| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia | Presented by Equinor | We can now say with some certainty that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo won't face criminal penalties for the alleged sexual harassment, inappropriate touching and other misconduct that drove him from office. The last prosecutor pursuing an investigation against Cuomo delivered his decision Monday, and won't be bringing charges against the former governor. Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes was looking into allegations made by Virginia Limmiatis, a Syracuse-area woman and energy company employee, who told investigators last year that Cuomo groped her and touched her chest at a 2017 event. But like other DAs who have gone after Cuomo in recent months, he ultimately concluded the case could not be made. Oakes said there was "not a sufficient legal basis" to turn the incident into a criminal prosecution. The case that went the furthest against Cuomo was one in Albany, where he was actually hit with a criminal complaint. But it was ultimately dropped with only a brief virtual court appearance required of the former governor. DAs in Westchester, Nassau county and Manhattan also launched headline-grabbing investigations but couldn't make the charges stick. As each case closed, prosecutors have stressed that the decision not to pursue charges doesn't mean Cuomo didn't do it, and it doesn't mean it wasn't bad. Oakes made the same point, saying: "To be clear, this decision is based solely upon an assessment of the law and whether the People can establish a legally sufficient case under controlling precedent. In no way should this decision be interpreted as casting doubt upon the character or credibility of Ms. Limmiatis, or how harmful the acts she experienced were." Cuomo, despite making the choice to resign after the state attorney general found he harassed multiple women, has insisted since leaving office that he is in fact innocent. After emerging from the whole mess with no criminal record, he got in another jab at AG Tish James. His spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said: "This has always been a political hit job to further the Attorney General's own ambitions, which both reeks of prosecutorial misconduct and has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars." The AG's office responded: "Mr. Cuomo's relentless attacks on these brave women will not mask the truth — he is a serial sexual harasser." IT'S TUESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold WHERE'S KATHY? Holding a Covid-19 briefing in the Bronx. WHERE'S ERIC? Speaking at two Lunar New Year celebrations, meeting virtually with the New York City Congressional delegation, and attending the viewing service for Police Officer Wilbert Mora. QUOTE OF THE DAY — "What we're not going to do is to stay in this state of terror terror terror teror terror terror all the time. We're doing the right things, moving in the right direction … This is a real W for us. You know, you can be so used to getting the Ls that you must wake up every day and hope that you get the L. No, New York – Eric is your mayor! We get Ws now. We're gonna win." — Mayor Eric Adams, when asked Monday about his relative lack of emphasis on the Covid-19 pandemic since taking office.
| | | | A message from Equinor: Can a wind turbine generate more than electricity? We believe it can. At Equinor, we're planning to power 2,000,000 New York homes with homegrown, renewable energy that will also boost the economy and generate jobs. And we will do more. Equinor is a broad energy company with an ambitious net-zero target for 2050. We're pursuing the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind offshore wind developmentsin the US and quickly becoming a leader in this growing industry. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | " NYC's Unvaccinated Workforce Faces Feb. 11 Termination Without Proof of Shots," by NBC New York's Myles Miller and Andrew Siff: "Police, firefighters, and other New York City employees face their final deadline to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be terminated come Feb. 11. That deadline was announced Monday, months after the city's health commissioner issued an order that all municipal employees receive their vaccination series in order to work. Any city workers staring down next month's cutoff was to be given notice by Monday, according to memos obtained by News 4. The Feb. 11 applies to two groups: new hires who have not submitted proof of a second vaccine dose, if required to complete their series, and unvaccinated employees currently on unpaid leave who did not request to continue receiving health benefits past June." Adams said food will be a 'signature' part of his climate agenda, by POLITICO's Danielle Muoio Dunn: Mayor Eric Adams, a vegan, said Monday he will make changing the way New Yorkers eat a central part of his climate agenda — a pivot from the former administration's approach to cracking down on greenhouse gas emissions. "We talk about fossil fuel, we talk about we need electric vehicles. No one is talking about the plate," Adams said at a Monday climate announcement from City Hall. "The plate is not only destroying Mother Nature, it's destroying our mothers and our children as well." " Adams Taps Former Bloomberg Adviser To Head DEP, Lead On Climate Change," by Gothamist's Elizabeth Kim: "Mayor Eric Adams has appointed a former adviser to Mayor Michael Bloomberg to lead New York City's climate change initiatives as well as the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — a newly created dual role that will streamline two government offices that have gained increased significance in recent years. Rohit Aggarwala, who led sustainability efforts under Bloomberg and helped author the PlaNYC blueprint, will become the city's new chief climate officer and commissioner of the DEP. The mayor, who announced the news on Monday at City Hall, described the new role as the creation of a new leadership team on climate change." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Susan Donoghue, president of the Prospect Park Alliance, is a leading candidate to oversee the city's parks department, three people familiar with the likely appointment have confirmed. Donoghue, formerly a senior adviser and assistant commissioner at the agency, was involved in former Mayor Mike Bloomberg's PlaNYC blueprint for resiliency before being tapped to lead the 585-acre Brooklyn green space. The vacant commissionership is a coveted role: Among the names bandied about for Mayor Eric Adams' pick was his one-time campaign rival, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer. But the job is not all feel-good ribbon-cuttings, said Amy Freitag, executive director of the J.M. Kaplan Fund that focuses on conservation. "What COVID exposed was the fact that parks are sort of the central infrastructure of the city, and that everybody deserves a safe, wonderful place to breathe and be outside with their children and to recreate. That's not an amenity; that's an essential," Freitag said. "There's nothing like living in the day to day life of a park to really understand what it means to be in charge of a park system." Donoghue did not respond to a request for comment and Adams spokesman Fabien Levy declined to comment. — Sally Goldenberg
| | | | BECOME A GLOBAL INSIDER: The world is more connected than ever. It has never been more essential to identify, unpack and analyze important news, trends and decisions shaping our future — and we've got you covered! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Global Insider author Ryan Heath navigates the global news maze and connects you to power players and events changing our world. Don't miss out on this influential global community. Subscribe now. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "New York State's Mask Mandate Will Stay in Effect During Court Appeal," by Bloomberg's Bob Van Voris: "New York's requirement that masks be worn in schools and businesses that don't screen for vaccination will remain in place while a state court considers a challenge to it. The New York State Supreme Court ruling comes after a brief whipsaw last week that saw the mask mandate upended by a Long Island judge before being temporarily reinstated the next day. Governor Kathy Hochul's administration imposed the mandate in December in response to rising Covid-19 cases." " N.Y.'s daily COVID case tally drops 80% in 2 weeks as omicron ebbs," by New York Daily News' Tim Balk: "As the omicron COVID surge ebbed the final two weeks of January, New York State saw its daily case count drop by 80% and its hospitalization tally sink by almost 40%, according to data released by Gov. Hochul's office on Monday. Less than 6% of COVID test results statewide came back positive in each of the past three days, according to government figures. The state's daily test positive rate peaked above 23% at the start of the month, when the virus was rippling through New York with vicious velocity." New York mobile sports betting tops $1.1B in wagers in 3 weeks, by POLITICO's Joseph Spector: New York's mobile sports betting is off to a torrid start in its first three weeks since launching, topping $1.1 billion in bets since Jan. 8 and on pace to break the U.S. record for wagers set by New Jersey in October. After a record-breaking first weekend, New York is up to five online sports betting vendors, and they continue to see growth in betting over the first three weeks, records from the state Gaming Commission showed. Wagering grew from $432 million in the week ending Jan. 16 to $573 million for the week ending Jan. 23, a 33% jump, state records released late Friday showed.
| | | | A message from Equinor:   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | Who is running now? New York's new congressional maps jumble GOP slates, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: Let the jockeying, and potentially the moving, begin. New congressional lines released Sunday set off a scramble among candidates and members of Congress, who might have to literally move if they are elected as Democrats look to redraw districts to pick up potentially three seats in November. Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney announced on Monday that she will run for office in a district that includes portions of upstate that are over 300 miles from her house. Her announcement is the first major domino to fall the day after state legislators introduced their plans for New York's new congressional districts, and she's one of several candidates who have either readjusted their elections plans or might consider entering a race that otherwise seemed out of reach. " What a Serpentine District Says About N.Y. Democrats' Gerrymandering ," by The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos: "New York's new congressional map, redrawn by ruling Democrats, gives the party's candidates a clear leg up in nearly every corner of the state and could knock out as many as five Republican seats. But when party leaders in Albany introduced the proposed lines on Sunday, many onlookers quickly seized on what seemed to be a singular example of mapmakers' partisan excess: a freshly drawn district now held by Representative Jerrold Nadler, a powerful Manhattan Democrat." " Malliotakis accuses NY Dems of trying to 'steal' seat with redrawn congressional map," by New York Post's Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan: "Democrats in New York have redrawn a key congressional district to give former congressman Max Rose a big advantage in his bid to reclaim the seat from Republican incumbent Rep. Nicole Malliotakis — packing it with more liberal precincts in Brooklyn to counter conservative Staten Island, political observers said Monday. Malliotakis and fellow Republicans charge the fix is in after a 'bipartisan' panel all but endured to be at loggerheads failed to come up with a compromise — leaving the redrawing of districts in the hands of the majority Democrats."
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | " Indicted Trump Ally Says Prosecutors Stalled Case Until After Election ," by The New York Times' Rebecca Davis O'Brien: "Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a real-estate investor and close friend of former President Donald J. Trump, asked a federal judge to dismiss the foreign lobbying and obstruction of justice charges against him on Monday, contending that the Justice Department delayed prosecuting him until after Mr. Trump left office. The argument, laid out in a court filing, marks Mr. Barrack's first substantive response to an indictment unsealed last July in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, which accused him of using his access to Mr. Trump to advance the foreign policy aims of the United Arab Emirates and then misleading federal agents about his activities." | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | — A group of more than 200 business and civic leaders published a letter backing Mayor Eric Adams' approach to tackling crime. — Manhattan elected officials sent a letter to the city calling for the restoration of slashed funding to the Department of Sanitation so that street cans can be picked up and streets swept more frequently. — A fake news website called the Buffalo Chronicle has been pumping out bogus stories about local news. — A Brooklyn woman charges in a lawsuit that she was arrested in retaliation for filming police busting her ex-boyfriend. — A homeless man was arrested for allegedly setting an NYPD car on fire after cops kicked him out of a subway station. — A man and his dog were shocked by stray voltage on a metal plate during a walk in Brooklyn. — The MTA is testing new redesigned maps that give riders information on service. — The No. 1 train was temporarily delayed when someone was struck in Washington Heights early Tuesday morning.
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jake Siewert … Julie Samuels of Tech:NYC … Michael Kives of K5 Global … ABC's Ali Dukakis and Jordyn Phelps … CBS' Alana Anyse … Ken Klippenstein … Bloomberg's Michelle Jamrisko … NBC's Catherine Kim … Alexa Kissinger … Natalie Cucchiara of Lot Sixteen … Susan Coll … Erin Dooley … Jaime (Lewis) Berk … Uber's Alex Luzi SPOTTED: Michael Cohen at American Bar in New York City on Sunday afternoon. (h/t POLITICO Playbook) MEDIAWATCH — Alexandra Levine is now a senior tech writer at Forbes. She most recently was a tech reporter covering privacy at POLITICO. MAKING MOVES — Former Manhattan DA Cy Vance is joining the law firm Baker McKenzie as a partner. ... ... Ifeoma Ike has been nominated to the city Conflicts of Interest Board as the appointee of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. She was an adviser to the mayoral campaigns of Dianne Morales and Maya Wiley. She is a lawyer and CEO of Pink Cornrows, a social impact consultancy firm and was the deputy executive director for the NYC's Young Men's Initiative in the de Blasio administration. It's the first appointment to COIB by a public advocate after a 2019 charter revision restructured the body to give him a pick. … … Marissa Shorenstein is joining SKDK as a principal in the New York office. She was director of the executive transition for Gov. Kathy Hochul. Loren Riegelhaupt has also been promoted to principal at the firm. … Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss has returned to the white-collar defense firm Fried Frank. … Mark Patterson is joining the Brunswick Group as a senior adviser. He was most recently general counsel for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and is a Perkins Coie, Treasury and Tom Daschle alum. … … Chris Halpin is now CFO of IAC. He most recently was EVP and chief strategy and growth officer at the NFL. ... Jeanette Estima will be the director of policy and advocacy at Citymeals on Wheels. She previously worked at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies. … Theory Thompson will be chief program officer for educational and vocational programs at Good Shepherd Services, while Elizabeth Garcia will be chief program officer for community-based programs and Victor O. Olds chief legal officer.
| | | | A message from Equinor: The energy transition is the defining challenge opportunity of our time. Our world needs energy to keep moving forward — but it must be affordable, reliable, and accessible. How will we do it? By accelerating the energy transition. At Equinor, we're growing our renewable energy portfolio and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. We're already on the way to powering 2,000,000 New York homes with energy from the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind offshore wind projects. But for us, that's only the beginning. By the time the global population reaches 9 billion in 2050, our goal is to have net-zero emissions. Discover more about Equinor at www.equinor.com/USA. | | | | | Real Estate | | " New York Eviction Ban Ends, but Tenants Find Ways to Stay in Homes," by Wall Street Journal's Will Parker: "Since New York state's ban on most evictions ended this month the pace of evictions has been slow, as tenant attorneys work to delay cases in court and the governor requested more federal aid for rental assistance. Tens of thousands of tenants are at risk of having to leave their homes because of unpaid rent since New York's 22-month ban expired two weeks ago. The federal eviction moratorium ended last year. New York City landlords entered 231 eviction filings in the week after the state moratorium expired, according to court records analyzed by the Eviction Lab, a research group at Princeton University." " Administrative Obstacles Jam Up Moving Process for NYC Shelter Residents," by City Limits' David Brand: "After entering a Bronx homeless shelter last summer, Sterling Cash was determined to move out as quickly as possible. So Cash, 30, pounded the pavement, connected with a real estate broker and, by October 2021, got approved by a landlord for a one-bedroom in East Harlem going for $1,900 a month. His neighbor at the shelter, Franklin Audain, 39, also set out to secure a permanent home. In November, he found one. Audain signed a lease on a one-bedroom in Sunset Park, with an $1,800 monthly rent." " Adams Housing Chief Got Free Home Renovation Via Developer 'Friend,'" by The City's Greg B. Smith: "Mayor Eric Adams named his housing leadership team Sunday — including a longtime fixture in New York politics once fined in a corruption case. New Department of Housing Preservation and Development commissioner Adolfo Carrión paid a $10,000 conflict-of-interest fine — one of the steepest such penalties ever levied against a city worker — for misconduct 15 years ago while serving as Bronx borough president. City investigators caught Carrión taking free home renovation work from an architect who was part of a team seeking his approval for a big Bronx development." | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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