The Court of Appeals (photo: Governor's Office)
January 23, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: The Chief Judge Fight for 'The Court New York Deserves,' with Peter Martin
Peter F. Martin, a lead organizer with The Court New York Deserves coalition, joined the show to discuss the push for a progressive next Chief Judge of New York, the Hector LaSalle confirmation battle, and what comes next.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
State Senator Jessica Ramos (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)
January 19, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: State Senator Jessica Ramos on Hector LaSalle, the Minimum Wage, & More
State Senator Jessica Ramos - a Queens Democrat, labor committee chair, and member of the judiciary committee - joined the show to discuss her vote against confirming Hector LaSalle to be the next Chief Judge, her efforts to increase the minimum wage, and more.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
Gov. Hochul delivers her 2023 State of the State (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)
In her State of the State speech last week, Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, outlined her agenda for the year ahead, pledging continued action on public safety, an ambitious housing plan, major investments in climate action, mental health care, child care, and more. But even as she outlined many planks in her policy agenda, further outlined in a 275-page booklet, there were several areas where she only provided a vague notion of something she plans to tackle and a number of prominent proposals she did not include – ideas that elected officials, advocacy groups, and think tanks are now pushing to be part of her coming executive budget for the next fiscal year or to be passed by the Legislature.
The governor’s State of the State set the stage for the policy, budget, and legislative battles ahead. It included many of the proposals that Governor Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams jointly announced in December in the “Making New York Work for Everyone” action plan, which was developed by the ‘New’ New York panel of experts, planners, business and community leaders, and others. The plan, which received broad praise, detailed 40 different initiatives aimed at improving the future of New York City and its regional economy with measures to boost business districts, create jobs, transform public space, build housing, improve mass transit, and more.
The governor’s agenda will be fleshed out in more granular detail in legislative language and her executive budget proposal, which is not only a spending document but a vehicle for non-fiscal policy and legislation. In the weeks ahead, various stakeholders will advocate for their own priorities, some with competing interests and others that dovetail together. And those interests cover the gamut on everything from mental health policy to housing, transit, worker benefits, immigrant protections, criminal justice reforms, and climate policy, to name a few.
Here’s a look at some of the critiques of the governor’s 2023 State of the State agenda, prominent policies she did not include, or areas where she did not offer a concrete plan but pledged to take action in the future.
Republican Response
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Long Island Republican who ran for governor against Hochul last year, issued the party’s response to her State of the State. “Hochul’s State of the State address was another small swing and a big miss,” he said in a video posted online.
He highlighted ten items on the Republican agenda for this year, most of which formed the core of his gubernatorial campaign platform and many of which are non-starters with Hochul, the Democratic Legislature, or both: term limits for statewide elected officials; a state of emergency over crime; rolling back a series of criminal justice reforms (including bail reforms, Raise the Age legislation, parole reforms in the Less is More Act, the HALT Act limited solitary confinement, and discovery law changes) and giving judges discretion to use a dangerousness standard when setting bail; lifting the state cap on charter schools; reversing the state ban on fracking and approving new gas pipeline applications; the “largest tax cut in the history of the state”; rehiring public sector employees who were fired for refusing to take the COVID vaccine; firing district attorneys “who refuse to enforce the law”; and refusing to meet with any campaign contributors soliciting business from the state.
State Senate Republicans, who remain in the minority versus a Democratic super-majority in the upper house of the State Legislature, also issued a “Rescue New York 2023” agenda this month that includes a long list of legislative priorities covering public safety, workforce development, education, mental health, infrastructure, taxes, business regulation, climate policy, and more.
Besides the proposals mentioned by Zeldin, it specifically calls for items including additional funding for law enforcement and harsher penalties for gun and drug offenses, increased funding for mental health programs and opioid overdose prevention, permanently capping state spending increases at 2% annually, and making more deposits in the Rainy Day Fund, $200 million in tax relief for working families by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit, a $464 million tax cut for small businesses, and creating a Legislative Budget Office, to name a few.
NYCHA
The New York City Housing Authority’s fiscal woes were compounded by the pandemic. While it already has a $40 billion capital need because of decades of underinvestment, its operating finances have also been hobbled as more than 73,000 households owe about $454 million in back rent. In a budget presentation in December, NYCHA officials warned that without that revenue, it may not be able to make necessary repairs as required under a 2019 agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Though some of that gap could be made up by the state’s pandemic-era Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), tenants at NYCHA remain at the low priority end of the list for payments. The program’s funding has dried up and applications will no longer be accepted after January 20.
Though Hochul mentioned NYCHA-related accomplishments from last year -- passage of the Preservation Trust program to raise funds for public housing repairs at many developments -- in her State of the State speech, she did not otherwise include any new proposals or make any mention of it in her accompanying State of the State policy book. Hochul and Mayor Adams did recently announce a plan to replace 335 elevators at 20 NYCHA developments, part of a $300 million funding agreement signed in April 2022 with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.
Public housing was similarly absent from the recent $1.7 billion federal budget deal signed by President Joe Biden. NYCHA supporters hope that Hochul’s executive budget will include new funds for NYCHA repairs to the tune of at least several hundred million dollars in the next fiscal year.
Housing Legislation
While many housing advocates praised Hochul’s new “Housing Compact,” which commits to a sweeping plan to build more housing across the state, some expressed disappointment that she did not make mention two high-profile pieces of legislation to prevent evictions and ease access to housing for those living in homelessness or facing the threat of it.
Advocates are chiefly pressing for two bills: ‘good cause’ eviction and a new Housing Access Voucher Program.
Good cause eviction, sponsored by State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, is among the top priorities for progressives and advocates and has been gaining momentum in Albany. The bill would give tenants greater protections against both evictions and large annual rent increases. Landlords have been ardently opposed to the bill, while Hochul has only said it is something she is looking at without offering a position. The absence of any semblance of the bill in her agenda signaled to many that she does not support it.
The housing voucher program, proposed by State Senator Brian Kavanagh and former Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz, would allocate about $200 million in its first year for vouchers to help homeless families and those facing homelessness. It’s also high on the agenda for many legislators and advocates but Hochul has not supported it. Last year she expressed concerns about the cost of the program, disputing the Legislature’s estimates, but legislators pushed back saying that the cost of the program would be capped each year.
Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for the Housing Justice for All coalition, issued a scathing critique of what she called a “gutless” housing plan. “Instead of investment in public housing, we got handouts for big developers. Instead of vouchers to help more New Yorkers afford homes, we got zoning changes. Instead of real tenant protections like Good Cause, we got more wishing and hoping that the private market will solve everything,” she said in a statement responding to Hochul’s State of the State. The coalition has proposed a five-point plan which, besides good cause eviction and the voucher program, includes other proposals that they believe will create equitable housing in the state.
Meanwhile, the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), which represents owners and managers of tens of thousands of rent-stabilized buildings in New York City, is making a concerted effort for a “vacancy reset” that would give landlords the ability to reset rents on tens of thousands of vacant rent-stabilized units. The ‘reset’ would keep the apartments in the rent-regulation system but allow increases to bring rents level with neighboring rents, which they say is necessary for landlords to be willing to invest in renovations of dilapidated apartments.
MTA Finances
Among the glaring omissions from the State of the State was a plan to fill a structural hole in the MTA’s budget. The MTA’s finances were thrown into deeper disarray by the pandemic and it has gotten by on $16 billion in federal aid that will be spent through the 2026 fiscal year.
The agency’s annual operating budget for 2022 was about $19.4 billion – $7.2 billion from taxes and subsidies, $6.9 billion from fares and tolls; and $2.9 billion in federal aid.
Ridership on subways buses and commuter rails has not yet reached the same levels seen before the pandemic, and may never or not for years as commuting and work patterns have changed, affecting crucial fare revenue. The agency also has a recurring structural deficit of about $2.5 billion annually.
In November, the MTA released its latest budget presentation, proposing a 5.5% hike in fares and tolls. That is up from the usual 4% raise that went into effect every two years but wasn’t implemented in 2021 because of the pandemic. But despite revenue from higher fares and tolls, operational savings and other measures, the agency still needs another $600 million. MTA leadership, particularly Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, has repeatedly called for state and city leaders to rethink how the MTA is funded in order to more fully include transit as a core service in the state budget.
In the State of the State, Hochul punted on any solutions to the MTA’s dire straits. “We all know that the MTA is the lifeblood of the New York City metro region, and we will continue to invest in and ensure its long-term fiscal health,” she said without offering any specifics. Those could be offered in her executive budget, or simply pushed into coming months of negotiations with the Legislature.
The lack of a plan has already invited critics. “If Governor Hochul is as committed to a ‘reliable’ and ‘affordable’ MTA as she says, she must reject a fare increase to $3,” said Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a Queens Democrat and lead sponsor of the “Fix the MTA” legislative package that would raise revenue for the transit authority and increase service, in a statement. “And if she wants to continue characterizing the MTA as ‘world-class transportation’ – something that most New Yorkers would not agree with – she must fund greater frequency across the entire system, and make buses free.”
“The MTA is poised atop a financial precipice: it is our responsibility as State legislators to ensure it returns to sound financial health,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat who is lead sponsor on two of the bills in the “Fix the MTA” package, in a statement. “This speech was a missed opportunity to adequately address its funding needs, and commit to a robust plan to ensure the MTA is able to fully realize its potential in the coming years. I was disappointed to not see more policy regarding our public transit, as well as disappointed to see that no mention was made of de-carbonization in the Governor’s plans for the MTA.”
Taxes
Citing predictions of a recession, Hochul said in her speech that she would not raise income taxes this year. She’s also previously expressed concern about out-migration from the state, which many blame on the state’s high tax rates though there is limited evidence of significant tax-related flight among the wealthy. The state last increased taxes on high-earners and corporations in 2021, to raise up to $4 billion in revenue, with those increases set to expire in 2027.
Hochul’s pledge not to further raise income taxes on the highest earners sparked a backlash from progressive legislators and groups that have long argued for additional tax increases on the wealthiest residents of the state to pay for social programs.
Eight democratic socialist legislators – State Senators Julia Salazar, Jabari Brisport, and Kristen Gonzalez, and Assemblymembers Zohran Mamdani, Phara Souffrant Forrest, Marcela Mitaynes, Emily Gallagher, and Sarahana Shrestha – spoke out after the speech in favor of higher taxes on the uber wealthy. “While Governor Hochul’s State of the State address commits to crucial investments for New Yorkers, it does not go nearly far enough,” they said in a joint statement. “Her remarks failed to acknowledge New York’s dire need for new revenue through increased taxes on the ultra-rich. Instead, she presented fiscal sleight-of-hand through unfunded half-measures and non-solutions.”
“Increasing revenue through fair taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers is sound fiscal policy that will strengthen our economy and make New York a better place to live for working people,” said Nathan Gusdorf, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonprofit research group. Without new revenue, the state will be unable to make massive investments to achieve universal child care, high-quality public education, affordable housing and reliable public transit, all of which are on Hochul’s agenda. “Until the Governor supports new revenue, her plan to rebuild New York will not come to fruition,” he said.
The Invest In our New York coalition has urged the governor to approve several new taxes to raise billions of dollars in new revenue and pay for education, universal child care, universal health care, affordable housing, climate action, mass transit infrastructure, and more. That includes a progressive income tax, an heirs tax, a capital gains tax, a billionaires tax, a restored corporate tax and a Wall Street tax. “Lawmakers must prioritize passing policies that guarantee extreme wealth is taxed and those dollars are reinvested in our neighborhoods, instead of protecting millionaires and billionaires benefiting from a rigged system,” said the Invest in Our New York campaign, in part, in a statement.
Republicans and some fiscal monitors have argued against higher taxes, insisting that they will drive wealthy New Yorkers, who make up the core of the state’s tax base, out of state.
“Fortunately, Governor Hochul highlighted the need to stem outmigration. She wisely committed to not raising the personal income tax this year,” said Andrew Rein, president of Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog, in a statement. “New York’s competitiveness will be well served by restraining spending to ensure that the 2021 personal income tax increase sunsets on schedule.”
“Before it’s too late, New York’s governor and Legislature should embrace fiscal policies grounded in the three Rs of restraint, responsibility, and reform,” wrote E.J. McMahon, founding senior fellow at The Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, in a policy brief. “Spending should be reined in, taxes reduced, and economic competitiveness restored as a top priority.” McMahon called on the governor to phase out the 2021 tax increases beginning in the 2023 fiscal year.
More broadly, The Empire Center released a detailed policy guide, dubbed “The Next New York: Renewing and Reforming the Empire State,” which contained 11 expert research papers with 63 reform priorities for the state to consider. The guide covers the state budget, public safety, public education, Medicaid and health care, mental health, the energy sector, transportation and transit, housing, the public-sector workforce, voting access and election integrity, and government transparency.
“We launched this ambitious research project to chart a path forward for our state, combining fresh ideas with proven approaches that can work again,” said Tim Hoefer, Empire Center’s president and CEO, in a statement. “In the wake of the pandemic disruption, the time is overdue to embrace new approaches to growing policy challenges—and to dust off some proven approaches that can work again. It’s time to shape the Next New York.”
Build Public Renewables Act
Hochul announced a series of green energy initiatives and climate-related bills in her State of the State. But she did not speak of the Build Public Renewables Act, which would allow the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to own and build new renewable energy projects, among other provisions.
The BPRA garnered significant support last year and was approved by the State Senate but did not get a vote in the Assembly. Instead, amid significant criticism Assembly Speaker Carl Heasite convened a hearing on the bill after the legislative session had ended to examine it further. Climate activists argue that the bill is essential in meeting the state’s emissions-reduction targets set by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, which would require reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050 from 1990 levels.
Charter School Cap
In the lone debate of the general election for governor, Hochul said publicly for the first time that she supports raising the state’s cap on charter schools in New York City. Currently, there are 460 charter schools allowed across the state – including a cap of 290 in New York City, which was met in 2020.
Most Democratic legislators and the teachers union have opposed raising the cap, while charter school advocates and charter-friendly elected officials say more charter schools are needed to meet an outsized demand for them in the city and offer alternatives to failing traditional public schools. But Hochul did not mention charters in her speech or the policy book, leading to criticism from charter school proponents.
Overdose Prevention
In her speech, Hochul proposed several measures to stem overdose deaths, which skyrocketed during the pandemic even after increasing for years prior. They included a new interagency task force dedicated to the issue, greater access to drug testing technology, and continuing investment in life saving initiatives. But she did not include any support for the first two Overdose Prevention Centers that opened in New York City in November 2021 (and claim to have prevented more than 670 overdoses that could have been fatal) or additional such centers across the city and state. The two existing centers are seeking more funds to run around the clock, 24/7, instead of their current more limited hours.
“The Governor’s answer to the worst overdose crisis in New York’s history is to increase penalties for fentanyl and drug-induced homicide laws that only advance the War on Drugs, rather than the fight to save lives,” said Jawanza Williams, director of organizing for VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group. “Most egregious of all: Hochul’s complete omission of the leadership and support she could provide to the nation’s first Overdose Prevention Centers by utilizing executive action and Opioid Settlement funding.”
Criminal Justice Reform
In her State of the State Hochul pledged to increase resources for alternatives to incarceration and reentry services for those leaving state prisons. She also announced greater investments in law enforcement and proposed changes to the state’s controversial bail law to allow judges to jail more people pre-trial.
Criminal justice advocates responded with concern about further rollbacks to the bail reforms first passed in 2019 as well as the governor’s planned investments in police and prosecutors.
Additionally, there are several bills on the agenda for reformers that Hochul did not mention. They include the Clean Slate Act, sponsored by State Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, which would automatically seal a person’s conviction record once they become eligible; the Treatment Not Jail Act, sponsored by State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, which would ensure that people with substance use disorders, mental health issues, and other disabilities are given treatment instead of being incarcerated; and the Fair & Timely Parole and Elder Parole bills, which would make the parole process easier and make it easier for older inmates to be paroled.
There is also a package of sentencing reform bills that advocates are expected to pursue this year.
The Legal Aid Society pointed out that the governor proposed increasing funds to hire hundreds of more prosecutors across the state without commensurately offering more resources to public defenders. “Funding one side of the justice system without equal or greater investment in public defense addresses at best half the problem and exacerbates the deeply rooted inequalities at the root of the criminal legal system,” Legal Aid Society said in a statement.
Advocates are also urging the governor to support the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act, which would decriminalize sex work, among other measures to protect sex workers.
Education advocates are also pushing for the Solutions Not Suspensions Act, which would put in place restorative approaches to replace punitive school discipline practices which disproportionately harm students of color and those with disabilities.
Health Agenda
Last year, the governor pledged $20 billion to bolster the state’s health care system including funding retention bonuses for health care workers, increasing the minimum wage for home care workers, cost-of-living adjustments for human services workers, investments in health infrastructure, and aid to struggling hospitals.
This year, she promised more improvements including a “Future of Health Care” Commission to examine the system and make improvements, more capital investments, expanded Medicaid coverage for preventative health services, improving the state Essential Plan, protections against medical debt, expanded access to primary care, prescription drug price transparency, expanded flexibility for health care providers, expedited approvals for health care infrastructure projects, modernizing health data reporting, and more. But much of that agenda is not spelled out in her policy book, instead promising details to come, including fixes from the to-be-named commission.
Among advocates’ criticism of the governor’s health care agenda is that it fails to adequately address the state’s home care worker shortage, which is the worst in the entire country. Hochul allocated about $7.7 over four years to increase the home care worker minimum wage by $3 an hour.
“As New York’s population ages and home care workers continue to leave the sector, we are clear that a significant pay increase — 150% of minimum wage — is the only solution to stem the shortage,” said Ilana Berger, co-director of New York Caring Majority, an advocacy coalition, in a statement. “If she is truly committed to making New York the most age-friendly state in the nation and lifting up a workforce made up of women and people of color, the Governor must change course and invest in the home care system so that workers can receive the fair wages they deserve in the upcoming budget.”
Bill Hammond, senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, recommended several reforms to the state’s health care system that Hochul should undertake, chiefly reigning in Medicaid costs. The Medicaid budget is expected to be about $93 billion in 2023, a 76% increase over 10 years. The state’s share of that is about $33 billion, up 57% in that same period.
“The program’s broadening scope has magnified the effects of its pre-existing structural flaws,” Hammond wrote in a policy brief. “Its practice of paying substandard fees now compromises access and care quality for millions more of the state’s residents. Its vulnerability to inept management, fraud and political manipulation puts billions more of the public’s money at risk.”
Hammond urged the governor to implement a series of reforms, including tightening income-screening procedures for Medicaid recipients, among various other measures; making commercial coverage more affordable, including by eliminating taxes on health insurance under the Health Care Reform Act; establishing an independent pandemic review commission, rather than the outside consultant that the state has hired to assess its response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and rolling back or eliminating the state’s “certificate of need” law, which regulates the creation of health facilities, which he said is far too restrictive.
Immigrant Protections
Immigrant rights groups were left disappointed by the governor’s State of the State, which only proposed funding for an immigrant retraining program but not other benefits or protections specifically for the state’s immigrant population.
Advocates have been pushing for a $500 million Unemployment Bridge Program, modeled after the Excluded Workers Fund that the state created during the pandemic to provide relief to workers, mostly undocumented immigrants, who were ineligible for federal aid.
The program would provide workers with $1,200 a month if they lose their jobs, on par with the state’s unemployment insurance program that they are ineligible for. According to the Immigration Research Initiative, it could benefit up to 750,000 eligible workers, including 180,000 self-employed and freelance workers.
“The Governor’s speech fell far short of what’s needed for immigrants, communities of color, and working families across the state,” said Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, an immigrant advocacy group, in a statement. “While paying lip service to tackling the very real affordability crisis that New Yorkers face, the Governor again failed to mention and support crucial measures for which our communities have been clamoring.”
Oshiro also urged the governor to expand access to health coverage for immigrants, through her proposal to improve the state’s Essential Plan coverage and by approving the Coverage for All bill that would provide state-funded health coverage for New Yorkers, including the undocumented, that make up to 200% of the federal poverty line.
Advocates also called on the governor to support the Access to Representation Act, which would provide the right to legal representation to immigrants in immigration court at a cost of $100 million.
“While we are grateful for Governor Hochul’s commitments to some key programs, they are far from enough to ensure that all immigrant New Yorkers, including the over 30,000 newly arrived asylum seekers, have the support they need to integrate and thrive in New York State,” said Murad Awawdeh, executive director of New York Immigration Coalition,” in a statement. He also pushed for the New York for All Act, which would prohibit local and state law enforcement from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Penn Station Area Redevelopment
Though the State of the State included funding for various infrastructure projects, one that was conspicuously absent was the redevelopment of the Penn Station area in Midtown Manhattan.
The project, originally proposed in one form by former Governor Andrew Cuomo then adjusted somewhat under Hochul, would build about 10 towers around the transit hub, creating 18 million square feet of new building space with offices, housing, and retail space. The entire project is expected to cost about $22 billion, $7 billion of which would come from the state, which will also provide about $1.2 billion in tax breaks to real estate developers. The state is hoping to receive federal funding to cover at least half of the $7 billion.
The governor is forging ahead with the controversial project despite opposition from local groups, multiple lawsuits, uncertainty about its emphasis on new office space amid the work-from-home revolution, and questions from fiscal watchdogs about its financing structure. Even the developer for the project, Steven Roth, chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, has expressed concerns about new development in the current economic climate, though he insisted that the company is committed to the Penn Station project. “I must say that the headwinds in the current environment are not at all conducive to ground-up development,” Roth told investors in an earnings call, according to NY1.
Freelancer Protections
At the end of last year, Hochul vetoed State Senator Andrew Gounardes’ and Assemblymember Harry Bronson’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which would give freelancers the right to written contracts, timely payments, a redressal process for nonpayments and penalties for employers who violate those rights. The legislation was modeled after a successful law that took effect in New York City in 2017 and has helped freelancers recover millions in payments.
Hochul, however, said the state law would be an undue financial burden on the state Department of Labor when she vetoed it — among several bills with some fiscal impact that she vetoed arguing they needed to be passed in order to be factored into the state budget, and part of a much longer list of the bills Hochul vetoed last year, many of which are likely to be taken up again by the Legislature this year. Hochul did not include the Freelance Isn’t Free Act in her State of the State agenda and has not otherwise proposed any other protections for freelance workers.
Voting Rights
In 2021, voters defeated ballot referendums that would have amended the state constitution to allow for same-day voter registration and universal absentee voting. As is required for all constitutional amendments, the two proposals were passed in two consecutive legislative sessions before heading to the ballot. But lawmakers did not reintroduce the proposals last year and Hochul did not do so in her State of the State. In fact, her policy agenda does not contain any election and voting-related proposals.
Aid-in-Dying Measure
Advocates are optimistic that this year the Legislature will approve the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which would allow terminally ill patients to request and use medication to end their lives. The bill, which has received increasing support from lawmakers over the years, is sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin, who is the newly appointed chair of the Assembly's health committee, and State Senator Brad Hoylman.
Behind the push for the legislation is the national advocacy group Death with Dignity, which launched its 2023 advocacy campaign earlier this month across the country, including in New York. “We are confident that our decades of work fighting for the right of everyone to have options in the face of terminal illness will bear fruit,” said Dr. Peg Sandeen, CEO of Death with Dignity, in a statement. “This is an issue that is widely supported by Americans across the political spectrum. We believe that every American has the right to safe, effective healthcare—on their own terms and with a full range of options available to them, including the option of medical aid in dying.”
***
by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Note - this article has been updated to include a section on the Medical Aid in Dying Act.
A housing ground-breaking (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)
January 17, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: A Pro-Housing Agenda for New York, with Annemarie Gray
Annemarie Gray, a planner and housing expert who is now Executive Director of pro-housing group Open New York, joined the show to discuss the group's 2023 housing agenda, the Governor's sweeping Housing Compact proposals, what Mayor Adams should do next on housing, and more.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
Read more: Max Politics Podcast: A Pro-Housing Agenda for New York, with Annemarie Gray
NYS Office of Cannabis Management ED Chris Alexander, right (photo: @nys_cannabis)
Nearly two years after passage of the Marihuana Legalization and Taxation Act (MRTA), which legalized the once heavily-criminalized drug, the first legal retail sale of marijuana in New York occurred on Thursday, December 29.
"The first legal adult-use cannabis sales mark a historic milestone in New York's cannabis industry," Governor Hochul said in a celebratory press release that day. "Today is only the beginning, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to solidify New York as a national model for the safe, equitable and inclusive industry we are now building."
The dispensary that conducted the first legal sale of cannabis is located in Manhattan’s East Village and is operated by Housing Works, a non-profit supporting formerly incarcerated New Yorkers and one of the first 36 entities awarded an initial license by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM).
A long line of New Yorkers showed up to make a purchase as elected and appointed government officials celebrated the official legal launch of the new industry. OCM Executive Director Christopher Alexander, a key figure in standing up the legal marijuana industry in New York, made the first official purchase, followed by many others, including local City Council Member Carlina Rivera.
"We set a course just nine months ago to start New York's adult-use cannabis market off on the right foot by prioritizing equity, and now, we're fulfilling that goal," Hochul said in a December 21 press release announcing the impending first sale. "The industry will continue to grow from here, creating inclusive opportunities in every corner of New York State with revenues directed to our schools and revitalizing communities."
Lead legislative sponsors on the MRTA — State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes of Buffalo, both Democrats — also celebrated this historic milestone in New York’s cannabis history.
"I am gratified to see the start of the adult retail cannabis sales, and that Housing Works has opened the first retail store,” said Krueger, who has been working to legalize marijuana for many years, in a December 29 statement. “Their decades of work with marginalized communities make them a perfect partner in the effort to ensure that New York's Cannabis market provides meaningful opportunities to those most impacted by the failed cannabis criminalization policies of the past.”
Peoples-Stokes, who has been particularly focused on racial equity and reparations for past over-criminalization in the legalization process, said, “I am so pleased to see the first legal sales of cannabis in New York occur today by a non-profit that's been dedicated to helping improve people's lives for decades.”
Mayor Eric Adams also applauded the first legal sale of cannabis in New York.
“Today marks a major milestone in our efforts to create the most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,” the Democratic mayor said in a statement. “The opening of the first legal dispensary in our state right here in New York City is more than just a promising step for this budding industry — it represents a new chapter for those most harmed by the failed policies of the past. The legal cannabis market has the potential to be a major boon to New York’s economic recovery — creating new jobs, building wealth in historically underserved communities, and increasing state and local tax revenue.”
The initial sales are the next major step in a process launched by the March 31, 2021 signing of the MRTA into law, which came after decades of advocacy. New York became the 15th state in the nation to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults, setting up a complicated system of rules around growing, selling, possessing, smoking and otherwise using, and more. The law also included key provisions around racial justice and attempts to make amends for past racially-biased criminalization of marijuana that targeted Black and Latino communities.
There have been a number of bumps in the road to get to this point, and challenges remain — legal marijuana sales were expected to be more ubiquitous by this time, illegal retail sales have popped up all over New York City with limited law enforcement response, and many localities around the state have opted out of allowing legal retail sales at all.
The Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), created in the MRTA under the new Cannabis Control Board, was tasked with “but is not limited to production, licensing, packaging, marketing and the sale of cannabis,” per the OCM website. Additionally, OCM and the Cannabis Control Board took over New York’s previously existing medical marijuana program.
As 2022 ended, New York State had over 200 cannabis farms that had cultivated $750 million worth of marijuana (nearly 300,000 pounds) just waiting to be sold in retail dispensaries, according to a Bloomberg report.
In late November, OCM approved the first 36 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses for the retail sale of cannabis in various forms, with many more licenses to come in 2023 and beyond.
In New York City, the Adams administration has launched Cannabis NYC within the Department of Small Business Services to help launch, boost, and regulate the industry.
As the name suggests, the Marihuana Legalization and Taxation Act was also focused on revenue for the state, and expectations are in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year of cannabis-generated tax revenue for the state and localities combined.
As retail sales begin — delivery is also launching — timelines have been muddled and there are outstanding questions regarding licenses, enforcement, and more. Here’s what to know as this new legal industry gets going in New York:
Administration of the MRTA
In March 2021, the New York State Legislature passed and then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the MRTA into law.
That immediately set in motion the process of establishing the state’s Cannabis Control Board and Office of Cannabis Management, though there were delays in getting them up and running, and then farming and sales. Amid all of the decision-making was the major focus in the law on racial equity and attempts to address past wrongs of the punitive War on Drugs by “ensuring the greatest possible participation by communities historically impacted by prohibition,” as stated on the OCM website. That includes requiring CAURD license applicants to have some ties to a past marijuana-related arrest.
“You, or your parent, spouse, or child must have a conviction for a marijuana-related offense to be eligible for a CAURD license,” according to the CAURD application information page on the OCM’s website, though nonprofits working with the formerly incarcerated, like Housing Works, were also eligible for a small number of initial licenses.
The MRTA legalizes recreational adult use of cannabis in various forms (smoking, gummies, etc.), the cultivation of the needed plants, and commercial sale of marijuana in licensed small businesses as well as delivery. Along with generating tax revenue for the state and its localities from a new commodity in the economy, the law also seeks to decriminalize marijuana, help individuals and communities impacted by the criminalization of marijuana, and shrink the illegal drug market while providing safe, tested legal products.
But there have been many challenges in the overall effort to launch a new state agency and industry, crafting the details of the legalization process, issuing licenses, the overall societal adjustment, how localities have reacted, and more.
“One of the bigger challenges we've faced this past year in moving the MRTA into action is not only starting from scratch to launch a regulatory structure from the MRTA for cannabis but simultaneously building an entirely new State agency as well,” said Aaron Ghitelman, a spokesperson for OCM, in a late December email in response to a Gotham Gazette inquiry with a series of questions.
“In the last 12 months, the Office of Cannabis Management has grown from 30 employees to around 150, and we expect to be fully staffed when we reach about 300 employees,” Ghitelman continued. “That means OCM staffers are wearing multiple hats, working nights, attending weekend events, and traveling across the State, educating New Yorkers about cannabis legalization and licensing opportunities. We're excited for next year because as our team grows, so does our capacity. OCM will be able to increase these efforts in 2023 and beyond.”
According to a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Small Business Services, home to the new Cannabis NYC office, “The biggest obstacle is the required mindset shift regarding cannabis, from government to business to community. This is a new legal industry, but we must overcome entrenched stigmas from past prohibition. Meanwhile, New York also has the largest, previously existing “legacy” industry which includes both entrepreneurs, consumers and their communities, many of which have been damaged from disproportionate criminalization and disinvestment.”
The spokesperson reiterated that this is why the MRTA was written to help previously convicted individuals with low-level marjuana charges on their records.
“There is a major gap in cannabis education, community resources, and government regulations available to support that immediate transition,” the spokesperson said by email. “Cannabis NYC, in collaboration with many NYC agencies, has been working rapidly to build a programmatic framework to support education and resource allocation for all New Yorkers interested in participating in the legal cannabis industry.”
Municipalities (cities, towns, and villages) in New York had the option to opt-out of retail marijuana dispensaries up until Dec. 21, 2021. Via local votes, a total of 759 out of 1,520 municipalities opted out of allowing dispensaries in their localities, according to an online tracker by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. That includes most of Long Island opting out of retail sales.
Asked for OCM’s reaction to the large number of opt-outs among localities, Ghitelman said the hope is that they will see the positives of implementation and eventually opt in.
“Unlike other states that provided the option and a large majority opted out, New York will have widely accessible sales,” he wrote. “90% of cities in New York State will have cannabis sales, including New York City, Albany, and Buffalo, meaning an overwhelming majority of New York residents will have access to local dispensaries. As our consumer-oriented industry comes to life, the availability of safe, tested cannabis products will reduce harms currently threatening public safety allowing local economies to grow equitably; we believe localities will opt back in.”
On public education efforts, he said: “We're launching our next public health campaign that focuses on educating New Yorkers about all things legal for cannabis and hope those efforts will clear up confusion some New Yorkers may still have around legalization and help them understand their rights around the use of cannabis products throughout the State.”
Adult Use and ‘Personal Cultivation’
Upon being signed into law, the MRTA immediately allowed adults 21 years and older to partake in the recreational use of marijuana in places where smoking tobacco is allowed, which includes city sidewalks and designated smoking areas, but excludes restaurants, parks, and schools.
When moving about in the state, people 21 and older “may possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis and 24 grams of concentrated cannabis (like vaporization oil or an edible),” according to OCM’s Penal Law fact sheet about the MRTA. It is illegal to resell any marijuana products that an individual purchases legally.
The MRTA also permits adults to “have three mature and three [immature] cannabis plants within their private residence, with a limit of six mature and six immature plants per private residence,” according to the New York State Association of Counties’ April 2021 MRTA summary.
Adults are allowed to have up to five pounds of marijuana in their private home. In public, adults can carry up to three ounces of marijuana and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis, according to the New York State Courts website.
Retail Sales
Although the MRTA was signed into law on March 31, 2021, the first retail dispensary in New York did not open for 20 months after signing. Eventually, officials barely made their deadline of opening the first retail dispensary by the end of 2022, with only two days to spare, and with far fewer dispensaries in operation by that time than previously planned.
After some delay, OCM announced on November 21, 2022 the issuance of the first 36 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses, with more to come in 2023. Governor Hochul subsequently announced that retail sales would begin at the one Manhattan location on December 29.
“Not only have we ended the prohibition in New York, but we're showing the nation, and the world, how to build a market that's truly equitable and inclusive, and works to undo the harms caused by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition,” said OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander in a December 21 press release. “Every dollar spent in this growing industry will help support independent businesses, our schools, and our communities."
The 36 initial CAURDs approved by the Cannabis Control Board and issued by OCM include “28 licenses for business owners with a cannabis conviction or a family member with a cannabis conviction, [and] 8 approved for nonprofit organizations,” according to an OCM press release on November 21. “At least one CAURD license was granted in each available region of the state,” the release said. Licenses were allocated in regions that have allowed retail sales and are not currently embroiled in legal battles preventing cannabis licensing. There is ongoing litigation preventing such licenses in, for example, the Bronx, Queens, and Long Island.
The application windows for CAURD licenses closed in September of last year, and OCM received “over 900 applications” in the first application round.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve approved the first adult-use retail licenses as part of the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which sets our industry off on the right foot- with equity, justice, and sustainability at the forefront,” said Jen Metzger, Cannabis Control Board Member, in the November press release. “These entrepreneurs will be selling sun-grown cannabis cultivated with a minimal carbon footprint, and we must continue to ensure that New York’s industry remains on an equitable and climate-conscious path well into the future.”
One unique aspect of the CAURD license is its qualifying business criteria, including: “at least thirty percent (30%) of the applicant must be owned by an individual who is/has: Justice involved, Qualifying business experience, Sole control of the applicant, and [a] Significant presence in New York State,” per OCM.
Justice-involved means someone who “was convicted of a marihuana - related offense in New York State before March 31, 2021.” The marijuana-related offenses that the MRTA aims to expunge or correct are lower-level offenses, such as possession of smaller amounts of marijuana or the criminal sale of smaller amounts of marijuana. Other offenses such as “possession of up to 16 ounces of marijuana, sale of up to 25 grams of marijuana,” etc. can also be expunged, but only within a two-year time frame starting from when the MRTA was passed.
These licensing requirements were part of the MRTA’s goal of righting past wrongs related to the criminalization of marijuana, particularly for low-level offenses in communities of color. The law also expanded eligibility for record expungements regarding certain marijuana charges.
“The announcement of the first adult-use retail dispensary licenses was a historic moment for New York, establishing an equity-centered backbone of the legal market’s seed-to-sale supply chain in just over a year from the appointment of the OCM’s Executive Director, Chris Alexander,” said the spokesperson for the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), which houses the city’s new Cannabis NYC program.
Mayor Adams, who has repeatedly championed the legalization of marijuana, appointed Dasheeda Dawson, also known as TheWeedHead, as the founding director of Cannabis NYC when he launched it in August 2022.
“Leading Cannabis NYC is an incredible full circle moment,” Dawson said in a statement accompanying the mayor’s announcement of her hiring. “Growing up in East New York, I survived the height of cannabis prohibition and witnessed targeted enforcement derail the lives of my friends and family. I was stopped, searched, and treated like a criminal before I ever touched the plant, which shaped my initial perceptions.”
“Now, as a cannabis patient, educator, and regulator, I get to support other consumers, small businesses, and local stakeholders in the growing industry so that cannabis — once used to suppress communities like mine — can be tapped as a tool for transformation,” Dawson continued. “I’m thrilled to be back home, helping to craft an equity-centered approach to the city’s cannabis industry framework that welcomes all New Yorkers to the table.”
Dawson has “hit the ground running,” according to the SBS spokesperson. “Since taking the reins she has focused on creating a plan forclosing the gap in cannabis competency and understanding, from policy to health equity, for City agencies, media, and community-at-large. One of her main goals is to avoid the pitfalls other jurisdictions have fallen into while dispelling myths and stereotypes. She has also worked to advance Mayor Adams’ equity-centered agenda in the public representing the administration at several key cannabis industry events in this city.”
“Since launch, we have worked closely with the State’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to support the initial Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) license application,” the spokesperson continued. “During the 30-day CAURD application window, Cannabis NYC engaged with over 1,000 New Yorkers across the suite of services made available through SBS, including a hotline, webinars and providing direct services to applicants through our Business Solution Centers.”
CAURDs are just one of several marijuana licenses the Control Board and OCM are establishing.
“Although we are very excited about the nearly 300 conditional licenses that have been State-approved across cultivation, processing, and retail, we understand that there are 9 license types within the MRTA that will represent most of the licensed cannabis business in the New York market,” said the spokesperson from NYC SBS. “To that end, on 11/21/22 OCM also released their proposed adult-use regulations which covered 7 of the 9 license types included in the MRTA.”
The MRTA outlines nine marijuana licenses: Cultivator License, Processor License, Cooperative License, Distributor License, Retail Dispensary License, Microbusiness License, Delivery License, Nursery License, and On-site Consumption License.
The SBS spokesperson continued, “Now the real work begins! There will be a 60-day public comment period followed by amendments to the regulations. Cannabis NYC will be hosting a regulatory policy review workshop series for external stakeholders to discuss the regulations, aggregate feedback and submit comments to the State in coalition. Whether you are interested in entrepreneurship, economic development or enforcement, we want to be an advocate on behalf of the City’s needs as the State continues to develop an equitable, inclusive and safe industry.”
Taxation of and Revenue from Legal Cannabis in New York
“New York State expects to receive $20 million in revenue from licensing fees,” within the first year of legalization, according to the New York State Counties Association MRTA summary. When legal retail dispensaries start to generate sales, “the State projects $360 million in annual state revenue and $75 million for local governments” to proceed via what is expected to be a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Per the Counties Association summary, details of some of the sales taxes include: “cannabis flower is taxed at a rate of $0.005 per milligram, cannabis concentrate is taxed at $0.008 per milligram, and edible cannabis products are taxed at $0.03 per milligram. There is also a 9% tax on retail sales that goes to the State and an additional 4% tax that goes to the localities where the dispensary is located.”
The tax revenue will go to numerous state drug treatment programs as well as disproportionately affected communities: 20% of tax revenue will go to drug treatment programs and the public education fund; 40% will be allocated to the community grants reinvestment fund which will be used for job placements, adult education, mental health treatment, etc., according to OCM’s website.
In the ongoing process of implementing the MRTA, over the last several months, the Cannabis Control Board has also approved new “home-grow regulations for medical patients and designated caregivers,” the OCM “previewed new adult-use cannabis regulations,” and the New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund announced that it has selected firms to oversee the design and construction of New York’s first retail cannabis dispensaries.
“This is just the very beginning stages of implementation, and we are not likely to see applications open for the MRTA licenses until April 2023,” said the spokesperson from the city’s Small Business Services and Cannabis NYC. “In the meantime, we must continue working diligently to build the infrastructure to support this anticipated multibillion-dollar industry.”
Illegal Sales, MRTA Obstacles
Essential to the state and localities achieving tax revenue goals and the success of the new legal cannabis industry in New York will be some significant degree of elimination of illegal marijuana sales.
A recent boom of smoke shops illegally selling marijuana after legalization, and the lack of enforcement to close them down or ensure they stop selling marijuana itself, has created significant headaches and obstacles.
“More recently, we are seeing a proliferation of new players exploiting the intentions of New York’s landmark bill, opening unlicensed smoke shops, and putting public health and equity at risk,” said the spokesperson for the city’s Department of Small Business Services and its Cannabis NYC.
Of illegal sales, Ghitelman from OCM said, “The illicit market directly undercuts the hard work of entrepreneurs reinvesting in their communities. Across New York, OCM works alongside law enforcement to remove illicit cannabis trucks, shut down illegal stores, seize these untested products, and coordinate efforts to protect the legal market. New York's legal, regulated cannabis market will continue to thrive as we remain committed to ceasing operations in the illicit market and working toward closing unsanctioned stores across the State.”
Amid major uproar and just ahead of the launch of legal marijuana sales, Mayor Adams announced in mid-December “the results of a two-week interagency pilot conducting enforcement against unlicensed establishments selling cannabis, cannabis-infused edibles, illegal vaping products, illegal cigarettes, and other illegal tobacco products. The pilot program…resulted in the seizure of more than $4 million worth of products being sold illegally and the issuance of 566 civil and criminal summonses.”
“At the same time, we will continue our efforts to educate unlicensed operators about the law and hold bad actors accountable,” Mayor Adams said at the time.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday January 18, the New York City Council is set to hold an oversight hearing on “the proliferation of unlicensed smoke shops in New York City.” The hearing will be held jointly by three Council committees on health, consumer protection, and oversight and investigations.
Legislation to fight illegal cannabis sales has also been drafted by State Assembly Member Amy Paulin. Her bill, announced in December, would make any business selling cannabis without a license subject to a penalty of at least $2,500 for the first violation, $5,000 for a second, and potential seizure of the business on a third. The current fine for a business is just $250, according to Paulin’s office.
The bill would also “add language to New York State penal law to clarify that unlicensed cannabis retailers are subject to current laws relating to the unlawful sale of cannabis. Current ambiguity in the law has in some instances impeded police crackdowns on illegal sales at shops, which has allowed them to continue illicitly selling,” the Assembly Member’s press release states.
“Individuals applying for the appropriate licensure and complying with the law are at an immense disadvantage when other individuals are evading licensing fees, product regulations, and rules set out by the OCM,” Paulin said in announcing the legislation. “To ensure the legitimacy of the adult-use cannabis industry, we must penalize bad actors in the same manner as we do for other legitimate industries in our state who operate without a required license.”
>>Gov. Hochul (photo: Governor's Office)
Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday delivered her second State of the State speech, and the first since she was elected to a full term, pledging to tackle crime, boost housing production, advance climate action, and invest heavily in the state’s mental health system to “make New York more affordable, more livable, and safer.”
Speaking in the Assembly chamber at the Capitol building in Albany, Hochul outlined a broad legislative and policy agenda for the year ahead. It was Hochul’s first fully in-person State of the State address, following last year’s speech that came when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was surging through the state.
“It’s extraordinary how far we've come in this one year from that time when I literally had to address empty seats,” Hochul said to a packed chamber of Assembly members, state senators, executive branch staff, and others. Behind her were seated the state’s other top officials, including Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who introduced the governor.
Hochul struck an optimistic note in her speech, even as she conceded that challenges lie ahead. “I’m proud to say that the State of our State is strong, but we have work to do,” she said, launching into the highlights of her extensive agenda, covered in more detail in the 277-page policy book released Tuesday that will join with her Executive Budget, due later this month, to form the more full basis of her negotiations with the Legislature.
Public Safety, Bail, & Health
The governor began with a focus on public safety, an issue that her Republican opponent in the 2022 race, then-U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, successfully hammered at during the closer-than-expected gubernatorial election last year. “My number one priority has always been and always will be keeping Yorkers safe,” Hochul said. “And a day has not gone by where I've not been laser-focused on this objective.”
While she laid out a multi-pronged public safety agenda, Hochul acknowledged that the most controversial issue in the public safety conversation has been bail reform. As she has before, Hochul said she remains in strong support of the general principle behind the reforms — that people should not have to sit in jail pre-trial just because they are too poor to afford bail — while pleading with Democrats in the Legislature to work with her to improve the law.
“I would say we can agree that the bail reform law as written leaves room for improvement and as leaders we cannot ignore that,” she said. Hochul’s proposal would eliminate the requirement that judges set bail based on the “least restrictive means” for any alleged crime currently bail eligible, while retaining that standard for minor crimes. That change would work in tandem with alterations to bail Hochul insisted on last year, which gave judges more discretion to set bail or hold defendants in jail pre-trial in cases involving gun crimes and repeat offenders accused of various crimes including non-violent felonies and some misdemeanors.
In part to make bail reform more successful, Hochul outlined plans to double funding for alternatives to incarceration to $30 million annually and to triple investments in reentry services to $12 million for those leaving the justice system.
She also pledged the “largest investment ever” in the state Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, promised to increase the ranks and resources of the State Police, and to fund the hiring of more prosecutors across the state.
On a related issue, Hochul also promised to make “essential and long overdue” fixes to the state’s mental health system. “We have underinvested in mental health care for so long and allowed the situation to become so dire that it also has become a public safety crisis as well,” she said.
She is proposing a $1 billion investment that will, among other measures, help bring 1,000 inpatient psychiatric beds online, including 150 new beds and 850 that were previously eliminated. Her plan also involves creating 3,500 units of supportive housing, expanded outpatient services, comprehensive wraparound services for discharged patients, expanded mental health services for children, a new interagency task force to tackle the overdose crisis, and legislation to prohibit insurance companies from denying access to mental health services.
“Today marks a reversal in the state's approach to mental health care, and this is a monumental shift to make sure that no one else falls through the cracks,” she said.
After dedicating $20 billion over several years to improve the state’s health care systems, Hochul proposed several additional measures this year regarding broader public health efforts beyond mental health care.
They include a new Commission on the Future of Health Care to study the health care system and recommend reforms, a $1.6 billion capital commitment for health care projects, expanded Medicaid coverage for preventive health services, improvements to the state’s Essential Plan, addressing medical debt, improved access to primary care, a new “nation-leading” health monitoring and surveillance system, and more.
Housing
Perhaps the biggest plan that Hochul presented is her “New York Housing Compact,” a broad policy strategy to create 800,000 units of housing over the next decade. The plan builds on the governor’s $25 billion program to build 100,000 units of affordable housing that was approved in last year’s state budget. The new framework is more focused on leveraging the private market through setting targets, changing zoning, and incentivizing growth so that New York can try to catch up in its housing supply deficit.
“Today, I say no more delay. No more waiting for someone else to fix this problem. Housing is a human right and ensuring enough housing is built is how we protect that right,” she said.
As Hochul noted, while the state created 1.2 million jobs over the last decade, it only built about 400,000 homes, one of the reasons behind the crises of outmigration from the state and a lack of affordability.
“Many forces led to this state of affairs but front and center, our local land use policies that are the most restrictive in the nation,” she said. Her plan includes setting statewide and local targets for housing creation, cutting red tape and expediting environmental review approvals, legalizing basement conversions, easing office conversions, and focusing on transit-oriented development by requiring municipalities to build more housing near MTA stations inside and outside New York City. Under Hochul’s proposal, the state would also offer funding for necessary infrastructure where new housing is built and a fast-track approval process when proposed housing projects are stalled.
Hochul’s housing plan is contingent in part on replacing the expired 421-a housing tax credit. Last year, she proposed an alternative, 485w, which failed to pass the Legislature, and she said she will revisit the issue to restore “this critical piece of the puzzle.” Hochul is not presenting the details of that plan at this time, but starting the conversation with legislators. It is among the various pieces of the housing plan that will require legislative approval and could prove contentious.
Climate and Energy
As New Yorkers experience rising energy bills, Hochul also proposed a new “EmPower Plus” program to help low-income families retrofit their homes with clean heating systems and upgraded insulation and appliances. She also promised $165 million in relief to more than 800,000 utility customers, proposed a plan to end sales of new fossil-fuel-powered heating equipment by 2030, and called for zero-emission construction for small buildings starting in 2025 and for large buildings starting in 2028.
Hochul also announced her support for a new “cap-and-invest” program that will cap greenhouse emissions and require the biggest emissions producers to purchase permits to sell polluting fuels. It marks the adoption of one of the major proposals from the state’s Climate Action Council, which in December released a wide-ranging Scoping Plan of recommendations to meet the emission-reduction and renewable-energy requirements of the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Transportation
One of the main challenges the governor, state, and city will face this year is ensuring fiscal stability at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs New York City’s subways and buses and the commuter rail network. The agency was hit hard by the pandemic and has floated by on federal aid but faces a fiscal cliff after that aid runs out in 2025. Hochul did not propose solutions in her State of the State but did pledge to work with her partners in government to address it, with perhaps more detail to come in her Executive Budget.
She also further committed to implementing congestion pricing in New York City, which has been delayed but is projected to help the MTA raise billions in funding for its capital plan.
Hochul did propose several other transit-related measures including a low-cost, flat-fare City Ticket available 24/7 for commuter rails within New York City, moving ahead with her proposal for an Interborough Express connecting Brooklyn and Queens by pursuing the "light rail" option for the route, expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure, Automated Bus Lane Enforcement cameras on 900 New York City buses, stricter driving regulations, stronger DMV enforcement, and allowing New York City to lower its speed limit.
Child Care, Education, and the Minimum Wage
Building on her four-year, $7 billion childcare plan that was approved in last year’s budget, Hochul announced on Tuesday a series of measures to make childcare more affordable and easier to access. They include streamlining applications for childcare assistance, increased income eligibility for child care subsidies, expediting enrollment for families that already receive other public benefits, a new Workforce Retention Grant Program for childcare workers, and a New York State Employer-Supported Child Care pilot program.
And to directly address the rising cost of living, Hochul proposed a plan to peg the minimum wage to inflation, which she said would affect more than 900,000 New Yorkers. “If costs go up, so will wages,” she said.
Hochul is continuing her administration’s efforts to fully fund Foundation Aid for schools, proposing a $2.7 billion or 13 percent increase this year, for a total of more than $24 billion. She also pledged an additional $125 million to continue the state’s expansion of free prekindergarten. She has also proposed investments in high-impact tutoring programs, a $20 million grant program for new early college high school programs, direct acceptance into community colleges for graduating high school seniors, $200 million in funding for SUNY digital infrastructure, among other items.
More
The governor’s speech was by no means exhaustive, hitting on only some of the contents of her State of State policy book, which contains 147 proposals in total covering, besides the aforementioned ideas, other plans related to reproductive rights access, economic development measures, healthcare, making government work better, and more.
In the upcoming weeks, the governor will also present her budget for the next fiscal year, which will contain a series of fiscal and policy measures that will further set the table for hearings by and negotiations with the State Legislature. During her State of the State address, Hochul expressed her dedication to ensure no income tax increases this year.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli had some advice for the governor’s budget presentation. “We are now entering the third year of the lingering effects of COVID-19 on our health and economy. As the nation continues to recover from pandemic aftershocks, the state’s fiscal footing is currently stable, but the economy remains uneven, and inflation is still too high,” he said in part in a statement on Tuesday. “To prepare for future risks and uncertainties, rainy day reserve targets should be met, spending plans should be cautious, and prudent debt practices should be restored.”
Other Reactions
Mayor Adams praised the “ambitious agenda” that the governor laid out on Tuesday. “The governor’s proposals on housing, mental illness, and public safety reflect New York City’s priorities and build on the past year of partnership and collaboration between our administrations,” he said, in part, in a statement.
In particular, he pointed to his own plan to build 500,000 homes in New York City over a decade, which will require state assistance. “The governor’s commitment to ensuring that our state finally builds the housing needed to address the affordability crisis is the type of bold leadership we need, and acknowledges that our neighboring suburbs must do much more to solve what is ultimately a regional problem,” he said.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who challenged Hochul in last year's Democratic primary, similarly said the governor’s housing proposals were “encouraging,” though he insisted that new housing should be income-targeted. “If the government is taking steps to encourage responsible development, whether through subsidizing or streamlining, that support should only come in exchange for deeply affordable housing,” he said in a statement.
“Additionally, no housing plan is real without including preservation strategies, and new housing without sufficient tenant protections and foreclosure prevention will not be enough to keep New Yorkers in their homes,” Williams added. “The progressive path forward to address the housing and homelessness crisis in our state is one that puts people over profits, communities over corporations.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, another Democrat, issued a note of caution. He is among the vocal opponents of 421-a and noted in a report last year that the tax incentive cost the city about $1.8 billion in lost revenue annually. “We need to expand the supply of housing at all income levels—but simply incentivizing market-rate development with another inefficient tax giveaway program like 421a will not solve the crisis of affordability facing so many New Yorkers,” he said in part in a statement. “Building new housing must go along with significantly increased investments in genuinely affordable rental and homeownership programs, rental assistance vouchers, and good cause protections to keep tenants in their homes.”
Hochul’s priorities even reflected those of Republicans, who sit in the minority in both houses of the Legislature. “Today’s State of the State speech by Governor Hochul follows the Senate Republicans’ call for a safer, stronger and more affordable New York,” said State Senator Rob Ortt, the minority leader, in a statement. “While the Governor echoed our themes, she ignored the stark reality that one-party, progressive policies have made New York less safe and less affordable. New Yorkers deserve action that matches the rhetoric.”
Ortt urged the governor to “ignore the hysterics from the progressive left” on bail reform, mental health, housing, and affordability, while also criticizing her other proposals that he said would increase the cost of living in the state. “Touting unachievable energy policies, new mandates on small business and state-driven housing policies will only drive up costs for overburdened New Yorkers, chasing out even more taxpayers and more jobs,” he said.
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Mayor Adams decries victims of gun violence (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)
Having come to power on a tough-on-crime message after years marked by criminal justice reform and protests against police brutality, Mayor Eric Adams often says New York lawmakers have done too much to protect the perpetrators of crime and not enough for the victims.
But after a year in office he has not said what additional victims services policies he thinks should be in place.
"What do we do for a family member who's the victim of a homicide and they're the primary breadwinner and now their entire family is thrown into turmoil," Adams said in a December 7 interview with NY1 host Pat Kiernan when asked about similar comments he made previously. "We passed laws to protect the person who killed the individual. What have we done for those who are the victims of crimes, who have [been] devastated?"
Adams made similar statements on the campaign trail in 2021 and throughout his first year as mayor, as he promised to crack down on gun violence and lower-level offenses and invest in "upstream" measures to stem the factors that lead to crime. He has spent much of that time criticizing fellow Democrats over changes made to the state's bail and discovery laws in 2019 (and adjusted in subsequent years). But Adams rarely if ever acknowledges the victim services that are in place or offers any specifics on what he thinks should be done to enhance benefits available to crime victims.
Victim compensation funds and supportive services like emergency housing, medical care, and counseling for people devastated by crime are common throughout the United States, including in New York. And efforts here at the state and city levels are ongoing to expand access to that funding and those services — including some Adams has signed into law.
Adams' campaign material made virtually no mention of specific crime victims services. It did, however, include a proposal to launch a cognitive behavioral therapy program for domestic abusers called the “Family Violence Perpetrator Program,” which has not come to fruition.
His comments echo points made by opponents of bail and discovery reform and other criminal justice measures either passed or proposed. That includes Republican Lee Zeldin, who made similar statements on the campaign trail for governor last year. In other contexts, Adams has said he wants to see state lawmakers revisit the bail law once again to give judges greater discretion to consider a defendant's "dangerousness.”
"Prior to Lee Zeldin wanting to run for governor, this is what I've been saying. Do an analysis of all the laws we've passed, not only in New York but across the country. Analyze them," he told Kiernan. "Where is the law that protects innocent people? That's my question."
Administration officials would not say what specific policies the mayor wants to see enacted or what laws he believes protect perpetrators. His comments appear to ignore the fact that criminal law itself is intended to prevent crime and keep potential victims from harm.
A spokesperson for Adams said the mayor was referring to laws to make victims whole and pointed to the State Legislature for action. The spokesperson noted the mayor, a former state senator, is not in the Legislature and does not introduce bills, and wouldn't elaborate on what those could or should entail. They referred further inquiries to the Legislature.
Adams has in fact released multiple specific proposals for legislation he wants to see passed at the state level this year, including a nine-point state legislative plan released last week on improving the capital construction process, a push for a change to state mental health law, and more.
Crime remains a top priority for the mayor. Murders and shootings rose sharply during the pandemic but dropped during Adams’ first year in office, while overall index crimes (the seven major felonies) increased 22.4%, according to the NYPD. In 2022, 433 people were murdered and 1,566 were victims of gunfire. Thefts, rapes, and assaults all increased in 2022 over 2021.
A vast majority of crime victims are low-income Black or Latino New Yorkers. Crimes also often go unreported, especially in communities where trust in police is frayed, and especially among survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, a growing focus of lawmakers.
At both the city and state levels, lawmakers working on victim services have focused largely on improving access to compensation funds and micro-grants. The mayor's comments have frustrated a number of those officials, several of whom told Gotham Gazette they don't reflect reality or draw a false dichotomy between victims and perpetrators.
"One day a person is the defendant in the case, another day they're the victim or complainant in a case, and another day they might be a witness in a case," said City Council Member Tiffany Cabán, a Queens Democrat and former public defender who chairs the Council’s Committee on Women and Gender Equity, in a interview.
"Ultimately our goals for survivors and for citizens in general should be creating the conditions for stability," she said.
State Services
The state Office of Victim Services funded 228 programs totalling $294 million in State Fiscal Year 2021 (April 2020 through March 2021), according to the latest data available. The services include counseling, emergency shelter, legal assistance, and case management, among others.
The state's victim compensation program – which includes funding for medical expenses, lost earnings or property, burial costs, attorney's fees, and more for qualifying victims of crimes or their survivors – distributed $18.7 million in payments to victims in fiscal year 2021, a more than $10 million drop from fiscal year 2012 and $4 million down from the previous fiscal year.
The victim compensation fund is a payer of last resort, intended as a backstop for people with no other means to cover expenses in the aftermath of a crime, according to Janine Kava, a spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul, in an email to Gotham Gazette.
"Financial assistance administered by OVS provides a critical safety net and helps victims, survivors and family members with medical and counseling expenses, funeral and burial expenses, lost wages and support, in addition to other assistance,” Kava wrote. “New York is the only state in the nation with no cap on medical or counseling costs, which means individuals can receive assistance as long as they need it."
"It also is important to note that prior to 2020, New York State experienced seven consecutive years of declining crime, with reported crime reaching an all-time low in 2019," Kava continued. "Access to health care through the federal Affordable Care Act (Obama care) also has resulted in fewer claims being filed because individuals who previously may have been eligible now have health insurance to cover costs."
But the total annual funding for victim and witness assistance programs outside of direct payments has grown over the same period, more than doubling from $40 million in fiscal year 2012 to $91 million in fiscal year 2021, which was up $17 million from fiscal year 2020.
Last year, state lawmakers advanced a number of bills to expand access and eligibility for the victim compensation fund. In June, Hochul signed legislation to make reckless endangerment and the illegal dissemination of intimate images, also known as revenge porn, compensable crimes.
"The Senate Democrats have demonstrably done more to support crime victims than the mayor's administration has," said State Senator Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat who chairs the body's Committee on Crime Victims, Crime & Correction and has championed the criminal justice reforms Adams often criticizes, in a statement to Gotham Gazette. "I hope they will work together on these issues with us instead of dodging responsibility."
Other bills failed to pass one or the other chamber of the Legislature, like a bill to make victims eligible for payments without having to file a police report. The legislation had the support of the New York City Council via a resolution, and passed the Assembly last spring but failed in the Senate.
"The law enforcement reporting requirement for victim compensation adversely impacts Black and Brown, LGBTQIA+ and the immigrant communities, who are traditionally less likely than other groups to report their harm to law enforcement," said City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, a Brooklyn Democrat and sponsor of the non-binding resolution encouraging state passage of the bill. "There is no doubt that accessing crime victim compensation is part of a broken system."
Senator Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat who sponsored the bill, also took issue with the mayor's comments.
"Leaders on either side of the aisle who perpetuate this falsehood – that we're protecting the accused and ignoring the victims – aren't serving anyone but themselves," Myrie said in a statement to Gotham Gazette.
"We can support crime victims right now by passing my bill to expand access to compensation funding and help families rebuild their lives after being impacted by violence," he said. "I look forward to the Mayor helping me advocate for this legislation over the next few months."
City Services
In the fall of 2021, just a few months before the end of the de Blasio administration, the city launched the Office of Crime Victim Services (OCVS), housed within the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice, to coordinate and expand the city's existing survivor services and ensure parity in assistance programs.
In the last fiscal year, from July 2021 through June 2022, OCVS directly operated 20 programs, including ones to prevent intimate partner violence and an online service finder with 78 providers and 361 locations around the city.
The office's marquee initiative is the Crime Victim Assistance Program, which places service coordinators and advocates in police precincts. According to the OCVS annual report, published in April 2022, the pandemic stay-at-home orders and labor shortages impacted the program's operations in 2021 but the office is "committed to ensuring the program has the supports it needs to resume and expand operations."
Since that report, the OCVS budget has fallen slightly, from $48.9 million in city fiscal year 2022 to "nearly" $48 million in the current fiscal year 2023, according to another spokesperson for Mayor Adams.
In the annual report from April, OCVS promised to develop more emergency housing options for survivors, sexual violence and human trafficking prevention programs, and sommunity-based supports for underserved communities. The office would also explore formal avenues for public engagement.
OCVS and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice have not provided any information about any progress made toward those goals despite multiple Gotham Gazette inquiries.
The City Council has put an emphasis on survivor services in the first year of the new cohort, led by Speaker Adrienne Adams and the Council’s first female majority. Speaker Adams pushed to fund "trauma recovery centers" in four neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence and also provided each Council district with $100,000 to fund survivor and community safety services, according to a spokesperson.
In November, Mayor Adams signed a set of laws known as the "Support Survivors" package after it passed the City Council. The center of the package was a law to establish a micro-grant program for emergency housing and other services for domestic violence survivors, to be established by the Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence.
The law is based on an pandemic emergency program in summer of 2020 that provided roughly $469,000 to 377 clients at an average disbursal of $1,243 per recipient, according to a final report. The funds went to low-income domestic and gender-based violence survivors disproportionately impacted by the pandemic – 40% of whom were Latino, 32% Black, 16% Asian or Middle Eastern, and 10% white. The program was quickly inundated with applications and distributed more than 50 more grants than originally budgeted, with the result being a smaller average grant size, according to the report.
Cabán was the lead sponsor on the Support Survivors package. She and Adams held a joint press conference to celebrate when the mayor signed it into law. Cabán told Gotham Gazette she is seeking a minimum of $3 million for the program in fiscal year 2024 and that conversations with the Adams administration are ongoing.
"That is it going to be my office's number one priority," she said over the phone. "We plan on running a robust budget campaign and doing the organizing necessary to get as many dollars as possible into that fund."
"It's going to be about making sure that we are investing resources to the scale of the problems that we're facing, which has been a challenge over the past year," Cabán said, referring to Mayor Adams' first year in office. "We've seen some investments in certain places but not nearly to the degree that is necessary to meaningfully tackle some of the issues New Yorkers are facing each and every day."
Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission, a non-profit focused on public safety, believes Adams isn't talking about survivor services at all when he says lawmakers need to focus on victims not perpetrators.
"I think it's a way of expanding the aperture so that we see the real impacts of the lack of bail reform and the lack of discovery reform," he said.
While there has been a justified focus on criminal justice reform in recent years, Aborn said, "we also need to make sure that the criminal law is sufficiently robust that people are not unnecessarily victimized.” That can happen during the initial crime "and then if the law does not respond appropriately the person is revictimized because nothing has happened to the perpetrator," he added.
In this case, the rhetoric of supporting victims refers to ensuring a survivor is not "re-frightened" by the lenient administration of justice, said Aborn, who supports giving judge's more discretion in setting bail and prosecutors more time to turn over evidence as part of the discovery process.
To Cabán, carceral approaches to public safety are misguided and the city could be doing more to materially support survivors of crime. "When politicians and other folks in the city talk about crime victims from that perspective," she said, "they're practically always cynically exploiting the pain and trauma of survivors to make the case for ramping up policing and incarceration, which doesn't prevent further violence, and it practically never actually asks survivors what they need or want to heal and repair their lives, let alone provide those things."
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by Ethan Geringer-Sameth, reporter, Gotham Gazette
@GeringerSameth @GothamGazette
At the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
Democrats in the New York State Senate announced plans to pass a package of voting and election reforms on Monday, marking the fifth year in a row since taking the majority that they have highlighted the issue at the top of the legislation session.
Since 2019 Democrats have ushered in a new electoral landscape, including early voting, automatic voter registration, and the New York State Voting Rights Act, among many other shifts. The latest package in the Senate sets the tone on election issues ahead of Governor Kathy Hochul's State of the State address Tuesday and tees up negotiations with the Assembly, which has in many instances partnered on democratic reforms but in recent years has also trailed the Senate on legislation to make voting easier, reform the New York City Board of Elections, and more.
The slate announced and passed Monday would make voter suppression a crime; allow counties to establish "portable" polling locations for early voting; set-up absentee drop boxes and a statewide elections database; and allow voters to receive refreshments while waiting on line to vote – currently a prohibited form of electioneering. A sixth bill would make it harder to select a preferred court jurisdiction when filing a legal challenge to state election law. The practice, known as "forum shopping," sparked renewed interest last year when Republican challenges to new legislative district lines went before a sympathetic Republican judge in Steuben County who threw out Democrats' chosen boundaries.
"We've worked hard to cut away red tape and to eliminate unnecessary barriers that not only discourage voters from casting their ballots but sometimes even penalizes them in the process," said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a press conference in the State Capitol on Monday, flanked by members of her conference.
On Tuesday, the Senate is expected to continue the push by passing, for the second year in a row, a bill to restructure and professionalize the New York City Board of Elections, which has been subject to chronic failure in recent years, Stewart-Cousins said. In the past, that has been a tough pill to swallow for the Assembly Democratic conference, whose leaders tend to operate in lockstep with party bosses who currently control election administration.
Asked what discussions senators have had with the Assembly and about their confidence in getting the bill to the governor's desk this year, Senate Election Chair Zellnor Myrie of Brooklyn noted that the bill had previously gone through a number of iterations after discussions with Assembly members. "I think we will continue to work with the Assembly the same way we work with them on many other issues," Myrie told reporters, without getting into a forecast about support in the Assembly.
"We'll continue to work with the other house," he repeated when pressed on whether Senate Democrats have gotten a commitment from Assembly leaders on the bill.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie made no mention of voting or election legislation in his first major address of the session Monday, in which he discussed an agenda focused on housing and homelessness, economic recovery, environmental preservation, and factors associated with poverty that contribute to crime.
Asked by email to comment on the Assembly's response to the Senate package and its approach to voting legislation this session, a spokesperson for Heastie simply replied, "No."
The full package expected to pass Tuesday will include new standards for election commissioners and employees including prohibitions on holding public office and other conflicts of interest, according to Stewart-Cousins' office. It will also establish new training requirements, make election commissioner a full-time position, and create new channels for removing commissioners. The package would also raise the wages of poll workers and allow poll-site inspectors and clerks to split up grueling day-long shifts.
The Senate will likely also revisit discussions to extend the pandemic-era provision of no-excuse absentee voting, which had allowed all voters to request an absentee ballot before it expired in 2022. "Last year we faced a similar situation where it was expired and then we passed a bill to extend it," Myrie said. "Obviously subject to the leader, I suspect we'll have a similar conversation this year."
Lawmakers are also strategizing around the reintroduction of a state constitutional amendment to make ‘no-excuse’ absentee voting permanent, after voters rejected a previous amendment in a statewide referendum in 2021.
"I think that's certainly part of the discussion," Myrie said of a potential new amendment.
"I think, again, it just makes [voting] easier and I don't know why New Yorkers should be deprived of the opportunity to send in a ballot," Stewart-Cousins said. "So it is certainly something to discuss."
Good government and civil rights groups applauded the Senate for keeping up the drumbeat of incremental changes to the state's election law in the first weeks of session. "Senate Democrats have consistently advanced critical voter access laws, and we urge the Assembly and Governor to do the same," said Susan Lerner, executive director of good government group Common Cause New York, in a press release issued by the Senate majority.
“Continued improvement to our state’s democracy is contingent on policymakers, scholars, and the public having easy, equitable access to voting and election data," said Perry Grossman, Director of the Voting Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union, in a statement commending legislation to create a database of voting information. That bill would establish the New York Voting and Elections Database and Institute, a centralized public repository of state voting data maintained by local governments in partnership with SUNY and CUNY. The database would include district-level voting information related to race and language minority groups, allowing advocates to more easily track violations of New York's Voting Rights Act.
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by Ethan Geringer-Sameth, reporter, Gotham Gazette
@GeringerSameth @GothamGazette
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)
January 6, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on 2023 Priorities
New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined the show to discuss her 2023 priorities, the new Senate Democratic supermajority, her relationship with Mayor Adams, the governor's nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to be Chief Judge, lessons of the 2022 elections, and more.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
New Year's Eve revelers (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)
As we usually do around this time of year, Gotham Gazette asked New York politicos to look into their crystal balls for predictions for the year ahead. Below you'll find insights from elected officials, advocates, consultants, analysts, and others who are tuned in to New York politics.
2023 will undoubtedly be another year of importance and intrigue in New York politics, with Mayor Eric Adams entering his second year in charge, Governor Kathy Hochul starting the full term she just won, the full New York City Council on the ballot after redistricting, and much more.
We know that there will be many political races, debates, and decisions. But what *exactly* will happen? Read below for some ideas.
Before (or after) seeing this year's predictions for 2022, revisit last year's predictions for this year here — there were some really good ones, and many that missed the mark.
Have something to add to the conversation? Tweet @GothamGazette with your reactions or predictions for 2022 in New York politics.
Predictions for 2023 in New York Politics
City Council Majority Leader Keith Powers
-2023 will be a banner year for new housing throughout the city and state with Albany & New York City combining to address a citywide crisis in affordability.
-New York City sports teams will make the playoffs across the board in 2023.
City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli
Eric Adams will discover the virtue of quiet evenings by the Gracie Mansion fireplace. A standard soirée now includes chamomile and comfy flannels. A prompt 8:30 lights out will be the norm, unless it’s Yellowstone night, the Mayor’s new favorite western drama which ends at 9.
Marc Molinaro, Dutchess County Executive & Rep.-Elect NY-19
-Bipartisan solutions will be developed to provide greater federal support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and for those living with mental illness.
-Runaway spending will cause New York’s fiscal condition to continue to unravel…somehow this will be a surprise.
-The Mets will win the World Series. Yeah, I still believe!
Dr. Christina Greer, political scientist & co-host FAQNYC
-Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul may have some growing pains but neither will let their differences devolve into a de Blasio-Cuomo street fight.
-Covid will continue to seep into all areas of our lives - school, work, transportation, hospitals - and conversations about Long Covid will become more prominent.
-The lies of Rep.-elect George Santos will continue to unfold but the GOP will double down in support of the troubled lawmaker.
-The MTA will continue to need influxes of cash and the quality of service will continue to decline leaving riders stranded, frustrated, and sometimes scared.
Rachel Fee, Executive Director, New York Housing Conference
2023 will be the year of housing in New York. Governor Hochul and the Legislature will pass long overdue land use changes to spur housing supply in response to a decades-in-the-making affordability crisis. There will be pushback, but housing advocates and our allies will hold firm and ultimately win out to the benefit of tenants and communities across the state.
Betsy Gotbaum, Executive Director, Citizens Union
There will be a vibrant discussion about bold, transformative ideas to increase voter turnout in municipal elections in New York City.
Kathy Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Strong and steady, Governor Hochul will prevail over the loud voices of far left advocates on key budget issues as well as winning the confirmation of the first Latino Chief Judge in New York State history.
Olivia Lapeyrolerie, progressive political consultant
The emboldened state Republican Party will leverage their gains in the 2022 election and Eric Adams’ misguided crusade to roll back bail reform to make a serious play for more seats in the New York City Council. It’ll be a hot mess but at least we’ll have (legal) weed to get through it!
Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder, PAU, practice for architecture and urbanism
In 2023 there will be an unprecedented level of coordinated New York City-State land use actions that accelerate Gotham’s recovery from the pandemic including (1) the creation of new public spaces across Midtown to help attract and retain workers and residents; (2) the conversion of vacant obsolete office space into mixed-income housing and social infrastructure; and (3) the widespread approval of affordable housing projects across the five boroughs.
Bradley Tusk, political strategist and venture capitalist
-Finally fed up with all the endless scaffolding and the quality of life problems it breeds, the City Council legalizes building-exterior inspection via drone. This saves residents and landlords billions of dollars and makes the city a much nicer place to live.
-In response to southern states cracking down on tele-abortion, Albany passes the toughest shield law in the nation, protecting New York doctors and medical professionals from civil litigation and criminal prosecution who prescribe abortion pills to patients in red states via telemedicine.
-The Adams administration opens podcast studios in every library in New York City that are completely free for anyone to use. This helps amplify our city’s story to the world and makes people really happy. (Disclosures: Tusk’s venture capital firm has drone investments. Tusk’s foundation is helping run Mayday Health, a tele-abortion non-profit. Tusk’s bookstore, P&T Knitwear, currently has the only podcast studio in NYC that’s free for anyone to use.)
Maritza Silva-Farrell, Executive Director, ALIGN
-2023 will be the year of the worker — we'll see contracts finalized for Starbucks, Amazon, UPS Teamsters, New York's nurses, and more — and with the cost of living continuing to rise, the state will raise the minimum wage to keep up.
-We saw Swifties band together against Ticketmaster this fall; with a Beyoncé tour on the horizon, there will be major progress in breaking up corporate monopolies this spring!
-After New York voters overwhelmingly supported the Environmental Bond Act at the polls, Governor Hochul will make historic investments in climate and green jobs expansion.
William F. B. O'Reilly, political consultant, The November Team
-Buoyed by Asian, Eastern European, and Orthodox voters, Republicans will win seven New York City Council seats for the first time.
-Congressman-elect George Santos will reveal a genealogical link to President Theodore Roosevelt and declare his candidacy for the White House on the Bull(shit) Moose Party line.
-At least one more member of the U.S. Senate will become a political independent.
Eli Valentin, political analyst and professor
-Tensions between Mayor Adams and the City Council will dramatically increase, particularly during budget season. 2023 will be a make-or-break year for Adams as he inches closer to re-election in ‘25.
-We will see surprisingly close contests in some City Council districts, making a normally dull election season unusually exciting.
-Governor Hochul will not have enough State Senate votes to pass through her nominee for Chief Judge, setting off an unprecedented fight.
Annemarie Gray, Executive Director, Open New York
-By June, Governor Hochul will sign at least two major bills that will kick our housing production into a higher gear — building on a moment when we are seeing a consensus among top elected officials that building significantly more housing of all kinds is central to addressing our housing affordability crisis across the city and state, and that we must do so in more comprehensive ways than one-off project approvals.
-A growing coalition will fight for and win tenant protections and policies that increase housing supply, which can go hand in hand in a more holistic approach to how we address our severe housing affordability crisis — having more housing options includes having the option to stay.
Trip Yang, political consultant and founder, Trip Yang Strategies
-The Asian American electorate will continue to make its case as a political force, electing the first ever Asian American City Council Member in Brooklyn.
-Most incumbent City Council Members will sail to re-election, but at least one will lose in the primary election.
-Former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, who had federal corruption charges recently dismissed but still faces two counts of falsifying records, will attempt to make a political comeback.
Tom Grech, President and CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
In addition to the previously announced activity at Willets Point, look for some wonderful visioning at Citi Field to reimagine unused space.
JC Polanco, attorney and professor
-Mayor Adams' popularity increases as his plan to help New Yorkers with untreated severe mental illness shows promise.
-Speaker Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins finally agree with me and allow us independent voters to vote in primary elections. The law won't allow Republicans to vote in Democratic primaries or vice versa, but allows independent voters to vote in the primary of their choosing. New York's second largest group of voters, currently without a say in primary elections where 90% of New York City elections are decided, will have their voices valued.
-Dangerousness will become part of conditions on bail. To assure the elimination of racial disparities in bail, new chief judge Hector LaSalle will allow for the creation of a judicial equity panel to evaluate its implementation.
-My Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl.
Carol Kellermann, civic leader
-The MTA's critical need for more operating revenue sparks a movement to revive the NYC Commuter Tax on that was killed in 1999 and could generate hundreds of millions from suburbanites.
-Governor Hochul joins with Mayor Adams to press the legislature to adopt the recommendations of the NYC Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform along with a modified version of the now-expired "421a" program to incentive construction of mixed income rental housing in the City.
Sara Lind, Chief Strategy Officer, Open Plans
-Mayor Eric Adams will create a Director of the Public Realm and an Office of Public Space Management to foster well-resourced, joyful, and livable public spaces in every neighborhood in New York City.
-New York City’s elected leaders will realize that ending mandatory parking minimums is one of the simplest ways to create the city New Yorkers living in 2023 really want, helping make a more livable city for everyone.
-After much delay, Mayor Adams and the City Council will agree on a framework for the permanent Open Restaurants program, smoothing out logistical challenges, allowing restaurants to offer outdoor seating year-round, and empowering the Department of Transportation to manage our curb space as the valuable public good that it is.
-Recognizing the ongoing tragedies of traffic fatalities and injuries and vehicle emissions, Governor Kathy Hochul will champion the SAFE Streets Act so that every New Yorker can use our streets safely.
David C. Bloomfield, Professor of Education Leadership, Law & Policy, Brooklyn College and The CUNY Graduate Center
-The New York State Education Department will eliminate Regents Exam requirements for high school graduation, making them optional.
-After 2022's wildly unpopular cuts to schools in the New York City Department of Education budget, the City Council (with elections in redrawn districts in mind), will refuse Mayor Adams' proposed additional cuts, throwing budget negotiations into a tailspin.
-Tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox yeshiva students will still be denied required secular instruction despite new state regulations, New York Times exposés, and a court order while politicians continue the schools' massive subsidies.
Evan Roth Smith, Slingshot Strategies Founding Partner
-The typical power dynamic of the City Council and Mayor will invert, with Speaker Adrienne Adams leading a body increasingly unified by frustration with Mayor Eric Adams and a growing willingness to confront him. Watch for the Council to move a more aggressive agenda and vision of its own rather than reacting to the Mayor, and for the large class of first-term Council Members to find their footing with increased confidence as both legislators and political actors. The ideological lines dividing Council Members will blur as they find common purpose, and outmoded conventions such as ‘member deference’ will continue to erode. If the Council does indeed assert itself, watch for its emerging leaders to begin teasing 2025 challenges to citywide incumbents.
-The embattled leadership of the New York Democratic Party and the Brooklyn Democratic Party will hold on, despite the sound and fury over party failures in the 2022 elections. The loss of multiple winnable House seats across the state, a close shave re-election for the Governor, and anemic Democratic voter turnout (particularly in New York City) are deeply troubling for insiders, but it will take a front-page political catastrophe to spur a genuine shakeup in New York’s Democratic political establishment. Unfortunately, after this year’s dismal Democratic underperformance, an eventual catastrophe seems possible, if not probable.
Jake Oliver, Vice President, Anat Gerstein, Inc.
-The New York City Council will protect discretionary funding for nonprofits, despite the Mayor's recent suggestion that this funding may be on the chopping block.
-In 2022 the Mayor and Comptroller took steps to improve on-time contract payments and reduce contracting red tape. In 2023, with the Council leading the way, more work will be done to address decades old problems the sector has faced -- including improving wages for frontline workers doing incredibly challenging and important work.
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Tweet us @GothamGazette to add your predictions for 2023 in New York politics, or to react to something you read here. And happy new year, New York!
Doreen Harris & Basil Seggos (photo: @Doreen_M_Harris)
December 22, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The Climate Action Council's Plan for New York's Future
The Co-Chairs of New York's Climate Action Council -- Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris -- joined the show to discuss the newly-passed NYS Climate Action Council Scoping Plan, "which outlines recommended policies and actions to help meet the goals and requirements of the nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act."
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.
Read more: Max Politics Podcast: The Climate Action Council's Plan for New York's Future