Over 3,000 dogs from everywhere in the country and everywhere in the world stand off in New York City for the 149th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

The prestigious “Best in Show” shall be crowned on Tuesday, February 11, 2024 in Madison Square Garden.

Here is a glance behind the scenes on Monday day 1, while preparing yourself to parade and pose to change into a top dog.

NEW YORK – New York City’s acting police chief announced late Saturday that federal authorities had executed search warrants on his homes the day past.

Thomas Donlon, who took over as interim commissioner just per week ago following the resignation of his predecessor, made a press release in regards to the police department's search.

“On Friday, September 20, federal authorities executed search warrants at my residences. They seized materials that came into my possession approximately 20 years ago and have nothing to do with my work with the New York Police Department,” the statement said.

“This is not a matter for the ministry and the ministry will not comment on it,” he added.

The statement didn’t specify what the investigation was about, which federal agencies were involved or what “materials” had been seized.

The inexplicable and surprising search got here at a time when New York Mayor Eric Adams' administration is rocked by other federal investigations.

Fabien Levy, the town's deputy mayor for communications, said: “As we have said repeatedly, we expect all team members to fully comply with any police investigation.”

Just per week ago, the previous police chief, Edward Caban, resigned after federal authorities confiscated his electronic devices as a part of an investigation that also involved his brother, a former police officer.

Federal agents have also seized phones belonging to the town's public schools superintendent, a senior deputy mayor, Adams' top public safety adviser and others in recent weeks. Investigators previously searched homes related to Adams' top campaign fundraiser and the Democratic Party's director of Asian affairs.

Last fall, federal agents also seized Adams' phone as he left an event.

No charges were filed in reference to any of those searches, and it was unclear whether there was any connection to the search involving Donlon, who until a number of days ago was not a part of the Adams administration.

An FBI spokesman declined to comment. An email in search of comment from a spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Manhattan was not immediately returned. A text message sent late Saturday night to Adams' top spokesman was also not immediately returned.

Donlon spent a long time with the FBI working on terrorism cases, including the investigation of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and an attack on a U.S. Navy destroyer in 2000.

About 20 years ago, he was a high-ranking FBI anti-terrorism officer in New York.

From 2009 to 2010, Donlon headed the New York State Department of Homeland Security before moving into the private security industry.

The selection of an outsider with a protracted profession in federal law enforcement – but who had not previously worked for the NYPD – seemed on the time to be a potentially stabilizing step for the police force after Caban's resignation.

Caban and his brother James Caban, who runs a security company for nightclubs, had denied any wrongdoing through their lawyers.

Adams, who’s in his first term, has said he won’t be distracted by the investigation and can proceed to serve the town.

policy

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal investigators this week seized cellphones belonging to the New York Police Commissioner and no less than 4 top deputies of New York Mayor Eric Adams, people conversant in the matter say.

FBI agents seized the devices on Wednesday from the homes of several high-ranking city officials, said two individuals who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to debate the continuing investigation. The officials include First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Philip Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety, his brother David Banks, the town's schools chancellor, and Timothy Pearson, an aide to the mayor and former senior New York Police Department official.

One of the people said federal investigators also seized equipment from the house of Police Commissioner Edward Caban.

The searches are a part of a flurry of investigative activity surrounding Adams' administration, his campaign and the Democrat himself in his first term. He had previously received subpoenas and his electronic devices were seized as a part of federal investigations.

Federal authorities haven’t accused him or any of his officers of any crimes, and Adams, a retired police captain, has denied any wrongdoing.

“I have made it clear throughout my public life that my message is to obey the law,” Adams said Thursday evening on New York's Fox 5 television channel.

He had previously told reporters at City Hall that the administration would release the knowledge it needed when it had it. “And I will continue to be mayor of the city of New York.”

Lisa Zornberg, City Hall's lead attorney, said in a press release that investigators had provided no indication that the mayor or his staff were “the target of any investigation.”

The NYPD said in a press release that it was aware of and cooperating with an investigation by Manhattan-based federal prosecutors “involving members of the armed forces.” The agency referred further investigations to prosecutors, who, like an FBI spokesman, declined to comment.

Benjamin Brafman, a lawyer for Philip Banks, confirmed that the homes of Philip Banks and Terence Banks, an adviser and brother of David and Philip Banks, were searched.

The searches are the newest sign that federal authorities are taking a better have a look at members of Adams' inner circle.

He took office as mayor in 2022 after serving as Brooklyn borough president and state senator.

Last fall and winter, the FBI raided the house of a senior fundraiser for Adams' campaign, the residence of an official within the mayor's administration's Office of International Affairs, and properties belonging to Adams' director of Asian affairs.

Federal agents seized the mayor's phones and iPad as he left a Manhattan event in November, and earlier this summer he, his campaign team and City Hall received subpoenas from federal prosecutors.

One of the people conversant in the matter said the recent subpoenas requested information concerning the mayor's schedule, his foreign travel and possible ties to the Turkish government.

The latest wave of searches of individuals near Adams appeared unrelated to the Turkey investigation, the person said. It was not immediately clear whether federal authorities were searching for information related to 1 or more investigations.

Adams appointed Caban, a veteran NYPD officer, as police commissioner last summer. He is the primary Latino to guide the nation's largest police force.

Pearson, whom the mayor has described as a “good friend,” has an unusual role in city government: He works for the quasi-governmental Economic Development Corporation but in addition has influence over the police department. He is currently facing several lawsuits accusing him of sexually harassing female employees and can also be under investigation for his role in a fight at a homeless shelter. An attorney representing Pearson within the sexual harassment lawsuit didn’t immediately reply to a call.

Federal prosecutors had previously named Philip Banks as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in an investigation right into a police bribery scheme during former Mayor Bill de Blasio's tenure. Banks abruptly retired in 2014 but returned to city government after Adams took office in 2022.

David Banks, the colleges chancellor, shares a house in Harlem along with his partner Sheena Wright, the primary deputy mayor.

He declined to comment as he left an event at a New York school on Thursday.

“Today is the first day of school. It's all about the kids. If there are any further comments, it will be tomorrow,” David Banks told Fox 5 New York.

Terence Banks founded a consulting firm “dedicated to connecting businesses with government and community stakeholders” after leaving the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last yr. The authority operates subways, buses and commuter rail and shouldn’t be under the supervision of the mayor, who appoints some members of the board.

Timothy Sini, an attorney for Terence Banks, said in an email that the federal government had assured his client that he was “not the target of this investigation.”

The news portal “The City” was the primary to report on the searches.

A spokesman for the town's law enforcement agency declined to comment.

Like many culture-defining trends, it began on TikTok.

Posts by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, now widely generally known as the “Muffin Man,” showcased the chocolate muffins served within the Olympic Village in the course of the Summer Games. Christiansen’s posts expressing his adoration for the chocolatey muffins drew Millions of views when he took part within the Olympic Games in Paris and led to quite a few duplicate muffin recipes (including one in The New York Times).

But a fan of Christiansen's posts living in New York City was not satisfied with a mere reproduction.

Instead, Kelin Carolyn Zhang, a 32-year-old independent designer, wondered if she could try the actual thing. There was an initial hurdle, nevertheless, because the supplier of the famous Olympia chocolate muffins, Coup de Pates, only fulfills wholesale orders resembling those from restaurants and businesses, slightly than on to the tip consumer, she said. While attempting to get the authentic muffins, Zhang documented her research and her quest to bring them to the U.S. on TikTokwhich led to a connection within the restaurant industry that helped make her dream come true.

“The whole situation kept escalating and I found it incredibly funny, so I kept going,” Zhang said.

The “extremely haphazard rabbit hole” of muffin research, as she described it, eventually resulted in a shipment of 15 boxes of 300 chocolate muffins – presumably the identical ones served to athletes on the Olympics. and Paralympicsalthough Coup de Pates didn’t reply to requests for comment on the matter. The muffins were transported overnight on dry ice by air freight from Paris Orly Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Zhang said. The shipment required FDA approval, and the muffins needed to undergo customs before being transported by delivery truck to the New York cafe Ishiki Matcha within the East Village, where the primary pop-up event took place on August seventeenth.

When the event was announced, There was local excitement. The first customer lined up outside the cafe at 6 a.m. — the event began 4 hours later. The line went across the block twice, and the muffins — limited to 1 per customer for $10 — sold out in about two hours, in accordance with Isshiki Matcha owner Angel Zheng, who said her friends who arrived late didn't get one.

Zheng became involved after a friend tagged her in one in all Zhang's TikTok posts and suggested that the 2 women work together to bring the muffins to New York City.

“I just really like side quests,” Zheng said. “I like doing things for the plot. I'm very young – I'm 24. I'm not a big corporation. I don't have a boss with a 20-person chain of command. I open restaurants and that brings so much joy to people. So I thought if it works, it works. And if it doesn't, at least we tried.”

Organizing the event was no small feat, as the method involved many logistical hurdles that Zhang detailed told on XCoup de Pates had never exported to New York before, so there was no system in place to get the products from the plane to the restaurant like Zheng was used to with other suppliers, which meant she and Zhang needed to coordinate ground transportation. Zheng also said she bought a brand new refrigerator for the restaurant that was sufficiently big to suit all of the muffins in, and the associated fee of customs and transportation was expensive, but she was “happy to do it.”

And it wasn't an isolated incident. Isshiki Matcha announced a second pop-up event starting at 10 a.m. Saturday while the Paralympics are underway. This time, they placed a bigger order — 1,000 muffins, which Zhang said they may sell until supplies run out.

Zhang said she expects a smaller turnout this time since the announcement was made just before closing time and potential customers could also be out of town over the vacation weekend.

The Olympic Muffins are back in NYC for the Paralympics!

available tomorrow at 10am (Sat 31.8.), 1 per person, first come, first served @ isshiki matcha

got 1000 muffs this time. Popup continues until Sunday, so long as supplies last https://t.co/sPoxMoLnH2 pic.twitter.com/E26ajZAach

– Kelin (@kelin_online) 30 August 2024

But Zhang said she was capable of try a second muffin due to the newest delivery. Despite all of the coordination of the primary event, she only tried one because of demand.

“Can you believe this?” she said.

According to Zhang and Zheng, the hype in regards to the muffins is justified. And yes, Zhang confirmsthey're chocolate cakes. Zheng said she thought it was the most effective muffin she'd ever tasted, joining a chorus of positive reviews of the treats, a lot of which have been shared on TikTok, including by American Olympians Gabby Thomas, Tara Davis Woodhall, Abbey Weitzeil and Torri Huske. There could also be more reviews in the course of the Paralympics, because the Paralympic Games X account looked as if it would indicate that the muffins were available to participants.

Okay… we want to know if any of our Paralympics participants have already tried THE chocolate muffin within the athletes’ village

Athletes come forward and tell us…

GettyImages pic.twitter.com/r8jgZ6BSwE

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) 29 August 2024

The pastry's popularity has spread beyond the athletes' village, and due to Zhang and Zheng, the muffins have reached a brand new group of critics on one other continent.

“I think the magic of these muffins is that no one except Olympic athletes could get their hands on them,” Zheng said. “I don't think it's about baking chocolate muffins.”

Zheng added that what she learned from this enterprise is that “with the power of the internet, anything is possible.”

Zhang, who has a background in digital product design, said she had never worked with a restaurant or cafe before her muffin quest and that “hopefully this whole story can inspire other people to take matters into their own hands.”

“The (first) muffin pop-up itself was so hearty,” she said. “People had fun in line. I'm really proud of that — just helping people have a good time and come together.”

She said she was not aware of any plans for a 3rd pop-up and had highlighted corresponding events.

“I think it's very special to have it just around the Olympics and Paralympics,” she said. “And that adds to the overall excitement.”

Regardless, Zhang's quest had a satisfying end. She and Zheng – together with those so dedicated to their shared muffin goal that they waited out the lines – finally ate like Olympians.

Sicily, Italy

Loire Valley, France

North (Porto), Portugal

Tuscany, Italy

Crete, Greece

Catalonia (Barcelona), Spain

Canary Islands, Spain

Liguria (Italian Riviera), Italy

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Madrid, Spain

The catch

Friday marks the fourth consecutive day of heatwave conditions in New York City.

Due to the sweltering temperatures, people could have to search out other ways to chill off at 34 degrees before temperatures drop barely again after the weekend.

Many Americans view power outages as a rare inconvenience, but that’s quickly changing. There were major power outages nationwide increased tenfold since 1980largely as a consequence of an aging power grid and damage from severe storms because the planet warms.

At the identical time, the demand for electricity is increasing the population is growing and increasingly persons are using electricity to chill and warmth their homescook their meals and drive their cars. A growing variety of Americans Also depend on electrically powered medical devicesB. Oxygen concentrators to support respiratory, elevators to maneuver around and infusion pumps to deliver medication and fluids to the body.

For older adults and other individuals with health problems, an influence outage might be greater than just an inconvenience. It might be life-threatening.

We study Environmental health, including the results of utmost heat and storms on people. In one recent studyWe analyzed data from New York City and surrounding areas to know how severe weather causes power outages and who’s most in danger, particularly in urban areas.

Low-income communities are sometimes probably the most in danger

How quickly power returns to a community is usually shaped by history.

Discriminatory practices like redlining and zoning, which prevented nonwhite residents in certain areas from getting mortgages or owning homes, resulted in marginalized groups living in additional disaster-prone areas with poorer infrastructure. Studies show that each aspects define these communities Longer power outages usually tend to occur.

Current policies may additionally exacerbate outages for these populations. For example, many energy suppliers Prioritize power restoration in regions with municipal assets equivalent to public transport, hospitals, police or fire stations, and sewage and water stations, in addition to in regions with larger populations.

Although these policies appear neutral, they could inadvertently lengthen outages in less populated areas and areas lacking resources, including these critical assets. For example, after Tropical Storm Ida in September 2021, Con Edison outlined areas of critical commons as priorities for the restoration of power. Manhattan had power back inside hours, while many low-income and predominantly nonwhite parts of Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn waited for days.

New findings from studies on power outages in Texas, Floridathe southeast and a national studytogether with our recent research in New York, shows that outages particularly impact communities which can be under-resourced.

Complex weather and battery life limits

We have seen this throughout New York State 40% of all failures From 2017 to 2020, severe weather events – heat, cold, wind, rainstorms, snowstorms or lightning – followed inside eight hours. While each sort of storm alone could lead on to longer outages, when combined, they resulted in significantly longer outages.

Nationwide, for instance, strong winds alone led to a mean of twelve-hour outages, while heavy rainfall led to a mean of six-hour outages. However, when wind and precipitation occurred at the identical time, the outages lasted about 17 hours on average.

An influence restoration threshold after six to eight hours is especially essential for individuals who depend on electricity to operate medical equipment. Many of those medical devices have backup batteries with capacities not exceeding eight hours. That's considered one of the the reason why researchers considered eight hours a time critical energy recovery window for health.

We also examined whether socially vulnerable communities were more more likely to be affected by weather-related outages than other communities. In short, the reply was yes, although the impacts varied in several parts of the state and depending on the sort of weather event.

In New York City, we found that heat, precipitation, and wind-related outages were more common in vulnerable communities, including Harlem, Upper Manhattan, the South Bronx, and eastern Queens. This is very important because socially disadvantaged neighborhoods have higher poverty rates and poorer housing quality. Community members may lack access to health care or suffer from health problems.

On average, the duration of precipitation-related outages was longest within the districts with the very best social vulnerability. In districts with Vulnerability scores In the highest 25% — probably the most vulnerable neighborhoods — outages lasted a mean of 12.4 hours, in comparison with 7.7 hours in the underside 25% neighborhoods.

Rural parts of the state also experienced the longest outages as a consequence of rainstorms or snowstorms in areas of high social vulnerability.

Heat peaks are quickly followed by failures

As temperatures rise in the summertime, it will be significant for communities to think about the risks that outages can pose to disabled people, older adults and others with health issues, particularly in vulnerable communities.

Extreme heat is probably the most dangerous meteorological phenomena. It causes almost 400 premature deaths per yr in New York City, in line with city estimates.

With the detailed data we received from the state Public Service DepartmentWe were capable of take a better have a look at how quickly failures occurred after extreme weather conditions.

Outages occurred quickly across the state — inside six hours of the extremely hot temperature spike — likely because more people turned on their air conditioners. This signifies that outages are more likely to occur while it remains to be hot and persons are exposed to extreme heat without power to air conditioners or fans.

Along with higher outside temperatures And the prevalence of underlying health conditionsSocially vulnerable communities are at increased exposure to and greater risk from heat-related outages.

How cities can reduce risks as temperatures rise

This failure trend is more likely to proceed as climate change worsens, resulting in more frequent extreme weather events across an aging grid that has many parts approaching or exceeding their lifespan.

Municipalities and energy suppliers can take measures to scale back people's exposure to power outages and the associated health damage.

In the short term, cities can develop targeted plans for these communities to make sure residents have options to chill down during heat waves. This includes providing adequate cooling centers, swimming pools and public parks with shade trees. It may additionally include transportation assistance for older adults and others with mobility issues.

In the long run, reducing these risks means modernizing the ability grid, weatherizing buildings, planting trees to scale back urban heat island effects, and investing in distributed energy resources equivalent to solar energy and batteries for energy storage.

We consider this work should prioritize the communities that the majority need these updates, following the lead of New York State Weatherization Support Programwhich goals to enhance energy efficiency for low-income households.