| | | | |  | | By Joseph Spector | | | |  New York City Mayor Eric Adams sued 30 counties over their emergency orders that try to block asylum-seekers from coming from the city to their communities. | Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office | | Suburban and upstate counties have been suing New York City over bussing asylum-seekers to its communities. On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams sued back. Adams, buoyed by a federal court ruling Tuesday, sued 30 of the 57 counties outside the city over their issuance of emergency orders aimed at blocking migrants from moving to their jurisdictions. The legality of their orders have increasingly come under scrutiny, even as some counties have won temporary restraining orders in state court to prevent hotels from contracting with the city to house migrants. The federal court ruling Tuesday, brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a group of migrants, said essentially that counties can’t block people from moving to different parts of the state. “The Constitution does not allow you to build walls around your county limits,” Amy Belsher, the group’s director of immigrants’ rights litigation, said after the ruling. “Instead of playing politics with the lives of some of the most vulnerable, our state must uphold its legacy of being a beacon of refuge and new beginnings.” Adams is making a similar claim in his lawsuit against counties that stretch from Oswego to Orange, mainly run by Republicans. In part, the lawsuit contends that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s declaration of a statewide emergency May 9 gives him the authority to move migrants outside the city — which has had 74,000 asylum-seekers arrive from the southern border since last year. The counties “have declared states of emergency premised on specious claims that the prospect of a few hundred asylum seekers sheltered at the City's expense would somehow constitute an emergency imperiling public safety,” the lawsuit states. The case ups the fight and divide between the city and the rest of the state, and counties were quick to pounce on Adams’ move. “New York City’s lawsuit lacks merit, and its boldfaced actions of sending individuals from the city to Orange County is in clear violation of state law and is the real problem," Orange County spokesperson Justin Rodriguez said. "Orange County will continue to assert and protect its rights in ensuring that the rule of law is followed by all.”
| | A message from Uber: Uber riders have already paid $629 Million in Congestion Pricing fees. If the Congestion Pricing on Uber rides goes up even more, it will put tens of thousands of NYC Uber Drivers out of work.
That’s why 35,483 drivers across New York have signed a petition telling the MTA not to raise Congestion Pricing on them. Learn More. | | | |  | From the Capitol | | |  New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters about end of session legislative bills after a swearing-in ceremony for Court of Appeals Associate Judge Caitlin J. Halligan at the New York Court of Appeals in Albany, N.Y., Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink) | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | HOUSING DEAL?: Hochul declined to say whether she would entertain a housing deal that includes a version of the controversial “good cause” eviction proposal, as both houses of the Legislature attempt to reach agreement on that measure and others in the final days of session. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Hochul said she’s spoken with the legislative leaders on housing this week, and that she will “look to see what the Legislature puts forth and be open to conversations going forward.” Asked specifically whether she would be open to something like “good cause” — a measure that would effectively restrict rent increases on market-rate apartments — she responded, “I’m open to conversations about how to build more housing supply, which has been my highest priority.” Her wide-ranging housing plan, which sought to mandate more housing growth across the state, died in budget talks amid opposition from legislators, but Hochul plans to continue her push to boost production. “That’s something that outside the session I’m willing to do the work on,” she said. “We have a lot of good ideas, important ideas that need to be implemented, because we have a housing crisis as we speak, and to do nothing long term is not an answer.” — Janaki Chadha | | | | A message from Uber:   | | | | | From City Hall | | |  City leaders visited Rikers Island on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns about the safety of the troubled city prison. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images | RIKERS ISLAND: City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams visited the troubled jail complex Wednesday in the wake of a damning report from a federal monitor and a change in policy about detainee death notification. “The past week or so has been very troubling, which is what brought us here in the first place,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said after his tour. The federal monitor found that the department had not been forthcoming about injuries and deaths on the island. And days later, a report in THE CITY found DOC planned to stop sending out press releases when detainees died. On Wednesday, the department noted that a host of institutions are notified immediately in the event of a death including divisions within DOC, several law enforcement and investigatory bodies and the family and counsel of the person who died. Members of the press can also opt into being proactively notified, according to spokesperson Frank Dwyer. “The commissioner believes in following the rules, and the department is in compliance with all rules and laws and that practice has never stopped,” Dwyer said in a statement. “The commissioner wants to respect those who have transitioned while also continuing to be as transparent as possible.” While Williams said he noticed slightly improved conditions at the facility, he nevertheless called it dangerous for both detainees and guards and reiterated his call for a federal takeover. And the report and policy changes appear likely to increase scrutiny on the department. “The reason that I felt it was important to come now was because of the DOC’s decision to stop providing information about deaths in custody,” Lander said, noting that the department has rolled back other transparency measures like unfettered video access for a watchdog group. “It shouldn’t be something that press have to already know to ask about. That is just basic information that needs to be provided.” — Joe Anuta
| | A message from Uber: Who says polluting doesn’t pay?
Today gas powered trucks pay $0 in Congestion Pricing
Meanwhile all electric Uber Green cars pay $2.75 in Congestion Pricing everytime they go into Manhattan’s congestion zone.
Do you think electric Ubers should have to pay more than gas trucks? Learn More. | | | | | On The Beats | | |  CORRECTS DATELINE TO FORT LEE, NOT ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS - A Man talks on his phone as he looks through the haze at the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee, N.J., Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) | Seth Wenig/AP Photo | EDUCATION: Students and staff in New York City public schools struggling with health issues and canceled events as heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires plagued the Big Apple Wednesday. The city canceled outdoor activities like recess, sports, after-school and field trips for schools, urging them to move them indoors or cancel them if they can’t be done indoors. Karla Dillard-Skinner, a speech therapist and teacher at P.S. 236 Langston Hughes in the Bronx, said the school canceled a fifth grade trip this morning. "On the way to school, walking through to get to school, their eyes are burning," she said, also noting poor air quality in the Bronx. "They're having coughing spells. So are the teachers, so are the staff. We have to keep everything sealed, the windows closed." — The Department of Education is also still deciding whether to pivot to remote professional learning for a pre-planned professional development day on Thursday, but asked school school administrators and providers “to bring all necessary professional development materials home with them today” in case, according to an email DOE sent to leaders that was provided to POLITICO. — Madina Touré OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS IN PERIL: Developers of New York’s offshore wind projects that the state is relying on to meet its climate targets are asking for increased subsidies from ratepayers, saying their work is in jeopardy without additional funding, POLITICO reported. The developers of all four NYSERDA-contracted offshore wind projects in New York filed petitions with the Public Service Commission asking for an “inflation adjustment” on Wednesday. The requests cast doubt on the viability of the projects and threaten progress toward the state’s 70 percent renewable by 2030 target. New York's effort to be a hub for the nascent offshore wind industry rests on the success of the contracts, which are also expected to spur investments in the supply chain, including manufacturing and create thousands of high-paying union jobs. But consumer costs would increase if the PSC allows for the contract adjustments. Onshore renewable developers are also planning to make a similar request, POLITICO reported last week. Offshore wind developers have also made similar requests in other states or moved to re-bid contracts to take higher inflation into account. — Marie J. French OLDER ADULTS: State officials were in New York City on Wednesday for the first town hall on Hochul’s Master Plan for Aging, kicking off a public outreach process that will inform development of the titular master plan. A preliminary report on progress to date is due next month and the final version is expected next year. Adam Herbst, deputy commissioner for the state Department of Health’s office of aging and long term care, said the policy proposals will be designed along two-year, five-year and 10-year horizons. Hersbt also chairs the Master Plan for Aging Council, which is coordinating work on the roadmap across state agencies. The priorities and concerns raised by the attendees included ageism among agencies that do not primarily work with older adults, strategies to enable New Yorkers to age at home, the need for community-based mental health programs, social isolation, workforce shortages and reentry support for elderly New Yorkers leaving jails and prisons. — Maya Kaufman
| | — Here's a list of what's closed in New York City due to the air-quality concerns. (Gothamist) — Breathing the air from the wildfires could be worse in some ways than smoking. (Democrat and Chronicle) — The Grieving Families Act is once again headed to Hochul's desk. (Times Union) | | | | 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 | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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