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Liberals across the country are looking to Bill de Blasio, who takes office as mayor on Wednesday, to morph New York Citys municipal machinery into a closely watched laboratory for populist theories of government. The elevation of an assertive, tax-the-rich liberal to the nations most muBill de Blasio prominent nicipal office has fanned hopes that causes like universal prekindergarten and low-wage worker benefits could be aided by the imprimatur of being proved workable in New York. The mayor has a remarkable opportunity to make real many progressive policies and prove their merit, said Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor of California, who as mayor of San Francisco introduced a form of universal health care, raised the minimum wage and allowed same-sex couples to wed. In de Blasio, advocates on the left see a unique aligning of the stars: a champion of their values who is stepping into office at a time when the national debate over inequality and social justice has reached a fever pitch. His administration could be a redemptive moment for a national left whose policies were often blamed for the crumbling of urban centers in the 1960s and 1970s, yet has now started to reassert itself in smaller jurisdictions with bold new approaches on issues like income equality and poverty. But de Blasio must also grapple with the restraints placed on local executives: He is barred from unilaterally setting income tax policy, meaning he must persuade legislators in Albany and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to approve his proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy. And he has never experienced the day-today demands of managing an enterprise near the size of the city he will lead. MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
International
Kerry to Press for Framework Accord to Keep Mideast Peace Effort Moving
WASHINGTON In an intensifying diplomatic effort, Secretary of State John Kerry is making a major push to secure what Obama administration officials are calling a framework accord that would be a critical first step to a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement. But critics are already branding it as an effort to play for time. Kerry leaves on Wednesday for Jerusalem, on the first of what are expected to be repeated trips to the region in January and February. His goal is to secure the framework agreement quickly, before his target of the end of April for completing a comprehensive peace treaty. The framework document is aimed at achieving enough of a convergence on core issues that the two sides can make headway toward a formal peace agreement leading to an independent Palestinian state. It is expected to be short, perhaps fewer than a dozen pages and without detailed annexes. Once they have a shared vision of what that will look like, then it will become easier to finalize the details, said a senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified. The core issues to be resolved include the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem as a possible capital for the new state as well as Israel, Israels insistence that its identity as a Jewish state be recognized and the Palestinians demand that refugees should have the right to return to their former homes. The agreement might be made public to prepare Israelis and Palestinians for what a potential peace treaty might look like. So far there have been about 20 rounds of closed talks. Critics said the move was mainly a maneuver to buy time and a way to institutionalize the negotiating process so that it could continue beyond the nine-month timeline that Kerry set over the summer. It is clear that Kerry cannot get a comprehensive final status agreement in his nine-month timetable, so now he appears to be looking at a framework agreement instead, said Elliott Abrams, who was a senior official in President George W. Bushs National Security Council. I dont think it will work, Abrams added. MICHAEL R. GORDON and JODI RUDOREN
national
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business
The Land Bank intends to put together packages of abandoned properties, like these in lower North Philadelphia, and entice developers to rebuild.
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requirements. The new city ordinance aims to consolidate ownership of the properties. And to encourage developers to buy through one-stop shopping, the ordinance gives the Land Bank power to acquire title to privately owned vacant properties if they are delinquent in taxes. Once the Land Bank is operational, developers will be in a better position to take control of whole blocks that show a gaptooth patchwork of public and private buildings and land, proponents say. If all the properties are consolidated in one place with one application, one set of rules, one time frame, thats going to help a lot for the properties that are in the public inventory, Sauer said. The vast stock of vacant properties also costs the city some
$20million a year in maintenance to attend to matters like cleaning lots or responding to fires, according to a 2010 study for the community development organization. The study also estimated that blighted properties had eroded the value of neighboring properties by $3.6 billion citywide. Still, how rapidly the Land Banks appeal will translate into changes depends greatly on the health and strength of the real estate market. What you can expect to see from this land bank is significant progress in the near term on the removal of the properties that are posing the liabilities, and then that begins to stimulate private reinvestment, said Frank Alexander, a professor of real estate law at Emory University and an author of land bank laws in many cities. JON HURDLE
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Dining
The Wonderbag is big and cumbersome, about the size of a dog bed, and hardly suggests an efficient appliance. But put a pot of stew or soup that has boiled on high heat for 15 minutes inside, and the insulated bag functions like a slow cooker without calling on additional energy. It was designed for developing countries where energy is precious, and when you buy one, another one will be donated to a family in rural Africa: $50, amazon.com. FLORENCE FABRICANT
Joel Salatin says that allowing pigs to forage is good for cooks and the earth.
nothing if we cant make it what everyone can afford, Story said. I respect that Joel is taking it on the chin as an ambassador to bring this to the nation, and that he embraces training other farmers. KATHRYN SHATTUCK
journal
crossword
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OPINION
ed i t o r i a l s o f t h e t i m eS
ROGER COHEN
My Jewish State
London A year ends, another begins, time for reminiscences and resolutions, regret and hope, best-of and worst-of lists, confessions and crystal-ball gazing most of it pretty excruciating. So it goes. I am going to make one prediction for 2014. It is that, for all John Kerrys efforts, this will be another year in which peace is not reached in the Middle East. Plenty of bad things have happened between Israelis and Palestinians of late. There has been a steady uptick in violence. Israels freeing of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners was naturally greeted with joy in Ramallah. Along with the release came word that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government will likely announce plans for 1,400 new housing units in the West Bank, just as Kerry arrives for his 10th peace-seeking visit. This has infuriated Palestinians. So, too, has an Israeli ministerial committee vote advancing legislation to annex settlements in the Jordan Valley. Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the vote finishes all that is called the peace process. Then there is the rebounding Israel-is-aJewish-state bugbear: Netanyahu wants Palestinians to recognize his nation as such. He has recently called it the real key to peace. His argument is that this is the touchstone by which to judge whether Palestinians will accept the Jewish state in any border. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, says no. This issue is a waste of time, a complicating diversion when none is needed. Of course, any two-state peace agreement will have to be final and irreversible; it must ensure there are no further Palestinian claims on a secure Israel. If Israel looks like a Jewish state and acts like a Jewish state, that is good enough for me as long as it gets out of the corrosive business of occupation. When I spoke to him in Tel Aviv a few months ago, Yair Lapid, a top government minister, said: The fact that we demand from Palestinians a declaration that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state, I just think this is rubbish. I dont need that. The whole point of Israel was we came here saying we dont need anyone else to recognize us anymore because we can recognize ourselves. We are liberated. Thats right. Its also true that Palestinian leaders, with no democratic accountability, are not preparing their people for territorial compromise at or close to the 1967 lines. Then again, nothing in Israels actions facilitates that. A last word: This column is dedicated to Mike OConnor, a fearless journalist. Mike was an acute observer of the kind of human folly, fatuousness and self-interest that perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It brought him to tears. Yet he always found a way to laugh. Mike died suddenly last week, age 67, in Mexico City. If nothing else, I hope Kerry and the rest prove me wrong for him.
sports
In Brief
Manning Mark Stands
The N.F.L. said Tuesday that Peyton Mannings single-season record of 5,477 yards passing will stand. Elias Sports Bureau reviewed a 7-yard pass from Manning to wide receiver Eric Decker and determined it will remain a forward pass and not a lateral, which would have made it a 7-yard run. That would have subtracted 7 yards from Mannings total, leaving him with 5,470 yards, six shy of Drew Brees 2011 record. (AP)
n.B.A. scores
MONDAYS LATE GAME Phoenix 107, L.A. Clippers 88 TUESDAY Atlanta 92, Boston 91 Indiana 91, Cleveland 76 Golden State 94, Orlando 81 Sacramento 110, Houston 106 San Antonio 113, Nets 92 Toronto 85, Chicago 79 Portland 98, Oklahoma City 94
Brett Hundley threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to help No. 17 U.C.L.A. rout Virginia Tech 42-12 on Tuesday in the Sun Bowl in El Paso. Hundley was selected the coM.V.P. along with linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, who had 10 tackles and an interception. The Bruins (10-3) outscored the Hokies (8-5) 28-5 in the second half.
ArizonA 42, Boston College 19 KaDeem Carey rushed for 169
formerly the Independence Bowl, in Shreveport, La. Boston Colleges Andre Williams, who won the Doak Walker Award over Carey, was held to 75 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Mississippi State 44, Rice 7
N.H.L. SCORES
MONDAYS LATE GAME Philadelphia 4, Vancouver 3, SO TUESDAY Rangers 2, Florida 1, SO Devils 2, Pittsburgh 1 St. Louis 2, Minnesota 1 Islanders 5, Boston 3 Carolina 5, Montreal 4, OT Winnipeg 3, Buffalo 0 Anaheim 6, San Jose 3 Dallas 3, Los Angeles 2 Colorado 5, Columbus 3 Philadelphia 4, Calgary 1 Phoenix 4, Edmonton 3, OT
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yards and 2 touchdowns, B.J. Denker threw for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns and Arizona had an easy time in a 42-19 victory over Boston College in the Advocare V100 Bowl,
Houston Kansas City Los Angeles Miami Mpls.-St. Paul New York City Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle St. Louis Washington 49/ 38 51/ 17 72/ 44 77/ 67 -1/ -8 32/ 21 71/ 57 38/ 26 71/ 43 36/ 19 57/ 41 48/ 45 44/ 25 47/ 33 0 0 0 Tr 0 0.01 0 Tr 0 Tr 0 0.01 0 0
Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and Mississippi State trounced Rice, 44-7, in Memphis in the most one-sided Liberty Bowl victory in the games 55-year history. Mississippi State (7-6) wrapped up its fourth straight winning season and prevented Rice (10-4) from winning bowl games in back-toback years for the first time. (AP)
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High/low temperatures for the 21 hours ended at 4 p.m. yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches) for the 18 hours ended at 1 p.m. yesterday. Expected conditions for today and tomorrow. Weather conditions: C-clouds, F-fog, H-haze, I-ice, PCpartly cloudy, R-rain, S-sun, Sh-showers, Sn-snow, SSsnow showers, T-thunderstorms, Tr-trace, W-windy.
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sports journal
10
Bobby Bowden has come to terms with being forced out after leading the Florida State football program for 33 years.
Bowden Day. The marching band spelled out Dadgum, his favorite expression, and he planted Chief Osceolas spear at midfield. Ive had all that I need, Bowden said as he smiled and played with the big F.S.U. ring that Burt Reynolds gave him years ago. He said he was fine now that he did not get that extra year. He does not miss coaching. In a few years, he and Ann might move to Panama City, Fla., to be closer to their children. TIM ROHAN