Gov. Hochul, Reps. Maloney & Ryan (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

Forecasters like the Cook Political Report and FiveThirtyEight predicted the Republican Party would win the House of Representatives in the midterm election, but it was a surprise the GOP only eked out a tiny 222-213 margin, a mirror image of the Democrats’ current majority.

It was especially galling for New Yorkers to lose four Democratic seats right here. There’s already copious commentary about the midterms, so my focus here is the self-inflicted wounds by New York Democrats in the lead-up to the election, many of which have ongoing ramifications and lessons for the future. There is, of course, no singular explanation for the 2022 midterm election results. In fact, one FiveThirtyEight columnist urged a little humility for anyone seeking to explain the election.

But here are several reasons New York Democrats underperformed in 2022:

Governor Hochul’s Initial Mistakes Begin Path to House Losses
After Governor Kathy Hochul took over following Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in August 2021, she was interviewed by The New York Times and asked about the upcoming redistricting of congressional and state legislative lines. The new Independent Redistricting Commission was charged with the development of fair, nonpartisan lines following decades of partisan gerrymandering in New York.

“Do you plan to use your influence to help Democrats expand the House majority through the redistricting process?,” Hochul was asked. “Yes. I am also the leader of the New York State Democratic Party,” she answered. “I embrace that.”

This was a mistake. Sending a message to the Democratic leaders of the Legislature that she would sign partisan lines gave them the opening to do whatever they wanted. It was not known in August 2021 that the Independent Redistricting Commission would fail to agree on a unified plan for the lines, but it was known the Legislature had the power to override the commission’s lines by two-thirds votes of both houses, which the Democrats had in hand given their super-majorities. The Governor would have been wiser to be a public leader, not a partisan leader.

Also in August 2021, Governor Hochul chose State Senator Brian Benjamin of Manhattan to become Lieutenant Governor. Benjamin had some good credentials in his initial Senate tenure, a business background, downstate balance, and ties to the Harlem political establishment. There were red flags, however, especially the apparent straw-donor contributions to his New York City Comptroller campaign.

There was enough information available that should have kept Hochul away from the pick, and she and her advisors should have exercised better judgment. By the time Benjamin was indicted on federal corruption charges and resigned, the state was only two weeks away from the courts throwing out the Legislature’s new district lines for the House and State Senate.

Hochul then chose a member of Congress, Antonio Delgado from the Hudson Valley, as her second Lieutenant Governor. His 19th congressional district would eventually go Republican in November by just 1.6 points.

After 2021 Republican Wins on Long Island, Two House Democrats from Nassau County Chose Not to Run for Reelection
In November 2021 incumbent Democratic Nassau County Executive Laura Curran was defeated by Bruce Blakeman in a close election. Democratic candidates for District Attorney in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties were also defeated. Within months both incumbent House members in Nassau County announced their departures.

Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, of the 3rd congressional district covering the northern half of Nassau County and a slice of Queens, announced his bid for Governor in late November 2021. He would go on to a poor showing in the Democratic primary in June 2022 against Governor Hochul and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice, of the 4th congressional district covering the southern half of Nassau County, announced she would not run for re-election in February 2022.

Republican Anthony Esposito won Rice’s seat by about 3.5% (about 9,800 votes of 271,000 cast). Republican George Santos, now embroiled in scandal over appalling lies about his background, won Suozzi’s seat by over 20,000 votes, about 8% (Suozzi had handily defeated Santos in 2020). 

Could Rice and Suozzi have held their seats if they had chosen to stay and fight?

The Redistricting Disaster
In January 2022 that the Independent Redistricting Commission was unable to vote on a unified, bipartisan plan to submit new district lines to the Legislature, which then chose to take over the process and draw its own congressional and state legislative maps, which the Governor signed. Litigation began and reached the New York Court of Appeals (the state’s highest court) by April. The court, in a 4-3 decision, rejected the lines as both partisan and procedurally defective and ordered a court-appointed “special master” to craft nonpartisan lines.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said the lines had been drawn with an “impermissible partisan purpose.” The June primaries for Congress and State Senate were moved to August to await the special master’s lines. Redistricting law experts and Democrats argued the law required the court to give the Legislature another chance to draw the lines, but the Court of Appeals said no.

Were the lines so blatantly partisan that they violated the carefully structured legislation from 2014 to give nonpartisan redistricting a chance? You could make a strong argument that was the case. The Republican-held Staten Island-Brooklyn district, NY-11, was redrawn from a Trump +10 in 2020 to a Biden +10 by removing Southern Brooklyn and substituting overwhelmingly Democratic Park Slope and Sunset Park. The 3rd congressional district represented by Suozzi was redrawn from Biden +10 to Biden +14 by combining Nassau and Westchester Counties by crossing Long Island Sound. The 17th congressional district represented by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (chair of the DCCC) went from Biden +0.6% to Biden +13%. The 19th congressional district was drawn from Biden +1.4% to Biden +10%. And the 22nd congressional district from Biden +8 to Biden +18. Enough said?

If Governor Hochul had demanded a series of equitable procedural steps by the Legislature to address the failures of the Independent Redistricting Commission, and forced maps with fairer lines, by bully pulpit or even by veto, could the court have accepted a different map? We will never know.

Hochul Sent a Tax Break to Homeowners During the Primary Not the General
Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget in January of this year included a $2.5 billion property tax rebate to homeowners, which was approved by the Legislature in April. At budget time, the rebate was scheduled to be sent out in October 2022, with an obvious political purpose for the general election. The highest rebates would go to the region of the state with the highest property taxes, the suburbs around New York City.

(In May I wrote about a State Comptroller report from mid-April showing $3 billion above March expectations in tax revenue had come into the state treasury, including an unbudgeted $2 billion. I suggested the state might want to supplement the property tax rebate with an income tax rebate that could cover more residents, since homeowner-households are only 54% of the state’s population. But no such move was made.)

Instead, by early June the governor and the Division of the Budget were already moving the property tax rebate checks out the door ahead of the Democratic primary that month. But the governor’s opponents weren’t really a threat. She easily defeated them, with 68% to Williams’ 19% and Suozzi’s 13%.

Couldn’t the governor have waited until October to send out checks? Couldn’t the governor and the Legislature have reworked the benefit to provide more relief after billions of new, unanticipated dollars had come in? Would just a handful more voters have awakened to vote for her and the local Democratic candidates if the checks had arrived right before the election, which was the original point?

Despite All, Competitive New York House Races, Like Many Across the Country, Were Very Close; 11 Nationally, Including 2 in New York, Were Decided by 1 Point or Less
Across the country, Republicans won seven House seats, including two in New York, by one point or less.

The Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, lost in the 17th congressional district in the Hudson Valley by 1,820 votes out of 285,000 cast, or 0.6%.

In New York’s 22nd congressional district, the Democrat also lost by 1% of the vote. In that race, with Republican incumbent John Katko retiring, Democrat Francis Conole lost to Republican Brandon Williams 50.5%- 49.5%, a margin of about 2,600 votes out of 268,000 cast. This seat was not one of the four in New York that Democrats held and lost; this was a pickup opportunity following a Republican retirement.

Elsewhere in the country, Democrats lost a chance at two seats, one in California and one in Colorado, by fewer than 600 votes each. Additionally, incumbent Democratic Rep. Cindy Axne in Iowa lost her seat by 0.7%; Democrats lost a vacant seat in Michigan by 0.5%; and fell just short of defeating Republican Rep. David Schweikert in Arizona by 0.9%.

Democrats also won four House seats by less than one point, in Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Washington.

4 More House Races, Including 2 in New York, Were Decided by 1-2 Points
Beyond Sean Patrick Maloney’s defeat to Republican Mike Lawler, Democrats also won one, and lost another, in close House races in New York’s Hudson Valley. In the 19th congressional district, vacated by Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who had won in 2018 and 2020, the Republican candidate, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro defeated newcomer Democrat Josh Riley by 4,500 votes out of 287,000 cast, or 1.6%.

In the third of the competitive Hudson Valley congressional districts, Democrat Pat Ryan, running in the 18th district, eked out a narrow victory, winning by 3,600 votes, or 1.4%. (Ryan had defeated Molinaro in the August special election to finish Delgado’s term in the outgoing 19th congressional district, then Ryan ran in the new 18th and Molinaro in the new 19th in the regular election.)

In Arizona, Democrats lost a close race in the 6th congressional district to Juan Ciscomani, who won by 1.5%. In Pennsylvania, Democratic incumbent Susan Wild held on by two points in the 7th congressional district.

The Campaign, Results, and Turnout in the Governor’s Race
Final results from the State Board of Elections show Governor Hochul defeated Rep. Zeldin by about 378,000 votes out of 5.9 million cast, or 53.2%-46.8%., a margin of 6.4%.

She won in New York City 70%-30%, and lost by identical margins, 54%-46%, in the New York City suburbs (Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland) and the rest of the state (Upstate/Western New York.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, interviewed in The New York Times after his defeat, said Democratic candidates in the New York City suburbs could not overcome Hochul’s double-digit defeat in those areas of Long Island and the Hudson Valley, indicative of the backlash against crime inflamed by The New York Post and Fox News in the huge New York media market.

Zeldin had the strongest showing of a Republican candidate for Governor since George Pataki won his third term in 2002. The Democrats underestimated both Zeldin himself, the power of his anti-crime message, and the backlash against Democrats over inflation.

In defense of Governor Hochul, it was not likely she could match Cuomo’s 2018 margin, 59%-36%, against a weak candidate as he sought a third term in the first statewide election after Trump’s 2016 win. A Siena poll taken a few weeks after she took over in August 2021 showed 41% of New Yorkers did not have an opinion of her. Seven months later, with inflation raging as the state adopted its budget, another Siena poll showed she still faced strong headwinds: 40% of voters wanted to re-elect her, 45% of voters preferred someone else, and 15% weren’t sure.

Campaign messaging from Hochul and other Democrats was not weak: women’s right to bodily autonomy and a commitment to democracy had their own potency. How did the potency of Zeldin’s message versus the potency of Hochul’s message match up in the motivation to vote in those critical districts?

Nate Cohn, The New York Times chief political analyst, pointed to an Albany Times Union analysis of the vote across the state. This analysis showed that 63% of Republican and Conservative Party voters cast ballots in the 2022 general election, compared to 47% of Democrats, 37% of party-unaffiliated voters, and 45% of ‘other’ voters (most of whom are former members of the Independence Party).

Turnout was higher among Democrats and Republicans in the most competitive congressional districts, but Republican turnout was still well above Democratic levels.

Despite some critical mistakes and the power of Zeldin’s campaign, Democrats’ House losses in New York were about as close as can be. if the district lines had been slightly different, or if some of Democratic incumbents had chosen to stand their ground and run for re-election, Democrats might have held several seats they lost.

At the tap (photo: Governor's Office)

These days, safety is at the forefront of the consciousness of most New Yorkers. With New Year's Eve just around the corner – and the binge drinking that comes with it – alcohol-fueled accidents, crashes, injuries, and crime are an unfortunate inevitability. 

The bars and liquor stores that serve hard-partying New Yorkers need to recognize that there are serious responsibilities that come with their liquor licenses. In fact, their professionalism can mean the difference between life and death. 

I previously served as the Chair of the Public Safety Committee for Brooklyn’s Community Board 9 for three years. During those years, I found that most liquor licensees that came before us were unaware that it is illegal to sell alcohol to "any habitual drunkard" or anyone visibly drunk. Through numerous conversations with local law enforcement, I discovered the extent to which booze-powered incidents, accidents, and crime could be averted if these businesses would comply with the law.

For the most part, the fact that harm caused by an intoxicated customer — even in another location, hours later — could come back to haunt a vendor, was either unknown or ignored. 

Liquor licensees can protect themselves and their customers with Alcohol Server Training, a course, usually a couple hours, that educates vendors on the responsibilities and liabilities associated with serving alcohol.

Alcohol server training is critical for preventing underage drinking, reducing the risk of alcohol-related traffic crashes and other incidents, and preventing crime. It teaches servers to recognize when a patron has had too much to drink and to take appropriate action to protect themselves and their establishment from potential legal liability. By providing their employees with alcohol server training, businesses protect their customers from harm, and themselves from the potential legal and financial consequences.  

We looked at the statistics from the Mid Hudson Prevention Resource Center, which provides training and found that after taking the training nearly 100% of trainees responded on their questionnaire that the training should be mandatory. And why wouldn't they? Those few hours of training are a nearly effortless step in protecting individuals and businesses from liability and reducing some of the estimated 6,700 alcohol-related deaths New York suffers each year — but it’s not required in New York State.

As director of Operation Survival, a substance abuse prevention program, I joined a coalition of nonprofits that met with the State Liquor Authority to find out why this easy, low-cost preventive measure isn’t required in New York (as it is in other states like California) and discovered that mandating Alcohol Server Training would require state-level legislation. Until state government in Albany acts to make this training mandatory, Operation Survival is launching an awareness campaign, creating a variety of educational media and videos targeting liquor-serving businesses on the importance of Alcohol Server Training. 

Every industry has standards and certifications it requires of its practitioners to guarantee professionalism and quality. It simply doesn't make sense to have lower expectations of liquor licensees. Alcohol Server Training is a no-brainer for any responsible bar, restaurant, or liquor store and should be required by the State of New York.

***
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman is the director of Operation Survival, the founder of the Jewish Future Alliance, and a Chabad liaison. On Twitter @ChabadLubavitch.

Rooftop solar (photo: Governor's Office)

It’s beyond dispute that the fossil fuel industry has perpetrated a multi-decade misinformation campaign that has led some policymakers, the media, and much of public opinion down a rabbit hole of climate denial. Now they’ve got their sights on New York State’s climate legislation and initiatives. 

The cynically dubbed front group “New Yorkers for Affordable Energy” has paid for attack ads against several key bills moving through the State Legislature, including the All-Electric Heat in New Construction bill, which would mandate electric heat in new buildings starting later this decade, and the Gas Transition and Affordable Energy bill, which would end customer subsidies for gas industry expansion and create cost protections for low- and moderate-income households. 

The New Yorkers for Affordable Energy website describes the group as “dedicated to supporting access to cleaner, reliable and affordable sources of energy for residential and business consumers.” However, in a filing with the Internal Revenue Service, the group describes its purpose as “to expand natural gas service [and] keep energy prices lower for consumers.” 

In the last six months, New Yorkers for Affordable Energy has released ads with misinformation that tell homeowners that retrofitting their homes would cost more than $20,000 and electric heating would cost 40% more than gas. The All-Electric bill creates a mandate for new construction only, not for existing buildings. Recent studies, like one by Win Climate, show that electric heat is cheaper than heat produced by propane, gas furnaces, or gas boilers in new homes. New Yorkers for Affordable Energy’s messaging stokes fear among consumers of higher energy bills, which is especially effective because of inflation and rising energy prices. 

A recent investigation by Little Sis found that ten fossil fuel companies and lobbying groups have spent more than $15.5 million on lobbying since 2016 and more than $1.4 million on campaign donations opposing climate action in New York. The American Petroleum Institute, an architect of climate denial, is on the steering committee of New Yorkers for Affordable Energy. Other New Yorkers for Affordable Energy members include utilities like National Grid, National Fuel Gas, and Central Hudson, as well as power plant lobbyists the Independent Power Producers of New York. 

Besides opposing the previously mentioned bills this legislative session, New Yorkers for Affordable Energy and its partners have also been working to thwart New York’s efforts to advance its vision for a clean energy future, pursuant to the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), New York’s nation-leading climate law passed in 2019. That law requires, among other mandates, that New York reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050; and have a zero-carbon power sector by 2040.  

The ads released by New Yorkers for Affordable Energy are part of a larger disinformation campaign targeted at New Yorkers. For example, home fuel retailers have sent emails to their customers attacking electric heating and the CLCPA. Utility provider Central Hudson published explicit concerns regarding New York’s proposed plan for implementing the CLCPA, stating it would “significantly raise costs" and "potentially jeopardize grid integrity." And opinion pieces opposing the state’s climate plan have popped up in the Times Union, Crain’s NY Business, Newsday, NY Daily News, and Utility Dive – that spread misinformation about higher bills, job loss, and increased outages.

A range of essential state actions over the next several years — financed by a mix of ratepayer, state, and federal funds, along with sufficient subsidies and tax breaks — would make the transition feasible for consumers in existing buildings. Accordingly, Governor Hochul has already announced the creation of a dedicated green electrification fund to electrify low-income homes and advance the state's goals of creating green affordable housing. 

New York State must transform its power, transportation, and building sectors to meet the goals of its landmark climate law. These actions will improve air quality, protect public health, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change. New York cannot allow the oil and gas industry, under the guise of front-groups, to undermine efforts and investments that address climate change. 

***
Richard Schrader is the New York Legislative and Policy Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and Isabel Friedman is Program Coordinator for the Natural Resources Defense Council. On Twitter @NRDCNY_Rich & @NRDC.

New Yorkers have a lot to say (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Gotham Gazette publishes a wide range of guest op-ed columns by a diverse set of voices. Below are the 20 most-read op-eds published by Gotham Gazette in 2022.

Please note that the opinions expressed in these and other guest columns are those of the authors alone and not of Gotham Gazette, any of its staff, publisher, or partners. [Find the latest in the Opinion section here. Have a submission? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]

1. New York Prisons Cut Crucial Lifeline to Incarcerated Individuals and Families Through Arbitrary Package Policy - by David Weprin & Julia Salazar

2. Tenants are Struggling; New York Needs Good Cause Eviction Now - by Julia Salazar & Jose Lopez

3. Who is NYC Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser and Will He Deliver What’s Desperately Needed? - by Devin Balkind

4. Mayor Adams, If NYC Schools are ‘Segregated Intentionally,’ Why Increase Segregation with More Admissions Screening? - by Christopher Bonastia

5. New York’s Housing Crisis is Worse Than Ever; It’s Time to Send in the Cavalry - by Jolie Milstein

6. How the Next Phase of the Second Avenue Subway Can Build a Better East Harlem - by Nicholas Dagen Bloom

7. Better Managing Public Space is Key to New York City’s Recovery - by Elizabeth Goldstein, Benjamin Prosky & Jackson Chabot

8. Who’s To Blame for Our NYC Teacher Health Care Debacle? - by Arthur Goldstein

9. Don't Believe the Hype; Bail Reform is Good Policy and Good Politics - by Jason Ortiz

10. Democrats Must Deliver for Asian-American Voters or Risk Losing More of Them - by Grace Lee & Trip Yang

11. Crypto-Mining is Gobbling Up New York's Precious Renewable Energy - by Charles Komanoff

12. It’s Time to Deliver Our Neighborhoods from Illegal Commercial Truck Parking - by Linda Lee, Nantasha Williams & Selvena Brooks-Powers

13. I Had A No-Cost Childbirth, Other New York Moms Should Be Able To Do The Same - by Shaunte Turner

14. Latinos, Hochul, and the 2022 Election for New York Governor - by Eli Valentin

15. How Our Parks Can Save Our City - by Shekar Krishnan

16. How ‘Gifted and Talented’ Shows the Failures of One Man Rule of Our Schools - by NeQuan McLean

17. We Don’t Need a ‘Plan B,’ Mayor Adams; New York City Needs You to Shut Rikers Down - by Yonah Zeitz

18. New York Must Brace for a Recession; Where Things Stand and What Comes Next - by Jim Brennan

19. The MTA Must Fix Its Defective Assessment of Congestion Pricing - by Charles Komanoff

20. New York Universities, It’s Time to Tear Down That Wall - by Brian Martindale

Getting people fed (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

In this season of gratitude and reflection, we are grateful for the unprecedented commitments that New York City and New York State are making to the people who perform the essential services of New York’s safety net.

Home care workers’ hourly wages increased by $2 in October, and New York City human services nonprofits are receiving $68 million earmarked for workforce investment. Our New York State contracts included a 5.4% wage increase, and the State’s Health Care Worker Bonus provided a one-time $3,000 payment for certain frontline health care workers in recognition of their service during the height of the pandemic.  

In the face of such bounty, one would expect nonprofit leaders to be full of joy. Yet, we are not. We are exhausted from many years of obstacles and non-response, confronting ever-steeper challenges to our ability to provide the life-saving and life-enriching care and services that New York promises to its residents.

As we prepare to spend the holidays with family and friends, many human services workers will spend them just as they do every other day: working to make New York a better place. After all, homeless shelters and food pantries do not close for the holidays. These workers are not being compensated enough for their tireless work. Our staff are paid far less than their counterparts in health care and other sectors with which we must compete for talent. In some instances, New York City employees’ compensation is better than what we can offer for directly comparable positions.    

Along with non-competitive salaries, human services staff deal with daily frustrations that detract from our ability to focus on providing quality services. These issues include operating in hazardous NYCHA program sites that are in serious disrepair, responding to city-funded auditors who dispute the validity of city-approved expenditures, and complying with increased documentation requirements under certain city contracts that will further extend already delayed city payments.

We are gratified that New York State responded to our advocacy and authorized a much-needed increase for Medicaid-funded home care personnel, and at the same time we are frustrated that the state is not fully reimbursing home care employers for this mandated expenditure. Home care agencies operate on razor-thin margins. Without rate increases commensurate with this wage increase and the statutory requirements that accompany it, we are stressed to identify funds to fulfill this requirement. 

So while we are grateful for recent city and state investments, we are not breathing easy. We face the continued stress of recruiting a caring and skilled workforce, retaining committed staff who over time have developed trusted relationships with vulnerable clients — relationships that enable staff to work effectively alongside community residents to resolve even very complex situations. We can’t talk about streamlining while simultaneously layering on new requirements and extending payment delays. We can’t clap for essential workers without closing the pay gap in a meaningful way. We can’t build a social care system on personal sacrifice and burnout.

In order to keep leading our organizations to be there for communities in need while battling the obstacles that sap our energy and tax our spirit, we need to have hope that these conditions are not permanent. We are hopeful that before we reach a crisis that rips unmendable tears in the safety net, we can come together to fashion real solutions. We have leaders in government who understand our struggles and value our work. We have nonprofit leaders who are creative and open to new ideas. We must all be prepared to make changes and seek compromises. Our communities demand and deserve nothing less from us. In this season of giving, we must give back to those who give to New York every day.

***
Diane Louard-Michel is the Executive Director of Lantern Community Services. Myung Lee is the President and CEO of Volunteers of America-Greater New York, Inc. Kathryn Haslanger is the CEO of JASA. On Twiter @lanterncs & @VOAgny & @JASAseniors.

A helping hand (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)

While inflation is unsettling for many of us, for fellow New Yorkers who were already struggling financially, it can be catastrophic. 

Imagine entering a store with only $50 to buy your family’s groceries, and watching the register ring up $75 on your usual shopping list.

This month — which The Wall Street Journal dubbed the “humbug holiday season” — is ominously clouded with inflationary prices and the threat of a recession. While our first instincts may lead us to reduced spending and restrained year-end giving, the need to help our neighbors, especially those who lack food and shelter, could not be more urgent. 

If you want to make the most of year-end giving, here are five suggestions to help ease the burden for New Yorkers facing hardship this holiday giving season.

1. Contribute to programs housing and feeding New Yorkers. People are experiencing homelessness in New York City at rates not seen since the Great Depression. More than 63,000 people—including 20,000 children—slept in the municipal shelter system this November. Consider making a gift to one of the nonprofits that advocate for or serve New Yorkers who are without permanent housing or unable to buy enough food.

2. Make generosity a family tradition. Younger children can help choose and deliver toys for families living in shelters. Older children can be part of an annual discussion of which nonprofits or causes to support. The whole family can watch a documentary together or research an issue you care about. Consider setting aside a regular time each year to foster a tradition of helping others. 

3. Prioritize racial justice and equity. In November, New York City voters supported three ballot measures to address systemic racism. To build on this momentum, consider supporting nonprofits working to disrupt systems that have contributed to racial inequities. When selecting nonprofits to support, consider who benefits from the nonprofit’s work, the composition of its staff and board, and if the group is targeting systemic changes in order to have a long-term impact.  

4. Open a donor-advised fund. Donor-advised funds offer an immediate tax deduction on a charitable contribution from which you can recommend grants over time. Starting a donor-advised fund is a great way to ensure that you can support the causes that are most important to you well into the future, even in an unpredictable economy. Donor-advised funds can be used to make a meaningful gift, commemorate a life event, or honor the memory of a loved one. You also can establish a donor-advised fund for someone else.

5. Join forces with other donors to stay informed and maximize your giving power. Join a giving circle and collaborate with like-minded friends and colleagues to pool resources to make a larger impact. Working together can lead you to learn collectively and more deeply about the most effective nonprofits working on key issues in New York.  

If you need help with any of these pursuits, remember that your local community foundation — and there are many — has a team ready to help you be the most impactful donor you can be.

This holiday season, we hope New Yorkers uneasy about the economy will act counterintuitively: by tapping into their empathy for their neighbors and leaning into generosity.  

After all, what is more holiday-appropriate than buoying our spirits with the joy of giving? 

***
John Oddy is vice president for donor relations at The New York Community Trust, the community foundation for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester. On Twitter @NYCommTrust.

Mayor Adams at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

One profound outcome of COVID-19 has been the consensus among government and school system leaders of the urgency of getting more social workers in our schools – and in particular stemming the shortage of mental health resources for children in communities of color. This week’s New York State Assembly Education Committee hearing reinforced the need to redress the impact of a life-changing event on the educational and social development of our young people.  

Research from the nonprofit organization NWEA revealed just how deep and disparate the pandemic era learning losses have been for children who were already struggling, and now are finding it harder to catch up. This amplified the National Assessment of Educational Progress report on the precipitous decline in math scores, especially for lower-income Black and Hispanic students who tended to have more remote learning, and less technology and human support, than their higher-income peers.

This fall, New York City’s Department of Education made a bold first step towards building a healthier ecosystem as young people return to a post-COVID “normalcy.” With the goal of evaluating students’ social-emotional strengths and challenges, it trained teachers to use a widely-recognized tool, called the DESSA (Devereux Student Strengths Assessment), to ask the right questions about how their students are coping with relationships, self-awareness, and decision-making.  

Yet many New York City students — especially those in economically insecure diverse neighborhoods who disproportionately lost a parent or primary caregiver to covid, or the 100,000 who experienced homelessness in the last year — are not going back to pre-covid lives. They have experienced a level of trauma that calls for the professional skills of social workers.  

Our city’s teachers – already mainstays for our children – are stretched thin trying to achieve academic outcomes. They are not clinically trained to address these underlying conditions nor the complexities of toxic stress, which is the neurological response to continuous trauma that shuts down a child’s ability to learn and socialize.

This kind of stress can also emanate from other inequities linked to systemic racism, such as lack of access to medical care, nourishing food, or clean air and water. These are among the many factors that landed the Bronx at the bottom of the County Health Ranking in New York State – number 62 of all 62 counties, according to a new study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which advocates for a landscape of health equity strategies nationally.  

Taken together, this is an urgent call for a next tranche of strategic investments in the mental health and wellness of our most vulnerable children.

Let’s look at what this means from a child’s perspective. If they are hungry, how are they going to be able to learn? If they experience trauma, how can we expect them to “self-manage” or get along nicely with peers? The risks are that they will act out, miss class time, feel alienated, and not want to be at school at all.

As a 115-year-old nonprofit that provides in-school social workers for 30,000 K-12 students in 67 schools across the city, we know that kids don’t get to choose their environment. But they can benefit from a trusted adult who can help them sort out their experiences.

A young woman, who we will call Keisha, was struggling with her identity as an adopted child. During her first year in high school, her grades were slipping, she was cutting classes and was hanging out with friends who reinforced her slide. When the covid shutdown hit that year, she felt alone and angry at home. Her parents, loving relatives, were alarmed but couldn’t get her back on track. With the professional sounding board of a social worker who worked with her first remotely and later in person, Keisha built the skills to make her own decisions and change her behavior. When she returned to in-person school, she shed her old crowd and formed a few healthy friendships. Today as a senior, she has stellar grades and has already been admitted to two colleges. 

In short, this approach works. A recent survey of our middle and high school students found that 87% have relationships with adults who care about them, cultivating resilience; 80% get the space and support to honestly share what they are feeling and thinking, the basis of agency; and about 75% said that our work with them supports their academics, helping them stay in school.

Parents and teachers agree: 96% of parents said our counseling helps with their children’s social and emotional needs; and 91% of teachers said our work makes their classrooms easier to manage. 

Right now, though, the city is facing a perfect storm in funding all these services. Reduced student enrollment numbers affecting budget allocations and competing priorities threaten to diminish resources for our at-risk children, precisely at the time they need them most. 

It’s going to take not just government, but also private funds to tackle this confluence of issues. All New Yorkers will benefit when our next generation is healthier and better prepared to succeed in society. It’s a landmark moment. Our children, and our city, deserve the chance.

***
Wesner Pierre is CEO of Partnership with Children. On Twitter @PWCNYC.

A bill on the governor's desk (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

Unfortunately, Assemblymember Helene Weinstein traffics in misinformation as she claims to lay out the facts about her bill to expand liability in wrongful death lawsuits. She wrote in a recent Gotham Gazette op-ed that “there’s no evidence” that insurance costs will skyrocket if the bill becomes law. Not only does common sense say that when you increase payouts to more people, the money has to come from somewhere, but there are also oceans of data that debunk her claims.

Indeed, an independent and peer-reviewed actuarial analysis finds that the bill (S.74A) will increase medical liability premiums by 40%, general liability premiums by 11%, and auto insurance premiums by 6%.

The assemblymember offers no fact-based evidence to the contrary. Weinstein cites an Illinois law that is nowhere near as broad and open ended as her bill. The Illinois law specifically refers to "pecuniary damages" caused by grief and anguish – i.e. the quantifiable damages. Her bill does not. And no other state allows for nebulous categories of damages like “any disorder caused by grief or anguish” or allows for a near-unlimited pool of possible plaintiffs..

She also mentions estimates related to Laverne’s Law. As the sponsor of that bill, she is well aware that her original proposal was significantly narrowed to mitigate unintended consequences. The analysis she cites reviewed the bill as introduced by her office, not the overhauled and amended version that was signed into law.

And about those special interests Weinstein mentions? Well, local governments, doctors and hospitals, organizations representing MWBEs, and businesses of all sizes are all calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to veto this bill. The fact is, the bill’s top supporter is the special interest that would profit the most: the New York State Trial Lawyers Association – an organization former-Governor Andrew Cuomo once referred to as “the single most powerful political force in Albany.”

As the oft-quoted Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, "everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." This goes for Assemblymember Weinstein, too. When it comes to this legislation, let’s hope Governor Hochul's decision is truly based on evidence and facts and not an attempt at misdirection in service of Albany’s most powerful special interest.

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Tom Stebbins is executive director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York. On Twitter @ThomasStebbins and @LawsuitReformNY.

Gov. Hochul & Mayor Adams (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

Over the past month, New York Democrats have been grappling with the outcome of a midterm election with devastating implications—both on a local and national level. 

Despite Republicans falling short of expectations across the country, New York Democrats saw four Congressional seats and seven state legislative seats flipped by the GOP. Not to mention closer than expected races for statewide offices. 

None of this was inevitable. In fact, Democrats in far more competitive and divided states fared much better, proving that New York’s red wave was not a national trend, but a localized crisis, coming within a few percentage points of disaster. 

The New York Democratic Committee, led by Chair Jay Jacobs, was clearly underprepared and unorganized, and appeared uninterested in protecting key Democratic seats. Elected officials became exasperated over the lack of down-ballot support and volunteers routinely noted abysmal grassroots organizing attempts. 

The 2022 performance was very much a repeat of 2021, where the state party failed to spend a single dollar in support of constitutional amendments to fix the state’s redistricting process, expand eligibility for absentee voting, and authorize same-day voter registration, which consequently led to this year’s redistricting chaos. As Jacobs said last year, “maybe, in that sense, the ball was dropped.” 

Here we are a year later, and the ball was dropped yet again.

With just weeks to go before Election Day, elected officials, union leaders, and others raised the alarm and called for a more concerted effort. Thankfully, the New York Working Families Party (WFP), labor unions, and local political organizations and clubs stepped up to fill the vacuum of leadership left by the New York Democrats. 

But the shortcomings weren’t just limited to party organizing: we didn’t speak about what Democrats have delivered and would deliver in the future. For example, in last year’s state budget, Democrats passed the largest expansion of childcare coverage in a generation and new investments in the CUNY and SUNY systems. Yet out on the campaign trail, you barely heard about these meaningful accomplishments. 

Instead, we were stuck playing defense against the perennial Republican playbook, with many high-profile voices in our own party echoing Republican talking points and giving weight to Rep. Lee Zeldin’s apocalyptic rhetoric, despite the fact that we have a stronger and more comprehensive message on public safety. 

It’s not hard to imagine what would have happened if the WFP did not intervene. New York Democrats came within less than one percentage point of losing another congressional seat to Republicans. The contest for Governor was closer than it has been in decades, and Governor Kathy Hochul’s margin of victory was almost entirely explained by votes she received on the Working Families Party line. 

These lessons are abundantly clear — and must be carried into the next legislative sessions in Albany and New York City. 

First, Democrats must build a new party infrastructure that touches every level of government and every community, with the mission to support and elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

Rather than engage in intra-party battles to exclude voices, we should be more inclusive, and by doing so harness the power and energy of the grassroots. We should activate and empower local party chapters and county organizations to do what only they can do best — support and elect local candidates — and not just during election seasons, but year-round. And we should embrace real transparency at every level of government and politics, and work to dismantle the corrupt machinery that discourages grassroots engagement. 

The New York WFP is a great model to look at, operating as a coalition party of working class activists, community advocacy groups, labor unions, and affiliate organizations that stand for a clear set of values and put in the work to support candidates in districts all across the state.

The second lesson we should learn from this election year is that message and substance matter. All the party infrastructure in the world means nothing if you’re not able to excite and motivate voters. Instead of engaging with Republican lies, voters want to hear our ideas and records of achievement. We must speak to the issues that our base — New York’s diverse working class — demands action on. 

Our party is built upon big ideas and recognizing the power and potential of everyday people. We believe in creating great jobs, increasing the minimum wage, expanding tenant protections, investing in child care and mental health, tackling climate change, and more. And to help make this possible, we believe that the most fortunate among us should pay their fair share so that working- and middle-class families don’t bear the full cost of building a more fair and just society. 

That’s what’s popular. That’s what builds trust. And that’s what will help the most people.

Our state’s Democratic Party cannot afford a repeat of 2022. The New York Working Families Party has laid out a roadmap for successful campaigning. Now it’s up to the Democrats to learn from and work with them to defeat an increasingly dangerous GOP and, more importantly, build a New York where every person can thrive.

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State Senator Andrew Gounardes and City Council Member Chi Ossé are Democrats who each represent parts of Brooklyn. On Twitter @agounardes & @OsseChi.

A naturalization ceremony at City Hall (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The economy was the top issue on American voters’ minds this election season, with 9 out of 10 citing it as one of their biggest concerns. Especially in an era of increased partisanship, this serves as a rare moment of national agreement.

Unfortunately, that’s where the consensus stops.

The economy isn’t a simple, standalone issue, and many complex forces affect its condition. What many politicians and power brokers fail to recognize is that the economy is closely intertwined with the health and efficiency of our nation’s immigration system. That’s especially true here in New York City, where immigrants are as critical to our prosperity as Wall Street. Considering the state of our current immigration system, however, it’s no surprise our economy is struggling. 

But how would a more efficient immigration system and sufficient federal resources help the economy? It’s quite easy: it’s the most efficient way to balance the labor shortage.

The economy hinges on the strength of our labor market, and the United States is facing a disastrous labor shortage. With an estimated 10 million open jobs nationwide, American businesses are struggling to find workers to fill much-needed vacancies. In New York City alone, the shortages are visible from construction sites to the halls of government. Yet we’ve seen numerous recent profiles of asylum seekers in the media and have heard from many of our own constituents from Venezuela about the sea of barriers — many the result of policy — between one’s eagerness or ability to work and securing actual employment.

One simple solution to ease the burden is to support migrant workers with easier pathways into the labor market.

The U.S. has an estimated 11.4 million undocumented immigrants in the country ––  with almost 3 million coming to the country in 2022 alone. As we detailed in a recent letter we authored, cosigned by dozens of our colleagues in the New York State Senate and Assembly, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, immigration laws prevent migrant workers from obtaining gainful employment and integrating them into a lagging workforce.

Licensing restrictions, backlogged processes, and social integration barriers are just a few hurdles recent immigrants must navigate –– all while trying to find a job. Those who can find a job are often forced to do so through an “underground economy,” where workers are often abused, exploited, and paid drastically lower than minimum wage. This is why in our letter we called for Secretary Mayorkas to, among other things within his power, extend “parole” for asylum-seekers from two months to two years and facilitate expedited work permits for asylum-seeker arrivals and those paroled into the United States.

The answer seems to be right in front of us: the U.S. has a labor shortage and there’s a steady supply of willing and able workers. Sadly, we are far from this answer becoming reality.

Partisan politicking, outdated immigration policies, and limited resources have kept migrant workers from actively leading the labor market, leaving the nation’s economy weak and uncertain. Through a more defined and regulated process, migrant workers can stabilize the economy for future generations, providing years of labor and income taxes while increasing the tax compliance rate across businesses nationwide. We cannot afford to wait. Our leaders must act to provide resources to the growing number of immigrant workers and streamline the bureaucratic process to provide pathways to employment.

This isn’t a new idea. Many nations across the globe are turning to immigration to solve their labor shortages. In Canada, immigration accounted for 84% of growth in total labor since 2010, and the Canadian Minister of Immigration recently announced the country will be increasing to 500,000 permanent resident applications a year by 2025 as a way to lessen the Canadian labor shortage. Other countries struggling with a dwindling supply of labor, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Japan, are exploring immigration reforms as a way to increase their workforce and ease their labor shortage. Other nations are adapting and it’s time the U.S. follows suit.

After all, our nation has always relied on New York City as its economic engine, and New Yorkers have always relied on immigrants to keep this city going. Unless we change the policies and practices that prevent them from gainful employment, however, the New York — and the United States — we have all become accustomed to will cease to exist. 

We have the solution at our fingertips. It’s time to act.

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State Senator Brad Hoylman represents the 27th Senate District and Chairs the Committee on Judiciary. Assemblymember Catalina Cruz represents the 39th Assembly District and Chairs the Task Force on New Americans. On Twitter @bradhoylman and @CatalinaCruzNY.