| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold with Jonathan Custodio | Presented by Uber Driver Stories | The budget is getting later by the minute, but Albany lawmakers have now finalized some of the stickier parts of the more than $200 billion spending plan that is now five days behind schedule. Easter afternoon, legislative sources confirmed a tentative agreement includes a big bump on tax rates for the state's highest earners and some corporations, a step that is estimated to raise about $4.3 billion in revenue. They're also hoping to include an additional $500 million that mobile sports betting could eventually rake in. The increases would start for filers who report making more than $1 million, and would continue with two new brackets of high earners: Those making more than $5 million and those making more than $25 million. The new rates would be 9.65, 10.3 and 10.9 percent, respectively. Combined with New York City's existing rate of 3.88 percent, it would mean all of the city's millionaires would be charged the highest top income tax rate in the country. (California's rate is 13.3 percent for this group.) Lawmakers are supposed to start voting today on a couple of different budget bills that have already been finalized. They could finish up early this week, some of our optimistic friends on the inside say. But the bill that holds all the scaries — fondly known as The Big Ugly — has been neither printed nor passed. This is Albany negotiating, after all, and there are some other items — like who exactly would qualify for a multibillion-dollar unemployment fund for undocumented immigrants — that are reportedly creating some tension among Democrats. Until everything is decided, nothing is. 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 Uber Driver Stories: Meet Olivia. Because of her multiple sclerosis (MS) and fibromyalgia, Olivia has trouble standing for long periods of time. A traditional 9-to-5 job just won't work for her. Driving with Uber gives Olivia the flexibility to decide when to work, when to spend time with her family, and when to focus on rest. Watch her story in her own words below . | | |
|  | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "ON APRIL 14, 2020, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo took time out of one of his regular coronavirus news conferences to castigate President Donald Trump for politicizing the crisis. 'This is too important for politics,' the governor said, citing mounting death rates and hospitalizations in New York. 'It's a no-politics zone, right?... This is no time for politics, and this is no time to fight.' A few hours later, an administration aide was instructed to print a list of poll questions for the governor to approve before they went into the field the next day, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The survey would quiz New Yorkers on whether they supported sending emergency medical equipment downstate, when schools and businesses should reopen and whether Cuomo had been 'too cooperative, too hostile, or just about right' in dealing with Trump on the pandemic, among other topics, according to a copy obtained by The Post… "The poll was among a number of moves Cuomo made to assess and bolster his political standing, even as his state was engulfed in the first deadly wave of the pandemic, according to documents and people familiar with the governor's office, underscoring how consumed he was with burnishing his image amid one of the most acute moments of the crisis." Washington Post's Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer "'SANDREW' was the perfect couple. The beautiful and warm TV cooking-show star softened the gruff, hard-charging governor's sharp edges. Her telegenic smile seemed to transform his perpetual scowl. During their 14 years together Sandra Lee never publicly criticized her life partner, and Andrew Cuomo gushed about the 'godsend' who helped him raise his three daughters. When she became sick with cancer, he was seen as a loving fixture by her side. In September 2019, the fairytale romance suddenly unraveled and a disbelieving public clamored to know why. Now, as a tornado of sexual-harassment charges swirls around Cuomo, the first clues may be emerging . Lee, ever composed, remains outwardly stoic and above the fray — even as multiple sources told The Post they suspect Cuomo was cheating on her with at least one staffer and possibly several." New York Post's Sara Nathan "NEW YORK lags way behind the rest of the country when it comes to inoculating people over age 65 against the coronavirus, according to the latest CDC statistics. The Empire State ranks 44th in the country on the percentage of folks over 65 who have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot, according to CDC data. Across the country, older people have been given vaccination priority, and 73 percent of Americans over 65 have now received at least one dose. But in NY, the number of seniors with one dose under their sleeves is just 67 percent." New York Post's Natalie O'Neill and Jesse O'Neill "IN DECEMBER AND MARCH, the federal government allotted $2.3 billion in rent relief to the up to 1.2 million New Yorkers who are behind on their rent. How to distribute these funds is largely up to New York's state government . Lawmakers and tenant advocates say that in ongoing budget negotiations, Governor Andrew Cuomo is pushing to impose stringent requirements on tenants that could significantly delay and restrict the distribution of relief. The state's last rent relief program rejected the vast majority of applicants and distributed only $47 million of its $100 million budget. 'That program was designed to fail,' said Ellen Davidson, a tenant attorney at the Legal Aid Society, citing a byzantine application process and proof-of-eligibility requirements. Davidson said that the legislature has taken steps in its budget proposals to avoid similar pitfalls….But lawmakers say that the governor is again proposing extensive means-testing of tenants applying for relief, similar to some of the conditions that hamstrung the previous rent relief program, as well as reduced protections against evictions and rent hikes." NY Focus' Akash V. Mehta — Housing advocates are losing hope the Housing Access Voucher Program will be included for homeless New Yorkers. #UpstateAmerica: Your 2021 social schedule is filling up fast: Rochester's (slightly reimagined) Lilac Festival is a go and the Jefferson County Dairy Parade is back, baby! | | | | JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION, SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" NEWSLETTER: Power dynamics are shifting in Washington and across the country, 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 our 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 important new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | |
| | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "FOR NEW YORK CITY'S economy, the last 12 months have amounted to one long, brutal winter. The pandemic forced the shutdown of most of the city's businesses, wiped out hundreds of thousands of jobs and kept away tens of millions of tourists. By many measures, the nation's biggest city suffered the greatest losses and faces one of the longest and steepest climbs back. Shows will not return to Broadway stages until after Labor Day, and many workers will not begin commuting to the office and buying lunch at the corner deli for months, if they return at all. But for the first time since the city went on lockdown late last March, there are palpable signs of rebirth , fueled by a growing supply of Covid-19 vaccines and an impending gusher of federal aid to City Hall, the schools, the transit system, restaurants and theaters." The New York Times' Patrick McGeehan — Performing arts venues were allowed to reopen Friday at 33 percent of their usual capacity. — An invited audience saw a free pop-up show Saturday night at St. James Theatre, the first Broadway event since theaters were shut down over a year ago. — Jerry Seinfeld headlined the reopening of Gotham Comedy Club Friday night. AN INFUSION of outside spending is set to flood into the New York City mayoral race beginning Tuesday, dwarfing the efforts of the candidates themselves. A political action committee called New Start NYC has reserved $2.74 million of television ads through the beginning of May, according to data from AdImpact. The independent group is hoping to bend the race toward Shaun Donovan, a former Obama cabinet secretary who has consistently trailed the frontrunners ahead of the June 22 Democratic primary with polling support in the single digits. "Our ad buy is designed to educate voters about Shaun's experience managing crises from housing to Zika, and why that makes him uniquely equipped help to move New York City forward," Brittany Wise, the PAC's treasurer, said via email. The PAC was seeded with $1 million from Donovan's father Michael, a marketing executive. POLITICO's Joe Anuta — Maya Wiley released an ethics plan proposing to ban lobbying by anyone who works for her administration for the duration of her time in office and to bar city workers from doing political work for their bosses. WHEN I MET Andrew Yang for lunch in front of Shanghai 21, a popular restaurant in the crook of Mott Street in Manhattan's Chinatown, he seemed visibly nervous under his "Yang for New York" mask. As he delivered terse answers to the professional photographer asking him whether he preferred the Mets or the Yankees, I saw curious onlookers and fans snapping photos from afar, from millennials to immigrant grannies. He kept glancing at them, as if he wanted to bolt from the photo shoot, go back to the Yang Gang and avoid our scheduled interview. Which was not the best mood for the purposes of our lunch. This was supposed to be the moment when Yang finally opened up about his experiences as an Asian American man — a topic he'd sidestepped, as far as I could tell, his entire life. But now he could sidestep the issue no longer. POLITICO's Tina Nguyen — Yang returned to the campaign trail Saturday after being hospitalized with a kidney stone. "NEW YORK CITY plans to reopen many of its municipal buildings to government workers in May, but the effort has been complicated by an increase in Covid-19 variant cases and union leaders raising concerns about the virus spreading in offices. Last month Mayor Bill de Blasio set May 3 as the target date to begin returning 80,000 government workers to city buildings...Some city government workers have objected to returning to offices, pointing to the city's positivity rate, which has hovered at or above 6% for weeks, and to city health officials' recent warnings that five Covid-19 variants, including ones first found in the U.K., Brazil and South Africa, have accounted for the majority of new virus cases in the city." Wall Street Journal's Katie Honan "FOR MOST AMERICANS, the third stimulus payment, like the first two, arrived as if by magic, landing unprompted in the bank or in the mail. Imagine not having a bank account or a mailing address. Or a phone. Or identification. Charlie Velez, sitting on a milk crate outside the Grand Street subway station on the Lower East Side last month clinking 65 cents in a paper cup, is 0 for 3 on stimulus checks. 'I didn't know the process,' he said. Mr. Velez, born in Brooklyn 58 years ago, appears to qualify and could still collect all three payments, totaling $3,200, if he filed a 2020 tax return. But he has not filed taxes in years. The closest he comes to the banking system is when he sleeps in an A.T.M. vestibule on Delancey Street. Mr. Velez said that though outreach workers occasionally approached him to offer help, when it came to the stimulus, 'No one has mentioned it to me.' … Interviews with homeless people in New York City over the last couple of weeks found that some mistakenly assumed they were ineligible for the stimulus. Others said that bureaucratic hurdles, complicated by limited phone or internet access, were insurmountable." The New York Times' Andy Newman | | | |   | | |
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | AS THE MIDTERM campaign's first fundraising deadline approached this week, several vulnerable House Democrats got an unwelcome surprise in their accounts: $5,000 from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York Democrat sent the contributions to her colleagues to help keep the House majority ahead of a tough cycle without directly contributing to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with which she's publicly clashed. But Ocasio-Cortez's largesse — and an oversight at the campaign headquarters — has instead raised awkward questions among her colleagues as some swing-district Democrats fret over whether to return her money before the GOP can turn it into an attack ad. POLITICO's Sarah Ferris, Ally Mutnick, and Olivia Beavers "THE BRONX, torn asunder by a Robert Moses highway decades ago, should get money under the infrastructure funding President Biden wants to set aside for communities damaged by racist planning , the borough's newest representative in Congress said Sunday. Biden is pushing for some $2.3 trillion for a wide range of projects, from modernizing bridges and highways to building electric vehicle charging stations. The package includes $20 billion to redress inequities caused by past highway projects, many of them in communities of color, with details still being worked out. 'The Cross Bronx Expressway has left in its wake decades of displacement and disinvestment, as well as environmental degradation,' Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat elected in November, told the Daily News." New York Daily News' Shant Shahrigian | | Scranton on the Hudson | | "BLUE-STATE governors are getting SALT-y with President Joe Biden. Gov. Cuomo has signed on with six other Democratic governors to beg Biden for an end to the state and local tax deduction cap that has been in place since 2017 — and is costing top earners in high-tax states up to $80 billion a year. 'Capping SALT deductions was based on politics, not logic or good government,' Cuomo and the governors of New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois and Oregon complained in a joint letter sent to the White House Friday. 'This assault disproportionately targeted Democratic-run states,' they wrote." New York Post's Mary Kay Linge "AFTER LONG pushing for a 400-mile citywide network of protected multi-use trails, green groups are betting on President Joe Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure plan to help link the disjointed system of so-called greenways and propel New York's COVID comeback. Even before Biden unveiled his massive proposal in Pittsburgh Wednesday, more than 30 environmental justice, cycling and parks groups had sent a letter to New York's congressional delegation. Their plea: a $1 billion commitment in federal stimulus funds to build out new and link sections of existing trails separated from automobile traffic." The City's Jose Martinez | | | | 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. | | | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Steuben County Republican Party Chairman Joe Sempolinski is considering a campaign to replace retiring Rep. Tom Reed. — At least 65,000 New York City public school staff have been vaccinated for Covid-19. — Cornell University is mandating vaccination for students returning to campus in the fall. — The Queens district attorney will not prosecute an NYPD officer who appeared to kneel on a man's neck during a January arrest. — The state launched a website for the new Office of Cannabis Management. — A man punched a Manhattan 7-Eleven worker and yelled an anti-Asian slur. — The shooting death of a delivery cyclist has highlighted the dangers the workers face. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: former Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) is 77 … Mary Katharine Ham, author and CNN commentator … Adam Rubenstein … Garrett Marquis is 38 … PayPal's Howard Wachtel is 41 … NYT's Jill Rayfield … Edelman's Lauren Barker … former FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is 75 … Dan Berman of CNN Politics … … (was Sunday): Business Roundtable's Molly Edwards ... NYT's Jo Becker … Mercury's Melissa Sharp ... Molly Mitchell of Hamilton Place Strategies ... Daisy Melamed Sanders ... AT&T's Neil Giacobbi and Katreice Banks … NBC's Joy Wang … Ryan Davis of Covington & Burling ... Treasury's Warren Ryan … (was Saturday): NYT's Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns … NBC News' Greg Martin … Chanse Jones of the U.S. Chamber | | A message from Uber Driver Stories: When Olivia was diagnosed with MS in 2017, it became clear to her that having a regular job would no longer be possible.
"I drive with Uber because I love to drive," she says. "It just puts the MS far out of my head. There's no way I could work a regular 9-5."
With Uber, Olivia can choose when, where, and how long she wants to drive. This flexibility lets Olivia be there for her daughter and for her own health needs.
If she's not feeling well, or her daughter needs her, she doesn't have to worry about asking her boss or requesting time off—she can take the time she needs to focus on herself and her family.
To see more stories like Olivia's, click here.
*Driver earnings may vary depending on location, demand, hours, drivers, and other variables. | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "AS A CHILD growing up in SoHo, Akeela Azcuy remembers seeing her father, the drummer Rashied Ali, talking music with neighbors like the renowned jazz performer Ornette Coleman, who lived over on Grand Street. Artists of all incomes and backgrounds had descended onto the formerly industrial New York City neighborhood to make use of the open space, great light and extremely tolerant neighbors...Decades later, Ms. Azcuy still lives in the neighborhood, which has lost much of that artistry — and diversity. SoHo is now better known as a glitzy retail and dining district...A plan to bring new development to SoHo and NoHo, its sister neighborhood, aspires to change that . A proposed rezoning would allow 3,200 additional apartments over the next 10 years, including approximately 800 affordable units in an area that had fewer than 8,000 residents in the 2010 census. And by doing so in a place internationally synonymous with affluence and style, it could also become a symbol for racial and economic integration everywhere." The New York Times' Jazmine Hughes "AN ACCUSED ARSONIST who allegedly twice set fire to his luxury midtown apartment building is trying to use Gov. Cuomo's new pandemic rules to dodge eviction, his landlord claims. The alleged firebug has left residents in the 37-story hi-rise 'in constant fear for their lives,' according to court papers filed by the landlord, who has been trying to oust him for months. But when faced with an eviction notice — after allegedly causing $3.5 million in damage to the West 59th Street building — Christian Ledan filed a form claiming he'd had financial hardship because of COVID-19." New York Post's Kathianne Boniello | | | | 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 | | | | |
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