At stake, in their accumulated
telling:
“Freedom,” said Anays Garcia,
55, wearing an oversize cutout of
Mr. Trump’s face over her own at
the Hialeah polling place.
“Our liberation,” said Jasmine
Keith, 33, an organizer with Move-
ment 4 Black Lives Atlanta, peti- A socially distanced press area, left, at a Florida rally for Mr. Biden. Right, Anays and Juan Garcia after voting early in Hialeah.

A car rally at an Atlanta amphitheater drew honks of support for Mr. Biden last week.
of an eagle overhead just before
Vice President Mike Pence was to
arrive — a sure signal, attendees
reasoned, of divine approval for
their cause. In Miami Springs,
Fla., where Barack Obama visited
late last month, an eager volun-
teer cried out “you were my first!”
and the former president thanked
her, before gently suggesting a re-
phrasing.
There is also still the merry pat-
ter of children tagging along — to
the polls, to the rally, to anywhere
someone will take them these
days: the boy thwacking his fore-
head with a lawn sign while wait-
ing for the president’s middle son
to move the masses at a Lansing,
Mich., gravel pit; the girl giggling
in her Snow White Halloween cos-
tume on a sidewalk in Rome, Ga.,
fussing under her grandmother’s
arm on a recent afternoon as the
adults spoke warmly of QAnon
conspiracists.
Any Covid-age novelties have
generally sorted into one of two
categories. There are the bleak-
but-necessary turns, like insta-
thermometers beside the candi-
date literature at field offices and
the introduction of early-voting
venues that moonlight as virus
testing locations. And then there
are the flourishes that rate as
more disorienting than distress-
ing.
Especially popular among
Democrats is the distanced car
rally, where honks of approval gild
stump speeches with the dulcet
tones of the Holland Tunnel the
Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
“When the auto industry was in
trouble, Joe Biden was there . . . ”
Honnnnnnnnnnk.
“The United Steelworkers . . . ”
Honnnnnnnnnnk.
“I kind of like it better,” said
Alannah Garrett, 19, hanging out
the window of an orange Mustang
at a Jill Biden drive-in event in
Saginaw, Mich. “Nobody’s step-
ping on my shoes.”
Mr. Trump has been less im-
pressed. “You heard a couple of
horns. ‘Honk, honk,’” he shared in
Lumberton, N.C. late last month,
after watching Mr. Biden on tele-
vision. “It’s the weirdest thing.”
But then, Trump campaign af-
fairs have long proceeded at their
own speed, virus or not. If any-
thing, the peak-volume cheering
and conspicuous fan attire has
only accelerated in this urgent po-
litical hour, with admiring mes-
sages etched on shirts, masks,
painted rocks.
His supporters fear a new social
order in any Democrat-led future.
“As a middle-aged white male,
I’m the target,” T.J. Whipple, 52,
said in Reading.
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
“Normal People for Trump-
Pence,” read a poster inside the
Cobb County Republican head-
quarters in Marietta, Ga.
And the loyalties, and occasion-
ally Trump-affiliated histories,
run deep.
“He came to thank me for using
his hotel,” remembered Julio Mar-
tinez, 77, a onetime boxing pro-
moter for shows in Atlantic City
decades back and a former mayor
of Hialeah, where he stood in a
“Vets for Trump” shirt beside a
life-size executive cutout. “I told
him, ‘One day, you are going to be
in politics.’ And he told me the F-
word.”
So enthralled are the presi-
dent’s most devoted charges that
praise can flow even for pedestri-
an acts. In Lansing, the state Re-
publican chairwoman, Laura Cox,
appeared to salute Mr. Trump for
having worn a hat in inclement
weather at a recent rally.
“He was like, ‘I didn’t know it
was going to be such gale force
winds,’” she said, warming up the
crowd for Eric Trump at a sand-
and-gravel business. “It was very,
very authentic.”
The younger Mr. Trump worked
through a catalog of boasts and
grievances (“We deal with a lot of
rigged processes, guys — we’ll get
to Nobel Peace in a second”) and
assured those listening that his fa-
ther’s team had “God on our side.”
“We’re going to get these guys,”
he told a well-wisher on the almost
entirely unmasked, cheek-to-
cheek-selfie rope line afterward.
“I promise you.”
In interviews, there was a bi-
partisan instinct toward such
vengeance-seeking — or, at least,
the hope that a decisive result on
Tuesday (or whenever the count-
ing is done) would amount to a
well-earned comeuppance for the
losers.
But few seemed convinced that
even their desired outcome would
deliver catharsis.
“Truthfully, I’m scared if he
wins or if he loses,” Derrick Ward,
51, of Philadelphia, said of Mr.
Trump, picking up lawn signs at a
Biden office. “It’s a boiling point.”
At the Atlanta event, Keyla
Ramirez, 18, stood atop a car with
a “Black Lives Matter” poster,
dancing to a Fugees song some-
one was playing and recounting
how “stupid” she felt casting her
first-ever vote, more against Mr.
Trump than for his rival.
“We’re not going to get what we
want right now,” she said. “But we
need that orange pill out.”
This seemed to be the upshot
for those moved to participate,
however grudgingly, in this par-
ticular democratic experiment:
This was not the year to stay away.
And maybe, some hoped, the
act would prove habit-forming.
Outside Florida’s South Dade
Regional Library — where those
casting ballots last weekend were
greeted with a steel drum band
covering Bob Marley and several
pop-up cafecito stations — Dennis
Valdes, 36, had constructed a tent
intended to attract even the leeri-
est voter with balloons, snacks
and “patriotic punch,” spiked for
those of age.
A teacher of high school history,
Mr. Valdes said he had strained for
years to make students under-
stand that any present national
despair was not destiny.
“How would John Lewis teach
this moment?” he asked. “How
would any of our heroes teach this
moment?
Eventually, Mr. Valdes spotted
two former students, approaching
for fist-bumps. “I’m happy for you
guys,” he said quickly, playing it
cool.
When they were gone, Mr. Val-
des lowered his mask enough for a
smile to slip.
“First-time voters,” he said. It
was a start.
He exhaled, a little, then
reached for the punch again.
It’s Not Yet Election Day,
But a Torrent of Ballots
Has Already Been Cast
From Page 1
and keeping polling locations open late
to accommodate long lines.
“I’m going to vote like my life depends
on it,” Marilyn Crowder, 60, said as she
waited in a line a block long at Anna B.
Day School in Northwest Philadelphia
last week. The school, one of 17 early vot-
ing locations open for the first time in
Philadelphia, has for weeks drawn lines
of voters filing down the street.
For Ms. Crowder, a cancer survivor,
the pandemic was a motivating factor, as
well what she saw as attempts by Repub-
licans to make it harder to vote. “I per-
sonally felt powerless to do anything
about it, except what I’m doing now,” she
said. “And now I’m making phone calls.”
Les Bignell, 59, a sewer liner from
West Allis, Wis., said he dropped his ab-
sentee ballot in the box at City Hall last
week, casting a vote for Mr. Trump as he
did in 2016. “I did it because of my bank
account,” he said. “When the lockdown
first happened I lost a lot of money, but I
got it all back already.”
Never before in modern American
politics has the electorate faced so many
unknowns while so many Americans still
pushed forward to cast their ballots
through the mail and in person.
“The issues that are facing this coun-
try are generational,” said Michael Mc-
Donald, a professor of political science at
the University of Florida. He said the
pandemic and the Black Lives Matter
movement, coupled with the heightened
political engagement since Mr. Trump’s
election, had produced a highly ener-
gized electorate.
“We wish we could care about other
things in our lives, but right now, politics
matter so much, and people are en-
gaged,” he said. Of course, non-battle-
ground states, or states without a com-
petitive statewide race, are unlikely to
generate such intense voter interest, and
early turnout can sometimes lag for rea-
sons ranging from different start dates to
disruptions from a hurricane.
But amid the swelling turnout is grow-
ing concern over the yawning gap be-
tween absentee ballots that have been
requested and those that have been re-
turned. With just days to go, 36 million
ballots that were requested have either
not been returned or have been rejected.
Many of those ballots could still be in the
mail or in processing or might have been
sent to people who now plan to vote in
person.
Any problems with the early vote are
also likely to affect Democrats more than
Republicans. In almost every state,
Democrats have requested absentee bal-
lots at a higher rate than Republicans. In
Pennsylvania, nearly two million regis-
tered Democrats requested absentee
ballots, compared with fewer than
790,000 Republicans. And while 70 per-
cent of those Democratic voters have re-
turned their ballots, roughly 590,000 bal-
lots sent to registered Democratic voters
have not yet been returned, along with
360,000 ballots sent to registered Repub-
licans.
The process has been further dis-
rupted by a wave of litigation that has of-
ten pitted Democrats fighting to expand
access to absentee voting against Re-
publicans seeking tighter restrictions.
Lawsuits have, among other issues, dis-
rupted ballot deadlines in key states like
Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minne-
sota, and sought to limit the use of drop
boxes in Pennsylvania and Texas. Court
rulings were coming as late as Thursday
night, just days before the election.
For Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court
left open a possibility of a future ruling on
ballots that are postmarked by Election
Day but arrive late, and the secretary of
state told all county election officials to
segregate those ballots.
Worries about the U.S. Postal Service
have added to the anxiety. The agency
said in a filing that staffing issues result-
ing from the pandemic were causing
problems in some facilities, including in
central Pennsylvania. Only 78 percent of
employees are available, according to
Nick Corasaniti reported from Philadel-
phia, and Stephanie Saul from Atlanta.
Reporting was contributed by Richard
Fausset in Atlanta, Hailey Fuchs in Wash-
ington, Trip Gabriel in Kittanning, Pa.,
Lisa Lerer in Fort Worth, Reid J. Epstein
in Green Bay, Wis., and Kathleen Gray in
Farmington Hills, Mich.
Poll workers unloading voting equipment in Houston on Friday, the last day to
cast votes early in Texas. The state turnout has already exceeded the 2016 total.
0N 21
the filing.
John Bloom, a voter in Cumberland
County, near Harrisburg, said he and
roughly 30 others were planning to head
to the polls on Election Day to void the
ballots they had requested and vote in
person after seeing suggestions on social
media from local Democratic officials.
“People are very worried that our
mail-in votes, which likely will contain a
good portion of the county’s Democratic
vote, will not get counted,” Mr. Bloom
said.
Kathy Boockvar, the secretary of state
in Pennsylvania, said the state was ex-
pecting a large surge of ballots to arrive
in the final days. Nearly 50 percent of the
absentee ballots during the primary
were returned in the final week, includ-
ing almost 175,000 on the day before the
primary.
“I feel really good about where we are,
but I want to leave nothing to chance,
which is why we’re spending so much en-
ergy focusing on telling voters to get
your ballots in,” Ms. Boockvar said. “Do
not put them in the mail; drop them off in
person.”
Perhaps no state has seen a greater
surge than Texas, a suddenly competi-
tive state for Mr. Biden. More than nine
million voters had cast their ballots there
as of Friday, despite restrictions ordered
by Gov. Greg Abbott that limited ballot
drop-off locations to one per county.
Raquel Gair Sutton, a former teacher
from Arlington and a Democrat, said she
always casts her ballot on the first day of
early voting. This year, with her husband
running for mayor, she waited four and a
half hours to vote, beating her previous
record by about three hours.
“I was blown away,” said Ms. Sutton,
whose husband, a local City Council
member, has served as the election judge
for their local precinct in Tarrant County.
“I think it means good things for Biden,
but we thought that four years ago. Peo-
ple are just ready for change.”
In Georgia, where public polls show
the two candidates engaged in a tight
race, officials expect overall turnout to
increase dramatically and to exceed the
4.1 million people who voted in 2016,
when the state supported Mr. Trump
over Hillary Clinton by five percentage
points.
Pointing to record turnout in absentee
and early voting, Brad Raffensperger,
the secretary of state, said he believed
that as many as six million people would
vote.
In the first days of early voting, some
Georgians endured waits of eight hours
or more to cast ballots. Yet while anec-
dotal reports suggested heavy turnout
among Black voters, Andrea Young, ex-
ecutive director of the A.C.L.U. of Geor-
gia, said it was too early to tally the per-
centage of votes by African-Americans
because thousands of absentee ballots
had not been returned.
Deidre Holden, supervisor of elections
in Paulding County, part of the Atlanta
metropolitan area, blamed the long lines
on a slowdown in a statewide computer
system where votes are recorded so no
one could cast two ballots.
“Because so many people, so many
workers, were trying to access the sys-
tem, it was like a bottleneck,” Ms. Holden
said, adding that the problem had been
corrected by the third day of early vot-
ing.
In Michigan, 2.6 million voters have al-
ready cast their ballots, and turnout is
nearing 60 percent of 2016 levels. The
secretary of state has committed to keep-
ing as many polling locations open as
possible on Tuesday.
But Kimberly Korona, 38, of Farming-
ton Hills, took a day off from work to drop
off her ballot for Mr. Biden last month —
“to save Democracy,” she said.
In Wisconsin, another battleground
state where Mr. Biden has maintained a
steady single-digit lead, turnout has ap-
proached nearly 80 percent of the 2016
total.
“It’s history-making numbers with re-
gard to our early voting,” said Mayor
Eric Genrich of Green Bay, who said that
turnout in his city was at about 50 per-
cent of the 2016 level. Voters lined the
foyer of Green Bay City Hall last week
while waiting to cast their ballots early.
The city got a grant to upgrade its
counting equipment. Still, Mr. Genrich
warned of delays in tabulating the votes.
“It’s going to take longer than people
are used to,” Mr. Genrich said.
TAMIR KALIFA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
22 0 N
Election
Campaigns Battle to Earn Votes of Black Men
From Page 1
ments in a race that has been de-
fined by the monthslong stable
lead of Mr. Biden over Mr. Trump
in many polls. Republicans are
making a concerted push to cut
into the Democrats’ base of Black
support in battleground states, as
well as drive up their own num-
bers of Latino voters, and some
polling suggests the effort has
been moderately successful.
Mr. Biden held a 78-11 percent-
age point lead among Black men
in a recent national poll from The
New York Times and Siena Col-
lege, a comparatively weak num-
ber for a Democratic nominee
whose ticket includes the first
Black woman selected as vice
president. (Many undecided
Black voters are widely expected
to vote Democratic, though a
number could well stay home.)
Mr. Trump won roughly 13 per-
cent of Black male voters in 2016,
according to exit polls; some
Trump advisers are aiming to get
closer to 20 percent this week.
Among some Black men, there
is a belief that Mr. Biden carries
similar baggage to Mrs. Clinton: a
policy history that includes help-
ing pass legislation that contribut-
ed to large increases in Black pris-
on populations, and a party his-
tory in which they feel Democratic
candidates are more concerned
with winning Black voters than
improving the conditions of Black
communities.
Demery Charleston, a 42-year-
old who lives in a suburb of Detroit
called Harper Woods, said he was
voting for Republicans because he
believed they spoke out more
forcefully against violence within
Black communities and the inci-
dents of looting that occurred dur-
ing a summer of protests.
“I’m talking about the real De-
troit. I don’t see these protesters
marching in these neighbor-
hoods,” Mr. Charleston said. “A 7-
year-old girl gets shot in the
neighborhood, and there’s noth-
ing. It’s real hypocrisy,” he added,
referring to a girl who was shot by
someone driving by her Detroit
home in May.
Mr. Obama, for one, tried to re-
spond to such criticism of Demo-
crats by delivering a direct mes-
sage to Black men at a recent
event in Philadelphia: Don’t get
cynical.
“What I’ve consistently tried to
communicate this year, particu-
larly when I’m talking to young
brothers, who may be cynical of
what can happen, is to acknowl-
edge to them that government
and voting alone is not going to
change everything,” Mr. Obama
said. “But we did make things bet-
ter.”
To understand why some Black
men would be drawn to a presi-
dent who has expressed racist
sentiments, stoked white griev-
ances for political gain and was
the political face of the birther lie
against America’s first Black pres-
ident, is to grapple with the com-
plexity of the Black experience. In
interviews with more than two
dozen Black men across swing
states, including Florida, Wiscon-
sin, Michigan and Pennsylvania,
they described voting rationales
as a complex web of race, gender
and socioeconomic status — with
policy concerns like health care,
immigration and the pandemic.
Todd Holden, who joined an
hourslong line on the final day of
early voting in Philadelphia, said
he was primarily driven to vote
against Mr. Trump, but he was
also drawn to Mr. Biden’s promise
to act on climate change.
“Biden and Harris have a huge
climate change platform which is
big,” Mr. Holden, 29, said. “From
2016, up until this point, it’s
seemed almost like a mission to
roll back everything Obama has
done with the environment.”
Several Black men, including
ones backing Mr. Trump, said vot-
ing was a means to an end: a de-
termination on how best to work a
system that has not historically
prioritized Black advancement.
“We’ve been voting for Demo-
crats for 50 and 60 years and no
progress,” said Marco Bisbee, who
attended Mr. Trump’s recent rally
in Lansing, Mich., along with his
13-year-old son, Quavion. “Y’all
had eight years of a Black man as
president — he ain’t give you what
you need.”
Mr. Bisbee, one of the few Black
men at the rally, voted for Mrs.
Clinton in 2016 but now plans to
vote for Mr. Trump. He decided to
support Republicans after what
he described as unfair treatment
of Brett Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s
nominee to the Supreme Court,
who was accused of sexual assault
during his confirmation hearings.
Hakim Rahman, a 23-year-old
from Philadelphia, said his disillu-
sionment with Democrats began
soon after he voted for Mrs. Clin-
ton in 2016, when he grew frus-
trated with what he felt was unfair
pressure put on Black voters to
vote Democratic.
Astead W. Herndon reported from
Detroit, Lansing, Mich., and Mil-
waukee, Nick Corasaniti from
Philadelphia and Chester, Pa., and
Kathleen Gray from Detroit.
City officials and attendees gathered in Philadelphia for National Poll Worker Recruitment Day.
Representative Dwight Evans speaking to grocery store patrons in Philadelphia.
State Senator Sharif Street canvassing with State Senate candidate John Kane in Chester, Pa.
“Just seeing Joe Biden saying
‘you ain’t Black,’ it’s exposing that
the Democrats feel entitled to the
Black vote,” said Mr. Rahman, as
he waited in a nearly two-hour line
to vote early outside City Hall. He
decried what he viewed as a dis-
torted media portrayal of Mr.
Trump as a racist, and said that ef-
forts like the bipartisan criminal
justice bill signed by Mr. Trump
and economic opportunity zones
had helped Black Americans.
Make no mistake: Democrats
are likely to win an overwhelming
share of Black votes, and the vast
A surprising turn in
a tight race in three
battleground states.
majority of votes from Black men.
Mr. Trump’s efforts — whether it’s
showcasing Black speakers at the
Republican National Convention,
highlighting endorsements from
Black rappers like Lil Wayne and
Ice Cube, or emphasizing his sup-
port for historically Black colleges
and universities — are attempts to
cut into Mr. Biden’s share of Black
voters.
In the Philadelphia region, that
G.O.P. effort strikes a nerve. In
2016, the overall turnout in the
predominantly Black neighbor-
hoods of north and northwest
Philadelphia was down compared
with 2012, even as late campaign
events featuring Mrs. Clinton
drew huge crowds.
For the past few weekends,
Representative Dwight Evans,
whose district includes north Phil-
adelphia, has driven a caravan of
cars around the neighborhoods,
with placards declaring “Black
Voters Win Elections” duct taped
to the sides, making pit stops in
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
grocery plazas to talk to voters
and pass out literature, reminding
them that the neighborhoods
were once food deserts until Dem-
ocrats fought for changes.
“Remember when Trump said,
particularly to the Black commu-
nity, in August of 2016, ‘What the
hell do you have to lose?’ Well, you
could lose this building, these
blocks,” Mr. Evans said, standing
in the parking lot of a ShopRite off
Fox Street.
Mr. Street, who is vice chair of
the state Democratic Party, can-
vassed recently in Chester, a ma-
jority Black city in Delaware
County, just outside Philadelphia.
He knocked on doors with John
Kane, a white plumber running for
State Senate, on a block that had
low turnout in the last election.
To Mr. Street, the battle was less
about convincing Black voters in
this city to vote for Democrats. It
was simply convincing them to
turn out.
“These folks that we convinced
today by showing up, for the Black
and brown community, it’s not
Trump or Biden,” Mr. Street said
as he made a second lap down 8th
Street. “It’s voting for the Demo-
crats or staying at home.”
Election experts and forecast-
ers said there was little chance Mr.
Trump’s inroads with Black men
could swing a state election out-
come unless he also attracted
more suburban voters, seniors
and college-educated whites.
The Trump efforts have also in-
spired some backlash.
“All the Black radio stations I’m
calling into, we get to kind of a con-
versation where people feel
deeply offended that there’s an ac-
tive effort to suppress their vote
or create obstacles for them vot-
ing,” said Mr. Booker, the New Jer-
sey senator.
In Wisconsin, Democrats are
seeking to energize the Black men
in Milwaukee who may have sat
out the last election — while hold-
MARK MAKELA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
MARK MAKELA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
MARK MAKELA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
ing on to white voters in other
parts of the state. Even among
more progressive men, who did
not see Mr. Biden as their top
choice in the Democratic primary,
there was a sense that ousting Mr.
Trump was the first step to seeing
real change.
Throughout Michigan, a state
Mr. Trump narrowly won in 2016
but is trailing by several points
now, some voters said a key to
Black turnout was whether
younger Black men got involved.
Darren Mosley, a 54-year-old
Detroit resident who attended an
event with Senator Gary Peters
last week, said Democrats made
reaching young voters harder, but
not impossible, by nominating an
older candidate.
“We need some young blood,”
Mr. Mosley said. “Look at the age
of senators and people in office.
They don’t have young minds. We
need younger thinking so we can
move forward and keep young
voters encouraged.”
For some Black male voters,
their argument for Mr. Biden at
this point was one of harm reduc-
tion — that supporting Democrats
would lower the chances of life
getting worse, even if it didn’t en-
sure that everything would be-
come better. But that was a calcu-
lation rejected by Mr. Bisbee, the
man who brought his son to Mr.
Trump’s rally in Lansing.
Asked about some of the presi-
dent’s most controversial com-
ments about race, including using
profanity to describe some Afri-
can countries, Mr. Bisbee dis-
missed it.
“Was he not telling the truth?”
he responded.
But even he had limits to his
support. He laughed when asked
whether he thought the president
was a role model.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said.
“But we elected him to do a job.”
He and his teenage son then
walked into the rally.
Did the President Keep
His First-Term Promises?
A Look at His Track Record After Four Years
By LINDA QIU
and ANNIE KARNI
Four years ago, Donald J.
Trump won the presidency after
making a series of concrete prom-
ises to his supporters.
“I would repeal and replace the
big lie, Obamacare,” he said dur-
ing his kickoff speech. “I would
build a great wall, and nobody
builds walls better than me.” Un-
like his 2020 campaign, which is
based on vague promises of more
“winning, winning, winning,” Mr.
Trump’s campaign four years ago
was rooted in promises of tax cuts
and the appointment of judges
with conservative credentials.
Has he kept the promises that
helped get him here? And do his
supporters care? A recent survey
from New York University found
that those who voted for Mr.
Trump in 2016 thought he had bro-
ken fewer than one promise out of
five. Those who voted for Hillary
Clinton said he broke more than
four out of five.
In reality, Mr. Trump has broken
about half of 100 campaign prom-
ises, according to a tracker by Po-
litiFact. The fact-checking web-
site does not measure intention,
only verifiable outcomes. (On av-
erage, presidents break about a
third of their promises.)
Supporters of Mr. Trump who
spoke to The New York Times said
overwhelmingly that they were
pleased with how he had lived up
to his pledges. Here’s a look at how
he fared on some of his signature
promises.
Build a Wall and Make Mexico Pay
Erecting a barrier along the
southwestern border was the de-
fining rallying cry of Mr. Trump’s
2016 campaign. “Build the Wall”
became a chant — he promised to
build 1,000 miles of border wall —
and passing on the cost to Mexico
was the delicious kicker.
Over the past four years, the
Trump administration had con-
structed 371 miles of border barri-
ers, as of Oct 16. And it is on pace
to reach 400 miles this month.
However, all but 16 miles of the
new barriers replace or reinforce
existing structures.
That has not stopped Mr. Trump
from touting the wall as a mission
accomplished at his campaign al-
lies. “And by the way, Mexico is
paying,” Mr. Trump said at a rally
in Sanford, Fla., last month.
In fact, Mexico is not paying for
it.
The barriers that have been
constructed along the border so
far have been paid for by Ameri-
can taxpayers.
The fact that Mr. Trump brings
up the wall as part of his “Prom-
ises Made, Promises Kept” cam-
paign spiel does not seem to both-
er his most loyal supporters, who
view it as something more like the
motto of a sports team they love.
“I see the ‘building the wall’ as
symbolic,” said Amad Zarak, 20, a
student in Gainesville, Fla. “It’s a
physical manifestation of the pol-
icy of restricting immigration.”
Alan Sanchez, 57, a defense con-
tractor from Maricopa, Ariz., con-
ceded that the president did not
get it done.
“He could have done better,” Mr.
Sanchez said. “It would have tak-
en congressional support. He did
what he could.”
The Department of Homeland
Security has argued that the new
barriers have reduced the person-
nel needed to staff certain sectors,
and reduced unauthorized immi-
gration. In Mr. Trump’s first year
in office, illegal border crossings
did decline to the lowest point
since the 1970s, but then in-
creased to the highest point in a
decade in the 2019 fiscal year be-
fore decreasing again this year
during the pandemic.
Appoint Conservative Judges
With three Supreme Court Jus-
tices and 25 percent of the federal
judiciary now made up of Trump
appointees, according to data
from Russell Wheeler, a judiciary
expert at the Brookings Institu-
tion, the president has been more
successful on this campaign
promise than perhaps any other.
His campaign boasts that he
has flipped the balance of three
federal appeals courts and shifted
nine appeals courts to the right.
His nomination of Justice Amy
Coney Barrett in the weeks before
the election could reshape abor-
tion rights, immigration law and
the government’s regulatory
power. Confirming a Supreme
Court justice so close to an elec-
tion was unprecedented, and
Democrats framed it as an illegiti-
mate power grab by Republicans.
Mr. Trump has defended his
right to do so, arguing that elec-
tions have consequences.
“I do agree with the Scotus
picks,” Cynthia Deal, 63, a teacher
from Bloomington, Minn., said, re-
ferring to the Supreme Court.
“President Trump is not necessar-
ily a great role model, he has
flaws, but he has supported our
pro-life values,” she said.
Replace the Affordable Care Act
The yearslong Republican cam-
paign to repeal and replace the Af-
fordable Care Act came to a head
unsuccessfully and dramatically
in the first year of Mr. Trump’s
presidency, when Senator John
McCain of Arizona cast the deci-
sive vote against the effort. The
Democrats’ regaining a majority
in the House of Representatives
after the 2018 midterm elections
all but doomed any subsequent
legislative attempts to strike
down the whole law.
The president and his party are
still trying. Republican lawmak-
ers eliminated the Affordable
Care Act’s individual mandate as
part of the 2017 tax cuts, and the
Trump administration is arguing
before the Supreme Court that the
whole health care law should go
down with it.
Mr. Trump’s supporters do not
fault him for failing to dismantle
the signature achievement of for-
mer President Barack Obama.
“I think he’s going to have is-
sues because he’s going to have to
go through Congress. I am slightly
disappointed that it hasn’t hap-
pened yet, I don’t know if it’s his
fault or not,” said Mike Vorwaller,
a 42-year-old project manager for
an engineering company in St.
Johns, Fla. “I do like that he’s re-
moved the individual mandate.”
Cutting Taxes
The 2017 tax cuts are one of the
biggest legislative achievements
of Mr. Trump’s first term, and one
celebrated by his supporters.
“Business is booming. We’re
coming back even stronger after
Covid,” said Justin Davies, 36 and
a small-business owner in Ruther-
fordton, N.C.
Some critics, however, have
noted that the final tax cut that Mr.
Trump signed into law was far
smaller than what he promised as
a candidate. Mr. Trump said he
would cut the top corporate in-
come tax rate to 15 percent from
35 percent, for example. His final
bill brought it down to 21 percent.
Those nuances, however, have
been left out of his rallies, where
Mr. Trump has been telling his
supporters (falsely) that he suc-
ceeded in passing the “biggest tax
cut in history.”
While most Americans got a tax
cut, high earners received 60 per-
cent of the total tax savings.
That’s somewhat at odds with Mr.
Trump’s promise that the “largest
tax reductions are for the middle
class” — and a fact not lost to
some supporters.
“I’m not happy with the fact
that he cut taxes for the upper in-
come brackets. I don’t think he
wanted to do it, but the Republican
Senate forced him to do it,” said
Gabriel Steinberg, 25, a medical
student in Manhattan. “But he
signed it, it’s his bill.”
Renegotiate Trade Deals
During the 2016 race, Mr. Trump
broke with bipartisan orthodoxy
and questioned Washington’s dec-
ades-long support for free trade
deals. He vowed to renegotiate the
North American Free Trade
Agreement or withdraw from it
entirely, pull out of the Trans-Pa-
cific Partnership and raise tariffs.
He has delivered on those
promises. He withdrew from the
T.P.P. in his first days in office. He
waged a trade war with China and
slapped tariffs on numerous im-
ports, leaving American con-
sumers to bear the financial
brunt. He signed the United
States-Mexico-Canada Agree-
ment, which included significant
changes but also an array of sim-
ple updates to Nafta.
Though some experts are skep-
tical that Mr. Trump’s trade poli-
cies have been economically ben-
eficial — with the conservative
Tax Foundation estimating that
the tariffs have brought in reve-
nue, but reduced wages, gross do-
mestic product and job growth —
supporters have been delighted.
Mr. Davies said he had lost his
job as an engineer because of
Nafta, when his former company
informed employees that it was
moving to Mexico. In contrast, he
said, Mr. Trump’s trade policies
have revived the area.
“If you wanted to come to our
small town, I’ll show all our hiring
signs around the county. We’re re-
bounding so fast,” he said.
That experience hasn’t been
universal. Manufacturing em-
ployment rose nationwide by
500,000 through March. But, rav-
aged by the coronavirus pan-
demic, there were 190,000 fewer
jobs in the sector by September
than when Mr. Trump took office.
Rick Roeder, 72, of Raleigh,
N.C., said he had not directly bene-
fited from Mr. Trump’s trade poli-
cies, but he was nonetheless
“thrilled with the renovation with
Nafta and thrilled that he’s con-
fronted China and some of our Eu-
ropean trading partners.”

Election
Foiled on First Try, Giuliani’s Team Peddles More Dirt on the Bidens
From Page 1
Mr. Trump for trying to strong-
arm the Ukrainian government
into announcing an investigation
into the Bidens. And despite the
efforts of Mr. Giuliani, who engi-
neered the Ukrainian pressure
campaign, Mr. Biden went on to
win the Democratic nomination
and to build a consistent lead in
the polls against Mr. Trump.
Now Mr. Giuliani, undaunted
and surrounded by a new cast of
characters after some of his wing-
men in the Ukraine caper were in-
dicted, is trying again.
This time, he and his allies are
using a mix of unsubstantiated as-
sertions about the former vice
president, innuendo and salacious
material about his son, as well as
records showing that Hunter Bi-
den invoked his “family’s brand”
as a reason he was valuable to a
business venture, while his team’s
business plan cited his father’s
work in particular countries.
Mr. Giuliani and his allies — op-
erating in parallel with a loosely
linked network of conservatives
— are in effect trying to recreate
the blueprint Mr. Trump and his
allies employed in 2016, when they
used emails and documents,
many stolen by Russian hackers,
to paint Hillary Clinton as crimi-
nally corrupt and spread de-
praved conspiracy theories.
A Chinese-language media op-
eration linked to Mr. Guo began
promoting some of the material
about the younger Mr. Biden
weeks before it appeared in The
New York Post.
The Post articles were quickly
followed by others from Peter
Schweizer, the conservative au-
thor who in 2016 had promoted un-
substantiated theories about cor-
ruption by the Clintons and who in
this case was relying on material
provided by a former associate of
Hunter Biden who is serving a 30-
month prison sentence for federal
fraud charges. Hunter Biden was
not charged in the case.
Mr. Schweizer’s work has been
backed by some of the donors who
fueled Mr. Trump’s rise in 2016, in-
cluding the hedge fund heiress Re-
bekah Mercer’s family, the princi-
pal owner of the now-defunct data
firm Cambridge Analytica, which
also came under federal investiga-
tion after exploiting the private
data of Facebook users in 2016.
Among the new participants in
2020 are some with close ties to
Mr. Trump, including the former
White House lawyer Stefan C.
Passantino, a current White
House official, Eric Herschmann,
and the former Speaker Newt
Gingrich. They worked to pro-
mote documents and claims by
Tony Bobulinski, yet another un-
happy former business partner of
Hunter Biden.
But, as the anti-Biden forces
quickly discovered, 2020 is not
2016.
While the president has pro-
moted the material relentlessly,
many of the Trump-friendly news
outlets and other organizations
that sustained the effort four
years ago have been diminished
or sidelined. Their 2020 replace-
ments have had less reach, and
the anti-Biden material they have
been pumping out has been met
with heightened skepticism from
traditional news outlets and social
media platforms determined to
avoid being seen as abetting dirty
tricks.
The New York Post articles
based on the contents of the mys-
terious hard drive delivered by
Mr. Giuliani failed to drive a
broader narrative about Mr. Biden
in the way that WikiLeaks did
with the Clinton materials. Twitter
and Facebook blocked or flagged
the Post’s articles, which were
published despite concerns from
the paper’s newsroom.
The National Enquirer dropped
its pro-Trump political advocacy
after its 2016 coverage landed it in
legal trouble. The Drudge Report,
which had driven huge web traffic
to anti-Clinton pieces, has taken a
hard turn against Mr. Trump.
Provocateurs who aided Mr.
Trump four years ago, like Roger
Stone, one of his oldest advisers,
and Alex Jones, the founder of the
Infowars conspiracy site, have
faced legal troubles and seen their
social media accounts suspended.
The foreign and domestic troll net-
works that carried the most out-
landish anti-Clinton charges have
been muted by tougher policing of
their efforts from the social media
platforms.
Even as Fox News has covered
the anti-Biden material prodi-
giously, some of its staff members
have challenged claims that the
material is damaging to the for-
mer vice president, and have
questioned Mr. Giuliani’s credibil-
ity.
While highlighting questions
about the business activities of
Hunter Biden and the former vice
president’s brother James Biden,
Mr. Giuliani and his allies have
failed to prove that Joe Biden was
involved in or a beneficiary of
them. And they have distracted
from the documents about which
Ben Decker and Michael Forsythe
contributed reporting.
there are fewer questions related
to the chain of custody by making
unsubstantiated claims and pub-
lishing salacious pictures and vid-
eos that have no apparent rele-
vance to Mr. Biden’s candidacy.
Mr. Giuliani expressed frustra-
tion with the way the news media
was keeping its distance, and said
he would have preferred to have
pushed out the materials earlier.
“I would have loved to have had
this six months ago,” he said in a
recent interview. “It would have
solved a lot of my problems.”
A Confluence of Interests
The three men gathered for din-
ner and cigars in Mr. Guo’s apart-
ment that October evening were
united by similar travails and self-
interests that give them reason to
curry favor with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Bannon was arrested in Au-
gust on Mr. Guo’s 150-foot yacht,
the Lady May, and charged with
defrauding donors to a private
fund-raising effort for Mr. Trump’s
border wall initiative.
Mr. Guo, who faces accusations
of bribery, money laundering and
rape in China that he describes as
a government campaign to smear
him, is seeking asylum in the
United States. A company that he
and Mr. Bannon helped start, GTV
Media, is reportedly under inves-
tigation by the Securities and Ex-
change Commission and the F.B.I.
Mr. Giuliani came under scru-
tiny from federal prosecutors over
whether he violated foreign lobby-
ing laws early in the anti-Biden ef-
fort, and intelligence officials
warned the White House last year
that Russian agents were using
Stephen K. Bannon, a former Trump adviser, was arrested in August on a yacht owned by Mr. Guo.
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
BRENDAN M cDERMID/REUTERS
him as a conduit for anti-Biden
disinformation.
Mr. Bannon, Mr. Guo and Mr.
Giuliani have all maintained their
innocence.
They each brought something
to the table: Mr. Guo’s fortune and
fledgling media business, Mr.
Bannon’s experience as a right-
wing media warrior, and Mr. Giuli-
ani’s influence with Mr. Trump
and erratic, if determined, record
of assaulting the Bidens.
Mr. Guo and Mr. Bannon began
working together after Mr. Ban-
non left the White House in 2017,
quickly bonding over their mutual
antipathy toward the Chinese
Communist Party.
Mr. Guo, who is also known as
Miles Kwok, left China in 2014, as
the government there began lev-
eling corruption allegations
against his business associates
and eventually Mr. Guo. He
moved to New York, buying a
$67.5 million apartment along
Central Park and spending time
aboard the Lady May.
In the years since, he has
emerged as an outspoken critic of
the Chinese Communist Party.
But his former association with a
Chinese intelligence official and
his attacks on some Chinese dissi-
dents in the United States and
elsewhere has fueled questions
about his agenda.
As he seeks asylum, he has built
bridges into Mr. Trump’s orbit. He
is a member of Mr. Trump’s pri-
vate club in Palm Beach, Fla.,
Mar-a-Lago, and he is repre-
sented by a lawyer, Daniel T. Pod-
haskie, who had worked as an out-
side counsel for the Trump Orga-
Rudolph W. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, above, joined with Guo Wengui, a Chi-
nese billionaire, left, and others last month to plan a new attack on Hunter Biden and his father.
nization and the Trump campaign.
When Mr. Bannon left the White
House, Mr. Guo gave him a
$150,000 loan, which Mr. Bannon
later told The New York Times
was related to a film project about
the Chinese Communist Party.
Soon afterward, a media com-
pany associated with Mr. Guo,
Guo Media, gave Mr. Bannon a $1
million contract to introduce its
executives to “media person-
alities” and advise it on industry
standards, subjects on which Mr.
Bannon had expertise as the for-
mer head of Breitbart News.
Mr. Guo’s representatives have
said he is merely the face of Guo
Media and not an owner, though
its central property, G News, is
closely identified with Mr. Guo
and his cause. In April, an associ-
ated venture linked to Mr. Guo and
Mr. Bannon registered as a new
business in New York, GTV Me-
dia, whose central hub is a Chi-
nese-language, anti-Communist
Party video platform.
In a GTV video posted on Twit-
ter in July, Mr. Guo described Mr.
Bannon and Mr. Podhaskie as di-
rectors, noting their ties to Mr.
Trump, though Mr. Bannon was
removed from the board the next
month after his arrest.
The venture quickly raised $300
million, but as The Wall Street
Journal reported in August, its
fund-raising drew scrutiny from
federal and state authorities, in-
cluding the Securities and Ex-
change Commission and the F.B.I.
The media properties soon
seized on a subject that repre-
sented a confluence of interest be-
tween Mr. Bannon and Mr. Guo —
claims that Hunter Biden used his
father’s name to make money
from China.
In September, the Guo-related
media world started noting chat-
ter about hard drives purportedly
belonging to Hunter Biden. In late
September, the material was
teased by the host of an anti-Bei-
jing YouTube show who goes by
Lu De. He is closely associated
with Mr. Guo and appeared in a
photograph with Mr. Giuliani and
Mr. Bannon that was posted on G
News and later Twitter shortly be-
fore he first brought up the ma-
terial.
Weeks before the New York
JEFFERSON SIEGEL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Post articles, Lu De, whose real
name, according to GTV, is Wang
Dinggang, claimed without evi-
dence on his YouTube program
that Chinese sources had sent
“three hard disks” with damaging
material about Chinese leaders
and about Mr. Biden, including
videos recorded by the Commu-
nist Party, to the Justice Depart-
ment and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
That broadcast was first re-
ported by The Daily Beast, which
also noted that three days later, a
Twitter account associated with
Mr. Bannon and Mr. Guo picked
up that report. The tweet de-
scribed “3 hard disk drives of vid-
eos and dossiers of Hunter Bi-
den’s connections with the Chi-
nese Communist Party” and said
they had the makings of a “Big
money and sex scandal!”
Salacious material published
on the Guo-linked sites is being
picked up regularly by fringe out-
lets like Infowars and Gateway
Pundit, providing it a conduit to
English-speaking audiences in
the United States. Those outlets,
though, have faced hurdles on
Twitter, Facebook and other plat-
forms that have sought to block
the explicit videos and suspend
accounts circulating them.
In recent days, GTV featured a
notice saying it would continue to
publish the videos but would “do
our best” to filter graphic depic-
tions.
Mr. Bannon asserted that the
effort to limit the spread of the
New York Post’s articles on social
media had backfired, drawing
more attention to them. “Social
media overplayed this and did us
a favor,” Mr. Bannon said.
It is unclear if the material fea-
tured on the sites linked to Mr.
Guo is the same as that provided
to The New York Post by Mr. Giu-
liani, which Mr. Giuliani said came
from a laptop turned over to his
lawyer by a computer store owner
in Delaware.
Mr. Giuliani did not respond to
questions about the origins of the
materials featured by the Guo-
linked outlets, nor did Mr. Guo’s
lawyer.
But in a statement, Mr. Guo
said, “I support GTV’s efforts to
make the public aware of the
C.C.P.’s ability to infiltrate and
gain influence in the U.S. govern-
ment, the media and their families
and friends through corruption,
drugs and sex scandals.”
He also said he had “not been
involved in providing any infor-
mation to The N.Y. Post regarding
this story.”
Mr. Bannon said that Mr. Guo
had not been connected to the ac-
quisition of the hard drive that Mr.
Bannon helped Mr. Giuliani pro-
vide to The New York Post.
But Mr. Bannon acknowledged
that he pushes content to GTV,
which also carries his podcast,
War Room.
Conservative Networks
At the same time Mr. Bannon
and Mr. Giuliani were shopping
the purported hard drive, two
other efforts were afoot to dissem-
inate related information on
Hunter Biden.
In one, Mr. Schweizer had ob-
tained a cache of emails from Bev-
an Cooney, the former Hunter Bi-
den associate who is in prison for
fraud.
Using those emails, Mr.
Schweizer and a researcher for
0N 23
DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
his watchdog group, the Govern-
ment Accountability Institute,
have published several stories, in-
cluding one trying to draw a link
between Hunter Biden’s dealings
in China and his associates’ ef-
forts to arrange meetings in
Washington for Chinese business
leaders during the Obama admin-
istration.
Mr. Schweizer’s institute, of
which Mr. Bannon was a co-
founder, has received funding
from Ms. Mercer’s family, accord-
ing to tax records. The Mercers
have also provided funding to
Breitbart News, which was previ-
ously run by Mr. Bannon and
which has been publishing Mr.
Schweizer’s articles.
Separately, Mr. Schweizer was
consulted in September about the
claims made by Mr. Bobulinski,
who had worked in 2017 with
Hunter and James Biden on a joint
venture with a Chinese conglom-
erate that fizzled.
According to two people famil-
iar with the events, Mr. Bobulin-
ski, an investor who had done
business related to China, had ap-
proached allies of Mr. Trump,
seeking assistance to publicize his
claims.
Mr. Bobulinski, who was admit-
tedly bitter about the way the pro-
posed deal unraveled, was re-
ferred to Mr. Passantino, who pre-
viously worked in the White
House Counsel’s Office and works
with a campaign-affiliated group,
Lawyers for Trump.
In an effort to vet Mr. Bobulin-
ski’s claims and documents, Mr.
Passantino was referred by Mr.
Gingrich, a longtime client, to Mr.
Schweizer, who wrote a book in
2018 about business dealings in-
volving Hunter Biden in Ukraine,
China and elsewhere.
Mr. Passantino “just asked ad-
vice,” Mr. Gingrich said. “And I
said, ‘Look, the guy who knows
the most about this is Schweizer,’
so I sent him Schweizer’s email
address.”
Mr. Passantino and Mr. Bobulin-
ski met with Mr. Schweizer in Sep-
tember to review the materials,
and Mr. Schweizer said they com-
ported with his own research.
Armed with that assurance, Mr.
Passantino and Mr. Herschmann,
who had worked first as a private
lawyer for Mr. Trump, then as a
member of the impeachment de-
fense team and more recently as a
West Wing official, attended a
meeting in Virginia to provide Mr.
Bobulinski’s documents and out-
line his claims to a reporter from
The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Bobulinski has asserted
that the former vice president was
aware of, and stood to potentially
profit from, the joint venture. Mr.
Bobulinski says he met twice with
the former vice president after he
left office.
The Journal dug into Mr. Bobu-
linski’s account, and in the end re-
ported that corporate records
showed “no role for Joe Biden” in
the deal and that the documents
provided by Mr. Bobulinski “don’t
show either Hunter Biden or
James Biden discussing a role for
Joe Biden in the venture.”
Still, Mr. Gingrich, who posted a
video last week highlighting some
of the material, says it has res-
onated with Mr. Trump’s support-
ers, adding that if “you want to
maximize your turnout, this is not
a bad way to do it.”
24 0 N
Election
Battleground Dispatches: 2 Days to Go
The path to the presidency runs through about a dozen states that President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. are seriously contesting — battlegrounds that will decide who wins the Electoral
College. The New York Times has collected dispatches from the swing states to help explain how voters see the race and the issues that are driving it.
ARIZONA: Democrats
Eye an Unlikely District
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — At
her campaign headquarters here,
Hiral Tipirneni attempted to rally her
small army of virtual troops for a
phone bank event. It was a final push
about a week before the election
from perhaps the most ambitious
Democratic operation in Arizona.
Ms. Tipirneni, a medical doctor, is
attempting to unseat Representative
David Schweikert
and flip Arizona’s
11 Sixth Congressional
Electoral votes District, which
2016 margin: spans the wealthy
Trump +3.5 Phoenix suburbs of
Scottsdale, Paradise
2020 rating: Valley and Fountain
Lean Hills and carries a
Democratic Republican voter
registration advan-
tage of 12 percentage points.
“We have the power; we have the
vote; we can fire him — and that’s
the plan,” Ms. Tipirneni told her
volunteers in a video conference call.
If a “blue wave” washes over Ari-
zona on Tuesday, as some expect, Mr.
Trump could lose the state. It would
take a blue tsunami for Ms. Tipirneni
to pull off a victory against Mr.
Schweikert, a four-term incumbent
who won re-election in 2018 by more
than 10 percentage points.
But Democrats have been voting
early in droves. As of Friday evening,
Arizona Democrats had cast 38 per-
cent of all ballots in the state, while
Republicans accounted for 37 per-
cent, turning historical voting pat-
terns on their heads. (Republicans in
the Sixth District, however, had a
lead of about seven percentage
points in ballots cast.) Usually, Re-
publicans hold a huge advantage in
early voting and mail balloting, and
Democrats cut into that lead by
dropping off mail ballots on Election
Day.
Despite messages from the state
Republican Party that voting by mail
is safe and effective, Republican
voters are instead heeding Mr.
Trump’s directive to go to the polls
on Election Day. But some Republi-
cans worry that banking on last-
minute voters in a state where nearly
80 percent of voters receive ballots
by mail could be a recipe for failure
and will be at least in part to blame if
Mr. Biden pulls off a victory here.
For Ms. Tipirneni, there are other
signs that the district is within reach.
She is a prolific fund-raiser who
came within five percentage points of
victory in a neighboring congres-
sional district two years ago.
Chuck Coughlin, a Republican
political strategist in Arizona who
served as chief of staff to former Gov.
Jan Brewer, recalled running into Ms.
Tipirneni at an event in 2019 and
telling her she had no chance to win
in 2020. Now, he believes she has an
even chance and said that Republi-
cans banking on a surge on Election
Day might be sorely disappointed.
“Republicans might outperform
Democrats on Election Day this
time,” he said. “It’s just never hap-
pened before.” HANK STEPHENSON
GEORGIA: Up and Down the Ballot, Racism Is an Issue
ATLANTA — Mokah Jasmine John-
son, who is running for a seat in the
Georgia House of Representatives
from Athens, was participating in an
online candidate forum in October
when a number of trolls began pep-
pering her with a string of racist slurs
and insults.
At the end of the forum Ms. John-
son, a Democrat and social justice
activist who is Black, made a simple
plea.
“I’m asking for you to look beyond
my skin color,” she said, “and look at
my work.”
This is a tense election season in
Georgia, a Deep South state with a
long history of segregation, a popula-
tion that is 32 percent Black and a
broader explosion of
16 ethnic and racial
diversity that is
Electoral votes
benefiting Demo-
crats and moving
2016 margin:
Trump +5.1 the state from red to
purple.
2020 rating:
Mr. Trump, who in
Tossup
June retweeted a
RACE RATINGS
video of a supporter
FROM THE COOK
shouting “white
POLITICAL REPORT.
power,” won the state
in 2016 by five percentage points.
Recent polls have Mr. Biden running
neck-and-neck in the state.
Issues of racism — and assertions of
who harbors it, who wields it, and why
— have helped shape the state’s 2020
races up and down the ticket. The Rev.
Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, a Democrat
who is vying to become the first Black
U.S. senator from Georgia, has been
telling crowds that Trump-era Repub-
licans engage in distraction by “con-
vincing white sisters and brothers that
their problem is the Black folk who
might come to the suburbs.”
Earlier this year, the killings in
Georgia of Rayshard Brooks and
Ahmaud Arbery, both Black men,
helped fuel protests around the state,
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
YWZZQQSF
Marylouise Felhofer, a retired Navy nurse, said health care was a top priority. Father Tom Suriano, 82, said “children in cages” was also a “pro-life” issue.
WISCONSIN: The State’s Older Voters Wield Power, and Many Are Choosing Biden
MILWAUKEE — In a state where Mr. Both candidates have campaigned in
Trump won by less than one percentage Wisconsin in the race’s final days. And
point in 2016, any bloc of voters could television ads from both parties com-
swing this year’s election, and in Wis- pete for senior voters in the state, each
consin, older voters comprise a formi- insisting that its can-
dable group. didate will protect
Not only does Wisconsin have a 10 Medicare and Social
larger share of older adults than the Electoral votes Security.
national average — and in many coun- 2016 margin: But many voters
ties, 30 percent or more of the popula- Trump +0.8 said their life experi-
tion is age 60 and over — but the state’s ences influenced their
2020 rating:
older voters also head to the polls in big choices more than
numbers. Lean political ads. And the
In the 2018 midterm elections, 76 Democratic interviews suggested
percent of Wisconsin citizens age 65 that Mr. Trump might
and older voted, according to census be in trouble among this older demo-
data — more than in all but six other graphic.
states. For two retired priests who, like Ms.
In interviews, many older Wisconsin- Clausen, live in a Catholic senior com-
ites said they had already safely voted. munity, Mr. Biden was an easy choice.
“My ballot was mailed to me and my “For me, the environment is the big-
son took me to City Hall to drop it off,” gest issue — if we don’t take care of that,
said Grace Clausen, 92, of Greenfield, a there is no future,” said Father Ed Es-
Milwaukee suburb. “The slot went right chweiler, 99. “Certainly, no right to life is
into the building like a mail slot, and it going to be effective if we can’t breathe or
was marked with a great big sign.” drink the water or eat the food from the
A poll of Wisconsin last month by The soil. I don’t think our president has done
New York Times and Siena College anything significant on right-to-life,
showed Mr. Biden with a double-digit other than the appointment of three
advantage among voters over 65, 53 Supreme Court judges.”
percent to 42 percent. Father Tom Suriano, 82, said there
JOSHUA L. JONES/ATHENS BANNER-HERALD, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mokah Jasmine Johnson faced racist slurs in her bid for a State House seat.
some of which turned violent. Volun- Georgia has been stung by criticism
teers from Georgia voter-registration that it makes participating in elections
groups were at many of those pro- more difficult for people of color. Pro-
tests, seeking to channel outrage into Publica recently reported that a state-
votes. wide reduction in polling places had
At the same time, Mr. Trump ap- “primarily caused long lines in non-
pears to have maintained the loyalty white neighborhoods where voter
of some white, college-educated Geor- registration has surged and more
gians by convincing them that violent residents cast ballots in person on
“antifa thugs” were coming to ruin the Election Day.”
suburbs. Cooling Black voters’ enthusiasm
How these emotionally charged for the Democratic ticket appears to
issues will end up affecting voter be a goal for Mr. Trump and his allies.
turnout is anyone’s guess. But Charles A flier delivered to homes in central
S. Bullock III, a political scientist at Atlanta, paid for by the Georgia Re-
the University of Georgia, has estab- publican Party, brings up Mr. Biden’s
lished what he calls a “30-30” frame- controversial statement from 2007 in
work for understanding how racial which he said that Barack Obama was
voting patterns might influence this “the first mainstream African-Ameri-
and other elections in Georgia. For a can who is articulate and bright and
Democrat to win statewide, Mr. Bull- clean.”
ock said, he or she must get 30 per- Mr. Biden had to drop out of the
cent of white support, and African- 2008 presidential race, the flier says,
Americans need to cast at least 30 for “being racist.”
percent of the total votes. RICHARD FAUSSET
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAUREN JUSTICE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
were other “pro-life” issues to be con-
cerned about, like “children in cages,”
“people dying homeless and hungry on
the streets,” and “cutbacks to Oba-
macare.”
“First of all, Donald Trump is a new-
comer to the pro-life camp, but secondly,
once the baby is born, he seems to lose
interest,” Father Suriano said. “I get
angry at people who equate pro-life with
being anti-abortion.”
“The president is not very well-liked,”
observed Shirley Cohen, 92, a resident of
a Jewish senior community in Milwau-
kee. Gun control is “absolutely” her top
issue, she said, citing her disgust over
images of “pro-Trump militias” carrying
long guns at protests.
Memories of marching for civil rights
during the 1960s influenced a vote for
Mr. Biden by Cindy Labucki, 76, of Mil-
waukee. “I certainly condone the peace-
ful demonstrations for Black Lives
Matter,” said Ms. Labucki, a retired
teacher.
And health care was a top priority for
Marylouise Felhofer, 68, a retired Navy
nurse who lives in Oconomowoc. “The
Affordable Care Act could be enhanced,
but I don’t think it should be repealed,”
she said.
MICHIGAN: Will a G.O.P. County Tilt From Trump?
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Kent
County, home to former President
Gerald R. Ford and some of Michi-
gan’s most generous Republican
donors, has taken on a different
political hue in the last few years.
And Steve Pestka, 69, a former
Democratic state
legislator and
16 county judge from
Cascade Township
Electoral votes
on the west side of
2016 margin: Michigan, has
Trump +0.2 some anecdotal
2020 rating: proof. He’s been
Lean working his fam-
Democratic ily’s land develop-
ment business
from home during the coronavirus
pandemic and has had some extra
time for walks with his dog and
drives around the area.
He has taken to meticulously
counting lawn signs in towns
throughout the county, which is
anchored by Grand Rapids, the
state’s second largest city behind
Detroit. In some areas, the signs for
Mr. Biden outnumber signs for Mr.
Trump by 90 percent to 10 percent,
Mr. Pestka said. Even in the more
conservative areas of Kent County,
the breakdown has been 50-50.
“In terms of lawn signs, it’s over-
whelmingly Democratic,” he said. “I
know signs don’t vote. But just from
driving around, you’d think a Biden
landslide was coming.”
When you think of West Michigan,
a blue wave does not come to mind.
Kent County is home to the Amway
Corporation, created by Jay Van
Andel and Richard DeVos, whose
families have been Republican stal-
warts and benefactors for decades.
Their names grace parks, schools,
convention centers and one of the
fanciest hotels in the region. A
daughter-in-law, Betsy DeVos, is a
former chairwoman of the Michigan
Republican Party and the current
But Ms. Felhofer’s neighbor, Mickey
Laughland, 83, cast her vote for Mr.
Trump. “He’s not a politician — he does-
n’t owe people favors,” Ms. Laughland
said. “I wish he’d quit tweeting, but by
gum, he’s done what he said he would
do.”
Wesley Martin Jr., 77, president of the
Great Lakes Native American Elders
Association, predicted that most voters
in Wisconsin’s Menominee and Oneida
reservations would choose Mr. Biden, as
he did. He cited environmental protec-
tions as a key issue, along with Mr.
Trump’s history of clashing with tribal-
run casinos.
In Wisconsin’s far north, tourists and
wealthy people with lake homes belie
the area’s rate of poverty, said Erv Te-
ichmiller, 82, a Methodist minister and
former Vilas County Board supervisor.
“Our area tends to be Republican,
probably two to one,” said Mr. Teich-
miller, who predicted that Mr. Trump
would win in the region, but by a smaller
margin than in 2016. “A fair number of
people are tired of his bullying and lying
and are concerned about Obamacare
being taken away.” KAY NOLAN
education secretary in the Trump
administration.
And yet, the more diverse city of
Grand Rapids and its close-in sub-
urbs have been electing Democrats
to the state legislature for 15 years.
And after giving Mr. Trump a three-
point victory over Hillary Clinton in
2016, the county gave Gretchen
Whitmer, a Democrat, a four-point
win in her race for governor in 2018.
Bernie Porn, president of the
Lansing polling firm EPIC-MRA,
said Mr. Biden had a good shot of
repeating those numbers in Kent
County this year. “The level of sup-
port that turned the county blue two
years ago, I think Biden is doing
even better this year,” he said.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump
saw Kent County as pivotal in 2016.
Mrs. Clinton spoke at Grand Valley
State University outside Grand
Rapids on the day before the elec-
tion, and Mr. Trump spoke to thou-
sands of supporters at a plaza in the
city at 1 a.m. on Election Day.
Mr. Trump will try to recreate his
2016 winning formula this year with
a scheduled late-night rally on Mon-
day in Grand Rapids.
Lisa Posthumus Lyons, a Republi-
can who is running for re-election as
Kent County clerk, said she feels
good about her race but knows the
political dynamics are tricky this
year. In the last four years, the
county has gained 50,000 new regis-
tered voters, she said, and the
127,000 absentee ballots already
returned this year are nearly double
the number returned during the
entire 2016 election cycle.
“This is a very unique election
year because we’ve got a presiden-
tial-proportion turnout, coupled with
the pandemic,” she said. “It just
feels like the political winds are all
over the place right now.”
KATHLEEN GRAY

Election
NORTH CAROLINA: A
Region Cleaved in Two
CARRBORO, N.C. — Kara Hume
found it odd that a caravan of at least
30 trucks was rolling slowly through
the center of Carrboro, the liberal
North Carolina enclave that sits
adjacent to Chapel Hill, with Trump
flags waving from the bed of most
every vehicle.
Ms. Hume, a professor in the
School of Education at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was
on a town green, warming up the
regular Saturday morning CrossFit
class she coaches for young adults
with autism when the parade started
past her group.
“Given the nature of our communi-
ty and how we’re likely to vote, I just
wonder what was the intent,” Ms.
Hume said. “It’s surprising to me for
people to invest that
15 kind of time and
energy and re-
Electoral votes sources in a town
2016 margin: like Carrboro.”
Trump +3.7 North Carolina’s
Research Triangle,
2020 rating: with Raleigh to the
Tossup east, Durham at its
center, and Chapel Hill and Carrboro
to the west, is a traditionally blue
area, with most of its towns, cities
and citizens existing at some point
along the progressive scale.
However, there is an invisible line
at the western edge of the Triangle,
just past Carrboro, where the coterie
of liberal voters ends and a swath of
more traditionally Southern conser-
vatives begins.
No two adjacent areas better illus-
trate North Carolina’s political divide
than neighboring Orange and Ala-
mance Counties, creating one of the
most purple areas in what is argu-
ably America’s most purple state.
As the college-town streets of
Orange County’s Chapel Hill and
Carrboro give way to the rolling hills
of rural Alamance County, Biden-
Harris and Black Lives Matter signs
become less ubiquitous in favor of
Trump and thin blue line flags.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton received
nearly 73 percent of the vote in Or-
ange County. Mr. Trump won Ala-
mance County with 54 percent.
Pamela Ransohoff, a member of the
North Carolina Republican Party, was
stationed outside a popular Chapel
Hill voting location on Wednesday,
offering early voters sample ballots,
Trump-Pence stickers and facsimile
hundred-dollar bills with the presi-
dent’s face at their center.
She didn’t see the recent Trump
parade that passed through Carrboro
as a waste of energy and resources.
Rather, she said, it was a vital exercise
of Americans’ constitutional rights.
“You stand for what your values
are,” Ms. Ransohoff said. “I think it’s
important in a town like Carrboro to
be able to say what you think and
what you believe.”
For State Senator Jay Chaudhuri, a
Democrat, it is the proximity in which
these ideological divides exist that
makes North Carolina one of the most
interesting battleground states.
The outcome in North Carolina, he
said, will be decided at the margins.
“The open question is what’s hap-
pening with the so-called purple
areas,” Mr. Chaudhuri said. “We have
no idea, and anybody predicting the
outcome of the election in North
Carolina just isn’t telling the truth.”
MICHAEL VENUTOLO-MANTOVANI
RUTH FREMSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Biden leaving Durham, N.C.,
last month after a drive-in rally.
NEBRASKA’S SECOND DISTRICT: Trump Fights for a Single Electoral Vote That Could Prove Decisive
OMAHA — One congressional
district in the middle of the country is
getting a lot of attention from candi-
dates and pundits in the days before
the election: Nebraska’s Second Dis-
trict, which could play a decisive role
in a close presiden-
1 tial race.
Unlike most other
Electoral vote
states, Nebraska
2016 margin: awards Electoral
Trump +2.2
College votes by
2020 rating: congressional dis-
Lean trict instead of a
Democratic winner-take-all
system. The state-
wide winner receives two votes, and
the winner of each district receives
one. In a tight election, every electoral
vote counts, and Nebraska has five up
for grabs.
Recent polls have favored Mr.
Biden in the Second District, which
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Texans, in the highest turnout of any state, have cast more votes early than they did in the entire 2016 election.
TEXAS: All of a Sudden, a Two-Party Election in the Lone Star State
BEDFORD, Texas — The Texas
battlefield is more of a battle lot in one
Fort Worth suburb: a library parking
lot.
Masked men and women park out-
side the Bedford Public Library and join
the back of a socially distanced line. The
lot gets so full and the line gets so long at
times that you’d think the library was
offering plates of barbecue instead of
principles of democracy.
As of Thursday, more than 20,000
people had cast their early-vote ballots
at the library, some of the more than
600,000 who have voted early in Tar-
rant County and the record-breaking
nine million who have done so state-
wide.
Texas has, seemingly overnight,
flicked an electoral switch.
In a state where one party has domi-
nated for years, and where the Repub-
lican primary was once the bellwether
election that determined winners and
losers, Texas has been watching, slack-
jawed, at what happens when a two-
party state holds a general election
during a presidential race.
Texans have already cast more votes
early than they did in the entire 2016
election. There have been long lines at
early voting sites in San Antonio,
Houston and Austin, not because of
polling-place glitches but simply be-
PENNSYLVANIA: Tight in 2016, Bucks County Voters Are Split Again
NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Pa.
— Jennifer Lippolis is tempted to vote
for Mr. Trump again because she
thinks he stands for the conservative
ideals she believes in, but she has a
problem with him.
“He is an idiot,” she said in an
interview outside a supermarket here.
“The way that he
20 presents himself, the
Twitter, the ‘China
Electoral votes
virus.’ I feel he does
2016 margin: it on purpose to get a
Trump +0.7 rise out of people
because he is a
2020 rating:
celebrity. What he
Lean
Democratic doesn’t realize he’s
doing is that he’s just
making himself look like a buffoon. So
it’s hurting the Republican Party.”
Interviews with voters in the heart
of Bucks County, a Philadelphia sub-
urb, found a split between staunch
Trump supporters, firm Biden voters,
and others who previously voted
Republican or Libertarian but, like
Ms. Lippolis, are now wavering.
Voter registrations have risen for
Democrats and declined for Republi-
cans in all four of Philadelphia’s “col-
lar” counties since 2000. But the
Democratic advantage is less in
Bucks than in neighboring Mont-
gomery and Delaware Counties, and
was reflected in Hillary Clinton’s
victory in Bucks by less than one
percentage point in 2016.
Still, a victory for Mr. Biden in Bucks
County could help him offset the strong
support for the president in many rural
areas of the battleground state.
Days before the election, Ms. Lippo-
lis, 40, said she still had not decided
includes Omaha and many of its sub-
urbs.
But on Tuesday night, thousands of
Mr. Trump’s supporters attended his
rally in a state where coronavirus cases
are surging. Jane Kleeb, the chair-
woman of the Nebraska Democratic
Party, described the campaign rally as
“a potential superspreader event.”
A few people who lined up for the
event wore masks, but most did not.
Most of the president’s supporters were
subdued as a chilly wind whipped
around them, yet they were confident
polls that showed Mr. Trump trailing
Mr. Biden were wrong.
They said Mr. Trump needed merely
to keep showing up at events like this
one in the final days of the election and
voters would turn out for him.
“Most of the polls anymore, I think,
are pushing an agenda,” said Dillon
Bloedorn, a farmer who drove an hour
cause of demand.
Even the graffiti artists are riled up.
One of Houston’s landmarks — a piece
of block-letter graffiti reading “Be
Someone” on Interstate 45 that has
become a civic slogan — was painted
over and now de-
38 clares, “Vote or Die.”
More than one
Electoral votes
million people in
2016 margin: Harris County, which
Trump +9.0 includes Houston,
voted in person and
2020 rating:
by mail during the
Tossup
early voting period
ending Friday, out of a total of 2.4
million registered voters.
What that means is that Democrats,
who have benefited from the state’s
rising populations of college graduates,
younger voters and minorities, are sure
to loosen the Republican grip on power
in Texas. The question no one knows
the answer to is by how much.
“I’m not surprised to see turnout
numbers that are going to exceed 2018
and will probably dwarf any previous
Texas election,” said Ted Delisi, a
Republican strategist in Austin who
was the national field director for
former Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presi-
dential campaign. “We have a pan-
demic. We have a presidential election.
And we obviously have an activated
Trump supporters at Biden’s motorcade last weekend in Bucks County.
whom to vote for. She said she was torn
between her belief that a Biden presi-
dency would mean a “socialist” admin-
istration that paid for health care and
college, and her qualms about support-
ing a president whose behavior makes
her profoundly uncomfortable.
There were no such doubts for
Kevin Smith, 54, a military veteran
who voted for a Libertarian candidate
in 2016 but said he would vote for a
straight Democratic ticket this time.
Mr. Trump, he said, “doesn’t know
how to tell the truth.”
Mr. Smith, who declined to state his
occupation, said he couldn’t explain
Mr. Trump’s popularity. “In 2016,
people wanted something different,
and I understand that, but if you do it
again, I think there’s something wrong
and 15 minutes from his home in
Wisner, Neb., to see the president.
He said he was certain Mr. Trump
would win because of “stuff like this,
when he’s pulling 5,000 or 10,000
people at a rally.”
When Mr. Trump arrived at the
outdoor setup on an airport tarmac,
he repeatedly emphasized the size of
the crowd, which he claimed was
29,000 people. Estimates from local
officials were far smaller.
He introduced several local Repub-
lican officials but otherwise offered
only a few area-specific entreaties to
the crowd, saying at one point, “As
president, I will always defend
ethanol,” referring to the gasoline
additive that is made from corn and
which has long been a political topic
in neighboring Iowa.
Mr. Trump then said, “Does Ne-
braska like ethanol, too, by the way?”
COOPER NEILL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Democratic Party, and spending on
both sides that is completely unprece-
dented.”
The high turnout was not just a
Democratic thing. Bedford is part of a
chain of suburbs known more by their
initials than a name: HEB, or Hurst-
Euless-Bedford. This had been Tea
Party country in the Obama era, but
Democrats have chipped away at that
support as the region has grown more
diverse. And yet in recent days, many
of those who have been standing six
feet apart outside the library doors
were fired-up suburban conservatives.
Many wore masks and gloves (that’s
not just a Democratic thing, either).
Some conservative voters were white,
but several others were originally from
India, including one man who said that
he and his wife had rushed back home
from overseas to make sure they had
time to vote.
One retired electrical engineer who
voted for Mr. Trump said he blamed
the state’s changing politics on the
young men and women who have
moved to Texas from California.
And Bonita Herr, a retired pharma-
cist who lives in Euless and who voted
for Mr. Trump, said that for her, it was
all about the bottom line.
“I don’t want my taxes increased,”
she said. MANNY FERNANDEZ
ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES
with you.”
Andrea Ballow, 56, formerly a regis-
tered Republican, said she had already
voted for Mr. Biden. She became a
registered Democrat in 2018 because
she felt Mr. Trump was damaging the
Republican Party.
But John Grace, 86, said he would
vote for Mr. Trump again because the
president “puts America first.”
Still, he declined to predict a winner
because he said voters were over-
whelmed with conflicting information.
“I think the American public are so
confused with all the scandals, all the
virus,” he said. “I don’t think they
know what the hell they want, and I
think it’s going to be potluck who
wins.” JON HURDLE
The crowd replied loudly that the
answer was yes. “Good, I need that
little assurance,” the president said.
At different points, he urged sup-
porters to vote. “I’m standing here
freezing,” he said of the frigid
weather. “I ask you one little favor:
Get the hell out and vote.”
After the rally, hundreds of attend-
ees were left stranded for hours in the
cold when a fleet of buses meant to
shuttle them back to a parking lot
couldn’t keep up with demand. At
least six people were taken to a hospi-
tal, according to the local authorities.
For his part, Mr. Biden will most
likely not appear in Nebraska in the
final days of the election. He an-
nounced plans to visit Iowa, and in
lieu of visiting Omaha, he gave a
statement to the Omaha World-Her-
ald, Nebraska’s largest newspaper.
DIONNE SEARCEY
0N 25
OHIO: Trump Faces a
Daunting Gender Gap
CLEVELAND — Ohio has been in
economic upheaval for decades. In
2000, the state had about one million
manufacturing jobs. In September,
that number stood at 660,000.
Mr. Trump’s success in Ohio four
years ago had a lot to do with his
promises to bring back those jobs.
Many didn’t come back. General
Motors idled and then sold off its
giant plant in Lordstown in 2019. Job
growth in Ohio’s manufacturing
sector was among the slowest in the
country before the
18 pandemic; since
then, it has hit
Electoral votes
negative territory.
2016 margin: Men work in
Trump +8.1 roughly three-
quarters of U.S.
2020 rating:
Tossup manufacturing jobs.
But while Mr.
Trump’s appeal in 2016 may have
been aimed at men facing an uncer-
tain economic future in Ohio, he is
now beseeching a different demo-
graphic: suburban women.
“Suburban women, will you please
like me?” he said at a rally in neigh-
boring Pennsylvania last month. He
told women in Michigan, “We’re
getting your husbands back to work.”
Mr. Trump’s conception of “subur-
ban housewives,” as he has written
on Twitter, may be misplaced. As
some men’s economic power has
declined in Ohio, many women have
gained. Jobs in the education and
health services sectors, for example,
where the work force is roughly
three-quarters female, have in-
creased by about 3 percent in Ohio
over the last five years.
And many suburban women,
turned off by Mr. Trump, have dived
into political organizing.
“Ohio suburban women want some
normalcy to return, but Trump seems
to be advocating chaos,” said Robert
Alexander, a political science profes-
sor at Ohio Northern University.
Mr. Trump now faces a daunting
gender gap: He trailed Mr. Biden
among Ohio women, 51 percent to 40
percent, in a New York Times/Siena
College poll last month. He led
among men, 49 percent to 39 percent.
Over all, the candidates were effec-
tively tied in a state that Mr. Trump
won by eight points in 2016. In exit
polls then, Mr. Trump had a 23-point
advantage among men and trailed
Hillary Clinton among women by
only three points.
If Mr. Trump loses Ohio, it will be
partly because of his declining sup-
port among men. But the increasing
economic and political power of
women may have more to do with it.
DANIEL MCGRAW
FLORIDA: Governor
Hits Trouble in Voting
MIAMI — Elections in Florida
have often gone something like this:
Republicans return more mail bal-
lots, Democrats turn out in force for
in-person early voting, and then
Republicans show up in higher num-
bers on Election Day.
This most unusual of pandemic
elections has altered some of those
patterns: Democrats have amassed
a huge advantage in voting by mail,
Republicans have in turn cut into
that lead with in-person early votes,
and more Republi-
29 cans are still ex-
pected to go to the
Electoral votes
polls on Tuesday.
2016 margin: The margins, as
Trump +1.2 always, are ex-
pected to be uncom-
2020 rating:
fortably tight. And
Tossup
that has Republi-
cans, Democrats and outside groups
on high alert for any potential wrin-
kles that could lead to winning or
losing a few thousand ballots and
affect the election result.
No one, however, predicted that
the governor himself might have a
problem.
When Gov. Ron DeSantis went to
cast his early ballot on Monday in
Tallahassee, the state capital, a poll
worker informed him of something
unusual: His primary residence had
been changed to an address in a
small apartment complex in West
Palm Beach, 400 miles away.
Mr. DeSantis, a Republican who
lives full-time in the Governor’s
Mansion, had not authorized any
such change. He asked the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement to
investigate.
By Wednesday, the authorities had
made an arrest. Anthony Steven
Guevara, a 20-year-old from Naples,
Fla., was charged with unauthorized
computer access and altering a voter
registration without consent. Investi-
gators said they traced the logs for the
DeSantis address change to a web
browser that led them to Mr. Guevara.
Mr. Guevara also gained access to
the voter registrations of Senator
Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, and
the basketball players LeBron James
and Michael Jordan, “but made no
changes,” the Department of Law
Enforcement said in a statement.
PATRICIA MAZZEI
26 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Election

The Battlegrounds Within Battlegrounds:

20 Counties That Could Shape the Race
Wisconsin Michigan
The state’s politics are shaped by the liberal cities Historically Democratic, Michigan
of Milwaukee and Madison; the rural north and provided one of Mr. Trump’s most
west of the state; and the affluent and predomi- surprising victories in 2016. He won the
nantly white suburbs that lie in between. state by 0.3 points.

RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS IN WISCONSIN ELECTIONS IN MICHIGAN
BROWN
2008 42% McCain Obama 56% Green Bay 2008 41% McCain Obama 57%

2012 46 Romney Obama 53 2012 45 Romney Obama 54

Madison
2016 47.2 Trump Clinton 46.5 GRANT WAUKESHA 2016 47.3 Trump Clinton 47.0
Milwaukee
RECENT POLLING RECENT POLLING
DANE
2020 42% Trump Biden 52% 2020 43% Trump Biden 51%
2016 PRESIDENTIAL VOTE
IN BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES
As of Oct. 30, 9 P.M. Eastern
MORE VOTES FOR CLINTON MORE VOTES FOR TRUMP
WISCONSIN BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES MICHIGAN BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES

Menomonee
e Fa
Falls
Cedar Springs
Oconom
Oc mowo
wo
oc
Spa
arta
Fennimore
e Sun Pr
Prair
a ie
Broo
okfiel
eld
el d
Gre
een Ba
ay R kfo
Roc
Ro kford
rd
La caster
Lan
Lancas
cas
aster Mid
ddle
leton
eton
to
De Perre
Mad
Madiso
adiso
on Wauke
kes
ke
e ha
a
Grand apids Foresst Hills
nd Ra
Rap
apids
Pllatte
tevi
teviille New Berlin
n
Fitchb
hb
burrg
Denmark
Kentwo
Kentw o
twood
d
Stoughton
n
Muskego
C edonia
Cal

Grant County Dane County
Emblematic of southwest Wisconsin, it This is home to the University of
is one of the state’s swingiest regions, Wisconsin-Madison, and it’s where
where weak partisan identity saw Democrats surged in an April 2020 race for
voters shift from Mr. Obama to Mr. the State Supreme Court. Nearly as many
Trump. votes were cast here as in Milwaukee
County, even though Dane has less than
60 percent of Milwaukee’s population.
Heavy turnout in early voting suggests Mr.
Biden is claiming those votes.
RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN THIS COUNTY
Waukesha County
It is the largest of Milwaukee’s suburban
counties. Long a Republican stronghold,
the county underperformed for Mr. Trump
in 2016. Mr. Biden has forged inroads
here, but it’s not clear how deep they are.
Brown County
Among the top counties that will decide
the state’s winner is the home of vote-rich
Green Bay. It’s a swing county that in 2018
voted for the Republican candidate for
governor, Scott Walker, and the Democrat
for Senate, Tammy Baldwin. Mr. Trump
won blowout margins here compared with
Mitt Romney in 2012.
Kent County
This traditional Republican stronghold
— home to Grand Rapids, where
President Gerald Ford was raised —
has moved away from the Republican
Party in the Trump era.

2008 37% Obama 61% 2008 26% Obama 73% 2008 62% McCain 37% 2008 45% Obama 54% 2008 48.8% Obama 49.3%

2012 42 Obama 56 2012 28 Obama 71 2012 67 Romney 32 2012 50 Obama 49 2012 53 Romney 45

2016 51 Trump 41 2016 23 Clinton 70 2016 60 Trump 33 2016 52 Trump 41 2016 48 Trump 45

North Carolina Arizona

The state has cities with large communities of One of the fastest-changing states on the
Black voters, moderate professionals and college electoral map, Arizona has gone from
students and also big stretches that are more WAKE being a Republican stronghold to a true
rural, white and conservative. battleground.
Raleigh
RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL Charlotte UNION RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS IN ARIZONA MARICOPA

2008 49.4% McCain Obama 49.7% ROBESON 2008 53% McCain Obama 45%
Phoenix
PINAL
2012 50 Romney Obama 48 2012 54 Romney Obama 44

2016 50 Trump Clinton 46 2016 48 Trump Clinton 45 Tucson PIMA

RECENT POLLING RECENT POLLING

2020 47% Trump Biden 49% 2020 45% Trump Biden 49%

NORTH CAROLINA BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES ARIZONA BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES

Fai
airrview
ai S Pauls
St.
Red
ed
d Sp
Sprin
rin
rings
rings
Glend
nda
nd
da
ale
le Scott
Sco
Sc
cottt
tts
t dale
ts
Pho
oen
en x
eni M sa
Mes
Mor
orrisvillle
or Tem
em
empe
mpe
e M icopa
Mar a
Pembroke
k Lum
Lumberton
n Raleig
Ral
alleig
e h
Marshville Cas
Caasa Gran
ra de
ra
Monroe
roe
roe C y
Car
Gar
G arner Eloyy
Fairmo
Fa ont
n
Minerra
Min ral Springs
ngs
Holly Spr
Sp ings

Union County
In 2016, Mr. Trump easily won this
suburban Republican bastion near
Charlotte. Republicans remain dominant,
but signs of disaffection with the president,
along with an upswing in “unaffiliated”
voters, give Democrats hope they can trim
Mr. Trump’s margin.
RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN THIS COUNTY
Robeson County
A former Democratic stronghold, this
economically depressed county went for
Mr. Trump in 2016. The prize will likely go
to the candidate most popular among the
Lumbee Indians, the county’s largest
group. Mr. Trump held a rally here in
October, and both campaigns pledged to
support the tribe’s quest for federal
recognition.
Wake County
One of the nation’s fastest-growing
counties, Wake has shifted steadily
leftward over the past 20 years, supporting
Hillary Clinton in 2016 by more than
100,000 votes. An influx of out-of-staters
since then stands to boost the Democrats
even more, potentially offsetting high
Republican numbers in rural areas.
Maricopa County
Home to Phoenix and more than 60
percent of the state’s electorate, it is
Arizona’s most important county. It went
narrowly for Mr. Trump in 2016, but two
years later supported a Democrat, Kyrsten
Sinema, for senator. The question is
whether the county’s changing demograph-
ics will tip the state to a Democratic
president for the first time since 1996.
Pinal County
The state’s third-largest county is a
Republican redoubt. Mr. Trump will have to
turn out enough rural white voters to help
protect the 3.5-point margin he won the
state with in 2016.

2008 63% McCain 36% 2008 43% Obama 57% 2008 42% Obama 57% 2008 54% McCain 44% 2008 56% McCain 42%

2012 65 Romney 34 2012 41 Obama 58 2012 44 Obama 55 2012 54 Romney 44 2012 57 Romney 41

2016 63 Trump 33 2016 51 Trump 47 2016 37 Clinton 57 2016 48 Trump 45 2016 56 Trump 37

Sources: Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (historical election results); Ryne Rohla (precinct map) Note: State poll numbers are from
The New York Times Upshot’s snapshot of current polling averages, as of 9 P.M. Oct. 30, 2020.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N 27

Election

By KEITH COLLINS, TRIP GABRIEL, STEPHANIE SAUL and GUILBERT GATES

Many of the places that were critical to President Trump’s victory four years ago will also decide whether he wins a second term or loses to Joseph R. Biden Jr. Take a look at
where Mr. Trump won in 2016. The most contested battles this year will take place in six states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Mr. Trump won some of them by razor-thin margins. Within these states are 20 counties that will help decide who wins enough electoral votes to reach the White House.
They represent groups of voters both candidates are seeking. Here’s what to watch for in these battlegrounds within battlegrounds.

Florida
A diverse but conservative-leaning state
that is almost always close in presidential
elections. It’s likely this year’s race will again
be decided by a percentage point or two.

RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS IN FLORIDA
Orlando
2008 48% McCain Obama 51% Tampa OSCEOLA
PINELLAS
KENT 2012 49.0 Romney Obama 49.9
OAKLAND
Grand Rapids MACOMB 2016 49 Trump Clinton 47

MIAMI-DADE
Detroit RECENT POLLING
Miami
2020 46% Trump Biden 49%

FLORIDA BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES

Kissim
immee
mmee
m e
Stt. Cl
C oud Hia
alea
ea
ah
Romeo
e
Holly Dun
D nedi
ediin Miami
Mia mi
New Ha
Haven
n Ken
ndal
da l
Clearwat
ate
teer
Ponti
Po
Pon tiacc
tia La
Lar
La
arrgo
Troy
Troy
Tro Ste
terli
erli
rl ng
ng Homestead
ad
Millfo
f d
for htss Mt.
Height
ht t Cl
Cleme
eme
e ens
Stt. Petersburg
St
St.
Farmin
Farm gton
min n Hill
Hi s War
War
a ren
en
Ro al
Roy a O
Oak
Oaa
Nov
ovii
ov Sou
So
outh
hfiel
hfiel
hf ie
ed
St. Cl
St. C aiir Shores

Oakland County
Once solidly Republican, it is a more
affluent neighbor of Macomb County and
has been trending Democratic. It is a prime
example of the changes that are taking
place in many of the nation’s suburbs. In
2018, it gave Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the
biggest margin for a Democrat in 20 years.
Macomb County
Heavily unionized and mostly white,
the state’s third largest county has
picked the statewide winner in the last
seven elections for governor and
president.
Pinellas County
Perhaps the biggest swing county in the
state, which backed Mr. Trump after twice
backing Barack Obama, it is a Florida
microcosm: solid Democrats in St.
Petersburg and Midwestern retirees
elsewhere.
Osceola County
Part of the greater Orlando area, it is
increasingly Hispanic. Conservative
retirees have been joined by hundreds of
thousands of Puerto Ricans, who did not
register in expected numbers to give
Democrats an advantage in 2018, and so
far, are lagging behind other groups in
early voting.
Miami-Dade County
A Democratic stronghold, it is not a county
Mr. Trump would hope to win. But this
majority-Hispanic county was a disappoint-
ment for Democrats in 2018, especially in
heavily Cuban-American precincts.
Younger Cuban voters have started
identifying as Trump Republican here.

RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS IN THIS COUNTY

2008 42% Obama 56% 2008 45% Obama 53% 2008 45% Obama 53% 2008 40% Obama 59% 2008 42% Obama 58%

2012 45 Obama 53 2012 47 Obama 51 2012 47 Obama 52 2012 37 Obama 62 2012 38 Obama 62

2016 43 Clinton 51 2016 54 Trump 42 2016 48 Trump 47 2016 36 Clinton 60 2016 34 Clinton 63

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has two huge Democratic cities, big swaths of
formerly Republican suburbs and a deeply conservative rural
middle. This year’s election may hinge on this state, one of three
that Mr. Trump won by less than one percentage point in 2016. ERIE

RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA

2008 44% McCain Obama 54%

2012 47 Romney Obama 52

WESTMORELAND
2016 48.2 Trump Clinton 47.5
Pittsburgh PHILADELPHIA
RECENT POLLING
CHESTER
2020 45% Trump Biden 51% Philadelphia

PENNSYLVANIA BATTLEGROUND COUNTIES

Ph
hoeni
en xville

New Kensiingt
go
gt on
n
Marana
a Lo
L
Low
ow
ower Burrell
Ha
Harborcreekk
a
Tuccson
so
on
on Downin
Down gto
on
Township Mu
urrys
rysville
le
le
Eriie
Er Ge
G ermantow
own
own
Sahuar
arrita
ita ugh
ug
Roxboroug Olney
Oln eyy
Co
C
Coa
oa
o ates
esvil
es v lle
le
Jeanne
nne
ette
te
te
Fa
airview Township gtt n
ngto
Kensin
sing
Gre
reens
re nsburg
ns
Co ry
Cor Wes
W es
est
h
elphia
elp
Philadelp Cit
C itty Center
outh
Sou
S t
hiilad
Phi la elphia

Pima County
The home of Tucson, Democrats
typically run up the score here.
RESULTS OF LAST 3 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS IN THIS COUNTY
Erie County
One of three counties in the state that
Mr. Trump flipped in 2016, its mix of a
working-class post-industrial economy
and rural towns makes it “the oracle of
Pennsylvania,” in the words of a
Democratic strategist.
Westmoreland County
Typical of other counties where Mr.
Trump outperformed with white
working-class voters four years ago,
this area near Pittsburgh is where he
must win even bigger margins to
counter a likely Democratic surge in
the suburbs.
Chester County
Democrats must continue their 2018
midterm surge in this suburban
Philadelphia county, especially with
college-educated women, or Mr.
Trump could carry Pennsylvania again.
Philadelphia County
The big question here is whether Mr. Biden
can re-energize Black voters —
Democrats’ core supporters — after Hillary
Clinton’s lackluster showing in 2016. Mr.
Biden will have to boost the numbers to
counter Mr. Trump’s margins with rural
white voters. The Trump campaign has
taken on aggressive tactics, like videotap-
ing voters at ballot drop boxes.

2008 46% Obama 52% 2008 39% Obama 59% 2008 58% McCain 41% 2008 45% Obama 54% 2008 16% Obama 83%

2012 46 Obama 53 2012 41 Obama 57 2012 61 Romney 38 2012 49.4 Romney 49.2 2012 14 Obama 85

2016 40 Clinton 53 2016 48 Trump 46 2016 64 Trump 33 2016 43 Clinton 52 2016 15 Clinton 82

ADDITIONAL WORK BY SARAH ALMUHKTAR, K.K. REBECCA LAI, SCOTT REINHARD, ANJALI SINGHVI AND DEREK WATKINS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
 28 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Weather Report Meteorology by AccuWeather

Vancouve
nc ve
ver
40s
30s
30 20s Metropolitan Forecast
60s 30s
Seattle 50s
H Regi
Reg
Regina
Winnipeg
nn e
Quebe
bec
bec 40s
0s
50s TODAY ...................................Afternoon rain
80°
40s
Spokane High 56. Mostly cloudy and not as cool. A Record
Portlan
and
L Montreal
H
Halifax
cold front will bring rain in the afternoon highs
60s 50s Ottawa
Helen
en
ena
B
Bismarck Po
Por
Portland
with gusty showers in the evening.
Eugen
ne Fargo
o
60s 20s Burli
B u inngton
n TODAY
Billing
Billings
M
Ma
Manchester TONIGHT .....................Heavy showers early
Boise 30s
0ss 50ss
50
Toronto
To Bos
Boston Low 37. After the cold front moves
40s
Minnea
nea
eapolis St. Paul
S
Alba
A ba
bany 50ss
5 70° T W T F S S M T W T
70s H Casper
spe
Pierr
rre
rr Milwauke
ee
Buf
uff lo
uffalo
40s
0s Ha
Hartford
a through in the evening, winds will become
Detr
trroit 60s
6 0s
0
80s
Sioux
ou Falls 30s New York
N gusty and it will turn colder. Winds will be
Reno
40s Cheyenne
e e Des Moines Chicag
cago
cag Cleveland
Phi
Philadelphia
10 to 20 miles per hour with gusts of 25
Oma
mah
aha Pittsburgh
Pitts g
Salt Lake
ke to 30 m.p.h. It will be cloudy.
City 40s Indiana
anapolis
anap Wa
Washington
ashi
San Franci
San Franciisco
sco Denver
Topeka
Kansas
Kans
Kan Springfield
e Riccchmond
hm TOMORROW ...........Strong winds subsiding 60°
City
Fresn
no
no Las 70s H Colorado H St. Louis
Charleston
e
N
Norfolk High 43. Winds will be very strong, with
Vegas L
Louisville Normal
Springs
60ss 40s W
Wichita 60s Raleigh
Ra gh frequent gusts of 45 to 55 m.p.h. Winds highs
50s
Los Angeles Santa
San
Santa Fe Nashville Charlott
ott
tte may bring down tree branches and cause
50s Oklaho
laho
ahoma City
Little Rock
Memphis
Col bi
Columbia
Co bia
a
power outages. It will be much colder and
San
an
nDDiiego Phoe
P hoenix
hoe Albuquerque
Albuquerqu A
Atlanta
Birmingham
m 70s partly sunny. 50°
L Lubbock
90
90s Jackson TUESDAY ........................Partly sunny, chilly
70s Tucso
Tu on
o Ft. Worth Dallas
El Paso
60s High pressure moves over the area, and it Normal
Mobile
o e J
Jacksonville
80s
Baton R
Rouge
ouge will not be as windy. There will be clouds lows
Honolulu
olulu
u San Antonio 70s
Houston
n
New
and sunshine, but it will be cool for early
Or
Orlando
0ss Hilo
60s H Orleans
ans Tampa
a November, with temperatures 10 degrees 40°
70s
80s
80ss below average.
Corpus Christi
C Miami WEDNESDAY
80s Nassau THURSDAY ...............Warmer with sunshine
70s Monterrey
Mo
0s Weather patterns shown as expected at noon today, Eastern time. Wednesday will be sunny, with a warmer
Fairbanks
nk
TODAY’S HIGHS
afternoon. High 57. Thursday will also be 30°
10ss warm, with a mostly sunny sky. Winds will Forecast
<0 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100+
Anchorage Actual range
20s be light. High 63. High High
Juneau
JJune
un
ne H L
40s
0s COLD WARM STATIONARY COMPLEX HIGH LOW MOSTLY SHOWERS T-STORMS RAIN FLURRIES SNOW ICE
30s 50s
5 Record
FRONTS COLD PRESSURE CLOUDY PRECIPITATION Low Low
lows

Highlight: Tranquil Weather Ahead National Forecast Metropolitan Almanac

A cold front will move across the east- In Central Park, for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday.
ern half of the United States today, bring-
TREAM
JET S ing chilly air across much of the nation. Temperature Precipitation (in inches)
As a result of this front, snow showers Yesterday ............... 0.00
Record
80° Record .................... 2.41
New York
and a few snow squalls will develop in the high 81°
(1946) For the last 30 days
Chicago typical lake-effect regions around the FRI. YESTERDAY
Actual ..................... 5.05
Great Lakes. Normal .................... 4.25
MILDER 70°
PACIFIC AIR Denver Whiteout conditions are possible in any For the last 365 days
heavier snow squall. Farther east, gusty Actual ................... 45.73
rain showers will spread over much of the Normal .................. 49.92
Los Angeles Normal LAST 30 DAYS
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The combina- 60°
high 59°
tion of wet weather and gusty winds may Air pressure Humidity
lead to power outages from the Great High ............. 30.57 noon High ............. 88% 7 a.m.
45° Low ............ 30.34 1 a.m. Low ................ 46% noon
Lakes to the East Coast regions. 50° 4 p.m.
Normal
The rest of the nation will mostly be dry, low 46° Heating Degree Days
but unseasonably chilly. High tempera- An index of fuel consumption that tracks how
tures will be 5 to 10 degrees above nor- 40° far the day's mean temperature fell below 65
A broad area of high pressure will bring rather tranquil weather conditions across the mal across the Plains and the Rockies. 32° Yesterday................................................................... 26
country by the middle of the week. Mild air will also flow in from the Pacific Ocean, leading 7 a.m. So far this month...................................................... 220
The West Coast will remain warm. Record So far this season (since July 1) .............................. 256
to temperatures climbing 5 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit above average across the nation. low 29° Normal to date for the season ................................. 310
(1925)
4 12 6 12 4
p.m. a.m. a.m. p.m. p.m. Trends Temperature Precipitation
Little Rock 63/ 46 0 61/ 35 S 57/ 36 S New Delhi 91/ 59 0 86/ 57 PC 85/ 57 PC
Cities Los Angeles 85/ 62 0 85/ 62 PC 84/ 60 S Riyadh 84/ 62 0 87/ 62 S 88/ 62 S Average Average
High/low temperatures for the 16 hours ended at 4 Louisville 61/ 52 0 53/ 30 W 51/ 36 S Seoul 65/ 36 0.02 62/ 40 R 59/ 35 S Avg. daily departure Avg. daily departure Below Above Below Above
p.m. yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches) Memphis 66/ 46 0 61/ 35 S 55/ 37 S Shanghai 72/ 50 0 72/ 60 C 72/ 55 PC from normal from normal Last 10 days
for the 16 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday. Miami 87/ 78 0.04 88/ 75 PC 82/ 70 W Singapore 86/ 77 0.51 88/ 78 T 87/ 78 T this month
...................... +1.0° this.........................
year +2.1°
Milwaukee 55/ 34 0 39/ 28 W 49/ 36 PC Sydney 72/ 60 0.87 69/ 60 Sh 70/ 59 PC 30 days
Expected conditions for today and tomorrow.
Mpls.-St. Paul 54/ 27 0 39/ 29 PC 53/ 37 S Taipei City 81/ 68 0 85/ 73 PC 83/ 70 PC 90 days
C ........................ Clouds S .............................Sun Nashville 66/ 51 0 59/ 32 S 52/ 34 S Tehran 79/ 55 0 77/ 56 S 77/ 58 S Reservoir levels (New York City water supply) 365 days
F............................. Fog Sn ....................... Snow New Orleans 70/ 59 0 73/ 52 PC 66/ 51 S Tokyo 64/ 51 0 66/ 60 PC 71/ 59 PC
H .......................... Haze SS .......... Snow showers Norfolk 58/ 50 0 71/ 41 Sh 55/ 42 W Yesterday ............... 70% Chart shows how recent temperature and precipitation
Oklahoma City 68/ 40 0 59/ 33 S 65/ 41 S Europe Yesterday Today Tomorrow trends compare with those of the last 30 years.
I............................... Ice T............ Thunderstorms Est. normal ............. 76%
Omaha 65/ 32 0 48/ 33 S 63/ 40 S Amsterdam 59/ 51 0.03 62/ 56 R 65/ 47 Sh
PC ............. Partly cloudy Tr ......................... Trace Athens 72/ 63 0 72/ 55 PC 70/ 58 PC
Orlando 85/ 71 0 85/ 62 PC 72/ 56 S
R ........................... Rain W ........................ Windy Berlin 58/ 54 0.02 56/ 54 R 65/ 49 PC
Philadelphia 48/ 39 0 57/ 37 R 47/ 38 W
Sh ................... Showers –............... Not available Brussels 61/ 49 0.04 64/ 60 R 67/ 44 Sh
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
88/
49/
67
39
0
0
93/
51/
72
31
PC
Sh
94/
42/
69
32
PC
SS Budapest 57/ 52 0.13 53/ 47 PC 58/ 48 C
Recreational Forecast
N.Y.C. region Yesterday Today Tomorrow
Portland, Me. 44/ 31 0 51/ 40 C 44/ 28 W Copenhagen 56/ 52 0.27 54/ 51 R 61/ 49 C
New York City 45/ 32 0 56/ 37 R 43/ 38 W Portland, Ore. 60/ 42 Tr 64/ 41 S 63/ 45 PC Dublin 57/ 49 0.14 54/ 46 R 51/ 40 R Sun, Moon and Planets Northeast Foliage
Bridgeport 42/ 36 0 58/ 39 R 45/ 38 W Providence 45/ 34 0 56/ 36 Sh 43/ 32 W Edinburgh 58/ 42 0.17 53/ 46 R 51/ 42 R
Caldwell 46/ 38 0 55/ 36 R 44/ 36 W Raleigh 60/ 47 0 64/ 36 Sh 54/ 36 S Frankfurt 63/ 50 0 60/ 58 R 67/ 49 PC Last Quarter New First Quarter Full
Danbury 39/ 33 0 54/ 34 R 41/ 34 W Reno 73/ 34 0 73/ 36 S 74/ 38 PC Geneva 58/ 41 0 60/ 51 C 68/ 51 PC Past peak
Islip 41/ 37 0 59/ 37 R 44/ 38 W Richmond 56/ 43 0 60/ 36 R 53/ 39 W Helsinki 45/ 37 Tr 46/ 41 C 48/ 47 W
Newark 45/ 38 0 56/ 38 R 46/ 37 W Rochester 46/ 37 Tr 51/ 31 Sh 39/ 36 SS Istanbul 61/ 52 0.01 58/ 48 PC 60/ 50 S Peak
Trenton 46/ 39 0 54/ 34 R 45/ 36 W Sacramento 80/ 44 0 82/ 46 S 83/ 45 PC Kiev 48/ 43 0.39 46/ 42 R 47/ 40 C Nov. 8 Nov. 14 Nov. 21 Nov. 30
White Plains 40/ 34 0 53/ 34 R 40/ 35 W Salt Lake City 62/ 38 0 64/ 39 S 66/ 43 S Lisbon 73/ 57 0 71/ 59 C 70/ 54 C 12:07 a.m. 4:30 a.m. Near peak
United States Yesterday Today Tomorrow San Antonio 76/ 50 0 77/ 46 S 72/ 45 PC London 59/ 55 0.56 62/ 58 R 62/ 43 Sh
San Diego 74/ 60 0 79/ 59 PC 79/ 60 S Madrid 72/ 43 0 68/ 49 C 68/ 54 PC Some color
Albany 41/ 29 0 49/ 31 Sh 36/ 30 W Sun RISE 6:27 a.m. Moon S 8:13 a.m.
San Francisco 72/ 50 0 75/ 53 S 76/ 53 S Moscow 46/ 39 0 41/ 36 C 44/ 40 C SET 4:52 p.m. R 6:40 p.m.
Albuquerque 68/ 41 0 63/ 42 S 66/ 42 PC Nice 66/ 55 0 65/ 54 PC 66/ 56 PC
Still green
San Jose 79/ 50 0 83/ 52 S 86/ 52 S NEXT R 6:28 a.m. S 9:14 a.m. Burlington Portland
Anchorage 24/ 15 0 23/ 19 PC 25/ 13 PC Oslo 44/ 39 0.17 51/ 46 R 56/ 42 R
San Juan 88/ 77 0.02 88/ 77 C 88/ 77 PC
Atlanta 64/ 54 0 68/ 38 PC 56/ 39 S Paris 64/ 45 0 65/ 60 R 67/ 46 Sh Jupiter R 1:00 p.m. Mars S 5:35 a.m.
Seattle 56/ 42 0 58/ 44 S 61/ 48 C
Atlantic City 51/ 44 0 63/ 39 R 48/ 41 W Prague 59/ 49 0.10 53/ 51 R 61/ 54 PC S 10:22 p.m. R 4:56 p.m. Boston
Sioux Falls 60/ 26 0 45/ 30 S 60/ 37 S
Austin 78/ 46 0 74/ 41 S 70/ 40 S Rome 66/ 46 0 66/ 50 PC 67/ 50 PC Albany
Spokane 51/ 31 0 55/ 33 PC 56/ 36 S Saturn R 1:18 p.m. Venus R 4:33 a.m.
Baltimore 50/ 41 0.01 56/ 36 R 50/ 37 W St. Petersburg 48/ 38 0 44/ 34 PC 42/ 40 C
St. Louis 62/ 42 0 50/ 30 W 56/ 41 S S 10:48 p.m. S 4:34 p.m.
Baton Rouge 71/ 48 0 75/ 43 PC 66/ 40 S Stockholm 48/ 32 0.20 49/ 47 R 55/ 44 R
St. Thomas 88/ 79 0.03 88/ 79 C 87/ 79 PC
Birmingham 69/ 55 0 69/ 37 PC 57/ 36 S Vienna 61/ 53 0.03 59/ 53 C 62/ 52 PC
Syracuse 46/ 36 Tr 51/ 32 Sh 38/ 35 SS Boating
Boise 60/ 35 0 65/ 38 S 67/ 40 S Tampa 86/ 72 0 87/ 62 S 75/ 55 S Warsaw 47/ 36 0 50/ 46 PC 58/ 53 C
Boston 42/ 36 0 53/ 38 Sh 44/ 34 W Toledo 53/ 43 0 44/ 31 W 49/ 35 PC New York
North America Yesterday Today Tomorrow From Montauk Point to Sandy Hook, N.J., out to 20
Buffalo 46/ 39 Tr 51/ 32 Sh 41/ 36 SS Tucson 88/ 61 0 90/ 65 W 89/ 61 PC
Burlington 44/ 34 0 52/ 36 Sh 38/ 30 W nautical miles, including Long Island Sound and New York
Tulsa 66/ 43 0 58/ 35 S 63/ 43 S Acapulco 85/ 72 0 88/ 75 T 89/ 73 PC Pittsburgh
Casper 50/ 29 0 62/ 39 S 66/ 41 W Harbor. Philadelphia
Virginia Beach 57/ 52 0 70/ 40 Sh 54/ 41 W Bermuda 79/ 72 0.17 77/ 75 PC 79/ 66 Sh
Charlotte 61/ 50 0 68/ 36 Sh 56/ 35 S Washington 52/ 45 0 57/ 38 R 50/ 39 W Edmonton 32/ 27 0.01 55/ 33 PC 57/ 32 S Wind will be from the south to southwest at 10-20 knots.
Chattanooga 66/ 54 0 66/ 35 PC 56/ 34 S Wichita 65/ 37 0 57/ 34 S 64/ 42 S Guadalajara 67/ 54 0 84/ 51 S 79/ 47 PC Waves will be 1-2 feet on Long Island Sound, 3-5 feet on
Chicago 58/ 36 0 39/ 27 W 49/ 36 PC Wilmington, Del. 48/ 37 0 56/ 35 R 48/ 36 W Havana 84/ 73 0 85/ 74 T 83/ 72 Sh the ocean and 1-2 feet on New York Harbor. Visibility will Washington
Cincinnati 55/ 47 0 50/ 28 W 47/ 33 S Kingston 86/ 79 0.02 84/ 78 R 83/ 77 R be 3 miles in rain.
Cleveland 49/ 41 0 48/ 34 Sh 44/ 36 SS Africa Yesterday Today Tomorrow Martinique 85/ 81 0.02 86/ 76 R 87/ 75 Sh
Colorado Springs 66/ 31 0 61/ 40 S 68/ 41 S Algiers 76/ 45 0 76/ 49 S 79/ 53 S Mexico City 63/ 48 0 75/ 48 PC 66/ 44 PC High Tides Charleston Norfolk
Columbus 51/ 42 0 49/ 30 Sh 45/ 33 S Cairo 82/ 70 0 80/ 64 PC 80/ 63 S Monterrey 65/ 48 0 80/ 54 S 75/ 49 PC
Concord, N.H. 46/ 25 0 49/ 34 Sh 39/ 29 W Cape Town 74/ 55 0 82/ 59 S 84/ 61 S Montreal 37/ 21 0 48/ 36 R 37/ 29 W Atlantic City .................... 7:31 a.m. .............. 7:51 p.m.
Dallas-Ft. Worth 71/ 48 0 65/ 39 S 64/ 43 S Dakar 86/ 79 0 89/ 79 PC 90/ 79 PC Nassau 84/ 75 0 86/ 75 PC 83/ 71 Sh Barnegat Inlet ................. 7:45 a.m. .............. 8:08 p.m.
Denver 62/ 31 0 64/ 40 S 70/ 42 S Johannesburg 78/ 59 0 69/ 55 C 72/ 57 T Panama City 84/ 77 0.02 83/ 76 T 82/ 76 R The Battery ..................... 8:19 a.m. .............. 8:45 p.m.
Des Moines 65/ 31 0 45/ 30 S 59/ 39 S Nairobi 77/ 61 0.08 76/ 59 PC 78/ 60 PC Quebec City 34/ 18 0 42/ 35 R 38/ 22 Sn Beach Haven .................. 9:09 a.m. .............. 9:33 p.m.
Detroit 49/ 41 0 42/ 30 Sn 47/ 34 PC Tunis 74/ 60 0 76/ 56 S 77/ 56 S Santo Domingo 84/ 75 0 88/ 72 C 86/ 73 Sh Bridgeport .................... 12:14 a.m. ............ 11:22 a.m.
El Paso 77/ 52 0 70/ 46 PC 72/ 46 PC Toronto 39/ 23 0 48/ 30 R 41/ 37 W City Island ..................... 12:38 a.m. ............ 11:25 a.m.
The day will start out cool, with thickening
Fargo 48/ 22 0 39/ 32 S 54/ 38 S Asia/Pacific Yesterday Today Tomorrow Vancouver 43/ 36 0 52/ 42 PC 55/ 48 PC
Hartford 45/ 30 0 53/ 34 R 42/ 34 W Baghdad 90/ 57 0 93/ 65 PC 94/ 65 S Fire Island Lt. .................. 8:37 a.m. .............. 9:01 p.m. clouds from south to north on Sunday.
Winnipeg 41/ 34 0 36/ 30 S 49/ 33 S
Honolulu 86/ 71 0.02 85/ 72 PC 86/ 74 PC Bangkok 88/ 78 0.35 89/ 78 C 91/ 76 T Montauk Point ................ 9:05 a.m. .............. 9:32 p.m. Rain will spread from southwest to north-
Houston 74/ 52 0 76/ 47 PC 69/ 44 S Beijing 68/ 47 0 65/ 43 PC 57/ 28 PC South America Yesterday Today Tomorrow Northport ..................... 12:24 a.m. ............ 11:27 a.m.
Indianapolis 55/ 43 0 43/ 26 W 48/ 34 PC Damascus 88/ 60 0 84/ 56 S 77/ 51 T Buenos Aires 65/ 57 0 71/ 61 PC 71/ 62 PC Port Washington ........... 12:42 a.m. ............ 11:24 a.m. east throughout the day, reaching New
Jackson 68/ 46 0 69/ 39 S 60/ 36 S Hong Kong 78/ 68 0 79/ 73 S 83/ 70 PC Caracas 88/ 75 0.30 87/ 74 T 86/ 75 Sh Sandy Hook .................... 7:51 a.m. .............. 8:15 p.m. England later in the afternoon. It will be
Jacksonville 74/ 65 0.01 82/ 49 PC 64/ 42 S Jakarta 91/ 77 0.35 90/ 77 T 93/ 76 T Lima 66/ 61 0 67/ 60 PC 67/ 60 PC Shinnecock Inlet ............. 7:36 a.m. .............. 7:57 p.m.
Kansas City 68/ 37 Tr 52/ 33 S 62/ 42 S Jerusalem 77/ 64 0 74/ 61 PC 70/ 59 T Quito 65/ 50 0.46 69/ 50 R 71/ 48 C
very windy tomorrow with wind gusts 40
Stamford ...................... 12:18 a.m. ............ 11:22 a.m.
Key West 89/ 79 Tr 86/ 77 PC 83/ 72 PC Karachi 94/ 64 0 95/ 64 PC 94/ 63 PC Recife 86/ 79 0 86/ 79 C 86/ 78 PC Tarrytown ..................... 10:08 a.m. ............ 10:34 p.m. to 60 miles per hour that may bring down
Las Vegas 81/ 58 0 81/ 61 PC 82/ 60 PC Manila 91/ 81 0.03 82/ 76 R 88/ 77 R Rio de Janeiro 73/ 68 0.45 71/ 66 Sh 71/ 65 Sh
Lexington 57/ 48 0 51/ 26 W 47/ 32 S Mumbai 95/ 75 0 93/ 80 PC 93/ 79 PC Santiago 79/ 48 0 83/ 51 PC 85/ 52 PC
Willets Point .................. 12:37 a.m. ............ 11:21 a.m. some trees.

Election
With Health Care Focus and Money, Democrats Aim to Control Senate
By CARL HULSE
BOZEMAN, Mont. — Voters
caught up in this state’s exceed-
ingly close Senate race could be
forgiven for believing Gov. Steve
Bullock, the Democratic candi-
date, was sharing the ballot with
Senator Chuck Schumer of New
York, the minority leader.
An incessant stream of Republi-
can-funded advertisements de-
picts Mr. Bullock, a popular two-
term governor, alongside Mr.
Schumer and other leading Demo-
crats such as Speaker Nancy
Pelosi. Senator Steve Daines, the
Republican incumbent battling
for political survival in the conser-
vative-leaning state, regularly
tries to tie his opponent to the na-
tional party, asserting that Mr.
Bullock is Mr. Schumer’s “lap
dog.”
“Steve Bullock in the Senate
puts Chuck Schumer in charge,”
the latest ad from the National Re-
publican Senatorial Committee
said. “Think about that.”
Mr. Bullock doesn’t think much
about it.
“I say it is all B.S.,” he said in an
interview as snow descended
upon Montana and shut down
campaign appearances already
curtailed by the coronavirus,
which has hung over the election
season and was surging anew in
the Mountain West. “Montanans
see through some of the stuff
where they are trying to turn me
into something they don’t recog-
nize.”
But while the governor re-
sented the ad’s implication, in one
respect it was absolutely true: If
Mr. Bullock is elected to the Sen-
ate, Mr. Schumer will almost cer-
tainly be in charge as the majority
leader.
Here in Montana and in crucial
battleground states across the
country, Republicans are playing
defense in a struggle for control of
the Senate. Dragged by President
Trump’s struggles even in conser-
vative states and confronting a
phalanx of Democratic opponents
who have raked in extraordinary
sums of cash to challenge them,
Republicans privately acknowl-
edge that their majority is hang-
ing by a thread.
The Montana race, described
by strategists for both parties as a
coin flip, is one of a handful of con-
tests that will determine control of
the Senate and the ability of the
next president to pursue his
agenda, fill a cabinet and win the
judicial confirmations suddenly at
the forefront of the nation’s politi-
cal dialogue. Democrats have
other narrow paths to Senate
power, but a Bullock victory would
essentially assure it and signal
Democratic gains elsewhere.
As the race entered its final
days, Republicans led by Mitch
McConnell, the majority leader,
were being forced to shore up can-
didates in traditionally safe loca-
tions such as Alaska, Kansas and
Nicholas Fandos contributed re-
porting from Washington.
Cash Edge Helps Democrat
Tilt House Tossup in Miami
By PATRICIA MAZZEI
MIAMI — It felt like 100 de-
grees on a recent Saturday when
Carlos A. Gimenez, the Republi-
can candidate in Florida’s most
competitive congressional race,
stood on a busy street corner in
the Miami suburbs with a gaggle
of masked relatives and campaign
volunteers, waving signs at the
honking cars.
The driver of a souped-up Toy-
ota Corolla revved his engine. A
street vendor took advantage of
the political gawkers to step in be-
tween lanes of traffic, selling fresh
guavas for $5 a bag. On the oppo-
site corner, a homeless man seized
the moment and held up a piece of
cardboard where he had
scrawled, “Biden Harris.”
Many, if not most, people recog-
nized Mr. Gimenez, the mayor of
Miami-Dade County. But the few
who came up to him did not want
to talk about Congress. They had
more pressing matters: When
would traffic engineers synchro-
nize signals to ease rush-hour
congestion? Was he able to li-
cense street vendors so they could
avoid getting picked up by the po-
lice?
In that distinction between
mayor and congressman lies one
of the biggest challenges for Re-
publicans hoping to win back Flor-
ida’s 26th Congressional District.
Their unusually high-profile
candidate enjoys widespread
name recognition that most poli-
ticians can only dream of. “I told
my husband, ‘Oh my God, that
looks like Mr. Gimenez!’ ” Marga-
rita Rodríguez, 67, squealed when
the mayor knocked on her door
while campaigning in October.
But making the leap from local
to federal office — and from non-
partisan to partisan — can be diffi-
cult, especially when the candi-
date has to spend an election year
Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana campaigning on Friday in Great Falls. Winning a seat could help tip control of the Senate.
South Carolina. Democrats be-
lieve they are already on track to
win Arizona and Colorado and are
on the hunt for a half-dozen others
starting with Iowa, Maine and
North Carolina. Georgia is sud-
denly looming as a real opportuni-
ty for Democrats, with both of the
state’s Republican senators at
risk.
Democrats conceded they were
likely to lose in Alabama, where
Republicans quietly
concede that their
majority is in peril.
Senator Doug Jones is running for
re-election after an upset victory
in a special election in 2017, and
are keeping a close watch on
Michigan, where Senator Gary
Peters is facing John James, a Re-
publican who was receiving a last-
minute surge of outside money.
But they were eyeing significant
pickups elsewhere.
With Republicans holding the
Senate majority by a margin of 53
to 47, a net gain of three seats
would put Democrats in control
should former Vice President Jo-
seph R. Biden Jr. win the presiden-
cy; four would be required if Mr.
Trump is re-elected.
Mr. Schumer called the battle
for the Senate a “nail-biter,” but
said the outlook for Democrats
dealing with a pandemic. Mr.
Gimenez has been unable to
match the fund-raising by Repre-
sentative Debbie Mucarsel-Pow-
ell, the Democratic incumbent, al-
lowing her to bolster her standing
in the race.
So a contest that until not long
ago was considered a tossup in
one of the few districts in the coun-
try where a Republican might un-
seat a Democrat is now seen by
political analysts as one that leans
slightly Democratic, a reflection
of Republicans’ national struggles
when it comes to trying to pick up
House seats.
“We haven’t had a lot of races
move back and forth like that,”
said Nathan L. Gonzales, the edi-
tor of the Inside Elections news-
letter, which analyzes congres-
sional races.
The evolution of the race sug-
gests that Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, a
freshman who two years ago
ousted former Representative
Carlos Curbelo, has had the same
success as other Democrats
across the country in tying her op-
ponent to President Trump and
cementing support from subur-
ban woman and voters worried
about immigration and health
care. Born in Ecuador, she is the
first member of Congress who im-
migrated from South America.
At a campaign appearance out-
side the local nurses’ union, Ms.
Mucarsel-Powell praised the hos-
pital workers in scrubs, hairnets
and masks for their dedication
during the coronavirus pandemic.
Eliana Ramos, a social worker
who immigrated from Cuba, ap-
proached the congresswoman
and asked for a photograph.
“You’re an inspiration to me,”
Ms. Ramos told her in Spanish.
“Don’t make me cry!” Ms. Mu-
carsel-Powell responded.
The 26th District, which goes
from the western Miami suburbs
THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
was far brighter than it was only a
few months ago.
“If you would have told me in
early January that we would have
a good chance of winning the Sen-
ate, I would have said that is a real
long shot,” he said in an interview.
“Now we are in the ballpark be-
cause of the strategic decision to
expand the seats that are in play.”
Republicans quietly agree that
their prospects have dimmed con-
siderably. One Senate Republican
leader said privately that the
party could end up with anywhere
from 47 to 52 seats.
“It is a 50-50 proposition,” said
Mr. McConnell, Republican of
Kentucky, who appears to be
safely headed toward re-election
himself, about his chances for re-
maining majority leader. “We
have a lot of exposure. It is a dog
fight out there.”
Republicans are battling the
brawl from a weakened position,
given Mr. Trump’s woes and the
record-crushing levels of money
Democrats have raised for Senate
races. Democratic challengers
have flipped the usual formula on
its head and outperformed Repub-
lican incumbents when it comes to
contributions, providing ample re-
sources for TV advertising even
as the traditional campaign model
has been upended by the pan-
demic.
Here in Montana, at least an es-
timated $120 million will be spent,
while in Maine, more than $100
million is being poured into the
showdown between Senator Su-
san Collins, a Republican seeking
Carlos A. Gimenez, left, the Republican mayor of Miami-Dade County, enjoys wide name recogni-
tion, but his rival, Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat, has raised more funds.
to Key West, is also a good micro-
cosm by which to gauge how Mr.
Trump might fare on Tuesday in
the all-important battleground
state of Florida, which is essential
to his re-election.
In 2016, Mr. Trump lost the dis-
trict in a rout of 16 percentage
points, even as voters split their
tickets and elected Mr. Curbelo, a
moderate Republican, by 12
points. In 2018, Ms. Mucarsel-
Powell defeated Mr. Curbelo by
less than two points. That helped
her nab a post on the prominent
House Judiciary Committee.
Since then, the president has
consolidated his support among
Cuban-American Republicans
and other Latinos in South Florida
who gravitate toward his strong-
man bravado regarding Cuba and
Venezuela. Mr. Gimenez left Cuba
when he was 7, after the Commu-
nist revolution.
“In the 26th and even in the
27th,” Mr. Gonzales said, referring
to the neighboring 27th Congres-
sional District, “can the president
overcome the potential losses
among other demographics in the
rest of the state?”
a fifth term, and Sara Gideon, the
Democratic speaker of the State
House. The race in North Car-
olina, where Senator Thom Tillis,
a Republican, is trying to hold on
against Cal Cunningham, a Demo-
crat, is set to be the most expen-
sive Senate contest ever, with well
over $200 million expended.
While Democratic candidates
are still outspending Republicans
in most of the marquee races dur-
ing the final weeks, the Senate
Leadership Fund, a super PAC af-
filiated with Mr. McConnell, has
dumped more than $82 million
into the effort since early October,
helping close a money gap Repub-
licans attribute to the success of
online small-donor Democratic
fund-raising.
“We are being outspent dramat-
ically, like so many other races
around the country,” said Senator
John Cornyn, a three-term Texas
Republican who finds himself in
an unexpectedly tough match
against M.J. Hegar, a Democratic
military veteran. “We have been a
little late to the dance and I think
we are going to have to learn from
the way Democrats raise money.
It is no longer like going to a din-
ner and a cocktail party.”
The fact that Mr. Cornyn finds
himself sweating is testament to
how Democrats have opened mul-
tiple potential routes to a Senate
majority while Republicans have
failed to put their usual
strongholds out of reach. Demo-
crats have been unable to put
away Ms. Collins, whom they saw
as exceptionally vulnerable after
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SAUL MARTINEZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
In other words, if Mr. Trump
does better among Latinos in
those districts, that might counter
a possible erosion in his support
among, say, older voters, enough
to hold on to Florida in the presi-
dential race — and perhaps help
Mr. Gimenez scratch out an upset.
In the 27th District, Represent-
ative Donna Shalala, Democrat of
Miami, is in a rematch against
María Elvira Salazar, a Republi-
can, who lost to Ms. Shalala by six
percentage points in 2018. Mr.
Trump endorsed Ms. Salazar on
Twitter this past week, an unusual
move in a district that the presi-
dent lost by 20 points four years
ago.
Back in the 26th, Mr. Trump has
loomed large in the race from the
start. Mr. Gimenez, in what he
said was a coincidence, did not
formally announce his candidacy
until after a visit from Mr. Trump
in January. The mayor met the
president at the airport and, hours
later, Mr. Trump gave Mr.
Gimenez a Twitter endorsement.
The mayor’s embrace of the
president was surprising: Mr.
Gimenez said in 2016 that he voted
LOUISE JOHNS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
her vote in 2018 to confirm Judge
Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Su-
preme Court. But Republicans
now worry the voting system in
Maine — in which voters’ second-
choice candidate is counted if no
candidate earns 50 percent —
could cost her on Tuesday.
Democrats have focused relent-
lessly on health care in their cam-
paigns, scorching Republicans for
their yearslong drive to overturn
the Affordable Care Act and its
protections for pre-existing condi-
tions. The power of the message
has been amplified by the pan-
demic and public anxiety about
health costs. Republicans have
pushed back with pledges to guar-
antee coverage but have not
produced specifics on how they
would do so.
The challenge for Democrats is
that to win the Senate, they must
prevail in states Mr. Trump car-
ried in 2016 and is likely to carry
again this year such as Iowa and
Montana, though Biden victories
in places like Arizona and North
Carolina would make their task
easier. Republicans had hoped re-
cent revelations that Mr. Cunning-
ham had an extramarital affair
would help rescue Mr. Tillis in
North Carolina, but polls suggest
it has not happened and Mr. Tillis
remains in trouble.
As Mr. Biden shows surprising
momentum in Georgia, where two
Republican Senate seats are up
for grabs, Republicans have be-
come increasingly concerned
about the outlook for Senator Da-
vid Perdue, who drew widespread
for Hillary Clinton.
But the mayor, who golfed with
Mr. Trump in 2014 when the presi-
dent was a real estate developer
interested in a county-owned
course, moved into the White
House’s good graces shortly after
the 2017 inauguration. After Mr.
Trump threatened to withhold
federal funding from “sanctuary
cities” that ignored immigration
detention requests, Mr. Gimenez
ordered county jails to comply, en-
raging immigration activists. Mr.
Trump praised him on Twitter.
In a recent interview, Mr.
Gimenez promoted his local prob-
lem-solving record but acknowl-
edged the partisan pressures on
his candidacy.
“Other races have an effect on
me — the top of the ticket,” he said.
“I’m fine with endorsing him, but
it doesn’t mean that I’m a 100 per-
cent yes for anybody.”
Democrats feared that Mr.
Gimenez, who has had a long pub-
lic life, beginning as a paramedic
in the city of Miami, might lever-
age his position as county mayor
— the second most powerful exec-
utive in Florida, after the gover-
N 29
criticism for appearing to mock
the name of Senator Kamala Har-
ris, his colleague and the Demo-
cratic vice-presidential candidate.
Polls show the Democratic chal-
lenger Jon Ossoff near the 50 per-
cent threshold needed to avoid a
runoff on Jan. 5, though the race
for Mr. Perdue’s seat could spill
into next year along with the fight
for the one occupied by Senator
Kelly Loeffler, a Republican who
was appointed to the Senate last
year. Such runoffs make it con-
ceivable that control of the Senate
will not be decided until January.
With Mr. Trump in real danger
of losing, Senate Republicans are
raising the alarm in more conser-
vative states that a Republican
Senate is needed to maintain a
check on Democrats should Mr.
Biden win the presidency and
Democrats hold the House as ex-
pected. Republicans are pointing
to Democratic support for calls to
eliminate the filibuster and add
seats to the Supreme Court as evi-
dence of what Democrats plan.
“What happens if they have all
the power?” a new National Re-
publican Senatorial Committee ad
airing against the Democratic
candidate for Senate in Iowa, The-
resa Greenfield, asks as ominous
background music plays. “They
will change the Senate rules to ad-
vance their liberal agenda.”
In Montana, a state awash in
campaign advertising and nega-
tive political attacks, Republicans
have sought to portray Mr. Bull-
ock, whose job performance rat-
ings have remained strong as he
has managed the state response
to the pandemic, as a politician
who turned to the left during a
failed presidential primary run.
“Steve Bullock is too liberal for
Montana,” Mr. Daines said in a
brief interview.
But Mr. Bullock proved in 2016
that he could draw the support of
conservatives, narrowly winning
re-election even as Mr. Trump eas-
ily carried the state. As a result,
Republicans are trying to per-
suade voters that sending him to
Washington would be more dan-
gerous than putting him in charge
of their state.
“They might like him as gover-
nor, but ultimately he is playing
for the wrong team and would
green-light Democrats’ extreme
agenda in the Senate,” said Jesse
Hunt, a spokesman for Republi-
cans’ Senate campaign organiza-
tion.
Mr. Bullock scoffs at the charac-
terizations. His campaign advis-
ers believe that a final campaign
push focused on digital advertis-
ing targeted at the few remaining
undecided voters and an intense
outreach operation can bring a
victory in a contest that both sides
believe will be settled by a few
thousand votes at most.
“The same person that Montan-
ans elected twice governor and is
now running for the Senate is go-
ing to be the same person when I
show up in D.C.,” he said. “I’m not
going to drink the water.”
A popular mayor tied
to Trump struggles to
unseat an incumbent.
nor — to overwhelm Ms. Mu-
carsel-Powell’s re-election
chances.
He was on television nearly ev-
ery day at times during the pan-
demic, which hit Miami-Dade
County hard, receiving coverage
that is rarely afforded to members
of Congress. With that media pres-
ence, however, came scrutiny
over every virus decision, includ-
ing shutting down restaurants
and imposing a nightly curfew.
Ms. Mucarsel-Powell criticizes
Mr. Gimenez’s pandemic leader-
ship, saying he acted too slowly
and lacked a consistent plan.
Mr. Gimenez has run as a trou-
bleshooter with a record of getting
results.
Polls showed a tight contest,
with Mr. Gimenez, 66, far better
known that Ms. Mucarsel-Powell,
49. Before joining Congress two
years ago, she was an associate
dean at Florida International Uni-
versity — a position that, among
other things, involved a lot of
fund-raising. And so Ms. Mu-
carsel-Powell outraised and out-
spent Mr. Gimenez, reintroducing
herself in sleek ads as “D.M.P.”
and campaigning with the likes of
Jill Biden.
In an interview, Ms. Mucarsel-
Powell said she put in the work
with the diverse district’s various
demographics: Black Americans,
including those in southern Mi-
ami-Dade County, who have suf-
fered during the pandemic. Mexi-
can and Central Americans whose
families have labored the agricul-
tural fields for years. White fisher-
men in the Florida Keys.
“You have to be able to commu-
nicate with everyone,” she said.
And taking a jab at Mr. Gimenez,
she added, “I doubt he can name
one person from South Dade who
has lost their child to gun vio-
lence.”
30 N THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Election

Biden and Company Take Aim at Trump’s Taxes in the Final Stretch
By DANNY HAKIM
and SUSANNE CRAIG
As former Vice President Jo-
seph R. Biden Jr. and his surro-
gates make their closing argu-
ments in battleground states
stressed by economic hardship
amid the pandemic, they often fo-
cus on one number: $750.
That’s the amount President
Trump paid in federal income
taxes in 2016 and again in 2017, a
recent New York Times investiga-
tion found. And as Mr. Biden ac-
cuses Mr. Trump of not doing
enough to help working families,
he and his allies have held up the
president’s income tax bill as a po-
tent symbol of the inequities they
seek to remedy in the American
tax system.
“Why should a firefighter, an
educator, a nurse, a cop, pay at a
higher tax rate, which you do,
than a major multibillion-dollar
corporation?” Mr. Biden asked in
Iowa on Friday. “Why should you
pay more taxes than Donald
Trump, who paid $750?”
Mr. Biden’s running mate, Sena-
tor Kamala Harris, weighed in
during her debate in early Octo-
ber: “When I first heard about it, I
literally said, you mean
$750,000?” Biden supporters like
Senator Bernie Sanders have also
raised the issue, while Priorities
USA Action, the largest Demo-
cratic super PAC, has run Face-
book ads in English and Spanish
highlighting the figure.
Few, however, have dug into the
topic with as much relish as for-
mer President Barack Obama,
who has been stumping for his for-
mer vice president in recent days.
“Listen, my first job was at a
Baskin-Robbins when I was 15
years old,” Mr. Obama said during
a speech in Philadelphia. “I think I
might have paid more taxes that
year.”
He returned to the theme in Or-
lando, Fla., this past week: “First
year in the White House, only paid
$750 in taxes, in federal income
taxes. $750! Can you imagine
that? I mean, teachers pay more
than that. Social workers pay
more than that in taxes. Soldiers,
folks in uniform, pay more in taxes
than that.”
The Times’s investigation —
based on tax information that Mr.
Trump has fought to keep hidden
in defiance of presidential tradi-
tion — found that he had paid vir-
tually no federal income taxes for
most of the last two decades,
largely because he lost far more
money than he made. In addition,
he is facing a decade-long audit of
a $72.9 million tax refund; an ad-
verse ruling could cost him more
than $100 million.
Since the investigation was
published in late September, Mr.
Trump has claimed that the $750
he paid in 2016 and again in 2017
was actually a filing fee, though
there is no fee to file federal in-
come taxes. He has also said he
prepaid millions of dollars in fed-
eral income taxes, but any prepay-
ments would be estimated taxes
factored into his final bill.
Mr. Trump reiterated his argu-
ment in a tweet on Saturday
morning: “I paid many millions of
dollars in Taxes to the Federal
Government, most of which was
even paid early, or PREPAID.
“Why should you pay more taxes than Donald Trump, who paid
$750?” Joseph R. Biden Jr. said at a rally in Des Moines on Friday.
MANY $MILLIONS. The Failing
@nytimes never likes reporting
that!”
In a statement on Friday
evening, a spokeswoman for the
Trump campaign, Courtney Par-
ella, said, “Joe Biden is attacking
the president on inaccurate
claims from illegally leaked docu-
ments, but we’d expect nothing
less from a failed career politician
with no real policy accomplish-
ments and a platform being dic-
tated to him by the far-left radicals
of his party.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly said
he will release his taxes after the
I.R.S. audit is complete, though
there is nothing preventing him
ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES
from releasing them now.
In the last days of the campaign,
the candidates are scrapping for
the few remaining undecided vot-
ers at a time when the economy is
still digging itself out of the hole
caused by the pandemic.
Mr. Biden has assailed Mr.
Trump for policies that have large-
ly benefited the wealthy. In the
2017 Republican tax package, one
of Mr. Trump’s signature achieve-
ments, the top fifth of earners re-
ceived more than 60 percent of the
total tax savings, according to the
Tax Policy Center.
Mr. Biden is proposing to refo-
cus on middle-class relief and in-
crease taxes on corporations and
those with incomes above
$400,000.
“Why should you pay more
taxes than Donald Trump pays?”
Mr. Biden asked in Florida on
Thursday. “And that’s a fact. $750?
Remember what he said when
that was raised a while ago? How
he said: ‘Because I’m smart. I
know how to game the system.’ He
games the system at your ex-
pense.”
He continued along the same
lines the next day in Iowa: “They
ain’t going to be gaming the sys-
tem anymore in a Biden adminis-
tration,” he said. “They’re going to
start paying. And we’re going to
deliver tax relief for working fam-
ilies, the middle class.”
During their first debate in Sep-
tember, Mr. Trump said that he
had paid “millions of dollars” in
federal income taxes in 2016 and
2017, even though his tax returns
show he had not.
At the same time, he also justi-
fied why his bills were so small
compared with those of average
Americans. “It was the tax laws,”
he said. “I don’t want to pay tax.”
“Before I came here, I was a pri-
vate developer,” he said, adding,
“Like every other private person,
unless they’re stupid, they go
through the laws, and that’s what
it is.”
Indeed, over the years, Mr.
Trump has taken advantage of tax
breaks that disproportionately
benefit the real estate industry.
Mr. Trump has also accused Mr.
Biden of failing to advance his
agenda during his nearly half-cen-
tury as a public servant. But dur-
ing the Obama presidency, Repub-
licans repeatedly thwarted at-
tempts to tilt the tax system away
from higher earners. In 2010, Mr.
Obama had wanted to end Bush-
era tax cuts for couples with in-
comes of more than $250,000, but
Republicans balked, and he gave
in to their demands as part of a
compromise.
The next year, another plan by
Mr. Obama to increase taxes on
the wealthy was derided as “class
warfare” by Paul Ryan, the chair-
man of the House Budget Commit-
tee. And the year after that, Sen-
ate Republicans blocked Mr. Oba-
ma’s proposal that the superrich
pay at least 30 percent, a plan that
Mitch McConnell, the Senate ma-
jority leader, dismissed as a “polit-
ical gimmick.” Republicans have
gone on to drop their rhetoric
about fiscal discipline as the na-
tional debt has soared under Mr.
Trump.
“Listen, the only people truly
better off than they were four
years ago are the billionaires who
got Trump’s tax cuts,” Mr. Obama
said in Orlando. He and other sur-
rogates have also highlighted a
Times report about more than
$188,000 in taxes that Mr. Trump
paid from 2013 to 2015 out of a pre-
viously undisclosed Chinese bank
account maintained by the Trump
Organization.
“Can you imagine if I had had a
secret Chinese bank account
when I was running for re-elec-
tion?” Mr. Obama asked in Phila-
delphia. “You think Fox News
might have been a little concerned
about that? They would’ve called
me Beijing Barry!”

In Pulpits, Flecks of Politics, but Fear of Being Labeled ‘Political’ Sunnier Skies
By RUTH GRAHAM
The second weekend in October
was “citizenship weekend” at
Prestonwood Baptist Church in
Plano, Texas.
“Up and down the ballot, there
are two very different visions for
our nation, and every one of us
need to vote biblical principles,”
the Rev. Jack Graham, one of
President Trump’s evangelical ad-
visers, told the congregation. The
45,000-member church has a com-
mittee urging members to be “ac-
tively involved in our govern-
ment,” including by running for of-
fice. At one point, Mr. Graham told
the congregation, 23 members of
the church held some kind of
elected office. Mr. Graham invited
four to the stage that Sunday, all
Republicans.
But Mr. Graham does not see it
as his job to tell members how to
fill out their ballots. “You preach
on the issues; you don’t insult peo-
ple by telling them how to vote,”
Mr. Graham said in an interview.
“People will figure out how to vote
if you guide them from Scripture.”
Last Sunday, he preached on the
importance of religious liberty.
Decades after the rise of the
Christian right as a political influ-
ence, conservative evangelicals
have a reputation for political ac-
tivism. That reputation has only
intensified in the Trump era.
White evangelicals voted for Mr.
Trump overwhelmingly in 2016,
and have remained his most de-
pendable supporters. The presi-
dent himself, who is not a frequent
churchgoer, has indicated that he
assumes conservative evangeli-
cal pastors would be eager to
speak even more directly — per-
haps to endorse him — if freed by
tax law to do so.
In 2017, he signed an executive
order intended to loosen enforce-
ment of the Johnson Amendment,
the provision that forbids pastors
at tax-exempt churches to en-
dorse or oppose candidates from
the pulpit. “We are giving
churches their voices back,” he
said at a Rose Garden signing cer-
emony, framing the change as a
gift to religious conservatives.
But tuning into conservative
evangelical sermons across the
country in the weeks leading up to
a hotly contested election reveals
a complex relationship between
the pulpit and politics. Some pas-
tors grappled directly with the
question of a Christian’s political
obligations. Others edged close to
an endorsement. But many barely
hinted at political themes, per-
haps gesturing broadly to “unity”
or “justice.”
Compared with other Christian
traditions, white conservative
Protestant churches are notably
unenthusiastic about engaging di-
rectly in some kinds of traditional
political activities. If tax law
changed, 45 percent of self-de-
scribed liberal congregations
would endorse specific candi-
dates, compared with 11 percent of
self-described conservative con-
gregations, according to a forth-
coming paper analyzing data from
the National Congregations Study,
an ongoing nationally representa-
tive survey of about 1,200 leaders
of religious congregations. Black
churches, whose members are of-
ten theologically conservative
and vote Democratic, are the most
Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, has a committee urging its members to be “actively involved in our government.”
politically engaged.
But surveys about voter regis-
tration or lobbying — activities
that liberal churches are likelier to
engage in — do not capture the full
portrait of churches’ political mes-
saging. “There’s a lot more politi-
cal signaling going on than we
pick up with these explicit col-
lective actions,” said Mark
Chaves, director of the National
Congregations Study and a pro-
fessor at Duke University.
Surveys do not capture, for ex-
ample, an American flag dis-
played at the front of the church,
prayers offered for police officers
but not protesters (or vice versa),
or passing references to “life” or
“freedom” in a sermon.
As a pastor in the Christian Re-
formed Church, Keith Mannes
would have said for most of his ca-
reer that he did not preach about
politics. He calls himself “a pretty
conservative guy,” and he occa-
sionally addressed abortion or ho-
mosexuality in his sermons, but
he saw those topics as biblical, not
political.
But in 2015 something changed
when Mr. Mannes watched Don-
ald J. Trump slowly descend a
gleaming escalator at Trump
Tower to start his presidential bid.
The gaudiness struck him as gro-
tesque; the biblical term “mam-
mon” came to mind.
After Mr. Trump became presi-
dent, Mr. Mannes increasingly felt
called to speak directly about
what he saw as an ungodly alli-
ance between white conservative
Christians and Mr. Trump. But for
several years, he tried to stay qui-
et. “It’s just in our bones that we
don’t make trouble about politics,”
Mr. Mannes said. “We don’t talk
about that stuff from the pulpit.”
He delivered his last sermon at
East Saugatuck Christian Re-
formed Church in Holland, Mich.,
on Oct. 11. After years of trying to
“avoid politics” in the pulpit to
keep peace in the congregation, he
approached church leadership to
suggest it was time to part ways.
“You realize you’re extending all
this energy just to make sure peo-
ple don’t get upset,” he said. “I
wanted to be able to speak openly
in the world about what I believe.”
Pastors whose own political be-
liefs are in line with their congre-
gations’ tend to feel more empow-
ered to speak. In Apex, N.C., an-
other evangelical pastor had
Pastors dance around
issues but stop short
of endorsements.
watched in a very different mood
as Mr. Trump descended the esca-
lator at Trump Tower. “When he
came down the escalator, I didn’t
know much about him but I turned
to my wife and said, ‘Honey, that
guy’s going to win,’ ” Rodney
Finch recalled. Mr. Finch, the
Black pastor of a large multiracial
church he founded in 1995, said he
had not been strongly engaged in
politics before, but the moment
was electrifying.
This election cycle, Mr. Finch is
all in. On Oct. 4, he preached a
Sunday sermon on voting. “The
Bible is a voter’s guide,” he told
the congregation. Without explic-
itly telling members how to fill out
their ballots, he ticked off God’s
priorities, in his view: abortion,
support for Israel, religious free-
dom.
Mr. Finch is not alone in his
awakening. Just 1 percent of Prot-
estant pastors say they have en-
dorsed a candidate from the pulpit
this year, according to a survey
conducted this fall by LifeWay Re-
search, which is affiliated with the
Southern Baptist Convention.
That number is unchanged since
2016. But 32 percent of Protestant
pastors said they have endorsed a
political candidate away from the
pulpit, ostensibly outside of their
role as a pastor. That is a 10 per-
centage point increase since the
last presidential election cycle.
Pastors who say they are voting
for Mr. Trump are more likely to
say they have made an endorse-
ment.
Still, in many white conserva-
tive churches, “there’s a fear of be-
ing labeled ‘political,’ ” said Kait-
lyn Schiess, the author of “The Lit-
urgy of Politics: Spiritual Forma-
tion for the Sake of Our Neighbor,”
a book urging evangelicals to en-
gage more intentionally with poli-
tics. “As Christians, we’re sup-
posed to be above that.”
An analysis by the Pew Re-
search Center of 50,000 sermons
streamed online last year found
that 4 percent of Christian ser-
mons even mentioned abortion,
and those that did rarely focused
entirely on the topic. Smaller con-
gregations were more likely than
larger ones to hear discussion of
abortion in sermons.
At many evangelical churches,
there have been almost no hints
from the pulpit in recent weeks of
the divisive election on the way.
“My job is to articulate to the
members of our congregation a
traditional, orthodox Christian
worldview,” said Tim Breen, pas-
tor of First Reformed Church in
LM OTERO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Orange City, Iowa, a congregation
he described as “center right.” “I
don’t feel a call to recommend who
to vote for or even necessarily
how to vote.” Most of his congre-
gation, he said, would not be able
to guess whom he is voting for.
At Trinity Presbyterian Church
in Charlottesville, Va., churchgo-
ers can participate in a class titled
“The Bible, the Church and Poli-
tics” on Wednesday evenings
leading up to the election. One ses-
sion listed biblical priorities in-
cluding a safety net for the poor,
fair wages, “creation steward-
ship,” personal responsibility and
“protection of the unborn.”
“The church is trying to bal-
ance, ‘How do we engage faith-
fully with social issues, but how do
we not get swallowed up?’” said
Trinity’s pastor, Walter Kim, the
president of the National Associa-
tion of Evangelicals, referring to
the American church in general.
Mr. Kim describes his university-
town congregation as “conserva-
tive theologically, but mixed politi-
cally.” “There’s a bit of a tension,”
he said. “Some people come to
church with a deep desire to un-
derstand their world. Some come
to church to find a reprieve from
the world.”
Mr. Kim tries to navigate that
tension by focusing on larger mor-
al principles rather than partisan
politics from the pulpit. On Oct. 25,
he preached from the New Testa-
ment book of James, a sermon
that focused on humility, repen-
tance and the ultimate folly of
many disputes. He did not men-
tion Joseph R. Biden Jr., Mr.
Trump or the upcoming election.
“From the perspective of eter-
nity,” he told his congregation,
“we’re going to regret a lot of our
fights.”
May Forecast
Surge at Polls
By ELLEN BARRY
BOSTON — Fluffy, granular
snow blanketed New England on
Friday morning, accumulating up
to four inches in some places and
leaving roads slick and slushy a
few days ahead of an election
whose outcome is expected to
hinge on voter turnout.
Both rain and snow are shown
to depress turnout, but the snow
was expected to melt over the
weekend, with Election Day on
Tuesday forecast as chilly but dry.
Early voting and campaigning
has already been disrupted this
past week by the extremities of
the weather: powerful Santa Ana
winds fueled wildfires in Southern
California and Hurricane Zeta
knocked out electricity at some
polling stations as it carved a path
through the South.
But like New England, much of
the country can expect clear skies
on Election Day, with seasonably
cool conditions in the Northeast
and Upper Midwest, mild weather
stretching through the South and
over the Rockies and warm
weather in store for Southern Cali-
fornia. The Pacific Northwest,
however, may be in for showers.
“Republicans should pray for
rain” is an adage in American poli-
tics, suggesting that marginalized
voters who tend to support Demo-
crats are the most likely to be de-
terred by weather, and a 2007
analysis of 14 presidential elec-
tions published in the Journal of
Politics seemed to bear it out.
Historically, every inch of rain
reduced the turnout by around 1
percent, whereas every inch of
snow reduced it by 0.5 percent,
the authors found. In both cases,
Republicans benefited.
“The strong positive effect of
rain is robust in the face of more
comprehensive and complex
model specifications,” the report
said.
More recent analysis, however,
suggests that the effect of weather
is decreasing, perhaps because
more voters are casting their vote
before Election Day.
“It could also be that, over time,
people just got better at dealing
with rain,” said Thomas Fujiwara,
an associate professor of econom-
ics at Princeton University. “May-
be weather forecasting got a little
better. In the 1950s, you could be
surprised when it snowed.”
In midterm elections, when
turnout tends to be limited to
more motivated voters, rain has
no observable effect. And in any
case, a weather event would have
to be “fairly sizable” to shift turn-
out in a measurable way, he said.
“Most of the uncertainty is not
related to nature, it’s man-made
things,” he said. “I’m more curious
about what the judges and elec-
tion officials will do than what the
voters will do.”
On Friday, a cold front moving
south from Canada encountered
the moist remnants of Hurricane
Zeta, turning a heavy rain into
powdery, dry snow. Temperatures
are expected to rise to around 50
degrees on Sunday, and any re-
maining snow will melt.

Sean Connery, Who Was ‘Bond, James Bond,’ and Much More, Is Dead at 90
From Page 1
against 12 percent of the movie’s
gross revenues. Roger Moore took
over for “Live and Let Die” (1973)
and continued to play the part for
another 12 years. George Lazen-
by’s career never took off. James
Bond has been played by Daniel
Craig since 2006.
Mr. Connery would revisit the
character one more time a decade
later, in the elegiac “Never Say
Never Again” (1983), in which he
wittily played a rueful Bond feel-
ing the anxieties of middle age.
But he had made clear long before
then that he was not going to let
himself be typecast.
He searched out roles that al-
lowed him to stretch as an actor
even during his Bond years,
among them as a widower ob-
sessed with a woman who is a
compulsive thief in Alfred Hitch-
cock’s “Marnie” (1964) and as a
raging, amoral poet in the satire
“A Fine Madness” (1966). His first
post-Bond performance was as a
burned-out London police detec-
tive who beats a suspect to death
in “The Offence” (1972), the third
of five movies he made for the cel-
ebrated director Sidney Lumet.
The others were “The Hill” in
1965, “The Anderson Tapes” in
1971, “Murder on the Orient Ex-
press” in 1974 and “Family Busi-
ness” in 1989.
“Nonprofessionals just didn’t
realize what superb high-comedy
acting that Bond role was,” Mr.
Lumet once said. “It was like what
they used to say about Cary
Grant. ‘Oh,’ they’d say, ‘he’s just
got charm.’ Well, first of all, charm
is actually not all that easy a qual-
ity to come by. And what they
overlooked in both Cary Grant
and Sean was their enormous
skill.”
A Graceful Transformation
In the 1970s and ’80s, Mr. Con-
nery gracefully transformed him-
self into one of the grand old men
of the movies. If his trained killer
in the futuristic fantasy “Zardoz”
(1974), his Barbary pirate in “The
Wind and the Lion” (1975) or his
middle-aged Robin Hood in “Rob-
in and Marian” (1976) did not
erase the memory of his James
Bond, they certainly blurred the
image.
Mr. Connery won a best-actor
award from the British Academy
of Film and Television Arts for
“The Name of the Rose” (1986),
based on the Umberto Eco novel,
in which he played a crime-solv-
ing medieval monk, and the Acad-
emy Award as best supporting ac-
tor for his performance as an hon-
est cop on the corrupt Chicago po-
lice force in “The Untouchables”
(1987). Mr. Connery taught him-
self to understand that character
— Jim Malone, a cynical, street-
wise police officer whose only
goal is to be alive at the end of his
shift — by noting the other charac-
ters’ attitudes toward him.
After reading Malone’s scenes,
he told The Times in 1987, he read
the scenes in which his character
did not appear. “That way,” he
said, “I get to know what the char-
acter is aware of and, more impor-
tantly, what he is not aware of. The
trap that bad actors fall into is
playing information they don’t
have.”
Even before his acting ability
was apparent, the 6-foot-2 Mr.
Connery had a remarkable physi-
cal presence, onscreen and off.
Lana Turner picked him to play
the war correspondent with
whom she tumbles into bed in the
forgettable 1958 melodrama “An-
other Time, Another Place.” He
earned his chance as Bond when
the producers Albert Broccoli and
Harry Saltzman watched him
walk.
“We signed him without a
screen test,” Mr. Saltzman said.
Mr. Connery’s magnetism did
not fade as he grew older. In 1989,
when he was 59 years old and had
long since discarded his James
Bond toupee, People magazine
anointed him the “Sexiest Man
Alive.” His response was to growl
that not many men are sexy when
they’re dead.
“The Man Who Would Be King”
(1975), directed by John Huston,
in which Mr. Connery played a
British soldier who sets out to loot
a country and is mistaken for a
god, was among the highlights of
his second act. When Mr. Huston
had first tried to finance a movie
based on Rudyard Kipling’s short
story of the same name 20 years
earlier, he intended the role of
Danny Dravot, the exuberant
rogue who fatally begins to be-
lieve in his own grandeur, for
Clark Gable, the undisputed king
of Hollywood during the 1930s and
’40s. (The role of his companion
Peachy Carnehan, played by Mi-
chael Caine, was originally in-
tended for Humphrey Bogart.)
Mr. Connery was, Pauline Kael of
The New Yorker wrote, “a far bet-
ter Danny than Gable would ever
have been.”
She continued: “With the glori-
ous exceptions of Brando and
Olivier, there’s no screen actor I’d
rather watch than Sean Connery.
His vitality may make him the
most richly masculine of all Eng-
lish-speaking actors.” Few actors,
Alex Marshall, Christina Morales
and Peter Keepnews contributed re-
porting.
THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARIES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
DONALDSON COLLECTION/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES
BOB RIHA JR./REUTERS
Sean Connery, top, as James Bond in “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971. From left, Mr. Connery with Honor Blackman in “Goldfin-
ger”; with his Oscar in 1988; and working on the set of “Marnie” with Alfred Hitchcock, center, Tippi Hedren, left, and Diane Baker.
she added, “are as un-self-con- A Challenging Childhood life. When he was 63, he told an in-
sciously silly as Connery is willing terviewer that a bath was still
to be — as he enjoys being.” He was born Thomas Sean Con- “something special.”
If he enjoyed being silly on the nery on Aug. 25, 1930, and his crib His anger was never far below
screen, Mr. Connery was darker was the bottom drawer of a the surface. What he called his “vi-
and more complex when the arc dresser in a cold-water flat next olent side,” he told The Times,
lights were turned off. Always door to a brewery. The two toilets may have been “ammunitioned”
afraid of being cheated, he audited in the hall were shared with three by his childhood. (He sometimes
the books of almost all of his mov- other families. His father, Joe, acknowledged that side in shock-
ies and sued anyone he thought earned two pounds a week in a ing ways. In a 1965 interview, he
was taking advantage of him, rubber factory. His mother, Effie, said, “I don’t think there is any-
from his business manager to the occasionally got work as a clean- thing particularly wrong about
producers of the Bond films. ing woman. hitting a woman”; asked about
In 1978 he and Mr. Caine filed At the age of 9, Thomas found those words by Barbara Walters
suit against Allied Artists, the dis- an early-morning job delivering in 1987, he said, “I haven’t changed
tributor of “The Man Who Would milk in a horse cart for four hours my opinion.” He did eventually
Be King,” over the way their share before he went to school. His say he had been wrong, but not
of the movie’s receipts was calcu- brother, Neil, had been born in De- until many years later.)
lated. (The case was settled out of cember 1938, and the usual meals The same was true of his odd
court.) He was still at it in 2002, su- of porridge and potatoes had to be combination of penury and gener-
ing the producer Peter Guber and stretched four ways. Once a week, osity.
Mandalay Pictures for backing if the family had a sixpence to
A passionate golfer — he dis-
out of “End Game,” a C.I.A. thriller spare, Thomas would walk to the
covered the game about the same
in which Mr. Connery was to star.
public baths and swim “just to get time he discovered James Bond —
He later dropped the suit. clean.” he was the only player at the Bel-
The lasting resentment behind Like the months that 12-year- Air Country Club in Los Angeles
who carried his own bag. Yet he
his many lawsuits, which he car- old Charles Dickens spent work-
gave the million dollars he earned
ried with him from his childhood, ing in a factory that made shoe
on “Diamonds Are Forever” to the
was also one of the keys to his suc- blacking, Mr. Connery’s deprived
Scottish International Education
cess as an actor. childhood informed the rest of his
Trust, an organization he founded
to help poor Scots get an educa-
tion.
When asked why he was willing
to take second billing as a coal
miner saboteur to Richard Har-
ris’s company spy in “The Molly
Maguires” (1970), he said, “They
paid me a million dollars for it,
and, for that kind of money, they
can put a mule ahead of me.” But
he donated 50,000 pounds to Eng-
land’s National Youth Theater af-
ter he read that the theater
needed money. An ardent sup-
porter of Scottish nationalism, he
also gave 5,000 pounds a month to
the Scottish National Party.
As a national referendum on in-
dependence approached in 2014,
Mr. Connery wrote an opinion ar-
ticle for The New Statesman argu-
ing in favor it.
“As a Scot and as someone with
a lifelong love for both Scotland
and the arts, I believe the opportu-
nity of independence is too good to
miss,” he wrote. “Simply put —
there is no more creative act than
creating a new nation.” However,
because his primary residence
was not in Scotland, Mr. Connery
was not eligible to vote.
At the age of 13, Thomas Con-
nery became a full-time milkman.
Britain had been at war for four
years, and any able-bodied boy
could get a job. Three years later,
with the soldiers coming home
POOL PHOTO BY RUI VIEIRA
and work scarcer, he joined the
Mr. Connery and his wife, Micheline, in 2014 at the opening of Royal Navy.
the first Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in over 300 years. He signed up for 12 years, but
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
was discharged at 19 after acquir-
ing an ulcer. He had also acquired
two tattoos on his right arm —
“Mum and Dad” and “Scotland
Forever” — and a small disability
grant, which he used to learn fur-
niture polishing. Then he went to
work putting the finish on coffins.
In his off hours he took up soccer
(he played semiprofessionally)
and bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding led indirectly to
acting. In 1953, he and a friend
went to London to compete in the
Mr. Universe contest. Mr. Con-
nery got a minor award — third
place in the tall man division, ac-
cording to most accounts — but,
more important, while there he
heard about auditions for a tour-
ing production of the musical
“South Pacific.” He was chosen for
the chorus because he looked like
a sailor and could do handstands.
During the year Mr. Connery
toured in “South Pacific,” he lost
much of a Scottish accent so im-
penetrable that, he later claimed,
other actors at first thought he
was Polish. His name was short-
ened to Sean Connery. And he
found himself a mentor. An Ameri-
can actor in the cast, Robert Hen-
derson, gave him a reading pro-
gram that included all the plays of
George Bernard Shaw, Oscar
Wilde and Henrik Ibsen, along
with the novels of Thomas Wolfe,
Proust’s “Remembrance of
Things Past” and Joyce’s “Ulys-
ses.”
“I spent my ‘South Pacific’ tour
in every library in Britain, Ireland,
Scotland and Wales,” Mr. Connery
told The Houston Chronicle in
1992. “And on the nights we were
dark, I’d see every play I could.
But it’s the books, the reading,
that can change one’s life. I’m the
living evidence.”
The next few years were a blend
of small stage and television roles.
His lucky break came on March
31, 1957. Jack Palance was to have
starred in Rod Serling’s “Requiem
for a Heavyweight” on live televi-
sion for the BBC. Mr. Palance had
triumphed in the same role the
previous year on “Playhouse 90.”
But he canceled at the last minute,
and Mr. Connery inherited the role
of the aging boxer Mountain Mc-
Clintock. Although miscast, a re-
viewer for The Times of London
wrote, he had “shambling and in-
articulate charm.” Within 24
hours, Mr. Connery had gotten his
first movie offers.
A string of B-movies followed,
including “Action of the Tiger”
(1957), a thriller starring Van
Johnson in which he had a small
0N 31
part, and “Tarzan’s Greatest Ad-
venture” (1959), in which he
played a villain out to destroy a
village. He also played a private in
the all-star D-Day saga “The
Longest Day” (1962) and a man
enchanted into falling in love in
Disney’s “Darby O’Gill and the
Little People” (1959).
“In these early films,” observed
the novelist and filmmaker Mi-
chael Crichton, who directed Mr.
Connery in “The Great Train Rob-
bery” (1979), “Connery exudes a
rich, dark animal presence that is
almost overpowering.”
His Count Vronsky opposite
Claire Bloom’s Anna in a 1961 BBC
television adaptation of Tolstoy’s
“Anna Karenina” caught the atten-
tion of the men who were about to
produce “Dr. No.”
Both Mr. Connery and the char-
acter he played were instant sen-
sations. “James Bond is clearly
here to stay,” Variety wrote pro-
phetically after “Dr. No” opened.
“He will win no Oscars but a lot of
enthusiastic followers.”
Mr. Connery and Diane Cilento,
an actress he had met when they
played lovers in a television ver-
sion of Eugene O’Neill’s “Anna
Christie” in 1957, were married on
Nov. 30, 1962. Their son, Jason,
who would grow up to become an
actor, was born six weeks later.
The marriage lasted, more or
less, until Mr. Connery met Mi-
cheline Roquebrune, a French art-
ist and obsessive golfer, at a golf
tournament in Morocco in 1970.
She was married, he was married,
and they both won medals. After
their marriage in 1975, they lived
in Marbella, Spain, mostly to
avoid British income taxes but
partly because of Marbella’s 24
golf courses.
By the time he returned to the
role of James Bond in “Never Say
Never Again,” at Ms. Roque-
brune’s suggestion, Mr. Connery
was in financial trouble because
his former accountant had put the
money he earned from the Bond
films into unsecured property in-
vestments. Mr. Connery sued and
won a $4.1 million judgment for
negligence in 1984, but told report-
ers, “I don’t foresee I’ll get any
money.”
‘I Don’t Mind Being Older’
Almost from the time he left
James Bond behind, Mr. Connery
shifted from gorgeous young man
to character star. “The reason
Burt Lancaster had a longer, more
varied career than Kirk Douglas
was that he refused to allow him-
self to be limited,” Mr. Connery
told The Times in 1987. “He was
more ready to play less romantic
parts, and was more experimental
in his choice of roles. And that’s
the way I’ve tried to be. I don’t
mind being older or looking
stupid.”
Often willing to take roles in bad
pictures if the money was good
enough, Mr. Connery was the
voice of a computer-generated
dragon in “Dragonheart” (1996)
and a villain trying to unleash a
weather catastrophe on London in
the misfire film version of the cult
British television series “The
Avengers” (1998). But he had
more than his share of late-career
triumphs as well.
He relished his role as Harrison
Ford’s eccentric father in “Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade”
(1989) — even though Mr. Ford
was only 12 years younger than he
was. The next year he played a
Russian nuclear submarine com-
mander trying to defect to the
United States in the film of Tom
Clancy’s “The Hunt for Red Octo-
ber” and a hard-drinking but
naïve British publisher recruited
by British intelligence in post-
Cold War Russia in “The Russia
House,” based on John le Carré’s
novel.
Mr. Connery’s last movie was
one of his lesser ones: “The
League of Extraordinary Gentle-
men” (2003), an unsuccessful
screen adaptation of a clever
comic-book series about a group
of Victorian heroes.
In 2005, he told an interviewer
that he was done with acting, less
because of his age than because of
the “idiots now making films in
Hollywood.” Five years later, he
told another interviewer: “I don’t
think I’ll ever act again. I have so
many wonderful memories, but
those days are over.” Except for
some voice-over work, and de-
spite occasional talk of possible
new projects, they were.
In addition to his wife and his
son Jason, his survivors include a
stepson, Stephane, and his
brother.
On July 5, 2000, Mr. Connery
was knighted at the Palace of
Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh by
Queen Elizabeth II. It was a
knighthood that had been vetoed
for two years by officials angry at
his outspoken support for the
Scottish National Party and his ac-
tive role in the passage of a refer-
endum that created the first Scot-
tish Parliament in 300 years.
The palace is less than a mile
from the tenement in Fountain-
bridge where Mr. Connery grew
up. He never removed the “Scot-
land Forever” tattoo that he
placed on his arm when he was 18.
Nor was he ever tempted to deny
his identity or turn himself into an
English gentleman. As he told The
Times in 1987, “My strength as an
actor, I think, is that I’ve stayed
close to the core of myself.”
32 N THE NEW YORK TIMES OBITUARIES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Deaths
ABBEY—Bruce James.
Professor & Dean Emeritus,
School of Architecture, Syra-
cuse University, died October
26, 2020, in Charlottesville, VA.
Respected architect, painter,
writer, and educator, he will
be missed by family, friends,
colleagues, and students.
BALIS—Bernice,
passed away peacefully on
October 22 at the end of a
long life, leaving behind
daughters Andrea and Ellen,
and grandchildren Jesse and
Sophie. A gifted pianist and
killer bridge player, she was
one of the first female ac-
count executives in the age of
“Mad Men.” In lieu of flowers,
please send donations in her
name to Trustbridge Hospice.
BANKS—Diana Elizabeth,
87, died October 2, 2020 in
High Falls, NY. Ballet dancer,
actress, teacher, animal lover
and advocate. Donations to
Diana's Cat Shelter most ap-
preciated. PO Box 411, Ac-
cord, NY 12404.
BERNSTEIN—Leonard S.
Leonard S. Bernstein, age 89,
died peacefully October 25 at
home in Westbury, New
York, surrounded by his fami-
ly. The cause was a brain tu-
mor, which was recently
diagnosed. Leonard was an
accomplished business own-
er manufacturing children's
clothing and a successful au-
thor of six books, including his
most recent collection of
short stories “The Man Who
Wanted to Buy a Heart”. His
writing was published in The
New York Times, Life maga-
zine, The Saturday Evening
Post, and The Wall Street
Journal, among others. His
book “The Official Guide to
Wine Snobbery” was translat-
ed into six languages. His
short story collection was re-
viewed as “terse, funny, poig-
nant, honest.” The apparel
company, Candlesticks, Inc.,
was founded in 1928 by his
father, and operated in New
York and Pennsylvania con-
tinuously as a family-owned
business for almost 90 years.
Leonard is survived by his
three children, Audrey, Law-
rence, and Laura, and six
grandchildren: Saskia, Daniel,
Isabel, Sonya, Jacob and Ju-
lia. His wife Rita, who he met
at age 18, died in 2002. Born in
Brooklyn, a graduate of
James Madison High School,
Leonard graduated from the
University of Michigan. Leon-
ard was an ardent supporter
of literary quarterlies, civil
rights organizations such as
the ACLU and a longtime
member of The New York
Wine & Food Society. He
loved his weekday racquet-
ball matches, weekend tennis
games, beach volleyball and
all the joys of decades of fa-
mily summer rentals in Ama-
gansett. He delighted in visit-
ing art galleries and
museums in New York and
internationally, and was espe-
cially drawn to Renaissance
art. Decisions of the U.S. Su-
preme Court and issues of so-
cial justice were a frequent
discussion topic, and he cher-
ished a spirited debate and a
glass of fine wine. Leonard
had an independent and stub-
born style. He had an un-
shakeable belief in persis-
tence, determination, and in-
tegrity, and a notable sweet
tooth. He was a great and loy-
al friend. There was a private
graveside ceremony for
family.
BERNSTEIN—Leonard S.
He was our Leonard Bern-
stein. A dear friend for all
seasons.
Elise and Len
BRADLOW—H. Leon, PhD,
died on October 22, 2020, age
96. A distinguished biomedi-
cal researcher. Survived by
his wife of 72 years, Hattie,
daughter Janet and son Alec.
CHALMERS—David M.,
University of Florida Profes-
sor of American History for
39 years, died at age 93. An
author and award winning
teacher best known as an au-
thority on the Ku Klux Klan.
His book Hooded America-
nism has been in print contin-
uously since 1965. Active in
the civil rights movement
with his wife of 62 years, Jean
Chalmers — whom he met
while teaching at CCNY. Da-
vid went to jail desegregating
St. Augustine, FL; Jean was
Southern Regional Council
President and Mayor of Gai-
nesville, FL. He was a Ful-
bright Scholar or Exchange
Professor at the Universities
of Ceylon, Tokyo, The Philip-
pines, Tel Aviv, and Genova.
A WWII veteran, he received
his B.A. from Swarthmore
College and Ph.D. from the
University of Rochester.
Daughter Kim is a violin
teacher and Realtor with
Jean; son Henry is an attor-
ney, married to Rebecca
Franco Chalmers. Grand-
children Sarina and David are
college students.
CLEMENTS—Cathleen.
Cathleen Clements, beloved
mother, mother-in-law, sister,
aunt, great-aunt, niece, friend
and life partner, died unex-
pectedly on October 23, 2020,
at the age of 74, in Madison,
WI. Cathy was born and
raised in Cashton, a small
farming community in south-
western Wisconsin. Her
parents were John and Beu-
lah (Swanson) Clements. She
had many aunts and uncles
and had a special relationship
with her aunt Beverly Swan-
son. She majored in English
at the University of Wiscon-
sin - La Crosse where she
also received master's
degrees in English and spe-
cial education. She minored
in singing in a rock band - her
big numbers being “White
Rabbit” and “Somebody to
Love.” Cathy continued to
sing with her Cashton friends,
Mary and Theo, whenever
she was back in Wisconsin.
She was a special education
teacher in Wisconsin and
Minnesota before moving to
Northfield, MN with her
Deaths
young son, Leif Johnson, to
become the chemical depen-
dency counselor at the high
school. In 1982, Cathy attend-
ed a party in Northfield which
was also attended by another
of the hosts' friends, David
Preminger, who was visiting
from New York City. Two
years later, Cathy, Leif and
David moved into an apart-
ment in Brooklyn Heights.
Cathy's first job in New York
City was with the Freedom
Institute for which she direct-
ed a private school program
for chemically dependent
students and their parents.
After a few years, Cathy at-
tended law school and upon
graduating worked for Brook-
lyn Legal Services assisting
poor families to receive pub-
lic assistance benefits. Cathy
then worked for the Child-
ren's Aid Society as Director
of the Office of Client Advo-
cacy and later as Deputy Di-
rector of Child Welfare and
Family Services. Cathy re-
tired a few years ago.
Somewhere in there the fa-
mily moved to Greenwich
Village which they all loved.
Cathy was a gourmet cook
and loved throwing dinner
parties - large and small - but
was perfectly willing to go to
a restaurant at the drop of a
hat. She was a voracious
reader, an avid crossword
puzzle solver, and loved at-
tending theater, opera and
concerts (especially John
Prine and Emmylou Harris).
Cathy loved her siblings and
spending time with them
whenever she could, in parti-
cular get-togethers with her
sisters. Cathy also loved her
trips to Europe with David
and their annual trips to Pro-
vincetown with their Scottish
terriers - Dudes, Thor, Emily
Lou and Liliane. Cathy and
David had been staying in
Wisconsin since March due to
the pandemic where she was
stricken. She is survived by
Leif and his wife Heewon
Sohn, her sisters Jane Cle-
ments and Christine Cle-
ments, her brothers Bob Cle-
ments and Jim Clements,
nieces, nephews, great -
nieces, great-nephews, in-
numerable cousins and
friends, and David who can-
not imagine life without her.
A Celebration of Life will be
held at a later day and time.
The Torkelson Funeral Home
of Cashton, WI, is assisting
the family with services. On-
line condolences may be of-
fered at:
torkelsonfuneralhome.com.
COOPER—Milton.
Milton Cooper passed away
peacefully from lung cancer
at his home in New York City.
He is survived by his wife Gail
of 52 years, his son Stephen,
his brother Manny, sister-in-
law Rhoda and three nep-
hews, Bruce, Leslie and Neil.
Born in New York City, Milton
grew up in Brooklyn. He told
wonderful stories about his
early experiences and the
people who lived in “The Old
Neighborhood”. In 1968 Milton
founded and was president of
his successful printing, pro-
duction and design company.
He retired in 1992. Central
Park was one of his favorite
places to be and he always
looked forward to his early
morning run. Becoming an
avid reader, he found new
friendships and great plea-
sure in his book club. Always
a gentleman, Milton's intel-
ligence, grace under pressure
and strong sense of ethics will
always be remembered. A
memorial gathering will be
held at a future date when it is
safe to do so.
EPSTEIN—Mark.
We are heartbroken at the
sudden death of one of the
dearest and most talented
people we have ever known.
It was a privilege to work with
Mark, a consummate profes-
sional widely recognized in
the interior design world. We
will miss his creativity and
unique vision, his generosity,
and his delicious sense of
humor.
Suzanne Slesin,
Frederico Farina,
Kelly Koester—
Pointed Leaf Press
GABRIEL—Elinor, “Elly”,
(nee Rosenstein). We mourn
the passing of our mother, at
age 95, on October 22, 2020.
Beloved wife of the late Mor-
decai Gabriel, mother of Ali-
sa and Jessica, and grand-
mother of David Litwin, Jen-
nifer Litwin, Adam Lauria,
and Katherine Lauria. She
will be deeply missed and re-
main in our hearts and me-
mories forever.
GLADSTONE—Lucille,
passed away peacefully at
home surrounded by her son
and daughter on October 29,
2020 at the age of 93. Beloved
mother of Adrienne (the late
Russ) and Robert (Marie-
Claire). Dear wife of the late
Kenneth. Adoring grand-
mother of Ariele, Adam,
Alanna and Stephany. Loving
great-grandmother of Sam-
my, Zachary, Ryan, Noah,
Leia and Reid. She was a
warm, kind and loving wo-
man adored by all.
GOLDSTEIN—Joseph A.
Joseph A. Goldstein (Joe), 85,
co-founder of the market re-
search firm, Data Develop-
ment Corporation (DDC),
died after a long illness, on
August 2, 2020. Joe and Jerry
Rosenkranz, the other DDC
co-founder, were known as
“the Jays” and were early
and ardent supporters of the
“listen to the consumer”
movement. Joe was also a
co-founder of CASRO, the in-
dustry trade association. Joe
was beloved by his first wife
Lynnette, his children Susan
(Andrew) and Jodi (Ed) and
his grandchildren Alec, Sa-
mantha, Zoe and Morgan. He
is also survived by his brother
Charles (Ronnie). Joe was
also beloved by his second
wife Linda, her children Jody
(Richard), Andrew (Sisa) and
Deaths
her grandchildren Rickie, An-
drew and Harry.
Joe was always the quiet one
in the room, but he was the
one who made things hap-
pen. We will miss his worldli-
ness, dependability and dry
humor to get us through the
company all-nighters. He
loved Venice and its glass-
works, collecting art, the
beaches in St. Martin, the lob-
ster at the Palm Restaurant,
the corned beef at the Second
Avenue Deli. We admired his
photographic skills. Above
all, we will miss him.
GOODRICH—Gerry.
February 9, 1945 to October
26, 2020.
A native of Haverhill, Massa-
chusetts, Gerry Goodrich
held a number of executive
positions during his extensive
health management career
in New York, retiring in 2016
from Weill Cornell Medical
College. A graduate of Mid-
dlebury College, Boston Uni-
versity School of Law, and
the Harvard School of Public
Health, Gerry was renowned
for his curiosity, zest for life,
and gift for friendship. He will
be terribly missed by his wife
Susan Caughman, daughters
Hope and Charlotte, son-in-
law Patrick Whitehead and
many colleagues and friends.
Donations in his memory
may be made to the Medi-
care Rights Center.
HIRSCH—Jodie,
age 59, passed away peace-
fully on October 30 surround-
ed by loved ones, after a long
and courageous fight against
cancer. Jodie traveled
through life with a unique
spark and genuine warmth.
She had a joy for living that
was palpable to those fortun-
ate enough to be within her
orbit. She laughed hard and
shared her good humor free-
ly. And Jodie was kind. She
dispensed love to those close
around her and was quick to
embrace a stranger with con-
versation and often a hug.
Abundantly talented, too, her
remarkable design sense and
eye for beauty imbued all as-
pects of her work and perso-
nal life. She was also an ac-
complished athlete golfer,
competitive tennis player
and avid equestrian. Jodie
shined bright in our lives
through all her precious days.
We will savor that sparkle
forever. Jodie is survived by
her beloved husband, Steve,
the father and stepmother
she adored, Arthur and Bev-
erly Shorin, her cherished sis-
ter, brother-in-law, and nep-
hew, Amy, Scott, and Casey
Silverstein, her dear in-laws,
Bob Hirsch and Marilyn
Bloom, and many treasured
friends and pets. A funeral
service will be held for family
only. Due to COVID-19, there
will be no Shiva. In lieu of
flowers, donations can be
made to Gimme Shelter Ani-
mal Rescue Inc., Sagaponick,
NY.
HIRSCH—Jodie.
Dearest Jodie, Thank you for
being a daughter I never had.
You were a family gal that
truly enhanced Dad's and my
life. I will forever cherish
the vacations, dinners, golf
games and all the in-between
time we had for almost 50
years. You will always be
with me. Rest In Peace.
Much love, Mother Bev
HOLDEN—Rachelle
Rebecca (”Shelli”),
86, passed away peacefully
on October 22, 2020 at her
home in Manhattan. Born on
September 25, 1934 in Brook-
lyn, Shelli graduated from
James Madison High School
in Brooklyn. After high
school, she attended Henley
& Brown where she received
her certificate in court report-
ing. Shelli ran Esquire Report-
ing Company with her be-
loved late husband Walter
and was a pioneer in moder-
nizing the court reporting in-
dustry. As a result, Esquire
grew into one of the premier
court reporting agencies in
the country. Shelli enjoyed
gardening, travelling, the
beach, cooking and collecting
Asian art. Shelli is survived by
her daughter Vanessa of
Manhattan. There will be no
funeral service. In lieu of
flowers, memorial donations
can be made to Thirteen
(PBS) or Ocean Conservan-
cy. Condolences can be left
on Shelli's online guest book
at Frank E. Campbell Funeral
Chapel.
KILPATRICK—Alycia.
Beloved wife of John and
mother of Emily and Bailey.
She is also survived by her
parents Leah and Harvey
Oaklander, sister Laura and
niece Kahlan. After a cou-
rageous battle with cancer,
Alycia passed away on Octo-
ber 23, 2020 in New York City.
Donations may be made to
Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center.
KOVACS—Diane A.,
passed away peacefully on
October 23, 2020 at home in
the loving presence of her fa-
mily. Diane adored spending
time with her friends and fa-
mily and was incredibly gene-
rous with her advice, her hu-
mor and her creativity. Diane
was an accomplished gour-
met cook and delighted in
knitting one-of-a-kind swea-
ters for her granddaughters.
Her passion for beauty and
culture was exceptional, and
she indulged it with visits to
New York's famed museums,
antique shops, theatres and
restaurants. Even walking
down the street with Diane
was a treat — her eye for de-
tail and sense of fun made
every outing special. She was
a bright spark in the lives of
everyone she knew. She
loved children and reading
and volunteered weekly at
Lenox Hill library to help with
youth literacy. Diane opened
her interior design firm in
Roslyn, NY in 1972. Soon,
Diane became sought after
for her sophisticated, yet li-
vable country interiors. Her
design work was featured in
publications such as House
Beautiful, House and Garden,
The New York Times, The
Washington Post as well as
on ABC, CNN and HGTV. She
won many awards and acco-
lades, including the House
Beautiful Award for Design
Excellence. Her clients came
to her from all over the coun-
try, and her own residences
were in Roslyn, Montauk
and Manhattan. The eldest
daughter of Sylvia Friedman
and Zeke Alpern, she married
and had two sons, Lawrence
Kovacs and David Kovacs
Deaths
Abbey, Bruce Goodrich, Gerry
Balis, Bernice Hirsch, Jodie
Banks, Diana Holden, Rachelle
Bernstein, Leonard Kilpatrck, Alycia
Bradlow, H. Kovacs, Diane
Chalmers, David Kurtz, Lisa
Clements, Cathleen Lee, Ming
Cooper, Milton Levinson, Naomi
Epstein, Mark Lockwood, Susan
Gabriel, Elinor Maltese, Steven
Gladstone, Lucille Maurer, Ann
Goldstein, Joseph Millett, Mary
with her ex-husband, Dr.
Ernest Kovacs. Her love for
her sons and their families
was boundless. She is sur-
vived by Lawrence and his
spouse Krista and their
daughters Isabel and Sophia;
David and his spouse Megan
and their daughters Szeren
and Beatrix, her sister, Gail
and husband Peter Schneid-
er; her niece, Sarah, and step-
mother, Stella. May her
memory be a blessing.
KOVACS—Diane Alpern.
I will remember my sister for
her kindness, her laughter,
her appreciation of beauty in
nature, or in a simple bouquet
of flowers or plate of food
that was arranged with meti-
culous attention to detail. She
had a chalkboard in her kitch-
en where she wrote sayings
that inspired her. The last one
read, “Other People Matter.
Period.” That was Diane.
With Tears and Love,
Gail A. Schneider
KURTZ—Lisa C.,
69, from Muttontown, NY,
passed away on April 7th,
2020 after a brief illness. She
was born in Garden City, NY
on April 25th, 1950. She was
truly a kind, compassionate
and beautiful woman that
was loved by all who knew
her. She is survived by her
loving husband, Norman
Kurtz, her daughter, Noelle
Zittman (Mark), step -
daughter, Jackie Kurtz, and
her sisters, Claire Bradman
and Susan Antinoro. Her
greatest joy in life was being
a grandmother to her two
grandsons, Grey and Jack.
LEE—Ming Cho.
Founding New 42 board
member Ming Cho Lee was a
generous genius, and he
shared in our belief, trust and
hope that future generations
would, like him, think outside
of the box and beyond the
stage. We send our condolen-
ces to Betsy and their beauti-
ful family and celebrate
Ming's invincible spirit.
The Board & Staff of New 42
LEVINSON—Naomi,
93 years old died on October
28, 2020 at The Calvary Hospi-
tal in the Bronx, New York.
Funeral services will not be
held. Cremation and Burial
will be at St. Michael Cemete-
ry (TBA). Services are by
John Krtil Funeral Home.
LOCKWOOD—Susan Bon,
80, of Edgemont, NY died Oc-
tober 29, 2020 in her home.
Beloved wife of the late
Herbert, loving mother of
David, Margot and Elizabeth,
and sister of Nona. Adored
grandmother of Walter, Ben-
jamin, Sima, Katherine, Sop-
hie and Sienna. Mother-in-law
of Jennifer Kast, Tom Stein,
and Mike Ashworth. Susan at-
tended Tufts University (Bo-
vey Boston School) in MA
where she achieved her de-
gree in Physical Therapy, and
went on to practice at St.
Luke's in Manhattan, Yon-
kers General in Westchester,
and then privately. She later
managed the marketing and
advertising for the family
business, Lockwood Lumber.
Susan loved books and read-
ing and spent many hours
volunteering at the Ardsley
Public Library in Ardsley, NY.
She supported her communi-
ty through her work at the
Scarsdale Women's Ex -
change and as a poll worker
in Edgemont. PLEASE
VOTE. A memorial service
will be held at a later date due
to the Covid-19 pandemic. In
lieu of flowers, donations in
Susan's memory may be
made to either: Friends of the
Ardsley Public Library, 9
American Legion Drive, Ard-
sley NY 10502 or New York-
Presbyterian Lawrence Hos-
pital's Cancer Center, payab-
le to NYP Lawrence Hospital,
NYP Lawrence Hospital De-
velopment Office, 55 Palmer
Ave, PH4, Bronxville, NY
10708 or online at https://
www.nyp.org/lawrence/give
(Cancer Center is listed under
“Please Direct My Donation
To” tab and the “In Memory”
tab is listed under “Additional
Information” tab).
MALTESE—Steven J.
February 10, 1947 - October 4,
2020. Steve Maltese passed
away on October 4, 2020 after
a valiant 20 year battle with
bladder cancer. He was 73.
Steve was born on February
10, 1947, the son of Stefano
Maltese and Anna Pennachio
in New York City and raised
on the East Side. He graduat-
ed from Iona college in 1968
and began his career as an
accountant. In 1976 he mar-
ried Adrianne Monduori of
Brooklyn, NY and soon after
relocated to Southern Califor-
nia. He earned his CPA certi-
fication in 1981, and em-
barked on the second phase
of his professional career,
contributing to the success of
several publishing, media
and entertainment compa-
nies. Steve retired in 2015 and
spent his years in retirement
learning guitar and Italian, en-
joying time with his family,
and traveling throughout Eu-
rope, Asia, and the U.S. Na-
tional Parks. He was an avid
reader, history buff, and mu-
sic lover. Steve is survived by
his loving wife of 44 years,
Adrianne, son Matthew, son
Andrew and his wife Kirstin,
sister Diane McNamara,
brother Thomas, and grand-
son Grayson Maltese. Please
visit dignitymemorial.com
to share thoughts and fond
memories.
Nadel, Eli
Scheiber, Stephen
Schumaker, Norman
Sewell, Cornelius
Steele, Jerry Ann
Steel, Ruth
Tisch, Howard
Weiss, Joelle
Wyman, Thomas
MAURER—Ann E.
Ann E. Maurer, loving wife
and mother, book editor,
chef, philanthropist and co-
founder of the Maurer Fami-
ly Foundation, died October
30, three days before her 90th
birthday, in Connecticut of
congestive heart failure. Mar-
ried since 1952 to Gilbert C.
Maurer, director and former
COO of Hearst, Ann was an
accomplished and passionate
chef, a devoted mother and
an active member of her lo-
cal community as well as the
art community through her
role with the Maurer Family
Foundation. Born in Philadel-
phia in 1930, Ann graduated
from Wellesley College in
1951 and co-founded the Mau-
rer Public Speaking Program
at the college in 2012 with her
husband, Gil, and also estab-
lished a scholarship fund
there in her name. She was
also a talented book editor
for 30 years and a world
traveler. “Both an incredible
partner and generous soul,
Ann worked tirelessly to en-
rich communities by support-
ing their cultural programs,”
said Gil. “A lifelong lover of
the arts, she was always look-
ing for ways to make pro-
grams more accessible for
all. I feel blessed to have
called her my wife.” “Ann and
Gil Maurer have built a re-
markable family and philan-
thropic legacy together and
have served as great role
models to scores of Hearst
colleagues and others over
the years for lives supremely
well-lived,” said Steven R.
Swartz, president and chief
executive officer of Hearst.
“On behalf of all of our Hearst
colleagues, I want to extend
our deepest condolences to
Gil and the Maurer family.
We will all miss Ann terribly.”
“I've been privileged to have
shared my personal and busi-
ness life for more than 45
years with Ann Maurer and
my indispensable partner
Gil,” said Frank A. Bennack,
Jr., executive vice chairman
and former chief executive
officer of Hearst. “Ann was
the gold standard as wife,
mother and steadfast friend.
She was among the best judg-
es of character I ever met.
Her exceptional intelligence,
empathy and zest for life was
evident to all who knew her.
She was truly family and
Mary Lake and I will miss her
every day.” The Maurer
Foundation grants are de-
signed to enrich communities
and the lives of their patrons
through programs of cultural
value. Grants help broaden
access to the arts and raise
artistic standards. Previous
grants have gone to the New
York Botanical Garden, the
Norton Gallery and School of
Art, the Los Angeles Opera
and many other institutions.
In addition to her work at the
Maurer Family Foundation,
both Ann and Gil have been
actively involved with the
Norton Museum of Art, locat-
ed in West Palm Beach, Flori-
da, where they have been
longtime residents. She is sur-
vived by her husband, Gil,
their five children, Christop-
her, David, Peter, Jonathan
and Meredith, her sister, Jane
D'Espinosa, 11 grandchildren
and three great-grand-
children. Funeral arrange-
ments are private. Donations
may be made to the Ann E.
Maurer Scholarship Fund,
Wellesley College. A celebra-
tion of Ann's life will be
scheduled at a future date.
MILLETT—Mary Allison,
of Southbury, CT and former-
ly of Lawrence, LI, NY, on Oc-
tober 27 at age 98. Daughter
of the late Dr. Benjamin and
Ruth Allison of Hewlett,
NY; beloved wife of the
late Daniel Caldwell Millett;
devoted mother of Allison
Millett Deen, Westminster,
VT, Daniel Appleton Millett,
Whangarei, New Zealand,
and Emilie Millett O'Malley,
Rockport, ME. Grandmother
of five and great-grand-
mother of six. A family ser-
vice will be held in Alstead
Center, NH in the spring.
Memorial contributions may
be made to Friends of Rock
Hall, 199 Broadway, Law-
rence, NY 11559.
NADEL—Eli Barry,
of New Rochelle, NY, died on
October 20, 2020 at the age of
82. He is survived by his lov-
ing wife of 54 years, Kerry, his
daughters, Jennifer Wilson
and Rachel Nadel, his sons-
in-law, Joseph Wilson and
Todd Kolosso and his grand-
children, Kayla Wilson, Ben-
jamin Wilson and Vivian
Kolosso Nadel. Donations
may be made to The New
York Public Library.
SCHEIBER—Stephen C.
Stephen Carl Scheiber, MD,
internationally esteemed
psychiatrist, passed away
peacefully at home, sur-
rounded by family on June 20,
2020. Stephen Carl Scheiber
was the son of Irving and
Freida Scheiber of White
Plains, NY. As a young boy,
he loved working with his dad
at their family-owned news-
paper store. Always eager to
learn, Dr. Scheiber received a
full scholarship to the presti-
gious Vermont-based high
school, The Putney School,
which fostered his love of
education. After graduation,
a loyal and affluent customer
saw him working at the fami-
Deaths
ly shop and asked why he
was not in college. After
learning that his family could
not afford the tuition, she of-
fered to pay for any college
of his choosing. He went on to
receive a Bachelor of Arts at
Columbia University, and
then pursued medical school
in Buffalo, NY. In 1963 Dr.
Scheiber met MaryAnn Mc-
Donnell during his junior year
of medical school. As a pion-
eering dialysis nurse, she
trained him on the finer
points of the procedure. But
more importantly, she be-
came his sweetheart. While
an intern at Mary Fletcher
Hospital in Burlington Ver-
mont, he proposed to his
bride to be, and much to his
delight she accepted. They
began their loving marriage
of 55 years in Sierra Leone
when Dr. Scheiber accepted a
position as a commissioned
officer of the U.S. Public
Health Service, assigned to
the Peace Corps. His impres-
sive career as a leader in psy-
chiatry spanned more than
five decades. He was a
professor at the University of
Arizona before leading the
American Board of Psychia-
try and Neurology (ABPN)
for over 20 years as Execu-
tive Secretary and Executive
Vice President. During his
tenure, the ABPN added sev-
en subspecialties, and Dr.
Scheiber published numerous
books and hundreds of ar-
ticles on ethics and education
in psychiatry. He was a guest
professor at over 60 universi-
ties as well as Clinical Profes-
sor of Psychiatry at the Medi-
cal College of Wisconsin. Dr.
Scheiber took on leadership
roles in over a dozen profes-
sional associations including
the American Psychiatric As-
sociation which honored him
with the Harold E. Berson
Award, the Association for
Academic Psychiatry which
presented him with a lifetime
achievement award, the
American Board of Medical
Specialties, where he re-
ceived a Distinguished Ser-
vice Award, and the Ameri-
can College of Psychiatrists
which granted him the Distin-
guished Service in Psychiatry
Award. In recognition of his
outstanding contributions, Dr.
Scheiber also received the Al-
bert Nelson Marquis Who's
Who Lifetime Achievement
Award, and the Distinguished
Life and Career Achieve-
ment Award from the State
University of New York at
Buffalo, among many others.
Beyond his professional ac-
complishments, Dr. Scheiber
was admired for his kindness
and generosity. Always smil-
ing, he was a model of com-
passion. He took time to real-
ly listen, and loved connect-
ing with people. Those closest
to him described him as
“lighting up a room with his
bright spirit.” Grateful for the
many opportunities and men-
torship he received during his
formative years, Dr. Scheiber
paid forward the kindness by
supporting others. He was
greatly admired by the Res-
idents, Fellows, and Medical
Students whom he taught, as
well as by colleagues around
the globe, particularly for his
dedication to advancing the
field. Dr. Scheiber is survived
by his best friend and beloved
wife, MaryAnn Scheiber;
three children, Lisa (Chris)
Haith, Martin Scheiber, and
Laura Scheiber (Matthew
Harris); three grandchildren,
Alexis, Ariel and Brianna;
great-grandson, Troy; sibl-
ings Harry (Jane) and Carol
(Norman); and nieces and
nephews. Gifts in his honor
may be made to the Universi-
ty at Buffalo - Psychiatry,
ECMC, 462 Grider St., Room
1168, Buffalo, NY 14215.
SCHUMAKER—Norman,
79, of Austin, TX died on Mon-
day, October 26, 2020. Nor-
man was born in Michigan Ci-
ty, Indiana. Norman graduat-
ed Magna Cum Laude from
Wabash College with an A.B.
in Chemistry in 1963. He sub-
sequently received an M.S.
and Ph.D. in Physical Chemis-
try from MIT in 1965 and 1968,
respectively. He was granted
an honorary degree from
Wabash College in 2020. After
a long career at AT&T Bell
Laboratories in Murray Hill,
NJ he started EMCORE Cor-
poration in 1984 where he
served as Chairman, CEO,
and President until 1996. After
their IPO in 1997 he moved to
Austin, TX where he helped
found nLine Corporation and
Molecular Imprints. Through
FOReTEL Ventures, LLC he
had clients in a variety of
areas, technology related and
otherwise. Norman was pre-
ceded in death by his wife Re-
gine whom he met at MIT in
1966. He is survived by their
two sons, Philip and Matthew
and Matthew's wife Jessica,
and three grandchildren,
Dexter, Adelyn, and Calvin
along with his partner Kath-
leen Wicoff. Obituary and
memorial guestbook availab-
le online at www.wcfish.com.
SEWELL—Cornelius
Van Vorst Jr.,
passed away Saturday, Octo-
ber 24, 2020, in New York City,
with his family by his side. He
was born June 11, 1930 in
Marseilles, France, the son of
Cornelius Van Vorst Sewell of
Rye, NY, and Margaret Mc-
Lucas Sewell of Florence, SC.
Cornelius was raised by his
parents in Woodstock, NY un-
til he left to attend the South
Kent School, where he gra-
duated in 1948. This school
was close to his heart and he
attended his class reunion ev-
ery five years. After high
school, he earned a bache-
lor's degree in Economics
from Hobart College. He then
moved to his new home of
New York City and earned an
M.B.A. from New York Uni-
versity. He was a financial
analyst on Wall Street for his
entire career. He spent most
of his years at Argus Re-
search Corporation, rising to
the position of Vice President
before retiring in 1999. On No-
vember 5, 1955, Cornelius was
united in marriage with the
former Ann Gates Stabins, a
union that lasted 65 years.
Cornelius and Ann loved
traveling, especially on river
cruises. But they were most
passionate about jazz music.
Starting in Denver in 1963,
they spent many vacations at
jazz parties across the coun-
try and on jazz cruises. They
were dedicated to keeping
jazz musicians busy after the
arrival of The Beatles. Corne-
lius and Ann danced the night
away to the music being
played by the musicians that
became their friends. Corne-
Deaths Deaths
lius was always easily spotted brother Eric Seiff and her
on the dance floor. He was three loving children Stuart,
tall, looked good in formal Cathy and Ellen Weiss. She
wear, and his handlebar mu- was predeceased by her hus-
stache made him quite the band Douglas and her son
dashing dance partner. Cor- Andrew. Her life was an in-
nelius also greatly enjoyed spiration to live fully and with
sports. His sons fondly re- compassion. The family asks
member the many hockey that memorial contributions
and lacrosse games that their be made to Planned Parent-
father took them to, and he hood and the Southern
instilled in them his love of Poverty Law Center.
the New York Rangers and
college lacrosse. They also
cherish memories of wonder-
WYMAN—Thomas G.
ful summer vacations on
Martha's Vineyard and year-
round activities in William-
stown, MA. Cornelius is sur-
vived by his wife Ann, son
Ethan V.V. Sewell (Mary
Claire Helmer) of East Ha-
milton, NY, son Cornelius
V.V. Sewell IV (Lisa Larkin
Sewell) of Seattle, WA, and
granddaughter Annabelle
Larkin Sewell of Seattle, WA.
There will be no public ser-
vice or calling hours. Dona-
tions may be made in Corne-
lius' name to South Kent
School, 40 Bulls Bridge Road,
South Kent, CT 06785.
After a long, accomplished
STEELE—Jerry Ann, and extraordinary life, Tho-
mas G. Wyman died on Octo-
ber 22, 2020. Mr. Wyman will
be remembered for his loyal-
ty and generosity to family,
friends and the many people
who worked with him
throughout his 97 years. His
intelligence, sense of humor
and clever toasts were legen-
dary. Born in the Czech Re-
public on August 15, 1923, he
spent his youth living
throughout Europe, attending
Cambridge University until
moving with his family to
New York City in 1941. Mr.
Wyman graduated from Cor-
nell University with a degree
in agriculture. Summer jobs
a beloved theatrical agent
on farms took him to the
(not an oxymoron, in this
Eastern Shore of Maryland
case), died on October 16,
where he discovered his life-
2020, at age 80. She was as
long passion for Wye Heights
smart as a whip, sharp as a
Plantation, overlooking the
tack, pretty as a picture, and
Wye River in Easton, Mary-
fresh as paint. And she could
land. Tom and his first wife, Il-
cook, too. She gave memor-
sabe, worked tirelessly on
able parties. She loved her
weekends to improve the
actors, tennis, bridge, Hell's
land in the English tradition.
Kitchen, her own kitchen,
Commuting during the week
Manhattan Plaza, travel,
to New York City where they
John le Carre novels, all kinds
raised their three children. He
of theatre, Johnny Mercer
enjoyed the farm for the rest
songs, ragtime piano. She will
of his life. His considerable in-
be missed by scores of actors
tellect enabled him to
whose careers she nurtured
achieve great success in busi-
and by her business partner,
ness, which included the turn-
Josh Sassanella, who now
heads the Ann Steele Agen- around of great American
companies such as Gorham
cy. She is survived by her
Silver, Balfour, Farah, Walco
daughter Julie Cahill, her son
National, American Seating
Christopher Steele, her hus-
and Stanray. Mr. Wyman
band Gene Jones, four grand-
sons, and Maggie, a poodle. served as Assistant Secretary
of Commerce during the
Kennedy and Johnson admi-
STEEL—Ruth. nistrations. He proudly
Born November 19, 1914, died served as a founding mem-
October 26, three weeks shy ber and President of Big
of her 106th birthday. Wife of Brothers of New York. Tom
the late Leonard Steel and was a considerable sports-
daughter of the late David man and enjoyed playing
and Eva Segal. Sister of the golf, tennis and skiing, but his
late Norman Segal and the greatest joy was fox hunting.
late Sylvia Hurwitch. Trea- He and his late wife Anne
sured mother of Stefanie Morton Wyman began a fox
Steel and the late Frederic hunt together known as the
Steel. Adored grandmother Wye River Hounds. Mr. Wy-
of Rachel Steel Cohn (Neil man is survived by his first
Cohn) and Eric Obenzinger wife Ilsabe, his son Tim (Li-
(Erica Kilbride). Cherished sa), his daughter Karin (Jef-
great-grandmother of Olivia, frey Morgan), as well as six
Reese and Clark Cohn. Ruth grandchildren and seven
lived a life of meaning and great-grandchildren. His el-
accomplishment in her art dest son Peter predeceased
and music. She was admired him much to his sorrow. A
for her astuteness, warmth, memorial service will be held
optimism, refinement, skill at at Wye Heights, in Easton
bridge and financial acumen. Maryland, in the Spring.
Ruth's striking beauty in-
spired Batman's creator, Bob
Kane, to create Catwoman.
Never looking backward, she
In Memoriam
focused on the future and the
present; she will always be
present for us. She left us far BRADBURD—Daniel.
Three years, wish you were
too soon.
here to share life with us.
Missed by family and friends.
Ann
TISCH—Howard Barton.
GOLDSTON—Robert A.
1928-2017.
Happy 92. We miss you.
The entire staff
New York consumer advo-
cate Howard Barton Tisch,
attorney and founder of the
New York Metropolitan Food
Council, died at Tidewell Hos-
pice of Sarasota on Friday,
October 23, following a cou-
rageous battle against lung
cancer. He was 81. Mr. Tisch
specialized in governmental
regulations and consumer
advocacy throughout his
career, most notably serving
as Deputy Commissioner of
Consumer Affairs for the City
of New York from 1972 -
1977 for commissioners Bess
Meyerson, Betty Furness
and Elinor Guggenheimer.
He also served as Deputy
Director/Counsel for the
Parking Violations Bureau of
the City of New York from
1970-1973; as a law secretary
in the Civil Court of the City of
New York in 1965; and Con-
fidential Legal Aide to the
Attorney General, State of
New York. In private prac-
tice, Mr. Tisch founded the
Greater New York Metropoli-
tan Food Council and was le-
gal counsel to several nation-
al trade associations, super-
market chains and consumer
package goods brands. He
also served as Executive
Director of the Metropolitan
Dairy Institute. Mr. Tisch is
survived by his wife Carol
Ann, stepson David Scott
Sirinek, sister Lenore Somer-
stein (Martin), and sister-in-
law Barbara Tisch. He is also
survived by his nephew Hon.
Alexander M. Tisch of the
New York State Supreme
Court, nieces Victoria Tisch
Baum (Howard), and Jill
Somerstein Kalle (John),
grandnephews Jordan and
Theodore Baum, and grand-
nieces Miranda and Delilah
Kalle. He was predeceased
by his beloved parents Fran-
ces and Frank Tisch, his
brother Richard G. Tisch and
nephew David Somerstein.
Born in Manhattan on July 6,
1939, Mr. Tisch resided in New
York City and Old Westbury,
NY, throughout his career
and retired to Sarasota in
2002. He received a BBA from
the University of Miami in
1961 and LLB in 1965 from
New York Law School. He
was a graduate of Horace
Mann School and Columbia
Grammar and Preparatory
School, both in New York Ci-
ty. A celebration of life will be
held in New York City in 2021
at a date to be determined. In
lieu of flowers, the family
prefers donations to be made
in honor of Howard Tisch to
the International Association
for the Study of Lung Cancer
www.iaslc.org
WEISS—Joelle,
(Inky), passed away peace-
fully on October 30th sur-
rounded by family. She was
born in New York City, on
March 7, 1928, to Arthur and
Mathilde Seiff and lived in
Westchester County most of
her life. Known to her seven
grandchildren and five great-
-grandchildren as Momma In-
ky, she is also survived by her
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Catching Both Fish and Stares
By JONATHAN ABRAMS
ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — The
shooting stars that illuminated the dark
sky on the journey to deeper waters had
given way to a crisp morning when Gia
Peebles felt her fishing rod tense.
She gritted her teeth. Her adrenaline
surged. She braced herself, gripped her
rod tighter and started reeling, all while
fighting the waves and current. After a
few minutes of coaxing, she spotted rain-
bow scales glistening on a king mackerel
as it neared the water’s surface.
Captain David Stone hooked the hefty
fish, plucking it from the ocean and plop-
ping it onto the Cay Sea May’s deck.
Cheers erupted. Peebles exhaled.
“Look at him, he’s a fatty,” Tiana Davis
said.
“He is a fatty,” Bobbiette Palmer said.
“That’s your name: Fatty.”
Fatty mounted a final stand, furiously
flopping. “Tell ’em what you’re talking
about,” Lesleigh Mausi said. “Tell ’em
why you’re mad.”
Soon, the 26-foot boat raced back to
shore with the group’s haul to be weighed
in at Chasin’ Tails Outdoors Bait &
Tackle. The Atlantic Beach King Macker-
el Fishing Tournament had stretched for
three weeks. But this, the final day of the
tournament, marked the first time that
the Ebony Anglers could sync their
schedules and sink their lines together.
As the women walked from the dock to
weigh in, a few bystanders cast curious
glances. It was probably the first time
any of them had come across a team of all
Black women in the mostly white, mostly
male world of competitive fishing.
It’s one reason Peebles, 49, formed the
team. She did not fish until she met her
husband, William Peebles, a couple of
decades ago. But in college, she com-
peted in the World Series four times after
becoming the first Black woman to earn
a softball scholarship at Cal State Long
Beach. So the mix of relaxation and
spurts of intense focus in competitive
fishing appealed to her.
In June, Peebles noticed a swarm of
activity near a pier where she and her
husband own an Emerald Isle condo. She
watched as teams disembarked after
competing in the Big Rock Blue Marlin
Tournament. Some women exited the
boats, but all of them, Pebbles noticed,
appeared to be white. Many Black peo-
ple, Peebles said, are not exposed to the
nautical lifestyle, and the high cost of en-
Pete Kiehart contributed reporting
From left, Lesleigh Mausi reeling in a fish during the tournament; the Ebony Anglers celebrating with drinks after the competition; members of the team
chatting with Kelly Albritton, who won third place with a 39.51-pound king mackerel. “I’m so excited that y’all are into fishing,” he told them.
In a white and male world, the Ebony Anglers make their mark.
Top, from left, Glenda Turner, Bobbiette Palmer, Gia Peebles and Tiana Davis, four of the five members of the
Ebony Anglers fishing team, watching the sunrise during the 2020 Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Fishing
Tournament on Oct. 24. Above, Turner holding up the 29-pound mackerel the team named “Fatty.”
try to competitive fishing is a significant
deterrent.
She first called Mausi, 47, a longtime
friend, about collaborating. The two had
fished casually a few times, and Mausi’s
father was a professional angler.
Just the thought gave Mausi goose
bumps. She brought along Davis, 44, who
also had fishing experience. They next
asked Glenda Turner, 56, a nail techni-
cian at Peebles’s beauty salon, to join.
Palmer, 37, a model Peebles knew from
styling her hair, rounded out the team.
She initially laughed when Peebles
asked her about fishing, thinking Pee-
bles was joking. But Palmer agreed, de-
ciding that she wanted to get out of isola-
tion during the pandemic and try some-
thing new.
“We instantly developed a bond,”
Palmer said. “We’re all organized in our
own ways, and we fill each other’s gaps.
Our strengths and weaknesses, they
complement each other.”
Palmer’s previous boating experi-
ences consisted of a couple of cruises
that left her sick. Turner offered her a
motion sickness patch, and Palmer
pushed through early stomach-churning
outings with the team.
By July, the team had entered its first
tournament, the Carteret Community
College Foundation’s Spanish Mackerel
& Dolphin Tournament in Morehead City.
That weekend, the Ebony Anglers
caught a 48-pound king mackerel to
claim first place in the division. (The fish,
however, was listed at just 43.06 pounds
on a hand-printed board naming the top
finishers.)
‘It just catches some off guard
that here we are.’
GIA PEEBLES
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PETE KIEHART FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
“It just catches some off guard that
here we are,” Peebles said. “We’re not
only female, but we’re Black. We’re com-
peting and we’re doing it well. We’re ac-
tually winning.”
Fatty was their largest catch at the At-
lantic Beach King Mackerel Fishing
Tournament, weighing 29 pounds. The
winning team, Pirate’s Pleasure, topped
the leaderboard with a catch of 41.61
pounds. The Ebony Anglers did not
place, though the team took solace in
knowing it had competed much less than
many of the 150 other boats.
After weigh-in, Peebles and her hus-
band took some of the fish to a market for
filleting. They caught a nap before the
team reconvened for the tournament’s
awards banquet. For the first time, the
Ebony Anglers met some of the other
33
N
competing teams.
Kelly Albritton, a former bail bonds-
man in Kinston, N.C., claimed third place
in the tournament with a 39.51-pound
king mackerel. He said he recognized the
Ebony Anglers from the weigh-in and in-
troduced himself while clutching his tro-
phy.
He said he couldn’t believe his eyes
when he saw the group of Black women.
“I saw y’all go by and I said, ‘Go to
hell!’ I said: ‘There are those girls. I have
to come over there and say hi.' I wanna
know the story.”
The women described their back-
grounds, how the team had formed, how
they had fared during the tournament.
“Twenty-nine?” Albritton, his mouth
hanging open, asked with excitement
when they told him the size of Fatty.
“This country belongs to all of us, and
I’m just really glad you gals are here. I’m
so excited that y’all are into fishing,” he
said.
At one point in life, Mausi said, she
would have taken offense to being re-
ferred to as “girl” or “gal.” Here, she said,
most people know one another. Out-
siders will draw double takes, especially
a fishing team of Black women.
“I think I have to meet people where
they are,” said Mausi, who is from De-
troit. “I felt good that he came and ad-
dressed us and just wanted to know
more. And I think that that is what is go-
ing to be the turning point in our country,
when people of different cultures aren’t
afraid to approach one another and just
say, ‘I want to learn more about you.’ ”
A man from California sent a voice
mail message saying he wanted to take
the team out to dinner and talk fish. Sev-
eral women have sent messages, inquir-
ing about becoming part of their team.
“You can’t just join the Carolina Pan-
thers,” Mausi said, referring to the N.F.L.
team. “We’re not a club. We really want
people to understand this is a sport.
We’re athletes, and we’re competitive.”
They hope to use the tournament as a
tuneup to compete in next year’s Big
Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, where
Peebles envisions her journey coming
full circle.
“Hopefully, people are seeing us step
into an arena that’s normally considered
to be dominated by white males and it
can inspire others,” she said. “Hopefully,
we are making an impact on a lot of peo-
ple, and people of color and, in particular,
women of color to know they can step out
of their box and do something that they
never thought that they could do.”
34 0 N THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

A Super League Can’t Work, Until It Does FOOTBALL

N.F.L. STANDINGS
SOOCER

M.L.S. STANDINGS
AMERICAN CONFERENCE EAST W L T Pts GF GA
At first glance, the three men x-Philadelphia. . 13 3 5 44 41 18
x-Toronto FC . . 12 4 5 41 30 23
sitting around a table in the Em- East W L T Pct PF PA x-Columbus . . . 10 5 5 35 31 17
bajadores restaurant in downtown Buffalo 5 2 0 .714 174 178
x-Orlando City . .9 3 8 35 35 21
x-NYCFC . . . . . 10 8 3 33 28 20
Bogotá made unlikely compan- x-Red Bulls . . . .8 8 5 29 25 25
Miami 3 3 0 .500 160 113
ions. True, they were all roughly x-New England.
x-Nashville . . . .
.7
.7
6
6
8 29 22 20
7 28 20 18
the same age, in N. England 2 4 0 .333 115 143
Montreal . . . . . .7 12 2 23 30 40

RORY their mid- to late

20s. And, as they
SMITH
traded tales of ad-
venture, their ac-
ON
cents would have
SOCCER
given away that all
three were Argentines, a long way
from home.
But that is where the similar-
ities ended. One member of the
party was tall, blond and always
immaculately dressed. Alfredo Di
Stéfano was arguably the most
famous athlete in South America;
he would go on to become the
most celebrated player of his
generation. It was a status he took
seriously.
His guests, on the other hand,
must have bordered on the di-
sheveled. Ernesto and Alberto
were both doctors, but they had
been traveling for months, tracing
the spine of South America on a
pair of dusty, beaten-up motor-
bikes, living out of their saddle-
bags, often sleeping under the
stars. Their faces were bearded
and their clothes worn.
A friend of a friend had put
them in touch with Di Stéfano.
And despite his fame, he had not
only agreed to meet with them,
but he had come bearing gifts:
some yerba maté, the bitter herbal
drink that Argentines like for
some reason, and — most impor-
tant — a couple of tickets for a
game the next day.
That is why Ernesto and Al-
berto were in Bogotá, after all.
They were both soccer fans, and
they had taken a break from their
work in Leticia, near the Peruvian
border, to make the hourslong
journey to the capital so they
could watch the most exciting
team in the most exciting league
in the world. They were here to
see the pirates play.
It is only with hindsight, and the
knowledge of who was sitting with
him at that table, that it is possible
to see just how extraordinary a
scene — painted vividly in Ian
Hawkey’s biography of Di Stéfano
— this is.
One of those two doctors would
witness such rampant inequality
on the journey around South
America, and in Colombia in par-
ticular, that he became convinced
of the need for social change and,
eventually, violent revolution. A
few years later, the world would
know Ernesto, the 24-year-old
cadging a ticket off one of his
country’s finest players, as Che
Guevara.
Inside the Embajadores that
day, though, he was just a kid, a
doctor, a fan. If anyone at that
table was a rebel, it was Di Sté-
fano.
He had arrived in Colombia
three years earlier, lured by the
untold riches offered by the coun-
try’s soccer clubs, to sign with
Bogotá’s Millonarios. He was the
biggest name, the greatest draw,
but he was not alone: Hundreds of
players, largely from South Amer-
ica but a handful from Europe, too,
had made the same journey.
In Colombia, the news media
called it El Dorado: the golden
age. Everywhere else, it had a
different name. In England, cer-
tainly, they called it the Pirate
League, and it is a story worth
revisiting this week.
On Tuesday, Josep Maria Bar-
tomeu announced his long-antici-
pated resignation as president of
Barcelona not with a whimper, but
with a bang. In his parting speech,
he confirmed he and his board had
agreed in principle to take part in
a forthcoming European super
league.
A few hours later, Javier Tebas,
the bombastic president of La
Liga, accused Florentino Pérez —
the president of Real Madrid — of
orchestrating Bartomeu’s an-
nouncement. This latest incarna-
tion of the super league, Tebas
furiously alleged, is something
Pérez has been working on for
years, but it is a plot that is des-
tined to fail.
That is what is always said
about these ideas. They could not
work, soccer’s establishment
haughtily warns, because rene-
gade clubs would be cut adrift
from their national and continen-
tal associations. They would be-
come pariahs.
That has, the warning runs, real
consequences. Their players
would not be eligible to play in
FIFA competitions, and good luck
persuading Kylian Mbappé to get
on board if he can’t play at the
World Cup. There could be no
mixing with the teams left behind
in the national leagues, no domes-
tic cup competitions, no involve-
ment with UEFA, no way back.
This is always presented as the
final threat, the hurdle no break-
away proposal could ever clear.
Except, of course, that one time
when it did.
In the late 1940s, with Colombia
time, to begin a national, profes-
sional league. Before that, soccer
in Colombia had been local and
amateur. A glamorous new league,
starting in 1948, the authorities
thought, might help distract a
restless population. (This did not
work.)
But in 1949, the uneasy truce
between Dimayor — the body
overseeing the professional league
— and Adéfutbol, the country’s
federation, broke. The latter cut
off the former, in what should
have been the end of the experi-
ment. In the event, it did quite the
opposite.
The league’s clubs saw excom-
munication as an opportunity.
Because they were no longer
affiliated with their national feder-
ation, they were no longer part of
FIFA. And that meant not having
to play by FIFA’s transfer rules.
And so Colombia’s clubs —
taking advantage of a player
strike in Argentina, as well as
poor pay and working conditions
for players across South America
and in much of Europe — went on
an unprecedented shopping spree.
In the next couple of years,
hundreds of foreign players ar-
rived, among them the entire
Peruvian national team; Heleno
de Freitas, the brilliant, troubled
Brazilian star; Adolfo Pedernera,
one of Argentina’s most famous
players; and young talents like
Héctor Rial and the coruscating
23-year-old Di Stéfano.
The lure of outlaw soccer even
stretched to Britain, still consid-
ered the pinnacle of the game. For
players there still earning a maxi-
mum wage — which then capped
even the highest salaries at only
12 pounds per week — the sums
on offer in Colombia were too
good to turn down: thousands of
dollars in signing-on fees, inflated
because the pirate clubs did not
have to pay transfer fees, plus
hundreds of dollars in salaries.
Accepting the mutineers’ cash
was so controversial that the
stories of how the players made
their way to Colombia seem to be
drawn straight from spy novels:
Bobby Flavell of Hearts being
bundled into a moving car on the
runway at Glasgow airport; Neil
Franklin, regarded as the best
English defender of his genera-
tion, being smuggled out of the
country incognito.
(Only Matt Busby, the great
Manchester United manager,
seemed to understand the motiva-
tion. When his left winger, Charlie
Mitten, received an offer, he told
him to accept it. “Go, or you’ll die
wondering,” Busby told him.)
It did not last, of course. Few of
the Europeans who made it to
Colombia settled. Franklin lasted
Jets 0 7 0 .000 85 203 Inter Miami CF .
Chicago . . . . .
D.C. United . . .
.6
.5
.5
12
9
10
3 21 22 32
6 21 27 32
6 21 20 34
South W L T Pct PF PA
Atlanta . . . . . . .5 12 4 19 20 28
Tennessee 5 1 0 .833 188 153 Cincinnati . . . . .4 13 4 16 11 32
Indianapolis 4 2 0 .667 157 115
WEST W L T Pts GF GA
x-Kansas City . 11 6 3 36 36 25
Houston 1 6 0 .143 166 217
x-Seattle . . . . . 10 4 5 35 38 18
Jacksonville 1 6 0 .143 154 220 x-Portland . . . . 10 5 5 35 44 33
x-Los Angeles FC 9 7 4 31 44 35
North W L T Pct PF PA FC Dallas . . . . . 8 5 7 31 27 21
x-Minnesota . . . . 8 5 6 30 31 24
Pittsburgh 6 0 01.000 183 118 San Jose . . . . . 7 8 6 27 31 45
Vancouver . . . . . 8 13 0 24 24 43
Baltimore 5 1 0 .833 179 104 Real Salt Lake . . 5 8 7 22 24 31
Cleveland 5 2 0 .714 200 221
Houston . . . . . . 4 9 9 21 29 38
Colorado . . . . . . 5 6 4 19 26 26
LA Galaxy . . . . . 5 11 3 18 24 41
Cincinnati 1 5 1 .214 163 194
NOTE: For the 2020 season, MLS will
determine standings using points per game.
West W L T Pct PF PA NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.
Kansas City 6 1 0 .857 218 143 Wednesday, October 28
Red Bulls 1, New England 0
Las Vegas 3 3 0 .500 171 197 Kansas City 1, Cincinnati 0
Orlando City 4, Atlanta 1
Denver 2 4 0 .333 116 153 Philadelphia 2, Chicago 1
L.A. Chargers 2 4 0 .333 149 154
N.Y.C.F.C. 1, Toronto FC 0
D.C. United 1, Columbus 0
Minnesota 2, Colorado 1
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
FC Dallas 2, Miami 1
Portland 5, LA Galaxy 2
Los Angeles FC 2, Houston 1
San Jose 2, Real Salt Lake 0
East W L T Pct PF PA
Saturday, October 31
Phila. 2 4 1 .357 163 196 FC Dallas 3, Houston 0
Chicago at Nashville
ALLSPORT HULTON/ARCHIVE Dallas 2 5 0 .286 176 243 Sunday, November 1
Philadelphia at Columbus
Alfredo Di Stéfano with Real Washington 2 5 0 .286 133 165 Cincinnati at Atlanta
Red Bulls at N.Y.C.F.C
Madrid in 1959 after playing in Giants 1 6 0 .143 122 174
Orlando City at Montreal
D.C. United at New England
Colombia. Josep Maria Bar- South W L T Pct PF PA
Minnesota at Kansas City
tomeu, far left, and Real Ma- Tampa Bay 5 2 0 .714 222 142 Miami at Toronto FC
Seattle at Colorado
drid’s Florentino Pérez are al- New Orleans 4 2 0 .667 180 174 Vancouver at Portland
Real Salt Lake at LA Galaxy
leged super league conspirators. Carolina 3 5 0 .375 179 193 Los Angeles FC at San Jose
Atlanta 2 6 0 .250 209 224
Wednesday, November 4
Columbus at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
best games I have seen live, and North W L T Pct PF PA
FC Dallas at Nashville, 8:30 p.m.
there have been more than a few Colorado at Portland, 10 p.m.
Green Bay 5 1 0 .833 197 159
of those.”
Seattle at LA Galaxy, 11 p.m.
Chicago 5 2 0 .714 138 140 Sunday, November 8
N.Y.C.F.C. at Chicago, 3:30 p.m.
Detroit 3 3 0 .500 156 165 Atlanta at Columbus, 3:30 p.m.
Montreal at D.C. United, 3:30 p.m.
United They Stand Minnesota 1 5 0 .167 155 192 Cincinnati at Miami, 3:30 p.m.
Time, you will have noticed, is West W L T Pct PF PA
Toronto FC at Red Bulls, 3:30 p.m.
Nashville at Orlando City, 3:30 p.m.
different now. It does not work Seattle 5 1 0 .833 203 172
New England at Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m.
Colorado at Houston, 6:30 p.m.
quite as it used to. Why that might Portland at Los Angeles FC, 6:30 p.m.
Arizona 5 2 0 .714 203 146
be is hard to discern. It could be FC Dallas at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m.
L.A. Rams 5 2 0 .714 176 124 Kansas City at Real Salt Lake, 6:30 p.m.
the distorting effect of the pan- San Jose at Seattle, 6:30 p.m.
demic, when every day is essen-
San Fran. 4 3 0 .571 181 136 LA Galaxy at Vancouver, 6:30 p.m.
ENRIC FONTCUBERTA/EPA, VIA SHUTTERSTOCK
tially the same, making last week THURSDAY ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Atlanta 25, Carolina 17
feel distant but March seem some- Team GP W D L GF GA Pts
how close. SUNDAY Liverpool . . . . . . 7 5 1 1 17 15 16
only six games. Within a few Indianapolis at Detroit Everton. . . . . . . 6 4 1 1 14 9 13
years, the league had been forced Or it could be that living in such L.A. Rams at Miami Wolverhampton . 7 4 1 2 8 8 13
a rapid news cycle — the first Chelsea . . . . . . 7 3 3 1 16 9 12
to come back into FIFA’s fold, and Las Vegas at Cleveland Aston Villa . . . . . 5 4 0 1 12 5 12
the glittering array of stars it had wave and the protests and the Minnesota at Green Bay Leicester. . . . . . 6 4 0 2 13 8 12
second wave and the election and Jets at Kansas City
Tottenham. . . . . 6 3 2 1 16 8 11
contracted floated away. Man City. . . . . . 6 3 2 1 9 8 11
the President has tweeted what New England at Buffalo Leeds. . . . . . . . 6 3 1 2 12 9 10
Why bring this up now? Partly, Southampton . . . 6 3 1 2 10 9 10
now? — has changed the meaning Pittsburgh at Baltimore
in all honesty, because it is a bril- Crystal Palace . . 7 3 1 3 8 11 10
of immediacy, as though the brain
Tennessee at Cincinnati Arsenal . . . . . . . 6 3 0 3 8 7 9
liant story, one that has not been L.A. Chargers at Denver West Ham . . . . . 7 2 2 3 13 10 8
is confused as to whether informa- Newcastle . . . . . 6 2 2 2 8 10 8
told nearly often enough — New Orleans at Chicago Man United . . . . 5 2 1 2 9 12 7
though Franklin, at least, has been tion needs to be filed in short- or San Francisco at Seattle Brighton . . . . . . 6 1 2 3 10 12 5
long-term memory. West Brom . . . . 6 0 3 3 6 14 3
the subject of two books in the Dallas at Philadelphia
Sheffield United . 7 0 1 6 3 10 1
past year: “Flight to Bogotá” and Either way, all of the familiar Open: Houston, Jacksonville, Ari- Fulham . . . . . . . 6 0 1 5 5 14 1
measurements of time seem zona, Washington Burnley . . . . . . . 6 0 1 5 3 12 1
“England’s Greatest Defender.” Monday, Oct. 26
Partly because, as Europe’s somehow insufficient. A day, a MONDAY
Brighton 1, West Brom 1
week, a month no longer seem like Tampa Bay at Giants, 8:15 Burnley 0, Tottenham 1
elite clubs flirt with the idea of a
something fixed, a period of Friday, Oct. 30
breakaway league once again, the
tightly defined length. March N.F.L. INJURY REPORT Wolverhampton 2, Crystal Palace 0
days of El Dorado provide a warn- Saturday, Oct. 31
lasted forever. April passed by in a SUNDAY
ing: Ultimately, players will go Sheffield United 0, Man City 1
where the money is, and fans will flash. Remember when Prince JETS AT KANSAS CITY
Burnley 0, Chelsea 3
Liverpool 2, West Ham 1
Harry and Meghan Markle JETS: OUT: LB Blake Cashman (hamstring),
follow. The clubs of the pirate S Bradley McDougald (shoulder), Sunday, Nov. 1
league could pay their generous stepped down from the royal WR Breshad Perriman (concussion). Aston Villa vs. Southampton
family? That was this year. Re- DOUBTFUL: WR Jamison Crowder (groin), K Newcastle vs. Everton
salaries only because Colombia’s Sam Ficken (right groin). QUESTIONABLE: Man United vs. Arsenal
stadiums were packed to the member when Manchester United G Josh Andrews (shoulder), RB Frank Tottenham vs. Brighton
conceded six at home to Totten- Gore (not injury related, hand), LB Jordan Monday, Nov. 2
rafters. With a fragmented, inter- Jenkins (ribs, shoulder), T Conor McDermott Fulham vs. West Brom
ham? That was 26 days ago. (illness). FULL: T Mekhi Becton (shoulder), Leeds vs. Leicester
national audience, it is probably QB Sam Darnold (right shoulder), T George
fair to assume the same would Since then, of course, things Fant (knee), T Alex Lewis (shoulder), TE Friday, Nov. 6
have started to look up for United: Trevon Wesco (hand).: OUT: T Mitchell Brighton vs. Burnley
happen with a super league. Schwartz (back), WR Sammy Watkins Southampton vs. Newcastle
But it is mainly because it re- a comfortable win at Newcastle, (hamstring). FULL: DE Taco Charlton Saturday, Nov. 7
an impressive victory at Paris (knee), T Eric Fisher (shoulder), DT Chris Everton vs. Man United
minds us that even unwelcome Jones (groin), DT Derrick Nnadi (ankle), C Crystal Palace vs. Leeds
developments can bring unexpect- St.-Germain, a creditable draw at Austin Reiter (knee), DT Khalen Saunders Chelsea vs. Sheffield United
home against Chelsea that went (elbow), S Armani Watts (illness), RB Darrel West Ham vs. Fulham
ed benefits and that, often, it is the Williams (shoulder), T Andrew Wylie (foot).
breaks with orthodoxy that have on for several days and, on MONDAY
Wednesday, a 5-0 demolition at TENNIS
changed soccer’s history the most. TAMPA BAY AT GIANTS
Old Trafford of RB Leipzig, Cham- BUCCANEERS: DNP: WR Chris Godwin
The most obvious consequence (finger). LIMITED: TE Rob Gronkowski
VIENNA OPEN
pions League semifinalists last
of the pirate league was the rise of (shoulder), WR Scott Miller (hip, groin), DE Saturday
season/two months ago. Jason Pierre-Paul (knee), S Antoine Winfield At Wiener Stadthalle
Real Madrid: Santiago Bernabeu, (shoulder, groin). GIANTS: DNP: RB Devonta
the club’s ambitious president and United, suddenly, is surging. Ole Freeman (ankle). LIMITED: S Adrian Colbert
Vienna
Men's Singles
Gunnar Solskjaer has proved his (shoulder), CB Darnay Holmes (neck), WR Semifinals
Pérez’s precursor, snared Di Sté- Sterling Shepard (shoulder, toe), FULL: Andrey Rublev (5), Russia, d. Kevin
fano when he left Colombia, a critics wrong. He has solved the WR C.J. Board (concussion), T Cameron Anderson, South Africa, 6-4, 4-1, ret.
midfield conundrum, tightened up Fleming (not injury related), C Nick Gates Lorenzo Sonego, Italy, d. Daniel Evans,
transfer that almost instanta- (not injury related), G Shane Lemieux (not Britain, 6-3, 6-4.
the defense, found the right bal- injury related), C Spencer Pulley (not injury
neously made his team the sport’s related), T Andrew Thomas (not injury
Men's Doubles
ance in attack. Paul Pogba is back. Semifinals
first continental superpower. related). Lukasz Kubot, Poland, and Marcelo Melo
Harry Maguire is back. David De (3), Brazil, d. Kevin Krawietz and Andreas
But the era’s effects rippled out
Gea is back. The troubles of the Mies, Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8.
in countless other ways. In Eng- COLLEGE FOOTBALL
first few weeks of the season can
land, it is likely it contributed to EAST GOLF
be forgotten. That was early Octo- Indiana 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rutgers 21
the end of the maximum wage —
ber! It was ages ago! It’s . . . late Wake Forest 38 . . . . . . . . . Syracuse 14
abolished in 1961 — and what was West Virginia 37 . . . . . . . . Kansas St. 10 BERMUDA CHAMPIONSHIP
October now. SOUTH
known as the “retain and trans- Appalachian St. 31 . Louisiana-Monroe 13 Saturday
Sports have always worked a At Port Royal Golf Course
fer” system, which was disman- Auburn 48 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LSU 11
Southampton, Bermuda
bit like this, of course, even if it Clemson 34 . . . . . . . . Boston College 28
tled two years later. More broadly, Coastal Carolina 51 . . . . . . Georgia St. 0 Purse: $4 million
seems quicker with every passing Yardage: 6,842; Par: 71
it may have hastened the arrival FAU 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UTSA 3
Third Round
week. Reputations and expecta- Georgia 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kentucky 3
of soccer’s superstar era, concen- Louisiana Tech 37. . . . . . . UAB 34, 2OT Doc Redman. . . . . . . . . . . . 65-71-67—203 -10
tions rise and fall roughly once Mississippi 54 . . . . . . . . . Vanderbilt 21 Ryan Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-70-70—204 -9
trating more power, and more Wyndham Clark . . . . . . . . . . 66-68-70—204 -9
every three days; each game Notre Dame 31 . . . . . . Georgia Tech 13
Kramer Hickok. . . . . . . . . . . 67-68-69—204 -9
money, in the hands of the very Rice 30. . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Miss. 6
seems to generate sweeping con- Tulane 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Temple 3 Matt Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-71-66—205 -8
best players than they had ever Virginia Tech 42 . . . . . . . . . Louisville 35 Brian Gay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-68-67—205 -8
clusions that can be safely dis- Ollie Schniederjans . . . . . . . . 66-70-69—205 -8
enjoyed before. MIDWEST
carded barely a week later. Cincinnati 49 . . . . . . . . . . . Memphis 10 Adam Schenk . . . . . . . . . . . 69-71-66—206 -7
The day after their meeting Iowa St. 52 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kansas 22 Doug Ghim . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-74-68—206 -7
But it is hard to escape the Kiradech Aphibarnrat . . . . . . 71-66-69—206 -7
with Di Stéfano in the restaurant, Michigan St. 27 . . . . . . . . . Michigan 24
David Hearn . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72-67—207 -6
feeling that United, under Solsk- Northwestern 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . Iowa 20
Guevara and his companion, Purdue 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Illinois 24 Anirban Lahiri. . . . . . . . . . . . 68-70-69—207 -6
jaer, has been here before. His SOUTHWEST Ryan Brehm . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-74-65—207 -6
Alberto Granado, went to watch Peter Malnati . . . . . . . . . . . . 63-74-70—207 -6
reign — nearly two years old now, TCU 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baylor 23
Russell Knox . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-74-67—208 -5
Millonarios play. Guevara was not Texas 41. . . . . . . . Oklahoma St. 34, OT
though it feels like much less and Troy 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . Arkansas St. 10 Stewart Cink . . . . . . . . . . . . 66-74-68—208 -5
especially impressed: He wrote to Will Zalatoris. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-72-67—208 -5
also quite a lot more — has been UCF 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Houston 21
Michael Gligic . . . . . . . . . . . 68-71-69—208 -5
his mother complaining that the
characterized by streakiness. Mark Anderson . . . . . . . . . . 69-70-69—208 -5
seats had not offered the best Beau Hossler. . . . . . . . . . . . 71-68-69—208 -5
It was a run of 14 wins in his Emiliano Grillo . . . . . . . . . . . 66-72-70—208 -5
view. GOLF Luke Donald . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-68-71—208 -5
first 19 games that secured him
Perhaps it was no surprise Roger Sloan. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-70-71—208 -5
the job on a permanent basis in TIMBERTECH Johnson Wagner . . . . . . . . . 66-74-69—209 -4
Guevara did not take to it: The the first place; United finished Hank Lebioda . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72-69—209 -4
CHAMPIONSHIP Maverick McNealy . . . . . . . . 69-71-69—209 -4
pirate league was a glimpse of third last season after winning Will Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-72-68—209 -4
Saturday
soccer’s slick, corporate, money- nine of its last 14 Premier League At The Old Course at Broken Sound
Sepp Straka . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-70-69—209 -4
Andrew Putnam. . . . . . . . . . 69-73-67—209 -4
soaked future. Granado, though, games. (In both seasons, it ended
Boca Raton, Fla. Padraig Harrington . . . . . . . . 67-71-71—209 -4
Purse: $2 million
was much happier. He considered up with 66 points.) In between, it Yardage: 6,906; Par: 72
Scott Piercy. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-70-72—209 -4
Denny McCarthy . . . . . . . . . 70-67-72—209 -4
himself something of an expert has been plagued by inconsis-
Second Round Aaron Wise . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-73-69—210 -3
Darren Clarke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-62—131 -13 Troy Merritt . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-70-71—210 -3
player, a scheming midfielder, and tency. Robert Karlsson . . . . . . . . . . . . 65-66—131 -13
Chesson Hadley. . . . . . . . . . 68-71-71—210 -3
he was pleased with what he saw, Defeat against Spurs may well
Jim Furyk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-68—132 -12 Scott Stallings . . . . . . . . . . . 68-73-70—211 -2
Cameron Beckman . . . . . . . . . 67-66—133 -11 Vaughn Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . 65-75-71—211 -2
threat to the fabric of the game or prove to have been another of Kent Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-66—133 -11
Scott Parel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65-68—133 -11
Rasmus Hojgaard . . . . . . . . 70-71-70—211 -2
not. “It was,” he wrote, “one of the those turning points, shifting
Peter Uihlein . . . . . . . . . . . . 72-67-72—211 -2
Bernhard Langer . . . . . . . . . . . 65-68—133 -11 John Senden. . . . . . . . . . . . 68-74-69—211 -2
Gene Sauers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-65—134 -10
Solskjaer’s Manchester United Rod Pampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-65—134 -10
Kevin Tway . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-74-69—211
D.A. Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-72-69—211
-2
-2
from waning to waxing. The mo- Miguel Angel Jimenez. . . . . . . . 68-67—135
Tim Petrovic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-68—135
-9
-9
Seamus Power . . . . . . . . . . 69-74-68—211 -2
Luke List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72-72—212 -1
mentum built up over the last few Joe Durant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66-69—135 -9 Max Homa . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-71-72—212 -1
weeks may be enough to carry the Vijay Singh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-67—136 -8
Tom Pernice Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-67—136 -8
Brice Garnett . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-70-74—212 -1
Jason Dufner . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-72-69—212 -1
team through an arduous couple Stephen Leaney. . . . . . . . . . . . 70-66—136 -8 Robert Streb . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-74-72—213 E
Retief Goosen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-69—136 -8
of months. Indeed, in this curious Kevin Sutherland . . . . . . . . . . . 67-69—136 -8
Danny Willett . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-74-72—213 E
Cameron Percy . . . . . . . . . . 70-72-71—213 E
season, that could yet be enough. Scott Hoch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-69—136 -8 Hudson Swafford . . . . . . . . . 67-75-71—213 E
Duffy Waldorf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65-71—136 -8
If Liverpool and Manchester City Olin Browne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-69—137 -7
Joseph Bramlett. . . . . . . . . . 69-73-71—213
Ben Taylor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-72-70—213
E
E
continue to stumble, it is not im- Tom Kite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-70—137
Steve Flesch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-70—137
-7
-7
D.J. Trahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-75-72—214 +1
Jonathan Byrd . . . . . . . . . . . 70-73-71—214 +1
possible this Manchester United David Toms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-70—137 -7 Branden Grace . . . . . . . . . . 73-70-71—214 +1
team can keep pace. Brett Quigley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66-71—137 -7
John Daly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-73—137 -7
Camilo Villegas. . . . . . . . . . . 72-71-71—214 +1
Hunter Mahan . . . . . . . . . . . 66-75-74—215 +2
But it is worth remembering, Ernie Els . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-69—138 -6 Patrick Rodgers . . . . . . . . . . 68-73-74—215 +2
David McKenzie. . . . . . . . . . . . 69-69—138 -6
even at a time when last week Dudley Hart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-71—138 -6
Michael Miller. . . . . . . . . . . . 71-72-72—215 +2

on the brink of civil war after the
assassination of Jorge Gaitán, its
government decided, for the first
Chief soccer correspondent Rory
Smith takes you from the biggest
matches to the smallest leagues,
covering the tactics, history and
personalities of the world’s most
popular sport. Sign up to receive
his newsletter at nytimes.com/rory.
seems a lifetime ago and the
world seems to be born anew
every day, that it was really not
long ago that United was report-
edly reaching out to possible
replacements and Solskjaer, once
again, seemed to be on the brink.
Things change quickly in 2020.
POOL PHOTO BY OLI SCARFF
But often, that just means we get
With Manchester United surging, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the team’s back to where we started faster
manager, is suddenly popular again. But it’s a long season. than before.
Kirk Triplett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-70—139 -5
Scott Verplank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-69—139 -5 TRANSACTIONS
John Huston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-69—139 -5
Mike Goodes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-70—139 -5
Jose Maria Olazabal . . . . . . . . . 70-69—139 -5 M.L.B.
Dicky Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-68—139 -5
Shane Bertsch. . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-68—139 -5 MLB — Announced approval of new
Joey Sindelar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-71—139 -5 ownership group for the New York Mets
Jeff Sluman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67-72—139 -5 led by Steve Cohen.
Tom Gillis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-71—140 -4 American League
Bob Estes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-70—140 -4 NEW YORK YANKEES — Exercised 2021
Chris DiMarco . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69-71—140 -4 and 2022 club option for LHP Zack Britton
Kenny Perry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70-70—140 -4 and declined 2021 options for OF Brett
David Frost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71-69—140 -4 Gardner and LHP J.A. Happ.
Tom Lehman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72—140 -4 NEW YORK YANKEES — Sent RHP Tommy
Kahnle outright to Scranton/Wilkes Barre
Jeff Maggert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72—140 -4
Jerry Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-72—140 -4 (IL).

Steelers vs. Ravens: Something Has to Give
Dolphins Enter the Tagovailoa Era • Can the Seahawks Stop Anyone?
A battle of A.F.C. royalty, the first start for
a highly rated rookie quarterback and
two previously unbeaten teams hoping
to make up for last week’s losses high-
light what looks like a promising week
of action.
Here’s a look at N.F.L. Week 8, with
all picks made against the spread.
Last week’s record | 6-7-1
Overall record | 53-50-2
THURSDAY
Falcons 25
Panthers 17 Steelers at Ravens 1 p.m., CBS
Atlanta looked Line: Ravens -3.5 | Total: 47
like it might be The Steelers (6-0) were forced to sweat
blowing another a little at the end of last week’s win over
fourth-quarter Tennessee, but they survived to be-
come the N.F.L.’s last remaining un-
lead, but Blidi
Wreh-Wilson beaten team. That status should be
tested, heavily, by the Ravens (5-1),
intercepted a
who are coming out of a bye week and
Teddy are likely relishing the chance to flex
Bridgewater pass their collective muscle against a fellow
that saved the heavyweight.
day for the This is the 25th time that Coach John
Falcons, who Harbaugh has faced Coach Mike Tom-
improved to 2-6 lin, which will set a record for the Super
Bowl era, according to the Elias Sports
with the road win. Bureau. And just as it has been in so
We picked many of those games, the matchup is a
Panthers -2.5 case of strength against strength: Pitts-
based on their burgh has the N.F.L.’s most effective
home-field run defense, and Baltimore, despite
results this year that are a bit below its
advantage and
typical standards, has the most fear-
the expectation some collection of runners this side of
that running back the 1948 San Francisco 49ers.
Christian The Steelers minimized the mighty
McCaffrey would Titans running back Derrick Henry last
be healthy week, proving how tough they can be,
but it’s worth noting that the last player
enough to be
to top 100 yards rushing against Pitts-
activated from
burgh was Gus Edwards, who is effec-
injured reserve. tively the third or fourth option for
But McCaffrey Baltimore on any running play but may
wasn’t activated have an increased role this week if
and the Mark Ingram is forced out with an
combination of ankle injury.
The teams excel at defending both
Matt Ryan (281
the run and the pass. They both pass
yards passing),
the ball and run the ball fairly well. And
Julio Jones (137 they both are legitimate Super Bowl
yards receiving) contenders. That this game is wasted in
and Younghoe a 1 p.m. time slot, while a putrid N.F.C.
East matchup between Philadelphia
Koo (four field
and Dallas is in prime time, is unforgiv-
goals) proved too
able. But it should at least give Sunday
much for Carolina
an exciting start. PICK: RAVENS -3.5
to overcome.
Rams at Dolphins 1 p.m., Fox
Line: Rams -4 | Total: 45.5
It’s Tua Time. Ryan Fitzpatrick may
have expressed disappointment that
Tua Tagovailoa had been named start-
ing quarterback for the Dolphins (3-3),
but the move makes perfect sense.
Miami is playing about as
well as can be expected
considering the state of the
team’s rebuild, but even
that good fortune does not
have the Dolphins in line
for a playoff spot despite
the expanded format.
Acknowledging that the
team’s long-term future
hinges on its 22-year-old
rookie, rather than a
nearly-38-year-old with a
58-86-1 career record, is
not exactly a controversial
stance.
The extreme view would
DOUG MURRAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS be declaring that Tagov-
ailoa will make the team better now,
Tua Tagovailoa
especially when he’s about to face the
has supplanted Rams’ fairly good secondary, led by
Ryan Fitz- cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and the
patrick in Mi- looming presence of defensive tackle
ami, a develop- Aaron Donald, who would undoubtedly
ment that ev- like to welcome a rookie quarterback to
the league by hugging him tightly sev-
eryone but
eral times. PICK: RAMS -4
Fitzpatrick
anticipated.
49ers at Seahawks 4:25 p.m., Fox
Line: Seahawks -3 | Total: 54
After daring teams to beat them in its
first five games, Seattle finally found a
jam it couldn’t wriggle its way out of in
an overtime loss to Arizona. In that
game, the Seahawks (5-1) allowed 519
yards, stacking up a whopping 2,875 for
the season, which is an N.F.L. record
through six games, according to the
Elias Sports Bureau.
That stat isn’t everything, but Seattle
is also 23rd in points allowed per game,
24th in net yards allowed per passing
attempt, 31st in passing yards allowed
and 30th in first downs allowed. This is
not a blip: The team is bad defensively.
The question is if 49ers quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo can exploit that
awful Seahawks pass defense to the
extent that he is keeping up with a
highly motivated Russell Wilson.
PICK: SEAHAWKS -3
San Francisco’s Gold Rush
The 49ers have scored 22 touchdowns
— 12 rushing and 10 receiving. Can Jimmy
Garoppolo’s offense exploit Seattle’s leaky defense?
Jeff Wilson Jr. Jerick McKinnon Brandon Aiyuk
(RB) (RB) (WR)
5 TDs 4 TDs 3 TDs
(4 rushing, 1 (3 rushing, 1 (2 rushing, 1
receiving) receiving) receiving)
ONLINE To follow along with this week’s N.F.L. action, including scores, injury updates and highlights, go to: nytimes.com/sports
THE NEW YORK TIMES SPORTS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
N.F.L. Week 8
By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN
Titans at Bengals 1 p.m., CBS
Line: Titans -6 | Total: 55
Las Vegas oddsmakers expect this to
be the highest-scoring game of the
week, and that should not surprise
anyone. The Titans (5-1) have an elec-
tric offense led by Ryan Tannehill and
Derrick Henry, and the Bengals (1-5-1)
have been loving life with quarterback
Joe Burrow, regardless of their poor
record so far.
This game could easily have the look
of a Pro Bowl, with defenders lazily
jogging in the background of offensive
highlight videos. But while Burrow is
likely to win games like this at some
point, it’s hard to believe he can over-
come Tannehill and Henry at this stage
of his career. PICK: TITANS -6
Patriots at Bills 1 p.m., CBS
Line: Bills -3.5 | Total: 43
After the first few weeks of the season,
these teams looked like two of the
N.F.L.’s best. Since then, the Bills’ (5-2)
offensive struggles joined their defen-
sive issues among the team’s concerns.
The Patriots (2-4) have outdone that by
simply being awful, since starting 2-1. A
case could be made that one of these
teams will leave Sunday’s game with
some momentum, but Buffalo managed
to attract even more doubters when it
“only” beat the Jets, 18-10, last week,
without scoring a single touchdown.
In searching for a reason for New
England’s struggles, the TV commenta-
tor Jeff Garcia took aim at Cam New-
ton’s postgame outfits rather than any
legitimate reasons like, say, the team’s
defense, which has been flailing equally
against the run and the pass despite the
presence of cornerback Stephon
Gilmore. PICK: BILLS -3
Chargers at Broncos 4:05 p.m., CBS
Line: Chargers -3 | Total: 44.5
Justin Herbert of the Chargers (2-4)
had been knocking at the door of his
first victory for weeks, coming fairly
close to beating Patrick Mahomes, Tom
Brady and Drew Brees in the process.
He finally kicked that door down in an
easy win over Jacksonville last week.
The stakes were obviously low in that
game, and aren’t much higher against
the Broncos (2-4), but winnable games
against lesser teams are good practice
for a rookie quarterback.
This game comes with the added
complication of being in Denver’s thin
air, but with Chargers defensive end
Melvin Ingram expected to return on
defense, and wide receiver Keenan
Allen looking fully healthy on offense,
Herbert should get his first winning
streak. PICK: CHARGERS -3
Vikings at Packers 1 p.m., Fox
Line: Packers -6.5 | Total: 54
The Vikings (1-5) aren’t rebuilding. This
off-season they jettisoned most of the
recognizable names on their defense,
and traded away one of their best offen-
sive players for draft picks, but this is
not a rebuilding effort. They have been
very clear about this. If you think they
are rebuilding, you are wrong.
When last seen, Minnesota’s not-
rebuilding defense, which features
multiple rookies in its secondary, was
humiliated by previously winless Atlan-
ta. Now that same group of players gets
to try its hand at stopping Aaron
Rodgers and the Packers (5-1) in Green
Bay. Expect a Packers victory, probably
by as many points as Green Bay wants,
but the likelihood that Kirk Cousins
picks up a few garbage-time touch-
downs makes the spread too ag-
gressive.
PICK: VIKINGS +6.5
Colts at Lions 1 p.m., CBS
Line: Colts -3 | Total: 50
Through his first five games in Indian-
apolis, the knock on Philip Rivers was
that he struggled mightily when the
Colts (4-2) fell behind, to some a seri-
ous sign of his decline. Then in Week 6,
he fell behind by 21 points before catch-
ing fire and throwing for three touch-
downs, putting up 371 yards, 31 points
and tying for the largest regular-season
comeback in franchise history —
against Cincinnati’s truly atrocious
defense.
The Lions (3-3) present a fairly inter-
esting challenge. Having won three of
its last four games, Detroit has mostly
benefited from a soft part of the sched-
ule, but has, at the very least, been
executing far better than at any point
under Coach Matt Patricia. And the
Lions’ win over Arizona in Week 3 is
proof that their success can’t be en-
tirely dismissed.
The Colts are likely to get linebacker
Darius Leonard back from a groin
injury this week, which dramatically
improves the team’s defense, but they
should be favored even if he needs
another week. PICK: COLTS -3
• A Possible Pro Bowl Preview
Jets at Chiefs 1 p.m., CBS
Line: Chiefs -19.5 | Total: 48.5
In the only other instance of the Jets
starting 0-7, in 1996, quarterback Neil
O’Donnell lost the team’s first six
games before injuring his shoulder and
handing off to Frank Reich, who lost his
first two games. Reich and company
finally eked out a win over Arizona to
end the losing streak at eight. Then the
Jets lost their final seven games as
well.
Playing on the road against the
Chiefs (6-1) seemingly guarantees that
these Jets will match that 0-8 start.
Does Kansas City care enough about
this game to win by 20 points? Can the
Jets lose by 20 without any effort from
the other team? Reasonable questions.
But expect the Jets to lose, regardless.
PICK: JETS +19.5
Raiders at Browns 1 p.m., Fox
Line: Browns -2.5 | Total: 53.5
If you like to see quarterbacks chuck
the ball down the field with impunity,
this should be the game for you. Ac-
cording to Football Outsiders, the
Raiders (3-3) and Browns (5-2) have
two of the 10 least efficient pass de-
fenses in the N.F.L., a stat that has been
borne out on the scoreboard as both
teams allow opponents more than 30
points a game.
Cleveland, however, defends the run
far better than Las Vegas does, and
also runs the ball better. The over/
under of 53.5 seems fairly low, but
Cleveland being a narrow favorite in
what is likely to be a shootout seems
right. PICK: BROWNS -2.5
Saints at Bears 4:25 p.m., Fox
Line: Saints -4 | Total: 44
It’s hard to imagine a team with a
record as good as the Bears (5-2) deal-
ing with so much drama, but it was a
fairly big bombshell that got dropped
during Monday night’s broadcast when
Brian Griese, an analyst for ESPN, said
that quarterback Nick Foles had ex-
pressed serious concerns about Coach
Matt Nagy’s understanding of the
team’s capabilities.
According to Griese, Foles said, “You
know, sometimes play calls come in and
I know that I don’t have time to execute
that play call. You know, I’m the one out
here getting hit. Sometimes the guy
calling the plays, Matt Nagy, he doesn’t
know how much time there is back
here.”
Nagy said afterward that he didn’t
know what Griese was talking about.
And when asked about the possibility of
giving up play-calling duties, Nagy said
that he wasn’t the problem.
“I’m really honestly not opposed to,
there’s no opposition from me if we feel
like that that’s what the issue is,” he
said. “And so we look at that. Right now,
where we’re at, that’s not where we
think it’s at.” PICK: SAINTS -4
The Daniel Jones
face plant. We
just can’t get
enough of this.
N 35
WADE PAYNE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Titans’
Cowboys at Eagles 8:20 p.m., NBC
Derrick Henry
Line: Eagles -7.5 | Total: 43.5
scoring against
How much would it change the game the Steelers last
plan for the Cowboys (2-5) if quarter- weekend. The
back Andy Dalton is unable to clear the
league’s concussion protocol this week?
normally un-
Consider that there have been only six stoppable run-
games this season in which a quarter- ning back
back attempted 50 or more passes, and rushed for only
Dallas is responsible for three of them 75 yards on 20
— including the 54 that Dalton at- carries against
tempted against Arizona in Week 6. Pittsburgh’s
This is a team that needs to throw the
sturdy defense.
ball to have a shot at mitigating its very
bad defense.
Backup quarterback Ben DiNucci
may be a lovely person, but the 2020
seventh-round pick out of James Madi-
son hasn’t attempted even 40 passes in
a game since an October 2018 loss at
home to Elon University. The Eagles
(2-4-1), despite their flaws, have a con-
siderably more intimidating pass rush
and secondary than Elon did, so Dallas
would likely turn to running back
Ezekiel Elliott rather than leave every- HOW BETTING
thing in a rookie quarterback’s hands. LINES WORK
A quick primer for
Based on what we’ve seen from Elliott
so far this season, that won’t work. those who are not
PICK: EAGLES -7.5 familiar with
betting lines:
Favorites are
Buccaneers at Giants 8:15 p.m. listed next to a
Monday, ESPN negative number
that represents
Line: Buccaneers -10.5 | Total: 46
Laugh all you want about Daniel how many points
Jones’s wild run — and ridiculous stum- they must win by
ble — against Philadelphia last week, to cover the
but facts are facts and after that 80- spread. Ravens
yard run the Giants (1-6) finished off -3.5, for example,
the drive with a touchdown. They still means that
lost, mind you, but it could be argued
Baltimore must
that it was the greatest moment of the
team’s inglorious season, outside of a beat Pittsburgh by
sloppy win over Washington. The guy at least 4 points
hit 21.23 miles-per-hour! Stop laughing! for its backers to
Silver linings like that should be few win their bet.
and far between against the Bucca- Gamblers can
neers (5-2), a team that seems to have also bet on the
realized its potential over the last few
total score, or
weeks and then primed itself to add
whether the
receiver Antonio Brown in Week 9.
teams’ combined
It’s worth remembering that Coach
Bruce Arians had this to say about score in the game
Brown in March: “There’s no room. It’s is over or under a
just not gonna happen. It’s just not a fit preselected
here.” Some injuries to the Buccaneers’
number of points.
receivers — including a broken index
Bye weeks
finger that will keep Chris Godwin out
this week — resulted in Brown being Arizona,
declared to have “matured” by Arians. Washington,
Though Brown isn’t available this Jacksonville,
week, there’s no reason to believe
Houston
Tampa Bay will lose this game. But the
Giants have played their last four oppo-
All times are Eastern
nents fairly tight and the Buccaneers
are down a key player on offense, so
this one could be a lot closer than odds-
makers have predicted.
PICK: GIANTS +10.5
CHRIS SZAGOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
IDEAS PERSONALITIES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Arts&Leisure

Feel Like

A Good

Scream

An anatomy of
cinematic shrieks
and wails, and why
they stay with us.
BY MELENA RYZIK
PAGE 6

Right Now? MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Susan Boyajian works as a kind of casting director for people paid to produce screams, guttural squeals and macabre whispers. She also does voice work herself.

8 POP 9 TELEVISION 10 THEATER

The music industry used to censor songs for political A comedy duo’s newest collaboration is rooted in Shakespeare, bluegrass, Randy Quaid and the
reasons, but clean versions can lift profits. BY BEN SISARIO their experiences hunting for ghosts. BY TOM POWER thwarted dreams of ‘Lone Star Love.’ BY LISA BIRNBACH
2 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Inside Culture
THIS WEEK FROM THE ARTS DESK

FROM THE ARCHIVES THE QUEUE

JEREMY EGNER is the television

editor of The New York Times.
Here are a few of the cultural
baubles that he has been paying
attention to lately.

I’M THINKING
OF ENDING THINGS
MOVIE
I admit I missed the whole subtext of this
movie the first time I watched it. But I
keep returning to it — often late at night,
after my family goes to bed — and keep
finding new layers. (Streaming on
Netflix.)

MARY CYBULSKI/NETFLIX

From “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”

STATH LETS FLATS

GARY SETTLE/THE NEW YORK TIMES
TELEVISION
Cringe comedy doesn’t come much
cringier than this nutty British show (on
HBO Max) about an objectively awful
leasing agent. (My wife couldn’t make it 10
minutes, it was too painful.) But aside
from maybe “What We Do in the
Shadows,” nothing on TV right now makes
me laugh harder. (Fun fact: Natasia
Demetriou stars in both series.)

RADIO WOODSTOCK
RADIO
This independent station in Woodstock,
N.Y., is one of my favorite things about
driving around the Hudson Valley (and,
these days, working from home while
listening online). It overindexes on
boomer heroes, as you might expect, but
throws plenty of new blues, soul and indie
rock into the mix. And the local ads can be
pretty fun.

NEAL BOENZI/THE NEW YORK TIMES TYRONE DUKES/THE NEW YORK TIMES

PERCY JACKSON
& THE OLYMPIANS
BOOKS
A fun thing about being a parent is
catching up on blockbuster franchises you
never cared about when you were
childless. (Turns out that Harry Potter is
pretty good!) This book series from the
’00s, about the gifted children of Olympian
gods, is my daughter’s latest obsession.
Reading along with her has upped my
mythology game.

IMPOSSIBLE WEIGHT
ALBUM
Jessica Dobson has been a crack guitarist
for the likes of Beck, the Shins and Yeah
Yeah Yeahs, but her own band, Deep Sea
Diver, veers all over the musical map. An
eclectic, propulsive mix of shimmers and
shadow, its latest record is like the
soundtrack to a lost, great ’80s movie.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

From long lines to the privacy of voting booths, photographers for The New York Times document SUZI PRATT/GETTY IMAGES

Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver.

the process of each election. Here is a selection from The Times’s archive capturing citizens exercising
their right to vote: top, an Indiana University student voting in 1971; center left, a dog peering out from
a voting booth on the East Side of Manhattan in 1968, the year that Richard M. Nixon was elected
president; center right, voting at Co-op City in the Bronx in 1974; and above, democracy in
well-booted action in Harpswell, Maine, circa 1940. JESSIE WENDER
What would you like to see in our photo archive? Ideas can be sent to thearts@nytimes.com with the subject line “Photo Archive.”
4 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Headliner
RECENTLY VIEWED

Fund-Raising Videos and ‘I May Destroy You’

The actress Phillipa Soo
has always considered
herself politically
minded. But it wasn’t
until the 2016 election
that she became active.
With Broadway
theaters shut, Soo has
been singing her
support for political
campaigns and arts
organizations. Calling
from Brooklyn, Soo
talked about how she
has kept busy during
the pandemic, her
phone-free bedroom
and sourdough.
KATHRYN SHAT TUCK
I made a “Broadway for Biden”
video for a Zoom fund-raiser. A
bunch of us got together and sang
part of a song in our own houses
or wherever we are quarantining.
We had just come back from a
week in the Catskills. Since the
weather got really nice, we’ve
been taking car trips to go hiking
as a way to get some fresh air and
have a little geographical mood
shift. Just being in nature, I feel
like it’s so good for our mental
health at this time.
I took a virtual Pilates class with
Georgia Gavran. She opened a
new studio called Wick Pilates
right as everything shut down.
She has been teaching me on a
pretty consistent basis through
Zoom, and it has been awesome.
Then I binged the last three
episodes of “I May Destroy You.”
Michaela Coel is a genius. I was
drawn to the fact that she’s able
to tell this horrifying experience
in a way where she finds her
humility and her humor. She
displayed all of the colors of what
something so tragic can do to
your life, and how it can close
some doors but open new doors.
If you’d go to where it says “Re-
cently Watched,” I’d say 60 per-
cent [of our queue] are documen-
taries. Educating ourselves feels
like the least we can do. We
watched “Agents of Chaos,” which
was great to watch after “The
Comey Rule.” (I’m very proud of
my husband’s work [in “The
Comey Rule”] playing Peter
Strzok.)
What I loved about “Agents of
Chaos” was that it was essentially
playing out all the things that
were happening in the scripted
version. We’ve been immersed in
these facts for a very long time,
and it’s important to see it laid out
because it gives you an under-
standing of what is happening
and how technology has played a
huge part.
Our new puppy, Billie, has com-
pletely recovered [from surgery]
and doesn’t have to wear her cone
of shame anymore. We rescued
her in May, and it just happened
to align with my birthday. It was
the best thing to happen in Covid
times. Animals are so good for the
heart and soul.
It was a low-key day because
we had to monitor her, so I read
some of “Number One Chinese
Restaurant” by Lillian Li. I re-
cently had to name some of my
favorite books, and I found that
they were all written by women,
and most were written by Asian
women. It’s been such a wonder-
ful journey getting to immerse
myself in stories that I didn’t read
growing up. I didn’t realize until I
was older how much not reading
stories and seeing movies about
Asian characters really affected
me. I’m just so eager to consume
it all.
I ended the day with a little
MARIDELIS MORALES ROSADO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Zoom hang with Leslie Odom Jr.
“If I can lend a voice and a platform to issues that I believe in, I’m happy to do it,” the actress Phillipa Soo said. and Nicolette Robinson, which
was fun. Then we ended the night
by watching an episode of “The
West Wing.” My husband has
watched it four times, but this is
my first time through — even
after being in “Hamilton.” Lin-
Manuel [Miranda] is obsessed
with “The West Wing,” and there
are many little Easter egg refer-
ences throughout “Hamilton.” We
are on Season 6. It’s a nice palate
cleanser for the times.
I had press days for “Over the
Moon,” but during a four-hour
break on Thursday, I shot a video
for Jon Ossoff’s fund-raiser — a
version of “Nature Boy” with
Steven [her husband, Steven
Pasquale.] Jon [the Democratic
Senate candidate from Georgia]
was one of the first people that I
feel were inspired by the outcome
of the election to really get in-
volved.
Both press days were long, and
I fell right into bed. We end the
days now without our phones in
the bedroom. (“The Social Dilem-
ma” is one of those documentaries
we’ve been watching, and it defi-
nitely scared me. My husband
and I looked at each other and
said, “Why don’t we make an
effort to leave our phones down-
stairs when we go up to bed?”)
My sleep is so much better and
the mornings are peaceful.
I had an appointment in the city
for some bodywork. We’ve been
doing Wim Hof breathing exer-
cises. It’s good for the immune
system. It’s good for stress and
anxiety.
We are cooking up a storm, and
we’ve been going to the farmers’
market. It’s my favorite time of
year because of all the beautiful
fall vegetables, and you can make
soup. We had a lot of grocery
deliveries, and I hate all of the
plastic and the paper that gets
used. Going to an outdoor market
is a great way to avoid that and
still be safe. But no, I have not
learned how to make sourdough.

PLAYBACK

On Latinos and U.S. Culture

“Largely untold in mass media or classrooms, the history of Latinos in the United
States is long, winding and impossible to dissect in simple terms,” the film critic
Carlos Aguilar wrote in a roundup of 20 essential Latino films since 2000. The
primer, which featured movies like “We the Animals” (adapted from Justin Torres’s
best-selling novel) and documentaries like “Dolores” (an in-depth portrait of the
activist Dolores Huerta), was the Oct. 4 cover story for Arts & Leisure, and
coincided with National Hispanic Heritage Month. In his article, Aguilar wanted to
highlight more than “border-crossing stories,” as he writes. He aimed to get at the
larger experience of Latinos in the United States. But despite the success of Mexican
directors like Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro,
this “hasn’t translated into more access for American Latinos,” he wrote. A number
of readers weighed in with their own ideas of what movies were left out, which films
moved them growing up and why Latino representation is so important. These
responses have been edited and condensed.

“My Family” (1995), by Gregory Nava,
meant so much to me growing up. It’s
near impossible for me to articulate it’s
impact on my own coming of age as a
young Latina in the San Francisco Bay
Area.
CHRISTINE REYES BROWN, CAMAS, WASH.
Three true-life stories of the experience
for Mexican-Americans that should be
on The New York Times’s “essential”
list are: “A Better Life” (2011), “McFar-
land, USA” (2015), “Spare Parts” (2015).
PETER BANKO, PARADISE VALLEY, ARIZ.
I am very glad to see the beginning of
some recognition in the film industry of
the values of Latin culture and their
importance in the history of the United
States of America.
JAIME PELISSIER, RICHMOND, VA.
May this provoke an awakening in our
culture and in the arts. We U.S. Latinos
are almost entirely absent from por-
trayals onscreen (even though Latinos
go to movies more often than any other
group). And, when we are presented,
it’s almost always in single-dimen-
sional, stereotyped roles. This restricts
the wider perception of who we are and
prevents us from being accepted. Pay
attention, Hollywood. Our stories are
American stories.
MICHELLE MORGANTE, MERCED, CALIF.
I just recently watched “East Side
Sushi” (2014), a delightful and heart-
warming story about a young Latina
trying to become a sushi chef in a
male-dominated industry. Missed the
list, but a worthy view.
EMILY SUZANNE HYATT, ANNAPOLIS, MD.
Jennifer Lopez in “Selena.”
Loved so many of these. “Girlfight”
(2000) changed me.
WENDI WRIGHT, SUNNYVALE, CALIF.
We often only get scraps from the table
— and chances are, they’re the ones we
had to clean up after yet another
awards ceremony banquet, held in a
city that used to be a part of Mexico. I
have cautious hope that someday we
will sit in movie theaters again. And
when the lights go down, maybe we
finally won’t have to ask why the
screen we see is still white.
THOMAS CENDEJAS, LOS ANGELES
WARNER BROS.
Growing up in Miami as a first-genera-
tion Latino American, I could count on
one hand how many films and televi-
sion shows told Latin stories (“Selena,”
“La Bamba” and “Zorro”). I would love
to see more stories that bring in inter-
generational cultural conflicts such as
the CW series “Jane the Virgin” and
maybe more lighthearted stories of
typical mundane American life such as
the NBC comedy series “Superstore.” I
also greatly appreciated the author for
using the terms Hispanic, Latino, and
Latina, and avoiding the derided Lat-
inx; in my anecdotal experience it
either causes a cringe or confusion
with Latino Americans.
CHRISTOPHER ESTEBAN CUMMINS,
LOGAN, OHIO

JONA FRANK
Laura Dern Could Be Her Mother
A photographer takes a very
unusual look at her childhood.
By ARTHUR LUBOW
“In each project I am asking the same ques-
tions — about becoming and identity and
how we find ourselves,” said Jona Frank, a
photographer based in Los Angeles who has
made a series of portraits of subcultures in
American high schools, a British boxing club
and a Christian college in Virginia.
Her new memoir, “Cherry Hill: A Child-
hood Reimagined,” part autobiographical
text and part cinematic re-creation of her up-
bringing in Cherry Hill, N.J., might appear to
be a departure.
The photographs are staged with actors.
The written narrative is as important as the
images. And instead of exploring unfamiliar
subcultures, she is excavating territory
much closer to home: her own childhood.
However, to Ms. Frank, “Cherry Hill” is a
continuation of her artistic project, even if
the starting point is different. “What I did
was flip it on its side and say it was about
me,” she said. “But in another sense, all of
my photographs are about me. Now I am re-
vealing how all these other pictures fit into
my story.”
Or, as Oscar Wilde wrote, “Every portrait
that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the
artist, not of the sitter.”
The idea that led to “Cherry Hill” germi-
nated in 2015. Coming to the end of her so-
journ in the English town of Ellesmere Port,
where she chronicled the exploits of small
boys and young men who were training to
box, Ms. Frank found herself thinking, de-
spite the Liverpudlian accents, of her child-
hood in a New Jersey suburb of Philadel-
phia. The ubiquitous sound in the air of mu-
sic from the 1980s amplified that feeling.
The aspiring boxers’ devotion to old-fash-
ioned concepts of manliness, which she por-
trayed in the book “The Modern Kids,” re-
minded Ms. Frank of how her suburban
mother endorsed with religious intensity a
1950s stereotype of femininity. Once she was
back home in Santa Monica, Ms. Frank
started writing stories about her early years,
centered on the older woman’s devotion to
standards that her only daughter, guilt-
stricken but resolute, rejected in favor of
constructing a life from the inside out.
“Cherry Hill” is a portrait of the artist as a
young woman, coping with a mother’s strug-
gles with depression and an older brother’s
descent into schizophrenia. In high school,
Ms. Frank discovered photography. “I often
walked around and saw images,” she says. “I
thought everybody did. When I found a way
to make them tangible, that was a relief.”
Her passion for photography led her to
study at the University of California on a
scholarship. Uncertain of her path, she went
home to Cherry Hill after graduation. But in
1990 she returned to Los Angeles, where she
too became a wife and mother. Unlike her
mother, however, she pursued her personal
dreams, not others’ expectations.
The uncomfortable fit between societal
norms and individual desires is a venerable
photographic topic, explored most ambi-
tiously by August Sander’s lifelong project,
“People of the 20th Century,” in German por-
traits that subtly reveal the Procrustean
process of social conformity. Each picture
encapsulates a life, and collectively they de-
pict a culture.
Ms. Frank, on the other hand, wrote about
the experience of one family, complemented
by staged pictures. The key casting choice
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Art
JONA FRANK; THE MONACELLI PRESS
JONA FRANK
was the woman to impersonate her mother.
For that role, she recruited the actress Laura
Dern, a friend. “We met years ago through
our kids in school,” she says. “She doesn’t
look anything like my mother. She’s tall.
She’s blond. And then I saw her in a movie,
‘99 Homes.’ She’s falling in on herself and
deeply unhappy. And I thought, ‘She could
play my mother.’” Ms. Dern embraced the
unorthodox enterprise.
They took a few photographs in 2016.
“She’s incredibly smart and intuitive about
where the camera should be and how to re-
late to the camera,” Ms. Frank recounts.
“She said, ‘I’m going to go through all the ac-
Ms. Frank has recreated her troubled young suburban years in a book of both images and text.
tions but slow them down, and then hold the
action so you could photograph.’ That helped
set up the way I did the book.” Three actors
stand in for Jona at different ages.
In a typical memoir, photographs are in-
cluded to document the people and places
that are discussed in the text. André Breton
first subverted this convention in his Surre-
alist romance, “Nadja,” published in 1928,
where the mysterious and unstable title
character with whom he is obsessed never
appears in a photo. Instead, the Parisian
sites he visits, the writer friends he consults
and the works of art he contemplates are re-
produced in unremarkable pictures — a de-
vice that underscores both Nadja’s elusive-
ness and the uncanny strangeness of the ba-
nal and quotidian.
But unlike Breton, Ms. Frank, 54, is pri-
marily a photographer. In “Cherry Hill,” her
own pictures constitute a fully equal compo-
nent of the memoir, as artfully composed as
the accompanying text. The images also con-
vey the strain of maintaining an image. Ms.
Dern is playing her mother, but her mother,
too, was playing a role. By juxtaposing her
recollections of an incident from her child-
hood with a photograph that shows how, in
the innumerable “Kodak moment” snap-
shots of those years, such episodes were me-
morialized, Ms. Frank visually presents the
theme of the narrative: the unrelenting
striving for respectability that stifled both
PAT MARTIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
mother and daughter.
“In the suburbs, you had to present your-
self, but the underside wasn’t as clean and
shiny as the presentation,” Ms. Frank says.
In her book, she recreated non-Kodak mo-
ments, the kind that were hidden rather than
commemorated, such as scenes of her
mother alone in quiet despair. While Ms.
Frank escaped suburbia, her mother stayed.
“She was not a person who believed she
could have options,” Ms. Frank explains.
Aside from those private pictures that
would not have been made, the photogra-
pher also endeavored to create pictures that
she could not have made — images that rep-
resent her interior state as a child. As a
means of conveying how trapped she felt,
Ms. Frank photographed her young alter
AR 5
Images from Jona
Frank’s “Cherry Hill: A
Childhood Reimagined,”
clockwise from far left:
“Home”; “California
Afternoon #2”; and
“Grey Days,” with Laura
Dern portraying the
photographer’s mother.
Far left below, two
portraits from
“The Modern Kids.”
JONA FRANK; THE MONACELLI PRESS
JONA FRANK; THE MONACELLI PRESS
ego in a replica of her bedroom, standing at
the window with her eyes closed and arms
extended as the sunlight warms her face.
The first time she saw the picture, she burst
into tears. “The bedroom was incredibly ac-
curate as to my childhood bedroom, but of
course as a child I never saw myself do that,”
she says.
Most of the family home in Cherry Hill —
which Ms. Frank reproduced in a house near
her Santa Monica residence that its owner
lent her before its restoration — was wallpa-
pered. In another photograph, the girl actor
wears a shift made of the same toile de Jouy
that covers the walls. Wearing a smile and a
bouffant hairdo, the child in the photograph
is the anti-Jona that Ms. Frank believes her
mother wanted her to be, content to conform
to her surroundings.
Ambiguous by nature, photographs flutter
indeterminately until pinned down with a
caption. Drawing, by contrast, can be more
definitive, especially when it incorporates a
text. Ever since Art Spiegelman told his fa-
ther’s Holocaust story in comic strip format
in the groundbreaking “Maus,” which won a
Pulitzer Prize in 1992, the graphic novel,
combining word and image in a typical
frame, has been a favored format for mem-
oirists. Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” and
Alison Bechdel’s “Fun House” are two im-
pressive graphic novels by women who, like
Ms. Frank, are recalling their younger
selves.
A graphic novel possesses a directness
that a photographer might envy. “Alison
Bechdel’s books were guides to me for how
you can tell a story in words and images,”
Ms. Frank says. “I felt jealous of her ability to
be able in the back of a frame to put an arrow
and a Halloween mask, and it says, ‘Just left
over from Halloween.’” A graphic novelist
can call attention to such details that, with-
out propelling the narrative, nonetheless en-
rich the story. “I can put something like that
in a photograph and hope people notice, but I
can’t put a little arrow,” Ms. Frank observes.
However, what a photograph-based mem-
oir can do and a graphic novel cannot is con-
jure the aura of the movies, the magical do-
main of the silver screen where reality takes
on the mystique of myth. In a new memoir,
“Santa Barbara,” Diana Markosian’s fasci-
nating restaging of her vexed relationship
with her own mother, the photographer simi-
larly employs actors. She also inserts screen
shots of the television soap opera “Santa
Barbara,” which she watched in the former
Soviet Union before her mother brought the
family to Santa Barbara, Calif., to live with an
American husband. At times, the family
story in the real Santa Barbara outdoes the
soap opera for melodrama.
Ms. Frank was searching for something
that felt like a Hollywood romance from the
’50s, not a daytime soap. Casting a movie
star to play her mother fostered that illusion.
But Ms. Frank says she wanted to go further,
“to create images between reality and cine-
matic fantasy.” Her husband, Patrick Loung-
way, a cinematographer, suggested that she
use an anamorphic lens to replicate the look
of a CinemaScope film. The wide lens, in con-
junction with theatrical lighting that varies
from golden glow to incandescent glare, pro-
vides the sense of Hollywood transport and
reverie she sought.
“Cherry Hill” resembles a dream, because
like any artist, the young Jona was a
dreamer. That gave her the power to escape
the confines of Cherry Hill and suburban
womanhood that her mother never left
behind.
6 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Film

They Scream and Scream Again

Delivering a terrified screen Historyyyy-yyy-yyy
No one is quite sure when the first scream
wail isn’t easy. It’s an art with a was recorded for the movies, but it didn’t
history and a world of its own. take long. Screaming is one of the “melodra-
matic gestures that are part of film lan-
By MELENA RYZIK guage from the very beginning,” said Adam
Lowenstein, a film professor who directs
Ashley Peldon gets paid to scream. the Horror Studies Working Group at the
While this may be a vocation that many University of Pittsburgh.
people would jump at right now — why Howard Hughes first used audible
shriek into the void when you can pad your screams in 1930, for a plane going down in
wallet doing it? — screaming for a living is a “Hell’s Angels.” A Variety critic described
rarefied art. the pilot’s fairly mild cries as “overly grue-
The image of vocal terror is among our some” and “too tough” to hear, according to
most universal and elemental, from Edvard Robert Spadoni, a film scholar and profes-
Munch to Janet Leigh. But translating that sor at Case Western Reserve University.
into sound on film involves more than a mi- But fast forward just a bit, and screaming
crophone on set. Bloodcurdling from an A- found its first iconic moment: Fay Wray, re-
lister is uncommon: Often, the screams we acting to King Kong, in 1933.
hear in movies and TV are created by dou-
What’s striking about Wray, considered
bles and voice actors, in Burbank studios,
the original scream queen, is that the first
with specialists standing by to ghoul them
time she unleashes her pipes, she’s clearly
up. It’s physically taxing and emotionally
faking: It’s for a screen test within the mov-
draining.
ie, and the director is advising her to shriek
“Usually, I’ll just type in ‘death scream,’ ” as if she’s seen — foreshadowing alert — a
Trevor Gates, a sound designer, said of his most terrifying beast. “It’s packaged for us,
effects database. One stock scream is so very self-consciously, as a performance, not
well used it’s got a name, the Wilhelm, and as an experience,” Professor Lowenstein
has graduated into a soundtrack Easter said. Screaming was already a trigger for
egg. audience emotion.
Gates, who worked on Jordan Peele’s Spadoni, the author of “Uncanny Bodies:
“Us” and “Get Out,” along with series like The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins
“The Haunting of Bly Manor,” brings per- of the Horror Genre,” argues that “sounds,
formers into his sound booth to deliver the as physical emanations of bodies, instantly
exact shrillness or suffocation the director made films more potentially sexy and car-
envisions. nal,” and, he added, “also more horrifying.”
“There’s a psychology of the sound,” And nearly everyone in sound agrees that
Gates said. “The bottom line is the perform- the most chilling cries come from women
ance of what you’re doing — it’s the viscer- and children.
alness, it’s the reality of hearing someone Men’s screams, on the other hand, can in-
who could potentially be in pain. It’s a scary vite ridicule. Take the Wilhelm, an unlikely
thing, and it’s a hard thing to recreate.” and not very convincing stock scream that
Eli Roth, the writer-director of the first started, legend has it, as a sound effect for a
“Hostel” movies, asks auditioning actors if man being bitten by an alligator (even less
they can scream — “but I never make them believable as that), which was then repeat-
do it.” edly reused in westerns. You’ve now unwit-
“Often people ask me, how do I direct the tingly heard it in “Star Wars,” “Indiana
scream?” he said. “Well, the truth is, you Jones” and a host of Pixar flicks, among
can’t. You just have to trust they have it in hundreds of others. For years, sound de-
them.” signers have made a joke of sticking the
Peldon, a Los Angeles voice artist and Wilhelm into projects. (The name comes
former child actress, has been brought to from a character in a 1953 western.)
tears, and giggles — she screamed at the Eli Roth learned about it when he was
pig in Bong Joon Ho’s “Okja” and once making “Inglourious Basterds” with
played a possessed baby goat. She special- Quentin Tarantino. “I was doing the sound
izes in “rage screaming,” she said (yes, design on the short film-within-the-film,
dream job!) but risks damaging her vocal ‘Nation’s Pride,’ that Quentin tasked me
cords at work. On a typical day in her home with shooting,” he wrote in an email.
studio, she might record “a smorgasbord of “Quentin, of course knew well who Wilhelm
screams,” she said, along with the grunting, was” and wanted to make sure the sound ef-
panting and heavy breath work that makes fect got a cameo, which came during a 90-
viewers feel scared, and empathetic. foot fall.
“The best screams are like little door- The scream itself is “nothing special,”
ways that just suck you into the movie, and Roth added. “It’s an inside joke for industry
trap you,” said Graham Reznick, a sound de- insiders. But once you hear it, you can’t un-
signer with a history in horror. hear it.”
Performance and recording represent Inevitably, there have been movies in
just two parts in the audible fright ma- which screams themselves are objects of
chinery. Here, an anatomy of cinematic menace, like “The Shout,” a 1978 British
screams and wails, and why they stay with horror film, about a terrorizing (male)
us. Plus, is yelling better than therapy? scream that kills everyone and everything
who hears it.
Jason Zinoman contributed reporting. But the most famous — and certainly the
MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

RADIO PICTURES UNIVERSAL PICTURES EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX

Top, Ashley Peldon, a

voice artist specializing in
“rage screaming,” which
risks damage to vocal
cords; she learned how to
deliver from her
diaphragm, instead. Left,
the horror veteran Lin
Shaye, who said,
“Sometimes I don’t even
know I’m going to
scream.” Right, the “loop
group” leader Susan
Boyajian. The
bloodcurdling onscreen
payoff, row above from
left: Fay Wray in the
original “King Kong”;
Daniel Kaluuya in “Get
Out”; Amelie Bea Smith in
“The Haunting of Bly
Manor”; “Jaws”; Jamie
Lee Curtis in
“Halloween”; and
Madison Curry in “Us.”

MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

most beloved among sound professionals —
scream-as-terror-device film is “Blow Out,”
the 1981 Brian De Palma thriller about a
sound engineer (John Travolta) searching
for the perfect scream and stumbling into a
murder plot.
Nancy Allen starred as an escort who is
stalked by a contract killer and whose
screams (spoilers ahead) as she’s being at-
tacked provide the elusive sound that
haunts Travolta’s character.
De Palma rejected the original screams.
“He said they’re not interesting, not bad
enough,” recalled Allen, who was married to
him at the time. “And I said, let me do them;
I can make them really bad. I think I did
strain my throat a little bit. It’s real.”
“You have to totally surrender to the mo-
ment of the scene that you’re in,” she added,
especially since you can’t really rehearse a
scream, in order to preserve the voice.
Her character’s final cries were a plea,
she said: “Please hear me, can anyone hear
me, can anyone see me?”
Allen did the vocals a few times, she said,
drawing on what she called her “scaredy-
cat” tendencies. “It was a moment to really
unleash every terror I ever had, and think:
This is it; it’s do-or-die.”
Afterward, there was a sense of fragility.
“Of course you’re going to feel very vulnera-
ble at that point, and unsafe,” she said.
“You’ve let yourself go there, to your worst
nightmare. I think that kind of scream,
there really wasn’t another way to go with
it, as far as I’m concerned. You’re scream-
ing for your life.”
Capturing the Perfect Scream
How do you know when a scream is right?
Sound professionals don’t just depend on
goose bumps — though they still get them,
even as they dispassionately discuss mur-
der methods.
“A mother seeing her child getting run
over by a car, that’s going to be an incredi-
bly different scream than someone being
stabbed by a knife punch into a closet,”
Reznick, the sound designer and film-
maker, said evenly. Some moments call for
apparent authenticity, the purest expres-
sion of human agony. And some involve
pitch-shifting an elephant’s bellow and pre-
tending it came from a person’s mouth (or
a ghost’s).
For many reasons, sounds this extreme
RICO TORRES/LIONSGATE
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
are rarely collected on set, where a good
scream can blow out an expensive mic, and
an even more expensive star’s voice. Simi-
larly, no one is going to chance calling Ryan
Reynolds or Scarlett Johansson into a booth
in Burbank to shout themselves hoarse for
10 minutes.
Instead, a cadre of professionals are
available to provide those vocals, which
sound engineers and designers then tweak
creatively.
“A lot of times screams are Frank-
ensteined from four or five different people,
just to make it work for the six seconds you
need onscreen,” Reznick said. “I once re-
placed John Travolta’s death gurgles with
my own voice.” (Just for a second, he was
quick to add: “It’s a blend.”)
Sound designers like Gates have a stable
of vocal performers to “loop” audio, the
term for taping sounds or lines, and even
creating background dialogue. That din of a
restaurant when havoc strikes? Loopers.
They’re guided by a “loop group” leader,
like a casting director for macabre whispers
and guttural squeals. Audition tapes pour
in; it’s not unusual for a loop group leader
like Susan Boyajian to listen to 15 screams a
day, she said. “There’s gradual screams, a
buildup scream, kind of hyperventilating —
say someone’s chasing you with a knife, and
then you go into a scream,” she said
brightly. “Is someone choking, the blood go-
ing into your throat?”
She chooses a handful for the sound crew
and director to sift through, and then re-
cording sessions begin, syncing to the per-
former onscreen. “You’re watching their
mouth; you have to physically be that per-
son and then give me what she or he is do-
ing,” said Boyajian, a vocal teacher and ac-
tor.
Translating the director’s vision, Gates
may start by perusing an effects database
with entries like “shrill death scream” and
“emotional carnage.”
They’re not always human. “If I want
something to sound like it’s organic, then I
have to start with a source that’s organic,”
Gates said. “Maybe it’s a screaming pig or a
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
horse that’s angry. A lot of times we do this
when it’s somebody, like, supernatural, a
monster.”
That was the case when the sound of a
bellowing elephant was used to vocalize for
a ghost bride in “The Innkeepers,” a 2012 in-
die from Ti West.
Why an elephant? “It’s a really upsetting
sound when you lower it,” said Reznick, the
film’s sound supervisor.
He needed something slow, which nixed
the actress’s own vocal. (“You can’t scream
in slow motion.”) Initially, he’d considered a
yowl that faded in like a kettle’s whistle, but
decided it was unoriginal and not sinister
enough. The final noise, he said, felt as eerie
as sleep paralysis.
Sometimes sound crews do luck out with
cast members. In “Us,” the twins played by
20TH CENTURY FOX
COMPASS INTERNATIONAL PICTURES
the teenagers Cali and Noelle Sheldon tried
doing their own wails. “One twin was really
good at screams, and the other was not,”
Gates said. But one was enough.
“It was such a good capture of emotion,
we actually had to think about taming it
down when we mixed the film,” Gates said.
“There was too much hurt.” The version in
the movie was just adjusted for pitch, with
“a subtle layer added of animal vocaliza-
tions.”
For actors, stepping into the sound booth
can be high stakes. If it’s a big scene, the di-
rector may be watching. There’s an addi-
tional risk if the performer doesn’t have
physical training. “I blew out my voice on
‘Basterds’ ” after a particularly violent
scene, said Roth, who is also an actor him-
self. “It hurts. It really hurts.”
And there is only so much that can be
done to coax a scream. “Usually I’ll just ask
them, ‘Do you want this to be your last
take?’ ” Roth said. “If they trust that they
can fully go for broke and know that they
don’t have to do it again, they give you the
scream you want.” He tries to give his cast a
day of vocal rest afterward. “On ‘Hostel’
and ‘Hostel: Part II’ the crew members told
me they had nightmares after hearing the
actors scream,” he recalled. “That’s how I
know the scene’s going to work with audi-
ences.”
Veteran horror stars like Lin Shaye have
developed their own philosophy of scream-
ing. “It’s kind of like an orgasm,” said Shaye,
a Stella Adler- and Lee Strasberg-trained
actress with memorable turns in “Asylum”
and the “Insidious” franchise. “It’s all the
foreplay that leads you up to the moment,
and then the scream is kind of the crescendo
of that.”
Besides learning how to deliver from her
diaphragm, not her vocal cords, she leaves
much to the instant. “Sometimes I don’t
even know I’m going to scream,” she said.
“The scream is an expression of pent-up an-
ger, fear, whatever. You can mimic a scream,
but it won’t be as unique or probably as pen-
etrating as if you investigate your own emo-
tion that would lead you to that place.”
Film
MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
What’s more
fundamental to scary
movies than the
bone-chilling shriek?
NETFLIX
“Learning to not scream is also really im-
portant,” she added. “An interesting
thought for an actor is to try to hold a
scream back as long as you can, until you
can’t. And then you have to scream.”
Tales of a Screamer
Screamers, some in the field argue, are
born, not made.
While anyone can learn techniques to
prevent injury, sustaining a 10- or 15-second
full-out scream — as Peldon can — may just
be a natural talent. “These people are basi-
cally vocal athletes,” said Dr. Jennifer Long,
an otolaryngologist at the University of Cal-
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
ifornia, Los Angeles, who works with voice
performers.
Peldon has been known as a powerhouse
Top photographs, the
since she starred as the titular “Child of
sound designer Trevor
Rage” in a 1992 TV movie. She auditioned
Gates in his studio, where
with a scream. “It was really enjoyable for
he manages a database of
me, but everybody else was like — oh my
sounds. “Usually, I’ll just
God, horrified,” Peldon recalled.
type in ‘death scream,’ ”
Now she makes her living whimpering
he said. Gates has
and wailing, with a reputation as one of the
worked on Jordan Peele’s
loudest in the business. She’s also known for
“Us” and “Get Out,”
her “efforts,” the industry term for the
along with series like
sounds a character makes as they’re run-
“The Haunting of Bly
ning, fighting or in distress. (A-listers al-
Manor.” Center row from
most never do those. Sometimes even their
left are Bijou Phillips in
breathing is dubbed.) Replacement sound
“Hostel: Part II”; Tom
makes those sequences easier to edit.
Hardy in “The
Like many loopers, she does a lot of voice-
Revenant”; An Seo Hyun
matching, including for household-name
in “Okja”; and Shelley
stars; for contractual reasons, she’s coy
Duvall in “The Shining.”
about who. But she did blow her voice re-
A-list screen actors
cently when a few of them were in a TV
seldom do their own
episode together. For protection, her doctor
screaming.
advised her not to speak over 65 decibels
when she’s off-duty. (Peldon: “I have two
kids. That’s not happening.”)
Her technique for a bloodcurdling
scream involves tightening her abs and
then forcibly expelling air as she’s vocaliz-
ing. “My hand is in a claw poking in my
stomach, I might even give a light push to
my stomach to push air out,” she said. For
animals and monsters, she reverses the
process, vocalizing on the inhale — way
weirder.
Once, she was doing a rat that got
stepped on — eeeeeeee! Very high pitched.
“I almost passed out,” she said. “I don’t get
dizzy often — that one I was sitting on the
floor after, and sweating.”
The physicality takes a toll. “Through the
years of just screaming in video games, my
voice has dropped and dropped,” said Scott
Whyte, a voice artist and looper who once
routinely played teenagers.
Video games are among the most strenu-
ous work, said Whyte, who’s also been the
voice of Crash Bandicoot. There might be
300 effort-heavy script cues in a session —
“different spellings of ‘Eeargh!’ and ‘Aaaai-
ieeee!’ ” said Reznick, a video game writer
as well as sound designer.
Whyte, who also started as a young actor
AR 7
MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
WARNER BROS.
(“D2: The Mighty Ducks”), grunted and
winced for Tom Hardy in “Venom.” He’s
more playful than Method — “There’s no
acting training that’s going to help you
when you’re going to be a zombie ripping
someone’s head off,” he said. “It’s like, yeah
let’s have some fun and see how weird the
noises can get.”
Still, there’s an intensity to the job — emo-
tionally, too. Peldon, who has a doctorate in
psychology, recalled having to react as a
woman who has set herself on fire as a mar-
tyr; the director wanted her to express pain
and exaltation. “That was definitely a
unique combo — how do you joyfully
scream burning to death?” she said. She
sometimes has dreams where she’s scream-
ing a lot, “and those are scary.”
But more often, getting into the booth and
screaming your head off is indeed therapeu-
tic, voice actors said. As a group, they seem
notably chipper, and maybe this is why.
“You leave it all on the page,” Peldon said.
There’s an adrenaline rush and then an un-
paralleled release (and a paycheck).
“Everyone walks out of sessions like that
completely wiped,” Whyte said. “It feels so
good.”
The Scream Today
Old screams are not so scary — that
damsel-in-distress stuff doesn’t play now.
Instead, said Peldon, she does more em-
powered roars — “There’s a feminist awak-
ening of those screams, we’re seeing a lot
more in our superheroes.”
Witness the scream queen Jamie Lee
Curtis in the first “Halloween,” in 1978, and
the most recent, in 2018: Her early ear-
piercer has evolved into a battle cry.
Designers and filmmakers, though, still
love that analog ’70s-’80s sound, and some-
times cultivate it now. The recordings of
that era “blow out in a way that feels like the
blood rushing to your ears and your brain
shrinking into your head,” Reznick said.
“When you hear a very clean present
scream, it doesn’t sound true.”
That’s because, in large part, our very un-
derstanding of what heart-rending fear
sounds like comes from Hollywood. “A
scream is such an atypical reaction to what
we experience in everyday life,” it immedi-
ately amps up the drama in film, said Jason
Blum, the producer behind the horror jug-
gernaut Blumhouse. It’s there because, in a
primal way, nothing telegraphs terror
better.
In real life, most of us have not found a
dead body next to us in bed, or been at-
tacked by zombies or aliens (yet). If we did,
what would we sound like? Research shows
that when confronted with trauma, many
people are actually frozen into silence.
In actuality, the most horrifying scream is
one with no sound at all.
8 AR
Song Censorship? It’s Good Business
Making clean versions to
explore other revenue streams.
By BEN SISARIO
Doc Wynter still remembers the first time he
heard “WAP.”
A top radio programmer for decades,
Wynter has come across countless explicit
rap tracks and “blue” R&B songs that re-
quired nips and tucks before they could be
played on-air. But even Wynter, the head of
hip-hop and R&B programming for the
broadcasting giant iHeartMedia, was taken
aback by “WAP,” Cardi B and Megan Thee
Stallion’s brazenly graphic anthem of lubri-
cation, when he was given a preview before
the song’s release in August.
“It hits you at the very beginning — like,
whoa! — and then it just keeps on going and
going and going,” Wynter said, still mar-
veling at the song’s barrage of suggestive
imagery. “Thank God we have systems in
place,” he recalled thinking, “that prevented
that record from hitting the airwaves.”
Of course, “WAP” did hit the airwaves,
and the streaming services, in a big way. One
of the year’s most inescapable hits, it held
No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for four
weeks and drew 1.1 billion clicks on stream-
ing platforms. A social media phenomenon,
the song spawned remixes and memes, in-
cluding a subgenre of outraged-slash-titillat-
ed parental reaction videos.
To an extent not seen in years, “WAP” also
became something of a political lightning
rod, decried by pearl-clutching commenta-
tors like Ben Shapiro, who saw the song as a
“really, really, really, really, really vulgar”
embodiment of liberal hypocrisy. (Cardi B
has been a vocal supporter of Joe Biden and
Bernie Sanders.)
Yet despite the song’s uninhibited raunch,
its popularity was partly earned from one of
the music industry’s oldest bugaboos: self-
censorship. Before “WAP” could be played
on the radio, its most explicit verbiage was
pruned by Cardi B’s engineers. Wynter re-
called that the ostensibly sanitized copy first
offered by Cardi B’s label, Atlantic — the
“clean” version of the song, in industry jar-
gon — was still too racy for broadcast, lead-
ing Wynter to ask for nine additional, last-
minute edits.
And the music video for “WAP” that
caught fire on YouTube was elaborately cen-
sored. If fans listened only to that version,
they wouldn’t have learned what its title ac-
ronym stood for — instead, just that some-
thing was “wet and gushy.”
The success of “WAP” highlighted one of
the music industry’s dirty little secrets: that
even in an age of rampant vulgarity — and
35 long years since a crackdown on lyrics by
the Washington elite — the bowdlerizing of
pop songs remains deeply ingrained in the
work of artists and their marketers.
Today, most major releases that have
some naughty words — including the latest
from Taylor Swift and even Stevie Wonder —
also come out in censored versions. Decades
ago, that may have been done in part to
avoid political controversy. Now business is
the driving force, as labels chase down every
click and playlist placement to maximize
songs’ streaming income.
“There is definitely a market for edited
content,” said Jim Roppo, the general man-
ager of Republic Records, the label of Drake,
Ariana Grande and Swift. “If you are elimi-
nating yourself from that market, then you
are leaving money on the table.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
SELF-CENSORSHIP WAS PRESENT at the be-
ginning of rock ’n’ roll: Little Richard fa-
mously snipped “good booty” from the origi-
nal lyrics to “Tutti Frutti.” But its current role
in the music industry dates to 1985.
That was when Tipper Gore, who was
married to Al Gore, then a United States Sen-
ator from Tennessee, helped start the cru-
sading Parents Music Resource Center after
being scandalized by a Prince song. Her
group called for warning stickers on albums,
a suggestion echoed during a Senate com-
mittee hearing the same year, which stirred
fears of encroachment on musicians’ First
Amendment rights. “If it looks like censor-
ship and it smells like censorship,” Frank
Zappa said at the time, “it is censorship.”
Then as now, race played a complex role.
Black art has always been policed ag-
gressively, particularly in music — from jazz
to rock to hip-hop. But in the 1980s, rock and
metal came under fire as well, and seem-
ingly anything on the radio was a target. In
one of the most surreal moments of the 1985
Senate hearings, John Denver defended his
song “Rocky Mountain High” against accu-
sations that it glorified drug abuse.
Record companies soon agreed to affix a
“parental advisory” sticker on albums that
they — not an outside regulator — deemed to
include “strong language or depictions of vi-
Pop
Clockwise from above:
Little Richard
performing “Tutti Frutti”
in 1956; Cardi B, left,
performing “WAP” with
Megan Thee Stallion;
and Juvenile in the “Back
That Thang Up” video. olence, sex or substance abuse.”
That move may have staved off further
scrutiny in Washington. But it led to compli-
cations as big box retailers like Walmart,
Best Buy and Target came to dominate sales
in the 1990s. Some of them refused to carry
explicit content, which meant that anything
that bore the labels’ black-and-white warn-
ing sticker risked not being stocked — and
could lose as much as 40 percent of potential
sales, music executives said.
“The public controversy — the regulatory
threat — never felt as great as the retail
threat,” said Hilary Rosen, a former chief ex-
ecutive of the Recording Industry Associa-
tion of America.
The record companies’ solution: produce
copies of albums scrubbed of their most pro-
vocative vocabulary. A golden age of self-
censorship followed, with profanities and vi-
olent lyrics often deleted — leaving hit songs
dotted with brief silences, like holes. “We
used to call it Swiss cheese,” said Paul Rosen-
berg, Eminem’s longtime manager.
MATT CHASE
Disliking that effect, Eminem sometimes
wrote new lyrics for clean versions. Rosen-
berg recalled one such rewrite with wincing
regret: the “Pizza Mix” of Eminem’s 1999
“My Fault.” In the original — a classic exam-
ple of Eminem’s silly-scary storytelling style
— a young woman has a drastic reaction af-
ter being given hallucinogenic mushrooms.
In the cleaned-up version, the garden-varie-
ty mushrooms are on a pizza, and the woman
is merely “allergic to fungus.”
“All of a sudden it was not this fun dark
comedy,” Rosenberg said, “but literally a
record about putting mushrooms on a pizza,
which ended up just being ridiculous.”
Midway through our conversation, Rosen-
berg excused himself, saying that “Mar-
shall” — a.k.a. Eminem — was on the other
line. When he returned a minute later, Ro-
senberg said he told his client that he was
“doing an interview about your explicit
lyrics.”
“He got excited about that,” Rosenberg
added.
Eminem was not alone in willingly tweak-
ing his work. In 1999, when the New Orleans
rapper Juvenile released “Back That Azz
Up,” his label knew it was too risqué for ra-
dio. So they cut a new version, “Back That
Thang Up,” which went to No. 19 and ended
up a nostalgic favorite. In an interview, Juve-
nile — who has recently taken on a second
career as a furniture maker — recalled that
he eagerly compromised.
“I wanted to get it to the masses,” said Ju-
venile, calling from a Home Depot while
shopping for paint. “Sometimes you have to
make sacrifices on the lyrical content — take
a hit on being profane in order for your music
to be heard.”
IN TIME, AS BIG-BOX RETAILERS’ power over
the industry faded and the consumption of
music moved online — and as social mores
and media standards evolved — the pres-
sure for clean versions waned.
Although edited versions are still released
for many new albums, there are puzzling ex-
ceptions. Recent releases by major acts like
Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, Roddy Ricch and
Tyler, the Creator, to name a few, came out
only in explicit editions. “Everybody’s Ev-

erything,” a posthumous collection by the
rapper Lil Peep, did not have a clean ver-
sion, but XXXTentacion’s “Bad Vibes For-
ever,” which came out after the rapper’s
killing, did.
Record executives and artist managers
offered various explanations for the incon-
sistency, although many were not willing to
speak on the record. Some musicians, they
said, object on principle to the censoring of
their work. Though once seen as a bold and
risky stance — Green Day, for example, re-
fused to edit its albums “American Idiot”
(2004) and “21st Century Breakdown”
(2009), and forfeited sales at Walmart —
that rarely draws wide notice today.
Another reason was structural: In the
streaming age, music can be made and re-
leased so quickly that little time is left for ed-
its. Those albums may not get a clean ver-
sion until days or weeks after their initial re-
lease, or never. If no edited version is avail-
able, radio stations — or random YouTube
users — may simply make their own.
Ghazi, the founder of Empire, an inde-
pendent distribution company that special-
izes in hip-hop, thinks that much of the in-
dustry fails to grasp the importance of clean
versions. “It’s a lost part of the business,” he
said.
He noted all the standard opportunities
that would disappear without a clean song,
like licensing for television and being piped
into restaurants and retail shops. But Ghazi,
who uses only one name, also pointed to out-
lets like JPay, which provides music — clean
only — to prison inmates, as well as to online
platforms in Asia and the Middle East that
block explicit content. The existence of a
clean version can increase some albums’
sales as much as 30 percent, according to
Ghazi.
And the artistry of clean edits has made
huge progress since the Swiss cheese days.
Jaycen Joshua, a mixing engineer who has
worked on releases by Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj,
Rihanna and many other artists — including
Megan Thee Stallion — described an elabo-
rate tool kit of sound effects, stretched-out
sibilants and patched vowels to preserve the
musical fingerprint of an altered word.
“Anything to give the illusion to the brain
that a word is still there, even if you don’t
hear that explicit word itself,” Joshua said.
For artists who do not self-censor, the risk
may simply be invisibility.
Music’s consumer landscape is now rife
with family streaming plans and parental
content-filtering. For customers who set
their devices to weed out explicit material,
Apple and Amazon automatically substitute
edited versions of songs when they are
available, and skip them altogether when
they aren’t. Most of the time, virtually every
track on Spotify’s powerhouse “Rap Caviar”
playlist is marked explicit; for a tween on a
content leash, it can take three or four ardu-
ous clicks to see if a clean alternative is
available.
Among radio programmers, streaming
curators and record executives, the stand-
ard scenario to explain the need for clean
versions is that of a bystander child: Would
an adult object if they heard a particular
song with their child in the car, or in earshot
of a smart speaker?
“I have a 3-year-old daughter,” Ghazi said.
“I’m not going to play her Chris Brown sing-
ing ‘[expletive] you back to sleep,’ but I
might play Chris Brown ‘sex you back to
sleep.’”
In the 1980s and ’90s, the public discourse
about explicit music was centered on par-
ents’ ability to restrict their children’s ac-
cess to it. In some ways today’s content con-
trols are a powerful manifestation of that
goal. Yet in the ocean of online content, noth-
ing is truly hidden.
Van Sias, a freelance writer in Brooklyn,
said that when he and his wife gave their 12-
year-old daughter her first iPhone for
Christmas last year, they set it to block ex-
plicit content on Apple Music. But they
know she may come across some on
YouTube or Instagram anyway.
“There’s only so much you can do,” Sias
said. “You can’t obsess over things you can’t
control.”
FOR THOSE WHO LIVED through the contro-
versies of the Parents Music Resource Cen-
ter, 2 Live Crew’s arrest and Body Count’s
“Cop Killer,” however, the brouhaha around
“WAP” was a jarring throwback. In a way
that now seems quaint, rock and rap were
once vilified as threats to basic civility.
“There was a constant cultural war
around whether music was at fault for
coarsening society,” said Rosen, who is now
a Democratic strategist. “But when you look
at it today, I don’t think anyone is accusing
Cardi B of coarsening society — that’s Don-
ald Trump’s job.”
Cardi B herself stoked controversy
around her song, which is equally uninhibit-
ed in celebrating female desire and in de-
manding service from men. In an Instagram
clip, she said the music video used the “cen-
sored version of the song” because
“YouTube was like, hold on, wait a minute,
the song might just be too [expletive] nasty.”
A spokeswoman for YouTube, however,
said that the raw version of “WAP” did not
violate its community guidelines — that ver-
sion exists on YouTube as an audio track —
and that Atlantic provided only one edition
of the song for its official music video, using
edited lyrics.
Cardi B and Atlantic declined to comment.
But it may have been that Cardi and her la-
bel simply strategized that a censored ver-
sion would generate the most clicks, and
anyone interested would probably hear the
dirty version anyway. Indeed, “WAP” may
be the raunchiest No. 1 single of all time.
Two decades ago, Juvenile had it both
ways, too, putting the dirty version of his
song on his album and releasing the
cleaned-up track as a single. But he made it
clear that when he performs in concert, his
material is uncensored.
“I’m definitely street everything,” he said.
“I never do a radio version live, unless they
pay me a lot of money.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Pop Television
Imagine ‘X-Files,’ Only Hilarious
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite
for ‘Truth Seekers,’ a series based
on their own ghost-hunting exploits.
By TOM POWER
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost know it’s been a while.
Despite being best friends and an acclaimed comic
double act in films like “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the
Dead,” they have seldom crossed paths, creatively
speaking, since 2013’s “The World’s End.” It’s been
even longer since they worked together in televi-
sion — they haven’t co-starred in a series since the
British sitcom “Spaced” aired over 20 years ago.
Now, seven years on from their last substantial
collaboration, Pegg and Frost have reunited for the
supernatural comedy “Truth Seekers,” which de-
buted on Friday on Amazon Prime Video. The se-
ries stars Frost as Gus, a broadband installation ex-
pert who reluctantly gets paired up with a new re-
cruit, Elton (Samson Kayo), by his boss, Dave
(Pegg).
As the technicians go about their day job, seem-
ingly coincidental supernatural occurrences begin
to plague them with increasing regularity. These
phenomena fascinate Gus, a part-time paranormal
investigator. That is, until he and Elton become em-
broiled in a conspiracy that could spell danger for
the human race.
In separate interviews, Pegg and Frost discussed
“Truth Seekers,” which they created with the writ-
ers James Serafinowicz and Nat Saunders; their
own ghost-hunting experiences; and what it felt
like to work together again. These are edited ex-
cerpts from the conversations.
What were some of the things that inspired “Truth
Seekers”? You two used to go ghost hunting togeth-
er when you were younger, correct?
Yeah, but I think that was because we
NICK FROST
were sad singletons who preferred hanging out
with each other than chasing girls.
SIMON PEGG Really, it was an excuse to go and
smoke weed. We turned it into rattling around an
old abbey, or knocking on an old church door. I don’t
think we were under any illusions that we would
have any actual encounters, but what grew out of
that was this idea of an amateur paranormal sleuth
in a world where that kind of thing exists.
FROST “The X-Files” definitely inspired us. We
loved how complex and ambitious it was, and I al-
ways wanted to make a British version of that.
There was also the “Book of the Strange” series,
and “Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers,”
which had an awkward Britishness to it.
PEGG We also went back to an early 1980s U.K. mag-
azine called “The Unexplained.” It was full of these
grainy photographs of the Loch Ness monster, and
tales of spontaneous human combustion. It was
amazing to get ahold of those again, and we went
down as many black holes there as we did with
YouTube.
What can you say about your characters?
FROST Gus is a grumpy, lone-wolf skeptic. He runs
his own YouTube channel, which seeks to prove or
debunk myths and ghost sightings. Something hap-
pened to him 20 years ago that led him into this
world, and you find out why he’s so lonely and des-
perate to find an answer to “What happens to us
when we die?”
PEGG Dave is very much part of what’s happening,
in ways that you discover as the series progresses.
He’s definitely plugged in to events in a more signif-
icant way than it might initially seem. There is
something odd about him, and it’s not just the wig I
wear!
Why did it take you so long to work together again?
FROST I love being with Simon and writing comedy.
It’s just what we do. I see and speak to him regu-
larly, so we don’t have to necessarily work together
all the time. If we make something, I want to feel
like we’re enjoying it, that it’s fun, and you’re enjoy-
ing being with us. If we can’t find that thing organi-
cally, we’re not going to force it. As long as we aren’t
pumping rubbish out every year, I’m happy.
“Truth Seekers” has the kind of quintessential
British comedy hallmarks that “Shaun of the Dead”
and “Spaced” had, like self-deprecating humor and
expert deadpan delivery. Did you try to recapture
the essence of those earlier works?
FROST No, we always try to keep it fresh. I’m not
someone who dwells on our stuff. I hope our best
stuff is to come, and I’m always searching for that.
But it’s unique that our characters have changed
and aged as men, fathers and husbands, like we
have, and our fans have aged with us as well.
PEGG It’s funny if we do look back, though. We had
discussed making this show like Nick and I running
around like in “Hot Fuzz.” But then we had this idea
of a team with an elder statesman and his young
helpers. That was something Nick and I always
wanted to do with our Stolen Picture production
company. As much as producing our own material,
we wanted to foster new talent and give people the
opportunities that we were looking for when we
were their age. Well, before “Spaced” took off, any-
way.
Did you shoot in any spooky locations?
FROST We found an old shutdown hospital, which
was terrifying to walk around. There was also an
old boarding school for deaf children that shut
down in the 1970s. There were tons of underground
passageways and little rooms, so as someone who
may believe in ghosts, it was creepy to find yourself
alone. The crew would go off to set up another shot,
and you’d be left in these tombs on your own shout-
ing “Guys?”
There’s an intriguing juxtaposition in the show
between old-world myths like magic and ghosts,
and new-world technologies including nanobots and
even 6G.
PEGG We were blessed with the conspiracy stuff
around 5G, which isn’t even out yet. So we felt like
we had our fingers on the pulse.
FROST The joy of making this show is that you’ve
got the character and plot arcs, but you can also
have fun with the “monster of the week.” I also
wanted it to be a world with drones flying around,
so it’s a slightly futuristic version of Earth. You feel
a little unanchored watching it, as you’re unsure
where it is.
Top from left, Simon
Pegg and Nick Frost
in “Truth Seekers,”
a new supernatural
comedy on Amazon
Prime Video that
they created with
the writers Nat
Saunders and James
Serafinowicz. Above
from left, Emma
D’Arcy, Frost and
Samson Kayo in the
show. Right, Frost,
on the left, and
Pegg in the 2007
action-comedy
“Hot Fuzz.”
AR 9
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
PEGG These days, if you see a U.F.O., you can whip
your phone out and film. All supposed supernatural
footage is shaky and slightly dubious, so that cul-
ture of on-the-spot, subjective personal journalism,
mixed with all of this ancient hocus-pocus, felt like a
really fun dynamic.
Despite the comedy and horror-esque elements,
“Truth Seekers” is heartfelt. It deals with themes
including trauma, loss, friendship and redemption.
FROST When you look at the best shows from the
past 15 years, like “The Sopranos,” they have in-
credible characters who audiences can relate to.
Tony Soprano might be a madman, but he has prob-
lems with his daughter and his wife. Normal things
that are relatable, even when viewers can’t relate to
someone bashing in a person’s head with a baseball
bat.
PEGG We’re a sophisticated viewing audience now,
and we’re able to comprehend nuance and know
that something doesn’t have to be a comedy or a
drama. There’s comedy and drama in real-life, so
while we lean into the absurd, we also have those
human relationships that remain authentic. We’ve
always combined tragedy and comedy in our con-
tent. In “Shaun of the Dead,” Shaun has to shoot his
mum. That scene was never going to be hilarious. It
had to be difficult and painful, so I think that makes
for a richer, more invigorating style of comedy.
Was it fun to collaborate on your first project in
seven years?
PEGG We had projects that we had been half-
developing, but “Truth Seekers” was already there
from Nick and fellow writers James Serafinowicz
and Nat Saunders. It was a well-formed idea, so we
hit that one first.
FROST It was nice to sit in the office every day, and
we laughed a lot. That extended to the other cast
members on set too. Acting isn’t a team sport. It’s
very individual, but every so often, you’ll get a job
like this one where it felt like a team you were happy
with.
MATT NETTHEIM/FOCUS FEATURES
10 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Theater

UNOPENED

Shakespeare’s Bluegrass Tragedy

How ‘Lone Star Love,’ once
headed to Broadway, derailed.
By LISA BIRNBACH
Shows stumble and fall on the way to Broad-
way all the time. Then there’s “Lone Star
Love,” which after nearly two decades as a
regional-theater staple, finally crashed
thanks to the mercurial behavior of its star,
which resulted in his lifetime banishment
from Actors’ Equity.
The actor: Randy Quaid, who with his
wife/manager, Evi Quaid, has since been in
the news largely for brushes with the law. To-
day, almost 13 years after its aborted Broad-
way opening, the creators of the show are re-
luctant to speak the names of the couple at
the center of the cancellation.
He is “the actor who caused an unbeliev-
able fracas,” or simply “that actor”; she is
known as “her.”
Flash back, though, to happier times, when
“Lone Star Love” was simply a bouncy
Texas-set updating of Shakespeare’s “The
Merry Wives of Windsor,” complete with
bluegrass music.
Its origin story begins in 1973 with John
Haber, a young graduate of the University of
North Carolina who returned home to Chapel
Hill with an M.F.A. in directing from New
York University’s Tisch School. The local
troupe Everyman Company asked him to di-
rect “Henry IV, Part I” at the outdoor Forest
Theater on the Chapel Hill campus.
They wanted to cast the banjoist Tommy
Thompson, a member of the local bluegrass
band Red Clay Ramblers, as Falstaff, the
portly friend of Prince Hal in the drama. Fal-
staff, as you may remember, was a vain rogue
said to be Shakespeare’s own favorite char-
acter.
Haber thought that the comic Falstaff from
“The Merry Wives of Windsor” was better
suited for the company’s mostly amateur WALTER McBRIDE
cast. So he modernized and set the produc-
tion in Windsor, Texas, post-Civil War. The
band played incidental music from the side of
the stage, and at the curtain call performed
“Happy Trails.”
As a noble, Falstaff is an outlier, but “‘The
Merry Wives of Windsor’ is Shakespeare’s
only play about common people,” Haber ex-
plained recently. “After the Civil War, Texans
started making money as cattle ranchers,
just [the way] wealth was being accumulat-
ed in England in the 15th century. And I could
picture John Falstaff as a Southern colonel.”
When Haber moved back to New York, he
joined the Dodgers, a producing entity, and
worked on other shows. The Red Clay Ram-
blers came to have a higher profile as well,
releasing several albums and touring inter-
nationally. RENDERING VIA SERINO COYNE

The play’s journey restarted in 1987, when

the renowned Alley Theater of Houston
asked the Ramblers if they had any ideas for
a show they might bring to the venue. The
band had just performed there (and in New
York) in Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind.”
Thompson remembered the Texas-set
“Merry Wives” he had once done, and called
his old friend Haber.
The Ramblers wrote a full score of music
and lyrics, and Haber made changes in the
script that combined Elizabethan language
with cowpoke action. The musicians played
Col. John Falstaff’s wingmen, held up props,
and generally added to the merriment of the
enterprise.
The Repertory Theater of St. Louis put it
on the following year. From there the show
meandered — the Players Theater in Colum-
bus, Ohio; Duke University; the Cincinnati
Playhouse in the Park.
It was a bona fide regional theater crowd-
pleaser. Next stop? New York.
Workshops were organized in 1996, and in
1999, with Jim Belushi as Falstaff. “We loved
him — he was great,” said the composer, Jack
Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers. Unfortu-
nately, Belushi had commitments to his ABC
television series and couldn’t stay with the
musical, which was now called “Lone Star
Love; or, the Merry Wives of Windsor,
Texas.”
It took five more years, but “Lone Star
Love” finally opened at the John Houseman
Theater Off Broadway, under the auspices of
AMAS Musical Theater. The production was
immersive before that became so trendy; au-
dience members were ushered to the stage
where the cast served up a barbecue meal.
(Some thought that was too country, but
when the 2019 Broadway revival of “Okla-
homa!” did something similar it was consid-
ered brilliant.)
Jay O. Sanders, a New York stage stalwart,
portrayed Falstaff Off Broadway. Beth
Leavel played one of the merry wives.
“Pleasant, competent, thoroughly innocu-
ous” were some of the phrases Charles Isher-
wood used in his Dec. 9, 2004 New York
Times review.
Still, “Lone Star Love” had a lot going for
it: words by Shakespeare, a familiar plot,
charming music and, most important, invest-
ors who were willing to put money into it.
They included the seasoned Broadway
producer Bob Boyett, as well as Ed Burke, a
newly retired businessman from Chapel Hill.
He had just sold his company and wanted to
get into the producing game. He flew to New
York to take a three-day seminar to learn
how. Given his North Carolina provenance,
the instructor introduced him to “Lone Star
Love.”
That the creators were fellow Tar Heels
felt promising. “Living in North Carolina,”
Burke told me over the phone recently, “I was
country come to town. But I got hooked.
“I went to opening night, I wrote a check,
and I met Bob Boyett, the lead producer,” he
added. Before long, he and his wife, Eleanor,
were writing checks frequently.
A cast album was recorded and the show
was nominated for best musical by both the
Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel
awards. Though it didn’t win, it had momen-
tum, and after closing Off Broadway in 2005
the producers had Broadway in mind as the
next logical step.
Boyett suggested that John Rando
(“Urinetown”) come aboard to direct. (His
eventual credit was creative supervisor;
Randy Skinner was the director/choreogra-
pher). He also called in Robert Horn (who lat-
er won the Tony for “Tootsie”) to co-write the
book.
The gang realized they needed a higher
profile star for Broadway. In 2007 Rando and
Horn met with Randy Quaid at the Polo
Lounge in Beverly Hills. In 2005 the actor, a
native Texan, had been Emmy nominated for
playing Col. Tom Parker in a mini-series
about Elvis Presley. The same year he had a
choice movie role in “Brokeback Mountain.”
Despite a career filled with distinguished
performances, though, he was still best
known as Cousin Eddie from the “National
Lampoon’s Vacation” movies. This musical
Falstaff would mark his Broadway debut.
“He was smart and understood where we
were going,” Horn said of the meeting. “It
was a lovefest — we thought we’d found the
perfect fit.”
Looking back, Burke said, “Boy, did we
pick the wrong horse.”
That August, after some New York re-
hearsals, the production moved to Seattle’s
Fifth Avenue Theater for a pre-Broadway
tryout, with the New York opening scheduled
for December. (“Hairspray” had gone to
Broadway from the same theater.) In order to
procure Quaid for the gig, he was given an
unusual amount of creative approval.
Problem No. 1: the fat suit. According to
Burke, Quaid, on the advice of his wife, re-
fused to wear it for the role.
“Not only did our script contain references
to Falstaff as a fat man — I counted eight at
the time,” Burke recalled, “Jack had even
written a production number called ‘Fat Man
Jump.’”
Instead the couple suggested, over many
STEVE MALONE/SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Top, Randy Quaid, right,
during a 2007 open dress
rehearsal in New York
for the Broadway-bound
musical “Lone Star
Love.” He was
accompanied by the
musicians Chris Frank,
left, Jack Herrick and
Emily Mikesell. Above
left is a proposed design
for the show’s marquee.
Above, Jay O. Sanders,
left, who played Big John
Falstaff in the 2004 Off
Broadway production of
the show, appears with
members of the Red Clay
Ramblers (from left,
Frank, Herrick and Clay
Buckner.) Below, Quaid
and his wife, Evi Quaid,
were arrested in 2010 for
outstanding warrants.
objections, that Falstaff should wear a “gi-
gantic codpiece,” as it was described to me.
An actor from the Seattle company remem-
bers a crack that was shared among the per-
formers: “It looks like he’s wearing his
understudy in his underpants.”
Participants in the Seattle production were
generally loath to be quoted on the tryout,
but did provide glimpses of the turmoil as
captured in emails from the Quaids to the
creative team.
“With all the deceit going on and lack of
paying key creative elements for the produc-
tion Randy’s contract being unethicly [sic]
passed around, he has no trust in the working
process he does not agree to any changes,”
read one note from Evi Quaid. “He no longer
trusts the creative teams [sic] agenda or to
Honor his contractual rights in this produc-
tion. He is not willing to make changes in the
script.”
As friction grew between the Quaids and
everyone else, life in Windsor, Texas, became
far from merry. One day Horn said he went to
the Quaids’ hotel room to talk over line
changes. “Mr. Quaid was agreeing with me
and showing me respect,” he recalled, “but
Mrs. Quaid didn’t like the fact that he was try-
ing to find a middle ground.
“The nice conversation descended into
chaos,” he added. “I got out of that room. It
was the last time I ever spoke to them.”
Stories of misbehavior flew out of Seattle
and into the New York tabloids.
“Jack [Herrick] and John [Haber] suffer
from the fact that I was not a New York
producer,” Burke recalled. “If you write
enough checks you can call yourself a
producer. But we had an unmanageable situ-
ation. Our contract wouldn’t allow us to hire
another actor. It guaranteed that Randy
Quaid would take the role on Broadway.”
When it became clear that “Lone Star
Love” with Randy Quaid could not transfer to
Broadway, a closing notice was posted, per
union requirements. Quaid’s understudy per-
formed as Falstaff for the final two weeks.
Twenty-three members of the cast and
crew formally complained to Actors’ Equity
about the actor’s behavior, on and offstage.
After a Los Angeles hearing to review the
complaint, he was banned from the union for
life and fined $81,000 — two weeks’ pay for
the other members of the company. The
Burkes shelled that out, fearful that the ac-
tors would never collect.
In a 2008 article in Backstage magazine,
Quaid shared a letter indicating that he had
chosen to resign, saying the union “tolerates
racism and mounts witch-hunts and McCar-
thyism.”
SARA KRULWICH/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Unopened
Among the casualties of the current Broadway
shutdown are shows in previews that will never
officially open, as well as those whose futures
are still in limbo. This series is looking at the
curious history of five other shows aimed for
Broadway that never got to opening night.
Coming Monday: A comedy of mistaken racial
identity that was inspired by “Miss Saigon”
crashes and burns.
The marquee was already up at the Belas-
co Theater on Broadway, but the show never
made the move. The New York Times re-
ported the shutdown briefly: “Over the past
few weeks, Mr. Quaid’s wife, Evi Quaid, said,
there had been backstage bickering between
the Quaids and one of the show’s producers,
Ed Burke. Mr. Quaid had negotiated an un-
usually high degree of creative approval for
the show, and there were disagreements
about his interpretation of his character, who
is based on Falstaff.”
“How do you take a fornicator, an adul-
terer, an alcoholic and an identity thief and
make a family show around him?” Quaid was
quoted as saying. (Efforts to reach the actor
and his wife for this article through their law-
yers in Vermont, Virginia and Los Angeles
were unsuccessful, as was outreach through
their social media channels.)
Boyett, the lead producer, remembers
things a bit differently.
“The cast wasn’t the biggest consideration
for me as a producer,” he said by telephone. “I
don’t really blame the Quaids. When we
closed the show out of town we thought we
should rest the property. The timing wasn’t
good. And then we all were busy with other
things.”
Subsequently, the Quaids were charged
with vandalism on their former California
home and for failing to appear in court while
on bail. (The office of the Santa Barbara dis-
trict attorney confirmed this week that the
charges were still outstanding.) In recent in-
terviews and on social media they’ve at-
tested to the presence of what they call “Star-
whackers” — a cabal of people who are out to
kill celebrities.
Almost 30 years since he first got involved
with what promised to be a lighthearted
romp, Herrick of the Red Clay Ramblers re-
mains philosophical about the experience.
“You can’t hold your breath for Broadway,”
he said, chuckling over the phone from Chap-
el Hill. “Work has continued on that show,
and the producers have abiding faith in it.”

Sound Is Carved
From Uncertainty
Cobbled together across continents, the virtual premiere of
Nico Muhly’s ‘Throughline’ by the San Francisco Symphony
emerged out of coronavirus pandemic constraints.
By JOSHUA BARONE
Esa-Pekka Salonen didn’t expect to make his
entrance at the San Francisco Symphony
with a virtual premiere.
But it’s fitting. Mr. Salonen, a conductor
and composer who has branded himself an
industry innovator — an eager adopter of
apps and virtual reality — is taking the helm
of the orchestra of the world’s tech capital.
And the first thing it will play under his lead-
ership as music director, Nico Muhly’s
“Throughline,” is a bellwether in the emerg-
ing genre of works created for the con-
straints, and possibilities, of music-making
in our moment.
Orchestra performances, in the traditional
sense, are rare these days. The coronavirus
pandemic forced the closure of concert halls
across the United States in March; few are
open now, and none are operating at any-
thing approaching capacity. The industry
has been ravaged, but scattered alternatives
are taking shape: small groups outdoors,
and instrumentalists playing in empty or
near-empty auditoriums for live or recorded
streaming online.
This shift, from a season of subscription
concerts to online programming, is why Mr.
Salonen resisted even calling the San Fran-
cisco Symphony an orchestra during a re-
cent interview.
“No matter how we spin it, we are not an
orchestra,” he said. “We are a media house.”
While recordings are nothing new, the
vast majority of classical repertoire was not
meant to be heard that way — or how it has
been presented during the pandemic, inev-
itably with less visceral impact on a smart-
phone screen. With that in mind, the San
Francisco Symphony commissioned Mr.
Muhly to compose something specifically for
a virtual medium. The result is “Through-
line,” which has taken thousands of hours
and endless patience to pull off and pre-
mieres Nov. 14 on the orchestra’s website
and Bay Area public television.
The project is also an introduction to the
eight collaborative partners Mr. Salonen an-
nounced when he was named to his new po-
sition in 2018, a group whose mission has
been kept intentionally vague. “It’s an ex-
periment,” he said. “I’m surrounding myself,
at least mentally, with a bunch of talented
and creative people.”
They are artists who are collaboration-
prone and multihyphenate: Claire Chase,
the flutist and International Contemporary
Ensemble founder; Bryce Dessner, the Na-
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
PHOTO COLLAGE BY AUBREY TRINNAMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
tional guitarist and composer; Carol Reiley,
the computer scientist and roboticist; Espe-
ranza Spalding, the jazz musician and opera
composer-in-the-making; the violinist
Pekka Kuusisto; the soprano Julia Bullock;
Nicholas Britell, the composer of “Moon-
light” and “Succession”; and Mr. Muhly.
Mr. Muhly wrote “Throughline” as a
showcase for the partners, all of whom get
solos. (So does Mr. Salonen.) The piece
therefore comes out sounding like a set of
miniature concertos. With so many specific
voices to accommodate, it’s also transpar-
ently a pièce d’occasion. But a substantial
one: It runs about 19 minutes, with a dense
score of pandemic-defying scale.
“It’s a piece of big-girl music that has big-
girl stuff in it,” Mr. Muhly, characteristically
puckish, said in an interview near his home
in Manhattan. “I just wanted to write some-
thing meaty, and toothsome.”
“Throughline” has been afforded far more
attention than a typical orchestra premiere,
with preparation over months instead of the
usual few days. This reflects a new pace for
the classical music industry: Mr. Muhly, who
used to fly about twice a week, didn’t get on a
plane between March and September, when
he traveled to San Francisco for recording
sessions.
“There was this constant sense of flurry,
and now there isn’t,” he said. The adjustment
wasn’t easy for him: “I protested for a
minute, listening to basically nothing and go-
ing to bed at 8. I was like, if I can’t go to a
concert I’m going to bed.” Especially frus-
trating was the summer, when live perform-
ance began to return in Europe while re-
maining almost entirely absent from the
United States.
He has resisted watching livestreams.
“For some reason, I can’t do it,” he said. “The
idea of it gives me, like, 18 different kinds of
anxiety.” So he has saved them for later —
even his friend Nadia Sirota’s live video pod-
cast “Living Music,” which he appeared on
twice.
His anxiety isn’t irrational: Livestreams
can be glitchy. By comparison, “Through-
line” has been micromanaged. Members of
the San Francisco Symphony, who play
throughout, were filmed in lengthy sessions
at Davies Hall, conducted by Mr. Muhly. The
soloists were recorded remotely, though
with the same high production values as the
orchestra. (No iPhone cameras here.) The
footage and audio were then edited together,
with the appearance of a collage befitting the
episodic score.
Classical
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AUBREY TRINNAMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Nico Muhly, above, Having experience in film soundtracks,
whose piece with more than a dozen credits to Mr.
“Throughline,” Muhly’s name, helped him use a click track
opening Esa-Pekka to conduct — “if you can call it conducting,”
Salonen’s tenure as he said.
the San Francisco “You’re controlling the performances with
Symphony’s music the knowledge that they’ll be layered,” he
director, will premiere added. “There’s a premium on timing, and
online this month. tuning a chord from within. It’s also about
Above left, a collage of
making sure that when people play on click,
Mr. Muhly’s hands. it doesn’t sound like they’re on click, which is
His “Throughline” is
a tricky thing. So what I’m doing is a very
a patchwork of solos stylized form of traffic control.”
that ends up sounding Producing the piece from discrete ses-
like a set of miniature sions allowed Mr. Muhly to orchestrate
concertos. Mr. Muhly, “Throughline” in a way that wouldn’t work
bottom left, said that
in live performance. Instruments that don’t
he let Esperanza
blend easily in a concert hall, like brasses
Spalding, bottom
against strings, can be given parity on a mix-
right, “lead the
ing board.
dance” for her solo.
“It’s a big leap of faith for everybody to
play in a situation where you’re not hearing
what your colleagues are playing in totality,”
Mr. Muhly said. Even bigger, perhaps, for
Mark Almond, who joins the orchestra this
season as its new associate principal horn.
“My first day at work was playing alone,”
said Mr. Almond, who as it happens is also a
virologist researching the pandemic at the
University of California, San Francisco. He
relished the opportunity to receive individu-
alized feedback from Mr. Muhly; a composer
usually gives notes to the entire orchestra
during rehearsals.
During Ms. Chase’s session, at the Kitchen
in New York, she said that she wished she
knew what came directly before and after
her bass flute solo. But she was laid back
about it. So was Mr. Britell, who in a record-
ing studio broke up takes of his piano part
with interludes from “Rhapsody in Blue”
and his addictive “Succession” theme. That
helped pass the time as they both repeated
their short passages for different camera an-
gles.
Ms. Bullock’s session, in Germany, took
more than six hours. After some technical
problems delayed the start time, she was
told, “I think we are ready for a recording,” to
which she replied, “I am not, but I’m glad ev-
eryone else is.” She was occasionally exas-
perated, and the notes weren’t sitting com-
fortably in her voice. But her self-doubt and
meticulousness gave way to a thing of
beauty, and her song is the high point of
“Throughline.”
It comes late in the piece, which begins
KRISTEN LOKEN
AR 11
with a spark and a solo by Mr. Kuusisto.
Throughout the film, the mechanics of mu-
sic-making are on display. The sound of an
instrument is accompanied by a close-up of
the person playing it; there is no effort to
hide headsets and microphones; masks are
a constant reminder of the environment in
which it was created.
Another reminder, of the reason in-person
concerts are still a distant dream, is a section
that follows a lyrical quotation of a Bach
chorale, in which chattering winds produce
aerosols captured on camera.
What follows is a series of solos from more
of the collaborative partners: Mr. Britell’s se-
rene, at times shimmering chords; Mr. Dess-
ner’s electric guitar; Ms. Reiley’s interlude,
composed in part by artificial intelligence;
Ms. Spalding’s joyous vocalise and plucked
bass for a section for which Mr. Muhly said
he “really let her lead the dance.” (She wrote
the music, which he then responded to with
light accompaniment.)
Beyond conducting, Mr. Muhly makes a
cameo as a pianist in another Bach snippet
that lays a hymn’s melody over a violin solo
of hazy drones. That leads directly into Ms.
Chase’s section, whose tranquillity gives
way to eerie ambiguity. The final collabora-
tive partner to appear is Ms. Bullock, accom-
panied by a sheen of strings.
Those string players remain, and are
joined by the rest of the orchestra in the final
movement: a sound bath drawn from a pro-
longed chord progression that, on the video,
shifts from footage of performers to swoop-
ing shots of nature. Mr. Salonen is shown
walking through a forest at home in Finland.
It’s a self-serious departure that corre-
sponds instruments to objects in nature. Mr.
Salonen places his hand on a mossy stone;
with the touch of a sorcerer, he sounds a harp
halfway across the world. This goes on —
with wild berries, with tree trunks.
The point seems to be something about
connectedness at a moment of separation. A
more resonant takeaway from “Through-
line,” though, is what it presages for the year
ahead. It’s become a cliché to say that the
“old normal” is never coming back. But why
should it if the classical industry begins to
embrace works like this: products of longer
hours and larger budgets, but also of broader
possibility and farther reach?
“It would be crazy to come out of this and
go straight back without having learned any-
thing,” Mr. Salonen said. “What we learn in
this process is going to stay with us.”
VIA SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
12 AR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Culture

Untangling a Mystery in Tandem

A podcaster and a TV producer
investigate a case together.
By KATE TUTTLE
Jacinda Davis found her latest true crime
story because she wanted to go to a record
store.
As a longtime (and Emmy Award-win-
ning) producer of true crime television, Da-
vis finds herself on the road much of the
time. Searching for material for a new series,
titled “The Killer in Question,” she looked to
Michigan, because that’s where Jack White
of the White Stripes has one of his Third Man
Records shops. A little Googling and up
popped an intriguing case: Jeff Titus, a for-
mer Marine and police officer, imprisoned
for nearly two decades for the murder of two
hunters in Michigan that the original detec-
tives on the case were convinced he didn’t
commit.
Susan Simpson, an attorney turned pod-
caster, heard about Titus from Davis. On her
podcast, “Undisclosed,” Simpson and her co-
hosts, Rabia Chaudry and Colin Miller, are
“looking for times when the system got it
wrong, where something needs to be fixed,”
she said, “and where through us telling the
story we can help advance the cause of jus-
tice.”
Now Davis and Simpson are telling the
same tale. The new season of “Undisclosed”
began covering the Titus case on Monday
and runs through January. And on Sunday,
the debut episode of “Killer in Question,” a
two-hour documentary, will air on Investiga-
tion Discovery.
This collaboration is an unusual one. The
more typical path sees a popular podcast
adapted into a TV show, like “Dirty John,” or
a TV show spun off from a podcast for a
deeper dive. And occasionally, projects on
the same subject are released around the
same time — think of Joe Exotic, subject of
both a podcast and a Netflix series — but
whose creators don’t work together.
“It’s a unique scenario,” said Kevin Fitz-
patrick, president and executive producer at
Red Marble Media, where Davis is an execu-
tive producer. “I could tell that Susan and
Jacinda are of the same cloth. They are peo-
ple who want to tell a great story. I knew that
we could make a better television show with
her help, and I think she believes she can
make a better podcast with our help.”
“We felt that we would be able to generate
more interest in the story if we all did it,”
Fitzpatrick added.
SIMPSON AND DAVIS first met at a rooftop bar
in Washington, where Simpson lives, in sum-
mer 2019. They had heard of each other’s
work and were getting together to talk about
a different case that Simpson was working
on for “Undisclosed.”
“We had a couple of drinks and talked
murder for a long time,” Davis said. At some
point, Davis brought up Titus, whose case
she had been working on for several
months; Simpson was fascinated. They
agreed to keep in touch.
Then the pandemic hit.
Simpson and her colleagues found them-
selves stymied in fleshing out the stories
they were considering for the podcast. But
Davis was willing to share the reporting
she’d already done on the Titus case, and
Simpson felt confident enough in his inno-
LYNDON FRENCH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Stories about crime that merely titillate tained his innocence.

cence to pursue it for her podcast. The pair
began texting and talking about the case,
and in late September, they headed to Kala-
mazoo County to jointly interview wit-
nesses, detectives and anyone with anything
to say about the case.
They’re not the most obvious collabora-
tors. Simpson, 35, has misgivings about the
true crime genre. So much of it is “really sen-
sational,” she said. Growing up in Atlanta,
she thought she might become a paleontolo-
gist so she could “sort and analyze bones.”
Instead, she said, she ended up going to law
school.
For her part, Davis, 48, who lives in Mont-
clair, N.J., isn’t a huge podcast fan. “I don’t
have a lot of time to listen,” she conceded.
But Davis is captivated by true crime
stories. Her first internship after college was
at “America’s Most Wanted,” and any plans
to be a psychologist or social worker disap-
peared. Her three teenage sons are used to
her macabre obsessions. “A lot of times the
dinner conversation is about serial killers or
murders,” she said.
Still, the two have found lots in common —
a shared passion for storytelling, for ferret-
ing out the truth, for following a case wher-
ever it may lead — and after just a few weeks
of reporting together in Michigan, they
can strike readers, viewers and listeners as
voyeurism, with all the attraction and revul-
sion that implies. But work like “Undis-
closed,” with its focus on exoneration, inhab-
it a different landscape than shows like
“Snapped,” the Oxygen channel stalwart
that seems to valorize murder, when under-
taken by abused wives.
“There’s definitely two worlds of true
crime,” Simpson said. Programs like
“Snapped,” seem to her “really sensational.
‘Memories change. Little
details get lost. But over
all, people remember.’
It’s not my thing. I would not be interested in
working with someone who was portraying
cases in that way.” Simpson prefers to do
work that includes “an examination of the
criminal justice system,” she added.
It’s into this more nuanced space that Da-
vis’s new show arrives. Rather than simply
recap a cut-and-dried case, “Killer in Ques-
tion” will ask whether the man in prison ac-
RED MARBLE MEDIA
tually committed the crime, and if one set of
detectives got the story very wrong. For Da-
share the easy banter of longtime col- vis, the true crime work that she does is
leagues, finishing each others’s sentences more about exploration than exploitation.
during a joint interview. Both are intensely “These are very personal stories told by peo-
curious — Simpson is dying to check out a ple who were affected, who want to share
park for abandoned pet alligators that they their journey,” she said.
keep driving by. Both are unflappable: Davis “And on a broader more human level,” she
got flashed one day while the two women added, “these are essentially stories of loss
were interviewing a witness who came to the and tragedy, of forgiveness and redemption.
door of his trailer wearing nothing but a They’re stories we all know and experience
bathrobe, and then proceeded to sit down as but probably not on such a tragic level and
his robe gaped. Simpson was spared the it’s those emotional undercurrents that I
sight. “I was making eye contact,” she said think really resonate with women. It’s not re-
with a laugh. ally about the crime at all.”
RED MARBLE MEDIA
Both women told me, separately, about
their shared discovery of the pastry called IN JEFF TITUS’S CASE, the crime itself is rela-
Top, Jacinda Davis, tively straightforward.
elephant ears, sold out of a small shop they
left, and Susan Simpson The bodies of Doug Estes and Jim Bennett
drove past. “It’s like funnel cakes but cov-
in Michigan. Middle and were found on Nov. 17, 1990, in the woods of
ered in butter and cinnamon sugar,” Davis
above, pictures of Jeff
explained. “My new favorite food,” declared Kalamazoo County. The men had been hunt-
Titus, who was convicted
Simpson. ing, separately, on a piece of land known as
in 2002 of the murders
the Fulton State Game Area. The murders
of two hunters, from
IS IT RIGHT TO HAVE so much fun research- went unsolved until 2000, when cold case de-
Simpson’s two-hour
ing such an ugly story? The ethics of true tectives took a closer look at a suspect
documentary for
crime are a frequent topic among those who cleared a decade earlier: Titus, a Marine vet-
Investigation Discovery,
write about it. In Sarah Weinman’s recent eran and police officer at a nearby Veterans
“The Killer in Question.”
anthology, “Unspeakable Acts,” crime narra- Affairs hospital, whose land bordered the
tives share space with essays that raise ob- preserve on which the killings took place. Ti-
jections to the genre itself, especially in its tus was convicted in 2002 and is currently in-
sensationalized “damsel in distress” itera- carcerated at Lakeland Correctional Facility,
tion. in Coldwater, Mich. He has always main-
“I can’t think of another case where there
are two sets of detectives that don’t agree,”
Davis said. “The original detectives in this
case absolutely, 100 percent cleared Jeff Ti-
tus and believe he is not guilty. [They are the
ones who took the case to the Michigan Inno-
cence Clinic.] And the cold case team is the
opposite. They believe beyond a doubt that
they have the right man.”
Two days after the murders, Titus found a
gun belonging to one of the victims. It had
been wiped clean. The first set of detectives
found that odd; the cold case team found it
implicating. Titus’s co-workers at the hospi-
tal testified that he told them that he hated to
see hunters walk across his land. There were
plenty of witnesses against him; it seems he
wasn’t well liked. Of course, as Simpson
pointed out, “people who are unlikable are
often easy targets for wrongful conviction.”
But Titus had an alibi. He had been hunt-
ing 27 miles away when the crimes were
committed. Two witnesses saw a car stuck in
a ditch right after two gunshots were heard,
and offered to help the driver get out. One
witness, a neighbor of Titus’s, said it defi-
nitely wasn’t him. Both contributed to a po-
lice sketch, which looks a lot like Thomas Dil-
lon, a serial killer who was active in Ohio, the
next state over, at the time. His modus ope-
randi: killing hunters, fishermen and other
outdoorsmen. (Dillon died while in prison for
the murder of other hunters.)
Both Simpson and Davis hope their
stories will prompt more people to come for-
ward with information about the Estes and
Bennett murders.
“Once we start, word gets around,” Simp-
son said. “In some cases people start calling
in with information, which we can incorpo-
rate as time goes on.”
Davis agrees. “People want to talk, I
think,” she said. “Memories change. Little
details get lost. But over all, people remem-
ber.”
Naturally, the two have formed an opinion
about Titus’s guilt. “The evidence in this case
struck me as underwhelming to begin with,”
Simpson said, “but you never know what’s
going to turn up once you start investigating.
After a month in Kalamazoo, everything I’ve
found has confirmed the conclusions
reached by the case’s initial investigators:
The evidence for Jeff Titus’s guilt just isn’t
there.”
Davis was cagier. “I flip-flopped over the
last year but definitely have a solid opinion
now, but I want people to come to their own
conclusions based on what they see in the
show,” she said. “Ask me again after it airs.”
INVESTING INNOVATION JOBS THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER
N 1
BU 1, 2020

CHRIS KOEHLER

Don’t Even Think About Parking Here

On an empty lot near Phoenix, a development
company is betting $170 million on creating a
more walkable future for a neighborhood.
By CONOR DOUGHERTY
Phoenix, that featureless and ever-spreading
tundra of concrete, has been called “the world’s
least sustainable city.” It has been characterized
as a “sprawling, suburbanite wasteland” and “a
monument to man’s arrogance.” The Onion has
darkly predicted that by 2050, “most of Earth’s
landmass” will be swallowed by the encroaching
Phoenix exurbs. The Walk Score index ranks the
place as the second-worst big city in America for
pedestrians, and traversing it has been described
as “a slog through a desert, plus the occasional
McDonald’s.”
The Phoenix metropolitan area is, in other
words, the last place you would expect a real es-
tate developer to spend $170 million creating
what it calls the first-ever car-free neighborhood
built from scratch in the United States.
The development, Culdesac Tempe, is a 17-acre
lot just across the Salt River from Phoenix. Cur-
rently a mess of dust and heavy equipment, the
site will eventually feature 761 apartments,
16,000 square feet of retail, 1,000 residents — and
exactly zero places for them to park. The people
who live there will be contractually forbidden to
park a car on site or on nearby streets, part of a
deal the development company struck with the
government to assuage fears of clogged parking
in surrounding neighborhoods.
Culdesac Tempe is a proving ground for a start-
up also called Culdesac, which was founded in
San Francisco and moved to Tempe during the
pandemic. Started in 2018 by two native Ari-
zonans, the company announced the project last
year to a mixture of curiosity and doubt. Urban-
ists cheered it as a bold and important step to-
ward a future with fewer cars, while suburban de-
velopers said the concept could never work on a
large scale.
Others preferred to simply ignore Culdesac. “If
something is described as ‘car-free,’” Car &
Driver wrote, “we’re generally not interested in
reading any further.”
Although Culdesac was devised before the co-
ronavirus emerged and has experienced some
construction delays, the project could end up ben-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Answering a Fast-Food Question, if You Care

By DAVID SEGAL
If there is a god of ludicrous ideas that later
seem inspired, he must have smiled on Bri-
an Thompson one evening four years ago.
A comedy writer living in Los Angeles,
Mr. Thompson had been bingeing on true
crime podcasts when he decided to create a
show that would plumb the stupidest, least
consequential mystery he could imagine.
For reasons he can’t fully explain, he came
‘Whatever up with: Whatever happened to pizza at
Happened to Pizza McDonald’s?
Maybe you are too young to remember.
at McDonald’s?’ Perhaps you forgot. Or there’s a chance
serves to satirize you’ve blocked it. But the home of the Big
Mac began selling pizza in the mid-1980s,
podcasting. hoping to grab market share from national
pizza chains. McDonald’s gave up a few
years later.
Nobody seemed to lament the passing of
McPizza, and nobody was urging its return.
Which, to Mr. Thompson in the fall of 2016,
made the topic all the more appealing.
“I had heard about it when I was younger,
but I’d never tried it,” he said. “And I knew
there were a lot of McDonald’s that are open
24 hours, so I could call one of them right
then.”
He called two. At the first, an employee
hung up a few milliseconds after being
asked about McDonald’s pizza. At the sec-
ond, a manager was sincerely stumped.
“Sorry about that,” the manager said,
politely. “Have a good night.”
By 3 a.m., Mr. Thompson had edited the
calls and added some narration. He ended
with an off-kilter ad he wrote for Square-
space, the web hosting platform, which he
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

4 WORK FRIEND 4 ECONOMIC VIEW 5 LIKE A BOSS

What to do when your dream job could use a union, Cutting money from the I.R.S. budget has cost the For a political reporter with 2.5 million subscribers,
or when you have a Toobin-like moment. BY ROXANE GAY government far more than it’s saved. BY ROBERT H. FRANK ‘news is just ambient for our audience.’ BY KATIE ROBERTSON
2 BU N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

WITH INTEREST

What’s Up What’s Next

LAST WEEK'S ESSENTIAL NEWS A PREVIEW OF THE WEEK TO COME

10/25 SO FAR THIS YEAR

Cases Rise, Markets Fall
It feels as if we’ve been here before,
no? Wall Street saw its worst slide
since June as coronavirus outbreaks
surged in Europe and the United
States set records for new daily cases.
France and Germany reimposed busi-
ness shutdowns and curfews, as did
some U.S. cities where hospitals were
overwhelmed with Covid 19-stricken
patients.
Big Tech Gets a Reprimand
11/1
The Election
Who knows what will happen Tues-
day? But the election’s outcome —
Stocks are up. whenever it’s decided — will shape the
country’s recovery from its worst eco-
S&P 500 INDEX, +1.2%
nomic plunge in decades. More imme-
diately, the American withdrawal from
the Paris climate accord formally takes
effect on Wednesday, years after Presi-
dent Trump decided to back out be-
cause he claimed the agreement
“would undermine the economy.” But
Mortgage rates if Mr. Trump loses the election, his
Democratic opponent, Joseph R. Biden
ILLUSTRATIONS BY GIACOMO BAGNARA

A Bounce, or a Thud
As expected, the U.S. economy blew
away previous growth records last
quarter, according to the latest report
from the Commerce Department. But
take those rosy numbers with a truck-
load of salt. The rebound was partly
fueled by trillions of dollars in govern-
ment aid to businesses and house-
holds, which is now running dry. The
improvement is also relative to how
badly the economy tanked earlier this
year, when the coronavirus forced the
first round of lockdowns. And don’t call
it a comeback just yet: The country’s
gross domestic product is still 3.5 per-
cent smaller than it was before the
pandemic. (For comparison, the G.D.P.
shrank a total of 4 percent during the
entire Great Recession a decade ago.)
●
✽ GET WITH INTEREST IN YOUR INBOX
EVERY SUNDAY MORNING.
nytimes.com/newsletters
Just days before the election, the chief
executives of Twitter, Facebook and
Google got an earful from the Senate
Commerce Committee about how
they’ve handled political misinforma-
tion on their platforms. Republican
senators accused the companies of
suppressing conservative views, and
were particularly critical of Facebook
and Twitter for limiting the spread of
an unverified New York Post article on
Hunter Biden two weeks ago. On the
flip side, Democrats said the compa-
nies should have done more to curb
falsehoods and violent content. But Big
Tech had the last laugh: Facebook,
Alphabet (Google’s parent company),
Amazon and Apple all reported gigan-
tic quarterly earnings later in the week.
are down. Jr., has promised to rejoin the climate
BANKRATE.COM 30-YEAR pact immediately upon taking office in
FIXED, 3.01%, –0.85 POINTS January. Throughout his campaign,
Mr. Biden has called for balancing the
needs of labor unions with strong envi-
ronmental policies in writing future
trade rules.
The Auto Market Goes Vroom
Jobless claims On the list of things people are spend-
are up. ing money on these days, cars are up
there with sweatpants and home office
FOUR-WEEK MOVING
AVERAGE, +221.6% supplies. (Planes, trains and public
transportation, not so much.) Car
shopping was the biggest single con-
tributor to the uptick in American
spending on goods last quarter, the
Bureau of Economic Analysis said on
Thursday, and demand is expected to
stay high as low interest rates keep car
loans cheap. The auto industry will
release October sales data on Tuesday,
and forecasters anticipate record
growth even compared with pre-
pandemic times.
Airbnb Cleans Up
As Airbnb prepares to go public this
year, it’s trying to fix its “party house
problem” — when guests rent proper-
ties to hold large gatherings that get
loud, unsafe or even deadly. Irked
neighbors are banding together to get
local restrictions put on short-term
rentals. To protect its reputation and its
bottom line, Airbnb has banned parties
at all its properties, put a 16-person
cap on reservations and started suing
rule-breaking guests. It also tried to put
the kibosh on Halloween parties by
refusing to allow one-night rentals on
Oct. 31. CHARLOTTE COWLES
WHAT ELSE?
Tiffany & Company agreed to cut the
price of its sale to LVMH Moët Hennessy
Louis Vuitton, revising a deal struck
before the pandemic clobbered the econ-
omy. And Exxon Mobil is planning to lay
off thousands of workers as it struggles
under lower gas and oil prices.

The Book Review

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4 BU N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

WORK FRIEND ROXANE GAY

Making the Great Outdoors a Better Workplace

Q:
Before the pandemic, I worked in the outdoor adventure industry
as a multiday river guide. For many, it’s a dream job — living out-
side in beautiful places, adventuring on big white water. However,
the rosy outside perspectives are underlain by the same plagues of
the regular work force: unreliable schedules, cash tips, unpaid
training, no benefits, unsafe working conditions, wage theft, rac-
ism, sexism, homophobia, fatphobia, etc.
What advice do you have for starting a union in a nontradi-
tional workplace? There is excitement among the guides, but none
are organizers. ANONYMOUS, PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Send questions about the
office, money, careers
and work-life balance to
workfriend@nytimes.com.
Include your name and location,
even if you want them withheld.
Letters may be edited.
Everyone deserves to work in a safe,
equitable environment. It can be challeng-
ing to start a union in a nontraditional
workplace, but it has been done. In 1996,
for example, the women who worked at
the Lusty Lady strip club formed a union
to protect themselves against unfair labor
practices. A year later, they signed a con-
tract affording them better pay, sick leave
and other concessions.
You may not be organizers, but you can
and must develop those skills if you want
to create a union and make it successful.
The benefit of a union is the power of the
collective, so first you need to talk to your
co-workers to gauge their interest, figure
out what you all want, and encourage as
many of them as possible to join together
in the effort. In most cases, a majority of
employees must agree to participate. Once
your union is formed, you can begin to
negotiate a contract with your employer
and, hopefully, create a better working
environment.
This sounds simple, but it isn’t. Most
private employers will do everything in
their power to thwart attempts at un-
ionization. Not everyone you work with
will want to join. And the biggest factor
may be whether you are all considered
traditional employees or independent
contractors. Your legal rights change
depending on the definition, and so do
your employer’s obligations. I do wish you
the very best with your efforts and hope
your employer embraces this collective
action.
ZOOM ZOOM IN THE BATHROOM
Today I went to the bathroom while in a
Google meeting with a colleague and forgot
to turn off my camera. I kid you not. I remem-
bered to turn off the sound, but I had
switched to a different tab during the meet-
ing and forgot about the video. After we
ended the meeting, I recreated the whole
situation to see what she might have seen.
Fortunately, I had kept the light off, and I had
perched my laptop on the sink so that you
could only have seen me from the waist up.
But if you were paying attention, you would
have been able to tell I was in a bathroom.
Do I acknowledge this and apologize? Or
do I pretend it didn’t happen and move on?
ANONYMOUS
One of the strangest aspects of this new
normal is that our homes have now be-
come our workplaces. Our colleagues now
know far too much about our personal
lives and the spaces in which we spend
our time. They have access to intimacies
we normally only share with our families
and partners. When the lines between
home and work are so blurred, accidents
will happen.
I assume you weren’t trying to force
your colleague to watch you use the bath-
room because of some urinary kink. You
were trying to multitask. This is embar-
rassing but harmless. I would pretend this
didn’t happen and move on. You have no
idea what she saw and to bring it up now
would only make things unnecessarily
awkward. Next time you absolutely have
to go during the workday, triple-check that MARGEAUX WALTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
your audio and video are both off. Or
simply excuse yourself and leave your
same for me and my museum. I don’t know FundMe campaigns as we can. We’re
laptop where you work.
how to get over my own fears about being out buying gift cards. We’re tipping extra
in public when I don’t have to. Am I being too when we get takeout. And despite these
hard on myself? ANONYMOUS, NEW YORK well-intentioned efforts, a lot of businesses
PRACTICING AND PREACHING and institutions we frequent and care
I work for a museum in New York, and I really You are being way too hard on yourself. about aren’t going to make it.
enjoy what I do. With everything going on and You cannot single-handedly save New Nearly 250,000 people have died, and
so many travel restrictions, there are not a lot York museums — nor its restaurants or we have no clear sense of how high the toll
of tourists. Attendance has gone up a little bookstores or galleries or coffee shops. will ultimately go. The truth of this mo-
each week, but it’s nothing like it should be. If Each of us can try to support as many ment is horrifying. We all need to grapple
our museum is going to survive we need local businesses as we realistically can, with it and recognize, as you note, that we
more people to come in, and that’s why I feel but the economic problems that busi- can only do so much. Does this mean we
like a hypocrite. nesses are facing cannot be solved by surrender to apathy? No. You have to
figure out how much risk you’re willing to
I know there are so many other museums individual patronage. The crisis is a sys-
and businesses that are in the same position, temic issue that must be addressed by our tolerate. If you cannot bring yourself to
but on my days off, I can’t bring myself to city, state and federal governments. visit a museum, consider buying a couple
leave my apartment. I don’t feel the need to Like most people, I miss going out, of memberships to use when there’s a
risk exposing myself and others. At work, I having a social life, spending hours in vaccine. Give memberships as holiday
interact with hundreds of people a day. I museums, going to movies and plays. I gifts. Buy something from your favorite
museum’s gift shop. But whatever you do,
know we have put into place all the precau- miss travel. I miss sitting in a bookstore
tions we can, like temperature checks, man- with a new book I love so much I read half wear a mask when you leave your home,
datory masking, disinfecting and cleaning of it right there before buying it. We all socially distance — and be more gentle
around the clock, but there is only so much miss the way things used to be. We all with yourself.
you can do. I feel like I should do more to help hope the places we love the most will .......................................................................................
support other museums in the city recover make it through the pandemic. A great Roxane Gay is the author, most recently, of
because I need other New Yorkers to do the many of us are supporting as many Go- “Hunger” and a contributing Opinion writer.

ECONOMIC VIEW ROBERT H. FRANK

When Our Peers Avoid Paying Their Taxes

Congress has cut the I.R.S.
budget, but it has not saved
the government money.
FEW PEOPLE ENJOY paying taxes, but as Oli-
ver Wendell Holmes Jr. reminded us,
“Taxes are what we pay for civilized soci-
ety.” On reflection, most of us therefore offer
at least implicit support for penalties
against tax evasion — penalties that have
little meaning unless backed by significant
enforcement resources.
Yet prodded mainly by anti-tax Republi-
cans, Congress has cut the Internal Reve-
nue Service budget steadily since 2011. By
2019, the agency was auditing only one in
every 222 individual returns, down from
one in 90 in 2011. Similar reductions have oc-
curred for corporate returns, and were pro-
portionately larger for the wealthiest indi-
viduals and largest corporations.
These cuts have not saved the govern-
ment money. The former I.R.S. commis-
sioner John A. Koskinen estimated, for ex-
ample, that every $1 trimmed from the
agency’s budget has resulted in $4 in lost
revenue. But this estimate refers only to di-
rect, or first-round, losses. Because the ex-
tent to which people comply with tax laws
depends strongly on the behavior of others
around them, the ultimate revenue losses
are certain to be much larger.
The influence of peer behavior on tax
compliance is nicely illustrated in a thought
experiment I call “the waiter’s dilemma.” It
assumes that workers face a choice be-
tween working in a factory or waiting ta-
bles, jobs they consider equally attractive
aside from the matter of pay. Factory work-
ers get a weekly salary of $1,000, while wait-
ers get $500 in salary plus another $500 in
cash tips. If the income tax rate is 20 percent
and waiters declare their tips, both occupa-
tions have after-tax weekly pay of $800.
Now suppose that although waiters are
legally and morally obligated to declare
their tips, the I.R.S. has no way of monitor-
ing them. Waiters who don’t declare tips
then get after-tax pay of $900 a week, a $100
premium that would induce at least some
factory workers to seek employment as
waiters.
If we assume for simplicity that foreign
competition prevents factory wages from
rising in response to the resulting shortage
of factory workers, the increased supply of
waiters will cause servers’ wages to fall un-
til this premium for tax evasion disappears.
At a waiter’s weekly wage of $375, servers
ROBERT H. FRANK , an economics professor at
Cornell University, is the author of “Under the
Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work.”
who didn’t declare tips would get $800 after
taxes, the same as in factory work.
The moral dilemma confronting honest
waiters is immediately apparent. If they de-
clare their tips, their weekly after-tax pay
will be only $700, or $100 less than they
would have taken home as fully tax-compli-
ant factory workers. Under the circum-
stances, they might reasonably conclude
that paying taxes on their tips would be un-
fair.
This example illustrates why pressures
to cheat in social settings are even stronger
than those that would arise in isolation. We
see many examples in which people resist
temptation even in the face of golden oppor-
tunities. But such opportunities become far
more difficult to resist when one’s peers are
seizing them without penalty.
A creative study by the economists Jörg
Paetzold and Hannes Winner sheds light on
the extent to which peer behavior influ-
ences tax evasion. It employs data from
Austria, where the government allows
workers to deduct commuting expenses
from their income for tax purposes.
Under this allowance, workers report
their total commuting distances, and it is
then their employers’ responsibility to cer-
tify the accuracy of their reports. But be-
cause many employers devote few re-
sources to verification, misreporting entails
little risk of punishment. Combining de-
tailed tax data with employer and worker
location data, the authors found that the
claiming of excessive commuting expense
deductions was in fact widespread.
By itself, that result is hardly surprising.
What was fascinating was the extent to
which peer behavior influenced the exag-
geration of deduction claims. To estimate
that magnitude, the authors focused only on
people who had moved to new workplaces
during the current tax year.
Those who were now employed by a com-
pany where tax evasion was either the
MICHAEL WARAKSA
Behavioral contagion
increases incentives to
cut corners on taxes.
same or less common than in their previous
workplaces showed no change in their own
rates of tax evasion. But the pattern was
strikingly different for workers who had
moved to a new job in which tax evasion
was more common. For these workers, it
grew by an even larger proportion than the
one by which their new colleagues’ tax eva-
sion exceeded that of their former col-
leagues.
In addition to direct observation of peer
tax evasion, behavioral contagion amplifies
incentives to cut corners in other ways. It
does so in part by making people less likely
to be chosen as partners in transactions
that require trust.
Assessments of trustworthiness depend
not only on information about you person-
ally — such as your reputation and others’
evaluations of your character — but also on
their perceptions of the trustworthiness of
people in general. For any given set of per-
sonal characteristics, for instance, you
would be less likely to be deemed trustwor-
thy in a population in which only 10 percent
were scrupulously honest than in one in
which that proportion was 90 percent.
The upshot is that quite independently of
any change in your own behavior, any
change that makes others more likely to cut
corners also makes others less likely to
judge you to be a trustworthy potential
partner. That, in turn, reduces your own
payoff from being trustworthy, which in-
creases your incentive to stray, and so on.
What the reductions in I.R.S. funding will
continue to unleash, then, is a characteristic
feature of all behavioral contagion pro-
cesses: an explosive chain of feedback
loops that greatly amplify any initial change
in behavior.
The United States was once firmly a
member of the small group of countries
whose high levels of tax compliance helped
sustain the infrastructure investments
needed to support broad economic and so-
cial prosperity. In a 2004 study that ranked
30 industrial countries and territories on a
six-point tax-compliance scale, for exam-
ple, it was in seventh place with a score of
4.47. Highest on the list was Singapore at
5.05, followed by New Zealand (5.00), Aus-
tralia (4.58), Britain (4.67), Hong Kong
(4.56) and Switzerland (4.49). Last among
the 30 was Italy, with a score of 1.77.
Since that study was published, reduced
I.R.S. funding has led to significant reduc-
tions in tax compliance in the United States,
the Treasury Department reports. But
these reductions are only the beginning. It
takes time for people realize the extent to
which others are evading taxes. And once
that happens, compliance will fall much
more rapidly.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N BU 5

Like a Boss

Helping Young People Navigate Politics

Peter Hamby
REPORTER

A journalist who covered two

presidential campaigns for
CNN has brought his skills to
Snapchat as the host of ‘Good
Luck America.’

PETER HAMBY HAS found a way to be a

political journalist for a new generation.
After covering two presidential cam-
paigns at CNN, he made an unusual ca-
reer move in 2015: joining the social media
app Snapchat. As the host of the platform’s
first original series, “Good Luck America,”
Mr. Hamby, 39, breaks down the political
landscape and coming election for the
millions of young people who scroll
through the app every day.
“Politics feels existential to them,” Mr.
Hamby said. “Climate change feels exist-
ential. Going to high school every day with
the threat of gun violence is life or death.”
It’s an audience that is most likely not
tuning in to cable news bulletins or read-
ing the Sunday New York Times. So he’s
meeting these Americans where they are.
“I’m aware of where I stand at
Snapchat, and a lot of people don’t think
that’s necessarily an ivory tower of jour-
nalism, but we are creating journalism
that I think is credible and serious,” Mr.
Hamby said. “It is insanely important for
media organizations to be way more
thoughtful, way more creative about creat-
ing formats for people that plug into their
lives.”
Now based in Los Angeles, Mr. Hamby,
who is also a contributing writer for Van-
ity Fair, is a world away from his former
life as a roving campaign reporter.
“I feel like I’ve become smarter about
American politics since leaving Washing-
ton and leaving the establishment media
side of things,” he said. KATIE ROBERTSON

SUNDAY
9 A.M. Reading The Los Angeles Times
and listening to Paul Simon’s “Graceland.”
For me, Sundays are for reading, cooking
and music — trying to turn off as much as
possible. That’s obviously close to impossi-
ble with two weeks until a presidential
election, but I know I won’t be good during
the week if I haven’t taken some time to
retreat from Twitter and the political news
cycle, which can be pretty mindless some-
times.
10 A.M. Took my dog, Boone, for a walk.
He’s a year-and-a-half-old golden retriever.
He brought a rock inside. He likes toys,
but he loves rocks.
11:20 A.M. Polished off a piece for Vanity
Fair about some of the red states that
might tip in a fluky wave election. They’re
gracious enough to let me write for them
when I can find time. “Good Luck Amer-
ica” is obviously a video format, but writ-
ing is my first love, so I need an outlet for
it.
3 P.M. Had a bunch of Amazon deliveries:
Halloween decorations. I’m a huge Hal-
loween guy. I do my yard up in a big way.
Eric Garcetti is forbidding trick or treating
this year, but my house is on a big trick-or-
treating street. I bought six feet of PVC MAGGIE SHANNON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

piping to slide candy from a distance to

any kid who comes by.
8 P.M. Text my producer, Charles Bay, with
story ideas for tomorrow.
MONDAY
7 A.M. I get up, make coffee, take Boone
out and grab the newspaper. I subscribe to
The L.A. Times, and The New York Times
on the weekends. I’m an evangelist for
new journalism formats, but I still think
print newspapers might be the best vehi-
cle for news discovery. Online, I read
almost exclusively about politics, sports
and music. But just by serendipitously
paging through the paper, you find stories
you would have missed in your feeds.
8 A.M. By now I’m just catching up on
whatever news has already happened on
the East Coast, and looking for story
ideas. I’m also listening to NPR on KPCC.
Did I mention I love local news?
9 A.M. My producer and I always text
around this time, identifying our story for
the day. We produce the show for 6 a.m.
E.T. the following morning, sort of like The
Times’s “The Daily.” We don’t bother living
in the immediate news cycle. News is just
ambient for our audience — sometimes
politics is just background noise — and
they’re coming to us for quick clarity and
authority on something important. We
have about 2.5 million subscribers, and the
vast majority of them are under 25. They
aren’t watching cable news or looking at
Twitter all day.
10 A.M. Charles and I riff on a script in a
Google doc for about an hour. The show is
short, about three minutes of fast-paced
vertical video, and it’s competing for at-
tention with a lot of other stuff on your
phone. We rely a lot on humor and quick
video clips to keep people engaged.
Charles is a ninja at finding obscure clips
on YouTube and Twitter.
11:10 A.M. Because I prefer to travel
rather than doing the show from a studio,
we had already developed an easy way to
film from anywhere with professional
Interviews are conducted by email, text and
phone, then condensed and edited.
sound, lighting and a phone. So it was an
easy transition to filming from home when
the pandemic started.
11:20 A.M. I upload the raw video for the
piece, and Charles spends the next few
hours editing from his house.
NOON Preparing for another Zoom election
panel. This one is for a series I’m doing
with Warner Music Group. Maybe it’s
because Zoom makes everyone more
accessible, or maybe it’s because everyone
with a pulse is interested in this election,
but I’ve done a ton of these election panels
the last few months.
3:22 P.M. Texting media friends about
Jeffrey Toobin.
3:30 P.M. Charles sends me a first cut of
tomorrow’s show. I go through it and have
a round of notes. Then we collaborate on
the headline and what image we should
use for the “Good Luck America” tile on
Snapchat. It’s like Netflix — that image on
the show tile is really important for getting
people to tap in.
TUESDAY
8 A.M. Today’s episode will be on the South
Carolina Senate race. I didn’t think it
would end up this close. This is my fourth
presidential election, and normally I’d be
in Ohio or North Carolina or Texas right
now. But the Biden-Trump race has been
so stable and even predictable.
9:30 A.M. One of my best Democratic
sources texts to inform me that he has
moved from optimism to terror because of
a single Florida poll. It’s that time of year.
11:30 A.M. My brain is kind of mush
around lunchtime, so I try to run errands
and work out in the middle of the day.
1 P.M.Going to the doctor for a checkup. I
fractured my right hand tripping off my
bike a couple weeks ago, so I have a cast
on my typing hand for the full month
before the election.
1:55 P.M. The nurse heard I work in poli-
tics. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said.
2:30 P.M. Did an interview about my ca-
reer with a Georgetown student for his
journalism class. Turns out we both
worked for one of the undergraduate
papers, The Georgetown Voice. I did not
tell him that I’m old enough to remember
when The Voice had a darkroom.
4 P.M. Vanity Fair story posts. Dems on
Twitter are jumping on some district-level
internal polling I got from a swing district
in Kansas. It shows Biden is beating
Trump in Kansas’ Third Congressional
District by 15 points. Clinton won it by a
point. As the saying goes, “So goes Olathe
. . . ” Seriously, if Trump is losing 2018
swing districts that badly, especially in
Kansas, it’s really hard to see him win-
ning.
My girlfriend is a Dodgers fan, so
‘News is just ambient for 6 P.M.
we’re having a couple people over to
our audience, sometimes watch the World Series on my deck.
politics is just
background noise, and
WEDNESDAY
they’re coming to us for
quick clarity and 8 A.M. We’re previewing the last debate for
tomorrow’s show. Trump has totally
authority on something steamrollered the Debate Commission. It’s
important.’ such a mothballed enterprise. At the same
time, it’s hard to see how Trump changes a
race that has been static since March.
9 A.M. When I write my scripts, my North
Star is really the low-information news
consumer. That’s not an insult. I try to
give casual news consumers just a few
facts to hang on to, and talk to them like a
normal person would, not a blow-dried TV
anchor. People talk a lot about the partisan
divide in our culture. But to me, one of the
biggest divisions is between people who
obsess about political news and those who
don’t.
12:30 P.M. Taped a segment about the
campaign for “Inside the Issues With Alex
Cohen,” a public affairs show here in L.A.
I’d rather do local news shows than cable.
The topics are usually different. We talked
about the youth vote, and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez going on Twitch as a get-
out-the-vote mechanism. We also chatted
about how Snapchat has built tools to help
register more than one million new voters,
which we’re pretty proud of.
2:45 P.M. Just got off a call with a big-name
journalist — I can’t say who — who is
leaving a prominent newsroom to start
something new and a bit more innovative.
I’m psyched to see more of this. I think the
stay-at-home element of the pandemic has
had this psychological effect of making
some entrepreneurial journalists realize
they don’t need to be tethered to a news-
room if they can come up with a new plan.
3:30 P.M. Had a planning call with my
production team for election night — or
nights. We’re filming “Good Luck Amer-
ica” from our studio in Santa Monica and
have some new tricks planned. Ten million
people watched our election night cover-
age in 2018. We want to blow it out this
time, especially since we might be in the
studio for a few days.
THURSDAY
9 A.M. Today is the final debate. Debate
days are kind of like election days, in that
you don’t have much to do until prime
time. You spend all day on Twitter, make
calls, text and just kind of wait around.
4 P.M. Called my grandma, a lifelong Re-
publican who lives in South Carolina, to
ask her about Lindsey Graham and Jaime
Harrison. She’s my best source. One time
she bought a scanner so she could digitize
and email me the direct-mail pieces she
gets. I haven’t seen her since the pan-
demic. It’s the worst.
6 P.M. Watching debates on the West Coast
is like watching sports on the West Coast.
It’s so nice to start early and be done
early.
7:45 P.M. Kristen Welker did great. The
mute button did great. Biden still has a
10-point lead, like he has since June. Noth-
ing changed it since, and nothing did
tonight. That is my boring take.
8 P.M. Taped and file-transferred my
episode. Now it’s on Charles to make it
sing. And it’s on me to open a bottle of
wine with a broken hand.
6 BU N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Renderings of Culdesac Tempe, outside Phoenix. The 17-acre development’s park, shops and co-working spaces will be open to the public. Apartments start at about $1,000 a month for a studio and $2,200 for a three-bedroom.

Don’t Even Think About Parking Here

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
efiting from the pandemic, as more Ameri-
cans consider working from home indefi-
nitely in cheaper cities. Culdesac says it ex-
pects the first residents will be able to move
into their apartments next year, with the
larger site completed by 2023 — a pedestri-
an oasis in the megalopolis known as the Ar-
izona Sun Belt.
To be fair, Tempe, the home of Arizona
State University, gets high marks for bike
friendliness and has seen a recent boom in
high-rise construction. But outside the cam-
pus area, it is very much a part of the re-
gion’s autoscape. Culdesac’s immediate
neighbors include an R.V. park, a mechanic,
a transmission shop and an auto-parts
store, and nearby apartment complexes —
the competition — are surrounded by park-
ing lots that shimmer in the three-digit heat.
The car-addicted reality of the area
makes Culdesac’s architectural renderings
both intriguing and a little hard to believe.
According to the images, neighbors will
lounge in communal courtyards and walk to
do their errands. Culdesac Tempe is directly
on a light-rail line to downtown Phoenix, but
residents may never need to leave: The
complex will feature its own grocery store,
coffee shop, restaurant, co-working space
and other amenities.
The 167 rowhouse-size apartment build-
ings will be broken up by wide pedestrian
malls, and there will be a half-acre park
where residents can walk their dogs and
stage picnics. A limited amount of parking
will be provided for outsiders who want to
visit friends or shop at the stores, but the
people who live there will have to rely on
public transit, bikes, ride-hailing apps,
scooters and the like to get around greater
Phoenix. Apartments start at about $1,000 a
month for a studio and $2,200 for a three-
bedroom, about in line with the area.
Because Culdesac’s founders come from
the technology industry, where no idea is
valid if it does not scale, the company’s
plans go way beyond Arizona. Ryan John-
son, a founder and Culdesac’s chief execu-
tive — he’s also the Tempe site’s first official
renter — said the multidecade goal was to
retrofit American cities and end car owner-
ship as we know it.
“After this one, we’re going to build some-
thing for 10,000 residents,” Mr. Johnson said
in an interview. After that: entire munici-
palities. “The vision of Culdesac,” he added,
“is to build the first car-free city in the U.S.”

Rent Checks and Bar Tabs

Mr. Johnson’s thesis, as laid out over a few
hours of recent Zoom calls, is that (a) the
future of American cities is the walkable ur-
banism found in New York and San Fran-
cisco but that (b) that future is headed to
the Sun Belt.
The coasts may dominate American cul-
ture now, but for decades the biggest
growth rates have been in sprawl-heavy
places like Atlanta, Houston and Phoenix.
The latter remains among the nation’s fast-
est-growing metropolitan areas, adding
about 750,000 people since 2010. With a total
population just under five million, Phoenix
has edged out Boston as the country’s 10th-
most-populous urban area.
Compare that with New York and Chi-
cago, which are losing population, and with
California, which continues to see a net out-
flow of middle-class residents to cheaper
cities beyond its borders. If you want to be
in the business of creating not just new
buildings but entire neighborhoods, you go
where demand is exploding, and that’s Ari-
zona.
Megan Woodrich might become one of
these coast-to-Sun-Belt transplants. “It’s
absolutely untenable here long term,” said
Ms. Woodrich, a teacher who lives in South
San Francisco — a suburb of 63,000 that sits
below its more famous neighbor — with her
husband and three children. The family is
considering a move to a cheaper place like
Arizona, but they want a walkable neigh-
borhood — a combination of desires that led
them to discover Culdesac. Ms. Woodrich is
on a list of 200 people who have expressed
early interest in the development.
Some economists and demographers
have derided Phoenix’s growth as cheap.
nounced that it was opening a research and
development office — full of the higher-paid
software engineers that tech companies
usually place in the Bay Area, Seattle and
New York — in the Phoenix area.
At the Culdesac site, the developers are
blending two ideas that usually have noth-
ing to do with each other. The project is both
an “infill” development that aims to sleeve
itself into the urban landscape, and a mas-
ter-planned community that recalls a Dis-
ney exhibition or a golf-and-condos parcel
in Florida.
The goal might be termed instant gentri-
fication: to open up with all the amenities
that make a place desirable, and hope that
they make the neighborhood a destination
overnight. The development’s park, shops
and co-working spaces will all be open to
the public, and every penny spent on site,
whether from a tenant’s rent check or an
outsider’s bar tab, will filter up to the same
company.
An Edge Case, Eerily Prescient
When Culdesac Tempe was announced, the
idea of a large, car-free development in Ari-
zona seemed like the extreme but plausible
edge of a long-term trend. Americans are
getting serious about reducing their carbon
footprint, and for years, cities across the
country have been rewriting their zoning
codes and building regulations to require ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NEW YORK TIM

They note that many of the jobs being creat-
ed are low-paid positions in sales and
customer service, the result of the local gov-
ernment’s encouraging corporations in
higher-tax states to move their back-office
operations.
But in the recovery since the subprime-
housing bust, which leveled the local econ-
omy and its construction-dependent job
growth, Phoenix has developed a budding
tech scene and started to attract jobs from
Silicon Valley. Zoom, the videoconferencing
app that has gone from little known to ubiq-
uitous during the pandemic, recently an-
fewer parking spots and encourage greater
density.
could attract. The great bulk of the city’s downtown offices at full capacity, and some
Outside urban cores, there has been a
working population has jobs requiring a car have told their staffs that they can accom-
parallel trend toward more duplexes, apart-
commute. Culdesac might have made a plish their tasks via videoconference for-
ments in shopping malls and “car-lite” de-
profit courting the subset that shunned au- ever. Suddenly, the Culdesac pitch — a Sun
velopments — building projects that ac-
knowledge most residents must drive to tomobiles and worked from home, but Belt development that caters to people who
work five mornings a week but may prefer there’s no disputing it would have been a work remotely and middle-class refugees
to walk or use transit for errands and subset. from the expensive and crowded coasts —
leisure. Even in Phoenix, the few relatively Then, of course, came the pandemic, started looking eerily prescient.
walkable neighborhoods command pre- causing tens of millions of Americans to be- Builders and urban planners have long
mium prices. gin telecommuting from their living rooms. denounced city-mandated parking min-
Still, there was probably going to be a Across the country, employers are re-evalu- imums — requiring projects to include one
ceiling on the number of tenants Culdesac ating whether they will ever reopen their or two spots per unit — as “apartment

ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
blockers” that raise the rent. Instead of
telling developers how many parking spots
to build, they argue, cities should allow
parking to be built according to demand.
The hope is that once residents see how
much a parking space is costing them (a
few hundred dollars a month in big cities),
they will be more apt to embrace car shar-
ing and public transit.
In 2018, Seattle passed a law requiring de-
velopers to unbundle the cost of parking
from the cost of rent, and other cities, in-
cluding Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Min-
neapolis; Austin, Texas; and San Francisco,
have approved buildings with minimal or no
parking for residents. Just a year after
Culdesac announced its Tempe develop-
ment, a more modest project — a 104-apart-
ment complex with just six units of parking
— was proposed in Charlotte, N.C. The de-
veloper, Grubb Properties, assembled a
spreadsheet of car-free buildings and devel-
opments for the City Council to consider.
Culdesac topped the list, which mostly con-
sisted of smaller, one-off projects.
The more common it becomes to sever
parking from development, the easier the
concept is to sell to tenants. “When other
developers get on board, it helps change the
mind-set of lenders and others who are
stuck in the traditional car-centric mental-
ity,” said Clay Grubb, Grubb’s chief execu-
tive. In mid-October, Charlotte’s Council ap-
MES
proved the project with a 6-to-5 vote.
The Petri Dish of Real Estate
Arizona — for all the scorn heaped upon it
by, ahem, car-despising coastal elites in pro-
fessions like journalism — is actually a mag-
net for housing innovation. Like the rest of
the West, the state boomed after World War
II, attracting residents and industries as
white Americans suburbanized and the
baby boom commenced.
In the dominant Phoenix region, which
accounts for about two-thirds of the state’s
population, growth was steered by a cabal
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
The people who eventually
live at Culdesac Tempe will
have to rely on public transit,
bikes, ride-hailing apps,
scooters and the like.
of civic boosters and Chamber of Commerce
men, who courted out-of-state employers
by hoovering up federal infrastructure dol-
lars and fostering a good “business climate”
— that is, they kept unions weak, taxes low
and regulation minimal.
The mix of fast growth and low-key rules
has given Phoenix a reputation for being
“the petri dish for housing experiments.”
It’s a great place to build because people are
constantly showing up. And because so
many houses look the same — terra-cotta
roof, rock lawn by the driveway, and exteri-
ors in your choice of tan, tan or tan — the
region emerged from the housing bust with
a reputation for being one of the easiest
places in America to gauge the price of a
home.
In the aftermath of the Great Recession,
when investors built single-family-home
empires from the wreckage of a mortgage
crisis, the Phoenix region was one of the
first markets where institutional buyers
started amassing foreclosed properties.
More recently, Phoenix also became a test
market for an emerging class of “iBuying”
(short for instant buying) companies, in-
cluding Redfin, Zillow, Offerpad and Open-
door, which hope to upset the traditional
broker model by offering home sellers
quick cash offers, then flipping the proper-
ties back on the market.
Arizona is so encouraging of new real es-
tate schemes that its Commerce Authority
has a program, Property Technology Sand-
box, in which companies can apply to test
new ideas to buy, sell and develop without
having to get the usual licenses. It’s a place
that attracts builders because the local atti-
tude seems to be “Eh, give it a try.”
Unlike so many other Arizonans, Mr.
Johnson is actually from here. He grew up
in Phoenix and was one of those kids who
spent hours building rail networks and sky-
scrapers in SimCity. Being a good student
and interested in software and public tran-
sit, Mr. Johnson expected that he would at-
tend the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology or some other elite university in a
dense, Eastern city.
Instead, he went to the University of Ari-
zona with a full-ride scholarship plus
$50,000. This came from the Flinn Founda-
tion, whose elite Flinn Scholars program
aims to keep smart locals from leaving the
state.
Mr. Johnson used the $50,000 to invest in
the Tucson rental market, then left for a suc-
cession of out-of-town jobs in consulting, fi-
nance and in public service, the latter at
Ryan Johnson, left, is a founder
of Culdesac and its chief
executive — and the Tempe
site’s first official renter. He
said he hadn’t owned a car in
10 years. The development will
be by a light-rail line, above
and below left, with service to
downtown Phoenix, but
residents may never need to
leave: The complex will have
its own grocery store, coffee
shop and other amenities.
ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation
Authority. In San Francisco, he joined Open-
door, and in 2018 started Culdesac with Jeff
Berens, his college roommate.
“What we saw at Opendoor,” Mr. Johnson
said, “was there is enormous demand for
walkable neighborhoods, and with all these
innovations in transportation, ride sharing,
scooters, et cetera, we realized that there
was a way to build it. So we said, ‘Where can
we build a new type of walkable neighbor-
hood?’”
Doing this would require three things:
raising money, finding land and getting a
city to let them do it. The first two could be
satisfied anywhere. The last required a
place with a loose approach to housing reg-
ulation. However much Arizona is associ-
ated with sprawl, the Phoenix region is ac-
tually a builder of everything — towering
condos, garden apartment complexes, golf
course villas.
The company approached Tempe with its
plans in 2018 and by late last year had a de-
velopment agreement that allowed it to
build the project without residential park-
ing so long as the residents were prohibited
from parking nearby. With that, Mr. John-
son went home. Soon the company followed
him: In May, Culdesac canceled its office
lease in San Francisco and instituted a re-
mote work policy. A half-dozen of the com-
pany’s 20 employees have since moved to
the Phoenix area.
Cheap, but Tethered to Transit
Before Culdesac’s backhoe went in, the
Tempe site was a neighborhood eyesore.
The ground consisted of dirt and broken
glass. On top of it stood abandoned build-
ings with stray wires and punched-out win-
dows. Standing there in early February, I
imagined it being the site of a dystopia-
themed paintball war or a great place for
teenagers to vape.
This is, of course, how developers make
money: They see potential where others
don’t, and profit through the timeless
process of turning land that is worth little
into land that is worth a lot. But I wondered
how viable Culdesac’s expansion prospects
were beyond the sure-why-not regulatory
ethos of Arizona. Even if the Tempe project
is a success, it’s unclear how many times
Culdesac can assemble large, underutilized
lots along existing transit lines and per-
suade cities to let them rezone with the ea-
gerness that Tempe did.
I asked Mr. Berens to show me Culdesac’s
potential development sites in other cities,
and he agreed on the condition that I de-
scribe them only generally. Recently, over
Zoom, he took me on a satellite tour of five
metro areas: Denver, Washington, Dallas,
Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C.
The common element was that the sites
were miles from the central business dis-
trict but still (with the exception of Raleigh)
proximal to a rail line. Their neighbors were
industrial yards and towing companies and
car dealers. Imagine riding a subway from
downtown, in the direction of the airport,
and looking out the window as you reach a
N BU 7
RENDERINGS BY CULDESAC
stop on the industrial edge of the city.
That’s the sort of spot Culdesac is seek-
ing: places that can be bought cheap, cov-
ered with hundreds or thousands of new
homes, and made to feel that they are con-
nected to the heart of the city because a new
generation of tenants fundamentally em-
braces transit — or maybe doesn’t want to
go into the heart of the city at all.
Doing this will require lots of money and
lots of interests, pools of debt and equity
that developers assemble into a “capital
stack” that lays out who is paid for what and
when. If Culdesac is successful, it will oper-
ate like a franchise or chain hotel that links
several individual companies through one
brand.
One of those companies, Culdesac Inc.,
has raised $17 million from venture-capital
firms including Khosla Ventures, Zigg Capi-
tal and Initialized Capital. That company
plans to serve as the developer and prop-
erty manager for the series of limited liabil-
ity companies that make up an individual
project, which in turn will be funded by indi-
vidual investors and bank debt. Culdesac
Tempe, for instance, is being developed
with Sunbelt Holdings, a local developer,
and Encore Capital Management, a real es-
tate investment firm, which raised most of
the equity for the $170 million project’s con-
struction.
The Discontinuity Hypothesis
We are living in a moment of extreme dis-
ruption. (And that’s a sentence I’m typing
before the outcome of the presidential elec-
tion is known.) People are changing how
they live, where they work, how they get
there or if they get there at all. The process
of getting back to normal is likely to be more
disruptive still. Billions of people will create
new habits, and no matter what happens,
many of them will stick.
For whatever reason, changing ad-
dresses seems to open people to further
change. In studies of military families, one
of the few groups of people who are shifted
around at random, researchers have found
that marriage and children are often associ-
ated with long-distance moves.
“There is something about being told that
you are going to be moving across the coun-
try that forces you to re-evaluate other big
decisions in your life,” said Abigail Wozniak,
an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank
of Minneapolis who studies migration.
This “discontinuity hypothesis” seems to
apply to environmental habits as well. A
study in Copenhagen found that when driv-
ers were nudged to take public transit, the
nudge worked best with people who had re-
cently changed addresses. Movers also
seem more open to recycling more, con-
serving water and reducing electricity use.
There seems to be a sweet spot, sometime
within three months of a move, when peo-
ple’s habits are upset and they open them-
selves to the possibilities of new ones.
To build anticipation for the opening in
Tempe, Culdesac has been hosting semireg-
ular video calls with prospective residents,
who give input on the final design. Talking
about bike-rack design or the rules of a fu-
ture community garden, they come off as
the urban-planning equivalent of the fanat-
ics and early adopters who stand in long
lines for “Star Wars” movies and Apple
products.
Demographically, they mirror the two
groups that have been credited with the
past three decades of urban revitalization:
young professionals like Ms. Woodrich, and
empty nesters like Reynolds-Anthony Har-
ris, a 67-year-old business consultant who
lives in the Minneapolis area and is also
considering a move to Phoenix.
“There are some of us who have no inter-
est or desire whatsoever to be in a segre-
gated senior citizens’ community,” he said.
“That, to me, is the fastest way to the
grave.”
Whatever the age, they also all seem in-
terested in a kind of self-imposed shock and
the discovery of something new.
Daniel Moreh, a software engineer in
Oakland, Calif., isn’t even interested in Tem-
pe itself. He’s heard nice things; he knows it
has a university. The real appeal of Culde-
sac is the idea of being part of something
new.
The start-up bug is something people
take with them everywhere, so he uses
phrases like “co-create the culture,” and he
expects that the first few months of living
there will echo the feeling of traveling and
making easy friends. “There’s not an estab-
lished hierarchy of ‘Hey, I can’t talk to you
yet,’” he said.
“It’s a bunch of people who are willing to
pick up whatever they had in their life and
move to try this thing,” he added. “I don’t
know who they are yet, but that sounds like
a group of people I would be interested in
meeting.”
8 BU N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
A Podcast
Answers
A Fast-Food
Question,
If You Care
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
falsely claimed was the show’s sponsor.
“Squarespace,” Mr. Thompson said, in a
cheery version of a monotone at the end of
the pitch. “Make website easy.”
Then he uploaded the first episode of the
“Whatever Happened to Pizza at McDon-
ald’s?” podcast to iTunes.
That was 177 episodes ago.
What started as a lark meant to amuse
himself and his girlfriend has evolved into
something far richer — a deadpan satire
about podcasts, the business of podcasting
and the quirks of investigative journalism.
“Whatever” has a core audience of about
30,000 listeners, one of whom tattooed a
pizza slice and the words “Thank you for
your candor” above her ankle, a phrase Mr.
Thompson intones after interviews that
have shed little light. The show has spun off
an online version of a board game and a self-
published book (“How to Be an Investiga-
tive Journalist”), and Mr. Thompson has
shot a TV pilot episode that his manager is
shopping around Hollywood.
While attempting to unravel the “mys-
tery” of McPizza, Mr. Thompson has turned
doggedness into a kind of performance art.
He has traveled to a remote Alaskan island
to study an abandoned McDonald’s and
walked up to the gate of the White House,
where he tried to enlist the help of President
Trump, a noted fan of fast food.
He has had bizarre, occasionally illumi-
nating conversations with dozens of people,
including a saleswoman at an aerial adver-
tising company. (He wanted to fly a banner
reading, “Do you know McDonald’s used to
serve pizza? Well, it is true. They indeed did
serve pizza.” But the quote was out of his
price range.)
One trick to keeping this enterprise alive
and entertaining is Mr. Thompson’s refusal
to accept answers to the show’s titular ques-
tion, which he had learned by Episode 5.
McPizza failed for reasons that should have
seemed evident before it was rolled out: It’s
way, way off brand, and it didn’t bake fast
enough to keep pace with the rest of the
menu.
Pretty simple.
No way, Mr. Thompson said. Actually, all
the talking on the show is done by a charac-
ter played by Mr. Thompson, an earnest, ea-
ger naïf, also named Brian Thompson, who
regards himself as an intrepid seeker of
truth and seems to think he’s digging into a
riddle for the ages.
“My character has always refused to be-
lieve reality,” Mr. Thompson said during a
phone interview. “And that kind of opened
up the possibility that the show could be
anything I want.”
A Trip to the Bering Sea
McDonald’s, it turns out, is the ideal corpo-
rate foil for this absurdist spoof. Company
spokesmen have never returned a single
one of Mr. Thompson’s calls, allowing the
show to imply that something dark and con-
spiratorial is at play.
The show is also sustained by events and
coincidences that are easily given a sinister
cast. Early on, Mr. Thompson learned that a
McDonald’s in Pomeroy, Ohio, was the last
franchise in the country still serving the
pizza, and he raised money through In-
diegogo to fly there and try it. (He described
it as “at least as good as Little Caesars.”)
He wondered how the place kept selling
an item that others in the chain didn’t offer.
Once again, definitive answers were elusive
because the franchise owner would not
speak to him. (This reporter fared no better.
Reached by phone and asked about the sin-
gular longevity of McPizza in Pomeroy, a
supervisor at the restaurant, Kevin Math-
eny, said, “We’re not at liberty to answer
that question.”)
BRIAN THOMPSON
On the podcast, Brian
Thompson (above, right and
below) plays an earnest, eager
naïf, also named Brian
Thompson, who regards
himself as an intrepid seeker of
truth and seems to think he’s
digging into a riddle for the
ages.
Several months after Mr. Thompson’s vis-
it, the McDonald’s in Pomeroy stopped sell-
ing McPizza. The podcast depicted this as
retaliation against the show, a shameless ef-
fort to curtail old-fashioned muckraking.
This makes sense only in the mind of
“Brian Thompson,” whose baseline as-
sumption is that McDonald’s ought to again
sell pizza because people love it and be-
cause the company is in business to make
money. Hence, any rationale for the prod-
uct’s demise is under suspicion.
To Mr. Thompson’s delight, he keeps un-
earthing new rationales for the product’s
cancellation. At one point, he heard about a
McDonald’s in Adak, Alaska, a largely de-
serted island in the middle of the Bering
‘I don’t want this to be a prank
show, as much as I love prank
shows. I really want to be the
dumbest person in the room at
all times.’
BRIAN THOMPSON
BRIAN THOMPSON
Sea.
For years, Adak was a Cold War outpost
for Army and Navy barracks, but it was de-
commissioned in the early 1990s, and the
McDonald’s there was abandoned. Last
year, Mr. Thompson raised money online to
travel the 3,100 miles there, hoping that the
husk of a restaurant would contain his Holy
Grail: a McDonald’s pizza oven.
He flew to Anchorage, then took a once-a-
week, three-hour flight to Adak. After land-
ing, he went straight to the McDonald’s and
was disappointed to see it had been boarded
up — there was no way inside. The trip
seemed a grand bust.
But as Mr. Thompson prepared to leave
the island, his Airbnb host suggested he call
a guy named Larry, who, it turned out, had
once found a pizza oven in a derelict bowl-
ing alley. Evidently, it had been hauled out of
the defunct McDonald’s. Larry determined
it had been made for McDonald’s by Gar-
land Commercial Industries, a company in
Freeland, Pa.
To “Brian Thompson,” this was a break-
through on a par with the formulation of the
laws of thermodynamics. He called Gar-
land, and a representative put him in touch
with a service tech in Cleveland who had
once repaired McDonald’s ovens. Unlike
the corporate P.R. department, this guy was
chatty.
“They were only in McDonald’s for
roughly two to three years because of the
difficulty to program them,” the tech said on
Episode 143. “I don’t even think there’s pro-
gram manuals for it.”
And thus, to Mr. Thompson’s delight,
three years into the show, he had added an-
other reason that McDonald’s killed pizza —
the ovens were a fiasco.
“Armed with this treasure trove of dan-
gerous information,” he said, ending the
episode, “I shall continue my investigation
next week.”
‘Dumbest Person in the Room’
As funny as the show is, it can induce
winces, particularly when Mr. Thompson is
talking to minimum-wage workers, who
have little choice but to treat the oddball on
the phone diplomatically. It’s a pitfall Mr.
Thompson is acutely aware of and tries to
avoid by making himself the butt of every
joke.
“I don’t want this to be a prank show, as
much as I love prank shows,” he said. “I re-
ally want to be the dumbest person in the
room at all times.”
Mr. Thompson grew up in northeast Loui-
siana and originally hoped to write fiction.
He segued to stand-up comedy after gradu-
ating from college, then started a daily sci-
ence news podcast in his late 20s.
That landed him a job with a science edu-
cation nonprofit in Los Angeles, which
quickly imploded. He started performing
and writing for the Upright Citizens
Brigade, a comedy group, and has spent re-
cent years writing for TV comedies and do-
ing voice-over work.
MICHELLE GROSKOPF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Nothing he’s done, though, has resonated
like his podcast. The day after he posted the
first episode, he checked a Twitter account
he had set up for the show and found a batch
of enthusiastic messages. This included a
tweet from John Darnielle of the indie rock
band the Mountain Goats, who wrote:
“New favorite thing alert.”
“To me, it’s a show about branding and
the way podcasting has grown,” Mr.
Darnielle said in an interview. “We watched
it go from an industry with no real bound-
aries, no rules about how you do it, to a me-
dium that was trying to emulate what TV
was, with umbrella companies with seven
podcasts.”
In the years since Mr. Thompson began
“Whatever,” the business of podcasting has
boomed, with shows and podcast networks
snapped up in deals worth millions. Mr.
Thompson has no beef with money, and he
recoups his costs — about $100 a month in
podcast hosting fees — through ads auto-
matically added to the show. But he’s irked
by podcasts that blur the commercial and
editorial by having hosts read advertise-
ments, a throwback to TV’s early days.
It’s a practice he lampoons on “What-
ever.” In each episode, he writes an ad for a
real company that hasn’t paid him a cent,
including Audible and Spotify. For a while,
he called the podcast “ZipRecruiter
Presents Whatever Happened to Pizza at
McDonald’s.” Then ZipRecruiter sent a
cease-and-desist letter.
Sometimes Mr. Thompson will satirize
the topic of a popular podcast, which, in one
memorable instance, yielded unexpected
treasure. When Season 2 of “Serial,” now
owned by The New York Times, focused on
Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier who
went AWOL in Afghanistan, Mr. Thompson
did episodes about a fictional soldier who
wandered off a base in search of McPizza.
He started reporting on the subject of Mc-
Donald’s in Afghanistan — and to his
amazement, he found a real employee at an
Afghan embassy who told him that all over
the country, there were bootleg fast-food
restaurants selling food based on under-
ground recipes, including McPizza.
“This gave me the idea that maybe the
recipe for McPizza was floating out there on
the black market at some point,” Mr.
Thompson said.
It’s just one of many leads he plans to fol-
low up, which could keep him busy for a
long time. There’s a middle school in Utah
that years ago buried a time capsule with
some kind of McPizza variant that came in a
wrapper. He’ll need to visit. And recently,
Mr. Thompson heard about a McDonald’s
on a barge that opened in Vancouver,
British Columbia, for Expo 86 — around the
time of the pizza’s debut.
“My dream would be to take scuba diving
lessons and search underwater where this
barge was located during the fair,” he said.
“I want to do an episode about looking for
evidence of McDonald’s pizza on the bottom
of the river.”

The
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W. Boy Scout Blvd, Tampa, FL 33607.
Advisory Software Engineer, IBM Cor-
poration, Armonk, NY and various un-
anticipated client sites throughout the
US: Design and implement core back-
end API Connect software com-
ponents. Drive requirements for secur-
ity features and functionalities
throughout lifecycle, including ar-
chitecture, design, implementation,
testing, support, and maintenance.
Drive development integration across
cross-disciplinary teams. Plan projects.
Review design and code. Analyze and
improve product efficiency, scalability,
and stability. Debug issues. Fix bugs.
Improve user experience. Utilize pro-
gramming languages, data structures
and algorithms, database technologies,
security standards and protocols, web
technologies, software tools, and pro-
gramming methodologies. Required:
Master's degree or equivalent in Com-
puter Science, Engineering, or related
(employer will accept a Bachelor's de-
gree plus five (5) years of progressive
experience in lieu of a Master's de-
gree) and one (1) year of experience as
an Engineer or related. One (1) year of
experience must include utilizing pro-
gramming languages, data structures
and algorithms, database technologies,
security standards and protocols, web
technologies, software tools, and pro-
gramming methodologies. Please send
resumes to recruitad@us.ibm.com. Ap-
plicants must reference W306 in the
subject line.
Analyst,Developer-Engage in Data
Analytics Projects for multi teams, col-
laborating to understand and imple-
ment business requirements. Create
Data-Flows of the end-user application
to understand different data adaptors
and layouts. Develop an interactive an-
alytics dashboard for business team.
Requires a Master's degree in Compu-
ter Science, Information Systems, or
related discipline. Requires minimum 1
year of software development exper-
ience. Experience must have included:
Oracle SQL Database, SQL Developer,
PL/SQL, Oracle OBIEE Reporting,
XML Publisher, BI Publisher, Java,
Java Servlet Pages(JSP),HTML,CSS,
Tableau, & Eclipse.Apply online: http://
bgcpartners.referrals.selectminds.
com/. Requisition # 20001721- An EOE.
Make sense of the news, every day,
with David Leonhardt.
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nytimes.com/themorning
Help Wanted 2600
Analyst, Quantitative Modeling w/ S&P
OPCO LLC in NY, NY. Perform analyti-
cal research on companies to deter-
mine the composition of the index, ad-
justing data in our calculation system,
& adjusting the data to conform to the
rules of the index. The position reqs a
Master's deg (US or foreign equiv) in
Math, Stats, Fin, Quant Fin, Math Fin,
Econ, or rel. The position also reqs
working knowledge of the following
skills gained through coursework or
exp: VBA; C++, Python, R or MATLAB;
Stochastic Calculus, Partial Differential
Equations, Monte-Carlo Methods, Fi-
nite Difference Methods, & Numerical
Algorithms; Model validation/calibra-
tion & back-testing models; equity mkt,
commodity, bond & derivative pricing;
& SQL.Qualified Applicants: Email re-
sumes to PeopleMovementSupport
@spglobal.com & ref the job code
257313. S&P Global is an equal opportu-
nity employer committed to making all
employment decisions w/out regard to
race/ethnicity, gender, pregnancy,
gender identity or expression, color,
creed, religion, national origin, age, dis-
ability, marital status (incl domestic
partnerships & civil unions), sexual or-
ientation, military veteran status, un-
employment status, or any other basis
prohibited by federal, state or local law.
Only electronic job submissions will be
considered for employment. If you
need an accommodation during the ap-
plication process due to a disability,
please send an email to:
EEO.Compliance@spglobal.com & rld fld & 5 yrs of prgrssv, post-bacc exp ses; managing pre- & post- auction learning models that classify & predict gerprinting may apply. For application
your request will be forwarded to the
appropriate person. The EEO is the
Law Poster http://www.dol.gov/ofccp
/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost
.pdf describes discrimination protec-
tions under federal law.
Analyst, Quantitative Modeling w/ S&P
OPCO LLC in NY, NY. Perform analyti-
cal research on companies to deter-
mine the composition of the index, ad-
justing data in our calculation system,
& adjusting the data to conform to the
rules of the index. Position reqs a Mast-
er's deg (US or foreign equiv) in Math,
Stats, Fin, Math Fin, Econ, or rel. Must
have working knowledge of the follow-
ing skills gained through coursework or
exp: VBA; C++, Python, R or MATLAB;
Stochastic Calculus, Partial Differential
Equations, Monte-Carlo Methods, Fi-
nite Difference Methods, & Numerical
Algorithms; Model validation/calibra-
tion and back-testing models; Equity
mkt, commodity, bond & derivative
pricing; & SQL. Qualified Applicants:
Email resumes to
PeopleMovementSupport@spglobal.
com & ref the job code 256913. S&P Glo-
bal is an equal opportunity employer
committed to making all employment
decisions w/out regard to race/ethnici-
ty, gender, pregnancy, gender identity
or expression, color, creed, religion, na-
tional origin, age, disability, marital sta-
tus (incl domestic partnerships & civil
unions), sexual orientation, military ve-
teran status, unemployment status, or
any other basis prohibited by federal,
state or local law. Only electronic job
submissions will be considered for em-
ployment. If you need an accommoda-
tion during the application process due
to a disability, please send an email to:
EEO.Compliance@spglobal.com & methdlgiess, incl Income, Mkt, & COMPUTER
your request will be forwarded to the
appropriate person. The EEO is the
Law Poster http://www.dol.gov /of-
ccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/
eeopost.pdf describes discrimination
protections under federal law.
ANALYST
Bottega Veneta Inc. is hiring a Sr
Retail Business Analyst in NYC 10004
to implement CRM analytics pro-
grams. Requires travel, 15% domestic,
10% abroad. Send resume to
michele.mongero@
bottegaveneta.com
A Newsletter
Help Wanted 2600
Application Architect, IBM Corpora-
tion, Armonk, NY and various unantici-
pated client sites throughout the US:
Work with clients to understand their
business and technical needs. Develop
application design documents for pro-
posed solutions to meet business re-
quirements. Lead onshore and off-
shore development teams to deliver
technical solutions. Create end-to-end
compensation workflows and test ca-
ses for developed products. Conduct
code reviews. Monitor and support ap-
plication build and deployment process
during system testing and production
implementation. Work with network
teams to validate environment stabili-
ty. Work with interface application
teams to resolve issues in testing and
production environments. Write scripts
for compensation calculation rules to
generate accurate payment reports.
Document project metrics and create
process compliance documents. Utilize
Oracle PL/SQL, shell scripting, Callidus
Truecomp Compensation Tool, ICM
(Incentive Compensation Manage-
ment) Tool, Informatica Power Center,
Alteryx Designer, and Actuate Report-
ing. Required: Master's degree or equi-
valent in Computer Science, Engineer-
ing, Mathematics, or related (employer
will accept a Bachelor's degree plus
five (5) years of progressive exper-
ience in lieu of a Master's degree) and
one (1) year of experience as a Techni-
cal Lead, Software Engineer, or relat-
ed. One (1) year of experience must in-
clude utilizing Oracle PL/SQL, shell
scripting, Callidus Truecomp Compen-
sation Tool, ICM (Incentive Compensa-
tion Management) Tool, Informatica
Power Center, Alteryx Designer, and
Actuate Reporting. Please send re-
sumes to recruitad@us.ibm.com. Appli-
cants must reference W303 in the sub-
ject line.
Architectural Lighting Design Project
Manager(NY,NY)Create/delivr lightng
desgn solutns. Coord desgn projct
wrkflow w/ intrnal design/extrnal projct
teams.Dvlp concept'l design, render-
ings, & light'g cnsrctn docs. Reqs: Mast-
er's arch., arch't eng'g, or lightng
desgn, & 1 yr exp in arch'l lightng
desgn. Prof w/ artistic/tech aspcts of
lightng desgn, incl concept dvlpmt, ex-
ploratry illustratns, 3D docs, luminan-
ce/illuminance calcs, buildng code-
/compliance standrds, specs prep, con-
structn drawngs, budgt trackng, & anly-
sis of cost; & w/ Rhino, Revit, Autocad,
Adobe InDesgn, Adobe Photoshp,
Adobe Illustratr, AGI 32, Elumtools,
Grasshoppr, Unity, & Bluebeam. It-
nl/domes. trvel to projct sites. Res: Of-
fice for Visual Interaction, Inc.,
careers@oviinc.com
Architectural Designer:
STUDIOS Architecture seeks an Ar-
chitectural Designer in New York, NY
to perform architectural assignments
on medium to large scale core and
shell and interior architecture projects
under direction of senior-level licensed
architects. Develop design ideas, per-
form design computations, prepare
renderings, drawings. For full job de-
scription, or to apply, email resumes to
ny-careers@studios.com.
Assistant Vice President, Data Analyst
(Anchorage Capital Group,
L.L.C.)(New York, NY): Assist & com-
pletemt the firms investment research
and trading functions by acquiring and
analyzg strcturd & unstrcturd data to
derive & provide actionbl invstmt in-
sights. Reqs a Bach degree or foreign
equiv in math, comp sci, or reltd quant
field. Reqs 2 yrs of exp in a data anlytcs
or quant resrch role. Exp must incl:
wrkg w/ & anlyzg lge data sets;
perfrmg quant resrch usg strcturd &
unstrctred data to generate insights &
hi-qual forecasts; wrkg w/ statisticl &
ecnmic tchnqs utilizd in forcstg reslts,
incl predctv modls, confidnce intrvls, &
biases; & dtbse queryg langs incl Table-
au and SQL. Send res to Anchorage Ca-
pital Group, L.L.C., Attn: L. Thurber, Di-
rector of HR, 610 Broadway, Fl 6, NY,
NY 10012.
Associate: Morgan Stanley Fund Servi-
ces, Inc. is hiring for following role in
Purchase, NY: Associate to serve as
point of contact for hedge fund clients,
coord'g client relationships. Req's rel
degree &/or exp &/or skills. For more
info & to apply, visit http://www.
morganstanley.com/about/careers/
careersearch.html Scroll down & enter
3154441 as “Job Number” & click
“Search jobs.” No calls pls. EOE
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N BU 9
Capital Wanted 3402
UNIONDALE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Uniondale, Long Island, New York
INVESTORS WANTED HIGH ROI
NEW TECHNOLOGY ANTICIPATED VACANCIES
ENVIRONMENTAL RECYCLING
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
COMPANY (516) 319-6018
Purpose Statement: The job of Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources was
established for the purposes of developing, implementing, and maintaining the District’s
Human Resource services; serving as a resource to other administrators, employees,
applicants, the Superintendent, and the Board of Education; and directing program
operations including planning, staffing, budgeting and complying with established
requirements. This job reports to the Superintendent of Schools.
Qualifications:
Earned Master’s Degree or higher required
G
Minimum of five years of administrative experience
G
Valid NYS SDA/SDL- School District Administrator/Leader certification required
G
Knowledge of the principles and practices of public school systems and
G
human resource program
Strong knowledge of data analysis to maintain a budget for staffing
G
Ability to work with collective bargaining contracts and interpret basic
Recipes.
G
contractual provisions
Ability to effectively serve as liaison between the Board of Education,
G
employee unions, and community partnerships
Advice. Demonstrated knowledge of APPR process
G
Strong evidence of knowledge of Civil Service mandates and requirements
G
Ability to manage recruitment and staffing, licensure, employee performance,
G
Inspiration. leadership development, equity, and employee relations
Ability to update and maintain employee records including attendance, tenure,
G
certification, and professional development (CTLE hours); using an electronic platform
Flexibility to connect and work with the community in a wide variety of circumstances
G
Essential Functions:
Participates in collective bargaining processes for the purpose of assisting
G
district negotiation of labor agreements
Oversees all advertising of jobs and job postings
G
Engages in legal issues pertaining to HR including investigation of grievances and/or
G
complaints from employees (e.g. harassment, pay and/or assignment disputes, etc.)
for the purpose of reaching resolutions that provide a healthy work environment
Attends Board meetings and prepares such reports for the Board as required by
G
the Superintendent of Schools
Attends PTA Council and other parent meetings to support and encourage
G
parental participation
Researches information required to manage assignments including reviewing relevant
G
policies, current practices, staffing requirements, financial resources, legal
requirements, etc. for the purpose of developing new programs and services and
providing leadership and administrative direction for human resources
Assists the Superintendent of Schools in the implementation and coordination of
G
the District’s professional development program
Verifies teacher and administrator certifications
G
Serves as a resource to other District personnel in ensuring the authenticity of
G
the teacher evaluation process
Recruits and hires instructional and non-instructional personnel
G
Collaborates with Universities and Schools of Education to recruit
G
appropriate candidates
Supervises the District’s Student Teaching Program
G
Ensures tenure compliance
G
Other Duties as Assigned by the Superintendent of Schools
G
TEACHERS
G Elementary G Technology G Permanent and Per-Diem Substitutes
SUBSTITUTES
Accepting applications for all other areas
What to cook for Appropriate NYS Certification Required
anyone, anytime. Application Deadline: November 13, 2020
Discover expert-tested On-Line Application Required: www.olasjobs.org/longisland
recipes and more. Uniondale Public Schools is an Equal Opportunity Employer
A Service Provided by Nassau BOCES
nytcooking.com
Announcing
Announcements
Celebrate births,
engagements, weddings,
anniversaries and
more in The Times.
Call 1-800-238-4637.
Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600
Associate: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Associate - Trading sought by Bank of Computer/IT: Test Engineering Mana- CONSULTANT Specialty Services Director sought by Engineering Manager @ AlphaSights
Meagher & Flom LLP seeks Associate America Corporation to perform hedg- ger (Accenture LLP; New York, NY): Sr Integration Consultant MUFG Union Bank, N.A. in NY, NY to Inc. (NY, NY) F/T - Oversee team of
in NY, NY to represent issuers, under- ing of $13BB commodity index & $1BB plan, construct, and execute test scripts RichRelevance, Inc. has an opening in apply structured methodology to as- SW Engrs dvlping innovtive search in-
writers, security holders & purchasers FX index swaps book, coordinating through the use of quality processes New York, NY. Sr Integration Consul- signed bus internal consulting project trfaces to make data discovry smarter,
on domestic & international capital across global products, regions, & exe- and methodologies for Accenture or tant (Project Lead): estimation, execu- engagements & supv 1-3 VPs & Asso- faster & more efficient. Research &
mrkts transactions. Reqs J.D., or equiv, cution facilities. Reqs: Bach degree or clients. Reqs bach or foreign equiv + 5 tion & support. Submit resume through ciates on project engagements. Req. build SW-based prodcts/tech to imprve
& at least 2 yrs of exp representing is- equiv. & 2 yrs exp. in: Programming, yrs IT exp. In lieu of bach, 3 yrs study the RichRelevance website at: Bach deg in BusAdmin, MIS, Comp Sci search functns, discovry processes &
suers, underwriters, security holders & both local & parallel, on some form of twds US bach + 3 yrs IT exp. Positions https://www.richrelevance.com/ or rel or foreign equiv deg (ER will ac- perfrm predictve analyses. Leverage
purchasers on domestic & internation- cloud collaborative environment, pre- are based in New York, NY but intl about/careers/ EOE cept 3-yrs univ ed & 3-yrs work exp in Machine Learning, Statistical Modeling
al capital mrkts transactions, incl pub- ferably in Python with a focus on objec- travel is required up to 80% of avg lieu of Bach deg) + 10 yrs exp providing & Natural Language Processing to de-
lic & pvt offerings of equity (incl initial t-oriented coding; Calculating investib- work week. Equal Opportunity Em- Credit Restructuring Officer w/ ING in global fin'l firms incl large multination- tect & analyze patterns in very large
New York, NY. Responsible for the de- al banks & fin'l institutions w/IT adviso-
public offerings), high-yield & invstmnt le systematic strategies with underly- ployer - Minorities/Women/Vets/Dis- datasets. Lead SW dvlpmt lifecycle,
grade debt securities, exchange offers, ing across multiple derivatives such as abled. For complete job description, velopment of recovery strategies for ry & consulting svcs in broad range of create prodct roadmaps & drive tech
classified loans and the representation risk & regy compliance areas incl
tender offers, consent solicitations, & futures & options in at least one major list of requirements, & to apply, go strategies. Contact: Anna Wajda, Al-
bridge & acquisition fin'g commit- asset class (equities, commodities, to https://www.accenture.com/us-en/ of the institution in negotiations with AML, KYC & CDD, sanctions & pay- phaSights Inc, 350 Madison Ave, 12th Fl,
borrowers and other lender classes. ment screening, brokerage com-
ments w/in Fin'l Srvcs, Biotechnology, etc.) Job Site: New York, NY. careers/jobsearch (Job #00861819). NY, NY 10017.
Natural Resources, Gaming & Enter- Ref#4684926 & submit resume to Bank Rqmts: Bachelor's degree in Business pliance & surveillance; exp w/fraud -
Administration or Finance. Must have employee, card, deposit, payment &
tainment, & Internet & E-Commerce of America Corporation, 1114 Avenue Finance: UBS AG seeks Directors, Au-
sectors. Prior exp must incl at least 2 of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. Computer Science, Technology minimum 5 years of experience per- mobile; defining & dsgng bus, function-
dit Experts, Capital Markets in Stam-
yrs of exp drafting principal transac- No phone calls or emails. EOE. Amazon Web Services, Inc. seeks can- forming credit and financial risk and al & tech rqts, providing system selec- ford, CT to lead or execute regional or
tion docs, & communicating w/ clients, didates for the following (multiple posi- sensitivity analysis; performing finan- tion & implmtn support & SDLC, quality global audits of sales & trading & capi-
cial statement modelling and analysis
stock exchange, & all transaction par- Senior Bioinformatics Analyst (F/T) tions available) in NewYork, NY: based on GAAP; reviewing and nego- assurance & testing, prgm/project tal mrkt desks incl derivatives in
ties; performing legal research & draft- sought by Albert Einstein College of Professional Services II (Job Code tiating loans and documentation; and mgmt & implmtn planning; exp work- invstmnt bank on risk-basis. Req'mnts:
ing legal memoranda on a wide range
of transactional & securities law-rel.
Medicine (Bronx, NY) Prov biz anal. 20273.6602.5). Research and implement establishing client relationships. Send ing w/at least 1 of the following tech
novel machine learning and statistical platforms in the fin'l svcs compliance
Bachelor's or equiv in Bus., Finance,
Imp spt for biomed research. Req: Accnt'g, Fin'l Risk Mgmt or rel. field & 5
issues; negotiating high yield covenant resume to ING, Human Resources Re-
Bach deg in Biomed sci, Bioinform, approaches to add value to the busi- cruitment Dept, 1133 Ave of the Ameri- or fin'l crime domains; Nice Actimize, yrs of exp in job offered or rel. position:
packages for first time issuers & anlyzg Comp sci, Mngmt info sys, Eng. (All) or ness. Domestic travel required 40% of cas, NY, NY 10036. Must refer to job Oracle Mantas or Pega & Data Analy- leading regional & global audits; per-
existing high yield covenant packages rltd field + must have 3 years of exp. E- the time. Mail CV to: Amazon, PO Box tics tools such as SQL; 3 yrs exp must forming risk assessing & rating sales &
CROLF.
for proposed transactions; advising O/AA EMPLOYER. Mail CV to A. Pa- 81226, Seattle, Washington 98108, refer- incl exp in at least 2 of the following trading desks driving audit plan; anlyz'g
co.'s on spin-off transactions & asso- kiela @ 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, encing job code. Sr Data Science Associate sought by areas: (a) AML transaction monitor-
ciated high yield debt fin'g; advising on NY 10461. PIMCO (NY, NY) to employ anlytical ing: exp in segmentation, threshold tun-
complex transactions; utilizing bus.,
risk, & IT audit skills to assess dsgn &
corporate governance & securities technques that support mgmt in deci- ing & optimization & model validation
laws matters, incl ongoing disclosure Consignment Manager, Chinese Works sion-maing & policy formulation, & im- (Data & Statistical Analysis); (b) KYC &
operating effectiveness of Sales &
Trading & capital mrkt desks front to
req'mnts, insider dealing & blackout Build Management Senior Specialist of Art (NY, NY) Resp for managing prov sales & mrktng campaign effec- CDD: supporting dvlpmt & implmtn of
for Citibank, N.A. (Jersey City, NJ) large & high-level valuations, propo- tivness for a portflio of fin products & KYC & CDD prgms, policies & proce- back; utilizing advanced audit tech-
periods, fin'l staleness dates, share niques incl Excel Macros, Alteryx for
buybacks, & mo. & annual fin'l report- Lead multiple projects through all pha- sals & consignments w/in the Chinese svcs. Must have Master's deg in Comp dures, customer risk scoring model; (c)
ses of Product cycle of Supply Chain Fi- Works of Art dept. Manage the prepa- Sci, Info Systms or rltd field, & 3 years working w/team of tech advisors full-population testing. In alternative
ing; & advising on derivatives & fin'l employer will accept Master's in
products, incl convertible notes & nance & Account Receivable from ini- ration of the valuation, liaising w/ spe- of experience in position offrd or rltd through all phases of the SDLC (rqts
tiation/planning thru the execution & cialists & valuations team. Min req: pos. Acadmic courswrk or experience definition, arch dsgn, config/implmtn, & above-listed fields & 3 yrs of exp in
structured products. Must be admitted above-listed skills. Apply thru
to practice law in the State of NY. delivery of the projects, concluding Bach of Arts deg & 3 yrs of consign- must incl: conductng big data anlytics conversion & testing), & researching
with project transition & close, ensur- ment & valuation exp w/ an auction to perfrm predictv anlytics & wrking w/ client inquiries & emerging issues incl: SH-ProfRecruitingCC@ubs.com. Pls ref
***Employer will accept a PB092620AD. NO CALLS PLEASE.
combo of degrees.*** Submit resumes ing a successful product roll out. house. Must have exp w/ the following: bus intlligence/data anlysis of data regs, ind practices, & new tech. Certi-
REQS: Bachlrs deg or frgn equiv in researching & cataloguing works of art warehouse to gain insights on client/u- fied AML Specialist (CAMS) Certifica- EOE/M/F/D/V
to Irina Trembitsky
(irina.trembitsky@skadden.com) & in- Comp Engineerg, Bus Admin, Fin, or for authentication & valuation purpo- ser bhavior; utiliz Python to code m- tion is reqd. Background checks & fin-
FINANCE
dicate job KP4922111. EOE/AAE - Min-
ority/Female/Sexual Orientation/ as Sr Speclst, Projct Mgr or cly rld posn processes incl preparing listings & client bhavior for systm optmzatn; uti- screening details & to apply go to Assurance Managing Director - Deals
managing tech prjcts in fincl servcs overseeing logistics of property; & ex- liz advncd DB skills to build data ar- https://careers.mufgamericas.com. Transactions Services, Pricewater-
Gender Identity/Disability/Vet.
indstry. 5 ys of wrk exp must incld: hibit planning & organization. Resumes chitcture for storing results from anly- Job # 35224. EOE. houseCoopers LLP, New York, NY.
Managing tech prjcts; Supply Chain Fin Responsible for Deals platform inde-
Associate, Corporate Risk Solutions, In- & Acct Recvble Fin prdcts; Supply to Sotheby's Inc., Attn: Talent Acquisi- tics output; queryng & preparang data pendence initiatives (incl new techs
tesa Sanpaolo IMI Securities Corp. chain fin mgmt; Client implntatn, Reqst tion Associate, 1334 York Ave, NY, NY using optmizd approach, & workng w/ Director, Financial Reporting & Con- & svcs offerings). Req Bach's deg
(F/T: NY, NY) Duties incl: Cover Cor- for Propsl meetgs, systm traing & file 10021 - ref code: MHCMCWA. No calls SQL, Oracle, HIVE, DB2 DBs; utiliz trols professional needed at Wal-Mart or foreign equiv in Bus Admin, Fin,
porate & Structured Finance clients in design & reconciln client facing exp; & or agencies please. Spark/Hadoop & Python coding to id- in New York, NY. Bachelor's or equiv in
Info Systems or rel + 8 yrs rel work
the US, Canada & Latin America for Entrprs Resrcs Planng systms incldng ntify erroneous data, & suggestng solu- Fin., Accntg, or rel. field & 5 yrs of exp
tions to correct root cause; interprtng in accntg, fin., or rel. field; OR Master's exp (of which 5 yrs must be post-
Commodity, Rates & FX. Implement SAP. Mail Resumes ref EDL/BMSS/PS bach's progressive rel work exp); OR
clients' hedging programs, w/ an indus- to Citigroup Recruiting Dept., 3800 Citi- Construction Manager, LIC, NY bus use cases & trnslating bus reqs into or equiv in Fin., Accntg, or rel. field & 2
Project scheduling, resource allocation, a Master's deg or foreign equiv in
try focus on the Consumer, Energy, group Center Dr, Tampa, FL 33610. Citi- technicl specs to dvlp solutions that yrs of exp in accntg, fin., or rel. field;
proj. acctg, tech directions, compliance meet bus & client needs; coding proto- OR 7 yrs of exp in accntg, fin., or rel. Bus Admin, Fin, Info Systems or rel
Automotive & TMT sectors. Reqs: group is EOE. Direct apps only. + 6 yrs rel work exp. Travel up to
Bach deg (US or foreign equiv) in Fi- w/qlty stndrds, codes & regs. Resolve type model solutions for data anlysis, area. Must be Certified Public Accntnt
work procedure/construct. probs. Prep predictiv anlytics, m-learning & cluster- OR Chartered Accntnt & have 2 yrs of 60% req. Apply by mail, referencing
nance, Business Admin, or rel & 1 yr of
estimates/reports. Study job specs ing using Python & SQL; & utiliz SQL & supervisory exp in fin. or accntg. Wal- Job Code NY2333, Attn: HR SSC/
exp in job offered or as Investment An- Expert Business Analyst - Clinical Do- Talent Management, 4040 W. Boy
alyst or rel position. Prior exp must incl: cumentation, Allscripts Healthcare to determine construct. Methods & relational DB concepts, Python, Jupy- Mart will accept any amount of exp w/ Scout Blvd, Tampa, FL 33607.
Commodity derivatives, interest rate LLC. East Meadow, NY. @ client site, eval. for cost effectiveness using ter & Excel. Background check & drug req'd skills. For specific job duties, edu,
swaps, options incl swaptions, FX deri- provide clinical solutions for assigned comput. models. Dvlp/implement QC screening required prior to employ- skills req'mnts, & to apply, visit
vatives; Client exp focused on Consu- busi areas. Lead clinical requirements & environ. protect. prgrms. REQ: ment. Mail resumes to HR, PIMCO, 650 https://careers.walmart.com/ Select FINANCE
mer, Automotive, Energy & TMT sec- development. Req Bach/Mast in Comp Bachelor's or equiv. Construct. Mgmt Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach, “Search Jobs” & type the following Director of Enterprise Strategy sought
tors; Delivering solutions rel to debt fi- Sci/Hlth or Med Informatics/Hlthcare or related + min 2 yrs related work CA 92660 (Ref. Job ID: 29393). EEO- job #: R-362947. EOE, AAE. by CardFlight, Inc. in New York, NY.
nancing & strategic transactions; Pric- Mgmt/rel/equiv & w/ Bach 7 yrs or exp. Resume: Penta Restoration, 24-11 /AAE. Master's or equiv in BA, Finance,
ing credit & funding charges associated Mast 5 ys hlthcare industry IT, data an- 41st Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101 Data Visualization Specialist sought by Director, Publisher Ops: NY, NY Imple- FinTech, or rel + 3 yrs of rel exp.
to the derivative business, using risk lys, sys anlys & busi anlys incl 2 yrs: Send resume to: Brett Kaufman, Sr.
Barclays Capital Inc. (NY, NY) to work ment ad-serving, trafficking, optimiza- Manager, CardFlight, Inc., 38 West
modeling systems; Using pricing tools EMR Config; EMR App exp; specifica- Construction Estimator - Bklyn, NY - alongside invstmnt bank research an- tion, debugging; Monitor KPIs, gener-
like Murex, Excel & Bloomberg to en- tion write & user data gather; hosp cli- Work on SOW & other contract docs. lysts & research prod to dev visual- ate reports, troubleshoot tech issues; 21st Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY
10010 or e-mail brett@cardflight.com
sure quality of analysis finalized w/ ap- nical workflows; process map; SQL Review/analyze blueprints/specs for zatns & interctive graphics. Reqs Bach ensure monetization of partnerships;
propriate derivative pricing methodo- Query write & DB structure fundamen- project reqs & prep estimates. Prep/ deg or forgn equiv in Graphic Dsgn oversee tech issues per market needs;
logies; Analyzing the exposure rel to tals; Promote Interop Regulatory; med maintain construct. schedules working Comm Dsgn or rltd fld, & 2 yrs of post- MA degree in Management, Dig Mark- VP; Structurer II NR sought by Merrill
derivative products & the rel mkt risks, term use; med code stdds. M - F, 9a - 5p w/field opns. Obtain reqd permits/ bacc prog exp as a Data Visualzatn eting or rel field plus 3 years related Lynch Commodities Inc. to employ a
incl MTM risks; Global financial mkts & on call every 5th wk, 5p- 8a for 7 days. licenses from NYDOB & NYDOT. Speclst, Graphic Dsgnr, Graphic Artst, exp. Resumes to Dailymotion, Inc. 50 W strong background in corporate capital
(interest rate differentials dynamics in Send resume: HR Optimization Specia- Prep contracts/docs, drawings, specs, or rltd fld. Must have at least 2 yrs of 23rd Street, 10th fl NY, NY 10010 structure & commodities & options
FX & rates, supply/demand trends in list, 305 Church at N. Hills St., Raleigh, cost reports. Work on RFIs/RFPs exp with the following: Cnvrt complx trading to structure, model, market &
Commodities markets, etc.); quantita- NC 27609 & ref 105314 execute complex deals involving physi-
& change orders. REQ: BS Civil data insights into visualzatns that tell Director (Apollo Management Hold-
tive & tech analysis. Must have Series 7 cal commodities & other cross-asset
Engg or related + min 1 yr related story to vwrs; Fllw data vslztn best
& 63 licenses. Resumes: Intesa Sanpao- Business Management - New York, exp. Resume: Patoma, 144 N 7th St, practice for data anlyss, dsgn, & prgrm; ings, L.P. - New York, NY) Coordinate client solutions. Reqs: Master's degree
lo IMI Securities Corp. Attn: HR, RE: NY. Participate in strategic financial STE 408, Brooklyn, NY 11249. the budget'g & bus plan'g processes for or equiv. & 3 yrs exp. in: Utilizing struc-
Prdcg wrfrms & dsgn mockups use firm's Tech dprtmnt. Collab w/ chief
102020-1JD, 1 William St, NY, NY 10004 & prod. analysis, & provide analytics turing & trading commodities options;
Photoshop, Ilustrator, InDesgn, & Tab- info & tech offcrs in dvlp'g 5-yr tech
to support business decisions re: leau; Using branding, typogrphy, color, portfolio plan & recmmnd'g emrg'g Modeling structure cash flows & incor-
porating cash flows into corporate fi-
Associate, Valuation (Anchorage Capi- financial solutions & prods. for alterna- Lead Consultant-Drug Analyst (mul- & UX/UI dsgn sklls to create info grap- tech to improve bus ops. F/T. Re-
tal Group, L.L.C.)(NY, NY): Assist in tive investment mgrs. For reqs. & tiple positions) sought by Genpact LLC hics; Use of iconography & illustrtns in sumes: M. Levy, Apollo Management nancial statements to determine im-
pact to client. In the alt, emp will accept
performg biz valuatn analyses of pri- to apply, visit in New York, NY to req manufacturing dsgns; Apply exprt code skils in frnt Holdings, L.P., 9 W 57th St., 8th Fl, NY,
https://careers.jpmorgan.com a Bach degree in a stated field & 5
vately held biz & assets/liabilities in va- sites & mkt'g authority holders to pro- end langs incl HTML, CSS, & Java- NY 10019. JobID: 4444808.
rious industries & life-cycle stages. & apply to job #: 210037836. EOE, vide CMC doc for drug substance & Script. Apply at years of prog resp exp. 20% domestic
and 10% int'l travel, as nec. Job Site:
Reqs a Bach degree or foreign equiv in AAE, M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase drug prods. Analyze submission & https://barclays.taleo.net/careersectio
& Co. All rights reserved. New York, NY. Ref#4602563 & submit
Finance, Biz, or Econ or reltd quant de- regstrn reqs in mkt for accuracy & n/2/moresearch.ftl & enter job EDUCATION
gree; 1 yr of reltd exp in finance. Exp www.jpmorganchase.com completeness & liaise w CMC Authors, #00274276. Barclays is EEO/AA. The Catholic Schools Office of the resume to Merrill Lynch Commodities
Inc., 1114 Avenue of the Americas, New
must incl: applyg biz valuatn & allocatn Product Leads, & Regional Strategist Data Engineer: NY, NY creation and Diocese of Paterson is seeking appli-
Mgr as & when required for queries. maintenance of (ETL) process, work cants for the 2021-2022 school year York, NY 10036. No phone calls or
Transactn approachs, follwg up-to- Guidepoint Global, LLC is seeking Req rel Bach deg & 2 yrs rel exp. for a PRESIDENT of one of its emails. EOE.
date regltry valuatn reqmts; utilizg Mi- a Lead Support Analyst in the New Foreign equiv deg acceptable. HQ in on ongoing overhaul of platform and Diocesan Catholic High Schools.
crosoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Capi- York area to be responsible for New York, NY w travel to unanticipat- scalability, enhance data imports; build Closing date for applications is 11/20/20. Director, Sr. Treasury Sales Officer
talQ, & Bloomberg; providg biz enter- troubleshooting applications, providing ed sites t/out US. Resume & cover let- trackable metrics and data flow to en- A job description, qualifications, and all
sought by Bank of America N.A. to de-
prise valuatns of private companies & technical support and problem solving ter to: A. Byrapogula, 51 JFK Pkwy, 1st sure accurate reporting and analysis; application materials can be found at:
revise system design procedures and liver integrated treasury solutions to
modelg finncl valuatns, updatg on a to both internal end users and global Fl W, Suite 129, Short Hills, NJ 07078. In- quality standards; MS in Comp. Sci, or http://www.patdioschools.org/ Global Corporate & Investment Bank-
qrtrly basis; applyg and utilizg relevnt customers. Must have exp w/ support dicate code “GLCDANY1020” when ap- related + 1 yr related exp; Resumes to administrative-openings. ing clients in the Insurance sector.
valuatn methdlgies & assumptns based ticket management and tracking, be plying. EOE. Reqs: Bach degree or equiv. & 7 yrs
Good Apple, HR 5-9 Union Square
on historcl performance & projctd ec- able to create and maintain Sharepoint West, 4th Fl NY, NY 10003 Engineer: Urban Compass, Inc. has a exp. in Direct global transaction servi-
nmic outlook to articulate, dfnd, & re- sites, & be proficient with scripting position in New York, NY. *Senior ces sales exp to the Non-Bank Fin Insti-
spnd to client & auditor questns about languages to automate processes and CONSULTANT Data Scientist I Backend Engineer [COMP-NY20- tution segment w/ an emphasis on Glo-
modelg approaches, assumptns, & database methodologies such as AlixPartners, LLP seeks Vice Pres- needed by Home Box Office Inc. in AZME] — Develop & maintain applica- bal Multi-Line Insurance; Prospect,
cncluded values; & creatg cmprhnsv stored procedures, tables, indexes, and ident in New York, NY to serve in New York, NY to conduct quantitative tion for powering search features qualify, close, & onboard new clients to
modls evaluatg financg strategies & tables. Bachelor's in computer sys- mgmt consulting role at a global mgmt & qualitative research to understand across Compass real estate tools; de- grow market share. 40% domestic &
analyzg companies' finncl health by tems, computer science or similar consulting firm providing business, audience segments, creative perfor- velop APIs/Services using Java 8; 10% int'l travel, as nec. Job Site: New
modelg & compilg summaries of finncl + 5 yrs exp req'd in an Application financial & strategic advice to compa- mance & consistently recommend maintain systems on Amazon Web York, NY. Ref#4692967 & submit re-
info & finncl ratios. Send res to Anchor- Support role in a professional environ- nies that are under-performing or strategies. Mail resume HR Services Services; monitor & enhance perfor- sume to Bank of America N.A., 1114
age Capital Group, L.L.C., Attn: L. Thur- ment. Please send resume: Attn: highly leveraged. Requires travel up to (GMRIA), 3400 Riverside Dr., 5th Flr, mance systems; & tune Elasticsearch Avenue of the Americas, New York,
ber, Director of HR, 610 Broadway, Fl 6, James Lukban at: 80% of the time. Applicants may apply Burbank, CA 91505. Refer to Job # queries. Mail to: M. Quinn, 90 Fifth Ave NY 10036. No phone calls or emails.
NY, NY 10012. jlukban@guidepoint.com at jobpostingtoday.com Ref: 68898. 4935994. Fl 3, New York NY 10011& note Job ID# EOE.
 10 BU N THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600
International Wealth Advisor sought by Financial: Markit North America, Inc. Industry Consultant, IBM Corporation, IT: UBS Business Solutions US LLC IT: UBS Business Solutions US LLC IT: AllianceBernstein L.P. seeks ICG Compensation Project Manager Legal Counsel (CLS Bank International, Manager, Macquarie Global Services
Merrill Lynch to review, research, un- d/b/a IHS Markit seeks Product Analy- Armonk, NY and various unanticipated seeks Directors, Softw Eng'rs in Wee-seeks Assoc. Directors, IT Softw Eng'rs AVP/Sr Decision Support Eng'r in NY, for Citibank, N.A. (New York, NY) New York, NY) Provide general & spe- (USA) LLC, New York, NY. Responsibi-
derstand & communicate to the fin ad- sis & Design Associate Director in NY, client sites throughout the US: Directly hawken, NJ to manage multiple agile in Stamford, CT to deliver tchncl chan- NY, to produce bus. intelligence (BI) by Serve as Global Compensation Lead cialized legal advice & support from lities: As FX support analyst, respon-
visor market trends & their impact on NY. Prov analysis, proc model & work- interact with domestic and internation- scrum teams focused on post-trade ges to employee conduct suite of apps querying data repositories, identifying for Citi's Institutional Clients Group, re- strategic & operational perspectives to sible for confirming all FX exotic
various investment products as they flow dev to clarify prod reqs & deliv al clients (including financial institu- Clearing & Settlement apps to define &
by guaranteeing accurate, on-time ex- data patterns & generating reports. sponding to compensation related in- federally-regulated foreign exchange transactions; supporting desk with
relate to client portfolios. Reqs: Bach solns. REQ: Bachelor's in Fin or rel plus tions and sectors). Provide strategic implmnt automation strategy, increaseecution, adherence to quality stan- Req'mnts: Bachelor's or foreign equiv quiries & requests from HR partners, settlement & risk mitigation service booking of FX options and interest
degree or equiv. & 3 yrs exp. in analyz- 3 yrs exp in occup OR 5 yrs exp as Fin advice and analysis on regulatory operational readiness, & dvlp platform
dards, timely & accurate reporting management and business unit mana-
in CS, Eng'g (any), Math or rel. field & 7 (the “FMI”). Provide legal support to & rate swaps; verifying FX life-cycle
ing & interpreting int'l tax treaties & Quant Analyst or rel. Must have 3 yrs compliance and risk management. Ad- that provides speed, scalability, & relia-
while managing issues & risks. yrs of progressively responsible exp in gers. Reqs Bachelor's degree or forgn partner with, all relevant teams within decisions in BARX across portfolios
conventions in cross-border & int'l tax exp in data ops & analysis for quant fin vise clients on controls that institutions bility. Req'mnts: Master's or equiv in
Req'mnts: Bachelor's or equiv in CS, job offered or rel. occupation: dsgn'g & equiv in Legal Studies, Law, Finance, the FMI, in particular teams engaged in real-time as barriers are triggered
planning for global clients, as well as in-
prods; Six Sigma & Lean method. should have in place in order to pre- CS, Applied CS, Computer Eng'g, Math Computer Eng'g, Computer Info. Systs dvlpng enterprise class bus. intel- Acctng, Math or rltd fld & 4 yrs exp as with critical commercial negotiation & and expiry/call decisions are made
come tax, wealth tax & inheritance tax Resume to mobilityrecruitment@ vent, detect and mitigate potential fi- or rel. field & 3 yrs of exp in job offered
or rel. field & 5 yrs of exp in job offered ligence (BI) app solutions; performing Comp Anlyst, Comp & Benefits Mgr, contractual analysis, as well as teams following market movements; drafting
laws & regulations for int'l clients; Ana-ihsmarkit.com, ref #214180 (Product nancial crimes. Propose opportunities or rel. position: working w/ SQL & data-
or rel. fin'l srves IT occupation: bldng relational database dsgn, dvlpmnt, & Tax Advsr, Tax Consultnt or rltd pos at engaged with business growth initia- and processing ISDA confirmations
lyzing & interpreting the implementa- Analysis & Design Associate Director) for improving overall anti money laun- base constructs; participating in all as-
high volume, transaction based systs & querying using SQL on MS SQL Server a global financial services firm. 4 yrs of tives. Min Reqs: Bachelors degree (or in accordance with Dodd Frank and
tion of asset protection & cross-border Financial: Allianz seeks Analyst, (New dering (AML) programs. Construct and J2SE/J2EE apps; bldng clearing & set-pects of app dvlpmnt & support life or similar database; & bldng ETL & re- exp must incld Share plans & other de- foreign equiv) in Law, Legal Studies, or EMIR for various structured products;
strategies for inbound & outbound in- York, NY). Perform portfolio-wide the- analyze large statistical datasets. Do- tlement apps; architecting & dsgn'g cycle; participating in all stages of ferral instrmnts used to retain & incen-
porting solutions using BI tools. 5 yrs of rel, plus at least 2 yrs exp as Commer- and training and mentoring new
vestments for American & Latin matic research; build and maintain re- cument inventory to support the com- softw apps, incl choosing relevant softw dvlpmnt life cycle (SDLC) incl exp must incl utilizing Agile softw tivize emplyees & Execs; Projct cial Specialist, Contract Manager, or employees across Credit and FX for
American clients. 10% int'l travel, as lationships with agent banks and out- pliance evaluation of financial institu- frameworks & open source tech, evolv-req'mnts gathering & analysis, dsgn, dvlpmnt methodology; performing mgmnt; Interacting w/ leadrship; 3 yrs rel. Admittance to New York State Bar migration of functions to both onshore
nec. Job Site: New York, NY. side legal counsel. Conduct financial tions. Lead client engagements, draft dvlpmnt, testing, documentation, & im-
ing architecture as products dvlp, both data analysis & bldng data visualiza- must incld Comp analysis of large da- (or equiv US jurisdiction). Exp must in- and offshore locations. Requirements:
Ref#4518716 & submit resume to Mer- statements, internal ratings & relative and implement detailed business and at component & enterprise level; per-plementation; utilizing tech incl web, tions using Tableau, Qlik, Power BI, or tasets; Comp polices, prcsses & comp clude at least 2 yrs of each: draft & ne- Bachelor's degree** in Business Admi-
rill Lynch, 1114 Avenue of the Ameri- value analyses, make decisions; apply project management strategies to forming server side dvlpmnt on Linux reporting, data modelling & data ware- SSRS; & programming in C#, Java or governance specific to institutl bank- gotiate wide range of complex vendor nistration or related field (Accounting,
cas, New York, NY 10036. No phone mathematical analysis to monitor in- meet client needs. Draft complete de- housing tech; working w/ dvlpmnt met-
in high volume, low latency distributed Python. Submit resume to Shane Hut- ing; Business structure & comp strate- contracts; ensure compliance with all Economics, or Finance) plus 5 years
calls or emails. EOE. vestment portfolios & provide periodic tailed reports to supplement findings architecture; performing test driven hods, tools & techniques, systs dsgn & ton at AllianceBernstein L.P., 150 4th gies specific to institutnl bnkng; Comp relevant laws & regs related to out- of experience in job offered or 5 years
credit assessments. Send resumes to and recommendations based on regu- architecture; utilizing skills incl data in-
dvlpmnt, continuous integration & con- Ave N, Nashville, TN 37219 & indicate platfrms; US bulge bracket bank comp; sourcing & 3rd parties for Systemically of foreign exchange confirmation
AllianzGI, A. Suna, 1633 Broadway, New latory standards and industry best tegration (ETL), Unix, & database
tinuous delivery; monitoring project & job code KG090320AD. Exec Comp & application of risk ba- Important Financial Market Utility; and/or settlement experience. Prior
York, NY 10019. Must ref job practices. Recognize problems related dvlpmnt; working w/ tools incl Linux,
code quality using code metrics tools; lanced incentive framewrk; 2 yrs mst work with key internal departments, experience must include 3 years
Director, Senior Trader sought by BofA #58480-169. No calls/emails/faxes EOE. to project objectives and generate so- performing refactoring, pair program-Perl, Oracle, Informatica, Business Ob- incld fin srvcs regulatn applicable to incl Security, Legal, Finance, Audit, etc. of FX forward, NDF, option, spot,
Securities, Inc. to have ultimate respon- lutions. Utilize BSA/AML Alert and ming, & code reviews; utilizing Agilejects, & Autosys; utilizing Actimize the US & EU, including FSB Principles to ensure related 3rd party risks are and swap confirmation experience;
sibility for the risk mgmnt of over $20B Fund Controller - Manager sought by Case Management Software, methodology & working w/ scrum ECOI module; working in employee for Sound Comp Practices & European
IT: Fujitsu America Inc. has a job open- Banking Authority's Guidelines on
contracted for; prepare reports to sr 3 years of FX option confirmation
notional Structured Note portfolio. SANNE GROUP U.S. LLC in New York, BSA/AML Transaction Monitoring Re- team; utilizing programming langua- compliance & control rm procedures &
ing in New York, NY (and various Sound Remuneratn Policies. Mail Re-
mgmt, incl contract risk analysis docs; drafting and verification experience;
Reqs: Master's degree or equiv. & 4 yrs New York. Responsible for the admi- view Software , Bridger Insight - Lexis processes.
ges incl Java, SQL & PL/SQL; utilizing Apply thru
clients' locations including Jersey City sumes ref MH/CPM/HC to Citigroup
engage with relevant regulatory au- and 3 years of trade confirmation issue
exp. in: Performing pricing & risk nistration of the day to day activities of Nexis Risk Solutions, and OFAC Sanc- SH-ProfRecruitingCC@ubs.com. Pls ref
scripting languages incl Perl & Shell;
and Iselin, NJ): Project Management Recruiting Dept., 3800 Citigroup Center
thorities regarding 3rd party risk & ven- resolution experience. (**Will accept
mgmnt of Interest Rate, FX, Equity ex- various partnerships, including private tions List Screening Tool. Required: utilizing open source frameworks inclKM092620AD. NO CALLS PLEASE.
Manager [Req # FAI04960] Involved di- Dr, Tampa, FL 33610. Citigroup is EOE.
dor mgmt programs; create policy & any combination of education and/or
otic options, incl simple single factor equity fund (PE fund), fund of fund, and Bachelor's degree or equivalent in ORM frameworks & Spring framework EOE/M/F/D/V
rectly in undertaking custom design, Direct apps only.
procedure documents for SIFMU incor- experience evaluated to be equivalent
barrier options, multifactor structured tax basis real estate fund. Masters de- Economics, Finance, or related and suite; utilizing build tools incl Gradle,
IT: UBS Business Solutions US LLC modification, and highly complex prob-
porating relevant regulatory guidance. to Bachelor's degree.) To apply, go to
correlation trades; Hedging the above gree in Accountancy or a closely relat- two (2) years of experience as a Finan- version control systs incl GitHub, & seeks Authorized Officers, Softw lem-solving tasks associated with soft-
Send resume to: HR, CLS Bank Interna- www.macquarie.com/careers
exotic structures by using vanilla/exo- ed field. Two (2) years of experience as cial Associate, Consultant, or related. continuous Integration tools incl Team-
Dvlprs in Weehawken, NJ to perform ware development. Mail resume to HR Investment Bankers - Executive Direc-
tional, 32 Old Slip, 23rd Fl, NY, NY 10005. the job number is 955069.
tic options market. Job Site: New York, an auditor, controller or related occu- Two (2) years of experience must in- city; & utilizing enterprise messaging
high & low level app dsgn proposed for Shared Services Staffing, 2801 Telecom tors sought by Piper Sandler & Co (NY,
Specify Ad Code AROS. EOE. MFDV. All qualified applicants will receive
NY. Ref#4776460 & submit resume to pation and experience in fund account- clude utilizing BSA/AML Alert and tech incl WebSphere MQ & TIBCO dvlpmnt. Req'mnts: Bachelor's or Pkwy, MS-C1A, Richardson, TX 75082. NY) Rqrs. 20% US &/or Int'l travel.
consideration for employment and
BofA Securities, Inc., 1114 Avenue of ing with a focus on private equity ex- Case Management Software, EMS. Apply thru
equiv in Eng'g, Electronic Eng'g or rel. Must include job title and req # to be Deg'd applicants exp'd w/analysis of
will not be discriminated against on
the Americas, New York, NY 10036. No perience. Possess skills/knowledge in: BSA/AML Transaction Monitoring Re- SH-ProfRecruitingCC@ubs.com. Pls ref field & 3 yrs of exp in job offered or rel. considered. the basis of race, colour, religion, sex,
phone calls or emails. EOE. Excel and data analytical skills; techni- view Software , Bridger Insight - Lexis PP092620AD. NO CALLS PLEASE. fin stmts & SEC filings of biotech com- sexual orientation, national origin, age,
position: utilizing tools incl COBOL, panies, etc., apply online at
cal knowledge of private equity (PE) Nexis Risk Solutions, and OFAC Sanc- EOE/M/F/D/V JCL, CHANGEMAN, DB2, Unix, SQL, Manager, Commercial Deployment, disability, protected veteran status,
fund accounting and financial report- tions List Screening Tool. Please send www.pipersandler.com. LA&C/PMI Global Services, Inc. (NY, genetic information, marital status,
ing; knowledge with limited partnership resumes to recruitad@us.ibm.com. Ap- IT: Capital Markets - Application Sys- Autosys, Toad, Putty, SVN, ETL Infor- NY)- Serve as individ cntribtor resp for gender identity or any other imper-
Financial: Markit North America, Inc. agreements (LPA) or other governing plicants must reference W285 in the tems Engineer 1, Wells Fargo Bank, matica Power Center or shell scripting; IT: Urban Compass, Inc. has a position prvdng sales/mrketng recmmendtions missible criterion or circumstance.
N.A., New York, NY (multiple positions participating in different stages of Canadian Legal Search Director (NY,
d/b/a IHS Markit seeks Derivatives documents; experience with waterfall subject line. in New York, NY. *Senior Software En- NY) Place Canadian legal candidates in to commercl org & field operations. Macquarie also takes affirmative
Data and Valuation Services Product calculations; experience with audit pro- available): Design & implement soft- softw dvlpmnt life cycle (SDLC) incl gineer [COMP-NY20-NEER] - Build high Req's Bach's deg or forgn equiv in action in support of its policy to hire
ware application components of Cross analysis, dsgn, dvlpmnt, testing, & im- the U.S. market for domestic legal
Lead in NY, NY. Dev quant fin prods cess, including internal control and test plementation; anlyz'g existing apps & performance website & data services search firm. Evaluate candidate pro- Business Admin or clselyrlated field. and advance in employment of indivi-
for Deriv Data & Val biz. REQ: Mast- of details; knowledge of US GAAP with IT: The Bank of New York Mellon seeks Asset Risk Platform. Deliver platform improve syst performance. Apply thru for the real estate industry; write com- files and review candidates work pro- Mst hve at least 3 yrs in the job offred duals who are minorities, women,
er's in Finance or rel plus 2 yrs exp in an emphasis on investment partner- Specialist User Experience Analyst in components capable of meeting SH-ProfRecruitingCC@ubs.com. Pls ref plete, well tested, database driven web duct to ensure alignment between job or rel mrket resrch pos in tobacco in- protected veterans, and individuals
occup. Must have 1 yr exp in Capital ships; and strong delegation and time NY, NY to perform & lead moderate to FRTB-IMA. Supporting & maintain cri- RM092620AD. NO CALLS PLEASE. applications in programming langua- opp and candidate, mostly for potential dust in Latin America region. Exp mst with disabilities.
Markets incl deriv fin instr; OTC deriv management skills with the ability to complex user exp activities that incl tical frameworks. Must have Bache- EOE/M/F/D/V ges Java, Python, and Go; & design Canadian legal applicants specializing incl: supprtng commercl organ & field
val; mkt rsrch, cntrct, comm agmt, & prioritize a high volume of time sensi- user research & testing, interactive de- lor's Degree in Technology, Science, large systems with a particular empha- in legal practice areas of transactional operations in roll outs of core com-
fee propsls; deriv model for use cases, tive tasks quickly and appropriately. sign & visual design. Req'ts: Bachelor's Engineering or related field & 5 yrs IT: Staff Software Engineer profession- sis of industry standard best practices. law and litigation. Juris Doctorate and 1 mercl procsses & tools; providing info
model limit, calib & imp analysis on Email resume to or foreign equiv in CS, Comp Eng'g, or exp. w/each of the following: applica- al needed at Wal-Mart in Brooklyn, NY. Mail to: M. Quinn, 90 Fifth Ave Fl 3, New year of exp in job or 1 year of legal re- to the LA&C marktsfor devlopng & im-
pric & risk dyn. Resume to recruitment@sannegroup.com rel field & 6 yrs progressively respons tion development; computer applica- Master's or equiv in CS, Eng'g (Any), or York NY 10011& note Job ID# cruitment exp placing Canadian Attor- plmnting strtegies & plns to achve area
mobilityrecruitment@ihsmarkit.com, exp in job offered or rel occupation: tion development; pricing or risk sys- rel. field & 3 yrs of exp in lrg scale en- neys and legal professionals. Mail re- sales volme, distrbtion, prodct avlabili-
ref #213431 (Derivatives Data and Va- performing app softw dvlpmt & provid- tems development; Java. Must have 3 terprise softw dvlpmnt environ. OR sumes only to: Lateral Link Group NY, ty, prodct awarness, merchndising trde
luation Services Product Lead) ing technl support; designing, coding, yrs exp. in securities industry & w/fixed Bachelor's or equiv in CS, Eng'g (Any), LLC, c/o Lateral Link Group Co-Op, engagmnt, consmer engagmnt &
testing, & implementing app programs; income. Must have 2 yrs exp. w/grid or rel. field & 6 yrs of exp in lrg scale en-
Helping you conducting reviews of test plans & test computing & cache. Exp. may be terprise softw dvlpmnt environ. Wal-
data; participating in all stages of Soft- gained concurrently. Apply online at Mart will accept any amount of exp w/
IT: Carta seeks Senior Software En-
gineers in New York, NY to help set the
LLC, Attn: Saghar Doustar, 0940 E. 2nd
St, Ste 2, Los Angeles, CA 90012
prodct trial goals; crdinatng the int-
grtion, implmentation & trcking of
strtegies & alignmntof action plns w/
Helping you
live better. ware Development Life Cycle; partici- www.wellsfargo.com.
live better.
req'd skills. For specific job duties, edu, technical direction and priorities for a othr commercl areas; montring & ana-
Financial: Markit North America, Inc. number of adjacent engineers. To ap-
d/b/a IHS Markit seeks Product Analy- pating in req'ts gathering & creating IT: Amazon Web Services, Inc. - New skills req'mnts, & to apply, visit lyzng all relvant mrket info in ordr to
detail design docs (DDD); running tests York, NY. Solutions Architect III - Act https://careers.walmart.com/ Select ply, snd CV & cvr ltr to maintn comprhnsve knowldge to
sis & Design Mgr in NY, NY. Dev & de- applications@carta.com,
to identify errors & revise programs; as a technical liaison between custo- “Search Jobs” & type the following
liv quant dividend forecast prods. REQ:
Bachelor's in Econ, Fin or rel plus 3 yrs No matter executing test plans & recording test mers, AWS Sales & other AWS teams job #: R-362653. EOE, AAE. ref#SSE0419NY.
supprt bussinss decisns; &, desgnng &
implmentng plns applyng deep un- No matter
exp in fin stmt analysis using FactSet &
DataScope; EQ deriv using Black-
Scholes mod in Excel; SQL & Python to
where you live. results; providing technl leadership to craft highly scalable, flexible & resi- IT: Luxoft USA New York, NY needs a
during project dvlpmt, incl construction lient cloud architectures that address Software Developer (#91) to develop
& implementation phases; & utilizing customer business problems & acce- software development using Scrum
drstnding of strngths and weaknsses of
cmptition deplymnt strtgies& antcpting
comptitrs potntial moves & res allca-
where you live.
gather, analyze & valid ETF div data; COBOL, DB2, MQ, CICS, Microsoft lerate the adoption of AWS services. methodology. Requires BS in elect eng IT: Common seeks a Software En- nytimes.com/realestate tion. Ablty to travl internatnlly up to
ETFs proc, fund accrual, div tax PowerPoint, & Microsoft Visio in exe- Multiple job openings. Domestic &/or and 2 yrs relevant exp. Must be willing gineer in New York, NY to archtct & 30% of the time to Latin America &
treatmt, & Smart Beta strat. Resume to cution of duties. Pls apply at international travel required up to 50%. to travel/relocate. Send resumes to: 1 dvlp bcknd ftrs, srvcs, & API's on our Canada. Res to People & Culture-
mobilityrecruitment@ihsmarkit.com, www.bnymellon.com/careers & utilize Send resume, referencing AMZ4836 to: Rockefeller Plaza; Floor 27, New York, core pltfrm. Snd cvr ltr & rsme to Talent Acquisition, PMI Global Servi-
ref #208860 (Product Analysis & Design nytimes.com/realestate ref. code #2009455. Pls indicate “refer- Amazon.com, P.O. Box 81226, Seattle, NY 10020. Refer to specific job # for recruiting@common.com, ces, Inc., 120 Park Avenue, New York, nytimes.com/realestate
Mgr) ral source—advertisement— NYT” WA 98108. EOE. consideration. ref: 7jqytwvryc NY 10017, REF Code: NYMCD.

Helping you live better.

No matter where you live.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 N BU 11

Help Wanted 2600
Manager Data Quality Analytics
sought by The Nature's Bounty Co. in
Bohemia, NY. 40 hrs/wk. Duties: Ana-
lyze Master Data Qlty & Identify data
rltd defects & root causes. Build visuali-
zations, dashboards, Rprts & automa-
tions to remedy data qlty issues. Min.
Reqs: Master's deg in a quantitative
mathematical based field such as data
analytics, biz w/ finance concentration
or rltd field or frgn equiv & three (3) yrs
of exp in a similar pos. Must have 3 yrs'
exp w/ the following skills: Exp in de-
signing data analytics & BI solutions to
drive data qlty & biz transformation ef-
forts. Extensive exp in working w/ lrg
data sets using variety of data analy-
tics & biz intel tools, such as, POWERBI
(DAX, POWER QUERY, M Lang,
MEASURES, ETC.), TABLEAU, PL
SQL, T-SQL, VBA, AZURE DATA
LAKE Svcs (ADLS), AZURE DATA
FACTORY (ADF), AZURE SYNAPSE
ANALYTICS, ACCESS, EXCEL, ETC.
Exp in biz ops, incl R&D & sply chain
ops, syndicated data, trade promotion,
finance to understand operational
issues & translate them into analytics &
BI solutions. Exp in assessing & design-
ing biz processes, data standards & pol-
icy definition exp working w/ data ex-
traction, transformation, load, manipu-
lation, anlss, valdtn, summarization&
visualization. Exp working in Agile
based proj mgmt envrmnt w/ under-
standing of key agile activities i.e. epic,
scrums, sprints, backlog, user stories,
feature creeps, etc. Exp w/ data mgmt
principles, sys solutions & data integra-
tion. Exp w/ data issues& identify crea-
tive solutions across, people, process,
& tech. Exp w/ rsrch, error detection, MARKETING: VP, Strategic Planning statistical models & ensuring that they rltd fld & 1 yr of exp in job offered or 1
root cause anlss, error correction, & (in NY, NY) Drv strat plan team's ef- meet the client guidelines; prgmg exp yr exp as Analyst or in similar posi-
Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600 Help Wanted 2600
NOTICE OF SALE
Marketing & Ecommerce Specialist Professional: Oath Holdings Inc. has Senior Commercialization Manager Software Engineering—NY, NY. Gath- Technical Solutions Manager w/ S&P VP, Energy - Oil & Gas w/ ING Finan- Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with applicable provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code as
(New York, NY) Partner w/ Mktg & PR multiple openings in New York, NY with PepsiCo, Inc. in Purchase, NY. er business requirements & design & Global, Inc. in NY, NY. Work closely w/ cial Services in New York, NY. Identify enacted in New York, AB Commercial Real Estate Debt - B2 S.à r.l. (or its assignee) (“Secured Party”) will offer
to inc sales on Ecommerce channel. (various levels/types): Gather, study, & dvlp recommendatns develop software. For reqs. & to apply, Architecture, Tech, & Program Mgmt financial needs for client prospects & for sale, at public auction, one hundred percent (100%) of the limited liability company interests (“Interests”)
Work w/ mktg/PR to create brand *Sr Director, Sales Trade Marketing. for a new model, framework & reqd or- visit https://careers.jpmorgan. com & team on individual Editorial apps & ca- convert those needs into worldwide ap-
awareness & launch CRM programs to Lead business to business marketing ganization changes to achieve Pepsi- apply to job #:210032877. EOE, AAE, pabilities such as Content Creation, plicable wholesale banking products & in Campo Felice Phase I, LLC (“Mortgage Borrower”) owned by Campo Felice Holdings, LLC (“Debtor”).
drive loyalty. Contribute to annual strategy & execution, w/ go-to-market Co's innovation.Position reqs: Bach deg M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All News Letter platforms, Real time news svcs. Rqmts: Bach deg in finance or ac- Mortgage Borrower is the fee owner of the property and improvements thereon known as 2500 Edward Drive,
plans & on-going planning. Oversee approach.Travel Req'd. Ref. Job # (U.S. or foreign equiv) in Bus Admin, rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com platforms, Price Reporting & Content counting. Must have min 3 yrs exp Fort Myers, FL 33901. The public auction will be held on November 16, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. EST by remote
SEM & Social media, incl competitive LAPERG. Mktg, Sci, Comp Sci or rel deg & 7 yrs of Software Engineering—NY, NY. Gath- Packaging, & Distribution & Delivery working w/ finance trans involving
research, platform determination, *Price Yield Manager. Collect intel on exp in the job offered or rel role. Must w/in the Editorial segment of Platts. multiple counterparties. Requires exp auction conducted via Cisco WebEx Remote Meeting to the highest qualified bidder; provided however, that
er business requirements & design & Secured Party reserves the right to cancel the sale in its entirety, or to adjourn the sale to a future date. The
benchmarking, messaging & audience competitor data rates & pricing strate- have 3 yrs of exp w/: defining, building develop software. For reqs. & to apply, Position reqs a Bach deg (US or foreign working w/ financial products incl. let-
identification, AB testing. Liaise w/ gies. Ref. Job # LAKHAA. & implementing toolkits, framework & visit http://careers.jpmorgan. com & equiv) in Comp Sci, Bus Admin, or rel ter of credit, debt/ equity capital mark- public sale shall be conducted by Mannion Auctions, LLC, by William Mannion, Auctioneer, NYC DCA License
leadership to enhance Ecommerce *Editor. Write breaking news stories & behavior changes needed to deliver apply to job #:210033336. EOE, AAE, field & 8 yrs of exp in the job offered or ets, syndication, export credit agency
channel. Guide local tests of new tech maintain front page. Ref. Job # SA- high corporate value;identifying course rel role. Must have 8 yrs of exp w/ Core structures, loan agency services & loan No. 796322, and/or Matthew D. Mannion, Auctioneer, NYC DCA License No. 1434494.
M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All
& releases, & report & track bugs. DA6832. corrections that ensure portfolio rev- rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com Java, J2EE, JSP, JavaScript, Spring, security structures; due diligence of Secured Party made a loan (the “Loan”) to Mortgage Borrower and is offering the Interests for sale to
Guide sales team & ensure all leads are To apply, mail resume to Oath, Attn: enue targets are achieved; executing SOAP, REST, JMS, XML & ORM transaction contracts; negotiating fi- enforce Secured Party’s rights in the Interests under the Pledge and Security Agreement, dated as of July 3,
followed. Assist in mktg & Ecommerce Jillian Johnson, 701 1st Ave., Sunny- global projects in multiple mkts & re- Software Engineering—NY, NY. Gath- frameworks. Must have 6 yrs of exp nancing term sheet/ loan docs; credit
budget. Perform daily supp & monitor- vale, CA 94089. Refer job title & num- gions; communicating & presenting to er business requirements & design & designing Rich User Interface apps analysis incl. knowledge of IFRS, 2018, which granted Secured Party a first priority security interest in the Interests to secure the obligations
ing of e-commerce channel key me- ber. sr audience EVP level, synthesizing develop software. For reqs. & to apply, using HTML, CSS & JavaScript libra- GAAP; banks' fund transfer pricing of Mortgage Borrower with regard to the Loan. The Loan, in the original principal amount of $62,000,000
trics (sales, traffic, returns) & model complex & large datasets & challenges visit https://careers.jpmorgan. com & ries such as jQuery, ext js. Must have 5 mechanism, green light, credit process
apply to job #:210032658. EOE, AAE, has been accruing interest and other charges following Mortgage Borrower’s default under the applicable
Project Manager (multiple openings) into understandable & actionable for-
stock. Assist w/ reporting & overall an- yrs of exp w/: multiple app, web ser- & loan closing incl. KYC; leading syndi-
at EXLService.com, LLC in Jersey Ci- mat; creation & building original ideas;
alytics. Assist w/ pulling data from SAP M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All vers that incl WebLogic, JBoss, Tom- cated transactions; & exp working w/ loan documents. Secured Party reserves the right to credit bid, set a minimum reserve price, reject all
ty, NJ will dvlp big data hypotheses & & leading ambiguous issues through to
for Bus Plans. Reqts: Master's or equiv rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com cat, & Apache; configuring clustered Bloomberg, LoanIQ, & Debtdomain. bids (including any bid that it deems to have been made by a bidder unable to satisfy qualifications or any
in Bus Admin, Bus Mngmt, Mktg or validate them for mktg, risk, & data creative solutions. Must have 2 yrs of Software Engineering—NY, NY. Gath- app servers; & Publishing Apps incl Send resume to ING, Human Resour- requirements imposed by Secured Party upon prospective bidders in connection with the sale or to whom in
product analytics in the credit card & exp working w/ Supply Chain resources
reltd, & 2 yrs exp in position offered or er business requirements & design & Adobe Creative Suite. Must have 3 yrs ces Recruitment Dept, 1133 Ave of the
reltd, incl 2 yrs exp w/: Mng & mktg of exp w/: databases incl RDMS, Americas, NY, NY 10036. Must refer to the Secured Party’s sole judgment a sale may not lawfully be made) and terminate or adjourn the sale to
payments sector. Position may work at /employees in the dvlpmnt of a toolkit develop software. For reqs. & to apply,
various & unanticipated worksites & framework that enable clear assess-
licensed brands in internat'l environ- visit https://careers.jpmorgan. com & NoSQL & Graph; DevOps practices, & job TPNVP. another time, without further notice.
throughout the US. Reqs a Bach deg in ment of the supply chain. Travel reqd
ment; Mktg of watch, jewelry or luxury apply to job #:210033028. EOE, AAE, using tools & technologies such as An-
Interested parties must contact Newmark Knight Frank, 125 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10017, Attn:
goods in domestic & intenat'l mkts; Engg, Technology, Comp Sci, Electro- 5% of the time. Qualified Applicants: M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All sible for configuration mgmt, & Jen-
Budget mngmt & ownership over mul- nic Engg, or closely rltd field, + 2 yrs of Visit http://www.pepsicojobs.com. rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com kins & GO for Continuous Integration & Brock Cannon, tel. (212) 372-2066, email Brock.Cannon@ngkf.com to obtain further information concerning
tiple areas incl media, events, PR & prof'l big data processing, data extrac- Enter req ID: 219469BR into the “Job Delivery; web based content authoring, Wealth Management—New York, NY. access to the remote auction, requirements for obtaining information relating to the Interests, qualifications for
Statistician. Apply data collection met-
product placement; Channel mktg in tion, & variable reduction exp. Must Title or Keyword” field & hit enter. Click hods through bldg queries & proce-
content mgmt platforms; & app securi- Identify potential process improve- bidding, bidding procedures, attending the sale, deposit amounts, and terms of sale. All other inquiries should
incl 2 yrs of exp in: working w/ complex on the matching job & follow directions
watch, jewelry or accessories industry, ty, single sign on, high availability, & ments and collaborate with PM teams
mng programs for dept stores & inde- data structures & large datasets in a to submit resume.
dures to accomplish customer data re- scalability. Must have 2 yrs of exp w/: to enable those improvements. For be directed to Greenberg Traurig, LLP, counsel for Secured Party, Attn: Steven Sinatra, Esq., SinatraS@gtlaw.
pendent retailers; Perf Mktg, SEA, pro- quests. Conduct data analytics for busi- OpenText Products, Content Hub for reqs. & to apply, visit com. Upon execution of a standard confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement, additional documentation and
real business setting; model perfor- ness solutions. Utilize ML algorithms to
grammatic & paid social; Digital mktgmance monitoring metrics, incl KS, Publishers v16.x, Information Hub v16.x https://careers.jpmorgan.com & apply information will be available. Interested parties who do not contact Newmark Knight Frank prior to the sale
analytical tools, incl Google Analytics, provide efficient model predictions. & BIRT; cloud infrastructure, EC2, EBS,
ROC Curve, PSI, R-square, & Correla- Senior Engineer, Quant Macro Techno- Use data & statistical tests to evaluate-
to job #:210033242. EOE, AAE,
will not be permitted to enter a bid.
AdWords, MS Office, Social Media tion; writing complex queries & gener- logy (WorldQuant, LLC / New York, EFS, VPC, Route 53, Elastic Load Ba- M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All
tools, SAP. Resume to Richemont /target new customers. Jobsite: NY, lancing & Managed Services such as
ating reports utilizing SAS, SQL, SPSS, NY). Design & build statisticl models & NY. Reqs a master's deg or foreign
rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com
North America, Inc. at Jobs@ R, Hive, CART & Tableau s/ware; bldg, reprts for quant macro tradng port- S3, RDS, Lambda, API Gateway, SQS &
richemont.com & ref title in subject.stabilizing, validating, & monitoring flios. Reqs Master's in Mathmatcs,
equiv in Statistics or Data Science. Mail SNS; & defining and driving adoption of
MALTZ AUCTIONS BESTBUYAUCTIONEERS.COM
Comp Sci, Analytcl Finance, or clsly resumes to Attn: HR, Willdan Lighting enterprise ref architectures using TO- (4) GREAT AUCTIONS THIS WEEK!!!
and Electric, 2401 E. Katella, #300, An- GAF. Qualified Applicants: Email re- BANKRUPCY, SECURITY AGREEMENT, CONSIGN & REO AUCTIONS SALE
MON NOV 2, 1 PM • STATEN ISLAND, NY
aheim, CA 92806. sumes to PeopleMovementSupport
Sr Web/App Developer (NY, NY) Na- #1

decision-making. Exp data gover-
nance, data stewardship, & data qlty
best practices working knowl of rela-
tional d/b & query concepts.Exp under-
standing of key biz operational proces-
ses to assess impact from master data
to downstream activities. Exp w/ pro-
cess improvement. Exp w/ six sigma &
lean principles. Pls reply w/ resume to:
Soraya R. Gooya, 2100 Smithtown Ave.,
forts to devel strat rec to guide ad in at least 1 dvlpmt envrmt incl Python tion(s). Bkgd in educ, traing, or exp SVP, Specialist, Impressionist & @spglobal. com & ref the job code
tional September 11 Memorial & 10/30-11/350± VEHICLES Like Brand New
• RESTAURANT•
Like Brand New
sales/dist for media net portfolio. Lead or Ruby; big data technologies incl Pig, Museum: Guide code reviews of soft-
must incl demnstratd knwldge of mean Modern Art (NY, NY) Resp for secur- 257092. S&P Global is an equal opportu- ADVANCE NOTICE
devel/imp of new prds/bus models. Hive, Impala, HDFS, & HBase; key variance optmizatn, numerical solvrs, ware dvlpd internally or by contracted MON NOV 2, 3 PM • STATEN ISLAND, NY
SALE
#2
ing consignments & selling sales for nity employer committed to making all
Reqs: MBA in Strat Mngmt, related + 1 modeling techniques incl logistic re- predictve anlysis, market impact anly- vendors pushed onto the organizations
MANHATTAN. 5,800 Sq Ft Brownstone Like New
Like New RED MANGO CAFE & JUICE
11/10-12
the Impressionist & Modern Art dept. employment decisions w/out regard to
yr exp as Associate, Director or relat- gression, gradient boosting models sis, and game theory; exp w/ C++ or Lead mid-to-long term strategic initia- race/ethnicity, gender, pregnancy,
central code repository, identify & fix
ed. Exp must include 1 yr in strat/bus (GBM) or statistical clustering metho- any potent'l performance issues or 11/17-19 LOCUST VALLEY. Appv'd Develop Site
Python; exp in financl quantitatve anly- tives to manage & grow the client base. gender identity or expression, color, WED NOV 4, 2 PM • HOBOKEN, NJ
SALE
devel role managing cross-functional dologies; & delivering data analytics sis, data sci, and/or portfolio anlysis. functionality limitations. Reqs: Bach #3
Like New
media projects/partnerships w/ad tech, presentations to clients, Sr. mgrs & ex- Send resumes to
social, mobile & digital video platforms ecs. Send resume & cvr letter to Sandra.DiCairano@worldquant.com;
Min req: Bach of Arts deg & 5 yrs of exp
planning & organizing the acquisition &
creed, religion, national origin, age, dis-
ability, marital status (incl domestic
deg (US or for equiv) in Comp Sci,
Comp Engg or rel & 3 years of exp in
12/9-11
MANHATTAN. Studio (HOA Owns Retail) Like New SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
exhibition of works of art w/ a global partnerships and civil unions), sexual 12/9-11 MANHATTAN. 2 BR w/Private Terrace THURS NOV 5, 2 PM • STATEN ISLAND, NY
SALE
in entertainment/media industry. Re- us.careers@exlservice.com. Must cite ref job title in subjct line. auction house. Exp identifying, re- orientation, military veteran status, un-
job offd, as a Sftwre Engrr, IT Conslt, #4

Ronkonkoma, NY 11779. sumes: Diana Icaza, Legal, Viacom In- job title & code 0644 in response.
ternational Inc. 1515 Broadway, NY, NY
searching & maintaining works of art employment status, or any other basis
prohibited by federal, state or local law.
App Integr Engirr or rel pos. Prior exp
must incl 2 years w/ t follo: custom in- 12/16-18 KATONAH. 4 BR Waterview Home NAT'L PRETZEL CHAIN/BAKERY
Public Relations Coordinator for Cla- Lead Software Development w/Stan- for authentication & valuation purpo- teractive app dvlpmnt using Python ADVANCE NOTICE NEXT MON NOV 9 ONLINE % %
Senior Compensation and Benefits 10036 ses. Exp researching, arranging & se- Only electronic job submissions will be Flask & Adobe Air Frameworks; co- R. MALTZ DCA #1240836, D. CONSTANTINO DCA #1424944
Like New
Manager for Elliott Management Cor- Mechanical Engineer-Estimatn & rins Group North America, Inc. in Manh dard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC
poration (NY, NY). Coordinate and ad- projct mgt, engin & design of electr se- assist PR Dept across all PR & commu- in NY, NY. Dvlp web-based apps using
curing art consignments & organizing
art auctions. Domestic & int'l travel
considered for employment. If you
need an accommodation during the ap-
ding/software dvlpmnt & design skills - MaltzAuctions.com • 516.349.7022
AUCTIONS...Your Liquidity Solution
Like New LG CORPORATE CAFE
minister the annual compensation pro- curity/fire alm systs & mech syst con- nications; prepare communications Java, J2EE, Angular, MVC, RESTful reqd - frequency & duration impossible plication process due to a disability,
using Php, Python, JavaScript, JQuery,
& CSS; working w/ Drupal Content
® SEE WEB FOR MORE INFO & UNADVERTISED AUCTIONS
OR CALL AUCTIONEER AT: (877) 500-1414(
cess, 401(k) and other employer- trols & home automatn.Oversee install, materials; coordinate PR events; order Web Services, Spring MVC, Spring to predict. Resumes to Sotheby's Inc., please send an email to:Mgmt system, incl Drupal 8; dvlpng
Text Auctions To 313131 To Receive bestbuyauctioneers.com Updates
SEE WEB FOR PICS/INFO TERMS: 15% B.P.
sponsored retirement plans. Supervise operatn procedures,maint & repair of & maintain product samples; analyze Boot, SQL & PL/SQL using databases Attn: Talent Acquisition Associate, 1334 EEO.Compliance@spglobal.com & websites to Wcag 2.x & Wai-Aria stan- AUCTR TEL: (917) 939-7726 • (877) 500-1414
the work of an HR Manager and HR electr svcs & integr into mech equip, mktg & sales data; oversee long & such as Oracle & SQL server. Position York Ave, NY, NY 10021 - ref code: your request will be forwarded to the dards; building scalable systems w/
Associate. 5-10% of travel required. incl water & emerg power systs. Inter- short term lead deliveries Bachelor's in reqs a Bach Deg (US or foreign equiv) FASVPSIMA. No calls or agencies appropriate person. The EEO is the Cloud infrastructures (Acquia/
Destination and frequency not predic- pret blueprints & schematics & integr Public Relations + 2 yrs exp in job off'd in Comp Sci, Info Systems or rel & 8 yrs please. Law Poster http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/ AWS/MS Azure); load testing & perfor-
table. Must possess a Bachelor's de- into electr/struc design. Resolve syst or High School diploma + 4 yrs expe in of exp in the job offered or rel role. regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost. mance testing using JMeter & Blaze-
gree or foreign equivalent in Human malfunc & provide tech support. Use job off'd req'd Respond LP/Clarins PO Must have 8 yrs of exp w/ Java, J2EE & Teacher: High School Biology Teacher- pdf describes discrimination protec- meter performance testing tools; react
Resources, Organizational Psychology Procore, AutoCad, ConEst Intellibid, Bx 4241 NYC 10163 Full Stack Dvlpmnt. Must have 6 yrs of Resp for teaching Biology to HS stu- tions under federal law. & redux front-end technologies; inte-
and Management, or closely related PlanGrid. Reqs: 4yrs exp in job,MS in exp w/ Database Dvlpmnt. Must have 4 dents, prep lesson plans, revi assign-
ments, prep/review exams, & attend grating content from 3rd party sys-
field, plus five years of experience sup- Mech or ElecEng Sal: $150,000/yr 40 Senior Analyst (Senior Designer) posi- yrs of exp w/ Rest API; Workflow tech- tems to Drupal (or other CMSS, web-
porting the execution of, and/or execut- hrs/wk M-F 9-5. Res: ECS Corp, 84 S. tion available with McKinsey & Com- nologies; & leading & guiding a team. dept meetings. Masters in Biological
ing, compensation benchmark surveys Bayles Ave, Port Washington, NY 11050 pany, Inc. US in NYC. Design and con- Must have 3 yrs of exp w/ Bus Process Sciences or rel & 1 yr exp in the job of- VP, Inv Product Specialist — NY, NY. sites, & platforms) via APIs & data
and custom reports for an asset man- Auth to work in US. duct user research plans for qualitative Mgmt tool; & Software Analysis & De- fered or related. Send resume & cover Providing quantitative analysis & tools feeds; MySql, MSSQL, & Mongo data-
agement firm, investment firm, re- approaches. Work within multi- sign. Must have 2 yrs of exp w/: Java ltr to D. May, Salanter Akiba Riverdale for portfolio tactical allocation deci- base technologies; working w/ integra-
search firm, consultant firm, or related. Model Review—NY, NY. Execute mod- disciplinary team, to think through Script Framework; Angular; Amazon HS: 503 W 259th St, Riverdale, NY 10471. sions & multi-asset class portfolio con- tion w/ Restful web services; Scrum/A-
Must have experience: designing com- el review as well as analyze and test business and user experience logic, to Web Services, Devops; App Simplifica- struction. Investigate mrkt behavior, gile methodologies; dvlpng apps in a
pensation and benefit plans; conduct- pricing and risk management models solve client's business needs. Min ed tion & Rationalization; & Writing Tech dvlp robust analytical tools for risk an- continuous integration environment.
ing executive compensation bench- for financial products, such as sover- req's are Master's degree in Interac- Design & Spec docs. Must have 1 yr of alysis & alpha generation, & update Pls e - mail resume to:
mark analysis; executing compensa- eign bonds, corporate bonds, municipal tion Design, Industrial Design, Artistic exp w/ overview of software dvlpmnt portfolio & mrkt analysis & models uti- 911mmitjobs@911memorial.org
tion benchmarking surveys including bonds, convertible bonds, cash loans, Design, Engrg Design, Transdisciplina- in server less architecture. Qualified lized across Private Bank platform glo-
coordinating and conducting data col- credit default swaps. For reqs. & to ap- ry Design or related. Applicants must Applicants: Email resumes to bally. PhD or equiv in Eng'g (any),
lection activities, data quality assur- ply, visit https://careers.jpmorgan.com have 2 yrs exp as a UX Designer or re- PeopleMovementSupport@spglobal. Math, Ops Research, Physics, or rel
ance, and technical delivery; and man- & apply to job #:210030578. EOE, AAE, lated. Exp must have included: design- com & ref the job code 257315. S&P Glo- quantitative field + 1 yr relevant exp
aging relationships with external data M/F/D/V. JPMorgan Chase & Co. All ing website/mobile applications, web- bal is an equal opportunity employer OR Master's or equiv in Eng'g (any),
vendors to produce integrated analy- rights reserved. www.jpmorgan.com sites, and service exp that balance user committed to making all employment
ses for engagements and trend re- needs, bus. objectives and technologi- decisions w/out regard to race/ethnici-
Math, Ops Research, Physics, or rel
quantitative field, + 4 yrs relevant exp.
MERCHANDISE
ports. Send resume to Elliott Mgmt. MULTIPLE POSITIONS
Corp., Attn: Jess Porcelli (Ref#BS), 40 Uber Technologies, Inc. has multiple
cal constraint; Interaction and Visual ty, gender, pregnancy, gender identity
design skills, including use of a diverse or expression, color, creed, religion, na-
Exp prog'g in Matlab. Exp performing
stat analysis. Demonstrated knowl of
OFFERINGS
West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. positions open in New York, NY for the set of software such as Adobe CS as tional origin, age, disability, marital sta- mrkt risk. Demonstrated knowl of risk (3200)
following. Refer to Ref# & mail resume well as exp with MS Office; Rapid pro- tus (incl domestic partnerships & civil modeling & risk mgmt. across asset
Senior Manager (multiple openings) at to Uber Technologies, Inc., Attn: G. totyping tools such as Sketch, Axure, unions), sexual orientation, military ve- classes incl equities & fixed income.
EXLService.com, LLC in Jersey City, Pappas, 455 Market Street, 8th Floor, Invision or Flinto; Agile software teran status, unemployment status, or
NJ will partner w/ EXL clients to solve San Francisco, CA 94105: Project dvlpmt processes and methodologies. any other basis prohibited by federal,
Helping you Demonstrated knowl of optimization
techniques incl linear & non-linear
complex business problems & provide Manager, Restaurant Expansion Exp of workshop facilitation with state or local law. Only electronic job prog'g. Demonstrated knowl of fin'l
MERCHANDISE
best in class advice & solutions to for- (Ref#5087901) Eval the courier exp in stakeholders. Domestic travel typically submissions will be considered for em-
malize their automation strategy. Will relation to a nw prod called Ovr The required. Destination & frequency im- ployment. If you need an accommoda-
live better. data sources incl Bloomberg & Mor-
ningstar. Demonstrated knowl of dba-
travel to various & unanticipated work- Top (OTT) whre couriers need to ordr possible to predict. Email your resume tion during the application process due ses & data query languages incl SQL. (3201)
sites throughout the US. Reqs a Bach & pay for the food at the rsturnt. Strate- to CO@mckinsey.com and refer to Job to a disability, please send an email to:
deg in Comp Sci or rltd + 5 yrs of prof'l gic Planning and Analytics Associate # 4900219. No phone calls please. An EEO.Compliance@spglobal.com &
No matter Employer will accept any amount of
prof'l exp w/req'd skills. To apply, visit
exp dvlpg s/ware solution methodolo- (Ref#4721402) Prfrm rstrnt business EOE
gies in Agile or Waterfall. Must incl 5 intllgnce & anlytcs mngmnt for US &
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appropriate person. The EEO is the
where you live. https://careers.jpmorgan.com/us/en/
professionals & apply to job #
FURS
yrs of exp w/ each of the following: dvlp Canada Sales Ops Prgrms. Project Spe- Senior Cost Manager (New York, NY): Law Poster http://www.dol.gov/ofccp 210037419. EOE, AAE, M/F/D/V. J.P.
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or Access d/bases; JSON or XML-RPC Trav req 30%. million-dollar construction projects to Chase & Co. All rights reserved. fl length with scalloped edge,
web svcs; scripting, prgmg, & web Music Director (Flushing, NY)Direct& calculate competitive bids ensuring SOFTWARE-Norgate Technology, Inc. www.jpmorganchase.com size 8-10 $2,200 843-251-7095
dvlpmt langs (C#, CSS, HTML, Java- conduct instrumental& vocal perfs by profits on all projects. Incorporate in Garden City, NY is seek'g 1) Soft-
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Prism Certified Professional Develo- Bible Presbyterian Church of NY, 4215 technical drawings, blueprints & specs trvl; no telecom. Job duties are proj-
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cvr letter to Oath Holdings, Inc. in New York, NY. w/in allocated budget. Develop project Plaza, Ste. 208, Garden City, NY 11530
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Renting? Buying? Decorating? Repairing?

Our door is always open.
5 MODERN LOVE 4 PANDEMIC RELATIONSHIPS

A judgmental ghost crosses Couples and the quarantine

a line. BY ALLYSON McOUAT test. BY TAYLOR TRUDON
10 TRICKY BUSINESS 12 FIELD NOTES

Magicians adapt to online Dogs as part of the wedding

shows. BY KENNETH STURTZ party. BY JENNY BLOCK

LIFESTYLE RELATIONSHIPS SOCIETY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Everything’s a Blur
How isolation,
monotony and
chronic stress are
serving to destroy
our sense of time.
By ALEX WILLIAMS

For Kate Baer, a poet in Harrisburg, Pa.,

2020 feels like a time warp. She compared it
to when she and four friends escaped to a
woodsy cabin in Maryland and tried
cannabis edibles. “Time stopped,” Ms. Baer,
35, said. “And this is how time feels in this
pandemic. Fluid and very confusing.”
Avi Bonnerjee, 34, a tech analyst from
Brooklyn, said that 2020 recalls the “ambi-
ent sense of timelessness” of Los Angeles.
“In New York, each season has such a dis-
tinct character, there’s always a passive
sense of forward progression,” he said. “In
L.A., you’re in a perpetual state of warm
weather, so you seem to hang in some sort of
purgatorial state.”
To Dulci Edge, 34, a consulting creative
director in fashion in San Francisco, 2020
reminds her of the old parenting adage:
“The days are long, but the years are short.”
Except in the pandemic, she said, “the days
are long, and the year is also long.”
Do you feel as if time has no boundaries
anymore, that the days just bleed into
weeks, that January may as well have been
2017?
You’re not alone if you feel that 2020, per-
haps the most dramatic and memorable
year of our lifetimes — and that’s before
Election Day — seems shuffled and dis-
ordered, like a giant blur. A dream state, or
perhaps a nightmare.
That’s the paradox of 2020, or one of
them: A year so momentous also feels, in a
way, as if nothing happened at all.
It’s not entirely an illusion. Without the
usual work mixers, festive holiday celebra-
tions, far-flung vacations or casual dinners
that typically mark and divide the calendar,
the brain has a harder time processing and
cataloging memories, psychologists say,
and the stress of the year itself can shift how
our brains experience time.
What month did Kobe Bryant die? Was it
actually this year that Prince Harry and his
wife, Meghan, abdicated their titles? Wasn’t
there something about murder hornets, or
was that 2018?
Are we unable to remember this awful
year, or simply unwilling?

FOR SOME WHO HAVE recovered from

Covid-19, there is a medical explanation for
the feeling of mental haziness: Covid brain
fog, a lingering combination of dementia-
like symptoms including memory loss, con-
fusion and difficulty focusing.
What about everyone else? For many, the
year has been a monumentally odd mix of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

When days bleed into weeks, trying to

determine when something happened becomes
as difficult as knowing what is going on now.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHLOE PANG FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

No Vote? It’s 3 A.M.

No Date You’re Up.
On the apps, singles put The remedies for our new
their politics and political night terror seem to vary
engagement front and center. as broadly as its sources.
By VALERIYA SAFRONOVA By GUY TREBAY
Rebecca Cibbarelli, 23, was texting with a It was that ghastliest of hours — 3 a.m. —
man on Hinge while Senator Kamala Harris bedtime a distant memory and daylight an
and Vice President Mike Pence debated on eternity away. In the silence of his Salis-
her TV screen last month. When she told bury, Conn., house, the interior designer
her match what she was watching, he said Matthew Patrick Smyth jolted awake.
he didn’t know who either of the people Semiconscious, he felt himself in a
were, or which office they were running for. strange state of turmoil, his thoughts a tan-
“We’ve been in a global pandemic for gled skein of hopes and expectations,
eight months, and there’s been so much so- though mostly fears: about the toll of
cial and political change,” said Ms. Cib- Covid-19, voter suppression during an ep-
barelli, a mental health worker in Princeton ochal election, racial tensions, an economy
Junction, N.J. “How have you not even tak- that may not rebound for years.
en interest in it when you’re stuck in the Against his best judgment, Mr. Smyth, 66,
house? I was working 60 hours a week, I did what every sleep hygiene expert ad-
started school and I’m still keeping up.” vises against. He fired up his phone.
Suffice it to say, things didn’t work out. “I go on Instagram and start scrolling and
In a year of partisan debates, politics is see people liking photos and remarks and
reaching deep into the lives of Americans, wonder whether it’s impolite to answer,”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ISAK TINER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
2 ST THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

So You Think You Can Run a Dance Cardio Business

Anna Kaiser, the founder Anna Kaiser, whose clients
have included Shakira, Kelly
of AKT, tries to take back Ripa and Alicia Keys, in Central
control of her fitness brand. Park last month. Just a couple
of years ago, she was running a
mini-empire in the booming
By JULIE SATOW world of boutique fitness.
Anna Kaiser, a celebrity fitness trainer, is
known for dispensing advice like “top tips
for busy moms who can’t find time to exer-
cise” and for longtime clients like Shakira,
whom she trained for the Super Bowl Half-
time Show, or Kelly Ripa, whom she guided
in a home workout using wine bottles and a
dish towel.
But for the past several months, Ms. Kai-
ser, who created a dance-based exercise
known as Anna Kaiser Technique, or AKT,
has been living a far different reality than
the flashy one she portrays on social media.
She has permanently closed one of her two
Manhattan studios and is locked in a bruis-
ing legal battle over control of her brand.
In early August, Ms. Kaiser sued Xponen-
tial Fitness, a franchise company that pur-
chased AKT in 2018, in the Delaware courts,
alleging that it owes her more than
$700,000. Two weeks later, Xponential,
which also owns brands like Club Pilates
and Row House, filed its own suit in Califor-
nia. Among its allegations are that Ms. Kai-
ser has refused to convert her studios in
Manhattan, the Hamptons and Connecticut
into franchises (per their agreement), and
that she has violated her noncompete
clause.
“They left me no choice but to sue — it
was clear they were not going to pay me
what I was owed,” Ms. Kaiser said recently
as she sat on a gray balance ball in her Up-
per East Side studio, dressed in a stretchy
black jumpsuit and sneakers.
Ms. Kaiser, 40, a former professional
dancer, is petite and blond, with a perky
nose and striking white teeth. She was also
nine months pregnant with her second
child. “This experience has been a
tsunami,” she said. “There’s my pregnancy,
then this pandemic and having to close the
studios, and now, this lawsuit.”
Anthony Geisler, the chief executive of
Xponential, and Melissa Chordock, the
president, declined to comment for this
article.
But the court filings are rife with details
of the feud. Ms. Kaiser claims that Xponen-
tial failed to make a series of payments that
she was owed as part of the sale of AKT;
that employees hacked several of her online
business accounts; that Mr. Geisler froze DONAVON SMALLWOOD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
her out of management decisions; and that
he disparaged her on Zoom calls with fellow
AKT franchise owners. envisioned how we could make this the very and pulling sales back to the levels not seen future of the AKT franchises. “This was
first dance concept to be scaled nationally, since the third quarter of 2018,” said Liyin never some get-rich-quick scheme,” she
Xponential accuses Ms. Kaiser of insti-
gating a “campaign of disruption” and calls A legal fight and I was convinced it was going to be Yeo, an applied data analyst at Second said. “I believed in this model, I wanted to
her actions “willful, wanton, malicious and
oppressive.”
with accusations incredible.”
The following March, the sides had closed
Measure, a technology company that ana-
lyzes transaction data from a panel of
empower women, to have them be not just
managers of studios, but owners. I was
Just a couple of years ago, Ms. Kaiser was
running a mini-empire in the booming
of missed a deal that would give Xponential the rights
to AKT’s intellectual property, as well as a
4.5 million consumers.
The performance of AKT has been even
never given that chance, and as an entre-
preneur and business owner, my heart goes
world of boutique fitness, with locations on
East 84th Street and in the Flatiron district
payments and license to use Ms. Kaiser’s image and per-
sona. In return, she was to receive $2.15 mil-
more anemic, according to Second Meas-
ure. It found that, as of August, sales of AKT
out to them.”
While Ms. Kaiser’s studio in the Flatiron
in Manhattan, in East Hampton, N.Y., and in a ‘campaign lion in cash, plus $850,000 over three equal classes account for less than 1 percent of to-
tal sales at Xponential, the lowest year-
district is now closed, she has reopened in
New Canaan, Conn. installments, in addition to a consulting East Hampton and New Canaan. Her Upper
The luxury studios featured her signa- of disruption.’ deal, an equity stake in Xponential’s parent over-year growth across all of the compa- East Side location is available for private
ture AKT classes, services such as nutri- company, and other payments. ny’s brands. training and small groups.
tional advisers and cryotherapy (a treat- When the deal closed, Mr. Geisler was Xponential disputed this but did not pro- These locations have been rebranded as
ment using freezing or near-freezing tem- bullish on the company’s swift expansion, vide financial figures. “We do not work with Anna Kaiser Studios. It is a move that Xpo-
peratures), and a long line of well-heeled boasting of plans to open as many as 20 new Second Measure, and they do not have ac- nential claims is in direct violation of Ms.
devotees, including TriBeCa moms and AKT studios within 12 months and up to 150 cess to our data to be able to provide such a Kaiser’s noncompete agreement. It will also
stars like Alicia Keys. Ms. Kaiser made reg- more in 2019. But the first AKT franchise statement,” a spokesman said. cause AKT franchises “significant and im-
ular appearances in women’s magazines studio didn’t open until June 2019, more Kate Spies, the general manager of the minent harm,” according to testimony filed
and on television shows like “Live With than a year later, and only eight are now wellness site Well + Good, believes Ms. Kai- by a paid expert hired by Xponential, Yoram
Kelly and Ryan.” She even had her own open. While Xponential has spent more ser’s method faces an extra challenge in a Wind, the Lauder emeritus professor at the
clothing line in Target. than $8 million on the AKT business, it has competitive field. “Dance cardio as an exer- Wharton School of the University of Penn-
Ms. Kaiser wanted to continue growing yet to generate a net profit, according to cise style is very difficult to scale, particu- sylvania.
her brand, so she began meeting with po- court filings. larly in a franchise model, because it is so But Ms. Kaiser said that Xponential did
tential investors. In fall 2017, she flew to Los The pandemic, of course, has been partic- technical,” she said. “You really need some- not uphold its end of their agreement, and
Angeles for a meeting with Mr. Geisler of ularly hard on the fitness industry. Compa- one who is a professional dancer who can that it was within her rights to reopen. Still,
Xponential. nies including Gold’s Gym, 24-Hour Fitness teach it well. AKT is not a rinse-and-repeat she is not rejoicing.
“Initially I was not too interested, be- and Flywheel Sports are just some of those model.” “This is a terrible place to be,” she said.
cause the word ‘franchise’ has such a mass- that have filed for bankruptcy. As for Xpo- In a highly competitive and fast-changing “Even if I win the case, I won’t be paid what
market connotation,” Ms. Kaiser said. “But nential, sales “have been hit hard, wiping environment, additionally complicated by I am owed anytime soon. And I am having to
after months of talking, or dating, really, I out strong gains observed over recent years the lawsuits, Ms. Kaiser worries about the start all over from scratch.”

Lorraine Schwartz, Zydo

 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 ST 3

Arena HIGHLIGHTS FROM TMAGAZINE.COM

THE 2 1 2

Magic Carpets, and Much More

In this series for T, the author Reggie Nadel- the 1950s and ’60s, my mother would go to
son revisits New York institutions that have the original shop, ABC Carpet, which was
defined cool for decades, from time-honored across the street at 881 Broadway, to buy
restaurants to unsung dives. The full article broadloom. Later, in 1985, when the store
is at tmagazine.com. became ABC Carpet & Home and moved to
On a warm day in late September, rosy number 888, like many New Yorkers I went
apples piled high in the Union Square for the excitement. And so I’m glad ABC is
Greenmarket, I stroll over to ABC Carpet & still going. In a city whose retail landscape
Home on the corner of Broadway and 19th is increasingly made up of chain stores, and
Street. A gold-luster plate calls to me from which has recently suffered badly from the
a window, as does a pale pink mohair effects of the pandemic, ABC remains a
throw. The grand loft building, constructed little piece of New York’s old glamour —
in 1882, has just been renovated — it was and soul.
bought from ABC by a realty company in
2017, though the store still occupies three of
the eight floors — and in an age when the
great New York department stores are
disappearing, ABC is very much alive. As
ever, the immense street-level windows —
filled with beguiling arrangements of rugs,
furniture and antique tchotchkes — appear
to be the work of a fantastical theater set
designer.
The store has always been a New York
event. Tourists arrive in throngs, and ru-
mors have long circulated about rich and
famous — and infamous — shoppers. A
friend told me she once saw Donald Trump
and Marla Maples browsing for baby furni-
ture here.
The ground floor, especially, conjures the
thrill of the bazaar and, with it, an obses-
sive desire to collect. Here’s a rose pink
pillow embroidered with dark green trees,
there’s a fuchsia stone teacup. Upstairs are
heaps of rugs — kilims, dhurries, Persians
— in thousands of otherworldly colors and,
of course, furniture: vivid pink plush swivel
chairs, deep leather sofas and bergères
upholstered in floral satin. After all the time
I’ve spent on my couch during the lock-
down, I could use — in my dreams, at least
— a plump yellow velvet sofa.
ABC has always been part of my life. In

THE A RTI STS

WURTS BROS. MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK (HISTORIC ABC PHOTO); ANGELA HAU
(ABC PHOTOS); VIA HENRY TAYLOR AND HAUSER & WIRTH (HENRY TAYLOR PAINTING)

‘If I’m Painting, I’m Feeling Good’

In each installment of The Artists, T high-
lights a recent or little-shown work by a
Black artist, along with a few words from
that artist putting the work in context. This
week, we’re looking at an untitled in-
progress painting by Henry Taylor, who is
known for almost impressionistic portraits
that are inspired by memory, history and
scenes of everyday life. Taylor’s first exhibi-
tion with Hauser & Wirth will open at the
gallery’s space in Somerset, England, in
February. The full interview is at
tmagazine.com.
Name Henry Taylor
Age 62
Based In Los Angeles
Originally From Oxnard, Calif.
When and where did you make this work?
I did this a few months ago at my house. It’s
from a photograph and I liked the photo- Guston’s work probably permeated this
graph and I just wanted to paint my painting too.
brother. What inspired you to make this work?
Can you describe what’s going on? I was home in my garage studio, and I just
That’s my brother Johnie Ray. When Covid like to paint. You know what I mean? I
first started, I was just painting, painting, mean, my incentive is just wanting to make
painting, painting, and my house is on the work and not be so complacent. If I’m paint-
pathway of airplanes and I have this sort of, ing, I’m feeling good. So what inspired me?
I would say for lack of a better word, fasci- Just being allowed to paint. I don’t need a
nation with them. I’m just so intrigued by lot of inspiration, I just need time. Because
flight. I’m often wondering how many peo- there’s always something for me to paint. I
ple are on that plane. It’s just a bus with love my job if you want to call it that.
wings. I’ve never been entirely comfortable
with that — our progress in technology. It
kind of blows my mind still. The painting’s a
work in progress. It started as a sketch.
That’s something that I like to do some-
times. So I started off with that. I might just
look through photographs. I think I like the
fact that I can be lost before I can be found.
As I paint, a whole story develops. [Philip]

Creating the finest bed and bath linens since 1929

MATOUK .COM
4 ST
Adam Shefki
and Tianna
Donyes
Couples Who Quarantined Together . . .
Some bonds were tested, while others were strengthened. Here
are six stories of love flourishing and sputtering under lockdown.
By TAYLOR TRUDON
It started with a yoga class, a stroll through
a secondhand bookstore in Berkeley, Calif.,
and a rapidly accelerating pandemic. After
just eight dates — just over a month after
they met — Scott Lucas, a deputy editor at
BuzzFeed News, and Lyz Keating, a public
health professional, decided to move in to-
gether.
They went to Target, bought a large cof-
fee maker and stocked up on laundry deter-
gent. For the next six months, they split
their time, together, between their two
apartments. “A couple weeks into it, we kind
of looked up and were like, ‘We’re living to-
gether?’” Ms. Keating, 34, said.
Today, the couple shares a one-bedroom
in Oakland, Calif., with Ms. Keating’s dog
and a newly adopted kitten.
“It was a big decision, and in some ways,
the big decisions are easy decisions,” said
Mr. Lucas, also 34. (Mr. Lucas and Ms. Keat-
ing recently purchased an engagement
ring.)
Whirlwind domestic bliss hasn’t been the
case for everyone this year. Life has been
tough. A new Pew Research Center survey
found that one in four American adults are
struggling to pay their bills. Guides on how
to survive cohabiting in close quarters with
romantic partners (and parents, and kids)
proliferate online. Divorce rates skyrock-
eted in China in March after couples
emerged from lockdown.
But some relationships, confined to tight
quarters, have had room to bloom.
Happily Ever After, for Now
Sarah Corley, a 33-year-old digital market-
er, and Adam Emma, a 33-year-old project
architect, went on five dates before Chicago
issued a stay-at-home order. They decided
to trade off extended weekends at each oth-
er’s places until lockdown lifted.
“It was kind of an incubator for this beau-
tiful thing we had started to develop,” Ms.
Corley said, referring to the “safe haven”
she and Mr. Emma built for themselves.
Paris Has a Hornet Problem. And a Bee Problem.
By CHANTEL TATTOLI
“The queen is dead?” a preschool adminis-
trator in suburban Paris asked Matthieu
Bize, a wasp controller who had come to rid
the schoolyard of Asian hornets.
On the ground, a nest was in tatters.
Twenty minutes earlier, it had been high up
in an ivy-choked tree, where it looked like a
jumbo gray-brown balloon. Mr. Bize, 32, had
sent a telescopic pole through the canopy,
injected a paralyzing white powder into the
hornets’ home, and knocked it down. The
colony’s larvae were strewn about. “Nearly
finished here,” he said.
In English, the Bize family name is pro-
nounced “bees”; in French, it is “bise”
(short for kisses). Dozens of times a day,
when Mr. Bize answers his cellphone —
“C’est Monsieur Bize” — this gentle phras-
ing sweetens an otherwise sting-y situation.
For Mr. Bize doesn’t hunt just any pest.
One-third of the nests to which he responds
belong to a species of dreaded “murder hor-
net,” a type of wasp that beheads and feeds
to its larvae an insect that is very important
to France: the honeybee.
Beyond the fact that Napoleon chose the
honeybee for his logo in the early 19th cen-
tury, France is the European Union’s largest
agricultural producer, and generally known
for pollinator-friendly policies. It is also one
of Europe’s major honey trade hubs.
The Asian hornet first appeared in south-
west France in 2004, possibly having trav-
eled from Southeast Asia as a stowaway in a
pottery shipment that docked in Bordeaux.
“I actually did not imagine this species
would reach the capital,” said Adrien Per-
rard, 33, a researcher of bee biodiversity at
Sorbonne University. But in 2015, it did.
France’s honey production was at a 20-
year low, and Paris had become a newfound
oasis for honeybees and their keepers. Re-
ports of hives bedeviled by the arrivistes
mounted. Mr. Bize was then a sommelier,
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Phillip Dinner
and Sarah
Berkman
“We got to know each other very deeply,
very quickly.”
Shelley Sather, 46, was used to an inde-
pendent lifestyle, living alone since she was
19. But that changed when she met her boy-
friend at an ethnography conference in
Rhode Island last November. The two
learned they lived 11 minutes from each
other in Brooklyn.
The first time they sat down for dinner, it
was clear there was a spark. “We fell in love
immediately,” Ms. Sather said.
Even with their busy schedules — Ms.
Sather travels frequently for work, and her
boyfriend is a widowed father of two — they
spent as much time together as possible.
But in mid-March, when New York shut
down, they were afraid they wouldn’t be
able to see each other at all.
“So he said: ‘I sat my kids down. I told
them that I’m in love with you and we would
all like to invite you to shelter in place with
us,’” recalled Ms. Sather, who had only met
his children, ages 15 and 11, twice. (She said
she was still “blown away” by his words.)
Ms. Sather left her apartment behind to
join the family, who quarantined in New Or-
leans and on Fire Island. Now, all of them
are settled back in Brooklyn and are reno-
vating a home together.
Ms. Sather said that it was “never my
goal to have a house, a dog and family,” but
that she had never felt “more whole and
more cared for” in her life.
Sheltering in Place, With Parents
“With any normal guy you would think, ‘Oh
my God, this is a nightmare situation for
them,’ ” said Sarah Berkman, 27, a digital
strategist who lives in Manhattan. She
found herself sheltering in place with her
long-distance boyfriend of two months — at
her parents’ house.
She had planned a trip on March 12 to vis-
it Phillip Dinner, 27, in Nashville, where he
had recently relocated for a job in finance
and where she grew up. Then she never left.
Instead of Ms. Berkman going back and
but as the honeybee versus hornet crisis of
Paris intensified, his brother, a fireman
named Gregory, roped him into wasp work.
“There was no training,” said Gregory, 38,
wincing at the memory of learning on the
fly. He had been fending off hornets as a fire-
fighter in Paris; when his department
punted the wasp problem to private pest
technicians, a side business was hatched.
Thus, the brothers Bize won the munici-
pal contract for wasp control in Paris. In two
vans, they zigzagged to calls to nix nests
citywide, one working the Left Bank while
the other worked the Right Bank, as Greg-
ory’s wife, Léa, acted as dispatcher.
The city paid handsomely, but the
caseload was gruesome. Now, the Bize
brothers live and work in the suburbs just
outside Le Périphérique. They destroyed
some 300 Asian hornet nests in 2019. “Last
Adam Emma
and Sarah
Corley
NASTASIA MORA
forth between her boyfriend’s home and her
childhood home, they decided the safest
plan was for everyone to stay together. To
Ms. Berkman’s surprise, the unconvention-
al setup worked well — so well, in fact, that
Mr. Dinner would even eat meals or hang
out with Ms. Berkman’s parents by himself.
“There was tons of alone time with her
parents and at first it was nerve racking,”
Mr. Dinner said. “What am going to talk
about at the dinner table with them? But it
got better and I got more comfortable.”
“I was very stressed with work through a
lot of it, like crying all the time,” Ms. Berk-
man said. “Phillip had to deal with that and
also being around my parents.” The couple
has since moved out; they’re currently liv-
ing at Mr. Dinner’s new house, only five
minutes away.
Love and Other Stressors
“When you date anyone, you learn some-
thing new about them every day, whether
that be good, bad, interesting, frustrating,”
said Courtney Rada, 29, a Food Network
host.
She rented a car in mid-March with her
girlfriend, Emily Trumble, a 26-year-old ac-
tor, and drove from New York City to Sara-
sota, Fla., where they hunkered down in Ms.
Rada’s grandparents’ winter home. A
planned two-week trip turned into four
months. She observed that when you’re
constantly with that person — and only that
person — emotions are easily heightened.
“Everything seems like a huge deal,” she
said. “But if anything, it made me fall in love
with her faster because I got a CliffsNotes
version of every aspect of her.”
“And vice versa,” said Ms. Trumble, who
added that, after living alone in New York, it
was tough to learn to ask for space “without
it being an insult.” The couple is now back in
New York, where they plan to move in to-
gether in January.
With restaurants closed and plans to
meet friends for double dates canceled, the
two got creative with date nights.
“I sort of tricked out my grandparents’
backyard with some tiki torches, leis and
glassware,” Ms. Rada said. “I was proud of
myself.” (“It was very, very impressive,”
Ms. Trumble added.)
year was not that bad — this year is heavy,”
Matthieu Bize said. “Beaucoup d’activité!”
Wasps’ numbers are at their max in late
summer, and because of a mild spring, the
city was lousy with both native wasps and
the Asian hornets this year.
“It’s a very good year for this hornet,”
said Quentin Rome, an expert on the Asian
hornet at the French National Museum of
Natural History. (Vespa velutina, the wasp
in question, is often confused with Vespa
mandarinia, the giant “murder hornet” that
made its way to Washington State, but that
species is not in France.) “They are desper-
ate to get other insects to feed” to their lar-
vae, Mr. Rome, 40, said. “The hornets are
extra-aggressive with the honeybees in the
autumn.”
Hornets eat a variety of insects, but bee-
hives are easy marks. A hornet “hawks” the
Scott Lucas
and Lyz
Keating
Breakups
Obviously, not all new couples’s relation-
‘We got to ships survived this year.
know each Elly Belle, a 25-year-old journalist in
Brooklyn, met her girlfriend in February
other very via Instagram. They were going on multiple
dates per week but that changed as the pan-
deeply, very demic started to worsen. Ms. Belle, who is
immunocompromised, became not only in-
quickly.’ creasingly stressed by the news but also
from trying to figure out how to bring up
such a fraught topic so early.
“I was under no illusion that it was going
to be a short thing,” Ms. Bellesaid, which led
to a “dramatic conversation with tears”
about what their relationship would look
like under this new normal. They decided to
try quarantining together.
“There can be something very romantic
about saying, ‘I want to go through this
stressful time period with you,’” she said. “I
was like, ‘I know this is going to suck and
this is going to be really hard. And I would
rather go through this with you than not.’ ”
Ms. Belle and her girlfriend quarantined
together for nearly four months, but even-
tually called it quits. It’s impossible to know
how their relationship would have gone
sans pandemic, but Ms. Belle believes it
would have been easier under different liv-
ing arrangements.
“At that point, it felt like being in a pres-
sure cooker,” she said.
Chaos as Cupid’s Arrow
For Tianna Donyes, 28, the chaos of the out-
side world made her new relationship more
comfortable and stable. Ms. Donyes, a hair-
stylist, went on her first date with her boy-
friend, Adam Shefki, who builds props and
sets for movies, on Feb. 26. Two weeks later,
she packed a bag and headed to his house in
the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. She
has been there ever since.
“We’re just two people who don’t have a
lot of family around,” she said. “In the midst
of everything that’s going on right now, and
so many people are miserable, we get to ex-
perience that feeling of being in your hon-
eymoon phase and getting to live together
at the same time. It feels like you’re getting
away with something.”
According to Isabelle hive, Mr. Perrard explained, hovering
Dajoz, a pollination around the entrance.
ecologist, there are at “It really stresses the bees,” said Lionel
least 2,000 hives in Potron, the founder of Apis Civi, the city’s
downtown Paris. only maison de miel (honey house) with a
beekeeping school. “They know the hornets
are there and won’t leave to forage. And if
they don’t forage, they starve during win-
ter.”
Apis Civi, founded in 2016, has 250 bee-
hives in neighborhoods across inner Paris,
including Champs-Élysées, Montmartre
and the Marais, and another 150 hives in
Greater Paris.
Mr. Potron plans to expand Apis Civi to
cities in other countries, hoping to begin
next year with Monaco. “Urban beekeeping
is exploding,” Mr. Perrard said. “It has ex-
ploded in Paris.”
That turns out to be its own kind of sticky
situation.
Like the hornets, domesticated hon-
eybees are also “invasive,” said one of Mr.
Perrard’s colleagues, the local pollination
ecologist Isabelle Dajoz. “This urban bee-
keeping trend must stop.”
“In 2020, there are more than 2,000 hives
Two species: downtown, that we know of,” Ms. Dajoz, 57,
said. “It works out to 20 hives per square
one gruesome kilometer — 10 times higher than the na-
tional average.”
and hunted, the And though honeybees are managed
bees, she said, “they are competing with the
other revered species of wild native bee — like the bum-
blebee — and with butterflies, for flower re-
and pampered. sources.” Most pollination is performed by
those wild pollinators, especially for wild
plant species, and even in urban habitats,
Ms. Dajoz added. If there are too many hon-
eybees, the wild pollinators are pushed out.
After Ms. Dajoz’s findings, the mayor’s of-
fice issued a moratorium on new hives in
public spaces last fall. In the entangled the-
ater that is an ecosystem, the honeybee, a
victim of hornets, has become an accidental
victimizer, too.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 ST 5

MODERN LOVE

The Ghost Was the Least of Our Troubles

After spooky things occurred in
our new house, a scary thing
happened in our marriage.
By ALLYSON McOUAT
My ghost is a mother. I am convinced of this
by both the ghost’s behavior and the history
of our house. You see, a mother died here, on
the property. We were told the three-story
Victorian was being sold “as is” after the
longtime owners, a couple, had died trag-
ically.
“They didn’t die inside the house,” the
agent said, without offering details.
We didn’t pry. We’re Canadian.
My wife loved the renovation challenge
the house presented. I loved the location,
close to dear friends. Having already lost
several bidding wars, we were thrilled to
learn our offer had been accepted. I was
pregnant, and the house was such a deal.
Included in the purchase were all appli-
ances, the electrical light fixtures and a
judgmental ghost — the last not making her
presence known until a few months later.
We packed away any worries and focused
on constructing our new life. My wife began
gutting the house while I focused on my
ever-expanding tummy. But on reflection,
bad luck had met us at the front door. I was
put on bed rest because of my apparently
“incompetent” cervix and stayed there for
the better part of seven months.
Almost everything in the house needed to
be replaced. Plumbing lines were slopped
into the street and veins of electrical wires
restrung through skeletal wood framing.
History was demolished and order restored
under the capable hands of my fearless
wife. She needed no help from me except for BRIAN REA

occasionally answering her shouted ques-

tions: “What do I do with all these cruci-
fixes they left nailed to the walls? Throw
them out?”
Bed rest wasn’t so bad. The house was full
of friends and family pitching in on the reno-
vations. We added one more to the party
when I delivered a perfect baby girl.
Motherhood intoxicated me. I felt like a
superhero. I had created life with my uterus
(by far the coolest thing any of my organs
had accomplished). Sometimes just my
mere presence alone soothed her. But we
weren’t the only mothers in the house.
Ghosts are experts at gaslighting. You
quickly begin to question your eyes and
ears.
When the door to our bedroom creaked
open on its own during a 3 a.m. feeding, I
figured the door, like the baby, had trouble
latching. I sensed someone had entered the
room, though, wagging a finger while I fed
the baby from a bottle. Then, suddenly, the
television went off, as if to say, “If you aren’t
going to breastfeed, can’t you at least pay
attention to her?”
I brushed it off as bad wiring combined
with sleep deprivation. A few months later,
the “bad wiring” grew more audacious. I
had decided to put the baby to bed a little
earlier that night, turning the light off as I
entered the room. But as I lay her down, the
light switched back on. Puzzled, I walked to
the dimmer switch and found the knob
turned to the “on” position. That was odd. I
turned it off, but as soon as her back touched
the mattress, the light snapped on again.
Instead of feeling scared, I grew angry.
This ghost’s maternal judgment had
crossed a line. She was arguing with me,
saying it was too early for bedtime. Didn’t I
know better? Well, I had been a mother for
six months. I did know better. And I gath-
ered myself and announced to the room:
“This baby is going to bed. Right now.”
ALLYSON McOUAT is a writer living in Toronto.
EMAIL modernlove@nytimes.com
As the words escaped my lips, we were
thrown into darkness.
I screamed and bolted down the stairs
with the baby and into the waiting arms of
my partner, who’d heard the commotion.
She soothed my fragile nerves, checked the
room and came back down to explain,
calmly, that I was out of my mind. Ghosts
are not real.
She was right. It was probably a slippery
knob. A blown fuse. A coincidence. I was a
fool to doubt her.
The next day, my wife made some inquir-
ies. I came home to her waving a burning
bouquet of sage, smudging the house to
ward off evil spirits.
Our second child was born three and a
half years later. More spirited than our first,
she preferred night to day, but she was
funny, charming and her smiling, bright
blue eyes made you forgive any sins. We
were getting used to sleepless nights in this
house anyway.
One time, a nightmare woke me. As my
eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a black
shape hovering over me, the exact size of a
human head.
I shimmied my hand under the covers to
touch my sleeping wife’s arm and whis-
pered, “Am I still dreaming?”
She opened her eyes a little. Then a lot.
“Jesus!” she said, leaping from the bed and
flicking on the light.
It wasn’t a head, of course, but a partially
deflated helium balloon from our daugh-
ter’s birthday party that I had yet to tidy up.
It had meandered up from our main floor,
down the hall, through our bedroom door-
way, across the room and settled above my
sleeping face. As balloons do. All the time.
The burning bouquet of sage returned.
As the years passed, things got tougher
for us. Money was tight. The same stresses
we survived before now carried so much
more weight with two children to support.
Any time we had with each other had been
swallowed whole by the endless chores and
repairs the house demanded.
The strange occurrences — we barely
gave them a second thought now. A glass, pictures falling off walls. No slamming
sliding across the length of the dining room doors. Just silence. Until one night while I
The house was table? Condensation. A rocking chair, rock- was watching television and the midcen-
full of friends ing independently? Uneven floors. So many
of the unseen threats around us I ignored as
tury swivel chair next to me, laden with un-
folded laundry, began to turn on its own.
and family benign.
We had everything we ever wanted, we
She was back — and urging me to do my
laundry!
pitching in on told each other daily. We were happy, right?
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that some-
I will never know if she was real, or if I
just needed her to be real — or perhaps if
the renovations. thing had died. Was our once-celebrated
love now nothing more than a half-deflated
talking about ghosts being real or not
misses the point entirely. Which was this: I
We added one balloon? No! Our love story was solid and felt a kinship with my ghost. We were an
true. I trusted that we would find each other otherworldly odd couple, two mothers
more to the again once the toddler years were over. whose plans for our lives had changed dra-
Instead, my wife disappeared. matically without our input. We may have
party when I Well, she didn’t really disappear. She just surrendered to our circumstances, but we
left. They call it a tsunami divorce. You may were not quite ready to leave our home.
delivered a spot a small wave of trouble in the distance, Recently, after facing the most terrifying
perfect baby girl. but you don’t believe the magnitude until
it’s too late.
of all dark forces (the divorce lawyer), the
“for sale” sign went up outside, the finger
In this new world, life moved on in a blur paintings came down inside, and I finally
of grief. The children got bigger. Shared cus- said goodbye to my ghost. I thanked her for
tody started. Sometimes I swore I could believing in me. I moved on.
hear my ex-wife’s boots in the hallway. I Now I love sitting on my new front porch
found myself often alone in an empty under the star-shaped fairy lights watching
haunted house full of memories and ques- life go by. Sometimes my ex-wife will roar
tions. What did I do wrong? Did anyone else up in her Jeep, music blaring, children in the
see this coming? Where did everybody go? back and her fiancée next to her. And I
The house itself seemed dead. As if all the smile, remembering how thrilling it was to
life had moved out instead of just one per- have been the passenger in her life.
son. I refilled it with new friends, lovers, Ultimately, all I ever wanted was for our
pets and dinner parties, but it felt like little family to be happy, in whatever form
“Weekend at Bernie’s,” with everything that took. If this isn’t exactly what I pic-
falsely animated. tured, at least we can lie down in our sepa-
Even the ghost had given up on me. No rate homes and rest in peace.
Tiny Love Stories Defining the Relationship
I met Ashley while moving a sofa out of a walk-up in Minneapolis. Six months later, we
went to a political fund-raiser. The organizer asked us how we knew each other. I said
we were friends. She said, “We’re dating.” Later, I said, “Are we dating?” We had been
spending all of our free time together, but I didn’t know. Ashley said: “Yes, you’re my
girlfriend and I’m your girlfriend. I was in love with you the moment I met you.” We
celebrated our anniversary last month. However, if you ask Ashley, she would say our
celebration was long overdue. CLARE BAUMGART
For more readers’ stories and to submit your own: nytimes.com/tinylovestories

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If You’re Not Voting, We’re Not Dating
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
affecting not only their families,
schools, taxes and health care, but
also their dating habits. Some sin-
gles want to know if their potential
matches are civically engaged,
even on a basic level. Others see
their dates’ politics as indicators
of compatibility.
A few daters expressed frustra-
tion about people who “virtue sig-
nal” — add phrases like Black
Lives Matter to their profiles to
show support for a cause — but do
not seem to engage with the is-
sues beyond their bios.
“You ask if they were at a pro-
test, and it turns out that they
weren’t or they give some sappy
excuse for not being there,” said
Jorge Clavo Abbass, 23, a gradu-
ate student and instructor at the
Ohio State University.
In a survey, the dating app
Bumble found that out of 50 fac-
tors women considered in a poten-
tial match, politics ranked ninth.
(It came in behind smoking hab-
Social Q’s PHILIP GALANES
Don’t Jump to Racism
A new friend in the Midwest was invited to an out-
door Halloween party where mask-wearing was
requested. We went shopping for an art-inspired
costume for her. I saw that she was gravitating to-
ward period costumes. After the party, she posted
pictures online. I was stunned! She wore a full-
blown Scarlett O’Hara-type gown — to a mansion,
no less! If I’d known, I would have tried to talk her
out if it. This year’s widespread Black Lives Matter
protests, along with the traditional whitewashing of
the antebellum South, make her choice seem in-
sensitive. I’ll be seeing her soon, and I already feel
awkward. I know she’ll share details of the party,
and I feel obligated to enlighten her. Any advice?
FRIEND
It’s one thing if your friend went to
the party dressed as Scarlett
O’Hara. Casually masquerading
as the heroine of a racist novel and
film in which Black people are
portrayed as happy slaves is
problematic. Costume parties
don’t offer enough context for
racial commentary. But it’s an-
other thing if your friend simply
rented a Victorian dress with a
crinoline underneath to make the
skirt poof out. That style origi-
nated in England and became
fashionable in many places (with
ever larger hoop skirts) in the
mid-19th century. The dresses are
not primarily associated with
slavery or the South. Women in
the North wore them, too. So,
which was she: dressed as a char-
acter, or from an era? Be careful
about jumping to racism. (Your
desire to “enlighten” your friend
sounds condescending.) If you’re
not sure, ask her: “What was your
Halloween costume?” If she says
Scarlett, ask if she considered the
racial implications. If not, save
your energy for clear-cut racism.
Dying Wish
I broke up with my boyfriend
during our coronavirus quaran-
tine. Recently, he was diagnosed
with inoperable lung cancer. He
begged me not to let him die alone.
So I now have frequent video chats
with him, accompany him to doc-
tors’ appointments and even
stayed overnight in the hospital
with him after he was admitted for
pneumonia. The problem: He
thinks we’re back together again
and wants to resume our sex life
(which his doctor blessed). I don’t
have those feelings for him any-
more, but I don’t want to hurt him,
either. Should I have mercy sex
with him or tell him I’m not into
him?
ANONYMOUS
Neither! By your kind behavior,
you’ve shown that you’re a good
and loyal friend to your ex. Tell
him you want to continue support-
ing him during this challenging
period, but you haven’t changed
your mind about the breakup.
Now, this may hurt his feelings or
even make him angry with you.
Give him time to work through his
emotions, but don’t sleep with him
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
that offers virtual speed dating
sessions for people with specific
interests, like veganism, the keto-
genic diet or a political party. After
its, family plans, life goals and re- that help people pin down poten- Melissa Hobley, 40, OkCupid’s his struggles in New York City, he
lationship intent.) According to tial partners, politics has become chief marketing officer. “Now it’s said, the text he received in Scotts-
Bumble’s head of insights, Jemma the most popular category. More ‘I don’t even want to see you in my dale was “refreshing.”
Ahmed, about 33 to 35 percent of than 1.2 million people who use lineup of potential people to chat Living in New York, Pat Cas-
all users said the pandemic and OkCupid said they preferred to with if your politics on certain is- sidy, 27, who works in investment
the Black Lives Matter movement date people who share their politi- sues don’t align with mine, or if banking, has found that a common
had made them care more about cal views. Women were more you are not a voter.’ ” deal breaker for potential dates is
the political views of their poten- likely to say so than men. The plat- not necessarily his conservatism
tial match. WHEN RICHARD SCHMITZ, 31, a
form recently began offering us- but whether he helped elect the
Ashley Mack, 27, an aestheti- founder of a marketing agency,
moved from New York to Scotts- current president. “The screening
cian and surgery consultant in question is, ‘Did you vote for
Sarasota, Fla., said: “The conver- dale, Ariz., he was screened by a
sations we have aren’t just about The unwritten match. “I had a Hinge date who Trump or are you a Trump sup-
porter?’” he said.
how our days are going anymore. texted me, ‘Good morning, I think
They’re about unavoidable topics, rule on politics we need to get this out of the Mr. Cassidy finds himself hav-
ing to explain his politics, which
way,’” he said. She told him that
like police brutality.”
Ms. Mack said that inaction in has been erased. most of her beliefs are very con- are “right of center.” “Looking
the face of this summer’s protests servative, that she plans to vote back five years, I do not know if I
led her to end some of her platonic for President Trump and if that of- would have tried to explain myself
relationships. She also reassessed ers a “voter badge,” a digital fends him, it would be best for that much pre-Trump,” he said. “I
the qualities she looks for in a po- equivalent of an “I Voted” sticker. them not to meet. think the political climate general-
tential partner. “I’m more aware People who have been out of the Mr. Schmitz was surprised. “In ly has made me feel the need to be
of things that are deal breakers for dating pool for a while may see New York, it’s very normal and a bit more nuanced or tactical
me and what I’ll tolerate,” she this as a sea change. common to see a girl who has ‘If about how I position myself.”
said. “You think long-term. What “For my generation and most you vote Trump swipe left. Liber- As a proud Trump voter in New
would they instill in your kid?” generations before me, it was ‘Do als only,’ ” he said. In Manhattan, York City, Sam Baron, 31, who
On OkCupid, a dating site not talk politics until you’re down he found his dating pool limited works in tech development, said
known for lengthy questionnaires the path of a relationship,’ ” said and turned to Filter Off, a platform that he did not care about his
out of pity. If I were in your ex’s
position, I would value a great
friend more than a lover who was
only acting the part. Wouldn’t
you?
Puppy Problems
During the pandemic, our three
kids convinced us to adopt a puppy
from our local animal shelter.
Spoiler alert: Raising a puppy is
much harder than we thought. And
ours is destructive. We’re consid-
ering returning him to the shelter,
but we feel guilty about it and our
kids don’t want us to. What should
we do?
H.G.
I think you feel guilty about re-
turning the puppy to the shelter
because you should. When you
adopted him, you made a commit-
ment to the dog, the shelter and
your family to provide a good
home for him. Going back on your
promise too easily would be bad
for everyone. Call the shelter and
tell the adoption coordinator that
you’re having real trouble with the
puppy and need help. The shelter
may offer assistance or connect
you with a trainer. I know that
raising a puppy is hard work. But
until you’ve tried your best, it
would be wrong to return him.
Follow-Up Q
I am the sister of the man who
wrote to you last week, wanting to
take back a now valuable photo-
graph from our parents’ estate
because he gave it to them many
years ago. He was right when he
said his siblings objected, but
neither he nor you explored why
that is. My sister devoted untold
hours to taking care of our par-
ents. And I gave them substantial
financial help to allow them to stay
in their home. Our brother was
mostly missing in action. Addi-
tional thoughts now?
GRACE
I’m glad you wrote. Family situa-
tions are almost always more
complex than a single anecdote
can convey. That’s why I try not to
judge anyone and suggested that
your brother leave the photograph
in your parents’ estate. But now
that I have you, let me encourage
you to sit down with your siblings
(when it’s safe to do that) and get
beyond this conflict. You’ve all
suffered a big loss with the death
of your parents, and your support
for each other may be much more
valuable than any Eggleston
photograph.
. ...................................................................
For help with your awkward situation,
send a question to SocialQ@nytimes
.com, to Philip Galanes on Facebook
or @SocialQPhilip on Twitter.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
dates’ politics, but that they
seemed to care about his. “I dated
a liberal once,” he said. “When she
saw online that I loved Trump, she
went way off the deep end on me.”
Recently, Jessica Zimmerman,
42, who owns a group practice for
mental health counseling, has
been rejecting men who do not see
eye-to-eye with her on certain is-
sues, like the separation of mi-
grant children from their families
at the U.S. border.
“I’m a single mom and a busi-
ness owner,” she said. “I’m busy,
and I hold my time somewhat sa-
cred. I wouldn’t go on a date with
someone who thinks that’s a pol-
icy we should uphold.”
Her political views have made
dating a challenge in Indiana, a
state Mr. Trump won easily in
2016. “I’m probably the minority
where I live,” Ms. Zimmerman
said. “In the past it didn’t pro-
foundly affect dating. But the ex-
treme divisiveness and the ex-
treme policies have really brought
a spotlight on politics.”
JANINE OWENS, 38, who lives near
JOHN P. DESSEREAU Philadelphia and works in fi-
nance, will not categorically
refuse to date someone based on
their politics; though she is a reg-
istered Democrat, she does not al-
ways agree with the party’s poli-
cies. But early on, she will inquire
how engaged her date is in local
and national politics.
“Growing up, there were those
unwritten rules of a first date,” she
said. “Years ago I probably would-
n’t have brought up politics. Now,
we’re definitely bringing it up in
the first few weeks of dating.”
The pandemic, with its various
pressures and the blue-versus-red
debate around its management,
has only sharpened existing polit-
ical divisions.
“The pandemic has really im-
pacted the way I date,” said Ann
Nguyen, 25, who works in commu-
nications in Washington. “I’ve
spent more time just talking to
people.”
And what else is there to talk
about? As Sarah Bettman, 31, who
works in biotech in Santa Monica,
Calif., put it, the pandemic “has to
come up to a certain extent; when
you’re talking about your day-to-
day and your perspective on it, the
politics and how it’s handled are
an inevitable part of the conversa-
tion.”
Those conversations can make
or break an early-stages relation-
ship. “Dating during Covid, I’m
putting myself at risk,” Ms. Cib-
barelli said. “If we’re not in agree-
ment to some extent, I’m not inter-
ested in breathing your air.”
For Elly Shariat, 38, a publicist
in Washington whose father and
sister work at a hospital, the co-
ronavirus has been a lightning rod
in dating.
“If I match with you and I see
that you’re posting about attend-
ing an antimask rally, or you post
something about masks being
harmful and saying that we need
to open up sports, that’s not just
wrong and factually inaccurate,”
Ms. Shariat said. “It’s a sign that
someone is selfish. That lets me
know that you won’t be giving in
our relationship.”
Ms. Shariat, who did not take
the role of politics in her dating life
seriously before 2016, said she
now led with her values in her on-
Need a Video Plug?
Hire the Opposition
Chris Christie, a Republican, in a Cameo video used to support a Democrat.
By JONAH ENGEL BROMWICH
and EZRA MARCUS
This past week, Chris Christie be-
came the latest Republican poli-
tician to be fooled into making a
campaign video on behalf of a
Democrat.
Mr. Christie, a former New Jer-
sey governor, is one of many of
President Trump’s current and
former associates available for
hire on Cameo, an app that allows
users to commission personalized
videos from minor — and increas-
ingly major — celebrities.
The video, which cost $200, was
framed as a jovial message to a
person named Greg, whom Mr.
Christie was prompted to encour-
age to return to New Jersey,
Greg’s former home.
What Mr. Christie did not know
was that the video was meant for
Greg Gianforte, the Republican
nominee in Montana’s governor’s
race. It was commissioned by the
campaign of Mr. Gianforte’s oppo-
nent, Mike Cooney.
Mr. Cooney’s staff ordered up
the Cameo video on Wednesday,
and Mr. Christie turned the as-
signment around quickly, deliver-
ing it that evening. (The celebri-
ties available for hire on Cameo
are told whom to address in their
video but usually do not know the
identity of the recipient.)
“Think about everything we got
back here,” Mr. Christie said in the
video, cajoling “Greg” to return to
New Jersey. “We got Taylor ham.
We’ve got Bruce Springsteen.
We’ve got Jon Bon Jovi. We’ve got
the Jersey Shore. We’ve got the
boardwalks.”
“We’ve got all that stuff back
here that is waiting for you, but
more than anything else, Mike
and your whole family, they want
you back here,” he added.
Then he jokingly threatened to
retrieve the addressee himself if
he wouldn’t return willingly. “I
don’t think that’s what you want,
Greg,” Mr. Christie said.
On Thursday, Mr. Cooney
posted the video on Twitter, fram-
ing it as a “special message” for
his opponent. Mr. Christie re-
sponded by telling NJ Advance
Media that he had been hood-
winked, and he tweeted about the
incident, emphasizing that he was
on Cameo for the benefit of a New
Jersey-based charity.
“Shame on @CooneyforMT,” he
said in his tweet, stating his sup-
port for Mr. Gianforte.
The idea to prank Mr. Christie
originated with Mr. Cooney’s cam-
paign manager, Brad Elkins, who
spotted the former governor on
Cameo. The move was meant to
emphasize a message that Mr.
Cooney’s campaign has been
pushing: that Mr. Gianforte —
who was born in California and
spent his early adulthood in New
Jersey — is an outsider, with out-
sider values.
“It’s been a fun day,” said Matt
Fidel, a campaign spokesman.
Other Trump associates have
been susceptible to pranks like the
one organized by Mr. Cooney’s
staff. In the last several months,
Rob Flaherty, the digital director
ST 7
line profiles. “I’ve worked on Capi-
tol Hill,” her bio reads. “I believe
Black Lives Matter. I believe
Covid-19 is real. And if you dis-
agree with any of those we’re not a
good match.”
She said some men had taken
that as an invitation to troll her.
“This guy told me that my own fa-
ther and sister were lying to me
about cases in the hospital,” Ms.
Shariat said. “He said they must
be getting money from big
pharma.” When she told him that
she did not think they were a good
fit, he responded that she would
never find love. Recently Ms.
Shariat has been asking herself:
“Do I take a pause until after this
election? Do I move to another
country to date?”
Nonetheless, she has no inten-
tion of hiding her opinions, nor of
compromising her views.
“I’m not necessarily looking for
someone who mimics my beliefs,”
she said. “But if you’re not actively
speaking out against things going
wrong and not working to make
this world better, I don’t even want
to have a drink with you.”
of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presiden-
tial campaign, has commissioned
Cameo videos from one of Mr.
Trump’s former campaign man-
agers, Corey Lewandowski, and
Sebastian Gorka, a former White
House adviser, as well as the pres-
ident’s longtime friend Roger
Stone.
Each video was made to pump
up “Joey” (Mr. Biden) before his
debates with Mr. Trump. Mr. Fla-
herty tweeted the first clip, from
Mr. Lewandowski, on Sept. 29; the
one from Mr. Gorka on Oct. 15; and
the final one, from Mr. Stone, on
Oct. 22. (The second debate was
canceled after a disagreement
over Covid-19 safety protocols.)
In the first video, Mr.
Lewandowski lamented to “Joey”
that “some people out there” are
“spreading some nasty rumors
about you.”
“Don’t let ’em get to you,” Mr.
Lewandowski advised. “Take the
fight right to them.”
Mr. Gorka chose what he called
“an old Latin saying” to get his
point across.
“Nil carborundum illegitimi,
don’t let the bastards grind you
down,” he said. “We have a repub-
lic to save, keep doing what you
do. God bless America, MAGA.”
And Mr. Stone encouraged
“Joey” to talk trash about his op-
Trump associates
have been
susceptible to
pranks through
Cameo.
ponents, using a ruder word.
“Good luck to you Joey,” he said.
Mr. Flaherty was inspired by
Caitlin Legacki, a former cam-
paign press secretary for Senator
Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of
New Hampshire. Ms. Legacki had
previously pranked Mr.
Lewandowski, commissioning a
pep talk from him for Ms. Shaheen
and one of her spokesmen, Josh
Marcus-Blank.
But Steve Bullock, the current
governor of Montana, was even
earlier to the trend than Ms.
Legacki. In fall 2019, he posted a
Cameo featuring the former
White House communications di-
rector Anthony Scaramucci.
“We support you, Steve B.,” Mr.
Scaramucci said in the video, un-
wittingly addressing Governor
Bullock — who was then cam-
paigning to be president — and re-
ferring to himself as “the Mooch.”
“I know you’ve got a tough race
ahead of you, but you’ve done this
before. You know how to win. I’m
behind you 100 percent. See you at
the finish line.”
In response to the prank, Mr.
Scaramucci teased Mr. Bullock
about his fund-raising capacity,
said that the money he made
would go to charity and wished
the Montana governor a Happy
Halloween.
8 ST THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Everything’s a Total Blur This Year

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
crisis, either experienced personally or wit-
nessed in the news, and boredom. And for
many of us, life in the age of lockdown con-
sists of seeking out novel ways to escape
isolation while not bingeing too heavily on
the tragedy in the headlines.
Alcohol consumption is up by 14 percent
(and 17 percent for women) compared with
a year ago, according to recent report in the
JAMA Network Open. Makers of cannabis
vape pens and cartridges are reportedly
seeing booming sales in states where mari-
juana is legal.
But maybe the sense of jumbled chronol-
ogy is not just in our heads — or rather, it
actually is. Sheer monotony has the ability
to warp time and tangle our memories, psy-
chologists say, with quarantines and lock-
downs robbing us of the “boundary events”
that normally divide the days, like chapters
in a book.
Without breaks in a repetitive routine, the
mind has difficulty differentiating between
memories, which psychologists call pattern
separation, said Lucy Cheke, a psychologist
and lecturer at Cambridge University who
is researching the effects of the pandemic
on memory.
That might explain why Ms. Edge, the
creative director from San Francisco, can’t
tell what day it is sometimes.
“The usual time markers are gone, so ev-
erything is bleeding together into one
amorphous blob of days,” she said. “It just
keeps going and going in a way that re-
minds me of my teenage years. Like, high
school was four years long, but it might as
well have been 40. I remember feeling like I
was watching paint dry, just kind of going
through the motions until graduation day
when my real life could begin.”
It doesn’t help that so much of our lives
are virtual now, happening only on screens.
Instead of stimulating our senses in real life
— going to shops, meeting friends for cof-
fee, chatting with colleagues in the office —
we FaceTime when the mood strikes, we
binge Netflix shows from three years ago
and we browse Amazon perpetually. We
lose that sense of grounding, in place and
time.
“Normally, there’s a good deal of variety
in our lives, so this makes that process a lot
easier,” Dr. Cheke said. “If you had lunch at
your desk at work on Monday, that makes it
easy to distinguish from eating in a cafe on
Tuesday.”
It all adds up to the blur. Does anything
change?
Last spring, Ashley C. Ford, a writer in
Indianapolis, packed away her sweaters
and winter coats, wondering what the world
might look like half a year later when she
finally unpacked them.
“I took them out two weeks ago,” Ms.
Ford, 33, said, “and it’s all the same.”

IF ONE PROBLEM is that there is too little go-

ing on in our lives, another problem, it
seems, is that there is also too much.
A remarkable thing about this year is that
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHLOE PANG FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

W. Haney, a psychology professor at the Pandemic isolation has also

it’s marked not by one big crisis alone, but a
giant stack of them: a killer virus blended
with political chaos, environmental catas-
trophe, racial strife. The list goes on.
It is a “cascading series of events that just
doesn’t seem to stop,” said Alison Holman, a
professor of nursing and psychological sci-
ence at University of California, Irvine, who
studies the psychological effects of shared
crises, including the current pandemic.
The unending sense of crisis is an “ongo-
ing, chronic stressor” that can lead to a col-
lapse of the reassuring sense that our lives
move in orderly fashion: past, present, fu-
ture, which is key to mental stability. In-
stead, many of us feel stuck in a lousy
present with little sense of the future.
In researching the psychological reper-
cussions of devastating Southern California
wildfires in the 1990s, Dr. Holman said that
victims felt like “time slowed down" and
“the days blurred together.” “Their sense of
reality changes,” she said. “They’re not sure
what’s real anymore. They feel a sense of a
blur, like time is just a blur.”
“This is particularly true of young peo-
ple,” she added, “who have a lot of life ahead
of them.”
Trying to plan a future has been a chal-
lenge for Emily Caldwell, a senior at the
University of Texas at Austin. “It’s rough,”
said Ms. Caldwell, 22, who is studying Latin
American studies and journalism. “I feel
like I’m just treading water right now.”
Before the coronavirus, she hoped to
move to New York, San Francisco or Wash-
ington and get an internship at a magazine.
Now, many magazines’ websites include
messages to prospective interns along the
lines of “As of May 2020, this program has
Some people are imposing
artificial structure on their days
to anchor themselves in reality,
employing journals that serve
as a reminder that another day
is actually over.
been suspended for the foreseeable future.”
“For the ‘foreseeable future’?” she said.
“When is it going to be normal again?”
YES, WE’RE DOING LESS. Yes, we’re worrying
more. And too often, we’re doing less and
worrying more alone, cut off from friends,
family and colleagues.
Isolation itself can also distort the shape
of the days, weeks and months, said Craig
University of California, Santa Cruz, who
studies the effects of isolation in one of its
most extreme examples: prisoners in soli-
tary confinement.
“This is not to say that the deprivations
are in any way comparable to the depriva-
tions a lot of us are facing now,” Dr. Haney
said. “They’re not. But even people in soli-
tary confinement will tell you that the
essence of that experience is something
we’re all experiencing now — the depriva-
tion of normal social contact. And human
beings really do depend on each other to
structure our lives and tell us who we are.”
In isolation, whether relative or extreme,
“there aren’t any psychological anchors in
time and space that human beings ordinari-
ly provide for us,” Dr. Haney added. It is
easy to just drift.
And for plenty of people, pandemic isola-
tion has also been accompanied by geo-
graphical relocation — urbanites who have
fled to the suburbs or the country, young
people who have moved back home to live
with their families — which can mess with
their sense of time on a macro scale. What
happened to the familiar chronology of their
old lives? What stage of life are they actu-
ally in?
That may explain why Eric Kim, a food
writer who moved from New York to live
with his parents in an Atlanta suburb,
spends so much time thinking about his
homecoming king crown, which he found in
his childhood bedroom closet.
“It’s really ironic that it’s in the closet, be-
cause I was closeted when I was in high
school,” Mr. Kim, 29, said. “I feel like I’m in
my high school body again.”
As he hunkers over the stove alongside
his mother, just like in his teens, preparing
been accompanied by
geographical relocation,
which can mess with a
person’s sense of time.
recipes for a cookbook on Korean home
cooking, life becomes a time warp. “It’s
hard to see the future because time is mov-
ing very slowly,” Mr. Kim said. “I feel like
I’ve been here for a year, but I’ve actually
been in Atlanta for three months.”
WHETHER YOU’RE TALKING about the dev-
astating Spanish flu of 1918 or the current
crisis, “a pandemic screws up our sense of
time,” said Laura Spinney, the author of the
2017 book “Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of
1918 and How It Changed the World.”
Then, as now, the mental exhaustion from
the relentless sameness can lead some peo-
ple to try to impose an artificial endpoint on
the pandemic. “We’ve all had basically
enough of wearing our masks and having
our lives disrupted,” Ms. Spinney said,
“which is what we’re seeing now with Covid
fatigue.”
That’s one approach to dealing with a
pandemic where time seemingly has no
meaning. The other is simply to go with it.
For Taryn Southern, a futurist and docu-
mentary filmmaker in Los Angeles, the
pandemic time warp of 2020 feels eerily
similar to 2019, when her busy professional
life ground to a halt as she underwent che-
motherapy for Stage 3 breast cancer.
“You don’t know if you’re going to end up
in the good or the bad side of fate,” Ms.
Southern, 34, said. “It’s impossible to plan
anything. You actually lose all sense of
space and time because you’re just too sick
to interact or engage with the world in a nor-
mal way. I learned to just accept the insan-
ity and take an absurdist view.”
No wonder some people are imposing ar-
tificial structure on their days to anchor
themselves in reality. Matt Buechele, an un-
employed comedian in New York who has
been racking up likes with his comic riffs
about pandemic life on Instagram, keeps a
journal to remind himself “that another day
has ended,” he said, “and that, for better or
worse, another one will begin tomorrow.”
Or perhaps we just need to remember
that time is a human construct.
Greta Titelman, an actress in Los Ange-
les, was in Chile shooting episodes for “Los
Espookys,” a Spanish-language HBO com-
edy, when production shut down. Despite
her career being largely on hold, Ms. Titel-
man said she has actually enjoyed the “sim-
plified version” of time over the past eight
months.
“Why don’t we evolve out of time?” Ms.
Titelman, 30, said. “Time just makes every-
one anxious. We’re always in competition
with it: We overslept, we’re running late. I
always had this feeling like, ‘I need to finish
something this week, or something bad will
happen.’ ”
“Turns out," she added, “that’s not true.”
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 ST 9

It’s 3 A.M. Why Are We All Awake?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Mr. Smyth said. To do so would be to ac-
knowledge an awareness that his followers
were awake at an awful, liminal hour at
which, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, foreshad-
owing the Age of Amazon, “a forgotten
package has the same tragic importance as
a death sentence.” And — worse yet — that
he was up, too.
But of course he was.
According to a new survey conducted by
the Harris Poll for the American Psycholog-
ical Association, more than two-thirds of
adults in the United States — or 68 percent
— view the divisive 2020 election as a “sig-
nificant source of stress in their lives,” a
stark increase from the 2016 presidential
election, when 52 percent said the same. So
chronic a source of stress is a seemingly un-
ending pandemic that no polling statistics
are required.
At least they were not for Maria Bonta de
la Pezuela, the chief executive officer for the
Americas at Carpenters Workshop Gallery.
“I try to do breathing exercises” to restore
calm when undifferentiated terrors arouse
her at 3 a.m., Ms. Bonta de la Pezuela, 54,
said recently by email. “I end up scrolling
nine out of 10 times. The anxiety is real.”
And the remedies for the new night terror
seem to vary as broadly as its sources. For
Dave Herndon, a 63-year-old freelance edi-
tor in Santa Fe, N.M., guided meditation
apps assist in “reprogramming negatively
firing neurons,” induced by “the Covid anxi-
ety dance,” as he said by phone.
“Then, rather than starting to flip out
about how you’re not getting enough sleep
and are not going to be able to do what you
need to tomorrow, you have this distraction
from the ruminations that accompany wak-
ing up at 3 in the morning,” Mr. Herndon
said.
In the face of fears induced by what she
termed “our political chaos,” Jacqueline
Coumans, 77, a retired decorator and
French instructor, has recently found relief
by reciting the fables of the 17th-century
French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine. “I
could not fall asleep at all after the first de-
bate,” Ms. Coumans said in a Facebook mes-
sage. “I was waking up at 3 a.m. sweating
with anxiety.”
No matter that the sonorous tempo of the
French in use when she memorized the fa-
bles in childhood is often paradoxically at
odds with their harsh underlying moral
lessons — “The Wolf and the Lamb,” with its
conclusion that might is right, is particu-
larly unnerving — Ms. Coumans finds them
soothing. “There’s a balance in the sen-
tences that balances your brain.”
To find her own equilibrium in parlous
times, Sally Fischer, a Manhattan publicist
in her 60s, turns not to literature, she said,
but to vintage sitcoms. “I’m a naturally
calm person, so I actually find it difficult to
jump out of my skin,” Ms. Fischer said.
Yet in the run-up to Nov. 3, Ms. Fischer
has become all too familiar with a physical
anxiety evoked by that figure of speech.
“I’ve never been much of a TV person, but
now, from 3 a.m. until I fall asleep again, I
retreat into ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ or
Dick Van Dyke or ‘Make Room for Daddy,’ ”
Ms. Fischer said. “This may sound stupid,
but watching how Andy Griffith raised Opie
or Danny Thomas raised his TV kids, in a
world where the work ethic, doing charita-
ble work, being good to thy neighbor is such
a counter to the disgustingness we’re going
through now, helps me suppress the
demons.”
A widespread, palpable sense of being
hunted into the predawn darkness hardly
seems out of the ordinary with the world in
the grip of a lethal and invisible menace,
said Asha Tarry, a psychotherapist practic-
ing in Manhattan. “To the multiple stresses
we’ve all experienced during Covid,” Ms.
Tarry said, “add the compounding factors of
racial tension, furloughs, the elections, so
much social isolation, and it is not surpris-
ing people are sleepless, grinding their
teeth and having 3 a.m. nightmares.”
Grief, too, plays a part, she said. “We’re
seeing more clinicians talk about, yes, the
grief of actual human loss but also the loss”
of access to familiar people, places and
things.
“There is an avalanche of issues,” said
Sofia Borges, 35, a graphic designer in Los
Angeles. “Almost everyone I know has lost
their job. Almost everyone is beleaguered.
Almost everyone is holding on by a shoe-
string.”
Many, embroiled in what Ms. Borges
termed a “toxic quagmire” of current
events, find themselves shaken out of sleep
by furious dreams as reliable as an alarm. “I
was feeling that kind of rage that makes you
hot,” Ms. Borges said. “A friend suggested,
On top of the
pandemic, add
racial tension,
job losses and
the election.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY ISAK TINER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘Let’s scream really loud,’ but I couldn’t, be-
cause I was sick and had lost my voice. She
said, ‘Let’s break plates.’ But that’s messy
and dangerous.”
Rather, Ms. Borges devised and then self-
published “Anger Confetti: An All Ages
Stress Reduction Activity Book,” filled with
colored pages, arranged in a rainbow gradi-
ent, that users are encouraged to rip to
shreds. “It was my response to losing sleep,
losing work and the grief you experience
when you feel you’re losing your stability
and sanity.”
In a snapshot overview of a typical grief
cycle, recovery may be expected to begin at
about the six-month mark, Ms. Tarry, the
Manhattan therapist, noted. Yet with a sec-
ond and third wave of infection expected
and no vaccine in sight, there are those who
find themselves searching for answers to
why we are seemingly back where we
began.
“To tell you the truth, when Covid started,
my husband and I were sleeping better than
ever,” said Chanda Parbhoo, 55, a jeweler
and voting rights activist in Dallas. “We did
this pause and were waking at 9 in the
morning to take leisured walks.” Soon,
though, as video meetings began to colonize
her workdays and the presidential election
neared, Ms. Parbhoo, the founder of SAAVE
For a little
or South Asian Americans for Voter Educa-
tion, gave up hope of getting anything near
relief: poetry,
a solid eight hours. pandas or
These days she considers herself lucky to
achieve three. “I am up at all hours, and it is maybe even
worse the closer we get to Nov. 3 because
there’s so much to pack in,” she said. Andy Griffith.
And lately, when Hapi Phace, 62, a per-
formance artist who, before moving to Ar-
lington, Mass., almost a decade ago, was for
many years a fixture of the downtown New
York scene, finds his eyelids snapping open
like window blinds in a pitch-dark bedroom,
his universe dwindled to the size of a mat-
tress, he thinks about pandas.
“It’s not even that I like bears or bear cul-
ture,” he said. Wide-awake in the middle of
the night, he plays YouTube videos of falling
rain on his smartphone and makes block
prints on bandannas, T-shirts and cards of
the reassuringly placid creatures that sus-
tain themselves on a diet of shoots and
leaves.
“I don’t know why I’m doing it,” Mr. Phace
said. “I just do it until I’ve exhausted myself.
Having an artistic focus is the only thing
that’s keeping me from crawling out of my
skin at 3 a.m.”
10 ST
Till the Pandemic Goes Poof, Zoom Abracadabra!
Magicians are turning to virtual
shows to pay the bills and still
amaze in ‘a scary, scary time.’
By KENNETH STURTZ
It was a Sunday evening, and Ken Scott’s
audience was spellbound. Parents and chil-
dren were oohing and ahhing as he deliv-
ered a string of miracles.
A wave of the hand over a Statue of Lib-
erty postcard and the statue vanished. A
Crunch bar morphed into a Rubik’s Cube
that was solved in a flash. And a spectator’s
chosen card was found without Mr. Scott
even handling the cards.
Next he asked a boy and his mother to
help, displayed a yellow luggage tag and
said he would send their pet on an imagi-
nary trip anywhere they wanted. The boy
volunteered his dog’s name (Louie), a flight
number (116) and a destination (New York
City). Mr. Scott instantly opened the tag to
show those exact things written on it.
“Oh my God!” the boy said, smiling.
“I can’t believe it,” his mother said.
It was especially impressive considering,
thanks to the more prosaic magic of Zoom,
Mr. Scott was in Atlanta and his audience
was miles away from each other. The show
was filmed in his basement studio and
streamed in real time. Whether the 54 peo-
ple tuning in were seeking a sense of nor-
malcy in isolated and disconnected times,
or just couldn’t figure out that last trick,
they were applauding from living rooms
and kitchen tables in North Carolina, Loui-
siana, Texas, California and Georgia.
As the coronavirus snuffed out live enter-
tainment, magicians, like so many others,
have been forced to adapt, trading tradi-
tional in-person performances for virtual
shows. The shift has been particularly jar-
ring for people of this specialty, who’ve long
argued that magic is best experienced in
person.
“I think a lot of guys were realizing they
had no backup plans,” said Stephen Bar-
gatze, 65, the president of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians, the largest orga-
nization devoted to the practice. (Only
about 500 of its more its more than 14,500
members are women, but he said that num-
ber was growing.) “This idea that some-
thing like this could happen never entered
their minds.”
Mr. Bargatze has worked as a magician
for more than 40 years. All of his shows in-
cluding a planned tour with his son, the co-
median Nate Bargatze, 41, were canceled
earlier this year.
Mr. Bargatze said the majority of his
group’s members were amateurs or were
fortunate enough to have other sources of
income besides magic, like a pension or day
job. The crisis facing full-time magicians is
unprecedented.
“It’s a scary, scary time right now,” he
said. “We’re doing whatever we can to pay
the bills and hoping it turns out OK at the
beginning of the year.”
From Card Work to Yard Work
Mr. Scott used to make a living performing
200 to 300 shows a year, mostly for schools
and libraries in his area. One morning in
mid-March, he was walking offstage after a
school show when he checked his phone
and realized every email in his inbox was a
request for cancellation.
“That all came to a big screeching halt,”
he said. “I literally saw my calendar just dis-
appear.”
Alexander Boyce, a dapper 23-year-old
magician in Brooklyn who favors rein-
terpreting classics of magic, was perform-
ing 350 shows a year, mostly corporate per-
formances and at “Speakeasy Magick,” a
show in the McKittrick Hotel in Manhattan
in far West Chelsea. But the show closed,
and his corporate work dried up.
“That all went away very quickly,” Mr.
Boyce said. “And like everybody else I ex-
pected to just kind of take some time to
work on some new material and rehearse
alone and enjoy a few weeks off and jump
right back into things.”
Shawn Farquhar, 58, was crisscrossing
the globe up to 285 days a year, mainly per-
forming in 1,250-seat theaters on Disney
cruise ships. He traveled so much that he
received Christmas cards from pilots. But
last fall he traded the long stretches away
for his own theater in Vancouver, British Co-
lumbia.
In mid-March, Mr. Farquhar was in Las
Vegas for a spot on “Penn & Teller: Fool Us.”
The next day, back in Canada, he entered a
two-week quarantine at his home. Things
came to a dead stop. He reluctantly closed
his theater. With little to-do, he traded his
suit and deck of cards for bluejeans and
yard work.
Along with Mr. Farquhar, magicians ev-
erywhere were realizing in-person events
wouldn’t be returning soon and approached
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
virtual shows with varying degrees of en-
thusiasm and equipment; setups ranged
from a computer and webcam to elaborate
makeshift studios.
Mr. Scott was already teaching magic
classes to children after school and decided
he could continue the classes and avoid is-
suing refunds by going virtual. He was able
to salvage about a third of his normally lu-
crative summer library show business with
virtual shows.
He borrowed some equipment and
bought the rest, transforming his basement
office into a studio complete with lights,
cameras and green screen. There was a sig-
nificant amount of trial and error; during an
early show the sound cut out. He added a
person to run the computer, redeveloped his
show and slowly began doing birthdays, of-
fice “parties” and public shows.
“I’m doing some virtual shows, but it’s
definitely not what it was,” Mr. Scott said.
“Obviously I want to go back to work full
time.”
Mr. Boyce hadn’t thought of doing virtual
shows until a corporate client he had
worked with previously asked him to do
one. The response was so positive that he
decided virtual could work.
He “MacGyvered” a studio in his apart-
ment complete with lighting, backdrop,
multiple cameras and a computer. He uses a
switching software so he can run the setup
on his own. With employees stuck home and
restaurants and Broadway shut down, cor-
porate clients he’d worked with began turn-
ing to him to spice up their virtual events or
impress business associates.
Mr. Farquhar turned to virtual magic out
of boredom. Homebound and desperate to
perform for an audience, he arranged a free
Facebook Live show. He committed to an
hour, thinking he could adapt existing ma-
terial. He was struggling after 15 minutes.
“I realized I was talking to a green light
on a camera and there was no interaction,”
he said. “It wasn’t Zoom, it was just me talk-
ing and trying to keep an energy up.”
He found not being able to interact with
an audience in real time to be “soul-suck-
ing.” He tried Instagram Live, but he soured
PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAT O’MALLEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
on that too. It wasn’t until a friend recruited
enough paying customers for a Zoom show
that Mr. Farquhar changed his mind. There
were stumbling blocks, like keeping people
engaged and dealing with dozens of audio
and video feeds. But when he learned he
could interact with the audience, he devel-
oped a dedicated virtual show.
Jason Michaels, 45, of Nashville, had pre-
viously kept busy with college and corpo-
rate shows, as well as tours performing
magic for military families domestically
and overseas. “I kind of got in my head I
don’t think magic works in a virtual set-
ting,” he said. “It’s already hard to sell a
magic show just in a normal economy.”
But after months without work, Mr. Mi-
chaels hit a low point over the summer. He
worried that after 17 years he’d have to join
the ranks of magicians who take day jobs to
pay the bills.
After encouragement from several col-
leagues, Mr. Michaels invested in some
equipment, put together a studio in his of-
fice and redeveloped his magic into two sep-
arate shows, one — a demonstration of su-
perb card manipulation — just for enter-
tainment and a second that incorporated an
educational component. The trickle of in-
come has helped keep him going.
Kayla Drescher, 30, a magician in Los An-
geles, was also reluctant to join the rush to
virtual. Ms. Drescher spent the last three
years touring with “Champions of Magic,” a
five-person theater show. Her close-up card
manipulation was done in front of a camera
and projected onto a screen. But she said
her high-energy performance style is heav-
ily reliant on audience interaction, which
can be difficult during a virtual show.
“For me, doing shows through a screen
just doesn’t have that level of satisfaction,
but it also doesn’t have that level of satisfac-
tion to an audience,” she said.
To supplement her income, Ms. Drescher
Alexander Boyce performing a
magic segment in Prospect
Park in Brooklyn for a
Halloween convention hosted
online by the Magic Castle. Like
many other magicians, Mr.
Boyce has had to shift from
in-person shows to a virtual
audience, with varying results.
‘I literally saw
my calendar
just disappear.’
began teaching magic online, including a
summer camp program and a magic date
night for couples akin to a sip-and-paint
class in sweatpants. She willingly agreed to
virtual shows for children’s hospitals and
other charities. But she has not marketed
them to new customers.
“My fear is that they’re going to see me as
just a Zoom magician and they won’t then
book me in person,” she said. “No matter
how fancy the camera is or how hard you
work, there’s no way the show over a Zoom
is going to be the same live.”
The Form Transforms
Magic — the ability to make people believe
something that isn’t true — has long been
an in-person contest between the conjurer’s
finely honed skills and the spectator’s un-
trained eyes. Add a camera to the mix and
everything changes.
“When you come see me and I pull a solid
ring through your finger, it’s a totally differ-
ent experience than me pulling a ring
through my finger,” Garrett Thomas said.
“Magic is meant to be experienced.”
In addition to traveling for shows, Mr.
Thomas, 43, performed his brainy sleight-
of-hand at bars and restaurants in the Buf-
falo area. That work has quickly faded, but
Mr. Thomas, who has consulted for David
Blaine, took a few months to figure out the
best way to design a virtual show.
“Most magicians I see just kind of took
their show and tried to put it on Zoom,” he
said. “And that works to some extent.”
But Mr. Thomas took a step back to re-
imagine what a virtual show could allow
him to do. The central challenge he faced
was how to convince a virtual audience that
what they were seeing on the screen was
genuine. He couldn’t have a spectator pick
any card from a deck or use a borrowed dol-
lar bill to show it was ordinary.
In television, these challenges are ad-
dressed by including a live audience or
spectators to act as a stand-in for the
viewer, he said. Even then, people often as-
sume C.G.I. or camera tricks are used. For
Mr. Blaine’s television specials, Mr. Thomas
said the programs were presented almost
as documentaries about people enjoying
magic, because there was no way to con-
vince the viewer what they saw was a genu-
ine illusion as opposed to television trick-
ery.
Mr. Thomas concluded that the best op-
tion was to take advantage of the opportuni-
ty presented by performing virtually. Cam-
era angles, lighting and optical illusions can
be employed and manipulated. Many of the
effects in his 45-minute virtual show could-
n’t work in person.
“I want to remind people that just be-
cause you see it on a video doesn’t mean it
happened that way,” he said.
John Wolfson, 31, of Rochester, N.Y., was
skeptical of virtual shows, but became ex-
cited by the possibilities and challenges of
performing remotely.
“We quickly decided that this could not be
my regular show just put in front of a cam-
era,” he said. “I knew I didn’t want to have
any instances where I was explaining away
or apologizing for the format.”
In a show marrying the energy of “Blue’s
Clues” with the whimsy of Bob Ross, a play-
ful Mr. Wolfson makes a bowling ball appear
from an empty bag and rhymes his way
through a mystifying trick in which a rope is
cut and restored. At one point he makes a
pen vanish from his hands, showing them
empty. Up his sleeve? He pulls his sleeve up
to reveal his arm erased from wrist to el-
bow, his hand floating in midair. Later, his
arm back to normal, the pen reappears in
his mouth.
With the benefit of a green screen, Mr.
Wolfson brought his audience around the
world and included a mix of traditional
magic with tricks that wouldn’t be possible
in person. He’s working on a new show with
more green screen and special effects. He
said he wants to ask a copy of himself to pick
a card.
Mr. Farquhar finally reopened his the-
ater, Hidden Wonders, in a new space in late
summer. The speakeasy-style site is hidden
by an ordinary-looking curio shop. Guests
learn the address after buying a $50 ticket.
That doorknob on a shelf? Put it in the right
spot and the hidden door opens.
Local guidelines in Vancouver allowed
Mr. Farquhar to begin weekend shows with
12 people in the 30-seat space. He’s prepar-
ing to roll out a hybrid show that will include
the audience physically in the theater and a
few dozen virtual patrons. Both will be able
to see each other on a large screen. And he’ll
be able to pick volunteers from either audi-
ence.
He said he designed the show to be inter-
active; the audience chooses the direction
of the show and magic by selecting items
from a cabinet. It’s all meant to keep the au-
dience’s attention, especially the virtual au-
dience.
“You have to find a way to engage them
and keep them engaged while you’re doing
it because they can easily be distracted by a
thousand things in the room,” he said.
Unfortunately, most magicians don’t
have the resources to invest in large-scale
shows. Mr. Bargatze said the prospect of in-
vesting thousands of dollars in the equip-
ment necessary to create a presentable
show has deterred many magicians from
going virtual, especially older magicians.
He said entertainers have a responsibil-
ity to not endanger their audience’s health,
but that most magicians have used virtual
shows just to stay afloat and are eager to re-
turn to live performances. He’s heard from
magicians who have returned to smaller, so-
cially distanced venues in areas with low in-
fection rates. He said he’s started doing a
handful of school shows, with hand sani-
tizer, face masks and smaller groups of stu-
dents.
Though they can’t perform the ultimate
trick of making the coronavirus disappear,
magicians hope and expect there’ll be a sig-
nificant amount of pent-up demand for their
trade after the pandemic fades.
“Magic thrives when people are at their
worst because people at their worst need
hope,” Mr. Farquhar said. “And that’s what
magic is.”
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 ST 11

Vows
JAIME OLIVA a nd E DWAR D WILLIAMS

Not the Pizza Delivery Guy. Even Better.

Edward talked about family values, and
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI how close he is with his friends,” Mr. Oliva
Jaime Oliva stepped out of an Uber and into said. “He’s someone who is always selfless,
harm’s way. Mr. Oliva, 30, a senior adviser who is always going to give his time to fam-
for strategic management at the Depart- ily and friends.”
ment of Health and Human Services, was They arranged for a first date the follow-
returning to his Washington office and look- ing weekend at Matchbox, a local pizza shop
ing razor sharp after visiting his barber in in Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood,
July 2017. and there they talked about family, future
He had tickets that evening to a John Leg- goals and hurricanes past.
end concert that he planned to attend with Mr. Oliva grew up in Belle Glade, Fla., a
his longtime partner, Edward Williams, a city that fiercely prepares for hurricanes in
senior associate at the law firm Wilmer- order to protect its agricultural fields of sug-
Hale, and an adjunct professor and co-direc- ar cane and other crops. His parents immi-
tor of the Howard University Civil Rights grated from Mexico before he was born and
Clinic. met each other in South Florida. His father
“After taking a few short steps, I heard is a welder with A. Duda & Sons, his mother
loud screeching,” said Mr. Oliva, who did not a stay-at-home-parent.
see a red S.U.V. speeding in his direction, Mr. Williams, a son of Coy Williams and
but heard the screeching of its brakes just Edward Williams Sr., grew up in Savannah,
before it hit him. Ga., where the threat of a hurricane seemed
He stumbled after being struck, though to arise every few years and from where he
never lost his footing and was spared any recalled evacuating at least once for a hurri-
serious injury. He was slightly bruised and cane that never struck the city. His father is
shaking, though, when he tried to call Mr. a human resources manager at Vic’s on the
Williams, who was nearby in a chambers River, a restaurant in Savannah. His
meeting with Judge Patricia A. Millett, who mother, now retired, worked in various
he was clerking for at the time, at the United roles at what is now a patient registrar at
Memorial Health University Hospital, the
Before a hurricane, a same hospital where Mr. Williams was
case of intentionally born.
A week after becoming a couple in De-
mistaken identity. cember 2012, Mr. Oliva and Mr. Williams
took a trip to the National Arboretum in
Washington. They took a photo sitting at a
States Court of Appeals for the District of
bench alongside a cliff overlooking the Ana-
Columbia Circuit.
costia River. This photo, they said, was em-
(At the time, Mr. Oliva’s office and Mr.
blematic of their relationship: “reflective,
Williams’s office were minutes apart, PHOTOGRAPHS BY JUSTIN T. GELLERSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
solid, and united,” as Mr. Williams put it.
across from each other at the National
In June 2019, they returned to that very
Mall.) ON THIS DAY spot, recreating the bench photo, this time
His calls unanswered, Mr. Oliva some-
When Oct. 4, 2020
with the many trees in the Asian Collection
how managed to type the words “Hit by garden in full bloom, and took some time to
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
car,” in a text message to Mr. Williams, who Where United States National soak in nature. Together, they reflected on
read it, before listening to Mr. Oliva’s voice how their relationship had blossomed over
Arboretum in Washington
messages, then burst from the courthouse, .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
the previous six and a half years.
running down the street until he got to Mr. Dressed to Thrill The couple “Edward helped me process the emotions
Oliva, whom he quickly embraced. wore tuxedos designed by DC of the unknown, which for me, can be very
“I arrived to find Jaime physically and Custom Clothiers. For the stressful,” Mr. Oliva said.
emotionally shaken,” Mr. Williams said. “Af- ceremony, they chose charcoal Ten months later, they returned to the Na-
ter dealing with the police report and get- gray three-piece tuxedos with tional Arboretum in Washington yet again,
ting him to calm down, I was concerned for black satin accents, and for the this time to get married.
his well-being, and I also asked what he Though they had originally planned to
reception, they changed into a
wanted to do about the concert.” wed on April 4 at the United States Institute
cream tuxedo jackets with black
“Let’s go,” Mr. Oliva said. of Peace, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
satin accents for the reception.
The very first meeting between Mr. Oliva .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . forced them to postpone their wedding and
and Mr. Williams, at Howard University in The Guests There was an ultimately to change venues.
the 2008-9 academic year, when Mr. Oliva eclectic mix of notable guests in So they chose the United States National
was a freshman and Mr. Williams a senior, attendance, including Judge Arboretum, returning to the place that has
was far less dramatic, and even less memo- Millett and retired Chief Judge been central in their relationship since the
rable, according to both men. Neither had Richard W. Roberts of the beginning, and married there on Oct. 4, be-
any romantic interest in the other at that United States District Court for fore Judge Patricia Millett, a friend and
time. mentor to Mr. Williams, and 44 guests.
the District of Columbia, as well
They did not truly begin to notice each Both the wedding ceremony and cocktail
as the actors Jeffrey Rashad
other until 2012, when Mr. Williams was a reception took place outdoors, overlooking
Pugh and Brandon Gill, and
second-year law student at the Georgetown the National Capitol Columns, to ensure
University Law Center in Washington, and Carlos Battey, the Grammy
proper social distancing for guests.
Mr. Oliva was working as a paralegal at the Award-winning
Top, Jaime Oliva, left, and Edward Williams at the Capitol Columns of the National Arboretum in At the reception, the newlyweds, who will
Federal Trade Commission satellite office singer-songwriter known as
Washington, and above, at their wedding reception, which took place at the arboretum. use the surname Oliva-Williams, danced
nearby. Jackie’s Boy.
their first dance to John Legend’s version of
Working in such proximity, they would of- Meghan Trainor’s “Like I’m Gonna Lose
apartment complex in Hyattsville, Md. ing to myself that I had been bumping into
ten cross paths, and more often than not, You,” a song they took comfort in three
Mr. Williams did not know that Mr. Oliva this guy for a few months, and he’s asked
Mr. Oliva would seize the opportunity to ask years earlier at Mr. Legend’s concert at the
lived in the same complex, and on the same me out many times,” he said. “Now here I
out Mr. Williams, who constantly waved Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia,
day that Mr. Williams had gone to pick up am in a full suit, he couldn’t possibly think
him off, often citing scheduling issues. Mr. I’m the pizza guy.” Md., the same day that Mr. Oliva was hit by
his friend, Mr. Oliva had ordered a pizza.
Williams graduated cum laude from How- a car.
As Mr. Williams waited for his friend to Mr. Williams eventually met his friend
ard and received a law degree magna cum come downstairs, he was stunned to see Mr. and they drove back to Washington, where, During the song, which Mr. Williams
laude from Georgetown. Oliva emerge from one of the buildings in for the first time, Mr. Williams began seeing refers to as “our song,” the couple held
But Mr. Oliva persisted, peppering Mr. search of the pizza deliveryman, who had Mr. Oliva through romantic eyes. “I thought hands, and they began to cry during their
Williams with jolting comments like “You just called to announce his arrival. to myself, here’s this really attractive guy favorite part of the song “which makes it
know you are going to be my boyfriend, But with no deliveryman in sight, Mr. who is incredibly persistent,” he said. ‘His our song,” said Mr. Williams, his voice be-
right?” Oliva, in the mood for a little fun, ap- resilience was one of the things I admired ginning to crack.
When Hurricane Sandy appeared on his proached Mr. Williams, who was slumped about him most.” “So I’m gonna love you like I’m gonna
radar in October 2012, Mr. Williams decided against his car, and having gone to chapel Later that evening, Mr. Williams texted lose you,” Mr. Legend sang, “I’m gonna hold
to host a “Hurricane Party” on the Sunday earlier in the day, dressed in a full suit. Mr. Oliva to ask if he was still interested in you like I’m saying goodbye. Wherever
before the actual storm. During the party, “Hey,” he said to Mr. Williams. “Are you going on a date, and Mr. Oliva responded we’re standing, I won’t take you for granted,
he received a call from a close friend who the pizza delivery guy?” with a resounding yes. ’cause we’ll never know when, when we’ll
needed a ride to his home, so he drove to her Mr. Williams wasn’t amused. “I’m think- “What really struck me that day was how run out of time.”

WEDDINGS

sudden but sure conviction for

Shampa Panda, Ms. Panda.
Christopher Bryant “I was watching Chris maneu-
ver this giant treadmill out of our
. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................
home,” said Ms. Panda, who will
use the surname Panda-Bryant.
During a Visit to Alabama, the Start of a Warming Trend She had bought the equipment
thinking she would use it regu-
Shampa Panda and could help her navigate the city. wasn’t until they were alone larly while working from home.
Christopher Bryant “My roommate’s dog walker together in Montgomery that they She hadn’t, so she was selling it.
both were law clerks mistook me for the housekeeper.” saw each other as more than Mr. Bryant was very patiently
in the federal court- Both were working on high- colleagues. looking up, without judgment,
house in Charleston, S.C., when profile cases at the courthouse “We had this realization that how to take apart the treadmill so
they first met, in 2016, and her that involved race. (His was the we’re outside the city of Charles- that it would be easier for its new
frequent visits to his office did not trial of Dylann Roof, who killed ton, where we had our guard up,” owners to get it out.
go unnoticed by their co-workers. nine people at the Emanuel Afri- Mr. Bryant said. “She was incredi- As she watched him, she said:
“I think Shampa’s a little sweet can Methodist Episcopal Church bly witty and not quiet and not “You know what? Let’s get mar-
on you,” Mr. Bryant’s boss told in Charleston in 2015; hers was reserved and almost a different ried. Life is short.”
him. the prosecution of Michael Slager, person. It was just us.” NINA REYES
But Mr. Bryant, 35, who both a police officer in North Charles- “He was thoughtful and earnest
graduated and received a law ton, S.C., who killed an unarmed and not doing anything for show, ABOUT WEDDINGS
degree from Duke, was buttoned Black man, Water Scott, the same which was something that was EMMA CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY
The Times’s reports on weddings and
up and proper, while Ms. Panda, year.) surprising for me,” said Ms. celebrations remain available all
28, said that her primary interest “It felt like all eyes were on us, Panda. She moved to Washington that whom Mr. Bryant clerked, offici- week on the web at nytimes.com/
in him was as a colleague of color waiting for us to make a mistake,” That evening, the two shared fall to begin her dream job as a ating, and Judge David C. Norton, weddings.
in an otherwise very white court- Ms. Panda said. their first kiss, and the following trial lawyer in the environment for whom Ms. Panda had clerked, These reports are based on infor-
house. She had graduated from Several years later, in April week, they had a formal first date and natural resources division of taking part. The livestream video mation from the couples or their
the University of North Carolina, 2019, both Mr. Bryant and Ms. that involved meeting at a the Justice Department. He of their event registered more families, as verified by the Styles
Chapel Hill, and received a law Panda attended a lecture in Mont- Charleston bar, and then walking moved to Washington, too. He is than 400 views, but the ceremony staff. This section went to press on
degree from the University of gomery, Ala., following the publi- their bikes together from there to Friday, and the families were asked
now a litigation associate in the included just the judges and the
to notify The Times at (212) 556-1828
California, Berkeley. cation of a book written by the a restaurant. political law group in Washington couple.
if any last-minute change required a
“Here I was coming from judge Mr. Bryant had clerked for “I fell in love that night,” said of Perkins Coie, a Seattle law Another judge that had an correction.
Berkeley law, had a strange in Charleston, and the two saw Ms. Panda, adding that falling in firm. effect on the course of their rela- To submit an announcement for
sounding foreign name and was each other in a new light. love was definitely not in her On Oct. 17, the couple married tionship was Ruth Bader Gins- consideration, go to the website and
not passing as anything,” Ms. They had remained in sporadic plan. “I thought, ‘I will do any- in the garden outside the Charles- burg, the Supreme Court associ- follow the posted instructions. Infor-
Panda said, explaining that she contact after the conclusion of thing that it takes to give this ton federal courthouse, with ate justice , who died in mid- mation can also be obtained by
saw Mr. Bryant as someone who their Charleston clerkships, but it relationship the shot it deserves.’ ” Judge Richard M. Gergel, for September. Her death led to a phone from (212) 556-7325.
12 ST
Hidden in Their Family Trees, a Great-Great Surprise
A couple who met on social
media discover that two
ancestors were close friends.
By DARYL AUSTIN
Grouse Creek, Utah, is about as off the beat-
en path as a town can be. To access this
sleepy community, you have to cross miles
of dirt and gravel roads over hilly terrain. A
tiny two-pump gas station is the town’s only
commercial building, along with a Bureau
of Land Management bunkhouse, a shed-
like post office, a small schoolhouse and a
church.
In 2020 everything in Grouse Creek still
feels like it belongs in another time. Per-
haps the only thing that’s really changed
over the last century is that the town has in-
creased in population. When the town was
established in 1876, there were just 20 men
and a few of their wives and children. Today
the population stands at nearly 80.
What makes this town personal to my
wife, McCall Austin, is that her great-great-
grandfather Valison Tanner and his brother
were among the first to settle in the commu-
nity after taking cooperator herds to graze
in the pristine meadows there. Her ances-
tors remained in town for generations and
her father was born there, too. Her Aunt
Norma Jean still lives there today.
But what makes the town personal to us
as a couple — and what makes this story
worth telling — is something my wife dis-
covered last summer. Along with many oth-
ers, my wife has become driven to recon-
nect with her past and is an avid researcher
of our family’s history and genealogy.
Somewhere along that journey she stum-
bled upon the personal journals of my great-
great-grandfather, James Chandler.
Remarkably, it was within those pages
that she first learned that James once lived
in the tiny town of Grouse Creek, too.
In 1888, James was a struggling school-
teacher looking for work. His search led him
to the 12-year-old community of Grouse
Creek where he offered to teach the 14 chil-
dren then living there. His journals say he
didn’t know anyone in the town before he ar-
rived, but he notes that one of the first peo-
ple who offered his table and his home to the
DARYL AUSTIN is a journalist based in Orem,
Utah.
When Fido Insists on Walking Down the Aisle, Too
Help is available for
newlyweds whose dogs would
like to attend the ceremony.
By JENNY BLOCK
On her way to the wedding at Holiday Acres
Christmas Tree Farm in Manvel, Texas, on
Nov. 10, 2018, Madison Logan Edwards
picked up Ruger, a 9-month-old golden re-
triever. “I had to pick him up a little early,”
she said. “Because of his personality profile,
I knew he’d be hyper. So I took him to the
dog park and then brushed him out and got
him all ready.”
Not all ready for her own ceremony,
though. She was preparing Ruger for a cli-
ent’s wedding. Ms. Edwards, 27, is the
owner of Pawsh Weddings, a Houston busi-
ness that provides wedding-day pet plan-
ning and attendants.
Ruger was a model member of the wed-
ding party, decked out in a black bow tie and
a bandanna that read, “Here comes the love
of our life.” “Ruger got through the proces-
sional,” Ms. Edwards said, “and as the pet
parents were exchanging vows, the offici-
ant said, ‘Do you take so and so to be your
lawfully wedded husband. And Ruger
barks.”
Those are the moments she lives for.
Ms. Edwards says she was at the wed-
ding to ensure there were no incidents, at
least none because of Ruger.
The idea of a wedding-day pet planner
and attendant might seem outrageous to
some, or at least nothing more than a fad du
jour. But Edwards says not so. “We may be a
new kind of wedding vendor,” she said, “but
for most millennial couples, bringing their
dog to their wedding is a new tradition, not a
trend.”
She wishes she had been able to find a
wedding pet planner and attendant to
watch over her two dogs Russell, a black
Labrador, and Butterscotch, a golden re-
triever, at her own wedding in 2017. With ev-
erything else to wrangle, including a three-
week-long honeymoon in the Caribbean,
she needed someone to help get her dogs to
the wedding and attend to them during and
after.
Ms. Edwards saw the lack of such serv-
ices as an opportunity to create Pawsh Wed-
dings while doing much of the prep work
and planning for her own wedding. “I actu-
ally launched the website and Instagram
while out of the country in the middle of our
honeymoon and started booking weddings
the second we returned,” she said. “De-
mand was there. We just needed the sup-
ply.”
Becky Moriarty Davis and Greg Davis of
Houston, who were married at McGovern
Centennial Gardens in Houston, knew they
wanted to include their 6-year-old female
pit bull, Birdie, and their 2-year-old golden
retriever, Watson, in their wedding. “We
also knew how hectic the day of the wedding
could be since coordinating the wedding
party alone was an overwhelming task,”
Ms. Davis said. “We decided to hire Pawsh
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Vows
FIRST PERSON
weary traveler was my wife’s great-great-
grandfather. The two men became fast
friends — talking often, taking their fam-
ilies to swim in the creek together. Valison’s
family once cared for James’s wife when she
fell ill. The two men remained close until
James accepted a teaching position in
Bountiful, Utah, about 224 miles away.
Out of reverence for our newfound
shared history, my wife and I made the trek
out to visit the town of Grouse Creek in Au-
gust. As we walked through the tiny com-
munity, we thought of our ancestors meet-
ing there for the first time more than 130
years ago.
In an abandoned Utah
schoolhouse, imagining
the presence of a very
old relation.
We thought of the old, abandoned school-
house there and we ventured out to see if it
was still standing. It was. An old wood and
stone building with heavy beams sagging
within, the surrounding ground overrun by
weeds and wild grasses. The building was
abandoned when a new school was built far-
ther up the road.
My wife and I stepped into the one-room
building and could almost hear the school
children laughing and could almost picture
great-great-grandpa James teaching at the
head of the class.
Above, Daryl and McCall
In that moment, heaven didn’t feel like a
Austin at the schoolhouse
very far-off place.
in Grouse Creek, Utah,
where Mr. Austin’s I wondered what James would have
great-great-grandfather, far thought about his great-great-grandson sit-
left, once taught. Ms. Austin’s ting on a computer back in the summer of
great-great-grandfather, 2007 in Costa Mesa, Calif., messaging a
near left, was one of the woman he had just met on Myspace. And,
first men in town to make whether he knew that awkward grandson
the teacher feel welcome. would later marry that beautiful woman
and they would have four beautiful children
together?
And did he know that very woman would
be the direct descendant of his good friend
Valison? It was in that moment that I first
began to wonder if somewhere beyond this
mortal existence Valison and James could
have had a hand in my wife and I meeting.
Of course it may all be a coincidence. But
since that day I haven’t been able to shake
the thought that my wife and I just may be a
match made in heaven.
FIELD NOTES
The pandemic hasn’t stopped many
dogs from taking part in wedding
celebrations, even though they
continue to be generally resistant to
social-distancing regulations.
times by clients to attend their weddings
with their dogs. “I loved being part of their
special day,” she said.
Ms. Cookson loves being a dog chaperone.
“I often get emotional, seeing the happiness
in the room and having dog cuddles all day
long,” she said.
If you’re wondering exactly what a pet at-
tendant does, well, the answer is basically
everything — that is, everything that has to
do with your pet. Hiring a wedding-pet plan-
ner and attendant doesn’t come cheap, how-
ever. Pawsh Weddings, who works all pets
including cats, rats, birds, reptiles, chinchil-
las and guinea pigs, offers packages from
$200 (for the first dog) for two hours of pet
attendant services to $950 (for the first dog)
and includes six hours of services.
Pet attendants will typically begin watch-
ing your dog as soon as you arrive at the
venue, or bring the dog there, depending on
the package. They also explore the ceremo-
ny site with your pet; supervises potty
breaks and clean up; give your dog a quick
grooming session, or even a bath; walk your
dog down the aisle if you like; sit with your
MEEKER PICTURES dog during the ceremony; and pose your
dog for photos. Some offer formal wear, like
so we could focus on our day and have peace bow ties and bandannas, flower crowns and
of mind that our pooches were in good floral leashes, and tuxes and tutus.
hands.” Ms. Edwards also offers prewedding con-
Ms. Davis was pleased with how the day sults that include coordinating with other
turned out. “They were so attentive to the wedding vendors, profiling your pet’s per-
dogs and kept them entertained during the sonality, and planning for the wedding in
inevitable down times,” she said. “While we terms of all things pet. And she comes pre-
were taking pictures, they made sure the pared, with items like a pet first-aid kit,
dogs were paying attention and looked good emergency collar and leash, doggy seatbelt,
in the shots. They even worked with our shy filtered water, hypoallergenic wipes, and
flower girl and ring bearer to get them more even a lint roller.
confident with walking the dogs down the Tamarah Smith, a wedding coordinator
aisle. And in the end, the dogs were proba- and the owner of the Houston based com-
bly the happiest of all of us.” pany Tammy’s Table, said she loves having
Ms. Edwards is far from being alone in dogs at wedding ceremonies, but that they
the industry. She hosts a monthly Zoom call do tend to add a bit of chaos to the mix. “It’s
for others in the business around the coun- nice to know that your pet is well taken care
try, with owners of companies like Pawfect of so you can focus on simply getting mar-
For You, FairyTail Wedding Pet Care and ried, or in my case simply getting my cou-
Doggy Social. They are also a part of a Face- ples down the aisle.” Her advice to anyone
book group, Wedding Planning For Pet Par- wanting to include a pet is simple: “Have a
ents, devoted to wedding day pet care. plan of action regarding pet care.”
There are countless others around the Ms. Edwards also has what she calls a
world, including Wedding Dog Sitter in Ita- D.I.Y. option. It’s a package that includes a
ly, Pawfect Occasions in England and Wed- virtual consult with all of her prewedding
ding Paws in Australia. services, including a customized Pinterest
Ms. Edwards sees the industry as grow- board. The couple can then hire a pet sitter
ing — so much so that she was able to quit or assign a friend or family member for the
her full-time job as a coordinator for the wedding. “It’s not the same as having a pet
nonprofit Collaborative for Children in July attendant who does this for a living,” she
2019. She expects to be busier than ever said. “But it’s way less stressful than having
once the challenges of Covid-19 are gone. nothing.”
“Millennials are cohabitating,” she said, Why Pawsh Weddings and others like it
“so we have pets already. A wedding would- are so in demand is simple, Edwards says.
n’t be complete without them.” “Dogs are people too. They may not be hu-
Annabel Cookson started Pawfect Occa- mans. But they are people too by every defi-
sions in Penwortham, England, two years nition. They just happen to be furry and
ago. She previously ran a professional dog- bark. If everyone acted like dogs the world
walking business and was asked several RAELEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY would be a better place.”
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 ST 13

Vows
WEDDINGS

Mallika Pereira, Priscilla Page,

Kennedy Cosgrove Glenn Siegel
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Switching From One Comfort Zone to Another An Immediate Connection, and a Slow-Blossoming Love
A few matters might have stood in In early October, Priscilla Maria Page
the way of a relationship between and Glenn Steven Siegel watched the
Mallika Pereira and Dr. Kennedy jazz saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase
Cosgrove. She is a committed plan- lead a band outdoors, where the
ner and he said his best friend in medical school musicians’ notes cut through fall air. The location
referred to him as “Mr. TBD.” She lived in New of the concert, by a creek outside the Institute for
York. He lives in Lafayette, Calif. the Musical Arts in Goshen, Mass., was one that
But from the first moment he saw her, in June Ms. Page and Mr. Siegel had selected: The per-
2018, Dr. Cosgrove, 51, felt drawn to Ms. Pereira. formance was the latest in a long line of jazz
She had just arrived at the Saturday birthday shows that the couple has organized in the re-
party of a mutual friend in East Hampton, N.Y., gion. So it’s natural that when, during the con-
while he had just emerged from the pool. Drip- cert, Ms. Page and Mr. Siegel noticed a pair of
ping wet and in swimming trunks, he headed gnarled apple tree stumps sitting a modest stage
right over and introduced himself anyway. length’s apart from each other, they couldn’t help
They quickly covered the basics. She is a vice but do a little location scouting.
president for partnership marketing at Major “We thought, actually, those two stumps would
League Soccer in New York, and he is co-chief make a nice frame,” Ms. Page said.
for psychiatry at Kaiser Permanente Medical The performance they wanted to stage there?
Center in Oakland, Calif. She noticed that every Their wedding ceremony.
15 or 20 minutes, he would show up at her side Ms. Page, 48, a senior lecturer in theater at the
again to continue chatting. University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Mr.
Siegel, 66, a jazz producer who recently retired
Her friends noticed too. One said, “He likes TARYN PHELAN YASMINA MATTISON-SUDAN
from the university’s Fine Arts Center, produce
you,” to which Ms. Pereira, 45, responded, “Yeah,
“He stepped out of his comfort zone to step several concerts a season through Pioneer Valley Page’s theatrical performance expertise.
yeah, yeah, he lives in California.”
into my comfort zone, and I loved it,” she said. Jazz Shares, a nonprofit they founded together. The couple has found that their mutual areas
Nonetheless, she noticed when he chatted with
“That day, we went online and booked tickets, When they decided to get married this year, they of knowledge have rubbed off on each other.
another woman at the party. “I got jealous,” she
and I was like, ‘I love this man.’ ” chose to forgo a wedding planner. Why would Since they’ve been together, Mr. Siegel said he
said.
The couple married on Oct. 17 at the home of they need one? They’ve been collaborating on has consumed more theater than he had in his
On Monday morning, back home in Lafayette, friends, Taryn and Robert Phelan of Middletown, events since before their first date. entire life before he met her. And Ms. Page’s ear
he texted her and suggested that they keep in N.J. Mr. Phelan, who is a Universal Life minister, for jazz is now attuned enough to blindly identify
Mr. Siegel and Ms. Page first got to know each
touch. officiated. players on different recordings — she recently
other in 2004. At the time, Mr. Siegel was coordi-
Their exchanges soon became telephone con- Originally, before the coronavirus pandemic, nating a residency by the jazz pianist Vijay Iyer shocked both herself and Mr. Siegel by recogniz-
versations, and when she had a trip to Los Ange- the couple had planned to wed in New Orleans, and the poet and spoken-word artist Mike Ladd. ing a recording of the saxophonist Rudresh Ma-
les in August, for another friend’s birthday, he with about 250 guests. Their ceremony ended up Ms. Page, a stranger to jazz by comparison but hanthappa by ear.
seized the chance to see her again. They had an including 19 people altogether. About 40 people an expert in live performance, was enlisted to Ms. Page and Mr. Siegel were married on Oct.
official first date. watched over a livestream link. help organize it. As they started working togeth- 11 at the Institute for the Musical Arts, in a cere-
“It went well, so I was included for the rest of It turned out that the things that might have er, the pair’s compatibility was quickly obvious. mony officiated by Djola Branner, a friend of the
the weekend,” Dr. Cosgrove said. “It really didn’t kept them apart — distance and their radically “There was something very natural or very couple who obtained a one-time designation
feel awkward. It felt so strangely comfortable.” different approaches to planning — ended up easy about how we worked together,” Ms. Page certificate from the Commonwealth of Massachu-
They shared their first kiss that evening, and easing their transition to a life together. said. setts.
before the weekend concluded, they made plans In March, when her office closed for two weeks Mr. Siegel recalled being “super impressed by The scene at the ceremony, set between the
to see each other again in a few weeks, this time because of the pandemic, Ms. Pereira packed her the way Priscilla was able to hold the room and apple tree stumps, reflected the couple’s mixed
in New York. standard carry-on bag and headed to California. command attention.” cultures: There was an altar to deceased family
In September, while in New York, Dr. Cosgrove Dr. Cosgrove, who is divorced and has a 13-year- After the residency, he asked her to lunch. members that Ms. Page, who has Mexican, Na-
knew he was falling in love. “We spent the day old daughter, suggested that Ms. Pereira perhaps That became a routine. Still, for a while the rela- tive American and Anglo heritage, adorned with
on the Great Lawn in Central Park and it all just might think a little more long-term, and, for once, tionship remained mostly professional. “Things Virgen de Guadalupe candles. Nearby was a
clicked for me,” he said. “I just felt so happy, and he ended up being the one with foresight. They were, as life is, a little complicated,” Mr. Siegel huppah, reflective of Mr. Siegel’s Jewish identity.
certain. Mallika’s optimism and energy and her didn’t make it back to the East Coast until their said. “I was previously married, and that rela- And there was music: the violinist, vocalist and
extroversion really matches mine.” wedding, seven months later. tionship was ending.” composer Terry Jenoure performed improvisa-
A month later, when they saw each other And as for the distance, Ms. Pereira said it The romance between him and Ms. Page grew tional interludes, and the jazz players Jeff Leder-
again, she realized she was in love, too. He had gave her room to ease into a new way of living. over a period of months. (A “slow blossom,” Ms. er and Jason Robinson accompanied both the
been talking about a friend’s 50th birthday party, “I’ve been single for the majority of my life, so Page said.) They had their first kiss in summer procession and the end of the ceremony.
which was to be in Argentina, and, despite his long-distance allowed me to maintain my inde- 2005. “The original plan was to do Siman Tov,” Mr.
disinclination to plan, he asked her then, fully six pendence, but slowly move into what a commit- They moved in together in 2011. In 2012, they Siegel said, referring to the Jewish folk song and
months in advance of the event, if she would go ted relationship is about,” she said. “It felt like started Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares, a synthesis old wedding staple. “But they ended up doing an
with him. the right way.” NINA REYES of Mr. Siegel’s deep jazz knowledge and Ms. Albert Ayler tune.” GABE COHN

Elaine Joseph, Sarah Koatz,

Sean Casey Stuart Winchester
. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

On the First Date, a Tour of the West Wing Their Cupid Kept the Meter Running
More than three years after they met, Sarah Beverly Koatz and Stuart Hop-
Sean Christian Casey finally asked kins Winchester had no idea where
Elaine Gabrielle Joseph on a first date. their relationship was going in March
The pair had been friends since they 2013 but the “Cupid Cabbie” did. By
met during a Cotton Bowl watch party featuring the end of their yellow taxi ride one evening from
Texas A&M and the University of Oklahoma in Union Square to the Upper East Side in New
2013. It was Ms. Joseph’s first night in town after York, he told them they would get married some-
moving to Washington. (Ms. Joseph, 31, graduated day.
from Oklahoma State, Mr. Casey, 35, from the “I was so embarrassed,” said Ms. Koatz, who
University of Oklahoma.) met Mr. Winchester in 2004, when they were just
They were both working for the late Senator 15, at camp in the Berkshires, and then became
Thomas A. Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma. She best friends after college. “I didn’t know if we
was an intern and he was a legislative correspon-
were dating or not.”
dent.
Ms. Koatz, 31, now a licensed clinical social
Despite their common home state and jobs, they
worker at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
were very different personalities.
Medical Center, graduated from Bates College in
“I’m pretty strait-laced, rule-following, kind of
Lewiston, Me., and received a master’s degree in
introverted and Elaine is more carefree, highly-
social work from Columbia.
energetic, super extroverted,” Mr. Casey said.
For their first date, the couple met at a tapas Mr. Winchester, also 31, is the chief executive of
restaurant in Washington. Because Mr. Casey was Marble, a technology company that helps people
then working in the Obama administration for the organize insurance documents and provides
MARY KEEN PHOTOGRAPHY PETER MONIN/MONIN PHOTOGRAPHY
office of the Federal Chief Information Officer in rewards points. He graduated from Trinity Col-
the White House, he planned an after-hours pri- asking her to do that if I didn’t intend to marry lege, University of Dublin. were in a relationship,” said Mr. Winchester, so it
vate tour of the West Wing (a perk of a White her,” he said. The couple met briefly in 2004 at Becket-Chim- came as no surprise to their parents when they
House staff job) for the second part of their date. But that moment wouldn’t come for six ney Corners Y.M.C.A. summer camp in Becket, made it official in March 2013. While things were
“It took some time for us to get to know each months. Mass., before going on international community still a bit tentative, they got into Ahmed Ibrahim’s
other and realize, well, you know, opposites do “My mom was at some point furious with Sean service trips — she to Valparaiso, Chile, and he to yellow cab, which they said wasn’t like any other
attract,” Mr. Casey said. because she didn’t think we were ever going to an aboriginal community near Alice Springs in cab.
In August 2017, Mr. Casey, who received a mas- get engaged,” Ms. Joseph said with a laugh. Australia. “‘I’m known as Cupid Cabbie,’ ” he recalled Mr.
ter’s degree in Asian economies and development In June 2019, the couple traveled to New York “We were both camp lifers, and saw each other Ibrahim saying, and by the end of the trip he told
and international affairs of Asia from George and during a trip to Central Park, Mr. Casey at camp or sometimes in group hangouts during them, and gave them a rundown of successful
Washington University, was asked to work for the proposed in front of the Alice in Wonderland the year,” Mr. Winchester said. In 2005, at dinner matches. “ ‘You guys seem very good together,
Trump administration in the Office of American sculpture. Unbeknown to Ms. Joseph, her par- with friends in New York, while she was at Hunt- and I think you’re going to get married.’ We
Innovation, led by Jared Kushner. ents, siblings and Mr. Casey’s mother, Gina G. er College High School and he at Collegiate High laughed about it, and forgot about it until we got
A year later, Mr. Casey and Ms. Joseph moved Weiser, and stepfather, David Weiser, of Midwest School, they recalled kidding around about string- engaged.”
into an apartment together in Washington, but not City, Okla., had flown to join them for an engage- ing two cans together over Central Park to talk to Mr. Winchester proposed New Year’s Eve 2019
long after that, Mr. Casey accepted a job as a ment dinner at the Loeb Boathouse. each other, from her home on the Upper East Side in their Upper West Side apartment, and later
policy adviser at Google. The couple made the “My mom forgave him very quickly,” Ms. Jo- to his on the Upper West Side. that evening their New Year’s Eve/housewarm-
difficult decision to relocate to San Francisco, seph said. During college they dated other people, and ing party there turned into an impromptu engage-
which meant Ms. Joseph had to quit her job. The couple had planned to marry June 13 at were “friendly acquaintances,” she said, but in ment party.
“Moving completely across the country was Southwind Hills, an events space near Oklahoma 2011, after they graduated, they became best “We’re major homebodies,” Ms. Koatz said,
really scary,” said Ms. Joseph, who had never been City. Because of the coronavirus they married friends while living in New York. adding that they love taking care of their Ragdoll
to San Francisco and was also moving away from there on Oct. 9, cutting the guest list in half to
“Stuart and I have always been on the same cat, Murray, their plants and home.
three siblings who lived on the East Coast. “I also 150. Roland Raymond Foster, Senator Coburn’s
page,” she said. “We have the same sense of They planned to get married Oct. 10, mainly
felt like we were taking the next step and kind of former legislative director, became a Universal
humor,” and he would even go as far as saying because of the symmetry of the 10/10/20 num-
going to have this moment where we create our Life minister to officiate.
“she’s definitely funnier.” bers, in Mr. Winchester’s parents’ backyard in
own life together rather than mash our lives to- Ms. Joseph, who will take her husband’s name,
gether in D.C.” They went out, first as part of a group, but then Bedford, N.Y., once an apple orchard, and ex-
is now the chief marketing officer and co-founder
Before the move, in February, the couple went to of Tastermonial, San Francisco company that just the two of them. They spoke just about every pected about 100 guests before the coronavirus.
visit family in Oklahoma for Christmas. Mr. Casey helps provide personalized food recommenda- day, and saw each other every weekend. On the day “Cupid Cabbie” knew was inevita-
told Ms. Joseph’s parents, Kim G. Joseph and tions to consumers with diet restrictions. For “It became clear something was happening ble, the Rev. Deborah Steen Ross, an interfaith
Michael E. Joseph of Nichols Hills, his hopes for now, the couple will live in Oklahoma, where they outside the friends’ groups,” he said. minister, led the ceremony with her husband
the future. are working remotely. But when they had a first kiss while out one Rabbi Roger Ross. Their 45 guests, who wore
“I told them that I understand the gravity of the “Elaine was just such a force,” Mr. Casey said. evening, they quickly decided to stick to being cream-colored masks embroidered with “10/10/
situation and Elaine quitting her job to move “I knew that I really liked her and I wanted her best friends a little while longer. 20,” watched along with about 100 others via
across the country with me, and that I wouldn’t be in my life.” ISABELLA PAOLETTO “It had been existing without a label, but we Zoom. ROSALIE R. RADOMSKY
 14 ST THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Vows
WEDDINGS

Stephanie Hains, Nicole Weiss,

Christian Nilsson David Rhoades
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A Love That’s No Longer So Up in the Air Not Letting a Little Snow, or Cancer, Stop Them
As rain pelted the London streets, David Rhoades skipped a lot of school
Stephanie Hains and Christian Nils- in the mid-2000s as a student at Stur-
son were scaling an iron gate at 2 a.m. gis Brown High School in Sturgis, S.D.
The two, who met on Tinder and were Not much held his attention, besides a
enjoying a first date, had found themselves locked girl a year younger who was good at painting and
into Hyde Park. drawing.
The couple had connected on the app in 2014 “Nikki and I had known each other since eighth
when they had both been in Prague on separate grade, but in high school we really started talk-
trips, and although Ms. Hains had initially turned ing,” said Mr. Rhoades, 29. By the time he dropped
down Mr. Nilsson’s invitation to go out, she re- out in 2009, his senior year, he and Nikki, whose
lented a week later when they happened to be in name is Nicole Weiss, were boyfriend and girl-
London at the same time. friend. Little about their relationship has changed
“We walked through London all night. We both since then. “We have a shared sense of humor and
recognized that it was the best date we’d ever we both like the same movies, the same music,”
been on,” Mr. Nilsson said. “I offered her a com- he said. “Once we were together, neither one of us
plementary green card marriage if she was inter- ever wanted to be with anyone else.”
ested.” When Ms. Weiss graduated in 2010 and started
Their date only ended when Mr. Nilsson, 32, had college at Black Hills State University, Mr.
to rush to the airport to catch his flight home to Rhoades went, too, finding odd jobs in Spearfish,
New York. When Ms. Hains, 28, flew back home to S.D., to pay the rent. When she quit college and
Melbourne, Australia, the two, separated by moved to Rapid City, S.D., after a year because
oceans, never expected to see one another again. she wasn’t sure a degree would guarantee her a
But they were soon frequently messaging each EILEEN MENY
job as an art teacher, he was right beside her.
INDIGOBLUE PHOTOGRAPHY

other. They caught up over the books they read And in 2019, Mr. Nilsson proposed at the Naum- called her and she didn’t call back, he worried.
In 2016, after years of figuring out who they
and shared stories, eventually finding themselves burg Bandshell in Central Park, the backdrop Then he got a text. “It just said, ‘Help.’ ”
were separately and together — “I come from a
talking for almost three hours over phone and from a scene in Ms. Hains’s favorite movie, Within days, Ms. Weiss would be sent to the
military background and she comes from a flower
video calls almost every day, despite the 15-hour “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She learned she
child background, but we’re both super open-
time difference. “I would stay up late so I could During his proposal, Mr. Nilsson played Ms. had a rare form of brain cancer. Though doctors
minded,” Mr. Rhoades said — they started talking
have lunch with her, and she’d stay up late to talk Hains a podcast he had made documenting their hope to slow the growth of the mutating mass
about marriage. On March 5, 2017, during a get-
to me,” Mr. Nilsson said. “We built our schedules relationship, including personal messages from wrapped around her brain stem, her condition is
away to a bed-and-breakfast in the Black Hills of
around those moments. After talking with her, I their closest friends and a recording of him asking incurable. For Ms. Weiss and Mr. Rhoades, map-
South Dakota, he proposed. Ms. Weiss, 28, knew
don’t think anybody knew me better than she her parents for their blessing. ping a future together took on new urgency.
the day was coming but was still surprised. “I
knew me.” “After our first date, she sent me pages of her The first night she was hospitalized, after Mr.
said, ‘Well, duh,’ ” she said. They left the Black
In March 2015, Mr. Nilsson caught another journal entries about our date, and I gave her a Rhoades won his fight with hospital staff to let
Hills engaged.
international flight, but this time, he was flying to podcast recreating our first date from my point of him stay in Ms. Weiss’s room amid Covid restric-
The next few years would be defined by work
Ms. Hains. After traveling for nearly 26 hours, Mr. view,” Mr. Nilsson said. “For our proposal, I re- tions, they hatched a plan to marry sooner. “We’re
Nilsson was able to take Ms. Hains on a second more than wedding planning. Mr. Rhoades found
capped our entire relationship from my point of more in love than we are scared,” he said. “We
date, which would be the start of 10 days together a maintenance job at a local apartment complex.
view.” said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
in Melbourne. Ms. Weiss took a job at the home improvement
As they walked through the park, Ms. Hains
store Menards, then found a maintenance position On a snowy Oct. 18, they were married at
“I was so excited, but I was also scared,” Ms. and Mr. Nilsson listened to the podcast he had
at a different Rapid City apartment complex. By Prairie Berry Winery in Hill City, S.D., Ms. Weiss’s
Hains said. “I vomited while he was on the flight. created for her, timing it perfectly so the record-
the time they got around to setting a wedding dream venue, with the help of many local vendors
There was so much pressure, because there was ing ended as the couple arrived at the bandshell.
date, the coronavirus had rearranged the world. who donated their services to put together an
this person who I have an amazing connection There, Moon River played in the background as
“We talked about July 2021 in the hopes that intimate fall-themed wedding for 30. Inspiration
with, but what if that doesn’t translate without a Mr. Nilsson asked her to marry him.
Covid would be over,” Ms. Weiss said. That plan came courtesy of a Pinterest board Ms. Weiss
screen between us?” The couple had planned to marry July 2, but the
would take a sharp detour over the summer. On created while undergoing radiation and chemo-
Despite their worries, the trip went well. In fact, pandemic pushed the date back to Oct. 10, at the
it went so well that what began as a late-night Green Building, an events space in Brooklyn. Only July 31, Ms. Weiss was at work when she was therapy sessions at the Mayo Clinic.
Tinder date quickly became a long-distance rela- Mr. Nilsson’s parents were in attendance; other overcome by a familiar feeling. “I thought I was Before they were married by KC Bunch, a li-
tionship spanning across the globe. guests watched via Zoom. Rob Hinderliter, Mr. having a really bad panic attack,” she said. “I’ve censed officiant and worship leader at Liv2Wor-
For the next three years, Ms. Hains and Mr. Nilsson’s childhood best friend and a Universal had them before.” This time, though, the attack ship Ministries, they read handwritten vows.
Nilsson were able to see each other only six times, Life minister, officiated. felt slightly different. When she found she couldn’t Neither acknowledged Ms. Weiss’s diagnosis.
once nearly every five months. “Something that’s really nice is knowing that speak, a co-worker drove her to the emergency “We just wanted to have a day when we weren’t
“We spent hundreds of hours on planes to see there will be no long distance anymore,” Ms. room. She had already contacted Mr. Rhoades. thinking about it,” Ms. Weiss said. For Mr.
each other,” Ms. Hains said. “It was worth every Hains said. “We’re married, and we move as a “She called me during lunch and said she Rhoades, that is difficult. But, he said, “we’re
minute.” unit. Everything with Christian has felt natural thought she was having a panic attack, so I taking it one day at a time, trying to make each
In 2017, Ms. Hains took a leap of faith and relo- and easy, and this is no exception.” walked her through the steps she had told me other happy and keep each other laughing.”
cated to New York to move in with Mr. Nilsson. DANYA ISSAWI about to help calm her down,” he said. When he TAMMY La GORCE

Nathan Hartman, Samyukta Mullangi,

Christopher Sipes Mohit Agrawal
. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Prince Charming Finally Became Available The Most Interesting Man, but Not the Best Speller
Nathan Hartman and Christopher In July 2018, Dr. Samyukta Mullangi,
Sipes first met in March 2011 when now 31 and a first-year hematology-
they were introduced by mutual oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan
friends at a dinner in Atlanta, where Kettering Cancer Center in New York,
they both lived. met Mohit Agrawal, also 31 and the deputy policy
“We were each in long-term, committed rela- director to Gov. Ned Lamont, Democrat of Con-
tionships at that time,” said Mr. Hartman (left), necticut, on the dating app the League.
42, an estate planning lawyer and an adjunct “Mohit misspelled my name, which in all fair-
professor at the Emory School of Law. He is also ness is a hard one,” Dr. Mullangi said. “I remem-
the father of twins. ber thinking, ‘Do I want to keep going with this?’ ”
“We became good friends who kept in touch,” She did. “We texted through the app for a few
Mr. Hartman said of Mr. Sipes. “Things stayed days. I said, ‘If you’re in New York and want to
that way for years.” get together, let me know.’ Then he disappeared.”
But things started changing in July 2014, when In September, Mr. Agrawal, who lives in New
Mr. Hartman’s 17-year relationship came to an Haven, Conn., a two-and-a-half-hour train ride
end. from Manhattan, re-emerged.
Mr. Hartman took solace in his friendship with “I got busy with work and I didn’t get back to
Mr. Sipes, a 33-year old geospatial information her, then I felt bad about that,” he said. “I wanted
science and remote sensing specialist. Their to take her up on the offer and see if she was still
relationship continued to thrive, and they grew willing to meet.”
even closer when Mr. Sipes’s nine-year relation- She was. They connected a week later for
ship ended in February 2019. VICTORIA ANGELA PHOTOGRAPHY
brunch at Effy’s Kitchen, a cafe a block away from ATTILA IUHASZ
By November 2019, Mr. Hartman and Mr. Sipes, Dr. Mullangi’s Upper East Side her apartment.
both single, began seeing each other through eyes “Nathan always had my back,” said Mr. Sipes, The meal turned into a six-hour date. we had a fight because I was crying. I’d never
that were more romantic than friendly. who graduated from Kennesaw State University “He was the most interesting person I’d ever cried from happiness before.”
“For me, Nathan became a confidante,” Mr. in Georgia and received a master’s degree in met,” she said. “Everything felt easy and familiar.” Within the first month a wedding date was set
Sipes said. “It was nice to have someone to talk to remote sensing and environmental mapping at A second date at a Thai restaurant, also in Dr. for June. Venues were booked. Vendors were
who would listen to me.” University College London. “He really helps me to Mullangi’s neighborhood, happened the following hired. And 600 invitations were sent to family and
The longtime friends had fallen in love, though enjoy the moment and the precious time we have week. After the fifth date he asked her to be his friends.
Mr. Hartman had long before gotten off at that together.” girlfriend. For the next year Mr. Agrawal traveled
Then came the coronavirus pandemic. Mr.
stop. Mr. Sipes is in the process of creating the Atlan- from Connecticut to New York on Friday night
Agrawal took up temporary residency with Dr.
“I waited five years for my Prince Charming,” ta branch of the University College London. and returned home on Sunday evening.
Mullangi so the couple could quarantine together.
he said, referring to the length of time that had “Christopher is a wonderful, dedicated person “Commuting was a small price to pay to have a
Mr. Agrawal still retains his home in Connecticut.
elapsed between his and Mr. Sipes’s breakups. who once told me he would always be there for relationship I cared about,” he said. “I was seeing
Once in-person work resumes, the couple will go
Mr. Hartman, a father to 8-year-old Jonathan me,” Mr. Hartman said, “and he has never wa- myself becoming a better person and growing in
back to their original commuting arrangement.
and Lara, said that Mr. Sipes “genuinely enjoys vered.” her company.”
“It became clear we’d have to pick a new date,”
spending time with the children, and he has an They were married Oct. 10 at the Four Seasons In June 2019, Mr. Agrawal met Dr. Mullangi’s
Dr. Mullangi said. “We really wanted to get mar-
incredible devotion to them.” Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The Rev. Michelle Freeman parents when the couple traveled to Los Angeles
ried and start our life together.”
And he has an incredible devotion to Mr. Hart- Owens, a Presbyterian minister, performed the for the wedding of a friend of Dr. Mullangi’s. A trip
to Greece for another friend’s wedding followed in The couple were married before 20 family mem-
man, an advisory member of the Emory Village ceremony.
July. bers on Oct. 11, at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan
Alliance who sits on the Emory University Alumni “We are going to continue doing the things we
“On that trip we talked about what our future Mandir, a Hindu temple in Chino Hills, Calif. Pan-
Board. He also served as the past board chairman love most, like traveling the world, doing cross-
of the Child Development Association. Mr. Hart- looked like and if we saw our future together,” she dit Santosh Prasad performed the ceremony. On
word puzzles and gardening,” Mr. Hartman said.
man graduated from Emory, from which he also “And of course, we love nothing more than spend- said. “We confessed we had known the other Oct. 13, Bianca Vasquez, an employee of the San
received a joint law degree and master’s degree in ing time with the kids.” person was the one early on.” Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk
theological studies. VINCENT M. MALLOZZI Mr. Agrawal proposed on Jan. 6, five minutes office, officiated at the legal marriage there.
before friends arrived for a dinner party. “Sam makes me smile everyday,” said Mr.
“I purchased the ring two months earlier on Agrawal. “I find happiness with her. This is the
Brilliantearth.com,” he said. “I watched YouTube relationship I want to have with the person I want
videos for inspiration and considered an escape to have it with.”
room but I’d set a deadline for that day, so I asked “I know my life with him will always be bigger
Enjoy wordplay every day. and better than what I could have accomplished
her in her apartment.”
“I was at my computer and when Mohit swiv- alone,” Dr. Mullangi said. “He was the person I’ve
nytimes.com/games
eled my chair around he was on one knee,” she been waiting for my entire life.”
said. “When his friends showed up they thought ALIX STRAUSS
IDEAS OPINION NEWS ANALYSIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

TRIBORO
2 SR
What Have We Lost
Frayed Connections
by Nicholas Kristof
Many of my oldest friends are
voting for President Trump on
Tuesday.
They’re supporting Trump de-
spite the arguments my pundit
colleagues and I have been mak-
ing — or perhaps because of
them. My pro-Trump friends and
readers complain that the main-
stream media are biased against
Trump, and thus they tune us out
for being unfair and piling on.
“The picture painted by the me-
dia is a caricature of the person,”
said my high school buddy Dave
Richardson, who voted for Trump
warily in 2016 but is supporting
him enthusiastically this time.
The conundrum for those of us
trying to change minds is that the
more urgently we shout, the less
we’re heard. “We’re not stupid,
gullible sheep,” one reader, Frank
J., complained. “Be fair and bal-
anced in your reporting and it
would have more power.”
My childhood friend Mary
Mayor likewise supported Trump
and is turned off by coverage that
she regards as hostile. “I’ve never
known a president who has gone
through so much scrutiny, over-
looking all the positives he has
done,” she told me.
I understand why people like
Mary voted for Trump. The loss of
well-paying jobs devastated
places like my hometown,
Yamhill, Ore. Mary spent seven
years homeless, lost four rela-
tives to suicide, and herself once
put a gun to her own head, before
she pulled herself together with
the help of a local church. Trump
talked about bringing jobs back
and helping ordinary workers —
so she voted for the first time in
her life, for Trump.
“We hoped Trump would help
boost the economy and jobs,” my
old friend Jani Sitton said, ex-
plaining her vote for Trump in
2016.
The challenge for opponents of
Trump like myself is that our de-
nunciations of the president
sometimes backfire and help him,
just as polls suggest that im-
peachment increased support for
him (Gallup shows him with his
highest presidential approval
numbers after being impeached).
As Jani said: “The condescension
from very loud and aggressive
Trump critics has contributed big
time toward conservatives feel-
ing sympathy for him.”
So in my last column before
Election Day, let me explain as re-
spectfully as I can why I’m so
worked up about this election.
It’s partly because I believe
that Trump is a charlatan who
preys on my friends who trust
him. Trump’s own sister has said
he is a liar with “no principles,”
and his former chief of staff Gen.
John Kelly reportedly referred to
him as “the most flawed person”
he has known.
So if I’m passionate, it’s be-
cause I feel he has exploited my
friends and then betrayed them
with his policies.
How can a president be called
“pro-life” when he has presided
over the deaths of more than
225,000 Americans from Covid-19
and still doesn’t have a strategy to
fight it? Trump is also working to
take away health insurance from
my friends: Already, the number
of Americans with health insur-
ance has dropped by 5.2 million
since Trump took office, and he is
trying to completely overturn the
Affordable Care Act right after
the election.
I’m a great believer in commu-
nity, in the idea that what makes
countries strong is “social capi-
tal” — the web of relationships,
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
By Farah Al Qasimi The most incalculable loss over the last four years —
and particularly during the pandemic — has been
that of human life. It is maddening. I wanted to pay
a loving and apologetic tribute to the hundreds of
thousands of people we have lost at the hands of the
Trump administration.
beliefs, trust, decency and iden-
tity that make a society work.
Trump has taken this social fabric
and acted as the Great Unraveler.
He replaces accepted facts with
lies, baseless accusations, sup-
port for QAnon and even a con-
spiracy theory that President
Barack Obama had SEAL Team 6
killed instead of Osama bin
Laden. In both supporters and op-
ponents, Trump nurtures hate.
He is what Proverbs 6:19 calls “a
person who stirs up conflict in the
community.”
Trump has been a corrosive
acid on America’s social capital.
He has cost us trust. He has dis-
solved our connectivity.
I understand now why kinder-
garten teachers sometimes want
to remove a loudmouth bully who
disrupts the class and leaves it
dysfunctional. That is what
Trump has done to our democra-
cy.
For much of my career, I’ve
written about national security,
from Afghanistan to North Korea,
China to Iran. But great nations
more often rot from within than
suffer defeat from outside, and
Trump is exacerbating long-
standing divisions and weak-
nesses in this country.
So to those who think I suffer
from “Trump Derangement Syn-
drome,” let me explain — with re-
spect, but also urgency — that my
intensity arises because I see
Trump as not just a phony but
also a threat. He has left the
Trump has
exploited and
betrayed
many of my
friends.
United States a more turbulent
and divided nation, one close to
war with itself.
Today the greatest threat I per-
ceive to America’s national secu-
rity isn’t from Qaeda terrorists,
Russian cyberattacks or Chinese
missiles. As I see it, it’s from
Trump’s re-election.
This is when conversations
with friends become awkward. I
may think that Trump bamboo-
zled my pals, and they may think
I’m manipulated by leftist propa-
ganda, but we all have agency —
and we each think the other is us-
ing that agency to endanger a
country we all love.
I doubt I’ll change many minds.
But the only thing I can do is
reach out in a good-faith effort to
undecided voters.
Sometimes it works. Jani, a
committed Christian, has worried
about Democrats and abortion.
But this time she will vote for Bi-
den because she’s appalled at
Trump’s policies toward mi-
grants, Black Lives Matter and
health care, and because “God
cares about oppression, justice,
the voiceless.”
As Jani goes, so, I hope, will the
nation. SPOT ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHLOE SCHEFFE

A Kind of Innocence
by Frank Bruni
It’s always assumed that those of
us who felt certain of Hillary Clin-
ton’s victory in 2016 were putting
too much trust in polls.
I was putting too much trust in
Americans.
I’d seen us err. I’d watched us
stray. Still I didn’t think that
enough of us would indulge a
would-be leader as proudly hate-
ful, patently fraudulent and flam-
boyantly dishonest as Donald
Trump.
We had episodes of ugliness,
but this? No way. We were better
than Trump.
Except, it turned out, we were-
n’t.
Never mind that the Russians
gave him a boost. Or that he lost
the popular vote. Some 46 percent
of the Americans who cast ballots
for president in 2016 picked him,
and as he moved into the White
House and proceeded to soil it,
most of those Americans stood by
him solidly enough that Republi-
cans in Congress didn’t dare to
cross him and in fact went to
great, conscience-immolating
lengths to prop him up. These law-
makers weren’t swooning for a
demagogue. They were reading
the populace.
And it was a populace I didn’t
recognize, or at least didn’t want
to.
What has Trump’s presidency
taken from us? I’m reasonably
sure that many Americans feel
the same loss that I do, and I’m
struggling to assign just one word
to it.
Innocence? Optimism? Faith?
Go to the place on the Venn dia-
gram where those states of mind
overlap. That’s the piece of me
now missing when I look at this
beloved country of mine.
Trump snuffed out my confi-
dence, flickering but real, that we
could go only so low and forgive
only so much. With him we went
lower — or at least a damningly
large percentage of us did. In him
we forgave florid cruelty, overt
racism, rampant corruption, exul-
tant indecency, the coddling of
murderous despots, the alienation
of true friends, the alienation of
truth itself, the disparagement of
invaluable institutions, the degra-
dation of essential democratic tra-
ditions.
He played Russian roulette
with Americans’ lives. He played
Russian roulette with his own
aides’ lives. In a sane and civil
country, of the kind I long thought
I lived in, his favorability ratings
would have fallen to negative inte-
gers, a mathematical impossibil-
ity but a moral imperative. In this
one, they never changed all that
much.
Polls from mid-October showed
that about 44 percent of voters ap-
proved of Trump’s job perform-
ance — and this was after he’d
concealed aspects of his coronavi-
rus infection from the public,
shrugged off the larger meaning
of it, established the White House
as its own superspreader envi-
ronment and cavalierly marched
on.
Forty-four percent. Who in
God’s name are we?
I’m not forgetting pre-Trump
American history. I’m not erasing
hundreds of years of slavery, the
internment of Japanese Ameri-
cans, the many kinds of discrimi-
nation that have flourished in my
own lifetime, all the elections in
which we Americans made stupid
choices and all the presidents who
did “un-American” things. We’re a
grossly imperfect country, our be-
havior at frequent odds with our
ideals.
But for every abomination, I
could name a moment of grace.
For many of our sins, stabs at
atonement. We demonstrated a
yearning to correct our mistakes
and, I think, a tropism toward
goodness. On balance we were
open, generous. When I traveled
abroad, people from other coun-
tries routinely complimented
Americans for that. They experi-
enced us as arrogant, but also as
special.
Now they just pity us.
How much of this can we pin on
Trump? Not as much as we try to.
And oh, how we’ve tried. This ob-
session of the news media and his
detractors with every last eccen-
tricity and inanity isn’t just about
keeping a complete record, I’ve
come to realize. It’s also a deflec-
tion, an evasion: If he gets the
whole of the stage, then Ameri-
cans’ complicity and collabora-
tion are shoved into the wings.
And the freakier we make him
out to be, the less emblematic he
is. The more he becomes a ran-
dom, isolated event. We empha-
sized what a vanquishable oppo-
nent Hillary Clinton was because
that diminished the significance
of the vanquishing and the van-
quisher. We spoke of a perfect
storm of circumstances that led to
his election as a way of disowning
the weather.
We cheered on Robert Muel-
ler’s investigation not just be-
cause it might hold Trump and his
wretched accomplices to account
but also because it might explain
him away, proving that he reached
the White House by cheating, not
because he was what nearly half
of the country decided that they
wanted.
We tried to make him a one-
and-done one-off. But deep into
his presidency, when his execra-
ble character had been fully ex-
posed, his Fox News cheerleaders
continued to draw huge audiences
Altruism and Moral Purpose
by Jennifer Senior
Back in the early 2000s, an aca-
demic named Robert Sampson
did one of the better-known stud-
ies in urban sociology of the past
20 years, discreetly dropping
thousands of stamped and ad-
dressed letters all over the streets
of Chicago. What he was looking
for, essentially, was to see which
neighborhoods would be most dil-
igent about dropping those letters
in mailboxes rather than allowing
them to collect footprints on the
sidewalk and turn to pulp.
What he discovered was in-
triguing. One of the best predic-
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
for their sycophantic panegyrics.
Trump himself continued to at-
tract big crowds to his rallies, like
the one in Greenville, N.C., in July
2019, when he pressed his attack
on four Democratic congress-
women of color, including Repre-
sentative Ilhan Omar, who immi-
grated from Somalia. Egged on by
him, his audience chanted: “Send
her back! Send her back!” He
stopped speaking to give those
words room, and he soaked them
in.
Or what about the recent rally
in Muskegon, Mich., where he
freshly assailed the state’s gover-
nor, Gretchen Whitmer, despite
the fact that his obsessive denun-
ciations of her had possibly been a
factor in an alleged plot by 14 men
to kidnap her? “Lock her up!”
many of the attendees bellowed,
to Trump’s obvious amusement.
Again, how has his approval
rating not fallen to negative inte-
gers?
I’m not saying that support for
him is spun entirely of malice or
bias. Keen economic anxiety and
profound political estrangement
are why many voters turned to
him, as my Times colleague Farah
Stockman explained especially
well in a recent editorial that was
set in America’s disheartened
heartland. “Even false hope,” she
noted, “is a form of hope, perhaps
the most ubiquitous kind.”
The headline on the article was
“Why They Loved Him.” But why
haven’t more of them stopped lov-
ing him? And how did so many
Americans beyond that group fall
so hard for him, thrilling to his
recklessness, applauding his divi-
siveness, indulging his unscrupu-
lousness? He tapped into more
cynicism and nihilism than this
land of boundless tomorrows was
supposed to contain.
He tapped into more conspira-
torialism, too. And I do mean
“tapped.” Trump didn’t draw out
anything that wasn’t already
there, burbling beneath the sur-
face.
He didn’t sire white suprema-
cists. He didn’t script the dark fan-
tasies of QAnon. He didn’t create
all the Americans who rebelled
against protective masks and
mocked those who wore them, a
selfish mind-set that helps explain
our tragic lot. It just flourished un-
der him.
And it will almost certainly sur-
vive him. The foul spirit of these
past five years — I’m including his
hateful campaign — has been both
pervasive and strangely proud.
That’s what makes it different.
That’s what makes it so chilling.
I could be overreacting. Maybe,
just ahead, there will be moments
of grace, enough of them to re-
deem us. Maybe I’ll look up on or
after Nov. 3 and see that Biden has
won North Carolina, has won
Michigan, has won every closely
contested state and the presiden-
cy in a landslide. Maybe I’ll have
to eat my words.
Please, my fellow Americans,
feed me my words. I’d relish that
meal.
tors of a letter’s fate had to do with
how high a neighborhood meas-
ured in what Sampson called
“moral cynicism,” or the notion
that laws and informal rules
weren’t really and truly binding.
How he measured moral cyni-
cism was straightforward: He
asked thousands of Chicagoans to
agree or disagree with a short list
of statements.
Laws were made to be broken.
It’s OK to do anything you want
as long as you don’t hurt anyone.
To make money, there are no
right and wrong ways anymore,
only easy ways and hard ways.
In hindsight, Sampson recently
told me, one of the weirdest and
most chilling things about staring
at that list is to see how easily it
could double as a declaration of
Donald Trump’s worldview. “You
know, the idea that it’s all dog-eat-
dog,” he said, “or that you’re a
chump to care about others.”
Our president has basically
spent four years telling an entire
nation not to bother dropping lost
letters in the mail.
It is cliché at this point to note
that Trump has laid waste to our
norms and customs, and in so do-
ing, eroded our trust in institu-
tions whose reputations were al-
ready in sharp decline (the media
and federal government instantly
come to mind), as well as our
trust in our fellow Americans.
But what Sampson was de-
scribing was somehow different,
and I think more profound. He
was articulating the price of that
lost trust: generosity. As a nation,
we’ve lost our sense of altruistic
and moral purpose, a collective
will to do what is decent and right
and, as sociologists like to say,
“other-regarding.” Instead, we’ve
been living in a state benumbed
and a benumbed state, in which
nihilism prevails and corruption
oozes from the very top.
Another way to think about this
might be to say that we’ve been
living in a noir film. Or that we’re
enacting the zero-sum values of
reality television. What is it that
contestants are so fond of saying?
I’m not here to make friends; I’m
here to win.
But the point is: Trump has
normalized selfishness.
This moral cynicism has not
been healthy, and I don’t just
mean this in the psychological or
spiritual sense. Our lost generos-
ity has cost American lives. A
once-in-a-century pandemic
strikes, our public health experts
eventually tell us all to wear
masks for the commonweal, but
the president tells us that mask-
wearing is one of those rules not
to be followed (like paying taxes,
like the emoluments clause, like
campaign finance laws, like ob-
structing justice). And so we, an
extravagantly wealthy nation,
suffer from an extravagant num-
ber of deaths.
An altruistic culture, in other
words, could have been “its own
form of nonpharmacological in-
tervention” in the fight against
Covid-19, says Nicholas Chris-
takis, a doctor and sociologist and
the author of “Apollo’s Arrow,” a
delightfully readable new book
about the culture and the corona-
virus.
What makes this crisis of gen-
erosity all the stranger is that
moral cynicism — also some-
times referred to as “legal cyni-
cism” — is generally associated
with high levels of poverty and ra-
cial isolation, according to Samp-
son’s work. Yet Trump’s life has
been marked by neither. It has in
fact been marked by the very op-
posite: overabundance.
Then again, you could argue, as
Kurt Andersen recently did in
“Evil Geniuses,” that a certain
breed of wealthy American now
also thinks that the rules do not
apply to it, and that this gang has
been enshrining greed-is-good
into custom and statute for the
past 50 years.
How this particular horseshoe
got forged — where the poorest
people of color and the most afflu-
ent white Americans both came to
believe the same thing — could fill
its own book. For now, though, it
suffices to say that there’s a sig-
nificant difference between what
underlies their moral cynicism.
The residents of Sampson’s cyni-
cal neighborhoods had under-
standable reasons to be mistrust-
ful of certain laws and institu-
tions. (Police brutality, lopsided
prison sentencing and eviction
disparities instantly spring to
mind.) The Trumps of the world
do not. They are loosening the
yoke around their own necks
while tightening it around others’.
There is, actually, an argument
to be made that the rich were
profiting shamelessly from de-
regulation and small-government
reforms at around the same time
the epidemic of mass incarcera-
tion began.
I came of age under presidents
who spoke of our differences as
bridgeable, resolvable things. Bill
Clinton told us that “there is noth-
ing wrong with America that can-
not be cured by what is right with
America.” George W. Bush de-
fined himself as a “compassionate
conservative” and “a uniter, not a
divider.” Barack Obama made his
national debut with a keynote ad-
dress that declared, “We worship
an awesome God in the blue
states” and “we’ve got some gay
friends in the red states.”
These lines may always have
By Frank Bruni, Jennifer Senior,
David Brooks and Charles M. Blow
been a fiction, or at least a partial
fiction. During their presidencies,
jails filled, factories shut and the
nation spun off a breakaway re-
public of the 1 percent. Maybe it
was only a matter of time before a
president like Trump came along
who took such a Hobbesian view
of humanity. Moral cynicism
“taps the darker side of human
nature,” as Sampson wrote in
“Great American City,” his book
about the importance of commu-
nity culture in defining neighbor-
hoods.
But the tension between pre-
serving individual prerogatives
and the common good is as old as
America itself. Our sense of moral
purpose, while fragile, has gener-
ally proved recoverable enough
for us to make progress.
What’s so agonizing now is that
we’re all waiting to see whether it
is again. Joe Biden has staked his
entire campaign on his decency,
Faith in One Another
by David Brooks
Until four years ago, there was
what you might call a Floor of De-
cency. This was the basic min-
imum standard of behavior to be
an accepted member of society.
Even when people did bad things,
they at least tried to pretend that
they were good, that they operated
according to the basic values of so-
ciety. You may or may not like the
people in, say, the Obama or Bush
administrations, you may think
they made grave mistakes, but you
have to admit they generally
strove to meet this basic minimum.
Because it was more or less tak-
en for granted, a lot of us weren’t
even really conscious of this floor.
It was just there, like the sidewalk
you step on when you walk down
the street.
I vividly remember the moment
in the last campaign when, for me,
Donald Trump smashed the floor.
Trump had already made fun of the
appearance of his rival Carly Fior-
ina in an interview with Rolling
Stone. Then in the second Republi-
can presidential primary debate
he looked to Rand Paul and said, “I
never attacked him on his looks,
and believe me, there’s plenty of
subject matter right there.”
The sad thing is that, from the
vantage point of 2020, that line no
longer seems that outrageous. But
it seemed outrageous then. No
other modern presidential candi-
date had talked that way.
And then, just when you thought
the country would rise up in moral
revulsion . . . nothing happened.
Trump’s behavior got worse and
worse . . . and nothing happened.
Trump was defying moral gravity.
A lot of Americans either had reali-
ty TV moral standards or their ex-
pectations of politicians were so
low they didn’t care.
I had trouble adjusting to the
new reality. I imagined that the
floor was just lowered. Even after
he was elected, I predicted he’d be
out in a year. He’d create some
scandal or commit some crime and
would be gone. He created more
scandals than I expected . . . and
he just kept going. One of the oft-
repeated phrases about Trump
during these years was: There is
no bottom.
The floor had upheld a basic
standard for political behavior so it
was not just dog eat dog. You may
not have agreed with other people,
you may not have liked them or
even found them tolerable, but you
granted them basic legitimacy as
civic actors because they at least
recognized basic standards.
With the floor gone, the assump-
SR 3
A Special Section
his moral vision, his old-fashioned
belief that one should love thy
neighbor as thyself. A Trump
campaign adviser may have
sneeringly compared the former
vice president to Mister Rogers
during the candidates’ dueling
town halls a couple of weeks ago.
But it is Fred Rogers’s words that
are repeatedly — at this point tire-
somely, almost embarrassingly —
invoked during times of national
crisis. “Look for the helpers,” he
urged children to do when they’re
frightened. “You will always find
people who are helping.”
If Trump and his allies disdain
the idea of a man who believes in
the human capacity to help, it
says all you need to know about
them. And if we, as a nation,
choose a man who’s reminiscent
of a beloved minister to be our
next president, it’ll say something
desperately needed — and at long
last reassuring — about us.
tion of legitimacy went too. Today,
many Trump opponents look at the
moral degradation Trump sup-
porters tolerate, the bigotry they
endorse or tolerate, and they con-
clude that such people are beyond
the pale. Simultaneously, many
Trump supporters conclude that
Trump opponents have such vi-
ciously anti-American ideas that
they too lack legitimacy.
We’ve long had polarization, but
we now have in America a crisis of
legitimacy, which is a different
creature. It’s the obliteration of
other citizens, an assumption that
the institutions, like election sys-
tems, are fundamentally frauds
and are rigged. This is what Trump
is exploiting now.
Amid this alienation, Americans
lost faith in one another. In 1997, 64
percent of Americans had a good
or great deal of trust in the wisdom
of their fellow citizens in making
political decisions. Today only a
third of Americans have a great or
good deal of trust in the ability of
their fellow citizens to make com-
petent political decisions.
Joe Biden is the personification
of decency, and if he wins he’ll do
his best to restore our standards of
behavior. But a lot of people on the
hard left and the hard right now
consider politics a war of all
against all, where the ends justify
any means.
Nobody has emerged un-
scathed. Those of us in the anti-
Trump camp will be smiled upon
by history I imagine, but we might
pause for a moment to consider the
mote in our own eye. Our own sins
are the only ones we can control.
Over the past four years we’ve
poured out an hourly flow of anti-
Trump diatribes, and in almost ev-
ery case they rise to the top of the
charts — most liked, most re-
tweeted, most read.
Even when justified, permanent
indignation is not a healthy emo-
tional state. We’ve become a little
addicted to our own umbrage, ad-
dicted to that easy feeling of moral
superiority, addicted to the easy af-
firmation bath we get when we re-
peat what we all believe. Trump-
bashing has become a business
model. Politics has become a way
to define and signify your identity,
and that is elevating politics to too
central a place in life. He’s made
life all about himself, and a lot of us
too readily played along.
Here’s one thing we will never
be able to shake, the awareness
that our basic standards of decen-
cy are more fragile than we
thought; the awareness that any
year, some new leader may come
along and bring us back to a world
of no bottom.
4 SR
What Have We Lost
Naïveté
by Charles M. Blow
How could we have been so
blind? How could we have been
so naïve? How did we not believe
that the worst was possible until
we plummeted into it?
We didn’t believe that a dema-
gogic tyrant-worshiper could rise
to the presidency. The founders of
this country worried obsessively
about the rise of a demagogue
and the power of foreign influ-
ence on our democracy. And yet
somehow, over the years, after
centuries of American presidents
behaving in ways that at least
demonstrated a fealty to the
country and its institutions and
the power of precedent and lega-
cy, those fears waned to a whis-
per.
Having a demagogue, partially
installed by a Russian disinfor-
mation campaign no less, who ex-
alted our enemies in the world
and hammered our friends, was
somewhat unthinkable. This was
America. We would go only so far.
We might race up to the precipice,
but we would never hurl our-
selves into the abyss. Wrong.
With the election of Donald
Trump, America did the unthink-
able, shocking itself and the
world: It put the most powerful
country in the world under the
control of a lying, grifting, shady
carnival ­­­­­conductor. He had no
experience in governance and no
expertise. His entire life was a
game of smoke and mirrors, dou-
ble talk and double-dealing.
Even Trump, not a student of
history or much else, didn’t seem
to grasp the awesome power he
possessed until he systematically
started to test all the fences sup-
posedly restraining him, only to
realize that the only thing holding
many of them up was customs
and conventions. Most could be
run through or pushed down.
It was like a scene in the film
“Jurassic World” where the scien-
tist created a hybrid, Frank-
enstein dinosaur because people
got bored of the conventional
ones. Well, the dinosaur was cle-
ver enough to break out of its cage
and run through the park, killing
everything in sight. As one of the
scientists said: “You made a ge-
netic hybrid. Raised it in captivity.
She is seeing all of this for the first
time. She does not even know
what she is. She will kill every-
thing that moves.” He continued,
“She is learning where she fits on
the food chain and I’m not sure
you want her to figure that out.”
Trump realized the power of
the presidency, that it was
uniquely at the top of the food
chain, and so began his rampage.
We didn’t believe that in this
era we could have a president
who could be so regressive on is-
sues of white supremacy, white
nationalism and xenophobia.
To be sure, there have been
other presidents more racist than
their predecessors. Andrew John-
son assuming the presidency af-
ter Abraham Lincoln comes to
mind. Although Lincoln had pro-
fessed his white supremacy dur-
ing the Lincoln-Douglas debates,
he led the nation to Emancipation
and into the Civil War in part over
the issue of slavery. Johnson’s
racist Reconstruction plan after
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
By Brea Souders The Trump administration has weakened our
environmental protections, and now our waterways
are threatened by pesticides, fertilizers and other
pollutants. I responded to this threat by subjecting
a photograph I had taken of a healthy aquatic ecosystem
to corrosive chemicals. They cascaded down, altering
and destroying everything they touched.
the war excluded Black electoral
and governing participation, led
to the rise of the Black Codes and
led to his impeachment.
Lyndon Johnson being fol-
lowed by Richard Nixon comes to
mind. As a senator, Johnson had
shepherded the Civil Rights Act
of 1957, and as president he
pushed through the Civil Rights
Acts of 1964 and 1968. In addition,
he nominated the first Black jus-
tice to the Supreme Court: Thur-
good Marshall. Nixon, on the
other hand, was different. As Tim
Naftali, an associate professor of
history at New York University,
wrote last year in The Atlantic:
“Nixon believed in a hierarchy of
races, with whites and Asians
much higher up than people of Af-
rican descent and Latinos. And he
had convinced himself that it was-
n’t racist to think Black people, as
a group, were inferior to whites,
so long as he held them in pater-
nalistic regard.”
But in some ways, Americans
came to see these occasional re-
gressions as more minor — a hic-
cup, a stutter step in which the
country took a small step back
among much greater strides for-
ward. We were not prepared for
what Trump delivered: a genera-
tional retreat into darkness.
We had not seen a modern
president so openly and blatantly
court and even defend racists and
xenophobes. We had not seen one
refuse to clearly condemn white
supremacist hate groups, instead
retreating to a position of false
We allowed
some of the
worst fears of
the founders to
come true.
obliviousness when condemna-
tion was demanded. We have not
seen a recent president who
would stoop so low as to separate
immigrant children from their
parents, apparently with no plan
to reunite them, as a matter of un-
wavering policy.
Those are but two examples.
The list is legion. I could enumer-
ate them until my fingers blis-
tered. But they would all illus-
trate the same point: We, Amer-
ica, let our guard down for a cam-
paign cycle, believing, surely, that
the most qualified woman ever to
run would defeat the least quali-
fied man to do so. We didn’t vote
with the intensity the emergency
required. And in doing so, we al-
lowed the country to be dragged
to the brink of ruin.
We are now living the reality
that the founders feared and that
women, minorities and immi-
grants hoped was an artifact of
former times.

America’s Word
by Roger Cohen
Tuesday’s election will be seen
globally as a referendum on the
durability of democracy. If Ameri-
can democracy, long a beacon,
cannot self-correct, then all de-
mocracies are at risk. European
nations have watched with alarm
as Trump has set about under-
mining American democracy
while attacking the very founda-
tions — the European Union and
NATO — that allowed war-torn
Europe to become whole, demo-
cratic and free.
The Oval Office was once the
focal point of the respect the
United States commanded
around the world; no longer. It
has become impossible for de-
mocracies today to believe it is in
their national interest to take
Trump’s America seriously. With
this president, there are simply
too many petulant reversals of
course. The presidency and dis-
honesty have become synony-
mous. Alliances are founded on
trust. When that goes, they begin
to dissolve.
Hence the talk in European
capitals of the need to “contain”
the United States, a verb once re-
served for the Soviet Union.
America, under President Trump,
has lost the credibility and legiti-
macy that were cornerstones of
its influence.
Allies believe a second Trump
term could lead to the United
States’ leaving NATO, following
the decision to leave the World
Health Organization. Departure
from the World Trade Organiza-
tion is also possible. Trump has
yet to encounter a multilateral or-
ganization he does not want dead.
The values of liberty, democra-
cy, freedom of expression and the
rule of law for which the United
States has stood, albeit with con-
spicuous failings, over the post-
war decades have been aban-
doned. Despite the horrors of
Vietnam and Abu Ghraib, and
Cold War support for dictatorial
regimes, America led not just be-
cause it had a huge army and nu-
clear arsenal, but also because it
shared beliefs with its allies and
worked with them. The United
States has become a values-free
international actor under a presi-
dent who has led a values-free
life.
This American abdication has
allowed President Vladimir Putin
of Russia to proclaim liberalism
“obsolete.” It has led Chancellor
Angela Merkel of Germany to say
Europeans must “take our fate
into our own hands.” It has em-
powered President Xi Jinping of
China to offer his country’s one-
party system as an alternative
model for developing countries. It
has turned the phrase “leader of
the free world,” as applied to the
United States, into a laughable
notion.
The Trump administration has
unrelentingly undermined prov-
en international relationships.
America-first nationalism (even
on vaccine development) has re-
placed the stabilizing commit-
ment of the United States to mul-
tilateral institutions, a rules-
based order and painstakingly
negotiated international accords,
like the Paris Agreement on cli-
mate change and the Iran nuclear
deal.
Over the past four years, Amer-
ica has come close to exiting the
global community of democra-
cies. Trump is far more comfort-
able with autocrats like Putin and
Prince Mohammed bin Salman of
Saudi Arabia than with a demo-
cratic leader like Merkel. (She
has, for the president, the added
drawback of being a woman.)
Human rights have all but dis-
appeared from the American
agenda. This has been evident in
the brutality at the Mexican bor-
der. America has long had a com-
plicated relationship with immi-
gration, but underlying it there
has always existed, as a core ele-
ment in the national identity, a
commitment to openness and an
understanding that constant
demographic renewal was a
unique source of American
strength. By ripping children
from their parents (545 of those
children have not been reunited),
barring entry from some major-
ity-Muslim countries and largely
closing American doors to refu-
gees, Trump has trampled on the
idea of America as a land of immi-
grants.
The aura that once set America
apart has dimmed. The country,
under Trump, has lost its compas-
sion; it has appeared crueler to
the world. Trump has severed
America from the idea of Amer-
ica. Liberty’s torch cannot be the
symbol of a country committed to
building walls.
Trump’s nationalism has done
great harm. The pandemic has
been the first major global crisis
since 1945 in which the United
States has gone AWOL. Nobody
is inclined to trust in the compe-
tence of an America whose re-
sponse to the pandemic has been
so incoherent that it now comfort-
ably leads the world in coronavi-
rus cases and deaths. Trump’s
“fake news” accusations and lies
Our Allies
by Thomas L. Friedman
There is no escaping it: America
is on the ballot on Tuesday — the
stability and quality of our gov-
erning institutions, our alliances,
how we treat one another, our ba-
sic commitment to scientific prin-
ciples and the minimum decency
that we expect from our leaders.
The whole ball of wax is on the
ballot.
The good news is that we’ve
survived four years of Donald
Trump’s abusive presidency with
most of our core values still intact.
To be sure, the damage has been
profound, but, I’d argue, the can-
cer has not yet metastasized into
the bones and lymph nodes of our
nation. The harm is still revers-
ible.
The bad news is that if we have
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
about the coronavirus have been
relentless.
The democratic framework of
the United States rests on certain
principles: checks and balances,
a vigorous free press, an inde-
pendent judiciary, protection of
the individual against forms of ra-
cial, religious or sexual prejudice.
All these principles, inspirations
to democracies across the world,
have been attacked by Trump. He
has turned the Department of
Justice into his personal fief. The
president has even refused to
commit to leaving office if he loses
the election.
None of this has been lost on a
world where the United States
once built democracies: in Ger-
many, in Japan, throughout Cen-
tral Europe after the collapse of
the Soviet imperium.
In the European Union the real-
ization that it may now stand
alone against Russia, China and
the United States in embodying
liberal democratic principles and
the defense of human rights has
come as a painful, if galvanizing,
shock.
Almost four years of Trump’s
rule has left an anchorless inter-
national order, in which an old
American-led system is dead and
the new is not yet born. How far a
Joe Biden presidency could re-
verse this dangerous drift is an
No democracy
takes Trump’s
America seriously
anymore.
open question. But the damage is
deep; the old status quo will not
return.
A second Trump term of erratic
American belligerence meeting
growing Chinese assertiveness
would be pregnant with the possi-
bility of violence. The big powers
would be on the march, freed of
the multilateral safety net slowly
constructed in the second half of
the 20th century. America-the-
beacon would be lost, and the
world darker still.
to endure four more years of Don-
ald Trump, with him unrestrained
by the need to be re-elected, our
country will not be the America
we grew up with, whose values,
norms and institutions we had
come to take for granted.
Four more years of a president
without shame, backed by a party
without spine, amplified by a TV
network without integrity, and
the cancer will be in the bones of
every institution that has made
America America.
And then, who will we be? We
can explain away, and the world
can explain away, taking a one-
time flier on a fast-talking, huck-
ster-populist like Trump. It’s hap-
pened to many countries in his-
tory. But if we re-elect him, know-
ing what a norm-destroying, divi-
sive, corrupt liar he is, then the
world will not treat the last four
years as an aberration. It will
treat them as an affirmation that
we’ve changed.
The world will not just look at
America differently, but at Ameri-
cans differently. And with good
reason.
Re-electing Trump would mean
that a significant number of
Americans don’t cherish the
norms that give our Constitution
meaning, don’t appreciate the
need for an independent, profes-
sional Civil Service, don’t respect
scientists, don’t hunger for na-
tional unity, don’t care if a presi-
dent tells 20,000 lies — in short,
don’t care about what has actu-
ally made America great and dif-
ferent from any other great power
in history.
If that happens, what America
has lost these past four years will
become permanent.
And the effects will be felt all
over the world. Foreigners love to
make fun of America, of our
naïveté, or our silly notion that ev-
ery problem has a solution and
that the future can bury the past
— that the past doesn’t always
have to bury the future. But deep
down, they often envy Ameri-
cans’ optimism.
If America goes dark, if the
message broadcast by the Statue
of Liberty shifts from “give me
your tired, your poor, your hud-
dled masses yearning to breathe
free” to “get the hell off my lawn”;
if America becomes just as cyni-
cally transactional in all its for-
eign dealings as Russia and
China; if foreigners stop believ-
ing that there is somewhere over
the rainbow where truth is still
held sacred in news reporting and
where justice is the norm in most
of the courts, then the whole
world will get darker. Those who
have looked to us for inspiration
will have no widely respected ref-
erence point against which to cri-
tique their own governments.
Authoritarian leaders all over
the world — in Turkey, China,
Russia, Poland, Hungary, the
Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Brazil
and elsewhere — already smell
this. They have been emboldened
by the Trump years. They know
they’re freer to assassinate, poi-
son, jail, torture and censor
whomever they want, without re-
proach from America, as long as
they flatter Trump or buy our
arms.
I asked Nader Mousavizadeh, a
former senior U.N. official who
now runs the London-based con-
sultancy Macro Advisory Part-
ners, what he thought was at
stake in this election. He said:
“It’s the sense that ever since
F.D.R., despite all kinds of failures
and flaws, America was a country
that wanted a better future — not
just for itself but for other people.”
While that may seem like a ba-
nality, he added, “it is actually
unique in history. No other great
power in history has behaved that
way. And it provided America
with an intangible asset of im-
mense value: the benefit of the
doubt. People across the world
were willing to give America a
second, third and fourth chance
because they believed that, unlike
any other great power that had
come to impact their lives, our
purpose was different.”
Of course, America has at times
behaved in cruel, nakedly self-in-
terested, reckless and harmful
ways toward other nations and
peoples. Vietnam was real. Anti-
democratic coups in Iran and
Chile were real. Abu Ghraib was
real. Separating children from
their parents at our southern bor-
der was real.
But they remain exceptions,
not our modus operandi, which is
precisely why people all over the
world, not to mention Americans,
are so enraged by them — while
shrugging off Russia’s or China’s
abuses.
It’s because they know, added
Mousavizadeh, that historically
“America’s intent, if not always its
practice, has been to exhort not
extort other nations; to export
not exploit; to collaborate not
dominate; and to strengthen a
global system of rules and norms,
not overturn it in order to focus
exclusively on its own enrich-
ment.
“Four more years of Trump’s
America, and no one will have
cause to give us the benefit of any
doubt. The disillusionment will be
shattering to our standing and in-
fluence — and only when we are
received around the world as Rus-
sians or Chinese will we know
what we have lost, for good.”
Was everything Trump did
wrong or unnecessary? No. He
provided a valuable corrective to
U.S.-China trade relations. A use-
ful counterpunch to Iranian ex-
cesses in the Middle East. And he
sent the needed message, albeit
crudely, that if you want to come
into this country, you can’t just
walk in, you have to at least ring
the doorbell.
But these initiatives were no-
where near as impactful as
Trump pretends they are, pre-
cisely because he did them alone
— without allies abroad or bipar-
tisan support at home. We could
have had a much bigger and sus-
tainable impact on China and Iran
if we had acted with our allies; we
could have had a grand bargain
on immigration if Trump had
been willing to move to the center.
But he wouldn’t.
I fear that this inability of
Americans to do big, hard things
together anymore — which pre-
dated Trump and the pandemic,
but was exacerbated by them
Pax Americana
by Paul Krugman
There are, I suppose, some people
who still imagine that if and when
Donald Trump leaves office we’ll
see a rebirth of civility and co-
operation in U.S. politics. They
are, of course, hopelessly naïve.
America in the 2020s will remain
a deeply polarized nation, rife
with crazy conspiracy theories
and, quite possibly, plagued by
right-wing terrorism.
But that won’t be Trump’s lega-
cy. The truth is that we were al-
ready well down that road before
he came along. And on the other
side, if the Democrats win big, I
expect to see many of Trump’s
substantive policies reversed,
and then some. Environmental
protection and the social safety
net will probably end up substan-
tially stronger, taxes on the rich
substantially higher, than they
were under Barack Obama.
Trump’s lasting legacy, I sus-
pect, will come in international af-
fairs. For almost 70 years Amer-
ica played a special role in the
world, one that no nation had ever
played before. We’ve now lost
that role, and I don’t see how we
can ever get it back.
You see, American dominance
represented a new form of super-
power hegemony.
Our government’s behavior
was by no means saintly; we did
some terrible things, supporting
dictators and undermining de-
mocracies from Iran to Chile. And
sometimes it seemed as if one of
our main goals was to make the
world safe for multinational cor-
porations.
But we weren’t a crude exploit-
er, pillaging other countries for
our own gain. The Pax Americana
arguably dated from the enact-
ment of the Marshall Plan in 1948;
that is, from the moment when a
conquering nation chose to help
its defeated foes rebuild rather
than demanding that they pay
tribute.
And we were a country that
kept its word.
To take the area I know best,
the United States took the lead in
creating a rules-based system for
international trade. The rules
were designed to fit American
ideas about how the world should
work, placing limits on the ability
of governments to intervene in
markets. But once the rules were
in place, we followed them our-
selves. When the World Trade Or-
ganization ruled against the
United States, as it did for exam-
ple in the case of George W.
Bush’s steel tariffs, the U.S. gov-
ernment accepted that judgment.
We also stood by our allies. We
might have trade or other dis-
putes with Germany or South Ko-
SR 5
A Special Section
By Roger Cohen,
Thomas L.
Friedman and
Paul Krugman
both — has led to another loss. It’s
a loss of confidence in democratic
systems generally, and versus
China’s autocratic system in par-
ticular.
Over the last pandemic year,
the legendary investor Ray Dalio
wrote in The Financial Times last
week, China’s “economy grew at
almost 5 percent, without mone-
tizing debt, while all major econo-
mies contracted. China produces
more than it consumes and runs a
balance of payments surplus, un-
like the U.S. and many Western
nations.” Even Tesla’s best-selling
Model 3 car, he wrote, “may soon
be made entirely in China.”
Makes you wonder if the Trump
presidency will be remembered
not for making America great but
for China’s great leap past Amer-
ica. If you’re not worried about
that, you haven’t been paying at-
tention these last four years.
rea, but nobody considered the
possibility that America would
stand aside if either country was
invaded.
Trump changed all that.
What, for example, is the point
of a rules-based trading system
when the system’s creator and
erstwhile guardian imposes tar-
iffs based on transparently bad-
faith arguments — such as the
claim that imports of aluminum
from Canada (!) threaten na-
tional security?
How useful is America as an
ally when the president suggests
that he might not defend Euro-
pean nations because, in his judg-
ment, they don’t spend enough on
NATO?
Is America still the leader of the
free world when top officials
seem friendlier to nations like
Hungary, where democracy has
effectively collapsed — or even to
murderous autocracies like Saudi
Arabia — than to longstanding
democratic allies?
Now, if Trump is defeated, a Bi-
den administration will probably
do its best to restore America’s
traditional role in the world. We’ll
start following trade rules; we’ll
rejoin the Paris climate accord
and rescind plans to withdraw
from the World Health Organiza-
tion. We’ll assure our allies that
we have their backs, and rebuild
alliances with other democracies.
But even with the best will in
the world, this egg can’t be un-
scrambled. No matter how good a
global citizen America becomes
in the next few years, everyone
will remember that we’re a coun-
try that elected someone like
Donald Trump, and could do it
again. It will take decades if not
generations to regain the lost
trust.
The effects may, at first, be sub-
tle. Other countries probably
won’t rush to confront a Biden ad-
ministration. There might even
be a sort of global honeymoon, as
the world breathes a sigh of relief.
But the loss of trust in America
will gradually have a corrosive ef-
fect. A trade expert once said to
me that the great danger, if Amer-
ica turns protectionist, wouldn’t
be retaliation, it would be emula-
tion: If we ignore the rules, other
countries will follow our example.
The same will be true on other
fronts. There will be more eco-
nomic and military bullying of
small countries by their larger
neighbors. There will be more
blatant election-rigging in nomi-
nally democratic nations.
In other words, even if Trump
goes, the world will become a
more dangerous, less fair place
than it was, because everyone
will wonder and worry whether
the United States has become the
kind of country where such things
can happen again.
6 SR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

What Have We Lost

By Marcel Dzama

We’ve been talking about “the American dream” since He took the entire $300k our taxes, we live mod-
pool of money that estly, and New York State
James Truslow Adams coined the phrase in his 1931 should have been divided is forcing us to sell our
book, “The Epic of America.” But what’s a dream any- between the employees, home because of high
and then told everyone taxes. We both grew up
way? A brimming over of the day’s repressed desires? the company was strug- seeking the American
Just a flutter of the neurons? If the American dream gling. dream and now it has
turned into a nightmare.
was ever real, it isn’t now. ¶ Lizania Cruz, a Dominican Rebecca Miralrio,
New York City We love our home. Our
artist and curator, has been asking people to write obitu- Sometime around the children grew up here.
age of 5 when I became We worked on the prop-
aries for the American dream. When and how, she aware of the fact that my erty to make it nice and
livable and don’t want to
asks, did the American dream die for you? It died, they family was considered
sell. But, we will be
“illegal.” My childhood
said, “when I became aware of the fact that my family consisted of me fearing forced to sell.
was considered ‘illegal’”; “when I realized that after “la migra” and having Christian Martir,
terrible anxiety over the Bronx
working 50 hours a week I was not able to save”; “when fact that I could someday The day I was born, in
I realized just how many of my fellow Americans valued be separated from my [Puerto Rico,] an Ameri-
parents and siblings. can colony.
selfishness over community, power over justice, preju- John Christman,
Raquel, Cicero, Ill.
dice over fairness, greed over generosity, demagogy over My American dream was Lancaster County, Pa.
that one day females will My American dream
science.” ¶ We invited our readers to respond to the feel confident enough to died when I realized I
same question. More of this project can be found online walk the streets wearing was a gay man and that
whatever they feel like it my country treated me as
at obituariesoftheamericandream.com. It was commis- without having to look a second-class citizen. It
sioned by El Museo del Barrio for “Estamos Bien: over their shoulder every was illegal for me to
few seconds because they marry, have a family, or
La Trienal 20/21,” a survey of Latinx contemporary art. feel unsafe. This dream to have any expectation
died a long time ago be- of being accepted by so-
cause I realized that no ciety. In some places I
matter what you wear could even be arrested.
you will always be objec- Thankfully some great
tified. strides have been made
since my childhood, but
Anjelic E. Owens, the scars remain. In
Brooklyn
many ways I will always
Growing up in a low- feel like an outcast, or
income household I took “less than.”
pride in stretching a dol-
Zahira Shaalan,
lar. I grew used to
Philadelphia
thrifted clothes (before
The American dream
they were cool) and dis-
died for me the day I
count grocery stores. My
entered kindergarten.
parents put so much
Before that, I was an in-
weight on my education,
credibly bright child, self-
as if my grades could
save me from the sys- assured and besotted
Lianna Evans, Clovis, Calif. happened to my hus- two. My disappointment with learning. In this en-
temic racism I would
Born in 1978, I grew up band I would be unable and ambitions exist vironment, I learned how
face. My awareness of
in poverty. I graduated to support myself. within my pursuit of inequality is transmitted
my class was heightened
high school at 15, had a happiness. My American from one generation to
Franklin Peña, Bronx once I moved to New
child at 16 and went to dream died, but not my the next. I was “taught”
The first day I landed in York for grad school. I
college when I was 21. desire to be great. that my existence was
Los Angeles. I realized got caught in the never-
I’ve worked for state and problematic. I was la-
the concepts of inclusion Justin, Iowa ending cycle of working
federal government for beled unintelligent, infe-
and progression didn’t When I saw the wage to afford my materials to
almost 20 years and rior, less, terms all inter-
have me or my people in breakout for my com- make my art while not
have too little to show changeable with Black,
mind. I realized my pany. My boss made having the time to make
for it. Without family brown and female. I
my art because of work.
support I took out stu- emerged with some as-
dent loans that have Jim Harper, Gainesville, Fla. pect of myself intact, al-
crippled me ever since. My dreamscape is dying. beit cast into a woke
Kat Cade, Cleveland
No assets, less than Growing up in South state of American dream-
$60k in retirement, five The American dream doesn’t exist Florida, I had the privi- lessness.
kids, and a doctoral de- for anyone who isn’t white and male. lege of breathing salty air
gree that pays less than It died when I realized I’d always and visiting the Florida Don Sherman, Davis, Calif.
an R.N. How is my Keys, where I first saw aI was born in the U.S., in
dream even a dream at
have to work three jobs to make coral reef. The ocean was1934. My childhood was
this point? It’s only a ends meet. It dies every time some an endless source of in- heavily influenced by
wish. . . . MAN introduces legislation to strip spiration, and I thought WWII and the unique
bodily autonomy away from every- it could never be alteredexperiences of growing
Karen Kimmerly,
fundamentally. Then up on the “home front.”
Williamsburg, Ohio one who isn’t a MAN. It died when I
My American dream around 2005 I learned My upper-middle-class
realized that as a woman I will never about how the water is family sent me and my
died when the auto
plant where both I and
be considered a person by the major- becoming more acidic, siblings to quality col-
my husband worked ity of men. It dies with the planet, the corals are slowly leges of our choice. I
closed in 2008. He was which has been brutalized in the burning to death, and experienced the sexual
able to move to another people are to blame. A revolution, the civil
name of capital. The American dying planet kills all
plant; I regret to say that rights movement, Ken-
dream is a fantasy. dreams. nedy and King murders,
I took a buyout to go
back to school. Now, Michael Mazzariello, Vietnam, Nixon, Cheney.
multiple degrees later, I Newburgh, N.Y. Trump is a kick in the
earn less than half of Our American dream head and a punch to my
what I did as a skilled community is expected $400k while the average ended when we realized gut. I am deeply sad-
trades person with a to work for others but worker made $35k. The that my wife and I would dened, disappointed, and
good union job. I have a never develop sustain- death, though, was the not be able to pay our frightened to learn that
master’s degree and I ability outside the realm year he decided not to property and school 40 percent of my fellow
love my job as a public of manual labor. It was award raises or bonuses taxes when we retire. We Americans approve of
librarian, but if anything the day my soul split in to anyone but himself. both work hard, we pay his presidency.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 SR 7

A Special Section

It’s paralyzing to consider how much we’ve lost in the last four years:
the human lives, our democratic norms, the health of our planet. I was
imagining a migrant child lost in a decaying earth of our doing. The
death is staggering.

Paul Ravi Nair, easily worked 50 hours a

New York City week. She was celebrat-
In many ways, I am the ing during one of my
American dream. The shifts because the man-
multiracial son of a ager let her park her car
South Asian immigrant overnight in the parking
and a white Southerner, lot. This was cause for
I’ve made it from child- celebration because she
hood in a lower-income lived in her car and
apartment complex to a would now be close to a
flourishing career and bathroom and lights. Her
spacious apartment in medications and school-
Manhattan. But the sat- ing ate her paycheck, and
isfaction of that has been she was homeless. That
crushed these past four was when my American
years — and especially dream died.
this year. The willful ig- Bill Stoddart, Montana
norance and persistent The American dream
racism of a large swath of died for me when I real-

Kimberley Berry, Denver

The day I realized that no matter
how hard I work, or how smart and
educated I am, as a Black woman in
America I will always be perceived
as invisible.

my countrymen have ized our allegiance to the

destroyed any apprecia- myth of rugged individu-
tion for this country. My alism has completely
goal is to emigrate in my overwhelmed our willing-
near future. ness and ability to lift
others up. It seems we
Lew Allison,
South Lake Tahoe, Calif. have decided there is
I am white, awakening only so much pie avail-
from my American able, so we better get
dream. My childhood what we can without real-
and teens seem a fantasy, izing that in buying into a
each year starting in au- zero sum game, we have
tumn at excellent schools made a bargain that not
and concluding with only limits our own abil-
bright days of summer at ity to thrive but prevents
the beach. A public uni- others from doing so as
versity prepared me for a well.
profession that turned Philip Herter, New York City
away all who did not look When I saw the president
like me. I stirred in 1968 of the United States
and 1994, and opened mock a disabled person. I
my eyes in 2020 and saw the president of my
wept in anger. country make fun of my
Marsha McDonald, infant daughter who had
Milwaukee only recently suffered a
The American dream stroke. I saw how hard
died for me when I real- her future would be,
ized just how many of thanks to the president of
my fellow Americans my country.
valued selfishness over Liam Casteel, Las Vegas
community, power over My American dream died
justice, prejudice over when I became a teacher.
fairness, greed over gen- I knew that I was entering
erosity, demagogy over a challenging and unap-
science. For me, the preciated profession, but
2020 pandemic is very I never realized how
real, but also a metaphor. much. I teach social stud-
How sick our national ies and have two master’s
soul is! The old dream degrees, while my hus-
should pass away. Isn’t it band and I live with my
time for us to dream new parents to save on costs.
dreams, better dreams, The American dream
that include us all? died as I realized that,
Samantha S. Easter, with all of the privilege
Salt Lake City I’ve had and work I’ve put
I worked at Denny’s in, there was no value in
when I was 14 and was passing on my education
close to a server in her to the next generation,
40s. Tammy was in nurs- who desperately will
ing school in between need intellectual
serving shifts, and she strength.
8 SR
What Have We Lost
Art and Pleasure
by Michelle Goldberg
It’s very hard to catalog all the
things we’ve lost under the presi-
dency of Donald Trump.
As I write this, over 225,000
Americans have lost their lives to
Covid-19. Many of our children
have lost months of school. Soon,
a huge part of the country will
lose Thanksgiving.
Because of the Trump adminis-
tration’s barbaric family separa-
tion policy, 545 children may be
lost to their parents forever.
America has lost its status as a
leading democracy. We lost Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, so we’re proba-
bly going to lose Roe v. Wade.
More people have lost their jobs
under Trump than under any
president since at least World
War II.
Compared with all this, mourn-
ing the cultural casualties of the
Trump years might be frivolous.
But when I think back, from my
obviously privileged position, on
the texture of daily life during the
past four years, all the attention
sucked up by this black hole of a
president has been its own sort of
loss. Every moment spent think-
ing about Trump is a moment that
could have been spent contem-
plating, creating or appreciating
something else. Trump is a nar-
cissistic philistine, and he bent
American culture toward him.
How this
president invaded
our brains and
destroyed American
culture.
Early on, some thought the ca-
tastrophe of Trump’s election
could be a catalyst for aesthetic
glory. “In times of artistic alien-
ation, distress is often repaid to us
in the form of great work, much of
it galvanizing or clarifying or (be-
lieve it or not) empowering,”
wrote New York magazine’s
Jerry Saltz.
I’ve no doubt that great work
was created over the past four
years, but I missed much of it, be-
cause I was too busy staring in in-
credulous horror at my phone.
That would be the luxury problem
of someone who follows politics
for a living, except I wasn’t alone.
The easiest place to quantify
the cultural impoverishment of
the Trump era is in book publish-
ing. There have been so many
books about Trump and the fall-
out from Trumpism that the Pul-
itzer Prize-winning Washington
Post book critic Carlos Lozada
has written a book about all the
Trump books. “More political
books have sold across all for-
mats during this presidential
term than at any point in NPD
BookScan history,” said a recent
report from the leading data com-
pany for U.S. book sales.
I’ve read many of these books
and greatly appreciated some of
them. But these books, and their
blockbuster popularity, made it
harder for other work to break
through. “Fiction lost out to non-
fiction since 2015,” said NPD’s
Kristen McLean. The decline in
fiction sales began before this
presidency, but during the past
four years it accelerated. “Trump
taking up space in our brain and
crowding out our ability to think
about anything else is definitely, I
think, part of the phenomenon,”
she said.
It’s a phenomenon experienced
even by some who’ve made litera-
ture their lives. The novelist Meg
Wolitzer was a co-editor of “The
Best American Short Stories
2017.” She described sitting in her
apartment after her husband had
gone to bed on election night in
2016, story submissions scattered
around her. “I saw these stories
and I thought, ‘How am I going to
return to reading these tomorrow
with the great attention and hope
that I need to give them?’ ” she re-
called to me. “Is that lost?”
It wasn’t, but she still feels the
manic churn of current events
fraying her concentration. “Right
now it’s all about, ‘How will this
end?’” Wolitzer said. “And that is
so different from how we read fic-
tion, because it’s about the desire
to stay in this world, to be sus-
pended in this world.”
Before Trump, I’d never had
the feeling of wanting to fast-for-
ward through the era I was living
in, of longing to be in the future,
looking back at how it all turned
out. The conceit that there’s a
gonzo writers’ room scripting
current events is partly about as-
tonishment at how crazy every-
thing seems, but it’s also about a
fantasy of narrative coherence —
that one day all of this will make
sense. When you are living
through a baffling, all-encom-
passing drama, it becomes hard-
er to lose yourself in other, unre-
lated stories.
I’d have thought that dramatic
television would flourish in a time
when reality has become so toxic,
but instead it feels like Peak TV
has, well, peaked. As Vanity’s
Fair’s TV critic Sonia Saraiya
wrote, “The daily clown show
cuts into television’s bandwidth,
both figuratively and literally, oc-
cupying space in the national con-
versation, and therefore our
brains, that might be instead
filled with, among many other
things, the heir to ‘The Sopra-
nos.’”
The great shows that have
come out over the past four years
have largely been riffs on our na-
tional calamity, not counterpoints
to it. “The Handmaid’s Tale” was
a nightmare about sadistic patri-
archy. “Succession” is the story of
an overbearing right-wing media
mogul and his weak-willed chil-
dren. “Watchmen” was almost a
photonegative of Trumpism, in
which white nationalism was a
guerrilla insurgency rather than
a ruling ideology. Like the hit
movie “Get Out,” which pre-
miered just days after Trump’s in-
auguration, it turned on secret
racist malice. The 2016 election
turned on the same thing.
Of course, it can be thrilling
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
when art and entertainment are
politically relevant. But when
politics are so alarming that the
rest of the world seems to recede,
it creates cultural claustrophobia.
Since Election Day 2016, writers,
artists and critics have wondered
what many forms of cultural pro-
duction — novels, fine art, theater,
fashion — mean “in the age of
Trump.” It’s a cliché — one I know
I’ve used — about the reorienta-
tion of almost everything around
the monstrous fact of the Trump
presidency.
Both the right and the left have
rejoinders for those of us who find
this cultural climate suffocating.
Conservatives love to jeer Demo-
crats for being obsessed with
Trump, for letting him live, as
many put it, rent-free in our
heads. It’s a cruel accusation, like
setting someone’s house on fire
and then laughing at them for
staring at the flames. The outrage
Trump sparks leaves less room
for many other things — joy, cre-
ativity, reflection — but every bit
of it is warranted. The problem is
the president, not how his victims
respond to him.
Some leftists, by contrast, sus-
pect that parts of the Resistance
will disengage from politics if and
when the object of their loathing
is removed from the White House.
(Shorthand for this fear is “back
to brunch.”) It’s not an unreason-
able worry. One reason for the un-
precedented progressive mobili-
zation of the past four years is
that people used to feeling safe in
America — particularly middle-
aged, middle-class white women
— suddenly didn’t. If Trump is de-
feated, it might be a challenge for
organizers to keep these people
mobilized. After four years of
“This is not normal!” what hap-
pens if a version of political nor-
mality returns?
But a perpetual state of emer-
gency isn’t healthy or sustain-
able. Living in Trump’s panic-in-
ducing eternal present is bad for
art, but it’s also bad for imagina-
tion more broadly, including the
imagination needed to conceive a
future in which Trumpism is un-
thinkable. If people no longer had
to throw themselves in front of the
bulldozer of this presidency, there
would be more energy for
progress and for pleasure. Trump
has blocked out the sun. Only
when he’s gone will we see how
much we’ve been missing.
Pride
by Maureen Dowd
When I was growing up, my
brother Michael took me to see
old movies at the American Film
Institute.
“An American in Paris.”
“Shane.” “Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington.” “Casablanca.”
The films shaped my image of
America. We were Gene Kelly, the
exuberant hoofer who could
dance and romance better than
the French. We were Shane, the
laconic gunfighter who never
used his gun unless he had to. We
were Jimmy Stewart, the idealis-
tic senator who fought the cor-
rupt forces in our government.
We were Humphrey Bogart, who
pretended to be cynical when he
was really a lovesick patriot. And
there was the wonderful Jean Ar-
thur in two of those movies, show-
ing what a strong, saucy woman
could do.
The nuns took us to new mov-
ies, like “Lilies of the Field,”
where I learned that we were Sid-
ney Poitier, the jack-of-all-trades
who helped immigrant nuns in
the Arizona desert build their
dream chapel.
We were the winners, the good
guys. We had swagger and vital-
ity and an endless sense of possi-
bility.
America wasn’t perfect, God
knows. I was raised here in the
heart of the white patriarchy,
where the Washington Monu-
ment was an apt symbol.
But our aim was to brashly
move forward toward a more per-
fect union. All that rhetoric about
us being a mosaic and a quilt and
a shining city on a hill and a bea-
con for the world? I bought it. I
came from a family that wore uni-
forms — police uniforms, military
uniforms — and growing up, I
was proud of that.
I went to the Lincoln Memorial
at dawn the day after Barack
Obama’s inauguration. Maybe it
was sappy. But after living
through the ’68 assassinations
and riots, Watergate, Vietnam
and the Iraq war, I wanted to cele-
brate the idea that our sense of
By Michelle Goldberg
and Maureen Dowd
possibility was back, that we
could be proud, smart and re-
spected again in the world.
I imagined traveling to France
on President Obama’s press plane
and watching him come down the
stairs, with his cool sunglasses
and graceful lope, showing the
French, who had correctly
scorned our stupidity and coz-
ening on Iraq: Never mind Gene
Kelly. Look what we’ve got now.
I often wonder how we got from
that moment in only a dozen
years, from my little champagne
celebration at the Lincoln Memo-
rial to a state of such despair and
jitters that we don’t even know if
the president will use the Su-
preme Court, midwifed by Mitch
McConnell, to purloin the elec-
tion.
The most bizarre fact that
sticks in my head is this: In 2015,
Donald Trump was agonizing
over whether to go for the role as
the president in “Sharknado 3: Oh
Hell No!” or to run for the actual
presidency.
How did we go from Abraham
Lincoln to a “Sharknado” reject?
It is not only Trump’s fault. He
is the Rosemary’s Baby of perni-
cious trends in this country over
decades.
I have seen a lot of Republicans
use bigotry to lure racists, scare
Americans and win the White
House. But with Trump, it is more
blatant because he cuts out the
middleman. He doesn’t hand it off
to capos.
For years now, image has re-
placed substance and achieve-
ment as a path to power. But
Trump — aided by a soulless, ra-
pacious Silicon Valley that keeps
torquing up the algorithm for con-
flict and conspiracy — has relent-
lessly tried to obscure our ability
to tell the true from the false.
Truth has been Balkanized.
Social media and the former re-
ality star have entwined to make
cruelty and fake news central ele-
ments of the nation’s discourse.
Who could have conceived of a
president calling a vice-presiden-
tial candidate from the other
party, a respected senator and
groundbreaker for women, “a
monster”?
This fog of fakery peaked with
Covid-19, with Trump politicizing
the mask and turning Democratic
governors and his own health offi-
cials into the enemy.
“Trump has turned fact and de-
cency into a partisan concept,”
said Jake Tapper. “So that journal-
ists who are skeptical of both par-
ties, and Republicans like Mitt
Romney and Jeff Flake who are
not total sycophants, become an-
tifa to 35 percent of the country,
while all the other Republican
lawmakers who know better sat
back and let it happen.”
Walter Isaacson, the historian,
observed, “What we have lost is
the sense that we are one nation,
all in this together. Donald Trump
is the first president in our history
who has sought to divide us
rather than unite us. We will heal
once he leaves, but the scar will
endure.”
I know, because of my family,
that all Trump supporters are not
cult members or racists. But our
conversations are harder. They
are anti-abortion and anti-regula-
tion and got the conservative Su-
preme Court they wanted. They
see Trump as a man who has kept
his promises, with a playful sense
of humor.
But liberals feel that Trump has
no humor and that they have lost
their own. It’s exhausting to be
this outraged all the time.
Although the White House Cor-
respondents Dinner was always
pretty lame, even before Presi-
dent Trump put the kibosh on it, I
learned a lot from hearing presi-
dents deliver humorous speeches
— or try to.
I loved writing features about
wacky aspects of White House
power — like the national security
official under Bush senior who
got nicknamed “the Ferret” be-
cause of his ability to sprint
across the Oval Office rug and
jump into pictures with the presi-
dent.
Carol Lee wrote an amusing
feature for The Wall Street Jour-
nal about the little red fox that sa-
shayed around the colonnade out-
side President Obama’s Oval, a
memory that Obama evokes in
his new memoir. Journalists don’t
write those kinds of funny, human
stories about Trump and his en-
ablers. The president’s spiral into
lawlessness is too repellent — and
frightening — to allow levity.
I checked back with Jon
Meacham, the presidential histo-
rian, who marveled to me in 2016
that it was “as though Trump blew
up the science lab, exposing the
raw nerve of America’s stream of
consciousness.”
He told me about a long Ne-
groni-and-pizza lunch in the early
Clinton years with his old boss,
the legendary liberal editor of
Washington Monthly, Charlie Pe-
ters.
“Charlie Peters defined intel-
lectual honesty as the ability to
say something good about the bad
guys and bad about the good guys
— to call them, in other words, as
you saw them,” Meacham said.
“Trump blew that up, and part of
the restoration drama we need is
a return to a semblance of this
kind of reason-based politics.
“The Republican Party chose to
abandon the entire Enlighten-
ment project of evidence-driven
reality sometime between the es-
calator and Covid, choosing a
kind of Hobbesian total war of
partisan, even cultish, passions
rather than an ethos that would
have been recognizable, at least
in outline, by every president
from F.D.R. to Obama. A Biden
Trump has
made America
exceptional —
exceptionally
off track.
presidency won’t bring the King-
dom of Heaven to pass, but it
could, at its best, make America
remotely rational again.”
Just as I found it hard to walk
past the Supreme Court after the
partisan travesty of Bush v. Gore,
I now find it hard to walk past the
nest of vipers that is this White
House. There have been sex scan-
dals and family grifting before.
But the pervasive immorality
(kids separated from parents and
put in cages, endless lies, si-
phoning government money for
the Trump family business, peo-
ple like Omarosa Manigault New-
man and Stephen Miller running
around), and the Republicans’
blind eye to it all, makes it hard to
see the White House the same
way.
“Unfortunately, what the
Trump presidency has shown is
how far someone with a lust for
power and contempt for democra-
cy can go within our system,” said
Michael Beschloss, the presiden-
tial historian. “Never has the ex-
pression ‘Eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty’ been more reso-
nant. We have to go back to our
founding period and demand of
our government to be the best
that it can be. Sadly, now when
people say that, it’s almost with
an unhappy, bitter laugh. But the
founders did not say it with an un-
happy, bitter laugh. They said it
with hope and expectation, and
we should, too.”
Even if Joe Biden wins, it’s not
going to be easy to restore what
has been lost, or to forge a new
American identity.
Fortunately, the younger gen-
eration is more tolerant, open and
committed to justice. And taking
the megaphone away from Trump
will lower the volume of lies and
incivility, even as he will most
likely continue to be revealed as a
fraud in investigations and law-
suits when he loses presidential
immunity.
“It’s going to take a hell of a lot
of work, not just by Biden but by
all of us, to put our country back
together,” said Leon Panetta, the
former Obama defense secretary.
“The only pillar of our democracy
I haven’t wavered on is our sense
of trust in the American people.
Tuesday is going to tell me a hell
of a lot about whether that sense
is well placed.”
He muttered, “Dammit, I hope
we never make that mistake
again.”
But we might.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 SR 9

A Special Section

By Dannielle Bowman I have lost any doubt about who I am, what I stand for, and what work I am
here to do. I stand firm in what I know to be true, and no politician or anyone
else, can take that away from me. In this self-portrait, I’m holding a photo-
graph of my elders, made at a 2012 family reunion. (This photo was made in
collaboration with the artist Genesis Baez.)
10 SR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

What Have We Lost

By Leo Jung The first date is the day the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination based
on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, was signed into law. The second is
the day the Supreme Court affirmed a woman’s right to choose an abortion.

Our Illusions
by Jamelle Bouie
For many millions of Americans,
the presidency of Donald Trump
has been a kind of transgression,
an endless assault on dignity, de-
cency and decorum. They experi-
ence everything — the casual in-
sults, the vulgar tweets, the open
racism, the lying, the tacit sup-
port for dangerous extremists
and admiration of foreign strong-
men — as an attack on the fabric
of American society itself. And
they see the worst of this adminis-
tration, like separating children
from their families at the border,
as an unparalleled offense
against the values of American
democracy.
There’s no question these are
useful beliefs — they are respon-
sible for the mass outrage against
Trump at the beginning of his
term, the wave against the Re-
publican Party in the 2018
midterm elections and the cur-
rently strong anti-Trump energy
of at least half of the voting public
— but it’s hard to say they are true
ones. Trump is transgressive,
yes. But his transgressions are
less a novel assault on American
institutions than they are a stark
recapitulation of past failure and
catastrophe.
For as much as it seems that
Donald Trump has changed
something about the character of
this country, the truth is he hasn’t.
What is terrible about Trump is
also terrible about the United
States. Everything we’ve seen in
the last four years — the nativ-
ism, the racism, the corruption,
the wanton exploitation of the
weak and unconcealed contempt
for the vulnerable — is as much a
part of the American story as our
highest ideals and aspirations.
The line to Trump runs through
the whole of American history,
from the white man’s democracy
of Andrew Jackson to the populist
racism of George Wallace, from
native expropriation to Chinese
exclusion.
And to the extent that Ameri-
cans feel a sense of loss about the
Trump era, they should be grate-
ful, because it means they’ve giv-
en up their illusions about what
this country is, and what it is (and
has been) capable of.
There is very little about Don-
ald Trump or his policies that
doesn’t have a direct antecedent
in the American past. Despite
what Joe Biden might say about
its supposedly singular nature
(“The way he deals with people
based on the color of their skin,
their national origin, where
they’re from, is absolutely sicken-
ing”), the president’s racism
harkens right back to the first
decades of the 20th century, when
white supremacy was ascendant
and the nation’s political elites, in-
cluding presidents like Woodrow
Wilson, were preoccupied with
segregation and exclusion for the
sake of preserving an “Anglo-
Saxon” nation.
Trump’s indifference to the
pandemic is, in the same way, an
echo of the Hoover administra-
tion, which stood by as the coun-
try was crushed by economic de-
pression and the immiseration of
millions of Americans. It is impos-
sible (for me at least) to think
about child separation without
also thinking about chattel slav-
ery and the nation’s vast trade in
enslaved people, conducted over
decades under three generations
of American presidents, includ-
ing men like James Polk, who —
decades removed from planter-
politicians like George Washing-
ton, Thomas Jefferson and James
Monroe — bought and sold hu-
man beings from the White
House.
The president’s personal cor-
ruption is unique — there’s never
been someone in the White House
so clearly committed to the most
petty forms of graft — but his law-
lessness (and that of his adminis-
tration) is the direct outgrowth of
a contempt for accountability that
stretches across four decades of
Republican presidencies, from
Richard Nixon to George W.
Bush. Trump does nothing more
than embody Nixon’s quip to Da-
vid Frost that “when the presi-
dent does it . . . that means that it
is not illegal.” And in that, he’s
backed by deputies like Attorney
General William Barr, who on his
first turn through Washington
helped cover up Iran-contra for
Ronald Reagan and George H.W.
Bush, and who is now, under
Trump, ready to abuse the law for
the sake of the president’s re-elec-
tion.
Trump isn’t the first president
in recent memory to let Ameri-
cans suffer and die in the face of a
deadly hurricane — that distinc-
tion goes to the aforementioned
George W. Bush. And he’s cer-
tainly not the first to let a plague
kill thousands of Americans —
that distinction goes to Reagan
(of course, for his dull response to
the flu pandemic in 1918, Wilson
deserves that distinction too).
Trump has helped bring ugly
forces out into the open, giving
A Female President
by Gail Collins
One of my clearest memories of
election night in 2016 is running
into women who were going to
watch the results with their
daughters, so that they’d get to
share the experience of seeing
Hillary Clinton elected president
— the moment when the political
glass ceiling in America would be
shattered forever.
Well, you were there for what
happened next: What? No! We
need a recount! Abolish the Elec-
toral College!
Yeah, it wasn’t fair. But it hap-
pened — and in the worst way
possible. Not only did the first
woman nominated for president
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
aid and comfort to assorted rac-
ists and white nationalists. Yet it’s
also true that these groups and in-
dividuals have always been with
us and that our focus on Trump
betrays a lack of attention to the
ways in which they’ve grown and
changed over time, waiting for a
moment like this one.
Read the catalog of horribles
for Donald Trump and his White
House and what you find is an ad-
ministration that has embraced
the worst aspects of our political
culture and merged them into a
potent brew of destruction, law-
lessness and authoritarianism.
But to recognize this is to see as
well how it doesn’t make sense to
say that Trump is an aberration
from the mainstream of American
life. Instead, he is the exclamation
point on our consistent failure to
live up to our own self-image.
Perhaps more than most,
Americans hold many illusions
about the kind of nation in which
live in. We tell ourselves that we
are the freest country in the
world, that we have the best sys-
tem of government, that we wel-
come all comers, that we are effi-
cient and dynamic where the rest
of the world is stagnant and dys-
functional. Some of those things
have been true at some points in
Many of
the worst things
Trump said
and did were
said and
done before.
time, but none of them is true at
this point in time.
What Trump has done is made
it difficult to maintain the illusion.
Whenever he finally leaves the
scene, we can either take the op-
portunity to look with clear eyes
and assess this country as it is
and as it has been or again seek
the comfort of myth.
by a major party lose; she lost to
one of the most awful candidates
in American history. A man
whose personal relationships
with women seemed to hark back
to the 1950s, if not the cave.
(“Grab ’em by the pussy. You can
do anything.”)
We pretty much anticipated
what would come next: Donald
Trump would spend his term
nominating judges who opposed
abortion rights, limiting poor
women’s access to family plan-
ning services and weakening
paid family leave.
Nobody could have been sur-
prised. For all his campaign
promises, Trump’s record made it
pretty clear he was not going to
spend much time worrying about
child care, no matter what Ivanka
said or did, let alone equal em-
ployment opportunity for women.
Plus, during the campaign we
were introduced to 26 women
who accused him of everything
from unwelcome touches to rape.
“Every woman lied when they
came forward to hurt my cam-
paign,” Trump assured his sup-
porters in 2016. “Total fabrication.
The events never happened.
Never. All of these liars will be
sued after the election is over.”
(Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.)
“The patriarchy could not have
had a worse representative,”
mused Gloria Steinem, trying to
look on the positive side. Four
years of Trump, she said in a
phone interview, “illustrated
what’s wrong with the country at
a very high level.” It brought most
Americans around to a better un-
derstanding of the need for re-
forms, and perhaps a whole new
way of getting them.
The women who suffered most
in the age of Trump were, of
course, the ones with the least
money. And it’s getting worse.
The rate of job loss during the
pandemic was three times as bad
for mothers of small children as it
was for their male equivalents.
Feel free to blame it on the pres-
ident — both for his failure to re-
spond quickly and firmly to the vi-
rus and his almost total lack of in-
terest and ability in helping
Nancy Pelosi propel enough pan-
demic aid through Congress.
But there’s another side to the
story. Everything bad for women
that Donald Trump represented
brought more women into the
world of American politics. A
record number ran for office in
2018, and a record number won.
“He energized women in ways
we haven’t seen before. Right out
of the gate,” said Debbie Walsh of
the Center for American Women
and Politics.
That chapter is, obviously, un-
finished. The future will look back
on Hillary Clinton not solely as a
defeated presidential candidate,
but as one who got the American
public used to the idea that wom-
en would run, and sooner or later,
get elected.
When Joe Biden introduced Ka-
mala Harris as his running mate
it was another big leap in that di-
rection — particularly because of
the absolute delight with which
most Democrats greeted the
choice.
And in this terrible time of pan-
demic, confusion, economic crisis
and useless presidential leader-
ship, women all around the coun-
try are picking up the proverbial
gauntlet. A record 60 filed to run
for one of the 35 Senate seats up
for election this fall. Nearly half
are still in the running; 20 have al-
ready won primaries.
The country’s fascinated by the
contest in Maine between Susan
Collins and her Democratic oppo-
nent, Sara Gideon, the powerful
speaker of the State House of
Representatives. But almost no
one thinks it’s remarkable that it’s
a race between two women.
Not every female candidate is
going to triumph in November.
But just thinking about the possi-
bility of Texan M.J. Hegar beating
the Senate’s former deputy ma-
jority leader, John Cornyn, is deli-
cious, however small the chances
of an upset. And when you talk
about tasty, you can’t help but fan-
tasize about Amy McGrath
knocking out Mitch McConnell in
Kentucky.
Two things about those particu-
lar contests: Both Hegar and Mc-
Grath are veterans — Hegar
served in the Air Force in Afghan-
istan and McGrath flew combat
missions for the Marine Corps.
We seem to be seeing more and
more female candidates with ré-
sumés that include time in the
armed forces.
That used to be a powerful part
of many men’s biographies — just
like time spent leading state legis-
latures, or an extremely support-
ive spouse who was ready and
willing to take over the bulk of the
family’s domestic duties.
The women who are running on
the Democratic side this year of-
ten have a big advantage in being
able to rally the troops against an
unpopular president. Moderate
Republicans are mainly stuck
with dodging the issue — in
Maine, Collins has avoided telling
her constituents whether she’s
voting for Trump’s re-election.
Maybe we’ll look back from a
future world where a woman is in
the White House and wonder if
experiencing four years on the
dark side with Donald got us
there a little faster.
Principled Conservatism
by Bret Stephens
If Amy Coney Barrett’s confirma-
tion to the Supreme Court turns
out to be the last major act of a
one-term Trump presidency, it
will be a fitting finale. Republi-
cans, like the Federalist Party of
yore, will consolidate power in the
judiciary. Apart from that, they
will have spent the past four
years squandering their reputa-
tion, forsaking their principles
and trashing the kind of political
culture they once claimed to hold
dear.
As victories go, the word
“pyrrhic” comes to mind.
How did the conservative
movement reach this pass? Hem-
ingway’s great line about how one
goes bankrupt — “gradually, then
suddenly” — seems apt. But the
tipping point arrived on a precise
date: July 20, 2015. That was the
day Rush Limbaugh came to
Trump’s political rescue after the
developer nearly self-immolated
with his remark that John Mc-
Cain, who spent more than five
years as a prisoner of war, refus-
ing early release at the price of
gruesome torture, should not be
considered a war hero.
“This is a great, great teach-
able moment here, this whole
thing with Trump and McCain,”
Limbaugh gushed. Americans, he
said, “have not seen an embattled
public figure stand up for himself,
double down and tell everybody
to go to hell.”
Here was a stunning moral in-
version. Limbaugh turned public
respect for McCain’s wartime
record into an act of surrender to
political correctness. And he
treated Trump’s shamelessness
as an expression of moral
courage. It set the template for
the campaign, and presidency,
that followed. Every time Trump
lied, broke a promise, humiliated
a subordinate, insulted a strang-
er, bullied an ally, tweeted some-
thing vile, said something idiotic,
threatened to blow up NATO, and
otherwise violated moral, politi-
cal and institutional norms, his
appeal among the Republican
base didn’t decline. It rose. As far
as they were concerned, he was-
n’t embarrassing himself or de-
grading the country. He was
“owning the libs” — hoisting
them, as his supporters saw it, on
their own petard of priggish pro-
priety.
This form of politics — not as a
complement to statecraft, but as
the outpouring of resentment —
is what has come to define the
conservative movement in the
age of Trump.
Conservatives used to admire
Edmund Burke. Not anymore, in-
sofar as Burke stood for the im-
portance of manners and morals
to the health of the state. Conser-
vatives used to admire Milton
Friedman. Not anymore, insofar
as Friedman stood for free trade,
sound money and a balanced
budget. Conservatives used to ad-
mire Scoop Jackson. Not any-
more, insofar as the Democrat
from Washington State was a
champion of the idea that human
rights should stand at the center
of U.S. foreign policy. Conserva-
tives used to admire Ronald Rea-
gan and George H.W. Bush. Not
anymore, insofar as both Reagan
and Bush believed in humane im-
migration reform, international
coalition-building, standing up to
Russian tyrants and, when possi-
ble, making deals with Demo-
crats.
In place of all that, what today’s
+ SR 11
A Special Section
By Jamelle Bouie,
Gail Collins
and Bret Stephens
debased conservatism now boils
down to is anti-liberalism. Some-
times this resembles old-fash-
ioned conservatism, particularly
when it comes to economic regu-
lation and the judiciary. At other
times it has entailed undisguised
reversals of past conservative po-
sitions, such as Trump’s appease-
ment of North Korea and his deri-
sion of the 1994 crime bill.
But anti-liberalism is not con-
servatism. At its principled best,
conservatism holds that liberal
ends — the right of the individual
to enjoy the maximum degree of
freedom compatible with the
right of his neighbor to do the
same — are best secured by con-
servative means. Those means
are the practices, beliefs and in-
stitutions that, for the most part,
lie outside the state: stable fam-
ilies, religious communities, vol-
untary associations, productive
businesses, the habits of a free
mind. Ultimately, the goal of con-
servative politics is to produce
competent citizens capable of re-
sponsible self-government.
Anti-liberalism, by contrast,
seeks self-serving ends through
illiberal means. The ends are the
benefits that accrue from the pos-
session of political power, ethnic
dominance or economic advan-
tage. The means are the demon-
ization of competitors for power
and the delegitimization of peo-
ple, laws and norms that stand for
the ideals of an open society. In
The politics of
resentment
now govern the
Republican
Party.
this sense, Trump’s Ukraine gam-
bit was the quintessence of anti-
liberal politics: a self-serving and
secretive use of raw power to
threaten the security of an embat-
tled democratic ally in order to
criminalize a domestic political
opponent.
It’s true that Trump did not
quite get away with that gambit,
thanks to a courageous whistle-
blower, just as he didn’t get away
with some of his other his anti-lib-
eral efforts, like canceling the
U.S.-South Korea free-trade
agreement, firing Robert Mueller
or terminating DACA (for now).
But if anti-liberalism can still
meet effective opposition within
government, that’s mainly be-
cause Trump is often an inept
practitioner of his own brand of
politics. Another four years in of-
fice, however, will only embolden
him, entrench his cronies and in-
spire his imitators.
I write these lines conscious
that Trump may defy the odds
again and win. If so, Democrats
will fight on and, sooner or later,
return to power. As for the Repub-
lican Party, Trump’s re-election
would make it the most potent
force for anti-liberalism in the
Western world today. Anyone —
liberals included — who believes
that every democracy needs the
anchor of a principled conserva-
tism should pray for his defeat.
12 SR
What Have We Lost
A Reckoning
by Ross Douthat
In the original Greek the term
“apocalypse” refers to an unveil-
ing, the gray rain clouds of the ev-
eryday world torn away and
something long hidden finally re-
vealed. The political apocalypse
of 2016, when Donald Trump im-
probably vanquished the estab-
lishment of both parties, fits this
ancient definition perfectly: It
was a moment when all kinds of
uncomfortable truths about
American life were suddenly ex-
posed, when the hidden realities
of our country and our coalitions
were suddenly dragged up into
the light, when the failures in both
parties and every faction were
laid bare.
So when we talk about what’s
been lost in the four years of
Trump’s administration, we
should start with the lost opportu-
nities to address what was re-
vealed in 2016. These failures are-
n’t universal; there has been
some reckoning with what the
last presidential election meant,
some attempts at treatment in re-
sponse to a “that’s why you got
Trump” diagnosis.
But there has also been a wide-
spread retreat from revelation, let
alone from any subsequent con-
Have we learned
anything from
four years of chaos
and failure?
version, and a rush back to the
comforts of one’s preconceptions
and one’s tribe.
For the right, the major revela-
tions of 2016 were threefold. The
celebrity bombast of Trump’s
campaign revealed how much the
right’s media-entertainment
complex, envisioned as an ad-
junct to conservatism’s political
program, had instead swallowed
up the movement. His birtherism
and race-baiting revealed that
white-identity politics had more
potency, more support within the
larger right, than many conserva-
tive intellectuals had ever wanted
to admit. And the success of his
America First arguments on eco-
nomics and foreign policy ex-
posed the gulf between the actual
sentiments of Republican voters
and the hawkish, limited-govern-
ment orthodoxies of Reaganite
conservatism in its decadent
phase.
For the center, the revelations
of 2016 were about policy failures
that had been mostly invisible un-
til Trump came along — above all,
the way that center-left and cen-
ter-right visions of post-Cold War
“openness,” to free trade or low-
skilled immigration or ever-
greater-integration with the Peo-
ple’s Republic of China, simulta-
neously failed to achieve their
geopolitical goals and hollowed
out communities across the
American heartland, creating a
deadly, demagogy-ready vacuum
where work and church and fam-
ily used to be.
For the left, the revelations
were about how its own victories
within the Democratic coalition,
the triumph of social liberalism
over cultural conservatism, had
forged a party that no longer con-
nected with a lot of white, work-
ing-class voters (and more than a
few Hispanics) no matter how
much new federal spending it
promised. Like Jeremy Corbyn’s
Labour Party and Social Demo-
cratic parties across Europe, the
Democrats’ shift leftward in the
2010s accelerated their transfor-
mation into a party of the profes-
sional classes, culturally sepa-
rated from many of the struggling
blue-collar voters they claimed to
represent.
So how did right, left and center
respond to these revelations?
Sometimes with recognition and
adaptation, but more often with
denial.
On the right, this denial took
the form of a concerted attempt to
just ignore Trump’s Twitter feed,
to play “hear no evil” with his
toxic rhetoric while steering his
administration back toward pre-
cisely the stale orthodoxies that
his campaign had rejected. For
every figure who tried to make
something substantive out of
Trumpism (Josh Hawley) or re-
pudiate its moral turpitude (Mitt
Romney), there were many more
Republicans who behaved as
though Mike Pence had been
elected president, answering
Trump’s excesses with a public
shrug and an off-the-record la-
ment, and governing as though
they had been given a mandate to
do just the Republican usual —
cut taxes on high earners while
pretending to cut spending, with
Trumpian populism reduced from
its initial economic ambitions to a
constant owning of the libs.
In the center, any sustained
reckoning with the failings of the
neoliberal era was eclipsed by a
self-flattering narrative of liberal-
ism desperately imperiled, au-
thoritarianism on the march, that
allowed pundits and ex-officials
to posture as Resistance leaders
and pretend to be pontificating in
the shadow of a 1930s-style
putsch. The major centrist
project of the Trump era wasn’t a
sustained reassessment of where
its leaders had gone wrong; it
was the hysterical overhyping of
the Russia investigation, in a
paranoid style that made seedy
Trumpian malfeasance out to be a
vast Kremlin conspiracy, the ca-
sus belli of a new Cold War.
Finally, on the left there were
some attempts, via the Bernie
Sanders movement, to build a
left-wing politics responsive to
the appeals of right-wing popu-
lism. But the gravitational pull of
the cultural left was the stronger
force, dragging Sanders away
from his economics-first mes-
sage, his skepticism of identity
politics, toward a woke socialism
that appealed to neither the white
working class nor the African-
American voters who ultimately
made Joe Biden the Democratic
nominee. And with Sanders’s de-
feat, the left turned decisively to-
ward the easier opportunities af-
forded by its power in elite institu-
tions and bureaucracies, in which
class politics took second place to
the promise of corporate H.R. de-
partments assigning intersec-
tional reading lists, forever.
Of course, all the lost opportu-
nities I’m describing owe a great
deal to Trump’s own presidential
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
conduct. Had he governed as he
campaigned, had he dropped into
Washington trying to cut infra-
structure deals with purple-state
senators instead of letting Paul
Ryan run domestic policy for the
first two years, it might have
forced real policy adaptation on
both parties. Had he been less
Mafioso-like in his rhetoric, less
brazen in his financial self-deal-
ing, it would have forced centrists
away from their Resistance poses
and into a more constructive
stance.
Likewise, when the pandemic
and the economic crisis and the
George Floyd protests came
along, he had an opportunity to
make use of the two big ideas that
emerged on the right in response
to his initial victory — so-called
state capacity libertarianism and
common-good conservatism,
overlapping perspectives that
stressed the importance of effec-
tive institutions and socioeco-
nomic solidarity, against the tend-
ency of limited-government con-
servatism to decay into anti-gov-
ernment individualism.
Instead — unsurprisingly —
Trump embraced precisely that
decay. His management of the
pandemic has been a case study
in what you might call state-inca-
pacity libertarianism, his han-
dling of racial protest was deliber-
ately polarizing rather than unify-
ing (and not even successfully po-
larizing, since it left the majority
on the other side), and his early
push for sweeping Covid relief
spending gave way to indiffer-
ence and distraction as the au-
tumn phase of legislation stalled.
Overall we can say that Trump
enacted the fantasy (or night-
mare, from a liberal perspective)
of a populist government but
never figured out how to translate
that image into political or policy
reality, which enabled other fac-
tions to persist in their ideological
bubbles and self-flattering fan-
tasies as well. And now that reali-
ty has taken its revenge of
Trump’s incompetence, the whole
exhausting experience has made
the idea of a simple reset, a return
to the before-times of 2014 or so —
a “kill switch” on the virtual ad-
venture of the Trump era, as the
Portuguese writer-diplomat
Bruno Maçães put it recently —
much more politically potent than
it might otherwise have been.
Which is one reason that Biden
is likely to be his successor in the
White House, as the aging avatar
of the pre-Trump establishment,
even as Trump’s own party girds
itself for a return to its circa-2014
positions.
After so much failure and de-
rangement, there are worse
things than a reset. But it’s still
the case that too many of the fig-
ures, Republican and Democrat,
who are poised to be restored to
their prior positions on the chess-
board resemble the restored
Bourbons after Napoleon, having
“learned nothing and forgotten
nothing” across the last four
years. Which suggests that what
we’ve lost above all in the Trump
years is the chance not to repeat
the experience soon enough.
Apathy
by Farhad Manjoo
What did we talk about before
Donald Trump? What will we talk
about after Donald Trump? Will
there even be an after? And was
there ever really a before?
One summer day five years or a
millennium ago, a boorish TV
businessman, a B-list personality
with a taste for the tabloid, an-
nounced one of those publicity-
stunt bids for the presidency you
usually hear about only in jokey
montages at the end of the local
news. Then, somehow, there was
a catch in the fabric of time. May-
be we’d misused our technology
or maybe it was cosmic retribu-
tion for our decadence, or maybe
just a bad roll of the dice. What-
ever it was, that day our collective
attention became fixed upon this
one man, and there we have re-
mained ever since. We are stuck
in eternal orbit around an ex-
panding black hole, irresistibly
sucked in.
His pull grows stronger with
each turn of a relentless feedback
loop: The more we look, the more
he turns us off; the more he turns
us off, the more we look. By the
time of his inauguration, Trump
was already one of the most cov-
ered, most discussed, most fa-
mous living human beings of all
time.
That was only the beginning;
each day since, he has come to
dominate more of our lives. Now
you hear from him anywhere, ev-
erywhere, at any time. He’s there
on every screen and status up-
date, in every conversation,
dream, nightmare. As subtext, he
lurks within the arts, in sports, in
the weather reports, in houses of
worship. For some of us, hardly
an hour goes by in which we are
not forced to think about the per-
son occupying the White House.
Even now, on the precipice of an
election that may finally offer an
exit from this infinite loop, the end
of having to think about Trump
seems nowhere close.
Sometimes I wonder about the
opportunity cost of all this. If you
could count up the time and ener-
gy we have spent considering this
single person, how much global
productive capacity would it
amount to? What could we have
done instead with all that atten-
tion? And what do we have to
show for it?
I am no Trump fan, so I am
tempted to say it’s all been a
waste. I’d like to say that the big-
gest loss we have experienced un-
der Trump is just this — the loss of
our attention, a quiet focus that
may otherwise have been put to
use fixing one of the planet’s
many terrible woes. In the closing
days of the presidential cam-
paign, Trump’s insatiable appe-
tite for attention, and our inability
to resist feeding it, has even be-
come an argument against his re-
election. Two-thirds of Americans
report feeling “worn out” by the
news. If Joe Biden wins, “it just
won’t be so exhausting,” Barack
Obama said at a rally the other
day. “You might be able to have a
Thanksgiving dinner without
having an argument.”
That would be nice; I am as ex-
cited as anyone for a boring presi-
dent.
Yet when I got to thinking about
how Trump has redirected our at-
tention, I realized I was mistaken.
All the time we spent focused on
him has not been for nothing;
there has been an unexpected up-
side to his omnipresence. Even as
Trump’s presidency has been tir-
ing — not to mention profoundly
cruel, deadly and embarrassing
for our nation — it has also been
something else: motivating.
With nearly every tweet,
Trump gave us a new 10-car pile-
up from which we couldn’t look
away. But in the process of mak-
ing us look at him, Trump forced
many of us to actually look for the
first time. By turning us into a na-
tion of rubbernecks, he has
pushed us to reckon with why
things are crashing in the first
place and to examine the faulty
infrastructure of our democracy.
If we’re lucky, this will be his
only lasting legacy. For many of
us, Trump has shattered the com-
fortable bliss of not having to pay
attention.
Trump got us to recognize a
truth long ignored in American
politics: that a competent govern-
ment is important. American
greatness and American good-
ness can never again be taken for
granted. His inept reign has
proved that the country cannot
run on autopilot, and there is no
longer any basis for the lazy idea
that America will always, in some
automatic and reflexive way,
“work things out.”
Trump’s gutting of federal
agencies, from the Environmen-
tal Protection Agency to the State
Department to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
proved, through their resulting
failures and missteps, the impor-
tance of governmental capacity
and competence. It is now trag-
ically clear what happens if the
federal government is left to
wither, if expertise and experi-
ence is undermined and over-
ruled, and if honesty, decency, in-
tegrity and fairness are aban-
doned by public officials: People
die, people lose their jobs, hate
and mistrust fester, long-term
problems become sudden emer-
gencies, and the country steadily
loses unity and moral standing.
It’s difficult to remember now,
but before Trump, to a lot of
By Ross Douthat
and Farhad
Manjoo
Americans much of what the fed-
eral government did could be rel-
egated to an incidental corner of
life. Sure, politics was a blood
sport on Twitter and cable TV, but
for those other than politics junk-
ies, the Obama years were de-
fined by a deep complacency and
cynicism toward the democratic
process. The midterm elections of
2010 and 2014 and the presidential
races of 2012 and 2016 were low-
engagement, low-turnout affairs.
You might even say that Ameri-
can political life in the past decade
has been determined more by the
inaction of those who didn’t par-
ticipate than by the actions of
those who did.
Obama frequently called on
Americans to rise above political
apathy. Yet beyond his own cam-
paigns, his policies rarely gener-
ated mass enthusiasm for the po-
litical process. His was an admin-
istration of incremental progress,
averted disaster and quiet com-
petence. Those are salutary
goals, but as Trump would say,
they’re boring — it’s difficult to
prompt much excitement about
Trump
shattered the
comfortable
bliss of not
having to pay
attention.
the recession that didn’t turn into
a depression, the health care plan
that solved some problems but
not others or the pandemic that
wasn’t a national catastrophe.
From Day 1, there was nothing
quiet or incremental about
Trump. He attacked American in-
stitutions frontally and clam-
orously, shocked us into realizing
their fragility and compelled us to
stand up against his wrecking
ball.
The backlash was swift. When
Trump attacked the media, peo-
ple subscribed in droves. Even as
he made moves to dismantle Oba-
macare, the law remained as pop-
ular as it had ever been, scuttling
the effort to repeal it. When
Trump spewed racist ideas from
the White House, many Ameri-
cans recoiled. For the first time,
more Americans now favor ex-
panding immigration instead of
restricting it, and a majority of
Americans say they support
Black Lives Matter. The more that
Trump has pushed white identity
politics, the less popular it has be-
come.
It wasn’t just public opinion
that shifted. The backlash
prompted political action. In 2018,
a wave of candidates across the
country, a lot of them women and
people of color, ran for office for
the first time. Nearly 120 million
Americans voted that year, the
highest turnout for the midterms
in more than 100 years. This
year’s vote could shatter all
records. Already, the number of
people voting early has far sur-
passed 2016’s early voting turn-
out; experts say overall turnout
could reach the highest rate since
the election of 1908.
Then there are the other, less
direct ways Trump has shaken us
out of complacency. Would the
#MeToo movement have had the
same impact if we hadn’t elected a
president who had been accused
of dozens of instances of sexual
misconduct? Would lawmakers
have begun questioning the role
that tech companies play in our
lives if the man in the White
House hadn’t been a geyser of so-
cial media-fueled misinforma-
tion? Would Democrats be talk-
ing about far-reaching reforms
for our democracy — eliminating
the Electoral College, expanding
the Supreme Court, statehood for
the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico — if we weren’t
shocked by the dreadful chief ex-
ecutive this broken system has
given us?
I don’t think so, at least not to
the degree we are now. The
Trump years have been among
the most disastrous in recent
American history. But they were-
n’t for naught. One day, inshallah,
we will look back on this time as
the beginning of the great Ameri-
can awakening.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 SR 13

A Special Section

By Hank Willis Thomas Over the past four years, we have lost nearly everything and nothing at all.
Nothing was lost but everything. Everything that is won can be lost, because
winning and losing are nothing, after all.
14 SR THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

What Have We Lost

By Jenny Holzer We have lost one another. The separation and harm were deliberate. Vote.
4 BIG TICKET 6 DOMESTIC LIVES

A triplex along the High Line, From a box in the basement,

with views to remember. relationships are rekindled.
5 WHAT I LOVE 8 THE HUNT

Their musical life together A bedroom with space for a

spent above Central Park. night stand? ‘That’s magical.’

OWNERS RENTERS RENOVATORS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

MB

STREETSCAPES

STEFANO UKMAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A Ghost of Breweries Past

Remnants of 19th-century Brooklyn still The William Ulmer Brewery
complex as it is today, above, and as

exist in a building complex in Bushwick.
By JOHN FREEMAN GILL
In 1985, while living on a friend’s couch after
being thrown out of a studio in Long Island
City, Queens, Jay Swift, a young sculptor,
spent months scouring the city for a place
where he could live and make art for the
long haul. While prowling grungy, postin-
dustrial Bushwick, Brooklyn, on his old
Dawes bicycle, he turned the corner onto a
one-block street called Belvidere and found
himself gawking at what looked like an inti-
mate little castle made of fiery orange-red
brick and terra cotta.
“The first time I rode my bike down that
it once was, left. From far left: the
office, the boiler house, the machine
house and the original brew house.
street and saw that building, I almost fell
over,” Mr. Swift recalled. “That place was
magical.” floor and the Ulmer firm’s trademark “U” in
The object of his affection was a knockout three places — high above the entrance as
Romanesque Revival showplace built in well as on richly embellished corbels flank-
1885 as a two-story office for the William Ul- ing a mansard roof.
mer Brewery, which stood next door and But the place was a wreck. Not one of its
survives today as a vacant shell adorned 46 windows had any glass, and all of them
with a colorful wash of graffiti. were sealed with steel plates to keep intrud-
The little brick office was given its castle- ers out. The roof had been leaking for years,
like aspect by the pedimented parapet atop and the staircase was nearly in the base-
its raised central bay, which was adorned ment.
with decorative corbeled arches. Added pa- “Thirteen-foot cobwebs hung from the
nache was provided by terra-cotta accents: ceiling to the floor, and the whole back floor
a luscious band of flowers above the ground CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Six friends were

living in two
apartments in
Murray Hill when
the pandemic hit. So
Let’s Spend the Pandemic Together
they rented a Friends are becoming roommates in an effort to break the isolation imposed by the coronavirus.
six-bedroom in the
financial district studio apartment. seems the prize it once did. The right room-
By KIM VELSEY mate, though, can also be a co-worker, a
and got a slight But in a world of video meet-ups and
break on their rent. In New York, where high rents, small apart- masked outdoor gatherings, the appeal of workout buddy and a dining companion.
Four of those ments and vibrant social lives were, until living alone has dimmed. Cut off from the “Living alone and not being socialized, I
friends are, from recently, hallmarks of life, roommates were social whirl of pre-coronavirus life, dis- was starting to feel like a hamster in a cage,”
left, Brian Pedersen, seen by many as a financial necessity tanced from friends and colleagues, and said Marc Jenkinson, 32, who this summer
Ellis Eaton, Joachim rather than a lifestyle choice: people with left his one-bedroom apartment in the West
lacking even the impersonal companion-
Cedergren and whom one ideally maintained a cordial, if Village to move in with Peter Englert, 28, a
ship of a crowded restaurant or a group ex-
Chris Hattar. arms-length relationship until circum- friend from his L.G.B.T.Q. volleyball team
ercise class, a studio apartment no longer
KATHERINE MARKS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES stances allowed for the move to your own CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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2 RE MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
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Inventories are surging in all five boroughs as the market reacts to the uncertainties related to the coronavirus.
Rents Decline in City
As Vacancies Soar
Changing priorities amid the
virus bring demand down,
leading to lower costs.
By STEFANOS CHEN
For the first time in nearly a decade, the me-
dian asking rent for an apartment in Man-
hattan has fallen below $3,000 a month, as
vacancies soar and tenants reorder priori-
ties amid the coronavirus.
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which Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens all
recorded year-over-year rent declines since
2010, according to a new report from the list-
ings website StreetEasy. The median
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stream of newcomers, who paid a premium
to be close to Midtown offices, has slowed,
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In September, there were nearly 16,000
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14-year record and more than triple the in-
ventory in the same period last year, ac-
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JOSHUA BRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
are even deeper, because landlords hardly
ever disclose the final negotiated rent, said
Bill Kowalczuk, an associate broker with
Warburg Realty. In the absence of a treat-
ment or vaccine for the virus, those cuts are
expected to deepen, he said, despite land-
lords’ reluctance.
“I don’t think they can believe this is actu-
ally happening,” he said. “‘How could I have
gotten $5,000 two years ago, and now no
one even wants it for $3,500?’ ”
While inventory has also climbed signifi-
cantly in Brooklyn and Queens, prices there
have not fallen as drastically — and in some
cases, prices are flat or rising, because of a
dearth of affordable options elsewhere in
the city.
In the third quarter, Brooklyn rents
dropped, year over year, for the first time in
a decade. Yet the 2.5 percent price decline
was modest, spurred by discounting in ex-
pensive northwest neighborhoods, like
Williamsburg, while rents held steady in
less affluent parts of the borough, like East
New York.
Even with considerable price cuts, the
discounting will mean less for the tenants
who need it the most. Mr. Kowalczuk warns
that common concessions, like two or three
months of free rent on a one-year lease, are
a temporary perk, and new tenants should
carefully consider if they can afford the un-
mitigated rent the following year.
And the coronavirus has made clear that
rent relief is not proportional to need. In a
StreetEasy analysis of neighborhoods with
the fewest Covid-19 cases, rents in wealthy
neighborhoods, like SoHo in Manhattan,
dropped 4.3 percent from February to Sep-
tember. In the hardest-hit neighborhoods,
like Corona in Queens and Pelham Parkway
in the Bronx, rents actually rose 0.2 percent.
Despite the considerable discounting in
Manhattan, which is expected to persist for
months or longer, breaking the $3,000
threshold remains mostly symbolic, since
citywide, the median rent was $1,467 a
month, according to the New York Univer-
sity Furman Center.
NADIA PILLON
fied with the leadership or want a direct
say in how the building is managed.
Usually, co-ops use maintenance fees to
cover general operating costs and use
special assessments to pay for specific
one-time expenses, like a new boiler. Your
board may look at the lost rental income in
its commercial spaces as a short-term cost
— eventually it will find new tenants. The
board has two choices: raise your monthly
maintenance fees permanently, or levy a
one-time assessment, spread out over a
period of months. It probably decided that
the second option was preferable because
it’s not permanent.
“Once you raise the maintenance, it very
rarely gets lowered,” Mr. Greenstein said.
Under normal circumstances, having a
retail tenant is a boon for a co-op. Your
building has most likely lost considerable
revenue without its commercial renters —
revenue that, over the years, helped keep
your maintenance fees down. The assess-
ment is certainly a hit for residents at a
time when many people are under financial
strain. But if you look at this charge as a
temporary bridge to keep the co-op afloat
until a new tenant can lease the commer-
cial space, it may be easier to accept the
situation for what it is.
RONDA KAYSEN
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MB RE 3

On the Market
STEFA NO S CHEN

WOODSIDE CO-OP

$559,000
QUEENS 60-11 Broadway, No. 5B
An 850-square-foot, two-bedroom,
one-bath with a renovated kitchen
and a balcony, on the fifth floor of a
six-story elevator building close to
the subway, with a laundry room and
indoor parking. Alan Klein, Compass,
917-650-1255; compass.com
MAINTENANCE $818 a month;
$25 a month for the superintendent
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOM SIBLEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
PROS The kitchen is wide and
bright with upgraded appliances. The
living room has space for a dining
table. The balcony is large enough to
invite guests. The rear-facing unit is
quiet, and the closets are deep.
CONS The second bedroom has no
closet; it’s better suited as a nursery
or office. The balcony blocks some
sun. There’s a waiting list for parking.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAURA MOSS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

MAPLEWOOD MIDCENTURY-MODERN

$2,000,000
NEW JERSEY 15-19 Tower Drive
A seven-bedroom, eight-full-and-two-
half-bath, 7,000-square-foot house
with a teak-paneled curving
staircase, a family room with a wet
bar and a fireplace, multiple
skylights, a pool and a three-car
garage, on 1.8 acres. Benjamin
Garrison, Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage, 917-940-
3158; coldwellbankerhomes.com
TAXES $53,303 year
PROS Details are stunning in this
pristinely preserved 1968 house
designed by a protégé of Frank Lloyd
Wright, and for which Olgivanna
Lloyd Wright, the architect’s widow,
was an interior-design consultant.
PARK SLOPE CO-OP
CONS Several of the bathrooms
have little or no natural light.
$1,169,000
BROOKLYN 128 Sixth Avenue, No. 2
A one-bedroom, one-bath, parlor-floor unit in a
brownstone, with nine large windows and a
private deck. Kristina Leonetti, Compass,
917-856-0601; compass.com

MAINTENANCE $1,194 a month

PROS The bedroom and living areas are

separated by French doors.

CONS The nursery/office is too narrow to be

a legal bedroom. The bathroom has no window.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEFANO UKMAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM MACCHIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

SEA CLIFF HOUSE

$1,575,000
LENOX HILL CO-OP

NASSAU 112 Downing Avenue
A five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-
bath house built in 1908, with a
wraparound porch, gas fireplaces in
the living room and master bedroom,
an eat-in kitchen, cedar closets,
custom stained-glass windows, and a
two-car detached garage with a
storage loft, on 0.62 of an acre.
Dawn Wands, Douglas Elliman Real
Estate, 516-883-5200; elliman.com
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JILL P. CAPUZZO,
CLAUDIA GRYVATZ COPQUIN AND SYDNEY FRANKLIN.
$800,000
TAXES $23,439 a year
PROS The landscaped property
includes mature trees and a lovely
meditation garden with koi ponds
and waterfalls. MANHATTAN 176 East 71st PROS The sunny living room
Street, No. 3A accommodates a large dining table,
CONS The sale includes an A 765-square-foot, one-bedroom, and its windows face the quieter rear
adjacent 0.17-acre lot, which some one-bath in a doorman building. of the building. The kitchen is
buyers may not want, as it accounts Debbie Baum, Corcoran, compact but nicely renovated. The
for $2,312 of the annual tax bill. 917-697-1359; corcoran.com subway is close by.
MAINTENANCE $1,138 a month; CONS Some windows look onto
assessment: $237 a month through another unit’s terrace. The building
next March, $180 a month thereafter requires a 40 percent down payment.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHERINE MARKS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
4 RE MB
A Record Breaks in SoHo, as a Triplex Sells for $35.1 Million
The final deal was far below
the unit’s $65 million initial
price tag two years ago.
By VIVIAN MARINO
In the final weeks before the presidential
election, real estate closings slowed in New
York City, but there were still several big
transactions, including a record purchase in
SoHo and another king-size sale at 220 Cen-
tral Park South.
An anonymous buyer paid $35.1 million
for a meticulously renovated triplex atop
419-421 Broome Street, the 19th-century
cast-iron building where the actor Heath
Ledger had been renting a loft when he died
in 2008. This was the highest price paid for a
single residence in the SoHo neighborhood,
according to the real estate appraiser Jona-
than J. Miller, though far below the unit’s
$65 million initial price tag two years ago.
In Chelsea, the financier Wes Edens, who
is an owner of the Milwaukee Bucks N.B.A.
team, scored a hefty discount, too. He
bought a triplex at the apex of the High
Line-hugging 520 West 28th Street for $20.2
million. The original asking price in 2016
was $50 million.
Sales activity throughout New York has
lagged for much of the year because of un-
certainty surrounding the election and the
coronavirus pandemic, though listings and
signed contracts are now on the rise. For
the month of October, the city’s highest sale
was, once again, at 220 Central Park South,
the Midtown condominium that in 2019 set
the national record for the most expensive
home sold in the United States. A duplex in
the villa building of the complex that had
been under contract since February 2018
closed at $65.6 million.
Among the month’s other noteworthy
transactions, David Lubars, the chief cre-
ative officer of the advertising agency
BBDO Worldwide (think Snickers and
Betty White), and his wife, Cindy Lubars,
sold their fully renovated Upper West Side
brownstone.
THE SOHO PENTHOUSE, near Crosby Street
in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District Ex-
tension, was sold by David Matlin, a dis-
tressed-asset investor, and his wife, Lisa
Matlin. The buyer was listed in property
records as MF. Nemshov1tz NY Realty Inc.
The Matlins had purchased the Broome
Street apartment, encompassing nearly
8,000 square feet on the fifth through sev-
enth floors, for $17.8 million in April 2011.
They then spent the next four-plus years on
extensive renovations, painstakingly se-
lecting wood, stone and other high-end ma-
terials, before putting it back on the market
in June 2018. Their most recent asking price
Big Ticket
EMILY GILBERT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
Top, 520 West 28th Street, a
project of the architect Zaha
Hadid. Above, Wes Edens, who
bought a triplex there, right,
for $20.2 million.
VIVIAN MARINO/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Above, 419-421 Broome Street
in SoHo, where Heath Ledger
had lived. Below, David Lubars
of BBDO Worldwide, who
recently sold a brownstone on
the Upper West Side.
KEVIN KEELAN/CLARION PICTURES
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
was $43.75 million.
The loftlike unit includes three bedrooms
and five full and two half bathrooms, along
with two kitchens, a gym and a media room.
Outdoor space totals 3,800 square feet and
features six landscaped terraces, one with a
hot tub, and an unfinished roof deck, where
there are staff quarters.
The 1873 building at 419-421 Broome has
four residences and commercial space on
the ground level. Mr. Ledger, the actor, had
been renting a 4,400-square-foot loft on the
condo’s fourth floor at the time of his death.
THE CHELSEA TRIPLEX purchased for $20.2
million by Mr. Edens, a founder of the
Fortress Investment Group private equity
firm, has been described as the crown jewel
of 520 West 28th Street — the 11-story futur-
istic condo of curved glass and steel bands
abutting the High Line. It was one of the fi-
nal projects of the Pritzker Prize-winning
architect Zaha Hadid and her only resi-
dential building in Manhattan. She died in
2016, almost two years before the building
opened.
The apartment, known as Penthouse 37,
measures 6,853 square feet inside, with an
additional 2,552 square feet of outdoor
space. It contains five bedrooms and six and
a half bathrooms, as well as a library and an
enormous great room. The primary bed-
room suite, on the lower level, features dual
baths, a sizable dressing room and a bal-
cony, one of two in the unit. A distinctive
sculptural staircase connects all three
floors.
On the roof level is a 2,000-square-foot
terrace that wraps around an interior
lounge and pavilion and provides stunning
views of the city skyline, the Empire State
Building and, of course, the High Line.
The apartment’s most recent asking
price was just under $25 million, or half its
original price.
THE DUPLEX at 220 Central Park South en-
compasses the eighth and ninth floors of the
10-unit, 18-story villa building, which faces
the park and sits adjacent to the main tower.
It was bought through the New York-based
limited liability company Enka Residence.
The apartment extends 7,911 square feet,
with six bedrooms and seven and a half
baths, and has 1,095 square feet of outdoor
space, according to the latest amended of-
fering plan filed by the developer, Vornado
Realty Trust.
The limestone-clad complex, near Colum-
bus Circle, opened in 2018 and is now nearly
EMILY GILBERT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
sold out. Early last year it set the record for
the nation’s most expensive single resi-
dence when Kenneth C. Griffin, a hedge
fund manager, closed on four unfinished
floors in the tower, paying almost $240 mil-
lion.
THE BROWNSTONE owned by the Lubars, at
138 West 88th Street, between Columbus
and Amsterdam Avenues, closed at $7 mil-
lion. It had been under contract since Au-
gust and sold for just below the $7.7 million
list price. The couple had bought the home
in 2004 for $4.2 million.
The four-story house has 5,500 square
feet that feature five bedrooms, five full
baths, a family room, home office and li-
brary. The finished basement has a gym
with a sauna. There is also ample outdoor
space that includes a landscaped rear gar-
den off the dining area and a terrace on the
fourth floor.
The buyer was the limited liability com-
pany Townhouse 88th Street.
Mr. Lubars, who is also the chairman of
BBDO North America, has been behind a
number of memorable advertising cam-
paigns, including Snickers’ “You’re Not You
When You’re Hungry,” featuring Ms. White
and other veteran actors.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MB RE 5

WHAT I LOVE
SHELDON HARNICK and MARGERY HARNICK

Home Hits the Right Notes of Comfort and Beauty

For 55 years, it’s been the ideal
place to raise a family and
write Broadway lyrics.
By JOANNE KAUFMAN
Sheldon Harnick met his future wife,
Margery Gray, in 1960, when she was audi-
tioning for his new Broadway musical,
“Tenderloin.”
Try as she might, Mrs. Harnick, now a
photographer and artist, can’t recall the
song she sang on that fateful day. Mr. Har-
nick, the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning lyri-
cist, is similarly in the dark, but he distinctly
remembers being impressed by what he
heard, and at least as impressed by what he
saw. She got the part, although the show
folded after barely six months.
The couple’s marriage, on the other hand,
is a long-running production: 55 years and
counting, all of it spent in a classic six with a
full-on view of Central Park at the Beres-
ford, an Emery Roth confection on the Up-
per West Side.
It’s where Mr. Harnick, now 96, wrote the
lyrics to shows including “Fiorello!” (1959),
“She Loves Me” (1963) and “Fiddler on the
Roof” (1964). A documentary about that
legendary show, “Fiddler: A Miracle of Mir-
acles,” will air Nov. 13 as part of the PBS se-
ries “Great Performances.”
Before Mr. Harnick got together with
Miss Gray, and before a very brief marriage
to Elaine May, who remains a close friend,
he lived in an apartment near the theater
district that had been occupied by a friend
from his college days at Northwestern Uni-
versity, the actor Charlotte Rae. “She was
leaving, and she asked if I wanted it, and I
grabbed it,” Mr. Harnick said.
Quick access to the theater district was
also top of mind years later, when he mar-
ried Miss Gray and the couple began
searching for a place to set up housekeep-
ing. The Beresford hit all the right notes.
With the subway at the corner, making
short work of the commute to 42nd Street
and environs, and the park just across the
street, the location was ideal.
The building itself was a known quantity.
Mr. Harnick’s friend and fellow lyricist
Adolph Green and his actor wife, Phyllis
Newman, were residents. So was his fa-
ther’s cousin, the syndicated columnist
Leonard Lyons.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARGERY HARNICK
“We had looked at other apartments in
the area, but this one was the most conven-
ient and the most beautiful in terms of the
light and the view,” said Mrs. Harnick, 86,
who appreciated the generously sized
rooms, the herringbone floors, the wain-
scoting in the gallery and the fireplace with
the marble surround. Some years after
moving into the building, she commis-
sioned a valence that echoed the design of
the carved mantel for the three large win-
dows in the living room.
“I never thought in terms of a penthouse
or anything like that; I just wanted a place
that was comfortable,” said Mr. Harnick,
who has always worked at home, with the
greatest pleasure. “When I get hungry, I
can just go over to the refrigerator and grab
something.”
He set up shop first in the dining room/
library, which is ringed by bookcases hold-
ing many volumes of reference material,
diligently clearing off the long wood table
when mealtime rolled around. Later, when
SEAN KATZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Margery and Sheldon Harnick,
top, have lived in their Upper
West Side home for 55 years.
The valence above the living
room windows, above left,
echoes the design of the
carved-wood fireplace. Hanging
above Mr. Harnick’s piano,
above, is a mixed-media work
by Mrs. Harnick. The stove,
left, in place since they moved
in, still works fine.
the couple’s two children grew up and left
the nest, Mr. Harnick took his Eames lounge
chair and moved to a vacated bedroom, a
space that Mrs. Harnick firmly deemed off
limits to the prying eyes of a reporter, citing
untidiness.
In any case, a thesaurus and an enor-
mous Webster’s Dictionary that is very
much the worse for wear are always close at
hand. Mr. Harnick clearly knows many
words, but while at his desk, it seems, he is a
man of precious few. “Sheldon works very
Names Sheldon Harnick, 96, and Margery
Harnick, 86
Occupations He’s a lyricist; she’s a per-
former turned artist and photographer.
Home is where the art is “I never had an
office,” Mr. Harnick said. “I thought about it,
but it was always very easy to work at
home. It was quiet. Nobody ever bothered
me, and all my reference books were
handy.”
quietly with his paper and pencils,” Mrs.
Harnick said.
“I had a pen that squeaked, so I got rid of
that,” Mr. Harnick added waggishly.
When the couple bought the apartment in
the mid-1960s, it was in excellent shape, re-
quiring nothing more than a fresh coat of
white paint. “I helped the painter mix the
color,” Mrs. Harnick recalled. “I didn’t want
any blue in it, and I didn’t want it to be blind-
ing.”
That the kitchen hadn’t been updated in
years was fine with the couple. The old
stove was, and remains, a particular delight
to them. “We never even thought about ren-
ovating; it was so comfortable,” Mrs. Har-
nick said. “We loved it the way it was. Shel-
don isn’t a decorating kind of person.”
Mrs. Harnick took the lead role in putting
together the apartment, which is done in
earth tones — mostly warm shades of
brown. Still, no purchase was made, no fab-
ric selected, without the approval of both
parties.
No matter how inviting the sofa or the co-
coa-colored velvet wing chair, though, no-
body is likely to sit for long. There’s a lot to
see. The refrigerator is upholstered with
snapshots of the Harnicks, assorted family
members, friends and colleagues like
Danny Burstein, who played Tevye in the
2015 “Fiddler” revival on Broadway, and
Mr. Burstein’s wife, the actor Rebecca
Luker.
Hanging on a wall just inside the apart-
ment is a self-portrait by Zero Mostel, the
original Tevye; paintings by Mrs. Harnick
and the couple’s daughter, Beth Harnick
Dorn; photographs by their son, Matt Har-
nick; and rows and rows of show posters
from musicals written by Mr. Harnick and
musicals featuring Mrs. Harnick. Hanging
in the dining room: a pair of photographs of
the couple taken by Richard Avedon in the
’60s.
“It was to help raise funds for an anti-
Vietnam War campaign,” Mr. Harnick re-
called. “He would photograph you for $50 a
picture.”
Mr. Avedon also took one of the cache of
photos atop the Baldwin baby grand in the
living room: Mr. Harnick, arms around his
longtime collaborator, Jerry Bock, and the
“Fiddler” librettist, Joseph Stein.
“We put on a recording of ‘If I Were a Rich
Man,’” Mr. Harnick recalled, referring to
one of the songs from the show. “We didn’t
actually dance. But it helped with the pic-
ture that we felt as if we were dancing.”
His awards for “Fiddler” and other shows
crowd the tables and the tops of cabinets in
the living room. He’s no show-off, “but
there’s no place to store all of them,” Mrs.
Harnick said. “And it’s really important for
me to see them.”
In the middle of a phalanx of glass tro-
phies is a Picasso ceramic pitcher, a birth-
day gift from Mr. Harnick to Mrs. Harnick
during their courtship days. “I dearly love
it, and so does he,” she said. “I tease him
that he only married me because he wanted
the pitcher back.”

INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE

ENGLAND

Hunkering Down? Try This Island Fort Off Portsmouth

By ROXANA POPESCU
This circular man-made island, known as
Spitbank Fort, sits about a half-mile off the
southern coast of England in the Solent, a
narrow waterway feeding the English
Channel. One of three similar islands built
by the British military during the 1860s and
’70s, the refurbished fortress has 33,000
square feet of living space covering three
floors, with 12 bedrooms, two kitchens, a
pool, a central courtyard and multiple
leisure, event and dining areas.
Spitbank Fort has played various roles
since its heyday as a defense post against
French ships approaching the coastal city of
Portsmouth. Since being decommissioned
in the 1950s, it has been a museum, a night-
club and, most recently, a boutique hotel
and event space. “When you buy into prop-
erty like this, you’re buying a slice of British
history which is utterly unique and truly
special,” said James Mackenzie, the head of
Strutt & Parker’s country department,
which has the residential listing.
The fort, about 150 feet in diameter, can
be maintained as a hotel or converted to a
private residence, said its seller, Mike Clare,
an entrepreneur and developer of unique
properties. “It’s like a huge yacht,” he said.
Mr. Clare bought the island in 2009 and
extensively renovated it, building around
its freshwater well and 15-foot-thick granite
walls. A stone tunnel from the landing stage
leads to the middle deck, where a central
brick-walled courtyard has stairs.
Rooms are arranged in two concentric
rings around the courtyard. The inner ring
has two half bathrooms, a library and a
lounge, while the outer ring has eight bed-
rooms with en suite baths that were once
gun rooms, Mr. Clare said. Today they have
reclaimed polished oak floors and windows
overlooking the Solent. The outer ring also
has a bar, a dining room that seats 60 and a
commercial-grade kitchen.
The lower deck houses the fort’s historic
kitchen, an intimate wine cellar and bar,
$5.2 million
Clockwise, from above:
Spitbank Fort, a man-made
island, has 33,000 square feet of
living space; the fort has
several bars, game rooms and
lounge areas; amenities
include this sunken fire pit, and
a sauna and two sun decks.
staff quarters with three bedrooms and two
bathrooms, and several game and TV
rooms. The upper level has three half baths,
a sauna, two sun decks on opposite sides, a
fire pit with built-in seating, and an elevated
crow’s nest with a bedroom and an adjacent
event room with a bar.
Spitbank Fort is for sale along with its two
sister fortresses in the Solent. The other two
are larger, at 99,000 square feet, and only
one has been renovated. The three can be
purchased individually or together for 9.25
million British pounds ($12.4 million).
The island city of Portsmouth, population
some 200,000, has several historic attrac-
tions, including a dockyard with the 18th-
century navy ship HMS Victory, and the
Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum.
Southampton International Airport is about
30 minutes from the harbor, and London
Heathrow is about an hour north.
PHOTOGRAPHS VIA STRUTT & PARKER
Market Overview
Britain’s real estate market had a “general
slowdown” in price growth for a few years
heading in to 2020, according to the Office
for National Statistics, owing in part to ner-
vousness over the looming Brexit decision.
But it has rebounded since pandemic re-
strictions were loosened during the spring,
said James Forbes, the head of sales of the
Knightsbridge & Belgravia office of Strutt &
Parker.
“The U.K. market has seen a huge growth
in activity since it reopened in May,” he said.
Portsmouth has seen its own surge of in-
terest during the pandemic.
Daniel Kemp, the branch manager at
Portsmouth Fox & Sons, part of a national
real estate chain, said residential properties
were selling for 97 percent of asking price,
which signals a strong market. “We have
seen a lot of pent-up demand since the hous-
ing market was given the green light to re-
open,” he said.
(As of Oct. 25, Portsmouth had reported
1,601 Covid-19 cases, according to the
British government, with England report-
ing 740,262 cases and 50,309 deaths.)
Mr. Kemp attributed that demand to a
temporary reduction in stamp duty for cer-
tain properties, set to last through March of
next year, as well as the extension of a gov-
ernment program, Help to Buy, which aims
to make homeownership more accessible.
Then there’s the pandemic, which has “peo-
ple wanting more space to work from home
or looking to move before a possible second
lockdown.” One damper on the market, he
said, is that lenders have been tightening
credit for mortgages.
Christopher Smeed, a client director of
Portsmouth-based NEXA Properties, said
he had seen “high demand for all types of
property” from locals and buyers coming
from London.
Who Buys in Portsmouth
“Before this year, most buyers were local
and looking to move up in the market,” Mr.
Mackenzie wrote by email. “Coupled with
this, the area was also favored by London-
ers moving to or around Portsmouth with
the intention of commuting on a weekly or,
at a push, daily basis. Now, the buyers are
Londoners looking to move out of the city.”
Buying Basics
Foreigners are not restricted from buying
properties in Britain.
Taxes and Fees
The annual property taxes for Spitbank
Fort, were it converted to residential use,
would be less than £3,500 ($4,600).
Contact
James Mackenzie, Strutt & Parker, 011-44-
207-318-4600; struttandparker.com
6 RE MB
Covid, Then Bedbugs: Beautiful Moments of Friendship
By KIM VELSEY
By June, things were looking up for Posey
Bartol and Theresa Alexander, two actors
who lost their jobs and their third roommate
at the start of the pandemic. They had fi-
nally found someone to take over the empty
bedroom in their Hamilton Heights apart-
ment, their unemployment checks had
come through, and after 90 days of rarely
venturing out, they had started volunteer-
ing with the #OpenYourLobby campaign
for Black Lives Matter protesters.
And then they got bedbugs for the second
time in less than a year.
“We really did think the treatment seven
months before had worked,” said Ms. Bar-
tol, 23. “The worst part was that because of
Covid, we had nowhere else to live while
they did a second fumigation.”
They told their new roommate, Evangelia
Pappas, 22, that they would understand if
she wanted to move out immediately. Be-
cause they were on a month-to-month lease,
they planned to start looking for a new place
themselves.
But Ms. Pappas, an actor who works for
Levain Bakery, surprised them by saying
that she would stick with them. The room-
mates had established a good rapport in the
month they had been together, but they
hardly expected Ms. Pappas to wage war
against bedbugs, especially as she had an
easy out — two uncles in Long Island City,
Queens, with whom she had been living af-
ter moving to the city from Fresno, Calif., in
January.
Over the next few weeks, the women ce-
mented their friendship, bonding over their
careers and shared bedbug trauma.
“We call Ev our Covid blessing,” Ms. Bar-
tol said. “Me and Theresa found someone
with the same amount of silly level as us. We
can all laugh at ourselves and each other.”
The duplex apartment that Ms. Bartol
found on StreetEasy, where it was listed as a
one-bedroom — although it has three nor-
mal-size rooms with windows that could be
used as bedrooms — was their other lucky
break. Six blocks from their old apartment,
it is roughly twice the size and has outdoor
space (a backyard they share with the
building’s super), but it rents for the same
price: $2,500 a month, or $833 a person.
“We got so lucky, it’s wild,” Ms. Bartol
said. “Our old place was much smaller than
this one. No one lives in the closet, all the
walls are real, and we have an outdoor
space.”
The women and Ms. Bartol’s cat, Bijou,
moved in on July 15, after a fumigation that
necessitated drying their clothes at high
Know a renter with an interesting story?
Email: renters@nytimes.com.
Down the Basement Stairs and Into the Past
A box filled with memories
led me to seek out people I
hadn’t spoken to in decades.
By JAMES SCHEMBARI
The huge cardboard box had been in my
mother’s basement for decades until she
said, “When are you going to move that crap
to your house?”
The box sat in my basement for a few
more decades, until my wife said, “When
are you going to clean out that crap?”
Such language, but I got the message.
So while I have been trapped at home, I
have joined the huddling masses that have
decided to try to declutter, starting with my
overflowing basement, with plans to tackle
my closet next. Throwing stuff out is so lib-
erating. Ancient computer parts, old shoes,
cameras, things I clung to for seemingly no
reason are now out the door.
But I didn’t have the emotional heft to
tackle the dreaded box, about the size of a
window air-conditioning unit, because I
knew what was inside.
A few weeks ago, I finally lugged the box
up to my office to start weeding it out. Dur-
ing video meetings, while my co-workers
have tasteful books and art in the back-
ground, I have an old box. They are too nice
to visibly wrinkle their noses.
Inside the box is a record of my past: me-
mentos from high school, from my service
in the U.S. Navy and from college. There are
term papers (trash), hall passes (oddly,
keep), clippings from my track meets
(keep; my high school team actually com-
peted against Bruce Jenner’s) and 50-year-
old Marvel comic books (keep and cash in
some day). From the Navy, in which I
served on the U.S.S. Sacramento in the
South China Sea off Vietnam, I had plans of
the day (keep one), Navy magazines
(trash), photos (keep) and a performance
evaluation (keep the good one).
I don’t know why I saved all of this stuff,
but in 2020 it has become a wonderful time
capsule.
There are hundreds of letters from
friends who wrote to me while I was over-
seas — Lydia, Nancy, John, Pat, another
Pat, Ray, Marilyn, Walter, Trish. And Susan,
the high school girlfriend I almost married.
Reading the letters, I rediscovered these
forgotten friendships, remembered my
teenage angst and the loneliness of a sailor
far from home. As I read, I realized that I
suddenly longed to find these people from
half a century ago and see how their lives
turned out. Maybe this feeling came from
the pandemic. All of us are at least in our 60s
and vulnerable to the virus. I didn’t want to
wait another five decades.
So I searched their names on Google. I
found several obituaries, nonworking
phone numbers and, yikes, a police report
or two. I had no luck finding people at first,
but when I finally did, it opened doors to
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Top, from left, Theresa Alexander, Evangelia Pappas, Posey Bartol and Bijou the cat fled their
apartment after getting bedbugs. They found a larger place, above, with a kitchen to dance in.
others. Pretty soon, I was calling every-
body. Am I the only person whose social life
has improved during the lockdown?
I started having “Do you remember me?”
phone calls and catching up on lives. I
learned about grandchildren, deaths, many
divorces, successful careers and major
surgeries. It was as if I had started reading
a book at 18 and finished it 50 years later.
I found captain’s mast punishment pa-
pers (Report and Disposition of Offenses)
for Mario, a Vietnam buddy who had vio-
lated Article 86, unauthorized absence.
Twice. “I had forgotten what a trouble-
maker you were,” I said, laughing, when I
reached him. He married a nurse, who
changes her clothes in the garage when she
comes home from work because of Covid-19.
They have two children, neither a trouble-
maker.
I caught up with Chuck, the highly edu-
cated Navy pal who badgered me into going
to college after my discharge. My debt to
him is enormous. I tried to reach our former
lieutenant, Alex, but he never picked up.
RENTERS
Names Theresa Alexander,
25; Posey Bartol, 23; and
Evangelia Pappas, 22
Location Hamilton Heights
Rent $2,500
Occupations Actors in the-
ater and film, along with side
jobs: Ms. Alexander is a
restaurant host; Ms. Bartol
works as a babysitter; and
Ms. Pappas processes event
and online orders at Levain
Bakery.
Missing their side jobs at
the beginning of the pan-
demic “As much as actors
say they resent their other
jobs, it was a big part of my
social life,” Ms. Alexander
said. “It was really hard not
being able to go and greet
my co-workers.”
New work By the end of the
summer, Ms. Bartol had
found some new babysitting
clients, but it has been diffi-
cult, she said, as many fam-
ilies don’t want babysitters
who take the subway or live
with others who do. Ms.
Alexander landed a new job
at a Midtown restaurant.
How they met Ms. Bartol
and Ms. Alexander performed
together in a 2018 show at
Theater for the New City. Ms.
Pappas is a friend of a friend.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHERINE MARKS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
DOMESTIC LIVES
STEPHANIE DALTON COWAN
Trish and Walt’s letter in 1972 was about
I longed to find old their upcoming wedding. “The brides-
friends and see how maids’ gowns are going to be brown and
white, so you guys will be wearing brown
their lives turned out.
tuxes,” she wrote. They divorced a few
years later. I found her through her moth-
er’s obit, sadly, and Trish told me she had
remarried but divorced after 30 years and
four children.
There was a letter from my mother, al-
though it could have been from any of our
mothers, written just 24 hours after I left for
boot camp in 1970. She bizarrely wondered
why she had not received a letter from me
and asked me to call, writing down our
phone number as if this teenager who had
lived on the phone had actually forgotten it.
My departure was also her chance to de-
clutter, but she found straightening my
room too sad. “I have tried to clean out your
clothes,” she wrote, “but find it extremely
difficult. You will be happy to know that the
dirt you accumulated, that I could not wait
to clean up, is still there.” As I read the letter
now as a parent, the pain over her youngest
heat, sealing it in bags and vacating their
first apartment for several nights.
They drew up a roommate contract stipu-
lating that each would be responsible for
her own portion of the rent for the duration
of the lease. Their last roommate left with-
out covering her rent when the pandemic
hit, a big source of stress for Ms. Bartol and
Ms. Alexander, especially because their
side jobs had ended with the pandemic. But
perhaps more important than defining their
financial responsibilities was a shared un-
derstanding of what they wanted their
apartment to be.
“We talked about how we wanted to share
a home,” Ms. Bartol said. “We’ve all lived
with people who feel like strangers before.
And even though making a family vibe is an
investment, none of us would settle for any-
thing less ever again. If not for Theresa and
Ev, I don’t think I’d still be in New York.”
Ms. Alexander, 25, said: “Oh, my God, no.
And being actors, we all have the same job
and aspirations. It really helps having peo-
ple in the house who get it. I don’t know
what state I’d be in if I didn’t have room-
mates who understood what this pandemic
is doing to me socially and emotionally.”
Ms. Pappas added, “It’s nice to come
home and have people you want to tell
about your day.”
The women regularly lift their spirits
with dance parties in the kitchen. They also
help one another with auditions, which are
done remotely these days.
Despite the pandemic, the bedbugs and
the difficulty of getting work in recent
months, the women said they were happy
they hadn’t given in to their families’ urg-
ings to leave New York.
“We don’t even have bedrooms there any-
more, but our parents were seeing New
York on the news and were like, ‘Come
home, the world is ending,’ ” said Ms. Bartol,
who moved to New York from North Car-
olina four years ago, after graduating from
high school.
“What they didn’t see were all the beauti-
ful moments — we were out on the fire es-
cape every day clapping, and then the pro-
tests happened,” she continued. “But I think
they’ve finally taken a breath, realized that
everything is going to be OK and have a lot
of peace that we live with each other.”
Ms. Alexander, who is also from North
Carolina and moved to New York three
years ago, after college, said, “Going home
— it was never appealing.”
Ms. Bartol added: “Who knows what the
city will be like in the coming months?
Luckily, we all found each other, and we all
feel like this is our home. Like, ‘I’m the best
version of myself here.’”
leaving home breaks my heart.
I found tons of letters from Susan. She
had been impossible to locate until I found
Ray’s letter, in which he offered to pick me
up at the airport when I came home on leave
in 1971. I got home some other way, but con-
sidering that he ended up as her boyfriend
for a while, I wonder what he would have
wanted to talk about had I taken his ride. He
still lives in my hometown and was easy to
find. Not surprisingly, he had Susan’s phone
number.
She was shocked to hear from me
(“OMG! Jim?”). She had promised to wait
for me during my four-year enlistment but
smartly bailed. She went from “My ideas on
what I want after high school may have
changed, but not my love for you,” in one of
her first letters, to “I have lost the love and
respect I once held for you” exactly a year
later. (“My mother helped me write that,”
she told me, sounding apologetic, when I
called her.)
Then she spoke the words every dumped
guy wants to hear: “I never should have
broken up with you.”
So much soap opera. You can’t dig
through the past without tears. Mine came
when I found the letter from John. He and I
were such good friends in high school that,
with the Vietnam War still raging, he crazily
joined the Navy with me on the buddy sys-
tem. We went through boot camp together,
and I still have the photo of us in dress
whites when we graduated.
His letter was full of plans for the future.
He was a wonderful writer, and the Navy
was considering sending him to journalism
school. “Take it easy, ace,” he wrote, signing
off. “Things will get better.”
His wife was pregnant with a girl the last
time I saw him in the 1970s. He never did go
to that school. And life doesn’t seem to have
gotten better for John. He and his wife di-
vorced, and I have been told that he has had
serious health issues. John is totally un-
reachable, but I thrillingly found his daugh-
ter on LinkedIn.
I considered reaching out to her to help
me find her dad but hesitated. I had choked
up as I read John’s letter, and I suspected
she would, too. Would she want a glimpse of
her dad as a hopeful young man or would it
knock her down as it did me? “Who are you
again, and why are you making me cry?” I
can hear her asking.
The past is tricky and can be fat with re-
grets. I didn’t marry Susan, but I did marry
my sweetheart. I became the journalist that
John didn’t. Both of our daughters are on
the West Coast. I wish I could share that
with him.
But with the present so deadly and the fu-
ture uncertain, I decided to let John remain
unfound, and put his letter back in the box.
It’s still not empty and may never be. It
will head back to the basement, where my
other decluttering will make me feel less
guilty about holding on to it.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MB RE 7

LIVING IN BEACON, N.Y.

An Arts Hub Turned Refuge for the Pandemic-Weary

THE NEW YORK TIMES

By C. J. HUGHES
Every so often, a spotlight seems to shine on
Beacon, a city along the Hudson River near
the southern border of Dutchess County.
In Colonial times, its steep hills played a
key role for soldiers. During the industrial
era, its factories made the boater-style hats
that were all the rage. And in 2003, the open-
ing of the Dia:Beacon museum turned the
4.7-square-mile enclave into a top-tier con-
temporary arts hub.
Now, as the coronavirus crisis prompts
second thoughts about dense urban living,
Beacon seems to be a refuge for pandemic-
weary New Yorkers.
“Everything kind of led to the point where
we had to leave the city,” said Chloe Stables,
40, a new resident who arrived in Septem-
ber from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with her
husband, Tom, 41, a men’s wear designer,
and their dog, a boxer mix. PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY CENICOLA/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Their route to Beacon, which is about a

60-mile straight shot from Midtown Man-
hattan, wasn’t direct. In March, after Ms.
Stables lost her job as an executive assist-
ant for a marketing agency and Mr. Stables
was temporarily let go from his job, the cou-
ple decamped to a family house in Key West,
Fla., for a few months. When they returned
to Brooklyn in the summer so Mr. Stables
could head back to work, New York sud-
denly seemed all wrong, epitomized by the
rat that had taken up residence in their pre-
war one-bedroom rental, Ms. Stables said.
In contrast, keeping them company at
their new address — a 1920s brick house
with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a
wraparound porch for $2,800 a month, $100
less than their city rent — is Fishkill Creek,
Beacon’s bubbling showpiece.
Residents say restaurants on the mile-
plus-long Main Street require longer-than-
usual waits. And at all hours of the day, cars
pack the main parking spot for Mount Bea-
con, a popular hiking destination.
“Seeing mountains all around is inspira-
tional and relaxing,” said Andrew Berlin, 38,
a resident of the Washington Heights sec-
tion of Manhattan, who recently bought a
four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom
house in Beacon, built in the late 1800s, for
$370,000.
Mr. Berlin, an employee of a New York-
based marketing firm who has been work-
ing remotely since spring, plans to move
with his wife, Hunter Polese, and their in-
fant son at the end of the year, after renova-
tions are complete. In Beacon, Mr. Berlin
made an offer on a place a few days before
Covid hit, but he lost it, he said, to a fleeing
New Yorker able to pay in cash. Inventory
then became tight, and he didn’t see an-
other place until June.
But now, he said, “the planets have
aligned.”
Clockwise from top: Waterfalls at the east end of Main Street; a farmers’ market that takes place on Sundays; the Howland Cultural Center, which has storytelling events,
chamber-music performances and art shows; the Yankee Clipper Diner; and Mount Beacon, which is omnipresent in town, even on the mile-plus-long stretch of Main Street.

What You’ll Find
Despite green edges, Beacon — which
packs its ethnically diverse population of
14,000 into small lots — can feel a bit gritty.
Verplanck Avenue mixes late-19th-cen-
tury houses with 1960s ranches and 21st-
century colonials. Older buildings often
hide their age behind synthetic siding.
Roomy Victorians line High Street.
The subdivision-style 1980s houses be-
tween Main and the Hudson River are the
result of earlier urban-renewal efforts that
officials are now trying to reverse with
projects like the city-style West End Lofts.
The development, on Wolcott Avenue, has
72 rental units, 50 of which are set aside for
artists, and all of which lease for below-
market rents. One-bedrooms start at $715 a
month.
Several other multifamily developments
are planned, including a 64-unit property
on Tioronda Avenue that will tie into the
Fishkill Creek Greenway and Heritage
Trail, a planned bike path.
Sales and prices have surged recently,
brokers said, roaring back from the pan-
demic restrictions that reduced showings.
From March 15 to mid-October, 56 single-
family houses sold for an average of
$420,000, according to Daniel Aubry Realty.
During the same period last year, 90 such
houses sold, at an average of $373,000.
Rents range from $1,700 to $2,300 a
month, according to Zillow, for units in
apartment buildings and houses.
The Vibe
Hiking is the new scene, residents say.
Amateurs flock to the flatlands at Den-
nings Point, where a brickyard, active from
1881 to 1939, helped build Rockefeller Cen-
ter. Nearby is Madam Brett Park, where a
boardwalk skirts the ruins of the Tioronda
Hat Works near waterfalls.
Dia, a 300,000-square-foot facility in a
1929 former cracker-box factory, is one of
the largest modern-art museums in the
country.
and 53 percent met standards in math, and ON THE MARKET
at Forrestal, 58 percent met English stand-
ards and 50 percent met math standards.)
Rombout Middle School, Beacon’s only
public middle school, serves more than 660
students in grades six through eight, and
Beacon High School has an enrollment of
about 940. The high school’s graduation
rate was 87 percent in 2019, the most recent
year available; statewide, the average rate
was 83 percent. On SAT exams in 2020, the
average score in evidence-based reading
and writing was 545, compared with 528
1 East Main Street, No. 302
statewide; the average score in math was
A one-bedroom, one-bath-
539, compared with 530 statewide.
room condo in a former fac-
tory with a balcony with
mountain views, listed for
The Commute $769,000. 917-647-6823
Metro-North Railroad’s Hudson line stops
in Beacon. Six trains depart from 6 a.m. to
10 a.m. on weekday mornings, and the trip
to Grand Central Terminal takes about 1
hour 40 minutes.
If commuters buy a $388 annual permit,
they are guaranteed a parking space.
There’s currently no wait list.

What You’ll Pay The Schools

On Oct. 21, there were 24 single-family
houses listed at an average price of
$558,000, according to data prepared by
Daniel Aubry Realty.
At the low end was a vinyl-sided three-
bedroom house, built in 1985, for $245,000.
At the high end was a 1947 brick colonial
with five bedrooms, four bathrooms and a
library, listed for $1.475 million.
There were also 33 condos listed at an
average of $665,000, according to the data.
Three elementary schools — South Avenue,
Sargent and J. V. Forrestal — enroll be-
tween 250 and 350 students each. On 2019
state English and math exams, the number
of students meeting standards at all the
schools was above average nearly across
the board. (At South Avenue, 54 percent of
students met English standards, versus 45
percent statewide; 48 percent met math
standards, versus 47 percent statewide. At
Sargent, 43 percent met English standards
The History
Revolutionary War soldiers built a 30-foot-
tall fireplace-style structure atop Mount 23 North Cedar Street
Beacon — the highest peak around, at 1,610 A renovated three-bedroom,
feet — to tip off Continental forces about two-and-a-half-bathroom
approaching British troops. The plan was house, built in 1900, with an
to light the wood to send smoke signals far open kitchen with island
and wide, although there was never a need, seating, a master suite with a
according to the Beacon Historical Society. vaulted ceiling and a deck, on
To commemorate those efforts, New York 0.15 of an acre, listed for
features the mountain on its state seal. $524,900. 845-831-3331
8 RE MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

The Hunt
An Apartment in Brooklyn or a House Upstate?

She thought she could keep
her rental and buy a house.
Then came second thoughts.
By JOYCE COHEN
For six years, Ashleigh Kaneski rented a
sunny studio in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The
bare-bones kitchen had a mini-fridge;
above it was the only counter space. She
used the blender on the floor because the
cord wouldn’t reach.
“Cooking was like Tetris,” she said. “I had
to do it in phases.” The rent was $1,820 a
month.
Ms. Kaneski, 37, often hiked with friends
in the Catskills, and had become friendly
with an Airbnb owner there who lived in
Brooklyn and ran the Airbnb from a dis-
tance. “Why does everyone else have all the
fun?” she asked herself. “Why don’t I try to
do that?”
She figured she couldn’t afford to buy in
the city, but she could keep her tiny rental
and invest in a house upstate, renting it
when she wasn’t there. So a year ago, she
started hunting for a house in the Catskills,
with a budget of up to $325,000.
“I was looking at fixer-uppers, cabins,
flipped places,” said Ms. Kaneski, who
works as a user-experience designer in
Manhattan.
She found herself relieved when she lost a
bidding war on a big house.
So she switched her focus to one-bed-
room Brooklyn co-ops, and realized she
could afford to stop renting.
A colleague suggested she contact
Chelsea Hale, an agent at Triplemint.
“When Ashleigh started seeing listings in
her price point, she was pleasantly sur-
prised,” Ms. Hale said.
Hunting before the pandemic, Ms.
Kaneski had few demands. She knew a
Brooklyn co-op unit with a nice kitchen
would come with a dishwasher, and the
building would have a laundry room. “I
wanted a lifestyle improvement more than
anything — little things that I had lived
without that seemed normal to everybody
who lived outside of New York,” she said.
“The No. 1 thing was not a mini-fridge.”
Among her options:
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS WALK-UP
This one-bedroom, facing a churchyard
from the fourth floor of a walk-up building,
was nicely updated (including the kitchen)
but with plenty of prewar detail. The bed-
room was small. The price was $540,000,
with monthly maintenance in the low $800s.
The Buyer Ashleigh Kaneski, who looked at fixer-uppers, cabins, flipped places and Brooklyn co-ops. 2. PARK SLOPE WALK-UP
This rear one-bedroom, in a small walk-up
steps from Prospect Park, had a unique ren-
ovation, with tall built-in closets and a Japa-
nese-style platform bed in a sleeping al-
cove. The price was $519,000, with mainte-
nance in the mid $800s.
3. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS WITH ELEVATOR
This rear-facing one-bedroom in a six-story
prewar elevator building had an updated
kitchen and bathroom, plus garden views
and a foyer with two closets. The price was
$599,000, with maintenance in the mid
$700s.
HER CHOICE
The Brooklyn Heights walk-up was charm-
ing, but the bedroom had space for little
more than a bed. The apartment had been
featured on StreetEasy’s Instagram page as
the “most popular of the week,” and Ms.
Kaneski thought it seemed overhyped. It
later sold for $590,000.
At the Park Slope walk-up, she liked most
of the built-ins but was indifferent to the bed
in its little nook. “It was a little weird, but
ROBERT WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
every place has a thing that you’re not going
to like about it,” she said. That place later
‘I’ve started to become handy. I bought a drill and have sold for $640,000.
been installing shelves. It’s been a fun project to have.’ She chose the one-bedroom in the eleva-
tor building, paying $580,000.
“It was different from everything else,”
Ms. Hale said. “It was an elevator prewar
The Options building that was really well maintained.
Ashleigh realized it was a diamond in the
1 A one-bedroom, facing a 2 A one-bedroom in a small 3 A one-bedroom in a rough. It had been sitting empty for a
churchyard from the walk-up, with tall built-in six-story prewar elevator while.”
fourth floor of a walk-up, was closets and a Japanese-style building had an updated Ms. Kaneski had some renovation done
nicely updated but with plenty platform bed in a sleeping kitchen and bathroom, and a before arriving in late spring, and then did a
of prewar detail. alcove. foyer with two closets. few things herself. “I’ve started to become
handy,” she said. “I bought a drill and have
been installing shelves. It’s been a fun
project to have.”
The Brooklyn Heights location cuts her
subway commute to Manhattan in half, al-
though she is currently working from home.
“I have two rooms to go into,” she said, “so
during a pandemic it is great. I can work in
one room and retire for the evening in an-
other room.”
She also relishes her new kitchen, which
came with more than an island’s worth of
counter space. She’s cooking more and eat-
ing takeout less, and bought a big, new re-
frigerator.
“I don’t have to go to the grocery store ev-
ery two days,” she said. “I’m not blending on
the floor anymore.”
EMAIL thehunt@nytimes.com

What’s Selling Now

AROUND $1 MILLION

$1,150,000 $1,145,000 $925,000

207 St. James Place, No. 2R 33 Mayhew Avenue 337 East 50th Street, No. 1D
Clinton Hill Larchmont Turtle Bay

Brooklyn Westchester Manhattan

13 weeks on the market 17 weeks on the market 48 weeks on the market
$1,150,000 list price $1,120,000 list price $1,100,000 list price
0% above list price 2% above list price 16% below list price
Size 3 bedrooms, 1 bath Size 4 bedrooms, 1½ baths Size 1 bedroom, 1½ baths
Details A 995-square-foot condo Details A 113-year-old, 2,528- Details An 800-square-foot du-
with a living room with a bay square-foot house with a living plex co-op with an electric fire-
window, and a home office, in a room that has a coffered ceiling place and French doors to a
walk-up building with a part-time and fireplace, a sunroom with a 450-square-foot garden in a
superintendent. fireplace, and a bedroom with a nondoorman building.
Costs $300 a month in common terrace, on 0.13 of an acre. Costs $2,067 a month in mainte-
charges; $299 a month in taxes Costs $28,105 a year in taxes nance
Listing broker Halstead Listing broker Douglas Elliman Listing broker Corcoran Group

$901,000 $1,135,000
1 Roseanne Drive
Woodbury

Connecticut Long Island

11 weeks on the market
$1,098,000 list price
196 West Norwalk Road
3% above list price
Norwalk
Size 4 bedrooms, 2½ baths
11 weeks on the market
Details A 2,762-square-foot
$889,000 list price
house with stainless-steel appli-
1% above list price
ances, a living room with hard-
Size 3 bedrooms, 2½ baths wood floors, a master suite with
Details A 3,960-square-foot two walk-in closets, and a pool, on
expanded 1872 schoolhouse, with 0.2 of an acre.
an open kitchen that has a fire- Costs $21,900 in taxes a year
place and a breakfast bar, a for- Listing broker Douglas Elliman
mal dining room, a first-floor
master suite and a pool, on 1.25
acres.

$985,000
205 10th Street, No. 3B
Costs $13,409 a year in taxes
Jersey City
Listing broker Halstead
New Jersey
12 weeks on the market
$999,000 list price
1% below list price
Size 1 bedroom, 2 baths
Details A 1,650-square-foot
condo with 16-foot ceilings,
exposed columns, a sleeping loft
and a home office in a doorman
building with a gym.
Costs $12,836 a year in taxes;
$648 a month, common charges
Listing broker Sawyer Smith

COMPILED BY C.J. HUGHES

The list price is the asking price when the property came on the market with the most recent broker.
The time on the market is from the most recent listing to the closing date. Email: realestatesold@nytimes.com

In Bushwick, a Ghost of Breweries Past
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
was rotted,” Mr. Swift said. “If I hadn’t got-
ten that building when I did, it wouldn’t still
be standing.”
Mr. Swift bought the place with an artist
friend, Lisa Schachner, who cobbled togeth-
er the $40,000 purchase price by selling a
David Hockney print and several small
Mark di Suvero sculptures, then borrowing
the balance from her parents. For his part,
Mr. Swift, a jack-of-all-trades with an ar-
senal of tools, spent the next six years re-
suscitating the magnificent ruin.
Now the spiffily renovated brewery office
at 31 Belvidere Street is on the market,
through Nathan Horne of Compass, for
$3.99 million, a whisker less than 100 times
what Ms. Schachner paid for it 35 years ago.
“I need to get on with my life, and I need
the finances to do it,” she said, noting that
she hasn’t lived in the building since 1991.
“We both have different directions that
we’re going in, and we need to move on.”
Separated into two one-story units, the
roughly 6,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom
building includes an attached stable at the
back with wide, segmentally arched doors
that once admitted horses and wagons.
Light enters the building through round-
arched windows on three sides and four
skylights, one of them stained glass.
At the same time, the neighboring four-
story brewery is also in play. Travis Stabler,
a developer whose office occupies the sec-
ond floor of the old brewery office, bought
the three conjoined brewery buildings next
door with two partners, MacArthur Hold-
ings and Brightsky Investments, for $14
million in 2018. They had hoped to trans-
form the hulking structures into retail and
office space for lease, potentially with a
craft brewery operating both above ground
and in the cavernous cellars.
But the Covid-19 pandemic crushed their
plans as abruptly as Prohibition killed the
William Ulmer Brewery exactly 100 years
ago.
“Pre-Covid we were close to a deal with a
high-end, James Beard Award-winning
baker,” Mr. Stabler said. Now, he added, “we
are going back to square one.”
THE WILLIAM ULMER Brewery complex,
which was designated a city landmark in
2010, is a largely intact remnant of an era
when as many as 45 breweries operated in
Brooklyn, many concentrated in the heavily
German areas of Bushwick and Williams-
burg. The district was favored by German
brewers in part because of its soft soil,
which allowed for easy excavation to create
the cool, underground caves required to
produce lager.
Numerous Brooklyn breweries died of
thirst after the National Prohibition Act
went into effect in 1920. The industry re-
vived after the act’s repeal in 1933 but was
again badly damaged by a labor strike in
1949, which allowed big national Midwest-
ern brewers like Anheuser-Busch and
Miller to invade the New York market in
force.
By 1952, just four Brooklyn brewers were
left, and in 1976, the borough’s last two,
Rheingold and Schaefer, were shuttered,
done in by high local costs and the ineffi-
ciencies of their aging plants. Housing,
some of it very upscale, has been built on
former Rheingold and Schaefer sites.
After a decade-long dry spell, Brooklyn
Brewery brought the brewmaster’s art
back to Kings County, selling its first batch
of Brooklyn Lager in 1988 and opening a fac-
tory in Williamsburg in 1996. The compa-
ny’s retro label — designed by Milton Gla-
ser with a looping “B” evocative of both
classic German beer labels and the Brook-
lyn Dodgers — projected a renewed pride in
Brooklyn.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
ABOVE AND BELOW, STEFANO UKMAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Today the borough is a place of special
ferment, home to 25 breweries, according to
the New York City Brewers Guild. Many op-
erate in the same neighborhoods as their
forebears: six in Williamsburg and Green-
point, and another seven in Bushwick and
in the adjacent Queens neighborhood of
Ridgewood. Seven more are clustered in
and around the greater Gowanus area.
Many of these new brew houses are
small, niche operations, another echo of the
late 19th century.
“I have a collection of old New York City
brewery bottles, and lots of the brewers
were tiny, selling to their neighborhood,”
said Steve Hindy, a co-founder of Brooklyn
Brewery. “What’s happened today is, I
think, a back-to-the-future of that model:
The breweries that came back are making
most of their money at that location in their
tasting rooms.”
The William Ulmer Brewery, by contrast,
grew to be a major producer.
Mr. Ulmer, a German native, immigrated
to America around 1850 at age 17 and took a
job at a New York City brewery owned by
two uncles. He rose to the position of brew
master at a second family firm before co-
founding the Vigelius & Ulmer Continental
Lagerbier Brewery in the early 1870s.
The company’s redbrick brew house rose
on the corner of Belvidere and Beaver
Streets in 1872 and was expanded to the
west nine years later, according to research
by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Com-
STREETSCAPES
DIANE ALTMAN
Clockwise from top: a
late-19th-century illustration of
the William Ulmer Brewery
complex; a wagon house
attached to the back of the old
brewery office; a kitchen within
the office building; the stained
glass window, which features
the brewery’s logo; a
second-floor room with
round-arched windows; the
Romanesque Revival exterior
of the office, which is on 31
Belvidere Street. Below, the
interior of the brew house.
STEFANO UKMAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
ABOVE AND BELOW, STEFANO UKMAR FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
mission. Both sections were designed in the
American round arch style common to
breweries of the period, featuring project-
ing brick pilasters and intricate pedimented
parapets with zigzag-patterned brickwork.
At ground level, a broad, round-arched
door on Beaver Street accommodated
horses and wagons. Up top, a ventilating
tower was handsomely fitted out with a
four-sided mansard roof pierced by round-
arched dormers.
In 1885, Mr. Ulmer, by then the brewery’s
sole owner, undertook a major building pro-
gram. The architect was Theobald Eng-
elhardt, a Brooklyn-born German-Ameri-
can, who designed many breweries as well
as other prominent local buildings, like St.
John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Greenpoint.
To keep pace both with increasing de-
mand and technological innovation, the
Belvidere Street side of the brew house was
extended by the addition of a machine
house and a two-story boiler house, both in
a matching American round arch style. The
eye-catching new office was separated from
the boiler house by a passageway with an
ornate iron gate.
“There is somehow more shine, more glit-
ter, more ostentation of wealth about the la-
ger beer establishments” than was typical
at breweries that produced English-style
ale, The Brooklyn Eagle observed in 1886.
The Ulmer office won special admiration
from the reporter, who noted that “the
counting houses” of Ulmer’s brewery and
two of its Bushwick brethren “are not sur-
passed by anything of the kind in Broadway
and Wall Street.”
THE ULMER OFFICE was expanded at the
rear around 1890 with the addition of an at-
tached wagon house and stable. The stable
had a round-arched doorway at the back,
now bricked up, that gave access to a con-
tiguous new three-story brick stable and
storage building fronting Locust Street.
That brewery storage building, which
came to include a cooperage for making
beer barrels, is today divided into resi-
dential lofts. At the top of the Locust Street
facade is a damaged terra-cotta roundel
with a missing ornament, possibly another
Ulmer trademark “U” swiped by a gargoyle
hunter.
When the Ulmer Brewery was shuttered
by Prohibition in 1920, Mr. Ulmer’s heirs
moved into the real estate business, retain-
ing the office and its attached wagon house
and stable. In 1952, the Ulmer office was
sold to an electrical appliance manufactur-
er, which in turn sold it to Acme Lanterns, a
company that made lighting fixtures in a
loft building next door.
Acme, which was owned by a Romanian-
born immigrant named Max Kushner, used
the old brewery office for storage and to
house big metal presses, one of which cost
Mr. Kushner a finger, said Diane Altman, his
MB RE 9
granddaughter.
When Mrs. Altman and her husband,
Neil, walked into the old brewery office for
the first time around 1968, they were as-
tounded — despite the general filth — by the
fine cherry wood wainscoting, the fire-
places, the roll-top desks and the nine-and-
a-half-foot doors with clouded glass, on
which were etched words like “Private
Room” and “Directors Room.”
“It was like a castle in decay,” Mrs. Alt-
man said, “but still recognizable as some-
thing beautiful and magnificent.”
Most striking “was a little vestibule with
a stained-glass window from 1872,” Mr. Alt-
man added. “It was exactly like the ‘U’ sym-
bol on the top of the building.” With Mr.
Kushner’s permission, the couple took the
window to their home on Staten Island.
By the time Ms. Schachner and Mr. Swift
bought the rain-rotted office in 1985, it was
crammed with brass parts from the lamp
business and virtually every surface had
been covered with ugly brown paint, includ-
ing the moldings, which were of solid cherry
wood nine inches wide and four inches
deep. “Jay had this group of artist friends
and they would help come and fix up our
place,” Ms. Schachner recalled. “It was like
a barn raising.”
At the brewery’s peak, its buildings had
stood on three sides of a courtyard that to-
day is mostly taken up by a modern, one-
In 1886, the Ulmer office
won the admiration of
The Brooklyn Eagle.
story cold-storage building. But a narrow
section of the courtyard, paved with origi-
nal Belgian blocks, survives alongside the
office and stable.
Mr. Swift surmised that horse-drawn
wagons would be loaded with beer in the
courtyard, and the delivery men would step
into a vestibule inside the office’s side en-
trance.
“There was a little window I took out, and
they’d say how many barrels were going out
and where they were taking it to — this bar
and this bar and this bar,” Mr. Swift said.
The window was etched with the words
“Collectors Window,” he added, and it “was
at an odd height because someone probably
sat at a desk on the other side.”
While living in and restoring the building,
Mr. Swift scraped off the brown ceiling paint
and was amazed to discover an artwork
that only a brewer would commission: a
fresco of barley and hops.
The brewery buildings next door have
also been a source of archaeological discov-
eries. On the south wall of the boiler house
are the remnants of arched apertures now
sealed with bricks. The ghostly outlines of a
chute can also be seen slanting down to a
trough in the southwest corner that was re-
vealed by a recent excavation, right be-
neath the spot where a 19th-century illus-
tration shows the brewery’s great chimney.
(The chimney has long since been re-
moved.)
Mr. Stabler, the developer, said that coal
was likely delivered through the arched
windows, then directed to the boiler in the
corner. “This is the room where you’d have
giant pots where you’d heat up the mix,” he
said.
LAGER WAS TYPICALLY produced with a
three-vessel system, said Mr. Hindy, the
Brooklyn Brewery co-founder. After steep-
ing in a vessel called a mash tun, barley was
pumped into a big strainer called a lauter
tun, which strained off the liquid, known as
wort. The wort was then pumped into a
brew kettle, which would be brought to a
rolling boil by steam pumped through coils
from the boiler. At that point hops, a flower-
ing perennial that imparted bitterness and
aroma to the wort, were added.
The hot wort was then pumped into a fer-
menter, and as it cooled, yeast was added to
start the fermentation that would create a
beverage containing alcohol and carbon di-
oxide — in a word, beer. The final stage of
production was the cold storage, or “la-
gering,” of the beer in the brewery’s three
cavernous cellar levels. The deepest cellar,
40 feet below grade, has five chambers with
14-foot vaulted ceilings.
Because such storage caves were some-
times not naturally cold enough, especially
in summer, New York brewers often used
ice harvested from the Hudson River. But
by 1887, a landmarks commission report
notes, maps showed that an ice machine
had been installed on the second floor of the
machine house.
When Mr. Stabler and his partners
bought the brewery, they were intrigued by
a section of the back wall in the first sub-
basement of the brew house, which was
covered with Sheetrock. When they ripped
out that drywall, they discovered a broad,
brick-lined shaft under the former court-
yard. Mr. Stabler speculated that the shaft
might have been used for an elevator or
block-and-tackle system to haul soil up-
stairs when the cellars were being excavat-
ed. Such a mechanism could also have been
employed to convey beer barrels between
the cellars and the courtyard level, where a
one-story keg-filling room, since demol-
ished, was built in the mid-1880s.
Although the brewery office has been
rented primarily as residences since the
1990s and the brew house has been empty
since its previous owner, an importer,
cleared out his millions of bargain knick-
knacks, the buildings all still have the un-
mistakable aura of places purpose-built for
hard, efficient work.
In the 12 years Mr. Swift lived in the office,
he operated a stone-working business out of
the stable and made sculpture there, too. He
had a stone shop, a metal shop and a wood
shop, as well as a forge and a mini-forklift.
“That building was so easy to work out
of,” he remembered fondly. “The way Mr.
Ulmer built his building made it easy for
him to work out of it. It’s approached from
such an honest plan of design, of operation,
of quality, that it functions.”
 10 RE MB
Let’s Spend the Pandemic Together
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
who had been living in a studio in Clinton
Hill, Brooklyn.
Mr. Englert, who works in digital adver-
tising, said: “After working from home for
the first three months, I was like, ‘I just need
to see someone on a regular basis — not
planned or social distancing.’ I feel so much
less anxious. I’m not thinking, ‘When is the
next time I’m going to see someone I
know?’”
The friends moved into a two-bedroom,
two-bath apartment by McCarren Park in
Greenpoint, Brooklyn, this July, which not
only eased their solitude, they also got a lot
more space, including a private balcony,
and significantly reduced their respective
rents.
“It’s been really, really great; I’m sur-
prised I didn’t live with someone sooner,”
Mr. Jenkinson said. “During the day, we’re
both working, and in the evenings we’ll
watch TV and hang out. Even the small in-
teractions make such a big difference.
When I’m taking a lunch break, I can come
out and chat a little bit versus living in com-
plete silence.”
Chelsea Hale, the Triplemint real estate
agent who found the apartment for Mr.
Jenkinson and Mr. Englert, said that she
had seen several other clients leaving be-
hind solo living situations to move in togeth-
er. She has also seen a lot of desirable stu-
dios lingering on the market.
“I had a listing on the Upper East Side —
an $1,800 studio in a doorman building,
which would normally be very coveted but
this year was really hard to fill,” Ms. Hale
said. “The apartments that are renting right
now are one-bedrooms for couples or two-
bedrooms for roommates.”
Indeed, while rental prices have dropped
across all categories, studios have had
some of the biggest decreases. The average
price for a Manhattan studio dropped 13.8
percent, to $2,456, in September from the
same month last year, according to a mar-
ket report from Douglas Elliman. Manhat-
tan two-bedrooms, on the other hand, were
down 4.2 percent year over year, with an av-
erage rent of $4,817.
The desire for roommate camaraderie is
such that Melinda Sicari, an associate bro-
ker with Douglas Elliman, has seen not only
a lot of people moving from studios into two-
bedroom shares, but also high demand for
five- and six-bedroom apartments with
prices that pencil out, per room, to roughly
the same as smaller, traditionally more pop-
ular shares.
“I’ve been surprised by the traffic on
larger apartments,” she said. “Being alone
for months, not going into an office, people
got really lonely.”
This summer, Chris Hattar and five room-
mates moved into a six-bedroom financial
district share, one of Ms. Sicari’s listings.
Before the pandemic, Mr. Hattar, 24, had
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
paid $1,000 a month. “I’d found the spot on
Craigslist, and in normal times it was all
that I needed,” he said. “It was fine.”
But despite having no issues with his
roommates, “the stress of the world collaps-
ing, and living with people I wasn’t particu-
larly close to was hard.” When the opportu-
nity came up to live with a friend in a three-
bedroom in Crown Heights, also in Brook-
lyn, he hesitated — rent was $250 more a
month — but moving in turned out to be a
great decision.
He was furloughed from his job for three
months, and during that time broke his col-
larbone in a bike accident; his life, which
LEFT AND ABOVE, ROBERT WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
had been largely apartment-based before,
became even more so. Living with a good
friend made all the difference. (Their third
roommate has spent much of the pandemic
out of town.)
“Now we spend an obscene amount of
time together,” he said. “I went from taking
walks alone to always having someone to
talk to. We tell each other stuff that’s room-
mate privilege — meaning it can’t leave the
apartment. We’ve gotten way closer; she’s
one of my best friends.”
And while the end of the pandemic, when-
ever and however it comes, may lead to a
surge in solo living, at least some have be-
come converts.
Estefania Martinez-Aleman, 22, spent the
LEFT AND ABOVE, KATHERINE MARKS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES last four years in a Midtown Manhattan
one-bedroom that her parents rented for
been living with two of the same roommates Top left, Marc Jenkinson, left, apartments to share with friends, according her when she was a freshman at Fordham
in a Murray Hill flex two-bedroom, with a and Peter Englert, volleyball to Robert Morgenstern, the founder and University; they wanted to be able to stay
third bedroom created from a partial wall in teammates, were each living principal at Canvas Property Group, a New with her when they visited from Miami.
the living room. Three other friends from solo, but when the pandemic York-based real estate services firm. “I didn’t really choose to live alone,” Ms.
Williams College lived upstairs in a similar arrived, they decided to share “There are a lot of people who have great Martinez-Aleman said. But she didn’t mind
setup. The friends from the two apartments a two-bedroom apartment, relationships with their parents and are it, either. She had a very active social life,
would often socialize on weekends, but after top right, to help ease the happy at home, but that’s not universal,” Mr. and friends would often stay over at her
the coronavirus, neither half-size living solitude. Above left, Estefania Morgenstern said. “After four or five place if they were hanging out in Manhat-
room was an ideal venue for socializing or Martinez-Aleman, right, and months, a lot of people were done. They’d tan.
working. her college friend Isabelle rather sign a lease with friends in the city But after she and a college friend, Isa-
By moving together into an $11,000-a- Wood decided to move into a than work from home in isolation at their belle Wood, went to her parents’ house for
month six-bedroom in the financial district, two-bedroom, above right, in parents’ house.” spring break — a trip that stretched to
all the roommates doubled the size of their Stuyvesant Heights, And, given that so much social life in the months because of the coronavirus — they
daily social circle, got an actual bedroom, Brooklyn, after a spring coming months will be apartment-based, decided to move into a two-bedroom in
reduced their rent slightly and gained a big, break vacation in Miami people want not only spaces suitable for Stuyvesant Heights, Brooklyn, together.
loft-style living and dining room where they turned into a monthslong cooking, working and hanging out in, but “It’s definitely been comforting living to-
can watch the latest Netflix show or sports. quarantine with Ms. roommates they actually want to do all gether during the coronavirus,” said Ms.
“It feels reminiscent of old times,” Mr. Martinez-Aleman’s parents. those things with. Martinez-Aleman, adding that it has also
Hattar said. “We can socialize and not be “People are posting listings that say: ‘I no been amazing for her health. “Before, I
isolated.” During the day, he said, “there’s longer want to live with strangers. I want to would order in, order in. Now, I have a
an office camaraderie” with roommates live with friends or roommates who will be- buddy, we go to the supermarket together,
working side-by-side in the open living/din- come my friends,’ ” said Stephanie Dia- pick out what we want to eat for the week
ing room and going out to pick up lunch mond, the founder of Listings Project, a and cook healthy meals.”
together. weekly newsletter of real estate and other But what she really loves about living
There is one downside, however: Conver- ‘It feels reminiscent of opportunities. “People are looking for spon- with a friend is that while there’s always
sation can occasionally get in the way of old times. We can taneity. They don’t want to have to text someone around whose company she en-
work. “Because we’re all friends, someone socialize and not be someone and set up a time to get together. joys, she never feels pressured to hang out.
will make a comment and we’ll get rolling They want someone who can just join them “Before, whenever I was with friends, I
and 30 minutes will go by,” he said. isolated.’ in the living room.” felt like I had to entertain, like we’d have
Although many people in their 20s left the Before the coronavirus, Mike Hurowitz, a these insane dinners,” Ms. Martinez-
city to stay with family at the start of the 30-year-old tech recruiter, was perfectly Aleman said. “Now, I don’t feel that. I’m just
pandemic, a lot of them have since decided happy living with three roommates in living my life. We can have a lemonade to-
to return. And what they want are spacious Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, where he gether and talk again in four hours.”
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2 SUNDAY ROUTINE 4 VOTING

‘A lot can go wrong. I’ve Younger New Yorkers join

been stung over 500 times.’ the ranks of poll workers . . .
3 BIG CITY 9 PROTESTING

Ginia Bellafante on disparities . . . and older Manhattanites

in testing for the coronavirus. join the fight for racial justice.

NEW YORK CITY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

MB

First, 40 Deaths. Now, 40 Layoffs.

A Staten Island nursing home hit
hard by Covid-19 in the spring
is grappling with new fears.
By JOHN LELAND
On a recent morning on Staten Island, the
quiet at Clove Lakes Health Care and Re-
habilitation Center was unsettling. Employ-
ees in sanitary gowns and face masks
moved through a brightly decorated front
area devoid of residents or chatter.
Six months ago, the nursing home was
one of the deadliest places in the city, with
40 residents dying in the course of a month.
Now the workers who cared for them, some-
times holding their hands as they died, face
a second crisis: The home recently laid off
more than 40 employees, and others fear
they will be next.
“It’s not good,” said Jeanna Engelman, a
speech pathologist at the home, speaking
with an openness that has been rare among
nursing home workers. In the worst times,
the intensity of the work built camaraderie
among the staff, fueled by fear and the risks
they shared. But now, she said, all they can The height of the pandemic has
do is worry. “Every time we get paged, we eased at Clove Lakes Health
wonder why.” Care and Rehabilitation Center
Theirs are the untold stories of the pan- on Staten Island, which in April
demic: the nursing home workers who re- had two Covid units. But fewer
ported daily to the viral hot zones, often in residents means greater
facilities without proper protective equip- worries about staff cuts.
Photographs by ment, and who now face a fiscal crisis be-
Christopher Occhicone yond their control. Most never spoke pub-
licly about their experiences because the
homes did not let them.
At Clove Lakes, the administration al-
lowed the photographer Christopher
Occhicone inside beginning in April, when ‘People were very
two units were filled with Covid-positive
residents. Employees have spoken with afraid. But nursing
rare candor about their experiences, both is a calling.’
during the first wave, when people did not
know who would die or get sick tomorrow,
and in the current financial crash, when
they worry when the next layoffs will strike.
The crisis is not unique to Clove Lakes. In
an August survey of homes nationwide,
over half said they were operating at a loss.
Nearly three-quarters said they could not
last another year if things did not change.
“It’s horrible,” said Lorri Senk, the ad-
ministrator at Clove Lakes, where revenues
have fallen by half, even with the infection
rate now close to zero, because patients are
afraid to go there. “People are being told by
the doctors at the hospital, ‘Don’t take your
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
2 MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

SUNDAY ROUTINE
N I C K H O E F LY

Tending to His Home, and Theirs

BEL PRIZE
F THE NO
WINNER O

N
PA U L K RU G M A
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONAH MARKOWITZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Five years ago, Nick Hoefly picked up his

first queen bee in Pennsylvania, and
drove her, along with 12,000 of her
buzzing subjects, to his home in Queens.
Within months his bees had more than
doubled, to 30,000. “It was terrifying to
deal with them,” said Mr. Hoefly, 35. But it
was exciting, too, he added. “It was the
same exhilaration when you go over the
first drop of a roller coaster.” He ordered
E more hives, which produced honey, which
TH
, AND Mr. Hoefly started to sell. What was once
P O L ITICS R E
S, FUTU
a hobby developed into a business. Now
OMIC TTER
ECON A B E Mr. Hoefly and his wife, Ashley Hoefly,
T FOR
FIGH
34, a financial director at Columbia Uni-
versity, are the owners of Astor Apiaries,
a full-service bee company. “This will be a
good honey year,” Mr. Hoefly said. “With
everyone staying home, there was less
disruption of green spaces and more
forages for the bees. Bees don’t know
there’s a pandemic. They just know the
dandelions that are usually mowed down
weren’t.” The Hoeflys live with their son,
Parker, 5, and daughter, Olivia, 3, in
Astoria. ALIX STRAUSS

GREASY SPOON D.I.Y. I’m up at 7 because we

hear the kids playing. My wife starts break-
fast. I come down 15 to 30 minutes later and
make coffee, black with sugar. Before Covid,
we’d go to the Neptune Diner or Mike’s
—DAVID CAY JOHNSTON Diner, which are in our neighborhood. I love
diners. Now we have breakfast at home:
pancakes, French toast or eggs and bacon.

RADIO LISTENER I get into my Toyota Camry.

Bee boxes and tools are in the back seat. I
drive down the B.Q.E., listening to what-
ever is on the radio for the next 40 minutes
“In an era when facts until I get to Green-Wood Cemetery, one of
our clients.

are too often STACKED BEES I pick up equipment and clean

disdained and discarded,
Paul Krugman
wields them like a rapier.
up the bee room at Green-Wood, which can
get sticky from all the honey. They have 20
hives that are in two areas. Their hive style
is called Langstroth boxes, which are
stacked on top of each other and look like
filing cabinets. They own the bees and
honey; I’m hired to take care of them.

GEAR When I get out of the car, I pull out my

A brilliant scholar bee jacket. It’s not a full astronaut suit, but it
does have a mesh veil attached to it that
[whose] incisive flips over my head and zips around my
neck. I don’t have any aggressive bees, so
I’m not as worried about my legs.
columns are a beacon IT STINGS My goal is to make bees, as op-
for anyone who cares posed to honey, so it’s more of a hive nurs-
ery. I pull out frames and make sure the
queen bees haven’t died and that she’s lay-
about public policy ing eggs, which can be 2,000 per day right
now. I also check that nothing is causing dis-
and progressive change.” ease. A lot can go wrong. I’ve been stung
over 500 times. It always hurts. The sting is
like a needle. The venom, when it goes in, is
—DAVID AXELROD what causes the sting. I’ve not built up a tol-
erance, but I’ve gotten smarter. I don’t Park.” Once the remote is in their hands
bump them or elicit anything that causes An urban beekeeper’s they have “Bluey,” an Australian cartoon
defensive behavior. focus is on making about dogs, on repeat. By 5:30 we sit down
more of the insects, to eat. Maybe it’s hamburgers, meatloaf or
HIVES AMONG TOMBSTONES During fall and baked chicken.
“The most celebrated winter, bees start to die, so I drop off the un-
used boxes in the bee room. During sum-
as opposed to honey.
ZEN OF BEES Sometimes I’ll sit on the roof for

economist mer we might have 50,000 to 60,000 per box.

Right now it’s about 30,000. The hives are
among the tombstones. I admire the archi-
of his generation.” tecture and art in the monuments, but there
are no ghostly hauntings. People can walk
up to a hive if they want, but I don’t recom-
—The Economist mend it. They watch me and take photos. I
answer questions and explain what I’m do-
ing. When the pandemic hit, there was a
huge surge of people who wanted to get out
of their houses and walk around the ceme-
tery. Now it’s normal attendance.
HONEY ON THE MOVE On the way home I’ll de-
liver a case of our honey to one of the cheese
W. W. Norton shops that sell them, like Monger’s Palate or
Murray’s Cheese. I’m also working with
way to bring attention to pollinators. I drop
off honey to them as well.
CHECK-IN I’m home by 2. I check on the kids
and kiss my wife, who, during this time,
might have reorganized part of our apart-
ment. She’s also getting her master’s, so she
might be working on a paper. I’ll chill for a
bit and make a ham sandwich.
ENERGY BURN Last month I started taking the
kids to Astoria Park again to burn energy
from 2:30 to 4. We live on a community
block with older folks who are like grand-
parents to my kids. For months we’ve been
standing on the sidewalk and speaking to
them from their door. When Covid started,
10 to 20 minutes and watch the bees. It’s 100
percent relaxing. You can sit fairly close if
you’re still and relaxed, and they will fly
around you. It’s a cool feeling to be in the
middle of a big cloud of bees.
WEB WORK I catch up on administrative
tasks. I use a service called Later. It’s a so-
cial media tool that lets you upload images
and captions and then automatically posts
them at a specific time. I plan out three or
four bee or honey posts. I run an online local
honey directory for beekeepers, so if you
want to find one in Cheyenne, Wyo., you
can. I’ll work on that, and I’ll reach out to
my web developer.

& Company some bartenders for the Aberfeldy Garden-

Independent Publishers Since 1923
www.wwnorton.com
ing Giveback Project, which grows commu-
nity-style gardens of herbs, flowers and
plants for bees to pollinate. The bartenders
use the herbs and honey in their cocktails.
It’s hard to do during Covid, but it’s a good
Sunday Routine readers can follow Nick Hoefly
on Instagram and Twitter @astorapiaries and
@nycbeekeeper.
we ordered a monthly subscription activity
box called KiwiCo crate. We’re trying to find
ways to keep them motivated. Last week we
built kites and flew them in the park. Or
they ride their scooters on the walking
paths.
‘BLUEY’ AND A BITEMy wife starts making
dinner around 4:30 while we pick a family
movie. My kids are really into “Jurassic
TV FOR TWO By 9, my wife and I are on the
couch watching a movie. We started watch-
ing “Schitt’s Creek” after all that blowup at
the Emmys, or something trending on Net-
flix, like “The Social Dilemma.” We’ve fallen
into the routine of getting news on our
phones, so we’re on them, too. My wife falls
asleep first, then it comes over me. Bees are
exhausting. I’ll get up, and if she hears me
we both go upstairs to bed at 10.

Getting tested is easier than it was, but disseminating information about the city’s 200 testing sites has proved to be a hurdle.
Another Great Divide: Coronavirus Testing
THIS PAST WEEK, in an anxious nation
where nearly any encounter with a screen
has become triggering, Kim Kardashian
West took a shot with all her firepower,
announcing plans for her 40th birthday. To
the undoing of Twitter, she noted that she
had flown friends and family to a private
island to pretend “things were normal just
for a brief moment.” The pandemic at the
heart of the current peculiarities was
easily circumvented by quarantine and
“two weeks of multiple health screens.”
Covid cases are now rising around the
country, with the prospect of the holidays
heightening the fear of a huge new wave.
In an effort to avert further disaster, may-
ors and governors have begun to preach a
doctrine of mirthlessness to American
families — this will be the year of pie
eaten alone in front of an iPad. Many will
have little choice but to comply.
Others, however, will find a way to
create their own private islands, traveling
to places where they will sit at long com-
munal tables, conviviality unhindered. The
difference, in many instances, will come
down to testing, access to which has be-
come another needless point of division
amid the gripping upheaval.
In New York, the disparities are unmis-
takable. Recently, Wil Lieberman-Cribbin,
a doctoral student in environmental health
at Columbia, tabulated the prevalence of
coronavirus testing in the city, during the
months of September and October, accord-
ing to ZIP code.
Overwhelmingly, the wealthiest neigh-
borhoods — in fact, most of Manhattan
below 110th Street — showed the highest
rates of testing, while the poorest neigh-
borhoods, in central Brooklyn and the
South Bronx, for example, largely corre-
lated with the lowest. In some instances,
the differences between the most affluent
communities and the least advantaged
were four times as great.
So many months into the pandemic,
these inequities might have been cor-
rected; instead they have simply been left
to persist. In September, Mr. Lieberman-
Cribbin, in conjunction with fellow re-
searchers, published a paper in The Amer-
ican Journal of Preventive Medicine that
looked at analogous testing data for March
EMAIL bigcity@nytimes.com; follow
Ginia Bellafante on Twitter: @GiniaNYT
READER COMMENTS
Privileged Hear a Curious Word: ‘No’
Readers responded by letter and at
nytimes.com to Ginia Bellafante’s column
last Sunday about a dispute over homeless
people housed in an Upper West Side hotel.
Comments have been edited.
MS. BELLAFANTE MISCHARACTERIZES both
those who recently vandalized my family’s
home and my role as a lawyer when she
says my efforts “ignite[d] the fury of pro-
testers . . . who defaced” it, as if I deserved
to be victimized and had brought this upon
myself. She calls the perpetrators of this
vandalism “protesters on the other side of
the debate” on homeless housing. But these
weren’t “protesters”; they’re criminals who
should be brought to justice. To terrorize
the home of a lawyer’s family because of
his advocacy on behalf of clients is repre-
hensible. These are serious issues involving
the homeless that deserve serious debate.
There is no place in that debate for vandal-
ism of a lawyer’s family home.
She also misrepresents what I and my
clients aim to achieve. It is not to “get the
unhoused out of view.” It is to stop housing
homeless adults in single-room occupancy
hotels ill equipped to provide them the
services they require and, instead, see to it
that they return to proper, safe shelters
where they will get all of the services they
need on-site. That is the humane and com-
passionate thing to do, not to leave them
doubled-up and unsupported in S.R.O. ho-
tels. We made that case to the mayor. He
went to the site to see for himself, and con-
cluded that what he saw was “not accept-
able and had to be addressed.” And it inev-
itably will be, because moving this vulnera-
ble population into proper, safe shelters with
better housing and necessary support serv-
ices on-site is the right thing to do.
RANDY M. MASTRO, NEW YORK
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
GINIA BELLAFANTE BIG CITY
and April and found a similar imbalance.
The authors concluded that widespread
testing and public-health outreach was
urgently needed in the city’s most vulnera-
ble populations.
As it happened, the tide took things in a
different direction. In effect, testing
among the privileged was routinized. It
became a function of neurosis; of a return
to office work or private school; of an iron
will to avoid certain constraints and sacri-
fices in lifestyle. In recent years, urgent-
care centers have come to fill gentrified
neighborhoods, making it no harder to get
a Covid test in many places than it is to
pick up a box of Raisin Bran; concierge
medicine, delivering quick results, has
filled other parts of the void.
As Emanuela Taioli, the director of the
Institute for Translational Epidemiology at
Mount Sinai, pointed out, testing in Man-
hattan has evolved as a mechanism for
Among the well-off,
it’s routine. For many
others, it’s a disaster.
screening and contact tracing, while in
low-income communities, it has been
deployed more narrowly as a diagnostic
tool for those already experiencing symp-
toms or otherwise at high risk.
This is not the way to contain a virus.
What concerns public-health experts is
that high rates of positivity have emerged
in areas with low rates of testing, which
suggests that infection could be much
more widespread than it appears. In the
early days of the pandemic, testing was
virtually impossible for all but the visibly
sick. Since then, the city has created 200
sites, where it is free. But disseminating
information about these sites — where
they are, what sort of identification is
needed when you get there, what risks the
process might pose to immigration status
and so on — has been fraught.
To address some of this confusion, the
health department created “tailored webi-
nars.” But, along with other online
sources, they have turned out to be of little
use to the many low-income people with
no internet access. “We just don’t have the
technology,” Shirlene Cooper, an AIDS
GREGG VIGLIOTTI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
The home of a lawyer was defaced amid a
dispute over where to house homeless people.
WHEN MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO gave in to
strong-arm NIMBY tactics and cries for
“removing” homeless men being sheltered
in the Lucerne hotel, he and the lawyer
Randy Mastro and his gang may have been
violating the Federal Fair Housing Act and
other city, state and federal civil and human
rights laws.
NIMBY groups cross the line from free
speech into illegal discrimination when they
take action to stop people of color and those
with disabilities from moving into “their”
neighborhood. Sadly, misconceptions and
myths about homelessness, mental illness,
addiction and affordable housing cause
cries of NIMBY to turn into cries of
“BANANA”: Build Absolutely Nothing Any-
where Near Anybody. Local zoning rules
and fair-share and land-use laws cannot be
legally used to block housing for people with
disabilities or people of color.
KATINA ZACHMANOGLOU, NEW YORK
PAST DIRECTOR, ADVOCACY PROJECT,
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS
WEALTHY PEOPLE ARE basically useless
drains on society who aren’t even capable of
paying taxes, let alone showing compassion
during an epidemic. I used to think that it
would be nice to live in a giant mansion by
Lake Michigan. Now I realize who my
neighbors there would be, and I prefer to
MB 3
Book your complimentary consultation today.
DAVE SANDERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES N E W Y O R K C I T Y 26 Varick St | 1625 York Ave
N A S S A U 25 Northern Blvd, Greenvale
W E S T C H E S T E R 16 Saw Mill River Rd, Hawthorne
R O C K L A N D 83 South Main St, New City
C O N N E C T I C U T 7 Progress Dr, Shelton
activist living in Flatbush, Brooklyn, told
M I A M I 900 Park Centre Blvd, Miami Gardens
me. “For me, a person living with H.I.V.,
no one told me what to do.”
In the view of Beverly Xaviera Watkins, 844.295.1402 californiaclosets.com
a social epidemiologist at the University of
California, Irvine, messaging in low-
income communities of color hasn’t been ©2020 California Closet Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Franchises independently owned and operated.
inadequate; it has been “horrendous.” It
has had little success in overriding deeply
held suspicions of a medical class that has
a long history of exploiting Black Ameri-
cans or in disabling a broader mistrust of
government. These strains of doubt are
amplified in public housing, where dec-
ades of neglect and deceit have resulted in
buildings tainted with lead paint and mold,
and in a vanished faith among people who
live there that their well-being is anyone’s
priority.
Not long ago, Dr. Watkins began investi-
gating the spread of the coronavirus in
buildings of the New York City Housing
Authority. With Dawn Blondel, an envi-
ronmental-justice advocate and longtime
resident of the Red Hook Houses, she
surveyed a representative sample of peo-
ple living in three complexes in Brooklyn
and found that a vast majority of respond-
ents had not been tested, even though
more than a third knew someone who had
died of Covid-19.
At one point, the city had workers
knocking on doors to ask people if they
wanted to be tested, but this, Ms. Blondel
observed, only served to spread more fear.
The people who showed up were strang-
ers, and those on the other side of the door
experienced a sense of invasion. They
worried, too, about what might be done
surreptitiously with their bodily submis-
sions — what else would clinicians be
looking for?
Dr. Watkins’s survey also included a
question about a potential vaccine, an-
other explosive subject. Nearly half in the
group said they were not sure that they
would take one if it were offered. A few
people wondered if it might give you the
disease. There was also an urban myth
circulating that the vaccine would contain
a tracker that allowed the government to
check your movements.
“I thought it was insane at first, but
then I kept hearing it,” Dr. Watkins told
me. “The thing is, you could get control of
the virus everywhere in the city, but if you
can’t get it down in public housing, you’ve
lost the war.”
live in an affordable neighborhood, sur-
rounded by a better class of people.
DAVID, CHICAGO
NO ONE WANTS these people housed in a
hotel in their neighborhood. It happened in
San Francisco, and there were more people
doing drugs in the street. But until we pay
for supportive housing and prevent people
from ending up on this path, we all must
share the burden. Rich not exempted.
DRMSF
“LABRADOODLE SERENITY” is a magnificent
phrase. I was never able to put that phe-
nomenon into words, so thank you so much.
It made my day.
CHRISTINE P., JERSEY CITY
COMPARED WITH OTHER rich countries, the
United States produces a disproportionate
share of mental illness, substance depend-
ence, crime and incarceration. America is a
harsh place to live, fueled by a pronounced
individualism, an uneven social safety net
and widening inequality. Empathy for those
who fall through the cracks of the American
experiment seems in order, along with a
Wordplay,
re-evaluation of where it is exactly we’re
headed.
DAVID MILLER, NEW YORK
every day.
I PREFERRED THE PRE-DISNEY Times
Square to the bland, family-friendly succes-
Subscribe to the
sor. Grit keeps people moored to a wider New York Times Crossword.
reality. It may be less pleasing to the senses,
but it’s better for the soul. nytimes.com/solvenow
DRDOOM, SYDNEY
I GREW UP AS A POOR MINORITY KID in the
so-called pre-Disney N.Y.C. It was not bet-
ter, for the senses or the soul. Grown men
flashed me in the subways, and I was
mugged in front of a library. I was 12.
There’s nostalgia and then there’s reality.
NYC, NEW YORK
4 MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

New Generation Steps Up to Help With the Vote

Poll workers in New York State
have usually been older, but
that’s problematic this year.
By ELSPETH VELTEN
and JAZMINE HUGHES
Historically, most of New York State’s poll
workers have been over age 60, according
to the State Board of Elections. It’s a demo-
graphic typically vulnerable to the corona-
virus. And yet, if the early voting lines are
any indication, this year’s presidential elec-
tion needs poll workers more than ever.
Fortunately, new generations of New
Yorkers have stepped up. Their motivations
are political, ethical and financial (it pays
pretty well for part-time work). Here are a
few of their stories.

The Front Liners

Denmore McDermott was inspired to be-
come a poll worker when his colleagues at a
software company were brainstorming
ways to get involved with the Black Lives
Matter movement. His way of helping, he PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES ESTRIN/THE NEW YORK TIMES
decided, would involve helping secure a
safe voting process.
“Honestly it just came down to how to
make an impact through Covid,” Mr. Mc-
Dermott, 31, said. “I’d rather go in on the
front lines and kind of sit there and make
sure things are going well for my fellow
New York citizens rather than someone else
having to take that risk.”
And while some first-time poll workers
have expressed concern about a new wave
of infections, nothing will stop Mr. McDer-
mott, he said. “I’m going to go out there with
my mask and my sanitizer, and I’m going to
see it through.”
For the three years she has lived in
Ridgewood, Queens, Mallory Woods has al-
ways had the same poll worker: her down-
stairs neighbor, Maris. “I realized that the
majority of poll workers I’ve interacted
with have been seniors, and that’ll be an is-
sue this year,” she said.
Ms. Woods, 31, decided to sign up after
reading a comedian’s post on Twitter en-
couraging young people to volunteer. “I’m
relatively young and able-bodied,” Ms.
Woods said. “If not me, then who?”
While Ms. Woods, a self-proclaimed “po- MACKENZIE REYNOLDS JERM COHEN
litical news junkie,” was disgruntled by the
opacity of the registration process, she be-
lieves that serving as a poll worker is her The Instagram Activist Putting it on the line, top row nonprofit focused on making activism more
civic duty. “It’s a small, but very tangible At some point this summer, it felt as if every- from left: Ashley Reyes, 18; approachable. In mid-August, Ms. Davis ‘A small, but very tangible
way to know I’m doing something positive one in Rebecca Davis’s group text was dis- Nancy Wolfe, 35; and Sherri posted “6 Things You Can Do Right Now if way to know I’m doing
in a year that’s been downright cruel,” she cussing signing up for poll work, she said. Cohen, 35. Row above from You’re Worried About the Mail and the Elec- something positive in a year
said. “I’m absolutely willing to work what “Everyone was talking about it in a way I left: Denmore McDermott, tion” to the group’s Instagram account. It
31; Rebecca Davis, 35; and quickly became one of their most popular that’s been downright cruel.’
sounds like will be a pretty brutal day, if it had never seen before,” she said.
makes the process of voting more pleasant She probably had a little something to do Laura Hymes, 28. posts, with over 30,000 likes.
and safe for the folks in my neighborhood.” with that. Ms. Davis, 35, runs Rally + Rise, a Ms. Davis hopes that Rally + Rise’s social not, as we all know, a normal year. So Ms.
media feed, with its mix of memes and voter Cohen, 35, said she was dedicating her allot-
registration details, will make civic engage- ted vacation days to poll work.
ment a little friendlier. “If you go to the “Right now I’m kind of like, where else
Board of Elections website, it looks like it’s am I going to go?” she said.
stuck in 1998,” she said. “For a certain per- Ms. Cohen said she wanted to make sure
son, they might think it feels too official or New Yorkers had the opportunity to vote in
overwhelming, and they just might not person. But participating in the election ef-
bother using it. Through our contact, I hope fort also provides a respite from her work-
people think, ‘Hey, this can be something from-home situation.
that someone like me does.’” “I think taking the time for a day or a
week to be in another location is exciting to
The High School Student me,” she said. “It really speaks to my desire
For Ashley Reyes, being civically engaged to get out of the house and feel somewhat
is not just an aspiration, it’s a requirement. more directly useful.”
That is, if she wants to pass her A.P. govern- The gig is also paid — over the course of
ment class. 10 possible working days including the gen-
Soon after her teacher at Dr. Richard eral election and early voting, volunteers
Izquierdo Health and Science Charter can earn up to $2,800. “Who knows what is
School in the Bronx mandated that his stu- going on in the country in the next month,
dents find a way to become civically en- the next six months, the next year,” Ms.
gaged, she found out there was a shortage Cohen said. “It just seems wise to make the
of poll workers. “Bingo,” she said. money where possible.”

discover This is the first election for Ms. Reyes, 18.

She had long seen her mother vote but had
no idea what went on behind the scenes.
For Victoria Maresca, paid days off at her
apparel company, where she is an associate
buyer, are uncommon. “This is the first time

the finest Now, she is serving as a Spanish-language that my company has given us Election Day
interpreter at her local polling site. off, and I feel like I need to do something
“Voting and being present is a way for me good with it, when so much bad is happen-

in Senior to be active and know what’s going on ing right now,” Ms. Maresca, 26, said.
around me,” Ms. Reyes said. “I want to
know as much as possible.” The Furloughed Worker With Free Time

living
A pandemic-induced furlough that cut em-
The Staycationers ployment to part-time for Laura Hymes has
In a normal year, Sherri Cohen would never provided the flexibility needed for training
spend her vacation days working, but this is and working the polls this year. “I’m work-
ing less hours, and there’s no set schedule
so I can kind of work whenever,” said Ms.
ELECTION ON TUESDAY Hymes, 28, a marketing director for an en-
tertainment company. She is currently on a
The presidential race isn’t the only contest, or shared work program, a government effort
issue, on the ballot in New York, New Jersey to subsidize lost wages.
and Connecticut. For people who aren’t voting Ms. Hymes was partly inspired to work
early, here is information about when and the polls by her father, who is also doing it
where to vote on Election Day. for the first time in Florida. But social media
was a major influence, too. “I feel like
“ I never would have dreamed that in a NEW YORK Polling places will be open from there’s more social chatter and awareness
6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Voters will elect representa- this year,” she said.
year I could have new friends…I could tives, members of the Legislature and judicial Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently signed
officials. Voter information is available from the an executive order stating that those re-
have a new life, and I could be happy… State Board of Elections at elections.ny.gov and ceiving unemployment and making less
than $504 per week did not have to report
that’s all come true for me.” at 1-800-FOR-VOTE (or 1-800-367-8638).
income from their election work. Even
New York City’s polling places can be found at
findmypollsite.vote.nyc. Sites elsewhere in the though Ms. Hymes said she was not doing
this for the money, she was grateful to hear
-Phyllis Baumrind state are at voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.
the news. “I wanted to be able to get paid for
Voters who encounter problems at the polls can
being a poll worker,” she said, “and I was
call the state attorney general’s office at 1-800-
glad to hear that it wouldn’t mess up my
771-7755 or visit ag.ny.gov/voter-resources.
unemployment.”
City residents who want to make a complaint
Meet Phyllis. Though originally a Brooklynite, Englewood Cliffs has been her about the voting process can call 866-868- The Veteran
home for years. When it came time for her to make a change, staying close to 3692.
....................................................................................... Nancy Wolfe has worked nearly every elec-
tion since 2016, but during the primaries in
the community and life she built was important to her. Almost as important as NEW JERSEY Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to
8 p.m. In addition to electing members of June, she decided that working wasn’t
being able to take her dog, Toby, with her. Phyllis found it all – and more – at Congress, voters will decide on three referen-
worth exposure to the virus; Ms. Wolfe, 35,
has rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia,
The Bristal at Englewood. She loves her new life and the friends she has made. dum questions pertaining to the legalization of
and her two roommates are also high-risk.
marijuana, property tax deduction and exemp-
With a ton of activities, gourmet dining, and plenty of room for Toby – she is “The primary wasn’t that big of a deal,” she
tions for peacetime veterans, and a date
said. “Biden already had the nomination.”
truly happy. There’s a lot to love at The Bristal – we think you’ll find that, too. change for legislative redistricting if the census But the stakes are higher in the general
data is delayed. New Jersey voters can find election, Ms. Wolfe said, adding that she
See Phyllis’s entire story at thebristal.com/testimonials. polling places at nj.gov/state/elections/vote cannot justify sitting it out this time. The
-polling-location.shtml. Additional information new safety guidelines have comforted her
is at nj.gov/state/elections. Complaints or
S C H E D U L E Y O U R V I S I T T O D AY ! concerns about voting can be reported by
health fears for now. But in a “worst case
scenario,” she said, she is considering get-
calling 1-877-NJ-VOTER (or 1-877-658-6837). ting a rapid coronavirus test before going
551-239-1520 | 412 S Van Brunt St, Englewood, NJ 07631 .......................................................................................
home to keep her housemates safe.
CONNECTICUT Polls will be open from 6 a.m. Ms. Wolfe is also concerned that the new
to 8 p.m. Voters will elect representatives, and corps of young workers won’t bring the ex-
For a list of all locations in the tri-state area, visit: THEBRISTAL.COM other state and local contests are on the ballot. perience necessary to run a high-profile
Voters can look up polling places at portaldir.ct election. “In my head I really wanted to sit
.gov/sots/LookUp.aspx. Additional information out again, but I’m worried that it will be ev-
Licensed by the State Department of Health. is at portal.ct.gov/sots. People who encounter erybody’s first day on the job,” she said. “It
AN ENGEL BURMAN COMMUNITY Eligible for Most Long Term Care Policies. problems at the polls can call the state’s Elec- just kind of feels like it’s a pressure cooker,
Equal Housing Opportunity tion Day hotline at 1-866-SEEC-INFO (or and this is the last chance we have to save
1-866-733-2463) or email elections@ct.gov. democracy or an election, maybe ever.”
6 MB
Months Ago, 40 Deaths.
And Now, 40 Layoffs.
Above, Shawn McArthur, on
the right, a certified nursing
assistant, said the clumsy
protective gear made it harder
to connect with patients:
“Sometimes you didn’t know if
they recognized you, because
we all looked the same with all
the P.P.E.” Above right, Jeanna
Engelman, a speech
pathologist, checked on a
Covid-19 patient, right, who
died days later. Below, Lana
Bass, a physical therapist at
Clove Lakes, and her husband
both contracted the virus.
Working, knowing that
the next shift might be
the one that kills you.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
mother to a nursing home.’ And you have
certain family members who just won’t pay.
They’ll say, ‘I have to keep my mother’s
Social Security check this month because I
lost my job.’ ”
For the employees, the story of the pan-
demic begins with the most basic question:
How do you go to work when you know that
the next shift might be the one that kills you
or your loved ones?
‘Everything Failed’
Often, what they talked about was Lana.
Lana Bass met her husband at Hunter
College in the late 1990s. They were both
Ukrainian, studying for careers in health
care. She chose geriatrics. “It makes you
feel like you’re making a significant
change,” she said in a telephone interview
in September.
Her first job brought her to Staten Island
and Clove Lakes, a for-profit home in the
Manor Heights neighborhood with 576 beds
and a staff of about 600. The home has
above-average ratings from Medicare and
below-average ratings from New York’s
health department, which compares it with
other homes in the state.
When the coronavirus surfaced in New
York nursing homes in March, her husband
was working as a physician assistant at Co-
ney Island Hospital in Brooklyn, she as a
physical therapist at the hulking pale brick
structure of Clove Lakes. In those early
days, there were no tests available for nurs-
ing home workers or residents. Information
about the virus, and about how to keep safe,
changed almost daily.
“I was worried for myself, for my family,”
Ms. Bass said. “You’re scared, you’re uncer-
tain about tomorrow, but you know your re-
sponsibilities. You just keep going.”
Then in the middle of March her husband
got sick; a few days later, she did as well,
probably through contact with him. Her
symptoms were mild, akin to a cold. His
case was more serious.
“He went to the doctor’s office and then to
the hospital right away,” Ms. Bass said. “He
was OK. And then everything failed.”
Her husband was still in the hospital, on a
ventilator, when she returned to Clove
Lakes around April 8, after a week of illness
and two weeks of isolation.
“I felt really numb,” she said. “I was wor-
ried about my husband, but I knew I had to
hold down the fort. I had no other options, of
course.” She agreed to work in the newly es-
tablished Covid unit at the home because
she had already had the virus.
In April, the staff arrived in the mornings
not knowing which resident would die that
day, which risks they would have to take.
Though the home provided ample masks
and gowns, the work made social distancing
impossible. At night, they watched news re-
ports calling New York’s nursing homes the
deadliest places in America.
“People were very afraid,” Ms. Engelman “When I came back, the supervisors and “One day you’ll see an ambulette come in
said. “But nursing is a calling. When some- directors were staying in the home all night, and haul someone out and they’ll never
one was urging me, ‘Leave there, now’ — and asking anyone to take extra shifts,” he come back,” he added. “It is the worst expe-
how do I not do this? These are my people. I said. “Usually I don’t do that, but I volun- rience to have.” Each death took a toll on the
can’t leave them. Of course I’m going to do teered because I knew that was going to staff, but there was no time to grieve, he
this. happen anyway.” At home, he feared carry- said. “You develop chemistry with some-
“Every day I’d come to work and find an- ing the virus to his girlfriend’s mother and one, and it’s like they’re part of the family or
other one is gone. It was very heartbreak- aunt, who lived in the same house, so he a close friend. And we are all they have
ing. I still think of my patient Lisa, who was would strip his clothes and put them in the sometimes, especially after they stopped
in her 60s. I’d go to her unit every day to washer every time he returned. having visitors.”
watch her die.” At Clove Lakes, the virus shut all of their The home did not provide counselors to
Shawn McArthur, a certified nursing as- ordinary activities, changing the relation- help the staff deal with stress, but directed
sistant, was about to take a vacation to Ja- ships between the workers and the resi- them to a hotline set up by the state office of
pan when the pandemic hit. Instead of trav- dents. The administration worked to get mental health, said Ms. Senk, the adminis-
eling, he stayed home and considered not masks, gowns and other protective equip- trator.
returning to Clove Lakes. ment, which many homes lacked. “We were Ingrid Wiesel, a physical therapist at the
“I saw my closest co-workers infected by wearing hazmat suits,” Mr. McArthur said, home, was surprised when she was as-
the virus, and we were losing people,” Mr. adding that it felt like being in a sauna. “I signed to work in a Covid unit. At 64, she
McArthur said. “Friends told me that emer- lost a lot of pounds. So I didn’t catch the said, she was at greater risk than some of
gency rooms were packed, and there were quarantine weight like everybody else did.” her younger colleagues who declined the
no ventilators, so don’t go to the hospital if The emotional stress was unrelenting, he assignment.
you get sick.” He had a bad toothache but said. Once employees reported to the Covid But when the home moved her back into
was afraid to go to the dentist. unit, they could not leave or see other col- the general population after five weeks, be-
He was living with his girlfriend, a swim leagues until day’s end. Residents, espe- cause there were no longer enough patients
coach who writes comic books, as he does. cially those with dementia, often did not un- in quarantine, she felt let down.
He wrote a personal letter and left it in one derstand why relatives were not visiting, “I missed the intensity of it,” she said.
of his books, “just in case anything happens why they could not leave their rooms and be “The work was very hard emotionally, be-
to me,” he said. “I tried to keep it inside, but with neighbors for meals or activities. cause you wanted to give to the patients.
it was very scary.” “The worst was when you had to tell them Sometimes you didn’t know if they recog- ‘These Are My Final Days’
When the state closed swimming pools, they had to go back in their room, because nized you, because we all looked the same As the nursing home scrambled to control
his job at Clove Lakes became the couple’s the resident in the next room passed away, with all the P.P.E. But when it was over and the virus, a second crisis was building. Hos-
only source of income. Staying home was no and you have to put them in a body bag,” Mr. they took me off that floor, it was sad. I had pitals were no longer performing elective
longer an option. McArthur said. gotten used to the intimacy.” surgeries, so they were not sending pa-
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MB 7

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTOPHER OCCHICONE

Above, Ms. Engelman

performing the ritual of
separating her washable
protective garments from
the layers of disposable
personal protective
equipment. Far left, a
nursing assistant in the
break room of a Covid unit at
Clove Lakes. The stress has
been inescapable. Mr.
McArthur, left, who
volunteered for extra shifts
during the worst of the
outbreak, has agreed to take
time off as the home’s
revenues dropped, though
he needs the money.

tients to the home for short-term rehabilita-
tion, which is the financial lifeblood of all
nursing homes. Facilities lose money on
long-term care residents, whose stays are
typically paid for by Medicaid, and make it
up on short-term rehab patients, whose
care is subsidized more generously by
Medicare.
As revenue dropped, the cost of masks
and other protective equipment “started to
soar,” Ms. Senk said. “Things were triple
and quadruple in price. A box of gloves went
from $2 to $30. A gown that was 50 cents
went to $8.50, and $14 from one vendor. Our
director of nursing would meet vendors out
on the street to feel the quality of what they
were selling. It was almost like they were
selling them out of the trunk of their cars. It
was scary. But we did what we had to do.”
Since the spring, the home has spent
more than $500,000 to test every resident
and employee once a week, Ms. Senk said.
Ms. Bass was at Clove Lakes in April
when the hospital called to say that her hus-
band had died. She ran out of the home, fol-
lowed by two co-workers. This was a blow
for all of them. They had worked so close to
death among the people they cared for. Now
death had come for one of them as well.
“We were absolutely hysterical,” Ms.
Engelman said. “I started crying, almost
screaming. It became real. Somebody you
know died. Now you have to put on that
Martian gear and go back in and face it. I
entered the unit not recognizing anybody.
“I went home and called a friend, crying,”
she said.
Afterward, Ms. Bass got the facility to
change her job status from longtime tempo-
rary worker to a permanent staff position.
The job has kept her from falling apart, she
said. But this, too, caused some tension. As
the number of residents continued to drop,
Ms. Bass’s appointment might mean some-
one else would have to go.
“Nice of them to do that,” Ms. Wiesel said
of Ms. Bass’s hiring. “But who do they
choose to let go?”
As the summer wore on, the infection rate
plummeted, but few new patients moved
into Clove Lakes. The home cut down on
overtime and stopped filling positions when
employees left. Some workers were asked
to skip shifts.
Mr. McArthur, who had volunteered for
extra shifts during the worst of the out-
break, agreed to take time off, even though,
with his girlfriend not working, he needed
the money. The spring had left him shaken.
“Because the job gets to you,” he said. He
questioned whether he wanted to even be a
nursing assistant. “I realized, no, this will be
it. I’ve taken all I can take, and I’ve given
enough, and it hurts every time. I continue
to work and punch in, but I know these are
my final days there. ”
For the home, federal stimulus money
helped address its increased costs, but the
funding was distributed among the nation’s
nursing homes according to their size, not
recognizing that some — like those in New
York City — were hit harder by the virus,
said Mark Parkinson, president of the
American Health Care Association and Na-
tional Center for Assisted Living, a trade or-
ganization. His group called for a second
round of stimulus to offset the decreased
revenues. “If that happens, we can get into
the spring,” he said. “If not, a lot of these fa-
cilities won’t survive.”
As the number of residents at Clove
Lakes continued to drop this fall, rumors
circulated among the staff: that the home
would cut all workers who contracted
through agencies — or, conversely, that it
would require all staff to work only through
the agencies. The home felt safer, medically.
But morale dimmed without parties in the
lunchroom, and always there were worries
about what job cuts were coming, said Ma-
riam Mettias, a certified occupational thera-
pist assistant.
“I’m just going with the flow at this point,
trying to save more,” Ms. Mettias said. “I’m
cutting back on food, not going out. I had to
use box color on my hair. I messed up the
bathroom because the box color stained. I
couldn’t take it anymore.”
Ms. Wiesel said she did not know which
scared her more, the virus or the job insecu-
rity. With so many cutbacks throughout the Each death took a toll
industry, if Clove Lakes lets her go, she does on the staff, but there
not know where she will find another job. was no time to mourn.
“You don’t know the unknown,” she said.
“The administration is going to say one day,
‘These people have got to go.’ That’s why I
don’t complain, I just work. I’ve been a ther-
apist for 42 years. I’m still dedicated. I’m
not burned out. I don’t have the energy I
used to have.”
The way out of the crisis is not clear. Nei-
ther Ms. Senk nor Mr. Parkinson, of the
trade association, suggested structural
changes, instead placing their hopes on a
vaccine to bring people back to nursing
homes. But older people’s immune systems
do not always produce the antibodies that
make vaccines effective.
In the meantime, in October Clove Lakes
passed its second week without a positive
test, which meant it could allow family vis-
itors inside for the first time since March —
if they made an appointment, and if they
had negative test results within the past
week. The first day there were two visitors,
including one who said she planned to sue
the home over a financial dispute.
Within a week, an employee tested pos-
itive, which ended visits for at least another
two weeks. The next day a resident tested
positive. In a half-empty nursing home, she
now has a whole floor to herself.
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 MB 9

A Community Signs In to Demonstrate Support

For weeks, Jane Margolies would ride her bike by a group of older New Yorkers holding placards in front
of a Foodtown in Upper Manhattan. One day she asked them what they were up to.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE MARGOLIES

The group has been protesting racial injustice here every night Some protesters are in their 90s and arrive with canes, like Joan Sheila Geist is a retired social studies teacher. “That’s why my sign
since June 1. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter demonstrations Levine. “I made a terrible sign,” she said, “and a lady here who is is so dense,” she said.
this summer, they wanted to take part but were daunted by the an artist said, ‘How would you like it if I made you one?’ ”
exertion involved. So this is what they came up with.

The protesters are mostly white, and they live in a housing Freddy wears his own sign. During the protests, passers-by clap Teddy Abdul called the protesters sweethearts. “They are showing
complex behind the supermarket. Marion Wright has and cheer. Drivers honk. love,” he said. “I do appreciate that they are outside in the freezing
participated, joined by her dog, Freddy. weather.” The group plans to continue meeting through the
election this week — and possibly beyond.

Taking Time to Write to People Who Feel Blue

A professor’s sidewalk project
aims to bring back the humble
letter at a crucial moment.
By DEBORAH L. JACOBS
On a recent foggy morning, Brandon Woolf
was sitting on a foldable chair, in front of a
foldable table, next to a mailbox in Brook-
lyn, writing letters on a 1940s-vintage port-
able Royal typewriter.
He was dressed in a navy blue T-shirt em-
blazoned with the Postal Service logo. A
chalkboard sign in front of him explained
the project to passers-by: “Free Letters for
Friends Feeling Blue.”
Mr. Woolf, 37, doesn’t work for the post of-
fice. He’s a performance artist with a doc-
torate, on the full-time faculty of New York
University. In addition to teaching two
courses via Zoom and directing the Pro-
gram in Dramatic Literature for undergrad-
uates, he is doing a sidewalk piece called
“The Console.” That’s shorthand for “conso-
lation.”
Inspired by the somewhat antiquated tra-
dition of writing condolence notes, Mr.
Woolf helps draft letters to be mailed in the
box a few feet from his makeshift desk, on
the corner of Fourth Street and Prospect
Park West. Now in its fourth week, “The
Console,” which he describes as “post-
dramatic theater,” will continue through
Monday. It’s timed to coincide with “the
heightened anxiety” surrounding the elec-
tion, he said.
Sure, there have been one-minute nov-
elists and one-minute poets with acts in a
similar vein, but Mr. Woolf’s creative en-
deavor stems from the latest trio of trou-
bles: politics, the economy and the corona-
virus.
“We’re all grieving for something right PHOTOGRAPHS BY AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

now,” he said, whether it’s the loss of a friend

or family member, a job or a routine. An in-
strumental recording of the 19th-century
folk song “The Letter Edged in Black”
played in a continuous loop on a small
speaker in front of him. (The song title is a
reference to the black-bordered paper on
which condolence notes were traditionally
written.)
“Peanuts” fans might find the setup remi-
niscent of Lucy’s psychiatry booth and
hand-lettered sign, “The doctor is in.” Like
the process depicted in the comic strip, this
one starts with what sounds like talk ther-
apy, as it did for Cole Page Whipps when he
stopped by with his mother, Mackenzie
Whipps.
Cole, who is 6 years old, decided to write a
letter to his grandfather, who is in the hospi-
tal. “What would you like to say to
Grandpa?” Mr. Woolf asked Cole, who was
seated on a red stool six feet away.
“Hi, Grandpa, I hope you feel better,” he
said.
“That’s a great start,” Mr. Woolf said.
With a hunt and peck at the keyboard, he
exercised some editorial license and added:
“You can do it. I love you.”
Cole paused. Artful phrasing takes time.
Mr. Woolf asked about Cole’s favorite sub-
ject in school (math) and what he likes to do
with Grandpa (play math games). Then he
helped with the phrasing: “This week in
school I learned a new game. It’s a math
game. I like the game because I like math,
and I know you like math, too.”
His sign suggests he is offering a service,
but Mr. Woolf said he preferred a collabora-
tion, like this one, “that reflects both of our
personalities.” He was struck by the unex-
pected melancholy of the encounter with
Cole. “I was immediately having thoughts
about my own grandfather,” he said, “who
was very sick when I was Cole’s age.”
In a city of cynics, not everyone is ready
to hold forth, even when the paper (with
“The Console” letterhead), envelopes and
stamps are free. “Plenty of people ignore
me. They try not to make eye contact, and
walk away,” Mr. Woolf said.
Some stop by just to use the hand sani-
tizer that he leaves on top of the mailbox.
During one performance, a biker raised in
Mexico City pulled up to say that it re-
minded him of outdoor typists in the parks,
when he was growing up, who were scriven-
ers to the illiterate. “ ‘You’re in a long line of
Top, Brandon Woolf, center,
with Quentin Miller and his
mother, Jamie Dows. Above
left, the finished letter. Above,
the letter is off to Indiana.
‘We’re all grieving
for something
right now.’
people who do honorable work,’” Mr. Woolf
recalled him saying. Then the man rode off.
Weather permitting Mr. Woolf has been
out there for two-hour or two-and-a-half-
hour intervals several times per week. He
said he got at least one taker every time he
was at the mailbox, and sometimes there
has been a socially distanced line. He esti-
mated that he had written more than 50 let-
ters, each of them unique.
So far no one has made so much as a snide
remark, nor have there been any objections
from postal employees, he said. Once he got
what he described as “a coy smile” from the
letter carrier emptying the box.
That mailbox is more than just a prop in
Mr. Woolf’s performance. It has a starring
role. “The mailboxes are quite lonely, like
the rest of us in quarantine,” he said.
From his desk he has observed people
taking photographs of each other mailing
their ballots. “When we see the amount of
mail with voting, it seems like a space filled
with possibility,” he said.
10 MB THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Metropolitan Diary

ILLUSTRATIONS BY AGNES LEE

the compliment. stopped at F. A. O. Schwartz.

Nice Ties
DEAR DIARY:
My friend Charles and I attended
the Bronx High School of Science
in the 1950s, where Maurice
Silver was our Spanish teacher.
He was a natty dresser who
wore three-piece tweed suits and
colorful neckties that Charles
said were Bronzinis and Count-
ess Maras, very expensive
brands. (I didn’t know about
such luxuries at the time;
Charles evidently did.)
One day, as we were leaving
class, Charles approached Dr.
Silver.
“I really like your Bronzini
and Countess Mara ties,” he said.
Dr. Silver appeared to be a bit
surprised, but he managed a
smile and thanked Charles for
Observations for this column may
be sent to Metropolitan Diary at
diary@nytimes.com or to The New
York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New
York, N.Y. 10018. Please include your
name, mailing address and daytime
telephone number. Submissions
become the property of The Times
and cannot be returned. They may be
edited, and may be republished and
adapted in all media.
In 1983, our class (1953) had a
reunion at the Waldorf Astoria
and we invited our teachers from
three decades earlier to join us.
When Charles and I saw Dr.
Silver emerge from an elevator,
we went to greet him.
Seeing us, he unbuttoned his
jacket, put a hand to his vest,
lifted out his tie and waved it at
us.
“Countess Mara,” he said,
grinning broadly.
GERALD STRAUSS
No One’s Home
DEAR DIARY:
I live alone in an apartment that
used to be two apartments that
were legally combined over 20
years ago.
This year, the Census Bureau
sent me two forms, one for each
apartment. I called and asked for
guidance on how to fill them out.
After explaining my dilemma
to a number of people, I decided
to write that there was one occu-
pant in the part of the apart-
ments where I sleep and zero
occupants in the other part. Then
I mailed back the forms.
A short time later, I encoun-
tered a young man in the hallway
on my floor on a Friday after-
noon. He told me that he was
with the Census Bureau and that
he was there to find out who
lived in the apartment that I had
listed as having no occupants.
I explained my dilemma to
him. He said my situation did not
fit any in his template and that
his supervisor had been no help.
The next day, a young woman
rang my bell. She said she was
from the Census Bureau and that
she was there to find out who
lived in my apartment. I told my
story again. She could not solve
the problem either.
I can’t wait to see who rings
my doorbell next.
MARCIA WEISER
Busy Street
DEAR DIARY:
I grew up in a tiny town in Michi-
gan, and every summer my
mother would take my sisters
and me on a trip to Long Island.
We always spent one day in
New York City, and we loved it. It
was so busy. We rode the sub-
way, walked Fifth Avenue, ex-
plored Central Park and Green-
wich Village and, sometimes,
One day on one of our trips to
the city, we were on a busy street
that was swarming with people.
At one point, a woman walking
toward us paused and looked
directly at my mother.
“My God lady,” she said,
“couldn’t you at least put your
hair in a French twist?” usual Sunday afternoon chaos
Every once in a while after then back at each other and
laugh. while waiting for a saleswoman
that, one of us would just come to bring me a pair to try on.
out and repeat the phrase and When he exits the train, I
There were children running
we’d all laugh. I think my mother watch him walk away and turn
around and boxes piled on the
always found it particularly in the same way he has probably
counter waiting to be rung up.
hilarious. done plenty of times before. Out
Most of the people walking
We had to look up French twist of the corner of my eye, I notice
around the store were casually
to see what it even looked like. his lips curl up into a smile.
dressed in jeans and T-shirts, so
For the first time in a while, I
SIDNI SOBOLIK the well-dressed woman sitting
feel a bit more than just OK.
across from me and smiling at
JEN GLANTZ
Not Fine everything going on around us
stood out.
DEAR DIARY: Shoes All Over “This is such an exciting place
“How are you?” a stranger asks for an East Side person,” she said
DEAR DIARY:
as the L train slings us through to me.
the tunnel into Manhattan. I was in Harry’s Shoes on the
“Fine,” I say. “You?” Upper West Side taking in the KARIN WISEMAN
“Not fine,” he says, laughing a
little. “Thanks for asking. No-
body is just fine!”
Maybe it was the coffee seep-
ing into my bloodstream or the
way I get dizzy sometimes when
traveling underground, but sud-
denly I spit out the truth.
“My day is awful.” I say. “I’m
quite lonely, scared that I won’t
do much with my life except ride
this train to and from work.”
“Now we’re talking!” he says,
signaling me with his hand to
continue.
I spend a minute sharing my
life news. He spends a minute
sharing his. We look around and

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HOW WE LIVE NOW SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

MOUNTAINSIDE, N.J. ALBUQUERQUE PIT TSBURGH GLEN ELLYN, ILL. SEAT TLE WASHINGTON NEWARK, DEL. SAVANNAH, GA.

LOUISVILLE, KY. HILO, HAWAII WINTER GARDEN, FLA. ANCHORAGE SAN MATEO, CALIF. CHARLOT TE, N.C. CLAYTON, MO. LAS VEGAS

LOS ALTOS, CALIF. WESTPORT, CONN. CUMBERLAND, R.I. PORTLAND, ORE. OLATHE, KAN. ATLANTA MINNEAPOLIS ANNAPOLIS, MD.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. ATHENS PHILADELPHIA WILMET TE, ILL. OVERLAND PARK, KAN. MIAMI NEW YORK PLANO, TEXAS

We’re
Making
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. DECATUR, GA.

Our Voices MIAMI MOUNT LEBANON, PA. BOSTON

Heard

BRISTOL, R.I. SANTA FE, N.M. SAN JOSE, CALIF. BEND, ORE. MINNEAPOLIS BOULDER, COLO.

EVANSTON, ILL. MERCER ISLAND, WASH. RIVERSIDE, CALIF. ATLANTA CHARLOT TE, N.C. SIOUX CITY, IOWA FORT WORTH NEW ALBANY, OHIO

ALEXANDRIA, KY. FAIRFAX, VA. DENVER BETHESDA, MD. BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. SAN MATEO, CALIF. RALEIGH, N.C. EUGENE, ORE.

DALLAS MELROSE, MASS. EAGLE, IDAHO HOPEWELL, N.J. ANN ARBOR, MICH. CHAPALA, MEXICO ATLANTA CAPE MAY, N.J.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. CHAT TANOOGA, TENN. ARLINGTON, VA. MEMPHIS GLENDALE, CALIF. MADISON, WIS. MOUNT VERNON, OHIO MASSAPEQUA, N.Y.

And then we’re going to . . . keep the peace as the votes are counted, PAGE 3. Brush up on our
pandemic wedding etiquette, PAGE 7. Help our children find Merak and Dubhe in the night sky, PAGE 8.
Tell our fears to worry dolls we’ve made from newspaper — and get a good night’s sleep, PAGE 9.
2 D THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Study the Constitution,

Then Settle Your Mind
This election week, calm your nerves with a meditation guide, a night at
the Seattle Symphony and a day among the sea otters.
BY KATHERINE CUSUMANO AND ADRIANA BALSAMO
TALK TO US

Really Listening
And Doing
Newspaper Mâché
Readers strive for better MONDAY TUESDAY

02 03
communication and
share At Home crafts.

Start preparing for Thanksgiving (it’s Brush up on America’s foundational

Reading the article “Listen to Your Fam-
ily Members. No, Really Listen” by
Jancee Dunn felt like a warm hug made
out of words (that is a kind of hug that
we can receive in the middle of this pan-
demic). In Miami, where I came to live
from Buenos Aires, I met an extraordi-
nary program called “Listeners/
Oyentes” that does volunteer work at
schools, listening to children and giving
them a safe space to express themselves.
I arrived with the desire to volunteer and
help children, and what I discovered
was that the first person in need of being
never too soon) with the volunteer-
run Homeschool Co-op’s online
pie-crust-making class. During this
hourlong seminar, you’ll learn how to
make one double crust or two single
crusts from scratch. The organizers
will send out a recipe in advance so
that you can follow along from your
kitchen. (The class is free, and at-
tendance is limited to 100 partici-
pants.)
When 4:30 p.m. Eastern
Where homeschoolcoop2020.com
/all-classes
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
document with the Philadelphia-
based National Constitution Center’s
comprehensive Interactive Constitu-
tion. Browse the full text, then dig
deeper into topics like the genesis of
the Electoral College.
When Anytime
Where constitutioncenter.org
/interactive-constitution
Get the tools you need to teach your
child about what an election is and
the voting process with PBS. The
printable voting kit, best for ages 2 to
5, includes bingo and “I Voted Today”
badges to color and wear.
When Anytime
Where pbs.org/parents/lets-vote

listened to was me. In doing so, I was
able to listen to others. During these
days at home, more than once I have felt
like I am inside of a blender. Practicing
what Ms. Dunn says is essential to un-
derstand my family, myself, and to com-
municate with each other with kindness
and a sense of discovery.
MELANIA TORRES WILLIAMS, MIAMI
6 a.m. Sunday, I wait in my driveway for
the paper delivery. The state of the world
can wait while I dash to my basement
worktable to add to my At Home col-
lection. First was the square printer’s hat
(which left a chatter of newsprint cir-
cling my bald head). Papier-mâché con-
structions followed; puppets and now
masks. A lot of my newspaper creations
were given away: A bouquet of paper
04
Be carried away by a “A New Stage,”
three performances curated by the
New York City Ballet principal dancer
Tiler Peck. Ms. Peck stars in two of
the pieces, including “Petrushka
Reimagined.” Brooklyn Mack and Lil
Buck join her in this hip-hop-infused
interpretation of the classic ballet. In
“Unusual Way,” Ms. Peck collabo-
rates with the Broadway actress and
singer Sierra Boggess. And finally,
Syncopated Ladies tap along to songs
by Ciara and John Legend in “Synco-
pated Ladies: Amplified.” The series
costs $19.99.
When Anytime
Where clistudios.com/anewstage
05
Spend the evening with the Seattle
Symphony, which performs a selec-
tion of works by the composers
Claude Débussy, Frank Martin, Arthur
Honegger and Thomas Adès. Access
to online programs costs $12.99 per
month.
When 10:30 p.m. Eastern
Where live.seattlesymphony.org
If you’re one of the more than two-
thirds of Americans whose stress
level has increased significantly this
election season, calm your cluttered
mind with the New York Times
meditation guide.
When Anytime
Where nytimes.com/guides/well
/how-to-meditate
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
FRAN CABALLERO

roses accompanied a birthday gift; my

N.Y. Times birds will be mailed to a FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

friend quarantining alone in Vermont.
My newspaper airplane was last seen
up a tree, hopefully yet again repur-
posed for nest building. The demands of
quarantine can feel relentless. In my
psychotherapy practice, I encourage my
clients to build a reliable routine of
meaningful pursuits. The At Home sec-
tion’s weekly suggestions and activities
are an excellent resource for all of us.
LOU STOREY, LONG BRANCH, N.J.
I’m a single mom, and my 6-year-old
and I had so much fun taking a Zoom
break with this wildly messy and cre-
ative activity.
LEILA HOWLAND, LOS ANGELES
06
Seize the final opportunity to watch
“November,” a new film directed by
Phillip Youmans adapted from the
poet and playwright Claudia Rank-
ine’s play “Help.” Produced by the
Shed and Tribeca Studios, the film
explores white male privilege and the
joys of being Black by recounting
conversations Ms. Rankine has had
with white men in liminal spaces (like
airports or waiting areas) throughout
her life, interspersed with scenes of
Black life shot in New York City.
When Until Nov. 7, 11:59 p.m. Eastern
Where theshed.org/november
07
Explore the world of sea otters with a
free course from the Monterey Bay
Aquarium in California. Fun fact:
These cuddly creatures have one
million hairs per square inch of their
bodies to help keep them warm.
When Anytime
Where montereybayaquarium
.thinkific.com
Join a conversation hosted by the
Texas Book Festival between two
iconic Texans, Matthew McConau-
ghey and Ethan Hawke, about Mr.
McConaughey’s recently released
memoir, “Greenlights.” Tickets cost
$41 and include a copy of the book.
When 5 p.m. Eastern
Where texasbookfestival.org
08
See “Othello” pruned back to its
most essential elements during a
performance of the Shakespeare
classic, abridged and staged by one
actor on the surface of a dining table,
using household objects as charac-
ters and props. It’s part of a presenta-
tion of 36 Shakespeare plays —
comedies, histories, tragedies — put
on by Forced Entertainment, a the-
ater collective based in Sheffield,
England, via the Center for the Art of
Performance at the University of
California, Los Angeles.
When 3 p.m. Eastern
Where cap.ucla.edu/calendar
/details/shakespeare

These letters have been lightly edited

for length and clarity.

On the Cover “We started At Home to help empower people during the pandemic. There is The section is meant to serve its readers,
and we’d like to hear about what you need
nothing more empowering than voting — making your voice heard and helping shape the future
from us now. Email us with your thoughts
of our country. When we started planning our cover for this Sunday before Election Day, I and suggestions: athome@nytimes.com.
thought voting selfies, democracy literally in action, were the perfect images: beautiful, hopeful Or visit us online: nytimes.com/athome.
and expressive of our shared ideals.” — Amy Virshup, editor
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 D 3

THE PLAYLIST

Spin Fresh
Pop Songs
Listen to a roundup of recently
released tracks picked by
New York Times pop critics.

ARLO PARKS ‘GREEN EYES’

The ruminative, poetic Gen Z singer and songwriter
Arlo Parks has been trickling out new music all year
— “Eugene” and “Black Dog” are two highlights —
and her simmering track “Cola” made a key appear-
ance on the soundtrack to Michaela Coel’s acclaimed
TV series “I May Destroy You.” Parks’s latest song,
FRAN CABALLERO
“Green Eyes,” is a gently aching snapshot of young
queer heartbreak (“Of course I know why we lasted
two months,” she sings, “Could not hold my hand in
public, felt their eyes judging our love”), undercut
with a snaking bass line that reassures the listener
that, despite her melancholy, Parks will keep moving
forward to her own particular beat. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Beware ‘Election
JULIEN BAKER ‘FAITH HEALER’
A longing for relief — spiritual, physical, emotional —
fills “Faith Healer,” the first song from Julien Baker’s
next album, “Little Oblivions.” She’s backed by a full
rock band, with restless six-beat guitar picking and a

Stress Disorder’
martial, U2-ish beat, as she battles the lures of drugs
and delusions, wondering if a faith healer or a “snake
oil dealer” can “take away the sting a minute” or at
least “make me feel something.” JON PARELES

TIGERS JAW ‘CAT’S CRADLE’

This week may not bring an end to the strain of the political season, “Cat’s Cradle,” the first single from the Pennsylvania
indie band Tigers Jaw’s forthcoming “I Won’t Care
but you don’t have to let things get contentious. How You Remember Me” (out early next year), is a
confident step out of the shadow of the past and into
BY KATHERINE CUSUMANO
the band’s future. Driven by chugging guitars and
prismatic keys, it’s a refreshing blast of bouncy
power-pop, tinged bittersweet by Brianna Collins’s
lilting lead vocals. ZOLADZ

ELA MINUS ‘DOMINIQUE’

FROM THE DROVES of people voting
by mail to the widespread protests
for racial justice to the pandemic
and worries about the electoral
process itself, the 2020 election
cycle provides “a recipe for a lot of
angst” on Election Day, according
to Alvin Bernard Tillery Jr., a
professor of political science at
Northwestern University.
“We’re seeing a huge increase
in the need for mental health
services,” said Eva Escobedo, a
therapist specializing in relation-
ship issues at Just Mind, a coun-
seling center in Austin, Texas.
With the pandemic keeping many
families apart, the usual rallying
points — like shared love of a
sports team — have frayed. “One
of the very few things that re-
mains, and not only remains but is
heightened, is our political stand-
ing,” Ms. Escobedo said. “I think
that people are way more polar-
ized even within their families and
essential groups than they ever
have been before.”
So how can you engage with
friends and family members
across the political divide on
Election Day and afterward with-
out succumbing to fights and
finger-pointing? It starts with
addressing your own big feelings.
Prepare for no results.
Uncertainty produces anxiety, but
you can counter that, in part, by
understanding what to expect on
Election Day this year. In the past,
many people have shared the
ritual of watching the returns and
staying up until the election has
been called. This year, Dr. Tillery
observed, there’s a significant
chance the presidential election
will not be called on Tuesday
night. Just eight states have said
they anticipate reporting 98 per-
cent of the unofficial results
by noon on Wednesday, so many
votes may not have been
counted yet.
Remember, this is not necessar-
ily a cause for concern in itself:
Tallying provisional ballots and
ballots received by mail takes
more time, and states like Penn-
sylvania and parts of Michigan
don’t allow absentee ballots to be
processed until Election Day. In
some places, election officials may
also need to reach out to voters to
verify their ballots. All of this
helps ensure that an individual’s
vote is counted.
“Voters should get some com-
fort from knowing that we do have
counting procedures and auditing
procedures and voter notification
procedures that would make it
better for us to be calm and let
those processes play out,” said
Myrna Pérez, the director of the
Voting Rights and Election Pro-
gram at the Brennan Center for
Justice, a nonprofit public policy
institute affiliated with New York
University.
It’s possible, in the month be-
tween Election Day and the Elec-
toral College’s Dec. 8 deadline to
settle disputes over the results,
that candidates will try to claim
victory prematurely or manipu-
late the results. Be on the lookout
for viral disinformation: Check
the provenance of news articles or
memes making polarizing political
claims or calling the election
before a mainstream news outlet
has done so.
Cool off if you need to.
According to a poll released by the
American Psychological Associa-
tion in October, 68 percent of
adults report finding the election
to be a significant source of stress.
This is due, at least in part, to the
vitriol and name-calling exhibited
by candidates, according to
Steven Stosny, a couples counsel-
or based in Gaithersburg, Md.,
who came up with the term “elec-
tion stress disorder” during the
2016 election cycle. “That kind of
negative emotion being displayed
by public figures gets very conta-
gious,” he said.
Election Day isn’t going to bring
an end to the anxiety — especially
if the race hasn’t been called for a
candidate. So before you bring up
politics with family members, take
a moment to assess where your
head’s at. That way, you’ll be
better equipped to handle poten-
tially challenging, contentious
conversations. You may need “to
stew,” Ms. Escobedo said. “Give
yourself a break.” She recom-
mended taking a period of time —
perhaps a day or two — to allow
yourself to be a little off-kilter.
Limit your ambient exposure to
social media, where attacks on a
candidate or policy can feel like
attacks on you, personally. Dr.
Stosny suggests setting aside
specific periods to check the news
or your social media feeds. If you
do engage with relatives or
friends on Facebook or Twitter, try
to take those conversation offline,
where you might have a more
successful and meaningful ex-
change.
Nevertheless, Dr. Jena Lee, a
psychiatrist at the University of
California, Los Angeles, cautioned
against assuming you’ll be an
anxious mess on Election Day.
“Humans are quite resilient,” she
said. “There’s a strong possibility
that you will be able to cope.”
Have productive
conversations with family.
It will remain important to discuss
political issues and what’s at stake
with those closest to you, even if
you tend to disagree. Those con-
versations don’t have to get
heated, even if you’re confronted
with a gloating or irritable rela-
tive. “If someone is angry at you,
you want to see that they’re really
feeling hurt and devalued,” Dr.
Stosny said.
If a family member approaches
you with anger, try to respond
with compassion. Consider setting
a time limit on your political dis-
cussions, Dr. Lee said, agreeing in
advance to a fun, shared activity
when your time is up.
That might sound easier said
than done. But several experts
agreed that instead of debating
specific policies, you’d be better
served grounding your conversa-
tions in values like equality, justice
and fairness, as well as being
candid about what you’re feeling
and why.
“The most important work that
we can do as citizens in that gap
between the votes being cast and
counted is zoom out,” said Beth
Silvers, who co-hosts the podcast
“Pantsuit Politics” and co-wrote
the book “I Think You’re Wrong
(but I’m Listening)” with Sarah
Stewart Holland. “Do we want
every vote to be counted? Do we
want to have confidence in the
results, even if it’s a result we
don’t like? What kind of commit-
ments do we owe each other in
this period?”
Political and social divides
among your family members and
peers are not going to be resolved
by this election alone, even once
the results are tallied and certi-
fied. But persistent, thoughtful
communication can help bridge
differences. “Chip, chip, chip, chip,
chip away over conversations
based in fact,” Dr. Tillery said,
“and asking them what they think
is morally right.”
Stay active and connected.
If you’re feeling anxious or over-
whelmed, or need to take time out
of a challenging conversation, go
for a walk or run, and try to spend
at least 30 minutes outside. Stud-
ies have linked aerobic exercise to
improved emotional regulation
and the growth of new neurons;
even moderate exercise like walk-
ing can yield benefits.
Other analog activities can help
you cope, too. “Anxious thoughts
race by,” Dr. Stosny said, “and the
faster they go, the less realistic
they get.” Instead of dwelling on
them, write them out longhand;
this will slow down and moderate
their frenetic pace. Next to each
source of fear, write down how
you’ll respond to it. Hug family
members within your bubble —
hugs promote the release of oxy-
tocin, a hormone that helps regu-
late stress — and make plans with
friends to occupy your mind.
Involve yourself in local issues.
You may feel especially powerless
in the period between casting your
vote and when the election is
called or if your preferred candi-
date does not win. Still, you can
mitigate that feeling through
other productive political actions.
“One of the things Covid has
made abundantly clear in so many
aspects of our life is that we have a
lot of cracks in the system,” Ms.
Pérez said. “Our elections have
felt the strain.” Contact your rep-
resentatives before the new legis-
lative session begins, she sug-
gested, lobbying them to improve
funding for the elections, expand
voter registration efforts and
safeguard voting and auditing
processes.
Reach out to your local school
district to find out how you can
help students in need, attend a
protest or disseminate reliable
sources of information about the
electoral process within your
social circle. If you can do any of
this with a friend or family mem-
ber, even better.
“This is the first step in a long
journey of really reimagining
what America is going to look like
and what America is going to be
about,” Ms. Holland said. “That’s
not going to end when the voting
does.”
Isolation reigns in “Dominique” by Ela Minus, the
songwriter, producer and singer Gabriela Jimeno
from Colombia. Over a steady-pulsing, three-chord
electro track that adds and subtracts assorted layers,
she whisper-sings about how “My brain feels like it’s
going to break” and “I am afraid I forgot how to talk
to anyone else that’s not myself.” No matter: She has
instruments and studio skills, enough to make her
situation thoroughly catchy. PARELES
ÌFÉ ‘MUSIC FOR EGUN MOVEMENT 2’
The Puerto Rican group Ìfé merges traditional Yoru-
ba prayers with 21st-century electronics on its EP
due in November, “The Living Dead — Ashé Bogbo
Egun.” The living dead aren’t zombies; they’re the
spirits of ancestors, and “Music for Egun Movement
2” respectfully arranges a call-and-response Afro-
Caribbean chant with handclaps, bell tones, a pro-
grammed beat and vocals tinged with AutoTune,
digitizing an ancient incantation. PARELES
NILÜFER YANYA ‘CRASH’
Last year the 24-year-old London singer and song-
writer Nilüfer Yanya released an excellent debut
album, “Miss Universe,” which paired searching,
openhearted lyrics with sudden, St. Vincent-esque
jolts of electric guitar. “Crash,” the first single from
her upcoming EP “Feeling Lucky?,” sounds a bit like
a mid-90s alt-rock radio hit that never was: The
fuzzy distortion of Yanya’s guitar envelops a sweetly
hypnotic hook. “If you ask me one more question, I’m
about to crash,” she sings with an exasperated sigh.
The music video’s concept elaborates on that theme,
featuring Yanya as a flight attendant aboard a
charmingly homemade-looking aircraft. ZOLADZ
SMERZ ‘I DON’T TALK ABOUT
THAT MUCH’ AND ‘HVA HVIS’
Smerz is the electronic duo of Henriette Motzfeldt
and Catharina Stoltenberg, Norwegians now based
in Denmark, whose music leaps amid pop, dance
music and classical impulses. “I Don’t Talk About
That Much/Hva Hvis” is a high-contrast pair of
tracks. “I Don’t Talk About That Much” runs on
nervous electro momentum, with arpeggios ricochet-
ing in stereo between a sputtering kick drum and a
buzz looming overhead; their voices harmonize
calmly in lyrics about reticence and uncertainty: I
wonder if you ever wonder about me/this much.”
“Hva Hvis” (“What if”) is an austere instrumental
for strings: lingering over drones, hinting at a
chance at resolution, but thinning back to one solo,
sustained tone. PARELES
A still from the video of Smerz’s “I Don’t Talk About
That Much” and “Hva Hvis.”
4 D
Get All You Can
From LinkedIn
It may not be the most fun social media platform, but it’s
become a crucial resource for finding employment.
BY CHARLOTTE COWLES
ARGUABLY THE LEAST fun social
media platform, LinkedIn used to
be the online equivalent of a pro-
fessional networking event — a
stodgy affair that no one really
wanted to hang around. But for
the foreseeable future, the pan-
demic has all but eradicated most
other methods of sniffing out
career opportunities. Now that
grabbing drinks with former
colleagues or hobnobbing at work
conferences is off the table,
LinkedIn has been promoted from
obligatory to essential.
Since March, LinkedIn, which is
owned by Microsoft, has intro-
duced a number of tools to help its
706 million members connect to
more than 14 million job postings
and learn new skills for career
development. (These figures were
reported in Microsoft’s fourth-
quarter earnings call in July.) All
of the new offerings are available
to all of LinkedIn’s users and do
not require a “premium” plan,
which ranges in cost from $29.99
to $119.95 per month.
Whether you’re looking for a
new role or just trying to expand
your professional network, here’s
how to use the website to your full
advantage.
Update your profile regularly.
A well-tended LinkedIn profile is
an important way to stay relevant.
“A lot of people only update their
LinkedIn when they’re looking for
jobs, so it’s not used to its full
potential,” said Ashley Watkins, a
job search coach and former
corporate recruiter. “They wonder
why no one’s reaching out to
them; it’s because they’re inac-
tive. If your profile is stale, you
almost don’t exist.”
In addition to featuring your job
and skills, be sure to include a
photo of yourself. “Your picture
should be professional-ish, and
represent you well,” said Tejal
Wagadia, a corporate recruiter at
the digital education company
StrongMind. “If appropriate, it’s
nice to have a photo that shows
your personality.” (Hers shows
her drinking out of a coconut,
which she described as “a good
conversation starter.”)
FRAN CABALLERO
Make sure your skills
are accurate.
The “skills” section of your
LinkedIn profile deserves special
attention if you’re looking for
work, as recruiters often hunt for
candidates using skills as key-
words. “LinkedIn members who
have at least five skills on their
profile are 27 times more likely to
be discovered by recruiters,” said
Blake Barnes, who oversees the
strategy and development of new
tools and products at LinkedIn.
LinkedIn offers a feature where
current and former colleagues can
“endorse” the skills you’ve listed,
as well as quizzes you can take to
“verify” them. “We encourage
members to go the extra step to
verify skills — you’ll be 20 percent
more likely to get hired if you have
a completed LinkedIn Skill As-
sessment badge displayed on your
profile,” Mr. Barnes said.
Don’t get too carried away,
though. “If you haven’t used a skill
in the past five years, don’t list it,”
Ms. Wagadia said. “Some people
have tons of keywords in their
LinkedIn profile because they
want to be found through a search,
but then their job experience
doesn’t back it up. That doesn’t
help anyone.”
Be active on the platform.
Regular engagement may not get
you a job directly, but it can help
open doors and get you on peo-
ple’s radars. “When you’re liking
and commenting on other people’s
content, and sharing articles you
read and liked, you’re more visi-
ble,” Ms. Watkins said. “That
gives other people more incentive
to reach out to you.”
But don’t just post about any-
thing — this isn’t Facebook or
Instagram. “Stick to your area of
expertise,” Ms. Wagadia said.
“And definitely avoid engaging in
political or religious debates. It
just leads to a mudslinging con-
test, and if a recruiter or hiring
manager sees that, they’re going
to question your judgment.”
Make new connections
— but be strategic.
“If you’re looking for a job at a
certain company, start by doing an
advanced search to find people
you have something in common
with at the company, and reach
out to them,” said Michael Quinn,
senior manager at Ernst & Young
who specializes in helping organi-
zations attract talent.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Avoid coming off as transac-
tional, though. “Start by looking at
their content and engage based on
that,” Mr. Quinn said. “Don’t just
message people because you want
something.” He suggests sharing
a little bit about your professional
life and commenting on their
posts. “If I’m used to seeing your
name, and then you send me a
message saying, ‘Congrats on the
new promotion,’ and then you ask
to get on the phone for 15 minutes
to learn about how I got to where I
am, then it’s much easier for me to
say, ‘Yes, I’ll take that phone call,’ ”
he explained. “You’re building a
relationship.”
Don’t be shy about needing
a new job.
In June, LinkedIn introduced a
new feature called “Open to
Work,” which allows users to
display a badge on their profile
photo that indicates they are
looking for a new job. And accord-
ing to the company’s data, it can
give your profile a boost. “We’ve
seen that people are 40 percent
more likely to get a message from
a recruiter and 20 percent more
likely to get a message from an-
other member if they show that
they are ‘Open to Work’ publicly,”
Mr. Barnes said. (If you’d rather
be discreet, members have the
option to display the badge so that
it’s only visible to recruiters out-
side your company.)
A silver lining of the pandemic
is that it has stripped away some
of the awkwardness around ad-
mitting you’ve lost your job. “That
transparency didn’t really exist
before Covid, and it’s now becom-
ing a key part of our job-seeker
ecosystem,” Mr. Barnes said.
Anticipate new job postings
and interviews.
LinkedIn claims that data col-
lected in August showed that
users are four times more likely to
hear back from a job recruiter or
hiring manager if they applied for
a job posting within the first 10
minutes — so it helps to be quick.
“We recommend setting up job
alerts, so that listings that meet
your specific criteria will be sent
to you as soon as they’re posted,”
Mr. Barnes said.
In the meantime, the platform
allows users to record practice
interviews online and evaluate
their performance. The tool uses
A.I.-powered feedback to assess
how fast you’re talking, how many
times you use filler words (“um”
and “like”) and sensitive phrases
to avoid.
Be open to career transitions
you may not have previously
considered.
Linkedin’s most recent tool is
Career Explorer, which rolled out
recently to steer members toward
new roles that align with their
skills but may be in a different
industry or area they hadn’t previ-
ously considered. “Our data gives
us unique insights about career
paths and how skills transfer from
one job to another,” said Paul Ko,
the head of economic policy re-
search at LinkedIn. “Many mem-
bers didn’t necessarily know what
job transitions were available to
them.”
In a recent survey of 2,000
professionals who became unem-
ployed in the last eight months,
commissioned by LinkedIn and
conducted by Censuswide, re-
spondents reported that they were
overwhelmed by the prospect of a
career pivot because they didn’t
know where to start (almost half ),
considered themselves unquali-
fied for other industries (about a
third), didn’t have connections in
other industries (32 percent) or
didn’t know how their skills trans-
lated ( just under a third).
The Career Explorer tool aims
to bridge those gaps in knowledge
and confidence. To use it, mem-
bers type in their current or most
recent job and get a list of other
job suggestions that require simi-
lar skills (along with a percentage
of skills overlap, like a Venn dia-
gram). For example, a food serv-
ice worker could see that his or
her peers often transition into
customer service specialist roles,
a rapidly growing sector that
requires about 70 percent of the
same skills, according to the tool.
The tool also suggests open posi-
tions in your geographic area.
If there are certain jobs with
overlapping skills but a few criti-
cal ones you don’t have, the tool
will also provide links to LinkedIn
courses that you can take to learn
them. “The goal is to help people
tap into opportunities that they
should be considering but didn’t
even know about,” Mr. Ko said.
READ THESE
Make a Choice
That’s Based
On Facts
Newly published: a journey
among white supremacists and
a look inside the special
counsel’s investigation of the
2016 election.
NONFICTION BOOKS ON topics of law, racial justice and
culture were among those recently recommended by
New York Times critics. Here, some of their
favorites.
‘WHERE LAW ENDS: Inside the
Mueller Investigation’
By Andrew Weissmann
Andrew Weissmann served as one
of Robert S. Mueller III’s top law-
yers in the special counsel’s inves-
tigation into the 2016 election. He
knows that his new memoir,
“Where Law Ends,” won’t destroy
“the machinery of information that separates fact
from fiction,” but he wants to enter his experience
into the historical record. “I have to imagine that this
book will probably strike the famously tight-lipped
Mueller as an act of betrayal,” the Times critic Jenni-
fer Szalai wrote in her review. “Weissmann’s portrait
of his boss is admiring, affectionate and utterly
devastating.”
‘TO MAKE THEIR OWN WAY IN
THE WORLD: The Enduring
Legacy of the Zealy
Daguerreotypes’
Edited by Ilisa Barbash, Molly
Rogers and Deborah Willis
Fifteen images tucked away at
Harvard, widely believed to be
the first photographs of enslaved
human beings, have been at the center of urgent
debates about photography ever since they were
rediscovered in 1976. This book convenes a group of
scholars of slavery, American history, memory, pho-
tography and science, with the aim of telling “more
fully the complex story of the people in these iconic
images.” The book raised a lot of questions for the
Times critic Parul Sehgal: “Is there a correct way to
regard these images? Should one view them, or any
coerced image, at all? To whom do they belong?
Do they quicken or numb the conscience? Does
displaying them traumatize the living? Is it care or
cowardice to keep them concealed? What do we owe
the dead?”
‘CULTURE WARLORDS:
My Journey Into the Dark Web
of White Supremacy’
By Talia Lavin
To write this book, which ex-
pressly melds reportage with
activism, Talia Lavin created fake
identities and interacted with
far-right communities online,
including dating sites for white supremacists and
forums for people hoping to incite a race war. Her
goal was to shine light on hatred that she says flour-
ishes when it’s allowed to take cover in the shadows.
“One of the marvels of this furious book is how inso-
lent and funny Lavin is,” Szalai wrote in her review.
“She refuses to soft-pedal the monstrous views she
encounters, and she clearly takes pleasure in cutting
them down to size.”
‘WHAT BECOMES A
LEGEND MOST: A Biography
of Richard Avedon’
By Philip Gefter
Richard Avedon’s first fashion
photograph appeared in Harper’s
Bazaar in 1944, when he was 21,
and he was still shooting for The
New Yorker at the time of his
death 60 years later. “He knew everyone and pho-
tographed everyone, and part of the pleasure of this
biography lies in watching life’s rich pageant pass
by,” the Times critic Dwight Garner wrote in his
review, calling the book “wise and ebullient.” Gefter
lingers over photo sessions with subjects like Mari-
lyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and James Baldwin, and
makes the case for Avedon as one of the 20th centu-
ry’s most consequential artists.
‘BILLION DOLLAR LOSER: The
Epic Rise and Spectacular Fall of
Adam Neumann and WeWork’
By Reeves Wiedeman
Emerging in the wake of the 2008
financial crisis, WeWork repur-
posed office space for freelancers
worldwide, rebranding precarity
into community. In a spectacular
fall in 2019, it postponed its initial public offering and
its co-founder Adam Neumann left the company.
“ ‘Billion Dollar Loser’ would be absorbing enough
were it just about one man’s grandiosity, but Wiede-
man has a larger argument to make about what
Neumann represents,” Szalai wrote in her review.
“Wiedeman depicts the giant sums of money churn-
ing through WeWork as the embodiment of a confi-
dence game that flourished in the last decade.”
GREGORY COWLES
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 D 5

Learn a Classic
But even if you know the genus, No surprise that they tilt heav-
you can graduate beyond, say, ily toward the European, where
“hydrangea” to the second word the system had its origins. For
in the Latin binomial, the species instance, the prolific British ex-
name or epithet that modifies it: plorer Ernest Henry Wilson, who

Plant Language
Latin may seem obscure, but it can open up the
botanical world in unimaginable ways.
BY MARGARET ROACH
THE PLANTS ARE trying to say
something — if only you learn
their official language: botanical
Latin. “I am the Allium with just
one leaf,” Allium unifolium says.
“I am the juniper that carpets the
ground,” Juniperus horizontalis
says.
Not all plant names offer such
easy clues about traits like ap-
pearance, preferred conditions or
place of origin. It’s worth digging
deeper, though, and a recent book,
“The Gardener’s Botanical: An
Encyclopedia of Latin Plant
Names,” offers ways to sharpen
your skills. The author, Ross
Bayton, earned his doctorate in
plant taxonomy at the University
of Reading and the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew, in England, and is
now the assistant director of the
public Heronswood Garden in
Kingston, Wash.
Dr. Bayton learned his first
botanical Latin word around the
age of 11, from his mother’s be-
loved sweet peas, Lathyrus odora-
tus, a plant she grew every year.
“I realized that odoratus meant
fragrant, and then I saw that word
on other plant labels in my own
garden,” he recalled. “And that
kicked it off for me.”
In his garden, he then con-
nected the dots of mollis, for soft
(Acanthus mollis, Alchemilla
mollis), and its opposite, spinosa,
for spiny (Acanthus spinosus,
Aralia spinosa). Now they join
odoratus among the 5,000-plus
entries in his illustrated dictio-
nary.
A little botanical Latin self-
study might prove useful in the
gardening off season. A plant’s
Latin name is the only way to
know for certain what you’ll be
getting when you buy plants in
the spring, as common names
vary by region.
Start with the plants in your
garden, Dr. Bayton suggested, or
even just learn to address your
houseplants by their proper
names. Here are four strategies.
Don’t worry about
pronunciation.
“It’s not the language spoken on
the streets of ancient Rome,” Dr.
Bayton said of the naming system
formalized in 1753 by Carl Linnae-
us. “It’s based on that but incorpo-
rates ancient Greek and exists
primarily as a written language.”
Gardeners on different conti-
nents pronounce Latin names in
different ways. And while there
may be an “official” way (as Dr.
Bayton lists in the book), he add-
ed: “Say them however you want,
and most gardeners will under-
stand you. And when searching
for plant-care information online,
pronunciation is irrelevant.”
Go beyond common names.
“Accuracy — knowing a plant’s
correct name — is the key to
finding out everything about it,”
said Dr. Bayton, who offers the
common name bluebell as one
example of inaccuracy’s slippery
slope.
Which bluebell? The native
Eastern wildflower Mertensia
virginica or Hyacinthoides non-
scripta, a bulb from Western
Europe and England? The Cam-
panula referred to as Scottish
bluebell, or the Australian, Texas
or California bluebells, each in a
different genus?
Unlike common names, which
can be shared by multiple plants
and vary regionally, the Latin
name is universal.
There’s Hydrangea quercifolia
(translation: the hydrangea
whose leaves resemble those of
an oak, oaks being genus Quer-
cus), which is different from
Hydrangea paniculata (whose
leaves don’t). “Hydrangeas are a
big group, and they don’t all need
the same treatment,” Dr. Bayton
said. “If you want to know how
to prune one, there are four
distinct ways — so knowing it’s
a hydrangea isn’t enough
information.”
Master the details.
Most Latin names are descriptive
— sometimes vividly so. Toxico-
dendron (the genus of poison ivy,
oak and sumac) and Urtica (sting-
ing nettles; Urtica means “to
burn”) spell danger: toxicity or
the risk of urticaria, a skin rash.
A species name might reveal a
less terrifying trait, such as flower
color. Yellow may be flavus or
luteus, citrinus (lemon-colored)
or aureus (gold). Silver is argen-
teus. Red is rubrum, as in the red
maple (Acer rubrum). Blue
shades include azureus (sky) and
darker caeruleus. Purple is pur-
pureus. White is albus; black,
nigrum (black pepper, Piper
nigrum).
Some plants speak of their
geographic origins. Various na-
tives of the American Northeast
bear the epithets canadensis or
virginiana. But occasionally this
backfires: Scilla peruviana does-
n’t hail from Peru, although it did
travel from its southwestern
European or northwest African
homeland on a ship named Peru,
Dr. Bayton said, confusing the
botanist who named it. (The rules
of botanical nomenclature say the
oldest valid species name sticks.)
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM “THE
GARDENER’S BOTANICAL”
From top: illustrations of Magnolia
campbellii, Hydrangea macrophylla
and a Camellia flower.
Be aware of back stories.
A subset of plant names — both
genus and species — are com-
memorative, honoring the explor-
er who discovered them, or per-
haps the person who funded the
mission during which they were
found.
“There are plants named after
politicians, after botanists, after
botanist’s wives,” Dr. Bayton said.
“So while the information con-
tained in Latin names isn’t always
directly helpful to the gardener,
there are a lot of fascinating
stories in it that explain how the
world was explored and how
plants were discovered.”
sent back thousands of plants
from China, is noted by wilsonii (a
Magnolia and a Picea among
them).
Occasionally a local name was
used, as with the Asian native
plants Fatsia (from the Japanese
for eight fingers, descriptive of
the leaves’ lobes) and
Kirengeshoma (for the Japanese
words for yellow, lotus blossom
and hat, describing its flowers).
Catalpa sounds like botanical
Latin, but it is actually an Indige-
nous North American name for a
tree genus that includes two
American species.
Women, too, are markedly
underrepresented.
“A lot of both the men and,
especially, women honored are
aristocrats or royalty,” Dr. Bayton
said. “But it’s considerably rarer
to find a working woman so
honored.”
Clivia was named for the Duch-
ess of Northumberland, Charlotte
Percy (née Clive), the first person
to bloom that South African plant
brought back to England. The
newly crowned Queen Victoria
inspired a namesake genus:
Tropical waterlilies from the
Amazon were named Victoria
amazonica and put on display in
the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park,
London.
“Today, I would rather not see
plants named after some for-
eigner who came in and named
them, when the plants were al-
ways known by the people who
lived there,” Dr. Bayton said. “I
am increasingly uncomfortable
with that.”
So why not rename those that
are not politically correct? The
result would be taxonomic chaos.
With new introductions, he
said, we should give them a local
name, or just describe them with
the chosen Latin name. One that
can help the gardener who even-
tually grows them.

In a year you’d
like to forget,
give them
a vacation
they’ll always
remember.
For safety information and vacation inspiration,
visit experiencekissimmee.com.
6 D
Five Dishes
To Cook
This Week
If you ever cook to meet your mood, then this
week could be quite a ride in the kitchen — a
time for drink mixing and nacho making? May-
be you embrace noodles in uneasy times, or
pasta, or stew? Are you an anxiety baker? Do
what you must to take care of you. But if your
brand of self-care includes an outrageous recipe
for baked macaroni and cheese, you’re set.
Here are five dishes for the week. EMILY WEINSTEIN
DAVID MALOSH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: SIMON ANDREWS.
Simple Roast Chicken
With Greens (and Bonus Stock)
Roast chicken with sautéed greens from Melissa Clark takes some time
to cook, especially if your chicken is on the larger side (4½ pounds or
so), but much of that time is unattended. If you want to make stock but
not right away, store the bones in the freezer.
TIME: 1½ HOURS, PLUS 2 TO 3 HOURS
FOR THE OPTIONAL STOCK  (including the cavity) with 1½ to 2
YIELD: 4 SERVINGS
FOR THE CHICKEN:
1 (3- to 4-pound) chicken
Kosher salt and black
pepper
Grated garlic, lemon zest,
cumin or garam masala,
chopped thyme or rosemary
(optional)
Sturdy, woody herbs such as
sage, thyme, rosemary, bay
leaf (optional)
FOR THE GREENS:
Oil or butter
2 leeks, white and light green
parts, thinly sliced, tops
reserved for stock (or use a
large sliced onion)
2 to 3 garlic cloves, thinly
sliced
1 bunch kale, Swiss chard or
other greens, stems
removed, leaves torn into
bite-size pieces
FOR THE STOCK (OPTIONAL):
Kosher salt
Onion or other alliums
Reserved leek tops
1 carrot (optional)
Herbs, such as 2 bay leaves,
some parsley stems, a few
tarragon and thyme sprigs
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 celery stalks, preferably with
the leaves still attached
1. Season your chicken all over
teaspoons kosher salt and a lot of
black pepper. If you like, add the
grated garlic clove or two, some
lemon zest, some spices like cumin
or garam masala, or chopped thyme
or rosemary.
2. If time permits, let the chicken
rest uncovered in the fridge for a few
hours to dry out the skin. Stuff the
woody herbs, if using, in the cavity
either before or after resting.
3. When ready to roast, heat the
oven to 425 degrees, and, at the
same time, heat a skillet on your
stovetop for a few minutes. Coat the
pan with a little oil or butter, and add
the bird so it’s lying on its back. Let it
cook for about 5 minutes, then move
it to the oven.
4. Roast the bird until it’s burnished
all over and the wing tips — if your
chicken still has them attached —
are a little singed, about 45 minutes
for a small bird, and up to 75
minutes for a larger bird. The juices
should run clear if you prick the thigh
with a fork. (An instant-read
thermometer inserted in the thickest
part of the thigh should read 165
degrees.) Move the bird to a cutting
board and let it rest for 10 minutes.
5. Return the same pan to the stove
and set it over medium heat until the
drippings sizzle. Add the leeks and
garlic and sauté until tender and
golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the kale
and a splash of water and cook until
the leaves are very tender and the
water evaporates. If the kale is still
tough and the pan is dry, add
another splash of water and let it
cook a little longer. Season with salt
and serve with the chicken. Pick any
remaining meat off the carcass and
save it for another meal.
6. Make the optional stock: Put the
chicken bones in a medium pot. Add
a teaspoon of salt and whatever
aromatics you have around: an onion
or other alliums, leftover leek tops, a
carrot, a bay leaf, herbs or herb
stems, peppercorns, a celery stalk or
the tops.
7. Cover with cold water and let it all
simmer for 2 or 3 hours. Or use an
electric pressure cooker and let it
cook at high pressure for 1 hour, or a
slow cooker for 3 to 6 hours. Strain it
after it cools, if you like. Stock will
keep in the freezer for up to 6
months.
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Cheeses Pizza
Inspired by the Roman pasta dish cacio e pepe, this recipe is from the
revered Brooklyn restaurant Roberta’s. Make dough if you’re into that,
or buy dough at the store if that’s better for you.
ADAPTED FROM “ROBERTA'S,” BY CARLO
MIRARCHI, BRANDON HOY, CHRIS
PARACHINI AND KATHERINE WHEELOCK
TIME: 15 MINUTES, PLUS 1 HOUR TO HEAT
OVEN
YIELD: 2 SERVINGS
1 12-inch round of pizza
dough, stretched
4 teaspoons heavy cream
2 ounces fresh mozzarella
1½ ounces fresh taleggio
Ground black pepper
1 ounce Parmesan, finely
grated
GENTL AND HYERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: MAGGIE RUGGIERO.
Mapo Ragù
You can amp up or tamp down the heat as you like in this recipe, based
on a dish from the chefs David Chang and Tien Ho, and serve it with rice
cakes or noodles, steamed rice or pasta. To get ahead on prep, cara-
melize the onions in advance and keep them in the refrigerator.
TIME: 1 HOUR
YIELD: 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
3 tablespoons neutral oil, like
canola
2 large onions, peeled and
sliced
Pinch of kosher salt, or to
taste
1 pound ground pork
4 cloves garlic, peeled and
chopped
10 to 15 frozen cylindrical rice
cakes (optional), or rice
noodles, or pasta, or
steamed rice
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and
chopped
3 tablespoons gochujang
(Korean chili-bean paste)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy
sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons Sichuan
peppercorns (optional)
1 bunch kale or any hearty
cooking greens, roughly
chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced, for
garnish
MELINA HAMMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
1. Place a pizza stone or tiles on the
middle rack of your oven and turn
heat to its highest setting. Let it heat
for at least an hour.
2. Drizzle the cream over the
stretched dough. Break the
mozzarella into large pieces and
gently place these on the dough.
Break the taleggio into pieces and do
the same. Grind an exceptional
amount of black pepper onto the
surface of the pie, approximately 8 to
10 grinds.
3. Using a pizza peel, pick up the pie
and slide it onto the heated stone or
tiles in the oven. Bake until the crust
is golden brown and the cheese is
bubbling, approximately 4 to 8
minutes.
4. Scatter the Parmesan over the
pizza and serve immediately.
PROP STYLIST: AMY WILSON.
1. Heat the oil in a wok set over
medium-high heat. When it
shimmers, add the onions and the
pinch of salt. Cook, stirring
occasionally, until the onions have
released their moisture and are
starting to brown, approximately 10
minutes. Then turn the heat down to
low, and continue to cook, stirring
every few minutes, until they have
turned golden brown and sweet, an
additional 20 minutes or so.
2. Tip the onions into a bowl, and
return the wok to high heat over the
stove. Add remaining tablespoon of
oil, then the pork, and cook, breaking
the meat up with a spoon, until it is
just cooked, but not yet browning,
approximately 10 minutes. Add the
cooked meat to the reserved onions.
3. If using the rice cakes, put a large
pot of salted water over high heat,
and bring to a boil.
4. Return wok to stove over medium
heat and cook the garlic and ginger
in fat remaining from pork (add an
extra splash of neutral oil if
necessary). When the garlic and
ginger soften, add gochujang, soy
sauce, brown sugar and, if using, the
Sichuan peppercorns. Add ½ cup to
1 cup of water, enough to loosen the
gochujang and make a sauce, then
return pork and onions to the wok
and stir to combine. Adjust
seasonings.
5. Bring sauce to a simmer, and add
the chopped greens, then stir to
combine and cook until they have
started to soften, approximately 5
minutes.
6. If using rice cakes, place them in
the boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes
to soften, then drain and add to the
sauce. (If not, serve the ragù with
steamed rice, rice noodles or pasta.)
Garnish with the sliced scallions.
DAVID MALOSH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: SIMON ANDREWS.
Somen Noodles With Poached Egg,
Bok Choy and Mushrooms
Thin noodles, warm broth, earthy mushrooms, runny yolk: This meat-
less soup by Sue Li seems just about perfect. The key to achieving a
teardrop shape during poaching is allowing the eggs to simmer without
disturbance until cooked.
TIME: 20 MINUTES
YIELD: 2 SERVINGS
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 scallions, trimmed, whites
and greens separated and
thinly sliced
8 ounces fresh shiitake
mushrooms, stems
discarded and caps thinly
sliced (about 3 cups)
Kosher salt
1 medium bok choy (about 4
ounces), cut into bite-size
pieces
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame
oil, plus more for serving
2 bundles (about 7
ounces total) somen
noodles, or any thin wheat
or rice noodles
2 large eggs
JOHNNY MILLER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES. FOOD STYLIST: REBECCA JURKEVICH.
Southern Macaroni and Cheese
The chef Millie Peartree’s version of mac and cheese is uniquely cheesy
and rich, a mac and cheese that makes you close your eyes and sigh.
ADAPTED FROM MILLIE PEARTREE FISH
FRY & SOUL FOOD, NEW YORK
TIME: 45 MINUTES, PLUS COOLING
YIELD: 8 TO 10 SERVINGS
Kosher salt and black
pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
4 cups shredded extra-sharp
Cheddar (about 16 ounces)
½ cup unsalted butter (1
stick), melted
2 cups shredded Colby Jack
(about 8 ounces)
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to
a simmer.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a pot over
medium. Add scallion whites and
sliced mushrooms, season with salt
and cook until browned, stirring
occasionally, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Add 3 cups water to the pot and
bring to a simmer over medium-high.
Add bok choy and cook until
crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Stir in
soy sauce and 2 teaspoons sesame
oil and season to taste with salt. Turn
off heat and cover to keep warm.
4. Meanwhile, cook somen according
to package instructions in the
simmering water in the saucepan.
Using a slotted spoon or spider,
divide the noodles among bowls,
leaving the simmering water in the
saucepan. Crack each egg into its
own small bowl, discarding the
shells. Swirl the simmering water in
the saucepan, creating a vortex by
stirring with a wooden spoon. Add
the eggs, one right after another, and
cook over medium-low until the
whites are set, about 3 minutes.
Transfer eggs to noodle bowls using
a slotted spoon.
5. Ladle the reserved shiitake broth
into the bowls. Top with sliced
scallion greens, drizzle with sesame
oil and serve.
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a
large pot of generously salted water
to a boil. Add macaroni and cook
according to package directions until
a little under al dente, about 4
minutes. Transfer to a colander and
rinse under cold water to stop
cooking. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk milk and
eggs. Add cooked macaroni, 2 cups
extra-sharp Cheddar, melted butter,
1½ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon
pepper, and stir until well combined.
3. Add half the macaroni mixture to a
9-by-13-inch baking dish in an even
layer. Sprinkle 1½ cups Colby Jack
evenly on top. Spread the remaining
macaroni mixture on top in an even
layer. Cover with aluminum foil,
transfer to the middle rack of the
oven and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from oven. Carefully
remove and discard the aluminum
foil. Top the macaroni mixture with
the remaining 2 cups Cheddar and ½
cup Colby Jack. Broil on top rack until
cheese is browned in spots, 3 to 5
minutes. (The broiled cheese can go
from golden to burnt fairly quickly, so
keep a close eye on it.)
5. Remove from oven and let cool
until the macaroni and cheese is fully
set, 10 to 15 minutes. (The mixture
may first appear jiggly, but it will firm
up as it cools.) Serve warm.

Get to the
Virtual Altar
On Time
The pandemic has created a whole new etiquette for hosting
and attending weddings. Don’t be left behind.
BY COURTNEY RUBIN
WITH WEDDINGS THIS year being
delayed, downsized or split into
two — video ceremony now, party
next year — many guests have
some only-in-2020 etiquette ques-
tions. Should you dress up? Send a
present — or two? Read on for
answers to all your pandemic
wedding quandaries.
Zoom to the chapel.
Laura Held, founder of Ida Rose
Events in Arlington, Va., said
couples are now hiring videogra-
phers to livestream the events
instead of just having a laptop
open to Zoom. “They are saying,
‘If I’m going to broadcast it, I want
it done well,’” she said.
This means guests might re-
ceive a link where they can watch,
but — unlike in Zoom — the couple
can only see how many people are
online, not who they are (or what
they’re wearing). If you want to be
a great guest, you could get
dressed up, take a selfie and post it
to social media, saying that you’re
getting ready for the wedding.
“It’s flattering for the bride and
groom — it shows you’re excited to
be a part of their special day,” Ms.
Held said. (You can post screen
shots of the ceremony to some-
thing fleeting, like Instagram
Stories, she said, but it’s best to
avoid doing so on your main feed
until the couple has had a chance
to share.)
Can I wear sweatpants?
If you’re attending a wedding on
any platform where you’re in front
of a camera, dress in a way that
you’re happy to be photographed.
Hasti Maloufi, a wedding planner
in Vancouver, British Columbia,
now incorporates into the wedding
rehearsal how the couple will
acknowledge grandparents who
couldn’t travel or guests in other
time zones. (Ms. Maloufi now
sends the wedding party down the
aisle more slowly, “so the camera
has time to pan in and pan out, and
get the next person walking.”) You
can just turn off your camera, but
beware that everyone will assume
it’s because you’re not dressed.
It may not be enough to just
wear a nice shirt. Virtual weddings
may feature group dances and
karaoke, so you may also want to
wear pants or a skirt, unless you’re
deliberately going for laughs.
Caroline Creidenberg, founder
of Wedfuly, a Denver-based online
wedding planning company, said
she has seen guests ham it up
during their toasts by wearing —
in one case — traditional Filipino
formal wear on top and what
looked like sweatpants printed
with a giant wolf on the bottom.
Others have paired sport coats
with bathing suits. Ms. Creiden-
berg, whose company has put on
some 500 weddings since the
pandemic started, pointed out that
if a couple has specifically chosen
a videoconferencing option, they
want online guests to be involved.
Whatever you wear, “these cou-
ples have been through the wring-
er, so the best thing you can do is
be attentive,” she said.
Do I mute my mic?
Bethel Nathan, an officiant in San
Diego who has performed about 40
weddings during the pandemic,
said most couples seem to be
muting everyone during the cere-
mony. If the couple doesn’t mute
you first, it’s wise to mute yourself
to prevent interruptions from
people or pets at home.
Ms. Nathan has been in busi-
ness for 12 years, but in recent
months she’s had to adapt her
ceremony to give a warning that
she is about to pronounce the
couple as married. “You have to
kind of turn to the camera and say,
‘Are you all ready?’ and then
someone has to unmute everyone
if the couple wants to hear the
cheers,” she said.
Help! I was asked to be
there — IRL.
If you’re attending a wedding in
person, you may be asked to quar-
antine and to take a coronavirus
test. Greg Moss, 36, and Danielle
Black, 36, who married on the
Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm on
Sept. 26, asked their 20 guests to
self-isolate for two weeks before
the wedding and submit proof of a
negative coronavirus test
by email.
“We understand this is a lot to
ask,” the couple wrote on their
wedding website, which also
included a list of rapid testing
sites. “We’re relying on you, our
most special people, to honor us
and each other with your honesty
and strict caution.”
A couple of guests did not attend
because they could not comply —
“with good reason,” Mr. Moss said
in an interview, “but everyone
understood where we were com-
ing from.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
GINA BROCKER PHOTOGRAPHY
How will the reception
be different?
One thing guests — both in person
and virtual — can expect is shorter
receptions. (Ceremonies often
seem to be similar length as in the
Before Times, with the main differ-
ence being that more couples are
writing their own vows, according
to several wedding planners inter-
viewed.)
Leah Weinberg, a wedding
planner who founded Color Pop
Events in Queens, said a “normal”
wedding would be about six hours
from guest arrival to the end of the
night. Currently, the events are
about three hours, she said, be-
cause in-person parties of 20 or 30
people don’t need an hour for
cocktails, and there isn’t usually
much dancing.
Virtual guests don’t necessarily
want to watch the in-person ones
eat dinner, so some receptions
with a large virtual guest list may
go directly from the couple being
pronounced married to the first
dance, any family dances (such as
father daughter), toasts and cake-
cutting. Then the virtual guests log
off, and dinner is served (yes, after
the cake), Ms. Creidenberg said.
Another feature of some virtual
weddings: breakout rooms, which
the couple organizes, à la tables at
a wedding. “Keep your breakout
rooms to the first page of gallery
view of Zoom,” Ms. Creidenberg
said — in other words, to fewer
than 25 people per room. If you’d
prefer not to chat with your “ta-
ble,” you can always turn off your
camera and mute yourself until
the couple arrives, said Brittany
Ward, lead planner at Modern
Rebel, a wedding planning com-
pany based in Brooklyn.
“You’re expected to stay until
the couple shows up to say hello,
but it’s a virtual event, so logging
off is not uncommon if someone
can’t stay and wait,” Ms. Ward
said. One tip for guests: Switch to
gallery view so you can see every-
one in the room and not just the
person speaking at the moment.
When do I give a gift?
First, keep in mind that you are
never obligated to give a gift, said
Diane Gottsman, founder of the
Protocol School of Texas, in San
Antonio. If there’s a video wedding
to which you’re invited, followed
by a larger in-person celebration
planned for next year, give the gift
soon after the video wedding.
Above, Graciela Castro and Kevin
Wilke married at their Boston
apartment in August, with many
online attendees.
“That’s the wedding,” she said.
“No one knows what’s going to
happen next year. Plan only for
what you’re invited to at that
moment.”
If you do go to the celebration
next year, you can choose to give
another gift or just bring along a
bottle of wine, depending on your
relationship with the couple and
your finances.
If you were invited to an in-
person wedding, then uninvited
because of Covid-related downsiz-
ing, ask yourself how you would
feel the next time you see the
couple if you haven’t acknowl-
edged the wedding in some way.
“If you’re going to dread it, then
there’s your answer,” Ms. Gotts-
man said. You don’t need to buy
them a gift; you could just send a
really beautiful card congratulat-
ing them, or maybe tuck in a funny
old picture you found, she said.
Anything that shows a little bit of
effort.
But wait. I wasn’t invited
to the wedding.
Every expert interviewed had the
same advice about being left out:
Don’t take it personally. It wasn’t
because you did something wrong.
The best gift you can give the
couple is to be compassionate and
give them space.
You could also do one better.
When Ram Johal, 28, and Mar-
garet Hermano, 29, had to down-
size their Vancouver wedding —
even significant others of the
wedding party didn’t make the cut
— a group of about 20 of their
friends had an idea. The group
asked the wedding planner, Ms.
Maloufi, if they could watch the
ceremony on their phones (with
Zoom) from the church parking
lot, then surprise the couple with
in-person, socially distanced con-
gratulations. Ms. Maloufi brought
a portable speaker so the couple
could dance their first dance, to
“You Are the Reason,” by Leona
Lewis and Calum Scott, as their
friends cheered.
But note to anyone thinking of
wedding crashing: Venues have
strict rules about numbers, so run
your scheme by the planner.
“Someone should be in the loop to
ensure it’s seamless and memora-
ble — for the right reasons,” Ms.
Maloufi said.
D 7
Catch
The World’s
Signal
Radio programming from
around the globe is available on
the internet or through apps.
BY CAITLIN KELLY
AMERICANS MAY NOT be able to travel the world be-
cause of the pandemic, but thousands of foreign radio
stations are easily accessible online to bring the
world to you.
For Dorothy Parvaz, a radio editor in Washington,
D.C., foreign radio was her first introduction to the
world beyond Tehran, where she lived until age 12.
“Listening to radio signals coming in from other
countries was just like seeing the world in a way we
couldn’t on TV,” she said. “If I wanted to find music, I
went to the apartment downstairs, where one of the
kids always got a good signal somehow. We heard
Pink Floyd for the first time together.”
Here, some ways to tune in to the world on your
computer or phone. In some cases, these are broad-
cast stations that also make their programming
available on the web. Others are internet-only
stations.
Based in Amsterdam, Radio.garden offers the
world: Type “Nigeria” into the search bar, for in-
stance, and 20 stations pop up, including one focused
on human rights. You can listen in English to pro-
grams from Canada, Britain, Ireland or Australia.
The home page, titled “Live,” allows users to explore
the world’s radio stations in real time, by simply
rotating the globe and clicking a spot
(Radio.garden; or via a free app for iOS and
Android).
ThreeD radio, a 41-year-old station in Adelaide,
Australia, includes Aboriginal music in its regular
playlists. “Their music is exceptionally soulful, and
often talks about the struggles that the Aboriginals
have faced,” said William Taylor, a career develop-
ment manager at VelvetJobs, an outplacement com-
pany. His favorite musicians: Ziggy, Thelma Plum,
Zaine Francis and Steady (threedradio.com).
For fans of Indian music, Hits of Bollywood was
founded to serve the Indian diaspora. It plays Hindi
songs, gazalas, classical songs, qawwalis and much
more (onlineradios.in/hits-of-bollywood).
NTS Radio, with studios in Los Angeles, Shanghai
and Manchester, England, offers wildly eclectic
selections — Japanese psychedelia from 1968 to 1975,
a performance by the experimental rap group Clip-
ping, and New World music albums, among other
things (nts.live; or via a free app for iOS/Android).
Nostalgie, a French station, plays hits from the 1960s
through 1990s, from classic French musicians like
Edith Piaf, Johnny Hallyday and Renaud to Seal,
Queen and Duran Duran (nostalgie.fr).
The government-funded Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation offers a wide array of shows, from Writ-
ers & Company, an award-winning program hosted
by the journalist Eleanor Wachtel focused on books
and authors, to Cross Country Check-Up, a 51-year-
old weekly national open-line radio program, broad-
cast live simultaneously through six time zones
across the country every Sunday afternoon on CBC
Radio One. It attracts more than a half-million listen-
ers, according to the CBC, with 5,000 to 10,000 people
trying to call in and join the discussion (cbc.ca/radio;
or via a free app for iOS, cbc.listen).
RFI Monde (Radio France International, World)
offers world news and cultural programs exploring
literary, poetic and musical aspects of different cul-
tures, especially with an emphasis on Francophone
West African countries, in English (rfi.fr/en; or via a
free app for iOS/Android).
Listening to radio from Latin America in Spanish
offers cultural insight and a chance to hone your
Spanish-language skills. Adel Hattem, the founder of
D Music Marketing, an artists management firm in
Miami, grew up in Mexico City and is a huge fan of
Aire Libre, a station there she calls “very artsy, all
over the map” (airelibre.fm or via a free app for
iOS/Android). In Bogotá, Colombia, RadioNica offers
an equally eclectic mix (radionica.rocks/en-vivo
/radionica). It is a national station focused on indie
and electronic music with seven million listeners in
the country. She also recommends Ibero 90.9, a
station in Mexico City that’s a favorite of college
students and indie music lovers, with an audience of
600,000 daily (ibero909.fm; or via a free app for
iOS/Android through radio.net).
FRAN CABALLERO
8 D
Look to the Skies
And Discover
New Worlds
This month is a perfect time to get your kids excited
about stargazing.
BY NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR
AS A LITTLE GIRL growing up in
Portugal, Raquel Nuno made
birthday wishes upon shooting
stars. She was born near the peak
of the Perseids meteor shower,
one of the most prolific annual
cosmic light shows. Every year,
her father whisked her and her
family away to the beach to cele-
brate under the celestial fire-
works.
“I fell in love with the night
sky,” Ms. Nuno said. “It just made
me think about our universe and
my place in it.”
Now a planetary scientist at the
University of California, Los
Angeles, Ms. Nuno ponders the
cosmos professionally. She stud-
ies impact craters on the moon
using tools aboard NASA’s robotic
spacecraft orbiting it.
Taking kids stargazing and
planet watching is a great way to
spark their imagination and help
them fall in love with the universe
around them.
This weekend is a particularly
good time to start looking to the
The New
Essentials:
Standard
Time
It can be surprisingly
tough to adjust to the end
of daylight saving time —
that’s falling back just one
hour. Shorter days not
only alter what activities
we can pursue, but they
can also affect our moods
and internal clocks as
well. Alternative light
sources, whether in the
form of string lights or
therapy lamps, can help.
This list is adapted from Wirecutter,
the New York Times company that
reviews and recommends products.
stars, especially as you set your
clocks back. If you plan to explore
the night sky with your kids, here
is some advice from astronomers.
Behold the moon.
The best way to begin your astro-
nomical adventures is with the
moon. It’s easy to spot and doesn’t
require any fancy equipment
to enjoy.
“It always puts on a show no
matter where you live,” Ms. Nuno
said. Even if you miss it at its
biggest and brightest, you can
take your kids and look as its
phases get progressively smaller:
quarter, gibbous and crescent. Try
to make a lunar calendar with
them by bringing paper and
markers and drawing the phases
of the moon you see every night
for 28 days.
With their naked eyes, your
kids can spot its craters and dark
regions. Ms. Nuno said to tell
them the dark spots are remnants
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THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
FRAN CABALLERO
of ancient volcanic plains that
once spewed magma across the
lunar surface. Have them imagine
what it looked like billions of
years ago, an oozing, molten
mess.
Follow the planetary parade.
The next steps for rookie astrono-
mers are the planets, five of which
are visible throughout November
without a telescope.
Start with Mars. Around mid-
October, the planet neared opposi-
tion (the point where Earth was
directly between it and the sun)
and its closest approach to us,
making it glow like an amber
honey drop. Look for it to the
southeast; it will be the brightest
thing that isn’t the moon.
Then search for Saturn and
Jupiter. They’ll be the two bright
dots dancing next to each other to
the west. Jupiter will outshine its
ringed cousin and be the brightest
nonmoon object in this part of the
sky. A fun fact about Saturn: It’s
less dense than water, meaning it
would float if you had a giant tub
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(though some say its rocky core
would sink).
If your kids are willing to get up
early, they can see Venus and
Mercury before sunrise this week.
Venus is the brightest planet and
easy to spot. Tell your kids it is so
hot on Venus that metal melts on
the surface. Mercury should be
meandering somewhere below
Venus, harder to point out.
Zoom in a little.
To take stargazing to the next
level, grab a good pair of binocu-
lars, said Meg Thacher, an as-
tronomer and author of the
children’s book “Sky Gazing:
A Guide to the Moon, Sun,
Planets, Stars, Eclipses, and
Constellations.”
Ms. Thacher recommended
binoculars because telescopes
can be expensive and, if you’ve
never used one before, frustrat-
ing.
“You can’t just point at a ran-
dom spot in the sky and expect
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great things to happen,” Ms.
Thacher said. “It’s mostly black.”
But if you do know how to work
a telescope, set your sights on
Uranus this week, whose relation
to the sun makes it particularly
bright now.
The full moon will outshine
Uranus, but you might still see it
with your naked eye. Then tell
your kids how scientists have
found hydrogen sulfide up there,
meaning that, yes, Uranus does
smell like farts.
“There is no end to the Uranus
jokes,” Ms. Thacher said.
Connect the cosmic
and cultural dots.
Often constellation patterns can
be tricky to piece together. Con-
sider using an app or some soft-
ware like Skyguide, Stellarium or
Google Sky that can map out
planetary and star positions.
If you’re looking for an easy one
to spot, Jackie Faherty, an astro-
physicist at the American Mu-
seum of Natural History in New
York, suggested starting with the
Big Dipper. Just scan the northern
sky for seven bright stars
grouped together in the shape of a
handle and a rectangle.
After you spot it, look at the two
stars in the cup that are farthest
away from the handle. These are
the pointer stars: Merak, on
bottom, and Dubhe, on top. If you
draw a straight line from Merak to
Dubhe out of the cup, you’ll land
on Polaris, which is the North
Star. It also starts the handle of
the Little Dipper.
Two more stars you and your
kids can find, with the help of the
Big Dipper, are Arcturus and
Spica. If you follow the curve of
the Big Dipper’s handle away
from its cup, you’ll be led to the
beautiful red Arcturus. “You ‘arc’
to the star Arcturus,” Dr. Faherty
said. From Arcturus, go straight
down to the star Spica, “which is
this beautiful blue star, very
bright,” Dr. Faherty said.
Arcturus is in the constellation
Boötes and Spica is in Virgo, so
you’ve now found two additional
constellations.
Once you’ve found the Big
Dipper, tell your kids about the
stars Mizar and Alcor. Mizar is
the second star from the outside
of the Big Dipper’s handle, and
hiding behind it is its buddy Alcor.
Ancient Romans used to test the
eyesight of their troops by point-
ing to Mizar and asking them how
many stars they saw. If someone
answered with two, he was
deemed to have the eyesight of a
guard or archer. See if your kids
would pass the test.
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Read stories in the sky.
The best part about finding con-
stellations is all the different
stories cemented in their stars.
“The fall season is the big show-
case in the sky,” Dr. Faherty said.
Look for Perseus riding in on
Pegasus. As the story goes, he
saved Princess Andromeda from
Cetus the whale, while carrying
Medusa’s head, all of which ap-
pears in the stars.
Stargazing is also a wonderful
opportunity to introduce children
to cultures they might not be
acquainted with. What many call
Orion’s Belt, for example, is
known to the Lakota Native
Americans as Tayamni Cankhu,
or as the spine of a bison. Those
same stars are seen by the Chi-
nook Native Americans as a
canoe racing another boat — what
many know as Orion’s dagger —
in the Big River, or the Milky Way.
The Ojibwe Native American tribe
has a constellation that includes
Orion called Biboonkeonini, or the
Wintermaker.
The Wiradjuri people, an Aus-
tralian Aboriginal nation, referred
to the Milky Way as Gugurmin, a
giant celestial emu, said Kirsten
Banks, an astrophysicist at the
University of New South Wales in
Australia and a member of the
Wiradjuri nation. Its position in
the sky helped inform people
about the best time to go hunting
for emu eggs, Ms. Banks said.
Wait for the show.
Perhaps the best time to bring
your kids to stargaze is during a
meteor shower. The Orionids are
tapering off, but the next shower
to peak will be the Leonids around
Nov. 16 and 17.
Not everything that streaks
across the night sky is a falling
star. Some are satellites, blinking
in the dark. Searching for satel-
lites with your kids also allows
you to reflect on something called
“space debris,” pollution caused
when spacecrafts break down and
clog up space.
“We probably track about
26,000 things, ranging in size from
a cellphone to the space station,”
said Moriba Jah, an astrodynami-
cist at the University of Texas at
Austin. “Of the 26,000, only about
3,000 things work, and everything
else is garbage.”
Light pollution also obstructs
the night sky. About 80 percent of
Americans cannot see the Milky
Way from home. If you’re fortu-
nate enough to live somewhere
very dark, talk with your kids
about how our night sky needs
protection. “If we’re losing all
those stars, we’re losing all those
stories,” Ms. Banks said.
The best way to preserve those
stories is to pass them on.
Stargazing is an opportunity to
show and share the wonders of
astronomy with kids who are
already interested in space and
those who just need a little push.
Make it fun and encourage them
to play with their imaginations as
they look up. “That will make
them want to do it more,” Ms.
Nuno said, “and it’ll become a
special thing that you did with
your kids that they’ll always
remember.”
BEST SUNRISE
ALARM CLOCK
Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520
The Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520
offers the best features at the most
reasonable price. It’s the least expen-
sive alarm that offers a realistic,
red-tinted dawn and dusk simulation,
which feels more natural and may
work better than white light at helping
you feel less groggy. It also offers
thoughtful extras such as five alarm
tones, a good radio and a backup
alarm; besides, it looks sleeker and
feels sturdier than similarly priced
and cheaper models. $124 from
amazon.com
 THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 D 9

Craft Dolls
That Catch
Your Worries PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY CENICOLA/
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BY CHRISTY HARMON

There’s a lot to worry about these days.

With Covid-19 cases rising, the new
darkness of standard time and the elec-
tion taking place in a few days, every-
one could use an extra outlet to release
some anxiety. It’s the perfect week to
turn your newspaper into a handful of
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
worry dolls. • Newspaper
Worry dolls, or muñecas quitapena, • Scissors Cut about a two-inch-wide strip from Using the toothpick, roll the largest Gently take out the toothpick
• Toothpick the paper, from the bottom of the piece of paper tightly around it and cut the paper cylinder in half.
originate in the highlands of Guatema- • White glue page to the center fold. Cut off (but not so tight you can’t pull it out). These will be the body pieces.
la, and legend has it that if you whisper • Colored markers one-third of the strip, then cut that Put a small amount of glue along
• Colorful embroidery thread horizontally into two long pieces. the end and finish rolling.
your worries to these tiny dolls before or string You now have three small pieces
bed and put them under your pillow, of newspaper to make two dolls.

your worries will be gone when you

wake up.
They are traditionally made out of
wood or wire and decorated with fabric
and other materials. It’s easy to make
your own version of these humble tiny
dolls with a little bit of newspaper and
a few things from around the house.
Keep them safe in a homemade envel- Follow the same steps of rolling and Using the toothpick, make an Place one of the smaller “arms” Crumple a tiny piece of scrap
gluing the two smaller pieces of indentation in both of the larger on top, perpendicular to the body, newspaper and glue to the top
ope or a small bag. Who knows, you newspaper. These will be the arms. “body” rolls one-third of the way and push down gently. and let it dry. Once set, trim the
may even sleep a little more soundly You should now have four small from the top. Put a small dot of arms a bit shorter so you have a
newspaper rolls. glue in the indentation. lowercase “t” shape. You now
getting all those extra worries out have the base for two dolls.
before bed.

10 11

Use a marker to color the hair, face,
arms and body of each doll. The head
and arms should be one color, and
Send us photographs of your completed worry dolls or the lower body part another color.
ideas for crafts that involve newspaper. Email us at
athome@nytimes.com.
With your embroidery thread or
string, wrap an “x” shape around the
arms and body, leaving a tail piece
unwrapped. Continue wrapping
around the arms and body until the
newspaper underneath is covered.
Tie the thread in a knot with the tail Your dolls are ready
piece, trim excess thread and to hear your fears.
poke the strings under with the
toothpick to hide the ends.

Solve These Crosswords 1

9
2 3 4 5

10
6 7 8

If you happen to be, say, waiting in line somewhere this

week, take comfort: so are the letters in these puzzles. 11 12

EDITED BY JOEL FAGLIANO

13 14

15 16 17 18

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
19 20

5 6 6
21 22 23
6 7 7 7

24 25
8 8 8

26 27
9 9 9

PUZZLE BY TRACY GRAY PUZZLE BY ZHOUQIN BURNIKEL PUZZLE BY CLAIRE MUSCAT PUZZLE BY BRUCE HAIGHT

ACROSS ACROSS ACROSS ACROSS 8 Word shouted in a famous Meg

1 Puzzle solvers’ reactions 1 Gold purity measure 1 Hybrid tournament format 1 “Moreover ...” Ryan movie scene
5 Volleyball pass off the forearms 6 Taste found in shrimp paste 6 Zodiac sign after Virgo 5 California’s Alameda or Alhambra 12 Entertained in one’s loft, say
6 Round near the end of a 7 Out of fashion 7 What leads to hate, per Yoda 9 Catcher’s equipment 16 Silky synthetic
tournament 8 Layer that reduces radiation 8 “No Strings Attached” boy band 10 Shrek, for one 17 Goofed up
8 “For Pete’s ___!” 9 Drops in the mailbox 9 Last amendment in the Bill of Rights 11 “California Girls” group 18 Permission
9 Volleyball court divider 13 “Addams Family” cousin 21 Young fox
DOWN DOWN
14 The last “A” of LACMA 22 Wood used to make baseball bats
DOWN 1 “Good job!” 1 Purposely placed audience member
15 Concert options for 11- 23 U.C.L.A. address ending
1 Core muscles, for short 2 Bowl over 2 ___ and repeat (shampoo bottle
or 21-Across
2 Color tones 3 Boca ___, Florida instruction)
19 Mer contents
3 Capital of Jordan 4 Modify, as a law 3 Delivery doc
20 First name in Notre Dame
4 Volleyball smash into the 5 Ocean motions 4 “Well ___ you special!”
football history
opponent’s court 5 Bad month for Caesar LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION
21 “California Gurls” singer
7 Overhead pass in volleyball
24 “That ___ say ...” U N P C B U N
25 Country club monthly fee
S C R A M U N O
26 Partner of now
27 Computer command B O O N E T I T

DOWN B U G A B O O
LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS
1 Sphere of influence E P I C B U N K
T A G S C O N S W A P Read about and comment on For more Mini and Midi puzzles 2 Deceive
B O O K E R T
M A L I A D R I V E C A R S
each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay like this, download the New York 3 Oscar or Golden Globe
Times crossword app or visit 4 Like some non-Rx meds B L T T A B O O
E M O J I O Y V E Y W O R R Y Learn how to solve a
nytimes.com/games. 5 Snake charmer’s snake E L I S M U R F
S P O O L C A I R O I O T A New York Times Crossword:
6 Words before leaving
S A F E S N L I T S Y nytimes.com/solvingguide D O C S T E T
7 “Give it a shot”