In Beleaguered Babylon, Doing Battle Against Time, Water and Modern Civilization
The ancient city of Babylon is a World Heritage Site, but it faces threats old and new. As some of its walls crumble, preservationists are fighting to preserve the past.
A replica of the Ishtar Gate built in the 1950s, when Iraq first started developing the remains of Babylon as a tourist site.Credit.Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen for The New York Times
By Jane Arraf
Feb. 6, 2021
BABYLON, Iraq Ammar al-Taee, an Iraqi archaeologist, picked up a clay panel fallen from one of the ancient walls of Babylon. Paw prints of a dog that wandered onto the drying clay more than 2,000 years ago obscure part of the cuneiform inscription a reminder that these ruins were once a living city.
Struggling Local Governments May Get Help From the Private Sector
As their fiscal woes become worse, some government officials are looking more closely at public-private partnerships as a way to jump-start their economies.
One Chestnut Place, left, and a parking garage, right, are part of a public-private partnership in Quincy, Mass.Credit.M. Scott Brauer for The New York Times
By Miranda S. Spivack
Jan. 19, 2021
For state and local governments, the pandemic has brought financial gloom: Tax collections are down, public health expenses are up, and their infrastructure backlog is growing. Hope for swift relief from Congress was dashed late last year when the Senate refused to go along with a House plan to bolster state treasuries.