| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming | Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the pandemic-slayer image he has sought to project took another blow on Wednesday when a judge ordered the state Health Department to release records detailing the full coronavirus death toll in nursing homes. The court ruled in favor of the Empire Center for Public Policy, which sued after the state failed to fulfill the group's Freedom of Information Law request for that data, as well as dates of death and a count for each facility. The state's "continued failure to provide petitioner a response, given the straightforward nature of the request... goes against FOIL's broad standard of open and transparent government and is a violation of the statute," wrote Justice Kimberly O'Connor. She gave the Health Department five business days to cough up the records. This comes less than a week after state Attorney General Tish James issued a damning report, finding the state undercounted nursing home deaths by up to 50 percent by excluding residents who were sent to a hospital and died there. Hours after that report, the Health Department released new data: an estimated 12,743 New York nursing home residents died from the virus, a number thousands higher than what had been revealed before. The fallout has been fierce, and on Wednesday a second Democrat called for rolling back Cuomo's emergency powers, while all 20 Republican state senators joined a call for Health Commissioner Howard Zucker to resign. Meanwhile, New York's GOP members of Congress are asking the Department of Justice to subpoena Cuomo for documents related to what they're calling a "coverup." As Cuomo now has a friend in the White House, they may face long odds. But the nursing home backlash has now become thoroughly bipartisan, so Team Cuomo's response attempting to link ringleader Rep. Elise Stefanik to QAnon — apparently the new go-to tactic for Democrats — is unlikely to put the issue to rest. IT'S THURSDAY. 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. | | | | A message from New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming: Throughout this unprecedented health crisis, Resorts World New York City's commitment to their employees, community and New York State has not wavered. Expansion of existing facilities will allow them to continue to build on their track record of creating good-paying union jobs with full-service employer paid health care, while generating critical resources for education in New York State. Learn more about how Resorts World is supporting its employees and investing in New York's future. | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO has tappe a new transportation commissioner for his final year in office. Hank Gutman, chair of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, will fill the position vacated when the Biden administration hired longtime city commissioner Polly Trottenberg. Gutman will have to tackle the transit agenda de Blasio laid out in his State of the City speech last week — creating 10,000 additional bike parking spots by the end of 2022, which extends one year beyond the current mayor's tenure, making the Covid-era "Open Streets" program permanent and creating a bike lane on the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges. Gutman, an attorney by trade, is a longtime de Blasio ally and campaign donor. POLITICO's Sally Goldenberg — De Blasio's decision to select a longtime ally and campaign donor for head of the transportation department has taken advocates by surprise, who said he will face scrutiny to ensure he executes projects despite his lack of transit experience... "Let's be frank — he just brought in a rich white guy to lead the DOT," said Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance. "Let him prove he has a commitment to equity and to make the streets more equitable in this administration." De Blasio, who recently announced he'd make his Open Streets program permanent and add new bus and bike lanes throughout the city — defended his choice to go outside of the transit world. POLITICO's Danielle Muoio and Erin Durkin NEW YORK CITY Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi has tested positive for Covid-19, the city announced Wednesday. Chokshi's diagnosis comes as the city is experiencing a sustained uptick in Covid-19 transmission and two variant strains have popped up around the region. The mutations, which were found in most cases in the U.K. and in South Africa, are highly contagious. "In New York City and across the country, COVID continues to circulate in our communities, and all of us are potentially exposed to the virus. A testament to this fact is that I recently got tested and received a positive diagnosis for COVID-19," Chokshi said in a statement. "I now have mild symptoms, but they are manageable." POLITICO's Amanda Eisenberg and Erin Durkin THE MANHATTAN DISTRICT attorney's race is getting some star power. Actor Michael K. Williams — known for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire — is backing Assemblymember Dan Quart for the seat , and narrating a new video promoting his campaign. "I'm not a politician," Williams, who played Omar Little on the hit HBO show, told POLITICO. "I'm a New Yorker, born and bred, and I'm a grown ass man, excuse my language, and it's time to make my voice and my platform matter for something." Quart, who represents Manhattan's East Side, is competing in an eight-person Democratic primary for the top prosecutor's job. Incumbent DA Cy Vance hasn't said whether he's running for re-election, but hasn't been fundraising or participating in the race. POLITICO's Erin Durkin "RESTAURANT WORKERS and taxi drivers are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday. The announcement came one day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo reversed his position and allowed local leaders to vaccinate the groups, while leaving the call to them based on supply. 'It was clear to me that the folks who work in restaurants deserve the right to be vaccinated,' said de Blasio during a City Hall briefing on Wednesday. 'Like everybody, they'll have a chance to get appointments with so many other people trying to get appointments.'" New York Post's Nolan Hicks and Aaron Feis — A mass vaccination site will open at Yankee Stadium on Friday. "NEW YORK's top police official responsible for combating workplace harassment was fired on Wednesday , three weeks after an internal investigation concluded that he wrote racist online rants targeting Black, Hispanic and Jewish people, police officials said. The official, Deputy Inspector James F. Kobel, has denied wrongdoing. He was placed on modified duty when the departmental inquiry started in November and was suspended in January. Internal affairs investigators determined he posted dozens of racist and sexist screeds on an online message board under the pen name 'Clouseau.' One post referred to former President Barack Obama as a 'Muslim savage' and another called Mayor Bill de Blasio's biracial son 'brillohead.'" New York Times' William K. Rashbaum and Ashley Southall FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang is beefing up the senior ranks of his campaign staff as he vies for top-tier status in the crowded Democratic field. Yang has named Chris Coffey, of Tusk Strategies, and Sasha Ahuja, who most recently worked for the global nonprofit Datakind, as his dual campaign managers, with Ericka McLeod, who worked on Yang's presidential campaign, as their deputy in charge of organizing. Zach Graumann, who managed Yang's White House bid, will be a senior adviser to the mayoral effort, and Trip Yang, who has worked for Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Bernie Sanders' 2020 race, was named field director. — Sally Goldenberg | | | | TUNE IN TO NEW EPISODE OF GLOBAL TRANSLATIONS: Our Global Translations podcast, presented by Citi, examines the long-term costs of the short-term thinking that drives many political and business decisions. The world has long been beset by big problems that defy political boundaries, and these issues have exploded over the past year amid a global pandemic. This podcast helps to identify and understand the impediments to smart policymaking. Subscribe for Season Two, available now. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "HUNDREDS of jobs at youth detention facilities are in jeopardy as New York is quietly preparing to close four of the centers in the Mid-Hudson Valley region and Long Island. State officials said they will work with labor leaders to retain as many of the jobs as possible, but unions representing employees at the four targeted facilities say little information has been provided about the closures. The state also has not outlined a plan for continuing to employ people working at those facilities or accommodating the youths detained there." "According to figures provided by the labor unions, the facilities employ 321 members from the Public Employees Federation and Civil Service Employees Association in a variety of positions, from youth detention aides and counselors to nurses and food-service workers. Based on figures provided to state legislators by the state Office of Children and Family Services, the centers employ 260 full-time workers. But according to Cuomo's budget proposal, the centers have been 'chronically underfilled,' with roughly two-thirds of the beds empty. Closing the facilities would save $21.8 million annually in operational costs as well as avoid $14 million in capital costs, the proposal states." Times Union's Amanda Fries "THE LARGE, navy blue tarp covering something was hard to miss. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, delivering a briefing from his Manhattan office on June 29, calmly discussed the state's latest COVID-19 numbers in front of a large, covered mound, waiting until the end of his presentation to pull the curtain and reveal what was underneath. The grand reveal uncovered a giant prop: A large, multi-layered foam mountain, a visual metaphor built to the specs of the state's coronavirus curve to that point... At the time, a Cuomo spokesperson said the materials to craft the mountain cost $185 and the governor's team was 'happy to support businesses in New York.' A receipt obtained by the USA TODAY Network New York under the Freedom of Information Law tells a different story. The bill for 10 polystyrene foam boards and three gallons of paint was $415.34, more than twice as much as the Cuomo team claimed. And the only New York business supported was a suburban Albany location of Lowe's, the North Carolina-based hardware giant with more than 2,000 stores across North America." USA Today Network's Jon Campbell "LAWMAKERS in the state Senate on Wednesday advanced measures meant to boost diversity in the state's schools and education policy, including measures meant to encourage school and college officials to attract underrepresented candidates for teaching positions. 'The Senate Majority is committed to tearing down the barriers that create inequities in our school systems,' Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement….The bills include the 'Grow Your Own' initiatives for school districts, cooperative education services and higher education institutions to attract diverse teaching candidates. Another bill would require public colleges and universities to hold students harmless for their observances of religious and culturally significant holidays. Lawmakers also want to create a state commission to study the ten community colleges that have not participated in the Educational Opportunity Program and make recommendations for legislative action." Spectrum's Nick Reisman #UpstateAmerica: We cannot verify if the residence in question does *in fact* qualify as Upstate, but we stan the scenes from Kathryn Grody and Mandy Patinkin's quarantine co-existence there. | | | |   | | |
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "FORMER President Donald J. Trump's longtime banker at Deutsche Bank was pushed out of her job in December following an internal investigation that concluded that she did business with a client without properly disclosing it, according to regulatory records that were made public on Wednesday . Deutsche Bank's review found that Rosemary Vrablic, a senior private banker and managing director in its wealth management business in New York, 'engaged in undisclosed activities related to a real estate investment,' including buying a property 'from a client-managed entity,' the bank said in records filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The records said Ms. Vrablic, who left the bank in December, was 'permitted to resign.' Deutsche Bank's internal review concerned a 2013 real estate transaction between Ms. Vrablic and a company, Bergel 715 Associates. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, held at least a small ownership stake in Bergel 715, according to a financial disclosure report he filed with the government last summer." New York Times' David Enrich | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — A female state trooper claims in a discrimination charge that the New York State Police does not allow nursing moms in the department sufficient time or space for pumping breast milk. — The state Assembly approved a bill that would allow workers paid time off to get the coronavirus vaccine. — City Council Member Danny Dromm fired his longtime chief of staff, who is running to replace him on the Council. — The MTA has hired its first chief accessibility officer. — Manhattan's main animal shelter shut down and offloaded its animals to foster families because of a coronavirus outbreak among staff. | | | | JOIN TODAY - BUILDING PUBLIC TRUST AROUND THE VACCINE: How do we overcome the trust gap around the Covid-19 vaccines? How do we craft and deliver messages to break through fear and misinformation, especially in diverse and underserved communities that are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus? Join for a conversation with policymakers and public health experts about the urgent need to soothe fears and get Americans vaccinated. REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Fed Chair Jerome Powell … Nicolle Wallace … former Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) … Taimoor Shah … Gabrielle Bluestone … Blair Bender … Matt McDonald … Max Courtney MEDIAWATCH — Henry Gomez is joining NBC as a national political reporter. He previously reported for BuzzFeed. (h/t POLITICO Playbook) DC - NY CONNECTION — Former Capitol Hill staffers Kevin Fogarty and Eugene Patrone are launching a new government and public affairs firm called Ambrose Partners. Fogarty has been a senior advisor on Capitol Hill for over 20 years, including for Rep. Pete King. Patrone has advised multinational companies and has been a senior advisor to five members of congress. MAKING MOVES — The Parkside Group has hired Stephanie Olcese as vice president for government relations. Moving to new jobs within the firm are Jorge Perez, now the digital director, Madeleine Lohr, senior associate for data analytics, and Tim Costa , communications account executive... Michael Homison will join Sidley as a partner in its global Insurance practice in the firm's New York office. | | | | A message from New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming: Since opening its doors in 2011, Resorts World New York City has created thousands of good paying union jobs for New Yorkers and generated more than $3 billion for education for New York schools. As the state's largest taxpayer, they're proud of the investments made to revitalize their community and provide meaningful careers to so many.
Last year, when the pandemic struck, their commitment to their employees and the community never wavered. They provided employees with full employer-paid healthcare, supported their neighbors most in need by contributing to different community based organizations, and opened up their facilities for COVID testing.
As the state continues to recover from the worst economic crisis in decades, expansion of existing facilities will allow Resorts World NYC to create thousands of union jobs for New Yorkers, while generating desperately needed revenue for schools and surrounding communities. Learn More. | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "THE NEARLY 1,400-foot tower at 432 Park Avenue, briefly the tallest residential building in the world, was the pinnacle of New York's luxury condo boom half a decade ago, fueled largely by foreign buyers seeking discretion and big returns. Six years later, residents of the exclusive tower are now at odds with the developers , and each other, making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living. The claims include millions of dollars of water damage from plumbing and mechanical issues; frequent elevator malfunctions; and walls that creak like the galley of a ship — all of which may be connected to the building's main selling point: its immense height, according to homeowners, engineers and documents obtained by The New York Times. Less than a decade after a spate of record-breaking condo towers reached new heights in New York, the first reports of defects and complaints are beginning to emerge, raising concerns that some of the construction methods and materials used have not lived up to the engineering breakthroughs that only recently enabled 1,000-foot-high trophy apartments." New York Times' Stefanos Chen "REVEL, THE COMPANY best known for electric-moped sharing, says it is about to embark in a new direction by launching one of the largest hubs for quickly charging electric vehicles in New York City this spring. The facility will be located at the site of the former Pfizer building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and would have 30 stations open around the clock, capable of delivering 100 miles of charge to vehicles in about 20 minutes, the company said. 'If New York City is going to push large-scale electrification somebody needs to be building the infrastructure and Revel is leading the charge,' said Frank Reig, Revel's co-founder and chief executive." Wall Street Journal's Paul Berger
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