Who will lead Manhattan’s sex crimes unit?

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Wednesday Mar 02,2022 09:01 pm

Mar 02, 2022

Presented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is conducting a nationwide search to find the next bureau chief for his sex crimes unit.

Bragg campaigned on reforming the unit, which dropped 49 percent of sexual assault cases in 2019 under former DA Cy Vance. The office also bungled high-profile cases against Robert Hadden, the former OB-GYN who assaulted hundreds of his patients, and Harvey Weinstein, the former movie producer.

The next bureau chief will be tasked with “transforming the unit’s practices” with special consideration for survivors and their trauma, according to a job posting shared with POLITICO.

Marissa Hoechstetter and Alison Turkos, sexual assault survivors and activists, called on Bragg to hire a “dynamic leader” to run the bureau and allocate adequate resources to ensure that survivors get the respect and results they deserve.

Hoechstetter, the founder of Reform the SCU, endorsed Bragg in last fall's election. She said she wants to see the office gives sex crimes “the appropriate level of attention, staffing and respect through investigation, through victim services, and ultimately through prosecution.”

“It’s not considered prestigious. Some people refer to it as ‘killing your career’ if you stay there,” she said, adding that the sex crimes unit needs to be “very well staffed, it needs to have a lot of resources, and it has to have a greater profile in the office.”

The DA’s office is also seeking a senior adviser to support gender-based violence initiatives, who would coordinate staff across departments. The gender-based violence subcommittee on Bragg’s transition team, which Hoechstetter co-chaired, called on the office to create this position.

The search process for both positions will be conducted with the aid of survivors and trauma-informed experts, among other professionals.

Bragg’s office said he will solicit input to “build out interview questions and a structured interview process that reflects the field’s best practices.”

“The final candidates will be chosen by a team from the DA’s office that includes prosecutors with extensive experience, as well as non-prosecutorial staff from the Witness Aid Services Unit, and other units within the Special Victims Bureau (e.g. social workers and investigators),” according to Bragg’s team.

Still, some observers seemed skeptical.

“He does seem bent on making good on his campaign promises. In fact, he was so upfront with what he wants to do about sentencing and crimes he wants to prosecute. He has these huge plans and had these ambitious campaign commitments,” said Hannah E. Meyers, director of the policing and public safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute.

She added that his plan will face several hurdles, notably redistributing assistant district attorneys from other areas of the office to the sex crimes unit.

“Will they actually be able to do anything more for victims?” she asked.

A message from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East:

Home care workers are essential workers – and they have earned a livable wage. The care they provide allows seniors and people with disabilities to live independently and with dignity in their own homes. But because of low wages, New York has a massive shortage of home care workers, a crisis that could impact tens of thousands of families. Tell Albany: the budget must include a permanent wage increase for home care workers.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY: 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.

WHAT ALBANY'S READING

MORE $, EVERYONE AGREES: The Division of Budget, the Senate and the Assembly released their budget consensus numbers last night . There was “significant variance” in just how much geopolitical conflicts, Covid-19 and other factors will ultimately affect state funds, but the three parties say that over the next two years, New York’s revenue will probably be somewhere between $800 million and $1.2 billion more than Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out in her executive budget proposal.

CHILD CARE POLLS A PRIORITY: Anti-poverty nonprofit Robin Hood released a new poll today in support of its enhanced child care across the state. The polling showed that 62 percent of more than 2,100 registered voters want the state to increase the number of New Yorkers eligible for child-care subsidies, even if that means taking resources away from other budget proposals.

RETURN TO THE OFFICE, SOON? Hochul says the lifting of mask mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions will hopefully spur more employers to encourage their workers to return to the office.

Doing so is particularly critical in New York City and more specifically Manhattan, which is the financial capital of the world. Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have both been urging employers to at least go to a hybrid model to help build back the economy.

“Everybody should meet their own needs, of course. It may never be five days a week again” in the office, Hochul said. “It may be four days with flexibility. It may be three and a half days in person.

“That’s something that’s up to them. But at least three or four days at minimum, so people don’t just lose that connection by the creative collisions that occur when people innovate at the water cooler or they meet new friends.”

SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA: Hochul said the state Department of Financial Services will bolster its enforcement of sanctions against Russia by using additional blockchain analytics technology that could detect exposure among state-licensed virtual currency businesses to Russian individuals, banks and other entities that the Biden Administration has sanctioned.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and will continue to do our part to enforce U.S. sanctions against Russia in response to their unwarranted attack,” Hochul said in a statement today.

FROM CITY HALL

FOLLOW THE MONEY: The City Council, under new leadership this year, hinted at points of dispute with Adams as members grilled his budget chief during a legislative hearing on the mayor’s proposed $98.5 billion spending plan today. Speaker Adrienne Adams and Finance Chair Justin Brannan — whose own bid for speaker was scuttled in part by the mayor — questioned the wisdom of cuts to city services.

Queens Democrat Julie Won lamented the sluggish process by which city contractors are reimbursed, while Brooklyn’s Charles Barron pressed Budget Director Jacques Jiha on the age-old “budget dance” between the two arms of government over relatively small sums of money for Council programs.

Lincoln Restler, also from Brooklyn, said the city should be beefing up funds for affordable housing and homeless programs. The budget takes effect July 1 and is the only one this Council will vote on before members' primary elections next June.“I’m troubled that some of the proposed cuts could hinder the city’s revival, making it harder to achieve a fair and equitable recovery for all,” Brannan said. — Sally Goldenberg

The Campaign Trail

HOCHUL TALKS BUDGET, NOT POLITICS — FOR NOW: The state Republican convention wrapped up Tuesday afternoon with Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin easily walking away with the party’s gubernatorial nomination. But he faces a potential primary from three possible foes.

As for Hochul, who will face her own primary in June, she says she won’t weigh in on the primary fights and instead focus on a record of accomplishments and getting a budget deal done by the April 1 deadline.

“I anticipate many more political attacks over the next few months, and up until November,” she told reporters late Tuesday.

“It’s expected; we’re ready for it. And I’ll run on my record and I’m not going to get down where they are. People know me. They know I work hard. They know I have a vision for this state. They know I know how to get things done without a lot of drama. And that is going to be the hallmark of our campaign.”

A message from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East:

ON THE BEATS

ENERGY: Adams is about to experience the wrath of climate advocates. Several environmental groups will rally in front of One Bryant Park on Thursday morning, calling on the mayor to implement the city’s “Green New Deal” law requiring owners of large buildings to cut emissions or face fines.

Adams has indicated he may not be fully on board with the plan — his spokesperson previously told POLITICO that he was “concerned that we will not reach our environmental goals unless the City works to reduce the costs of retrofits and upgrades that will be prohibitively expensive for some owners, as well as unfair fines that punish efficient buildings.” Adams also has deep ties to the real estate industry, which actively lobbied against the bill for years during Bill de Blasio’s tenure. Landlords have to comply with the law beginning in 2024, making this a pivotal year for opponents to get any changes implemented. — Danielle Muoio Dunn

HEALTH CARE: The Public Health and Health Planning Council today approved a batch of eight residential health care facility certificate of need applications — the first time it has done so under new legislative and regulatory requirements. Shelly Glock, deputy director for the Department of Health’s Center for Health Facility Planning, Licensure and Finance, told a PHHPC subpanel that the RHCF applications for establishment were the first to go before the council since February 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Legislature, she added, has since made changes to nursing home establishment applications to enhance transparency, require a review by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program and incorporate new character and competency criteria for individuals subject to the process.

“We are pleased to be at a point where we can now begin bringing these CONs forward,” she told council members. “And [with] today’s meeting we are presenting the first of those RHCF applications based on implementation of those changes.” — Shannon Young

— The city Office of Labor Relations launched a new effort called WorkWell to promote better health among city workers. The effort is aligned with Adams’’ push to proselytize healthy eating habits, following his own health transformation by reversing his Type 2 diabetes through plant-based diet. Upcoming events include cooking demonstrations and a biweekly Covid-19 briefing for city employees. — Amanda Eisenberg

REAL ESTATE: The developer behind a controversial rezoning proposal in Harlem that could bring upwards of 900 new apartments to the neighborhood said calls to increase the amount of affordable housing in the project are not financially workable without public subsidy. “When people ask us to do 50 percent, and some folks have asked us to do 100 percent affordable, it’s simply not viable, it’s simply not something that we can do without some kind of help or support, which we’re open to getting,” developer Bruce Teitelbaum said at a City Planning Commission hearing today.

The proposal, which would also include a new headquarters for the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and space for a Museum of Civil Rights, calls for up to 939 apartments, as many as 282 of them affordable to low- and middle-income households.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said the proposal should be voted down in recommendations last week unless the developer sets aside half of the new apartments as affordable. Local Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan has also opposed the project on the grounds that the new housing would not be affordable enough for existing residents of the area. — Janaki Chadha

EDUCATION: Schools Chancellor David Banks outlined his vision for New York City public schools this morning. Here are some of the major changes the chancellor is looking to pursue:

GOODBYE EXEC SUPERS: His plans mark a departure from former schools chancellor Richard Carranza in the form of major changes to the DOE’s school support structure. Banks announced that he will eliminate the executive superintendent position, a position Carranza created in 2018 to oversee district superintendents and the executive directors’ borough school support centers created by former Chancellor Carmen Fariña. He’s also boosting funding and power for principals and district superintendents and having each superintendent reapply for their jobs. He said the savings could be “to the tune of millions of dollars.”
MORE SCHOOL SAFETY AGENTS: The DOE will work with the mayor’s office to increase the number of school safety agents, including a new class of agents who will be graduating in the coming weeks.
VIRTUAL IS HERE TO STAY: The DOE is developing a Digital Learning Advisory Committee made up of educators, administrators and students to figure out how to incorporate technology into students’ learning, which will include piloting virtual course models for students to learn from teachers trained in providing digital learning. — Madina Touré

AROUND NEW YORK

— Albany-area Assemblymember Patricia Fahy announced the very sad news late Tuesday that her 25-year-old son, Brendan Fahy Bequette, died Monday after a battle with a rare form of cancer.

— Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, was spotted before the State of the Union address talking to Chief Justice John Roberts, and she said she asked him to uphold Roe v. Wade: “He’s the only hope that women in America have,” she said.

— Hochul was likely to wait a week or more to decide whether to lift mask mandates in schools, but then the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weighed in. The school mask mandate ended today.

— And here’s a good explainer on what guidance still remains for schools.

— Juli Boeheim , the wife of legendary Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim, was the victim of an armed robbery at the Destiny USA mall on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

A message from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East:

New York faces a home care crisis. Researchers estimate that we’ll need to fill more than 980,000 home care positions by 2028. But due to low wages, many home care workers are forced to leave the profession in order to support themselves and their families. Despite being essential workers, Medicaid does not pay them a living wage. It’s common for workers to travel daily between two, three, and sometimes four clients. The cost of traveling between jobs eats into already limited paychecks. A permanent raise would mean a steady income to support their own families and a way to attract new people to join the home care workforce to keep up with the turnover.

New York leaders can avert the home care crisis and help our families by ensuring that a permanent wage increase for home care workers is included in the 2022-2023 state budget. Learn more.