| | | | |  | | By Katelyn Cordero | With help from Irie Sentner
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SUNY Chancellor John King said Gov. Kathy Hochul will provide SUNY Downstate with a $300 million transformation fund and an additional $200 million to cover deficits for the next two years. | SUNY | A cloud of anger and uncertainty continues to hover over plans for the future of Downstate Medical Center, but clarity on proposed funding for changes to the Brooklyn teaching hospital could be included in the governor’s 30-day amendments this week. SUNY Chancellor John King said Gov. Kathy Hochul is committed to providing a $300 million transformation fund, along with an additional $200 million to cover deficits for the next two years. Talks about the transformation fund and how to keep Downstate open have created a divide in the Legislature’s Brooklyn delegation. Many say they need to see more details before they can make a decision, and some expressed confusion that there was no specific allocation in the budget to save the hospital and its programs in the underserved community. Some Brooklyn lawmakers, such as Sen. Zellnor Myrie, are calling to hit the pause button and instead want to create a long-term sustainability plan for Downstate. Others, such as Assemblymember Brian Cunningham and Sen. Kevin Parker, said they would like to ensure the funds are allocated in the coming year’s budget, followed by a long-term plan with community input for what the next iteration of Downstate would look like. Assemblymember Pat Fahy, who heads the Assembly Higher Education Committee, said she’s keeping an open mind, but is seeking guidance from her Brooklyn colleagues on the issue. She noted that more time is needed to find a sustainable solution that Brooklyn members can agree on. “I think there were good intentions here on an issue that has been ignored for many years, but we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” Fahy said in an interview. “What is coming across is a lack of transparency and a lack of heads up. It makes the community — including (legislative) members from the community a little bit on guard now.” SUNY is proposing to relocate services across the street to a wing at Kings County Hospital. Additionally, SUNY wants to create a new building with urgent care, out-patient services, student services and a health disparities institute. Many lawmakers said they need to see more details before they can buy into Hochul and SUNY’s vision. But the greatest point of contention has been the lack of community involvement in the process thus far. Myrie has been at the forefront of opposition to the plans for Downstate, which is in his district. He said he would like to pause all plans due to the lack of transparency and community input. He is calling for a more drawn-out process that includes a look at the entire healthcare infrastructure of Central Brooklyn. “We're being told by the chancellor and the governor to solve what has been a two-decade-old problem in two months. We are then told that this is a community-driven process, but it's been done in the heat of the budget, when most of the representatives for the community are (in Albany),” Myrie said in an interview. ”If they are serious about being grounded in the community, they should remove it from the budget. In exchange, the community will commit to a transparent and full process in order to reimagine what should happen at that institution,” he added. SUNY announced a community engagement process earlier this month that would include five focus groups to help decide what sort of services will be included in the next iteration of Downstate. The plan would culminate in a report from SUNY sharing findings and recommendations for the path forward in mid-March. But some lawmakers say that’s not enough. Assemblymember Brian Cunningham said he wants to make sure the Legislature does not miss out on the opportunity to secure $300 million for the hospital, but he admits that six weeks is not enough time for significant community engagement. And he notes that SUNY has not shared enough details for him to be supportive or against their vision. “There's no commitment that $300 million has to necessarily go into the new wing. The future money can go towards something that we decided as a borough to invest into,” Cunningham said. “But I wouldn't gamble with leaving funding off the table and saying let's just pay off the debt. That's not a win for me. That's getting us right back to the same place next year.” — Katelyn Cordero
|  | From the Capitol | | | | 
The new lines could provide modest boosts to Democrats in two competitive upstate districts and to Republicans in another upstate seat, according to three state officials briefed on the parameters. | Hans Pennink/AP | NEW MAPS TAKE SHAPE: After a wait of over two years, the Independent Redistricting Commission is due to finish its final set of draft maps Thursday. And three officials, including members of both parties, are hearing the same things about what’s in them. The lines are expected to move Auburn to Republican Rep. Brandon Williams’ district, leading to a roughly 4-point shift toward Democrats in the swing district. The borders between the districts held by Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan and Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro would also be adjusted, providing a modest boost for both incumbents. And that’s pretty much it. There might be some small tweaks elsewhere in the state, but nothing that’s expected to change the partisan makeup of any other competitive districts. Assuming the commission approves the maps — and members of both parties have expressed optimism in recent days that they will — they’ll be sent to the Democratic-dominated state Legislature. Lawmakers will need to decide in near future whether they want to accept the compromise lines and put the yearslong process to rest or fight for a more aggressive gerrymander. — Bill Mahoney FIGHTING RETAIL THEFT: Hochul held a press conference today in Manhattan to highlight her State of the State proposal to fight retail theft because larceny is on the rise, especially in New York City. “Over the past three years, we've made incredible progress on driving down violent crime and fighting the scourge of gun violence. Now, we're using those same strategies to take on the quality-of-life issues like retail theft and property crime,” Hochul said. Her plan consists of creating a retail theft joint operation task force; establish penalties for people that sell stolen goods online; $10 million in funding for district attorneys to prosecute retail theft crimes more heavily, and $5 million for a commercial security tax credit for business owners to offset the cost of security measures. The task force is modeled off of the task force on illegal guns, which Hochul considered to be a success. “Ensuring the workers who help us provide for our families can go to work each day and return home exactly as they left is a basic requirement that cannot be overlooked,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said in a statement. — Shawn Ness BREAK UP WITH BILLIONAIRES AND LANDLORDS: Advocates for housing reform are calling on Hochul to pass legislation to prioritize tenant protections, affordable housing and equitable taxation of the ultra-rich. The push is for three separate bills: a billionaire’s mark to market tax; a corporate income tax increase and the creation of a social housing development authority to create more affordable housing. “When there is a deficit, we need to be clear-eyed about what real fiscal responsibility looks like. It looks like fully funding schools, hospitals, and child care, not catering to billionaires,” Sen. Jessica Ramos said in a statement. — Shawn Ness
| | FROM CITY HALL | | | | 
Beginning in 2025, CUNY will not hold classes on Lunar New Year and Diwali, bringing the university system in line with state law and the New York City public school system. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | HIGHER EDUCATION: The City University of New York has designated two Muslim Eid holidays, the Asian Lunar New Year and Diwali as official school holidays. Beginning in 2025, CUNY will not hold classes for Lunar New Year in January as well as for Diwali — the festival of lights celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists in South Asian and Caribbean countries — in October. Students will also have the day off on Eid al-Fitr, which commemorates the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in March and Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, in June, which falls during the summer session. CUNY’s board of trustees voted to approve the holidays Tuesday night. “Students who observe Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, Lunar New Year or Diwali will be able to honor those traditions without worrying about their schoolwork,” CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said in a statement. “I’m proud to see CUNY advance our commitment to inclusivity.” The move aligns the university system with state law and the New York City public school system. Currently, CUNY is closed for federal holidays like Christmas and Juneteenth. The university’s 25 colleges also close for Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. — Madina Touré ANOTHER BLOOMBERG-ADAMS TEAM-UP: Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg is investing nearly $25 million to help the city open a new high school that will prepare students for careers in health care. Northwell Health — the state’s largest health care provider and private employer — is teaming up with the Department of Education to start the Northwell School of Health Sciences. The school, which will open in the Woodside neighborhood of Queens next fall, will serve up to 900 students. The new school will train students for well-paying jobs in behavioral health, physical therapy, diagnostic medicine and nursing, according to schools Chancellor David Banks. Students will earn at least seven college credits before high school graduation. Bloomberg Philanthropies, the former billionaire mayor’s philanthropic organization, is committing $24.9 million over five years for startup costs. It’s part of the organization’s $250 million national initiative to create 10 health care-centered high schools across the country. “These are groundbreaking commitments that give our young people more equitable access to a high-demand field,” Banks said. “We would not be here today if it were not for Bloomberg Philanthropies.” In a statement, the former mayor said: “For too long, our education system has failed to prepare students for good jobs in high-growth industries. By combining classroom learning with hands-on experience, these specialized health-care high schools will prepare students for careers with opportunities for growth and advancement.” — Madina Touré
| | On the Beats | | | | 
Mayor Eric Adams has made growing housing supply a cornerstone of his agenda, but his administration has not yet applied for a formal “pro-housing” designation from the state. | Julia Nikhinson/AP Photo | HOUSING INCENTIVES: Hochul’s initiative to give towns and cities who are deemed “pro-housing” first dibs on discretionary funding has drawn strong interest from localities across the state. But New York City is not yet one of them. While Adams has made growing housing supply a cornerstone of his agenda, his administration has not yet applied for a formal “pro-housing” designation from the state, housing commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said at a budget hearing today. That certification gives localities who are committed to housing growth priority for discretionary funding programs. Under a proposal in Hochul’s executive budget, being deemed “pro-housing” would be a requirement to access that funding. “If we were to do what’s in this budget, the expectation is that the City of New York would become ineligible for some of the programs that are referenced,” state Sen. Brian Kavanagh, chair of the housing committee, noted at the hearing. — Janaki Chadha ENTER ONE WU-TANG — SENATE CHAMBERS: Shyheim, who has been affiliated with the legendary Staten Island rap group the Wu-Tang Clan, gathered with state lawmakers outside the Senate chambers to make some noise about the regional campaign for parole justice for elderly inmates. “When I was in prison, what bothered me was that the elders had to go through the same conditions as someone 14 years younger. Just watching someone who made a mistake as a child and they're still being held accountable for the things as a child,” Shyheim said. Across the state, the prison population of inmates over the age of 50 ranges from 16 percent in Long Island to 28 percent in Westchester County. Almost all of those people were arrested when they were teenagers. A Times Union analysis found that racial biases affected nearly 19,000 parole board decisions. “Up to $240,000 is spent each year to imprison one older adult in New York State. It ain't right." Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, the first formerly incarcerated New York assemblymember, said. — Shawn Ness
| | |  Democrat Tom Suozzi triumphed against GOP candidate Mazi Pilip in Tuesday's special election for the House seat vacated by George Santos. | Stephanie Keith/Getty Images | News from NY-3 results: — How Democrats flipped the script in House special. (POLITICO) — 6 takeaways from the New York special election (POLITICO) — While Democrats can claim another victory, it doesn’t necessarily add more clarity about November. (The New York Times)
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — An eighth suspect in the migrants’ attack on NYPD officers in Times Square has been arrested. (New York Daily News) — Not a single cemetery in New York has applied to operate a human composting operation, despite the practice now being legal for over a year. (Times Union) — Long Island could be getting another snowstorm, this time on Thursday and potentially again on Saturday. (Newsday) | | | | 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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