| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming | The snowstorm is dealing a blow to New York's already struggling coronavirus vaccination push, canceling all of New York City's appointments and ones at state-run hubs downstate for Monday and today. Though officials promise that appointments will be quickly rescheduled, losing two days of shots is no small thing when the city has already missed its goal of vaccinating a million people in the month of January, and the vaccination drive is racing the clock against new emerging strains of the virus. The snowstorm also shut down subway service at outdoor stations, but a special election for City Council in Queens remains on for today, with promises of extra plows around poll sites. In-person school is closed again today, though they won't give the kids a real snow day from remote learning. But let's check in with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, shall we? Never one to miss a chance to be in the thick of things, the governor spent the morning of his snow day driving himself through the storm from Albany to New York City to... get to the bottom of this snow situation, personally. This, after Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered all non-essential traffic off city streets, and Cuomo also urged New Yorkers to stay off the roads as he declared a state of emergency. Sure, the governor qualifies as essential, but was this really wise? "Life is options," he told 1010 WINS from the car. "The airports are closing as we speak, and for me, it's walking or driving and I'll take driving, you know? I want to be out there." 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? No public schedule available by press time. 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 | | "BILLIONAIRE STEPHEN ROSS has weighed in. So have Bernie Sanders, the lead singer of Vampire Weekend and three local members of Congress. In the end, however, New York City's first test of ranked-choice voting will come down to constituents like Mary Zuckerman, a Briarwood native who visited the polls Jan. 25 to cast her ballot early. Zuckerman, one of 2,039 early voters in the special race to replace Rory Lancman, said she did her homework before filling out her ballot inside Queens Borough Hall. The new ranked-choice format allows voters to designate their top five candidates in special elections and primaries. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the last-place finisher is eliminated and voters who picked that candidate will have their second choice tallied. That process will continue until one candidate receives a majority of the vote. 'I thought it was a wonderful idea, but at first I was afraid I couldn't wrap my brain around it,' Zuckerman said. 'But I studied the chart and thought about it and figured it out.'" Queens Eagle's David Brand "IN HIS VIRTUAL State of the City address last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio touted his new plan to give community leaders a role in selecting NYPD precinct commanders. The mayor spoke against a backdrop of a slide showing him smiling as he stood with a cop in a white shirt and another man. A second image shows de Blasio, the same cop and other officers, with the title, 'Community Voice in Choosing Precinct Commanders.' But the high-ranking police officer in the images is long out of the picture at Brooklyn's 73rd Precinct — transferred from his Brownsville command after he stood by and watched one of his cops shove a young protester during an anti-police brutality demonstration in Brooklyn last spring. Councilmember Alicka Ampry-Samuel (D-Brooklyn) said she was shocked when she recognized Deputy Inspector Craig Edelman in the State of the City presentation — and was immediately bombarded with texts from community leaders." The City's Greg B. Smith and Eileen Grench "NEW YORK CITY'S streetscape would change drastically under mayoral hopeful Kathryn Garcia's vision for revamping transportation in the Big Apple. And Garcia is betting those changes would make New Yorkers' commutes easier and soften the city's carbon imprint on the environment. The former sanitation commissioner wants to launch a residential parking program, replace gas-powered school buses with a fleet that relies on electricity and install more electric car chargers on city streets and in parking garages." New York Daily News' Michael Gartland | | | | 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 | | "A PERFUNCTORY meeting of the state Senate Investigations Committee on Monday became heated when Republican Sen. Tom O'Mara unsuccessfully sought to subpoena Health Commissioner Howard Zucker over gaining more information on the deaths of nursing home residents during the pandemic. It ended with O'Mara's microphone being muted during the virtual meeting. But it's unlikely to quell the rising voices from both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature over the controversy surrounding nursing homes during the pandemic and the state Department of Health's undercounting of deaths as laid out in a report by Attorney General Letitia James last week. Zucker is scheduled to testify to lawmakers on Feb. 25. But last Thursday, he released for the first time a break down of nursing home resident deaths in the facilities themselves and hospitals. It also came after Investigations Committee Chairman James Skoufis earlier last week once again did not rule out a subpoena in order to compel Zucker to provide more nursing home data. That did not stop O'Mara from pushing the subpoena now 'in light of the bombshell report.'" Spectrum's Nick Reisman "GOV. ANDREW CUOMO on Monday shot down the idea of expanding the eligibility list for coronavirus vaccines to include restaurant workers — saying it was a 'cheap, insincere' suggestion when state reserves of the shots are already stretched thin. The governor nixed the notion just days after announcing that city restaurants and bars could resume indoor operations at 25 percent capacity starting Valentine's Day." New York Post's Bernadette Hogan, Nolan Hicks, and Aaron Feis THE AFTERMATH: "Some officers involved in an incident on Friday that resulted in the 9-year-old girl being pepper-sprayed in her face have been suspended, the city of Rochester Director of Communications, Justin Roj announced Monday afternoon. The suspensions, on full pay, are effective immediately and will continue, at a minimum, until the completion of an internal review. The release did not name the officers suspended, who are still being determined. A total of nine attended the incident. 'What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community,' said Mayor Warren, who made the decision after meeting with interim Rochester Police Department chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan." Democrat & Chronicle staff reports "FORMER State Sen. Monica Martinez has landed as a regional parks department deputy director on Long Island, earning a $122,092 salary, state records show. Martinez, of Brentwood, was one of a wave of Democrats who won State Senate seats in 2018 as the party swept to control of the chamber. She won Senate District 3, which covers parts of Suffolk County's South Shore. But she lost her reelection bid in November to Republican Alexis Weik. Martinez began her new job on Jan. 13, according to state payroll records. She couldn't be reached immediately for comment. Coincidentally, Brian Foley, the last Democrat to represent Senate District 3 before Monica Martinez, also had been hired by the State Parks Department in 2011 after he lost reelection in 2010." Newsday's Yancey Roy "'WHHAAATTTT doeeesss aaaaa yelllloooww lighhhttt meeannn?' If the 1979 scene from the classic TV show 'Taxi' were being filmed in 2021, Reverend Jim would never have uttered that line to his friends as he attempted to cheat on his written license exam at a New York Department of Motor Vehicles office. Instead, with New York poised to let more people take their written driver's tests online , he would be on a laptop at his dining room table. Hilarious. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated many technological changes, and another is on its way in the coming weeks: online testing for those seeking a Class D New York's driver's permit. The coming-of-age days for many teenagers of having to traipse to some drab DMV will be over for many New Yorkers, as the state DMV gets set to expand a 3-month-old pilot program to allow license permit applicants to take their mandatory test via online means. 'We're just trying to get all the kinks out right now,' state DMV Commissioner Mark Schroeder told state lawmakers this week during a hearing on the state budget." Buffalo News' Tom Precious ICYMI, FINALLY A WIN FOR WOODSTOCK 50: Organizers won damages in a lawsuit against an ex-investor over the Upstate New York music festival that never happened. #UpstateAmerica: Dirtbikes and ATVs invading Schenectady streets are "a real drag" on the quality of life. | | | |   | | |
| | Scranton on the Hudson | | AMANDA LEFTON, the first assistant secretary for energy and environment under New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will become the next director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, BOEM and Interior spokespeople said on Monday. Lefton spent two years working for Cuomo, including a brief stretch for Ali Zaidi, who is now President Joe Biden's deputy new national climate adviser. As head of BOEM, she will oversee Biden's push to expand offshore wind energy and will have the opportunity to reinstate oil drilling rig safety requirements unwound by the Trump administration. POLITICO reported she was likely to get the nod last week. Lefton previously spent seven years as a policy expert at The Nature Conservancy in New York. POLITICO's Eric Wolff | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | "REPRESENTATIVE ALEXANDRIA Ocasio-Cortez on Monday said she was a sexual assault survivor, a disclosure she made during a strikingly personal recounting of her experiences during the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol last month. 'I'm a survivor of sexual assault,' Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said during an Instagram Live appearance, her voice wavering with emotion. 'And I haven't told many people that in my life. But when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other.' Speaking to more than 150,000 viewers — a number that fluctuated up and down slightly through the evening — Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 31, walked viewers through the days leading up to the riot as well as the day of it. At one point, she appeared to wipe away tears." New York Times' Katie Glueck "THE CALIFORNIA MAN who allegedly threatened the families of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and a prominent journalist on Jan. 6 is an unhinged drunk who previously threatened police officers and their families, a prosecutor and his own defense attorney revealed in court Monday . Suspect Robert Lemke, 35, was ordered detained at the federal court hearing in the Northern District of California, where a prosecutor revealed his history of making threats against law enforcement." New York Post's Ben Feuerherd "CONGRESSWOMAN ELISE Stefanik (R-NY) is proposing new bipartisan legislation recommending that Guantanamo Bay inmates be last in line for coveted COVID-19 vaccine doses. The Pentagon on Saturday hastily paused plans to vaccinate the 40 alleged terrorists at Guantanamo after The Post reported that the military was offering the shots to jihadists including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad before ordinary citizens. 'Every American should have access to vaccines before these heinous terrorists,' Stefanik said on Monday in a statement announcing her bill." New York Post's Steven Nelson | | | | JOIN WEDNESDAY - AN UNEQUAL BURDEN FOR WOMEN DURING THE PANDEMIC: Covid-19 dealt a significant blow to working women as household work, child care and the care of older adults disproportionately fall to them. A recent report found that 1 in 4 women considered cutting back hours spent at their jobs or dropping out of the workforce altogether, citing increased household and child care responsibilities during the pandemic. How do we start even the burden? Join POLITICO for a virtual discussion on women, work and caregiving during Covid-19. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — A glimmer of hope: Covid-19 cases fell 10 percent over past week in New York. — Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign stopped requiring volunteers to fill out non-disclosure agreements after other candidates objected to the practice. — A candidate for City Council on the Upper West Side wants to pedestrianize a big stretch of Broadway. — The Sexual Harassment Working Group announced the half-dozen bills that form its agenda for the 2021 session. — A protester who was tackled by police on camera is now running for Erie County sheriff. — LISTEN: DFS head Linda Lacewell told the Capitol Pressroom about a new branch in her office focused on price gouging by drug manufacturers. — "Correction Department brass suspended a Rikers Island warden and moved another to a less prestigious division months after he tried to help set up a controversial inmate mentorship program without agency approval." | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Barry Diller … McKay Coppins … Carrie Dann ... Michael Luo … Clare Randt … Teddy Downey MEDIAWATCH: Michael Hill will be the new host of WNYC's "Morning Edition," and Sean Carlson will become the permanent host of "All Things Considered." — "NY Times banking reporter Flitter to write book on racism in finance," by Talking Biz News' Chris Roush MAKING MOVES: Deborah Archer, a professor at NYU School of Law, has been elected the ACLU's new president, the first Black person to hold the post. | | | | 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 | | "DURING THE PANDEMIC, New York City's musical institutions and presenters have tried to adapt as best as possible, given the restrictions on holding indoor events for an audience. The New York Philharmonic took to the streets with its Bandwagon concert series. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has streamed live concerts, performed in venues without a crowd. Now, the Kaufman Music Center, a fixture on Manhattan's Upper West Side since 1952, is trying another approach: putting artists behind a storefront window to entertain New Yorkers as they pass by, with the music amplified on the street. The series, appropriately dubbed Musical Storefronts, kicked off in January and is scheduled to run through the end of March. The center is careful not to announce the exact location of the performances, except to say they take place somewhere north of Columbus Circle on the West Side, to keep large crowds from gathering for them." Wall Street Journal's Charles Passy "BROWNSVILLE TENANT Debra King has been waiting for a new owner for her building for years — a change that seemed imminent in October 2019, when a bankruptcy judge ordered a sale. Today, she and neighbors say they are shivering in the cold, with their building still owned by an affiliate of the nonprofit Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation (NEBHDCo) three years after city housing officials sought to put the property and four others into receivership following missed mortgage payments. 'We shouldn't have to live like this, with no heat,' said King, 60, who has lived in the Mother Gaston Boulevard building since 1994." The City's Gabriel Sandoval
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