New York City Hall
What to watch for this week in New York politics:
This week will be dominated by dissection of and fallout from the new state budget, a $175.5 billion spending and policy plan agreed to by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature over the weekend. The budget, which takes effect to start the new fiscal year on Monday, April 1, makes a wide variety of spending decisions, including on the always-important topic of education aid to localities, which comprises a large portion of the budget, and a number of new policy changes, including on criminal justice. Items like a new congestion pricing plan for New York City and making permanent the 2 percent annual property tax cap for all areas outside the city span both fiscal and policy areas.
Governor Cuomo will likely speak to the new budget earlier, but on Thursday he is set to address a Manhattan audience at length. The Legislature is due to be in session three days this week, but it’s not clear the two houses will have much of an agenda.
The City Council has a quieter week after just having wrapped up an intense month of hearings on Mayor de Blasio’s $92 billion preliminary budget. The Council will soon issue its formal preliminary budget response. The mayor’s executive budget, which will take into account the Council hearings and response, as well as the new state budget, and more, is due toward the end of this month.
There are some City Council hearings this week, plus other events around the city -- see our day-by-day rundown below.
***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
e-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***
The run of the week in detail:
Monday
At 8:15 a.m. Monday, NYC Health + Hospitals President Mitchell Katz will speak to the Citizens Budget Commission at the Yale Club. Katz will discuss the “transformation of H+H, the largest municipal health system in the United States, and give an update on progress on its long-term plan to reinvent itself.”
At 9:45 a.m. Monday, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson will deliver remarks at the "dedication of The Shed" at the The Bloomberg Building.
The State Legislature is scheduled to be in session Monday in Albany.
Tuesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.
At the City Council on Tuesday:
--The Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet at 9:30 a.m.
--The Committees on Transportation and Civil Service & Labor will meet jointly at 1 p.m. to discuss proposed laws banning on-call scheduling for utility workers working on underground infrastructure and requiring all workers working on a project to open a street to be in compliance with safety training.
Wednesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.
At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl will address the “Crain’s Arts and Culture Breakfast” to discuss the “successes and challenges to continue to increase museum traffic and drive tourism numbers for New York City.” Afterwards, there will be a panel discussing similar issues, consisting of Concetta Anne Bencivenga of the New York Transit Museum, Deborah Cullen of the Bronx Museum of Arts, Brett Littman of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, and Daniel Weiss of the Met. The event will take place at the Con Ed Building in Union Square.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Mayor de Blasio will speak to the Atlantic’s “Renewal Summit” at CNVS in Midtown, discussing “how cities like New York can keep growing, while staying true to those who have long called it home.”
At the City Council on Wednesday:
--The Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses will meet at 10:45 a.m.
--The Committee on Land Use will meet at 1 p.m.
Thursday
At the City Council on Thursday: The Committee on Technology will meet at 1 p.m. for an oversight hearing regarding “automated decision systems used by agencies.”
At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the Rent Guidelines Board will meet at the Landmarks Preservation Commission Conference Room in the Manhattan Municipal Building. This will be the board’s first meeting of 2019.
At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Governor Cuomo will speak to the Association for a Better New York at Cipriani Wall Street.
Friday and the weekend
At 8:30 a.m. Friday, the Regional Plan Association, the Center for New York City Affairs, and the Independent Commission on Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform will host “The Future of Rikers and the Inner Sound” at the New School, discussing how Rikers Island can be repurposed after its prison facilities are closed. Speakers will include former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Queens Council Member Costa Constantinides, Ben “Cincere” Wilson of the New School, Moses Gates of the RPA, Melissa Iachan of NYPIRG, and Claire Weisz of WXY Studio.
Mayor de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday at 10 a.m.
***
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 Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette
