|
Presented by Rebuild NY NOW: Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Zachary Schermele, Anna Gronewold and Sally Goldenberg | Presented by Rebuild NY NOW | | 
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends a news conference. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo |
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is quick to paint his city on the national stage as a sanctuary from hate against “our LGBTQ+ neighbors,” a key point of contrast to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose restrictions around race and gender have drawn the gay community’s ire.
“I don't think that we should do anything that is harmful to those who are members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Adams said Wednesday on WABC’s “Sid and Friends in the Morning." But Adams frayed relations with some members of the LGBTQ community in the early days of his administration. And now he's frustrating those who are calling on him to back a local community board request to take away services like police and fire department protection from the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Parade — which has a long anti-LGBTQ history — next month in the city's Republican stronghold. The measure, Adams said this week, “makes no sense." The controversy pits two of Adams’ stated priorities — public safety and supporting the LGBTQ community — against each other. And Adams’ choice to keep sending city resources to the parade is exasperating — but not surprising — to some LGBTQ advocates like Allen Roskoff, who had been attempting to mend fences with the mayor despite Adams’ defense of a number of anti-gay hires in City Hall. Roskoff called on Adams to honor the community board’s request. “The solution stares him in the face,” he told Playbook. “The LGBTQ community must be respected.” New York City doles out about $300,000 annually for municipal services supporting the parade, per a financial breakdown provided to the Staten Island Advance by city Comptroller Brad Lander. For years, the Pride Center of Staten Island and the Gay Officers Action League have tried to participate, but the parade organizers have repeatedly denied their requests, citing Catholic teachings. Even City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli was banned from marching in the parade in 2020 just for wearing a rainbow flag pin on his lapel. The parade's continued exclusion is "shocking," said Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, in a statement to Playbook. “Local LGBTQ organizers like us welcome a conversation with Mayor Adams about ways he can support LGBTQ people in all five boroughs against discriminatory behavior like this and how his predecessor helped overturn the outdated and harmful ban on LGBTQ families in the Manhattan parade,” she said. Adams has held his stance as part of his mayoral duty to ensure the city manages the event and its aftermath, despite his feelings about its organization, he said. He is not personally marching, he noted to reporters this week. “I’m not going to allow my belief in how the parade is not inclusive enough to get in the way,” he said. “My role as the mayor is to make sure large gatherings are receiving the proper police protection, that after parades, things are cleaned up, because there are residents that live in that community and it's the right thing to do. And I'm not going to mix the two.” — Zachary Schermele IT’S FRIDAY. 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? Making a Black History Month announcement in New York City, visiting St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on the east side, and speaking at the Ukrainian Institute of America. WHERE’S ERIC? Speaking at the Department of Social Services’ Black History Month Celebration and speaking at a concert in Brooklyn to benefit Ukraine. QUOTE OF THE DAY "God said … I'm going to take this imperfect person and I'm going to make him the mayor of the most important city on the globe,” — Adams, during an event at The Sheen Center Thursday night (h/t Dana Rubinstein)
| | | | A message from Rebuild NY NOW: Rebuild NY NOW! Despite an historic federal infrastructure bill last year, the State of New York has not invested what is needed to overcome high inflation to fix our deteriorating roads and bridges. This lack of investment in our crumbling infrastructure causes severe traffic delays and increases the cost of repairs and lost economic productivity. Albany’s investments need to match the inflation realities. Tell Albany it’s time to Rebuild New York NOW! Read more here. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | “Mayor Adams’ administration urged to probe NYC helipad contract over conflict of interest allegations,” by Daily News’ Chris Sommerfeldt: “As first reported last week by the Daily News, the city Economic Development Corporation’s decision to issue the contract for operating the Pier 6 helipad in Manhattan to Saker has raised conflict of interest concerns due to the fact that Saker’s chairman, William Wachtel, is law partners with Morris Missry, who sits on the EDC board.” “Hochul Looking to Transfer MTA’s Paratransit Budget to City,” by THE CITY’s Jose Martinez: “As the MTA struggles to improve paratransit service for New Yorkers who aren’t able to ride subways or buses, City Hall is being asked to take the wheel on funding Access-A-Ride. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed state budget calls for the city to fully cover the MTA’s paratransit costs by boosting its annual contribution by more than $500 million, while Mayor Eric Adams has pushed back on what he’s called an unfair and unsustainable burden on his budget.” “NYC hospitals spending more than $90M to house migrants in Midtown hotels,” by New York Post’s Bernadette Hogan and Bruce Golding: “The Big Apple’s public hospital system plans to spend more than $90 million to house migrants in four Midtown Manhattan hotels through the spring in response to President Biden’s border crisis, The Post has learned. NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Mitchell Katz has approved $40 million in payments to the four-star Row NYC near Times Square and $28 million to the four-star Stewart Hotel across from Madison Square Garden, according to documents first reported by The City.” “Major environmental groups oppose $52B plan to build storm surge gates in NY-NJ waterways,” by WNYC’s Nathan Kensinger: “As sea levels rise and temperatures soar, New York City is facing increasingly difficult choices about how to address the effects of climate change. Along the waterfront, billions of dollars' worth of sea walls, jetties and breakwaters are now being built to protect against future floods and storms, with much larger projects looming on the horizon. In September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a report detailing its $52 billion proposal to protect New York City with the largest system of waterfront barriers in the region — and one of the largest infrastructure projects in the city’s history.”
| | | | JOIN POLITICO ON 3/1 TO DISCUSS AMERICAN PRIVACY LAWS: Americans have fewer privacy rights than Europeans, and companies continue to face a minefield of competing state and foreign legislation. There is strong bipartisan support for a federal privacy bill, but it has yet to materialize. Join POLITICO on 3/1 to discuss what it will take to get a federal privacy law on the books, potential designs for how this type of legislation could protect consumers and innovators, and more. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | |
“New York state finalizes rules on path to 40-hour work week for farm laborers,” by Times Union Joshua Solomon: “State officials recently finalized the process for farm laborers to be entitled to be paid overtime for work over 40 hours per week, which is to be phased in over the next decade and buoyed by a state subsidy to farm owners. The adoption of the regulations to lower the "overtime threshold" for farm workers formally concludes a contentious three years of planning that has often pitted organized labor and immigrant advocates against the New York State Farm Bureau and members of the Republican Party, alongside with some rural Democrats.”
“New York saw a 21% spike in millionaires in 2021, even as some fled,” by WNYC’s Jon Campbell: “New York state saw a 21% spike in taxpayers who earned at least $1 million in 2021 — even as millionaires fled the state at a higher rate than the general population, according to recently released tax data … The most recent data from the 2021 tax year shows 84,366 New York taxpayers earning income of more than $1 million that year — a big jump from the 69,688 in 2020 and the ‘highest number in recent New York state history,’ according to the tax department. But at the same time, 5% of million-dollar earners from 2020 left the state in 2021 — compared to 3% of all taxpayers, according to the data.” “At Sing Sing, Prisoners’ Charges of Brutal Beatings Prompt U.S. Inquiry,” by The New York Times’ Benjamin Weiser: “Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that corrections officers at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, N.Y., orchestrated beatings during a prisonwide search in November, sending at least seven prisoners to the hospital and more than 20 others to a medical unit. A flood of officers, including special teams from other prisons, converged on cells over at least two days, ordering prisoners to strip to their boxer shorts and then punching and kicking them and slamming their heads against walls or floors, according to affidavits by 26 inmates who are part of a lawsuit filed Jan. 31 against New York State.” “For Scandal-Plagued For-Profit Colleges, No State Is More Welcoming Than New York,” by New York Focus’ Lilah Burke: “In the last three years for which data is available, New York state provided ASA with more than $13.5 million in subsidies for low-income student enrollment through the tuition assistance program, called TAP, even after years of mounting warning signs about the quality of the college’s education.” #UpstateAmerica: “A cat stuck on a roof for days was rescued with a rope, pet carrier and little help from Auburn firefighters.”
| | | | A message from Rebuild NY NOW:   | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — “Who decides a NYC public school holiday?” A look at the push to give students time off for Diwali. — Newly public documents show that Correction Department Commissioner Louis Molina made it harder for the Board of Correction to view video of jails because he thinks the oversight agency has an “agenda.” — It’s avalanche weather in the Adirondacks. — A Saratoga Black Lives Matter activist was charged with disorderly conduct in response to a heated City Council meeting. — A 71-year-old Buffalo Diocese priest has been put on leave over an allegation that he sexually abused a child. — “Inside New York City’s Nastiest (and Smallest) Newspaper War,” by The New York Times’ John Leland
| | | | 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: WaPo’s Jacqueline Alemany … NYT’s Kate Kelly … SKDK’s Karen Olick … Sabrina Tavernise … JPMorgan Chase’s Allison Branca … former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft … former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) … Paula Zahn
MAKING MOVES — Anna Rosenberg has joined the London Stock Exchange Group as a senior manager of government relations and regulatory strategy. She most recently led fintech and crypto efforts at FTI Consulting in New York. SPOTTED: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday briefly meeting Jonathan Seabolt in the lobby of the Loews Regency in NYC — pic
| | | | A message from Rebuild NY NOW: Welcome to Moon York. Why Moon York? Because driving around this state is like driving on the face of the moon. Except instead of craters we have potholes.
Everywhere. From Buffalo to Brookhaven. Rochester to Rye. Syracuse to Staten Island.
And despite this and a historic federal infrastructure bill last year, the State of New York has not invested what is needed to overcome high inflation and fix our roads and bridges.
Enough Moon York.
Tell your legislators it’s time to Rebuild New York NOW. | | | | | Real Estate | | “Midtown Owners Hedge on Costly Office-to-Home Conversions,” by THE CITY’s Greg Smith: “Converting office buildings to apartments has emerged as one of the key strategies for Mayor Eric Adams’ effort to adapt the city’s business districts to the post-pandemic world. Conversions revitalized downtown after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, administration officials note. But obstacles facing Midtown are many. They include the need for legislation from Albany to relax strict rules for residential housing, rezoning to allow apartments in what are now commercial districts, a tax break if affordable units are required, and generally daunting economics. What’s more, even properties with many vacancies typically still have some office tenants in place. Ten-year leases are common.”
| | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
