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Zohran Mamdani has promised to transform New York City government when he becomes mayor. Can he do it?Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, already faces intense scrutiny, even before taking office in one of the country’s most scrutinized political jobs. Republicans have cast him as a liberal boogeyman. Some of his fellow Democrats have deemed him too far left. Progressives are closely watching for any signs of him shifting toward the center.On Jan. 1, he will assume control of America’s biggest city under that harsh spotlight, with the country watching to see if he can pull off the big promises that vaulted him to office and handle the everyday duties of the job. All while skeptics call out his every stumble.For Mamdani, starting off strong is key, said George Arzt, a veteran Democratic political consultant in New York who worked for former Mayor Ed Koch.“He’s got to use the first 100 days of the administration to show people he can govern,” he said. “You’ve got to set a mindset for people that’s like, ‘Hey, this guy’s serious.'”That push should begin with Mamdani’s speech on the day of his inauguration, where Arzt said it will be important for the new mayor to establish a clear blueprint of his agenda and tell New Yorkers what he plans to do and how he plans to do it.From there, he said Mamdani will have to count on the seasoned hands he’s hired to help him handle the concrete responsibilities of the job, while he and his team also pursue his ambitious affordability agenda. Managing expectations as a movement candidate Mamdani campaigned on a big idea: shifting the power of government toward helping working class New Yorkers, rather than the wealthy.His platform which includes free child care, free city bus service and a rent freeze for people living in rent stabilized apartments excited voters in one of America’s most expensive cities and made him a leading face of a Democratic Party searching for bright, new leaders during President Donald Trump’s second term.But Mamdani may find himself contending with the relentless responsibilities of running New York City. That includes making sure the trash is getting picked up, potholes are filled and snow plows go out on time. When there’s a subway delay or flooding, or a high-profile crime or a police officer parks in a bicycle lane, it’s not unusual for the city’s mayor to catch some heat.“He had a movement candidacy and that immediately raises expectations locally and nationally,” said Basil Smikle, a Democratic political strategist and Columbia University professor, who added that it might be good for Mamdani to “Just focus on managing expectations and get a couple of good wins under your belt early on.”“There’s a lot to keep you busy here,” he said.A large part of Mamdani’s job will also be to sell his politics to the New Yorkers who remain skeptical of him, with Smikle saying “the biggest hurdle” is getting people comfortable with his policies and explaining how what he’s pushing could help the city.“It’s difficult to have this all happen on day one,” he said, “or even day 30 or even day 100.” Challenges and opportunities Mamdani’s universal free child care proposal perhaps one of his more expensive plans is also one that has attracted some of the strongest support from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a moderate from Buffalo who endorsed the mayor-elect.Hochul is eager to work with Mamdani on the policy and both leaders consider the program a top priority, although it’s not yet clear how exactly the plan could come to fruition. The governor, who is up for reelection next year, has repeatedly said she does not want to raise income taxes something Mamdani supports for wealthy New Yorkers however she has appeared open to raising corporate taxes.“I think he has allies and supporters for his agenda, but the question is how far will the governor go,” said state Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, a Mamdani ally.“There’s an acknowledgement that the voters have spoken, and there’s very clear policies that were associated with his successful campaign,” he said, “so to not make progress on them would be us thumbing our noses at the voters.”Mamdani’s pledge to freeze the rent for roughly 1 million rent stabilized apartments in the city would not require state cooperation.But that proposal perhaps the best known of his campaign is already facing headwinds, after the city’s departing mayor, Eric Adams, made a series of appointments in recent weeks to a local board that determines annual rent increases for the city’s rent stabilized units.The move could potentially complicate the mayor-elect’s ability to follow through on the plan, at least in his first year, although Mamdani has said he remains confident in his ability to enact the freeze. Other challenges await His relationship with some of the city’s Jewish community remains in tatters over his criticisms of Israel’s government and support for Palestinian human rights.The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization, plans to track Mamdani’s policies and hires as it pledged to “protect Jewish residents across the five boroughs during a period of unprecedented antisemitism in New York City.”Earlier this month, a Mamdani appointee resigned over social media posts she made more than a decade ago that featured antisemitic tropes, after the Anti-Defamation League shared the posts online.The group has since put out additional findings on others who are serving in committees that Mamdani set up as he transitions into his mayoral role. In response, Mamdani said the ADL often “ignores the distinction” between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government.The mayor-elect’s past call to defund the city’s police department continue to be a vulnerability. His decision to retain Jessica Tisch, the city’s current police commissioner, has eased some concerns about a radical shakeup at the top of the nation’s largest police force.And then there’s Trump.Tensions between Trump and Mamdani have appeared to cool for now after months of rancor led into a surprisingly friendly Oval Office meeting. Future clashes may emerge given the sharp political differences between them, particularly on immigration enforcement, along with anything else that could set off the mercurial president. Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
For years, accessibility was treated as a compliance exercise, something required rather than desired. Yet in todays consumer landscape, where aging, chronic illness, and situational disability touch every household, accessibility is no longer a specialty category. It is one of the biggest growth opportunities in business. Companies that recognize this shift are discovering a new kind of ROI. It is not return on investment alone. It is return on inclusion. Return on inclusion happens when brands design products, services, and experiences for people across all levels of ability, not as an afterthought but from the start. When companies do this, they not only expand their total addressable market; they build loyalty, relevance, and emotional connection. In a world where product categories are crowded and loyalties are fragile, inclusion is becoming one of the strongest competitive advantages. INCLUSION EXPANDS MARKET REACH Nearly every person will experience a disability at some point in life. Some will be permanent, like paralysis or arthritis. Many will be temporary, like recovering from surgery or managing a sprained wrist. Others will be situational. Situational disabilities occur when external conditions limit ones abilities, like carrying groceries that occupy your hands and make it difficult to open a door, using a mobile phone in bright sunlight that washes out the screen, or trying to follow a conversation in a noisy environment where hearing becomes challenging. These circumstances are universal, which means the audience for accessible products is universal too. When companies design with these realities in mind, they open their products to more users and more use cases. A bed that improves mobility helps someone with arthritis, but it also helps someone recovering from an injury or taking care of a newborn. A kitchen tool designed for dexterity challenges becomes easier for everyone to use. The more inclusive a product is, the more people can say, This works for me. Inclusion grows the market because it grows the moments when a product is relevant. INCLUSION BUILDS EMOTIONAL LOYALTY Brands often underestimate the emotional impact of accessibility. People form their strongest attachments to products that make their lives easier, safer, and more dignified. When a product removes friction or eliminates frustrations someone has struggled with for years, the emotional response is immediate. It becomes a product they trust, recommend, and repurchase. Consumers reward brands that make them feel seen. They remember the company that listened to their needs or anticipated their challenges. This is especially powerful for people who have rarely felt included in mainstream product design. When brands design with dignity, people feel valued rather than accommodated. That emotional connection becomes a durable form of loyalty in a marketplace where loyalty is hard to earn. INCLUSION REDUCES CHURN AND INCREASES LONGEVITY Products that work for people across different stages of life stay in use longer. A chair that feels good at age 40 but also feels good at age 70 has a longer lifespan in the home. A bathroom fixture that supports mobility today and continues to support it as abilities change becomes a long-term investment. When design anticipates the natural progression of life, customers do not need to replace products as their needs evolve. This strengthens trust in the brand and reduces churn. When people know they can rely on a company through different life stages, that company becomes their default choice. INCLUSION ENCOURAGES INNOVATION Many breakthrough innovations start at the edges, not the center. Voice control, curb cuts, electric toothbrushes, ergonomic grips, and captioning all began as accessible solutions. They became mainstream not because they were designed for everyone, but because they worked so well that everyone adopted them. Designing for the edges forces companies to confront real constraints and real needs. Constraints inspire novel thinking. They reveal overlooked use cases and untapped potential. When teams design for a wider variety of abilities, they expand their creativity and produce ideas that would not have surfaced otherwise. In this way, inclusion is not a limitation. It is a catalyst. INCLUSION STRENGTHENS BRAND REPUTATION Todays consumers expect brands to demonstrate values, not just state them. Designing for inclusion communicates empathy, responsibility, and leadership. It signals a commitment to humanity rather than a narrow focus on a demographic segment. Companies that embrace inclusion early build reputational equity that becomes increasingly valuable over time. As society becomes more aware of disability and aging, brands that lead with empathy will stand apart. They will also attract talent, partnerships, and consumer goodwill. Return on inclusion is not just internal. It is cultural. INCLUSION CREATES A BETTER PRODUCT FOR EVERYONE The strongest case for return on inclusion is also the simplest. Inclusive products are better products. They are easier to use, more intuitive, more comfortable, safer, clearer, and more emotionally engaging. They remove friction. They reduce error. They prevent injury. They inspire confidence. This does not dilute creativity. It strengthens it. It forces teams to consider how a product is seen from 10 feet away, how it is understood from three feet away, and how it feels within one foot. It challenges teams to design for discovery, delight, and long-term use. Inclusion expands the criteria for success, and in doing so, produces a better outcome for everyone. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO INCLUSIVE BRANDS As the population ages and public awareness of accessibility grows, return on inclusion will become one of the most important business metrics of the next decade. Companies that design with inclusion at the core will grow their markets, deepen loyalty, and lead with integrity. Inclusion is no longer a compliance requirement or a niche specialty. It is a strategy for growth, innovation, and long-term relevance. The brands that understand this now will shape the next chapter of consumer experience. The future belongs to those who design for every body. Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.
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E-Commerce
Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91.Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he gave no cause of death, and said that no arrangements had been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month.Bardot became an international celebrity as a sexualized teen bride in the 1956 movie “And God Created Woman.” Directed by then husband Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.At the height of a cinema career that spanned more than two dozen films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of France’s best-known stars, even as she struggled with depression.Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for “Marianne,” the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardot’s face appeared on statues, postage stamps and coins.“We are mourning a legend,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in an X post.Bardot’s second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals. She also condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and she opposed Muslim slaughter rituals.“Man is an insatiable predator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday, in 2007. “I don’t care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”Her activism earned her compatriots’ respect and, in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition. Turn to the far right Later, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone. She frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.She was convicted and fined five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays.Bardot’s 1992 marriage to fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale, a onetime adviser to far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political shift. She described Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist with multiple racism convictions of his own, as a “lovely, intelligent man.”In 2012, she supported the presidential bid of Marine Le Pen, who now leads her father’s renamed National Rally party. Le Pen paid homage Sunday to an “exceptional woman” who was “incredibly French.”In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical,” because many played “the teases” with producers to land parts.She said she had never had been a victim of sexual harassment and found it “charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass.” Privileged but ‘difficult’ upbringing Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at age 14.Bardot once described her childhood as “difficult” and said that her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish her with a horse whip.Vadim, a French movie produce who she married in 1952, saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.The film, which portrayed Bardot as a teen who marries to escape an orphanage and then beds her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.The film was a box-office hit, and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.“It’s an embarrassment to have acted so badly,” Bardot said of her early films. “I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing.”Bardot’s unabashed, off-screen love affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into a hot prize for paparazzi.Bardot never adjusted to the limelight. She blamed the constant media attention for the suicide attempt that followed 10 months after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers had broken into her house two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant.Nicolas’ father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor who she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother.“I was looking for roots then,” she said in an interview. “I had none to offer.”In her 1996 autobiography “Initiales B.B.,” she likened her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me,” and described Charrier as “temperamental and abusive.”Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966, and they divorced three years later.Among her films were “A Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “A Ravishing Idiot” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear And The Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).With the exception of 1963’s critically acclaimed “Contempt,” directed by Godard, Bardot’s films were rarely complicated by plots. Often they were vehicles to display Bardot in scanty dresses or frolicking nude in the sun.“It was never a great passion of mine,” she said of filmmaking. “And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it.”Bardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after “The Woman Grabber.” As fans brought flowers to her home Sunday, the local St. Tropez administration called for “respect for the privacy of her family and the serenity of the places where she lived.” Middle-aged reinvention She emerged a decade later with a new persona: An animal rights lobbyist, her face was wrinkled and her voice was deep following years of heavy smoking. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty.Depression sometimes dogged her, and she said that she attempted suicide again on her 49th birthday.Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild.She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves.“It’s true that sometimes I get carried away, but when I see how slowly things move forward my distress takes over,” Bardot told the AP when asked about her racial hatred convictions and opposition to Muslim ritual slaughter,In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne after the actress voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.Environmental campaigner Paul Watson, who was beaten on a seal hunt protest in Canada alongside Bardot in 1977 and campaigned with her for five decades, acknowledged that “many disagreed with Brigitte’s politics or some of her views.”“Her allegiance was not to the world of humans,” he said. “The animals of this world lost a wonderful friend today.”Bardot once said that she identified with the animals that she was trying to save.“I can understand hunted animals, because of the way I was treated,” Bardot said. “What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press.” Elaine Ganley provided reporting for this story before her retirement. Angela Charlton contributed to this report. Thomas Adamson and Elaine Ganley, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
A potent winter storm threatened blizzard-like conditions, treacherous travel, and power outages in parts of the Upper Midwest as other areas of the country braced Monday for plunging temperatures, strong winds, and a mix of snow, ice, and rain.The snow and strengthening winds began spreading Sunday across the northern Plains, where the National Weather Service warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed a foot (30 centimeters) across parts of the upper Great Lakes and as much as double that along the south shore of Lake Superior.“Part of the storm system is getting heavy snow, other parts of the storm along the cold front are getting higher winds and much colder temperatures as the front passes,” said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service office in College Park, Maryland. “They’re all related to each other different parts of the country will be receiving different effects from this storm.”The weather service warned of “dangerous wind chills” as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 degrees Celsius) in North Dakota and into Minnesota from Sunday night into Monday.In the South, meteorologists warned severe thunderstorms are likely to signal the arrival of a sharp cold front bringing a sudden drop in temperatures and strong north winds that will abruptly end days of record warmth throughout that region.The high temperature in Atlanta was around 72 F (22 C) on Sunday, continuing a warming trend after climbing to 78 F (about 26 C) to shatter the city’s record high temperature for Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service said. Numerous other record high temperatures were seen across the South and Midwest on the days after Christmas.But the incoming cold front was expected to drop rain on much of the South late Sunday night into Monday, and a big drop in temperatures Tuesday. Forecasters said the low temperature in Atlanta to 25 F (minus 3.9 C) by early Tuesday morning. The colder temperatures in the South are expected to persist through New Year’s Day.In Dallas, Sunday temperatures in the lower 80s (upper 20s C) could drop down to the mid 40s (single digits Celsius). In Little Rock, high temperatures of around 70 (21 C) on Sunday could drop down to highs in the mid-30s on Monday.“We’re definitely going back towards a more winter pattern,” Oravec said.The storm is expected to intensify as it moves east, drawing energy from a sharp clash between frigid air plunging south from Canada and unusually warm air that has lingered across the southern United States, according to the National Weather Service. Leah Willingham and Jeff Martin, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Construction materials are responsible for nearly one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions. And as global demand for construction continues to rise (it has already tripled over the past 25 years), its emissions are bound to climb even higher.eIn fact, some, like environmental engineer and University of Virginia professor Andres Clarens, see materials potential negative impact as so existential that he calls them the last major frontier in the fight against climate change. If thats the case, we need to reduce the emissions associated with commonly used building materials like cement and steeland we need to develop alternative materials that emit fewer greenhouse gas emissions by default. And we need to do it fast.This year, material designers delivered. Some of these new materials are still in the testing phase, others are already on the market. All five have tremendous potential to make our buildings more sustainable.[Photo: RMIT University]1. A superstrong material inspired by the deep-sea spongeEarlier this year, researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology invented a bio-inspired building material that is both lightweight and resilient under pressure, which could help reduce the use of steel and concrete. The key to their innovation? A little creature that lives thousands of meters deep in the ocean.The deep-sea sponges lattice-like skeleton, which has been optimized over millions of years, can absorb force while maintaining its strength. According to the researchers, a similarly designed material could enable thinner load-bearing walls and slimmer columns, which in turn, would reduce the amount of steel and concrete required to achieve structural integrity.The material is still in the testing phase.[Photos: InventWood]2. A Superwood that is stronger than steelSeven years ago, scientists at the University of Maryland said they discovered a way to make wood so strong that it could compete with steel. This year, their research culminated in the launch of Superwood, a material that has 50% greater tensile strength than steel and a strength-to-weight ratio thats 10 times better.Superwood was developed by a spin-off startup called InventWood, which began mass-producing the material this summer. The companys first facility in Frederick, Maryland, can produce one million square feet of Superwood per year, with applications varying from interior finishes to exterior-grade panels for siding and roofing.The plan, according to InventWood cofounder Alex Lau, is to build a larger facility that will scale to over 30 million square feet, enabling use in infrastructure and large developments.[Image: Carbon Smart Wood]3. A cross-laminated timber made of fallen treesBy some estimates, cities lose a staggering 36 million trees a year to storms, insects, and disease. Over the past six years, the Washington, D.C.-based startup Carbon Cambium has salvaged six million board feet of wood from these fallen trees, diverting it from the landfill, and turning it into usable timber for furniture with companies like Room & Board and Sabai.This year, the startup developed its first product for the construction industry. Carbon Smart Wood is the first cross-laminated timber (CLT) made from salvaged trees, which promises to make mass timber construction even more sustainable.The company offers millwork like decking and flooring, and full CLT structural panels for buildings. Forty thousand linear feet of the material will appear on the facade of the new JFK Airport expansion in 2026.a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91453541/architects-embracing-rammed-earth-designs">Horizon House [Photo: Casey Dunn/courtesy Lake Flato]4. A new take on rammed earthRammed earth, a building technique where damp soil is compacted in layers within temporary forms, has propped up buildings for millennia. This year, the humble material got an upgrade when researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology encased it in a cardboard tube.The resulting material, dubbed cardboard-confined rammed earth (CCRE), consists of rammed earth thats been compacted inside cylindrical tubes. Typically, rammed earth walls also include a dose of cement to improve strength and durability, but the cardboard formwork in CCRE acts as a shell, negating the need for cement. The researchers say the cardboard helps protect the rammed earth from surrounding environments, while additional treatment on the cardboard can extend its life as well. They have also developed a similar version using carbon-fiber tubes.To date, the team has built a small-scale prototype, but if scaled, the material could be used to build low-rise and modular buildings with no cement.[Image: courtesy Joe Doucet and Partners]5. A paint that changes colors with the seasonsWeve known for a while now that painting surfaces like streets and roofs in white can make them cooler because white reflects heatand painting them black can make them warmer because black absorbs heat.This year, industrial designer Joe Doucet took this time-tested innovation to a new level by developing a climate-adaptive paint that can change colors based on the outside temperature. The paint, which can be mixed with other tints (so you can still have your yellow house) could save an estimated 2030% in energy costs every year. Doucets team is currently testing the final formula, with the goal of licensing it to paint manufacturers when ready.
Category:
E-Commerce
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