Adams runs hot and cold on climate

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Thursday Mar 03,2022 09:01 pm

Mar 03, 2022

Presented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

It’s been a good day and a bad day for Mayor Eric Adams when it comes to combating climate change. On the one hand, he announced a major new deal to turn a derelict Brooklyn industrial site into a hub for green energy. On the other hand, he faced protests from climate advocates, who accused him of “effing around” on a new law to force building owners to cut emissions.

Bad news first: Environmentalists are getting antsy about the new mayor’s commitment to enforcing Local Law 97, which requires large building owners to dramatically slash their greenhouse gas emissions. “What we’ve heard so far is at best mixed messages,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who joined a demonstration in Manhattan. Or as Food & Water Watch activist Jon Pope put it: “We just need to stop effing around and get to work.”

The mayor has been in office only two months, but the legislation’s supporters are concerned that his preliminary budget doesn’t provide additional staffing to oversee the new regulatory system. And they were already wary: During the mayoral race, Adams’ campaign said that he believes the city should “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 was talking climate this morning, but sounding a different note. He announced a deal to transform the city-owned South Brooklyn Marine Terminal into one of the largest offshore wind port facilities in the United States. Wind turbines staged at the Sunset Park waterfront site will be placed off the coast of Long Island to generate electricity to power New York homes.

You want wind puns? Oh, we’ve got wind puns. “We move forward to a future where the wind is at our backs. The wind of success is blowing in our direction. And we’re going to make sure that we have a real win-d for New Yorkers,” Adams said. He said the project would be key to generating green jobs and meeting the city’s pledge to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.

As for his commitment to the emissions law, Adams said critics should not judge him too soon – but he did not go into any detail about his position on the legislation. “It is great, two months into my administration, people have already determined what I’m going to do and what I’m not going to do,” he said at the wind turbine event. “All I can say is buckle up and wait and see.”

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 THURSDAY: 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.

SPOTTED: LUNCHING A JOINT COMEBACK? Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie dined together this afternoon at Fresco by Scotto in Midtown Manhattan, according to two other restaurant patrons. Cuomo’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to inquiries about the topic of conversation. Cuomo, who has left the Hamptons recently for several high-profile meals in the city and is dropping TV ads without clear intentions about their purpose, was also spotted at Casa Cipriani a few nights ago. — Anna Gronewold, with reporting by Fernando Rodas

From the 3rd Floor

REFORMS SOUGHT AGAIN FOR COURTS: Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and the heads of the Legislature’s judiciary committees are making another attempt at reforming the state’s court structure, which now has 11 trial courts.

Advocates for the change have tried for years to update New York’s sprawling court structure, saying that doing so would put the state more in line with the other states, many of which, including California and New Jersey, have only one or two trial courts.

The goal, DiFiore and lawmakers said, would be improve the system to make it more accessible to “low-income, non-white and long-marginalized communities by untangling a labyrinthian system that is hundreds of years old.”

The package could be considered as part of the state budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1 or during the legislative session that runs through early June.

“New York State’s trial court structure remains one of the most antiquated and convoluted in the country – a system with 11 different trial courts that has not been updated in decades,” DiFiore said in a statement.

“We must modernize our outdated trial court structure in remedying these inequities and transforming our court system into a model of efficiency.”

FROM CITY HALL

CHOCOLATE MILK WARFARE ENTERS THE ADAMS ERA — POLITICO’s Michelle Bocanegra and Madina Touré: Eric Adams has a problem with chocolate milk. New York’s first self-professed vegan mayor was at the forefront of a movement to ban chocolate milk from public schools before his time in City Hall.

Now, equipped with the power to set policies for the nation's largest school system, the evangelist for healthy living has again turned his attention to the lunch-room staple.

“We're having a conversation about: Should we have chocolate, high-sugar milk in our schools?” Adams said in January. “Now, I'm not going to become nanny mayor. But we do need to have our children have options.”

Adams isn't the first official to have the idea. Washington and San Francisco have already banned chocolate milk.

And a decade ago, Los Angeles became the first big school district in the country to remove chocolate milk from cafeterias, only to reverse that policy five years later after facing backlash and finding that the district had thrown out massive amounts of organic waste, most of which was plain milk left unused. Adams has yet to make an aggressive push to end chocolate milk in New York City schools. He says discussions are ongoing.

Just the talk about the dangers of the sugary drinks is drawing fears from farmers across New York, one of the nation’s largest dairy-producing states. The industry would likely make an aggressive push against such a plan and may find a sympathetic ear with Gov. Kathy Hochul, who already views school lunches as an agricultural issue.

TAX LIEN SALES UP FOR DEBATE: Property owners who are behind on their taxes or bills have the outstanding balance sold to a city-controlled trust for collection, which can ultimately lead to forfeiture of the property. In 2020, the City Council temporarily blocked the de Blasio administration from holding the annual tax lien sale — much to the mayor’s chagrin — arguing that it was too punitive to lower-income homeowners amid the pandemic.

Last month, the administration’s authority to hold the sale again expired. And the Council does not seem predisposed to an extension. “I reiterate that our city simply cannot continue with this counterproductive system that has harmed so many communities and homeowners,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a Feb. 28 statement. “New York City homeowners, especially seniors, veterans, and those in communities of color, have too often been placed in jeopardy of losing their homes and the equity built over generations.”

As was true of their predecessors, Adams administration officials highlighted the sale’s importance as both a revenue source and a means to ensure that owners pay their taxes. But the city also appears to be on board with ensuring lower-income homeowners who legitimately cannot afford their property taxes can keep their homes — many of which are taxed at artificially high rates due to inequities in the system. "The mayor's instruction to us was to overhaul the tax lien sale process," Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack said during a hearing, noting that his testimony had actually kept him from a meeting on the subject that very afternoon. — Joe Anuta

A message from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East:

The Campaign Trail

CHALLENGING THE INCUMBENTS: The Working Families Party, looking to beef up its influence in the state Legislature, said today it will endorse 28 challengers for state legislative races — either by challenging incumbents or running for open seats.

“We’re excited to endorse over two dozen candidates dedicated to making New York more livable and affordable for working New Yorkers,” Sochie Nnaemeka, the party’s director, said in a statement.

The small but influential party is looking to move the already Democratic-controlled Legislature further to the left.

“While they may come from different backgrounds, our candidates are united by a deep commitment to working people’s issues and making sure our state is responsive to the needs of all New Yorkers, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” Nnaemeka continued.

ON THE BEATS

EDUCATION: The City University of New York and Amazon are teaming up to provide the company's employees with funding to pursue higher education. The company will offer an annual benefit to cover tuition and select fees for all eligible hourly employees who are accepted into CUNY schools that participate in the initiative. Those schools are Bronx Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City College of New York, the College of Staten Island, the CUNY School of Professional Studies, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College and Queens College.

“This important partnership is a powerful example of how the private sector can join forces with the City University of New York to advance workers’ education, promote economic mobility and help rebuild New York City’s post-pandemic economy all at the same time,” CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said in a statement. The program represents a $1.2 billion commitment to upgrade the skills of more than 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025. The program will start by focusing on associate and bachelor’s degrees and is open to any major at the participating schools. — Madina Toure

VACCINE REQUIREMENT FOR STUDENTS — Williams and Comptroller Brad Lander are calling on the city to require New York City public school students to be fully vaccinated in order to return to school next fall as the city weighs lifting the school mask mandate. The mayor recently said that he will make a decision this week as to whether to lift the school mask mandate. If he decides to lift the mandate, it will take effect on Monday.

In a joint letter to Adams and Health Commissioner David Chokshi , the officials called for the vaccination requirement as well as an opt-in approach for students and teachers who want to stay in all-mask classrooms. Other requests include continuing the city’s in-school Covid testing program and providing every school and contracted Pre-K and 3K with a sufficient supply of masks. They also called on the city to maintain a broad surveillance testing program and to be ready to quickly expand testing and response capacity in the event of another variant or surge. — Madina

EXPANDING NEW YORK PARKS: New York will add nearly 1,200 acres to three state parks in the Hudson Valley, Hochul announced today.

The deal adds 946 acres at Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve in Dutchess and Putnam Counties; 179 acres at Schunnemunk State Park in Orange County; and a 33-acre property that will provide better access to the adjacent Appalachian Trail and nearby Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park in Putnam County.

New York has the largest public park system in the nation with 180 parks and 35 historic sites.

"One of my favorite pastimes is exploring the different activities and stunning views at our state parks, and with this expansion we will have even more beautiful views and trails for New Yorkers to experience," Hochul said in a statement.

AROUND NEW YORK

— Dozens of business organizations are calling for state lawmakers to include roughly $3 billion in aid for the state's unemployment insurance system.

— Kriner Cash is out as superintendent of Buffalo’s schools.

— MTA chairman Janno Lieber wants the authority to ban repeat offenders from New York City’s subway.

— State Attorney General Tish James' office says the Appellate Court should reverse a Nassau judge’s ruling in January which found that the state Health Department overstepped its power by imposing an indoor school mask mandate.

— New York ranked fifth in a recent survey of spam calls.

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.