News : POLITICO New York Playbook: Gillibrand, Adams to join forces on gun legislation — Meet Frank Carone

Monday, July 19, 2021

POLITICO New York Playbook: Gillibrand, Adams to join forces on gun legislation — Meet Frank Carone — Rochester mayor indicted

Jul 19, 2021

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze

Next up to publicly link arms with New York City's presumptive mayor in the fight against gun violence: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Today, with Eric Adams in Brooklyn, Gillibrand is announcing she'll reintroduce legislation to make gun trafficking a federal crime. It also would increase penalties for those directly involved in moving guns across state lines and the organizers of gun trafficking rings.

Gillibrand has been pressing her colleagues in Congress on this kind of bill for about a decade now — as is her long-game style — but the last time the measure made it to a floor vote was in 2013, following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School the previous December.

That year, the legislation received 58 votes in the Senate, including some from across the aisle. Gillibrand told POLITICO yesterday that she believes there could be stronger support now with Democrats controlling both houses and as shooting incidents have spiked across the country.

It's at least the third anti-gun-violence event for Adams in a week, after a meeting at the White House with Joe Biden last Monday and a press push with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Brooklyn on Wednesday. Like many of New York's Democrats, Gillibrand already has established rapport with Adams in his role as borough president.

"I think he's got a really good vision for the city and I'm optimistic he'll be able to bring a very positive coalition behind him to get things done," she told us.

Adams, should he win the November general election, has a list of problems to tackle and promises to fulfill. But for now it seems both voters and establishment Democrats were most invigorated by this one.

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 announced public schedule.

WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability and appearing on Inside City Hall.

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WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

Frank Carone: The well-connected lawyer who has Eric Adams' ear, by POLITICO's Sally Goldenberg and Joe Anuta: When Eric Adams needed space to work on his mayoral campaign, an old friend set him up with a brightly-lit spot in his own downtown Brooklyn office, steps from Adams' Borough Hall headquarters. When he was setting up his campaign team, Adams hired the same confidante for legal advice and help putting together ballot petitions.And when Adams was building a war chest to underwrite his victory in the Democratic primary last month, it was that friend, Frank Carone, who hosted fundraisers and, along with his wife, donated the maximum amount allowed under law. Their Mill Basin, Brooklyn neighbors followed suit, contributing $29,430 to Adams — the Brooklyn borough president who is now the odds-on favorite to become the city's 110th mayor. In fact, Carone has been such a constant in Adams' political and personal orbit, he was summoned over a loudspeaker at an election night victory party a few weeks ago: "Frank Carone, we need you by the DJ area please."

— "More than $100M spent on NYC mayoral race so far, records reveal," by New York Post's Nolan Hicks: "It's the $100 million race. The Big Apple's mayoral hopefuls and the independent groups that supported them have spent more than $105 million combined on their bids to move into Gracie Mansion."

"Elizabeth Crowley Concedes to Donovan Richards' Slim Lead in Contentious Queens Borough President Race," by The City's Christine Chung : "The bitter Democratic battle for Queens borough president finally ended Friday, nearly a month after Primary Day. Though the city Board of Elections has yet to certify election results, candidate Elizabeth Crowley conceded the race to current Queens Borough Donovan Richards, who is seeking a full term after winning both a primary and a general election last year."

"No Plan To Bring Back Mask Mandate Despite Delta Variant: Mayor," by Patch's Anna Quinn: "New York City does not plan on bringing back a mask requirement amid rising coronavirus cases and the emergence of the more-contagious Delta variant, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The mayor said on WNYC on Friday that New York City does not currently have plans to follow other major cities, like Los Angeles, in bringing back a mask mandate to combat the spread of coronavirus despite a doubling in the cases in the last month. 'No, not at this point,' he told Brian Lehrer when asked if such a plan was on the horizon. '...We do not have a plan to change course at this point, but we're going to watch the data constantly to see if any adjustments are needed.'"

— City Council Health Committee chair Mark Levine is pushing for the indoor mask mandate to return.

— Nearly a third of hospital staffers in the city are still unvaccinated.

"'Nobody Believed Me': How Rape Cases Get Dropped," by The New York Times' Jan Ransom: "Cammy Duong woke up in a Manhattan hotel room in July 2017 and, dazed, called a friend she was supposed to meet later that morning: 'I think I was raped,' she said, crying. The police investigation lasted months. But when the case reached the Manhattan district attorney's office, prosecutors quickly declined to bring charges, records show. It would be seven more months before Ms. Duong got an explanation. 'I remember leaving and crying and feeling helpless,' said Ms. Duong, now 32. 'I felt like nobody believed me.' The Me Too movement led to heightened awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault, an increase in reports to police, and a new hope that people accused would be more frequently held accountable. But in New York City, statistics and the accounts of women who say they were attacked suggest that little has changed about the way the criminal justice system grapples with rape accusations."

"N.Y.C. Jail Officers Sue Over Working Conditions: 'It Was Hell,'" by The New York Times' Jonah E. Bromwich: "One correction officer waited 90 minutes to receive medical attention after his appendix burst, passing out three times because of the pain. Another spent hours 'in a wet uniform and in pain' when denied the opportunity to pump breast milk. Others said they regularly worked 20-hour shifts without bathroom breaks or access to food and water. A lawsuit filed this week by a union that represents New York City's jail officers accuses officials of creating an inhumane working environment at the Rikers Island complex during the coronavirus pandemic, compelling officers to work brutally long shifts in unsanitary and often dangerous conditions."

— A Rikers inmate allegedly attacked a jail captain with feces.

WHAT ALBANY'S READING

"Grand jury indicts Mayor Lovely Warren, husband on weapons, child endangerment charges," by Democrat & Chronicle's Brian Sharp: "A grand jury has indicted Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and her husband on criminal charges in connection with unsecured firearms found at their home. The charges stem from a search of the mayor's Woodman Park house in May, after her estranged husband Timothy Granison's arrest in a cocaine distribution ring. Both are charged with criminal possession of a firearm, a felony, and two counts each of endangering the welfare of a child and failure to lock/secure firearms in a dwelling, both misdemeanors … The couple have a 10-year-old daughter and, though separated, had continued living together. Under the state's public officers law, an elected official convicted of a felony is immediately removed from office."

SHOT: Cuomo's long reign as New York's fundraising king comes to an end, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: An era of New York politics came to a close on Thursday night, when campaign finance disclosure reports revealed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is no longer the undisputed champion of fundraising in the state. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican establishment's favored gubernatorial candidate, reported receiving $3.61 million in contributions since launching his campaign this spring. Cuomo brought in $2.28 million. There are people who will be able to vote in the 2022 elections who were less than two years old the last time Cuomo was outraised by an opponent in a July filing period — 2006, when Republican attorney general candidate Jeanine Pirro brought in $2.19 million to his $2.08 million. No candidate for any state-level office had outraised him in the first half of a year since David Paterson enjoyed a flurry of contributions following his abrupt gubernatorial inauguration in 2008.

CHASER: Zeldin's $2.5M fundraising boast relied on pledges, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) gained national attention when he announced last spring that he had raised $2.5 million in the first 10 days of his 2022 gubernatorial campaign. It turns out, though, that he did not actually hit that mark until June 29 at the earliest. The member of Congress from Long Island had made the fundraising announcement on April 18, the day before Republican leaders gathered in Albany to start figuring out which gubernatorial nominee they might rally behind....

But a campaign finance disclosure report released by Zeldin late last week shows that he had received only $545,213 in contributions by that date. He reported about $454,000 in unitemized small donor contributions over the course of the filing period. But even if one assumes that 100 percent of this unitemized money came in his campaign's first days, then he wouldn't have hit the $2.5 million mark until June 29, 10 weeks later. So why the difference? "The $2.5 million also included the rock solid hard pledges that were made that we 100 percent knew were definitely coming in," Zeldin campaign spokesperson Katie Vincentz said.

— "Nassau County Executive Laura Curran has a campaign war chest more than three times larger than that of her Republican challenger, Hempstead Town Councilman Bruce Blakeman, as the executive race kicks into high gear this summer." — Newsday's Candice Ferrette

— "Large donations to the Brown campaign have slowed markedly since the mayor suffered a very unexpected defeat in the Democratic Primary on June 22, according to a report filed by the mayor's campaign Saturday. The Brown campaign has received a total of 18 donations for $5,000 each, but none of them after June 22." — Buffalo News' Dan Herbeck

" Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she hasn't been interviewed in Cuomo probe," by Buffalo News' Matt Glynn: "Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she has not been interviewed as part of the state attorney general's investigation into alleged sexual harassment by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Hochul spoke to reporters on Friday following an appearance at KSL Biomedical in Amherst."

— Cuomo spent nearly 13 hours in Manhattan Saturday as he was slated to be grilled in the probe, before departing by helicopter.

MOUNT VERNON UPDATE: "'There's Garbage Everywhere': Fiscal Feud in Mount Vernon Sidelines Essential Services"

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FROM THE DELEGATION

"New York in fight with neighboring states over transit relief funds, advocates say Schumer is absent," by New York Daily News' Clayton Guse: "The MTA was supposed to get $14.5 billion in COVID-19 relief funds through three packages passed by Congress between March 2020 and March 2021 — but a technicality could send a big chunk of change to New Jersey and Connecticut instead. The last two relief bills, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act passed in December and the American Rescue Plan passed in March, allocate roughly $14.2 billion for transportation systems in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said repeatedly those packages would bring about $10.5 billion to the MTA, adding to the $4 billion the agency got through the March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. In recent months, however, Senators from New Jersey and Connecticut have accused New York of slicing too big a piece of the federal funding pie, forcing the Empire State into negotiations that could cut the amount of aid the MTA ultimately receives."

AROUND NEW YORK

— Suicides of resident physicians at the Bronx's Lincoln Hospital are raising questions about their treatment.

— Subway delays are getting worse.

— Virtual weddings are no longer legal after the end of New York's state of emergency.

— More than one in ten NYCHA playgrounds are closed due to unsafe conditions.

— Eric Adams wants to rename city streets and buildings that honor slave owners.

— WANTED: A wedding date for a Hudson Valley mother-in-law. "She needs constant attention and supervision. She will probably wear white and try to escalate small dramas — your job is simply to distract and de-escalate."

— Cuomo signed a package of election bills, expanding access to absentee ballots.

— MTA officials have yet to meet with New Jersey on the implementation of congestion pricing.

— People are complaining about helicopters disrupting Shakespeare in the Park.

— Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa called for a crackdown on a prostitution market in Brooklyn.

— The United Federation of Teachers is offering members $25 an hour to make home visits to encourage students to return for in-person schooling in the fall.

SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: WSJ's Rebecca Ballhaus … ProPublica's Isaac Arnsdorf … NBC News' Alex Johnson … Daniel Kile of Vanity Fair … Keegan Bales … The Nation's Atossa Araxia Abrahamian … Eric Lichtblau … Matt Speno … (was Sunday): CBS' Carol Ross Joynt … NBC's Gadi Schwartz … Steve Forbes … Fox Business Network's Jackie DeAngelis …Varun Anand … Sidney Davidoff … Gemini's Philip Rosenstein … Britta Towle … Michael Luongo … Lauren Rubinov … John Yanchek … Dillon Fontaine … Rebecca Bernhard turned 3-0 … Omar Kasule … Bill Knapp …

... (was Saturday): CNBC's Kayla Tausche … Insider's Josh Barro … NBC's Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan … Emma Loop … Morning Consult's Kyle Dropp … The Atlantic's Anna Bross … Ben Softy … Bloomberg's Caitlin O'Connell Fitchette … Tammy Pittman … Arthur Frommer … Shannan Butler Adler ... Melanie Beatus

WEEKEND WEDDING — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams wed fiancee India Sneed at the W Loft in Williamsburg Thursday night. Mayor Bill de Blasio, Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams, state Attorney General Tish James and a slew of other pols were among the guests.

MEDIAWATCH — "NY Times Suspends Sports Reporter Who Failed to Disclose Her Michael Phelps Book Deal: After her ethical conflict was revealed, [Karen] Crouse was yanked off the paper's Olympic coverage team and taken off the swimming beat, multiple sources told The Daily Beast," by Lachlan Cartwright and Lloyd Grove

— " New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Is Exploring a Run for Oregon Governor," by Willamette Week's Rachel Monahan: "In recent days, a poll including Kristof's name asks voters how they would feel about a journalist who grew up on a farm running for office. The poll also includes other Democratic hopefuls. Kristof was raised on a sheep and cherry farm in Yamhill County, about an hour southwest of Portland."

MAKING MOVES — Robert Howard is now an account director at Sunshine Sachs. He most recently was senior communications adviser at the North Carolina Democratic Party.

IN MEMORIAM — Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Barbanel has died at the age of 68.

— Per NYT's Sam Roberts: "Judge William H. Pauley III, the Manhattan federal judge who sentenced Michael D. Cohen, Donald J. Trump's lawyer, to three years in prison for paying hush money in sex scandals that could have threatened Mr. Trump's presidential candidacy in 2016, died on July 6 at his home in East Quogue, N.Y. He was 68."

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Ari Isaacman, director of communications at The New York Times, and Frank D'Angelo, a realtor at Compass, recently welcomed Isaac (Izzy) Marcus D'Angelo. Pic … Another pic

REAL ESTATE

"Hart Island's Last Stand," by The New York Times' John Freeman Gill: "For more than 150 years, Hart Island, half a mile east of City Island in the Bronx, has been a depository of the marginalized, an isolated outpost to which the city has variously shipped the poor and unclaimed dead, the imprisoned, the sick and the troubled. Best known as the city's potter's field, where more than a million New Yorkers have been buried in common graves since the 1860s, the one-mile-long strip of land has also been home to facilities for the insane, the diseased, the addicted and the homeless — as well as for a segregated regiment of African-American Union Army troops during the Civil War. Enough remnants of this layered institutional history survive on Hart Island, both above and below the ground, that in 2016, New York State formally designated the entire island as eligible for listing on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

"Among the 19 or so abandoned old structures still standing to tell the island's tale — and the city's — are several that the state identified as 'notable buildings,' among them an 1885 women's insane asylum, a 1930s Catholic chapel and a 1912 'Dynamo Room,' with its arched openings and prominent smokestack. Yet even as control of Hart Island passed on July 1 from the city's Department of Correction to the Parks Department, as mandated by a 2019 law, city agencies had already been working for months on a $52 million plan to demolish every one of the island's old buildings."

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