News: POLITICO New York Playbook: Adams to lift vaccine mandate for athletes, performers

Thursday, March 24, 2022

POLITICO New York Playbook: Adams to lift vaccine mandate for athletes, performers

Mar 24, 2022

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia

Presented by New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming

The mayor is going to let Kyrie play.

Nets star Kyrie Irving and other unvaccinated athletes will get a special exemption from New York City's Covid-19 vaccine mandate for private employers and be allowed to compete under a new policy Mayor Eric Adams is set to announce today, our Sally Goldenberg reports. When the Yankees and the Mets take the field for opening day next month, their unvaccinated members won't be blocked from competition — removing a potential hurdle for players like Aaron Judge.

Adams is planning to lift the vaccine mandate specifically for performers and athletes in New York City venues, while leaving it in place for other workers. He has been facing pressure from random hecklers and professional lobbyists alike: The Parkside Group and former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson are among those lobbying City Hall on behalf of the Nets, Sally reports. And the Mets are owned by Steve Cohen, who donated $1.5 million to a political action committee backing Adams in the Democratic primary last year.

The mayor previously said he did not want to make exceptions for wealthy athletes because it would send the wrong message. So much for that. He also said he thought it was unfair that unvaccinated out of town athletes were allowed to play under a previous exception while hometown players were barred, and has been steadily rolling back pandemic restrictions.

Adams recently fired more than 1,400 teachers, sanitation workers, housing employees and cops for failing to get the shot. An unknown number of private sector employees have also gotten pink slips.

Jay Varma, the chief pandemic adviser to former Mayor Bill de Blasio, said the reversal does indeed blow things up — and leaves the city vulnerable to lawsuits that could tank the vaccine mandate for everyone. "Basically it sends a message that this is an arbitrary rule — that if you're rich enough and powerful enough and high-profile enough, that you don't have to play by the same rules as everyone else," he said.

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? In Albany with no public events scheduled.

WHERE'S ERIC? Announcing the vaccine mandate changes at Citi Field and holding a roundtable with people of color who are members of the transgender community.

A message from New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming:

Since 2011, Resorts World continues to deliver on its commitment to make significant investments in the community through jobs, infrastructure, and philanthropic support. Training programs in partnership with the New York Hotel Trades Council will help thousands of hospitality workers regain their lost employment. We'll be prepared on day one to make these new hires, generate additional revenue for New York's public schools and drive an economic boon for local small businesses. Find out how: www.NYforResponsibleGaming.org

What City Hall's reading

"N.Y.C.'s New Subway Chief Comes From Boston and Doesn't Own a Car," by The New York Times' Michael Gold: "As New York City's subway system, the nation's largest, lurches out of the throes of a pandemic that has drained it of millions of riders and the fares they pay, it will have a new permanent leader for the first time in more than two years. Richard A. Davey, a former Massachusetts secretary of transportation who once led Boston's transit system, was named on Wednesday as the next president of New York City Transit, the agency that runs the city's subway and buses and is a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. ... The agency has been without a permanent chief since February 2020, when Andy Byford, then the head, stepped down after repeated clashes with Andrew M. Cuomo, then governor."

Department of Correction planning for alternative to solitary confinement as Rikers crisis continues, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: The Adams administration will move forward with a plan to replace solitary confinement in city jails with a new system this summer, Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina said Wednesday — despite comments by the mayor that he wants to keep the practice in place. Testifying before a City Council budget hearing, Molina said the new restrictive housing system will be in place by July 1. "The fact is that there are people who commit acts of violence at Rikers Island, and we need a way to separate those individuals in order to keep people safe. But that method must be effective, it must be humane and it must be fair," Molina said. The city Board of Correction voted last year to end solitary confinement, also known as punitive segregation, and replace it with a program called the Risk Management Assessment System.

"NYPD revives 'broken windows' policies as Adams fumes over weekend shootings," by New York Post's Larry Celona, Craig McCarthy and Bruce Golding: "Mayor Eric Adams called police brass on the carpet over the two dozen shooting incidents that took place this past weekend — sparking the NYPD to scramble to get more cops on the streets in a revival of some 'broken windows' policies, The Post has learned. Adams summoned Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Chief of Department Kenneth Corey to City Hall on Tuesday to answer for the surge in bloodshed that left 29 people wounded ahead of his planned news conference on the NYPD's new anti-gun units, law-enforcement sources said Wednesday."

" COVID Case Counts More Than Doubled in Public Schools Since Last Month, DOE Data Shows," by The City's Suhail Bhat and Rachel Holliday Smith: "Reported COVID cases in New York City public schools rose rapidly in the last seven days, registering their biggest weekly gain since the peak of the Omicron wave in January. The rise in school cases exceeded a general uptick in positive tests seen in some parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn in the past week. The city Department of Education reported 1,422 infections in the seven-day period ending March 22, more than twice as many cases as reported in the seven-day period a month ago — while also marking the fourth consecutive weekly gain, DOE statistics show."

— "Vaccine Clinics Return to N.Y.C. Public Schools. Will They Work?" by The New York Times' Lola Fadulu and Precious Fondren

" The New York City Council session is off to a slow start. Why is that?" by City & State's Annie McDonough: "A look at City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams' first few months in office suggests that legislation is off to a slower start this year than in previous sessions, with just 89 bills being introduced in the first 10 weeks of her term according to the council's bill-tracking system Legistar. In that same span of time in 2017, 721 bills were introduced under Speaker Corey Johnson; and 183 bills were introduced in Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito's first ten weeks in 2014."

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has tapped former labor operative Jeremy John as her chief of staff. John, who worked at District Council 37 when it backed Adams' speaker candidacy, was recently hired as a deputy chief of staff before Adams moved him into the vacant top position, according to Council officials. Adams has also promoted longtime Council aide Shirley Limongi to the role of deputy communications director and named Meagan Chen as director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Former Council staffer Danielle Porcaro will become the director of the Community Engagement Division. — Sally Goldenberg

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WHAT ALBANY'S READING

"Gov. Hochul and Lt. Gov. Benjamin: Don't blame bail reform; do improve it," by Kathy Hochul and Brian Benjamin for the Daily News: "Blaming bail reform for the increase in violence that cities across America are facing isn't fair and isn't supported by the data. Doing so risks distracting us from what are likely far more significant factors: upheaval from the pandemic, the availability of illegal guns, increased gang activity, lower arrest rates and a backed-up court system, to name a few. But that doesn't mean the bail law as it currently stands is perfect, either. When one out of four people arrested for gun crimes goes on to be re-arrested, we haven't done enough. These repeat offender rates were a failure before bail reform, and they remain a failure today. We are committed to protecting the progress we've made toward a fairer criminal justice system. But that is not at odds with making thoughtful, measured changes to our laws that would strengthen public safety."

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

— FWD.us New York State Director of Criminal Justice Reform Rodney Holcombe, in a statement: "The rollback measures to bail reform proposed by Governor Hochul would unjustly expose tens of thousands more legally innocent New Yorkers to bail and pretrial jailing. … We appreciate and agree with the urgency to find solutions to advance public safety and address rising violence. This proposal would not do that necessary work and would instead be a major step back towards the old system."

— New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, in a statement: "The Governor has repeatedly refused to answer questions about her plan to roll back the critical criminal justice reforms won in 2019, claiming she wouldn't 'negotiate in public.' Yet in an Op-Ed she co-authored today, the Governor was willing to negotiate with herself in public, arguing that while the 2019 bail reforms worked and are not responsible for a rise in violent crime–and would not expect a sudden drop in violence if they were repealed– she wants to undo this progress anyway."

— Rev. Mark Blue, Buffalo NAACP president and Pastor of Second Baptist Church in Lackawanna, in an email blast to media signed by 22 members of clergy: "We thank Governor Hochul for starting this much-needed conversation, and we look forward to working with her and the State legislature on a plan that will protect our loved ones, increase safety in our neighborhoods, and make necessary investments in mental health, all while not returning to the over-incarceration of the past."

— Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, to reporters in the Capitol: "There were a lot of discussions before we did the original reforms. And again, we're always happy to look again, but we're not going back to a place that we weren't at before we even began the discussion on bail." And Speaker Carl Heastie: "I just don't know if that can be figured out in two days."

" What about those JCOPE reforms?" by City & State's Rebecca C. Lewis: "But with the budget due in less than two weeks, Hochul's plan to 'blow up JCOPE' may have fizzled. Neither chamber of the state Legislature included her proposal in their nonbinding budget resolutions, and a number of hot button issues like bail have sucked up public attention. Good government advocates hold out hope state leaders haven't thrown ethics to the wayside, but if serious talks are still happening, they're ironically happening behind closed doors. Since Hochul's grand unveiling of her plan to replace JCOPE, the issue has taken something of a backseat compared to other budget priorities."

"Ruling backs Nassau judge in battle over police record disclosures," by Newsday's Bridget Murphy: "Nassau District Court Judge Andrew Engel can require prosecutors to turn over to drunken-driving defendants all disciplinary records of police officers testifying against them, according to a new ruling in a case county law enforcement officials brought against the jurist. In an opinion that will add to the statewide debate over the records issue, state Supreme Court Justice Roy Mahon's decision lifted a temporary restraining order he granted in January at the request of the Nassau police commissioner, the district attorney and the county itself."

" Hochul seeks to pay $5 million in legal fees for ex-Cuomo staffers," by New York Post's Bernadette Hogan and Bruce Golding: "Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to spend around $5 million in taxpayer money to pay the legal bills of dozens of current and former state employees who got caught up in the sexual harassment scandal that forced ex-Gov Andrew Cuomo from office, The Post has learned. The move could benefit Cuomo cronies including former aide Melissa DeRosa, who was accused of scheming to smear Lindsey Boylan, the former state economic development official who first went public with allegations against him."

" Siena poll finds deep unease with the economy in New York," by Spectrum's Nick Reisman: "New Yorkers are increasingly concerned about pocketbook economic issues driven by the war in Ukraine, the spiking cost of gasoline and rising inflation that could cool an economic recovery from the COVID pandemic, a Siena College survey released Thursday morning found. They expect the war in Ukraine will have a long-term economic impact for the United States, while most have also found inflation has taken its toll on their bank accounts."

#UpstateAmerica: Twenty-three-year-old Rochester engineer Mihir Nene was named the new "Jeopardy!" champion.

A message from New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming:

TRUMP'S NEW YORK

"Trump Is Guilty of 'Numerous' Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says," by The New York Times' William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich: "One of the senior Manhattan prosecutors who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was 'guilty of numerous felony violations' and that it was 'a grave failure of justice' not to hold him accountable, according to a copy of his resignation letter. The prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted his resignation last month after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, abruptly stopped pursuing an indictment of Mr. Trump. Mr. Pomerantz, 70, a prominent former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense lawyer who came out of retirement to work on the Trump investigation, resigned on the same day as Carey R. Dunne, another senior prosecutor leading the inquiry."

— "Trump's company hired a Republican-tied firm to help answer subpoenas. New York AG Letitia James says it's not going well," by Insider's C. Ryan Barber and Laura Italiano: "Facing a court mandate to respond to subpoenas from the New York attorney general's office, Donald Trump's namesake company turned to an outside firm for help sifting through business records. The so-called 'e-discovery' firm, HaystackID, had previously worked with the Trump Organization, the former president's business empire. But HaystackID also has ties to politics — specifically, the Republican Party.

AROUND NEW YORK

— A parents group urged Mayor Eric Adams to fulfill his campaign pledge to reinstate gifted and talented programs in city schools.

— New York City police union leaders were upset when news broke about Covid-19 mandates being lifted for unvaccinated athletes.

— Bike trips over the Brooklyn Bridge increased by 26.6 percent last year as a dedicated bike path was installed.

— An emergency food distribution program City Hall launched at the height of the coronavirus pandemic is undergoing dramatic cutbacks.

— An avalanche may have killed a hiker in the Adirondacks.

— Tuckahoe had a Blue Wave.

— Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz sees 'a pretty good deal' when it comes to the prospects of a long-term arrangement securing the future of the Buffalo Bills in Western New York.

— General Electric Co. is going to play a role in the construction of electric grid infrastructure for New York's offshore wind farm projects.

— Hundreds of advocates marched to the state Capitol trying to raise the profile of their push to replenish the "excluded workers fund" for undocumented New Yorkers.

— Families of Covid-19 nursing home victims want more investigation and a day of remembrance on March 25.

— A Manhattan PTA treasurer allegedly stole $185,000 from school funds.

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SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC News' Dareh Gregorian … CNN's Donie O'Sullivan … Bloomberg's Aaron Rutkoff … Kaley Rector … Alia Diamond … Josh Suskewicz

MEDIAWATCH — Dafna Linzer is joining POLITICO as the new executive editor. She previously was managing editor for politics at NBC News and MSNBC. The newsroom memo

— Alex Butcher-Nesbitt is joining NBC as a senior comms manager focused on "Meet the Press." He previously led the media relations team at Proof Strategies.

MAKING MOVES — Amanda Henning Santiago, former engagement editor at City & State, has joined The Parkside Group a communications account executive and Connie Raptis , who worked as an organizer for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign, as a junior associate. Lauren Bush is now chief operating officer at Parkside in addition to her previous role as vice president of government relations. She was formerly COO at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

A message from New Yorkers for Responsible Gaming:

Since opening in 2011, Resorts World continues to deliver on its commitment to make significant investments in the community through jobs, infrastructure, and philanthropic support. To date, we've invested more than $1.1 billion in the property, and we'll be in position to elevate that support significantly, if provided a full casino license. We are committed to doubling our workforce in Queens, offering more than 1,000 new union jobs that include the highest wages in the entire casino industry nationwide. Our training and transition programs in partnership with the New York Hotel Trades Council will help thousands of hospitality workers regain their lost employment. We'll be prepared on day one to make these new hires, generate additional revenue for New York's public schools and drive an economic boon for local small businesses. Find out how: www.NYforResponsibleGaming.org

Real Estate

"Number of Bronx tenants facing eviction without legal services skyrockets," by Gothamist's Chau Lam: "The number of tenants in the Bronx facing eviction without an attorney in housing court has increased more than 900% in less than a month, according to court officials, after a legal service provider said it did not have enough lawyers to meet the demand. The increase comes as a city program that provides free legal services for low-income New Yorkers grapples with a shortage of lawyers and a slate of eviction cases that are finally moving forward more than two months after a statewide moratorium was lifted."

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