| | | | |  | | By Anna Gronewold, Julia Marsh and Eleonora Francica | Presented by The City University of New York | | 
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, left, and Carl Heastie listen to Kathy Hochul present her executive state budget. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | So far this legislative session, it’s been three Black leaders in a room. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has reset his previously strained relationship with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a bid to get more of his policy priorities passed. “There’s an acknowledgement from the leaders that the stakes are high with voters this session on public safety and affordability issues,” said a person with knowledge of the relationships between Adams, Heastie and Stewart-Cousins. “It’s clear a lot won’t get done without buy-in from them.” After Adams criticized Heastie and Stewart-Cousins during a December interview with POLITICO over their perceived lack of interest in addressing the city’s migrant crisis, Rev. Al Sharpton stepped up to play mediator. Sharpton, who’s wary of the city’s second Black mayor falling victim to the single-term tenure of its first, wants to see Adams succeed — especially at a time when Black people serve in a historic number of powerful positions in New York. Before Sharpton convened a crime summit of the state’s Black leaders in mid-January, Adams met with Heastie and Stewart-Cousins on the sidelines of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address. Adams met with Heastie again at the Renaissance Albany Hotel over Caucus Weekend. Sharpton’s set to huddle with the trio later this week “to keep the conversation going,” he told Playbook. The mayor’s staff has been meeting behind-the-scenes with representatives for the legislative leaders. “There’s been a lot more communication and that was always the problem — lack of communication,” said a second person familiar with the dynamic. At this time last year, the leadership was upset about Adams’ near-singular focus on changing the state's bail laws. Now, specific proposals including one targeting recidivists are being batted around instead of immediately rejected like the matter of judicial discretion was last session. And that brings us to the odd woman out. Adams leaned heavily on Hochul last year to the detriment of his biggest requests on public safety, mayoral control of schools and tax breaks for developers. This year, Hochul’s going into the budget in a weakened state. But the governor’s boosters note she and Adams, both moderate Democrats, are still more ideologically aligned than the mayor is with the further-left legislative leaders. They also wonder whether the newfound unity between the three will crack if the Senate and Assembly don’t give Adams his big-ticket item in their one-house budgets, namely at least $1 billion for asylum seekers. IT’S TUESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: agronewold@politico.com and sgoldenberg@politico.com or on Twitter: @annagronewold and @sallygold WHERE’S KATHY? In Rochester highlighting public safety proposals in 2024 executive budget. WHERE’S ERIC? In New York City making asylum-seeker related announcement, in Long Island City delivering remarks at NYPD Middle East and Turkic Society’s earthquake relief event, and making an appearance on Comedy Central's “The Daily Show.” QUOTE OF THE DAY “I feel like this is a ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ moment.” — Eric Adams to NY1’s Ruschell Boone, who returned at long last to the anchor desk Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. (Welcome back Ruschell!)
| | | | A message from The City University of New York: When it comes to lifting up New York and building a strong, equitable workforce for the future, no one does it better than CUNY. With 2,800-plus programs, our 25 schools turn out thousands of graduates annually with the drive to help your organization thrive. So partner with us as your number one talent source. Mentor our students. Offer them internships. Hire them. Discover New York’s most vital university at cuny.edu/hirecuny and follow us on Twitter. | | | |  | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | “New York’s Difficulty in Filling Job Vacancies Has Hurt City Services,” by The New York Times’ Jeffery C. Mays: “Of the 15 agencies with the highest employee vacancy rates, nine have failed to meet immediate and short- and long-term performance targets, leading to difficulty in delivering key city services, according to the report, which was released in conjunction with a City Council budget hearing on Monday.” MASK DROP: Both Eric Adams and city bodega workers are urging customers to take off their masks when entering stores after a string of violent robberies that include a fully masked individual. “Where New York’s Asian Neighborhoods Shifted to the Right,” by The New York Times’ Jason Kao: “In last year’s governor’s election, voters in Asian neighborhoods across New York City sharply increased their support for Republicans. Though these areas remained blue overall, they shifted to the right by 23 percentage points, compared with 2018, after more than a decade of reliably backing Democrats.” “NYC should crack down on unsightly construction sheds cramming sidewalks, says Manhattan BP Mark Levine,” by Daily News’ Shant Shahrigian: “More than 230 of the structures, which are designed to protect pedestrians from debris at construction sites, have been in the same place for more than five years, according to a new analysis of Department of Buildings (DOB) data by the borough president’s office.” “Community boards push city for help translating at meetings,” by Spectrum News’ Ari Ephraim Feldman: “Across the city, community boards are struggling to make their meetings accessible to the estimated one quarter of all city residents who are not proficient in English. They do not receive dedicated translation resources for meetings, and other city language services available to them get low use.” LONG READ: “The Fight Over Penn Station and Madison Square Garden,” by The New Yorker’s William Finnegan: “How the effort to renovate midtown Manhattan’s transit hub has been stalled by money, politics, and disputes about the public good.”
| | | | 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 | | “Top NY Judge Misled Lawmakers To Justify DiFiore’s Detail,” by Law360’s Frank G. Runyeon: “In harrowing testimony last month, a top New York state court official told lawmakers that former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore's unprecedented multimillion-dollar security escort was warranted because of a series of grave threats against her, including from a stalker and a man who vowed to kill the jurist and her family. But a Law360 investigation found that the testimony by acting Chief Administrative Judge Tamiko Amaker omitted key details that raise doubts about whether the incidents posed a serious threat to DiFiore’s safety that merited a full-time armed escort even after her resignation in August.” — THERE’S STILL TIME! To apply to be the new chief judge. If you’re interested in wading into this year’s messiest political dynamic so far, the Commission on Judicial Nomination announced yesterday the deadline for new applications has been extended to March 10, 2023, perhaps due to very few submissions. “Prison Department Writes Its Way Out of Following Solitary Confinement Law — Again,” by New York Focus’ Chris Gelardi: “Fifty-two state legislators sent a letter to New York’s prison department last week lambasting the agency for re-enacting regulations that flout solitary confinement law. Citing a multi-part New York Focus investigation, the lawmakers pointed to nearly a year’s worth of routine violations of the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act, which placed strict limits on carceral isolation.” “'Trooper 1' seeks State Police sexual harassment records in Cuomo case,” by Times Union’s Brendan J. Lyons: “An attorney for an investigator who accused former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of sexually harassing her when she worked on his State Police security detail wants the agency to turn over its records documenting their handling of more than six other harassment cases.” #UpstateAmerica: A bizarrely mild winter means more ticks, toxic algae and “mismatches of timing” among animals. Everything is FINE.
| | | | A message from The City University of New York:   | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | “Hope Hicks Meets With Manhattan Prosecutors as Trump Inquiry Intensifies,” by The New York Times’ Kate Christobek, Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and William K. Rashbaum: “The appearance of Ms. Hicks, who was seen walking into the Manhattan district attorney’s office in the early afternoon, represents the latest sign that the prosecutors are in the final stages of their investigation. She is at least the seventh witness to meet with prosecutors since the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, convened a grand jury in January to hear evidence in the case.” | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D-New York) sent a “care package” to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with a few book recommendations for the self-described “anti-woke” GOP leader and likely presidential candidate. On the congressman’s reading list were Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist” and Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility.”
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — A bipartisan group of state politicians wants bail laws to be stricter for fentanyl dealers. — Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell will not be deposed in legal action against the city over how cops handled protesters in 2020. — Hundreds of workers marched across the Manhattan Bridge to demand unemployment benefits in the state budget for nontraditional workers. — The New Majority NYC is partnering with The Gilded Cast podcast, hosted by Stephanie Miliano, to feature conversations with the women running for New York City Council. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Michael Eisner … Guy Benson … Savannah Behrmann … Jordan Colvin … Harry Bainbridge … Adam Kaiser … Carol Danko WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Shelly Banjo, global business editor for the Americas at Bloomberg, and Steve Russolillo, deputy coverage chief of speed and trending at the Wall Street Journal, on Feb. 23 welcomed Isaac “Ike” Banjo Russolillo. Pic ... Another pic MEDIAWATCH — POLITICO has added James Romoser as legal editor and Erica Orden as a legal reporter. Romoser previously was editor of SCOTUSblog and columnist at The National Journal. Orden previously was a reporter for CNN and is a WSJ alum. … Josh Kraushaar will be editor-in-chief at Jewish Insider. He previously was senior politics reporter at Axios. MAKING MOVES — Sarah Hornblower is now director of marketing and communications at the New Jersey Symphony. She most recently was senior project manager at Prudential. … Robert Wann has joined O’Melveny as a partner in its corporate finance group. He most recently was at Baker Botts.
| | | | A message from The City University of New York: When it comes to lifting up New York and building a strong, equitable workforce for the future, no one does it better than CUNY. With more than 2,800 world-class majors and programs, our 25 schools turn out thousands of graduates each year with the talent and drive to help your organization thrive. You can be part of our career-related programs focused on fields such as tech, healthcare, renewable energy, construction and marketing. So partner with us as your number one talent source. Mentor our students. Offer them internships. Hire them. Our city is evolving, and CUNY stands ready to meet the moment. Discover the nation’s largest urban public university system at cuny.edu/hirecuny and follow us on Twitter at @CUNY. | | | | | Real Estate | | “An Ex-D.J. Has a Housing Voucher. He Still Can’t Find a Home,” by The New York Times’ Mihir Zaveri: “Mr. Parker’s plight, housing advocates said, painfully illustrates a less obvious part of the problem: dysfunction in the systems that are meant to keep people from losing their homes in the first place. The end of pandemic-era housing programs, including a moratorium on evictions, has resulted in more New Yorkers facing the prospect of losing their homes. That flood of people has strained a city network of government agencies and nonprofits meant to help people stay housed, as agencies simultaneously deal with staffing shortages.”
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