| | | | |  | | By Sally Goldenberg, Anna Gronewold and Erin Durkin | New York City Mayor Eric Adams has gone out of his way to evince harmony with the state's top executive, but he offered no love for the state's two legislative leaders in a sit-down interview with POLITICO this week. "Governor [Kathy] Hochul has been an unbelievable partner," the Democratic mayor said, airing frustrations about the level of support he's gotten for the huge influx of migrants to his city. "When I talk about Albany and the lack of resources coming from Albany, there are three bodies up there. Where are the other bodies? We're not hearing anything." Without naming them, he directed his anger at Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins — fellow Democrats who have rebuffed some of his top requests during bare-knuckle state budget negotiations this year. "You would think that this crisis is not happening, or they don't know the severity of this crisis," Adams continued, following news that the city is expecting 1,000 migrants a week if federal immigration restrictions sunset. In a lengthy statement Sunday evening, he warned of cuts to city services to compensate for the added expense of providing shelter and other services. "The New York City delegation at a minimum should be leading 'cause this is going to have a direct impact on services for their constituency," Adams said. "So I'm blown away [that] I have not heard anything about that." The top lawmakers were not pleased with his comments, which came as they are heading back to the frigid state Capitol to approve a pay raise for their conferences. "Other than a quick hello at Somos in Puerto Rico, I have not heard from Mayor Adams since September," Heastie said through a spokesman, referring to a political junket last month. "He has not formally asked me for anything on this or any other issue, and instead of complaining through the press he should have just picked up the phone and called me." Mike Murphy, communications director for the Senate majority, echoed that sentiment: "We understand that this is a major issue with city, state, and national implications," he said. "We are always willing to work with the mayor and have provided record funding to the city to help deal with various crises. It would be helpful if the mayor presented a strategy and we look forward to working with him." 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? Making an economic development announcement. WHERE'S ERIC? No public events scheduled. PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook will not publish starting Monday, Dec. 26. After the hiatus, we'll be back on our normal schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 3. ABOVE THE FOLD — Adams and Hochul held private strategy session on bail and recidivism, by POLITICO's Joseph Spector and Sally Goldenberg: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams quietly huddled last week to hash out a targeted approach to changing the state's controversial bail laws next year, according to multiple people with knowledge of the closed-door meeting. The state's two most prominent executives, both moderate Democrats, met with their staff last week to develop a criminal justice agenda that might pass a Democratic-led Legislature reluctant to undo a 2019 law that largely eliminated cash bail in all but the most serious cases.
| | | | POLITICO AT CES 2023 : We are bringing a special edition of our Digital Future Daily newsletter to Las Vegas to cover CES 2023. The newsletter will take you inside the largest and most influential technology event on the planet, featuring every major and emerging industry in the technology ecosystem gathered in one place. The newsletter runs from Jan. 5-7 and will focus on the public policy related aspects of the event. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of CES 2023. | | | | | |  | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | HAPPY HOLIDAYS — The gang's all here: Lawmakers are back to give themselves a pay raise, from $110,000 to $142,000, in hopes of beating an end-of-year deadline. It will be coupled with a cap on lawmakers' outside income, but plenty of folks in and around Albany aren't too happy, and not just because a journey to Albany puts a wrinkle in holiday relaxation. Good government groups and the Albany Times Union editorial board find the proposal flawed — a bait and switch that would still allow swaths of certain kinds of outside income even as lawmakers become the highest-paid Legislature in the country. And Republicans can't help but point out that the Democratic conferences are effectively owning up to the state's prohibitively high costs, a longtime GOP talking point. "One thing is for certain: the debate about the massive affordability crisis facing New York is over," Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said in a statement. "By giving themselves a pay raise, Albany's political ruling class is admitting they've made our state unlivable if you make less than $142,000. This would make the Grinch blush. Taxpayers shouldn't forget." — Anna "Brooklyn Assemblyman-elect Lester Chang defends residency at hearing," by New York Daily News' Denis Slattery: "Assemblyman-elect Lester Chang defended his Brooklyn roots Wednesday during an hourslong hearing held to determine whether he is eligible to represent part of the borough. ... Chang's lawyers said questions over the member-elect's residency should have been addressed during the petitioning process and not after the Nov. 8 election." — A report found that low turnout among Asian American voters may have been the deciding factor in Chang's election. "NYC's pay transparency law is about to go statewide," by WNYC's Jon Campbell: "New York state will soon require most private employers to include a salary range in any listing for job openings, promotions or transfer opportunities, much like New York City mandated earlier this year. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law Wednesday that largely mirrors New York City's existing policy, which applies to any employer with at least four employees and requires them to make a 'good faith' effort to provide an accurate compensation range." " Hochul Grants Clemency to 13, Including a Domestic Violence Victim," by The New York Times' Jay Root "NYC Starts Legal Weed Sales in Time for the New Year, and the Profits Go to Charity," by Bloomberg's Shelly Banjo: "New York state will kick off legal recreational marijuana sales on Dec. 29, Governor Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday. Housing Works, a New York City-based nonprofit that runs a chain of thrift shops, will launch sales at a 4,400 square-foot Manhattan dispensary at 1 Astor Place. All proceeds will be directed to the nonprofit. The charity, which provides services to people who were formerly incarcerated, living with HIV/Aids, is one of three dozen groups and individuals awarded the state's first retail licenses last month." Guns owners in New York ask SCOTUS to block the state's new gun control laws, by POLITICO's Julia Marsh: Six guns owners in New York asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to block the state's new gun control laws from taking effect after two lower courts flip-flopped on whether they can be implemented pending challenges to their constitutionality. #UpstateAmerica: The Holiday Hunt can continue.
| | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | "List of Eric Adams Allies Hired to High-Paid Government Posts Keeps Growing," by The City's Katie Honan and Yoav Gonen: "The administration of Mayor Eric Adams has hired two more Brooklyn political allies of the mayor — part of a trend that's seen his friends and supporters awarded top posts this year. Former Democratic state Sen. Jesse Hamilton, an Adams protege who replaced him in the 20th Senate District after Adams was elected Brooklyn borough president in 2013, was hired as a legal counsel at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services in late August with a salary of $190,000, city records show. … Adams has also brought on longtime assistant principal and former Brooklyn Democratic Party District Leader Tommy Torres to serve as a special assistant, according to sources and online posts from Torres." "Bring Back Masks on Subway, Disability Advocates Say as Respiratory Diseases Surge," by The City's Jose Martinez "Mayor Adams campaigned on better NYC bus service. In his first year, he's fallen short," by WNYC's Clayton Guse: "Eric Adams made big promises to improve bus service as he campaigned for mayor — but his administration has failed to make good on many of those vows during his first year in office. During his run for City Hall last year, Adams committed to striping new bus lanes and to 'build out a state-of-the-art bus transit system' that prioritizes transit deserts — areas without easy subway or bus connections. But a year into his first term, New York City straphangers have seen few improvements to bus service, and the city Department of Transportation has missed key milestones in its plans to add more bus lanes." "In Criticism of Eric Adams, Some See Echoes of David Dinkins," by The New York Times' Jeffery C. Mays and Emma G. Fitzsimmons: "To former Gov. David A. Paterson, it all seemed too familiar: the condemnations, the diminution of character, the absence of any honeymoon period. That, he said, was his experience as governor of New York. He remembered that David N. Dinkins had gone through it as the mayor of New York City. And now, he said, it is happening to Mayor Eric Adams, the second Black mayor in the city's history. 'There is certainly an attempt to make elected Black officials, particularly those who became executives like mayors and governors, to make them look not serious,' Mr. Paterson said in an interview."
| | | | A NEW POLITICO PODCAST: POLITICO Tech is an authoritative insider briefing on the politics and policy of technology. From crypto and the metaverse to cybersecurity and AI, we explore the who, what and how of policy shaping future industries. We're kicking off with a series exploring darknet marketplaces, the virtual platforms that enable actors from all corners of the online world to traffic illicit goods. As malware and cybercrime attacks become increasingly frequent, regulators and law enforcement agencies work different angles to shut these platforms down, but new, often more unassailable marketplaces pop up. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY. | | | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | Judge slams Trump suit aimed at blocking N.Y. attorney general probe, by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: A federal judge has turned down an effort by former President Donald Trump to block aspects of New York Attorney General Tish James' drive to place the Trump business empire under court supervision due to what she claims is persistent fraud. U.S. District Court Donald Middlebrooks coupled his ruling Wednesday with a stern warning to Trump and his lawyers that their legal tactics could result in sanctions from the court. Trump lawyers target Adult Survivors Act in attempt to invalidate rape lawsuit, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: A lawyer for Donald Trump said Wednesday he will try to dismiss a lawsuit by a woman alleging the former president raped her in the 1990s by arguing New York's Adult Survivors Act is unconstitutional, but a judge suggested he is not inclined to throw out the case. Lawyers appeared in federal court in Manhattan in a lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who says that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store decades ago. She brought a new suit against Trump after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act, which gives victims of sexual assault two years to sue over past assaults that would previously have been barred by the statute of limitations.
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | "Congressman-elect George Santos lied about grandparents fleeing anti-Jewish persecution during WWII," by the Forward's Andrew Silverstein: "Congressman-elect George Santos' emotional narrative of having Jewish grandparents who fled Europe during World War II appears to be untrue, like much of the rest of his campaign biography, according to genealogy websites reviewed by the Forward. Santos, a Long Island Republican, has said that his father was Catholic and his mother was Jewish, and that both faiths 'are mine.' The very first line of the 'About George' page on his campaign website states: 'George's grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.'"
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — The man accused of a subway mass shooting in Brooklyn in April is expected to plead guilty. — The NYPD has started training officers on implementing Adams' policy to hospitalize more people with mental illness. — An armed MTA security guard shot a man in the chest at a Brooklyn subway stop after being threatened. — Three City Council members in Brooklyn are demanding the city lift a ban on e-bikes in Prospect Park. — An anti-drunk driving Albany highway billboard features a story of an infant's death that never happened. — West Point will begin removing, renaming or modifying assets and property that commemorate or memorialize the Confederacy. — A bill that would make it easier for older judges to keep serving has been sent to Hochul's desk. — Adams gave himself a B-plus for his first year in office. — Parents and City Council members rallied for bills that would require parents to be informed of their rights at the start of a child welfare investigation.
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Diane Sawyer … CNN's Daniella Diaz … Adam Verdugo … Matt Manda … Mary Baskerville … Hank Sheinkopf … Scott Pellegrino … Colin Jones MAKING MOVES — Jimmy Van Bramer and Isabel Castilla have been confirmed as new members of the Public Design Commission, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams. Van Bramer was formerly a City Council member and chaired the cultural affairs committee, and is currently chief growth and strategic partnerships officer at the Girls Scouts of Greater New York. Castilla is a principal at James Corner Field Operations.
| | Real Estate | | "NYCHA Faces Financial Crisis as Nearly Half of Tenants Are Late on Rent, With Many Awaiting Missing Aid," by The City's Greg B. Smith: "Nearly half of the city's public housing households are now behind in their rent, owing $450 million in all — a huge pandemic-related problem caused in part by tenants waiting for rent reimbursement from the state that will likely never come." "Data shows surge in housing permits before controversial tax break cutoff," by NY1's Louis Finley: "Every mayor since Ed Koch in 1978 had building more affordable housing on their to-do list, but the state Legislature allowed a controversial but popular development incentive to expire in June. That led to a glut of applications, but experts say many of them won't come to fruition." | | | | 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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