DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 28
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Council Speaker Julie Menin have been at loggerheads over how to close New York City’s multibillion-dollar budget gap.
Mamdani has maintained the deep deficit can only be plugged if the state raises taxes on millionaires and large corporations. Menin has countered that the gap can be addressed by trimming municipal bloat — a proposal Mamdani panned as “unrealistic” just weeks ago.
Today brought a major deescalation: The two leaders joined forces to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers to scale back a tax credit largely benefitting millionaires. Doing so would generate $1 billion in new revenue for the city, a windfall that could go a long way in helping the city balance its books, Menin and Mamdani said at a joint press conference.
“We are standing together today, we will stand together again,” Mamdani said, appearing alongside Menin in the City Hall Rotunda. “If we were to reduce this tax credit by just a quarter, as the speaker said, we would be talking about raising nearly $1 billion in additional revenue that would be critical in our city’s ability to balance this budget.”
Hochul, who’s still grappling with a state budget that’s now nearly a month late, immediately threw cold water on the new push from Mamdani and Menin, putting a dent in their unusual alliance.
“It’s not happening. We’re not changing the PTET,” Hochul told reporters in Albany later in the day, using an acronym for the Pass-Through Entity Tax credit eyed for reform by Mamdani and Menin.
In slamming the door on the proposal, Hochul is leaving Menin and Mamdani without a clear path forward on how to fill the city’s budget hole. The governor’s opposition to the tax credit push also creates an unusual new front in the negotiations on this year’s overdue state budget, with Mamdani and Menin on one side and Hochul on the other.
The fraught dynamic comes at a politically delicate time for the Buffalo-born governor, who is gearing up for a reelection bid and will need deep blue New York City if she wants to cruise to a second full term. Being at odds with Mamdani, who draws support from a fervent left-leaning base, would complicate Hochul’s political standing with many Democratic voters.
Mamdani and Menin made the joint plea for the tax credit changes in tandem while announcing they had agreed to push back the release of the mayor’s executive budget proposal until May 12, a deal first reported by POLITICO on Monday night.
The executive spending plan, which forms the basis for the final stretch of negotiations before the mayor and the Council must finalize a city budget by July 1, is technically due this Friday.
But as the state budget is now nearly a month late with its own budget, Mamdani and Menin are agreeing to delay the executive plan’s release in hopes that Albany will have its fiscal outlay in order by May 12. Without knowing how much revenue will flow to the city from the state, Mamdani and Menin both said there will be holes in the city’s spending plan that would be hard to reconcile.
Read the full story from Chris and Nick in POLITICO.
FROM CITY HALL
SHELTER MOVES: A man died by suicide after he was abruptly moved out of a shelter as part of Mayor Mamdani’s plan to close the long-decaying Bellevue intake center on East 30th Street in Manhattan.
Mamdani announced the closure plan on March 5, kicking off a weeks-long rush to clear out two East Village shelters and convert them into intake centers for homeless men and adult families requesting beds. Mamdani said the move was a proactive measure based on expert guidance, noting the Bellevue intake center’s state of “severe disrepair.”
Advocates who work with homeless New Yorkers warned that the relocations posed serious health risks if not done in a careful and coordinated way.
Then Steven Rosa — who was moved from an East Village shelter with on-site behavioral health services to a hotel-turned-shelter in Brownsville, Brooklyn — seemingly fell through the cracks.
Rosa’s family told POLITICO his depression worsened after the move, and he started spending much of his time alone in his hotel room. He was found dead in early April.
“We are saddened by this tragic loss, and our hearts are with this individual’s family and loved ones during this difficult time,” a spokesperson for Comptroller Mark Levine’s office said in response to POLITICO’s reporting. “The deployment of care and support for vulnerable New Yorkers is extremely delicate and our office had raised concerns with the City about the effect changes may have on New Yorkers. We are seeking to better understand the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
A Department of Social Services spokesperson called Rosa’s death a “heartbreaking tragedy” but said the agency cannot comment specifically on his case due to client confidentiality.
“We continue to build on our efforts to assess potential risk factors — which might not be evident based on self-reported information and case history available to the agency — while strengthening connections to healthcare for all clients,” DSS spokesperson Neha Sharma said in a statement.
The new intake sites were supposed to open on May 1, but the timeline is in flux due to pending litigation. — Maya Kaufman
HIGH STAKES: There was a woman in candy stripes on a stilt. There was Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato wearing her lucky shoes. There was Nas doing shoutouts to Resorts World during a rendition of his 1996 hit, “If I Ruled the World.”
All of this at 9:30 this morning for a ribbon cutting at New York City’s first full-fledged casino.
Resorts World is the first of three newly licensed casinos to have live table games as it begins a massive expansion of its existing gambling facility at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.
Boosters hail the economic opportunity from the coming overhaul, which would add a new resort and make the casino among the largest in the world. The company has also promised $2 billion in community benefits that local leaders have high hopes for.
“I have to allude to the fact that we lost a 15-year-old, Jaden Pierre, in this community,” Borough President Donovan Richards said during his remarks at the ribbon cutting. “So these benefits are largely not just about benefits for this site, it’s about the lives that this site will save.”
Resorts World was a surprise winner of a casino license following a years-long process. Proposals from Bally’s in the Bronx and billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen also were awarded licenses in December.
Amato, who chaired a community advisory board that tested local support for the casino, began wearing a pair of shoes studded with baubles and fake diamonds during the process. She wore the same pair to the opening of the casino, which she already visits regularly.
Other speakers, like Richards and City Council Member Ty Hankerson, made a point of saying they don’t gamble, but that they want the casino to do well.
Former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — who is running for lieutenant governor on Hochul’s ticket — said Resorts World first approached her about building a gaming facility at Aqueduct 15 years ago, when she was working for the NAACP. She said it took a while for the civil rights group to trust Resorts World but she now views the company as an “amazing” partner who has been held accountable to its community and its promises.
The head of Genting — Resorts World’s Malaysian parent company — came to do the ribbon cutting.
“Our planned expansion will bring a world-class integrated resort to this site, and when it is complete, New York will have something no other city in America can match,” Genting chair KT Kim said.
From closer to home, Nasir Jones, the New York rapper known as Nas, wore a tuxedo to help roll the ceremonial first dice.
Resorts World’s parent company has a history of late or overbudget projects, which even the body that recommended it received a license warned about, but it has some advantages: It’s open now, years before the two others will be. It also has pledged an enormous share of its revenue to the state.
It also outlasted other bidders, most notably a trio of developers who wanted to put casinos in Manhattan, including Caesars’ plan to have a gaming emporium in Times Square. Ironically, one of the older slot machine rooms at Resorts World is called Time Square Casino – and it’s the only one in New York for the foreseeable future. – Ry Rivard
From the Capitol
CLIMATE TANGO CONTINUES: The debate over changes to weaken New York’s 2019 climate law appears to be moving toward an end. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s latest proposal is for emissions reduction regulations by 2028 with an interim flexible target in 2040 and keeping the firm 2050 mandate.
“It is certainly better than it was,” said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday. “We’re trying to work on an entire package. … It is a huge push to make sure that we do not lose ground that we should not cede while we are waiting for the promulgation” of the regulations.
Stewart-Cousins said that rebates to help New Yorkers with high energy bills and proposals to accelerate solar investments were on the table as part of the discussions.
Hochul’s proposal includes the controversial accounting change long sought by the governor that would essentially require less aggressive action to reduce fossil fuel use, particularly natural gas, according to four people familiar with the agreement.
Some Democratic lawmakers remain dissatisfied with the proposal, and environmental groups like Food and Water Watch and New York Communities for Change are calling for them to vote no on any budget that includes changes to the climate law.
“I don’t really understand why we have to compromise so much when the entire environmental advocacy community is saying that’s a bad idea,” said Democratic Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal. “We passed the climate law. We don’t want to roll it back so dramatically.”
Hochul on Tuesday declined to commit to providing estimates of how much her proposal would cost businesses and households. She’s raised concerns about the cost of abruptly implementing a cap-and-trade program to meet the near term 2030 deadline in the climate law.
Her push to update the law would moot that target and the lawsuit over regulations to achieve it brought by environmental advocates. Hochul originally championed “cap and invest” in 2023 but has soured on the program.
“I don’t know if there will be cap and invest,” the governor said. “If there’s cap and invest, is it capped cap and invest? Is it set at a certain number? All that is unknown right now. All I know is that to give some breathing room for New York families and business I have to have a longer runway.”
The governor’s proposal currently under discussion would specify cap and invest would be part of the regulations due in 2028, according to the people familiar with the discussions. — Marie J. French
HOOD IN THE HOOD: Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood pledged to be an active lieutenant governor if elected on Republican Bruce Blakeman’s ticket this fall.
“I’m definitely not a sit-in-the-office kind of guy,” Hood said.
There’s been a split in visions for the office in recent decades — with some candidates characterizing the role as a cheerleader for the governor, and others saying it should be an independent office. Hood falls in the former category, saying his job would be to help Blakeman succeed at lower taxes and heating costs.
The Republican was at the Capitol as part of the NY Sheriffs’ Association lobby day, where he railed against Hochul’s plan to ban 287(g) cooperation agreements with ICE, saying that “cutting off communication between agencies makes everyone less safe and reverses post-9/11 progress.”
Like his ticket-mate, the sheriff took a tough-on-crime approach.
“There are tons of false allegations against police,” he said when asked about a Hochul-backed plan to let New Yorkers sue ICE agents who infringe on their rights. “That’s what I’ve seen the most of in my career, are lies.”
Hood also downplayed the uproar over the recent killings of Renee Good — saying she was using her vehicle as “a deadly instrument” — and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“Yeah, you’re fighting with a police officer with a loaded firearm on you and that weapon is discovered – that’s bad things,” he said of Pretti. — Bill Mahoney
RFK JR. BEWARE: The state Assembly is pushing back against federal policy changes to vaccine recommendations with a package of six bills that would strengthen the state’s laws surrounding immunization.
Lawmaker says the package of bills is aimed at countering efforts by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to roll back immunization recommendations issued by the federal government.
The package includes legislation that would allow the state Department of Health to recommend vaccine schedules for New Yorkers using longstanding medical standards and taking into consideration recommendations from the American Academy of Family Physicians, a private professional association not beholden to recommendations made at the federal level. The state previously relied on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a federal panel responsible for making vaccine recommendations that Kennedy attempted to overhaul in an effort to install his allies before a judge blocked the appointees.
“Vaccines are foundational to public health and have long been a trusted and effective bulwark against harmful and deadly diseases, especially for our most vulnerable populations,” Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement. “New York will stand on the side of proven science as attacks on lifesaving immunizations continue from the federal administration place our residents at risk. This legislation puts the health and well-being of New Yorkers first and ensures that these vital resources remain accessible for our communities.”
The package also includes legislation that would require college students to be immunized for Hepatitis B, a bill that would set immunization mandates for children attending summer camps and a bill that would require health insurance coverage for vaccines without cost-sharing.
An additional measure was passed that would create liability protections for health care providers administering vaccines that follow state and local guidance, a protection that could become key if providers’ actions are alleged to contradict federal guidance. — Katelyn Cordero
CAR WARS: Hochul wants to address how car insurance companies set rates for premiums — potentially a key provision that would help resolve a major sticking point in the ongoing state budget talks.
“Yes, we are looking closely at how insurance companies set their rates and what criteria they use,” Hochul told reporters Tuesday. “So there’s two sides of the equation. One is I want to make sure that some of the drivers of why we have such high insurance premiums in the state are addressed, but also the insurance companies, we’re taking a close look at their practices as well. “
POLITICO reported Monday that Hochul and state lawmakers have discussed addressing so-called flex increases that car insurance companies use to raise premiums.
Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick Reisman here.
IN OTHER NEWS
— NEVER THE SAME: Timothy Brown, the man police beat in a Brooklyn liquor store, which went viral on social media, is suing New York City for $100 million in damages, saying he will never recover from the incident. (Gothamist)
— NEW PROTOCOLS: The New York Police Department has stalled or rejected policy changes recommended by the Department of Investigations regarding its controversial gang-database, which critics argue is used to target Black and Hispanic youth. (THE CITY)
— GETTING PERSONAL: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin will meet with Hochul to discuss New York City’s direction following a quarrel with Mamdani after the mayor announced a proposed new tax on pricey second-homes in front of the billionaire’s Manhattan penthouse. (Bloomberg)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.