Inside NYC’s Asylum Application Help Center

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Mar 06, 2024 View in browser   By Emily Ngo, Nick Reisman and Jeff Coltin Presented by With help from Irie Sentner A mother and child wait at New York City's Asylum Application Help Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO New York Minute: Gov. Kathy Hochul later today will unveil a plan to bolster safety on mass transit in New York City. It’s an announcement that comes after the governor last week met with Mayor Eric Adams, the MTA and the NYPD to discuss subway safety. “Gov. Hochul has made historic commitments to make our subways safer, from security cameras to mental health personnel, and she will unveil new legislation to protect riders, new state personnel to assist NYPD with bag checks, and other new measures to keep New Yorkers safe,” spokesperson Avi Small told Playbook. – Nick Reisman LEGAL PATHWAY: The Asylum Application Help Center at Manhattan’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice serves up a contrast to other parts of the system supporting migrants. It’s warm, orderly and effective. The walls are decorated with children’s drawings, the forms are arranged in neat stacks and the process is by appointment only. More than 37,000 applications for temporary protected status, asylum and work authorization have been completed through the first-in-the-nation help center and its satellite locations, Molly Schaeffer, interim director of the city’s Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, said Tuesday. Playbook recently toured the John Jay clinic — a collaboration between city, state and federal governments — and watched the coordinators, lawyers, National Guard and biometrics experts at work. Together, they’ve helped nearly all TPS-eligible Venezuelans living in city shelters navigate arduous paperwork. More than 10,000 TPS applications have been completed in four months. “One of the most special aspects of the help center is the workforce,” said Masha Gindler, executive director of the Asylum Application Help Center. “It’s a really diverse group of immigrants helping immigrants when you get down to it.” The progress and hope feel a world away from the East Village “reticketing center,” where migrants sleep outside as they wait for new bed placements, and 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan, where there’s a separate grueling outdoor wait for court appointments. About 180,000 migrants have come to the city since April of 2022, and about 65,000 are currently in the city’s care. The tens of thousands applying for asylum, TPS and work authorization are confronting hurdles ranging from paperwork to language barriers. “The people we serve at the help center are trying their best to navigate an extremely confusing and bureaucratic immigration system,” Gindler said. “And so, whatever we do as a country should, I think, keep that in mind: These are human beings that want to work hard to support themselves and their families.” With a TPS milestone met, officials are focusing their attention now on asylum applications. It’s a heavy lift with approximately 60,000 asylum seekers waiting. The key to making the clinics effective has been the on-site presence of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers, city and nonprofit leaders say. Adams administration officials are urging Biden officials to extend the one-stop shop model to help with asylum claims. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said DHS and USCIS will continue to partner with interior cities to help new arrivals. – Emily Ngo HAPPY WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City making a subway safety announcement. WHERE’S ERIC? Appearing live on on NY1’s “Mornings on 1,” then PIX11’s “PIX11 Morning News,” then CBS News New York’s streaming network, then 94.7 The Block’s “Jonesy in the Morning,” then FOX5’s “Good Day New York,” then 1010 WINS’ “Morning Drive,” then delivering remarks at at the Gloat Live Summit, then appearing on ABC7’s “Eyewitness News Mornings @ 10,” then meeting with European Union Ambassador to the United States H.E. Jovita Neliupsiene, then appearing live on WNBC’s “News 4 NY at 5:30.” QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We have no indication that the mayor is a target of any pending investigation.” – Mayor Eric Adams’ chief counsel Lisa Zornberg, distancing the mayor from a FBI raid for the second time in four months.   A message from Amazon: Sylvia started USimplySeason, “so I could help people spice up their meals, not deal with shipping,” she said. She turned to Fulfillment by Amazon to help with shipping. Fulfillment by Amazon costs 70% less on average than comparable two-day shipping options. Learn how Amazon tools help sellers thrive.   ABOVE THE FOLD Budget Director Blake Washington wants the $1.3 billion in additional revenue to temper any effort to increase taxes. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO TAX TALK HUSHED: More than $1.3 billion in additional revenue was found in New York’s couch cushions. Hochul’s top budget advisor wants that windfall to temper any effort to increase taxes in a final spending deal, due by April 1. “The increase in taxes was not necessary before the revenue consensus,” budget director Blake Washington told reporters on Tuesday. “But we think the revenue consensus will go a long way to smooth out any rough edges that were seen by the Legislature. But hopefully that will mute some of the calls for increased taxes.” The budget negotiations are taking place as Hochul has proposed changing the funding formula for school districts that could lead to cuts to more than half of the state’s 637 school districts. Washington, however, told reporters a reassessment of that proposal is “probably fair game” with the unexpected cash coming in. “It could go toward any number of things in the executive budget,” he said. A resolution to the fight over school funding could help negotiations. Hochul has already indicated she does not expect the April 1 deadline to be reached given the Easter holiday falling a day earlier on March 31. But left-leaning advocates and lawmakers are once again pressing the governor to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie this week in an interview with Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight did not rule out backing a tax hike in his chamber’s one-house budget proposal next week. “We always have to look at the shopping list and we want to make sure, when we have the shopping list, we have the funds to pay for it,” he said. – Nick Reisman CITY HALL: THE LATEST Rev. Al Sharpton is "determined to close the opportunity gap" in the workforce by demanding more government contracts for minority-owned businesses. | AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews REV REVS UP: The Rev. Al Sharpton is planning to put Adams on notice, calling out the high unemployment rate for Black New Yorkers and demanding more government contracts for minority-owned businesses at a Queens press conference on Thursday. Sharpton and allies including former City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson “are determined to close the opportunity gap by ensuring Black and Brown communities are equitably included in the workforce,” a press release reads. The Black unemployment rate of 9.4 percent in New York is 5.6 points higher than white unemployment, and “ending this disparity in the Big Apple must be considered a clear priority,” the release adds. Adams has talked up his M/WBE spending, like a record $6 billion in contracts granted to minority and women-owned businesses, and has specifically highlighted the “disparity within the disparity” of work for Black-owned firms. City Hall also pointed out he’s also talked about the racial disparity in unemployment, even as the number of total jobs hit an all-time high. Sharpton is typically an ally to Adams, and has told POLITICO they talk weekly. He’s warned Black voters about letting Adams lose reelection like David Dinkins did. But the prominent activist and MSNBC host is an agitator and doesn’t seem to be seeing enough from Adams. “As Mayor Adams says, New York is back but we need to make sure it's back for everyone,” Sharpton spokesperson Rachel Noerdlinger told Playbook. The influential leader also raised eyebrows by appearing last week at a rally to save SUNY Downstate hospital with state Sen. Zellnor Myrie — who’s mulling a primary challenge to Adams. – Jeff Coltin SEEING RED TAPE: City Hall officials bristled Tuesday at claims they’ve fumbled the paperwork that would allow them to access an additional $100 million in federal funding to support migrants. When told the city “has not stepped up to the plate,” Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom even appeared to choke in disbelief. “Ask them, ‘Have they stepped up to the plate?’” Adams urged a Daily News reporter to relay to Biden administration officials. “New Yorkers have stepped up to the plate.” The city has received just $49 million of the $156 million allocated to it as part of a $800 million FEMA pot announced 14 months ago. The one-third that has been reimbursed is from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program; the remaining balance is from the Shelter and Services Program. The reason for the delay, a federal official told Playbook, is that the “tempo of the city’s paperwork is routinely off-beat” with documents incomplete, which makes them vulnerable to federal audits and clawbacks. Another federal official told Playbook the Department of Homeland Security has yet to receive the city’s detailed budget, which must be submitted before the SSP money is released. Restrictions on that funding — including how much can be spent on hotels — don’t match the reality on the ground, an Adams spokesperson added. An additional complication has been a newer requirement that the city collect alien registration numbers, or A-numbers. The mayor noted Tuesday that federal help overall has been a drop in the bucket. “We’re talking $100 million in comparison to a $4 billion price tag,” he said. – Emily Ngo NO VACANCIES: DC 37, the city’s largest municipal union, is urging the City Council to dig into low headcount that the Adams administration is counting on for budget savings, according to a letter sent to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams Monday evening. “We believe there is a much better way to reduce the budget deficit — and it relies not on the elimination of our public servants, but on their strength,” Henry Garrido, head of DC 37, wrote in the missive, which was reviewed by POLITICO. Garrido provided several examples of how the city could shore up headcount while simultaneously raising revenue in areas like building inspections and traffic enforcement. “I urge the Administration to consider implementing these revenue-generating solutions rather than continuing its legacy of cutting the workforce,” Garrido wrote. — Joe Anuta More from the city: — City Hall demanded that a woman who accused Adams of sexually assaulting her in 1993 file a formal complaint outlining her allegations — a move that starts a 20-day clock. (Daily News) — Fellow DAs say it’s “beneath our profession” that an Arizona prosecutor won’t extradite an accused killer to face charges from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. (New York Post) — An NYPD top cop is selling challenge coins and hoodies online, claiming the proceeds will buy water, snacks and coffee for his office. (Hell Gate)   A message from Amazon:   NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins questioned if a bill that would bolster access to IVF is even needed in New York. | AP Photo/Hans Pennink IVF IN ALBANY: Democratic Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins cast doubt on whether a Republican-backed bill to bolster access to IVF would get a vote. The measure, introduced by Nassau County GOP Sen. Jack Martins, would clarify embryos outside a person’s body are not considered people. The bill was proposed in the wake of an Alabama state court ruling that restricted access to the procedure. The ruling has also created another political headache for Republicans over reproductive policies as Democrats nationally expected to campaign heavily on abortion rights this November. But Stewart-Cousins questioned Tuesday during a news conference whether the Martins bill is needed. “We don’t believe there is any danger,” Stewart-Cousins said. “We don’t want to scare people that IVF is in danger here in New York. It is not. We’ll continue, frankly, to make sure, as necessary, to protect reproductive health here in New York.” – Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been subpoenaed by a House panel investigating the governmental response to the pandemic. (POLITICO) — AG Tish James has been focusing her office’s attention on Long Island. (City & State) — SUNY will phase out single-use plastic products on campuses. (NY1) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — New York City has bounced back since the pandemic in many ways, but the recovery has been incomplete and uneven. (New York Times) — The Herricks Union Free School District in Long Island ignored reports of child sex abuse against a school psychologist in the 1980s, attorneys argued Tuesday in their opening statement against the district. (Newsday) — Hundreds rallied outside a closed-door Catskill Board of Education meeting after a teacher was suspended for handing a student tape which the student then placed on her mouth. (Times Union) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will sponsor a bill that would let people sue the creators and distributors of non-consensual deepfake pornography. (Rolling Stone) SOCIAL DATA Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Jason Elan has joined Actum as senior vice president. He was previously head of external affairs at BusPatrol and deputy Suffolk County executive … Kate Cassidy has joined Wiggin and Dana’s New York office as a partner in the firm’s intellectual property and litigation practice group. … Elizabeth Volpe, Jordan Bickerton and Tom Maginnis have been promoted to be partners at Brunswick Group. MEDIA MOVES – Ted Mann starts on April 1 as a reporter at Bloomberg covering money in Washington. He most recently was a reporter on the Washington business team at the Wall Street Journal, where he was laid off and then offered a job back at the Journal but turned it down. … Andrew Ackerman has returned to the Wall Street Journal to cover financial regulation and is moving to New York this summer. He was laid off from the Journal a few weeks ago. — Noah Shachtman is returning to Wired as a contributing editor, per Semafor’s Max Tani. He previously was editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone. OUT AND ABOUT: Hillary Clinton, Keren Yarhi-Milo, Gina Raimondo, Sara Jacobs, Stacey Abrams, Ai-jen Poo, Alexis McGill Johnson and Jennifer Klein were among those in attendance at Monday night’s launch of the Institute of Global Politics’ Women’s Initiative at Columbia University. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: John Stossel … former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan (98) … Brooke Gladstone … Jim Bourg … SKDK’s Jacqui Newman … NFL’s Brendon Plack … NYT’s Eileen Murphy … Kara Carscaden … Natalie Ohana YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY $50 million The potential cost of constructing just one new unit at Bellevue Hospital, POLITICO Pro reports.   A message from Amazon: Small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon, like USimplySeason, employ more than 1.5 million Americans. That’s why Amazon helps small business partners grow so they can continue to invest in communities across the country. Learn how Amazon supports independent sellers.     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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