| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by AT&T | How did she do it? Over the past two years, state Senate Democrats have somehow navigated their new majority rule in... lockstep? As the Albany bureau's Bill Mahoney wrote this weekend, "there have been no public indications of major infighting over the past two years. And the chamber's Democratic conference has been a key player on policy changes on subjects such as abortion, rights for undocumented immigrants, and criminal justice reform — and if there's any doubt that these measures have been nationally significant, each has been explicitly lambasted by a Republican president, Donald Trump." First and probably most important is Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who has so far corralled her conference with (somewhat rare in Albany) concepts like "level-headedness," "results," "being productive" and "collective well-being," members say. But now at 43 members , Senate Democrats also have a larger numerical majority than any time in recent history, putting less pressure on a single member to be a deciding vote. And ask anyone who's been around the Legislature for more than a couple election cycles and you'll find there's been a surprising lack (in public at least) of political impropriety, which has added to chamber chaos in years past. ("If you're going to take the majority, please try to avoid having sociopaths and criminals taking over your conference," Sen. Liz Krueger said, describing lessons learned from the Senate crisis and coup of 2009.) Still, a much bumpier road for the conference is a real possibility heading into 2021, with low-hanging progressive fruit devoured in 2019 and the economic consequences of the pandemic forcing more divisive decisions about taxation and revenue for the state. We haven't even seen a legislative calendar for next year yet, so in these unpredictable times, Stewart-Cousins will likely continue making history regardless of where she guides her conference next. 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? Holding a Covid-19 briefing in Manhattan. WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability and appearing on NY1's Inside City Hall. | | | | A message from AT&T: AT&T's and WarnerMedia's New York family is here for your family: supporting reentry pathways for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers, helping sustain culture in New York, funding arts and technology education for students in need, and providing childcare for kids to safely learn and play. Learn more about some of the local organizations we're working with at https://northeastregion.att.com/states/newyork/. | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "AS THE CITY gears up for yet another (partial) reopening of its public schools, parents who spoke to Gothamist say they're grateful for the hard work of educators, but desperate for consistency in this tumultous year. Mayor Bill de Blasio closed the public school system and transitioned all students to remote learning on November 18th once the seven-day average of coronavirus test positivity rates in the city hit 3%, his long-promised threshold for closing school buildings. Now, the city's positive test rate is even higher, with a seven-day citywide average of 5.15% as of December 3rd. Yet relying on the reportedly low positivity rates inside schools themselves, de Blasio's new plan is to prioritize in-person learning for the youngest students and students with disabilities, while older students continue remote learning. About 190,000 kids in the lower grades and at special education schools are expected to return to school buildings this week, out of a district that has about a million students. 3K-5th grade students will return to school buildings on Monday, followed by District 75 students on December 10th. Middle and high schoolers will continue remote learning for now." Gothamist's Sophia Chang — A group of parents rallied outside City Hall to demand the reopening of middle and high schools, which remain closed indefinitely for in-person classes. — The city told teachers that those who refuse to get tested for Covid-19 will be placed on unpaid leave. — Hispanic and white students are returning to school buildings at higher rates, while Black and Asian students are more likely to learn online. "MORE THAN HALF of New York City firefighters say they won't be vaccinated for COVID-19 when the potentially life-saving shot becomes available to first responders in a matter of weeks, according to a new internal survey. About 55 percent of 2,053 smoke-eaters polled in the last three days by their union, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, answered 'No' when asked, 'Will you get the COVID-19 Vaccine from Pfizer when the Department makes it available?' UFA President Andy Ansbro told The Post. The responses account for about 25 percent of the UFA's 8,200 active members. The stunning anti-vax response follows an August survey of MTA workers that showed only 30 percent of 645 respondents were definitely willing to be vaccinated. Thirty-eight percent were unsure and 32 percent said they would not take the vaccine, according to the poll of Transport Workers Union members conducted by the NYU School of Global Public Health. If the survey results become the reality, it would mean thousands of NYC's first responders and other essential frontline workers would continue to be vulnerable to the virus and remain potential spreaders." New York Post's Sara Dorn — De Blasio plans to get vaccinated publicly to demonstrate the safety of the shot. — Children under 18 won't initially be eligible for the vaccine because there hasn't been enough testing. — The average number of daily Covid-19 cases has doubled in the last month. — The Health Department issued a sweeping guide warning doctors that many patients who were infected with the coronavirus are still suffering from serious health problems months later. "THE MANAGER of a Staten Island bar who has repeatedly and flamboyantly defied New York's coronavirus restrictions hit a sheriff's deputy with his Jeep early Sunday as he unsuccessfully tried to escape arrest, the sheriff's office said. The bar, Mac's Public House, was ordered closed by the state on Wednesday, but deputies said they found several patrons being served there on Saturday night. When deputies confronted the manager, Daniel Presti, he fled to his Jeep and drove into one of the deputies, throwing him onto the hood, according to the sheriff's office. Mr. Presti, 34, faces 10 charges, including assault with intent to cause injury to an officer, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and resisting arrest, according to a criminal complaint filed on Sunday. He was released on his own recognizance and has a hearing scheduled for January, court records show." New York Times' Mihir Zaveri — Several lawmakers called for the closure of indoor dining, gyms and hair salons citywide to slow the spread. "AFTER A WEEK of wondering where in New York the New York Young Republican Club would hold their annual gala without running afoul of the state's restrictions on indoor gatherings in a pandemic, the club ended up throwing their party in Jersey City . Photos and videos of Thursday night's event show large groups of unmasked people inside at Maritime Parc restaurant in Liberty State Park. Attendees included Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz and Project Veritas head James O'Keefe (Sarah Palin, another featured guest, backed out)...In a statement, Steve Fulop, the Democratic mayor of Jersey City, said that he had ordered Maritime Parc to be closed, 'until such time as they submit to the Jersey City Health and Human Services Department a written operational plan describing how they're going to comply with capacity mandates and mask wearing, and the plan will be subsequently reviewed by the city and approved.'" Gothamist's Christopher Robbins and Jake Offenhartz and WNYC's Katherine Fung — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called Gaetz a "putz" and a "fool" for his participation. "THE DIRTIEST work happened while most of New Jersey slept, on boats docked across from Manhattan's shimmering, half-lit skyscrapers. Employees of New York Waterway, a tour boat operator and the country's largest private ferry company, would uncap a silver pipe and attach a small pump, forcing unfiltered waste from the boats' toilets directly into the Hudson River , two former workers claim in court documents unsealed on Friday. The practice went on for years, according to the former employees, who have filed a whistle-blower complaint in federal court in Newark accusing New York Waterway of violating the federal Clean Water Act. 'Anything that goes into a toilet would come right out,' said Rafi Khatchikian, 42, who was responsible for fueling and cleaning ferries." New York Times' Tracey Tulley FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Legal Aid Society sent a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's five district attorneys, asking for the release of more prisoners from local jails in light of new data showing a surge in Covid-19 infections . "The [jail] population has risen to nearly prepandemic levels, and data strongly suggests that there is now significant in-jail transmission," Legal Aid attorneys wrote. "The City has not acted strongly enough in the face of these increasingly dangerous conditions." The city released many prisoners from Rikers to decrease Covid-19 risks around the height of the pandemic in the spring, but the population has now grown back to 4,805, about the same as in late March. | | | | TRACK THE TRANSITION & NEW ADMINISTRATION HEADING INTO 2021: President-elect Biden is pushing full steam ahead on putting together his Cabinet and White House staff. These appointments and staffing decisions send clear-cut signals about Biden's priorities. What do these signals foretell? Transition Playbook is the definitive guide to 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. Track the transition and the first 100 days of the incoming Biden administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "THERE ARE lines again at Glen Island Park, the drive-through coronavirus testing center that state officials set up when the coronavirus was discovered in this city in March. Nurses at the local hospital went on a two-day strike this week over fears that their working conditions made them vulnerable to infection as hospitalization rates climb. And at the synagogue where the first case here was detected around nine months ago, a sign on the door now turns people who live in coronavirus hot zones away. Prayers for them are virtual. As the virus rages across Westchester County, it has returned to New Rochelle, a city hit so hard during the outbreak's earliest days that it was for a time the epicenter of the pandemic in the region. In early March, when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the state's first so-called containment zone in this New York City suburb, New Rochelle's fate proclaimed an unnerving message: The virus is here. Now it is back. On Friday, officials added 11,271 new cases statewide as the daily positive test rate climbed above 5 percent. In New Rochelle, which added 73 new cases on Friday, the surge comes with a profound sense of defeat. This city of 80,000 about 20 miles north of Manhattan on Interstate 95 had at one point emerged as a model of how to beat the disease." New York Times' Sarah Maslin Nir — On Sunday, New York reported 9,702 new coronavirus cases from the previous day, pushing the state's total past 700,000 confirmed cases since the start of March. "THE NEW YORK STATE Attorney General's Office released new video footage Friday of the Rochester police encounter with Daniel Prude from March and other incidents from across the state as part of its ongoing investigations. Attorney General Letitia James said the 11 videos, which depict interactions between Prude and Rochester police and Troy Hodge and Lockport police, are being released in an effort to increase transparency. Through the state attorney general's Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, the office released six videos in the Prude incident and five involving Hodge, a 39-year-old Black man who died last year after an encounter with Lockport police. The Prude videos don't reveal any new information and are presented without analysis, but they do provide an alternative view of Prude's encounter with Rochester police. Some sound has been removed and some areas blurred." Democrat and Chronicle's Will Cleveland "WHILE FEWER PAROLE decisions have been issued during the coronavirus pandemic, state officials say the decline is part of a larger trend in reduced prison populations and people serving sentences that are beyond the reach of the parole board to shorten. A Times Union review of parole board decisions from 2019 and 2020 shows the state board issued 2,569 fewer decisions from Jan. 1 through October 2020 than during the same time period last year. Those decisions only include initial appearances of inmates either granted parole or denied, or who had their initial appearance rescheduled." Times Union's Amanda Fries and Edward McKinley "WHEN the new state Legislature is sworn in next month, there will be a half dozen current or former members of a teachers union serving in the state Assembly and the state Senate. It's welcomed news, obviously for New York State United Teachers union President Andy Pallotta, who hopes the new members will bring their classroom experience to the halls of power in Albany." Spectrum's Nick Reisman #UpstateAmerica: We know more about that Central New York meteor boom last week, responsible for "tripping earthquake detectors and scattering ancient debris as it burned at temperatures half as hot as the sun." It took at least one million years to get to Syracuse, and we'll just say that's pretty relatable. | | | |   | | |
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | RUDY GIULIANI, the former New York City mayor who is leading President Donald Trump's legal push to challenge the election results, has tested positive for the coronavirus, Trump announced via Twitter on Sunday. Giuliani, 76, has been traveling across the country in recent weeks, arguing on behalf of the president in courtrooms and state legislative hearings. The positive diagnosis will sideline Trump's lawyer ahead of some important dates for the president's legal team — Tuesday, when all legal challenges and recounts must be resolved, and Dec. 14, when members of the Electoral College meet and begin casting votes. In mid-November, Giuliani argued before a judge in Pennsylvania, and near the end of the month he held a meeting in Arizona with local lawmakers regarding the election results. Giuliani also participated in a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on Nov. 19 — one day before his son, Andrew Giuliani, who is a special assistant to Trump, announced his own positive diagnosis. POLITICO's Allie Bice A FEDERAL JUDGE in New York has ordered the Trump administration to begin accepting new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — the Obama-era initiative that provides quasi-legal status to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally as children. U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis issued an order Friday directing the Department of Homeland Security to announce by Monday that it is resuming the approval of new DACA applications and work permits. The judge also ordered DHS to return to its prior practice of granting and extending DACA status for two years at a time. POLITICO's Josh Gerstein | | ... 2020 VISION ... | | "THE REMATCH between Republican Claudia Tenney and U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi will slog on in a central New York courtroom this week as the Democratic incumbent urges a judge to open more ballots, while Ms. Tenney asks to be certified as the winner—by 12 votes. Ms. Tenney was ahead by 28,000 votes when in-person voting ended on Nov. 3, but Mr. Brindisi gained considerable ground as election officials in the eight-county district counted an unprecedented number of paper absentee ballots...The contest for New York's 22nd District — one of just two in the nation where no winner has been declared — might take additional weeks to resolve, and it is possible that State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte could order a full recount, which neither candidate is seeking." Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind "A CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK at the Board of Elections offices in The Bronx has left at least nine people sick and left officials scrambling to keep a special election for a local City Council race on track, The Post has learned. The BOE employees work at the agency's warehouse and offices in the borough and fell ill over the last several days, sources said. The BOE's Bronx warehouse is used to store voting machines and other equipment. One source added that the facility is where the outbreak is suspected to have originated. It's the biggest COVID-19 cluster at a BOE facility since the pandemic began, the person added. The outbreak comes just a week before voting is set to get underway in the election for the Bronx's 12th Council District to replace former city lawmaker Andy King, who was expelled from the body in October after probes revealed he misused city resources and abused his staff." New York Post's Nolan Hicks and Carl Campanile | | | | JOIN TUESDAY TO POWER FORWARD WITH WOMEN RULE: Americans have endured multiple crises in 2020, from the pandemic to the economic recession, racial injustices, and a highly contentious presidential election. Women have often led the way in helping the country navigate these crises and will continue to in the new year. Join us for the conclusion of "Powering Forward," a series of virtual conversations that has brought the Women Rule community together during a year that changed how women live, work, and lead. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Marco Carrión, the longtime head of the mayor's Community Affairs Unit, is leaving that post to lead the nonprofit group El Puente. — A fire seriously damaged the East Village's Middle Collegiate Church, a 128-year-old building that houses the New York Liberty Bell. The fire also displaced women living at a shelter next door. — Former corrections union boss Norman Seabrook is violating social distancing despite claiming he should be able to defer his prison sentence due to Covid-19 fears, according to submissions from former union members to the judge. — Two U.S. Marshals were shot and wounded in the Bronx while trying to apprehend a wanted man. — Delivery workers are pushing for better treatment. — Body camera footage sheds light on the fatal NYPD shooting of Kawaski Trawick , showing police officers escalating the confrontation with the man and that a more experienced partner tried to stop a young white officer from shooting. — The state has extended expiration dates on driver's licenses to next year. — Former Mount Vernon mayor Richard Thomas paid a fine and avoided resentencing for misspending campaign funds. — Local officials are urging the state to suspend in-person applications for seniors eligible for property-tax exemptions. — 'Who Wants To Be a Civil Servant?' — The new owners of Remington Arms are waiting for their Federal Firearms License to come through before they can begin operations in Ilion. Most workers have been terminated. — Former Citizens Union head Dick Dadey is accused of attacking a man with a hammer. — Santa Claus laments that Zoom life just isn't the same. — State Sen. Brian Benjamin introduced legislation aimed at increasing transparency on settled claims made against the police through annual reports. — NYPD officers are incentivized to rack up sex trade arrests, disproportionately impacting Black and Brown New Yorkers. — More than 25 percent of West Farms residents are unemployed, making it one of the hardest hit communities in the country. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CNN's Sarah Mucha and Ashley Killough … NYT's Dean Chang … International Trade Administration's Sam Schofield … Bennett Roth of Bloomberg Government … Hannah Fastov ... … (was Sunday): New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo turned 63 … Dan Levitan of BerlinRosen … FT's Sara Germano … former Rep. Matthew McHugh (D-N.Y.) turned 82 … MSNBC's Natalie Johnson … Edelman's Brendan Daley … Angelica Annino, scheduling director for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) … Evelyn Farkas … Michael Beresik, managing director and head of public affairs for the Americas at Standard Chartered Bank … Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current … Dana Brisbane … Amir Mizroch … Julian Zelizer ... … (was Saturday): Roy Schwartz, co-founder and president of Axios, turned 44 … POLITICO Europe Editor-in-Chief Stephen Brown … Eli Miller, managing director of government relations at Blackstone, turned 38 … NYT's Mike Grynbaum … Andrew Williams, managing director of corporate comms at Goldman Sachs … NBC's Billy Koch turned 26 ... Calvin Trillin turned 85 … Alex Traub ... Mindy Greenstein … David M. Schizer ... Jonathan Shabshaikhes … (was Friday): Ara D. Cohen | | | | A message from AT&T: For years, AT&T's and WarnerMedia's New York family has been there for your family, supporting organizations that create opportunity for low-income communities and communities of color. Over the past decade, we've contributed over $10 million to programs that connect underserved populations to the arts and technology education and training they need to help them succeed in college and in their careers.
This year, when the pandemic struck, we were there for our neighbors; supporting the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, a New York City institution, through COVID-related shutdowns; contributing $500,000 to the YMCA to set up free, in-person childcare for working families across the five boroughs, and; helping the Osborne Association to connect families with incarcerated loved ones. Learn more about these and some of the other organizations AT&T and WarnerMedia are supporting at https://northeastregion.att.com/states/newyork/ | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "STATE LAWMAKERS are quietly reviving plans for an annual tax on second homes in New York City. The reach for revenue goes beyond the rarefied condo towers of Manhattan's Billionaire's Row, with different taxing methods for every category of homes owned by part-time residents across the boroughs. And it comes as more New Yorkers are temporarily living elsewhere, a feature of pandemic life that may continue even as the public-health crisis subsides. Democratic legislators updated their long-running proposal for a New York City "pied-a-terre tax" in October and sent it to committee for review before an official introduction in January. With a veto-proof majority now in both the state senate and assembly, Democrats are pushing again for a levy that could raise about $390 million annually, according to Senator Brad Hoylman, a sponsor of the measure. 'This tax is certainly a priority for the 2021 state legislative session,' said Hoylman, whose district stretches from Manhattan's Upper West Side to Chelsea and Greenwich Village." Bloomberg's Oshrat Carmiel "ON THANKSGIVING DAY, outside the Astoria Houses in Queens, a food truck offered free chicken tenders and French fries to residents. Scores of them were unable to prepare their own meals, as they had been living without cooking gas for more than 70 days. Earlier in the fall, reports of a gas leak prompted Con Edison to shut off gas to a 48-unit building, part of this sprawling low-income development on the edge of northwestern Queens that is operated by the New York City Housing Authority. Officials soon determined that they would need to replace the building's gas risers, a monthslong process involving procedural asbestos testing and abatement before repairs could even begin." New York Times' Sasha von Oldershausen
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