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Presented by Community Offshore Wind: Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Sally Goldenberg, Anna Gronewold and Zachary Schermele | Presented by Community Offshore Wind | Government efficiency isn’t exactly the stuff of soaring political oratory, but it’s an issue New York City Mayor Eric Adams often highlights nonetheless. On the campaign trail, Adams lambasted the “silos” of City Hall — an alphabet soup of more than 100 agencies, boards and commissions and a budget that tops $102 billion. “If you don’t inspect what you expect, it’s all suspect,” he is fond of saying in an intended dig at government bloat. Behind the scenes, Adams’ chief efficiency officer — a position he created in April — has been working with five staffers and nearly $1 million to loosen bureaucratic knots and demand better performance out of agencies that are operating with reduced staff. To press the issue, efficiency czar Melanie La Rocca is piloting a yet-to-be-reported “secret shopper” operation where New Yorkers track their interactions with 15 agencies and report their findings and frustrations. City officials said they plan to expand it to all agencies. So far veterans have volunteered to test a customer service line, and individuals “secret shopped” the Brooklyn Family Justice Centers for the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. La Rocca is also developing a method to quantify the “time tax” agencies charge constituents through a pilot program that includes evaluating abortion access at public hospitals, a city official said. “Our north star has been, from day one, our customer’s experience,” La Rocca said in an interview in her small, tidy office that projected the efficiency standards she hopes to instill across government. “I do actually think this could be a model to be replicated country-wide, if we can get this right.” Of course convincing New Yorkers that government is running smoothly is a tall order, as La Rocca knows personally: As an aide to former City Council Speaker Chris Quinn, she assisted a dog owner in tracking down the remains of a beloved pet that had been put down by the health department and assisted a tenant facing eviction who faxed over a suicide warning, she recalled. “For as long as I can remember, we keep adding functions to city government without asking if the agencies are serving peoples’ needs,” City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers told POLITICO. “Is 311 working? Does permitting take too long? So it’s a good — and underrated — focus. … The real question is, how much leeway and resources they’ll be given to serve that goal.” IT’S WEDNESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: agronewold@politico.com and sgoldenberg@politico.com or on Twitter: @annagronewold and @sallygold WHERE’S KATHY? Riding the LIRR's "Grand Central Direct" to Grand Central Madison and delivering remarks. WHERE’S ERIC? Giving a live interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” as well as WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning” shortly thereafter. Also this morning he’ll attend a briefing from NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell on the state of the department.
| | | | A message from Community Offshore Wind: Community Offshore Wind is helping New York meet its ambitious emissions reduction targets. But we’re doing more than reducing emissions. We are lifting up communities and bringing widespread benefits across the state, introducing good-paying union jobs, creating inclusive workforce development programs, and empowering disadvantaged communities to ensure no one is left behind. We have strong roots in New York and we are deeply committed to ensuring that all New York communities thrive. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | Former transit cop to challenge longtime police union president Patrick Lynch, by POLITICO’s Julia Marsh: Patrick Lynch, the head of the city’s largest police union, will face a challenge to his decades-long reign this year for the first time since 2015 — when he easily beat his opponent. But supporters of Lynch’s latest challenger, union financial secretary Corey Grable, believe he can knock Lynch off his longtime perch because the rank-and-file have been working without a contract for over six years and are ready for a change. “NYC opening sixth emergency shelter in Midtown to deal with migrant crush,” by New York Post’s Bernadette Hogan and Nolan Hicks: “City officials plan to open yet another emergency shelter at a Midtown hotel to provide housing for migrants arriving from the southern border, according to a notice given Tuesday to local lawmakers. The new facility is the sixth emergency shelter opened by City Hall specifically to help provide housing and social services for arriving migrants and is set to open ‘this week,’ the notice says.” “Under Eric Adams, a Rikers Island Unit That Protected Trans Women Has Collapsed,” by THE CITY’s George Joseph: “This institutional reversal has stranded numerous trans and gender-nonconforming detainees in dangerous, male housing units for weeks or months on end, subjecting many to egregious forms of physical and sexual violence, according to dozens of internal emails, Department of Correction records, and interviews with more than 20 people who work or live in city jails, including current and former corrections staffers, incarcerated trans women, jail guards and attorneys. For the fledgling LGBTQ+ Affairs Unit, Molina’s change in direction proved devastating. Their programming for the community came to a halt, and they lost their say in critical housing decisions, jail insiders say.” OPINION: “Homeless in NYC Need Services and Support, Not Jail,” from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for Teen Vogue: “To end the cycle of recidivism, to restore the sense of safety that New Yorkers deserve, and to get people in crisis the help they need, we must connect those struggling with community-based services — in a way that honors their dignity and humanity.”
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 2/9 TO HEAR FROM AMERICA’S GOVERNORS: In a divided Congress, more legislative and policy enforcement will shift to the states, meaning governors will take a leading role in setting the agenda for the nation. Join POLITICO on Thursday, Feb. 9 at World Wide Technology's D.C. Innovation Center for The Fifty: America's Governors, where we will examine where innovations are taking shape and new regulatory red lines, the future of reproductive health, and how climate change is being addressed across a series of one-on-one interviews. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | “Hochul faces tough choices on her rejected chief judge pick. None are good for her,” by POLITICO’s Joseph Spector and Anna Gronewold: Hochul has been far from decisive on her next steps, warning reporters Tuesday not to make assumptions about her contemplativeness. A fight over a chief judge nomination in New York is unique and reminiscent of the fights over U.S. Supreme Court nominees in Congress — not in a Democratic-controlled statehouse. “You’re jumping ahead in your own analysis,” Hochul said after an unrelated event in Albany. “You’re making an assumption that I have not stated to be factual that we’re going down a certain path. I recommend you don’t do that because you will all know everything you need to know in due process and due time.” — UPDATE YOUR CALENDAR: With President Joe Biden expectedto be in New York City next Tuesday, yesterday evening Hochul pushed her budget address, which was originally slated for the same day, to noon on Wednesday. “Budget process stalled in Albany after judge nominee standoff,” by NY1’s Zack Fink: “‘In Albany so many important decisions are made by so few people that there is only so much bandwidth the system can handle,' said Blair Horner of the Public Interest Research Group. 'And I think that the LaSalle hearings obviously used up bandwidth, both with the executive and also in the state Senate.'” “Hochul wants to address ‘inconsistency’ in New York’s bail law, doesn’t support qualified immunity repeal,” by Daily News’ Denis Slattery: “Hochul also indicated Tuesday she would not support a bill repealing qualified immunity for police officers. The measure seeks to strip police officers of legal protections shielding them from lawsuits over certain alleged civil rights violations.” “After Second Legislative Passage, New York State Equal Rights Amendment To Go Before Voters in 2024,” by Gotham Gazette’s Ethan Geringer-Sameth: “Voters in the fall of 2024 will have a chance to enshrine civil rights protections for women, LGBTQ people, and abortion access into the state constitution after lawmakers on Tuesday pass the New York State Equal Rights Amendment for the second time. If approved by voters, the state constitution will for the first time prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, disability, and sex, 'including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, sexual orientation, gender expression.'” — Sponsor MANHATTAN SEN. LIZ KRUEGER on Tuesday: “People say it's all these different things, but I think it's pretty simple. It goes much broader than women, much broader than reproductive health rights. It's recognizing that the Constitution, that has not been open for these issues since 1938, does not reflect today's world.” “Hochul Wants More Police Surveillance. Legislators Want Boundaries,” by NYS Focus’ Chris Gelardi: “The governor’s and legislators’ dueling priorities are setting up a showdown that could set the course for the future of police oversight in New York — and reverberate nationwide. Like most states, New York has almost no state-level privacy protections against prying government eyes. Some of the state laws currently acting as boundaries for police intelligence practices predate the internet. ‘It’s a moving target,’ said Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who will introduce a bill to restrict the use of government DNA databases. ‘We need action at the legislative and executive levels.’” INCOMING AT DUNKIN: Get your coffee early today. Workers, business owners, progressive elected officials and labor reps are filling the Capitol Dunkin Donuts at noon today for a “worker speakout” to pressure Albany to boost the minimum wage. The Raise Up NY coalition supports Gov. Kathy Hochul’s SOTS proposal to tie the minimum wage raises to inflation, but they want her to raise it the usual way — to at least $21.25 by 2027 — in tandem. #UpstateAmerica: Nigerian dwarf goats Sawyer and Scout, and 200-pound Calico pig Eleanor Pigby, are leading hikes through the Hudson Valley as part of a Nyack-based therapeutic boarding school for students with special needs.
| | | | A message from Community Offshore Wind:   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | “George Santos Admits 500K Personal Loan to Campaign Wasn’t ‘Personal’” by the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger: “Late Tuesday afternoon, Santos’ political operation filed a flurry of amended campaign finance reports, telling the feds, among other things, that a $500,000 loan he gave to his campaign didn’t, in fact, come from his personal funds as he’d previously claimed.”
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Former Manhattan gynecologist Robert Hadden was convicted by a federal jury for luring patients to cross state lines for medical appointments where he sexually abused them. — The MTA is moving ahead with plans to add stroller-only sections to more than 1,000 buses on routes across the city. — “Prosecutor: Steve McLaughlin's campaign fund was 'personal piggy bank'” — A woman whosays boxer Mike Tyson raped her in Albany the early 1990s is suing him under the recently implemented Adult Survivors Act. — Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, first South Asian American woman elected to a state office, is pushing to designate Diwali as a holiday in New York City public schools. — Assemblymember Grace Lee notched more than 30 new co-sponsors on a bill seeking to make the Lunar New Year a statewide holiday. — A federal judge told the attorney for convicted sex cult leader Keith Raniere to “check your notes” in his latest appeal.
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT’s Jeremy Peters … WaPo’s Michael Scherer … Jim Axelrod … Evan Lukaske of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office … Meaghan Lynch … Brunswick Group’s Kevin Helliker ... Heather Marrison … Dae Lim … Sefira Fialkoff … Pagaya’s Emily Passer … Millicent Hennessey MAKING MOVES — Joan Vollero is now a managing director at strategic comms and advisory firm ICR, where she specializes in litigation support. She most recently worked at Prosek Partners and is an alum of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
| | | | A message from the Community Offshore Wind: At Community Offshore Wind, our commitment to our communities is at the heart of everything we do. We have strong roots in New York and are deeply committed to delivering widespread benefits across the state. These include creating job training programs that will generate and protect good-paying union jobs, investing in the workforce of tomorrow focusing on youth education and enrichment, and creating an inclusive clean energy future that empowers disadvantaged communities. We are also reestablishing New York as the energy manufacturing hub and shifting the offshore wind supply chain from global to local. The clean energy transition is about more than just energy. It’s about making sure that we are creating a future that allows everyone to thrive. | | | | | Real Estate | | “Albany looking at regulations that would impact Airbnb, Vrbo rentals,” by Times Union’s Steve Hughes: “A group of Hudson Park area residents are pushing the city to regulate short-term rentals contracted through Airbnb and Vrbo after dealing with a problem property for months. A half-dozen residents of Irving Street spoke before the city's Common Council last week. Their requests ranged from banning homeowners from using their properties as short-term rentals to regulating them to help deal with ongoing issues such as trash.” “Basement unit conversions unaffordable without new state laws, city says,” by NY1’s Ari Ephraim Feldman: “Existing state laws are raising the costs of converting an unregulated basement unit up to legal building code standards to as much as $1 million, city officials said at a City Council hearing Tuesday. The officials discussed an ongoing pilot program in East New York to determine barriers in city and state codes to legalizing the city’s vast number of basement units.”
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