Damming the rivers that feed the sea of violence

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Friday Jun 03,2022 08:15 pm

Jun 03, 2022

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City Hall and other local government buildings will be illuminated in orange tonight to mark Gun Violence Awareness Day at a time when tragedies stemming from mass shootings are all too familiar following the recent trio of incidents in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa. Just within the five boroughs, 632 people have been shot as of May 29.

“As we recognize Gun Violence Awareness Day ... we must be focused on damming the many rivers that feed the sea of violence, by prioritizing intervention and prevention,” Mayor Eric Adams said today in a statement about the somber tribute. Adams was deploying his go-to metaphor, inspired by the late South African activist Desmond Tutu who said, “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

Adams first quoted Tutu at the start of his mayoral campaign in January 2020 when talking about the need to “identify upstream solutions to our problems” including the climate crisis, hate and inequality. Since he took office two years later the dams, rivers, streams and seas of Adams’ lexicon almost always refer to crime. Here are few examples of his near-daily use of the trope.

“I've said this over and over again, there are many rivers that feed the sea of violence and it's time to dam every river. Not just one with law enforcement,” Adams said on June 2, announcing the Gun Violence Task Force.

“I stated that the sea of violence is fed by many rivers. We want to dam one of those rivers by allowing parents to get involved and be partners with us,” Adams said on May 25 at a school safety event.

“I continuously state that there are many rivers that are feeding the sea of violence and Washington must give us assistance that we need,” Adams said on April 8 about his call for the federal government to help stop the flow of guns into the city.

“We're going to stop the river of violence that is feeding the sea of violence. And this team is damming one of those rivers with their activity,” Adams said on March 22 in thanking the NYPD’s newly-revamped anti-crime unit.

President Joe Biden cited Adams’ most-used metaphor when he visited the mayor in the city on Feb. 3. “I put forward a plan to dam up some of those streams,” Biden told Adams then. “You can count on me to be a partner in that effort.”

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IT’S FRIDAY: The state Senate has left the building (in Albany) and the Assembly was poised to do the same today. That means lawmakers will be out of the Capitol until January unless a special session is called, which is possible if a concealed carry weapons ban is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court and they come back to address it. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

From the Capitol

THE PEOPLE’S HOUSE (CONT.): With their Senate counterparts gone for the year, the Assembly is powering through their outstanding bills after taking a short break this morning. But it wouldn’t be overtime in Albany without a little drama. The chamber is expected to continue through today, and potentially into some of the weekend. The Clean Slate bill has not yet come up for a vote. — Anna Gronewold

The Assembly gave final passage to a measure to allow utilities to operate thermal energy systems such as district geothermal heating and cooling. The measure had broad backing from labor, environmental groups and utilities. Other measures to decarbonize buildings failed, including a mandate to phase out fossil fuels in new construction as called for in the draft plan to achieve the state’s sweeping emissions goal.

Grassroots lobbying continued to pressure Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to bring the “Build Public Renewables Act” that would enable NYPA to build and own new renewable projects. The Public Power coalition said it's confirmed support from enough lawmakers to pass the bill, leading its sponsor to back down on comments that the legislation would not come to the floor this year. Still, the measure faces staunch opposition from renewable developers and power producers, with some groups running digital ads campaigns against the bill.

“We believe we have the votes, and we believe we can get the speaker to schedule it for a vote,” said Stylianos Karolidis, a NYC-DSA organizer. — Marie J. French

FROM CITY HALL

LIGHT UP: The mayor encouraged attendees at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition today to “light up” and bring ideas to his administration for improving the burgeoning industry in New York City.

“We have to make people whole who have gone through some very difficult periods of over policing in the area of cannabis through this entire state,” Adams said, citing job training and improving credit reports.

After his remarks, Adams toured the exhibition hall at the Javits Center to speak with vendors including a rep for a CBD-infused soap brand. Adams neither sampled the offerings nor responded to reporter questions about his preferred cannabis products. — Amanda Eisenberg

STATE OF THE BOROUGH: Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is teaming up with Gov. Kathy Hochul to bump cash into a program called Queens Forward, he announced in his State of the Borough address today.

While details have yet to be determined, capital investments will be made in open space, food security, healthcare, affordable housing and climate resiliency. And Richards said the projects would create thousands of jobs. “Instead of deliberate disinvestment, we’ll be strengthening existing programs and creating new ones,” he said.

Richards also announced the city public hospital system has committed to opening a NYC Health + Hospitals/Gotham clinic in downtown Far Rockaway.

In the speech, he also called for Rikers Island to be turned into a clean power hub when the jail complex there closes and for a NYC Ferry stop on the Astoria route to be added for LaGuardia airport after Hochul scrapped a controversial AirTrain there. — Erin Durkin

ON THE BEATS

HEALTH CARE: The Assembly approved legislation late Thursday that would prohibit disciplinary measures against health practitioners for providing legal reproductive health services to patients who reside in states where abortion is illegal, ( S9079/A9687 ) and bar medical malpractice insurance companies from taking any adverse action against a reproductive health care provider who performs legal reproductive health care (A9718/S9080).

— They were the only two that had yet to clear the Assembly out of a six-bill abortion-related package that passed the Senate earlier in the week. The governor Hochul announced late Thursday that she looks “forward to signing these bills into law. ... The Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade this month — but New York will be ready,” she said.

— Earlier today Hochul touted the Fiscal Year 2023 budget’s inclusion of more than $3 million for Choose Healthy Life to address health inequities and administer preventative wellness programs run by 20 churches.

“The pandemic exposed appalling health care disparities in Black communities, and today we are taking concrete action to close those gaps and get care to those who need it most," she said in a statement following a morning event in Harlem. "This funding will be critical in helping address health care inequities in underserved communities.” — Shannon Young

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The Campaign Trail

Political newcomer Suraj Patel — who’s been struggling to stay in the spotlight since Rep. Jerry Nadler took over as Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s prime primary opponent with the redrawing of New York’s congressional map — released voting numbers today to make his case against incumbency.

His campaign blasted out a memo that overlayed the results of the 2020 primary in Nadler and Maloney’s old seats (respectively NY10 and NY12) on to the new 12th Congressional District where all three are now competing. The memo computes how many people voted for challengers versus those who cast ballots for the two incumbents. The results? Some 38,829 people pulled the lever for challengers (37.98 percent of the vote), while Nadler got 35,590 votes (34.81 percent) and Maloney got 27,892 votes (27.22 percent).

AROUND NEW YORK

— New York’s adult cigarette smoking rate hit a new low of 12 percent in 2020, Health Commissioner Mary Bassett announced today. The rate was even lower among young adults aged 18 to 24 at just 5.5 percent.

— Long COVID survivors in New York are trapped “in caregiver limbo” amid limited support and treatment options.

— Alain Kaloyeros, the founder of the Albany nanocenter, wants his conviction on a big rigging scandal that has landed him in jail overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

— An exodus from Albany TV news stations continue as the 18th broadcast personality as left.

— If you’re heading to the Hamptons this summer, you might get a better deal on a rental house.

— A remembrance of Bill O’Shaughnessy, the colorful and dapper local radio station owner in Westchester, who died this week at age 84.

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