State of emergency, again

Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a new state of emergency in New York, acting in response to a looming new coronavirus variant and already spiking disease rates in parts of the state.

The Omicron variant hasn’t yet been detected in New York, but Hochul called it inevitable as she moved to reimpose emergency measures. “It’s coming,” she said in a statement.

So New York made it five months without a pandemic state of emergency order in place, when the last one was lifted by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June, during the vanishingly brief but rosy period after widespread vaccination and before the spread of the Delta variant.

Now, we’re staring down some of the same measures seen at the height of the pandemic: Hochul’s order allows the state Health Department to halt non-emergency surgeries and other elective care at hospitals where capacity is strained so beds can be freed up. It will kick in at hospitals where less than 10 percent of beds are available or other facilities designated by the state. The order also allows the state to circumvent the usual contracting process to acquire pandemic supplies.

In western New York, the state’s hotbed, the positive test rate surpassed 10 percent this weekend and hospitals have already started postponing some procedures while dealing with staff shortages. Erie County has reported that 91 percent of hospital beds are taken.

Hochul followed the emergency order with another order Sunday requiring nursing homes to make booster shots available to all residents. The hospital measures will go into effect on Friday, and stay in place at least through Jan. 15.

IT’S MONDAY. Happy Hanukkah. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: [email protected] and [email protected], or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERE’S KATHY? Holding a Covid-19 briefing and appearing at a Times Square menorah lighting.

WHERE’S BILL? Holding media availability and appearing on NY1’s Inside City Hall.

WHERE’S ERIC? Kicking off the Brooklyn Public Library’s 125th anniversary celebration.

ABOVE THE FOLD — ‘Ridiculous demands’ and ‘impossible requests’: Life outside Cuomo’s pandemic war room, by POLITICO’s Shannon Young and Anna Gronewold: No one dared tell Andrew Cuomo how terrible they thought his idea was. In the summer of 2020, with Cuomo at the height of his pandemic-inflated fame, the then-governor of New York suggested that the state health department deploy half its roughly 5,000 employees to check restaurants for their compliance with the state’s mask-wearing and capacity limit rules... The governor’s proposal — “an impossible request” — baffled the official, whose account was confirmed by another person familiar with the plan. But, the official said, “the call ended and no one said ‘no’ to him ... No one could explain to him how bad the idea was.”

Cuomo, who resigned in August, is facing renewed scrutiny over his response to the pandemic, including allegations that he downplayed Covid deaths while writing a pandemic memoir that netted him more than $5 million. New POLITICO interviews with several former state Department of Health officials, along with a trove of government documents released this month, suggest the former governor’s behavior behind closed doors was in direct contrast to the science-first, hyper-competent image Cuomo presented in his Emmy-winning 2020 press conferences.


WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

“The Toll of NYCHA’s Lead Lies: A Brooklyn Girl Poisoned as Officials Covered Up Danger,” by The City’s Greg B. Smith: “The inspectors arrived at the Tompkins Houses in Brooklyn to check for lead paint when resident Shari Broomes was a young woman. They randomly tested a couple of apartments and later declared the entire public housing development — all 1,031 units — to be ‘lead free.’ The Tompkins sampling was part of a citywide effort New York City Housing Authority managers undertook in the early 2000s to reduce the number of apartments they were required to inspect each year. All told, NYCHA deemed nearly 84,000 public housing units in 170 developments citywide to be lead free — even though the vast majority of them weren’t actually tested. Broomes doesn’t remember hearing anything about the testing then or anything about the determination of no lead paint problems at Tompkins. Until now. An investigation by THE CITY has revealed that more than 5,000 ‘lead free’ public housing apartments — including some at Tompkins — contain lead paint. And that number is likely to grow.”

“Fossella vows legal battle ahead of non-citizen voting possibility,” by Staten Island Advance’s Paul Liotta: “Borough President-elect Vito Fossella announced Sunday that he would take legal action if City Council legislation allowing some non-citizens to vote passes. The legislation that would grant those authorized to work or lawful permanent residents the right to vote in municipal elections is expected to pass the council early next month. ‘One of the great privileges of being a citizen is the right to vote and as [Borough] President, I will initiate legal action to preserve the sanctity of the vote,’ Fossella said.”

Adams won’t be New York’s first ‘night mayor,’ by POLITICO’s Terry Golway: For all the uncertainty that comes with any change of administration, Adams at least has been clear about one thing: You won’t find him brooding about the burdens of public service over a lonely cup of hot chocolate when the sun dips behind the Manhattan skyline. “This is a city of nightlife,” the mayor-elect recently told Stephen Colbert. “I must test the product. I have to be out.” … Nearly a century ago, Jimmy Walker won fame and affection as the “night mayor of New York,” a well-earned nickname. During his nearly seven years as the city’s chief magistrate, he kept hours that would have shamed Dracula, never mind their shared taste for Bloody Marys.

“After Ballot Measure Bust, State Lawmakers Make New Push For Voting Rights,” by Gothamist/WNYC’s Brigid Bergen: “After two voting ballot measures tanked at the polls in November, stunned Democratic lawmakers quickly began to regroup to ensure New York voters didn’t see their rights rolled back as a result. The two amendments would have changed the state constitution to allow for same-day voter registration and vote by mail through a no-excuse absentee ballot system. Both measures failed by just over 50 percent, thanks in part to a well-funded campaign by New York State Republican and Conservative parties that was met with no coordinated response. In lieu of permanent constitutional changes, lawmakers plan to introduce legislation to temporarily extend current absentee ballot access. They are also eyeing ways to move the voter registration deadline closer to an election.”


WHAT ALBANY'S READING

“Rep. Suozzi to announce whether he’ll run for governor,” by Spectrum’s Nick Reisman: “Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi on Monday is expected to announce whether he will seek the Democratic nomination for governor, a source familiar with his plans said. Suozzi over the weekend publicly turned down a job offer from New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams, raising expectations he would join what is an increasingly large field for governor.”

“Zeldin plotting Youngkin-like GOP surprise over Democrats in 2022,” by New York Post’s Juliegrace Brufke: “Amid all the talk about Hochul and James and Williams vying for governor next year, Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin has a message for New Yorkers: Don’t count me out. The Long Island congressman believes he can ride the same political wave as a fellow Republican, Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, to flip control of the Empire State next year for the first time since 2002. And he thinks he can draw votes in Democrat-heavy New York City, too, by appealing to parents who feel their education choices are being taken away, much as Youngkin did in Virginia.”

“Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spending spree could grease the skids for a Bills stadium deal,” by Buffalo News’ Tom Precious: “Gov. Kathy Hochul, like most election-bound New York governors over the years, has been on a frenzied tour of New York, mostly downstate, announcing billions of dollars for an assortment of popular projects and programs. She has touted a huge pot of funds for a subway line in Manhattan; an affordable housing project in the Bronx; $1 billion to fix potholes in the state; $450 million for the hard-hit tourism industry, including direct payments to affected workers; and presided over a ceremony for a newly opened NHL stadium on Long Island. It also just so happens to be occurring at a time when she hopes in the coming months to convince members of the state Legislature — dominated by New York City area Democrats — to back a deal she expects to be included in the state budget: a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. Hochul, a seasoned traveler of New York State, knows that state politics are driven by hardened provincial interests.”

“In a Picture-Postcard New York Town, Racist Incidents Rattle Schools,” by The New York Times’ Jesse McKinley: When students in the town of Pittsford, N.Y., an affluent suburb just outside Rochester, flowed back into schools this fall, something troubling emerged: a video of a white student brandishing a gun and making a racist threat. ‘People be like, ‘Why do you carry a gun?’’ the boy says in the short clip, pulling out the weapon. To kill Black people, he answered, using a racial slur. For some parents and students, the video has laid bare what they say is a larger pattern of racist incidents in the largely white town, where local officials are now scrambling to address those concerns. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said the teenager, who has been suspended and has not returned to school, was not an immediate danger, noting that the weapon was an air pistol and that the video was recorded months ago. But that assessment has done little to quell concerns of parents who say their children have endured racial taunts and other incidents with little consequences for their harassers.”

#UpstateAmerica: Firefighters from the Pleasant Valley Fire District in Dutchess County sent 600 live Christmas trees to troops serving overseas.


AROUND NEW YORK

— Mayor-elect Eric Adams was planning an international trip, but is reconsidering due to the Omicron variant.

— 88 attorneys have resigned from the Bronx District Attorney’s office this year.

— A newly-elected Manhattan judge is accused in a lawsuit by her campaign opponent of falsely labeling him an abuser of women.

— A state trooper fired his weapon after being struck by a car on the RFK Bridge.

— Only about a quarter of Rikers Island staff have completed required suicide prevention training.

— A suspect was charged in a shooting that wounded two NYPD officers in the Bronx.

— Attorney General Tish James shut down an illegal debt collection business in Western New York.

— According to Thanksgiving travel, Albany airport is nearly back to its pre-pandemic traffic levels.

— “A Parade Returns to a City Thankful for Normal”

— A food delivery man was slashed in the face with a box cutter by two men and robbed of $200 in cash in a Lower East Side elevator.

TRUMP'S NEW YORK

“Michael Cohen: prosecutors could ‘indict Trump tomorrow’ if they wanted,” by Guardian’s Martin Pengelly: “Prosecutors in New York could ‘indict Donald Trump tomorrow if they really wanted and be successful’, the ex-president’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said on Sunday, discussing investigations of Trump’s business affairs. Asked if he was ‘confident you did help Donald Trump commit crimes’, Cohen told NBC’s Meet the Press: ‘I can assure you that Donald Trump is guilty of his own crimes. Was I involved in much of the inflation and deflation of his assets? The answer to that is yes.’”

FROM THE DELEGATION

“Growing rift emerges between Jamaal Bowman and Democratic Socialists,” by New York Post’s Jon Levine: “Woke Yonkers Congressman Jamaal Bowman is facing the fury of his comrades at the Democratic Socialists of America — who have accused their party member of betrayal for daring to visit Israel and meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Bowman made the jaunt in early November with five other Democratic House members in a delegation that was sponsored by the liberal but pro-Israel nonprofit J-Street.”

SOCIAL DATA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Emily Lenzner … Margaret Carlson … CNN’s Pamela Brown … Madeline Ryan of Goldman Sachs … Chris Frates of Storyline and SiriusXM … (was Sunday): National security adviser Jake Sullivan … Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) … POLITICO’s Jonathan Lemire … CBS’ Susan Spencer … CNN’s Tim Skoczek … Chris Tucker of FTI Consulting … Jon Stewart … Andrew Mangino ... NYT’s Elaine Sciolino … former Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) … Jason Reed …

... (was Saturday): Caroline Kennedy … Alex Wagner … Rich Verma of Mastercard … Jasmin Alemán of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office … Joe Solmonese … Dina Cappiello of RMI … Libby Leist of the “Today” show … Andrea Koppel-Pollack … The City’s Katie Honan …

… (was Friday): Chris Hughes of the Economic Security Project and Roosevelt Institute … CBS’ Jenna Gibson … Ethan Bronner … Katie Gommel of Sunshine Sachs … CNN’s Alicia Jennings … Valerie Holford … Ray Glendening of Scarlet Oak Strategies … Gabe Brotman … (was Thursday): CNN’s Abby Phillip … Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush turned 4-0 … Insider’s Brent Griffiths … Reuters’ Sarah Lynch … EEOC’s Keith Sonderling … Kendrick Lau … Emilie Jackson … Ben Stein

MAKING MOVES — Simonida Subotic has left the New York State Executive Chamber, where she was deputy secretary for economic development. She is taking some time off and exploring options at the intersection of crypto and government.

ENGAGED — Jay Newton-Small, CEO and founder of MemoryWell and a contributor to TIME Magazine, recently got engaged to James Bailey, a branch chief at the U.S. Forest Service. The couple met on Hinge. Pic

WEDDING — Jacqueline Corba, producer for CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and a CBS News and POLITICO alum, recently married Robert Erani, planning manager for Pharmapacks, at a ceremony in Bedford, N.Y. The couple met in their teenage years through tennis (they both played at the collegiate level, she for GWU and he for Claremont McKenna) but didn’t start dating until their mid 20s when they were both in NYC. Pic


REAL ESTATE

“As Federal Funds Put Second Ave. Subway Extension on Express Track, Displacement Looms for Locals,” by The City’s Jose Martinez and Rachel Holliday Smith: “The now-very-real prospect of securing billions of dollars in federal funding for the next phase of the Second Avenue subway line has state and transit officials dreaming big again about putting the project on the express track. ‘Ladies and gentlemen: Next stop, 125th Street!’ Gov. Kathy Hochul said last week after touring a tunnel built nearly half a century ago beneath Second Avenue in East Harlem. But as the MTA seeks to fast-track the next phase of a $6.3 billion project that’s been on the drawing board for decades, it’s running into resistance from some property owners in the path of the Q line’s planned 1.5-mile extension from 96th Street and Second to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue.”

“Half of NY’s $2.4B in rent aid held up 6 months after launch,” by The Associated Press’ Marina Villeneuve: “Nearly $1 billion meant to cover back rent for New Yorkers who suffered economic hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic still hasn’t made it into the hands of tenants six months after the program launched. That’s led to exasperation, especially as the state warned that the $2.4 billion set aside for rent relief would likely not cover new applicants and mostly closed applications. The hold up, state officials say, is partly linked to missing paperwork. About 82,000 applications for rental aid submitted by tenants through September are still incomplete. About a third of those unfinished and provisionally approved applications date back to June, according to state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance spokesperson Anthony Farmer. One issue is that the state is having trouble matching applications submitted by tenants with the landlords who own the property.”