| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by Facebook | A new system of ranked-choice voting will transform New York City's elections, including this year's race for mayor. Now it's about to get its first test: early voting starts Saturday in a special election for City Council seat in Queens, where voters will be casting the city's first ranked-choice ballots. Instead of picking one candidate, voters will choose up to five, ranking them in order of preference. If a candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, they win and that's the end of it. But if no one does, a computerized system eliminates the last-place candidate and parcels out their votes to the second choice. The process repeats itself until someone gets a majority. Get it? Opponents have fretted that voters won't, and pushed to delay the new system, which was easily approved in a 2019 referendum. But at least in the case of the Queens special election, those efforts have failed. The crowded contest to replace former City Council Member Rory Lancman from among eight candidates on the ballot, is exactly the kind of election ranked-choice voting was designed to address — without it, candidates in similar local elections have won seats with only a small percentage of the vote. But voters encountering the new system for the first time will face the challenge of gathering enough information to make an informed ranking of five candidates in a low-profile — and likely low-turnout — election. Lancman stepped down from his Council seat representing Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Estates and other neighborhoods to take a job working for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The candidates to replace him include former City Council Member James Gennaro, progressive organizer Moumita Ahmed, Michael Brown, Neeta Jain, Deepti Sharma, Soma Syed, Dilip Nauth and Mujib Rahman, and election day is Feb. 2. There will be a few more Council special elections to replace departed members Donovan Richards, Ritchie Torres and Andrew Cohen through ranked-choice voting in the coming months, before the main event with the citywide primary in June. IT'S FRIDAY. 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? No public schedule available by press time. WHERE'S BILL? Appearing on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show and participating in a Covid-19 panel discussion at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting. ABOVE THE FOLD: State Attorney General Tish James' lawsuit seeking to dissolve the National Rifle Association can move forward, a state judge ruled Thursday. Judge Joel Cohen denied the NRA's motions to dismiss the case, pause it or transfer it to a different court. The attorney general filed the suit in state court in August, seeking to put the NRA out of business, charging that its leaders misused funds and engaged in self-dealing. The NRA argued that the case should be tossed because it belongs in federal, not state court, and that it should be heard in Albany instead of Manhattan. The judge rejected all of those requests. POLITICO's Erin Durkin | | | | A message from Facebook: We support updated internet regulations
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|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | THE DE BLASIO administration needs a "vaccine czar" to lead the city through its mass vaccination effort, says the mayoral candidate who likely would have been tapped for the job if she still worked for City Hall. Kathryn Garcia, who left her post as sanitation commissioner and de Blasio's go-to crisis manager in December, will roll out her plan this week designed to vaccinate New Yorkers equitably and quickly. While many are hopeful the city will be largely vaccinated by the time she would theoretically take office, Garcia's plan provides a glimpse of what her mayoralty could look like — and highlights the chief selling point for her campaign: she is an experienced city manager who has an intimate familiarity with the city's vast bureaucracy. "What's sorely missing is a crisis manager," according to the plan, first reported by POLITICO. "If I could deliver 130 million meals with no warning for what was about to unfold and incredibly stressed supply chains, we should be able to deliver 8 million vaccines." POLITICO's Amanda Eisenberg "WITH A CURRENT scant supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses, New York City public schools likely won't reopen for five-day-a-week in-person classes this school year and could be forced to continue remote learning in the 2021-22 academic year, according to the head of the city's teachers union. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in an interview that the union's recently launched partnership with health providers to vaccinate thousands of educators who are teaching in-person classes is quickly running out of supplies, potentially jeopardizing efforts to return schools to a normal schedule in coming months. The timing of reopening for in-person classes five days a week depends in part on how many teachers are able and willing to get vaccinated, Mr. Mulgrew said, as the union pushes to help interested teachers get their shots as quickly as possible. 'Whatever happens this school year, happens,' he said. 'But I want to be fully open in September, and I can't guarantee that right now.'" Wall Street Journal's Lee Hawkins — About 2,600 students have not logged on or connected with their schools at all this year. — Success Academy, the city's largest charter school network, will stay all remote through the end of the school year. "FEW PUBLIC SPACES in the country have been derided so thoroughly and so often as the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the heart of Manhattan. The dreary 70-year-old station, with its leaky ceilings and dingy vestibules, has become synonymous with the overburdened, crumbling infrastructure that has made commuting in New York City a grim slog. Now, the agency that operates the bus terminal — the busiest in the country — has settled on a final proposal for transforming it into a 21st-century transit hub capable of handling many more buses." New York Times' Patrick McGeehan and Winnie Hu "BRUCE TEITELBAUM of the Upper West Side was a Republican until late last year. But a fear that he'd be voiceless in choosing the next mayor drove him to become a Democrat. 'We're tired of being presented with choices that don't really reflect what most folks in New York are looking for,' said Teitlebaum. 'What you got is a city that is overwhelmingly Democratic so the general election doesn't really count for anything. Mayor and citywide elected officials are really chosen in the primary.' Teitelbaum is among the organizers of an upstart volunteer-run group, New Yorkers United for Change, that's vying to shake up the political system. The group is currently urging some of the 1.6 million New York City voters who are registered as Republicans, unaffiliated or with a third party to sign up as Democrats ahead of a Feb. 14 party-switch deadline." The City's Clifford Michel and Ann Choi "THERE'S NO ACCOUNTING for haste. Comptroller Scott Stringer, the city's top money man and a persistent critic of car culture, was driven around town by a leadfoot who was dinged by school zone speed cameras eight times in 2020. We ran the plates on the Chevy Suburban that mayoral candidate Stringer stepped out of at a recent Manhattan event and discovered the eight school zone camera tickets between March 6 and December 28, according to city records compiled by HowsMyDriving." Streetsblog's Dave Colon "AFTER ANNOUNCING at a press conference by Columbia that he was running for mayor, Andrew Yang took a walk through Harlem with Ritchie Torres, a 32-year-old freshman congressman. Torres is the first Afro-Latino member of Congress and is widely considered a comer, and so his support was something of a coup for Yang, whose entrance into the race had been marred by the revelation that he had not only decamped for New Paltz in the midst of the COVID crisis but had given an interview to the New York Times on the eve of his announcement from his second home in which he suggested that it would have been nearly impossible to navigate his job as a CNN commentator with two small children in his Hell's Kitchen apartment. 'Like, can you imagine?' Yang told the newspaper. (Many New Yorkers can.) A slate of polls have put Yang — who enjoys high name recognition after his run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — in first place, and it is easy to imagine that he stays there. In his first week in the race, Yang was inescapable, appearing on The View, on local radio, on CNN, and making Twitter gaffes about New York City bodegas and pizza that prompted ridicule from his rivals but put him at the forefront of voters' minds." New York Magazine's David Freedlander — Yang's campaign trail food choices, analyzed. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A new radio ad debuting this weekend will urge Mayor Bill de Blasio to give city food pantries another $25 million in emergency aid as the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis leave New Yorkers lining up for food. "New York is in a food crisis. Children are going hungry. COVID has created an unprecedented situation in New York City but not enough of our leaders are stepping up to help," says the ad, run by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. The city provided $25 million in food funding last year, but that money has all been spent, the group says. An estimated 2 million people in the city have trouble affording enough food. | | | | TRACK FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: Track the first 100 Days of the Biden administration. Written for political insiders, this scoop-filled newsletter breaks big news and analyzes the initiatives, people and emerging power centers of the new administration. Subscribe today. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "BUDGET documents made available only after Cuomo and his budget director, Robert Mujica, had given their addresses on Tuesday — and thus only after the first round of media coverage of the executive budget — showed that the tax proposal is considerably narrower than the governor's speech made it seem . The tax increase would apply only for three years — and would be reimbursable, according to the executive budget briefing book. If high-income taxpayers paid all three years' surcharge in advance this year, they would be paid back in 2024 and 2025. "Budget office spokesman Freeman Klopott told New York Focus that the prepaid surcharge would be reimbursed in full. Senate deputy majority leader Michael Gianaris said that he had been told that the prepaid surcharge would only be deducted from income subject to tax in future years and that only a portion would be reimbursed. Pressed again on whether the surcharge would be entirely reimbursed, Klopott did not respond. Neither Cuomo nor Mujica mentioned the reimbursement in their livecast Tuesday presentations on the executive budget." New York Focus' Akash V. Mehta — ICYMI: Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said the Legislature will pursue taxes on the wealthy regardless of how much money the federal government might send. "Yes, I think that that is clear. That we believe that we are in a position where, again, we have an amazing opportunity here to make sure that we do have a progressive tax structure," she told Susan Arbetter on Capital Tonight. "And yes, we will be looking at those who are millionaires and billionaires, who are in a position to be helpful." WHAT'S IN A NAME? Three-time congressional candidate Nate McMurray is turning his attention to a new PAC aimed at what he described as "deprogramming Western New York's relationship to fascism." The PAC will simply be known as "Daredevil," though he's also submitted paperwork to register ones dubbed "Against the Grain" and "Good Trouble." "We registered a couple — we want to have a couple of names ready," the Democrat told POLITICO. "We want to go with 'Daredevil' to start — it's a reference to the region, and the daredevils of the region and people who challenged the Falls and challenged convention and took risks." POLITICO's Bill Mahoney "A NEW YORK state judge has ordered the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to a 65-year-old incarcerated man with chronic lung disease. Criminal rights advocates now hope the decision will push the state to speed up vaccine access for vulnerable incarcerated people as outbreaks inside prisons continue to balloon. Edward Mackenzie, 65, who is currently incarcerated at Adirondack Correctional Facility — dubbed Cuomo's 'prison nursing home' — sued the state in mid-December, arguing if he catches COVID-19 his age and underlying health conditions make him at increased risk of severe consequences and death from the virus. He was seeking early release and had earlier told WNYC/Gothamist about the lack of access to regular health care at the facility, which is now the subject of a federal class action lawsuit." WNYC's Gwynne Hogan "SOME New York local governments are creating an avenue for police officers and their unions to try to block or obscure the release of civilian complaints and other disciplinary records despite a new state law meant to ensure they are public. The Town of Hyde Park and Village of Wappingers Falls in Dutchess County have entered into written agreements with their local police unions, granting officers the right to object to the release of their disciplinary records or personnel file before they are provided to the member of the public that requested them. The Town of Fishkill also adopted a similar policy after negotiating with their union. Lawyers for the local governments said the labor agreements offer a 'procedural mechanism' for releasing records and are in keeping with precedent under state labor law. But the agreements also go into detail about what records should be withheld and how officers can try to block the release of others." Poughkeepsie Journal's Saba Ali "BRONX state Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, recently accused of assaulting his wife, has introduced legislation to combat animal cruelty . Albany insiders argued that Sepúlveda is not the best messenger right now to fight cruelty of any kind given his own domestic violence case. Sepúlveda has denied the domestic violence claims. 'He's taking care of dogs and cats before his wife,' one statehouse source said." New York Post's Carl Campanile Bernadette Hogan LONGREAD: ' How a trans forest ranger found herself in the Adirondacks' #UpstateAmerica: A Buffalo supermarket has removed Kansas City-style barbecue sauce from its shelves ahead of the Bill's playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. "Dash's is taking KC down in the aisles so the Bills can take them down on the field!" reads a sign at Dash's Market on Hertel Avenue. | | | |   | | |
| | Biden and the Boroughs | | "PRESIDENT BIDEN plans to invoke a wartime law to drastically accelerate the pace of coronavirus vaccinations in the U.S., the White House announced Thursday amid shortages of shots across the country, including in New York. The Defense Production Act, which dates back to the Korean War, will allow Biden's administration to order private companies to ramp up production of materials needed for inoculations that are in increasingly short supply, like dead-space needle syringes, glass vials and stoppers, according to a 200-page national COVID-19 strategy document unveiled by the White House... In New York, supplies are running so short that Mayor de Blasio announced Wednesday that the city had to cancel at least 23,000 vaccine appointments this week. New York Daily News' Chris Sommerfeldt — New York immigrants are already seeing the effects of Biden's executive actions. | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "DOZENS OF PROMINENT lawyers have signed a formal complaint seeking the suspension of Rudolph W. Giuliani's law license — the latest and loudest in a series of calls to censure him for his actions as President Donald J. Trump's personal attorney. The lawyers said Mr. Giuliani had trampled ethical boundaries as he helped Mr. Trump pursue false claims of election fraud, then gave an incendiary speech repeating those claims just before the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. A draft of the complaint to the Supreme Court of New York's attorney grievance committee accuses Mr. Giuliani of knowingly making false claims about the election and urges an investigation into 'conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in or out of court.'" New York Times' Daniel E. Slotnik "A NEW YORK MAN photographed shirtless outside the US Capitol has been charged in the deadly siege after telling friends on Facebook he'd be there with 'ex NYPD' and members of the Proud Boys, court documents show. Christopher M. Kelly, of New City, was charged Wednesday in US District Court for the District of Columbia with obstruction of an official proceeding, aiding and abetting, unlawful entry to a restricted building and violent entry/disorderly conduct for his alleged role during the riot." New York Post's Joshua Rhett Miller — Federal authorities charged a city Department of Sanitation worker in the Capitol riot. "SECURITY WILL be 'greatly reduced' at Trump Tower now that Joe Biden is president, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday. The NYPD said earlier this week that it would 'reevaluate' security outside Donald Trump's namesake tower on Fifth Avenue — as well as other locations affiliated with the former president — after the inauguration. 1010 WINS' Adam Warner | | | | KEEP UP WITH CONGRESS IN 2021: Tensions remain high on Capitol Hill as we inaugurate a new president this week. How are lawmakers planning to move forward after a tumultuous few weeks? How will a new Senate majority impact the legislative agenda? With so much at stake, our new Huddle author Olivia Beavers brings you the most important news and critical insight from Capitol Hill with assists from POLITICO's deeply sourced Congress team. Subscribe to Huddle, the essential guide to understanding Congress. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Senate Democrats are moving to repeal the so-called walking while trans loitering law. — Most of Manhattan DA candidate Tali Farhadian Weinstein's $2.26 million fundraising haul has come from megadonors giving sums of $10,000 or greater, many from financial industries she would be in charge of prosecuting. — Former Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi is being tapped as deputy administrator at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under the Biden administration. — Dr. Anthony Fauci made a surprise appearance at the MTA's board meeting to promote the Covid-19 vaccine for transit workers. A young child also made a splash at the meeting with his testimony about fare hikes and parking fees. — De Blasio is asking the state to make prospective jurors eligible for coronavirus vaccines. — De Blasio and the NYPD are facing yet another lawsuit over police treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters. — Fifty-one race horses died at Belmont Park in 2020, the largest number since 2010. — President Joe Biden's Ralph Lauren-designed inauguration outfit was created at Rochester's Hickey Freeman plant. — A program is paying street vendors to make meals for people in need. — Reps. Espaillat, Torres and Ocasio-Cortez are wading into a contract fight between UnitedHealthcare and Montefiore Health after 60,000 patients were dropped from the network. — Critics say there are too many holes in the NYPD's new disciplinary matrix. — A neighbor was arrested for the murders of three women at a public housing development for seniors in Brownsville. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Josh Earnest … Elise Flick … Laura Allen … Ashley Codianni … Ken Gross … CNN's Kevin Bohn … Kendra Barkoff Lamy … POLITICO's Zach Warmbrodt and Jesse Shapiro … Josh Riley … Rajiv Chandrasekaran … Kian Hudson (h/t wife Lexi) WHAT WALL STREET IS READING — "Bridgewater's CEO on Inequality, Uncertainty, and Polarization: David McCormick, who runs the world's biggest hedge fund manager, says it's time for corporate executives to speak out," by Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker MEDIAWATCH — The Appeal is adding Erik Shute and Kendra Pittman as producers/editors. Shute previously was a producer and editor for CBS Interactive. Pittman previously was senior media producer for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). (h/t POLITICO Playbook) — The New Yorker's staff union held a 24-hour work stoppage in protest of a pay proposal from management that included a minimum salary of $45,000. MAKING MOVES — Liz Allen, a partner at Glover Park Group who took a leave of absence to run communications for Harris during the general election, is returning to the firm, which is now known as Finsbury Glover Hering. — Haeda Mihaltses and Danielle Parillo from the New York Mets will be launching a government and external affairs division for Sterling Project Development which, among other projects, is currently managing development for the $1.3 billion UBS Arena — future home of the New York Islanders. Mihaltses ran intergovernmental affairs for former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Parillo covered Wall Street for Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. | | | | A message from Facebook: We support updated internet regulations
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| | REAL ESTATE | | Architectural Digest: 'Fran Lebowitz On Her Life in NYC Real Estate, Living With 10,000 Books, and More' "A BEDFORD-STUYVESANT building owned by mayoral contender Eric Adams hasn't been registered with the city agency that enforces housing codes for 12 years, public records show. Adams, who serves as Brooklyn borough president and is considered a potential frontrunner in the mayor's race, has owned the brick three-story at 936 Lafayette Ave. since 2003, but city records show that since 2009, he's failed to register it with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the city agency responsible for enforcing rules against tenant harassment and unhealthy living conditions. New York Daily News Michael Gartland
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