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New York: At the fruit stand where he works on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Shah Alam sells dozens of bananas a day at 35 cents apiece, or four for $US1. He does a brisk business in cheap fruit outside Sotheby’s auction house; inside, art can sell for millions. But last Wednesday, Alam sold a banana that a short time later would be auctioned as part of a work of absurdist art, won by a cryptocurrency entrepreneur for $US5.2 million plus more than $US1 million in auction house fees ($9.5 million in total). A fruit stand in front of Sotheby’s in Manhattan, where a banana that became part of a $US5.2 million piece of art was sold. Credit: Amir Hamja/The New York Times A few days after the sale, as Alam stood in the rain on York Avenue and East 72nd Street, snapping bananas free of their bunches, he learned from a reporter what had become of the fruit: It had been duct-taped to a wall as part of a work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, and sold to Justin Sun, the Chinese founder of a cryptocurrency platform. And when he was told the sale price, he began to cry. “I am a poor man,” Alam, 74, said, his voice breaking. “I have never had this kind of money; I have never seen this kind of money.” The infamous ‘Comedian’ by Maurizio Cattelan will be displayed at the 2023 Triennial. Credit: Eddie Jim The banana’s journey from fruit stand to artwork began in 2019, when Cattelan first exhibited the work at Art Basel Miami Beach, an international art fair. The conceptual piece of three editions, titled Comedian , is an implicit send-up of the absurdity of the art world, in keeping with Cattelan’s puckish oeuvre. It came with a detailed owner’s manual on just how to affix the banana with the tape, and permission to refresh it when it rots. (Cattelan bought the original bananas at a Miami grocery store, he has said in interviews.) Each edition sold in Miami for $US120,000 to $US150,000 and spurred unruly crowds: A performance artist at the exhibition ripped one off the wall, peeled the banana and ate it. Cattelan was delighted by the ensuing debate over what exactly constitutes art, and how it is valued. By last Wednesday, those questions of five years ago seemed quaint: Bidding for Lot No. 10 — Alam’s banana affixed to a wall with a slash of silver tape — started at $US800,000. Within five minutes, seven bidders drove its price above $US5 million. The artist was not compensated for the Sotheby’s sale, which was on behalf of a collector who has not been named, but he said in an email that he was nonetheless thrilled by the price it commanded. “Honestly, I feel fantastic,” Cattelan wrote. “The auction has turned what began as a statement in Basel into an even more absurd global spectacle.” He added: “In that way, the work becomes self-reflexive: The higher the price, the more it reinforces its original concept.” On social platform X, Sun crowed about his new art acquisition, and announced he now plans to eat it Friday. He was honoured, he wrote, to be the banana’s “proud owner”: “I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history.” Nowhere in that history is Alam. (Karina Sokolovsky, a spokesperson for Sotheby’s, confirmed that the banana was purchased from the cart where Alam works the day of the sale. The vendor himself has no specific recollection of selling an extra-special fruit.) A widower from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Alam was a civil servant before he moved to the United States in 2007 to be closer to one of his two children, a married daughter who lives on Long Island. He said his home is a basement apartment with five other men in Parkchester, in the Bronx. For his room he pays $US500 a month in rent, he said, speaking in Bengali. His fruit stand shifts are 12 hours long, four days a week; for each hour on his feet, in all weather, the owner pays him $US12. His English is limited mostly to the prices and names of his wares — apples, three for $US2; small pears, $US1 each. He has never stepped inside the auction house. He wouldn’t be able to see the art clearly anyway: His vision is deeply impaired, he said, because he needs cataract surgery, which he has scheduled for January. To Alam, the joke of Comedian feels at his expense. As a blur of people rushed by his corner a few days after the sale, shock and distress washed over him as he considered who profited — and who did not. “Those who bought it, what kind of people are they?” he asked. “Do they not know what a banana is?” In his email, Cattelan said he was affected by Alam’s reaction to his artwork, but stopped short of joining in his criticism. “The reaction of the banana vendor moves me deeply, underscoring how art can resonate in unexpected and profound ways,” he wrote. “However, art, by its nature, does not solve problems — if it did, it would be politics.” For Alam, not much has changed since his banana sold. At the fruit stand, it’s still four bananas for $US1, or 24.8 million bananas for $US6.2 million. This article originally appeared in The New York Times .“We’re aware of the civil allegations and Jay-Z’s really strong response to that,” NFL (National Football League) commissioner Roger Goodell said on Wednesday after the conclusion of the league’s winter meetings. “We know the litigation is happening now. From our standpoint, our relationship is not changing with them, including our preparations for the next Super Bowl.” A woman who previously sued musician Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging she was raped at an awards show after-party in 2000 when she was 13 years old, amended the lawsuit on Sunday to include a new allegation that Jay-Z was also at the party and participated in the sexual assault. Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, said the rape allegation made against him is part of an extortion attempt. The 24-time Grammy Award winner called the allegations “idiotic” and “heinous in nature” in a statement released by Roc Nation. The NFL teamed up with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in 2019 for events and social activism. The league and the entertainment company extended their partnership a few months ago. Kendrick Lamar will perform the Super Bowl halftime show at The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on February 9. Roc Nation and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins will serve as co-executive producers of the halftime show. Beyonce, who is married to Jay-Z, will perform at halftime of the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans game at Christmas. “I think they’re getting incredibly comfortable not just with the Super Bowl but other events they’ve advised us on and helped us with,” Mr Goodell said. “They’ve been a big help in the social justice area to us on many occasions. They’ve been great partners.”

The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 was just released by the Social Security Administration, and recipients can anticipate a 2.5% increase in their Social Security check starting next year, for the typical retiree, which would amount to about $50 per month. However, there will be other changes to Social Security as well. Numerous new income restrictions could impact you in some ways as the year progresses. While many of these modifications would raise your monthly payout, some will not be as advantageous, especially if you make a larger salary . Here’s what to expect in 2025. A new $5,108 Social Security check will be eligible for beneficiaries in 2025 The maximum taxable earnings limit is an income limit that directly affects your Social Security check amount. The closer your wages are to this maximum, which is the highest annual earnings subject to Social Security taxes, the larger your benefit will be. Keep in mind that the yearly limit is set at $168,600 in 2024, and will rise to $176,100 by 2025. Because the wage cap is designed to keep up with changes in the cost of living, it typically rises year after year. Beneficiaries should know that all people are impacted by these restrictions, but those with greater incomes may be more severely affected. You will pay taxes on a larger portion of your income each year if your earnings are at or over the limit. For people making between $168,600 and $176,100 annually, the 2025 rise may have the greatest effect because they will be subject to Social Security tax on income that was not previously subject to taxation in 2024. With the present payroll tax rate of 12.4% (which incorporates both employee and employer taxes), the extra $7,500 in income will result in a $930 annual tax increase. The good news that beneficiaries might be unaware of regarding higher income limits Even though paying more taxes might not be ideal, there is a bright side: you will eventually receive a bigger benefit and might even be eligible for the maximum monthly checks. In 2025, Social Security’s maximum monthly benefit will increase from $4,873 to an incredible $5,108. To be eligible for this payout, you must work for at least 35 years, wait until you are 70 years old to claim benefits, and continuously earn more than the maximum taxable earnings limit. Moreover, earning the maximum Social Security check is becoming increasingly challenging as the earnings threshold keeps increasing annually. However, if your income is sufficient to meet that income threshold, you have already overcome what may be the most difficult obstacle to receiving this benefit. What if your annual income is completely below $176,100? Although that will regrettably prevent you from receiving the full payout, there are still ways to raise the amount of your compensation. One strategy for increasing benefits is to delay claiming. You will earn a little greater compensation for each month you wait after age 62. Filing at your full retirement age (66 or 67, depending on your year of birth) will result in 100% of your Social Security check, but if you wait until age 70, you will earn at least a 24% bonus on top of the total amount you receive. In December 2023, the Social Security Administration stated that retirees get an average of $1,298 per month at age 62, increasing to $1,884 at age 67 and $2,038 at age 70. Delaying benefits can significantly raise the size of your checks, even if you can only do so for a year or two. Working longer than 35 years is another option for enhancing your payments. Calculating your Social Security check begins with averaging your earnings throughout the 35 years of your employment during which you made the most money. Since your average includes only your highest earning years, you’re probably making more money now than you did thirty-five years ago. You can get a larger benefit by replacing lower-earning years with additional years of higher-earning employment. If you’re a high earner, a higher 2025 maximum earnings cap might result in a greater tax burden, but it will also get you closer to a higher maximum Social Security check amount . Little actions can have a big impact on your monthly paycheck, even if you’re behind schedule for that payment.Stock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened week

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12News A+ Teacher: Paula Dunnett at Patterson ElementaryPercentages: FG 35.714, FT .606. 3-Point Goals: 8-20, .400 (Ayrault 2-6, Hallock 2-4, Hampton 2-2, Tate 1-2, Shumate 1-4, Kimball 0-1, Simmons 0-1) Blocked Shots: 6 (Ayrault 4, Hallock 1, Simmons 1) Turnovers: 11 (Tate 4, Hallock 1, Hampton 1, Kimball 1, Simmons 1, Sotelo 1, VanSlooten 1, Team 1) Steals: 10 (Hallock 2, Hampton 2, Simmons 2, Ayrault 1, Blair 1, Kimball 1, Tate 1) Technical Fouls: 2 (Tate 1, Team 1) Percentages: FG 40.678, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 8-22, .364 (Suarez 3-7, Twidale 3-8, Krimili 2-7) Blocked Shots: 8 (Abigor 3, Onyiah 2, Suarez 2, Williams 1) Turnovers: 20 (Suarez 6, Williams 4, Krimili 3, Twidale 3, Abigor 1, Donez 1, Maul 1, Onyiah 1) Steals: 4 (Williams 2, Ackerman 1, Onyiah 1) Technical Fouls: 1 (Krimili 1) A_325 Officials_Juchell Wardlow, Scott Osborne, Benny Luna