| | | | |  | | By Anna Gronewold and Sally Goldenberg | Presented by Grubhub | Happy State of the State to all who celebrate. Hochul's address happens today at 1 p.m. in the Assembly chamber. She's been clear that the key to her agenda this year — and for the coming decade — will be housing. We're talking 800,000 units over the next 10 years, and a broad push to remove barriers to building or converting that she blames for the current crisis. But there's a reason New York's lagging behind other major cities in housing development. Consensus on just about every part of this is hard, including who should play a role and how. There's a big question of incentives now that 421a, the contentious tax break behind much of the city's rental construction over the past decade has expired. Hochul had proposed her own version, called 485-w, which failed to gain traction last year, but may reemerge in some form. Tenant protections, such as "good cause eviction" are likely to be a factor amid fights about how to stimulate housing growth. Players across New York politics are looking for more details today out of the governor's speech. We asked Real Estate Board of New York President Jim Whelan what he's anticipating from Hochul and in the coming weeks. Have you heard anything specific that you think is practical so far? There have been a series of ideas put forward by the New New York panel report…. the Mayor's office and City Council are coming out with this task force report about conversion, converting office space or residential. Do the state Legislature and governor get on the same page? This will be part of the puzzle and part of the answer to moving the needle on housing supply. What would be a positive replacement for 421a? Something that would incentivize the private sector to create a lot more rental housing in New York City with a substantial number of units at a below-market rent rate. Would 485-w work for you? In today's economic environment, no. What would REBNY like to hear from the Legislature once Hochul makes her proposal? That they actually see the private sector is part of the answer to solving the city's housing crisis. I think we've seen a number of instances over the last several years where steps have been taken that discourage private sector investment, in the creation and maintenance of rental housing: HSTPA, not renewing 421a, not renewing J51. Instead, they're focused on programs like HONDA that are well-intentioned — creating more supportive housing is very important and one of the things we should be seeking to do is involving the nonprofit community — but they went about that program in such a way that no one's using it. What's exciting for you about 2023 in New York politics? History shows that New York always comes back stronger than ever. So the question is, does that start this year? IT'S TUESDAY. Sally Goldenberg will be your point person from Manhattan while Erin Durkin is temporarily away for the next few weeks. Yes, Anna's still in Albany. 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 giving her State of the State speech. WHERE'S ERIC? In Albany meeting with members of the state Legislature, then attending Hochul's speech. ABOVE THE FOLD — Hochul and Adams face major test in 2023 on shared vision for housing, crime, by POLITICO's Danielle Muoio Dunn and Anna Gronewold: In a state where their predecessors were known for publicly bickering even during the darkest days of the pandemic, the Democratic leaders have touted the strength of their relationship. Now, their ability to execute a shared vision as two moderates will face its biggest test as they seek to enact a sweeping legislative agenda to stimulate the economic recovery of the nation's largest city in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. They must also address crime concerns that fueled a red wave in November across deep-blue New York.
| | | | 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 | | "Negotiations resume with New York City nurses union as thousands go on strike," by POLITICO's Maya Kaufman: Negotiations restarted Monday afternoon between the New York Nurses Association and Montefiore Medical Center several hours after more than 7,000 of the union's nurses kicked off a strike at three Montefiore hospital campuses and the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. A Mount Sinai spokesperson, meanwhile, said hospital management has not returned to the bargaining table since union negotiators walked out on them about 1 a.m. Monday. The strike left critical services in peril and led nurses to hit the streets to protest what they said have been years of low pay and neglect, which are issues that have been exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. "Harlem businesses worried legal weed dispensary on 125th St. will threaten progress," by New York Daily News' Josephine Stratman: "Businesses on 125th St. in Harlem are pushing back on the planned opening of a cannabis dispensary across from the legendary Apollo Theater, saying they've worked hard to make the street a vibrant commercial destination and introducing legal weed sales jeopardizes decades of progress." "Report on NYPD's gang database, promised for months, has been delayed," by Gothamist's Arya Sundaram: "The missed deadline sparked outrage among criminal justice reformers, who have been clamoring for the study's release. They view the report as imperative to bolstering accountability and transparency and condemn the database as unfair, inaccurate and racially discriminatory." "Year after deadly Bronx blaze, a plan to combat 'America's fire problem,'" by The New York Times' Jeffery C. Mays and Corey Kilgannon: "On the first anniversary of the Twin Parks fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will announce a new national plan to combat 'America's fire problem' using investigatory muscle granted by federal legislation that President Biden signed last month."
| | | | 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 | | MORE SOTS: "Affordability, public safety lead conversation ahead of State of the State," by Times Union's Joshua Solomon: "The election left both chambers of the state Legislature with Democratic supermajorities, but narrower races in the suburbs and the tightest governor's race in nearly three decades has offered a canvas for lawmakers to jockey on how they believe they should help New Yorkers live comfortably and feel safe in their communities. — "Hochul expected to walk tightrope on bail reform in State of the State speech," by New York Post's Zach Williams NO ONE really talked about what New York's Black leaders talked about during their summit on crime last week, but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,when asked whether public safety legislation is being considered as part of the chamber's agenda, told reporters in the Capitol Monday that there was a conversation about contributing factors he'd like to continue: "I will tell you one of the things that — in the meeting when Black leadership met — the Bronx DA said they call it like a heatmap. Where you tend to have the largest incidence of crime, those tend to be places that have the highest unemployment, the highest of all the other issues: the homelessness, the lack of affordability. So there is a correlation, and I think that at some point, we have to start to talk about the contributors and not just focus on just the result after someone's been arrested." — Anna "The Railroading of Kathy Hochul's Chief Judge Pick," by New York magazine's Errol Louis: "Whatever the outcome, the fight to name a successor to Janet DiFiore, who retired as chief judge last year, will make history. If approved, LaSalle would become the first Puerto Rican chief judge in state history; if denied, it would be the first State Senate rejection of a Court of Appeals nominee since New York shifted to a system in which the governor nominates candidates who must be approved by it (prior to 1974, judges were elected to the top court)." — TWU 100 came out in support of giving LaSalle a hearing, a break from strong opposition among other union voices such as 1199SEIU health care workers and 32BJ building workers. "Some Hochul staffers still on agency payrolls despite criticism from good government groups," by Buffalo News' Chris Bragg: "On her first day as governor in August 2021, Gov. Kathy Hochul promised a 'new era of transparency' in Albany. But since she assumed office 16 months ago, her administration has continued a hiring practice that has long allowed governors to obscure the true cost of their staffs, records show. The practice entails hiring new staff to work directly for the governor but paying them using various state agencies or public authorities, rather than the governor's own budget." "Buffalo's Unrelenting Tragedy: 'We Haven't Really Got a Chance to Heal," by The New York Times' Hurubie Meko and Lola Fadulu: "Western New York is awash in nearly unimaginable grief, preparing to bury more than 40 victims of a catastrophic Christmas-week blizzard, most of them in Buffalo. Families still struggling to understand how a region accustomed to fierce winter weather found itself so grievously unprepared will attend funeral upon funeral in the coming days, seeking solace among those who have suffered too." #UpstateAmerica: RIP to the bear caught sleeping in a tree in Washington Park last June, which died in a car crash after trekking roughly 140 miles from his release site in the Catskills.
| | | | A message from Grubhub:   | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — The state's Democratic Party released an election report about how lackluster midterm results were not the party's fault. — Heastie left the door open to a minimum wage increase. — The Senate passed some measures to make it easier to vote and reduce discrimination at the ballot box. — A Brooklyn judge accused of making biased remarks to colleagues stepped down. — Bathrooms in subway stations! Again! But only 18 for now.
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jared Kushner … AP's Robert Burns … Beth Fouhy … NBC's Freddie Tunnard … Katherine Afzal … Lauren Coape-Arnold … Luke Johnson MAKING MOVES: At Stu Loeser & Co. Will Chabot has been promoted to managing director for media strategy; Jeane MacIntosh to managing director for research; Robert Familiar and Tim Perry to VP for media strategy; and Madeline Saunders and María Navarro Gallegos to senior media strategist. … The firm announces the arrival of Natasha Waglow Teleanu , formerly an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of New York's Southern District. She becomes a partner in O'Melveny's Labor-Employment group, and will advise clients on complex L&E matters, including workplace investigations and employment litigation.
| | | | 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 | | "Public Housing Tenants Struggle Against the 'Slow Violence' of Industrial Pollution," by Capital B's Adam Mahoney: "The little rascals didn't know that they were playing on one of the country's most toxic sites, just a few hundred yards from where they laid their heads every night. Beneath that cobblestone hill — now a baseball field — lies the remnants of a 17-million-gallon oil spill, the largest in U.S. history. And Cooper Homes is affected by another Superfund site, the federal designation of the country's most contaminated locations: a miles-wide plume of highly toxic chlorinated chemicals that seeped into the soil from companies operating in the area's 150-year-old industrial park. ... "'All this time, here we were as kids just playing in it,' said Fye, who requires an oxygen tank to breathe for much of the year. 'I spent years looking at these factories and gas tanks without any understanding.'" | | | | 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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