Gov. Cuomo giving his State of the State speech (@NYGovCuomo)

As politics and governing get going in 2015, we're following elected leaders as they give their "state of" speeches, in which they typically give their assessments of the current, well, state of their domain, along with an agenda for the year ahead. Our "state of" coverage:

State of the Union (Tues 1/20)

• How Barack Obama Sounded Like Bill de Blasio, Andrew Cuomo in His State of the Union

State of the State (Wed 1/21)

• Cuomo's State of the State: What's in it for NYC?
  • A look back at Cuomo's first four SOTS speeches: Four Years of Cuomo State of the States: Hits, Misses & Themes
  • Preview: Cuomo Continues Rollout of 2015 Agenda, Still Much to Say as Major Speech Looms

State of the City

• Mayor Bill de Blasio's State of the City (Tues 2/3)
  • Experts Preview De Blasio's 2015 State of the City Address
  • In State of the City, De Blaso Pledges to End Veteran Homelessness in NYC

• • Flashback: 2014, De Blasio at 100 Days:
    • De Blasio's Hundred Days, Then and Now
    • De Blasio 100: What the Mayor Said, and Didn't

• City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito's State of the City (Wed 2/11)
  • Led by Mark-Viverito, State of the City is More Immigrant Friendly
  • In State of the City, Mark-Viverito Pushes Progressive Agenda Further
  • From El Barrio, Mark-Viverito Delivers Multilingual State of the City Aimed at Equity

States of the Boroughs

• Preview/Overview: Striving for Impact, Borough Presidents to Set 2015 Agendas
• Katz Shares Vision for 'World's Borough' with Her 'Queens Family' (Thurs 1/22)
• Oddo as BP: Less Pomp, More Circumstance (Sun 1/25)
• Brewer's State of the Borough: A Community Affair (Sun 2/8)
• In State of the Borough, Diaz Jr. Further Burnishes Bronx Brand (Thurs 2/19)
• Brooklyn BP Eric Adams' State of the Borough (TBA)

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (photo: @NYSA_Majority)

In Albany, that old saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely appears to be holding true as yet another high-profile legislative leader is facing federal corruption charges.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, has been at the table for agreement on just about all the major legislation that has become New York State law since 1994 and his name is inextricably linked with the state capital. On Thursday, he was arrested after turning himself in to federal authorities in Manhattan after being charged with five counts including corruption, conspiracy, and fraud, and for using his public office in a scheme to receive $4 million in bribes and kickbacks. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

Silver is innocent until proven guilty, of course, and has declared that he "will be vindicated," but it appears to many New Yorkers, yet again, that the fox has been running the hen house.

"Politicians are supposed to be on the people's payroll, not on secret retainer to wealthy special interests they do favors for," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Thursday while announcing the charges against Silver.

"These charges, in our view, go to the very core of what ails Albany: the lack of transparency, lack of accountability, and lack of principle joined with an overabundance of greed, cronyism and self-dealing," Bharara continued.

The problems Bharara refers to have, for some, no greater manifestation than the way in which virtually all major decisions in Albany are made: with three men in a room.

For decades, Silver has been one of those three men. And for decades, the three men, including whomever Silver has been accompanied by, have dragged their feet on ethics reforms - even while legislator after legislator has been indicted.

Despite the fact that New Yorkers across the state elect 63 Senators and and 150 Assembly Members, all major policy that is decided in Albany gets filtered through and approved by what is usually three men in a room. Lately the formula changed as the Independent Democrats' Jeff Klein has also had a seat at the table. But normally there are three men: the governor and the speaker of each house of the Legislature. Silver has been the Assembly's representative since he was elected speaker in 1994 and he has grown immensely powerful in that position, leading what continues to be a heavily Democratic body.

It is this traditional Albany power structure and Silver's ability to control his members that have presided over minimal changes to the state's good government laws. There have been some updates to those laws, though.

"Its ironic, Silver supported the 2011 ethics law that required for the first time public disclosure of outside income and led to his trip up today," said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a good government group.

Although, Silver's outside income as an attorney has been a hot topic for years, no law required he disclose it until 2011 when Gov. Andrew Cuomo reached an ethics reform deal with legislators. The deal required major electeds and state officials to file outside income disclosures that gave the source and range of their incomes but did not require lawyers to disclose the names of their clients. Flags were raised earlier this year when The New York Times reported that Silver had failed to disclose income from a private practice and another law firm.

"For many years, New Yorkers have asked the question: How could Speaker Silver, one of the most powerful men in all of New York, earn millions of dollars in outside income without deeply compromising his ability to honestly serve his constituents?" U.S. Attorney Bharara said on Thursday. "Today we provided the answer. He didn't."

Silver is accused of pressuring real estate firms with business in front of the State to hire one of two law firms that would then give him a kickback. He is also accused of steering $500,000 in state funds to a doctor who referred patients with asbestos to a Silver-affiliated law firm.

Make no mistake, Silver isn't the only powerful New York State legislative leader to be indicted in recent years. No, five former or current leaders have been indicted since 2000. They include former Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, former Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, Former Majority Leader Pedro Espada, and Former Democratic Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

While Silver's immense power is undeniable, Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) says it would be unfair to blame Silver for the watered down ethics reforms Albany has seen over the years or the failure to pass major reform of the campaign finance system. Why? Because there are two other similarly powerful men at the negotiating table.

"It is a political game of Clue," said Horner. "Was it Silver and Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the candlestick?"

Horner said blaming Silver for Albany's ethics morass ignores the obvious flaws in the system.

"The three men in a room, powerful leadership model in New York is a real issue. The governor is extremely powerful in New York so it isn't surprising the Legislature has given itself a strong leader," said Horner. "But the three-men formula makes it extremely hard to see what is really going on in policy negotiations. That secrecy combined with the nonexistent state enforcement and reform efforts that are designed to fail are what is driving the problem."

Both houses of the Legislature sued Gov. Cuomo's Moreland Commission on Public Corruption to stop subpoenas seeking information on the outside income of legislators who make more than $20,000 a year. Cuomo had very clearly stated that he would empanel the commission if the Legislature failed to agree to a number of his ethics reform proposals that he issued after it was revealed one legislator had worn a wire for the FBI, taping her colleagues in an attempt to avoid jail time for a corruption charge.

In a letter to his conference, Silver explained why he was taking legal action: "One or more of the Commissioners have said publicly that the purpose of the Commission is to 'investigate the Legislature.' As well, numerous statements have been made that the reason for the investigation is because the Legislature did not enact proposed 'reform' legislation," he wrote. "One thing is certain: it is an improper and illegal use of Executive authority for appointees of that branch of government to 'investigate the Legislature' merely because the Commissioners would like to compel passage of proposed legislation."

Silver wasn't the only leader making more than $20,000 in outside income--both Republican Leader Dean Skelos and Klein of the IDC also work at law firms and have reported significant outside income.

Dadey of Citizens Union said that federal charges being brought against Silver "shows why Moreland was succeeding at its job."

Bharara is reportedly looking into the Cuomo administration's interference with that commission, as members of Moreland contend that Cuomo staffers tried to kill subpoenas that targeted groups close to Cuomo, such as those tied to the real estate industry. Advocates have questioned whether Cuomo really wants major reform as he is the chief beneficiary of the current campaign finance system and his policy decisions appear to benefit a number of his largest donors.

Bharara made reference to Moreland on Thursday. "But a deal was cut that cut off the commission's work, to the great relief of Sheldon Silver, who furiously fought its subpoenas and urged the commission's early shutdown," he said. "Moreland was made to close its doors after only nine months, its work barely begun, and while litigation over those subpoenas about Sheldon Silver's outside income was still pending before a state judge."

Before wrapping up his presentation, Bharara told reporters to "stay tuned" as his investigations continue.

Meanwhile, Horner said he isn't surprised that Assembly Democrats have yet to condemn Silver. "They are just learning about the charges and he is innocent until proven guilty," he said.

Lobbyists and other insiders point out that Silver has gone out of his way as leader to protect his members from scandal. Silver was roundly criticized for quietly paying a settlement to interns who accused former Assembly Member Vito Lopez of sexual harassment. But one legislator told Gotham Gazette, "They see that as him going to bat for their conference. They see that as him taking the burden on his shoulders to protect them."

Leaders of the legislative houses in Albany are granted immense power by their chambers. On Thursday, as word of Silver's arrest spread through Albany, Assembly Democrats either declined to speak to the press or said they supported Silver.

After cancelling Thursday's scheduled legislative session and conferencing, Democratic members said they voted to support Silver without even reading the charges against him. For decades Silver has fought behind the scenes to protect members while bringing home cash to individual members' districts, fighting for their pet projects and deciding whether their bills live or die. Silver is the end-all for Assembly Democrats--he is all just about any of them have ever known as a leader.

The phrase "he knows where the bodies are buried" became strikingly commonplace at the Capitol on Thursday as some wondered whether Silver might be interested in sharing some of his secrets in an effort to make a more palatable deal for himself.

Complicating matters immensely and bringing it back to the significance of the three men in a room model, Silver is also the counterweight to the Senate Republicans and to Cuomo's fiscal policies. The assembly speaker is a champion to teachers unions and has pushed The DREAM Act, public financing of campaigns, and other progressive measures. All are among the reasons why his Democratic members, with the lone exception of Charles Barron, continue to support him and why Democrats in New York City, such as Mayor Bill de Blasio, were also non-critical in response to his arrest.

In other words, as long as he is not forced to resign due to a guilty plea or conviction, Silver is the Democrats' best hope for favorable policies coming out of that room.

Horner said he hopes the recent scandal will lead to a push for reform. "This isn't outside good government groups calling for change, or a scandal involving a backbencher," said Horner. "This is the guy at the center of everything and there is no ignoring it. Of course muscle memory will be for them to continue along as though they aren't the center of controversy. Maybe it will take more indictments from Bharara to change that."

Dadey said that there couldn't be a bigger impetus for action. "What better example could there be of the need for better disclosure, better ethics laws, and campaign finance reform? If not now, when?" he said.

Cuomo dedicated only a few brief words to reform in his State of the State speech on Wednesday. The governor called for campaign finance reform and a pay raise commission that would offer one level of pay to full-time legislators and another to those with outside income. He also suggested capping lawmakers outside pay. Legislators balked at the idea. Silver was expected to lead the charge against it.

***
by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Note: Gotham Gazette is an independent publication of Citizens Union Foundation, sister organization of Citizens Union.

Queens BP Katz delivers her SOTB speech (photo: @FlushingTwnHall)

QUEENS - "If it's good for families, it's good for Queens," said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, repeating the phrase that she said guides her policies at Borough Hall. Katz spoke to a packed Colden Auditorium at Queens College on Thursday, marking her 387th day in office with her first State of the Borough address.

Katz recapped her first year as Queens borough president while expanding on her vision for 2015. Like each of the other borough presidents in New York City, Katz has quite a bit of room for defining the role, which is less powerful than it was a few decades ago, but still allows for quite a bit of creativity, policy-making, and impact.

Among her accomplishments last year, Katz highlighted the overhaul of the Queens Library Board of Trustees after financial impropriety came to light by then CEO Tom Galante. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant," she said at Thursday's speech, reiterating a statement she made on the need for the change in leadership. Katz also discussed being instrumental in the World's Fair Anniversary Committee, which organized cultural events last year to celebrate the 1964 and 1939 World's Fairs. She also worked with the mayor and City Council to raise funds for the renovation of the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, she said.

For 2015, Katz outlined a big vision. She stressed her theme for the speech, calling Queens "The World's Borough," a moniker recently given added credence by popular travel publication, The Lonely Planet, which named Queens the top travel destination in the United States for 2015. Stepping up to the dais, Katz greeted the audience in a number of languages, including Hindi, Mandarin, French and Spanish.

"Being borough president is more than a job for me. It's a passion," said Katz as she emphasized her strong family connections with the borough and the motivations behind her work, chiefly her young sons who she said keep her grounded.

"My parents believed that Queens held all the elements of any great city and that no one should have to cross a bridge or go through a tunnel to get great arts, culture, fine dining and great neighborhoods," she said, stressing the cultural diversity of the 2.2 million residents of the borough, nearly half of whom were born outside the United States.

Katz's priorities for the new year are nothing short of ambitious. A top item on her list is tackling the overcrowding of schools in Queens, an issue she has brought up before. "We need to get our students out of trailers and into classrooms," she said, referring to temporary trailers set up at numerous overcrowded public schools. She criticized the complicated system of new education standards the state has adopted. "It's not a common core," she said. "It's a common problem." Pre-K was also on the list as she called for volunteer organizations to help with hosting pre-K programs - Queens enrollment is expected to quadruple over the next year.

This year will not be without its challenges, as Katz explained her office will be working on a number of formidable causes, including affordable housing. She urged the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to create 2,500 public housing units in the borough this year, up from the originally proposed 750. She called for increasing emergency rooms in the borough and creation of a permanent Rockaway ferry service. But she also took the time to praise the work of the 700 Queens residents working on local Community Boards, stating her outright opposition to term limits on Community Board members.

Among the lighter moments of the speech was Katz's announcement of an annual Queens Day to celebrate the borough's cultural diversity. Referring to a few travel publications, Katz said, "They all agree that Queens is hot and on the move. Sorry Eric!," a cordial joke aimed at Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who was in attendance.

The speech was also attended by many elected officials including New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and many other council members, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, and newly-inaugurated State Senator Leroy Comrie, who was a deputy Queens borough president before his election.

Katz honored the late former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who called Queens home, and NYPD Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu with a moment of silence.

[This is part of our 'State Of's series wherein we're reporting on so-named speeches by a variety of elected officials, from the President to the Governor, the Mayor, the City Council Speaker, and the Broough Presidents - visit the landing page here]

***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@SamarKhurshid

Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday (photo: @NYGovCuomo)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's combined State of the State speech and budget presentation certainly couldn't have been mistaken for the "Tale of Two Cities" speech his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo, gave at the 1984 Democratic Convention. But, the son's Wednesday address at the Empire State Convention Center in Albany did contain a number of similar themes - themes that have been more recently employed by Cuomo's friend, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

When speaking in loftier liberal lines and not, Cuomo gave de Blasio, who was in attendance, much food for thought as the mayor plans his 2015 state legislative agenda and readies to testify in Albany next week and deliver his own State of the City address soon after.

On Wednesday, the governor spoke to concerns shared by de Blasio, describing a public school system that fails the poor and people of color and a growing feeling that there is no longer any way to overcome poverty, that upward mobility is all but vanishing. "Too many believe if you're born poor, you'll die poor," he said. "That is the exact opposite of what The American Dream promised."

Even while invoking these tried and true progressive tomes, Cuomo continued to display his own traditional style wherein he mixes talk of fiscal austerity, balanced budgets, and backwards bureaucracy. In his presentation, Cuomo pleased de Blasio with talk of addressing inequality and measures to combat other issues facing New York City, such as the crisis over policing and what many call a biased criminal justice system. But, Cuomo left unmentioned some contentious issues of great importance to de Blasio and New York City residents, like the rent laws due to expire this spring.

In a move designed at least in some part to placate activists and de Blasio himself, Cuomo proposed a $10.50 minimum wage across the state and an $11.50 minimum wage for the city. "We believe if you work full time, you should be able to pay the rent and pay for food," Cuomo said like both de Blasio and President Obama. "We're not there yet."

Last May, in exchange for the endorsement of the Working Families Party (WFP), Cuomo agreed to a deal that would have raised the state's minimum wage to $10.10, indexed it to inflation, and allowed municipalities to increase it up to 30 percent over the state's wage. De Blasio brokered the deal - he had been lobbying to give municipalities control over their minimum wage. Many advocates insist the wage should be raised to $15.

In a video response to Cuomo's address, WFP head BIll Lipton called on Cuomo to enact a $15 minimum wage without the Legislature. "We call on the governor to follow San Francisco and Seattle's lead and pass a minimum wage people can live on: $15 an hour. If the Senate Republicans balk, Governor Cuomo can do it himself, taking executive action with a wage board."

Showing his usual comfort in the middle, Cuomo also walked a fine line while unveiling his response to outcry over the deaths of individuals at the hands of police and the recent killing of two NYPD officers.

"The promise of equal justice is a New York promise and it is an American promise. We are currently in the midst of a national problem where people are questioning our justice system," said Cuomo. "And they're questioning whether the justice system really is fairness for all. And whether the justice system really is colorblind. And that's not just New York, it's a problem all across the country."

In a 7-point agenda Cuomo said he would seek to allow district attorneys to release more information about a grand jury's findings when an indictment is not reached in a case where police are involved in the death of a civilian. The governor said he would appoint a monitor in cases when civilians are killed by police. The monitor could call for a special prosecutor. Cuomo also called for the creation of a commission on police and community relations; new recruitment initiatives aimed at diversifying police forces; and bulletproof glass in police cruisers, bulletproof vests, and use of police body cameras.

In a move de Blasio has praised, Cuomo is seeking to raise the age of criminality in New York. Currently, New York and North Carolina are the only states to try 16- and 17-year olds as adults. That would change as Cuomo took the recommendation of his panel on youth and the criminal justice system and proposed raising the age at which youth can be tried as adults to 18. "State prisons are no place for a 16-year old," Cuomo declared.

Glenn Lau-Kee, president of the New York State Bar Association, praised the proposal. "Raising the age of criminal responsibility will help all children to embark a more positive path to adulthood. Providing troubled teenagers with support and guidance can help them turn around their lives."

Many city lawmakers were waiting for Cuomo to utter the words "DREAM Act." The governor did so, promising to make a reality the legislation that would provide tuition assistance to undocumented students - but, he is tying it to the education tax credit that is favored by many conservative legislators.That proposal would allow for major tax write-offs for individuals who donate to private or charter schools. Both Sens. Adriano Espaillat and Ruben Diaz said they were overjoyed that the DREAM Act was in Cuomo's budget and were not concerned about the tax credit. Diaz said that he plans to vote for this Cuomo budget after years of voting against them.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, issued a statement decrying the linking of the two items: "The governor's proposal to link the DREAM Act to a scheme that would divert precious resources away from public schools to private, parochial and charter schools is of serious concern. Education is the foundation for future success for both New York's children and the state's financial well-being. Transferring public money to private schools undermines both. It also violates the foundational principle that bars the government from endorsing religion."

De Blasio saw a small victory when Cuomo pointed to his use of mayoral control as a reason to renew it and expand it to other cities, but on other education points Cuomo ran directly up against him. Cuomo called for raising the charter school cap by 100 and doing away with regional restrictions (i.e. the New York City limit, which is close to being hit).

"This is something I've spoken to many times – I think the cap we have now is sufficient," de Blasio told reporters at a briefing after the governor's address. "I want to certainly work with charter schools in New York City, but as I've said many times, the key to improving education in New York City and throughout the state is to do a much better job at traditional public school education."

On charter schools and much else of the education platform Cuomo unveiled, de Blasio and his teachers union allies are likely to fight. The mayor has not expressed any interest in seeing teacher tenure reform like Cuomo is suggesting, nor does de Blasio want to see an increase in the amount that standardized test scores are counted toward teacher evaluations.

However, de Blasio did praise Cuomo for his commitment to funding pre-kindergarden. Cuomo proposed spending $25 million to provide pre-k to high-need 3-year-olds, noting that studies show children are bolstered by earlier education. De Blasio was also complimentary of this idea.

Cuomo repeated his support for a plan to build four Metro North stations in the Bronx and expand Metro North service to Penn Station. He also repeated calls from last year to modernize LaGuardia and JFK airports. He also wants to link LaGuardia and the subway through the 7 line and an air train.

Cuomo pledged $750 million in funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan--down $20 million from last year. The MTA says it faces a $15 billion deficit for its 5-year capital plan. Cuomo himself has downplayed the MTA's actual need.

Other proposals that could impact the city include:

-Expanding the unemployment task force currently operating in the Bronx to the top 10 areas hardest hit by joblessness.

-Doubling funding for the state's jobs program for urban youth that provides millions in tax credits to businesses that hire disadvantaged youth.

-Providing $220 million for homeless services.

The State of the State did have glaring omissions for some advocates. Cuomo failed any major mention of the Gender Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) that affords protections to transgender individuals. The bill is included in the text version of Cuomo's prepared speech.

While Cuomo did discuss investing $486 million in building new affordable housing for "vulnerable" New Yorkers, he did not discuss renewing the expiring rent laws that keep housing affordable for thousands of city residents. Tenants and tenant advocates are highly concerned about losing affordable units to destabilization.

Asked by Gotham Gazette about the omission, de Blasio said there have been discussions at "a staff level." He added, "I think it's been one of the things that has preserved what affordability we do have in New York City – and we have an affordability crisis in New York City – it's a lot of what we talked about in the last year – it's a lot of why we have the most expansive affordable housing plan in the history of this country – to build or preserve 200,000 units of housing – because we have a profound affordability crisis in New York City. And you can't address income inequality without addressing the affordability of housing, which is the number one expense. So, I'm going to work to protect rent regulation. I'm going to look for ways that we can expand upon it and strengthen it. We've had a huge number of units lost from rent regulation or from other programs that protected affordability, and we have to address that – and I'm hopeful that we can get something done."

Everything in Albany is now in flux with news that powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is facing arrest on charges related to his outside income as a lawyer. Silver has been de Blasio's most important ally in Albany in terms of negotiating with Cuomo and Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos.

De Blasio is scheduled to return to Albany next week when he will address the legislature's joint budget hearing on municipalities. He promised he will have a more detailed analysis of all of Cuomo's proposals at that point. Traditionally, city mayors have come to Albany to ask for an increase in aid to municipalities, but that aid has been missing for New York City since Cuomo took office and his budget proposal calls for continued flatlining.

"I'll have more to say next week on details," de Blasio said at one point. "As I indicated at the beginning, I think there's some very positive elements in his agenda that I agree with, and I'm sure there'll be some other areas I have differences with..."

***
by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Note: this article has been updated.

SBS Commissioner Torres-Springer testifies before the Council (photo: @NYCBusSolutions)

NEW YORK—It has been nearly two months since the Department of Small Business Services and the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs released their long-awaited report on veteran owned-businesses. The report included a variety of plans to support veteran business owners, but recommended against City contract procurement goals for those businesses, a decision that angered many in the tight-knit veterans community.

On Wednesday, veterans were able to publicly voice their concerns about the report at a joint hearing of the City Council's Veterans and Small Business Committees.

First, Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer and her policy team, and Catherine LaPorte, chief of staff for Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs (MOVA) Commissioner Loree Sutton testified regarding the report. (Sutton was unable to attend the hearing because she fell earlier in the day and was injured).

Kelly Dougherty, executive director of SBS, and LaPorte of MOVA stayed to listen to veterans and advocates address the Council.

"The issuance of this report allowed us to discuss this issue at great depth and to get a better understanding of the struggles a lot of veterans face when they come out of active duty and want to open their own business," Council Member Eric Ulrich, chair of the Veterans Committee said following the hearing. "I wish more folks from the administration would have decided to stay."

Several veterans brought into question the numbers SBS used to make its recommendation against a veteran-owned business contract procurement goal. The SBS-MOVA report, titled "A Roadmap for Supporting Veteran Owned Businesses," estimates 6,200 veterans able to contract with the City, out of a total city veteran population of about 235,000.

"At this point, we believe we can have a larger and more immediate impact within the veteran community by assisting veterans through a wide array of outreach, training, and networking opportunities," Torres-Springer said during her testimony.

But the Veterans Advisory Board (VAB), which operates as a policy liaison between the New York City veterans community and MOVA, argued those numbers don't add up. During his testimony, VAB Chair Vince McGowan asked why the U.S. Census 2007 Survey of Business Owners data was not utilized in the report. The data, provided in McGown's written testimony, showed New York City had 39,236 veteran-owned businesses, excluding Staten Island due to insufficient data. This was in sharp contrast to the estimated 15,400 veteran-owned businesses listed in the SBS report.

The 2007 report is clearly old data, but may very well provide cause for looking at why in just eight years the number of veteran-owned businesses has seemingly decreased so dramatically.

"We encourage the City Council to scrutinize the methodology of [its new] report and consider its findings in this context," McGowen said during his testimony.

Not quite M/WBE
In the report SBS recommends veteran-owned businesses take advantage of the Minority and/or Woman-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) or the Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) programs which already have procurement goals (though according to a report issued by Comptroller Scott Stringer they are often not met). SBS estimates 50 percent of the veteran-owned businesses in the City could take advantage of these programs.

But retired Army Captain Scott Davidson testified that trying to fit veterans into a program not specifically designed for them is counterproductive.

"We lose sight of the fact that a veteran status is the only status that is earned," Davidson said, adding that not having procurement goals is "almost insulting to veterans."

Davidson, who is a white male, said he has been unsuccessful in trying to do business with the City because he is unable to qualify for M/WBE or EBE status. His business, Vets MS, is currently doing contract procurement at the federal level because it has had veteran-owned business procurement goals since the late 1990s.

Using publicly available data, Davidson found there were only 4,024 M/WBE businesses certified to do business with the City, and only 20 enrolled in the EBE program, which is—by SBS's own admission—difficult to qualify for. Davidson argued Wednesday that the pool of 15,400 veteran business owners in the city far exceeds the number of M/WBE businesses currently contracting with the City.

"You are not going to attract any veteran businesses to the City of New York because there is no incentive to contract here," Davidson said.

More than a roadmap
The report's seven recommendations are welcomed by advocates because, as was repeatedly said in the hearing, the issuance of the report is a step in the right direction of more City support for veterans. But as Council Member Paul Vallone pointed out, each of the recommendations ends with similar language: more outreach, better working relationship, more solutions, better partner.

"If I'm a veteran, it's not really what I want to hear," Vallone said. "I like hearing you want to partner in our communities, but I want to hear the administration say, 'this is the resources we are going to commit, these are the programs we are going to institute, this is the staff we are going to use'...But that was not said today."

Torres-Springer countered, saying, "We are not waiting." She pointed to several ways in which the City is making immediate changes based on the recommendations in the report.

In a matter of weeks, businesses which enroll online as vendors with the City using the Payee Information Portal (PIP) will be able to self-identify as a veteran-owned business. This will give SBS and MOVA concrete data on how many veteran-owned businesses are currently doing business with the City.

"To effectively create a goals program, we need to know more about the universe of businesses that want to sell goods and services to the City, which we will be in the position to do through the aforementioned changes to the PIP system," Torres-Springer said.

It should be noted that the onus will be on veterans to self-identify, which often poses a problem for veterans, particularly post-9/11 veterans who have trouble doing so. Torres-Springer said additional training for SBS staff at their business help centers begins next month, which could help eliminate some of the issues around self-identification.

In addition to improvements in PIP, Torres-Springer said the City will launch a new course titled, "10 Steps to Starting a Business for Veterans" in February and is currently recruiting for the Veteran Entrepreneurship Program, which also begins in February.

Outreach will be the key to success for these programs, especially reaching veterans who may not be eager to self-identify.

"Veterans will not come to you, you need to go to them," Avi Leshes, Director of Neighborhood Business Services with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, said during his testimony Wednesday. "You can talk about all these great resources for veterans but if they don't know about it, it is pointless."

If there was one thing veterans can hold onto, it's that it appears procurement goals for veteran-owned businesses are not off the table.

"We have been, are today, and will continue to be open to any strategy or programs that allow us to more effectively serve veteran business owners," said Torres-Springer.

For Council Member Robert Cornegy, chair of the Committee on Small Business, that glimmer of hope that procurement goals for veterans could happen in New York City will work for now.

"I'm satisfied that the door has not been closed on doing set-asides," Cornegy said following the hearing. "Because [the City] chose to go this route now, it doesn't mean in the future they won't do set-asides."

UPDATE: Avi Leshes wrote to Gotham Gazette to add, "SBS has a suite of terrific services that the veteran community desperately needs. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce fully supports and applauds SBS in making outreach to the veteran community a priority, because without their efforts, veterans wouldn't know about these valuable resources."

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

Note: this article has been corrected to reflect that a represenative from SBS did in fact stay for the duration of the hearing. An earlier version of the article incorrectly stated that no one from SBS had remained after its representatives testified. We regret the error.

The five borough presidents at a Crain's New York event (photo: Ben Max)

They used to be some of New York's most powerful elected officials, but their roles have changed over the last 25 years. The job of today's borough presidents has become more about creativity than clout.

Recent borough presidents have found ways to stay relevant. And the current crop of five, which includes four borough presidents just a year into their tenures, shows how much flexibility the position allows. Ruben Diaz Jr. is currently far outside of the Bronx leading a delegation of Latino leaders on a weeklong trip to Israel and Eric Adams' work on police-community relations has taken a national stage, resonating beyond Brooklyn. Yet, while there are moments like Adolfo Carrion ousting several Bronx community board members after they rejected plans for the new Yankee Stadium in 2006, the borough president office doesn't carry the same concrete weight it once did.

The position was established in 1898 to give each of the five boroughs equal representation after New York's municipal consolidation created the city in its present form. The mayor, comptroller, president of the Board of Aldermen (later City Council president) and borough presidents sat on the Board of Estimate -- once the most important body in local politics -- to vote on land use, review legislation, control the city budget, and more.

"They had real power, they had to approve everything that went on with all major policy issues," said Joseph Viteritti, chair of the Urban Affairs and Planning Department at Hunter College, of borough presidents in a bygone era.

In 1989, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Board of Estimate was unconstitutional because each borough president got one vote even though they represented vastly different numbers of people. A commission re-worked the city's charter and created New York's current system of municipal government, which corrected the representation issue by making the City Council more powerful, expanding it from 35 to 51 members and setting district population requirements. Voters ratified the charter on Nov. 7, 1989, eliminating the Board of Estimate and diminishing the borough presidents' power.

"I don't think the people on the commission fully appreciated the importance of borough identity," said Viteritti. Albeit with less power, in the years since borough presidents have continued to push borough-specific needs and promote their home turf.

Since 1989, the duties of modern-day borough presidents have included making land use recommendations, allocating a shared five percent of the city budget to local projects, overseeing community and borough boards, introducing legislation, and maintaining an accurate topographical map of their borough. Otherwise, the position is open to interpretation.

"It's a good position for political experimentation," said Gregory Perotta, author of the article "A Case For and Against the Borough President in Twenty-First Century New York City."

When successful, this experimentation can help raise borough presidents' profiles and lead to greater things. Scott Stringer started a program called Bank On Manhattan that helped low-income residents open bank accounts and avoid steep fees for check cashing and money order services. It became a model and he ran on the success of that and other efforts to become the city's current comptroller. In Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz was an energetic supporter of the borough's revitalization, including a push to bring in the Barclays Center. Term-limited, he was rewarded by fellow Brooklynite Mayor Bill de Blasio with a top job at NYC & Co., the city's marketing and tourism agency, and a $20,000 raise.

While borough presidents have racked up plenty of accomplishments over the last 25 years, some people still want to get rid of the position altogether. David Casavis, a local professor, has campaigned to become Manhattan's borough president multiple times on the sole platform of abolishing the office if he won.

"This is a retirement prize for senior politicians," said Casavis. "The sad thing is the money of the borough presidencies could be spent on so many other things."

Borough presidents can serve for a maximum of eight years. They currently earn $160,000 per year and each employ staffs ranging from approximately 30 to 60 people. According to the Independent Budget Office, the combined cost of all five offices exceeded $22 million in 2014.

These numbers may seem high, but a common justification is that each borough is the size of a city in its own right and deserves specific representation. Brooklyn and Queens each have more than two million residents.

"The more people who are watching and the more people who are acting as stewards for those areas, I think the city as a whole is better for it," said Perotta.

Four of the five current borough presidents (BPs) have just completed their first year in office, in which they began to establish long-term priorities. All five appeared active in 2014 and begin this year eyeing greater accomplishments. Soon, New Yorkers will get to hear from their borough president as those from the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn deliver "State of the Borough" addresses and the Staten Island borough president, James Oddo, hosts an open house.

The Bronx
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., in office since 2009, has been especially active.

"I'm trying to keep with the spirit of not just having the borough presidents cut ribbons and give out proclamations," he said on NY1's Inside City Hall while promoting new legislation to require health inspection grades at nail salons and barber shops.

One of Diaz's main accomplishments was advocating for a law that now requires developers who receive taxpayer funding for their projects to pay employees a living wage. He also played a large role in mediating disputes over development plans for the Kingsbridge Armory and has started multiple programs to help stimulate the Bronx economy.

"A lot of it is what you make of it. I think that we've done a very good job of keeping this office vibrant, important, and relevant," said John DeSio, Diaz's director of communications, in a recent phone interview.

On what he has called the borough's top priority, Diaz is pushing hard to get funding for four new Metro-North stations on the Bronx's east side. Governor Andrew Cuomo indicated plans to comply in a speech this week.

Manhattan
In Manhattan, Gale Brewer has carried on with many issues she fought for as a member of the City Council. On the Council Brewer helped pass paid sick leave legislation, focused on the use of technology and data to solve problems, encouraged composting in schools, and tried to get city agencies to purchase more goods locally. Renowned for her availability and constituent services, Brewer will soon open a second office uptown on 125th Street so residents can walk in for help - her main office is in the Municipal Building downtown.

Brewer's team has organized numerous training sessions for community board members on how to understand city data, land use procedures, Robert's Rules of Order, and more. She brought in students from the CUNY Service Corps program to help community boards better utilize the city's open data portal and other technology. With a variety of major land use decisions coming up in Manhattan, such as East Midtown Rezoning and redevelopment of the South Street Seaport area, Brewer wants her constituents to be prepared.

"Giving the real capacity to community boards -- technology and everything else -- that's not sexy stuff, but it absolutely has to get done," she said in a recent interview with Gotham Gazette. "People need this kind of expertise."

Queens
New Queens BP Melinda Katz facilitated a dramatic shake-up at the Queens Library. She fired six people from the board of trustees, survived a lawsuit that they subsequently filed against her, and helped pass transparency reform legislation through the City Council. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and the dark days of this saga are finally behind us," Katz said in a recent statement.

The Queens borough president also co-led the World's Fair Anniversary Committee, hosted commemorative events, and helped get funding to restore the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Staten Island
On Staten Island, James Oddo set himself apart by holding a private swearing-in at his parents' house for a fraction of the cost of his colleagues' inauguration events. And, he's the only one of the five BPs holding an open house instead of a "State of the Borough."

Oddo's focus has been constituent services and community activism, his mission is to make the office more accessible and transparent.

"I hope you've figured out by now that we at the Borough President's office are not government bureaucrats," Oddo wrote in his December newsletter.

Oddo started an anti-litter campaign and is working on multiple health and fitness initiatives. His office's new phone app, BP Assist, helps Staten Islanders report issues such as potholes and graffiti. He has also played a major role in continued Sandy recovery efforts, most recently calling for the new Staten Island Sandy Task Force to include more local input.

Brooklyn
In Brooklyn, Eric Adams has billed himself as "a tough cop" and "a tender borough president." This year the former NYPD officer has established a new tradition by hosting a New Year's Eve celebration on Coney Island. He's worked to update technology in local schools, including a program that will give some students iPads.

Improving police-community relations has become a main priority for Adams in light of recent events and current tensions. As a former NYPD captain, he brings a different perspective to the divide, especially in some Brooklyn neighborhoods. In a Martin Luther King Day speech at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Adams spoke frankly about his position on the dispute between Mayor de Blasio and police unions.

"Unions should always fight for their members, but they should never get it twisted. When it's time to determine what policies are going to impact the people of the City of New York, I did not elect the PBA. I elected the mayor," he said.

The Year Ahead
While they may have different styles, the borough presidents can still come together on certain issues. Collaboration among the borough presidents can be expected going forward - in early 2014 they held several meetings and public appearances all together. Most recently, they opposed the new LinkNYC payphone Wi-Fi proposal until changes were made to ensure equitable speeds across the city.

"In today's world, the borough presidents -- all five of us -- get along very well," Brewer said.

Though that camaraderie may only last until it's time to compete for higher office.

A borough presidency can be a springboard, as was the case with Stringer. Adams has made no secret of his intention to run for mayor and some believe Diaz plans to do the same. Many borough presidents have run for mayor before, but Robert Wagner Jr. and David Dinkins are the only ones to ever win.

Now, the borough presidents are preparing for their various "State of the Borough" events. Katz will speak at Queens College on Thursday, Jan. 22. Oddo is having an open house at Staten Island Borough Hall on Sunday, Jan. 25. Brewer will host a discussion with "four Manhattan thought leaders" at Columbia University on Feb. 8. Diaz will be speaking at the Mall at Bay Plaza on Feb. 19. And Adams hasn't announced plans for a speech yet.

***
by Cole Rosengren, Gotham Gazette
@ColeRosengrenNY

President Obama during his State of the Union Address (@nytvideo)

It is oft discussed in New York politics that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo represent different wings of the Democratic Party, with de Blasio flanking Cuomo on the left. Like Cuomo, United States President Barack Obama has at times been chided from the left on economic and education policies. All three Democrats agree on quite a bit, of course, not the least of which includes a progressive stance on social issues like marriage equality.

In delivering his sixth State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Obama touched on a wide variety of domestic and foreign policy issues. In some instances, he sounded a bit like de Blasio; in others, he spoke to issues that Cuomo has taken up.

Cuomo will give his fifth State of the State address on Wednesday, and there is speculation that he may someday pursue the presidency. De Blasio will take the stage for his second State of the City speech soon - a date has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be as early as next week - and there have been murmurs about his larger ambitions as he has built a national and international profile in the past year.

De Blasio helped form and is Chair of "the Cities of Opportunity Task Force" which has him "bring[ing] together mayors from across the country to develop an action plan to challenge the growing inequality crisis in America."

As soon as Obama finished his speech, the mayor's press office emailed a statement with praise from de Blasio on the mayor's central issue. It began, "Tonight, President Obama laid out his clearest vision yet for how the United States must tackle the greatest challenge of our time—income inequality—and said what Americans across the country have known for some time: the time to act and to defeat this challenge is now." Obama's prepared remarks included the word "inequality" once, when he called for tax reforms to close loopholes he said are being taken advantage of by "the top one percent."

De Blasio recently unveiled a business tax reform plan aimed at helping small business owners and working and middle class New Yorkers that will need approval at the state level.

In his State of the Union remarks, Obama called for paid sick leave legislation, something that de Blasio has championed - one of his first acts as Mayor was to sign into law an expansion of the city's paid sick leave rules. On Twitter, the mayor's account showed support for Obama's statement in real time: "Gratified to see President @BarackObama come out in support of paid sick leave. New York City supports you, Mr. President."

The president also called for raising the minimum wage, something de Blasio has pushed for - he wants local control so that New York City can set its own regardless of the State's mark - and Cuomo recently announced he was planning to pursue. The governor's new proposal is for a gradual rise to a $10.50 statewide minimum wage, with $11.50 in New York City, but no local control.

And it's not exactly pre-K, which Obama called for an expansion of last year, but this year the president spoke about the need to help families better afford childcare. De Blasio was surely nodding in agreement when Obama said, "And that's why my plan will make quality childcare more available, and more affordable, for every middle-class and low-income family with young children in America — by creating more slots and a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per child, per year."

Obama also seemed to sling an arm around de Blasio's shoulders when he touched on race and policing in America. The president appeared to reference comments made by de Blasio on the night of the Staten Island grand jury decision not to indict Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner. That night, de Blasio spoke of teaching his son Dante, who, like Obama, has one black parent and one white parent, to take special care when interacting with the police. In his State of the Union, Obama said, "We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can't walk home without being harassed."

Obama did not stop there, though, and in more Cuomo-ian fashion, he added, "Surely we can understand the wife who won't rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift. Surely we can agree it's a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America's criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all."

Also like Cuomo, Obama discussed passing legislation to ensure women are entitled to 'equal pay for equal work.' Cuomo continues to pursue his ten-point Women's Equality Agenda against tough Republican opposition in the State Senate.

The president and the governor both seem excited about the prospects of the U.S. normalizing relations with Cuba. The governor explained recently that he plans to break into the Cuban trade markets since the president has announced plans to lift the embargo with Cuba.

On education, Obama and Cuomo seem to see eye-to-eye in many ways, such as support for charter schools, but the president did not go into much K-12 education policy in his remarks. When the governor takes the stage on Wednesday in Albany, he is expected to focus heavily on education reform.

And Mayor de Blasio, who does not subscribe to the same education doctrine as his two fellow Democrats, will be sitting in the audience watching.

***
by Ben Max, editor, Gotham Gazette
@TweetBenMax

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

The week began, of course, with the Martin Luther King holiday, which itself saw no shortage of political action. As for the rest of the week, we're watching the following storylines:

• Governor Andrew Cuomo has been rolling out major policy proposals in advance of his major speech to be delivered on Wednesday in Albany. Our look at what the governor has unveiled thus far and what is still to come. On Tuesday morning Cuomo will be speaking to the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), a New York City-based business group. According to his public schedule, the governor will be previewing his 2015 infrastructure and transportation agenda at the ABNY event. Once the governor gives his budget address/State of the State speech, Republicans and Democrats in the State Legislature will respond, budget hearings will commence, negotiations will be ongoing, and speculation will be rampant. Another fun legislative session is upon us!

• A new Siena poll is due out on Tuesday showing public opinion on the governor, the Legislature, fracking, public education, and more in New York State.

• Once the governor has given his big speech, will he announce a date for a special election in New York's 11th Congressional District? Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan is the presumptive Republican nominee for the race; Democrats are taking more time, but could settle on a candidate any day.

• Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is currently leading a delegation of Latino leaders on a trip to Israel. In February, a City Council contingent led by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is set to head there as well - and Gov. Cuomo on Monday said that there would be an upcoming trade mission to Israel.

• Mayor Bill de Blasio is on a quick trip to Paris. Leaving Monday evening after giving Martin Luther King Day remarks at BAM and NAN and returning Tuesday evening, the mayor will be joining French officials and Jewish leaders to pay respects to victims of recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

• We're expecting Mayor de Blasio's State of the City speech to be given before the end of the month, likely next week. Meanwhile, the borough presidents are beginning to give their state of the borough speeches (at least those who are giving them - BP James Oddo of Staten Island is having a Jan. 25 open house instead) - Queens BP Katz gives hers on Thursday. Others will do so in the coming weeks.

• The new Civic Hall welcomes the public to an Open House on Tuesday. [Read our look at the new endeavor launched by two of New York's best-known civic technology leaders]

• Demand has appeared quite high - perhaps overwhelmingly so - for the City's new municipal identification card. Now appointment-only, there is a months-long wait to apply for the card as our Samar Khurshid discovered the hard way - will the City announce new measures to speed the process up?

• Applications of City Council discretionary funding are still be accepted; the new participatory budgeting season is ongoing; and community board applications are due to the borough presidents shortly. The City Council has its second full-body Stated Meeting of the month on Thursday. 

As always, there's a great deal happening in committee hearings at the City Council and all over the city. More detail below...

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
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The run of the week in detail:

Tuesday
As mentioned, Tuesday morning the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) will host Gov. Cuomo, for a discussion of the governor's priorities.

On Tuesday morning, City Comptroller Scott Stringer will participate in "Council on Foreign Relations' Renewing America Series Panel: Risks and Priorities in Public Pension Plans."

Also mentioned previously, Tuesday will see the Civic Hall Open House/Grand Opening: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 156 5th Ave at 20th St, 2nd Fl. Comptroller Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and other elected officials and civic leaders are expected to give remarks. [Read our look at the project, its roots and its goals.]

Tuesday's City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Housing and Buildings for an oversight hearing regarding "Short Term Rentals – Stimulating the Economy or Destabilizing Neighborhoods?" - this, of course, refers to the controversial Airbnb.

Prior to that hearing, at 9:45 a.m. on the steps of City Hall, there will be a "rally against illegal hotels before the Housing and Buildings Committee's oversight hearing on short-term rentals" led by Council Members Helen Rosenthal, Mark Levine, Rosie Mendez, Antonio Reynoso, Ydanis Rodriguez, Rory Lancman, Corey Johnson, Ben Kallos, and Margaret Chin; State Senator Liz Krueger; State Assembly Members Richard Gottfried, Linda Rosenthal and Keith Wright; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; and a variety of community and advocacy groups.

The City Council schedule will also include an afternoon meeting of the Committee on Parks and Recreation to consider "naming of 56 thoroughfares and public places" including those for Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were killed in the line of duty on Dec. 20.

There will also be an afternoon meeting of the Committee on Youth Services for an oversight hearing in relation to "Culturally Competent Afterschool Programs: Exploring how culturally and linguistically competent afterschool programs benefit youth."

On Tuesday at 10:45 a.m., "Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams will launch a series of digital youth dialogues with Brooklyn students on the issue of police-community relations, in response to recent citywide tension following widespread protests of policing practices and the assassinations of two NYPD officers. The conversations will take place among young people conversing over Google Hangout, while moderators remotely pose questions to them to drive discourse; tomorrow's discourse, moderated by representatives from the Peace Institute, will be between students from Bishop Kearney High School in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn Amity School in Sheepshead Bay, and Sunset Park High School in Sunset Park. Borough President Adams will further outline his ongoing effort to bridge the divide between police and the communities they serve; the conversations will inform a report of recommendations with the goal of advancing public safety citywide, as well as police and criminal justice reforms."

On Tuesday, "The Council for Senior Center and Services of New York City (CSCS) will host its 26th Annual Conference on Aging...Focusing on the transformation of aging, CSCS will present workshops on topics of interest to those in aging services and those serving older adults...Among the day's highlights will be remarks by Nora Super, Executive Director of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging...Keynote speaker, Ana Oliveira President and CEO of The New York Women's Foundation, will discuss the strengths of older New Yorkers as anchors in their communities as well as the realities, perceptions and implications of the changing aging landscape in New York. Other speakers include Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Deputy Mayor, Health and Human Services; Corinda Crossdale, Director, New York State Office for the Aging; and Donna Corrado, Commissioner, New York City Department for the Aging."

Tuesday morning, City & State NY, in partnership with Effective NY, will host "Property Taxes and New York's Future: Solving the Fiscal Crisis of Counties." The event "will convene leaders in government, business, and advocacy...to discuss how New York can solve the fiscal crisis facing counties around the state." Featured speakers to include NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli; Mayor of Syracuse, Stephanie Miner; and Former Lieutenant Governor, Dick Ravitch.

Mid-day Tuesday, the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School will host "Ferguson Is Everywhere: Policing and the Criminalization of Communities of Color," a panel discussion covering "the non-indictments in the Ferguson and Staten Island cases" and the national movement they have given rise to. Speakers will include Professor Alex S. Vitale and activist Linda Sarsour.

Tuesday evening at City Hall: "Council Member Mark Levine will moderate a panel discussion called "Shared Narratives, Values and Cultures of the Latino and Jewish Communities in New York City." The panel will include Assemdly Member Nily Rozic, who was born in Jerusalem and also has Argentinian heritage. Former Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferer and Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderon will also share their perspectives and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is slated to give opening remarks.

For those interested in more on IDNYC, there will be an information session/community meeting in Manhattan, on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. at El Museo del Barrio.

Tuesday evening in Albany, City & State NY will host its annual "State of Our State Reception" on "the eve of Governor Cuomo's State of the State" address.

Also on Tuesday evening, the Manhattan Young Democrats will host a panel discussion on race and policing. The event will feature Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, activists Michael Skolnik and Linda Sarsour, Professor Christina Greer, and others.

Later on Tuesday evening, all eyes will be on President Obama's sixth State of the Union address, 9 p.m. on many networks. Several watch parties will be happening around the city, including those held by the aforementioned Manhattan Young Democrats, but also the Working Families Party (at Plan B Bar in Brooklyn) and Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century (DL21C) in Manhattan.

Wednesday
Governor Cuomo will present the 2015-16 Executive Budget and give his postponed State of the State Address at the Empire State Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon.

[Read our preview of the speech. Also, read our look back at highlights and themes from Cuomo's first four State of the State speeches.]

Wednesday's City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations to discuss resolutions regarding "commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps on January 27th, 2015"; and "Declaring January 15th - 22nd of each year as Peace Week in NYC"; a meeting of the Committee on Technology for an oversight hearing regarding "Filming and Community Impacts," and to see the introduction of a new bill in relation to "requiring monthly and annual reports concerning film shoot permits"; a meeting of the Committee on Women's Issues to discuss a "resolution calling upon the United States Congress to pass legislation to protect a woman's health, her right to determine whether and when to bear a child, and her ability to exercise that right by limiting government interference with the provision of abortion services and ensuring legal, safe abortion care is available to any woman who needs it"; a meeting of the Committee on General Welfare for an oversight hearing on "Homelessness and the Implementation of the Living in Communities (LINC) Program" and to also discuss a "resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.2819, which would establish a hospitality gift fund for the homeless"; a meeting of the Committee on Veterans with the Committee on Small Businesses for a joint oversight hearing regarding "Supporting Veteran-Owned Businesses and Promoting Veteran Entrepreneurship." [Read our report on the subject.]

The "small cities schools lawsuit" trial is set to begin Wednesday in Albany: "After waiting six years, the parents and children in eight NY, high poverty, low wealth school districts will finally get their day in court. The plaintiffs in Maisto v. New York – known as the "Small Cities" case – are challenging New York's persistent failure to provide sufficient teachers, curriculum, reasonable class sizes, interventions for at-risk students, and other resources deemed essential for a sound basic education under the NY Constitution. The eight Small Cities districts are Jamestown, Kingston, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Port Jervis, Poughkeepsie and Utica. Last month, the case was assigned to a new Judge, and a new trial date was selected.

"The Bronx Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), in partnership with NYC Council Member Andy King and NYPD's 47th Precinct, will host a "Connections" forum on Wednesday, January 21, 4 p.m. at Evander Childs High School Campus, Blackbox Theater Room, 800 East Gun Hill Rd., Bronx. "There was a time when community residents knew the officer who walked the beat in their neighborhood and that officer knew the various families and youth in the community by their first names. The purpose of the Bronx YEP Connections program is to get back to that familiarity and close the communications gap in order to create a friendlier 'connection' between the NYPD and our youth," explained Council Member King. "In addition, the forum is an opportunity for youth to learn what to do if they are stopped by a police officer and it also gives youth a chance to ask questions of their local NYPD officers.""

Our Town, in association with the New York Society for Ethical Culture will host a town hall meeting on Wednesday evening, "Pedestrians vs. Cars: Manhattan's Deadly Traffic Problem and What Can Be Done About It." The event will feature Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, Polly Trottenberg; Former Executive Director at the New York Times, Jill Abramson; City Council Member, Helen Rosenthal; Dana Lerner, Families for Safe Streets; and will be moderated by editor-in-chief of Our Town Kyle Pope.

Thursday
Thursday morning, the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) will host Chancellor Carmen Fariña for a breakfast event addressing the Chancellor's "priorities for improving the city's public schools and ensuring better outcomes for all students."

Also on Thursday morning, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will deliver her annual "State of the Borough" address in Colden Auditorium at Queens College.

Thursday's City Council schedule includes a meeting of the Committee on Finance regarding a bill relating to the sale of tax liens and to discuss the resolution "approving the new designation and changes in the designation of certain organizations to receive funding in the Expense Budget" and the second Stated Meeting of the month at 1:30 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
Friday's CityLaw Breakfast Series event at New York Law School will feature the United States Attorney of Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.

Also Friday morning The Mayor's Community Affairs Unit and the Mayor's Office of Appointments host One City Rising Together: The Role of Inclusive Leadership in Good Government at Tweed Courthouse: "Interested in making a difference and serving as a leader in City government? Meet members of City government's inner circle and network with hiring managers from different city agencies at this event. Learn why inclusive leadership teams are so important to the future of New York City and for creating a legacy of good government. Hear first-hand about the Mayor's equity agenda and his vision for the City from the men and women who are leading key aspects of his important plan...Moderated by Baruch Professor Hector Cordero-Guzmán of the School of Public Affairs, this conversation will be an exciting exchange about leadership, government, and career opportunity" and will include First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris; Commissioner Gladys Carrión, Administration for Children's Services; Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl, Department of Cultural Affairs; Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer, Department of Small Business Services; First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin B. Tucker, New York Police Department.

Friday's City Council schedule is a meeting of the Committee on Education jointly with the Committee on Health regarding legislation relating to "Health and safety of youth football teams" and "creation of a youth sports health and safety task force."

On Sunday morning: "What Matters Now: An LGBTQ Youth Summit" co-sponsored by Council Member Corey Johnson. "What Matters Now: An LGBTQ Youth Summit aims to engage Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Queer youth from all over NYC in a day of skills building, community organizing and resource sharing. The summit will offer a variety of workshops that will cover topics that will assist LGBTQ youth in advocating for and developing safe spaces in their communities...The summit is hosted in partnership with the Office of New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito & the LGBT Caucus of the NYC Council."

Also Sunday: the "Annual Staten Island Borough Hall Open House - Direct Connect Sunday": 12-3 p.m. at Staten Island Borough Hall, hosted by Borough President James Oddo. "All Staten Islanders are encouraged to come by, learn in detail about the things we have worked on this past year, our agenda for 2015, and have an opportunity to connect directly with the BP and his staff."

***
Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Rati Mukhuradze and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

An early Civic Hall presentation for beta members (photo: @VeronicaLudwig)

NEW YORK—On Tuesday Andrew Rasiej and his business partner Micah Sifry will open Civic Hall, a 21st century community center and event space for New York City's rapidly growing civic technology sector. The space will be a central hub where hacktivists, data geeks, and government officials can regularly meet to collaborate on ways to address civic problems—a space missing in the city until now.

For those in the civic technology arena, it comes as no surprise that Rasiej and Sifry have taken on the project. The duo started Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) in 2004 as a one-day conference to bring together those interested in how the internet and technology was changing politics and governance. PDF has grown from an initial one-day conference of 200 people at the New School in 2004, to multiple two-day events in cities around the globe attended by thousands in person and online.

PDF and now Civic Hall are all about sharing ideas, solving problems, and improving government. The new space and membership to it are designed to enhance collaboration, innovation, and all the key elements of what makes the civic tech community so impactful.

Rasiej and Sifry have cultivated this community for over a decade, and now the pair will fittingly be the ones to build, open, and operate a center for the community each has become so immersed in.

But the inspiration for Civic Hall wasn't born out of a hacknight, or people bugging Rasiej and Sifry about the lack of space for people interested in civic tech. Sure, those conversations happened, but the seed was planted years earlier on two separate, but equally powerful trips to Poland.

Poland, 2004
Community centers have been in Rasiej's family for nearly a century. He just didn't know it until he was in his forties.

Rasiej had not been to his family's homeland of Poland since childhood and decided to go with his father, Steve Rasiej, to his birthplace of Nehrybka in 2004. There, father and son were driving from the two-room house without running water that the father had been born and raised in to Parish Church of Nehrybka, two miles away, where he had been an altar boy.

It was on this road where they passed a red brick building with "Community Center" painted in white on a wooden sign outside. Rasiej's father pointed to the building and said, "I laid the bricks for that building."

Rasiej was puzzled, having never heard the story growing up and asked his father to explain. Rasiej's grandfather, Zygmunt Rasiej, was a local police captain for the small township which had a mix of Catholics, Jews, and Russian Orthodox residents. He noted these groups were meeting in churches and temples to discuss local issues, but had no secular place to safely meet together.

So Zygmunt asked for funding from the government to build a local community center which would give these very different groups with equal stake in the community a place to meet. They were given enough money for materials, but not labor to build it. So Rasiej's grandfather called on his family—including Rasiej's father, who was nine years old at the time—to help build the community center. It was completed in 1936.

Shortly after the community center was erected, World War II broke out. In 1940 Rasiej's grandfather was one of the 22,000 leaders arrested and killed in the Katyn Forest Massacre and Rasiej's father was sent by the Soviets to the labor camps in Siberia. Rasiej never met his grandfather, but decades later he saw his family's legacy of community building right where it started.

"This desire to build community is in my genes," Rasiej said during a recent interview at Civic Hall, which will hold a kick-off open house on Tuesday, January 20.

"It is very moving and gratifying that Micah understands that this [Civic Hall] is actually an extension of my family's work," he added, as tears filled his eyes.

It wasn't until another trip to Poland in 2013, this time with Sifry, that Rasiej finally got the ball rolling on a community center of his own.

(Zygmunt Rasiej) 

Poland, 2013
For years civic tech enthusiasts from Warsaw had been flying to the United States and neighboring European countries to attend PDF. They asked Rasiej and Sifry for a conference to be held in Warsaw, Poland, and in 2013 the pair obliged.

Following that first PDF in Warsaw, Rasiej and Sifry had a few extra days before returning to the U.S. and decided to visit Auschwitz. The trip was very personal for both men. Like Rasiej, Sifry's family also suffered during World War II, his at the hands of the Nazis. Sifry's mother is a holocaust survivor and both his and his wife's families lost dozens of members during the war.

The visit was, for obvious reasons, very powerful for both men and initially the car ride back was quiet as they contemplated what they had seen. But as they drove further away, their thoughts slowly began to return to the real world and their most pressing question: what would they do next? They were at something of a crossroads and had what they say was a "what do we want to be when we grow up" moment in the car.

"Do we want to just keep doing a conference (PDF) and a website and being community weavers in our personal time?" Sifry said they asked themselves. "Or what can we do that is more institutionally valuable?"

With images of Auschwitz still fresh in his mind, Sifry's thoughts turned to Rasiej's grandfather's story, which he had heard before. A lightbulb went off. What about a community center for those in civic tech they had been working with for over a decade?

During their ten years in business together, Sifry said he had often bugged Rasiej about having a "store front" for their civic tech community. But the timing had never been right for a variety of reasons and the idea was always shelved.

The conversation in the car accelerated and the initial plans for Civic Hall began to take shape.

Civic Hall
The idea for Civic Hall began to become a reality shortly after that 2013 trip to Poland. The duo took their idea to Omidyar Network, Google, Ford Foundation, and Microsoft, and received initial funding. They spent a year doing research, speaking to over 150 key players in the civic tech ecosystem, not just in New York City, but around the world.

"What we were trying to figure out is what does civic tech need, what are we particularly good at doing, and what does the civic tech community in New York City, in particular, need?" Sifry said during last week's interview. "That is where Civic Hall was born."

Sifry said they looked at successful models in other cities with robust civic technology communities, including 1776 and Open Gov Hub in Washington D.C., the Berkman Center in Cambridge, and 1871 and Smart Cities in Chicago.

"One of the things we saw was that the whole ecosystem benefits when there is a central hub," Sifry said.

Chicago's co-working space, 1871, is a prime example of how a central hub has benefited the tech community. The 50,000 square foot space opened in January of 2012 and has become the most prominent co-working technology space in Chicago.

"Having that physical meeting space is valuable," Derek Eder, co-founder of Chicago's Open City hacking group and partner at DataMade, said in a phone interview last week. "The community would not be what it is without that central place."

1871 is where the Open City hacknight was based for two-and-a-half years before recently moving to a larger space (albeit in the same building). What started as a small group of like-minded civic technologists interested in solving some of Chicago's perplexing civic problems with data, has grown into the go-to place for all things civic tech.

Eder said the current Chief Data Officer for Chicago, Tom Schenk Jr., is a regular attendee of the hacknight, along with a bevy of other government officials from across multiple agencies. He said having the meeting on neutral ground, outside a government building, allows for more open and frank conversation.

"If we were all meeting somewhere on government premises, I think it would change the dynamic of how people would act," Eder said. Fully engaging, thinking creatively, and speaking candidly are all key to making such communities flow.

"That is an important thing to having the success of the community," Eder said of open, frank conversation.

Civic Hall aims to be that "safe zone" for collaboration among government and civic technologists here in New York. How much the de Blasio administration will buy in to Civic Hall remains to be seen, but it appears at the outset the administration is supportive.

"Mayor de Blasio has set forth a goal to make New York City the most tech-friendly and innovative city in the world. Collaboration with our vibrant civic tech community is vital to this success," Chief Technology Officer Minerva Tantoco said by email. "As CTO, I look forward to working together with Civic Hall to harness the creativity of all New Yorkers to bridge the digital divide, foster an innovation economy, and incubate the next generation of government technology."

Supporting the Civic Hall endeavor is low-risk for the de Blasio administration and may be why it is willing to lend early support. Few city governments around the country are willing to build or lead an innovation project like this, largely due to their political risks.

"The capacity to use failure as a way to learn inside government is close to zero," Mark Headd, former CTO for the City of Philadelphia, said during an interview at Civic Hall last week. "[Failure] is really one of the core ingredients of innovation. You have to be able to fail without it being the end of the world."

Sifry and Rasiej openly acknowledge Civic Hall is an experiment and, like the other innovation projects they have collaborated on in the past, they are sure it will evolve to ensure its longevity. The fact they won't have the ravenous New York City press corps waiting to feast on any misstep will allow them breathing room, a luxury City Hall would likely not be afforded.

Rasiej sees Civic Hall working with or without buy-in from City Hall, although he is optimistic based on how the de Blasio administration broached tech in the new mayor's first year. He has already watched government benefit from collaboration with civic technologists on projects using MTA data and numerous successful apps coming from the City's BigApps competition.

Civic Hall will offer city agencies a place to flock when ready to enlist the help of the civic tech community, on data projects for example.

Memberships are tiered, running from $30 to $550 per month depending on how much access is desired.

"If I was still in government, I wouldn't want to have to go hunting around to try and find these people [civic technologists]," Headd said. "If I could find a place that brought them in, it would be really attractive to me."

Community building legacy
Rasiej didn't lay the physical bricks for Civic Hall, but like his grandfather did with the community center in Poland, he did have a hand in a key piece of the infrastructure—albeit a more modern version. Civic Hall is wired with blazing fast Wi-Fi, something Rasiej has long been advocating for improving everywhere.

The sign on the door at Civic Hall isn't wood or painted white. In fact, city laws prohibit signage outside of 156 Fifth Avenue, in the Flatiron District, where it is located. But in the digital age, the word is spreading virtually with the hashtag #civichall, which is etched in frosted glass on the front door of the second floor entrance.

The building is different and so is the sign, but much like his grandfather, the idea of bringing together those ready to make positive change in the community is very much behind Rasiej's community center. He and Sifry are nothing if not community builders.

"I think that idea of creating a community center for our community, the community we have been building, that is really at the core of what we hope Civic Hall will be," Sifry said. "It is a chance to do something new and challenging that we think can really make a contribution."

[Read: De Blasio Admnistration, City's Tech Community Look Ahead to Big Year Two]

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by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

Note: this article has been updated.

Gov. Cuomo unveiling more of his 2015 agenda (photo: Governor's Office, via flickr)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he wants to raise New York City's minimum wage to $11.50 and the state's to $10.50 on Sunday during the latest in a series of his "2015 New York State of Opportunity Agenda" presentations. The minimum wage proposal is one of Cuomo's new "Ten Point Plan to Combat Poverty and Fight Inequality."

Cuomo has held events several days in a row to put forth major policy initiatives that will be a part of his combined State of the State Address and budget presentation to be given on Wednesday, Jan. 21, in Albany.

On Sunday, Cuomo employed the term "economic inequality," which until recently has been almost completely absent from his public vocabulary, but picks up on a theme of Mayor Bill de Blasio's and of many advocates and politicians. Cuomo went on to say that the minimum wage deal reached in 2013 wasn't enough. "We raised the minimum wage last year and we're now in the midst of a minimum wage phase-in schedule, and I'm proud that we raised the minimum wage," Cuomo said. "But the wage gap is continuing to grow." Cuomo's new wage increase needs legislative approval, which could be challenging given the Republican-controlled State Senate.

Cuomo and the Legislature reached a deal in 2013 that lifted the minimum wage to $8.75 at the end of 2014 and will increase the wage to $9 in December of this year. But advocates and many New York City-based legislators have insisted that even $9 is not enough to keep families above the poverty line. Mayor Bill de Blasio has pushed the State to allow municipalities to set their own minimum wages, especially New York City, where the cost of living is much higher than the rest of the state.

This summer, Cuomo has announced support for raising the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, a number President Obama called for nationally, and allowing localities to set the wage 30 percent higher than the state's minimum.

Contacted last week about the governor's probable wage proposal, advocates insisted the wage should be raised to $15 across the state.

"It would be great if Governor Cuomo recognizes that low wages are holding our economy back," said Michael Kink of Strong Economy For All. "He should make New York a leader nationally with a $15 minimum wage. The facts on the ground show that the states with the highest minimum wages have the best economies in the nation." Kink also wants Cuomo to index the wage to inflation.

Karen Scharff of Citizen Action reiterated Kink's call for a $15 minimum wage with indexing. The Working Families Party, which endorsed Cuomo in last year's election after a contentious process, only to feud with him publically later, issued a Sunday statement praising the proposal a a first step but pushing for a $15 minimum wage.

Progressive reboot?
Advocates and legislators are waiting anxiously to see if Gov. Andrew Cuomo's second term includes a more progressive reboot. A push for another minimum wage adjustment with some local indexing provides some hope in this regard. After a rough election year where he was beaten up in the Democratic Primary by union members and progressive groups angry at his more conservative economic policies, some insiders say Cuomo is looking to move more toward the left on both social and economic issues. And yet so far the governor has revealed fiscal plans that irk liberals. Those plans include what has been labeled by some advocates as a "Hunger Games" style competition between upstate localities for up to $500 million in state grants, three of which are available for seven regions to compete for. And, Cuomo's promising to hold budget spending to a 2 percent cap.

In his first term Cuomo used his State of the State Addresses to build what observers call his version of "a new Democrat," or his version of being (Bill) Clintonian - rolling out fairly moderate-to-conservative fiscal proposals, including some that targeted Western and Upstate New York for growth, and liberal social policies like marriage equality and gun control. But Cuomo failed to go all-in on other major progressive issues like public financing of elections, The DREAM Act, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, and proposals for larger minimum wage increases.

"Four years ago Cuomo unveiled his version of the brand-new Democrat - his version of Bill Clinton. But he was really hurt in this past election by public workers, teachers, and anti-frackers. That anger really hurt him. Now is the chance for him to strike out with his own liberal agenda," said Mark Dunlea of Hunger Action which hosts The Peoples' State of the State each year to focus on progressive issues.

This year's State of the State will be different from any given before as Cuomo delayed the originally-scheduled speech because of his father's death. And so he's doing a significant preview of his 2015 New York State of Opportunity Agenda.

"The fact that they have used the word "opportunity" as the organizing principle around this thing is nice," said Kink before saying that it would have to be backed up by actions that helped the poor as well as the rich to have any meaning.

Some advocates have put a lot of stock into what they heard in Cuomo's inauguration address where he noted the State has recovered from a $10 billion budget gap and now enjoys a $5 billion surplus. What was most compelling to many progressive advocates was this bit of Cuomo's speech: "Americans are rightly disheartened and disappointed by the economic climate and rightly so. We are told the recession is over, we read reports that say the economic numbers are going up and up but we work harder and we earn less. Income inequality is at the highest in over a century."

[Related: Four Cuomo State of the States: Hits, Misses & Themes]

Cuomo has made a number of announcements across the state during this week prior to his major speech, highlighting key policy proposals for 2015. Earlier Sunday Cuomo unveiled a series of tax cuts for small businesses.

On Saturday at New York University Cuomo unveiled a proposal to codify campus sexual assault rules already in place at schools in the SUNY system. Those rules employ an affirmative consent requirement to any sexual encounter on higher education campuses across the state, a sexual assault victims bill of rights, and more.

Cuomo has also released a student loan forgiveness program that would pay the difference between a New York resident's student loan bill and what is covered by the federal Pay as You Earn program as long as the student earns less than $50,000 a year. Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group praised the proposal, saying Cuomo "deserves a gold star."

Other recently-debuted proposals include a property tax subsidy for middle-income renters and homeowners; a plan to expand broadband access across rural areas of the state; and the contest where upstate localities can compete to win up to $500 million of a $1.5 billion pot of state economic stimulus funds. The plan has faced backlash in some quarters because Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" program gave $1 billion to Buffalo development without the city having to compete against others. Noting that four of the seven regions able to compete for the monies will likely go without, some have dubbed it "The Hunger Games." James Parrott of The Fiscal Policy Institute said he thinks the metaphor is appropriate. "To force upstate regions to compete is pretty cynical. Are we saying some areas are not worthy of assistance if they can't manage the sharpest elbows in the competition? It doesn't recognize the disparity of need in some of these regions."

Key issues not yet addressed
Leading up to and on Wednesday in Albany Cuomo is expected to make major proposals on a slew of other issues.

The governor is expected to move on criminal justice reforms in the wake of the death of Eric Garner and a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who put him in a fatal chokehold. "The truth is the justice system does need review," Cuomo said in his inaugural address. "The truth is there are troubling questions that have been raised that must be answered. The truth is police officers need do more safety and need more protection. The truth is law enforcement needs the respect of the community as much as the community needs to respect law enforcement."

Considering he has called for a full review of the system, it is unclear how many specific recommendations Cuomo might make on criminal justice. It looks like he will at least start with calling for more transparency in the grand jury system.

Senate Republicans are scheduled to hold hearings on police safety and criminal justice issues across the state the week after Cuomo's address. Republican Sen. Martin Golden of Brooklyn, a former police officer himself, told Gotham Gazette he expects Cuomo to strike a balance between police safety and community concerns. He said he expects the Senate hearings to take a similar tone. "We will be looking at getting bulletproof vests and glass for the officers, things they need to do their jobs safer, and of course criminal justice reform."

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Senate Democrats have pushed for special prosecutors to look into police shootings of unarmed citizens, but many Republicans oppose the idea because they say it will undermine locals District Attorneys. Other proposals would make the grand jury process more transparent so that the public would understand why an officer is or is not indicted. Cuomo said on Wednesday that while he was looking at reforms to grand jury secrecy he had yet to settle on any particular proposals.

Expect strong words from the governor on passage of his Women's Equality Agenda. Cuomo himself created an entire political party to back the ten-point proposal that has been the source of bickering and stalemate between the Democratically-controlled Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate because of the plank that would codify Roe v. Wade in state law. The Senate moved swiftly this year to neutralize the issue by passing eight of the planks in the second week of session. Senate Republicans are pressuring the Assembly to vote on the eight measures they passed. It is unclear how Cuomo will navigate the impasse.

A number of New York City legislators are hopeful Cuomo will make good on a campaign promise and help pass The DREAM Act to provide tuition assistance to undocumented immigrants who meet existing guidelines. "He needs to make good and put the DREAM Act in the budget," said Sen. Jose Serrano of the governor. "He has a great opportunity to lead on a progressive agenda. He has it in his DNA. His father raised him with that. He grew up with that great liberal lion."

Perhaps the most divisive part of Cuomo's address will be his education agenda. Thus far, the only preview of his education agenda that Cuomo has given is a lengthy letter that he had a commissioner send to outgoing State Education Commissioner John King and Board of Regents head Meryl Tisch. Cuomo has made a significant number of public comments (and past actions) that indicate he will look to bolster charter schools and implement tougher evaluations for public school teachers. Last month Cuomo vetoed his own teacher evaluation bill saying that it didn't actually "fix the foundational issues with the teacher evaluation system."

Teachers unions took it as retribution for the fact that they refused to back him during the 2014 election cycle. In October, Cuomo promised to "break" what he called the public education "monopoly."

"It would be nice to hear him say something positive about the people who are teaching our children," said Assembly Member Deborah Glick, who chairs the Higher Education Committee. "If we want kids to respect their teachers then officials need to display some as well and acknowledge it is a difficult job." Cuomo has repeatedly said he is not anti-teacher, but that the state education system is not working well enough and reforms are needed, whether backed by the unions or not.

[Related: Four Cuomo State of the States: Hits, Misses & Themes]

New York City waits
Meanwhile a number of issues important to New York City will be before the Legislature this year - rent laws and mayoral control of schools are each set to expire and while most legislators say they expect to renew both, major battles will be fought over the details of each.

Mayor Bill de Blasio finds himself in a precarious position since his bid to remove Senate Republicans from power failed spectacularly. He will need Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and possibly Cuomo's help to get what he wants, or anything near it.

"There is a basic institutional conflict at play," said Doug Muzzio, professor emeritus of political science at Baruch College, of the city-state tug of war. "On top of that there is this real soap opera with a guy who worked for the other guy [as de Blasio did for Cuomo]. Cuomo ravaged de Blasio over universal pre-kindergarten and then de Blasio saves his ass at the Working Families Party meeting."

Muzzio says that once again de Blasio is at Cuomo's mercy despite being helpful to the governor several times over the past year. "There is a triangle as far as negotiations in Albany" with Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos, Assembly Speaker Silver, and Cuomo, "but Cuomo is at the top of the triangle. So does he give Republicans something to soothe their anger with de Blasio or not? You can't put the toothpaste back in tube. [De Blasio] sent the staffers up there and spent the money to beat [Senate Republicans]. He is at the governor's mercy now."

Sen. Golden agreed that de Blasio faces stiff opposition from his conference in Albany. "He's gonna have a rough time. But it's my job as a Senator from the city, and all the others', to make sure there is balance in what the city gets."

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing