| | | | |  | | By Sally Goldenberg and Anna Gronewold | Presented by Grubhub | New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he would top his Albany wish list this session with criminal justice and housing issues. But another thorny issue that has bested mayors before him remains unsettled: The city's property tax system. Nearly everyone agrees that the method of collecting real estate taxes is unfair, but no politician wants to be responsible for changing it. After all, the levy accounts for nearly one-third of the city's $100-billion-plus budget, and when one homeowner gets a reprieve, another will have to pay more. Now Adams may not be able to escape the matter: A bipartisan trio of politicians agitating for change recently made an in-person appeal in a yet-to-be-reported meeting. After the sit-down, Adams vowed to support their request in Albany, where the local tax is controlled. "He 100 percent acknowledged the problem, 100 percent took responsibility and said we have to now act on it," Republican Council Member Joe Borelli said in an interview. The Council's GOP leader isn't in this alone. He's teamed up with his ideological opposite — progressive city Comptroller Brad Lander — and Kevin Riley, a Bronx Democrat whose district is hit hard by the inequitable system that leads to tax bills divorced from market values. It doesn't hurt that Riley is close to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, but convincing state lawmakers to change property taxes has been a losing proposition for decades. Underscoring how politically fraught the issue is, former Mayor Bill de Blasio didn't touch it in a meaningful way until he was pressured by litigation. And he didn't issue recommendations until two days before he left office. In an interview, Lander derided "a regressive and super opaque, hard-to-understand, arbitrary tax" and noted how he is actually undercharged on his Park Slope home. Riley, in a statement, said the system "upholds inequities that affect New Yorkers across our city — homeowners and renters alike." The mayor acknowledged he wants a change, saying through a spokesperson he "believes our property tax system is in need of long-overdue reform" and disproportionately hurts "low- and middle-income homeowners." But how much political capital he spends on this when he has more immediate priorities remains to be seen. IT'S MONDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: agronewold@politico.com and sgoldenberg@politico.com or on Twitter: @annagronewold and @SallyGold WHERE'S KATHY? In Albany with no announced public schedule. WHERE'S ERIC? Speaking at a a vigil commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Twin Parks fire, watching a private screening of the documentary "Punch 9 for Harold Washington," appearing on 77 WABC's "The Arthur Aidala Power Hour," and speaking at the One Hundred Black Men of New York's celebration of Michael Garner's birthday. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He was screaming at me: 'Stay out of my f—king building!' Instead, he should have been thanking me." — Curtis Sliwa, who told the New York Post the mayor cursed him out as Sliwa attempted vermin mitigation efforts near Adams' Brooklyn property
| | | | A message from Grubhub: Grubhub partners with restaurants across New York City to help them expand their reach. From providing marketing services to setting up online store fronts, Grubhub is there to help restaurants find new customers and serve their local communities. Learn more | | | |  | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | | 
A health care worker stands on an overpass at Mount Sinai Hospital, where negotiations are ongoing with the New York State Nurses Association. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo | "7,000 nurses at two New York City hospitals on strike as contract negotiations fail," by CNN's Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich: "A walk-out by more than 7,000 nurses at two major New York City hospitals began at 6 a.m. ET Monday after talks aimed at averting a strike broke down overnight. Tentative deals had been reached in recent days covering nurses at several hospitals, including two new agreements late Sunday evening. But talks with Mount Sinai hospital on the Upper East Side in Manhattan and at three locations of the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, failed overnight." "NYC Rate Hike for Uber, Lyft Drivers Blocked by Court," by Bloomberg's Chris Dolmetsch: "A judge blocked a rate increase that would have raised pay for ride-share drivers in New York. Manhattan state court Justice Arthur Engoron, a former cab driver, issued his decision Friday after a hearing packed with Uber and Lyft drivers. The ruling is a victory for Uber Technologies Inc., which last month sued the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission." "Contraband complaints soar in NYC jails in 2022, correction officers blamed," by Daily News' Graham Rayman: "Complaints of contraband in New York City jails city including drugs and weapons soared in 2022 — and many of the illicit items were smuggled in by Correction Department staff, according to a city agency. The Department of Investigation (DOI) received 487 contraband complaints in 2022 at Rikers Island and other city jails, compared with 288 in 2021 — a 69% surge." "Colorado to cease sending migrants to NYC, Chicago after 'productive' talks with mayors," by The Hill's Lauren Sforza: "Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced Sunday that his state will stop sending migrants to New York City and Chicago after those cities' Democratic mayors told Polis they were becoming overwhelmed with the number of people arriving in their jurisdictions." — 'I Don't Get Lost Anymore': Migrants in New York Struggle, and Settle In," by The New York Times' Karen Zraick and Brittany Kriegstein FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Civic, business and religious leaders have joined forces to take aim at the city's housing shortage, which is particularly acute for low-income New Yorkers. Today the group will launch the 5 Borough Housing Movement to push for legislative changes. The board comprises former Assemblymember Marcos Crespo, Association for a Better New York CEO Melva Miller and New York Building Congress President Carlo Scissura. On the campaign's agenda is pushing for office-to-residential conversions, namely in older Manhattan office buildings. That policy has proven costly and difficult, despite a drop in office usage as more people work remotely. "Bolstering housing in Manhattan's commercial areas can provide significant relief to the other boroughs as they experience an influx of residents," Miller said in a statement.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | "Hochul personally lobbying NY Dems as she tries to secure Hector LaSalle as top judge," by New York Post's Bernadette Hogan and Zach Williams: "The lobbied lawmakers include several Democratic members of the state Senate's powerful Judiciary Committee — the panel charged with greenlighting or killing Hochul's choice — who said on condition of anonymity that Hochul has either personally met with or called them over the past week and a half in an apparent desperate effort to sway them to her side. ..." "Some lawmakers said the political standoff over LaSalle also has been filled with constant calls to pols from Hochul staffers, chief among them Chatodd Floyd, deputy secretary for Legislative Affairs and Policy. But several observers pointed to noticeable silence from Hochul's deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs, Amit Bagga, a supporter of the 'defund the police' movement, which would presumably be against LaSalle's appointment." ADAMS WEIGHS IN: Eric Adams on Sunday pushed Senate lawmakers to consider LaSalle. "We should allow the process to take its course, let him show his record and answer the difficult questions," Adams, a former state senator, said in an interview with CBS New York's Marcia Kramer. Adams said Hochul should stand behind her pick, who would become the first Latino chief judge in the state's history. "There's a process in the Senate that allows us to hear, question and make a determination. Let's let it take its course," Adams said. — Danielle Muoio Dunn " No expulsion vote for Brooklyn GOP Assemblyman Lester Chang, Dems referring residency issues to authorities," by Daily News' Denis Slattery: "Assembly Democrats have decided to refer residency issues raised about Brooklyn Assemblyman Lester Chang to authorities rather than expel the Republican lawmaker. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said Friday that the chamber will be forwarding information it collected about Chang's Manhattan rent-regulated apartment and government subsidies he accessed to 'relevant criminal, civil and administrative authorities for further review.'" DÉJÀ VU: Today marks the beginning of a(nother) round of public hearings for the Independent Redistricting Commission's Assembly district proposals. START YOUR BUDGET BRAIN: What are the fiscal wonks looking out for in this year's executive budget? In a preview today, Citizens Budget Commission says that economic uncertainty should drive New York to address structural imbalances in the budget now. Federal stimulus money is no more, so costs of Medicaid, education, transportation, housing, and environmental mitigation and sustainability should be in line with how much money the state actually has. More transparency and accountability measures would be nice, too, they add. #UpstateAmerica: "Expensive, Treacherous, Beautiful: The Battle Over Dirt Roads," by Jim Zarroli for The New York Times
| | | | A message from Grubhub:   | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | "N.Y. judge refuses to dismiss attorney general's $250 million Trump lawsuit," by The Washington Post's Shayna Jacobs: "New York Attorney General Letitia James's $250 million lawsuit against former president Donald Trump over a decade's worth of allegedly fraudulent business practices will go forward after a judge refused to dismiss it on Friday, calling arguments by Trump's team 'frivolous.'"
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | Schumer, Jeffries team up to bring the bacon home to New York, by POLITICO's Joseph Spector: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries plan to use their dual roles to apply the lessons learned from their party losing three House seats in New York, an outcome that helped propel the GOP to the majority. They hope their roles can help refine their party's message in 2024 while bolstering the needs of their state, including new affordable housing initiatives and long-stalled infrastructure projects.
| | | | JOIN NEXT TUESDAY TO HEAR FROM MAYORS AROUND AMERICA: 2022 brought in a new class of mayors leading "majority minority" cities, reshaping who is at the nation's power tables and what their priorities are. Join POLITICO to hear from local leaders on how they're responding to being tested by unequal Covid-19 outcomes, upticks in hate crimes, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, inflation and a potential recession. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — New York City's independent grocers are organizing to get officials and law enforcement to crack down on shoplifting. — Employees say New York City's pre-K system is a mess. — Former city Buildings Commissioner Eric Ulrich, who resigned in November, is selling insurance. — Taxpayers spent at least $350 million to treat gunshot wounds in New York City hospitals from 2010 to 2020. — A Brooklyn judge who was suspended from surrogate's court for alleged homophobic and anti-Hispanic remarks is getting her courthouse keys back. — There were 915 Covid deaths in New York last month- — a 30-percent spike compared to November.
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Linda Greenhouse … CNN's Brooke Brower … Colin Campbell … Charles Passy … Lauren Fritts … (was Sunday): Anita Dunn … Fox News' Casey Stegall … David Chavern … Rich Pzena … (was Saturday): Katie Couric … POLITICO's Claire Barkley … Max Mallory of Penta … NBC's John Reiss … Linda Douglass … Megan Clarke of Fox News … Ira Berkow ... Jann Wenner ... Zoya Raynes … Britta Ritter-Armour MAKING MOVES — Tom Tatun, formerly the Director Of Government Relations for Association of School Business Officials of New York, starts today as Northeast Government Affairs Manager for The National Service Office of Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First. … Matt Hamilton, former press secretary for New York State United Teachers, has joined Marathon Strategies as a vice president in its Albany office. … Steve Hansen will be the legislative director for Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio). He most recently was legislative assistant and press secretary for Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.).
| | | | A message from Grubhub: Dawn and her daughter Jade opened The Nourish Spot in Jamaica, Queens with the goal of introducing healthy food options in their local community. Today, Dawn and Jade partner with Grubhub to make sure people know about The Nourish Spot, not only in Southeast Queens but across New York City. Learn more about how Grubhub's marketing tools help restaurants, like the Nourish Spot, find new customers and grow their businesses. Learn more | | | | | Real Estate | | "Stuy Town tenants score major win to keep apartments stabilized," by The Real Deal's Kathryn Brenzel: "Stuy Town tenants emerged victorious Friday, which could upend landlords' plans to deregulate scores of other apartments in the city. A state court judge ruled in favor of residents of the complex, who argued that changes to New York's rent law in 2019 barred the owner, the Blackstone Group, from deregulating some 6,200 apartments." | | | | 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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