VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,146 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2018

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-11-14,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

U(D54G1D)y+&!]!%!#!{

Seventy-five years after the painter’s“Four Freedoms” series ran in TheSaturday Evening Post, a number ofartists are offering more-modern ver-sions of his vision of America. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Updating Norman RockwellAn eruption of hostilities between Israeland Hamas militants raised questionsabout how the two sides got here againand the implications for any potentialpeace process. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A4-10

Gaza’s Latest Flare-Up

Missy Robbins’s new place in Brooklynhas many ways to impress beyonditems like the corzetti, above. PAGE D7

FOOD D1-10

At Misi, Pasta and Much More

Frank Bruni PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

For weeks the president warned of alooming threat from a caravan of Cen-tral American migrants heading towardthe United States. But that was beforethe midterm elections. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A11-21

Trump Goes Silent on Caravan

Bowing to pressure over youth vaping,Juul will restrict sales of nearly all itsflavored pods to online only, and stopmost social media promotion. PAGE A15

Juul Says It Will Cut Back

“Chop Suey,” a 1929 oil on canvas byEdward Hopper, conjurer of the solitaryrealities of 20th-century life, sold atauction for $91.9 million. PAGE A25

NEW YORK A22-25

Hopper Tops $90 Million

When medical centers join forces tosave money, they argue that prices godown. But an analysis shows that thepatients often spend more. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-8

Hospitals Merge. Patients Pay.

At 13, Allonzo Trier appeared on thecover of The New York Times Maga-zine. A winding basketball journey ledhim to the Knicks. PAGE B10

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B10-13

The Prodigy Grows Up

On a late October day, Amazonexecutives flew to New York to an-swer a final question before theycommitted to opening a massivetechnology center in Queens:Could Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo andMayor Bill de Blasio stop bicker-ing long enough to see the projectthrough?

“They wanted to just trust —but verify — that everybody wason the same page,” said AliciaGlen, a deputy mayor who was atthe meeting with Mr. de Blasio.

After meeting with both menseparately that day, the Amazonofficials decided the two Demo-crats could put aside their long-standing differences. Soon after,documents were exchanged, andre-exchanged, ironing out detailsof a package worth more than abillion dollars in tax incentivesand state grants. The politicianseven agreed to a plan to circum-vent the City Council to prevent

future roadblocks.The deal for the Queens devel-

opment, in Long Island City, wasannounced on Tuesday, after Am-azon concluded a 14-month, coun-trywide search for a location for asecond headquarters for some50,000 well-paid tech workers.The company, which ended uppicking two sites and dividing thenew workers between them, isalso opening a huge corporate sitein Arlington, Va., in an area acrossthe Potomac River from Washing-ton. Amazon said the new devel-opments, both to be called head-quarters, would require $5 billionin construction and other invest-ments.

The company also said it woulddevelop a much smaller opera-

In New York and Virginia,Amazon Is Sold on a Deal

A Decision 14 Months in the Making

By KAREN WEISEand J. DAVID GOODMAN

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, left,and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

CHANG W. LEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A23

To attract Amazon, New York’sleaders agreed to remake plansfor the Queens waterfront, move adistribution center for schoollunches and provide a sweepingpackage of $1.7 billion in incen-tives from the state and hundredsof millions more from the city.

They even agreed to allow a he-lipad for Jeff Bezos, Amazon’schief executive.

Under the plan, within 15 yearsthe company could occupy asmuch as eight million square feetof office space, the rough equiva-lent of three Empire State Build-ings.

An image of what life will be likewith the arrival of Amazon be-came clearer on Tuesday, even ifmany questions remain unan-swered.

The company has agreed to fol-low city guidelines for the designof its outpost in Long Island City.But gone is the city’s vision of amixed-use community filled withapartments, some of them for resi-dents of more modest means. Inits place will rise office buildingsthat will house 25,000 or moreworkers. The kayakers bobbingon the East River will now bejoined by helicopters overhead.

In some quarters of Queens, op-position was quickly building.

“Ask not what we can do for Am-azon. Ask what Amazon can do forus,” said State Senator MichaelGianaris, a Democrat who repre-sents the neighborhood.

But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo andMayor Bill de Blasio seemed re-lieved to be able to finally discussthe long-secret negotiation andappeared jovial on Tuesday asthey spoke about the economicbenefits.

Yes, it is among the state’s larg-est-ever incentive packages, thegovernor said, but the return oninvestment would be nine to one.

Yes, they were circumventingthe usual land-use process and es-sentially eliminating any vetopower by the City Council. But,Mr. de Blasio said, the project wasso large that Amazon “needed acertain amount of certainty.”

Cost of Queens Prize:$1.7 Billion and Up

By J. DAVID GOODMAN

Continued on Page A23

PARADISE, Calif. — It is ameasure of how frequent anddeadly wildfires have become inCalifornia that identifying badlyburned remains has become anarea of expertise. Once again ca-daver dogs have been summoned,forensic dental experts will followand coroners and anthropologistsare using their experience fromprevious wildfires to locate thevictims.

One search team on Tuesdaytoured the foundation of a flat-tened home in this singed stretchof Paradise, Calif. Carefully theycircled the charred bathtub, themelted kitchen floor, the skeletalplayground — poking everywherewith long metal poles.

In white hazmat suits and redhard hats, the group of specialistswas searching for two things noone wants to find: bodies andbones.

“Checked the bathroom,” TessKoleczek said. “That’s where Iwould probably go, to the bath-room, with the water running aslong as I could.”

Scanning the sunken ground,she poked at the debris. “Theproblem is,” she said, “how do youtell a bone from a rock at a certainpoint?”

At least 48 people were killed inthe Camp Fire, the deadliest wild-fire in California history, andmany more are missing.

A Grim SearchAs Fatal BlazesGrip California

By JULIE TURKEWITZand THOMAS FULLER

Smoke hovered over Malibu, Calif., on Tuesday as firefighters worked to halt the Woolsey Fire, which has leveled hundreds of homes.ERIC THAYER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A14

The 2018 midterm electionlooked last Tuesday like a seriousbut not crippling setback for Re-publicans, yet the picture hasgrown grimmer for the partysince then as a more completetally of votes has come in acrossthe country.

What looked at first like a mod-est Democratic majority in theHouse has grown into a strongerone: The party has gained 33seats so far and appears on trackto gain between 35 and 40 once allthe counting is complete.

And Democratic losses in the

Senate look less serious than theydid a week ago, after KyrstenSinema was declared the winnerin Arizona on Monday. It nowlooks like Democrats are likely tolose a net of one or two seats,rather than three or four as theyfeared last Tuesday.

The underlying shifts in theelectorate suggest President

Trump may have to walk a precar-ious path to re-election in 2020, asseveral Midwestern states he wonin 2016 threaten to slip away, andonce-red states in the Southwestturn a purpler hue. The presi-dent’s strategy of sowing racial di-vision and stoking alarm aboutimmigration failed to lift his party,and Democratic messaging abouthealth care undercut the benefitRepublicans hoped to gain from astrong economy.

David Winston, a Republicanpollster who advises congres-sional leaders, said his partyshould not use victories in theSenate to paper over severe losses

As Days Pass, Democratic Gains Grow StrongerBy ALEXANDER BURNS

NEW SENATOR Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat, won in Arizona by appealing to moderates. Page A17.ERIN SCHAFF FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Shifts in the Electorate Complicate Trump’s

Re-election Path

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — She bad-mouthed the defense secretary.She was the hatchet woman forJohn R. Bolton, the famously com-bative national security adviser,and drove out staff members from

the National Security Council whowere deemed insufficiently con-servative or loyal.

But in disparaging two mem-bers of Melania Trump’s staff whotraveled with Mrs. Trump, thefirst lady, on her trip last month toAfrica, Mira Ricardel, a deputy na-tional security adviser, appar-ently went too far.

In a White House where the

drama has been constant, but al-most always behind the scenes, anemail to reporters on Tuesdayfrom Stephanie Grisham, aspokeswoman for the first lady,was unusually direct: “It is the po-sition of the Office of the FirstLady that she no longer deservesthe honor of serving in this WhiteHouse.”

The email was sent less than an

hour after Ms. Ricardel appearedat an official White House eventwith President Trump.

There were nonetheless con-flicting reports by late afternoonon whether Ms. Ricardel had actu-ally been fired. The Wall StreetJournal reported that she wasbrusquely escorted off thegrounds of the White House, only

First Lady, Flexing Political Muscle, Demands Removal of AideThis article is by Maggie Ha-

berman, Helene Cooper and RonNixon.

Continued on Page A12

BANGKOK — Boeing facednew scrutiny on Tuesday over thecrash of one of its planes into thesea off Indonesia last month, asairlines, pilots and regulatorssought to determine whether thecompany had underplayed thecomplexity of a new emergencysystem suspected of having mal-functioned on the doomed jetliner.

Investigators have been fo-cused on whether the plane, LionAir Flight 610, crashed becausethe system, which is designed topull the plane out of a dangerousstall, activated based on inaccu-

rate data transmitted or pro-cessed from sensors on the fu-selage.

The plane plunged nose downinto the sea, killing all 189 peopleon board. The precise cause orcauses of the crash remain un-clear.

Boeing has been selling themodel that crashed, the new 737Max 8, as requiring little addi-tional pilot training for airlinesthat already use the previous ver-sion of the plane. The 737 Max 8 isin a ferocious competitive battlewith an update of the Airbus A320,and minimizing the costs of up-grading to the new model is one of

Hunt for Cause of Jet DisasterHomes In on Anti-Stall System

This article is by Hannah Beech,Hiroko Tabuchi, James Glanz andZach Wichter.

Continued on Page A9

THE BAIT New York and Virginiaoffered Amazon billions in incen-tives. Did they overpay? PAGE B1

Late EditionToday, partly sunny, windy, colder,high 40. Tonight, partly cloudy, cold,low 28. Tomorrow, becoming cloudy,afternoon rain and snow at times,high 36. Weather map, Page A21.

$3.00