| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo | | | With help from Irie Sentner
|  More than 30 labor organizations are backing the effort to change the state's minimum wage law. Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos has called for a $21.25 wage. | Eleonora Francica/POLITICO | Another battle is looming over the minimum wage in New York. Influential labor union 32BJ is teaming up with the Teamsters and Democratic state lawmakers to seek changes to the minimum wage law less than a year after an overhaul was approved — and as the 213-member state Legislature gears up for reelection. The unions want to jettison a provision in the 2023 deal that would suspend automatic wage increases based on inflation if unemployment in the state rises over the course of the year — a stipulation that takes effect in 2027. They also want to align the upstate minimum wage, currently set at $15 per hour in counties north of Westchester, with the New York City area’s $16-an-hour rate. The wage will reach $16 in upstate counties and $17 in the New York City region by 2026. More than 30 labor organizations are backing the effort to change the wage law — part of the broader Raise Up NY campaign, which also comprises amenable business owners. “We want to make sure the minimum wage is setting a floor across the state that raises the standards for everyone,” Tal Frieden, a spokesperson for the Raise Up NY campaign, told Playbook. “Setting upstate behind doesn’t do that.” A push for the wage law changes is expected to pick up in the coming weeks, as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul negotiate the state budget ahead of its April 1 deadline. This latest fight has been brewing since last year when some left-leaning advocates and lawmakers went home unsatisfied with the minimum wage agreement reached between Hochul and the Democratic-led Legislature in the $229 billion budget deal. Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos had called for a $21.25 wage, a target she based on a sharp rise of inflation following the onset of the pandemic. “Whether you work in Queens or Binghamton, all workers in New York deserve to be paid fairly for their labor,” Ramos said in a joint statement with Sen. Lea Webb, a Binghamton Democrat. Business organizations who lobby the state, naturally, are not embracing amendments to the 2023 wage deal. The Business Council of New York spokesperson Pat Bailey said in a statement to Playbook that any increase would be a “just another tax on small businesses,” adding, “The real significant burden of a minimum wage increase falls on the smallest employers across the entire state.” Any minimum wage deal is the product of a compromise that leaves few players – labor unions and business leaders among them – completely happy with the final result. New York’s minimum wage was given a geographic split following a 2016 agreement negotiated by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid a nationwide push to raise the hourly wage to $15. The thinking at the time was that the cost of living between upstate New York and the New York City region is so disparate that different hourly rates for low-wage workers is necessary. — Nick Reisman HAPPY MONDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Amazon: Sylvia started USimplySeason to help people spice up their meals. When demand went global, she turned to Fulfillment by Amazon to help with shipping, which costs 70% less on average than comparable two-day shipping options. Amazon invests billions of dollars in people, resources, and tools that support selling partners like Sylvia at every stage of the process, from advertising to shipping. Learn how Amazon tools help sellers thrive. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany with no public schedule. WHERE’S ERIC? Calling in live to WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show.” QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Andrew Cuomo can continue to deny the truth and attack these women, but the facts do not lie.” — Attorney General Tish James, saying the U.S. Department of Justice’s conclusion that the former governor sexually harassed 13 women confirmed her office’s findings. Cuomo has denied wrongdoing.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
The New York Police Department on Saturday released body cam footage of the stop. | New York Police Department | AN ILL-TIMED STOP: An NYPD officer pulled over City Councilmember Yusef Salaam driving Friday night, while he was on a conference call with his colleagues to talk about police stops. Interpretations of what happened next varied, but footage of the brief encounter went viral and pierced an ongoing debate in City Hall over police enforcement. What we know so far: — A cop pulled over a Black man driving an expensive car without explaining why, even when asked, according to Salaam’s account and footage the NYPD released from a body-worn camera. — The same cop stopped Salaam for the safety hazard of illegally tinted windows the NYPD said, but walked away without issuing a ticket. — The cop didn’t so much as issue a warning as soon as Salaam gave his title as councilmember, although another New Yorker could have been ticketed for riding with similarly tinted windows. It is ironic that in a city of 8.5 million people, police officers pulled over one of the very few people with the power to decide whether to make a police transparency bill law by overriding Mayor Eric Adams’ recent veto. Salaam had already signed a joint statement saying he wouldn’t join Adams’ Saturday night NYPD ride-along, meant to show Council members the burden the How Many Stops Act would place on officers. After the stop, he reiterated his position. Speaker Adrienne Adams appears to have enough votes to override the mayoral veto during Tuesday’s scheduled Council meeting. But to Salaam the stop wasn’t a coincidence. It was part of a legacy of unjust stops — one of the “triggering interactions” with officers that emphasized the importance of better tracking police stops, and the racial makeup of who gets stopped. Salaam himself was infamously wrongly convicted in the Central Park Jogger case, and only exonerated after he finished serving seven years in prison. The councilmember seemed to misrepresent the situation in his initial press release — the officer dismissed him with a “take care, sir,” not a curt “we’re done here.” But Salaam didn’t have the benefit of a body camera recording the words. The NYPD did and released the footage within hours — a quick turnaround that police skeptics noted marks a departure from their timeframe for more controversial cases of potential officer wrongdoing. Councilmembers then retreated to their ideological corners, with progressives sharing support for Salaam, while conservatives condemned him for “race-baiting” and called on him to resign as chair of the Committee on Public Safety. To Mayor Adams, it was “a picture perfect example” of a good stop, he said Saturday. “I think we need to be proud.” — Jeff Coltin
| | | | A message from Amazon:   | | | | | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | |  GOP House candidate Mazi Pilip appears via prerecorded video at a Nassau County rally scheduled for a day she was observing the Sabbath. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO | A PILIP RALLY WITH NO PILIP: Nassau County Republicans fired up their base Saturday with a raucous rally that packed the house, one week out from the start of early voting. But the only special election candidate present was Democrat Tom Suozzi, who held a presser outside the Massapequa venue as counter-programming. Mazi Pilip, the GOP pick, wasn’t at her rally. The orthodox Jew was observing Shabbat and prerecorded a greeting for the event. Her spokesperson told Playbook that Saturday was the only day that worked for the eight House members who attended. Those Republicans feted her in absentia. “Starting with this special election and ending in November, New York is once again going to deliver a House Republican majority,” Rep. Mike Lawler said. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer was the headliner. He used plenty of sports analogies, commended Nassau GOP chairman Joe Cairo and condemned Suozzi and President Joe Biden, but saved his solitary mention of Pilip until the very end of his remarks. And perhaps tellingly, none of the speakers mentioned former President Donald Trump on the stage. Having no Mazi appeared to be no matter. The energy was high, the anger at Democrats palpable and House members went door-knocking on her behalf afterward. But her bizarre exclusion gave Democrats more cause to claim she’s hiding ahead of the Feb. 13 race. “She’s observing the Sabbath. And I understand that and I respect that. But what about the other six days of the week?” Suozzi asked. After Shabbat, Pilip attended a Saturday night dinner with party leaders and then a fundraiser in the city. — Emily Ngo LATIMER’S HAUL: Westchester County Executive George Latimer raised $1.4 million in the first month of his primary campaign against Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman, according to a copy of his filing shared with Playbook. Bowman’s fundraising information for the final quarter of 2022 was not yet available. He raised $658,000 in the first nine months of the year. Latimer — who has been criticized by progressives in recent months for being supported by the national pro-Israeli group AIPAC – raised 73 percent of his money from donors who live in either Westchester County or the Bronx. That compares to less than 20 percent of Bowman’s money in recent years, according to a calculation by the county executive’s campaign. “I’m running against an incumbent with a national fundraising network, and we know he’ll be able to rely on outside money for his campaign,” Latimer said in a statement. “The nearly $1.4 million raised to date is overwhelmingly from local donors, at the grassroots level who believe in my vision for the district, this Country and our future. This is more than showtime, this is a real movement for significant change.” — Bill Mahoney
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said securing the funding is “a high priority for many of us,” but demurred when asked for a dollar amount. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | DOES ‘SUBSTANTIAL’ HAVE A DOLLAR AMOUNT?: Senate negotiators expect to release the text of a major immigration bill this week — and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed optimism that New York City will get more federal money for housing and serving migrants. “I’m very confident in Leader Schumer’s ability to land in a place that makes sense,” Jeffries told an Association for a Better New York breakfast Friday. “That will provide substantial relief to New York City and to our surrounding communities both in terms of financial assistance” as well as “trying to stem the tide at the southern border in a manner that will make the situation for us and for other cities across the country far more manageable.” Asked after the speech for a dollar amount, Jeffries demurred, but said securing the funding is “a high priority for many of us.” Playbook also asked Schumer’s office for more. The majority leader “delivered billions in direct aid to NYC — and is, right now, fighting for more,” spokesperson Angelo Roefaro said in a statement. Adams’ office didn’t respond to a request for comment. He’s argued that the federal government should cover the billions of dollars that the city has spent already — and it’s highly unlikely that a bill would provide that much. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Former City Councilmember Paul Vallone died of a heart attack Saturday at 56 years old. (Queens Chronicle) — Conservative city councilmembers are demanding a federal judge reject a controversial settlement agreement requiring the NYPD to scale back enforcement during street protests. (New York Post) — Adams’ campaign never returned donations a lawyer said it would return connected to the criminally indicted ex-Buildings Department boss Eric Ulrich. (Daily News)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
A coalition including left-leaning advocacy organizations are pushing for Gov. Kathy Hochul to support the Housing Access Voucher Program. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | UPSTATE TENANT PROTECTIONS: Upstate communities that don’t have the money to support local housing voucher programs need a rental assistance law, a coalition including left-leaning advocacy organizations wrote in a letter obtained by Playbook. The letter sent to Hochul, to be released later today, pushes for the approval of a measure creating a Housing Access Voucher Program — a proposal that is being debated as the governor and lawmakers once again weigh how to accelerate the creation of homes. “We know addressing the affordable housing crisis is a priority of your administration, and this year, we urge you to strengthen that fight by supporting this deeply needed resource, available to all people of low income, regardless of where they live in our state,” the groups wrote in the letter to the governor. The letter points to “rampant” housing insecurity in upstate counties like Niagara, Erie, Sullivan, Schenectady and Rensselaer. “It is critical that the state of New York commit its own resources to a new statewide rental assistance program that will allow public housing authorities continued access to this vital resource,” the groups wrote in the letter. Hochul’s housing proposals this year lean on incentives for local governments to build more as part of a broader push to create 800,000 new units within the next decade. But lawmakers have also called for stronger tenant protections in order to curtail evictions. — Nick Reisman More from the Albany: — Democrats’ next crime fight: retail theft (POLITICO) — Hochul’s replacement for the 421a tax abatement is struggling to get off the ground with real estate and key unions. (New York Times) — Approval for downstate casino licenses may not come as quickly as expected. (Newsday)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — The New York Young Republicans Club is Donald Trump’s “hometown shock troops,” and the brand of politics they’re espousing is dark, even by MAGA standards. (Rolling Stone) — The NYPD Sergeants’ Union said it would endorse Republican candidate Mazi Pilip in the special election to fill New York’s 3rd congressional district seat. (New York Post) — A man shot by the police in Hempstead Village last year filed a lawsuit against the city and its police department alleging officers used “excessive and unreasonable” force. (Newsday)
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Learn how Amazon supports independent sellers. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman CONGRATULATIONS: Edgar Santana, deputy secretary to Hochul, was named a Presidential Leadership Scholar. OUT & ABOUT: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez keynoted the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club Winter Pride Gala at the Hard Rock Cafe in Midtown, agreeing with President Allen Roskoff’s pitch that the LGBTQ org become her “home club.” SPOTTED: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Rep. Pat Ryan, state Sens. Jessica Ramos, Julia Salazar and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, City Councilmembers Erik Bottcher - the night’s emcee — Crystal Hudson, Tiffany Cabán, Shaun Abreu, Julie Menin, Borough Presidents Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson, Assemblymembers Alex Bores, Emily Gallagher, Rebecca Seawright, Harvey Epstein and JoAnn Simon, Scott Stringer and Elyse Buxbaum, Frank Seddio, David Hogg, Richard Kind, Jason Goodman, Rafael Espinal, Danny Dromm, Howard Graubard and George Arzt. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bloomberg’s Lauren Dezenski and Eric Roston … Newsmax’s Anna Laudiero … Tom Collamore … Sean Walsh … Adam Falkoff … (WAS SUNDAY): New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado … OCM’s Jessica Woolford … CNN’s Jay McMichael … former Rep. Tom Downey (D-N.Y.) … Alexandra Thornton … Nick Iacono … Justin Fox … Perry Bloch ... Donna Redel ... Ariel Bashi ... (WAS SATURDAY): Heather Nauert … Meredith Kelly of Declaration Media … Circle’s Jared Favole … Lisa Kaplan, founder and CEO of anti-disinfo firm Alethea … WaPo’s Holly Bailey … former Rep. Dick Ottinger (D-N.Y.) (95) … Kayla Ermanni … Arthur Fleischer ... Ezra M. Friedberg ... Josh Weinstein … (WAS FRIDAY): Laura Lauder ... Daryn Kagan
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