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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 Eleonora Francica | Presented by Community Offshore Wind | The once-bustling Midtown Manhattan, a center of commerce quieted by Covid-19, is now being eyed for a sweeping renovation. When he delivers his second annual State of the City address today at the Queens Theatre, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will announce plans to rezone a swath of Midtown for considerably more housing. The proposal, shared in advance with POLITICO, would alter areas that have been reserved for manufacturing and office use. It would rely on a difficult-to-achieve policy of converting commercial space that has sat vacant since the pandemic hit. And it would include Manhattan’s storied Garment District, which underwent a rezoning in 2018 to enable more office space — a sober reminder of the toll the pandemic has taken on the city. The announcement comes as New York grapples with an acute housing shortage, an issue Adams did not prioritize during his first year in office, but one he’s turning his attention to this year. The mayor intends to unveil a formal proposal early next year, following community discussions in the coming months, city officials said. The plan also comes with support from the City Council members who would have final say on the rezoning — an unusual vote of confidence this early in the typically-fraught land use process. “I have yet to meet a New Yorker who doesn’t think we should be converting commercial space into residential space,” Council Member Erik Bottcher, who represents the area, said in an interview, emphasizing the benefit of a “live-work district.” His East Side counterpart, Keith Powers, called it “an exciting new development” to “create new housing opportunities” near jobs and transit hubs. Fewer than 3,500 new housing units were completed in Manhattan last year, compared to more than 11,000 in Brooklyn, city officials said.
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Manhattan skyline. | Julie Jacobson/AP Photo | Adams will also announce plans to make the voluntary composting of food scraps available citywide over the next 20 months. And in a nod to his chief issue of public safety, he will vow to contribute an untold sum of money to the city’s district attorneys and public defenders to combat violent recidivism. He will also push for more funds from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who plans to attend his speech. The State of the City will follow the theme of “a working people’s agenda” and will feature a musical performance by students at Staten Island’s Susan E. Wagner High School, according to someone involved in the planning. IT’S THURSDAY. 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? In Ulster County making an economic development and clean energy innovation announcement, in New York City attending Mayor Adams' second State of the City, delivering remarks at the Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Awards. WHERE’S ERIC? In New York City delivering his second State of the City address, delivering remarks at screening of Devorah’s Hope, delivering remarks at Trust for Public Land’s 50th anniversary celebration, delivering remarks at the Asian American Federation’s annual gala celebration, in Queens delivering remarks at celebration of the Hindu festival of Saraswati Puja.
| | | | 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 IS READING | | “NYC’S SHOPLIFTING SPIKE: Adams tells WINS, ‘There’s a small number of people who are causing havoc in our city,’” by 1010 WINS’ Juliet Papa: “Last week, the NYPD released its crime statistics for 2022, showing a 22% rise in overall crime citywide compared with 2021—but also significant drops in the majority of major crimes like robbery and murder in December. After statistics on shoplifting revealed that there were 63,000 complaints and 327 people accounted for 30% of the arrests, Adams said that the ratio verifies what he has been saying: ‘There’s a small number of people who are causing havoc in our city.’ … He emphasized the importance of finding ‘creative’ solutions to the problem, including facial recognition technology.” NYPD commissioner reveals plans for smartphone app, new cameras, by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg: The nation’s largest police department will double down on its use of technology this year, relying on both benign and controversial tactics that Mayor Eric Adams has supported. “We are shifting the paradigm. The NYPD is going to be the most accessible police department in the world,” Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in laying out her tech-focused agenda during a “State of the NYPD” speech Wednesday morning. Sewell unveiled plans for a smartphone app that can provide real-time public safety information to users. “City Council Grills Jails Commissioner on Treatment of Trans Detainees at Rikers,” by THE CITY’s George Joseph: “At a hearing on Wednesday morning, City Council members grilled New York City’s corrections commissioner, Louis Molina, over his administration’s treatment of incarcerated trans women on Rikers Island. … City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán (D - Queens), chair of the committee on women and gender equity, pushed back on Molina’s explanation, noting that two of the unit’s staffers quit specifically in protest of the department’s shift on LGTBQ+ rights. ‘That seems like a really targeted and specific cultural problem that the DOC needs to fix. Would you agree?,’ asked Cabán, a former public defender. ‘No, I would not,’ Molina answered.” “Despite new laws, NYC will require homeless youth to go into adult shelters to access rent vouchers,” by WNYC’s Chau Lam and David Brand: “Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will continue to require young homeless people to enter the city’s strained adult shelter system in order to qualify for housing subsidies, despite laws meant to let teens and young adults get them through youth facilities, youth shelter providers say. … Spokespeople for the Department of Youth and Community Development and the Administration for Children’s Services said time spent in youth shelters or foster care will count toward the 90-day eligibility requirement, but did not say why young people will have to enter the Department of Homeless Services’ shelter system to qualify in the first place.” “Mayor Adams Yet to Launch ‘MyCity’ Portal Promised in First State of the City Speech,” by Gotham Gazette’s Samar Khurshid: Earlier this month, when asked for an update on the portal’s progress, OTI spokesperson Ray Legendre referred Gotham Gazette to the agency’s 2022 Strategic Plan published in October. … ‘We’ll have more to share in the coming weeks,’ Legendre said by email.” “‘Quite a journey’: Grand Central Madison opens with first riders,” by Newsday’s Alfonso A. Castillo and John Asbury: “Grand Central Madison opened Wednesday with the first riders arriving at 11:07 a.m., marking the culmination of the decades-in-the-making $11.1 billion East Side Access project. Service to the second Manhattan terminal, served temporarily by a shuttle between Jamaica, was hailed as a historic moment that will more closely connect Long Island and New York City.”
| | | | 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 | |
“MSG’s use of facial recognition tech on ticketholders may violate human rights laws, NY AG warns,” by WNYC’s Jake Offenhartz: “When Madison Square Garden first admitted to using facial recognition technology to identify and remove the perceived enemies of the arena’s CEO, the first thought for many New Yorkers was: How is this legal? According to New York’s top prosecutor, it may not be. In a letter sent to MSG President James Dolan on Thursday, Attorney General Letitia James warned that the ban on ticketholders could violate a host of state and local laws, including human rights protections. She ordered the company to produce justification for its policy and proof that it was complying with the law within three weeks.”
“The quest to end legal protections for public employees in NY — and not just police,” by City & State’s Rebecca C. Lewis: “However, New York’s proposal would go further than the city’s law, and even those in Colorado and New Mexico. Unlike in those instances, New York’s repeal would not be limited to police officers and would apply to all public servants. ‘To be clear, the cases in which this has happened the most, in fact, has been with school officials,’ Assembly Member Anna Kelles said at the rally on Wednesday of instances when the courts granted immunity. ‘So what we’re saying also is that we do not want to protect our children if we do not support this.’” “Not guilty: Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin acquitted,” by Times Union’s Robert Gavin: “Rensselaer County Executive Steven F. McLaughlin was acquitted Wednesday afternoon on all charges in a criminal case in which he was accused of stealing $5,000 from his campaign and falsifying records to cover it up. He did not have to wait long for the verdict: Jurors began deliberations at about 3:45 p.m. and delivered their decision within an hour.” #UpstateAmerica: ICYMI (we did): A deep dive into the tiny hot dogs and bitty buns of the Capital Region.
| | | | A message from Community Offshore Wind:   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | McCarthy broaches Santos, Omar and other panel dramas in closed-door meeting, by POLITICO’s Olivia Beavers and Sarah Ferris: Speaker Kevin McCarthy briefly addressed the most scandal-plagued member of his conference on Wednesday, privately telling House Republicans that George Santos will continue to serve unless something triggers his removal. The GOP leader noted Santos will continue to serve on his two committees but would lose those assignments if he were ultimately charged with a crime — the same rules that any House Republican is subject to, according to three Republicans who attended the closed-door conference meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity. — “George Santos Says He Has a New Treasurer. The Treasurer Does Not Agree,” by The New York Times’ Michael Gold: “Representative George Santos’s campaign and six affiliated political committees filed statements on Wednesday indicating they were removing his longtime treasurer, Nancy Marks, who has been connected to nearly every Santos-related fund and one of Mr. Santos’s private business ventures. But the move — as with so many things regarding Mr. Santos, who has admitted to falsehoods on the campaign trail and misleading statements about his background — was clouded by mystery and immediately provoked questions.” — Santos got his own Pinocchio-nosed bobblehead.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Google’s layoffs will shrink its New York City workforce by almost 900. — New NYPD cars will have 360-degree cameras and green racing-style stripes. — New York state now has 66 licensed cannabis retailers. — Former deputy chief actuary Craig Chu sued New York City, saying he was denied the top actuary job because he is Asian and gay. — Parents are having panic attacks about signing their kids up for summer camps. — GRENELL: “How Should Men Apologize for Sexual Misconduct?” | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jim Papa of Global Strategy Group … Daryn Kagan … Lindsay Bomar … Jon Tomashoff … Morgan Pearlman … Kendall Clark ENGAGED — Lars Kahl, VP for strategy and operations at POLITICO, and Emily Livingston, an anesthesia resident at Columbia/Presbyterian Hospital in NYC, got engaged on a run in Central Park on Jan. 16. The couple met in New York.Pic
| | | | 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 | | “More rent-stabilized decay on the way: survey,” by The Real Deal’s Suzannah Cavanaugh: “Facing restrictions on rent increases in the 2019 rent law and rising operating costs, landlords claim they have had to warehouse tens of thousands of units because they can’t afford to fix them up. A new survey by the Community Housing Improvement Program of its 3,700 owner members revealed where they have cut corners. Three out of four reported cutting back on essential building-wide repairs, such as a roof or boiler replacement, since the rent law passed. Nearly 90 percent said they had forgone kitchen or bathroom renovations.”
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