News: POLITICO New York Playbook: Where the Cuomo probes stand — De Blasio urges employers to mandate vaccines

Monday, July 26, 2021

POLITICO New York Playbook: Where the Cuomo probes stand — De Blasio urges employers to mandate vaccines — Rent aid fund offers little relief

Jul 26, 2021

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze

The Department of Justice has opted not to open a civil rights investigation into New York's government-run nursing homes and whether they violated residents' rights with their handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. It gives Gov. Andrew Cuomo one less probe to worry about.

That still leaves … a lot of probes. There's the federal investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office into whether the Cuomo administration intentionally covered up data on nursing home deaths. And state Attorney General Tish James' probe into multiple sexual misconduct allegations against the governor and a host of other matters. And then there's the Assembly's impeachment investigation.

And Cuomo, after a very brief period of humility and contrition, has changed his tone on the high-profile AG probe, as Anna reports. Once, he welcomed the investigation and expressed confidence the facts would clear him. Now, Cuomo loyalists aren't acting like they think any vindication is coming. Instead, they're doing everything they can to undermine confidence in the investigation. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, for his part, said he won't likely move to impeach the governor based on the findings of the AG's probe alone.

"Kind of demented if you ask me," said former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who got pulled into this whole business because Cuomo aides were apparently spreading rumors he planned to run for governor as a way of casting doubt on Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor close to Bharara tapped to run the investigation.

"For what it's worth, based on my experience over a number of years in the state of New York and as U.S. attorney, there is no way on earth that people around Andrew Cuomo — spokespeople, allies, those speaking on the record, off the record — are making any of these statements, including the lies about me, without the direct approval and or direction of Andrew Cuomo himself," Bharara said on his podcast. "That you can take to the bank."

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.

WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability, attending a ribbon-cutting for Bronx Commons, and appearing on NY1's Inside City Hall.

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WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

"De Blasio Urges New York Businesses to Require Employee Vaccinations," by The New York Times' Michael Gold, Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Michael D. Shear: "Mayor Bill de Blasio urged on Friday that New York City's private businesses require their workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus and signaled that he would introduce similar measures for hundreds of thousands of municipal employees. The mayor's comments came just days after he announced that all employees in the public hospital system would have to either receive a virus vaccine or submit to weekly testing. The move reflected growing concern that New York, like much of the United States, is on the verge of another wave of the pandemic. In just a few weeks, case counts in the city have tripled, to more than 650 a day on average, while inoculation rates have leveled off. 'If people want freedom, if people want jobs, if people want to live again, we have got to get more people vaccinated,' Mr. de Blasio said on Friday during a weekly radio appearance on WNYC. 'And obviously it's time for whatever mandates we can achieve.'"

— "NYC Delta COVID Wave Sends Relatively Few to Hospitals So Far," by The City's Ann Choi and Will Welch

— The city is opening 25 pop-up vaccination sites at Summer Rising school programs.

"Why Top Democrats Are Listening to Eric Adams Right Now," by The New York Times' Katie Glueck: "When Eric Adams won New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, his supporters in Congress were bombarded with questions about him from colleagues representing districts in Michigan and Florida, Chicago and Los Angeles. … And in the span of a week, Mr. Adams met with Mr. Biden at the White House and with the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Capitol Hill. He appeared with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to discuss combating gun violence. And he stood with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand outside Brooklyn Borough Hall, endorsing her proposal for federal gun trafficking legislation. Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, has been his party's mayoral nominee for less than three weeks. But already, many national Democrats appear eager to elevate the former New York police captain, as gun violence shatters parts of major American cities and Republicans seek to caricature their opponents as naïve about crime."

"'Worth the wait': New York marriage bureau reopens for in-person weddings," by Reuters' Maria Caspani: "Sae Feurtado and Richard Kissi's long wait to say 'I do' finally ended on Friday, when in-person weddings resumed at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau after a 16-month shutdown. Before COVID-19, thousands of people from all over the world every year exchanged marriage vows in the two chapels housed inside the late 1920s Art Deco building in lower Manhattan. After postponing their wedding for nearly two years, it was the New York couple's turn … Under new reopening rules, wedding ceremonies are by reservation only, City Clerk Michael McSweeney said, and couples are allowed to bring only one witness to respect the four-person limit in the pastel-colored East and West chapel."

"Mayor Bill De Blasio And Other Top Officials Escape Judicial Inquiry Into Eric Garner's Death," by Gothamist's Joseph Gedeon: "In a partial victory for the city, a New York judge ruled Friday that Mayor Bill de Blasio; former police commissioners William Bratton and James O'Neill; current police commissioner Dermot Shea; and other senior city officials will not be required to take the stand in a judicial inquiry into Eric Garner's 2014 chokehold death on Staten Island. The list of now-exempt officials also includes chief medical examiner Barbara Sampson, former and current first deputy mayors Anthony Shorris and Dean Fuleihan, and several EMT workers who were on the scene."

" Subway Watchers Say MTA Could Plug Staff Holes by Losing Training Wheels Faster," by The City's Jose Martinez: "With canceled subway trips piling up amid a shortage of train operators and conductors, transit union leaders are pushing the MTA to speed up training of new hires without sacrificing safety. MTA officials this week acknowledged that riders will likely continue to feel the effects 'for some time' of a hiring freeze and rush of retirements that have thinned the ranks of subway workers and extended wait times on steamy platforms."

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — App-based delivery company DoorDash is using a pop-up on its platform to urge customers to oppose City Council legislation that would require it and other apps to turn over more data. The bill aims to level the playing field for restaurants, which say they pay high fees to use the ordering apps, by requiring the apps to give the restaurant the names, contact information and order details for customers who place orders. But opponents say it raises privacy concerns, and could allow a restaurant to access a customer's order history from a competing business. Gay Men's Health Crisis came out against the bill in a letter to the Council, citing its partnership with DoorDash. "This bill is particularly concerning to us because the ability of our clients to keep their personal information private and confidential is often directly linked to their safety and security," wrote Poul Olson, GMHC's chief communications and development officer.

BIG CONGRATS to our New York City bureau for taking home two awards this year from the New York Press Club. Sally Goldenberg won for her reporting on de Blasio's internal battles with the health department at the height of the pandemic. Sally, Joe Anuta and Amanda Eisenberg won for a story examining how former President Donald Trump expanded his appeal in the five boroughs during the 2020 election.

WHAT ALBANY'S READING

"New York's COVID-19 rent program offering little relief to tenants and landlords," by New York Daily News' Denis Slattery and Chris Sommerfeldt: "Getting injured during the height of the COVID-19 crisis was just one of many hardships Fernando Livingston faced when he found himself out of work last year and, even worse, falling behind on rent. The 68-year-old former security guard has been living on food stamps and workers' compensation since he got pinned under a gate for nearly an hour while on the job. The resulting spinal injury makes it hard for him to walk. The prospect of a fund that could cover months of back rent buoyed the Brooklyn man's hopes and initially assuaged his fears of becoming homeless as he applied for the state-run Emergency Rental Assistance Program in early June. Nearly seven weeks later, and now behind another month's rent, Livingston and thousands of others have received no response from the state despite promises that $2.3 billion set aside for rental assistance would soon begin flowing."

— "Schumer demands New York state disburse more than $2B in relief earmarked for struggling tenants," by New York Daily News' Shant Shahrigian: "New York state must stop dragging its heels and release more than $2 billion in federal funding meant to help desperate renters pay their bills, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday. Only a 'pittance' of the cash available through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program established by Congress has been doled out, and the end of the state's eviction moratorium looms at the end of August, the New York Democrat said."

" Cuomo's slow rollout of legalized weed becoming a real buzzkill, critics say," by New York Post's Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan: "New York's legalized-pot program is on a train to nowhere — apparently derailed because Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fuming over his stalled plans to overhaul leadership at the MTA. Cuomo and the state Legislature approved the legalized sale of weed in New York in March, but the governor has since become a real buzzkill on the issue, critics say. He has yet to nominate an executive director for his new Office of Cannabis Management or name appointees to the Cannabis Control Board, even though the Marijuana Taxation and Regulation Act was passed months ago, they say."

"Data muddles debate on bail changes in New York," by Times Union's Joshua Solomon: "About a sixth of the criminal cases that went before a judge in New York in 2020 led to the person being rearrested before the case concluded, according to new data from the state's court system, which was mandated to be collected after the Legislature passed controversial bail refinements a year earlier. That number, nearly 31,000 people out of more than 184,000 cases last year in New York, is underpinning the current concerns over gun violence its connection to the bail changes, some of which were rolled back last year. It is an often polarizing debate that is likely to only get louder as the political campaign season heats up."

"Top Albany Republican blasts Gov. Cuomo over alleged 'pay to play' donations," by New York Post's Bernadette Hogan: "The top Republican on the Investigations and Government Operations Committee wants Attorney General Letitia James to investigate campaign contributions made to Gov. Andrew Cuomo from individuals affiliated with a prominent medical donor network awarded millions in coronavirus-related state contracts that were recently revealed by The Post. State senator and ranking GOP committee member Tom O'Mara (R-Elmira) sent a letter to James Friday requesting her office 'immediately' probe the nearly $230,000 in political contributions made to Cuomo by individuals affiliated with Somos Healthcare Providers."

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FROM THE DELEGATION

"Staten Island 2022 Congressional Race Already Heating Up as Rose Hints at Malliotakis Rematch," by The City's Clifford Michel: "A day after leaving his Pentagon job, Max Rose — who lost Staten Island's only House seat to Nicole Malliotakis in November after one term in office — updated his political Facebook page for the first time in months. 'Excited for some family time and the next chapter,' the former Democratic rep wrote on Wednesday. Almost immediately, political friends and foes alike, began asking whether 'the next chapter' meant a rematch against Malliotakis, a Trump-wing Republican representing the city's most conservative borough."

" The Low-Key Matriarch Cultivating Brooklyn's Progressive Movement," by WNYC's Gwynne Hogan: "Twenty-six years before Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez toppled incumbent Joe Crowley in a stunning primary defeat that propelled her to Congress and the national stage, there was Nydia Velázquez, a street-smart transplant from Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, in her late thirties and determined to climb the rungs of New York City political power to better her community. She ran against a nine-term incumbent in a district recently redrawn to enable more Latino representation in Congress. After a bruising campaign in which the New York Post published details of her attempted suicide, Velazquez won by a slim margin and became the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in the U.S. Congress … Now, 30 years later, her actions are bearing fruit."

AROUND NEW YORK

— Ousted City Council Member Chaim Deutsch is working as a building manager while awaiting sentencing for tax fraud. His remaining staff were just terminated.

— A group of pols criticized de Blasio's use of the NYPD to crack down on street vendors, while de Blasio defended the move.

— Celebrity chef Mario Batali and his business partner agreed to a $600,000 settlement over sexual harassment allegations.

— The city's Nightlife Advisory Board is floating the idea of allowing (regulated) drinking in public spaces.

— Maya Wiley's mayoral campaign owes vendors nearly $1 million.

— Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa is proposing the city cover $1,000 in pet expenses for anyone who rescues an animal from a city shelter.

— Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams hinted he might keep de Blasio's social services commissioner Steve Banks.

— An alleged burglar broke into Queens Assemblymember Nily Rozic's office and was found hiding in a closet holding a hard drive.

— The app Citizen is paying people $25 an hour to livestream crime scenes.

— A city pilot program that sent unarmed behavioral health specialists instead of police to respond to mental health-related 911 calls has led to more people getting help and fewer hospitalizations.

— At least 50 CUNY professors have resigned in protest from their faculty union after it passed a resolution condemning Israel.

— Four correction officers have been suspended in an investigation into an inmate's escape from the city's jail barge.

SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Erin Gloria Ryan ... ABC's Dan Harris is 5-0 ... Patrick Gaspard … Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke … Chris Lamb … Hadley Holmes … (was Sunday): Alex Nguyen of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office ... Liz Benjamin of Marathon Strategies ... Christine Quinn of Win … Fox News' Kelly Laco, Alex Pfeiffer and Katy Ricalde … Bloomberg's Mike Nizza … Clio Grillakis of the Ex-Im Bank … Robert Zoellick … Arit John … HuffPost's Jesselyn Cook ... Alan Chartock ... Susan D. Ball … Anne Lykes ...

… (was Saturday): AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka … Joel Benenson of Benenson Strategy Group … CBS' Michelle Kessel … Greg Hittelman of the Enough Project and The Sentry … Matt Joseloff of "Morning Joe" … WSJ's Kim Strassel … Juergen Baetz … CNBC's Eamon Javers … Barbara Morgan of Greenbrier … AP's Kathleen Hennessey … Lowell Bergman … David Fuscus, president and CEO of Xenophon Strategies … Magee Quick McBride

MEDIAWATCH — Grace Segers is now a staff writer for The New Republic, covering Congress and politics. She previously was a political reporter at CBS.

REAL ESTATE

"Gracie Mansion 'sleep-out' condemns de Blasio's effort to return homeless to shelters," by New York Post's Kerry J. Byrne: "A coalition of advocates who want to keep the city's homeless in hotels and out of the beleaguered shelter system held a "sleep-out" next to Gracie Mansion to make their case. About 8,000 homeless people were moved out of the packed shelters and into approximately 60 hotels last year, in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19. With the pandemic easing, the city sought to move the homeless out of hotels and back to shelters in June. But the effort was paused by court order earlier this month. The city is set to renew its effort to return the homeless to shelters Monday, prompting the Gracie Mansion protest."

"De Blasio announces deal to revive Staten Island stadium with new baseball team," by New York Post's Julia Marsh: "Play ball! Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a deal Friday to reopen the shuttered Staten Island Yankees stadium with a new professional baseball team next year. The waterfront Richmond County Bank Ballpark will be the home of a new team from the independent Atlantic League, which currently has eight organizations from the eastern United States including the Long Island Ducks. Major League Baseball recently acquired a franchise in the local league."

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