The salary listing is in for one of Mayor Eric Adams' contentious new hires: A cool $227,786 for senior adviser Fernando Cabrera. That yearly wage, listed in the daily City Record, puts Cabrera in the same bracket as the commissioners of the Community Affairs Unit, Fred Kreizman, and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Manuel Castro Lucero. Cabrera — who got the job after backlash over his prior anti-gay remarks scuttled a planned appointment as head of the Office of Community Mental Health — is earning more than a number of similarly ranked City Hall officials. Elizabeth Maclean, a senior policy adviser, is making $199,000, and Eric Ulrich, a senior adviser for performance, is getting $201,000, according to the City Record. One senior adviser's salary tops all: Adams' closest political confidant, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, is earning $252,000 a year. Cabrera, a pastor and former City Council member from the Bronx, is one of a trio of Adams appointments that sparked anger over anti-gay comments for which he recently apologized. During a trip to Uganda, he appeared to commend the government for banning same-sex marriage and attributed the prohibition to a reduction in the rate of HIV cases. Following news of his potential hiring — first reported by POLITICO — Cabrera was placed in limbo for several weeks as Adams tried to find a job that would be more palatable to critics. Not everyone was satisfied, though. Allen Roskoff, president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, said at the time: "No matter what the job is, you shouldn't be hiring bigots — I don't care if he's going to work in a stock room." |
REAL ESTATE: New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson is opposing two development proposals in her Brooklyn district that are nearing the end of the city's formal land use review process, setting up a potential scenario in which the Council could vote down plans that would collectively bring upwards of 400 new apartments to the area, a portion of them affordable. The Council typically defers to the wishes of local members on land use proposals, making Hudson's position on the plans key to their eventual approval.
Hudson said at a Council hearing today that she wants a broader community-led rezoning for the area along Atlantic Avenue, where the developments are proposed, rather than "piecemeal" proposals for individual sites. "While the city has failed to act, private developers repeatedly bring forward piecemeal proposals for large projects, without regard for their cumulative impact on the community and neighborhood infrastructure," Hudson said. Developers argued the plans are in line with the vision behind the potential community-led plan, and said stalling until a larger rezoning is approved would delay much-needed housing. — Janaki Chadha SUNY: The State University of New York launched a global search for a new chancellor today, months after Jim Malatras stepped down amid scrutiny of his ties to the former Cuomo administration. Chair Merryl Tisch and Vice Chair Cesar Perales will lead the search committee, which will also be made up of students, faculty and community leaders, according to a news release. An outside firm, Boston-based Isaacson Miller, has been tapped to recruit candidates. — Michelle Bocanegra EDUCATION: Mayor Adams went back to his alma mater, Bayside High School, this morning to make his case for why mayoral control of city schools should be extended for four years. He pointed to the corruption and patronage that plagued the previous school board system and argued that students and families have suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We applaud Governor Hochul for sending a clear and loud message that we need to have mayoral accountability for four years and it should be included in the budget," Adams said. — Mayoral control will expire at the end of June. The state Legislature will have to decide by April 1, the state budget deadline, or through legislation by June 30. Schools Chancellor David Banks and Adams pointed to increases in graduation rates and universal pre-kindergarten as signs that mayoral control is beneficial. The chancellor also called for taking politics out of the equation. "We have to remove our schools, our children's futures, from the political horse trading that happens in Albany," Banks said. "We hear our parents, we hear that this system betrayed them but more politics will not solve the systemic problems that our system faces." — Madina Touré — Advocates and lawmakers rallied today at the Capitol to support full funding of pre-k programs for all 4 year olds across the state. Hochul has proposed no increase in funding for pre-k, which falls at $952 million annually, according to the governor's budget book. However, some lawmakers and school officials say that's not enough to guarantee free universal pre-k to all of New York's 4 year olds. Funding for public pre-schools was increased in the 2021-2022 budget by $105 million with the help of federal assistance, which aimed to expand pre-k to more than 200 districts. Current state funding for pre-k is allocated based on district need, which has created inequalities in cost and access to pre-k programs across the state, lawmakers and advocates said. — Meghan Brink ENERGY: In one of the first in-person, large-scale climate actions in Albany this year, NY Renews and other groups brought more than 400 people to the state Capitol to push lawmakers to support $15 billion in climate funding in the new state budget due at the end of the month. Protesters marched to the Executive Mansion and blocked both street level entrances to the Capitol, hoping to get arrested. "If there is nothing on climate in either [one-house] budget, they're going to have lots of constituents to answer to," said Eddie Bautista, executive director of the New York City-Environmental Justice Alliance, as he stood in front of the locked revolving door on the State Street side of the Capitol. On the Empire State Plaza, lawmakers hyped the crowd and pitched their proposals. Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) led a call and response for "$15 billion. Now," and encouraged attendees to spread the word to keep the pressure on. Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) told POLITICO she expected to hear what was included in the one-house budget for climate soon. "We are going to be working on every front to get as much money as we possibly can in the budget," she said. She's also sponsoring a bill to require a fuller and more detailed account of on-budget climate law spending from the Division of Budget. Lawmakers and others posed with a sign that evoked the terrorist attack on 9/11, with a plane labeled "climate change" flying over a New York City-esque skyline with two towers. Below it read, "Wake Up America, 2050 is Too Late." Other signs on display included "Think Global, Act Hochul." The focus for NY Renews and their partners remains on the $15 billion ask ahead of budget, with little attention to the Climate and Community Investment Act that would put a fee on carbon emissions and likely raise gas and other fossil fuel costs for consumers. "We're not making any investment right now," said Shiv Soin, the executive director of youth-led organization Treeage based in New York City. — Marie J. French |
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