| | | | |  | | By Emily Ngo, Nick Reisman and Jeff Coltin | | Presented by |  | | | With Timmy Facciola
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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ fellow House Democrats reelected him to lead them as they prepare once again to legislate in the minority. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | NEW YORK MINUTE: Acting New York City Corporation Counsel Muriel Goode-Trufant is facing a City Council advice and consent hearing today as she seeks approval to lead the Law Department. Expect far fewer pointed political questions than Randy Mastro’s tortuous August hearing. Mayor Eric Adams’ backup pick has been with the Law Department for 30 years and is expected to sail through. — Jeff Coltin NYC IN DC: Hakeem Jeffries has been in the minority party with President-elect Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling both chambers before, but he wasn’t the No. 1 House Dem in 2017. He is now and he’s embracing the role. “This notion of some mandate to make massive, far-right, extreme policy changes, it doesn’t exist,” the Brooklynite told reporters Tuesday in Washington of the closely divided House. “So in the new Congress, for anything to happen, particularly as it relates to an enlightened spending agreement or ensuring that America does not default on our debt … it’s clear House Republicans cannot do it on their own.” Jeffries’ fellow House Democrats reelected him to lead them as they prepare once again to legislate in the minority. The moderate Dem will be the face of a party desperately seeking footholds with Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) vowing sweeping changes, including mass deportations. It’s a tough task but it’s not entirely thankless. “He is a leader, he is a listener and he is learned,” Rep. Tom Suozzi told Playbook. Rep. Nydia Velázquez told Playbook that Jeffries has instilled in his members the lesson “that if we go home, do our work, organize, reach out to those who feel unseen, listen to them … then we’re going to be in a good place.” That task — listening to voters — is exactly what Jeffries has said should be Democrats’ top priority as they face a Republican trifecta in Washington and work to win back working-class Americans before the midterms. The House Democrats’ leadership slate will be unchanged in the upcoming Congress. Jeffries and other top dogs ran unopposed. The internal vote Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol was a show of confidence despite Dems’ election losses. Next year, Democrats will have at least 212 seats and the GOP at least 218. A handful of races are uncalled, including a California matchup where the candidates are separated by about 100 ballots with more to be counted. On Tuesday, as House Democrats picked themselves up and discussed how to work with the GOP, House Republicans were touting ambitious plans with little mention of bipartisanship. “I believe President Trump could be the most consequential president of the modern era because we have to fix everything,” Johnson told reporters. And that thing that Jeffries’ colleagues say he does so well? Democrats are vowing to do more of it. “We’re going to listen to our caucus members, we’re going to listen to our constituents, we’re going to listen to the American people,” said Democratic caucus vice chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who then pivoted to Republicans: “There are no permanent political victories in a country as large and diverse as America.” — Emily Ngo HAPPY WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Uber: Study Reveals Uber Drivers Make More than EMTs: NYC Uber drivers now earn an average of $52,900 annually after expenses, outpacing the salaries of many essential city employees, including EMTs and sanitation workers. Despite delivering vital services, these workers struggle with stagnant wages while Uber drivers have benefited from five TLC-mandated pay hikes since 2020. Read more on the wage disparity impacting NYC’s workforce. Learn More. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City. WHERE’S ERIC? Making a budget- and public safety-related announcement, and later hosting a reception to celebrate Native American heritage. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It was a lot of noise. So I didn’t hear exactly what he was saying. But it was something to the tune of, you know, you are one of the greatest mayors the city has ever had.” — Adams, on his UFC ringside chat with Trump, via POLITICO. He appeared to be joking, but the budding friendship is very real.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
Office of Management and Budget Director Jacques Jiha enjoys an unusual concentration of power in the Adams administration. | Courtesy of NYC Mayor's Office | O-M-BEEF: The head of the city’s largest municipal union has a bone to pick with the Office of Management and Budget, which he accused of bottlenecking the city’s hiring process. “We don’t have a recruitment problem. We have a retention problem, and we have an OMB problem,” DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido said during a City Council hearing Tuesday. “OMB is running the City of New York and it needs to stop.” Garrido said OMB has taken the unprecedented steps of interviewing candidates and even rejecting them based on a perceived lack of qualifications — despite department heads signing off on the prospective staffers, as has long been their purview. “The agencies — and I talk to commissioners all the time — are as frustrated by this as we are because they need to get the job done,” he said. The result, he added, has been a hiring slowdown that has contributed to more than 20,000 budgeted positions vacant — many of them that generate revenue or deliver crucial services. The city disputed Garrido’s account. “It is false that OMB interviews other agencies’ prospective employees,” spokesperson Amaris Cockfield said in a statement. “Because the city has faced real fiscal challenges over the past two years, including spending billions of dollars to resolve a humanitarian crisis and fill budget holes left by expiring stimulus dollars, the mayor directed OMB to carefully review agency staffing levels to make sure the city has the resources to balance the budget.” Cockfield added that critical hires, such as those that generate revenue or protect the health and safety of New Yorkers, were exempt from those reviews. As POLITICO has previously reported, OMB Director Jacques Jiha enjoys an unusual concentration of power in the Adams administration, a situation that did not sit well with lawmakers Tuesday. “OMB’s role in hiring is about the ability of the city to afford to hire. Not who to hire,” said Republican Council Member David Carr. His colleague Lincoln Restler, who co-chaired the hearing along with Carmen De La Rosa, said he hoped a staff shakeup precipitated by multiple law enforcement investigations into the administration would sap some of Jiha’s authority. “I’m hopeful that the first deputy mayor will take the reins and that Maria Torres-Springer will actually direct OMB to change some of their practices in productive ways,” Restler said during the hearing. “She’s now been given the responsibility and authority to improve operations across city government.” The Council’s hearing came ahead of the November budget update, which is expected to be released by City Hall as early as today. — Joe Anuta
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On Tuesday, City Comptroller Brad Lander denied the Department of Education's request to unilaterally sign off on contracts worth up to $1.5 million that are inked with minority- and women-owned businesses. | William Alatriste/NYC Media Unit | CONTRACT KILLER: City Comptroller Brad Lander has rescinded a special contracting privilege from the Department of Education, a decision based in part on POLITICO’s reporting about the agency receiving a subpoena. In a Tuesday letter sent to the agency, Lander denied its request to unilaterally sign off on contracts worth up to $1.5 million that are inked with minority- and women-owned businesses. “When an agency continues to misuse and abuse the tool of self-registration, the Comptroller's office must step in to reclaim our Charter-mandated oversight,” Lander said in a statement. “We will continue to expeditiously review all contract submissions as we have since the start of my Administration.” In an effort to encourage the use of minority- and women-owned businesses, the city offers agencies the ability to award small contracts without going through a full procurement process. The education department will retain that ability, the comptroller’s office noted, but whatever deals it inks will need to be vetted by Lander’s team, a failsafe process known as registration that is required of most large city contracts with the aim of preventing waste and graft. — Joe Anuta FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Mayoral candidate Scott Stringer is making new hires — with a new Hyers. Eric Hyers of Outperform Strategies, who was most recently a senior adviser to Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in North Carolina, will be Stringer’s campaign manager. Hyers — no relation to former Bill de Blasio CM Bill Hyers — won a Democratic Campaign Manager of the Year award for running Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelect in the deep red state. He also consulted on Wesley Bell’s successful bid to unseat Rep. Cori Bush, the socialist Squad member of Missouri. Stringer once endorsed Squad members like Rep. Jamaal Bowman but has shifted away from the progressive movement. Stringer has also hired a former staffer in his Comptroller’s Office, Elaine Fan as chief of staff. And Slingshot Strategies, which worked against Stringer in 2021 on Andrew Yang’s campaign, is now with him. Evan Roth Smith does his polling, and Alyssa Cass and Sam Raskin run communications. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Investigators from the Eastern District raided a Queens hotel that was contracted by the city to house homeless people and owned by an Adams donor. (New York Post) — The Department of Investigation is probing Adams aide Jesse Hamilton over city real estate deals. (THE CITY) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will fight Trump’s effort to toss his hush money case. (POLITICO)
| | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
Letitia James was among the 32 attorneys general who pressured Congress this week to approve the Kids Online Safety Act. | Bebeto Matthews/AP | DON’T TREAD ON ME: Attorney General Letitia James wants Congress to strengthen social media regulations for children online — as long as federal action doesn’t hinder New York’s aggressive efforts to address the issue. It’s a push that could have a wider impact on New York policymakers as they face another Trump administration after Jan. 20. James was among the 32 attorneys general who pressured Congress this week to approve the Kids Online Safety Act, a measure intended to provide safeguards for minors on social media platforms. The move comes months after state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul approved a package of social media laws that will block algorithmic feeds for child users and place restrictions on data collection by the platforms. James’ office is writing the regulations for the state law and doesn’t want the federal government’s actions to supersede New York. “With KOSA, we can establish a foundation of protections for kids nationwide, but we must also ensure states are empowered to introduce more expansive safeguards for their kids as needed,” James said. Social media firms have pushed back on KOSA, and LGBTQ+ organizations have warned the bill could limit “protected speech and restrict access to potentially lifesaving resources.” It's not unusual for states to have stronger regulations than federal law. (State minimum wage levels are often higher than what federal law dictates, and air emissions standards can be tougher on the state level, often in states led by Democrats.) The mode of thinking could have broader implications for New York, as the new Trump administration has signaled a major overhaul of the federal government and its approaches to health care, labor rights and the environment. — Nick Reisman WHERE CREDIT’S DUE: Tax incentives are coming under the microscope today in Albany. State Sens. James Skoufis, Liz Krueger, Sean Ryan and Andrew Gounardes are holding a public hearing to examine findings of an audit released earlier this year that concluded many of the tax incentive programs fail to stoke significant economic benefit. In particular, tax credits for film and TV production are expected to especially come under harsh review. The $700 million program provides incentives for companies to shoot in New York — a program that has grown in size and is funded for the next decade. The film and TV industry have credited the program with ensuring productions remain in New York. But the generous subsidies have come under scrutiny from government watchdogs. Reinvent Albany, a good-government organization, found New York’s film tax credit program alone provided $75,000 for each industry job this year — an increase from $67,000 per job in 2023. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Congestion pricing is turning into a new political headache for Hochul. (Times Union) — The growth of the Medicaid program is expected to be a big issue for the state budget. (Rochester First) — Trump could pose a major problem for New York’s offshore wind plans. (NYS Focus)
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the next administration should document immigrants living in the country illegally rather than turn the military on them. | Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO | TPS PUSH: New York Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez teamed up Tuesday in Washington to urge the Biden administration to prioritize an expansion of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Ecuador before Trump takes office. Espaillat said the designation would help 300,000 Ecuadorians currently in the United States obtain legal status and work permits. “They’re not coming in, they’re not leaving, they’re here right now,” Espaillat of Manhattan said. “A crisis of unprecedented violence” and wildfires make it too dangerous for them to return, he said. Ocasio-Cortez of the Bronx referenced Trump’s mass deportation plans as well, saying the solution should be to document immigrants living in the country illegally rather than turning the military on them. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended and redesignated Venezuela for TPS last year, creating a path for migrants in New York City. The Biden administration has also taken steps to limit asylum and hasten deportation — border security policies that are part of why New York City has seen a slowdown in the rate of migrants arriving and requiring shelter. — Emily Ngo More from Congress: — ‘It’s on him’: Democrats look to Jeffries to plot a path to their revival. (CNN) — Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to name Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand to lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee through 2026. (Axios) — Schumer sets vote on top judicial picks over GOP protests. (E&E News)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Hochul defended her plan to revive congestion pricing. (NY1) — New York has put out a call for siting new nuclear plants. (Newsday) — A suburban Albany town is discouraging people from playing Pokémon Go in its public park. (Times Union)
| | | | A message from Uber: Study Shows Uber Drivers making over $52k while NYC Heroes Get Left Behind
A new study reveals a growing wage divide in New York City: Uber drivers are making an average of $52,900 a year after expenses, while city employees like EMTs and sanitation workers starting salaries are below $44,000. Since 2020, rideshare drivers have received five pay increases through TLC mandates while many frontline city workers face stagnant wages amid rising living costs. This gap underscores an evolving dynamic in NYC’s workforce, where gig workers see consistent earnings growth while essential city roles lag behind. This pay disparity is raising questions about the city’s priorities and the need for equitable wages in public service amidst the affordability crisis.
Read the full story to see how gig work earnings are reshaping NYC’s labor landscape. Learn More. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman OUT & ABOUT: The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families honored former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley and best-selling author James Rhee at its Catalyst for Change Awards gala Monday night at Tribeca 360. SPOTTED: Attorney General Letitia James … state Sen. John Liu … Assemblymembers Grace Lee, Zohran Mamdani and Steven Raga … Public Advocate Jumaane Williams … City Council Members Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee and Julie Won. MAKING MOVES: Alejandro Gonzalez is now press secretary to Sen. Cory Booker, after leaving City Council Member Crystal Hudson’s office … Rebecca Coolidge will be joining Albany Strategic Advisors as legislative director. She was previously chief of staff to Assemblymember Brian Cunningham … Priya Anand has left journalism and is now advising executives and startups on comms and messaging. She spent nearly a dozen years covering big tech and startups for publications including Bloomberg, The Information and BuzzFeed. … Jeff Cronin has joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin as of counsel in the firm’s real estate practice, based in the New York office. He most recently worked at Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco. … Shelby Wagenseller will be head of comms for JPMorgan Chase’s research, policy and insights division. She previously was associate director for comms and strategic planning at OMB. … The city Department of Education is appointing Cristina Melendez as deputy chancellor for family and community engagement. She is currently executive director of the department’s Office of Family and Community Empowerment. (POLITICO Pro) FOR YOUR RADAR: Per a release: “Global investigations firm Nardello & Co. is pleased to announce new offices in New York and California … In New York, Nardello & Co. moves its global headquarters to 1212 Avenue of the Americas, leasing two full floors … [which] doubles the size of the firm’s former office of 10 years at Stawski’s 565 Fifth Avenue.” MEDIAWATCH: Sally Buzbee will be news editor for the U.S. and Canada for Reuters. She previously was executive editor at The Washington Post and is an AP alum. Read the announcement — Per Talking Biz News: “Real estate news service CoStar News has hired Khristopher J. Brooks as a reporter covering New York residential real estate. He has been at CBS Moneywatch for the past five years covering economic disparities for the personal finance website.” HAPPY BIRTHDAY: President Joe Biden … Gerson Borrero … NY1’s Pat Kiernan … state Sen. Liz Krueger … Assemblymember Kenneth Zebrowski … Yoel Lefkowitz of the AG’s office … POLITICO’s Dan Goldberg …City & State’s Austin Jefferson … Kenny Agosto of the Bronx BP’s office … Housing Works’ Laura Caruso … Edward Farrell of the Retired Public Employees Association … Park Strategies’ Greg Serio … City Tech’s Faith Corbett … Bloomberg’s Ian Kullgren … CNN’s Ryan Struyk … John Bolton … Judy Woodruff … Ron Suskind … SKDK’s Cecelia Prewett … (WAS TUESDAY): Calvin Klein ... Alan Rosenberg, partner and founder of RG Group … Seth Cohen ... Jerry Sheindlin ... Trudy Stern Missed Tuesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here. | | | | 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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