| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze | Kathy Hochul is New York's new governor, taking the oath of office just after midnight as Andrew Cuomo's resignation took effect. Cuomo went out on a defiant note, waiting until late Monday to file an official resignation letter with legislative leaders. "I hereby tender my resignation for the office of Governor of the State of New York. This resignation will be effective at 12 a.m., August 24, 2021. It has been my pleasure to serve with you both," the letter reads in its entirety. Earlier in the day, Cuomo delivered a farewell address in which he disparaged the state attorney general's report that found he sexually harassed 11 women while taking a stab at defining his own legacy. "The attorney general's report was designed to be a political firecracker on an explosive topic. And it worked," Cuomo said in a pre-recorded speech, calling what happened to him "unfair and unjust." "There was a political and media stampede. But the truth will out in time -- of that I am confident," the now-former governor said. While ticking off his accomplishments, Cuomo's closing message included opposition to defunding the police and tax hikes. And yes, he managed to get in one last shot at Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo's top aide said Monday he has no interest in running for office again. Hochul is set for a ceremonial swearing-in later this morning, followed by an inaugural address of sorts to the state later this afternoon. She has already begun filling the top posts in her fledgling administration: Karen Persichilli Keogh will become secretary to the governor, while Elizabeth Fine will serve as the governor's counsel. 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 KATHY? Holding a ceremonial swearing in, meeting with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and giving a virtual address to the state. WHERE'S BILL? Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe and holding a media availability. WHERE'S CAPTAIN ? We're not quite sure. |  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | NYC to mandate vaccines for teachers, school staff, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: All New York City teachers and other Department of Education staff will be required to get the coronavirus vaccine this school year, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. Teachers, principals, custodians, aides and administrative staff — a total of 148,000 employees — will have to get the first shot by Sept. 27. The move follows similar mandates in Los Angeles and Chicago, which have already moved to require the vaccine for teachers. "We've got to make sure our schools are safe and healthy," de Blasio told reporters. "We know this is going to help ensure that everyone is safe." Previously, the city had laid out a mandate for all public workers to get the shot or submit to weekly testing. But ahead of the first day of school next month, the mayor announced that teachers and school employees won't have the option to get tested instead and will have to get at least one dose of the vaccine by the deadline. The mandate will be issued in an order from the city Health Department. — City workers union DC37 said it will be filing an unfair labor practices complaint over the mandate, saying the city does not have the authority to impose it unilaterally. De Blasio said Monday night on NY1 he was "confused" by the complaint, since the city has pledged to bargain on the details. "Legally, of course we have the authority," he said. — Court employees will be required to get vaccinated or get weekly testing by Sept. 7. — A second lawsuit was filed against the city's vaccine mandate for indoor dining, gyms and entertainment. " Pyramid Scheme: Critics Question Why Transit Spaces are 'Hostile' to Humans," by The City's Jose Martinez : "The new showpiece entrance to Penn Station that added sparkle to the famously grimy transit hub late last year now has structures resembling ancient wonders of the world. A trio of wooden pyramids was erected atop flat metal security bollards in front of the station's East End Gateway at Seventh Avenue and 33rd Street — just months after the December 2020 opening of the sloping glass-and-steel entrance to the Long Island Rail Road concourse. The pyramids, painted in bright pastel colors, look fairly artsy but were installed 'to deter unauthorized activity' at the entrance that saw a MTA Police booth added several weeks after it opened, an MTA spokesperson said. 'People were sleeping there all the time,' said Crystal McFadden, a 49-year-old homeless woman who was instead seated last week on a NYPD barricade in front of the entrance. 'They don't be over there no more.' Installed in May, the pyramids are among examples in the city and around the transit system of what critics have labeled 'hostile architecture.' Other examples include spikes on ledges, barriers on benches — or no benches at all — and so-called leaning bars at bus stops and inside some recently renovated subway stations." " De Blasio rolls out new NYC ferry route — which looks a lot like the old one," by New York Post's Nolan Hicks : "Meet the new ferry route, with a lot of overlap on the existing — and free — route. Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out a new route for his heavily-subsidized ferry system that will link Staten Island's North Shore to Battery Park and the Javits Center in Midtown. It's the first route for Hizzoner's NYC Ferry system that will run up the Hudson River. The system, with a cost of at least $637 million, had previously focused on building a ferry network along the East River. The new route also significantly overlaps with the existing free service provided by Staten Island Ferry." "NYCHA Seeks to Recover $124 Million in COVID Rent Relief," by City Limits' David Brand: "More than 5,000 NYCHA tenants have so far applied for rental assistance through New York's COVID relief fund, prompting state officials and the public housing agency to begin work on a streamlined submission process to cover tens of millions of dollars in pandemic-related arrears. But the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) applicants make up just a fraction of the total number of NYCHA households who have missed rent payments during the pandemic, according to housing authority records. As of June 30, NYCHA tenants owed $241 million in arrears, including $124 million accrued since March 2020 and eligible for ERAP funds. New York's Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) Commissioner Michael Hein told state senators Thursday that ERAP will pay out private landlords before cutting a check for NYCHA. He said the $2.2 billion fund will cover all pandemic-related back rent for NYCHA if enough money is left over."
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "Vaccination Mandate Battle Awaits Kathy Hochul as She Ascends to Governor," by The City's Josefa Velasquez and Katie Honan: "Kathy Hochul, who is set to become governor Tuesday, will arrive just as the debate over vaccination mandates for schools and more reaches a fever pitch. Hours before she was set to take the oath of office to become New York's 57th governor and the first woman to lead the state, the federal government announced full approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for people ages 16 and up — paving the way for more employers to demand vaccinations. Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he would be requiring all public school employees, including teachers, administrators and building staff, to have at least once dose of the vaccine by Sept. 27, two weeks after the start of classes. And during his last day on the job, Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who announced his resignation Aug. 10 following a bombshell report by State Attorney General Letitia James office that found he sexually harassed several women — offered some parting 'advice' on how to tackle the rising number of COVID-19 cases." "Cuomo commutes sentence of Brinks robbery-murder convict David Gilbert," by Journal News' Nancy Cutler and Steve Lieberman: "With just hours to go before he was to resign from office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted clemency to David Gilbert, convicted in the 1981 Brinks robbery that shook Rockland County and left two police officers and a guard dead. Cuomo commuted Gilbert's 75-year-to-life to the 40 years of time he has served. This means Gilbert will be referred to the Parole Board for potential release. ...Cuomo, in announcing the commutation, said Gilbert's convictions 'were related to an incident in which he was the driver, not the murderer.' The Rockland PBA has strongly opposed clemency for Gilbert, as have the families and friends of the slain Nyack police officers. Many Rockland elected leaders have pushed back against this and earlier commutations, pardons, and parole releases for Brinks convicts. State Assemblyman Michael Lawler called the clemency a 'disgusting betrayal to the people of Rockland County, the families of Peter Paige, Edward O'Grady, and Waverly Brown, and law enforcement officers everywhere.' "Hordes of Cuomo staffers jumped ship before he stepped down in disgrace," by New York Post's Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan: "Like rats in a sinking ship, dozens of top staffers in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office fled their jobs in the months before he was forced to resign amid a sexual harassment scandal, payroll records obtained by The Post reveal. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will replace the disgraced Cuomo at midnight Tuesday and it appears she has plenty of vacancies to fill. Thirty-three staffers assigned to Cuomo's tight-knit executive chamber resigned or were reassigned from Jan. 1 through Aug. 11 of this year, according to personnel records kept by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office. 'Thirty-three people leaving the executive chamber is a high number,' said Rob Cole, who served as a senior adviser to former three-term Gov. George Pataki. 'There's probably many more Cuomo aides assigned to other state agencies who also left,' he said. While the names of some of the departed have been publicly known, the breadth of the exodus is striking." "As JCOPE eyes Cuomo, will his appointees remain?" by Times Union's Chris Bragg: "At a special meeting on Thursday, New York's ethics commission is expected to vote on whether to revoke its staff's approval of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's lucrative book deal last year. Gary Lavine, a Senate Republican appointee to the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, plans to introduce the motion revoking Cuomo's permission to write "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," which was published in October 2020 and recounts the governor's early handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lavine believes that JCOPE staff never had the authority to approve the outside income request without seeking JCOPE commissioners' approval. In addition, Lavine says that Cuomo's special counsel, Judith Mogul, made material misrepresentations by promising that Cuomo would not use his government staff to help produce the book, when in fact, Cuomo had already been doing so when she sought the approval in July 2020. If the motion passes, JCOPE could try to force Cuomo to return the millions in proceeds from the $5.1 million publishing deal." — Billboards coming soon to I-787 are paid for by Kat Sullivan and take a swipe at Cuomo. "SUNY vaccine mandate activated by FDA approval," by Times Union's Rachel Silberstein: "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 shot Monday triggered a vaccine mandate on State University of New York campuses. Unvaccinated students, faculty and staff at the 64 colleges and universities have 35 days to get both doses of the vaccine and must continue to provide saliva samples until they are fully vaccinated, according to SUNY's policy. Students may submit requests for an exemption based on medical or religious grounds during the grace period. … With most students back on campus this semester, social distancing is not a significant part of campus mitigation strategies. Masks are universally required indoors for the fall semester and anyone who is not vaccinated who enters a SUNY campus must submit to surveillance testing." #UpstateAmerica: Rochester needs a plan to retake its position as the third largest city in the state after Yonkers snatched it away. | | | | JOIN TODAY FOR A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH REP. DAN CRENSHAW: As the Biden administration grapples with the fallout from the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Playbook co-authors Rachael Bade and Eugene Daniels will dissect the latest with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), a former Navy SEAL who deployed five times overseas, including in Afghanistan. Crenshaw will discuss the precarious situation, drawing from his own experience, and detail what he thinks should happen in the coming days, weeks, and months. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "Giuliani associate Igor Fruman expected to plead guilty on Wednesday," by CNN's Erica Orden: "Igor Fruman, a Rudy Giuliani associate charged in a campaign finance case, is scheduled to plead guilty during an appearance in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, according to a court filing. Fruman and another Giuliani associate, Lev Parnas, were originally charged in October 2019 in a case alleging they funneled foreign money to US campaign coffers, to which they pleaded not guilty. In September 2020, prosecutors filed additional charges that appeared designed to increase pressure on the defendants to cooperate. Fruman and Parnas pleaded not guilty to those charges as well." | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — An exhibit featuring some of the New York Public Library's most treasured items is set to open next month. — Broadway leaders signed a pact pledging to strengthen the industry's diversity practices when theaters reopen. — De Blasio is discussing doing some kind of follow up event after the Central Park homecoming concert got rained out. — The state teachers union and state Academy of Pediatrics are running an ad campaign touting the benefits of in-person education. — A hospital in Watertown has halted visitation as Covid-19 cases spike. — There's some backlash from parents as two shrinking school districts consider merging to see savings. — Syracuse will spend some stimulus money on fixing water pipes. — New York's COVID-19 ban on foreclosures ends Aug. 31, and lawmakers and housing advocates are urging homeowners to seek out other help. — The Grand Central Oyster Bar has finally set a reopening date. — Tropical Storm Henri set a number of rainfall records for the city. — A former flight attendant is pushing an airplane drinks cart from Boston to Ground Zero to honor his coworkers who were killed on 9/11. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CNN's David Gregory … CBS' Major Garrett … James Gordon Meek … Galia Slayen of Finsbury Glover Hering … CBS' Pam Coulter … Michael Moynihan … Seyward Darby of The Atavist Magazine … Adam Gopnik … Natalie Strom of Edelman … George Haydock … Errol Louis … Nick Denton ... Marvin Krislov ... Harry Markowitz ... Rabbi J. David Bleich ... Rabbi Meir Stern (h/ts Jewish Insider) MEDIAWATCH — Zeynep Tufekci is now a columnist for NYT Opinion. She is a visiting professor at the new Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia Journalism School and an associate professor at the University of North Carolina's School of Information and Library Science. The announcement WEEKEND WEDDINGS — James Ratcliffe, who works in banking, on Friday married Kaleigh Kramer, who works in PR. The couple met at a bar in NYC (Los Feliz) and wed in Newport, R.I., at St. Augustine Church. Pic —Caroline Kirk, a marketing strategist at fintech company DailyPay, on Saturday married Sam Ratcliffe, principal engineer at Stash, at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel. After stints in Melbourne, Australia and Washington, the two have settled in NYC. They met at a dive bar in Paris. Pic | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | REAL ESTATE | | "Foes increase heat against de Blasio's SoHo rezoning push," by New York Post's Julia Marsh and Nolan Hicks : "Foes of Mayor Bill de Blasio's controversial plan to rezone posh SoHo are stepping up their opposition to the new development effort, accusing city officials of running a 'PR smear campaign' against critics. The blistering allegation from opponents such as the Manhattan neighborhood's likely next councilman, Christopher Marte, comes as City Hall pushes ahead with its plans to bring up to 3,200 apartments to the neighborhood, including 800 set aside for lower-income New Yorkers." " Boost to Skimpy Low-Income Housing Vouchers Leaves Formerly Homeless at Risk of Return to Shelters," by The City's Claudia Irizarry Aponte : "This spring, the City Council celebrated new help for homeless New Yorkers: a generous boost in dollar value for city-issued rent vouchers so stingy many recipients can't find apartments cheap enough to use the aid. Now, formerly homeless people are looking at the fine print and learning to their dismay that the new, more generous CityFHEPS program could lock them out of their apartments and send them back to shelters. The new vouchers will be pegged to the federal Section 8 program, which guarantees tenants pay no more than 30% of their incomes toward rent. The program currently allows rent of up to $2,053 for a two-bedroom apartment, with the government paying the difference. But one CityFHEPS feature hasn't changed: once enrolled, participants can earn no more than 250% of the federal poverty level, roughly the city's $15 minimum wage for a full-time worker. And they must recertify their income every year." | | | | 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