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Jul 05, 2022	View in browser
 
New York Playbook logo
BY ERIN DURKIN, ANNA GRONEWOLD AND GEORGIA ROSENBERG

If New York politicos took a breather, now might be the time. The first round of primary elections is over, the Legislature has finished up its regular and extraordinary sessions, and the days are hot as hell.

But a reprieve won’t last long. Analyses are starting to roll in after the June 28 primary as both parties cautiously eye the August 23 primary races and the general election.

The elections showed swift victories among party-backed candidates despite low turnout — about 16 percent of Republican voters and 13 percent for Democrats — that often favors insurgent candidates.

Gov. Kathy Hochul had a particularly strong performance across all regions of the state. Strategists say hers and other victories could partially be a result of Democrats uniting around a fighter for their shared enemy: the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on abortion and guns.

For moderates, June 28 might serve as proof that their brand is striking a chord with voters. SUNY New Paltz professor and political guru Gerald Benjamin told Newsday that “Even in a low-turnout context primary, left-movement politics is not yet a statewide phenomenon strong enough to challenge the entrenched political order."

If Democrats have found a united, moderate front, it’s bad news for Republicans already facing severe enrollment disadvantages. But it’s possible GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin might have luck picking up votes that Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Long Island Democrat, was courting before he lost the primary, the Times Union writes.

More elections will be here before we know it. So, for now, try and survive July. Might we suggest New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ idea of jet skiing to work?

IT’S TUESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERE’S KATHY? In Brooklyn to sign a legislative package about greenhouse gas emissions.

WHERE’S ERIC? Making a safety announcement in Queens.

 
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	WHAT CITY HALL'S READING
“Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn Railed Against Brooklyn’s Democratic Machine. Then She Became It.” by THE CITY’s George Joseph and Yoav Gonen: “Under Bichotte Hermelyn’s tenure, Brooklyn’s Democratic Party has further descended into chaos, with progressive upstarts accusing establishment leaders of engaging in criminal activity in order to retain power, and with both sides going after each other in the media and on Twitter. (On New Year’s Day 2021, Bichotte got married to Edu Hermelyn and added her husband’s last name to her surname.) The insurgents, led by the New Kings Democrats — a millennial-heavy group inspired by Barack Obama’s 2008 calls to organize — claim that Bichotte Hermelyn’s county machine has crushed dissenting voices: nullifying inconvenient votes, filing a flood of ballot challenges for low-level party races, and in some cases, even resorting to forgeries and slotting residents into position for low-level party seats without their knowledge.”

“Immigrant rights advocates say they will appeal court ruling striking down NYC noncitizen voting rights,” by WNYC’s Arun Venugopal: “Due to Republican political control of much of Staten Island, where the case was heard, many people in his community ‘are ignored by a government that they pay taxes to through their jobs,’ [Count Angel] Salazar said. He added: ‘We felt that we needed someone to represent us.’ Immigrant rights advocates say they plan to appeal New York Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio’s order striking down the law passed by the New York City Council late last year. It took effect in January, granting an estimated 800,000 to 1 million noncitizens the right to vote in municipal elections, including next year's races for Council seats.”

“Mayor Eric Adams to Allow First Responders to Moonlight as Lifeguards,” by THE CITY’s Katie Honan: “The dual-employment waiver will ideally add more guards, according to people familiar with the negotiations with District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal union that represents lifeguards and lifeguard supervisors. Union leaders are also pushing for a raise in the starting hourly salary, which is currently $16, to $19 an hour. There are currently just 731 certified lifeguards ready to watch the city’s 53 outdoor pools and 15 miles of beaches — about half as many as the Department of Parks and Recreation aims for, according to officials. As part of its recruitment, the city is also looking to start a three-day training program to certify lifeguards to work at mini-pools. These pools don’t require the same swimming skills as open ocean lifeguards, officials said, and will free up others to work larger pools and the ocean.”

“Suing New York, Over and Over, for Transgender Rights,” by The New York Times’ Andy Newman: “By the end of this year, the city must open at least four dedicated shelters, or units within shelters, for transgender people. It must also put in place a host of anti-discrimination measures, including mandating anti-discrimination training for workers and overhauling how it responds to abuse complaints. Ms. [Mariah] Lopez, who dropped out of high school, wrote out filings in longhand, without a lawyer, while crashing on friends’ floors and turning tricks to survive.”

How a well-heeled Brooklyn enclave could decide New York’s hottest congressional primary, by POLITICO’s Joe Anuta: It’s a crowded congressional primary fight in a district spanning some of New York City’s most diverse neighborhoods. But mostly-white Democratic voters in tony brownstone Brooklyn could end up single-handedly crowning the winner. If they’re not on vacation, that is. After a panel of judges threw out gerrymandered political maps drawn up by New York Democrats in April, a court-appointed special master created the newly drawn 10th Congressional District. And it’s attracted over a dozen hopefuls, including former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Mondaire Jones of Westchester and Rockland counties, and a bevy of state and local politicians. The district presents a diverse cross-section of the city. … But nearly 60 percent of voters in the new seat are white. And many of them live among the multimillion-dollar brownstones of Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill and Park Slope.

	WHAT ALBANY'S READING
New York's abortion amendment clears first major hurdle, by POLITICO’s Shannon Young: New York legislators on Friday approved a long-stalled proposal to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, making New York the latest state to pursue long-term protections in wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade reversal. The Assembly passed the broad state equal rights amendment, which would add explicit protections for New Yorkers to access abortion care, on a 98-43 vote Friday night. Hours earlier, the Senate swiftly approved the resolution on a 49-14 vote after just minutes of floor discussion. The legislature’s special session endorsement of the proposal, which was modified to address critics’ concerns over potential effects on religious freedom, marks the first major step in a multiyear process to amend New York’s constitution.

“New York lawmakers approve gun control legislation in special session after Supreme Court decisions,” by CBS New York’s Marcia Kramer and Dick Brennan : “Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation Friday night that will limit where people can carry guns in New York. The new law is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the state's open carry restrictions, but it's not clear if the bill will withstand legal challenges. As CBS2's Dick Brennan reports, the legislature passed a sweeping new gun law Friday, and the governor wasted no time putting her signature on it.”

— The Supreme Court ruling on New York’s concealed carry law will affect Massachusetts, according to Attorney General Maura Healey.

“Hochul scraps Cuomo order that capped not-for-profit executives’ pay at $199K,” by New York Post’s Carl Campanile: “Gov. Kathy Hochul has scrapped an executive order issued by predecessor Andrew Cuomo that sought to prevent state-funded service providers from paying ‘excessive’ salaries to executives. Cuomo’s 2012 edict capped executive salaries for thousands of not-for-profit providers at $199,000. Salaries could only get bumped with a waiver or approval from the state budget director. The rule also ordered recipients of state assistance to pay no more than 15 percent of funding on administrative overhead.”

“ State to take almost 250 acres for new Bills stadium, including ECC open space,” by WIVB’s Chris Horvatits: “Erie County is set to transfer nearly 250 acres of land to New York State as part of an agreement between the Bills and those entities to build a new stadium in Orchard Park, documents unveiled Friday show. The property line for the stadium complex would extend all the way to the Orchard Park-Hamburg town-line, which bisects the Erie Community College campus. About 56 of the 242 acres to be taken over by the state, which will own the new facility, cover open space and parking spots around the ECC campus. However, none of the property containing ECC buildings would be transferred to the state for the stadium. An additional 41 acres around ECC — again, none that contain buildings — are part of the ‘project area plan’, and could be temporarily impacted by construction. However, county officials say when stadium construction is over, that land would be restored and returned to the college.”

#UpstateAmerica: The Capital Region’s Italian delis are doing just fine and plan to be for quite some time. Quick sound off, Albany: Cardona’s or Ragonese?

 
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	SCRANTON ON THE HUDSON
“U.S./Canada travel is not bouncing back. And officials on both sides of the border are worried,” by Buffalo News’ Robert J. McCarthy: “Crossing the Peace Bridge on Canada Day or Fourth of July, a decadeslong tradition for people on both sides of the border, remains a complicated challenge this holiday weekend. The Canadian government last week extended until Sept. 30 a requirement for visitors to complete its confusing ArriveCan app for Covid-19 concerns, and as a result, the summer tourism season appears doomed for the third year in a row. Reluctant travelers, it seems, just don't want to deal with ArriveCan. Now, officials and stakeholders in Buffalo, Fort Erie, Ontario, Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ontario, as well as across the 3,000-mile boundary, are voicing concerns that approach outrage. Local economies depending on cross-border traffic, they say, continue to suffer because of restrictions that long ago became unnecessary as Covid-19 levels ease.”

	AROUND NEW YORK
— Joey “Jaws” Chestnut ate 63 hotdogs, and Miki Sudo ate 40 to win their respective Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contests.

— Federal prosecutors defended the decision to place R. Kelly on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

— A Long Island lifeguard fought off a shark with his bare hands after being attacked during an ocean training exercise.

— Two supervisors in the NYPD’s sex-crimes unit, now under DOJ investigation, were removed from their posts after an internal investigation found misconduct. 

— A Long Island woman celebrated her bat mitzvah — at age 103.

— New York City shut down half of its Covid-19 testing sites from mid-February to mid-April, leaving New Yorkers with 15 percent fewer hours to get a free PCR test.

— “ Where to find free and accessible bathrooms in New York City”

— The Department of Environmental Conservation is developing a plan to manage informal trail networks in the Catskills.

— Former Gov. David Paterson says Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is a “phantom of the media” with little real power.

— Alternate side parking rules are back to pre-pandemic frequency in New York City.  

	SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT’s David Sanger … Michael LaRosa … Laura Peavey … Walt Cronkite of Latham and Watkins … ABC’s Alisa Wiersema … NBC’s Julie Shapiro … David Mortlock of Willkie Farr & Gallagher … BerlinRosen’s Andrew Friedman … Alexandra Kinney McBride … Alexandra de Rienzo … (was Monday): Geraldo Rivera … Ryan Williams of Targeted Victory … former Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) … Matt Katz … WSJ’s Natalie Andrews … WNYC’s Frank Donatelli … Al Madrigal … Sunshine Sachs’ Taylor Friedman … Sasha Graffagna …

… (was Sunday): Julian Assange ... POLITICO’s Heidi Vogt … CNN’s Lindy Royce-Bartlett … Lally Weymouth ... Andrew Peek … Rick Powell … James Lightbourne … Maya Serkin … Gloria Allred … (was Saturday): Jonathan Capehart … Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) … Derek Gianino of Wells Fargo … The Verge’s Brooke Minters … AP’s Graph Massara … Snap’s Gina Woodworth … NBC’s Tom Llamas and Keith Morrison … Richard Axel ... Shai Held ... Michele Gershberg … Ben Wyskida … Berrin Tunçel … (was Friday): screenwriter and journalist Katherine Bernard (h/t Sophia Narrett)

MAKING MOVES: Matt Grossman joined Macquarie Group as a government affairs manager.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Rob Saliterman, head of platform partnerships at Stripe and an alum of Snap, Google and Bush 43, and Lara Crystal, SVP of impact at Wonder who was also co-founder of Minibar Delivery and VP of marketing at Rent the Runway, on Wednesday welcomed Lily Jane Saliterman. She joins big brother Sam and big sister Mia. Pic

	REAL ESTATE
“Buffalo’s ‘Other Story’ Is Told in Redevelopment and Growth,” by The New York Times’ C. J. Hughes: “ Buffalo was riding a decade-long economic turnaround when a racially motivated attack by a gunman killed 10 people in May, overshadowing the progress. While the city grieved, it also had to reckon with unflattering portrayals of the East Side, the impoverished neighborhood where the massacre took place. Those harsh takes tell only part of the story, say residents, business owners and city officials. Now, they are determined to put the focus back on the recovery. Major efforts to improve the East Side have been afoot for years, like new job-training facilities and the overhaul of a deserted train station. And citywide initiatives to pour billions into parks, public art projects and apartment complexes have made Buffalo a more desirable place to live, advocates say.”

 
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