The perils of a political police officer

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Friday Feb 25,2022 08:31 pm

Feb 25, 2022

Presented by Healthcare Education Project

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF: The fate of retired New York police officers who traded the badge for the ballot box suggests that they would have been better off indulging in the simpler joys of golf and bingo while comparing notes about the quality of California prunes.

William O’Dwyer, cop, district attorney and successor to Fiorello LaGuardia, managed to elude federal authorities with a well-timed appointment as ambassador to Mexico in 1950. Mario Biaggi went from the House of Representatives to the house of detention in 1989. Of Hiram Monserrate, the less said the better.

Eric Adams, former NYPD captain, has a chance to revise that sad but cautionary history. So, too, the latest entry in the annals of cop-as-candidate, Deputy Inspector Alison Esposito, commanding officer of the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn and a newly minted Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

At the moment, Esposito is a rarityamong law-enforcementpoliticians in that she is still on active duty, charged with supervising a relatively tranquil precinct that takes in Midwood, Ditmas Park and Prospect Park South. She's expected to retire soon, which would remove the possibility for some discomfort if she found herself in one of the many difficult circumstances that are the lot of an NYPD commanding officer these days.

“The NYPD is a crisis-oriented agency, and she could have a crisis or a controversy on her hands tomorrow,” said Eugene O’Donnell, a former NYPD officer and now a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. “She would need to be seen as an honest broker, and that’s hard if you are all-in as a partisan political candidate.”

She is not quite all-in just yet, as Rep. Lee Zeldin, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, has made it known that he’d like her to be on the ticket. The GOP convention next week will make it official.

Whether or not Esposito chooses to put in her papers , O’Donnell sees positive and negatives in her presence on the campaign trail. “She will have real-world contributions to make to the debate over policing and criminal justice,” he said. “It’s good to have somebody from law enforcement in these conversations. A lot of things are said by people who don’t understand what police do. Police have real insights, but they’ve been on the sidelines.”

The question, though,is whether the wisdom contained in those insights can be translated into campaign-speak in the coming months.

“As a commanding officer, she knows how nuanced criminal justice and public safety issues can be, and how dangerous it is to rely on two-word or three-word slogans,” O’Donnell said. “And yet she will be in an arena where there’s going to be plenty of that.”

Welcome to politics, deputy inspector.

HAPPY FRIDAY: We’re back with your afternoon check-in to spill the day’s tea — as we know it thus far — during one of the busiest seasons in New York politics. The Legislature is off this week.

WHERE'S KATHY? In Florida (no, not for CPAC) for a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association. According to our POLITICO colleagues to the south, the DGA is at Eau Palm Beach Resort in a place called Manalapan. That’s 6.6 miles south of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach County and a heck of a lot warmer than either of Hochul’s upstate residences currently buried in snow.

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FROM CITY HALL

ADAMS' LBGTQ MEETING: The mayor promised to meet with the City Council’s LGBTQ caucus next week to discuss controversial appointments of officials who've made anti-gay statements to his administration. “I look forward to sitting down with the members of the LGBTQ+ community next week and they know I’m a fighter for them,” Adams said on PIX11 today. Adams again responded to criticism of the hires by citing his endorsement of marriage equality in 2011.

“I spoke to many of the leaders that have stood with me and I have stood with them throughout the years of over 30 years of fighting on behalf of those who are part of the community. And they know me, and I know them, and we’re going to work through this together,” he said.

Later, Brooklyn Councilmember Crystal Hudson, who is a key member of the LGBTQ caucus, said during an interview on PIX11 that she hadn’t yet received an invitation to meet with the mayor but planned to show up for the discussion. — Deanna Garcia

LEAVE RUSSIA ALONE: Manhattan Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan placed the blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the west in a tweet thread posted this morning. Jordan said the advancement of American and European Union influence toward Russia over the past 30 years is ultimately responsible for the war that broke out this week.

“The U.S. and E.U. knew the consequences of provoking Russia with NATO expansion and proceeded anyway because they do not suffer, the Ukrainian and Russian people do,” she wrote. Jordan is one of a handful of socialist lawmakers in the 51-member body, and her reaction shares some commonalities with others on the left.

“The US government is responding to the situation in Ukraine through the familiar guise of threats of sweeping sanctions, provision of military aid, and increased military deployment to the region,” the Democratic Socialists of America wrote last month. “The [DSA] opposes this ongoing US brinkmanship, which only further escalates the crisis, and reaffirms our previous statement saying no to NATO and its imperialist expansionism and disastrous interventions across the world.” — Joe Anuta

FEELIN’ 22

COMPTROLLER PICK: The Republican and Conservative parties are expected to back financier Paul Rodriguez as their candidate for state comptroller in the next few days. Rodriguez is a Queens native who grew up in Puerto Rico and went on to work at firms including Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch. He was the Conservative nominee to be New York City’s comptroller last year, and received 5.6 percent of the vote.

“Our next comptroller must serve as a real check and balance on one-Party Democrat rule and their out-of-control socialist spending,” Rodriguez said in a release announcing his campaign. “I will break up the cozy, corrupt cabal in Albany and bring my private-sector experience to serve as a true watchdog for New York’s taxpayers.”

Conservatives are due to meet at their convention in Yonkers on Saturday; Republicans will consider their picks in Garden City on Monday. Sources in both parties expect Rodriguez to win party backing unanimously. — Bill Mahoney

TRUMP'S NEW YORK

JAMES V. TRUMP: State attorney General Tish James responded to reports that former President Donald Trump and two of his children — Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump — will appeal a judge’s determination that they must appear for sworn testimony in compliance with subpoenas from her office as part of its investigation into alleged fraud within the Trump Organization.

“Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump were ordered by the court to comply with our lawful investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings,” James said in a statement today. “While they have the right to seek a delay, they cannot deter us from following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Make no mistake: My office will continue to pursue this case without fear or favor because no one is above the law.” — Anna

— James’s office is also in virtual court today attempting to dismiss counterclaims from the National Rifle Association that would stop her suit for its dissolution.

ON THE BEATS

TRANSIT: Staten Island is getting a new ferry that honors one of the nation’s first Black settlements. Called Sandy Ground, the ship is named for the first free Black community on Staten Island’s South Shore, before it became a part of New York City. At an event to commission the ferry today, Adams described how the booming oyster trade attracted Black workers from Maryland and allowed them to purchase their own property.

Ferry boat operator Captain John Jackson became the first Black person to own property in the area, which is now known as the community of Rossville. Adams said it was “imperative” for New Yorkers to know the history of Sandy Ground, which also served as one of the stops on the Underground Railroad. The $85 million, 4,500-person boat is part of a new class of Staten Island ferries that are better equipped for extreme weather and come with new outdoor walking tracks. It will be in service this spring. — Danielle Muoio Dunn

HEALTH CARE: Rep. Jamaal Bowman joined Bronx elected officials, more than a dozen faith leaders, home care workers and others today in urging Albany lawmakers to include “Fair Pay for Home Care” legislation — which would pay home health workers at least $22.50 an hour — in the state budget due next month.

“Gov. Hochul we strongly, strongly urge and strongly, strongly encourage you to do the right thing for the most vulnerable New Yorkers — to do the right thing for an industry that has been neglected for so long,” Bowman said at the afternoon Bronx rally. “Please, let us put our money where it belongs. We cannot have a thriving healthy society if we do not take care of our home care workers.”

The eventkicked off the “Faith for Fair Pay” weekend, in which faith leaders will call for fair pay at their places of worship across New York, organizers said. It came just days after 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East launched a statewide campaign to “guarantee fair pay for home care workers” and the NAACP New York State Conference and the Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican and Asian Legislative Caucus announced support for including “Fair Pay for Home Care” in the budget. — Shannon Young

ENERGY: The auction for offshore wind leases off the coast of New York is superheated, with bids having topped $4.2 billion in total as of 1:30 p.m. today. Seven bidders were still actively seeking to secure one of the six lease areas. The massive total far outstrips the previous record for an offshore lease auction in the U.S., and is more expensive than the most recent similar European auctions.

“I expected some historic numbers, but even this is surprising to me,” said Fred Zalcman, a former Ørsted executive who now heads the New York Offshore Wind Alliance. “There are clearly some players internationally, including some of the oil super majors that are very keen to diversify and get into renewables, particularly offshore wind."

While the 2018 Massachusetts leases went for about $1,000 per acre, the New York leases are going for an average of about $9,000 per acre. One industry-funded analysis had estimated revenues for the U.S. Treasury from lease sales in several regions could generate $1.7 billion in 2022 — a figure that is set to be surpassed by this single auction of six lease areas. The aggressive bidding reflects the state commitments from New York and New Jersey to procure thousands of megawatts of additional projects to hit their goals. — Marie J. French

LABOR: State lawmakers are pushing a new bill in Albany that would create a $50 million relief and loan program for restaurants, but specifically those who either currently pay or are looking to pay their workers a $15 minimum wage before tips. “We know that the sub-minimum wage is an antiquated system that contributes to a gender and racial gap, increased harassment and poor work conditions,” state Sen. Brad Hoylman, one of the prime sponsors of the measure, said at a press conference today.

Proponents say the measure will help reverse an exodus of workers from the restaurant industry, which is still struggling from the effects of Covid-19. The New York City Hospitality Alliance, an industry group, has raised concerns with previous efforts that tied relief to increased wages, such as a grant program rolled out by former Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration in 2020. — Janaki Chadha

EDUCATION: A new white paper from the Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc., an organization dedicated to raising awareness around the issue, is pressing for more local action to address a worsening mental health crisis in public and private colleges and universities. “The scarcity of legislation introduced by New York lawmakers about college mental health and an absence of any public hearings on the issue over the past decade and a half suggests that this particular crisis is not a high priority or even on policymakers’ radar,” the white paper reads.

The paper asserts that warning signs for mental health among college students were present before the pandemic, something the organization feels has not been fully appreciated, and that the problem has only festered in the years since the onset of Covid-19. — Michelle Bocanegra

AROUND NEW YORK

— Over 40 state lawmakers have signed on to co-sponsor legislation aimed at temporarily stopping bitcoin mining, Spectrum News reported.

— Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra is planning a run against state Sen. Joel Giambra.

— Democrat Bridie Farrell has ended her campaign against Rep. Elise Stefanik.

— Longtime Troy chef and local politician Michael LoPorto died at age 70 from cancer.

— A city health worker is in critical condition after being beaten with a hammer in a Queens subway robbery.

— As indoor movie theaters struggle to attract crowds amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, an outdoor film installation modeled after old-fashioned drive-in movie theaters popped up in Brooklyn. Films will be screened through mid-April.

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