| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by Opportunities for NY | The Manhattan district attorney will soon get his hands on former President Donald Trump's tax returns, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that he must turn over the information and reams of financial information, finally bringing a long legal battle to an end. The contents of those documents might be a little less tantalizing to the average reader now that Trump is out of office, and the New York Times obtained and published much of the information. But the ruling is significant because it clears a hurdle to the criminal investigation Manhattan DA Cy Vance is pursuing against Trump and his businesses. Recall that now that Trump is no longer president, he has lost immunity to criminal indictment and prosecution. Exact contours of the probe are still murky, but the DA is looking into whether financial crimes were committed by Trump or his associates. The DA's investigators now expect to enforce the subpoena and collect the records from Trump's accounting firm, Mazars USA, as a grand jury continues to investigate the case. "The work continues," Vance said in a three-word statement greeting the ruling. In an added twist, Vance hasn't said whether he's running for re-election this year, but a crowded field of candidates has formed for his office on the assumption that he won't, so it's not clear who will be carrying this case to completion. And for anyone who has missed Trump's angry rants since he left office and got banned from Twitter, he launched a choice one in response to the high court's ruling. His statement went after a "heavily reported enemy of mine," Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has no evident connection to the investigation, and repeated his false claims that he won the November election. "In the meantime, murders and violent crime are up in New York City by record numbers, and nothing is done about it. Our elected officials don't care," he said (murders are up, but they are far below their record highs), before vowing to "fight on." IT'S TUESDAY. 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 schedule announced yet. WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability. | | | | 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 movie theaters can reopen at limited capacity on March 5, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, after being closed for nearly a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Cuomo said at a news briefing Monday that theaters in the five boroughs must follow social-distancing protocols that were already being used in other parts of New York, where theaters reopened in October. 'Movie theaters in New York will be brought in line with the rest of the state,' Mr. Cuomo said. The Democrat governor said movie theaters in New York City will be limited to 25% capacity, must use assigned seats and require the use of masks. No more than 50 people could attend a screening and theaters must employ enhanced cleaning and ventilation protocols, he said." Wall Street Journal's Ben Chapman and Joseph De Avila "WHEN PUBLIC HOUSING tenant Eleanore Bumpurs' daughter and son tested positive for elevated levels of lead in their blood a few years ago, NYCHA managers assured her that the Forest Houses, the Bronx development she called home, was 'lead free.' 'They told me, 'We don't use lead paint anymore,' recalled Bumpurs, whose namesake great-grandmother was gunned down by cops in a 1980s shooting that shook the city. 'They tried to put this elsewhere,' she added. 'They said children use jewelry that has lead.' NYCHA moved her to another apartment in the Forest Houses, and her son registered an elevated blood-lead level again. But because officials considered the complex to be free of lead, they didn't inspect either apartment. Last week, Bumpurs learned the truth: NYCHA, responding to THE CITY's report on her apartment woes, discovered lead paint in her bathroom. Hers is one of over 24,000 apartments to test positive for the toxin since 2018. Inspections, meanwhile, are set for tens of thousands more units across the city." The City's Greg B. Smith "NEW YORK MAYOR Bill de Blasio appointed a 'recovery czar' to lead the city's revival, nearly a year after its first Covid-19 cases shut down the economy. Lorraine Grillo becomes a senior adviser to de Blasio, leading what the mayor called a newly-constituted, weekly 'war room' that spans across government leaders, agencies, business leaders and nonprofits. The city had been overwhelmingly focused on 'the emergency reality of turning this city around and the battle of Covid,' de Blasio said during a Monday briefing. 'Now, to bring all these strands together, we decided a czar could really make this thing go into the next gear.'" Bloomberg's Shelly Banjo FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Road to Justice NYC — a partnership of health care workers union 1199 SEIU and advocacy groups Make the Road Action and Community Voices Heard Power — is endorsing 11 additional candidates for City Council. The new entity , which formed last year to influence the makeup of the next City Council, is backing Marjorie Velazquez in the Bronx and Lincoln Restler and Sandy Nurse in Brooklyn. Velazquez's race got easier with recent news that incumbent Mark Gjonaj won't run for re-election. In a nod to the advent of ranked-choice voting this year, the partnership is backing more than one candidate in several races: a split endorsement of Ischia Bravo and Elisa Crespo in the Bronx; and in Queens, John Choe and Sandra Ung in the 20th district; Shekar Krishnan and Carolyn Tran in the 25th district; and Amit Bagga and Jesse Laymon in the 26th district. The group is picking candidates who align with its preferences for cutting the NYPD budget and prioritizing low-income communities of color in pandemic recovery. It is considering an independent expenditure on these races. — Sally Goldenberg | | | | 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 spent the Legislature's first day back after recess fuming that Democrats were unwilling to join them in taking immediate action against Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday. The GOP put together the largest rally in a year on the Capitol's Million Dollar Staircase, usually the site of multiple large gatherings every hour in late February. Dozens of members squeezed together to assail the governor's handling of the pandemic: "The only science they're following is political science," said Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt. Meanwhile, Democrats are figuring out how best to walk back the emergency powers lawmakers gave Cuomo when the pandemic hit last year. And the Senate passed a long-planned nursing home reform package on Monday which, while not directly confrontational with the governor, did signal a willingness to highlight the issues surrounding the scandal that has engulfed the administration. But well over a week after many Democrats said they favor reducing the governor's ability to unilaterally issue directives with the force of law, there has yet to be any concrete action on that front. POLITICO's Bill Mahoney and Anna Gronewold — "NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo's approval rating dropped modestly in recent weeks, according to a Morning Consult poll released on Monday. But it remains high compared with polls taken before the pandemic hit about a year ago. The poll found that 57 percent of voters approve of Cuomo's job performance and 38 percent disapprove. That's based on 3,203 responses received from Feb. 12-21, immediately after the Feb. 11 publication of a New York Post story detailing his administration's decision to withhold data about the deaths of nursing home residents." POLITICO's Bill Mahoney "STARTING Friday, nursing homes will be permitted to readmit visitors for the first time in nearly a year, ending a painful period that left families distraught and cut off from their loved ones — and, in many cases, only able to wave from outside their windows. Cuomo laid out guidelines to prevent a resurgence of the virus in the facilities, their communities devastated with thousands of elderly residents killed by the virus. If the positivity level in a county is under 5% on a seven-day rolling average, no test is required to visit the nursing homes, though state officials recommend it, said Dr. Howard Zucker, the state's health commissioner. If the county's positivity level falls between 5% and 10%, visitors must test for the virus within 72 hours before the visit, and must be negative, he said. If the county's level is over 10%, no visits are allowed, Zucker said." Newsday's Bart Jones "LAWYERS for Martin Gugino have filed a widely anticipated lawsuit against the City of Buffalo , alleging the city violated the 75-year-old protester's rights when police pushed him to the pavement in the waning moments of a demonstration outside City Hall. The lawsuit, filed in federal court, says the city violated Gugino's rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, unreasonable seizure and due process, among other things, at dusk on June 4. The shove, captured on video and viewed around the world, left the lanky Gugino unconscious, with a fractured skull and blood trickling from an ear." Buffalo News' Matthew Spina "TWO Walgreens stores closed last Friday afternoon — one on North Pearl Street and one in Menands. Patients' prescriptions are being sent to neighboring locations, the blue signs posted outside the stores read. But for many patients and former employees, the closure is not that simple . 'I feel miserable. This store is closing and I don't have a job,' one employee at the North Pearl location said the night before the store closed. 'And for the people in the community that shop here too, it's not fair to them.' The closings have community members, pharmacy academics, city officials, and state legislators concerned about the lack of access to health care and food that these pharmacy closures will create — as well as leaving 27 employees out of a job. … 'This is creating a health care desert, and a vaccination desert,' said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. "Many people rely on their pharmacy for health care, for getting the flu vaccine, for being able to talk to a pharmacist about concerns or questions that they have with respect to conditions or medications. And this is again negatively impacting a neighborhood that is predominately made up of African Americans." Times Union's Claire Bryan FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Two dozen think tanks, unions and community groups have signed on to support legislation to end the state tax break for the federal Opportunity Zone program. The bill sponsored by state Sen. Mike Gianaris has the backing of labor and advocacy groups, including Reinvent Albany, 1199 SEIU, the Retail. Wholesale and Department Store Union, NYPIRG, and others who issued a memo in support. "There is zero evidence that the program actually boosts the communities it means to serve. Many studies find that similar programs benefit large corporations instead of revitalizing economies," they write. #UpstateAmerica: 'Plenty of fresh water and no hurricanes': Yes, Syracuse and Buffalo are still what scientists consider 'climate havens' of the future. | | | |   | | |
| | ... 2020 VISION ... | | NEARLY A YEAR after Mike Bloomberg's $1 billion presidential campaign crashed into Super Tuesday, his staffers are still dealing with the aftershocks. In recent weeks, aides to the former Democratic candidate started receiving tax forms that in some cases list incomes that are tens of thousands of dollars more than they were compensated in salary. The added amounts account for paid housing and other generous benefits they received last year, but the price tag is coming to many as an unwelcome surprise. In interviews, former Bloomberg aides said they were stunned by the high amounts, examples of which were reviewed by POLITICO. One staffer was shown to have been compensated more than $50,000 than they earned. In another case, a former staffer's gross amount was about $25,000 more. Others had incomes that were in the range of $10,000 more than what they were paid. POLITICO's Christopher Cadelago | | | | JOIN US TODAY 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 | | — A special election for a City Council seat in southeast Queens is set for today, the city's second contest to use ranked-choice voting. — A Liberty man building an explosive device for his child's gender reveal party died after it exploded. — Dozens of people vaccinated at Jones Beach will have to redo their shots because they were stored at the wrong temperature and won't be effective. — Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn won't run for mayor this year. — An apprenticeship program that trains high school graduates for jobs at the MTA is on the chopping block. — Comptroller candidate David Weprin and mayoral hopeful Scott Stringer say they will give away campaign donations from a Queens trash hauler convicted of federal bribery charges earlier this month. — A Queens woman who allegedly drove her car through a crowd of protesters was hit with another misdemeanor charge. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: S.E. Cupp … Jennifer Epstein … Rebecca Chalif … Ben Ryberg … Rebecca Newberger Goldstein … Fox News' Erenia Michell … Jones Day's Nikki McArthur … Molly Hooper … Dana Gemmill WHAT WALL STREET IS READING — DAVID MCCORMICK in Fortune, " America needs smart immigration reforms to win the race for global talent" WEEKEND WEDDING — Alysia Sands, executive director for publicity at Fox Entertainment and a Showtime and NBCUniversal alum, got married to Michael H. Weber, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter ("The Disaster Artist"). The couple were set up by two mutual friends in 2015 and wed at City Hall. Pic by Mel Barlow | | | | 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 | | "THE DE BLASIO administration is opposing a City Council proposal to simplify the process for future development, saying legislation from Council Speaker Corey Johnson would be way too expensive. The bill, scheduled for a Council hearing on Wednesday, would cost the city about half a billion dollars per decade, the administration estimates — and that at a time of shrinking tax revenues due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the administration's reading of the bill, every community district in the city would have to undergo assessments of three different development scenarios every 10 years. With an average 'environmental impact assessment' costing $2.5 million to carry out, and the city having 59 community districts, that comes to about $450 million per decade, according to the administration." New York Daily News' Shant Shahrigian "AFTER A DOZEN years of planning, the rezoning of one of Brooklyn's more affluent enclaves could fall apart over a lawsuit about the most mundane of topics: Zoom meetings. Local Councilman Brad Lander has organized several years of community planning meetings in order to rezone Gowanus, a semi-industrial Brooklyn neighborhood known for its eponymous and heavily polluted canal. The new zoning would cover 80 blocks between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, and it would pave the way for 8,200 new apartments, 700,000 square feet of commercial space, and 251,000 square feet of community facilities on land that is now largely zoned for manufacturing. Then, last month, just as the city was getting ready to kick-off the rezoning process, local community group Voice of Gowanus sued the Department of City Planning, alleging that online public hearings conducted on Zoom were illegal and inequitable." Commercial Observer's Rebecca Baird-Remba "DEVELOPERS NEGOTIATING deals for a $15 billion modernization of John F. Kennedy International Airport were thrown a lifeline Monday when New York City extended the airport's lease to 2060 . Plans to redevelop the airport in Queens stalled last year as the coronavirus pandemic decimated passenger numbers and airline revenue world-wide. The airport's operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has spent the past year renegotiating deals with private-sector consortiums of airlines, terminal operators and developers, who were expected to finance more than $10 billion of the redevelopment plans. But the negotiations were hampered by the airport lease, which was set to expire in 2050, leaving investors with too little time to complete lengthy construction projects, recoup costs and make a profit. Seth Lehman, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, said Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision Monday to extend the lease by 10 years should help developers secure financing and continue the airport's modernization." Wall Street Journal's Paul Berger
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