CMYK
Nxxx,2015-12-21,A,001,Bs-BK,E2
Late Edition
Today, times of clouds and sunshine, breezy, milder, high 54. Tonight, cloudy, a brief shower late,
low 50. Tomorrow, a passing shower, high 58. Weather map, Page D8.
VOL. CLXV . . . No. 57,087
$2.50
NEW YORK, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2015
© 2015 The New York Times
LOBBYISTS SHIELD
A TAX LOOPHOLE
WORTH $1 BILLION
Metal Workers
Get Back Pay
In a Bias Case
New York Local Union
Long Favored Whites
LATE EXCEPTIONS IN BILL
Rule Change Is Delayed
for Casino, Hotel and
Wall St. Interests
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
The black, white and Hispanic
craftsmen toil amid the bones of
New York City’s unfinished office
towers, threading air-conditioning ducts through ragged walls
and ceilings, guiding the gleaming metal tubes from one set of
hands to another.
Their union, Local 28 of the
Sheet Metal Workers, was featured this year in advertising
highlighting the changing face of
the construction industry. “Opportunity. Diversity. Middle class
careers,” reads one of the ads run
by the city’s building trades association. “This is what union construction looks like.”
But the multiracial tableau obscures a stark racial divide: The
union’s white members have received more work and larger
pensions, data show. In contrast,
minority members, who have
lagged for decades, often struggle to find steady jobs and to earn
enough credit to retire on time
with full pensions.
Last month, the union began
paying the first installments of
$12.7 million in back pay to hundreds of black and Hispanic
members in a partial settlement
of a bias lawsuit decades old —
the oldest such case in the hands
of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The union stands as a case
study of how workplace discrimiContinued on Page A22
By ERIC LIPTON and LIZ MOYER
BRYAN DENTON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Hassan Aboud, left, with an associate, Abu Ayman, in 2013 when Mr. Aboud was leading rebel sieges against Syrian
Army positions. Mr. Aboud later defected to the Islamic State, taking many fighters and weapons with him.
Recruitment of an ISIS Killer
Syrian’s Path From Leader of Rebels to Enforcer for Jihadists
By C. J. CHIVERS
Hassan Aboud’s practiced baritone belied the malevolence in his words.
“Oh Darraji!” he sang. “Our state provided us ammunition and sent us to assassinate you.”
That state is the self-proclaimed Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL,
the terrorist group that controls territory
in Syria and Iraq and has recently projected violence to Ankara, Beirut, Paris
and San Bernardino, Calif. A soft-spoken
double-amputee sometimes carried to
meetings by fellow gunmen, Mr. Aboud is
an Islamic State commander who also directs a network of assassins, including
Cuomo’s Focus
In Pardon Push:
Youth Offenses
STATE OF TERROR
A Mideast Mob Boss
those who killed Darraji, a former subordinate, with bullets and flame.
The recording of his singing circulated
among past associates this year. A taunting dark requiem, it serves as evidence
and confession. Mr. Aboud, who defected
from Syria’s rebels to the terrorist group
in 2014, was admitting to previously unsolved killings of former friends.
“We plucked Adeeb Abbas’s head,” he
continued, naming another of his onetime deputies, blasted from a motorcycle
by a roadside bomb. “We spilled his filthy
blood.”
He then vowed to kill more, as a male
chorus chanted to those marked to die:
“We will liquidate every traitor.”
Since rising to prominence as an international menace, the Islamic State has
tried to glorify its members, describing
them as religious warriors who raised
arms to protect fellow Sunni Muslims
and serve their understanding of God.
But the journey of Mr. Aboud, and his recruitment by ISIS, including with cash,
departs from scripts emphasizing piety
or civil defense.
Continued on Page A10
By JESSE McKINLEY
and JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New
York said on Sunday that he
would seek out and pardon thousands of people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes as
teenagers but have since led lawabiding lives.
Envisioned as a way to remove
stubborn barriers to employment, housing and other services, the pardons would be available to anyone who was found
guilty of a nonviolent felony or
misdemeanor that was committed while they were 16 or 17, provided they have spent at least a
decade without any additional
convictions. Under his plan, Mr.
Cuomo intends to invite those
people to apply for — and virtually be assured of receiving — a
governor’s pardon, as long as
they meet several other criteria.
In a phone interview, Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said his plan
would provide second chances to
generations of once-youthful offenders who had long since abandoned their criminal lives but
continue to be dogged by their
criminal pasts.
“It’s a way to help people get
on with their life,” said Mr. Cuomo, adding that his plan would
act as a reward for good behavior
and a chance at redemption.
“When you’re young you can
make a mistake, and maybe you
Continued on Page A24
WASHINGTON — In the span
of a mere 11 days this month, $1
billion in future federal tax payments vanished.
As congressional leaders were
hastily braiding together a tax
and spending bill of more than
2,000 pages, lobbyists swooped in
to add 54 words that temporarily
preserved a loophole sought by
the hotel, restaurant and gambling industries, along with billionaire Wall Street investors,
that allowed them to put real estate in trusts and avoid taxes.
They won support from the top
Senate Democrat, Harry Reid of
Nevada, who responded to appeals from executives of casino
companies, politically powerful
players and huge employers in
his state. And the lobbyists even
helped draft the crucial language.
The small changes, and the
enormous windfall they generated, show the power of connected
corporate lobbyists to alter a
huge bill that is being put together with little time for lawmakers
to consider. Throughout the legislation, there were thousands of
other add-ons and hard to decipher tax changes.
Some executives at companies
with the most at stake are also
big campaign donors. For example, the family of David Bonderman, a co-founder of TPG Capital, has donated $1.2 million
since 2014 to the Senate Majority
PAC, a campaign fund with close
ties to Mr. Reid and other Senate
Democrats. TPG Capital has
large holdings in Caesars Entertainment and helps run a Texasbased energy company, both of
which stand to benefit from the
Continued on Page A18
A Hollywood Empire, Long Dormant, Strikes Back American Support for Gay Rights
May Leave Africans Vulnerable
By BROOKS BARNES
Conventional wisdom holds
that mass moviegoing is the pastime of another era. The cultural
heat emanates from television
now. Hollywood only churns out
banal sequels and forgettable action films. Netflix is the new multiplex.
Well, the movies just struck
back.
In an astounding display of cultural and commercial domination
on a global scale — one with little
precedent in the history of Hollywood — the Walt Disney Company’s “Star Wars: The Force
Awakens” earned roughly $517
million in worldwide ticket sales,
smashing multiple box office
records, even after accounting
for inflation.
It was the largest opening
weekend in North America, with
$238 million in ticket sales. To put
that figure into perspective, consider that “Avatar” (2009), which
analysts consider to be the highest-grossing film in history, with
$3.1 billion in global ticket sales,
took in $85 million over its first
three days in domestic release;
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
STEPHEN LAM/REUTERS
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” took in roughly $517 million
in ticket sales globally. Above, fans in San Francisco on Friday.
the previous record-holder for a
December opening was “The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
(2012) with $87.5 million.
“Star Wars” has long been in a
league of its own. But “The Force
Awakens” also represents the
way that Hollywood hopes to battle back after years of soft domestic ticket sales, piracy and com-
petition from video games and
television. Focusing on nostalgic
film properties with familiar,
often cherished characters, studios are assembling Death Starsized movies that can capture the
public’s imagination in ways
reminiscent of the earliest years
of blockbusterdom, before the hyContinued on Page A3
NATIONAL
BUSINESS DAY B1-7
Move Aims to Protect Lions
An Old-Media Giant Reboots
After a lion named Cecil was shot and
killed in Zimbabwe, the Obama administration is placing lions in Africa under
the protection of the Endangered Species Act. That will set a higher bar for
hunters who want to bring lion trophies
PAGE A16
into the United States.
The German publisher Axel Springer
has invested online and dispatched
managers to Silicon Valley for a crash
PAGE B1
course in start-up culture.
ARTS C1-7
A Beloved Milkman Is Back
INTERNATIONAL A4-12
NEW YORK A20-24
Landslide in Southern China
A Chocolatier Under Fire
Dozens were missing after a landslide in
the southern city of Shenzhen sent earth
crashing into an industrial district, destroying at least 33 buildings. PAGE A4
The integrity of a cherished Brooklynbased brand of craft chocolate bar has
been questioned after a food blogger accused the founders of Mast Brothers
Chocolate of faking much about the
PAGE A20
company and its treats.
Spain’s Leaders Lose Majority
The governing party in Spain lost its
majority in parliamentary elections, and
upstart parties gained seats, leaving the
country’s leadership unclear. PAGE A4
The superb revival of “Fiddler on the
Roof” on Broadway honors the spirit of
the 1964 original and with a nod to the
world today. Theater Review. PAGE C1
SPORTSSATURDAY D1-7
Giants Storm, Rally and Sink
The Giants’ furious late-game comeback fell short as the Carolina Panthers
kept their perfect record intact. PAGE D1
EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27
NATIONAL A14-19
Rappers Want Justices’ Ears
Hip-hop stars are joining the case of a
Mississippi student disciplined for posting a rap song online.
PAGE A18
Paul Krugman
PAGE A27
U(D54G1D)y+\!?!#!#!,
LAGOS, Nigeria — Suspicious
neighbors and landlords pry into
their private lives. Blackmailers
hunt for victims on the social media sites they use to meet others
of the same sex. Police officers
routinely stop them to search for
incriminating images and chats
on their cellphones.
Since an anti-gay law went into
effect last year, many gay Nigerians say they have been subjected
to new levels of harassment, even
violence.
They blame the law, the authorities and broad social intolerance for their troubles. But they
also blame an unwavering supporter whose commitment to
their cause has been unquestioned and conspicuous across
Africa: the United States government.
“The U.S. support is making
matters worse,” said Mike, 24, a
university student studying biology in Minna, a town in central
Nigeria who asked that his full
name not be used for his safety.
“There’s more resistance now.
It’s triggered people’s defense
mechanism.”
Four years ago, the American
government embarked on an ambitious campaign to expand civil
rights for gay people overseas by
marshaling its diplomats, directing its foreign aid and deploying
President Obama to speak before
hostile audiences.
Since 2012, the American government has put more than $700
million into supporting gay rights
groups and causes globally. More
than half of that money has focused on sub-Saharan Africa —
just one indication of this continent’s importance to the new policy.
America’s money and public
diplomacy have opened conversations and opportunities in societies where the subject was taboo
just a few years ago. But they
have also made gay men and lesbians more visible — and more
Continued on Page A8