| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | New York City, once the national epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, is staring down a potential return to widespread lockdowns and overstretched hospitals that New Yorkers hoped they would never see again. Public health experts and elected officials have been on edge for a few months, watching a slow-moving train approach as the city's positivity rates inch upward by the day. New Yorkers had just begun to enjoy the small pleasures of normalcy — some kids were going back to school, restaurants had partially reopened, retail commerce was picking up. Now much of that is in danger of slipping away, our Amanda Eisenberg, Madina Touré, Janaki Chadha report. It started with Covid-19 clusters in parts of Brooklyn and Queens, prompting localized shutdowns officials hoped could snuff out the problem before it got out of control. But now, health officials fear the city has reached community spread, where contract tracing and widespread testing will likely have little effect in staving off another bout with the pandemic. "This is the price we're paying for delays in getting our act together," said Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the Pandemic Resource and Response Initiative at Columbia. The city reported 937 new cases Sunday, with a seven-day average positive test rate of 2.57 percent. Once the weeklong average hits 3 percent, public schools will shut down, and further restrictions on retail and dining are likely to follow. Health care workers are nervously bracing for a second wave even as they continue to grapple with the trauma of the first, and many say hospital management has been quiet about what preparations are in place for a new surge. And the city's retail and restaurant industries are looking at new potential lockdowns as they head into one of their most lucrative seasons. Randy Peers, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, said restrictions on indoor retail heading into the holidays would be catastrophic. "It's quite possible we could see a total collapse," he said. 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? Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe at 7:20 a.m. WHERE'S BILL? Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe and holding a media availability. | | | | JOIN WEDNESDAY - CONFRONTING INEQUALITY TOWN HALL "BRIDGING THE ECONOMIC DIVIDE": Although pandemic job losses have been widespread, the economic blow has been especially devastating to Black workers and Black-owned businesses. POLITICO's third "Confronting Inequality in America" town hall will convene economists, scholars, private sector and city leaders to explore policies and strategies to deal with the disproportionate economic impact of the pandemic and the broader factors contributing to the persistent racial wealth and income gaps. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "IN-PERSON LEARNING will continue on Monday as New York City teeters on the edge of another citywide shutdown of school buildings. All of the city's roughly 1,600 district schools will be required to switch to fully remote learning the day after the citywide coronavirus positivity rate reaches 3% over a seven-day average, city officials have said. That positivity rate has been creeping upward in recent weeks, but the rate on Sunday was 2.57%, still below the city's threshold. 'Thankfully, schools will remain open on Monday, but we have to keep fighting back with everything we've got,' Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted." Chalkbeat's Alex Zimmerman — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the city should seriously consider scrapping its plan to close the school system if the rate hits 3 percent. — Brooklyn and Queens Catholic schools plan to stay open even if public schools close. "ONE NEW YORK City police officer was accused of pepper-spraying a woman, then denying her medical treatment while she was handcuffed in a Bronx holding cell. Another officer slammed a 51-year-old man who had been arguing with some restaurant workers onto the floor, knocking him unconscious, the man said. A third officer was accused of tackling a gay man during a pride parade and using a homophobic slur. The city's independent oversight agency that investigates police misconduct found enough evidence in all three cases to conclude that the officers should face the most severe discipline available, including suspension or dismissal from the force. But in the end, senior police officials downgraded or outright rejected those charges, and the officers were given lesser punishments or none at all — the kind of routine outcome that has left the Police Department facing a crisis of trust in its ability to discipline its own." New York Times' Ashley Southall, Ali Watkins and Blacki Migliozzi BRAD LANDER, the City Council member running for comptroller, will release a traffic safety plan focused on removing police from routine enforcement and investigations Sunday — a push to reduce New York's police presence amid an ongoing fight over the size and budget of the NYPD. The initiative has earned him the endorsement of Tiffany Cabán, the democratic socialist whose first-time campaign for Queens district attorney came very close to beating District Attorney Melinda Katz on a criminal justice reform platform. The new plan, first reported by POLITICO, aims to highlight the discretionary nature of traffic stops and show the connection between street safety and the defund movement — a fractious debate in New York that will likely be central to the 2021 election cycle. POLITICO's Danielle Muoio "THE STRETCH OF Roosevelt Avenue in Queens teemed with people weaving their way through carts and stands that offered everything from sweet-scented roast corn to masks. The regular roar of the 7 train often drowned out the sound of haggling. On one corner, Cristina Sanchez stood forlornly at a produce stand. She had not sold a single thing. During the pandemic she had lost her job, and then her rented room, triggering a frantic hustle to survive: First she sold produce, then tacos, then produce again... She is among the city's more than half a million undocumented immigrants whose lives have been upended by the pandemic but who are ineligible for most financial assistance, including stimulus money and loans. With little recourse, many immigrants from Latin America — who already were among the hardest hit by the virus — have resorted to what they did back home: working as ambulantes — street vendors. But for decades, New York has capped the number of street vending permits — it is currently limited to 2,900 for food and 853 for vendors of general merchandise — creating a black market and making vendors vulnerable to high fines." Juan Arredondo and David Gonzalez | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "GOV. CUOMO repeated his threat to sue the Trump administration as he invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. during Sunday remarks about the COVID outbreak at historic Riverside Church in Manhattan. 'The Rev. Dr. King, who spoke in this magnificent church, said of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane because it often results in physical death,' Cuomo said. 'COVID proved Dr. King right.' The governor went on to repeat his criticism of the Trump administration's plans for distributing the coronavirus vaccine once it becomes available, saying that relying on hospitals and the private sector will perpetuate inequalities during the outbreak, which has affected communities of color at disproportionately high rates. Cuomo called for community groups to be enlisted in vaccine distribution and elaborated on his previous threat to sue the feds if they don't change their distribution plan. He said it would violate the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, citing the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe." Daily News' Shant Shahrigian — Cuomo hit back at President Donald Trump Friday evening after he threatened to withhold a forthcoming Covid-19 vaccine from New Yorkers, calling the president incompetent, delusional and retaliatory." "The president lost New York state in the election by a huge margin. You have New York prosecutors who are investigating the president for tax fraud," Cuomo told MSNBC's Katy Tur. "This is his issue. It's his credibility issue. It's the fear that he politicized the health process of this nation, which is a well-founded fear." POLITICO's Amanda Eisenberg "LAST SPRING, the coronavirus pandemic tore through nursing homes in New York, leading to the deaths of thousands of residents and controversy over what, exactly, went wrong for congregate care facilities. Now as COVID-19 cases rise again in the cold weather months, lawmakers are hopeful nursing homes are better prepared . Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Queens Democrat who has been critical of the state's handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, pointed to an immunity provision for the facilities being curtailed. 'I think we're in a better position than the first wave because we know how to be more preventative,' he said, 'and secondly nursing homes no longer have a corporate immunity pass they were granted during the first wave.'" State of Politics' Nick Reisman "THE NEW YORK STATE court system on Friday indefinitely halted most proceedings that require in-person appearances after a surge in coronavirus cases across various courthouses. Starting Monday, the state Office of Court Administration will not summon prospective trial jurors for jury duty — or grand jurors for grand jury service. All future bench trials and hearings will be conducted virtually, per a memo issued by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks. Criminal and civil jury trials already underway will continue until their conclusion. The decision comes after more than a dozen court staffers citywide tested positive for coronavirus while OCA was summoning members of the public for jury duty." New York Daily News' Molly Crane-Newman #UpstateAmerica: Laura Palladino, who was the sole viewer of a webcast focused on a pig in Upstate New York, became a hero when she least expected it. | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION, SUBSCRIBE TO TRANSITION PLAYBOOK: As states certify their election results, President-elect Biden is building an administration. The staffing decisions made in the coming days, weeks, and months will send clear-cut signals about his administration's agenda and priorities. Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to what could be one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. Written for political insiders, it tracks the appointments, people, and the emerging power centers of the new administration. Stay in the know, subscribe today. | | | | |
| | ... 2020 VISION ... | | "ELECTED officials and political operatives in New York have found a new parlor game since President-elect Joe Biden's victory: speculating who might leave state offices to take jobs in a new administration, and the domino effects of their departures. High on the list are Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a close ally of Mr. Biden, and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2019. People close to Mr. Cuomo said he has previously mused about leaving Albany to be attorney general or White House chief of staff, but the Democratic governor has repeatedly denied having any interest in a new job now 'Zero, nada, niente, zilch,' Mr. Cuomo told interviewer Howard Stern last week when asked if there was truth to the rumor he would become attorney general Mr. Biden has appointed his longtime adviser Ron Klain as chief of staff. Transition officials say they expect to name further senior administration officials before filling out cabinet posts but said a few agency heads could be named before Thanksgiving. Ms. Gillibrand, during a cable interview last week, said, 'Of course, I'll serve in any capacity, but I think I'm best suited here in the U.S. Senate.'" Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind "REPRESENTATIVE JOHN M. Katko, a moderate Republican who has defied the nation's partisan drift by holding on to a seat in a Democratic-leaning district in Central New York, won his bid for a fourth term. His challenger, Dana Balter, a Democratic activist and former Syracuse University professor who also lost to Mr. Katko two years ago, conceded on Friday, acknowledging that the absentee ballots yet to be counted were unlikely to allow her to overcome his lead. The Associated Press had not called the race. The loss was the latest disappointment for the Democratic Party, which invested heavily in trying to flip Republican-held swing districts like Mr. Katko's in hopes of expanding its majority in the House of Representatives." New York Times' Luis Ferré-Sadurní "AS IF the campaign season hasn't been long enough. It'll be at least a week and possibly several weeks before it's clear who won the hotly contested New York State Senate election between Republican Rob Astorino and incumbent Democrat Pete Harckham. Both sides are due in court Monday to set a schedule to review and count most of the 33,000 absentee ballots that will decide the race. Absentee ballots must be counted if they arrived at the local boards of election by Tuesday and were postmarked by Nov. 3. But the counting process was paused because of a lawsuit by Astorino filed prior to Election Day." Journal News Mark Lungariello "ONONDAGA COUNTY'S Board of Elections has stopped counting absentee ballots because of a coronavirus exposure, according to Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. The pause comes in the midst of counting a record-breaking number of outstanding ballots. The county received about 52,000 absentee ballots this election. "The vote count has been stopped until further notice because of Covid exposure," Czarny said in a test message around noon...At least one state Senate seat — a contest between Democrat John Mannion and Republican Angi Renna — remains unsettled. Other outstanding races include a contest for the 127th Assembly District, where Republican Mark Venesky is challenging the incumbent, Democrat Al Stripe." Syracuse Post-Standard's Teri Weaver | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S senior campaign aides were gathered in their headquarters [on Nov. 7] when word emerged that Rudy Giuliani would be holding a news conference in the parking lot of a Philadelphia landscaping business. They knew that meant trouble . Senior campaign aides scurried to urge organizers to kill the event, infamously staged at the wrong "Four Seasons" — a landscaping business adjacent to an adult bookstore and a crematorium. But Giuliani plowed ahead anyway, delivering a conspiracy-filled rant that undercut the legal strategy the president's advisers had meticulously mapped out in the run-up to the election. Campaign officials described the episode as disastrous, saying it scared off many of the lawyers they spent months recruiting, who now no longer wanted to be involved. With the campaign already facing exceedingly long odds in its recount efforts, there are widespread concerns within Trumpworld and GOP circles that Giuliani's antics are thwarting the president's legal machinery from within. POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt "PRESIDENT TRUMP lost more than an election last week. When he leaves the White House in January, he will also lose the constitutional protection from prosecution afforded to a sitting president. After Jan. 20, Mr. Trump, who has refused to concede and is fighting to hold onto his office, will be more vulnerable than ever to a pending grand jury investigation by the Manhattan district attorney into the president's family business and its practices, as well as his taxes. The two-year inquiry, the only known active criminal investigation of Mr. Trump, has been stalled since last fall, when the president sued to block a subpoena for his tax returns and other records, a bitter dispute that for the second time is before the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling is expected soon." New York Times' William K. Rashbaum and Benjamin Weiser | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Lewis County's sheriff said he will not enforce the 10 p.m. state bar and restaurant curfew. — Bars in Buffalo aren't keen on the new closure time either. — An illegal 200-person fight club in the Bronx was broken up and the organizers fined by the city sheriff. Two loaded guns were also seized. The sheriff also shut down a separate illegal party with more than 200 people in Chelsea. — New York is trying to reverse a steady decline in the number of volunteer firefighters. — With most of Staten Island designated a yellow zone, toilet paper and other necessities are disappearing from shelves. — A judge temporarily blocked the Flushing busway, which had been set to launch today. — Lots of absentee ballots are still being counted on Long Island. — Oneonta was home to the evergreen that will be the next Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. — More than 10,000 students have left New York City public schools to be home-schooled. — The Archdiocese of New York wants the city to pay for required Covid-19 testing at its schools in the Staten Island yellow zone. — A bill proposed in the City Council would create a universal e-hail app that would summon both yellow taxis and cars that drive for Uber and Lyft. — New Yorkers are relishing outdoor meals before the weather turns too cold. — Helicopter noise complaints have surged this year. — Souvenir shops are struggling to survive without tourists. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Zerlina Maxwell, host of "Zerlina" on Peacock, MSNBC analyst and co-host of "Signal Boost Show" on Sirius XM — Playbook Q&A … Elizabeth Drew … CNN's Fredreka Schouten … Jillian Rogers of DOL … Michael Levi … Carly Coakley of Seven Letter … Michelle Nunn, president and CEO of CARE USA (h/t Jon Haber) … Jay Newton-Small, founder of MemoryWell … Raul Damas, partner at Brunswick Group … American Express' Caroline Emch ... Minda Conroe, managing director of J Strategies ... … (was Sunday): Fox News' John Roberts turned 64 ... AP's Zeke Miller … Jen Palmieri (h/t Tim Burger) … CNN's Laura Bernardini … Lee Cochran of the Blackstone Group … FT's Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli … Alexandra Lippman ... … (was Saturday): Valerie Jarrett … Peter Lattman, managing director of media at Emerson Collective and vice chair of The Atlantic, turned 5-0 ... Frank Kelly, managing director and global coordinator of government and public affairs at Deutsche Bank … NBC News PR's Amy Lynn … Jonathan Landman, editor for Bloomberg Opinion, turned 68 | | REAL ESTATE | | "MORE THAN 300,000 New Yorkers have bailed from the Big Apple in the last eight months, new stats show. City residents filed 295,103 change of address requests from March 1 through Oct. 31, according to data The Post obtained from the US Postal Service under a Freedom of Information Act request. Since the data details only when 11 or more forwarding requests were made to a particular county outside NYC, the number of moves is actually higher. And a single address change could represent an entire household, which means far more than 300,000 New Yorkers fled the five boroughs." New York Post's Melissa Klein "AN OPERA SINGER who also studied public relations is struggling to find work. His new roommate, released from prison a year ago, is trying to find his footing, too. A neighbor is focused on his sobriety. All three men live at the Lucerne Hotel , which used to offer spa services and valet parking to tourists on the Upper West Side. The Lucerne is now one of 63 hotels the city has turned into homeless shelters since the beginning of the pandemic to help prevent the spread of coronavirus inside dormitory-style shelters where single men and women cannot safely distance. The conversion of hotels into shelters has sparked the threat of lawsuits, an actual lawsuit, a dozen protests, news conferences and the formation of several neighborhood groups — some opposed to shelters and others in favor. But caught in the middle of the political push-and-pull are displaced men and women, a group whose lives have often been upended by evictions, unemployment and other traumatic events." New York Times' Daniel E. Slotnik "THE CORONAVIRUS could be the crisis that finally propels the tech-averse real estate industry into the 21st century. Location matters less, now that the office is the kitchen. Size matters more, now that everyone is at home. And the best way to justify exorbitant prices is no longer the building's amenity package — it's peace of mind walking from the lobby to the living room. These are the touch points for a host of new or newly valuable technologies emerging in the post-Covid housing market, from rent-regulated apartments to luxury condos. They range from robotic furniture that reimagines itself inside our shrinking walls, to contactless apps designed to bring neighbors together. They are futuristic takes on prosaic features, like ultraviolet wands in air ducts, and 'Ghostbusters'-inspired blasters to hose down Amazon boxes. Some may be passing fads. Still, the ones that stick could have long-term implications for a stubbornly analog industry, even as some critics have raised concerns about data collection and privacy. And it remains unclear whether these improvements will reach the workaday housing market, or remain a luxury niche." New York Times' Stefanos Chen
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