Northeast

NY judge tosses order restricting transgender players from using county-run parks

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2024

NY judge tosses order restricting transgender players from using county-run parks

An order restricting transgender athletes from using county-run parks and fields in Long Island, New York, was struck down by a judge on Friday after it was challenged by a roller derby league.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order in February denying park permits to any women’s and girl’s teams, leagues or organizations that allow female transgender athletes to participate. Blakeman held a news conference in March with Caitlyn Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist for the men’s decathlon in 1976 prior to a gender transition, who endorsed the ban.

Blakeman’s reasoning for the executive order stemmed from his effort to ensure female athletes could compete in their respective sports fairly, but Judge Francis Ricigliano ruled that he didn’t have the authority to issue the order.

SURF LEGEND BETHANY HAMILTON RIPS CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS AFTER COMPETITION REVERSES STANCE ON TRANS ATHLETES

Members of the Long Island Roller Rebels, practice skills on March 19, 2023, at United Skates of America in Seaford, New York. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

In his 13-page decision, Ricigliano, wrote that Blakeman’s order was aimed at preventing transgender women from participating in girls’ and women’s athletics in county parks, “despite there being no corresponding legislative enactment” providing him with such authority.

“In doing so, this Court finds the County Executive acted beyond the scope of his authority as the Chief Executive Officer of Nassau County,” Ricigliano wrote.

The league’s lawsuit was backed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which said the decision overturned a harmful policy that attempted to “score cheap political points by peddling harmful stereotypes about transgender women and girls.”

“This is a huge victory for all trans people in Nassau, especially our plaintiffs @LIRollerRebels,” the NYCLU wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“This decision sends a strong message that transphobic discrimination cannot and will not stand. We are gratified that the court saw this order for what it was: a harmful, hateful policy that has no place in New York.”

OREGON HIGH SCHOOL TRANSGENDER RUNNER PUTS TOGETHER FAST TIMES AGAINST GIRLS IN SEMIS, SPARKS OUTRAGE

Caitlin Carroll, right, demonstrates skills on Tuesday, March 19, 2023, at United Skates of America in Seaford, N.Y.

Blakeman dismissed the judge’s decision as one that didn’t address the merits of the case. The ruling doesn’t delve into the civil rights arguments raised by both sides, instead focusing on the limitations of the county executive’s powers.

“Unfortunately girls and women are hurt by the court,” he wrote in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.

The Roller Rebels were one of those teams looking for a permit for the county-owned rinks. The league allows anyone who identifies as a woman, and one transgender player is already on their roster.

State Attorney General Letitia James had previously called for Nassau County to rescind the order, saying anti-discrimination laws are being violated.

Caitlyn Jenner supported the measure. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

She said that Friday’s ruling is a “major victory.”

“In New York, it is illegal to discriminate against a person because of their gender identity or expression…My office will keep working to ensure every New Yorker is free to be who they are.”

The issue involving trans women in women’s sports adds to the national discussion surrounding one of the most controversial topics in sports.

Fox News’ Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

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New Hampshire

Opinion: The nostalgia of a small town – Concord Monitor

Published

8 minutes ago

May 19, 2026

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Opinion: The nostalgia of a small town – Concord Monitor

It wasn’t until I moved out of state for my first year at Syracuse University that I realized just how special New Hampshire is.

As a freshman, the first three questions you’re always asked upon meeting professors and fellow students are: name, major and hometown. When I answer that I’m from Webster, N.H., I’m often met with slightly perplexed expressions from domestic and international students alike. Something along the lines of, “I’ve been to Boston, but I don’t really know anything about New Hampshire” or “There’s a lot of mountains up there, right?”

So, I came up with a sort of elevator pitch. A quick and easy explanation of what New Hampshire is.

“Well, I live in the middle of the woods, off a dead-end dirt road. Enough so that I have videos of moose trotting across my yard, pictures of groundhogs sitting on my front doorstep and memories of my dogs playing with baby deer. But, I’m only a half-hour drive from the capital city, Concord. I’m an hour from the beach, an hour and a half from Boston, where I can see any of my favorite artists perform, and just two hours from Portland, Maine, and Burlington, Vermont. I’m surrounded by woods, lakes and mountains, but still have the option to venture into a city or lay by the ocean for a day if I’d like.”

At first, I was surprised by people’s reactions when they would comment on how nice it must be to live here. Enduring the cold winters and rural isolation gets old, and I certainly don’t plan on staying here forever. Still, I’ve noticed that the way I describe it has always been more affectionate than I gave it credit for.

But what I’ve realized since leaving is that New Hampshire is more than just its convenient geography. It’s a feeling you don’t fully understand until you’re far enough away from it to miss the small things.

It’s recognizing yourself in the lyrics of Noah Kahan, hearing your home described in a way that feels nostalgic and deeply personal. It’s the pride of seeing “Live Free or Die” on license plates and tattoos, knowing it isn’t just a motto, but a kind of identity people grow up internalizing.

It’s summers at Canobie Lake Park, riding Untamed for the tenth summer in a row and still flinching at the top. It’s road trips up North to Lincoln, watching the mountains slowly take over the horizon. It’s holding onto my dad as he snowmobiled around our house, wind biting my face while everything around us turned into a white blur. And it’s the constant hope of refreshing Snow Day Calculator, waiting for that announcement that meant the world would slow down for just one more day.

It’s the small familiarity of it all. Walking into Pitchfork Records and knowing the man behind the counter; talking about music as a shared interest, not a mere transaction. Visiting the middle school for my little brother’s events and knowing the teachers there will greet me like I’m still their student. It’s the kind of place where community quietly becomes a staple of your life.

It’s winter evenings that have a way of slowing everything down. Joining my family on the
couch with the sound of Fritz Wetherbee’s voice coming through the TV, steady and familiar. The introduction of the old, crackling vinyl singing, “There’s an old-fashioned home in New Hampshire with a light in the window for me.”

Although the appeal of New Hampshire has naturally worn off after 19 years in the same small town, and I often joke that I need to leave, my classmates’ replies have reminded me how remarkable the state really is. None of these experiences can quite capture it on their own, but together they point to what it means to be from a place that is small, but feels endless — one where nature, community, history and memory all overlap in ways you only fully appreciate once you leave.

I’ve always loved the idea of travel, and I have every intention of city hopping in the years to come, chasing new places and versions of “home.” But regardless of where I end up, the Granite State will always feel like mine. It’s where I know I can return when I need a renewed sense of familiarity, comfort or perspective.

For me, New Hampshire is more than the place I was born. It’s the confidence of knowing exactly what it feels like to belong somewhere, and the comfort of realizing it’s been there all along.

Addyson Kimball is a lifelong resident of Webster. She is currently a sophomore at Syracuse University, where she is dual-majoring in Political Science and Law, Society and Policy.

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New Jersey

NJ, NY governors cut World Cup transit costs. Where is host committee?

Published

14 minutes ago

May 19, 2026

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NJ, NY governors cut World Cup transit costs. Where is host committee?

New Jersey and New York’s respective governors made competing announcements on the evening of May 12 about how they went to great lengths to lower the prices of tickets to transport people to the 2026 World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium.

Conspicuously missing from these announcements was the New York-New Jersey host committee, a nonprofit with a wide-ranging role to hunt down practice fields for teams; coordinate multiple local, state and federal agencies; and execute FIFA’s vision for its tournament, the most popular sporting event in the world, which is taking place in 16 cities across Mexico, Canada and the United States this June and July.

Another key host committee task is raising money to support fan events at the stadium and watch parties around the region, and to help pay for logistical needs, such as security and FIFA-required modifications to the stadium and field.

It has also played a critical role in coordinating transportation plans, announcing its own shuttle bus network to the stadium that it will operate at a loss, according to Natalie Hamilton, a host committee spokeswoman. The committee announced last month it will provide NJ Transit with $3.6 million to help pay for discounts for commuters who will be inconvenienced by the matches, which are forcing trains to divert to other stations while Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station partially close except to match-goers.

So it was striking when New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced that seven corporations had suddenly stepped up to donate money to bring down the cost of NJ Transit’s ticket to MetLife for match-goers to $98, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she would throw in $6 million in taxpayer money to bring down the ticket price of stadium-bound shuttle buses to $20.

Story continues below photo gallery.

Securing those donations and partnerships with corporate sponsors and finding ways to cut prices for fans is among the primary tasks of the host committee. So, what happened?

In a statement through a spokesperson, the host committee said it has been “working aggressively with public and private partners to make transportation more affordable for fans,” and that this is a “uniquely complex region, and a public-transportation-first event due to an expanded stadium activations and an enhanced security footprint.”

“The recent price reductions were not automatic — they were the result of coordination between the host committee, government and private-sector partners,” the statement said. “The host committee helped facilitate the partnership with Highland Bus and supported the effort to expand capacity and lower the price point.

“On the rail side, we have been supportive of NJ Transit as they pursue sponsor support to help offset costs, and we remain in close coordination,” the committee said.

NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said the agency’s marketing team got very creative to raise advertising revenue through corporate sponsors in the last few weeks in order to reduce the ticket price without relying on taxpayer dollars to do so.

“That was an effort that took tens if not hundreds of hours of all our time while we’re trying to run a system everyday,” Kolluri said. “In the end, we met the governor’s objective — without FIFA’s help, without anybody’s help, we in New Jersey alone reduced the fare from $150 to $98.”

Finger-pointing and tough decisions late in the game

Fraying relationships among the region’s host partners — New Jersey, New York and the host committee — have been on display for months.

In February, with just five weeks under her belt as New Jersey’s governor, Sherrill made waves by suddenly scrapping the Liberty State Park fan festival, a logistically-challenged event being planned by the host committee.

Sherrill hasn’t said why that pivot was made, but multiple sources familiar with the planning told NorthJersey.com that shuttling tens of thousands of people to the waterfront park every day for the 39-day tournament was complicated because of limited mass transportation options.

Instead, Sherrill diverted $5 million in state money intended for Liberty State Park to a new program her administration created in a matter of weeks with Choose New Jersey to provide grants for 34 World Cup events around the state.

The host committee responded by joining forces with the previously announced “Red Bull New York Soccer Celebration” at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison and renaming its part of the festivities the “Jersey Fan Hub.”

But the state is having no part of it, and it even spelled out in the language of a recent $15 million grant provided to the host committee that if it is used for any event held at Sports Illustrated Stadium, the committee will have to forfeit the money.

Ticket prices for the Sports Illustrated event are $10, but the host committee’s fan events in all five New York City boroughs are free, thanks in large part to $20 million from New York State.

But things really escalated once the transportation tickets to MetLife Stadium were unveiled last month.

Eight matches, including the final, will be played at the East Rutherford stadium. Getting tens of thousands of fans there has proved to be an expensive, challenging endeavor since FIFA eliminated the ability to park at the stadium and forced the local governments and the host committee to come up with mass transit solutions and a ride-sharing location.

NJ Transit initially announced it would sell 40,000 train and bus tickets per match for $150 each, and the host committee would provide 10,000 chartered buses for $80 each.

Fans pounced on the expensive transit costs, and local public officials started pointing fingers — reactions that clearly inspired the Hudson River governors to find money to bring down those costs to $98 on the NJ Transit system and $20 on the bus shuttles.

They also increased the number of shuttle buses available by using Highland school buses, so 18,000 tickets will be available on non-school days and 12,000 on school days; Hochul demanded that about 20% of tickets have to be reserved for New York residents.

Did the deep bench pay off?

The New York-New Jersey host committee is stacked with people who have vast experience in fundraising, corporate partnerships and navigating the business world of professional sports — so why weren’t they able to solve this problem?

Alex Lasry and Tammy Murphy, wife of former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, were named the host committee’s CEO and board chair, respectively, in February 2025 — and both have backgrounds in politics, fundraising, professional sports teams and public-private partnerships.

Tammy Murphy founded and owns the pro soccer team Gotham FC with her husband, has overseen multiple political fundraising organizations, and launched an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2024, raising $3.2 million in her campaign’s first six weeks.

Lasry was previously an executive of the Milwaukee Bucks, the professional basketball team his family purchased in 2014. He also unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin in 2022, and was named co-treasurer of the Democratic Governors Association in 2023.

The host committee wouldn’t provide information on how much money it has raised in the three years since its formation in 2023, but it said “fundraising remains ongoing” and there are seven “host city supporters” that have been announced in the last two years.

Daniel Lynch joined the committee to become its chief commercial officer, leaving a nearly 20-year career with the New York Giants, where he most recently served as vice president of corporate partnerships. The committee’s co-host city managers — who have worked on World Cup planning since before the host committee was formed — are Lauren LaRusso and Bruce Revman.

LaRusso was general counsel in Phil Murphy’s government authorities unit that works with such agencies as NJ Transit and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Revman was a managing director of New York City Tourism & Conventions.

Traditionally, a host committee provides most of the guidance for the major organization it represents because its members understand the infrastructure of the location, especially such details as hotel access and traffic patterns, said Aaron Moore, a professor of public relations and event planning at Rider University in Lawrenceville.

When it comes to soliciting donations, there will always be a political element, and major corporations make such donations out of their marketing budgets, he said.

“Rather than buy television advertisements or digital advertisements, they’re going to be what is called ‘the proud sponsor’ of this event. So that means that company is going to get a lot of positive publicity having their names attached by being called a sponsor,” he said.

Tensions with host committees not unique

Nearly all the host committees around the country have struggled to raise money for the World Cup — and it’s not surprising given the restrictions imposed by FIFA, the Zurich-based soccer organization that runs the tournament and stands to receive at least $11 billion in profit from this year’s World Cup.

FIFA has a number of global sponsors from some of the world’s most profitable companies — such as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Qatar Airways and Visa — and prevents competing brands from appearing at its tournaments. Host committees must therefore spend money and go to great lengths to eliminate all other ad branding at host stadiums.

For example, any reference to “MetLife” will be scrubbed from the East Rutherford stadium, and it will be rebranded “New York New Jersey Stadium” for the duration of the tournament.

FIFA also wasn’t provided tickets or suites to matches to dangle in front of potential sponsor companies. Taken together, this severely limits their ability to attract local sponsors.

Most host cities are allowed to secure no more than 10 sponsorships. The New York-New Jersey host committee is allowed a maximum of 20, but few have reached 10.

How does money get prioritized?

Other U.S. host cities are feeling financial pressures similar to those of the New York-New Jersey region, with fan fests getting downsized and public confrontations sprouting over funding spats. Last year in California, FIFA threatened to deny public viewing licenses to the host committee after disagreements over money.

The question that arises is: How does the money raised by host committees get prioritized?

In Philadelphia, the host committee partnered with Airbnb to provide free rides home on the SEPTA Broad Street Line after all six matches in that city, a corporate sponsorship model the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles have used on various game days in past years. Match-goers will pay a one-way, standard subsidized fare of $2.90 to attend World Cup matches.

Meg Kane, CEO of Philadelphia’s host committee, told The Athletic that the committee focused on minimizing transportation costs from the beginning of the bid process to become a host city.

But it’s hard to compare Philadelphia’s experience to New Jersey’s:

New Jersey is hosting eight matches, including the final, while Philadelphia is hosting six.
Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field holds about 65,000 fans, while MetLife will seat about 78,000 for the World Cup.
Philadelphia’s subway system is designed to transport around 15,000 people an hour, while NJ Transit’s Meadowlands shuttle can move about 10,000. The Garden State has approved spending up to $135 million to design, engineer and construct a bus route to complement the train shuttle between Secaucus Junction station and MetLife to move another 10,000 people per hour.
FIFA eliminated 23,000 parking spots normally available at MetLife to increase its security and media perimeter, which shifted the burden of transporting 56,000 fans to NJ Transit, the host committee’s bus shuttle and ride-sharing. Philadelphia’s stadium will have parking, which will reduce strain on the city’s mass transit system.

‘The wonders of American democracy’

New Jersey, without assistance from host partner New York, has approved more than $307 million in taxpayer spending to provide the host committee with a loan and make FIFA-required changes to the stadium and infrastructure upgrades, according to documents obtained by NorthJersey.com.

Sherrill says she won’t keep shifting the tournament’s financial burdens to taxpayers.

Those tensions — and the use of host committees — are in stark contrast to the last two World Cup tournaments, which were held in Qatar and Russia, where most of the coordinating went through a central government and money wasn’t an issue, said Robert Sroka, an assistant professor of sports management at Towson University in Maryland.

“Here, you have the wonders of American democracy at work and all sorts of political tensions that aren’t present in other places,” Sroka said.

While the host committees are meant to lessen the financial burdens on taxpayers, the final bill will end up falling to local and state governments that agree to host these expensive mega events.

“Current politicians, whether they like it or not, they have to deal with whatever was left on their plate by their predecessors,” Sroka said. “You’re stuck with the bill — so enjoy the party while it lasts.”

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Rhode Island

RI Philharmonic announces 2026 Summer Pops theme, schedule

Published

1 hour ago

May 19, 2026

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RI Philharmonic announces 2026 Summer Pops theme, schedule

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra on Monday announced the schedule and theme for its Summer Pops program, an annual series of free outdoor concerts featuring well-known songs performed in a classical style.

This year’s show, “Outstanding Overtures,” features beloved introductory tunes from theater, film and classical music.

“There’s something magical about an overture,” said David Beauchesne, executive director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. “It sets the stage, stirs the imagination, and invites you into a story.”

The program includes overtures ranging from “William Tell” and “The Marriage of Figaro” to “Phantom of the Opera,” “West Side Story,” “Mary Poppins,” and “Wicked.”

“Experiencing these masterpieces performed by a full symphony orchestra in a relaxed, outdoor setting is something truly special,” Beauchesne said. “And best of all, it’s completely free.”