| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by Noom | If New York's coronavirus nightmare ever comes to an end, it will likely depend on the development and distribution of a vaccine against the disease. Though it's unclear when such a vaccine will come to be, it's the latter point — getting as many as 40 million shots into the arms of 20 million New Yorkers — that could be a daunting obstacle for the state's return to normalcy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo began to lay out plans for dispersing a vaccine, which could require two doses per person. Compare that 40 million figure to the fact that after months of trying to address a pandemic, just under 13 million Covid-19 tests have been done so far. Under one draft plan , frontline health care workers, nursing home employees, and the most at-risk residents in nursing homes would be first in line to get vaccinated. Next would come first responders, followed by people at risk due to their age or underlying medical conditions, and then essential workers before the general public. Many questions remain, including how the federal government will allocate the vaccine to states, and Cuomo says the National Governors Association is sending a letter to the White House with 36 questions the states need answers to. The White House, however, has pushed back on Cuomo's critiques, saying he has intentionally missed the meetings where that very information has been discussed. Until a vaccine is in place, New York continues the delicate dance of reopening its economy while also battling flare-ups of the virus. This weekend, Cuomo announced that movie theaters — one of the few major industries still fully shut down — will be allowed to reopen, but only outside New York City. In addition to the city, theaters will have to stay closed in counties with infection rates above 2 percent and those that are home to virus hot spots. Elsewhere, cinemas can open at 25 percent capacity starting Friday. Ski resorts also got the go-ahead to open at half capacity next month. Firmly on the no-go list, however: a large Hasidic Jewish wedding that had been planned for today in Williamsburg, which could have drawn up to 10,000 guests. The state health commissioner personally stepped in to order it shut down. The synagogue says it only planned to have a ceremony with "close family members," while the public would have been invited to participate only "for a short period of time." Now, the wedding of a rabbi's grandson will be limited to a smaller group of family members. Shutdown regulations in place across parts of Brooklyn and Queens, including several Orthodox neighborhoods, will be reviewed this week. IT'S MONDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold WHERE'S ANDREW? In Albany with no public events scheduled. WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability and appearing on NY1's Inside City Hall. | | | | A message from Noom: Introducing Noom, the last health and wellness program you'll ever need. They know the power to build life changing habits comes from within. Their online support system includes a personal goal specialist and support from real people trained in psychology, fitness and nutrition to help users reach their goals. Start your journey today. | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "THE CORONAVIRUS CASES started ticking up in July among a tight knit community of Sephardic Jews summering at the Jersey Shore. By October, the cases had contributed to the virus's spread 60 miles north in Brooklyn, N.Y., where health officials scrambled to prevent a second wave of infection. Recent attention regarding the resurgence of the virus in New York City and its suburbs has focused on ultra-Orthodox communities with roots in Eastern Europe, who have chafed at restrictions imposed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Such communities are typified by large families of seven or eight children living in multifamily homes and apartments where Yiddish is often the first language spoken. The Sephardic families of Gravesend and Midwood in Brooklyn generally have fewer children and tend to live in single-family homes where English is the first language. They are largely doctors, lawyers and businesspeople with a background in countries such as Syria and typically one foot planted firmly in the secular world." Wall Street Journal's Paul Berger "AT THE REGO Center, a small mall in Queens, handwritten signs that were common during the early days of the pandemic have once again started to pop up: 'We're closed! Estamos cerrados!' But a short walk away, at the Queens Center, shoppers carrying heavy bags busily maneuvered through the four-story mall. Diners ate at a first-floor Shake Shack. The only difference was that the two malls were on opposite sides of a line on a map, hastily drawn last week by the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, that separated areas of Brooklyn and Queens where coronavirus cases have been dangerously spiking — red zones, he called them — from neighboring areas that had lesser risk … New York enters a precarious stage as city and state leaders try something novel for an American city during the pandemic: simultaneously allowing reopenings in some neighborhoods while ordering businesses and schools to close in others. No other state has tried such a granular approach to rising cases, public health experts said, opting instead for closures at the county or state level. New York State's plan cuts through city neighborhoods, ZIP codes and, in some cases, even streets." New York Times' J. David Goodman — "Owners of Brooklyn businesses located near the boundaries between two of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's color-coded coronavirus restriction zones are fed-up with losing customers to competitors in more permissive zones mere feet away." "GOV. ANDREW CUOMO and Mayor Bill de Blasio put on a show of force for travelers from states on New York's quarantine list — but despite the threats, only a single person has been busted for breaking the order, officials said. Mark Anthony Perez, 51 of Miramar, Florida, wasn't in his room when city sheriff's deputies showed up twice, on Sept. 18, to the Club Wyndham in Midtown, where he was supposed to be quarantining for two weeks, according to an arrest report. The next morning, the front desk called him down and the deputies were there to issue him two summons. Perez, who could not be reached for comment, faces a maximum penalty of $1,500 in fines, the sheriff's department said. Cuomo enacted the quarantine program in June and tasked local governments with enforcing it. Anyone traveling from states with positive COVID test rates above 10 percent on a seven-day rolling average is required to fill out a contact-tracing form and quarantine for two weeks. Thirty-eight states were listed as of Saturday." New York Post's Sara Dorn "MORE THAN 80,000 free child care slots promised to working parents with kids in hybrid-learning classes still haven't materialized as the city scrambles to find spaces for its Learning Bridges program, records show. In July, Mayor Bill de Blasio touted the creation of 100,000 child care seats, with a maximum of 15 kids per group, to provide youngsters from pre-K to eighth grade with supervised time during days they're not in school buildings. The public school system opened its buildings in phases starting Sept. 21 with classroom attendance for those choosing hybrid learning limited to one to three days per week, in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19. For the other days, de Blasio vowed to launch 'learning labs' by using 'every conceivable space' — such as community centers, libraries and cultural organizations … A total of 18,564 students are currently on the rosters of the more than 300 Learning Bridges locations already up and running for students through eighth grade." The City's Reuven Blau — After touting the chance for schools to teach classes outdoors, city officials turned down 63 percent of public school requests to close a street for open-air instruction. — Only 20 percent of public school parents have signed consent forms for mandatory random Covid-19 testing. | | | | THIS WEEK - NEW EPISODES OF POLITICO'S GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS PODCAST : The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, but many of those issues exploded over the past year. Are world leaders and political actors up to the task of solving them? Is the private sector? Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, unpacks the roadblocks to smart policy decisions and examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. Subscribe now for Season Two, launching Oct. 21. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | BIAGGI AND GRIFFO AGREE: "In the seven months since [March], Cuomo has acted unilaterally to withhold around $2.2 billion in allocated funds, including nearly 20% of funds for the City University of New York. He's also signed more than 70 executive orders, three times more than he signed last year. Some lawmakers of both parties think it's time to revisit Cuomo's absolute authority. 'It's not actually about party, it's about excess power,' said Bronx State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a Democrat. '[The governor] has accumulated an outsized level of power over the course of his reign and during this pandemic, that has threatened the co-equal branches of our government.' Republican State Senator Joseph Griffo, the Deputy Minority Leader, agreed. 'We need to have co-equal branches of government re-established here. You can't just cede all your power to one branch,' he said. 'I don't believe this is partisan in any way. At this point, I think it's now the branches of government beginning to say, "Hey wait a minute."' Both state senators point to Cuomo's policy on nursing homes, during the course of the pandemic, that showed the fatal consequences of unilateral unchecked executive action." WNYC's Gwynne Hogan — Protesters who had family members die in nursing homes from Covid-19 held a "funeral" for Cuomo's new book "American Crisis" on Sunday, demanding answers for how his administration approached the outbreak in the facilities. — Speaking of pandemic powers and that book: "A new 300-page pandemic memoir by Gov. Andrew Cuomo conspicuously omits any mention of his lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul. Cuomo highlights the work of numerous appointees and subordinates in his administration who helped him respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The governor even devotes a whole passage in "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic'' to how he still wears an old pair of shoes worn by his late father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo. But there is no mention of Hochul, his running mate who is next in line to replace him in an emergency. State politics-watchers say the move is further proof that Cuomo is not one to share the spotlight with anyone of potential public import, even technically his right-hand woman, a Buffalo-area ex-congresswoman who has been largely relegated to meet-and-greet public events." New York Post's Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan "NEW YORK'S long-stalled plastic bag ban is finally due to kick in on Monday, state officials said. Approved in March 2019, the ban was supposed to go into effect March 1 this year but lingered for months while a lawsuit filed by Long Island plastics manufacturer, Poly-Pak Industries, worked its way through Albany Supreme Court — until it was largely struck down in August. Last month, the judge gave the green-light for the ban to move forward as long as merchants had one-month's notice it was coming.The law prohibits the bags in supermarkets and grocery stores with exceptions — for baggies used for pharmacy prescriptions, fruits and vegetables, and to wrap meat or fish." New York Post's Jorge Fitz-Gibbon —The ban's opponents aren't ready to let that happen. Poly-Pak, a Long Island plastics manufacturer, and an association of small bodegas in New York City asked Albany County Court to prohibit the state Department of Environmental Conservation from enforcing the law until "confusion" surrounding allowable plastics is cleared up. #UpstateAmerica: An auto dealer in Western New York taunted Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs for putting ketchup on steak. | | | |   | | |
| | ... 2020 VISION ... | | GOV. ANDREW CUOMO is diving into campaign season by headlining a slate of virtual fundraisers for legislative candidates through the end of the month. On Monday evening, Cuomo will drum up support for Anna Kaplan and Jim Gaughran, Senate incumbents on Long Island, as well as Karen Smythe, who is challenging Republican Sen. Sue Serino in her Dutchess County district. On Tuesday he will back another two Long Island incumbents — Sens. Monica Martinez and Kevin Thomas — immediately after an event for Samra Brouk, the Democrat vying for the Rochester-area Senate seat previously held by Republican Rich Funke. And on Oct. 29, Cuomo will be a guest at an event for a fifth Long Island Democrat, Sen. Todd Kaminsky, as well as Sen. Pete Harckham (D-Westchester) and Jacqui Berger, the Democrat running for the open Senate seat that Rochester-area Republican Joe Robach is vacating. While not every event has ticket prices listed, donation amounts range from $50 to $300 for individuals to $2,500 to $5,000 for more high-end benefactors. POLITICO's Anna Gronewold AT FIRST GLANCE, it's easy to think Democratic Assemblymember Sean Ryan is a shoo-in for an open state Senate seat in the Buffalo area. Ryan entered this month with enough money to spend more than $600,000 on his campaign. Republican opponent Josh Mertzlufft, who has no experience running for office, had raised $33,000 and received no help from the types of GOP groups that usually spend on races thought to be competitive. And the race is being held in the third-bluest district north of the Tappan Zee. There are 88,000 Democrats to 50,000 Republicans. But there's a catch: No Democrat has come particularly close to winning a majority for the seat in the four elections that have been held since the current lines were drawn in 2012. POLITICO's Bill Mahoney "FOR MONTHS, state Democratic leaders have been contemplating a once-unthinkable scenario: Capture a few more State Senate seats, and their party could win a supermajority in a chamber long controlled by the Republicans. Money was on their side, as was momentum: Democrats seized the Senate in the 2018 midterms, and next month's election is expected to further reflect New York's unfavorable view of President Trump, the Republicans' national standard-bearer. But Ronald S. Lauder, the billionaire cosmetics heir, is trying to level the playing field. In the last few weeks, a new independent expenditure group founded by Mr. Lauder has emerged as a financial lifeline for the Republicans. That group, Safe Together New York, has poured $2.9 million into radio, digital and television advertisements aimed at six State Senate races, including four with Democratic incumbents." New York Times' Jesse McKinley TO WIN a seat in Congress, New York Democrat Max Rose had to beat a popular Republican incumbent who'd been in public office for two decades. To keep his seat two years later, Rose has to defeat, for all intents and purposes, the Democratic Party of 2020. This explains the all-out war Rose has waged against a lineup of liberal targets. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is extremely unpopular on Staten Island, has a record of "woeful failures," he says. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has perpetuated a "limousine-liberal trope that the military is filled with a bunch of idiots who were duped into" serving. And, in Rose's estimation, Democratic Party leaders are preoccupied with pandering to Twitter and MSNBC in an attempt to put "the wealthiest counties in America at psychological ease." The national party is "right up there with Covid in terms of brand appeal" in his district, he quips. POLITICO's Ally Mutnick "CAMPAIGNS AND outside groups spent almost $30 million in 2018 on a fierce fight to represent New York's 19th Congressional District. But this year's Hudson Valley race is relatively muted, and even some Republicans privately concede Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado is walking to re-election . The drastic shift is a combined result of demographic trends, haphazard candidate recruitment by Republicans and (like all things in 2020) President Trump and the coronavirus pandemic. Both parties are instead focusing their resources on the re-election battles waged by two other Democrats elected in the 2018 Blue Wave: Reps. Max Rose of Staten Island and Anthony Brindisi of Utica." Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "OVER THE COURSE of two decades, the New York City Republican Party got two mayors elected in deep blue New York City. It was a neat trick made possible by the party's ability to toe a centrist line — conservative on the budget, liberal on social issues. But that line has shifted in the era of President Trump, and so has the idea of a New York City Republican. The Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan, whose members have included Theodore Roosevelt and Nelson A. Rockefeller, has in the last two years hosted talks by Steve Bannon; the Breitbart News editor, Joel Pollak; and the Proud Boys founder, Gavin McInnes. Republicans are now outnumbered by Democrats in Manhattan by nearly eight to one, and some prominent New Yorkers like Joseph Lhota, the 2013 Republican candidate for mayor, have left the party. 'It had to do with Donald Trump, as head of the party,' Mr. Lhota said. 'I just couldn't deal with it.'" New York Times' Dana Rubinstein and Azi Paybarah | | | | GLOBAL PULSE, GLOBAL PURPOSE: At a high-stakes moment when global health has become a household concern, it is pivotal to keep up with the politics and policy driving change. Global Pulse connects leaders, policymakers and advocates to the people and politics driving global health. Join the conversation and subscribe today for this new weekly newsletter. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — The New York Post story about Joe Biden and his son Hunter includes a reporter who found out their name was put on the piece after it published. — The Civilian Complaint Review Board will recommend discipline for Officer Wayne Isaacs, more than four years after he fatally shot Delrawn Small while off duty. — A 200-plus-person party was busted by the sheriff's office at a Queens banquet hall early Saturday morning. — Bike ridership has dropped on the Brooklyn Bridge and increased on other East River bridges. — A shuttered Manhattan pet store that was found liable for selling sick puppies has been fined $4 million. — Nassau County Democrats are offering a reward for information about a stolen campaign sign. — The Thruway's cashless toll system is ready to take effect next month. — The de Blasio administration is moving forward with a citywide zoning proposal aimed at making coastline neighborhoods more resilient to future disasters and sea level rise. — Co-Executive leaders at Make the Road NY are handing over the reins to three top aides. — A judicial report underscores examples of overt racism and racial bias in the New York State Court system. — Of the 10,676 coronavirus test results in New York City Schools, only 18 have come back positive. — State authorities moved to shut down a Hasidic wedding in Brooklyn that could have seen up to 10,000 guests. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT's Carl Hulse … Samantha Schwab … Steve Doocy, co-host of "Fox and Friends" … POLITICO Europe's Sarah Wheaton … American Airlines' Maggie Steenland … Bank of America Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan … Julia Schechter, director at SKDKnickerbocker … Rex Smith … Sean Smith, EVP at Porter Novelli … WNYC's Andrea Bernstein … Will Cadigan of CNN audio … Edelman's Jeremy Gosbee … Steven Greenhouse … Ray Day, vice chair at the Stagwell Group … Nicole Pavia … Becca Herries … Richard Fife … … (was Sunday): NYT's Annie Karni … CBS' Caitlin Conant (h/t husband Alex) … Julia Ioffe … Michael Krempasky, partner at Brunswick Group (h/t George Little) … Fox News' Alex Miehls and Jon Decker … Babs Chase, VP of military and veterans programs at NAM's Manufacturing Institute and president/founder of Chase Magnolia Partners … Edelman's Trisch Smith … Kiki Reginato … Austin Schindel … Rachel Nichols ... David Fisher ... Jonathan Tasini ... Gary Gensler ... Irwin Jacobs ... Marc Ginsberg turned 7-0 ... … (was Saturday): Cliff Asness turned 54 … Bloomberg LP Chair Peter Grauer turned 75 … Jeremy C. Stein turned 60 … CBS' Bo Erickson … Rob Rivas, senior director of political coverage for NBC News ... POLITICO's Angela Greiling Keane … Katharine Nasielski SPOTTED: Chris and Kathleen Matthews walking out of the Nantucket Pharmacy in downtown Nantucket on Saturday MEDIAWATCH — "The New York Post's front-page article about Hunter Biden on Wednesday was written mostly by a staff reporter who refused to put his name on it, two Post employees said. Bruce Golding, a reporter at the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid since 2007, did not allow his byline to be used because he had concerns over the article's credibility." New York Times' Katie Robertson — Per Talking Biz News: "Former Associated Press chief for Europe, Africa and the Middle East Dan Perry has joined New York City-based communications firm Thunder11 as managing partner." MAKING MOVES — Siobhan Dingwall, formerly press secretary to First Lady Chirlane McCray, has become communications director at A/B Partners. IN MEMORIAM — Cecil Corbin-Mark , a leading environmental advocate from Harlem and a leader of the group WE ACT for Environmental Justice, died at age 51 after suffering a stroke. | | | | A message from Noom: Noom is different, it is a new way to get healthy and lose weight that uses psychology and behavior change. Designed by psychologists to prioritize you and your brain, Noom is dedicated to teaching you how your mind works, and why you make the decisions you do, so it is not a temporary fix. Take a quiz at Noom.com to start your health journey today! | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "SURYA DAVIE Hariprasad scrounged to pay the mortgage of her Bronx home after she, her daughter and their only tenant upstairs were stricken with coronavirus in March. For two months, nobody in their two-family house could work as they battled the virus. Meanwhile, the only income flowing in came from the tenant's Section 8 vouchers. 'That's very stressful,' said Hariprasad, 57, a psychiatric technician who's lived in her Wakefield residence for seven years. 'You don't wanna miss a mortgage payment.' Hariprasad recently secured a low-interest loan for nearly $10,000 through the nonprofit Center for NYC Neighborhoods, which finally began to ease her financial strain. 'I'm so happy,' she said. 'It's relieved my stress a lot.' But mom-and-pop landlords across the city say they are reaching a breaking point, after half a year with many tenants paying no rent at all as pandemic-related unemployment has swelled. And they're backing aid for tenants, which could also help them weather the ongoing crisis." The City's Gabriel Sandoval "EVOLUTION OR gentrification? That's the question New York City leaders will need to answer as to whether or not an ambitious housing and retail project in Queens should move forward or be tabled. A development consortium wants to build more than 1,700 units of housing, a hotel and office and retail space on the Flushing waterfront — a swath that's long been abandoned, not to mention stinky. The city is evaluating the project in the wake of a failed proposal to turn Industry City in Brooklyn into a business hub and the collapse of Amazon's plans to build a huge headquarters in Queens. Faced with growing backlash from local activists, the Flushing project could be the next large project to bite the dust — and that while the city is struggling with massive tax revenue shortfalls inflicted by the coronavirus outbreak." New York Daily News' Shant Shahrigian | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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