| | | | |  | | By Marie J. French | |  New York lawmakers are probably not going to making additional restrictions to natural gas use in the final weeks of the legislative session. | Brittainy Newman/AP Photo | After cutting a deal for the nation’s first legislative ban on fossil fuels in most new buildings, lawmakers are resisting additional limitations on the natural gas system in the final days of the session — despite a call for action in New York’s climate plan. Environmental advocates have put much of their end-of-session focus on a measure that has backing among Senate Democrats to reshape the regulatory paradigm for the gas system. The session is slated to end June 8. The “NY HEAT” measure would eliminate the statutory requirement for gas utilities to provide service to new customers that request it and also allow for decommissioning sections of the gas system, switching customers to electric heat. Some of the legislative changes, including an elimination of subsidies for new hookups, are recommended in the state’s climate plan to enable achievement of New York’s ambitious emissions reduction targets. Assembly Democrats look unlikely to move the proposal, which has more than 50 co-sponsors but is short of support from 76 members often needed to move forward. Assemblymember Ken Zebrowski (D-Rockland County) said he would not move it out of his committee. “This bill is too much of a threat to existing natural gas customers,” Zebrowski said. “Obviously, we're taking steps to make sure New York is transitioning and certainly, we can have conversations with the Public Service Commission about necessary statutory changes to facilitate” that. Natural gas is the dominant source of fuel for heating homes in New York: nearly 60 percent relied on gas from a utility system in 2021, according to federal data. The state Public Service Commission has launched a process to begin planning for the future of the gas system, but the regulator is limited by the statutory requirements for utilities to provide service and subsidize the cost of new hookups. That means those plans likely won’t include strategic removal of sections of “leak prone pipe” that may not be actively spewing methane, but are made of materials considered a potential risk, said Chris Casey, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Current rate hike proposals to replace those pipes instead of considering removal will also lock in higher costs for ratepayers, incentivizing those who can afford heat pumps to switch and leaving the remaining customers with escalating costs, he said. “I think people want to fear monger and make it seem as if this is a bill about, you know, coming to rip out your gas stoves right away. It's not that at all,” he said. “It's really about planning for and enabling a strategic transition of the system, and there will be processes in place before any section of the system is downsized.” Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed eliminating subsidies for new hookups in her budget proposal last year, but hasn’t advocated aggressively for the measure this year. And while this year’s budget included limits on fossil fuels in new buildings in future years, it doesn’t restrict existing buildings switching to gas, which is a significant driver of additional demand in some regions of the state. |  | From the Capitol | | | | 
Alan Chartock, the president and CEO of WAMC, the Albany-based public radio station, announced his retirement on Thursday, May 25, 2023. | Newswire via the Associated Press | CHARTOCK STEPS DOWN: Albany’s WAMC announced on Thursday that Alan Chartock is stepping away as head of the radio station after four decades. Nobody has wielded more power over radio in New York state during that time: Figures such as NPR ombudsmen have repeatedly concluded that public radio in the eastern half of upstate has frequently served as Chartock’s “fiefdom” that advances his views. He’s also spent much of that time as a key figure in state politics. He famously hosted a weekly show with Mario Cuomo for over a decade, providing a platform for that governor to communicate with New Yorkers on everything from global politics to baseball. Cuomo’s son spurned his requests for years, but Andrew surprisingly made one of his first public appearances in a Chartock interview after winning a third term in 2018. That interview went well — with Chartock attempting to nudge a Cuomo into a presidential campaign, as he had done many times before and would do again in the future — and the governor soon made WAMC his preferred media stop for the next year. — Bill Mahoney
| | From City Hall | | | | 
Adrienne Adams, the City Council president, is facing a showdown with Mayor Eric Adams over housing vouchers. | Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music | HOUSING HOSTILITIES: A showdown is brewing at City Hall. On Thursday, City Council members overwhelmingly approved a package of bills that would make it easier for New Yorkers to get housing vouchers. The mayor, however, has expressed strong opposition — a situation that could potentially trigger a mayoral veto. Vetoes have been a rarity around City Hall as of late. While former Mayor Mike Bloomberg nixed 70 bills over his dozen years in office, his successor, Bill de Blasio, never vetoed one. Ahead of Thursday’s vote, the administration reiterated its opposition to the proposals, which officials have said would plug up the voucher program and cost taxpayers billions. “The package of legislation to expand eligibility for housing vouchers being considered by the City Council today, while well intentioned, would do significant harm to the most vulnerable unhoused New Yorkers,” Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Park said in a statement. But should the mayor strike down the bills, the Council could have the ultimate say. With the support of two-thirds of the body, or 34 members, lawmakers can override a veto. On Thursday, 41 members voted in favor. Adrienne Adams, the Council speaker, did not elaborate much on the possibility during a press briefing, but said ahead of the afternoon vote she was confident the legislation would pass. “We’ll cross that bridge if and when we get there,” she said. She sharpened her criticism of the mayor while arguing the legislation would be “critical to the success of our city” by transitioning more New Yorkers into permanent housing. As city budget negotiations enter their final month, the spat over housing vouchers is just one more thing complicating the dynamic between the mayor and his Council counterpart, despite their pledges to stay cordial and work together even when they don’t see eye to eye. “Our relationship is… interesting right now,” the speaker said of the mayor. — Zachary Schermele
| | On The Beats | | | | 
New Rochelle grew its housing stock and thus has limited rent increases, a new report showed. | Julia Rubin/AP Photo | HOUSING COSTS: New York jurisdictions that permitted more housing production have also seen lower rent growth in recent years, according to a new Pew analysis. The two places with the slowest rent growth in New York state were New Rochelle and White Plains, per Apartment List data cited by Pew — seeing 8 percent and 5 percent rent growth, respectively. They both grew their housing stock by an average of 11 percent between 2017 and 2021, the analysis said. Meanwhile, Suffolk County on Long Island and Monroe County, which includes Rochester, saw the fastest rent growth — at 37 percent and 45 percent. Both counties grew their housing stock by only 1 percent. “These examples from New York are consistent with numerous studies that have found that adding new housing helps hold down rent growth, even when new units do not have explicit affordability requirements,” the report said. The argument echoed those made by Hochul earlier this year as she pushed her plan to force towns and cities to build more housing, which failed to make it into the final budget deal. — Janaki Chadha
NONPROFITS RALLY: Human services workers across the city’s nonprofit sector rallied outside City Hall on Thursday to spotlight what they said is a 30 percent pay gap between them and their public-sector peers.
The workers, who operate city-funded programs such as food pantries and benefits enrollment assistance, called on Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to include money for a 6.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment to their wages in the upcoming city budget. Pay in the sector is so low that 60 percent of the city’s 80,000 human services workers qualify for government assistance, two executives wrote in a Crain’s op-ed this week. To drive the message home, nonprofits paused 30 percent of services for the day, from home meal deliveries to English as a Second Language classes. (A rep from the Human Services Council, an association representing nearly 200 New York nonprofits, said organizations gave recipients two meals yesterday to compensate.) — Maya Kaufman EDUCATION: State University of New York Chancellor John King Jr. said that by the fall, SUNY will kick off uniform data reporting standards at system administration and all state-operated campuses. That will entail breaking down Asian American and Pacific Islander data by ethnic group. The subgroups include Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Bangladeshi, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Native Hawaiin, Guamanian and Chamorro and Samoan. The university said it will regularly update the subgroups to reflect the top 10 AAPI ethnic groups of the state’s population. As of the fall 2022 semester, SUNY enrolled more than 30,000 AAPI students, representing 8.3 percent of SUNY’s total enrollment. This comes amid Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. “The term ‘Asian’ is a political construct and does not factor in the significant cultural and linguistic differences among various groups,” King said in a statement. “The disaggregation of data is important for student success and, in shaping initiatives to foster belonging.” SUNY system and state-operated campuses will also start collecting disaggregated demographic data from individuals with Hispanic origins and those who identify as LGBTQIA+ for students, staff and faculty. — Madina Touré
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Heading to the beach this summer? Here’s the best ones in the Hudson Valley. (Times Union) — The Buffalo Marathon is coming back for the weekend before Memorial Day. (Buffalo News) — Via The New York Times’: “It’s Finally (Almost) Summer! Here’s What to Do in New York in June.” — A derelict powerhouse in Brooklyn has been turned into a community arts facility. (WNYC) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
