| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by AARP NY | Gov. Andrew Cuomo stood flanked by Black leaders on Wednesday to promote the coronavirus vaccine, and not for the first time. The governor has gathered with Black clergy at Manhattan's Javits Center, in Syracuse, on Long Island, and then at a church in Harlem — where he got his own Covid-19 shot and the biggest show of support yet — as he swats away calls for his resignation from several elected officials in his party. Former Rep. Charles Rangel summed up the sentiment of the group in the face of sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo: "Back off, until you've got some facts." It's a window into Cuomo's survival strategy, as Erin reports: embrace Black voters, who polls show continue to support him at rates higher than any other demographic. A Siena poll this week said 69 percent of Black voters believe Cuomo should not resign. Fifty-nine percent said they would vote to re-elect him to a fourth term, compared to just 34 percent of voters overall. "We all know how many people, particularly in our community, are incarcerated right now because of allegations. Allegations and facts are two different things," said Rev. Johnnie Green, the pastor of Harlem's Mount Neboh Baptist Church. He called demands for Cuomo's resignation "preposterous," saying, "there's going to be a lot of egg on a lot of people's faces if the facts come out in his favor." Still, a host of Black elected officials are among those calling for Cuomo to resign or be impeached. And some see Cuomo's strategy as pandering at best, cynical and exploitative at worst. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams called the governor's tactics "despicable," but not surprising. "I'm kind of disgusted that he's trying to use Black people as a shield for what he's done," said state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn), an impeachment backer, who predicted Cuomo's support from his base would erode as more allegations emerge. "Everyone has their limit. Some people have reached their limits months ago or years ago in response to the governor, and some people are not there yet," 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? No public schedule available by press time. WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability. | | | | A message from AARP NY: Our seniors deserve better. State lawmakers must act now to demand safe and accountable nursing homes for those who need it, and provide more funding for services to help seniors remain independent at home—where they want to be. Let's show New York seniors the respect and dignity they've earned. Learn more. | | |
|  | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "GOV. ANDREW CUOMO on Wednesday ducked questions about a former aide's sexual harassment allegations — including claims he said he'd be open to dating a woman in her 20s — by citing an impeachment investigation by the state Assembly. During an afternoon conference call, Cuomo tried to forestall queries from reporters by defiantly declaring he wouldn't address any issues related to the probe. 'The Assembly announced a law firm to conduct their review,' he said. 'I'm not going to take any questions or have any comments on the review. At this time, let the lawyers do the job and let them conduct the review.'" New York Post's Bernadette Hogan and Bruce Golding — "DESPITE the state attorney general's ongoing investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, senior aides to the governor said they are also conducting their own 'parallel review' of a female aide's recent account of being groped by Cuomo at the Executive Mansion late last year. 'We have our own inquiries ongoing,' a senior aide to the governor told the Times Union. 'We have an obligation to investigate any claim of sexual harassment. And we, after reporting (the female aide's allegations) to the (attorney general), were directed to continue our own inquiry. … So there are multiple inquiries.'" Times Union's Brendan Lyons — Cuomo accuser Lindsay Boylan said she won't be participating in the Assembly's "sham" investigation. — "A FORMER aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo who has accused him of fostering a hostile work environment will speak with investigators Thursday, becoming at least the second former Cuomo staffer to sit for an interview as part of the fast-moving sexual-harassment probe. Ana Liss, who now works as Monroe County's director of planning and development, said she has agreed to a Zoom interview Thursday afternoon with the investigators selected by state Attorney General Letitia James, who have asked her to block out three hours." USA Today Network's Jon Campbell — "NEW YORK Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office has hired outside lawyers to represent his Executive Chamber in an investigation into accusations that the governor acted inappropriately to aides in the workplace. The lawyers held a conference call with the governor's staff on Tuesday and urged employees to reach out with any concerns, according to people familiar with the call. At least one of the attorneys worked for the firm of Arnold & Porter, the people said. Three former aides and a current employee in the Executive Chamber have accused the governor of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior. State Attorney General Letitia James is overseeing an investigation into the allegations." Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind "WHILE the spotlight was on St. John's pandemic heroics, the hospital was quietly dealing with another crisis behind the scenes . As a safety-net hospital that primarily serves low-income patients, the hospital routinely operates at a loss, relying on subsidies from the state. After Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration hired consulting firm ToneyKorf Partners in 2019 to develop a plan to make St. John's financially viable, hospital leaders started to shave $24 million off its annual budget — mostly by laying off managerial staff and cutting support services. "But apparently, it wasn't enough. Last month, ToneyKorf consultants presented hospital leaders with three grim options, all of which would shrink St. John's to a fraction of its former size. Under one proposal, the 257-bed medical center would be stripped down to a 15-bed 'micro-hospital' with an emergency room attached. 'Having that kind of model defeats the purpose of trying to serve this community,' said Lee. 'Depending on where you live in the Rockaways, it could take over an hour to get to [Mount Sinai] South Nassau or Jamaica or Flushing [hospitals].'" Gothamist's Caroline Lewis — The mandatory 11 p.m. curfew for certain businesses in New York will end April 5. "ON OCTOBER 25, 2019, two days before her quarterly bill was due, Marie, 54, woke up to find that no water was coming out of her faucets . She had known she was about $800 behind on water bill payments, but hadn't realized that her water would be shut off. 'I thought I had until at least the next bill was due, on October 27,' Marie told New York Focus. When Marie called to have the water turned back on, Veolia, the private company that manages Buffalo's water services, demanded she pay at least half of what she owed on the spot, Marie said–more than $400. She borrowed the money from her aunt. Since her mother died a few years ago, Marie, who asked to withhold her last name, has struggled to make water payments that total about $300 each quarter for service to her own apartment and her mother's in their double decker house. 'There was no possible way I could do more than I was doing' to catch up, Marie said." NY Focus's Julia Rock #UpstateAmerica: A LaGrange man pleaded guilty to illegally selling sharks out of his pool. | | | | JOIN THE CONVERSATION, SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST": Power dynamics are shifting in Washington, and more people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. "The Recast" is a new twice-weekly newsletter that breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics, policy and power in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country, and hear from new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out on this new newsletter, SUBSCRIBE NOW. Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | |
| | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "INDOOR FITNESS CLASSES can resume in New York City starting March 22nd, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday — just a day after Mayor Bill de Blasio repeated his opposition to allowing groups of people to exercise indoors in close proximity. The fitness classes will be limited to 33% capacity, Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters. Participants will be required to wear masks and sign in with contact information. The studios will undergo inspections by local health departments. Gyms have been allowed to reopen since September of 2020 at a limited capacity, but indoor group fitness classes have been suspended since March 2020." Gothamist's Sophia Chang — The remaining yellow zones with additional restrictions will be lifted on Monday. "NINE MONTHS after racial justice protests swept across New York City and videos showed police punching, kicking and trapping demonstrators, the city agency responsible for investigating abuses has revealed the number of officers who have so far faced serious disciplinary charges . Two. The Civilian Complaint Review Board released the figures on Tuesday after ProPublica reported that the CCRB was declining to disclose how much progress it had made on protest cases. The new numbers show about 60% of the agency's 297 protest-related cases are still open. CCRB investigations can take a long time, about eight months on average. Its investigations into the summer protests have been slowed in particular by a lack of NYPD cooperation." ProPublica's Eric Umansky "WITH NEW YORK City's mayoral primary a little more than three months away and a deadline to qualify for the city's generous matching-funds program having just passed, pleas for donations have been in overdrive in recent days. But in the background, another spigot of money has quietly opened for two Democratic mayoral candidates who are trailing in early polls: Raymond J. McGuire and Shaun Donovan. An independent expenditure committee for Mr. McGuire, a former Wall Street executive, has garnered more than $3 million since Feb. 1, with more than 70 donations from business magnates, including Kenneth Langone, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot; the art world philanthropist Agnes Gund; and the real estate developer Aby J. Rosen. A new super PAC for Mr. Donovan, a former cabinet member in the Obama administration, in contrast, has drawn $1.02 million from just two donors — the primary benefactor being his father, William Donovan, an executive in the ad tech industry who donated $1 million." The New York Times' Dana Rubinstein "IN OFFICE SPACE tucked into the hulking Metro Mall in Middle Village, dozens of Board of Elections employees, candidates, and observers made history Tuesday as they began to hand count ballots cast in the BOE's first election to require multiple rounds of counting under the new ranked-choice voting system. (This is the second time New York City has adopted a form of RCV, the first was in the 1930s.) The additional tallies were triggered when no one candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the February 23rd special election for the 31st City Council district in Queens. Selvena Brooks-Powers led in the nine-candidate contest with just over 38% of the vote, followed by Pesach Osina who trailed her by only 207 votes." WNYC's Brigid Bergin IN THE COUNCIL — City lawmakers are expected to pass a resolution backed by mayoral candidate Eric Adams calling on the state to give local health departments more freedom to conduct Covid-19 vaccine rollouts. While it has no legal authority, it's a message to the Cuomo administration on politicizing vaccinations. "There are too many concerns about pandemic politics flying around and not enough concrete plans being implemented to expand access to vaccinations and deploy credible messengers that reach our at-risk communities," Adams said. — Amanda Eisenberg POLITICO will be co-hosting three NYC debates in June with NBC 4 New York/WNBC and Telemundo 47/WNJU in the races for mayor and comptroller. Moderators include City Hall Bureau Chief Sally Goldenberg, WNBC political reporter Melissa Russo, WNBC news anchor David Ushery and WNJU morning news anchor Allan Villafana. | | | | A message from AARP NY:   | | |
| | Scranton on the Hudson | | "PRESIDENT Joe Biden's relentless effort to avoid the day-to-day distractions of the political world is being put to the test by the growing calls for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign. Throughout the campaign and during his first two months in office, Biden's team installed zealous message discipline, ignoring the outcries of Republicans and Twitter alike. The effort is especially important as the administration tries to sell a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package to the public. But the strategy is running into hurdles as Biden, in his role as the head of the Democratic Party, is being pulled into the debate over Cuomo's fate. The pressure on Biden grew dramatically last week when most of New York's congressional delegation, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, called on Cuomo to step aside. The governor has remained defiant and kept up his prominent role this week on the White House's call with governors regarding the pandemic. By Wednesday, a question about the sexual harassment accusations against Cuomo was at the center of Biden's rare one-on-one TV interview." The Associated Press' Jonathan Lemire and Marina Villeneuve | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "WITH FORMER President Donald Trump's tax returns finally in hand, a team of New York prosecutors led by a newly hired former mob-buster is sending out fresh subpoenas and meeting face-to-face with key witnesses, scrutinizing Trump's business practices in granular detail. Amid the swirl of activity, the Manhattan district attorney's office is scheduled Friday to meet again with Trump's longtime former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, according to a person familiar with the investigation. It would be the eighth time he has spoken with investigators working for District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., dating to Cohen's time in federal prison for tax evasion and campaign finance violations." The Associated Press' Jim Mustian and Michael R. Sisak | | | | Did you know that POLITICO Pro has coverage and tools at the state level? All the state legislative and regulatory tracking, budget documents, state agency contact information, and everything else you need to stay ahead of state policy movement integrate into our smart and customizable platform. Learn more and become a Pro today. | | | | |
| | DATELINE D.C. | | FOR THE PAST YEAR, faced with a spike in violence against Asian Americans, lawmakers and activists from around the country have pushed for stronger anti-hate crime legislation, with mixed results. Now, in the aftermath of the deadly Atlanta shooting that killed eight people, demands for immediate change are growing louder . Democratic lawmakers have proposed policy fixes to address the rise in hate crimes in the wake of the pandemic. Last Thursday Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) announced plans to reintroduce legislation bolstering law enforcement's response to hate crimes against Asian Americans... Hate crimes are difficult to prosecute, partly because they're underreported and difficult to prove, which ultimately makes it harder to track them — and eradicate the problem. | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Several women's rights groups paid to have a plane fly a "Cuomo's Got to Go" banner over the Capitol on Wednesday. — Andrew Yang called for the NYPD Asian Hate Crime Task Force to be fully funded during a press conference Wednesday, in the wake of a mass shooting in Georgia and a steep uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes over the past year in New York. The NYPD is stepping up its presence in Asian American neighborhoods. — John Scrivani has been named New York City's next Office of Emergency Management commissioner. — Democrat Waylyn Hobbs won the race to be the mayor of the Village of Hempstead. — The NYPD has blown past its overtime budget. — Musicians at the Metropolitan Opera have voted to accept a deal that will give them their first paychecks since April, in return for returning to the bargaining table where management is seeking permanent pay cuts. — Maura Moynihan, the daughter of the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, admitted to spewing off a racist anti-China rant captured on video on Sunday. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Fox News' Jessica Curry and Karrah Kaplan … Bloomberg's Kate Hunter ... Chris Harris, VP at Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate … CNN's Zachary Cohen … Todd Hames … POLITICO's Nick Niedzwiadek … Froma Harrop … (was Wednesday): communications strategist Steven CF Anderson | | | | A message form AARP NY: What's happened in New York's nursing homes during the past eleven months is a tragedy. More than 13,625 seniors have died of COVID-19, and still chronic problems persist—like understaffing, especially when it comes to direct care for residents. Our seniors deserve better. State lawmakers must act now to demand safe and accountable nursing homes for those who need it, and provide more funding for services to help seniors remain independent at home—where they want to be. Let's show New York seniors the respect and dignity they've earned. Learn more. | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | THE DE BLASIO administration is urging the court to dismiss a lawsuit holding up the rezoning of Gowanus, saying a recent executive order negates claims that hearings must be held in person. In a legal filing Wednesday, the city pointed to a March 13 executive order signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio suspending rules that community board hearings for the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure must be at a 'place of convenient public assembly.' Community groups fighting the rezoning have demanded the city postpone the rezoning approval process until in-the-flesh hearings return. An attorney for the city, Rachel Ramirez-Guest, argued that the groups' claims didn't hold water even before the executive order, but that the mayor's action eliminates any ambiguity on the matter." The Real Deal's Kathryn Brenzel "THE MTA WANTS to increasingly tap private developers for help with accessibility upgrades in subway stations — but critics warn that similar partnerships have a spotty track record. The transit agency and the Department of City Planning are pushing the "Elevate Transit: Zoning for Accessibility" proposal to have real estate developers build and maintain elevators that connect their properties to neighboring stations outside of Manhattan. In exchange, developers are granted zoning bonuses that can include expanding a building's floor space. MTA Chairman Patrick Foye touts public-private partnerships as an option for improving access for riders with disabilities in a system where only 27% of the 493 subway and Staten Island Railway stations are currently accessible to riders who use wheelchairs or have other mobility challenges." The City's Jose Martinez
| | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment