On X, he’s a sassy troll-fighter. As Assembly speaker, he’s mum.

Sep 23, 2024

Presented by

Carl Heastie speaks with reporters after listening to Kathy Hochul.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said his flippant persona on X helps people realize elected officials are human beings. | Hans Pennick/AP

Jun 24, 2024 · 6:11 PM: “I really think you need to understand the real world”

...

Jun 24, 2024 · 8:26 PM: “Why can’t you take what I’m saying and just let it sink in for a second”

…

Jul 17, 2024 · 8:12 PM: “I appreciate your wrong opinion. Go sing that to your 25 followers.”

… YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! … YAWN! …

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has clearly got some sass. And all you have to do is take a look at his replies on X to see it on full display.

“Today all people want to do is yell, insult, disrespect when something doesn't happen exactly the way they want,” the speaker said, offering a bit of wisdom he’d acquired from the hard-fought trenches of X.

Three days before, he had griped that “the problem with Twitter or X” is that “People can dish it but they can’t take it.”

Twelve minutes before, he wrote a separate post making fun of the outfit a constituent was wearing in his profile picture, after the user had insulted Heastie’s home.

And the same day, he also inexplicably replied to an X user’s now-deleted post with the retort, “Ok Mr. Roast Beed Hands.” (Playbook wonders, was he trying to say “Roast Beef?”)

Any high-ranking politician who engages in freewheeling, unedited and combative conversation with constituents online is a rarity.

But it’s even more remarkable for Heastie, who is known for his taciturn style with the press as he grants comparatively few interviews and physically restricts reporters’ access in the state capitol.

When Playbook caught up with the speaker at the state fair last month, he told us his flippant persona on X helps people realize elected officials are human beings.

“I'm not this person where at the end of session, just plug me into the wall,” he said. “People want to hide behind and say offensive things, and I'm just not one of those people that just ‘cause you have an [online] name, that you could just say anything that you like.”

On the Senate side of the New York State Capitol, journalists are able to freely access the hallway where lawmakers conference and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Heastie’s counterpart, has her office.

But in the Heastie-controlled Assembly, the ability to question the speaker or other lawmakers outside Heastie’s office was stripped from reporters during Covid and has been withheld ever since. The now-restricted area on the Assembly side of the Capitol’s third floor also has an elevator that allows Heastie to leave the building after finishing legislative session without facing reporters.

And while Stewart-Cousins’ spokesperson says she held about 20 press conferences during the previous legislative session (average about one each week, with more during the final days of budget negotiations), Heastie has granted comparatively few.

Heastie’s spokesperson would not provide Playbook with the number of press conferences he held in the capitol this year, and did not respond to requests for comment on this piece. Playbook counted at least eight with the LCA this year.

“There's all these amazing things that we do get done, but we don't see them get much play,” said one Assembly staffer, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the leader of the Assembly. “So then when he does talk to the press, usually it's just the one or two things that are controversial that get brought up and our accomplishments get drowned out.” — Jason Beeferman

A message from My Health, My Caregiver:

Governor Hochul claims that CDPAP, a critical home care program, is a ‘racket’ even though the Medicaid Inspector General found 99% of claims to be accurate. Chronically ill, aging, and disabled New Yorkers rely on this program. If the Governor rips away home care from our state’s most vulnerable, over 250,000 people will be left with few options. Watch this new ad and join the fight to protect our right to home care choice.

From the Capitol

Governor Hochul announced New York’s participation in the U.S. Climate Alliance’s Governors’ Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative to grow career pathways in climate and clean energy fields, strengthen workforce diversity, and jointly train 1 million new registered apprentices across the Alliance’s states and territories by 2035

Gov. Kathy Hochul (center), along with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (right) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (left), announced a new effort to bolster clean energy workforce. | Don Pollard/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

CLIMATE WEEK KICKOFF: Gov. Kathy Hochul joined two other governors to announce a multi-state effort to promote workforce training for clean energy jobs as Climate Week kicked off in New York City.

Hochul announced a $2.3 million workforce training program for offshore wind at a U.S. Climate Alliance event today. “We need them to build solar panels to soak up the power of the sun. I need them to help raise the wind turbines in the ocean,” Hochul said. “We can't do it alone. This is why a national effort sharing best practices working with our educational institution and community organizations will help do it.”

The governors are aiming to train workers through apprenticeships, POLITICO’s Zack Colman reports. It would lean on state-run programs, which are funded in part by federal formula dollars distributed every year by the Labor Department, and partnerships with skilled trades unions, community colleges and companies. States also would use their own funding to reshape workforce development plans, such as through programs to prepare workers to earn union-run apprenticeships.

The goal is to have 1 million registered apprentices in climate ready fields by the year 2035. — Marie J. French

LET BILLIONAIRES BE: New York City Comptroller Brad Lander confirmed that he’s backed away from a previous policy proposal to increase the personal income tax rate on the top 1 percent — as he pivots away from some of his previous progressive positions to run for mayor.

At a Citizens Budget Commission event Monday morning, an investment banker living on Park Avenue asked Lander if he’s worried his proposal would drive away top earners, who pay a disproportionate share of taxes.

Lander said he pitched it in May 2023, as a way to fill the gap of expiring federal funding for popular services like universal pre-K and the Summer Rising enrichment program. Mayor Eric Adams pushed back. A year later, “I’m pleased to say those programs were able to be maintained with no tax increases,” Lander said, “and so I think we are not continuing to make that proposal.”

Lander had not pitched a tax increase in his budget analyses for the last year. But the mayoral candidate kept the door open to future tax increases to fund services.

“It is lovely to retire in Florida. We’re not going to change that. What we need is to keep this as the place people come to make the next fortune,” he said. “And we’re not going to do that unless it is more affordable and more attractive.”

When he launched his mayoral campaign over the summer, Lander told POLITICO’s Joe Anuta that he has backed off any prior plans for a tax increase on the wealthy. — Jeff Coltin

EASTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS: A person who contracted eastern equine encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness, passed away triggering a “declaration of imminent threat” by State Health Commissioner James McDonald on Monday.

The case, which was confirmed in Ulster County, is the first confirmed human case of the illness since 2015. The declaration allows the state to use funds to expand access to mosquito repellent at state parks and campgrounds and increase mosquito spraying efforts.

“Following the first confirmed human case of EEE, my administration took statewide action to help protect communities – and with today’s declaration we’re making more State resources available to local departments to support their public health response,” Hochul said in a statement. “We’ve been informed this patient has passed away from EEE, we extend our sympathies and our hearts go out to their family.” — Katelyn Cordero

A message from My Health, My Caregiver:

From The Campaign Trail

Rep. Tom Suozzi speaks.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, a centrist Democrat facing GOP challenger Mike LiPetri, stressed he has long had the back of law enforcement. | Stefan Jeremiah/AP

PBA NODS FOR LI DEM: The Nassau County and Glen Cove PBAs this morning endorsed Rep. Tom Suozzi’s reelection bid, the Long Island police unions making a rare show of support for a Democratic candidate over a Republican one.

“We need to be able to support those who support us, regardless of their party, because if we’re not willing to do that, then one party or the other will always take you for granted,” said Tommy Shevlin, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association.

The Nassau PBA has also endorsed Donald Trump for president.

And while Suozzi, a centrist Democrat facing GOP challenger Mike LiPetri, acknowledged he’d be voting for Kamala Harris for president, he stressed that he has long had the back of law enforcement.

“Defund the police, I believe, was one of the stupidest things ever said in politics,” Suozzi said.

LiPetri responded by noting that he was endorsed by the Nassau County Detectives’ Association and the Nassau County Superior Officers Association, among others, and calling Suozzi “no friend of law enforcement.” — Emily Ngo

A message from My Health, My Caregiver:

Over 250,000 sick and disabled New Yorkers rely on the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, and the Medicaid Inspector General found that 99% of claims were accurate, but Governor Hochul still called the program a “racket”.

If the Governor thinks that Alzheimer’s and cancer are a racket, then she clearly doesn’t care about vulnerable New Yorkers. Watch this new ad and join the fight to protect our right to home care choice.

IN OTHER NEWS

— AIMED AT ALBANY: A bill sponsored by GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro would bypass states with policies perceived as soft on crime to give funding directly to police and local governments. (New York Post)

— ADD SALT TO TASTE: Federal tax cuts, plus the SALT cap are set to expire, and lawmakers in competitive New York congressional districts have different red lines on eliminating, versus raising the cap. (NY1)

— PEDESTRIAN SUMMONSES: People of color make up the overwhelming majority of those who are ticketed for jaywalking by the NYPD. (Gothamist)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

Follow us on Twitter