| | | | |  | | By Janaki Chadha, Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo | With help from Rich Mendez
|  City Council Member Chi Ossé's bill to eliminate broker fees will be on trial today. | Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit | Much-maligned broker fees — loathed by New York renters, cherished by the real estate industry — will be on trial at City Hall today. The Real Estate Board of New York says it expects some 1,500 leasing agents to gather on the steps of the building to reject a bill that would prevent renters from being on the hook for broker fees for agents they did not hire. The legislation, pushed by lefty City Council Member Chi Ossé, aims to reduce the substantial upfront costs associated with renting an apartment in New York. Securing a unit priced at, say, $3,000 per month can involve paying a one-time fee above $4,000. Just yards away at City Hall Park Ossé, who’s been running a savvy social media campaign for his bill, will be joined by fellow council members, housing groups and unions like DC 37 and the Hotel Trades Council to celebrate the legislation. “If you’re a working-class New Yorker, a union member, a single parent working paycheck to paycheck, you can’t save multiple paychecks and have $10,000 to spend on just moving fees,” Ossé told Playbook. “This is pushing people out of the city, this is restricting families from growing, this is preventing people from moving to New York.” REBNY argues the measure would simply lead to higher monthly rents: Instead of charging a one-time fee, owners would bake the costs of hiring a broker into rental prices. Or, the trade group says, landlords who don’t have the means won’t hire brokers at all — ultimately making it harder to find quality apartment listings and threatening an industry of real estate agents. “The costs of a fee or a commission isn’t going to just evaporate into thin air,” said Ryan Monnell, REBNY’s vice president of government affairs. He noted renters can currently seek out ‘no fee’ apartments, which represent about half the units on the market, saying, “One thing that you have right now when you go out to look for a rental is you have some semblance of choice.” With Ossé’s legislation, he said, “you’re really eliminating that choice.” Ossé’s bill failed to get a hearing when it was first introduced last year, but it appears to be gaining momentum. A majority of the council — 34 members — have signed onto the bill, and it’s gotten support from unlikely players like pro-business consultant Bradley Tusk, who argues it will benefit younger renters the city needs to attract. Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, expressed some reservations about the measure, referencing his personal experience working as a broker. “No one wants to have tenants pay what they shouldn’t have to pay, but real estate agents do a lot of work,” Adams said on Tuesday. “Because I’ve had so many jobs, I think through and deliberate on these things. Idealism collides with realism when you start to try to alter entire industries.” — Janaki Chadha HAPPY WEDNESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | WHERE’S KATHY? Welcoming King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands to Albany. WHERE’S ERIC? Making a youth and public safety-related announcement with Attorney General Tish James. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’d like to know a good fucking reason why it’s been denied. … I’ve never seen anything like this. We’re like a third-world country here.” — Sen. Chuck Schumer on Jan. 6, 2021, grilling the Army secretary about why the National Guard hadn’t been deployed to the Capitol following the siege, in previously unreleased documentary footage, via Mediaite.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
City Comptroller Brad Lander, a possible mayoral candidate for next year, is expected to announce legal challenges to Gov. Kathy Hochul's recent congestion pricing flip. | Ayman Siam/Office of NYC Comptroller | THE BELL TOLLS: City Comptroller Brad Lander and a host of advocacy groups want to save congestion pricing. Legal challenges are beckoning. Lander today is expected to unveil a coalition of left-leaning organizations, including from the environmental world, that will bring lawsuits in a bid to counter Gov. Kathy Hochul’s effort to place the toll plan on an indeterminate pause, POLITICO reports. The comptroller huddled with about 75 organizations on a video call Monday to hash out a legal path forward, according to two people who were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions. State and federal lawsuits are possible as multiple organizations plan legal challenges. Lander’s planned news conference comes as he has been named a possible candidate for mayor next year. The effort also comes after Hochul and the Democratic-led Legislature could not agree on an alternative funding source to replace the estimated $1 billion the tolls would have brought in annually. Hochul’s decision to support a pause in the program’s expected June 30 start date has called into question infrastructure improvements for the beleaguered mass transit system in the New York City area. Proposals to replace the toll revenue with a payroll mobility tax increase or sweep money from the state’s general fund in order to leverage it against $15 billion bonds for the capital projects fell flat with lawmakers last week. A special session of the Legislature to address the funding issue before the year ends has not yet been called. Hochul has said her about-face on congestion pricing is driven by a concern over the skyrocketing cost of living in New York City. At the same time, she has insisted she will find a way to fund projects for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s run-down buses and trains. “I’m committed to continuing those projects with alternative funding,” she said Monday in the Bronx. — Nick Reisman and Joe Anuta
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar hosted a fundraiser for Adams Tuesday night as she eyes a run for comptroller in 2025. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO | WHERE ELSE?: Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar hosted a campaign fundraiser for Adams Tuesday night at members-only club Zero Bond as she considers a run for comptroller next year on a de facto ticket with her close ally, the mayor. Rajkumar already contributed $1,000 to Adams’ campaign last year and has also given $2,500 to his legal defense fund. “I support leaders who are laser-focused on solving our city’s problems,” Rajkumar told Playbook but declined to comment further on the fundraiser, or her own political plans. — Jeff Coltin LABOR FOR EARLY ED: Adams has resisted calls to reverse cuts to the city’s popular preschool program — even as his schools chancellor once revealed he was “fighting like heck” to make it happen. Now, 15 of the city’s labor unions, including some closely aligned with Adams, are looking to tip the scale amid his ongoing budget negotiations with the City Council — sending a joint letter that’s first in Playbook. Their push is a sign of continued political fallout from his decision to roll back his predecessor’s signature initiative. The letter’s signatories include DC 37, RWDSU, 1199 SEIU, the Central Labor Council and the Building Trades Council. Notably absent from the letter are two unions closely aligned with the mayor: the Hotel Trades Council and 32BJ, which reps building service workers. Both were early in endorsing his mayoral election in 2021 and have remained steadfast allies. “The proposed budget cuts would undermine the progress we have made towards educational equity and social justice,” the unions wrote. Their asks include restoring $170 million to 3K and pre-K and $60 million for extended day and extended year seats. The outstanding cuts to 3K remain a sticking point in budget talks, but Adams isn’t budging. Amaris Cockfield, a City Hall spokesperson, said: “We look forward to an adopted budget that reflects the administration and the council’s mutual priorities around support for youth and their families.” — Madina Touré PROGRESSIVE AGENDA: Do the lefties have as much of a hold on the City Council as the mayor thinks? We’ll find out. First in Playbook, the 18-member Progressive Caucus shared its agenda of 13 bills they’ll be pushing for this term, through the end of next year. Ossé’s broker bill tops the list. Other goals include giving government grants to organizations supporting sex workers, banning City Hall from evicting migrants from shelters and a package to open more city bathrooms to the public. — Jeff Coltin CONGESTION PRICING PAUSE THREATENS AIR QUALITY PROGRESS: A two-year-long research effort into local heat and air quality fills a gap in state and city data on hyperlocal levels of pollution, ahead of what was going to be the scheduled start of congestion pricing, POLITICO Pro reports. Traffic during rush hour drove the highest recorded levels of air pollution in the neighborhoods near four participating organizations in the Bronx and Brooklyn, according to a report released today by the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. The MTA had committed to efforts to reduce air pollution, like funding electric trucks, as part of securing federal approval for congestion pricing. Now it isn’t clear if the efforts will be delayed. — Marie J. French More from the city: — A resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza could be on the City Council’s agenda next week, but draft language has not yet been shared with members. (Forward) — Adams joined Oct. 7 families to decry pro-Palestinian protesters who had demonstrated outside the Nova Exhibition memorial to victims of Hamas’ attack. (Daily News) — City Hall counsel Lisa Zornberg has become a leading voice in Adams’s political and policy clashes with the City Council. (Hell Gate)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
A bill that would assess the use of AI by state government heads to Hochul's desk. | Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images | AI WATCH: New York lawmakers want a better idea of how much artificial intelligence and automated decision tools are already being deployed across state government. And a bill heading to Hochul’s desk is expected to do just that. Lawmakers approved a measure in the final days of the legislative session that would require state agencies to assess their use of automated decision-making systems for areas like public benefits, civil liberties, welfare and constitutional rights. The Legislature also wants impact assessments made on a regular basis. “Automated decision-making and artificial intelligence provide great tools for improving services,” Assemblymember Steve Otis said. “These tools must be accompanied by guardrails, transparency, and oversight to make sure that management of these systems remain controlled by humans and that they do not provide faulty, biased or discriminatory outcomes.” It’s not clear if Hochul will sign the bill. But she has been willing to address the questions surrounding the use of artificial intelligence, especially in how the technology could be used to manufacture disinformation in political campaigns. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Uncertainty over MTA funding is fueling a push to accelerate casino licenses. (New York Post) — Congestion pricing cash crunch could give the MTA an out on a pact to make almost all subway stations accessible. (THE CITY) — New York is launching a mobile app that will allow people to store a digital version of their identification. (Newsday)
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE: As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
A recent poll has George Latimer leading Rep. Jamaal Bowman by 17 points, but Bowman says AIPAC's record spending gave Latimer the edge. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO | LATIMER LEADS: House challenger George Latimer had a 17-point lead over incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman in NY-16, according to a new poll by PIX 11, Emerson and the Hill. The survey, which also showed that 21 percent of respondents are undecided, is one of the few public polls in the contentious Westchester County and Bronx primary. Bowman, the vulnerable Squad member, credited Latimer’s polling edge to the resources that pro-Israel AIPAC has flooded into the race. “AIPAC’s Republican megadonors have spent a record-setting $13 million dollars to sow disillusionment and depress turnout,” he said in a statement. “But this election is about the many versus the money.” Latimer, the Westchester County executive who boasts widespread local official support, saw the stakes differently: “My proven track record of delivering real progressive results versus the incumbent's divisiveness, dishonesty, hostility.” — Emily Ngo
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — New York is probing nurse staffing shortages at Albany Medical Center. (Times Union) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has agreed to testify before Congress on July 12, a day after former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money trial. (AP) — The union representing New York City probation officers called for higher pay as former President Donald Trump meets virtually with his probation officer. (THE CITY)
| | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Kate Spaulding joins exalt as its first chief strategy officer. She was formerly the director of strategic initiatives at the Mayor’s Office of Engagement. WEDDING — William Candrick, senior director, analyst for cybersecurity, at Gartner, and Daniela Ramras, senior associate at Veris Insights, wed on June 7th. The couple met on Hinge in NYC, but a subway delay nearly derailed their first date. Luckily, they never looked back after a second-date dinner at Pastis. They were joined by family for a small ceremony and celebration in the West Village. Pics by Mina Sisley ... Another pic WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno’s Ardian Tagani and his wife Oerta Trepca of Nasdaq welcomed a baby boy on Thursday. — Luke Hornblower, associate at Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., and Sarah Hornblower on June 1 welcomed Margot Roosevelt Hornblower, who came in at 8 lbs 14 oz. She is the namesake of Luke's mom, journalist Margot Roosevelt, and joins big brother Clark. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Former Assemblymember David Buchwald … National Urban League’s Jerika Richardson … NBC’s Carrie Budoff Brown … Dag Vega of BCW Global … Bloomberg’s Kevin Sheekey … U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. for Management and Reform Chris Lu … Julie Andreeff Jensen … Alexis Levinson … (WAS TUESDAY): Steven A. Cohen ... Betsy Gotbaum ... Barry Friedman ... Scott Gottlieb Missed Tuesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here. | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
