Hochul goes to DC

By Joseph Spector and Katelyn Cordero

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday visited Washington to push for more federal help for the migrant crisis. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Gov. Kathy Hochul met privately Wednesday in Washington with Democratic House members from New York and spoke with Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. secretary for homeland security, as she and other state leaders press for more help with New York’s surge of asylum-seekers.

Hochul’s visit — which included a meeting with Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries — comes days after the governor urged President Joe Biden to provide more aid to New York and authorize the use of Floyd Bennett Field at Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn as a shelter.

“If we don't find housing, you are going to see individuals literally living on the streets of New York, and that is not something we can accept,” Hochul said on NY1 Wednesday. “We have to be very creative in finding all the places we can and trying to find places that cause the least amount of disruption to communities.”

Her comments follow Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to direct migrants to unused parts of public schools in the city and to send some newcomers to the northern suburbs. But the moves have fueled backlash in the communities — and lawsuits in Orange and Rockland counties, where Adams sought to send busloads of asylum-seekers.

The political and operational quagmire for Hochul and Adams has roiled the battleground suburbs and put heavily blue New York at the forefront of the immigration crisis. It has pitted Adams versus Biden and left Hochul somewhere in the middle of trying to press for help while assuaging growing outrage on multiple fronts.

On Wednesday, state Senate Republicans urged Hochul to do more to address the crisis and stop Adams from sending migrants to the Hudson Valley.

Several GOP bills in the Senate and Assembly introduced this week seek to prevent what they called the “chaos” created by busing asylum-seekers out of the city.

Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt said when the Legislature approved to support New York City with $1 billion in the state budget this month, he never thought that money would be used to move individuals to other parts of the state.

“We displaced veterans, homeless veterans who served this country for people who are here, not through the proper channels, who are here as political pawns, with no plan for how they can get work, or whether they believe they can stay here or should be here in the first place,” Ortt said to reporters on Wednesday.

“This is a failure of leadership at every level.”

Ortt criticized Hochul and Adams for not calling on the federal government to renew Title 42, the immigration policy that expired last week. He also criticized Hochul for her lack of communication and planning to handle the crisis in New York City.

One bill introduced by Sen. Bill Weber (R-Rockland) would clarify that a local state of emergency overrides a state of emergency issued by the governor if there is a conflict. Another one from Sen. Rob Rolison (R-Dutchess) would prohibit hotels from evicting veterans, domestic violence victims and the disabled to make room for migrants.

“Mandates that are pushed down from Albany — we (typically) oppose those — but this is really a humanitarian crisis,” Rolison said.

Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, right, visited the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. | Joseph Spector/POLITICO

Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson visited the state Capitol on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers and discuss his brief expulsion from the statehouse last month after the GOP-led chamber said he and another Democratic colleague violated decorum rules by participating in a gun reform.

Pearson told POLITICO it was the first visit to another statehouse since he garnered national attention — and was ultimately reinstated.

“People power works,” he said. “Because we were reinstated by people in our communities who knew that we deserved to have the restoration of representation. The other thing that came out is that we have to be willing to sacrifice in order to get justice.”

He said he talked with leaders of the Democratic-led Legislature to discuss on his ongoing push for gun-control laws, climate change measures and protecting democracy.

“What we saw happen in Tennessee with the expulsion of members is an assault on our democracy,” Pearson said.

New York City continues to consider ways to address its migrant crisis. | Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office

​​WHAT THE CITY ISN’T DOING ON MIGRANTS: Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom, who has been deeply involved in the city’s asylum-seeker response, said Wednesday the city doesn’t plan to send response teams to area airports, where many migrants are now arriving.

For starters, tracking the precise gate where travelers are deplaning would be difficult, she said, and often asylum-seekers are arriving in small groups of three or four people. “We don’t have the ability to do it right now,” she said. “And so we have to make priorities so that we don’t have people sleeping on the street.”

Williams-Isom also said the city has not bussed any asylum-seekers to Nassau or Suffolk counties yet, but it is looking for additional space all around the state.

After days of headlines over the mayor’s plan to house migrants in public school gyms, the administration convened Wednesday’s asylum-seeker briefing to coincide with the opening of a 24/7 intake facility located at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown. But if the idea was to drive coverage in a different direction, Williams-Isom and Ted Long, a doctor and senior vice president at the city’s Health + Hospitals Corp., provided little new information beyond the two nuggets relating to airports and Long Island. — Joe Anuta

NYPD BUDGET: The Citizens Budget Commission, a budget watchdog group, said that the Adams administration has low-balled the NYPD budget by $1.6 billion for the upcoming spending plan, according to a new report. The commission found that the city has not accounted for a new contract agreement and has greatly underestimated overtime costs. — Joe Anuta

SHELTER SITES: The city has a list of 400 potential sites where it is considering housing migrants, Adams said Wednesday. He said that the standalone school gyms, which have generated outrage among parents, are at the bottom of the list — though one of them had to be used in an emergency.

Adams also reiterated that nearly half of the city’s hotel rooms are being occupied by migrants, a factoid first reported by POLITICO, and said that it is taking a huge toll on the city’s economy as visitors who normally would be here spending money have been supplanted those whose bill is being picked up by the city.

“The $4.3 billion we’re now looking at is only dealing with the cost of doing this,” Adams said, referring to the city’s estimate of asylum seeker costs through next summer. “There’s a whole other dollar amount … that is going to impact us.” — Joe Anuta

New York energy regulators talked Wednesday about the need for storage as the state moves toward renewable sources. | AP

CAPTURE THE ENERGY (STORAGE): Storage developers are eagerly awaiting the Public Service Commission's approval of a new round of subsidies for the industry.

They got little indication of when that might happen Wednesday from commission chair Rory Christian, who spoke at the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology conference in Albany. Christian did highlight the importance of the technology to achieve New York’s climate goals.

“Storage is going to offer a degree of flexibility that is only going to become more valuable over time,” he said. “Combined with the existing storage that we have online, we're well positioned to meet our target once we have these plans finalized.”

NYSERDA published a roadmap to reach Hochul’s target of 6 gigawatts by 2030 in December.

“Through this roadmap, we hope to deploy roughly 4.5 gigawatts of storage projects throughout everything from large scale installations, retail applications, communities and commercial centers and residential storage,” Christian said.

The PSC took comments on the proposal, which includes subsidies similar to those for large-scale renewables for utility-scale projects and declining incentives like those for community solar for smaller-scale projects, until April. “We just need stable policy and a very clear idea of where the market is going,” said Jeff Bishop, CEO and co-founder of Key Capture Energy, a battery storage developer, during a panel at the conference. — Marie J. French

TRANSIT: Fare evasion cost the Metropolitan Transportation Authority nearly $700 million in lost revenue last year, according to a Wednesday report by the public transit agency.

Buses and subways are seeing the highest number of people skipping the fare, accounting for $600 million in combined losses. Toll evasion on bridges and highways totaled $46 million. The MTA called on New York City to “dramatically expand” its Fair Fares program to offer discounted swipes to low-income residents.

The agency also plans to increase enforcement and test new fare gates that are harder to jump over. — Danielle Muoio Dunn

EDUCATION: The New York State School Board Association reported only 10 of the state’s 675 districts had budgets defeated Tuesday . They noted four districts did not share results.

According to NYSSBA, the average tax levy increase is expected to be 2.17 percent and the average spending increase is expected to go up roughly 5.5 percent. NYSSBA also reported that 17 districts sought approval to override property tax caps this year. Of that group 13 passed and four failed.

School boards across the state will see familiar faces as well with 62 percent of the winning candidates being incumbents. That’s up from 58 percent last year.

"As we so often see, voters in communities all across the state resoundingly gave school spending plans their seal of approval," NYSSBA executive director Robert Schneider said in a statement. “This is evidence of the great value community members see in the programs and services offered by their local schools."

The New York State United Teachers also saw big wins in school board elections. The union reported that of the 360 candidates they endorsed, 85 percent were elected. There were 75 NYSUT members slated to serve on local boards.

“(The voters) supported school board candidates committed to bringing people together through strong and well-run public schools, not those who stoke division. When local voters prioritize supporting public schools, everybody wins,” NYSUT president Melinda Person said in a statement. — Katelyn Cordero

— Hochul announced funding to help animal shelters across New York, including the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society. (Times Union)

— Lithium-ion batteries threaten delivery workers' safety amid a growing number of fires in New York City caused by secondhand or damaged batteries and faulty chargers. (WNYC)

— “Composting Human Bodies in New York Is Now Legal — But Not Quite Available Yet,” THE CITY reports.

— New York City is sinking lower into its surrounding bodies of water due to the weight of skyscrapers, experts say. (New York Post)

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