Should sex work be legal in New York?

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May 17, 2024 View in browser   By Jason Beeferman With help from Irie Sentner DRINKS ON US — Come celebrate the end of session with POLITICO. We’re hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, May 29, at the Albany War Room Tavern. Join fellow New York insiders for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, meet our editorial team and learn more about our coverage of politics, policy and power in Albany. You can RSVP here. New from New York Happening now: There’s another push in Albany to legalize sex work in New York before the session ends. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli gave his assessment of the recently passed state budget. One Brooklyn Health is ramping up its efforts to find a new CEO. State Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest are pushing a bill that would ensure “consenting adults who trade sex, collaborate with or support peers, or patronize adult sex workers will not be criminalized.” | Housing Works SEX WORK SHOWDOWN: There are two opposing bills in the state Legislature aimed at reforming the underground sex work industry and squashing the nasty web of human trafficking that fuels it. But the proposed solutions — one led by Democratic Socialist lawmakers and another spearheaded by veteran state Sen. Liz Kreuger — are not just in competition, their supporters are convinced the others’ bill will make the problem worse. “The countries that have gone down that road [of full decriminalization] have basically opened the floodgates of more trafficking, and more exploitation of these vulnerable young people, men and women,” Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said. Krueger, along with Syracuse Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, is sponsoring a bill that would shield sex workers from prosecution and expunge their past convictions — all while ensuring others involved in the transaction (like the pimps and sex buyers) can still be prosecuted. On the other side of the issue, Democrats state Sen. Julia Salazar of Queens and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest of Brooklyn are pushing a bill that would ensure “consenting adults who trade sex, collaborate with or support peers, or patronize adult sex workers will not be criminalized.” Souffrant Forrest is just as convinced that Krueger’s bill would make the problem worse. “That model still does not protect people, particularly the sex workers,” Souffrant Forrest said of Krueger and Hunter’s bill. “Now you’re forcing people to go into hiding, into clandestine, and because you’re charging the john, it still does not remove the stigma.” Salazar agreed: “In places where sex work is actually fully decriminalized, sex workers and people who are consenting adults who participate in the sex industry actually have the ability to report abuse and crimes they are afraid to report right now.” The two bills are coming to a head as the legislative session is set to end June 6 and as victims’ advocates say sex trafficking and prostitution are on the rise in New York City and state. At the same time, arrests for prostitution and sex buyers has plummeted ever since district attorneys’ offices in the city largely stopped prosecuting prostitution cases. The issue has led to open-air prostitution markets in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. Mayor Eric Adams has oft-expressed his concern about the problem, and he told reporters he visited Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue at 1:30 a.m. recently to observe the problem. “This is where idealism collides with realism,” Adams told reporters at a media briefing in October. “While we are fighting to address the issues of sex workers, sex trafficking, there are elected officials who are fighting against us trying to legalize sex work.” A few months later, the NYPD shut down 12 brothels on the avenue. Krueger and Hunter’s bill would also increase penalties for individuals who traffic people to themselves for sex. “We are witnessing in New York City, and probably at the Canadian border as well, a sex trafficking crisis that we haven't seen in decades,” Taina Bien-Aimé, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking for Women, said at a rally Tuesday at the Capitol. “We've intercepted messages, emails and texts from pimps and traffickers from across the country, saying, ‘Come to New York City, it's open for business, no one's getting arrested.’” — Jason Beeferman From the Capitol Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office released its annual assessment of the state budget, roughly two weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers put the finishing touches on a $237 billion spending plan. | Richard Drew/AP DINAPOLI’S BILLIONS: Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office is worried the cash in New York’s coffers may be too uncertain as spending for key areas of the budget like schools and health care have increased significantly. DiNapoli’s office today released its annual assessment of the state budget, roughly two weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers put the finishing touches on a $237 billion spending plan. The final budget comes as “the state faces several revenue risks which may make current spending levels for essential programs and services difficult to sustain,” DiNapoli said. The state’s wealthiest taxpayers aren’t making as much money as they once did, calling into question the stability of a key source of income for New York. The state is also reaching the end of its federal pandemic-era aid, while money from the proceeds of gambling and investments is also declining. DiNapoli’s report warned that “fiscal pressures may build” as higher tax rates for people who earn more than $1 million and a corporate franchise tax are set to expire in the coming years. The governor’s budget office did not immediately respond to the report. — Nick Reisman FROM CITY HALL The chosen CEO will head One Brooklyn Health, made up of Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. | POLITICO New York ONE BROOKLYN CEO SEARCH: One Brooklyn Health is beginning its search for a new CEO, and the effort will be led by Korn Ferry, a known job recruitment firm, the Board of Trustees announced today. The chosen CEO will head the organization made up of Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, Interfaith Medical Center and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. “We are proud to tap Korn Ferry to help us find a permanent chief executive officer to help us continue delivering the best community-based care,” Alexander Rovt, chair of the Board of the Trustees, said in a statement. “We are strongly committed and passionate about our mission as a tailored, patient-focused system in everything that we do, while providing access to quality healthcare to our families and patients.” — Katelyn Cordero   THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.     On the Beats New York has partnered with Ireland’s Guinness Enterprise Centre and Dublin-based company Furthr to collaborate on technology. | AP LUCK OF THE IRISH: New York has partnered with Ireland’s Guinness Enterprise Centre and Dublin-based company Furthr to expand economic opportunities. The announcement came as Hochul was visiting Ireland as part of her visit to Europe to discuss climate issues. The partnership is designed to emphasize the entities’ “shared interest in collaborating on key technology and industry sectors” as well as allocating resources for innovators in both New York and Ireland, she said. “New York State and Ireland are united in the belief that our economies are stronger, more resilient, and more innovative when we work together,” Hochul said in a statement. The Enterprise Centre is a coalition of over 150 companies from various industries with a mission statement of empowering entrepreneurs. The partnership will provide New York companies increased access to Ireland’s economy like with access to business space, networking options and academic institutions. — Shawn Ness CELEBRATING HISTORY: As the Erie Canal’s bicentennial approaches in 2025, Hochul announced that the canal system will be receiving a $50 million capital investment. The funding will go towards ensuring the canal remains safe and operable as well as become a larger tourism destination. “Nearly 200 years ago, Gov. DeWitt Clinton opened the original Erie Canal connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, and now we are making a significant investment to ensure the current Erie Canal and the entire canal system remain a safe and vibrant part of our state’s fabric,” Hochul said in a statement. Potential projects include a rehabilitation of all dams, inclusion of waste weirs and general upkeep of the structures. — Shawn Ness NEW SCHOOL GRADS SUPPORT PALESTINIANS: While the graduation ceremony today for The New School was pretty tame, support for pro-Palestinian students on campus was present throughout. Disability rights activist Sinéad Burke — founder and CEO of Tilting the Lens, a company that seeks to make fashion more accessible to disabled individuals — said the activist group New School Students for Justice in Palestine asked her to amplify their demands. Those include a vote by the school’s investment committee on full divestment from companies supporting Israel, the removal of police on campus and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. They also told her to look to her alma mater, Trinity College in Dublin, “as an example of what is possible,” she added. Students there ended their five-day encampment after the college agreed to divest from Israeli companies. “I’m enormously grateful for your time, your vulnerability,” said Burke, who also serves as a member of Irish President Michael Higgins’ Council of State, a body that advises the president. “I’ve been genuinely moved by your collective vision for change. That vision is one that leaves no one behind and one that must not and cannot harm one group of people for the proliferation of another.” Students inside and outside of recent encampments at the left-leaning school, located in Greenwich Village, as well as faculty and senior leadership, furthered her understanding of policies at the institution, she said. At one point, Burke paused amid noise from the crowd. The festivities took place at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. A faculty-led encampment in the University Center building, the first of its kind in the nation, as well as a separate student and faculty encampment in the Welcome Center, are ongoing. The student speaker, Cece Deming-Bernstein, also urged attendees to recognize conflicts in other countries. While administrators acknowledged graduates one by one, one graduate yelled, “Free, free Palestine!” — Madina Touré AROUND NEW YORK — Many New York City families counted on the prospect of free preschool, but hundreds may have to travel across town to available spots. (The New York Times) — A cascade of NYCHA failures led to panic over nonexistent arsenic, twin investigations by NYCHA’s federal monitor and the city Department of Investigation found. (THE CITY) — A Texas man stole mail from a U.S. Post Office in Colonie four times in the past five months. (Times Union)   JOIN 5/22 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF TAXATION: With Trump-era tax breaks set to expire in 2025, whoever wins control of Congress, and the White House will have the ability to revamp the tax code and with it reshape the landscape for business and social policy. Join POLITICO on May 22 for an exploration of what is at stake in the November elections with our panel dissecting the ways presidential candidates and congressional leaders are proposing to reshape our tax rates and incentives. REGISTER HERE.       Follow us on Twitter Joseph Spector @JoeSpectorNY   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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