|
Presented by Con Edison: Your afternoon must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Joseph Spector | | | | 
Gov. Kathy Hochul talks to reporters in Cohoes, N.Y., after announcing a $10 million grant for the community on March 3, 2023. | Joseph Spector/POLITICO | Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday she is hopeful that her proposal to ban flavored tobacco products can make it into the final budget deal amid opposition from some minority groups and convenience stores. Opponents have railed against a potential ban of menthol cigarettes, in particular, saying it unfairly targets Black communities where the products' sales are significant. But Hochul said she is undeterred as budget negotiations will start in earnest ahead of the March 31 deadline for an on-time budget. She said there are just as many Black leaders, including the NAACP, who support a menthol ban. “We have many clergy from many Black and Brown communities who stepped up for us,” Hochul told reporters after an event in Cohoes outside of Albany. “They agree that this is a public health matter. The head of the entire New York State NAACP, Hazel Dukes, has come out in support of this.” Hochul and health officials have warned that menthol cigarettes can mask the impact smoking can have on the lungs and throat, making them potentially more of a health risk and more addictive. “What we're concerned about is the highly addictive properties of menthol, because it has more soothing ingredients that makes it easier to smoke more,” the Democratic governor said. “And it's more of an attraction to young people to start out on the path of a lifetime of smoking addiction." Whether Hochul’s plan makes it into the final budget deal is uncertain. Already some lawmakers, including Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, said they would oppose it. Convenience store owners said smokers will just go to other states or buy the products illegally if they are banned. New York City tried to ban menthol smokes in 2019, but then-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s efforts were beaten back, including by Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton, the National Action Network and Gwen Carr — the mother of Eric Garner who cops put in a fatal chokehold for allegedly selling illegal single cigarettes in 2014 — have come out against Hochul’s ban. “Banning a substance used primarily by Black and Brown adults will increase racial profiling, police interactions and underreported stops in New York City. Moreover, this is a discriminatory ban because it will not affect the sale of non-mentholated cigarettes, which white smokers prefer,” NAN said in a statement. In addition to the flavored tobacco ban, Hochul’s budget proposal includes raising taxes on cigarettes by $1 a pack to $5.35 a pack, which would be the highest in the nation. IT’S FRIDAY: Stay with us each afternoon as we keep you updated on the latest New York news in Albany, City Hall and beyond. But first, enjoy your weekend as a snowstorm looms for much of the state.
| | | | A message from Con Edison: As part of our Clean Energy Commitment, Con Edison is building a resilient, 22nd-century energy grid that’s primed to provide 100% renewable power. Specifically, we are developing clean energy hubs to connect and deliver up to 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind and investing $800 million into the installation of new transmission lines. Our efforts are expanding access to the renewable sources that will deliver hundreds of megawatts of clean, reliable energy to New Yorkers. | | | | | | | 
Gov. Kathy Hochul issued 30-day amendments to her budget proposal on Friday. | AP Photo/Mike Groll | 30-DAY AMENDMENTS: Hochul on Friday afternoon issued the 30-day amendments to her state budget introduced Feb. 1, largely a bunch of minor technical corrections to the massive document for the state’s $227 billion proposed spending plan. But she did make it clear on what would or would not be banned under her proposal to prohibit the sale of fossil fuel based heating equipment beginning in 2030 for single-family homes and smaller buildings and 2035 for larger and commercial buildings. The budget bill notes the measure “shall not be construed as prohibiting the continued use and maintenance of fossil-fuel equipment and building systems, including as related to cooking equipment, installed prior to the effective date of the applicable prohibition” and lists a number of exemptions. A few others:
- One would increase the state’s appropriation authority to hold harmless localities with upstate casinos when the state lowers the facilities’ tax rates — as has been done in recent years to help the gambling halls stay afloat.
- The state would increase its share of aid for community college capital projects by $2 million to a total of $106 million.
- A few wording changes to the proposal to increase the film-tax credit from $425 million to $700 million a year, such as clarifying that background actors would be eligible for certain portions of the credits. — Joseph Spector
| | | | A message from Con Edison:   | | | |  | From City Hall | | | 
Enough with the Kansas bashing, Gov. Laura Kelly told New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday. | AP Photo/Charlie Riedel | NOT IN KANSAS: The Sunflower State’s governor, Democrat Laura Kelly, demanded an apology from Mayor Eric Adams on Friday after comments he made earlier in the week seemed to slight Kansas for the second time since he’s been in office. Adams said at an interfaith breakfast a few days earlier that God “could have made me the mayor of Topeka, Kansas” or of “some small town or village somewhere” rather than of “the most powerful city on the globe.” Michael Padilla, the town’s mayor, told The New York Times the comments were “concerning and unprofessional.” In a tweet, Kelly said she was in New York City visiting her granddaughter the same day Adams made the remarks. “It was this granddaughter who, with her parents, delivered Kansas kindness to you at Gracie Mansion when you disparaged my state last September,” she wrote. At a briefing half a year ago, Adams said the state “doesn’t have a brand” while New York does. “Enough already,” Kelly wrote. — Zachary Schermele ASYLUM SEEKERS: City officials testified at an oversight hearing Friday in front of the City Council’s committee on contracts, and concerns about food and vaccine availability in shelters were top of mind. Chair Julie Won, a Democrat from Queens, called the mayor’s decision to develop and staff Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) an “expensive endeavor.” The city has opened eight of those, seven of which are active, according to Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency management commissioner. Ninety-two other shelters have opened since last August, though a typical shelter takes about two years to establish. “We hear regular complaints about inadequate conditions and many of the shelters like overcrowding, poor quality of food, limited water while we're spending many of the million dollars on these contracts,” Won said. “The quality of services delivered by some of these vendors has been called into question.” Won said school principals have reported that some students aren’t being properly vaccinated — though it’s required — leading to outbreaks in some schools. She also said she has received calls from guidance counselors in her district about students experiencing malnutrition, rapid weight loss, and other health problems associated with food in some of the shelters, which are overseen by the city’s Department of Homeless Services. “Your problem is food,” Council Member Gale Brewer said at one point. Molly Park, the first deputy commissioner for DHS, said every site provides three meals a day, including snacks and fresh fruit. DHS has heard allegations about food and has followed up “in every single instance,” she said. “None of those allegations have been substantiated in any kind of systematic way,” she said. — Zachary Schermele
| | | | A message from Con Edison: Our work includes the creation of peak-demand reduction strategies, new substations, and local transmission initiatives like Reliable Clean City projects—a trio of electric transmission projects that will connect all New York City boroughs to a supply of increasingly renewable electricity. All together, these projects help transition New York away from fossil fuels and prepare our grid to deliver 100% clean energy to all customers by 2040. See New York’s energy future here. | | | | | | | 
Passengers wait for a Long Island Rail Road train to depart for its inaugural trip from Jamaica station towards Grand Central Terminal, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in the Queens borough of New York. After years of delays and massive cost overruns, the railway project has begun shuttling its first passengers between Long Island to the latest addition to New York City's iconic Grand Central Terminal, dubbed Grand Central Madison because of its location along Madison Avenue. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) | John Minchillo/AP Photo | EARNED INCOME: The mayor is launching a $1.5 million marketing campaign to tout one of his wins from Albany last year — an increase in the New York City earned income tax credit. The campaign will feature an ad on television and plastered on cars urging New Yorkers to apply for the financial relief, which the mayor said most people don’t know exists. A single parent with one child with an income of $14,750, for example, would see their EITC benefit increase from $187 to $933, the mayor said Friday, noting that around 800,000 New Yorkers are eligible for the credit. “Every time people tell me I had a terrible year last year in Albany, I keep going back to the … victories,” Adams said. — Joe Anuta TRANSIT: "We've had a tough, tough week on the Long Island Rail Road," MTA Chief Janno Lieber said Friday, adding the agency has to “fix what's diminished our riders’ confidence.” The statement capped off days of criticism and confusion notably from Brooklyn-bound passengers after the MTA implemented East Side Access, a long-planned expansion meant to shave commute times for certain riders. Tens of thousands of passengers will save up to 40 minutes on their trips, but since it was rolled out others have reported challenges like botched connections. The plan redirects riders from Penn Station, an area that Hochul has pledged billions of dollars to redevelop. At a hearing in Albany on Friday to discuss the plan, Queens Sen. Leroy Comrie said Hochul should "throw this plan out” because “everyone knows it's not going anywhere.” Empire State Development, which initially was on board with the project even as the developer paused construction a few weeks ago, was scheduled to testify but pulled out. — Zachary Schermele NEW BIOTECH CENTER: The city is opening a $20 million center for sustainability-focused biotech at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in collaboration with Newlab, the Partnership Fund for New York City and Empire State Development. The 50,000-square-foot innovation space is slated to open in 2025. The Adams administration said it will be the first commercial hub for sustainable biotechnology in the country. The center — which will receive a $20 million investment as part of the city’s LifeSci NYC initiative — will create more than 400 jobs. “The way to create the jobs of the future is by supporting companies solving some of the most pressing challenges of our time, like climate change and carbon emissions,” Adams said — Madina Touré BREAD AND BUTTER: Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks convened another panel briefing on public safety Friday following last week’s inaugural gathering. This time, commissioners from the Department of Sanitation and the Department of Environmental Protection were in attendance — a sign that the Adams administration is seeing ever more of city government through the prism of public safety. The administration brass touted a year-over-year drop in shoplifting complaints and went through several initiatives aimed at addressing the sort of quality-of-life issues that form the bedrock of angst toward city government. “Now of course, we will always continue to combat crime and making sure that we reduce crime, but we will also concentrate on those areas that contribute to an unsafe environment,” Banks said. "We know that some of those are issues because you’ve told us.” Specifically, the administration touted the expansion of two camera programs designed to catch noisy vehicles and illegal dumping. — Joe Anuta
| | | — After major job cuts, Amazon announced it is pausing construction on its planned second headquarters in Virginia. The company originally also selected Queens as another site for the headquarters, but backed out of the commitment in 2019. (Wall Street Journal) — NYPD violated the law by using sealed criminal records during a press conference in August, Supreme Court Judge rules. (WNYC) — It's a branch banking fight for supremacy in the Buffalo area between Chase and Chala Khorana. (Buffalo News) — Homeowners facing displacement due to tax liens on their properties could soon receive some help from state lawmakers. (Spectrum News) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
