A rocky session for Eric Adams

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Thursday Mar 31,2022 08:15 pm

Mar 31, 2022

Presented by The Black Car Fund

It's been a rocky reintroduction to Albany for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who served as a state senator from 2007 to 2013.

But thanks to a strong partnership with Gov. Kathy Hochul, the new mayor is poised to come away with several wins, including changes to bail reform. Yet relying on the governor as his proxy could prove a risky bet: Some of Adams' highest priorities, like mayoral control of schools, will be booted out of the budget and into the legislative session, where Hochul will have far less power.

Here’s a look at the likely wins and losses for Adams as budget negotiations enter their final stage.

In the win column:

Changes to bail reform, including bail for repeat offenders and more gun crimes
More money for the Earned Income Tax Credit
Several provisions to boost child care

For the losses:

Mayoral control of schools
421-a tax break
Local authority over traffic rules

Adams also has cemented some relationships with Albany power players while failing to connect with others.

Who he’s worked with:

Hochul
Sen. Julia Salazar
Sen. John Liu

Who he hasn’t:

Sen. Michael Gianaris
Assembly Member Latrice Walker

A message from The Black Car Fund:

IT’S THURSDAY: The budget is due by midnight, but the Senate and Assembly have both already adjourned until Monday. It will not be on time. Oh well!

“The people of New York expect and deserve an on-time budget,” said Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay in a statement.

From the Capitol

LATE BUDGET, LATE PAYCHECKS: A late state budget can have practical impacts on state workers. The state comptroller’s office said there might be a delayed distribution in paycheck and direct deposits should the budget not be passed by 4 p.m Monday.

The agency explained that when a budget is in place, the comptroller’s office transmits the electronic direct deposit file on Monday evening for the paycheck dated the same week. So while the paychecks dated April 7 were confirmed Wednesday, the office “is not permitted to distribute funds dated in the new fiscal year until the Legislature passes and the Governor signs the 2022-23 State budget or a budget extender bill to provide for the continuing operation of State government.”

Lawmakers could pass a budget as early as Monday or pass an extender to keep government operating. — Joseph Spector

FIGHT WITH THE SENECAS: New York has long had a contentious relationship with the Western New York tribe, and the $566 million payment of back casino taxes on Tuesday did little to quell the discord. In fact, it appeared to make it worse.

When Hochul said she would use the money to help fund the $1.4 billion stadium for the Buffalo Bills, it drew a sharp rebuke from the Senecas — who said their bank accounts were frozen over refusing to pay the state during a five-year-long dispute. “After intentionally and unnecessarily holding the Seneca people and thousands of Western New Yorkers and families hostage for several days by strangling various bank accounts held by the Seneca Nation and our businesses, Governor Hochul couldn’t contain her excitement to boast about using her Seneca ransom money for a new stadium.”

Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays responded that the administration tried to reach an accord amicably: “After the Nation once again failed to make payments under the terms of an amicable agreement, the State had to take action, and we are pleased to have finally secured these long-overdue funds for Western New York communities." — Joseph Spector

FROM CITY HALL

NYPD CONTROVERSY: Six years after Delrawn Small was killed by NYPD officer Wayne Isaacs, Small’s family joined police reform advocates on the steps of City Hall today to demand the case remain in the hands of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. “This should be a no-brainer case. We’ve heard the facts and we’ve seen the video,” said Public Advocate and gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams, referring to footage the typically pro-cop New York Post released in 2016, showing how swiftly Isaacs fatally shot Small during what the newspaper described as a “road rage incident” in Brooklyn. Isaacs remains on the force, receiving a salary of $112,747 in 2021, according to public records.

The rally — and an accompanying letter sent today to Adams and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell — was organized in response to news that the Police Benevolent Association is requesting CCRB no longer handle the case. “The PBA is trying to do a backroom, backdoor deal,” said Adilka Pimentel of the Justice Committee, a police reform group. In response, PBA President Pat Lynch said in a prepared statement: “CCRB has nothing new to add to this case, which has already been fully investigated and adjudicated by the NYPD. The police officer was also acquitted by a Brooklyn jury. CCRB is simply looking for a third bite at the apple in order to justify their bloated budget and advance their anti-cop agenda.” — Sally Goldenberg

A message from The Black Car Fund:

ON THE BEATS

HOUSING: Adams appointed two new members to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board today, as the body kicks off its annual process for determining whether and by how much to raise rents on the city’s nearly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The mayor named Arpit Gupta, an assistant professor of finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business, as a new public member — one of five appointees on the board, including the chair, that are theoretically impartial to both tenants and landlords. Gupta’s research at NYU has focused on “using large datasets to understand default dynamics in household finance, real estate, and corporate finance,” according to City Hall. Adams also named Christina Smyth, a real estate lawyer, as a landlord member. Smyth is the founder and owner of Smyth Law PC, a firm that represents multifamily building owners.

The board also released an annual report on Thursday that found the net operating income of landlords with rent-stabilized units fell 7.8 percent from 2019 to 2020 — the second-largest decrease in this metric in 30 years the board has been compiling the data. Landlord groups seized on the datapoint as evidence of inadequate increases in past years. “This historic decline in net operating income, combined with increasing property taxes, through-the-roof heating costs, and increases across the board in other building operating expenses, presents the perfect storm of catastrophic proportions,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association. Tenant advocates, meanwhile, are calling on the board to pass a rent rollback, and don’t think the board data justifies higher rent increases. “Tenant affordability is a real thing the board has to consider, it’s not just about landlords making money,” said Andrea Shapiro of the Met Council on Housing. — Janaki Chadha

HEALTH CARE: Advocates with the Lead-Free Kids New York coalition called on Albany lawmakers today to include additional funding to support lead poisoning prevention efforts in the new state budget. Paul Webster, director of programs for Clean & Healthy NY, told reporters at a Capitol news conference that such funding is needed as New York leads the nation in the number of lead-impacted housing and children with elevated blood lead levels, issues which he cast as “persistent and pervasive."

Sen. Ed Ryan (D-Buffalo) said he and advocates are “going to fight in this year's budget to make sure we have preventative money in the budget, and make sure we have money in to take care of kids who have lead poisoning.” “We all know it's a problem,” he said. “Let's fix it.” — Shannon Young

AROUND NEW YORK

— Starbucks employees at Latham Plaza filed a request for a unionization vote with the National Labor Relations Board.

— The mother of a young stage actor and teacher who was gunned down execution-style pleaded for Mayor Eric Adams to “fix the city.”

— Amazon workers in Staten Island are in the process of deciding if they want to form a union.

— Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $20 million statewide investment for capital projects in arts and cultural organizations — helping 116 projects throughout the state.

— Cha-ching! A winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million was sold on Canal Street in Manhattan.

A message from The Black Car Fund:

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Learn more here.