A ban on transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams at county-owned sports facilities has made a Long Island county the latest battleground for conservatives who have put cultural issues at the center of a national political strategy.

Restricting the rights of transgender people has become the focus of these efforts, and the ban in populous Nassau County has angered LGBTQ activists and Democratic officials, who have challenged it in court.

But it’s unclear whether the ban, which was introduced last month through an executive order signed by Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman, will provoke broader anger in a place where Republicans have gained ground in recent years. Or, on the other hand, if it could motivate conservative and moderate voters in a place where Democrats have a vulnerable majority.

It’s also unclear who it might affect, if at all. The executive order applies to more than 100 facilities in Nassau County, including playing fields in parks; baseball, football and soccer fields; basketball and tennis courts; ice rinks; and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, according to the attorney general’s office.

The county ban does not apply to facilities owned and operated by the area’s public school districts, although it could impact students whose teams practice or play at county facilities.

The ban could also pose a problem for youth or adult recreational leagues with transgender players. Last week, a group that uses county facilities, the Long Island Roller Rebels, an adult roller derby league, indicted Nassau County, arguing that the ban violates the state’s civil rights law.

When asked if there are currently or have ever been any transgender women or girls who have participated in sporting facilities operated by the county’s parks department, Mr. Blakeman said he believed the answer was no. But he wanted to make sure that never happened, he said.

“You don’t have to be punched in the nose in politics to take action,” Blakeman told reporters on Monday.

Nassau County is next to New York City, the seat of Democratic power. But like Republicans elsewhere, Blakeman has found culture war issues to be a winning campaign issue, often framing them in terms of parents’ rights. In 2021, he used opposition to pandemic-era mask mandates to revive his political career and defeat a centrist for his current job.

On Monday, his effort received the support of Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian and longtime Republican who is now best known as a reality TV star. She appeared on stage next to Mr Blakeman to express her love for the LGBTQ community and support for the ban, which she said would protect women and girls and defeat “the woke agenda”.

“If the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, it’s a losing battle,” said Ms. Jenner, a transgender woman. “We will win the battle.”

Ms. Jenner’s appearance in Nassau County seemed intended to let voters know that one could support the gay and transgender community while still opposing certain rights of some of its members.

“For obvious reasons, Caitlyn is the star of the show; she is an Olympic hero,” Mr. Blakeman told reporters with a broad grin. “And I will tell my legal team to include everything Caitlyn said in the letter.”

Democratic leaders have strongly pushed back on Mr. Blakeman’s order, which requires any sports organization seeking to use a provincial parks facility to “explicitly” designate its teams as male, female or coed, based on the birth gender of its members .

After the order was signed, Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Mr. Blakeman of “bullying trans kids.” The attorney general, Letitia James, called the move “transphobic and very dangerous.”

The order has been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of the roller derby league, and by Ms. James, who issued a citation. cease and desist order earlier this month in an effort to prevent the law from being enforced. In response to this Mr Blakeman said has filed its own lawsuit and said he wants a federal judge to rule that his order is legal.

It is unclear how urgent the issue is for New York voters.

No local polling data on the issue is available in Nassau County. National polls show that while the number of Americans who know a transgender person is rising, so is the number of Americans who oppose their inclusion on sports teams that match their gender identity.

According to a Gallup poll from last yearA large majority of independent (67 percent) and Republican (93 percent) voters say they oppose transgender athletes playing on teams that match their gender identity. The number of Democrats who support their right to do so fell from 55 percent in 2021 to 47 percent in 2023.

Interviews with Long Island residents reveal that opinions are similarly complicated.

Claire Kelty, 38, a physical therapist who works in Mineola, said she and a transgender friend had talked about the issue and agreed that there were differences in physical strength between those assigned male or female at birth.

“It could very well be an unfair advantage,” Ms Kelty said. She said she understood why Ms. Jenner would support Mr. Blakeman’s executive order.

“It makes sense, especially for her,” Ms. Kelty said. “I respect Caitlyn Jenner.”

But Marissa Blanko, 21, a nursing student in Mineola, didn’t. She said Ms. Jenner was a hypocrite for opposing the rights of transgender athletes.

“Why would she say, ‘Oh no, I’m against it’?” Mrs. Blanko said. “Look at yourself.”

Others, however, said Ms. Jenner’s athletic career in men’s sports — a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a star on the front of a Wheaties box — was exactly the point.

“If it was the other way around I would take her in her prime to compete against women – she will just dominate,” says Ronnie Stephen, 36. “I’m all for change but it’s all about fairness.”

The LGBTQ movement has long relied on the idea that knowing a gay or transgender person would make a heterosexual or cisgender person more likely to support LGBTQ rights.

But it’s not clear whether that assumption applies to the issue of transgender sports: Over the past two years, support for transgender athletes has actually fallen slightly more among those who know a transgender person than among those who don’t.

This is evident from the Gallup pollOf those who knew a transgender person in 2021, 40 percent said that person should be allowed to play on the sports team of their choice, but that figure dropped 10 points to just 30 percent in 2023. Among those who don’t know a transgender person, support fell per person for transgender athletes in the same time frame by 8 points to 23 percent.

With a critical election looming in November, both Democratic and Republican candidates have said they plan to campaign vigorously in Nassau County.

But it’s unclear whether Blakeman’s new signature issue will motivate voters to cast ballots. “This should not be a partisan issue,” he said Monday. “This is a matter of common sense.”

Some residents said they had never thought about it at all. One resident, Maria Williams, 21, a nursing student in Jericho, said transgender athletes were none of her business.

“I really don’t think about this,” she said. “I just don’t care.”

A ban on transgender women from playing on women’s sports teams at county-owned sports facilities has made a Long Island county the latest battleground for conservatives who have put cultural issues at the center of a national political strategy.

Restricting the rights of transgender people has become the focus of these efforts, and the ban in populous Nassau County has angered LGBTQ activists and Democratic officials, who have challenged it in court.

But it’s unclear whether the ban, which was introduced last month through an executive order signed by Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman, will provoke broader anger in a place where Republicans have gained ground in recent years. Or, on the other hand, if it could motivate conservative and moderate voters in a place where Democrats have a vulnerable majority.

It’s also unclear who it might affect, if at all. The executive order applies to more than 100 facilities in Nassau County, including playing fields in parks; baseball, football and soccer fields; basketball and tennis courts; ice rinks; and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, according to the attorney general’s office.

The county ban does not apply to facilities owned and operated by the area’s public school districts, although it could impact students whose teams practice or play at county facilities.

The ban could also pose a problem for youth or adult recreational leagues with transgender players. Last week, a group that uses county facilities, the Long Island Roller Rebels, an adult roller derby league, indicted Nassau County, arguing that the ban violates the state’s civil rights law.

When asked if there are currently or have ever been any transgender women or girls who have participated in sporting facilities operated by the county’s parks department, Mr. Blakeman said he believed the answer was no. But he wanted to make sure that never happened, he said.

“You don’t have to be punched in the nose in politics to take action,” Blakeman told reporters on Monday.

Nassau County is next to New York City, the seat of Democratic power. But like Republicans elsewhere, Blakeman has found culture war issues to be a winning campaign issue, often framing them in terms of parents’ rights. In 2021, he used opposition to pandemic-era mask mandates to revive his political career and defeat a centrist for his current job.

On Monday, his effort received the support of Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympian and longtime Republican who is now best known as a reality TV star. She appeared on stage next to Mr Blakeman to express her love for the LGBTQ community and support for the ban, which she said would protect women and girls and defeat “the woke agenda”.

“If the left wants to fight this battle on this hill, it’s a losing battle,” said Ms. Jenner, a transgender woman. “We will win the battle.”

Ms. Jenner’s appearance in Nassau County seemed intended to let voters know that one could support the gay and transgender community while still opposing certain rights of some of its members.

“For obvious reasons, Caitlyn is the star of the show; she is an Olympic hero,” Mr. Blakeman told reporters with a broad grin. “And I will tell my legal team to include everything Caitlyn said in the letter.”

Democratic leaders have strongly pushed back on Mr. Blakeman’s order, which requires any sports organization seeking to use a provincial parks facility to “explicitly” designate its teams as male, female or coed, based on the birth gender of its members .

After the order was signed, Gov. Kathy Hochul accused Mr. Blakeman of “bullying trans kids.” The attorney general, Letitia James, called the move “transphobic and very dangerous.”

The order has been challenged by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit last week on behalf of the roller derby league, and by Ms. James, who issued a citation. cease and desist order earlier this month in an effort to prevent the law from being enforced. In response to this Mr Blakeman said has filed its own lawsuit and said he wants a federal judge to rule that his order is legal.

It is unclear how urgent the issue is for New York voters.

No local polling data on the issue is available in Nassau County. National polls show that while the number of Americans who know a transgender person is rising, so is the number of Americans who oppose their inclusion on sports teams that match their gender identity.

According to a Gallup poll from last yearA large majority of independent (67 percent) and Republican (93 percent) voters say they oppose transgender athletes playing on teams that match their gender identity. The number of Democrats who support their right to do so fell from 55 percent in 2021 to 47 percent in 2023.

Interviews with Long Island residents reveal that opinions are similarly complicated.

Claire Kelty, 38, a physical therapist who works in Mineola, said she and a transgender friend had talked about the issue and agreed that there were differences in physical strength between those assigned male or female at birth.

“It could very well be an unfair advantage,” Ms Kelty said. She said she understood why Ms. Jenner would support Mr. Blakeman’s executive order.

“It makes sense, especially for her,” Ms. Kelty said. “I respect Caitlyn Jenner.”

But Marissa Blanko, 21, a nursing student in Mineola, didn’t. She said Ms. Jenner was a hypocrite for opposing the rights of transgender athletes.

“Why would she say, ‘Oh no, I’m against it’?” Mrs. Blanko said. “Look at yourself.”

Others, however, said Ms. Jenner’s athletic career in men’s sports — a gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a star on the front of a Wheaties box — was exactly the point.

“If it was the other way around I would take her in her prime to compete against women – she will just dominate,” says Ronnie Stephen, 36. “I’m all for change but it’s all about fairness.”

The LGBTQ movement has long relied on the idea that knowing a gay or transgender person would make a heterosexual or cisgender person more likely to support LGBTQ rights.

But it’s not clear whether that assumption applies to the issue of transgender sports: Over the past two years, support for transgender athletes has actually fallen slightly more among those who know a transgender person than among those who don’t.

This is evident from the Gallup pollOf those who knew a transgender person in 2021, 40 percent said that person should be allowed to play on the sports team of their choice, but that figure dropped 10 points to just 30 percent in 2023. Among those who don’t know a transgender person, support fell per person for transgender athletes in the same time frame by 8 points to 23 percent.

With a critical election looming in November, both Democratic and Republican candidates have said they plan to campaign vigorously in Nassau County.

But it’s unclear whether Blakeman’s new signature issue will motivate voters to cast ballots. “This should not be a partisan issue,” he said Monday. “This is a matter of common sense.”

Some residents said they had never thought about it at all. One resident, Maria Williams, 21, a nursing student in Jericho, said transgender athletes were none of her business.

“I really don’t think about this,” she said. “I just don’t care.”

A 19-year-old student pilot from Northern Virginia who repeatedly tried to enter the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight from California to Virginia earlier this month has been charged with interfering with a flight crew, according to court documents.

The man, Nathan Jones, was traveling on Alaska Airlines Flight 322 from San Diego International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport on March 3 when he “interfered and intimidated flight crew members and companions,” according to an affidavit filed the next day. the district was filed. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

His attorney filed a motion this week arguing that Mr. Jones may not be mentally fit to stand trial.

The affidavit stated that Mr. Jones, a passenger in seat 6E, attempted three times to go to the front of the plane and “open the cockpit door of the aircraft.” Flight attendants requested assistance from off-duty law enforcement officers, who restrained Mr. Jones with flexible restraints and remained seated on either side of him for the remainder of the flight.

Flight attendants used a drinks cart to block the cockpit, the affidavit said. When they asked Mr Jones why he was trying to access the cockpit, he said he was ‘testing’ them.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in an emailed statement Thursday that the crew reported a “passenger disturbance” aboard the Boeing 737 and was investigating. The flight landed safely in Dulles at about 3:30 p.m. local time, the report said.

Agents searched Mr. Jones’ belongings after landing and found notebooks with descriptions of how to fly a plane, including takeoff, aerial and landing techniques, and a wallet containing his student pilot’s driver’s license, the affidavit said .

His attorney, Robert Lee Jenkins Jr., filed a motion Wednesday requesting a hearing on the mental competency of Mr. Jones, who is being held at a detention center in Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Jenkins said that Mr. Jones made statements to him that raised “serious concerns about whether he understands the allegations and the reason for his detention.”

The motion included a letter from an Alexandria therapist describing Mr. Jones as having symptoms “indicative of a serious mental illness” and following “suicide protocols.” It said he was restrained several times a day and required hospital care to stabilize his mental state.

“It appears there is an acute mental health episode,” Mr. Jenkins said in an interview. “I have sought an order from the court to have him assessed as to his competency to stand trial and also for possible insanity at the time of the crime.”

Mr. Jenkins said Mr. Jones had traveled to Alaska to visit his father and would return to Virginia through a connection in San Diego.

His next hearing is scheduled for March 18. Mr Jenkins said that would discuss the bond terms and his request for a review.

Gov. Kathy Hochul visited New York City on Wednesday to drum up support for her latest proposals to close unlicensed marijuana shops, which have exploded in number in the wake of the legalization of recreational cannabis.

In Manhattan alone, there are more than 400 illegal pot shops – more than the Starbucks stores in the borough and far more than the several dozen licensed cannabis stores in the entire state.

At a news conference at the governor’s office in Midtown Manhattan, attended by several owners of licensed pharmacies, Ms. Hochul sought to allay concerns about a return to the heavy-handed enforcement tactics of the war on drugs, while pushing for measures that she said would provide “some teeth” to the so far ineffective efforts to eradicate the unlicensed shops.

Her action came as state lawmakers considered her proposal to strengthen the hand of local agencies by giving them the power to open padlock shops. She was joined by licensed pharmacy owners who said the legal market could not compete with the low prices in illegal stores. The governor and business owners also called on search engines and social media companies like Google and Yelp to remove content about unlicensed stores, which they said adds to confusion among consumers about which pot shops were licensed and which were not.

The governor said the illegal stores posed a public health risk and undermined the state’s efforts to build a cannabis industry that could provide opportunities to people harmed by the war on drugs. She said efforts to deter the stores over the past year with raids and fines had been concentrated in the hands of too few agencies and had been ineffective. Her proposal would make it easier for the state Office of Cannabis Management to obtain court orders for padlock shops and allow the orders to be enforced by local agencies with more staff.

“More and more money is flowing into them and not into our legitimate operators – and that’s what needs to change,” she said.

New York legalized cannabis in 2021, prompting a rush of people trying to raise money before regulators could set the rules and hand out licenses. Despite hundreds of raids over the past year, smoke shops dot the city’s streets, brazenly selling cannabis to consumers who are often underage or unaware that the shops are unlicensed.

Last year, the Legislature gave state cannabis regulators and tax authorities more power to go after unlicensed sellers. The city and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also sent warning letters to the landlords of more than 400 stores, but only 15 of the stores have been evacuated, according to Mayor Eric Adams’ office.

Overall, few stores have been penalized or closed. The Office of Cannabis Management said it had imposed $25 million in fines, but the agency has collected only $22,500 as retailers fought the fines in administrative hearings that have lasted for months, a development that first reported by the city.

Licensed Retailers called for the state to take action against social media companies and search engines they accuse of driving unsuspecting consumers to unlicensed stores. Those same sites, the retailers say, removed ads belonging to licensed pharmacies without explanation.

The New York Times searched for dozens of unlicensed stores that had received warning letters from the city and the Manhattan district attorney and found that many of them had active listings on Google and Yelp. Some had over a thousand reviews, along with links to their websites and Instagram accounts.

During the press conference, the governor held up a cell phone with a list of nearby stores and said, “This is what we need to stop.”

Osbert Orduña, the president of Cannabis Place, a dispensary with locations in Jersey City and Queens, said the Queens store had been removed from Google Maps four times even though he had provided documents to the company showing it was a legal store. store.

But in statements to The Times, social media companies would not commit to removing the listings and said they would not allow cannabis companies to post ads. Google said it would display a message indicating a business had closed, but also said it would investigate the issues businesses had reported regarding their listings. Yelp claimed that consumers had a First Amendment right to information about all businesses, even unlicensed ones.

“Allowing users to contribute and view information (including complaints) about unlicensed businesses serves the public interest and provides regulators with a tool to determine whether a particular business is properly licensed,” the company said.

Mr. Adams said that he supports the governor’s proposals, but he added that lawmakers should give police and the sheriff’s office the authority to inspect unlicensed smoke shops. Currently, authorities can only inspect a shop suspected of illegally selling cannabis if it has a tobacco license.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it was also seeking a change to the state’s property law that would allow prosecutors to seek the eviction of unlicensed stores that “habitually or habitually” sell cannabis. Current law only allows them to clear stores that “exclusively or mainly” sell illegal cannabis, a spokesperson said.

Mr. Adams will attend Thursday’s opening of Matawana, a licensed dispensary in Brooklyn, one of only 77 legal outlets in the state. It is one of more than 50 that have opened since an order halting the rollout was lifted in December.

The owner, Leeann Mata, said she spent more than $100,000 of her own money to open the pharmacy after the state failed to deliver on its promise to provide the first 150 retailers with built-out stores and low-interest loans. Some of the money was intended to pay for her son’s tuition at Hofstra University, but they agreed he would start at a community college and then transfer to Hofstra once her pharmacy was up and running. But an order halted the rollout last fall and left her unable to fulfill her promise, she said through tears.

She said unlicensed stores abounded near her pharmacy in Park Slope.

“They just made my job more difficult than it needs to be,” she said. “And I put everything into this.”

The New York Times Company added 300,000 paying digital subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, the company said Wednesday, pushing annual digital subscription revenue above $1 billion for the first time.

The Times reported total revenue of $676.2 million in the last three months of the year, essentially flat from a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit rose 8.5 percent to $154 million.

It was “a strong year for The Times, demonstrating the power of our strategy to be the essential subscription for every curious person who wants to understand and connect with the world,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, president and CEO of the company, in a statement. .

The company has focused in recent years on offering a bundle of products to subscribers: the core news report and games like Wordle and Spelling Bee; her product review site, Wirecutter; a recipe app; and The Athletic, the sports news website.

The Athletic, which bought The Times two years ago for $550 million, continued to lose money in the fourth quarter. But operating losses shrank to $4.4 million from $9.6 million a year earlier. The Athletic's revenue grew 31.3 percent to $38.5 million.

At year's end, The Times had 10.36 million subscribers, 9.7 million of whom were digital-only. The company has a target of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.

The company said it had $709.2 million in cash and marketable securities at the end of 2023.

Much of the news media industry is in turmoil, with publishers like The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Business Insider firing or offering buyouts to journalists in recent months. Headwinds include a decline in readers reaching news sites through social media platforms, less user interest in news and a tough market for advertising.

Advertising was a weak spot for The Times in the fourth quarter. Total advertising revenue fell 8.4 percent to $164.1 million. Digital ads fell 3.7 percent and print ads fell 16.2 percent.

The number of print subscribers continues to decline. At the end of 2022 there were 730,000 and at the end of 2023 it was 660,000.

As a track cyclist on the U.S. Olympic team's sprint relay, Joshua Hartman spends much of his training time lifting weights to build strength and speed. In 2023, when he tried to deadlift a load that was near the limit of his ability, he noticed that his form was off and the weight wasn't moving as fast as he wanted.

“Instead of listening to the little signals my body was giving me, like tightness in my hips and knees, I ignored it and pushed through it,” Mr. Hartman said.

At the highest weight of his last set he felt pain in his back. Hoping it was nothing, he moved on to the next exercise.

“I bent over to pick up the bar and I was in so much pain I wanted to cry,” Mr Hartman said.

The next day he was in pain and his back was swollen and painful to the touch. The diagnosis was a tissue tear and he was ordered to stop training, jeopardizing his chances at October's Pan American Games and perhaps even the 2024 Olympics.

Top athletes often walk a tightrope, pushing themselves hard while listening to their bodies to avoid injuries. For the rest of us, the stakes are lower, but there is an important lesson to be learned from Mr. Hartman's experience: While challenging yourself is important, ignoring pain can lead to problems.

Listening to your body doesn't mean you have to stop when your legs start to hurt, or that you should never push your limits. But it does mean being more intentional about your workouts and being willing to change your training plan when necessary.

Recognize the wrong kind of pain.

Aches and pains are part of working out, says Dr. Jordan Metzl, sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery, author and triathlete.

“If it doesn't hurt a little bit, you're probably not pushing hard enough,” he said.

The main difference between healthy discomfort and unhealthy pain is whether it changes how your movement works. That's when you should stop and take a rest day, or consult a professional.

To learn to recognize changes in your form, practice “body scans” during your next training session, says Sean McCann, a psychologist for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

This might mean noticing how your legs feel when you run on a flat surface, rather than running up a hill, or how your arm muscles feel when you add ten pounds to your bench press. Pay attention to the feeling of muscle pain (which is normal) and watch out for joint pain (which is often a sign of trouble), said Dr. McCann.

The discomfort may go away after your body warms up, but if it doesn't, it's probably time to change course. For example, if you're training for a 10k and feel a twinge in your hip that hurts while sprinting, take some time off or switch to a different exercise. This requires patience and discipline, he said.

Manage discomfort with mindfulness.

While expert athletes are used to the feeling of intense training, everyday athletes often prefer to distract themselves from their burning lungs and quads, says Diana Winston, director of mindfulness education at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. But she recommends a different approach: Stop, take a deep breath, observe and move on (or STOP).

If you are working through a series back squats and you start to feel uncomfortable, take a moment to observe the sensations in your body. Are you bothered by the heavy barbell on your back and the effort it takes to get out of the squat, or are you bothered by worrying pain on one side of your back?

“You don't necessarily embrace the pain,” said Dr. McCann, “but you get familiar with it, and then you become more skilled at dealing with it, more skilled at interpreting what it means.”

Don't forget recovery.

Recovery from exercise is almost as important as exercise itself if you want to improve your fitness, said Dr. Samuel Galloway, an instructor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine who specializes in sports medicine. This means paying attention to sore muscles and taking a rest day at least once or twice a week.

A common mistake people make, especially during a burst of motivation, is ramping up their training too quickly and not allowing enough time to recover, he said.

Recovery includes hydration, healthy nutrition and good sleep. Your body needs rest to build muscle and replenish the energy used. If you feel exhausted and sore, take an active rest day. Go for a walk, stretch or do some gentle yoga.

Fortunately for Mr. Hartman, a week of complete rest and then three months of rehabilitation exercises did the trick. He qualified for the Pan American Games and his team finished fourth, scoring a personal best.

Looking back, Mr Hartman said he wished he had quit and asked his coach for feedback on his form as soon as he felt something was wrong.

“If I miss one day of training, my career won't end,” Mr. Hartman said, “but if I push myself and hurt myself, it certainly will.”

Hilary Achauer is a freelance health and fitness writer.