‘It’s a systemic issue’

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Jan 13, 2025 View in browser
 
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By Nick Reisman, Emily Ngo and Jeff Coltin

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Body-worn cameras capture the assault on inmate Robert Brooks.

Key lawmakers are joining the call for broader changes to how people are incarcerated in New York after the killing of inmate Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility. | Courtesy of the Office of Attorney General Letitia James

New York lawmakers want an expansive reboot of the state corrections system after the killing of inmate Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility.

Brooks was seen on video released by Attorney General Letitia James being beaten by corrections officers. He later died at a nearby hospital.

Brooks’ death is being investigated by Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick and Gov. Kathy Hochul has publicly called for a swift outcome.

And as the legislative session gathers steam in Albany, key Democratic lawmakers are joining the call for broader changes to how people are incarcerated in New York.

“It’s a systemic issue, it’s part of a culture of violence and impunity,” state Sen. Julia Salazar, chair of the committee that oversees prisons, told Playbook. “In order to address that we need to move forward with policy changes.”

Some of the measures legislators want could face headwinds at the Capitol.

Salazar has backed a bill designed to make it easier to fire corrections officers accused of serious misconduct — replacing a process that currently gives the union representing guards a large role. In the Brooks case, Hochul has pressed to fire the officers involved.

The New York State Corrections Officers PBA has yet to publicly weigh in on the bill, though the organization condemned the beating captured on camera. A spokesperson for the union said the measure is under review. Hochul has not taken a position, her office said.

New York’s prison system has been downsizing for years. State officials have closed some two dozen of the facilities and the number of people incarcerated now stands at 32,613 — a significant decrease from a population of more than 72,000 in 1999.

Prison closures are routinely opposed by the small, rural communities that host the facilities and rely on jobs there — and sometimes hand Republicans an opening to cast New York’s Democratic leaders as being soft on crime.

But Marcy’s continued operation is under scrutiny from lawmakers as well. Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, the first person who has served time in prison and was later elected to the Legislature, wants the facility shuttered.

“I just want to create solutions,” he said.

Members of the influential Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus are also expected to press for sentencing reform, improving conditions at state prisons and strengthening treatment diversion programs meant to reduce incarceration.

One change key lawmakers are not seeking is the firing of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello.

Confirmed last year by the Democratic-controlled state Senate, Martuscello has the support of legislators for being communicative with them. Some lawmakers have credited Hochul with a forceful response after Brooks’ death — traveling to Marcy and pressing for immediate changes at the facility.

“She appointed a person who really wants to change the system for the better,” said Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, the caucus chair. “There’s a level of care and prioritization with the governor in advancing our correction facilities.” — Nick Reisman

IT’S MONDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

 

A message from RHOAR NYC:

Help Make NYC Homeownership Affordable. Pass Bill 1107 to restore short-term rental rights to small, neighborhood homeowners. NYC neighborhoods thrive through the stability of owner-occupied homes. Bill 1107 will restore short-term rental rights to one- and two-family homeowners who live in their homes and relied on short-term rental income to maintain and stay in their homes. Learn more at www.rhoar.org.

 

WHERE’S KATHY? Speaking with students at Hudson Valley Community College for a “State of the State for future leaders.”

WHERE’S ERIC? Holding a media availability, signing a pair of bills and delivering remarks at the Korean American Association of Greater New York’s celebration.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our city failed you, Debbie, both in life and in death. But we cannot fail you in memory.” — State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a New York City mayoral candidate, at a memorial for Debbie Kawam who died in December after being lit on fire while sleeping in a subway car.

ABOVE THE FOLD

Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo speak at a news conference.

Seventy-one percent of respondents in a recent poll had a negative view of Mayor Eric Adams, compared to 44 percent for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP

POLL WATCHING: Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo trounces Mayor Eric Adams and other candidates in a Democratic mayoral field Cuomo has not yet entered — but his negatives are among the highest of the contenders, a third-party poll found.

The well-known Cuomo topped the candidates with 32 percent when likely Democratic voters were asked to choose a favorite candidate in what will be a ranked-choice election. Following him were former city Comptroller Scott Stringer at 10 percent; his successor Brad Lander at 8 percent; state Sen. Jessica Ramos at 7 percent; and Adams and state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani at 6 percent.

Former Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr., who said he does not plan to run for mayor, tied Ramos at 7 percent. Candidate Michael Blake came in at 2 percent and Myrie at 1 percent, with 18 percent saying they were unsure who to choose and 3 percent selecting “other.”

The poll, obtained by Playbook, was commissioned by Progressives for Democracy in America. The nonprofit’s executive director, Alan Minsky, said he paid for it to assess the state of the race and “see which candidates might be competitive with Cuomo, given his huge name recognition advantage.”

The survey was conducted fairly early in the cycle — between Dec. 16 and Dec. 22 — and was partly driven by name recognition, since most candidates have yet to get their names out widely.

But the results for Adams are stark, and they follow public polling that shows his support cratering.

Seventy-one percent of respondents reported a negative view of Adams, compared to 22 percent registering a positive one. Cuomo had a 48-44 positive response. The other, lesser-known candidates had negatives between 5 percent, for Blake, and 20 percent, for Stringer.

Read more from POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg and Nick Reisman on the poll, and the ranked-choice results.

CITY HALL: THE LATEST

New York City Mayor Eric Adams tours the now closed Floyd Bennet Field Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center that once housed thousands of families.

Adams toured the now-empty migrant shelter at Floyd Bennet Field on Saturday. | Justin Persaud/Mayoral Photography Office

SEVERAL TO CLOSE, ONE WILL OPEN Adams marked the planned closure of 13 additional migrant shelters with a visit over the weekend to the now-shuttered Floyd Bennett Field. The sprawling Brooklyn tent complex on a federal airfield — which had held thousands of families and was riddled with problems like flooding — had become symbolic of the city’s struggle to shelter newcomers from the border.

It marked the end of an era for an administration now catching its breath as the migrant population declined for 27 straight weeks. The surge — which peaked at 69,000 last January — has played a big role in Adams’ mayoralty.

The city will open a 2,200-bed shelter site in the Bronx for single male migrants transferred from the Randall’s Island text complex.

Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition blasted Adams for not doing more to secure long-term housing, saying he’s playing “extended game of shelter whack-a-mole.”

The mayor, speaking to reporters Saturday at Floyd Bennett Field, commended his administration for their work over the years. And he repeated the refrain behind his call for the Biden administration to do more while the Democratic mayor seeking reelection (and a potential pardon) welcomes a warmer relationship with the incoming Trump team.

“This is something that none of us wanted,” Adams said. “The federal government did not do its job, and New Yorkers had to do it for them.” — Emily Ngo

NOT SO EASY, IS IT: Hedge funder Whitney Tilson vastly underestimated how hard it would be to fundraise for his mayoral campaign.

Tilson brought in an impressive $411,546 from 1,422 donors in the six weeks since launching his longshot mayoral run, his campaign exclusively told Playbook ahead of the Wednesday filing deadline. That’s far more than the $100,000 Stringer raised in his first six weeks as a candidate, or Myrie’s $175,000, to pick a couple of comparisons.

Tilson thought his friends in finance would help him out more, telling Playbook in November that he wanted to completely finish his fundraising by today — bringing in $7.9 million including public matching funds. He’ll still get there by the Democratic primary, he said, “it’s just taking longer than my most optimistic and naive assumption.”

In fact he’s only about one-fifth of the way there, and didn’t hit the threshold to unlock matching funds yet, bringing in just $141,054 in qualifying donations, when he needed more than $250,000.

“In the business world, you raise large amounts of money very quickly,” he said. “I now have scars on my back from the political world, and the fundraising process is just different. Takes longer.”

Tilson is also releasing an introductory video today saying “families are leaving because they can’t afford skyrocketing rents, their neighborhoods are safe and the education system is failing their children.”

The longtime charter school advocate is running on removing the cap on the schools and returning to Bloomberg-era education policies.

Tilson doesn’t have Mike Bloomberg’s personal wealth or even Ray McGuire’s campaign money. The fellow Wall Streeter raised way more in his 2021 campaign than Tilson did at this point, and ended up finishing a distant seventh in the primary.

Among other mayoral candidates, Myrie’s campaign told Playbook he’d unlock matching funds this filing, and Mamdani was getting close, Playbook reported last week. Lander’s campaign expects to get paid millions this week after a paperwork mishap, Stringer already got the money, and Adams has been denied. Other camps didn’t respond. — Jeff Coltin

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Jewish Voters Action Network, a PAC trying to get Republican and independent Jewish voters to register as Democrats before the New York City primaries, is running its first TV ad saying “hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers are surging” so “we need to elect representatives who will stand up for the Jewish community.”

The six-figure spend includes Fox News and NY1, and digital ads are geotargeted to key City Council districts.

The PAC is run by Maury Litwack, a Cuomo ally, and longtime Cuomo aide Rich Azzopardi reps it. The ex-gov is counting on Jewish support if he chooses to run again. — Jeff Coltin

More from the city:

Airbnb is trying to claw its way back into the city’s short-term rental market by injecting $1 million into what’s been framed as a grassroots movement of homeowners. (New York Post)

— Two other aides to former NYPD Chief Jeff Maddrey were also raided by the feds in an overtime investigation. (New York Post)

City Council Member Shahana Hanif scrubbed her campaign site and social media of past comments calling to defund the police as she prepares for a primary challenge. (Jewish Insider)

 

A message from RHOAR NYC:

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NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY

New York State Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) speaks during a joint legislative hearing in Albany, N.Y.

Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin supports a hike in Medicaid funding. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo

RATE DEBATE: Upstate New York nursing homes this year will urge state officials to increase their support for the Medicaid program.

The New York Providers Alliance, an industry group that represents upstate nursing homes, will unveil an effort today to press for a hike in the reimbursement rate for nursing homes in the program in order to better attract and retain staff.

Key lawmakers like Assembly Health Chair Amy Paulin are supportive of a hike in funding.

“Nursing homes are in need of a significant investment in the executive budget,” Paulin said. “They care for our most vulnerable New Yorkers every day. I call on the governor to find a way to provide the support they need.”

Hochul’s office has not weighed in, and the governor is expected to release her budget proposal on Jan. 21.

But the push is running up against the reality that’s been raised by budget hawks: The Medicaid program remains the costly item in the state’s spending plan, and another increase may be a tough ask this year. — Nick Reisman

PLAYING DEFENSE: Public defenders are pushing back on efforts in Albany to roll back discovery reforms.

The Legal Aid Society, Citizen Action of New York, the Bronx Defenders and other advocacy groups will announce a new coalition today — the Alliance to Protect Kalief’s Law.

The group will spend this year’s Legislative session battling efforts from district attorneys and electeds to “revert New York’s discovery laws to an era that fueled mass incarceration, drove wrongful convictions, and delayed cases,” the coalition said.

The formation of the group comes as critics of the discovery law changes, which were passed in 2019, say the reforms have become overly burdensome for prosecutors. Many of the state’s district attorneys want to roll back those changes, arguing they’ve triggered a sharp increase in case dismissals because prosecutors cannot meet the stringent evidence-sharing requirements.

“Before these reforms were enacted, we had one of the most restrictive discovery laws in the country,” Legal Aid’s Amanda Jack, who is helping organize the coalition, told Playbook. “We can't go back to that.”

The group is also being formed as voters in the state and city consistently rank public safety a top concern — and Hochul is doubling down on efforts to paint herself as “tough on crime.”

The coalition is named in honor of Kalief Browder, the 22-year-old Bronx man who took his own life in 2015 following the three years he spent awaiting trial on Rikers Island after he was arrested at 16 for allegedly stealing a backpack.

“Open and transparent evidence sharing works to prevent wrongful convictions,” Jack said. “It increases the efficiency of the work that we do as defenders, and it creates a more fair, just and equitable system.” — Jason Beeferman

THE SENATE’S ELECTION PACKAGE: State senators will spend their first regular day of business today passing a package of nine election bills. That’s become a bit of a tradition – the chamber has spent early January focused on voting reforms every year since Democrats assumed the majority in 2019.

“It’s a great message to send when we’re beginning a legislative session — the first order of business is enhancing our democracy,” said Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris.

This year’s package includes a bill to ban corporations with foreign investors from donating to super PACs and one that would make it a crime to send voters misleading information with the intent of suppressing the vote. — Bill Mahoney

More from Albany:

New York’s controversial law limiting when cash bail is required is now five years old. (Gothamist)

Rep. Ritchie Torres blasted Hochul over the drug problem plaguing the South Bronx. (New York Post)

Hundreds of deaths at New York state prisons go unexplained. (City & State)

KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: US President-elect Donald Trump leaves the Trump International Golf Club in a convoy of vehicles on December 21, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. President-elect Trump has been staying at the club and announcing nominees to fill out his upcoming administration while he awaits his January 20 inauguration. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images)

New York Republicans were among those meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. | Getty Images

RUBBING INTO THE WOUND: Democrats are pouncing after a summit between Trump and House Republicans appeared to result only in vague assurances that the SALT cap would be lifted — and no evidence it could be repealed.

The Republicans from Long Island and the Hudson Valley are confident they can increase the state and local tax deduction limit, but they’ve signaled that a return to the no-cap days (before Trump’s 2017 tax legislation) is unrealistic.

Democrats are all too eager to remind Republicans they campaigned on a repeal, so the party in the minority in Washington is attacking — albeit from the sidelines.

“New York Republicans keep showing just how little power they actually have and how craven they are,” said Battleground New York spokesperson Andrew Grossman. “New York Republicans promised to fight for New York, but they are just rolling over. They went to Mar-a-Lago and came back empty-handed.”

Hochul knocked Rep. Mike Lawler, who has become the face of the SALT fight and who is weighing a 2025 challenge to her, posting on X: “New Yorkers deserve a full repeal of the SALT cap. Anything less is a failure—and you know it, Mike.” (She called him by his first name after he used hers in an X attack last week.)

Lawler has blamed Hochul for high taxes, but has also responded to colleagues who see SALT as a giveaway, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), that states like New York subsidize states like South Carolina.

The GOP delegation from New York, New Jersey and California met Saturday with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, and he asked them to find a “fair number” on SALT, POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill reported.

Privately, House GOP leaders have told some Republicans that without a way forward on SALT, they can’t properly plan for just how big the final package will be and how much they’ll need to cut spending to pay for it.

“This is all negotiation to build consensus, so that’s obviously what our job is as members of Congress, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Lawler told POLITICO.

“The president can take this back and continue negotiations with our side, with the Senate side, and figure out what we can get done,” Rep. Claudia Tenney said, affirming that Trump “wants us to find a number for him.” — Emily Ngo

More from the delegation:

The battle to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik in the House is taking shape. (Times Union)

Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen are open to deportation for undocumented immigrants who break the law. (Newsday)

House Republicans believe Trump is on board with ending the congestion pricing program. (Gothamist)

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

In an exit interview, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Breon Peace doesn’t think Adams has been targeted for political reasons. (Rolling Stone)

Trump’s wind energy stance is drawing concern from the industry about the future of key projects. (Newsday)

The former head of the State Police investigator’s union is making a bid for Sullivan County sheriff. (Times Union)

 

A message from RHOAR NYC:

When New York City passed and began enforcing its overly strict short-term rental law, many hard-working families who relied on income from sharing their homes were financially devastated. After a year of advocacy and thousands of letters into City Hall from homeowners across NYC’s five boroughs, the New York City Council recently introduced Bill 1107 to restore short-term rental rights to registered one- and two-family homeowners who live in their homes. Passing Bill 1107 will mean increasing the economic tools available to everyday New Yorkers to maintain and stay in their homes, creating stability for the city’s most vulnerable homeowners and the local communities and businesses that depend on them. Learn more at www.rhoar.org.

 
SOCIAL DATA

Edited by Daniel Lippman

OPPO DROP: Tappan Research has merged with Northside Research, an opposition research and "no attribution communications" firm. Tappan founder Nolan Wanecke is now a Northside partner, and the entire Tappan team has come along, the firm says. Northside President Jonathan Davis — one of New York mag’s most powerful New Yorkers you’ve never heard of, declined to comment.

MAKING MOVES: Former state Sen. Kevin Thomas will join Mercury Public Affairs as co-chair of Long Island … Connor Martinez, former director of city legislative affairs for Adams, is now vice president of government and community affairs at L+M Development Partners.

— Noah Taicher is joining Rep. Russell Fry’s (R-S.C.) office as a legislative assistant. He most recently was legislative assistant for Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.). … Tracy Bacigalupo was named the managing partner of the New York office for Womble Bond Dickinson.

IN MEMORIAM: Former Sen. Seymour Lachman, who wrote two books exposing self-dealing in Albany, died at 91. (New York Times)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Parkside’s Dan KatzNate Silver … City & State’s Sophie Krichevsky … CUNY’s Hector Batista … NYU Silver’s Michael A. LindseyRod Rosenstein Tim NoahMarc ThiessenJulia Tishman EliasChristina (Svolopoulos) RobbinsMax Sanders(WAS SUNDAY): Buildings Commissioner Jimmy OddoAndrew Yang Basil SmikleWinn Periyasamy of the Manhattan BP's office … Jeff Bezos (61) … Christiane Amanpour Doug Thornell of SKDK … CAP’s Sam HananelHoward Stern Harold S. Koplewicz ... Daniel Silvermintz Eliza (Hanson) McDonald (WAS SATURDAY): Jason Goldman … MSNBC’s Rashida Jones … NOTUS’ Reese Gorman … Yahoo’s Caragh Fisher O’Connor … NBCUniversal’s Rose Wallace Catherine MorrisMichael Eigen ... Frederic MishkinMelissa Ruffel(WAS FRIDAY): Sydny Miner

Missed Friday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.

 

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