| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia | Presented by National Grid | Don't stop reading, but marijuana sales become legal today across the river in New Jersey. As New York approaches the same milestone, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is taking steps to make legal weed a big part of the city's economy. The city is set to spend $4.8 million on outreach to help would-be weed entrepreneurs learn about the industry, part of the mayor's executive budget he'll release next week. The plan includes technical assistance in applying for licenses, aid in finding financing and real estate, and an educational media campaign on the wonders of cannabis — for the pocketbook, that is. The effort will focus on communities hardest hit by the war on drugs. "The cannabis industry could be a major boon to our economic recovery — creating new jobs, building wealth in historically underserved communities, and increasing state and local tax revenue," Adams said in a statement yesterday. The industry is projected to generate nearly $1.3 billion in sales in the city in its first year, and employ 19,000 to 24,000 people within three years. Adams' enthusiasm for legal pot doesn't mean he will go easy on the types of illicit sales that landed many Black and Latino New Yorkers with criminal records in the first place, however: Open air sales of drugs, including marijuana, are one of the quality of life offenses his NYPD has announced plans to crack down on. One marijuana industry initiative will have to wait: Adams wants to allow public housing complexes to farm cannabis on their roofs, but the feds aren't looking kindly on that idea since the drug is still illegal at the federal level. Still, the mayor said this week he's not giving up. "We're going to sit down with the federal government and federal agencies, see if there's a possibility to get a waiver," he said. IT'S THURSDAY. 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? Making a green building announcement at the Empire State Building and speaking at the Jamaica Muslim Center. WHERE'S ERIC? Speaking at the Empire State Building event, making a health-related announcement with Attorney General Tish James, and rallying with delivery workers.
| | A message from National Grid: There Is A Better Way. National Grid is announcing our path to a fossil-free energy future. By using renewable natural gas, and green hydrogen produced from water using wind energy, we can achieve a fossil-free energy future by 2050 or earlier. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | "1 in Every 200 NYC Children Have Lost a Parent or Caregiver to COVID. That's Almost Twice the National Rate," by The City's Fazil Khan: "Across the city, around 8,600 children have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID — a population that would entirely fill 15 average-sized New York City public schools. This staggering yet largely hidden toll of the pandemic affects more than 1 in every 200 children in New York City, nearly double the rate across the country. Black, Hispanic and Asian children in the city are roughly three times more likely to lose a parent or caregiver to COVID compared to their white peers, according to an analysis shared with THE CITY … The racial disparities in New York City are more pronounced compared to the rest of the country. Across the U.S., Black children, for example, are two times more likely to lose a parent or caregiver to COVID-19 than white children. Here, they are 3.3 times more likely to suffer the same loss. Few other events in the city have resulted in so many children losing a parent." "Adams talks trash in Times Square, launches NYC garbage container plan ," by New York Daily News' Michael Gartland: "Keep the rat out of the bag — at least that's the goal. Mayor Adams rolled out a pilot program Wednesday aimed at tidying up the massive piles of garbage that are ubiquitous on city sidewalks and a go-to destination for rodents in search of a meal. The new 'Clean Curbs' program will rely on $1.3 million a year and partnerships with local community groups to get unsightly, leaky garbage bags off of sidewalks and into locked containers. 'We want a clean, safe New York,' Hizzoner said at a Times Square press conference, just a few feet from one of the new padlocked waste bins." "Bronx Fire Survivors Lament Aid Delays: 'Nobody's Telling You Anything,'" by The New York Times' Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura and Karen Zraick: "The fire, which ripped through Twin Parks North West, a 19-story affordable housing building in the Bronx, on Jan. 9, killed 17 people, eight of them children, making it the deadliest in New York City in more than three decades. A string of elected officials, at least at first, rallied quickly: Donations poured in from the community. Pledges were made. Free iPads were promised on television. Speeches were tearfully delivered at a mass funeral service for the victims, who all came from West African families. But nearly four months after the blaze, which was caused by a space heater in a third-floor apartment, only a fraction of the aid promised by government officials has trickled down to survivors, who are asking when they will see money from a $4.4 million city-managed donation fund. 'Waiting for the money has been like waiting for Godot,' said Representative Ritchie Torres, who represents part of the Bronx." "Like Byford before him, MTA's new city transit chief starts in a time of tumult ," by Gothamist's Stephen Nessen: "The job of running the MTA's subways and buses was always important, but Andy Byford elevated it to celebrity status when he took on the role. Nicknamed 'Train Daddy' by transit enthusiasts, he swooped in with plans to get subways running in the short term, and to make major improvements in the long term. In the process he seemed to win the hearts of New Yorkers, was the subject of a New Yorker profile, a 60 minutes segment and countless local headlines. But Byford's tenure was cut short when he resigned two years ago over difficulties with then-Governor and inveterate micromanager Andrew Cuomo. The agency has since had two interim presidents of New York City Transit, until now."
| | | | DON'T MISS ANYTHING FROM THE 2022 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO is excited to partner with the Milken Institute to produce a special edition "Global Insider" newsletter featuring exclusive coverage and insights from the 25th annual Global Conference. This year's event, May 1-4, brings together more than 3,000 of the world's most influential leaders, including 700+ speakers representing more than 80 countries. "Celebrating the Power of Connection" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect influencers with the resources to change the world with leading experts and thinkers whose insight and creativity can implement that change. Whether you're attending in person or following along from somewhere else in the world, keep up with this year's conference with POLITICO's special edition "Global Insider" so you don't miss a beat. Subscribe today. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "New York Gov. Hochul warns of 'rising tide' of Covid cases as omicron subvariants drive spike in infections," by CNBC's Kevin Breuninger: "Two mutated strains of the highly transmissible omicron variant of Covid-19 are the main culprits behind a 'rising tide' of infections in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday. 'We did identify two subvariants of omicron, which is driving the current spike in cases,' Hochul said during a press event in Syracuse. 'We're taking this very seriously,' the Democratic governor said. 'You don't know, every single variant that comes, is it going to be worse than the last one?' But Hochul stressed that state health experts have seen no evidence that the new strains are more severe than others, and so far they are not expecting a repeat of the massive, omicron-fueled surge in cases last winter. 'We're not panicking about this, we're not changing, but we also want to make sure that we're smart about this,' she said." — New York is the only state in the continental U.S. with multiple counties at high COVID-19 risk levels, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "12 Issues to Watch in Albany's Post-Budget Legislative Session," by Gotham Gazette's Samar Khurshid: "The governor had several measures in her executive budget plan that didn't make it into the final budget agreement, including awarding Mayor Adams a four-year extension of mayoral control of schools, replacing the soon-to-expire 421-a housing tax credit with a new 485w program, banning gas and oil hookups in new buildings, passing the Clean Slate Act, and more. And though Hochul has a more cordial relationship than her predecessor with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the legislative leaders haven't been shy about flexing their political muscle, which means Hochul may have to make concessions to her colleagues to achieve her goals." — Senate Democrats aren't planning to take up legislation that would help Hochul to name a new running mate to replace ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin in the June Democratic primary. " New York's marijuana rollout inches along as New Jersey starts sales," by Times Union's Rebekah F. Ward: "While New Jersey opted to allow seven of its existing medical cannabis operators to start selling to adult-use consumers, New York is initially starting its industry with a parallel, small-scale supply chain with former hemp growers and retailers with past marijuana convictions. And while operations like Mokotoff's Claverack Creek Farm are accustomed to the cannabis plant — hemp is a name for low-THC strains of the same plant — the farm has yet to grow its more psychoactive counterpart. 'We're limited to one acre. So right now we're mapping out our fields to grow on the very best area of the field, with the least likelihood of mold,' Mokotoff said." "For many New York residents eager to buy legal weed, the fact that plants grown this summer are only expected to be available for purchase at the end of the year feels like a substantial slowdown — the New York bill legalizing cannabis was signed only three months after New Jersey's constitutional amendment legalizing pot took effect. But cannabis experts say regulators' current pace was to be expected given the law's emphasis on a more diverse, less vertically integrated marketplace." "NY Democrats refuse to back bills that allow Gov. Kathy Hochul to switch running mates," by New York Post's Zach Williams: "State Senate Democrats are refusing to back legislation that would help Gov. Kathy Hochul to name a new running mate to replace ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin in the June Democratic primary following his recent arrest for alleged corruption. Democrats could remove Benjamin, who has pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, by passing one of two bills introduced to the Assembly, but the effort appears dead on arrival in the upper chamber of the state Legislature with just two weeks to go before the state Board of Elections certifies the primary ballot on May 4. "Ex-Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa nears deal to sell Brooklyn apartment for $2.6M, plans tell-all memoir," by New York Post's Jennifer Gould, Bernadette Hogan and Sam Raskin: "Melissa DeRosa, former right-hand to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is set to sell her swanky Brooklyn apartment for $2.62 million, as she prepares to write a book chronicling her roller-coaster political career, The Post has learned. DeRosa, 39, and her ex-husband Matthew Wing — the head of communications at Uber whom she met while working in Cuomo's office — are in contract to sell their pad in the tony Brooklyn Heights neighborhood for slightly above asking price, according to sources familiar with the matter. Douglas Elliman's Alexis Godley, DeRosa's childhood friend, brokered the deal, sources told The Post. DeRosa plans to live in the apartment until the deal closes — which is slated for mid-July — and to then move to Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood." #UpstateAmerica: Nah'Quis Williams, who is deaf, nonverbal and diagnosed with autism, had been written off by doctors as "unemployable." He was Bethlehem Hannaford's star employee last month.
| | | | A message from National Grid:   | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "Trump says he has no records subpoenaed by New York's attorney general and shouldn't be held in contempt," by CNN's Kara Scannell: "Former President Donald Trump does not have any documents subpoenaed by the New York attorney general's office as part of its civil investigation into the Trump Organization's finances and shouldn't be held in contempt, he told a state court. 'After conducting a diligent search and review, Respondent's counsel determined that Respondent was not in possession of any documents responsive to the Subpoena and that all potentially responsive documents were in the possession, custody or control of the Trump Organization,' Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a court filing Tuesday. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking to hold Trump in contempt and fine him $10,000 a day for failing to comply with a subpoena sent in December for documents."
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Actor Alan Cumming stars in a new ad for congressional candidate Suraj Patel, who is challenging Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the Democratic primary. "There's lot of people who don't vote who could come out and vote and this is a great candidate. He's young. He's exciting. He's fighting corruption. He's what we need in Congress now," says the Tony-winning Scottish actor, who also staged a cabaret performance, his first in the city since the pandemic started, in support of Patel's campaign. The paid ad will run on online platforms.
| | | | INTRODUCING DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Police arrested two people who refused to leave an East Village homeless encampment, including the same homeless activist who'd been arrested in a sweep earlier this month. — United University Professions president Fred Koval wants SUNY campuses to continue requiring masks through the end of the semester. — Sen. Bernie Sanders will visit the Amazon warehouse on Staten Island this weekend to support union efforts. — Lincoln Center will stage a festival called Summer for the City, taking place across 10 outdoor spaces and three indoor stages. — The state's limo task force is set to expire next month, without having held a public hearing or issuing its report to the governor and Legislature as required. — A video of Syracuse police detaining an 8-year-old boy has prompted an investigation. — The Hochul administration is postponing a rule for six months that would require nail salons to install ventilation systems. — Mayor Eric Adams refused to answer questions about releasing his taxes. — The city honored New Yorkers who helped police catch the Brooklyn subway shooting suspect. — "How Loneliness Is Damaging Our Health," by The New York Times' John Leland — New York City's air pollution still receives a failing grade even though it's improving, according to the American Lung Association.
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT's Jodi Kantor … Felix Salmon of Axios and the "Slate Money" podcast … WSJ's Katherine Finnerty … Mercury's Jon Reinish … POLITICO's Gloria Gonzalez and Amanda Hayes … Lauren Weber MEDIAWATCH — Mike Connelly, the seventh editor of the Buffalo News, announced his retirement. … Curt Villarosa is now a manager of corporate affairs and comms at American Express. He previously was publicity director at ABC News.
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There Is A Better Way to keep energy affordable, reliable, and clean. That's why we are creating a hybrid pathway that preserves customer choice while delivering the clean, affordable energy future our customers want and deserve. See How. | | | | | Real Estate | | "Battery Park City Residents Don't Want South End Avenue Safety Redesign," by Streetsblog's Julianne Cuba: "A coalition of condo owners and residents in one of the wealthiest sections of the city is pushing back against an already-approved plan to widen sidewalks and create a pedestrianized zone simply because they don't want to pay for it, and don't want to lose their ability to double-park. The Battery Park City Authority in 2018, together with the city and residents, developed plans for a redesign of South End Avenue in the eponymous neighborhood — where the median family income is more than $200,000 — to help calm traffic and make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists by expanding sidewalks, and installing bike lanes and medians to narrow the width of the over-wide thoroughfare that encourages speeding." "NYC hotel and tourism business has long road to recovery, study says," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "New York's world-renowned hotel and tourism industry has a steep climb to bounce back to its pre-pandemic glory days — with hotel business travel revenue expected to be 55% lower in the Big Apple market this year than in 2019, a sobering new industry analysis reveals. The report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and Kalibri Labs says hotel business travel revenue across the US in 2022 is projected to be 23% below pre-pandemic levels, ending the year down more than $20 billion compared to 2019. These projections come after hotels lost an estimated $108 billion in business travel revenue during 2020 and 2021 combined. But the New York hotel business travel industry is suffering the most of any market in the country — with the exception of San Francisco, where hotel business travel is expected to be 68% lower than in 2019, the report said." | | | | 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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