| | | | |  | | By Maya Kaufman and Katelyn Cordero | With help from Irie Sentner
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A crowd of over 1,200 people gathered this afternoon outside SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. | Maya Kaufman/POLITICO | Health care workers traveled from as far as Buffalo and the eastern end of Long Island to join a crowd of over 1,200 people outside SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn this afternoon to protest a plan to “transform” the financially distressed teaching hospital. Rev. Al Sharpton, who was born and raised in Brownsville, invoked the story of the Good Samaritan in demanding the state and federal government to commit whatever level of funding is needed to save the hospital. “They’ve been the emergency for us, and we need to be the emergency for them,” Sharpton said. “We don’t have much choice in central Brooklyn, so we choose to fight.” The rally was spearheaded by state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, whose district includes the hospital, and the unions United University Professionals and the American Federation of Teachers. But the Brooklyn delegation is divided on the best way to tackle the issue of the hospital’s long-term sustainability, which has been jeopardized by a recurring $100 million operating deficit. "I think our time would be better spent coming up with a strategy as it relates to getting institutional cost reductions without laying off workers, which is a major piece here," state Sen. Kevin Parker, who did not attend the rally, said in an interview. "In addition to that, I think there is a significant place for the community and the health providers to be in communication with SUNY about the services that we should make sure are included in the context of this transition and I think that a rally is not the best forum for this conversation." Parker said he wants to find a way to mitigate the number of layoffs, while also ensuring a sustainable future for the institution. A deal on how to fund the future of Downstate is expected to be part of budget negotiations for the fiscal year that starts April 1, but it’s unclear whether the sides can reach an agreement. Assemblymember Brian Cunningham of Brooklyn introduced legislation this week calling on Hochul and SUNY leadership to create a community advisory board that would inform funding decisions for Downstate and be representative of the historically Black and working-class neighborhood. “A transformation plan that is not informed by the needs of our community is an affront to racial and economic justice and an insult to the people of central Brooklyn,” he said. Myrie told the crowd Thursday to take note of who is and who is not standing up for Downstate: “Pay attention. People will be coming to ask for your vote. People will be coming to ask for your money. They will want your support. And the question you must ask them — look them in the eye and say, ‘When our lives were on the line, where were you?’” —Maya Kaufman and Katelyn Cordero
|  | From the Capitol | | | | 
Gov. Kathy Hochul continued to knock critics of the failed Senate border package, which would have curtailed illegal entries in the U.S. and provided more aid to New York. | Hans Pennink/AP | MIGRANT TOLL: Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to hold a flame for the failed Senate border package. The governor in a CNN interview this morning continued to knock critics of the legislation, which would have curtailed illegal entries in the U.S. and provided more aid to New York as officials try to contain the ongoing migrant crisis. Hochul parted with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was critical of the Senate-negotiated agreement. The Bronx Democrat said the bill gave too much away to GOP hardliners on immigration. “That is one voice that doesn’t represent the majority of New Yorkers, the majority of Democrats, or the majority of Americans,” Hochul said in the CNN interview. At the same time, Hochul stepped up her criticism of Republicans in Congress who rejected the agreement. “What the American people want us to do is get the job done,” she said. “President Biden has taken the lead.” Hochul over the past six months has made a push for federal assistance as state and city officials contend with an influx of more than 175,000 migrants over the past two years. Her $233 billion budget proposal would set aside $2.4 billion in migrant-related assistance, including money for emergency shelter and legal assistance. “It’s taken its toll on our state,” Hochul said. “We have big hearts, but we’re at capacity.” — Nick Reisman REPARATIONS COMMITTEE NAMED: Nine people have been appointed to lead the state Committee on Reparations and Racial Justice, which will study the legacy of slavery, its impact in the present day and what can be done to address racial equity. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie all got three appointments. Hochul nominated Jennifer Jones Austin, the CEO and executive director of an anti-poverty policy nonprofit and the chair of the NYC Racial Justice Commission; Timothy Hogues, the president of the Civil Service Commission; and Linda Brown Robinson, a former president of the Syracuse Onondaga NAACP. Stewart-Cousins appointed Darrick Hamilton, founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School; Linda Tarrant-Reid, an author, historian, freelance journalist and community activist; and Seanelle Hawkins, the president and CEO of the Rochester Urban League. Heastie nominated Ron Daniels, founder of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century; Lurie Daniel Favors, executive director at the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College; and Rev. Dr. Deborah Jenkins, co-founder of the Knowledge Development Center which provides afterschool services to Black and Latino males. — Shawn Ness
| | FROM CITY HALL | | | | 
City Hall officials confirmed Winnie Greco has been placed on leave from her $100,000-a-year role. | Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office | WINNIE RAIDED: Federal agents this morning raided the home of Adams aide Winnie Greco, marking the latest action from federal law enforcement against a member of the mayor’s inner circle. Greco has been an ally of Adams’ going back a decade, serving as an informal liaison to Chinese American communities and assisting with his 2021 mayoral campaign. Following the raid, City Hall officials confirmed Greco has been placed on leave from her $100,000-a-year role. The goal of the raid was not immediately clear, but Greco recently found herself in the crosshairs of the city’s Department of Investigation following reporting by The City that she tried to solicit donations to a nonprofit she ran to grant access to a government event. — Jeff Coltin HELTER SHELTER: The dozens of migrants discovered renting beds in makeshift shelters this week — one in Queens and another in the Bronx — were living in “unsafe conditions,” a top aide to Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday. But the men now have a days-long wait for a city-sanctioned bed at the St. Brigid reticketing center in the East Village, which means they’re left sleeping outside, on the subway or on church floors, as Playbook has reported. They do have the option to leave the city altogether, using one-way plane tickets purchased by the city, Camille Joseph Varlack, Adams’ chief of staff, reminded reporters. “When they go to St. Brigid, first and foremost, they’re offered the opportunity to relocate, to go to any other city in the United States where we will pay for them to go,” she said. Otherwise, “we will find the bed as soon as possible and we will assign it to them.” A landlord had been charging the migrants about $300 each a month to sleep in commercial spaces he had effectively turned into rough-hewn hostels. City authorities have cleared out the spaces, where hazards like e-bikes and hotplates were also found. Joseph Varlack said complaints led authorities to the sites, adding, “As we would with any New Yorker that we find living in an unsafe condition, we immediately vacated those locations and referred those individuals to additional resources.” — Emily Ngo
| | |  Mayor Eric Adams delivered remarks at the grand opening of Matawana Dispensary, the first Black woman-owned legal cannabis dispensary in Brooklyn. | Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office | CANNABIS OPENING: Adams walked into Brooklyn’s newest dispensary this morning to the tune of Empire State of Mind overlaid with the mayor’s own voice talking on local news. The occasion: The borough's first Black woman-owned, licensed dispensary Matawana, led by Leeann Mata. Also behind the podium were Dasheeda Dawson, director of Cannabis NYC; New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, and Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. Hochul, who held her own press conference on cannabis enforcement this week, has legislation to ramp up enforcement in her budget proposal. Meanwhile, Adams seems to be throwing his weight behind Rajkumar’s bill, which she introduced ahead of the session. When pressed by a reporter on whether he was on the same page as the governor, Adams said that he’s “on the same page with localizing enforcement …whoever starts with giving us authority on a local level — that’s the page I’m on.” “We’re using the powers that we have, but it takes far too long,” he said of the city’s attempts at confiscating and citing the thousands of illicit cannabis stores around the city. — Mona Zhang MEDAL OF VALOR: New York State Trooper Robert Stawicki has been awarded the medal of valor for rushing into a fire in Oswego County to save a 13-year-old boy in December. The boy later died from his injuries. The medal was presented by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado. “In a tragically fatal situation, Trooper Stawicki selflessly put the life of the child before his own, doing absolutely all he could to fight for that child’s life,” Hochul said in a statement. “The bravery of his actions that day are humbling, and he is truly deserving of recognition, thanks, and the highest honor I can bestow upon a police officer in this state.” The 26-year-old is the 11th state trooper to receive the award; he also was given the Brummer Award for his actions that day. — Shawn Ness EDUCATION AID PUSH: The state lawmakers who have championed a state law mandating lower class sizes in New York City public schools came to City Hall today to shed light on the statute — and put pressure on the Adams administration to comply. State Sen. Robert Jackson, co-sponsor of the legislation — which requires the city to lower class sizes over five years by 2028 — insisted reducing class sizes was critical to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, a court battle in 2007 that resulted in the foundation aid formula, the state’s primary source of funding for school districts. He urged Adams and the Department of Education to act on recommendations made by a working group that schools Chancellor David Banks formed last year to shape the city’s plan. “They worked hard and long in order to come up with the plan that the majority of them agreed to,” Jackson said during a hearing chaired by City Council education chair Rita Joseph. “Progress in meeting a 2028 deadline should not be tied to mayoral control. This is a mandate no matter who’s in office to get it done.” Jackson said in January that mayoral control is “about accountability and accountability to ensure” the class size law is followed, warning of “big trouble down the road” if not. Sen. John Liu, chair of the Senate’s New York City Education Committee and sponsor of the class size bill, said: “The idea that this was an unfunded mandate, there’s no basis in reality whatsoever.” The lawmakers also said Republican and Democratic legislators are working to fight Hochul’s school aid proposal that would lead to cuts to more than half of the state’s school districts. Adams and Banks want lawmakers to give them more money. The DOE anticipates a cost between $1.4 billion and $1.9 billion to hire 10,000 to 12,000 educators and possibly cuts to programs to meet the requirements in future years. Legislators say the state sent $1.6 billion more in foundation aid, but officials charge that money is already in schools’ budgets. — Madina Toure
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | | | 
State Sen. Kevin Thomas ended his bid for the Long Island congressional seat held by Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, leaving five Democrats still in the race. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | THOMAS DROPS OUT: State Sen. Kevin Thomas ended his bid for the Long Island congressional seat held by Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito. “It’s been incredible meeting Long Islanders of all backgrounds and hearing what makes their neighborhoods special,” Thomas said in a statement. Five Democrats remain in the race. But the departures of Thomas and figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes should solidify former Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen’s status as the frontrunner in the primary: Gillen had raised $787,000 by the end of December to Thomas’ $352,000, while none of the others except for Hughes topped $10,000. D’Esposito defeated Gillen with 52 percent of the vote in 2022, flipping a seat that had been in Democratic hands for 24 years. — Bill Mahoney SUOZZI GETS HOMELAND SECURITY: During his special election campaign, Rep. Tom Suozzi leaned heavily into immigration issues other Democrats have been hesitant to touch. And the border talk doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon. Freshly sworn into office, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries tapped Suozzi today to serve on the House Committee on Homeland Security. “I knew people were pissed off about the chaos of the border. And there was no way I was not going to talk about what I heard people talking about,” Suozzi told reporters today. Now, Suozzi has some advice for his Democratic colleagues running in 2024: Don’t run from tackling the nation’s border woes. “The president should lean into that immigration issue — and I think he’s doing that,” he said. “He should lean into the immigration, and he should say, ‘Okay, we have a bipartisan deal on the table. It’s been negotiated by very reasonable people. Why are you not going forward with them?’” — Irie Sentner
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Offshore wind costs will double for consumers as New York looks to keep two key projects on track (POLITICO) — A TikTok about how to request rent information from the New York State Homes and Community Renewal has gained millions of views, and the agency is now saying it could take up to 20 days to respond due to “increased volume.” (The New York Times) — The fight to restore foundation aid increases is growing ahead of the one-house budgets (POLITICO Pro) — More than 110,000 Long Islanders have left the region since 2017 (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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