| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin , Anna Gronewold and Georgia Rosenberg | | | New York City declared monkeypox a public health emergency this weekend, coming quickly on the heels of Gov. Kathy Hochul declaring a state disaster emergency as well. Some 150,000 city residents may be at risk of monkeypox, with 1,345 cases already diagnosed — making New York "the epicenter of the outbreak," said Mayor Eric Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. The dual emergency declarations (layered on top of the existing Covid-19 pandemic emergency) come as New York has struggled to contain the disease , despite the lessons it learned or should have learned from the coronavirus. Monkeypox is not labeled a sexually transmitted illness because it can spread through other physical contact, but the city had shuttered several of its sexual health clinics , Gothamist reports, leaving it that much more unprepared for a virus that is spreading rapidly among gay men. "This outbreak must be met with urgency, action, and resources, both nationally and globally, and this declaration of a public health emergency reflects the seriousness of the moment," Adams and Vasan said. Yet vaccine supply remains scarce, hampering efforts to combat the outbreak. Hochul said the emergency declaration is meant to sound the alarm and prod the federal government into sending more doses of the vaccine. In practical terms, the city will now be able to issue emergency commissioner's orders for regulations issued to contain the disease, a tool frequently employed earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic. And the state will authorize more providers to administer vaccines. New York is set to receive 110,000 vaccine doses in the coming weeks, with 80,000 of those going to the city. But the worst may be yet to come, as Hochul said via NYT: "What we're seeing are signs where it could escalate dramatically." 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 KATHY? In Erie and Monroe Counties, New York City, and Albany with no public events scheduled. WHERE'S ERIC? Attending a Sylvia's anniversary celebration and making a street safety announcement.
| | A message from United for Clean Power, Inc.: The time to take action on planet-saving climate change legislation is NOW. Demand true environmental justice from your Democrat colleagues or block the Reconciliation bill. Over the past decade more than 83% of all disasters around the world were caused by extreme weather and climate-related events. A Reconciliation package without comprehensive climate change provisions would be a catastrophic failure. Demand real climate change action in the Reconciliation package, or kill it altogether. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | " 'Betrayed': Sick 9/11 first responders on brink of losing jobs despite law ," by New York Post's Reuven Fenton and Gabrielle Fonrouge: "When Bronx EMT Vanessa Rodriguez spent close to a year collecting body parts at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, she never realized the toxic dust she inhaled would later give her stage-three cancer. Two decades later, the now-disabled mother of two is facing termination from the FDNY and preparing to apply for welfare after she learned the 'unlimited' sick leave she thought she was entitled to under a 2019 state bill is not unlimited after all, despite what politicians promised. 'I thought that the city would take care of us,' Rodriguez, who lost her job in May, told The Post during a recent interview. 'I feel left out, like, "Here you go. You did your job. Now get out." It's just so unfair the way they are handling things.' Rodriguez, 47, is one of a half-dozen or so FDNY EMS members who learned this summer they'll be fired for being out sick for more than year with 9/11-related injuries under the state's 'unlimited' sick leave law for public workers who responded to the terrorist attack." — "New York City will release a treasure trove of memos about what the city knew about the toxic air at the World Trade Center site — only if federal lawmakers can help protect the city from lawsuits after the documents are made public, the Daily News has learned." " Adams administration reverses course on NYC principals' access to their school budgets ," by Gothamist's Christopher Werth: "It was a sudden change of policy from City Hall. At 12:22 p.m. on Friday, Emma Vadehra, chief operating officer at the New York City Department of Education, sent a note to school principals and superintendents informing them that they would lose access to the department's online budgeting application known as Galaxy, which allows principals to hire staff, purchase supplies and manage their school budgets. A week earlier, a New York Supreme Court judge had granted a temporary restraining order against the education department that prevents it from implementing planned cuts to school budgets … But by 9:51 p.m. that same day – last night – the Adams administration had reversed course." — The number of students being homeschooled has more than doubled since the beginning of the pandemic. — City schools will scale back special education services in the fall. " NYC speed cameras to run around the clock beginning Monday ," by New York Post's Haley Brown and Selim Algar: "City speed demons, beware. Twenty-four-hour speed cameras are set to activate Monday morning at 2,000 locations throughout the five boroughs. The cameras currently only operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., with 59 percent of traffic fatalities occurring during outside of those hours, officials said. Oscar Hernandez, 61, of Hamilton Heights in Upper Manhattan told The Post on Sunday that he welcomes the measure — especially in light of the rampant drag-racing and crashes in his neighborhood. 'You leave your car parked, you find the bumper in the street,' he said." " Mayor Eric Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander claim victory on freeing up NYC non-profit contract logjam ," by New York Daily News' Michael Gartland: "Mayor Adams and Comptroller Brad Lander announced Friday that the city has cleared up a bureaucratic logjam that was preventing $4.2 billion in city funds from going to non-profit contractors — many of which provide vital services to the city's poor and had been waiting months to be paid for services rendered. The effort to clear the backlog stemmed from the Joint Task Force to Get Nonprofits Paid on Time, an entity Adams and Lander both helped form. In May, the task force launched an initiative to put the stalled contracts in motion, and on Friday, city officials said the effort has resulted in approximately 2,600 contracts being pushed through the city's arcane procurement procedures and registered by the comptroller's office." " Migrants Being Sent to NYC From Texas — to the Wrong Places, With No Help, Sources Say ," by NBC 4's Melissa Russo: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is apparently sending border-crossing migrants from Texas to New York City — but with paperwork that directs them to the wrong addresses, leaving them struggling on the streets of NYC without food or shelter. New York City is one of the few places in America with right-to-shelter laws, which means that anyone who comes here and presents to designated city facilities by a certain time of day has to be sheltered by the next morning. …Documents obtained by News 4 indicate that Homeland Security has been handing paperwork to migrants in Texas saying, in effect, go to New York City and go to this address to receive services. The problem is, many of those addresses are not family shelters, or any kind of shelter at all."
| | | | 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 . | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | " Hochul campaign donor lands multi-billion dollar state contract ," by Times Union's Chris Bragg: "The state Department of Health is awarding a multi-billion-dollar transportation contract to a company owned by a significant campaign donor to Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was also the beneficiary of a campaign fundraiser the bidder hosted for the governor as the procurement process was nearing its conclusion. Russ Maxwell, president and owner of the Syracuse-based company Medical Answering Services, confirmed in an interview that he'd won the bid and he estimated that under the terms of the deal the state will pay over $1 billion annually during the five-year contract." " Staffing shortages continue to spur group home closures ," by Times Union's Brendan J. Lyons: "A staffing crisis at residential facilities operated by the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities is continuing to drive closures of the facilities, with labor groups and families who rely on the group homes worried there is not enough being done to recruit new workers. Rural areas of the state, especially in the Finger Lakes region, are among the regions being hard-hit by the 'suspensions' of residential services that have resulted in many developmentally disabled people being forced to move into new group homes or care facilities, sometimes long distances away from their families." " Moving in With Mom: Redistricting Creates Upheaval for N.Y. Lawakers ," by The New York Times' Luis Ferré-Sadurní: "Earlier this year, New York's tumultuous redistricting process convulsed the state's House races, sparking intraparty drama that has provoked free-for-all primary contests and forced high-ranking Democrats to run against each other. But the court-drawn maps also threw Albany into chaos, upending district lines in the Democratic-controlled State Senate, and with similar effect: Lawmakers were thrust into the same districts, forcing some to make inconvenient living arrangements to run in neighboring districts in the Aug. 23 primary."
| | | | A message from United for Clean Power, Inc.:   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | " Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney's use of campaign funds for ex 'body man' raises ethics questions ," by New York Post's Sam Raskin and Jack Morphet: "Ethics experts are questioning whether the head of congressional Democrats' campaign arm, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, used his House and campaign cash for 'personal services' with the hiring of an aide — who told The Post his role was to serve as the lawmaker's 'body man.' Maloney (D-NY) — who in 2020 became chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — hired lifelong Floridian Harold Leath, for whom Maloney's campaign forked over the money for the move north, in 2014, records show." " A New Yorker's Opposition to Abortion Clouds Her House Re-Election Bid ," by The New York Times' Jesse McKinley: "As the lone Republican in the New York City congressional delegation, Representative Nicole Malliotakis has adopted certain stances that would make her an understandable outlier in a deeply Democratic city. Just days after taking office in early 2021, she voted to discard the legitimate 2020 election results, voting for a debunked conspiracy theory that claimed President Donald J. Trump actually won the election. She followed up by voting against Mr. Trump's second impeachment as a result of the deadly Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021. But as she seeks re-election in November, Ms. Malliotakis has tried to tread a finer line around guns and abortion, two polarizing social issues that have taken on added prominence in light of recent Supreme Court decisions" " Ex-Rep. Max Rose calls on Gov. Kathy Hochul to fix NY's bail laws ," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "Democratic congressional candidate Max Rose is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to hold an emergency session to toughen New York's controversial no-cash bail law. Rose's appeal comes on the heels of similar pleas made last week by Mayor Eric Adams and GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor. 'Mayor Adams is right about this. We need more Democrats to come out and say the bail law needs to be fixed. This has to happen,' Rose told The Post in a Sunday interview. Rose, a moderate Democrat running for his old congressional seat in Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, is expected to win the Aug. 23 primary against socialist candidate Brittany Ramos DeBarros." " 'Un-American, unpatriotic': Veterans, pols fume in Midtown over burn pit bill stalled in Senate ," by amNewYork's Dean Moses: "John Feal struggled to hold back tears on Sunday in Midtown. Through the Fealgood Foundation, Feal — a demolition expert who worked at Ground Zero during and after 9/11 — has dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of first responders and veterans. Standing outside the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System at 423 East 23rd St., alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and veterans, Feal fumed with anger and swelled with sorrow over the PACT Act being stalled in the Senate. The fury rose from Feal amidst the summer heat as he seethed over the Republican blocked bill that, if passed, would have expanded benefits for veterans who have experienced toxic exposure. Many saw the PACT Act as a surefire bipartisan pass yet 25 Republican senators flipped their vote Wednesday."
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — A judge threw out a lawsuit brought by the correction officers union seeking to overturn the vaccine mandate for city workers. — A lower percentage of Asian students in New York City secured a spot at one of their top five public high schools in the new admissions system, compared to Black and Latino students. — A man was arrested after he was found outside the Brooklyn home of an Iranian American journalist with a loaded assault rifle. — A Manhattan chronic pain doctor was convicted of sexually assaulting patients . — The 28th Annual Garden Walk brought thousands of people to Buffalo over the weekend. — Mayor Adams visited a Bronx pool on Sunday amid a city lifeguard shortage. — Coney Island public housing residents are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Sandy.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY . | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Howard Kurtz … Ed Gillespie of AT&T … Edelman's Jordan Lubowitz … former Sen. Al D'Amato (R-N.Y.) … Graeme Trayner of FGS Global … Azi Paybarah … (was Sunday): Mark Cuban ... Todd Novascone of Ogilvy GR … Edelman's Brian McNeill … Cory Bythrow … U.S. Chamber's Lexi Branson … Matthew Ballard of BCW Global … Sean Eldridge of Stand Up America … Ronald Kuby … Sam Frizell … Elena Becatoros … Danielle Meister ... … (was Saturday): DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) … NYT's Jim Rutenberg … WaPo's Shane Harris … Rebecca Kutler … Suzanne Nossel of PEN America … MSNBC's Isaac-Davy Aronson … Michael Short … former CFTC Chair Tim Massad MAKING MOVES — The Association for a Better New York has hired Aaron Sanders as public policy director and Sophie Wright as communications coordinator. Sanders was previously the associate director of advocacy and policy for the Natural Areas Conservancy. Wright previously worked at Global Strategy Group. ENGAGED — David Malton, a VP at Intermediate Capital Group, on July 21 proposed to Rachel Schindler, a co-founder of Punchbowl News and a POLITICO alum. The couple, who were set up by friends when Malton moved to D.C. in 2015, got engaged in the Catskills. Pic ... Another pic WEEKEND WEDDING — Raja Hamid, an associate director of product at Tripadvisor, recently married Leah Breen, a communications and marketing graduate student. The couple, who eloped in Hood River, Oregon, had a Muslim nikah ceremony with the groom's parents in the Bronx, and will soon have a a third and final celebration with the bride's immediate family in Essex, Mass. They met in 2016 while on a group hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire; the couple's first date was a seven-day sailing trip on a forty foot catamaran in the British Virgin Islands. Pic … Another pic
| | A message from United for Clean Power, Inc.: This is Democrats' last chance to save the planet and if we fail, there may never be another opportunity to rescue the next generation from our mistakes. Our planet is in crisis. The time to take action on real planet-saving climate change legislation is NOW. Demand true environmental justice from your Democrat colleagues or kill the Reconciliation bill. Over the past decade more than 83% of all disasters around the world were caused by extreme weather and climate-related events. Half-measures that compromise are NOT acceptable. We have the power and we have the means to get this done. After November, that may not be the case. A Reconciliation package without comprehensive climate change provisions would be a catastrophic failure. Demand true climate change action in the Reconciliation package, or block it's passage altogether. | | | | | Real Estate | | " Why It's So Hard to Find an Affordable Apartment in New York ," by the New York Times' Mihir Zaveri: "A half a century ago, city planners warned that New York had the potential to swell into a 'monster city' of 55 million people. To avoid this fate, the city passed a major overhaul of zoning rules in 1961, limiting the size of buildings and how many people could live in them. Now, a longstanding housing shortage, partly fueled by those old constraints, is inflaming a crisis in affordability. It may feel counterintuitive that the largest city in America has a housing shortage. Cranes and construction crews appear to be constantly in motion, stacking together new residential apartment buildings, condos and tall skyscrapers. But the problems reflect a national phenomenon and are further fueled by the popularity of New York City itself. More people want to live here than the city can accommodate, driving up prices for the housing that is available." | | | | 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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