| | | | |  | | By Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman | | | With help from Shawn Ness
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Mayor Eric Adams took some City Council members on a ride-along to drum up support for the How Many Stops Act. Roughly 12 or more members supported the bill but still had issues with it. | Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office | Not every New York City Council member who voted for the How Many Stops Act actually liked the police reform bill. Of the 35 who last month approved the legislation — which would require cops to report demographic information about even low-level stops — there were about eight members who had issues with it, one lawmaker estimated to Playbook. Another put the tally at 12 or more. “A bill like this should be a bit more flexible,” explained yet another unsure member. “The bill highlights a problem, but does it solve it?” But Mayor Eric Adams’ team couldn’t flip the two votes needed to stop the Council from overriding his veto — which they are all but certain to do today, Speaker Adrienne Adams told Playbook. “I feel really good,” on the vote count, she said Monday afternoon. In addition to those voting on the substance of the bills, Council members may reflexively support an override out of a sense of solidarity with the body. Mayor Adams’ very public lobbying campaign to convince them otherwise included inviting lawmakers on an NYPD ride-along with bullet proof vests, surprising appeals to bar mitzvah guests, calls from former Chief of Staff Frank Carone and press conferences backed by NYPD members talking about how the bill will waste their time. None of it seemed to work. “There was an opportunity for him to potentially derail this but he and his team didn’t do a good job working the members,” one Council member told Playbook. That person hadn’t heard directly from the mayor since December. The other unsure member said neither the speaker’s nor mayor’s office called asking for their vote. “The lobbying has been total shit. On both sides,” said the third member. Some Council members just want to be coddled, a person on the mayor’s team familiar with the discussions argued. The mayor’s team was talking to members, the person said, adding that their vote should be on the merits, not interpersonal politics. “Crime is down and this bill will take us backwards,” the person said. The Council also plans to override the mayor’s veto of a bill placing limits on solitary confinement and restraints in city jails. That bill seems destined to face a legal challenge before it gets implemented. Intergovernmental affairs hasn’t been a strength for this mayor. But this veto fight hasn’t been a total loss for him either. It helped to emphasize his support for law enforcement officers, who he contrasted to progressives like Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — the sponsor of both bills. – Jeff Coltin IT’S TUESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? Signing public safety legislation at the Capitol. WHERE’S ERIC? Appearing on NY1’s “Mornings on 1,” then on PIX11’s Morning News, then on FOX5’s “Good Day New York,” then on CBS News New York’s streaming network, and one final broadcast stop for a live interview on 1010 WINS’ “Morning Drive,” delivering remarks at the Citywide Agency Response to Human Trafficking, then another TV appearance on WABC 7’s “Eyewitness News Mornings at 10,” hosting an in person media availability in City Hall. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We should all continue his custom of treating all people like family. The world would be a better place.” – former City Councilmember Mark Weprin on the death of former City Councilmember Paul Vallone, for whom city flags were lowered Monday.
| | | | A message from Amazon: When MJ started at an Amazon fulfillment center, “health care started on day one for me and my kids,” she said. Amazon combines free technical training with comprehensive benefits so employees have the opportunity to grow and the support to stay. See the impact of comprehensive benefits. | | | |  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | |  Mazi Pilip, the Republican frontrunner for NY-3, is still a registered Democrat. She doesn't plan on changing party affiliations until after the special election. | Adam Gray/Getty Images | STILL A DEM: The GOP nominee for the Long Island special election to replace former Rep. George Santos remains an enrolled Democrat, her campaign confirmed to Playbook. Mazi Pilip was elected twice to the Nassau County Legislature on the Republican line despite being on the rolls as a Democrat since 2012, Playbook first reported in early December. Pilip does not plan to switch party registrations until after the Feb. 13 face-off. “After consultation with a number of lawyers, it was decided that it was best to wait until after the election to avoid any frivolous and baseless court challenges from Tom Suozzi or his surrogates,” her campaign spokesperson said. And will Pilip follow through if she loses the House race? “She’s going to win,” the spokesperson responded. A spokesperson for Suozzi, who was just added to the DCCC’s Red to Blue program, told Playbook, “If we were going to sue Mazi Pilip, it would be because she is an unvetted, untested, unprepared candidate who will be unable to deliver because she will be too busy hiding from voters. ... That’s a sueable offense.” Being a Democrat isn’t a dealbreaker for Nassau County voters backing Republicans. North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jen DeSena is an enrolled Democrat who flipped her seat to Republicans in 2021 and then beat out a Democrat to win again last November. – Emily Ngo
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
Former City Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez (right) got a new job as the vice president of policy at Tech:NYC. She is now subjected to a two-year lobbying ban from City Council. | Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit | MARJ’S MOVE: After losing reelection to the New York City Council in November, Marjorie Velázquez has landed at industry group Tech:NYC as vice president of policy, she exclusively told Playbook. Science, tech, engineering and math jobs in New York City now equal those in finance, The City reported, and Velázquez said her job isn’t just about growing Tech:NYC’s membership, but in the sector advocating for a bigger role. The Bronx Democrat is subject to a two-year lobbying ban of the entire City Council, but she said her role is more policy-based and she’ll leave city lobbying to others including President Julie Samuels and Julian Kline, whose personal lobbying firm now represents Tech:NYC. The nonprofit also lobbies at the state level, where she would be allowed to advocate. Lisi McCall, senior policy adviser to the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations is also joining Tech:NYC as chief of staff, and Bryan Lozano, senior director of senior initiatives at Empire State Development will be the new director of the Tech:NYC Foundation. – Jeff Coltin FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: A regularly released progress report will reveal today that the use of subsidized child care has expanded under Mayor Adams, Playbook has learned. Child care voucher enrollment increased by more than 25 percent from 52,360 in the first four months of the last fiscal year to 65,572 in the same period this fiscal year, the Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report will show. “When we took office, a family earning $55,000 a year was paying $55 for full-time, subsidized child care per week — today, that same family is paying $4 per week,” Adams said in a statement. While the annual Mayor’s Management Report is released each fall, the preliminary version helps show where the administration is and isn’t on track. The MMR last September revealed gains such as fewer shootings but also pitfalls such as a decline in the timely processing of food assistance. – Emily Ngo More from the city: — What life is like for migrants in an emergency housing tent complex. (CNN) — Cash assistance applications have increased in recent years — and so have procedural denials. (City Limits) — Why exactly was an arch, of all things, picked as a priority project for Manhattan’s Chinatown, critics are continuing to ask. (Hell Gate)
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | |  Uber and Lyft are joining the fight against New York's lawsuit-lending practices, which provides money ahead of a monetary settlement or judgment in a lawsuit. | Mario Tama/Getty Images | LAWSUIT LENDING: Ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft are joining a fight to change the lawsuit-lending industry in New York. The companies today will announce they are joining Consumers for Fair Legal Funding, a coalition of business interests and community organizations that have sought an overhaul of lawsuit-lending practices in the state. Lawsuit lending provides money ahead of a monetary settlement or judgment in a lawsuit. But the practice has come under criticism and blamed for driving up insurance costs. Uber is the country’s biggest insurance consumer, and New York has the second-highest average insurance premiums in the nation. “The unchecked lawsuit lending industry is driving insurance costs up, consuming an ever-larger share of fares, and making it harder for drivers to earn a living,” Hayley Prim, the senior policy manager at Uber, said in a statement to Playbook. Lawsuit lending, sometimes referred to as third-party litigation funding or litigation financing, has become a multibillion-dollar sector of the economy. Advocates have been trying to get changes to how it's regulated that would preserve money for vulnerable people who need to cover medical expenses, but also cap interest rates on loans. They also want transparency in the lending process to avoid conflicts of interest. “Steadily rising insurance costs are the biggest hurdle to keeping rides affordable and paying drivers more,” Megan Sirjane-Samples, the director of public policy at Lyft, said. “If we can curb — or better yet, reduce — these costs, the savings are going to go directly back into drivers’ pockets and help lower fares.” – Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Hochul’s administration is weighing a rule change that could mean hiring thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers to state government jobs. (Bloomberg) — New York lawmakers want better info on harmful algal blooms in the state’s waterways. (Spectrum News) — A New York cannabis firm is claiming that the industry’s white male owners are facing race discrimination. (Times Union)
| | | | A message from Amazon: Amazon fulfillment centers create on average 3,000 local jobs with comprehensive benefits and free technical training so hourly employees get the support they need to succeed. Amazon’s local investment in communities helps employees and whole communities thrive.
Learn how Amazon supports employees and their communities. | | | | | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | |  Former Rep. Tom Suozzi received an endorsement from the abortion rights group Reproductive Freedom for All in his race against Mazi Pilip. | Michael Santiago/Getty Images | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The abortion rights group Reproductive Freedom for All today will endorse Democrat Tom Suozzi’s bid for a battleground House seat in next month’s special election. “With the very real threat of a nationwide abortion ban looming, we must elect Tom Suozzi to this crucial seat to fight back,” Mini Timmaraju, the group’s president and CEO, told Playbook in a statement. “We’re proud to endorse him in this race, and our members are ready to get to work to send him back to the House of Representatives.” The Feb. 13 special election between Suozzi and Republican candidate Mazi Pilip is a nationally watched one given the narrow GOP majority in the House. At the same time, both parties are testing messages ahead of the November general election. Democrats are expected to campaign heavily on abortion rights this year. “For 50 years, women have had the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, we have seen a political firestorm to try to insert the government into those decisions,” Suozzi said in a statement. “I will always fight to protect the rights of women and am thankful for the support and endorsement of Reproductive Freedom for All.” – Nick Reisman HOCHUL VS. HOUSE GOP: Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) will unveil a House resolution today blasting Hochul’s proposal to change how school districts receive money from the state while increasing money to respond to the influx of migrants. The resolution, which will urge Hochul to reverse the budget plan, is the latest sign of how Republicans in battleground races are seizing on Hochul’s $233 billion budget this election year. "Gov. Hochul is prioritizing undocumented immigrants over our children's education,” Molinaro said in a statement exclusively to Playbook. “Cutting funding for schools will inevitably jeopardize crucial disability services and mental health resources. We cannot let extreme left immigration policies ruin our children’s future.” Hochul’s change to the state’s complex funding formula would affect more than half of the state’s 637 school districts. Hochul has defended the move as necessary given the districts impacted have lower enrollment. At the same time, Hochul has proposed an additional $500 million to address the flow of migrants into New York, bringing total spending for shelter and other resources to $2.4 billion. The money in both instances is from unrelated pots of cash in the budget. But Republicans at the federal level have used state-level issues in the past during campaign season. Hochul has knocked Republicans for politicizing the budget negotiations. “It’s a shame they’re distorting the truth, but that’s par for the course with Republicans,” she said last week. – Nick Reisman IMPEACHMENT POLITICS: The Democratic-allied Congressional Integrity Project will release digital ads later today knocking battleground House Republicans over the potential impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Reps. Anthony D'Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams are among those being targeted by the digital ad campaign. The group has been running a months-long, seven-figure ad campaign criticizing Republicans who are expected to face closely contested races this November. “Impeachment has never been used and was never intended to be used over policy differences — but this isn’t actually about any differences in policy or trying to solve the crisis at the border,” executive director Kyle Herrig said. – Nick Reisman More from Congress: — Rep. Jamaal Bowman promoted wild conspiracy theories about 9/11 on his personal blog during his previous career as a middle school principal. (The Daily Beast)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Former Rep. Liz Cheney is sending shots at Rep. Elise Stefanik for changing her stance on the prosecution of Jan. 6 protesters. (Times Union) — Donald Trump is facing new accusations of deficiencies in his company’s financial reporting in his civil fraud case. (New York Times) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is urging federal lawmakers to reach a deal on immigration as well as keep a national ban on ghost guns. (State of Politics)
| | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Former deputy political director for the District Council of Carpenters Megan Wylie has joined the New York Building Congress as director of government relations. … NYBC communications director Rich O’Malley is now senior director of public affairs. … Sydney Pereira, who worked in communications at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, is now senior account executive at Anat. … Kara Walsh has joined Anat as business development and marketing director … Mario Simon has been hired as the CEO of Believeco:Partners. He most recently was global topic leader for customer engagement at Boston Consulting Group. … … Andrew Cook is now communications director for state Sen. Jeremy Cooney. He was previously deputy regional director in Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Rochester office. … Julietta Lopez is joining the Hispanic Federation as VP of federal affairs and network mobilization. She previously was director of community and external affairs for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. … Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) has joined the advisory board of Communities United, a Democratic Super PAC focused on mobilizing Black, Latino, AAPI and younger voters. MEDIAWATCH: Ben Adler, former senior editor at City & State and at Yahoo News, has joined USA TODAY as an enterprise editor for election coverage. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CFPB Director Rohit Chopra … former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) … POLITICO’s John Sakellariadis … NBC’s Natasha Korecki and Sarah Mimms … Barrett Williams … MSNBC’s Chris Jansing … Peter Lauria … Nels Olson of Korn Ferry … Jack Pretto … (was Monday): NY1’s Ayana Harry … Elliot Forchheimer.
| | YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY | | | | 1 The number of speeding tickets City Comptroller Brad Lander has gotten in the last two years — plus five parking tickets — the Post reported, after he said he should be more careful driving. | | | | | | 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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