| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by Opportunities for NY | As the furor rages over Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in nursing homes, the state Senate is ready to pass a package of nursing home reform legislation today. That includes a bill requiring the state Department of Health to record the deaths of nursing home residents from Covid-19 at hospitals as "nursing home deaths" — the technical matter at the heart of mushrooming allegations the Cuomo administration spent months covering up thousands of fatalities. Cuomo has announced his own nursing home safety package, which includes new penalties for public health law violations. Though he is still being hammered for a phone call where Assemblymember Ron Kim says the governor threatened to destroy his career — drawing attention to the aggressive style the governor has employed for years — Cuomo hasn't decided on a gentler touch in accomplishing his goals. "You guys like to say I'm too aggressive," he said Friday at the end of a lengthy defense of his record. "Oh no, no. I wasn't aggressive enough." The media onslaught continues. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined the chorus of calls for a full investigation of Cuomo's actions, as well as a rolling back of Cuomo's emergency powers, an issue uniting the left and right. In the middle, Albany insiders may be hoping to get back to business as usual, as our Bill Mahoney and Anna report this morning, but the controversy doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. 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? No public schedule available by press time. WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability and appearing on NY1's Inside City Hall. | | | | A message from Opportunities for NY: New York faces a $15 billion budget deficit and high unemployment. Let's bring RELIEF to our State by awarding THREE downstate gaming licenses through an OPEN and TRANSPARENT competition. All three voter-approved licenses will bring THOUSANDS OF UNION JOBS and billions in revenue to New York State. Learn more at: opportunitiesforny.com | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "NEW YORK CITY'S largest union endorsed Maya Wiley, the former MSNBC analyst and legal counsel to Mayor Bill de Blasio, in the race for mayor on Friday, giving a lift to her campaign as she tries to prove that she is a leading candidate in the crowded Democratic field. The powerful union, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, provided one of the first big labor endorsements in the wide-open mayor's race and hoped to use its political weight to help elect a Black woman as mayor for the first time. The endorsement was a major win for Ms. Wiley, who is running as a progressive who wants to lead New Yorkers out of the pandemic in a city that has elected only one Black mayor and no women." New York Times' Emma G. Fitzsimmons "NEW YORK CITY restaurants can increase indoor dining capacity to 35% beginning next week, Gov. Cuomo said Friday. Just two weeks after eateries were allowed to welcome customers back inside, the governor said eateries can expand from the current 25% cap to better compete with surrounding areas starting on Feb. 26." New York Daily News' Denis Slattery — "In the few days since indoor dining restarted, customers appeared to be trickling in but usually in modest numbers, and interviews with owners, workers and industry experts suggested that many people were still leery of being inside." "AFTER WINTER weather delayed coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine deliveries, New York City can expect shipments Monday — which means more first-dose appointments will soon be available. The city Department of Health (DOH) made the announcement on Twitter on Sunday that more appointments to get the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine will soon open, after inclement weather across the nation delayed the distribution of six million vaccine doses. Delayed shipments put New York City's vaccination effort at a 'standstill,' Avery Cohen, a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio, wrote on Twitter on Saturday. She added that the city had fewer than 1,000 first doses on-hand, as of Saturday — compared to about 110,000 second doses on-hand." Staten Island Advance's Annalise Knudson — Mass vaccination sites will open at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and York College in Queens, and eligible residents of certain zip codes can make appointments in advance. "THE LAST TIME there was an open mayoral election in New York City, an independent committee spent roughly $900,000 to help take down the presumptive front-runner, paving the way for Bill de Blasio's victory. Eight years later, another onslaught of barely regulated money is heading New York's way, with super PACs poised to play an outsize role in the race for mayor, the most important election in recent city history. Business-friendly organizations have already raised millions of dollars. At least one candidate, Raymond J. McGuire, has a dedicated super PAC. And now progressive groups are getting in on the act, creating their own super PACs to supplement their on-the-ground and social media efforts." New York Times' Dana Rubinstein and Katie Gleuck ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang hosted a virtual town hall Sunday about the surge of hate crimes against the Asian American community with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assemblymember Ron Kim, Asian American Federation executive director Jo-Ann Yoo, and Center for Anti-Violence Education program manager Rej Joo. (The subject of Kim's fight with Gov. Andrew Cuomo was mentioned only in passing.) The speakers delved into the massive spike in hate crimes that emerged in 2020 amid a pandemic former President Donald Trump termed the "Chinese virus." There were 29 hate crimes reported against Asian Americans in the city last year, compared to just 3 in 2019, per the NYPD. Last week, an Asian American woman was violently shoved to the ground in Flushing by a man who was later arrested and charged with assault and battery. "I want to be able to figure out how do we center the victims? They're going to need a lot of help; there's a lot of trauma," Yoo said. — Jonathan | | | | NEW - "THE RECAST" NEWSLETTER: Power dynamics are changing. "Influence" is changing. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is our new twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy and power in America. And POLITICO is recasting how we report on this crucial intersection, bringing you fresh insights, scoops, dispatches from across the country and new voices that challenge "business as usual." Don't miss out on this important new newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | REPUBLICANS and progressive Democrats have been assailing Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his handling of nursing homes last spring, creating a multi-week news cycle filled with allegations of corruption. And the governor certainly hasn't done much to lower the temperature, saying that one of the biggest lessons he's learned from the saga is that he needs to more aggressively counter his critics. But while there's a growing consensus among Democrats that some checks should be placed on the near-monarchical powers granted to Cuomo last spring, there's also another idea circulating among those who do business in Albany: Everybody needs to dial back the rhetoric and return to the business of governance as the state grapples with multiple historic crises. "Clearly we're all capable of multitasking because we have no choice but to do it," said Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (D-Albany). "Clearly there's more to do on the nursing homes. But right now, people care first and foremost about jobs and vaccines." Adam Morey, a lobbyist with J Strategies, noted that advocates already faced new hurdles due to the closure of the Capitol, and now they have to deal with a government that seems paralyzed by scandal. "A dominant, and dynamic, headline-grabbing story that involves all of Albany's key players makes it that much harder for anyone to get their message out there," he said. "There are major policy questions, like legalizing adult-use cannabis and people working on issues to protect vulnerable populations, increase access to services or guarantee equal rights. In this environment they all have to shout that much louder." POLITICO's Bill Mahoney and Anna Gronewold — The first case of the South African coronavirus variant has been discovered in a New York state resident, Cuomo said Sunday. "NURSING HOMES of the near future may look less like hospital complexes and more like small, cozy homes with eight or 10 residents, which will include sanitized 'safe rooms' for family visits and employ robotics and indoor drones to serve residents, according to experts nationwide. They said the staggering death toll from COVID-19 in nursing homes is forcing a revision of a system that, by its design and traditional practice, is ill-prepared and ill-suited to deal with such threats. 'COVID has amplified what was already a terrible problem and it's really made it much more obvious,' said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at The Urban Institute in Washington." Newsday's Michael Gormley "IT REMAINS unclear why the chairman of New York's ethics commission resigned. But the decision certainly seemed abrupt . On the afternoon of Feb. 10, Michael K. Rozen had been scheduled to lead a subcommittee meeting of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. But just hours before it was set to begin, Rozen sent an email stating he was resigning after serving six years in the position. To critics of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the timing suggested he was tightening control over JCOPE, two days after news broke of a rare investigation initiated by the watchdog panel that would touch Cuomo's office. In addition, not long before he resigned, Rozen is said to have expressed openness to filling the long-vacant post of JCOPE executive director with a candidate without close ties to Cuomo — which would be a first in the panel's decade-long existence. Whatever the reason for Rozen's exit, Cuomo had the unilateral power to replace him and appoint a new chair. He immediately named Camille Joseph Varlack, an attorney who served in the governor's administration for four years. A review of Varlack's resume reveals deep involvement in a Cuomo program that – like JCOPE – has been touted as a good-government initiative, but has in the view of critics been used to keep a lid on scandals." Times Union's Chris Bragg HUGH LEO CAREY was the 51st governor of New York state and arguably was among the smartest of the bunch. That's not to suggest he had better grades than, say, noted polymath Theodore Roosevelt, or that he could match credentials with the likes of John Jay. But on a cold January day in Albany in 1982, Carey showed just how smart he was by announcing that he would retire after two remarkable terms as the state's chief executive. Carey's decision saved him from exposure to the dreaded third-term curse that has haunted some of the most-lionized political leaders in state history, both in Albany and New York City, and one that appears to have caught up with Andrew Cuomo. As for Carey, rather than battle through scandals or plod his way through ennui or engage in pointless political quarrels with friends and enemies alike, he left office hailed as the man who saved New York. Which, as these things go, is a pretty nice thing to have in the first paragraph of your obituary." POLITICO's Dr. Terry Golway "ADVOCATES AND LAWMAKERS are again looking to give New Yorkers who have paid their debt to society a stigma-free fresh start. A new 'Clean Slate' bill being proposed would create a two-step process to automatically seal and eventually expunge past convictions and make it easier for those who served time to find work and housing opportunities. 'A criminal conviction shouldn't be a life sentence to second-class status, but for many of our friends, neighbors, family members and fellow New Yorkers, that's exactly what it is,' said sponsor Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn). 'Our Clean Slate legislation aims to change that.' Under the measure, first proposed two years ago, a conviction would be automatically sealed one year after sentencing on the individual's last misdemeanor conviction and three years after sentencing for felonies, as long as someone is off probation and parole, is not facing any pending criminal charges, and is not on the sex offender registry. Civilly sealed convictions would then not show up in most background checks for employment and housing and would be inaccessible to police departments. They would still be accessible for courts and prosecution purposes as well as agencies statutorily mandated to fingerprint people for government-regulated jobs, licensing and clearances." New York Daily News' Denis Slattery #UpstateAmerica: NOOOOOOO. Blast-from-the-past breakfast location extraordinaire, Home Front Cafe in Altamont, is closing. | | | |   | | |
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "WISTFUL SKATERS descended on Central Park on Sunday for what they thought would be their last outing on the ice for the season, after the Trump Organization abruptly announced that the two ice rinks there would close as the city moves to end its contracts following the Capitol riot. But after complaints mounted throughout the day over the loss of a precious venue for outdoor entertainment and exercise during the pandemic — and as some New Yorkers, despite former President Donald J. Trump's unpopularity in his home city, faulted City Hall for ending the contracts early — Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said on Sunday evening that the rinks would stay open . 'New York City kids deserve all the time on the ice they can get this year,' the mayor's press secretary, Bill Neidhardt, said in a statement. 'The Wollman and Lasker rinks will stay open under current management for the few weeks left in this season. But make no mistake, we will not be doing business with the Trump Organization going forward. Inciting an insurrection will never be forgotten or forgiven.'" New York Times' Anne Barnard and Téa Kvetenadze "THE MANHATTAN District Attorney's Office has subpoenaed a New York City property tax agency as part of a criminal investigation into Donald Trump's company, the agency confirmed on Friday, suggesting prosecutors are examining the former president's efforts to reduce his commercial real-estate taxes for possible evidence of fraud. The subpoena issued to the New York City Tax Commission is the latest indication that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. is looking at the values Trump assigned to some commercial properties in tax filings and loan documents." Reuters' Peter Eisler and Jason Szep | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | "REPUBLICAN REP. Tom Reed of New York says that he's 'definitely looking' at running next year against Gov. Andrew Cuomo when the embattled three-term Democratic governor bids for re-election. 'People across the district, across the state, are saying 'you need to take a look at this.' I'm humbled by that, but I'm also energized by it,' the six-term congressman, who represents the southwestern corner of New York State, said in an interview with Fox News. 'Given an opportunity to do my part to serve and try to change the direction of the state, we are definitely looking at it,' Reed said. While still holding strong poll numbers, Cuomo has been politically wounded by the state's current nursing home COVID crisis." Fox News' Paul Steinhauser — Rep. Lee Zeldin is also being encouraged to run by some fellow Republicans. "THE NATION'S TOP Democratic lawmaker went to a struggling Lower East Side vegetarian restaurant Sunday to tout a meaty relief proposal that would help eateries ravaged by pandemic restrictions. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said 92 percent of Big Apple restaurants could not afford their rent in December and that many of them won't survive the next six months without federal relief. He spoke about the proposed Restaurants Act, which was added to the COVID-19 relief bill on the Senate floor last week, at Allen Street's Dirt Candy on Sunday. 'As the majority leader, I have the ability to determine what goes on the floor of the Senate, and the first bill I put on was the Restaurants Act,' Schumer said." New York Post's Reuven Fenton and Jesse O'Neill "AFTER GETTING ELECTED to Congress in November, Ritchie Torres made his top priority expanding the child tax credit — touting it as the biggest potential boost for his South Bronx constituents. Now his wish is about to become reality , at least for a year, as the measure he championed as an incoming freshman representative is about to be included in the $1.9 trillion federal aid bill being pushed through Congress. 'There is bipartisan and bicameral support so I am as optimistic as I can be given how erratic Washington can be,' he told THE CITY on Saturday. The aid bill, labeled the American Rescue Act by Torres' fellow Democrats, would increase the tax credit from a maximum of $2,000 for children under 17 to $3,600 for a child under the age of 6. The amount would rise to $3,000 for children ages 7 to 17." The City's Greg David | | | | JOIN US TUESDAY TO MEET THE FRESHMEN: The freshman class of the 117th Congress took office just three days before an armed mob stormed Capitol Hill and in the middle of a once per century pandemic, making its first month in office just a bit different from any previous class. Join POLITICO for "Red, Fresh and Blue," featuring live interviews with newly elected members of Congress from both sides of the aisle. Huddle newsletter author Olivia Beavers will moderate back-to-back live interviews with Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.). REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis already has a re-election challenger. — The Staten Island Republican Party endorsed Curtis Sliwa for mayor. — Mayoral hopeful Eric Adams has publicly cut ties with Hiram Monserrate after years of palling around with the disgraced ex-pol. — Buffalo police used "non-lethal lasso" BolaWrap for the first time. — Rivals ganged up on mayoral candidate Andrew Yang for a tweet about electric garbage trucks. — Saratoga Race Course will open on July 15, the New York Racing Association has announced and Six Flags Great Escape theme park will reopen on May 1. — The Department of Motor Vehicles is warning New Yorkers about a text messaging scam aimed at stealing data. — Roach problems have exploded during the pandemic. — The number of pigeon keepers in the city is dwindling in the face of growing hurdles. — New York City evictions decreased by more than 80 percent in 2020, according to new data from the Department of Investigations. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rodney Hood … David Axelrod … Chris Crawford … Kristen Soltis Anderson … Peter Siegal of Norton Rose Fulbright … Randy Levine … Danielle Bella Ellison … Bob Bauer … Viet Dinh … Netflix's Rachel Whetstone … NBC News' Keir Simmons … Jim Friedlich … AP's Michael Biesecker and Dorothy Abernathy … Jon Markman … Ryan Eaton … MSNBC's Dan Holway … CNN's Laurie Ure … … (was Sunday): Mark Smith … Jeremy Gaines … Yale President Peter Salovey ... Jonathan Safran Foer … Reuters' Ross Colvin … Stand Up America's Brett Edkins and Eloise Goldsmith … David Wessel … Jordan Zaslav … Bob Sherman … Tricia Nixon Cox turned 75 … … (was Saturday): Doug Mills … Mark Knoller … Chris Cillizza … Vox's Dylan Matthews … Trevor Noah … David Corn … Michael Clemente … WSJ's Bob Davis … The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum … Dan Gross … Rebecca Samuels … Amy Spitalnick … Clarissa Chandoo MAKING MOVES — Alyssa Cass is the new communications director for Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign. She was most recently a principal at New Deal Strategies, a progressive political consulting firm that is itself working for Scott Stringer's mayoral campaign. IN MEMORIAM — Arturo Di Modica, the sculptor of Lower Manhattan's "Charging Bull," died on Friday at the age of 80. | | | | A message from Opportunities for NY: As New York looks to recover from COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis, we must deploy a bold solution: expand downstate gaming for all THREE downstate casino licenses. An open and transparent competition for the three licenses will: - Generate 200,000 new jobs, including 70,000 local union jobs
- Bring $1.5 billion in immediate state revenue
- Achieve $900 million in reoccurring revenue for our State.
Voters already approved the THREE licenses in 2013, and the time to act is NOW! Our State needs equitable and sustainable growth for our communities. Awarding the remaining THREE downstate casino licenses will put New York on a pathway forward. We cannot take the easy way out - our State needs fair competition TODAY. To learn more, visit opportunitiesforny.com | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "NEW YORK's real estate market started 2021 with a whimper . Rents in Manhattan and Brooklyn had the steepest year-over-year drop on record in January, according to a new report from StreetEasy, with Manhattan rents slipping 15.5% and Brooklyn rents down 8.6%. Home prices in January also showed major declines compared to a year prior, according to the report, falling a precipitous 6.2% in Manhattan and 5.4% in Brooklyn. A recent surge in contract activity suggests at least some improvement on last month's dismal results. Pending sales, meaning homes that have already gone into contract, are up 30.8% in Manhattan in comparison to January 2020. In Brooklyn, pending sales are up 17.3% for the same time frame. The contrast between rising sales volume and sinking prices is a simple question of supply and demand, says Nancy Wu, an economist at StreetEasy. Sales might have boomed compared to last January, but a year's worth of inventory that sat fallow during the pandemic continues to dwarf demand. Bloomberg's James Tarmy "ROBERT MALONE fills out four repair tickets every month for his studio apartment at NYCHA's Brownstones — buckling walls, a rotted window frame, cracks in the ceiling, a crumbling subfloor in the kitchen. His requests go into a pile of open work orders that swelled 40 percent last year, pushed to a record high that tenants and the Housing Authority pin on COVID-19 and a new system for tracking lead paint and mold removal. The total at the end of December stood at 483,275, up from 344,958 in 2019, NYCHA figures show. The number of days maintenance crews took to complete repairs skyrocketed as well, to 225 from 134 the year before." New York Post's Melanie Gray
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