| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia | Presented by CVS Health | It was Eric Adams' first "tin cup day" on Wednesday, and in hours of testimony before an Albany budget committee, one exchange stood out as particularly dramatic. The New York City mayor made a pitch for an overhaul of the state's bail laws, pushing to allow judges to hold defendants in jail they deem to be dangerous. That sparked fireworks between Adams and Assemblymember Latrice Walker of Brooklyn, one of the leading proponents of the existing bail law, who challenged him to a debate on the issue. She noted how other states that give judges the discretion he is asking for have nonetheless seen a spike in violent crime and called the standard racially biased. Adams declined the invitation, and didn't leave it there. "I don't think you should debate me. You should debate the 11-month-old baby [shooting victim]'s mother. You should debate the two police officers that we lost," he said. "It's you who are making this a political issue. You don't have to tell me to debate a person who lost an 11-month-old child, because I lost a brother at the age of 19 years old to gun violence," Walker replied. The exchange laid bare the divide between Adams and liberal members of his own party, who were the most critical of him during the hearing. By contrast, he drew praise from a slew of Republicans from outside the city as well as moderate Democrats like Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island. Though he's a former state lawmaker himself, Adams by most accounts hasn't put in much legwork on building ties with Albany pols to achieve his aims. This was a budget hearing after all, so the mayor is asking for some money stuff too: He wants state lawmakers to increase the local match available for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and asked for money for mental health beds and a tax abatement for New Yorkers who renovate their properties to create a child care center. He's also asking for local authority to set speed limits on city streets and run the city's speed camera program. With the state flush with cash at the moment, and a governor in office who hasn't made it her life's mission to thwart the mayor's every move, Adams may have better odds with those asks than his criminal justice priorities. Either way, he says he'll be heading to Albany in person next week for his first time as mayor. 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 KATHY? Participating in a Cornell-hosted conversation with Rep. Steve Israel and greeting cast members at The Music Man. WHERE'S ERIC? Hosting an interfaith breakfast, giving an address from City Hall, making a nutrition related announcement, greeting cast members at the reopening of Broadway musical The Music Man, and swearing in Edward Gibbs to the state Assembly.
| | A message from CVS Health: Throughout the pandemic, in communities across the country, CVS Health has been there. We've opened more than 4,800 COVID-19 test sites, administered 41 million tests and given 50 million vaccines. We've expanded access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine, increased remote access to mental health services and invested in affordable housing to help build healthier communities. We've been on the frontlines, making health care easier to access and afford. Learn more. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | A significant majority of New Yorkers are keen on Adams, share his concerns about crime, by POLITICO's Sally Goldenberg: New Yorkers are feeling good about their new mayor and his near-singular focus on crime, which three-quarters of voters consider a serious problem, a new poll reveals. Mayor Eric Adams, who was sworn in as the city's 110th executive on Jan. 1, has generated enthusiasm from 64 percent of voters who report being "optimistic about the next four years" under his leadership. Fewer approved of his job performance — a 46-27 percent margin, with 27 percent declining to weigh in, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday afternoon. It is the first public opinion survey since Adams became mayor. "Masks Off: New York Is 'Back From Our Pandemic Sabbatical,'" by Bloomberg's Amanda L. Gordon, Kate Krader, and Natalie Wong: "New York City is starting to feel normal again. Restaurant reservations are getting harder to come by. Offices are filling up. Theater-goers are returning to shows ahead of the Tony awards season." — " MTA: Subway ridership surpasses 3 million for first time since omicron surge," by Gothamist's Jen Chung: "For the first time since the omicron-fueled surge of COVID-19 cases, the MTA's weekday subway ridership has hit 3 million. On Tuesday, 3,004,655 customers took the subway and 6,247 customers took the Staten Island Railway, for a 3,010,902 total riders according to the MTA. The last time subway ridership was over 3 million was on December 17, 2021, when there were 3,118,492 total riders. The lowest weekday ridership during the omicron surge was on December 27, 2021, with 2,011,675 total riders." " New Yorkers strongly support COVID vaccine edict as mandates dropped: poll," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "A majority of New York City residents say they agree with COVID-19 vaccine mandates – and they're angry with the minority who refuse to get jabbed, a survey released Thursday shows. Residents polled by the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health said the coronavirus vaccine should be required for people who work in service industries and schools, and should be a mandate for indoor activities and airplane travel. More than half of New York respondents — 54 percent — said they are angry with the small percentage of residents who have refused to get vaxxed." "Death Threats Follow Brooklyn Man's Illegal Parking Complaints to 311 and the NYPD," by Streetsblog's Jesse Coburn: "In retrospect, shoveling snow onto the hood of a pick-up truck blocking a Park Slope bus stop wasn't the best decision Tony Melone made last Monday. But that provocation seems quaint compared to what followed. 'I'm gonna kill you, Melone,' an unidentified man told him over the phone an hour later — one of five threatening calls Melone would receive that day. 'I'm gonna fuck you and your wife,' a caller said later. Nearly as unsettling to Melone as the threats was the question of how the caller, or callers, knew his name and phone number in the first place. Melone had filed a 311 complaint to the NYPD earlier that day about the illegally parked truck and included his own name and number on the report. The city says it keeps that information confidential. Somehow it made its way to the furious caller. … The episode fits into a broader pattern of harassment that New Yorkers have faced after filing 311 complaints to the NYPD." Bragg eyes tougher charges for theft cases, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he is eyeing tougher charges for serial shoplifters, the latest shift by the prosecutor after controversy over his initial, hands-off approach to prosecuting many crimes. Bragg told a group of business leaders at the Association for a Better New York Wednesday that for "opportunists" who steal repeatedly from retail stores, he wants to prosecute multiple incidents together so they can be charged with a felony. … He said the new approach would not apply to people who steal because they are homeless, mentally ill or addicted to drugs as their cases can be addressed with better social services. — Sharpton assails NYC's crime spike: 'They're locking up my toothpaste,' by POLITICO's Samuel Benson — An unspecified allegation by a woman led Color Of Change to pull a half million dollars in funding from Bragg's campaign last spring.
| | | | HAPPENING TODAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration's climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | New York ends mask mandate for businesses, but not schools — yet, by POLITICO's Shannon Young and Michelle Bocanegra: New York on Thursday officially will end the state's strict mask mandate for businesses, making it the latest Democrat-led state to roll back pandemic-era restrictions amid the recent drop in Covid-19 cases. "We are now approaching a new phase in this pandemic," Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. … But Hochul said the state's mask mandate will remain in effect for New York schools — where face covering requirements have become a major point of contention — child care centers, public transit, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, nursing homes and health care facilities. "Hochul needs to answer subpoena on cannabis firm deal: judge," by New York Post's Josh Kosman: "Gov. Kathy Hochul will need to answer a subpoena to shed light on whether her office pushed state regulators to approve a cannabis company merger at the urging of a campaign contributor, a State Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday afternoon. Her office had opposed the subpoena, which now needs to be answered in 20 days with documents sent to Quinn Emanuel and the firm's lead partner on the case, Alex Spiro. Cannabis retailer MedMen is seeking evidence that Hochul and her office forced the company to sell its New York operations. Hochul's office has strongly denied the allegation." " Melissa Miller leaving State Assembly to join Hempstead Town Board," by Newsday's Yancey Roy: "Assemb. Melissa Miller announced Wednesday she's resigning from the State Assembly to become a Hempstead Town Board member, a move that had been expected. Miller, a 57-year-old Atlantic Beach resident, will fill a board vacancy created when Bruce Blakeman won election as Nassau County executive and left the board. The town board is expected to appoint Miller on Tuesday. Miller said Republican officials approached her about making the switch after Blakeman won in November, but she initially resisted." " Convicted former mayor asks Hochul for pardon in conspiracy-filled letter," by New York Post's Mark Lungariello: "A former Westchester County mayor convicted on charges he stole campaign funds is asking for a full pardon from Gov. Kathy Hochul, The Post has learned. Richard Thomas, Mount Vernon's mayor from 2016-19, sent a conspiracy-filled letter dated Tuesday claiming the probe that led to his guilty plea and ouster from office was improperly launched by high-ranking state officials who wanted him out of the way. The letter is 537 pages long with various attachments, including memes, visual aids like a photo of the Bill of Rights hanging in his old office — and political cartoons depicting him illustrated by a former staff member." LONG READ: " Eric Schneiderman Says He's Changed. Is That Enough?," by BuzzFeed's Katie J.M. Baker: "Eric Schneiderman paced around his prewar Upper West Side apartment in what he would later call a 'crazed bunker mentality,' trying to make sense of the past few days. As New York's attorney general, Schneiderman had been a hero to liberals nationwide for his leading role in the anti-Trump resistance. That changed when the New Yorker reported that multiple women had accused him of physical and emotional abuse. Within hours, Schneiderman learned his longtime rival, then-governor Andrew Cuomo, had ordered a criminal investigation, after which Schneiderman felt compelled to resign. Since then he had cloistered himself inside, taking covert house calls from his psychiatrist and hiding from the reporters who camped out in lawn chairs on the street below." #UpstateAmerica: Business is booming for auto glass repair shops because we get flying sheets of ice up here.
| | | |   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | "Rep. Claudia Tenney wins Trump's endorsement, clearing path to nomination in new 23rd District," by Buffalo News' Jerry Zremski: "Rep. Claudia Tenney's campaign for Congress from the Southern Tier got its biggest boost yet on Wednesday, as former President Donald Trump threw his support behind the conservative Republican lawmaker who hails from the Utica area. 'Claudia Tenney is a fantastic Representative for the Southern Tier, and a great Member of Congress,' Trump said in a statement that featured his trademark random capitalizations. … The endorsement from Trump – who remains hugely popular among Republicans – will make it difficult for any GOP candidate to challenge Tenney in a primary in the new 23rd District, a heavily Republican swath of territory where a strong Democratic challenge would be surprising."
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — A student and security guard were shot at Buffalo's McKinley High School. — Drug seizures increased despite a ban on visitors at Rikers Island. — Con Ed electricity bills have spiked for New Yorkers. — A married couple was charged with using the foster care system to sex traffick young women into a prostitution operation. — State officials and advocates are arguing about how to stop exacerbating the homecare worker staffing crisis. — Col. Lara B. Morrison is the first woman to take command at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. — The Omicron variant infected the white-tailed deer population on Staten Island. — " The dog run runaround: How volunteers scrap & claw to keep NYC's dog parks running" — Mayor Eric Adams said that despite his support for cryptocurrency, he does not support crypto mining. — Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson said he's moving from Staten Island to Brooklyn.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bob Iger … George Stephanopoulos … Glenn Beck … Michelle Levi Noe … WSJ's Michael Gordon … Jim Cramer … Stamford, Conn., Mayor Caroline Simmons … Clark Maturo … Hector Irastorza … John Yang … Reuters' Aram Roston … Izzy Klein … Mimi Sheraton is 96 MEDIAWATCH — Elaina Plott will rejoin The Atlantic as a staff writer. She currently covers politics for the NYT. Announcement MAKING MOVES — Mike Bloomberg was nominated to chair the Defense Innovation Board. … Ben Furnas has been hired as executive director of a Cornell University climate initiative, The 2030 Project. He was director of the Mayor's Office of Climate and Sustainability under Mayor Bill de Blasio. … Alan Fitts is now VP and chief of staff for corporate affairs and comms at American Express. He most recently was executive director of international government affairs at JPMorgan Chase, where he managed the firm's international council, and is an Obama White House and State Department alum. … … Peter Kamocsai will be a program manager at NBCUniversal. He previously was a research and analysis manager at the Partnership for Public Service. … Esther Jensen will be a senior account executive on Edelman's energy team. She currently is a public affairs associate at Kivvit. (h/t POLITICO Playbook) … Clement James, Jr., Gov. Hochul's director of African American affairs, is now senior adviser to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. … Giulia Balentine has been promoted to public affairs manager at J Strategies. … Luisa Lopez is now director of social services and communications for the Urban Outreach Center. She was formerly digital director for Gale Brewer. WHAT WALL STREET IS READING — "White House weighing former Obama adviser for senior Treasury job: Jay Shambaugh, a member of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, is under consideration to be under secretary for international affairs," by POLITICO's Kate Davidson and Daniel Lippman FOR YOUR RADAR — "PR guru Declan Kelly plots comeback after sexual harassment claims ," by FT's James Fontanella-Khan, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Arash Massoudi: "Declan Kelly, once a prominent adviser to Fortune 500 chief executives, has made a discreet comeback — just months after he was forced to quit Teneo, the public relations firm he co-founded, following allegations of sexual harassment. The 54-year-old has launched a new Madison Avenue-based company called Consello that focuses on investing, merchant banking, corporate development and mergers and acquisitions, according to the firm's bare-bones website, which makes no mention of Kelly's involvement." SPOTTED at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism's Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards hosted by Sanjay Gupta and Judy Woodruff: honorees Julie Cohen and Betsy West (Amazon Studios' "My Name is Pauli Murray"), Nanfu Wang (HBO's "In the Same Breath"), Alex Gibney and Dan Taberski (Apple's "The Line") and Norah O'Donnell (CBS coverage of military sexual assault). The New York Times was also honored for "Day of Rage."
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Healthier Happens Together. Learn more. | | | | | Real Estate | | "'Amazon for real estate': how the StreetEasy app took over New York," by The Guardian's Kathryn Lindsay: "For the entirety of 2006, the first year of StreetEasy's reign, the real estate giant did not hire a single employee from the industry. The two founders didn't want to operate under the assumptions associated with the business. They wanted a fresh start. They got that and more: the company was acquired by Zillow in 2013 for $50m, and the pair's real estate brands now boast a 70% market share. Today, StreetEasy not only hosts a list of all available rentals and homes in New York City, it also allows users to secure agents and schedule viewings." Brewing fight in Albany over controversial tax break signals an uncertain future for the housing program, by POLITICO's Janaki Chadha: A controversial tax break for developers is slated to expire this June — setting the stage for a fight in Albany over the future of a program that's been framed both as key to rental housing production in the five boroughs, and as a massive giveaway to big real estate. Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled what she said would be a "different kind of abatement program" in her State of the State book. Her proposal would replace the current iteration of the housing allowance known as 421-a with a new iteration promising a more effective use of tax dollars and greater public benefits. But key members of the state Legislature aren't convinced, leaving the future of the program uncertain. | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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