| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Irie Sentner DRINKS ON US — Come celebrate the end of session with POLITICO. We’re hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, May 29, at the Albany War Room Tavern. Join fellow New York insiders for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, meet our editorial team and learn more about our coverage of politics, policy and power in Albany. You can RSVP here.
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The New York Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit from religious organizations that challenged a state regulation requiring employers who provide insurance to cover medically necessary abortions. | Hans Pennink/AP | NEW YORK MINUTE: The 122nd LCA Show, the oldest political gridiron event in the country, is being held tonight in Albany. It will feature rebuttals from Gov. Kathy Hochul, Rep. Mike Lawler and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay. Getting a ticket is tough: The event was nearly sold out as of Tuesday night. COURT WATCH: Abortion rights supporters scored a victory in New York’s highest court, but anxiety over the issue among advocates and Democrats isn’t going away in a high-stakes election year. Democrats plan to wrap their campaign message around a theme of preserving and strengthening abortion rights in a bid to counteract Republican criticism over inflation and border security. But court battles at the federal and state levels are providing an added dose of uncertainty. The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit from religious organizations, including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, that challenged a state regulation requiring employers who provide insurance to cover medically necessary abortions. Hochul hailed the 7-0 ruling as a win that comes as “right-wing extremists attempt to undermine our fundamental freedoms” in New York (the statement offended the New York State Catholic Conference, who called on her to apologize). An appeal to the ruling is coming as the diocese plans to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a conservative majority could rule very differently than the Democratic-appointed state court. But for Democrats, the ruling in the abortion case reinforced the importance of who is sitting on the bench, even in a blue state with some of the strongest abortion laws in the country on the books. “It shows how important the courts are and having the right judges on our courts,” Democratic state Sen. Liz Krueger told Playbook. And the courts will be the battleground for multiple abortion-related cases in the coming weeks. The U.S. Supreme Court by the end of June is expected to rule in a case over the abortion medication mifepristone. “This is the cloud that’s always hanging over us – even when we do good, there’s always the threats on the judicial side,” Robin Chappelle Golston, the president and CEO of Empire State Planned Parenthood Acts, said in an interview. “Obviously the Supreme Court is always going to be a threat.” Still, rulings that narrow abortion access could aid Democrats this November. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was considered a pivotal factor in the special election won by Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan weeks later. At the state level, a referendum for a constitutional amendment to enshrine a broad array of rights, including the right to an abortion, is being challenged by Republicans. The GOP won the first round in the case this month, and Democrats have appealed. Democrats have made the pending Equal Rights Amendment a centerpiece of their campaign strategy this year in a bid to energize their base over abortion rights, boost turnout and flip five House seats. The challenge to the Equal Rights Amendment is being closely watched by opponents of abortion. “We’re seeing more and more this rogue court that is making religious liberty second fiddle to a lot of other issues,” Jason McGuire, the executive director of the social conservative New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, said. “That’s a concern.” — Nick Reisman HAPPY WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All: New York State has the potential to pave the way to a cleaner, safer, and more accessible future with autonomous vehicles. Using real-world data from over 7 million rider-only driving miles in 3 major cities, studies have shown that autonomous vehicles (AVs) can avoid injury-causing and fatal crashes better than human driver benchmarks. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany delivering remarks at SUNY Chancellor John B. King’s 2024 State of the University Address and making a youth mental health announcement. WHERE’S ERIC? Delivering the opening remarks at Fira de Barcelona’s Smart City Expo 2024 USA conference, speaking at a breakfast reception to thank clergy in the faith-based shelter program, hosting an older adult town hall, presenting a citation to Marie Delus, a New York City employee who recently helped rescue a man experiencing a mental health episode on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway tracks, hosting a mayoral roundtable discussion with the 25 Hispanic Women Authors of the “Hispanas Influyentes” and appearing live on Fox5’s “The 5 O’Clock News.” QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Any contributions? So l can pick it up?” — Alisa Roever, a volunteer fundraiser for Mayor Eric Adams’ legal defense trust, in an email to people who attended a “weird” event where the mayor spoke in December, via Gothamist.
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Council Member Lincoln Restler said Mayor Eric Adams' Charter Revision Commission would block the City Council from getting more oversight over his appointments. | Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit | CITY CHARTER CHA-CHA: An increasingly restless City Council thinks the mayor’s surprise announcement Tuesday he’s appointing a Charter Revision Commission is a way to block them from getting more oversight over his appointments. And an attack on their independence, POLITICO reports. “This was a direct response to the City Council’s intention to subject more mayoral appointments to advice and consent," Council Member Lincoln Restler said. “The mayor's appointment of a spurious Charter Revision Commission that will have no substantial impact on city policy only delays the inevitable: the City Council is going to subject more mayoral appointments to advice and consent.” Adams’ commission would usurp any potential changes to the charter the council could initiate in order to expand its own authority over mayoral appointments, Restler said. An Adams press release said the commission was about making city government “more responsive and transparent to the city’s residents.” He tapped longtime government fixture Carlo Scissura of the New York Building Congress to chair it. Adams’ spokesperson Fabien Levy denied this was done in reaction to the council, saying there had been discussion for “a few months” and they plan to put changes to voters at the general election in November. “This is not a thing that is done last second,” he said. But Adams made it clear Tuesday that he doesn’t agree with the council’s proposal to expand their powers, and he likes the city’s strong executive system “because people should know who they blame.” City Hall’s goals for the commission have also raised Council members’ concerns. A bid to get “greater community input and transparency” on public safety legislation, for example, seems like a response to the council overriding Adams’ veto on two bills opposed by law enforcement unions. — Jeff Coltin
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Public defenders say NYPD officers who punched several pro-Palestinian protesters at least violated the spirit of an agreement that arose after lawsuits alleged excessive use of force by police against Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020. | John Lamparski/AFP/Getty Images | VIOLENT CLASHES: The NYPD faces scrutiny for punching pro-Palestinian demonstrators last Saturday in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but police are not in violation of a landmark settlement on policing protests — in part because it isn’t yet fully implemented. “The phase that it’s in is creating training and policies right now,” Lisa Zornberg, Adams’ chief counsel, told reporters Tuesday. Public defenders say officers at least violated the spirit of the agreement announced last September after lawsuits alleging wrongful arrests and excessive use of force by police against protesters in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death. A Legal Aid spokesperson in a statement called the Bay Ridge police response “yet another reason for Mayor Adams to immediately implement all phases of the Payne settlement to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional right to free speech and to protest — which he purports to value.” Adams had his officers’ backs, defending them in a radio interview Monday and then spotlighting the instances of protester violence Tuesday, including spitting in officers’ faces. — Emily Ngo SHELTER DEADLINE: Beginning today, some adult migrants must be gone from city shelters for good. About 250 migrants will see their 30- and 60-day notices expire between today and Sunday — and they cannot reapply for a bed if they haven’t proved an “extenuating circumstance,” a City Hall spokesperson said, adding that Denver, Chicago and Massachusetts have similar policies. “Our goal is not just to put people on the street from the moment that they enter our shelter system, we are giving them information,” City Hall chief of staff Camille Joseph Varlack told reporters Tuesday of giving migrants guidance when they first enter the city shelters. The new process is part of the city’s settlement with housing advocates, but many organizations working with migrants have warned that rising street homelessness will result from the struggle to prove they’re making every effort to find alternative housing. — Emily Ngo More from the city: — Adams will ask the state Court of Appeals to clear the way for his push to enroll about 250,000 retired city workers in a controversial Medicare Advantage plan. (Daily News) — The City Council softened parts of Adams’ “City of Yes” business-zoning plan ahead of its likely approval. (Crain’s) — City animal control is taking in far fewer animals than before the pandemic, and killing a higher percentage. (New York Scoop)
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
Supporters of NY HEAT plan to rally in the Capitol on Wednesday, and more than 175 organizations sent a letter urging action to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Tuesday. | Mike Groll/AP | NY HEAT BACKERS TARGET LAWMAKERS: Supporters of a measure to enable a transition off of the state’s gas system continue to step up their efforts to pressure Assembly Democrats facing primary challengers. A WE ACT for Environmental Justice campaign affiliate is making a six-figure Facebook ad buy this week targeting Assemblymembers Didi Barrett, Michael Benedetto and other “marginals.” “We need our leaders to pass the NY HEAT Act, critical environmental justice legislation that will address these disparate burdens that have been causing generational harm across our state, rather than caving to the special interests of gas companies,” said Annie Carforo, climate justice campaigns manager at WE ACT 4 Change. Proponents of NY HEAT have already been handing out flyers urging residents to call their representative outside the office of dozens of Assembly Democratic members. A new fund was set up to make campaign contributions to their challengers, with a clear message that lawmakers needed to move the NY HEAT Act or face the wrath of the environmental movement at the ballot box in June’s primaries. Supporters plan to rally in the Capitol today, and more than 175 organizations sent a letter urging action to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Tuesday. But the measure faces a tough battle in the Assembly, where Democrats have concerns about the impact on current gas customers. The measure would end the “obligation to serve” for gas and ultimately, after a planning process by the state’s Public Service Commission to ensure available alternatives, could transition entire neighborhoods off gas — even if some homeowners want to keep their service. Labor opposition with concerns about union jobs is also a factor. National Fuel, a gas-only utility in western New York, has also been leading opposition. Three-way talks between the Assembly, Senate and governor’s office have occurred over the past week on the issue, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The Senate Democrats passed the bill earlier this session and Hochul is supportive of several components. — Marie J. French VOTERS BACK ERA: New Yorkers supported the Equal Rights Amendment that will be on the ballot this November by a comfortable margin, a poll from the Siena College Research Institute released this morning concluded. Voters were asked if they would support an amendment to protect abortion rights, which is how Democrats plan to characterize the ERA as part of an effort to energize their base this fall. They did, by a margin of 64-22. Respondents were also asked if they would support an amendment to protect transgender rights — one of the points that will be highlighted by Republican opponents. Support was more lukewarm at 48-32. But when asked about an amendment that protects both abortion and transgender rights, voters were solidly in favor, saying they’d vote for it by a 59-26 margin. — Bill Mahoney SEX CRIMES BILL: Democrats in the state Senate today will pass a bill sponsored by state Sen. Mike Gianaris that was introduced in reaction to Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction being overturned by New York’s highest court. The measure would enable prosecutors to introduce evidence that offers a window into a defendant’s prior “bad acts” in sex crimes cases. “We are introducing this bill and passing it in an effort to provide clarity and say that evidence of similar sex offenses by someone who's charged with a sexual offense can in fact be admissible as long as they don't unduly prejudice the defense,” Gianaris said. The bill is also sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin, and still needs to make it out of the Assembly Codes Committee to reach a vote in the lower chamber. Paulin said she is working hard to push the bill through. — Jason Beeferman More from Albany: — State Sen. Jessica Ramos is getting pushed to support a measure cutting red tape for a Citi Field casino by local electeds including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. (NY Daily News) — State lawmakers are pushing to rename the courts in a bid to reduce confusion. (POLITICO Pro) — Brooklyn Sen. Kevin Parker won’t face charges following an altercation with an activist. (Gothamist)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — It’s still possible to find a rent-controlled apartment in New York City — but you may need to navigate AI listings, scammers and illegal fees. (Hell Gate) — Former President Donald Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in the South Bronx on Thursday. (NY Post) — The law license of E. Stewart Jones, who once defended the late Joe Bruno, is in jeopardy. (Times Union)
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All: Autonomous vehicles are never distracted, intoxicated, or tired. Whether from drowsy, distracted, or drunk driving, human error is to blame for many of the 1.36 million traffic collisions in the U.S. each year. Even on their best days, people are prone to making mistakes - and every New Yorker has been impacted in some way by car crashes. Deploying a framework to allow AV expansion in New York will have a life-saving impact in stopping the avoidable traffic deaths on our roads. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Carla Downie, former senior manager of government affairs and social impact at Madison Square Garden has joined Hinman Straub as a director … Liam Quigley is joining WNYC as a reporter covering parks and sanitation … Citizens’ Committee for Children Executive Director Jennifer March is stepping down after 23 years with the organization. WEDDING: Jon Del Giorno, founding member of Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno, married his longtime partner Alon Perry, in a private ceremony on Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) … Joe Pompeo … Jon Ward … Richard Keil … Paul Horvath … Lauryn Higgins … Stephanie Anderson … (WAS TUESDAY): the Daily News’ Michael Gartland … Zipcar’s Torrey A. Fishman … Seth Klarman ... Thomas Allen ... Amy Waldman ... Rabbi Yehuda Sarna
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