Gov. Cuomo at a bill-signing (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)

Late last month Gov. Andrew Cuomo sat at a desk at Hunter College surrounded by applauding women, including advocates and elected officials led by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. At that desk, Cuomo signed eight bills that were part of his Women's Equality Agenda. It was declared a historic occasion as new protections against discrimination versus women were made law. But, the bills the governor signed were an incomplete version of the ten-point WEA Cuomo had debuted with great fanfare during his 2012 State of the State address and insisted for quite some time must be passed as a package.

Recognizing that they could not get state Senate Republicans to concede on a bill to codify abortion protections into New York law, Democrats including Cuomo decided to pass the WEA bills for which they did have bicameral support (nine points became eight bills). Despite Cuomo's triumphant tone last month, many women's rights advocates and legislators feel the governor is declaring victory too early. They say that New York is not leading on women's issues nationally, notwithstanding the governor's claims, and that there must be a renewed push for further action - on the final pieces of the WEA and other measures, such as paid family leave.

In 2012, Cuomo announced the legislative agenda addressing pay equity, abortion, and human trafficking, among other key issues related to gender equity and women's rights, such as protecting domestic violence survivors.

"This State has a legacy of leading the way in advancing equal rights and today we are making New York a model of equality for women," Cuomo stated at the time of the October bill-signing. "This comprehensive set of laws will help to ensure that women are supported, protected, and given all of the opportunities they deserve in life. Today, New York stands once again as a monument for progress, and a sign of what can be achieved when we come together to do the right thing for women everywhere."

Many saw Cuomo's involvement in women's equality issues as a way to ensure greater equity and finally pass a controversial measure that supporters and detractors say encodes abortion protections into state law. "The belief was that if we packaged all these important bills together anti-choice Republicans would have to come to the table," said state Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat.

Asked if she expected movement on the abortion measure in the coming 2016 legislative session, Krueger responded: "I will never take reproductive rights off my priority list and despite what opponents say a bunch of states have better laws than New York and that is a shame."

The decision to pass the other measures of the WEA without the abortion bill was a difficult one for many who were pushing the entire package. A number of advocates and analysts see other moves by the Cuomo administration as designed to pander to women without actually achieving anything substantive. One major example is the Cuomo-created Women's Equality Party, which has been mismanaged and largely seen as an attack on the liberal Working Families Party, with which Cuomo has had a contentious relationship.

Prior to the WEA bill-signing, Cuomo spent significant time enacting and promoting his new campus sexual assault policies, which he described as essential to protecting women in New York and an example of the state as a national leader.

Some legislators and advocates say that while the governor likes to lead on progressive issues and point to partisan gridlock in Washington, the abortion plank of the WEA is one area where the governor was either unable, or unwilling, to deliver truly progressive leadership.

Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization of Women (NOW) NYC, said that she doesn't consider the fight for the abortion plank of the WEA over. "It is full-steam ahead as far as we are concerned," she told Gotham Gazette. "Everyone involved did not start with the WEA. The legislation has been around for some time. We will keep beating the drum."

Further, Ossorio said that a full press on the measure from Cuomo ending with passage of the abortion plank could serve as a message to the rest of the nation that New York rejects the recent onslaught against Planned Parenthood that was sparked by videos that have now been discredited.

"It would send a very positive message in a time when we are seeing so many states passing laws designed to restrict access to reproductive health and abortion," said Ossorio.

The Cuomo administration did not return requests for comment about whether the governor will pursue passage of the final plank of the WEA, or what other legislative priorities he might have that involve what might be called women's issues.

Karen Scharff of The Working Families Party and Citizen Action New York issued a statement following Cuomo's October bill-signing. The first half of the statement praised his action on the eight bills. The second half was less celebratory: "Glaringly absent from today's announcement were two pieces of legislation that should be priorities for the Governor and legislature in 2016: protecting a woman's reproductive rights, and guaranteeing paid family leave. Full equality for all women in New York requires both. Women need to be confident that we will be safe from national Republican attacks on reproductive rights and know that we will no longer be forced to choose between caring for our families and making ends meet. We urge the legislature and the Governor to make passing the 10th plank of the Women's Equality Act and paid family leave a priority next year."

State Senator Jeff Klein, the leader of the Independent Democratic Conference who has been supportive of paid family leave, said he simply doesn't see how the final WEA measure makes it through the Senate, despite his support.

"I support it, I don't believe it is a controversial measure. We need it it if the Supreme Court goes wrong way so that New York still has the protections but I don't believe we have 32 Senators who are pro choice," Klein said, referring to a majority in the Republican-controlled 63-seat Senate. Klein's IDC does have a ruling partnership with the Republicans that helps the latter keep hold of the chamber.

Now, many advocates and legislators appear to have their sights set on Cuomo's minimum wage campaign and a push for paid family leave as they say women are deeply impacted by both issues. While Cuomo is getting a lot of credit for his wage push, supporters of paid family leave want to see real action from the governor on that issue.

Ossorio said that both the campaign for a $15 minimum hourly wage for all New Yorkers and for paid family leave in New York would be overwhelmingly positive for women across the state. "Forty percent of single mothers in New York City live in poverty," said Ossorio. "So raising the minimum wage in New York is undoubtedly massively important to women as is the movement for paid family leave. These are issues that are really significant for working families and when we are talking working families we are often talking about mothers."

Krueger said 2016 could be a year to tackle a number of issues that help improve the lives of working women.

"It does seem this is a ripe year for having a discussion about the economic issues women face. When we talk about the minimum wage we are talking about a women's issue because it disproportionately impacts women," Krueger told Gotham Gazette.

Cuomo's push for a $15 minimum wage is already facing pushback from some Senate Republicans and a number of business groups that say that type of increase will force companies to downsize their workforce. Cuomo took another big step toward putting enough pressure on Republicans to back a $15 phase-in by announcing he was implementing a timeline for raising state workers to an eventual $15 per hour minimum.

The issue of paid family leave was a surprisingly live topic toward the end of this year's legislative session. Assembly Democrats and the Independent Senate Democrats each had their own proposals on paid family leave. Senate Republicans included a measure in their budget proposal, surprising many observers.

Debate over the bills did not end harmoniously, with each conference blaming the other for failed talks. Cuomo initially told reporters that the legislature had no "appetite" to negotiate paid family leave, but as it became clear both houses of the legislature supported some version of a program, a spokesperson clarified the governor's position. "This administration strongly supports the notion of providing paid family leave in New York State," Melissa DeRosa told Politico New York in March. "Unfortunately, the Senate and Assembly have advanced differing versions of this policy that do not see eye to eye and that fail to form the comprehensive solution that the issue requires."

Klein said he is optimistic there can be some kind of compromise on the issue this year and believes the governor was simply looking for both houses to reach an agreement at the end of last session. "That didn't happen," Klein told Gotham Gazette. "This an extremely important issue that resonates with residents across the state."

In the Cuomo administration press release celebrating the WEA bills being signed, a statement from Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, captured the lens of many: "By closing loopholes in many existing protections for women and demonstrating a commitment to equality, the bills signed today set the stage for further, future reforms, such as protecting women's fundamental right to choose, ensuring access to reproductive health care and allowing new mothers paid family leave to care for their children without facing debt or bankruptcy."

Ossorio says there are a number of other issues that have mostly flown under the radar that she hopes the legislature will address. They include making childcare more affordable, funding sex education and "consent education" in schools, and making sure the state enforces an existing law that bans pregnant prisoners from being shackled during delivery, as well as expanding the law to banning shackling throughout a prisoner's pregnancy.

"This is a basic human rights issue that New York lags behind on," said Ossorio. "It's an issue that this state should lead on."

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

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

Wednesday is Veterans Day, with parades, resource fairs, and events to honor and aid veterans taking place before, on, and after the day itself. Mayor Bill de Blasio will hold a breakfast reception to honor the military veterans Wednesday morning. On Thursday, the City Council will hold a hearing on veteran homelessness, which the mayor vowed to end by the end of this year as part of a national pledge.

The mayor and the City Council agreed last week to create a new Department of Veterans Services, removing the agency from the Mayor's Office and making veterans affairs its own city department, which will give it more resources and Council oversight. There will be a celebratory rally outside of City Hall on Tuesday at 11 a.m., then the veterans affairs committee of the Council will vote through the department bill, followed by the full Council.

Could this be the week that First Lady Chirlane McCray unveils her much-anticipated "Mental Health Roadmap"? The week of Veterans Day would make sense considering the mental health challenges many veterans face. There's been no indication this is the week, but the 'roadmap' has been slated for release this fall. [Read our extensive preview of McCray's mental health roadmap]

According to Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), the City will release its first quarter modification to the FY2016 budget this week. "In advance of that release, CBC compares the Mayor's budget savings agenda, called the Citywide Savings Program, or CSP, with the Program to Eliminate the Gap (PEG) in fiscal years 2010 to 2015."

After a marathon Friday press conference at which de Blasio answered dozens of questions from assembled reporters on a wide variety of subjects, the mayor had a quiet weekend. De Blasio continues to be scrutinized for his approach to the media, his administration's transparency, and several policy areas in which he is having the most challenges, such as homelessness, policing, and education. We'll see what this week holds other than a focus on veterans and the budget. On Monday morning the mayor is set to meet with members of the city's congressional delegation and then hold a media availability - at which he'll take both on- and off-topic questions.

As always, there's a great deal happening all over the city, with many events to be aware of - read 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 the City Council on Monday:

• At 10:30 a.m. the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions will convene to discuss several Land Use Applications in Brooklyn.
• At 11 a.m. the Committee on Land Use will meet.

On Monday at 10 a.m., Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams "will honor Brooklyn's military heroes at his "Start Strong, Finish Strong" resource fair for veterans...Additional speakers will include Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Loree K. Sutton, a retired Army brigadier general, and USAG Fort Hamilton Command Sergeant Kevin Fauntleroy. Borough President Adams will speak about Brooklyn's commitment to its veterans, including his efforts to restore the Brooklyn War Memorial and to address mental health challenges facing the community."

On Monday at 11 a.m., New York City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, along with Hetrick-Martin Institute CEO Thomas Krever and the LGBTQ Caucus of the City Council will unveil “HMI Goes Citywide For LGBTQ Youth,” a new initiative to address the challenges LGBTQ youth face in New York.

"On Monday, Mayor de Blasio will meet with members of the New York Congressional Delegation at City Hall to discuss a number‎ of issues impacting New York City. This meeting is closed press. After, [at 11:30 a.m.] the Mayor and members of the Congressional Delegation will hold a media availability on the Zadroga Act on the steps of City Hall," according to his public schedule.

At noon Monday, Crain’s New York Business will host its “Crain’s Business Hall of Fame Luncheon” to celebrate businesspeople who have transformed the city through their philanthropic and professional lives. The list of honorees include Ms. Pamela Brier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maimonides Medical Center; Mr.Laurence Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock; Ms. Shelly Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy & Mather; Mr. Alan Patricof, Managing Director Greycroft; The Honorable Richard Ravitch, Former Lieutenant Governor, New York; Ms. Emily Rafferty, President Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Mr. Steven Roth, Chairman and CEO, Vornado Realty Trust. EisnerAmper will sponsor the event.

At 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Public Advocate Letitia James will “announce measures to expand affordability of NYC child care.” Joined by parents, advocates and other stakeholders, James will hold a press conference about the costs and accessibility of child care in New York City, releasing a report and outlining five policies to help increase accessibility, capacity, and affordability.

At 1 p.m. Monday at City Hal, the correction officers union will hold a press conference "following the vicious attack on a correction officer by two Rikers inmates."

At 6 p.m. Monday, schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña will deliver remarks at a pre-K family forum at the Children's Museum of Manhattan.

At 7 p.m. Monday, Comptroller Scott Stringer and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal will co-host a town hall meeting at the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center on West 65th Street.

Also at 7 p.m. Monday, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will speak at New York Historical Society’s “Debt of Honor” program.

TUESDAY
Tuesday is a “Fight for $15” day of action, with many events planned to bring attention to wage issues and push for a $15 per hour minimum wage. Unions, advocacy groups, elected officials, and others will participate. Worker strikes, rallies, and marches will take place throughout the day all over the city and the country.

At 6:30 a.m., Mayor de Blasio "will deliver remarks at a Fight for $15 rally to raise the minimum wage...Immediately following his remarks, the Mayor will appear in several one-on-one interviews with local television networks to discuss the need to raise the minimum wage." At 2:15 p.m., the Mayor will appear live on WBLS 107.5 and at 2:30 p.m., on NY1. "In the evening, the Mayor will attend the 70th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner."

State Senate Republicans will convene in Albany on Tuesday to discuss their 2016 agenda. (A week later Assembly Democrats will meet in the capital, according to Politico New York.)

On Tuesday at 8 a.m., Chancellor of the State University of of New York Nancy Zimpher will speak at the Citizens Budget Commission breakfast at the Harvard Club. Zimpher will discuss SUNY projects and priorities.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday the Board of Corrections will hold a meeting.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall, Council Speaker Mark-Viverito, Council Member Eric Ulrich, who chairs the Council’s veterans affairs committee, military veterans, and advocates will celebrate the imminent creation of a new City Department of Veterans Services.

At the City Council on Tuesday, the City Council will convene for a full-body Stated Meeting, which, as always, will be prefaced by a press conference hosted by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito at 12:30 p.m.

Gov. Cuomo will make an announcement Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. in Manhattan at Foley Square, likely at a Fight for $15 event.

At 6:30 p.m. the Committee on Drugs and Law of the New York City Bar Association will host a discussion on marijuana policy in New York. Panelists will include City Council Member Rafael Espinal, state Senator Jeff Klein, Vocal New York’s Alyssa Aguilera, and others.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, “Trans-Pacific Partnership: Who Wins and Who Loses in This Secret Deal?”, a panel event presented by the Big Apple Coffee Party and moderated by Zephyr Teachout, Fordham law professor and CEO of Mayday PAC.

The only City Council Participatory Budgeting event of the week is on Tuesday: Council Member David Greenfield (District 44, Brooklyn), 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday is Veterans Day. At 8 a.m. Mayor de Blasio will hold a breakfast reception to honor and remember military veterans.

On Wednesday evening, many New York politicos, policy wonks, and others will gather to celebrate the 25th anniversary of City Journal, the Manhattan Institute policy publication.

THURSDAY
On Thursday at 8 a.m. Association for Better New York will host a breakfast with Congressional Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who will speak about the  projects, as well as her other priorities.

The next public meeting of the New York City Campaign Finance Board will be Thursday at 10 a.m.

At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will hold a Public Land Use Hearing.

At 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Politico New York hosts New York Playbook Lunch, a discussion with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, hosted by playbook writers Azi Paybarah, Jimmy Vielkind, and Mike Allen.

At the City Council on Thursday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Transportation will meet for an oversight hearing on transportation deserts. The Committee will hear two bills: one to mandate a DOT study looking at the feasibility of a light rail system; another to mandate a study on transportation deserts. It will also look at resolutions calling on the MTA to allow commuters to pay the metrocard fare on commuter rails and to conduct a study on unused railroad rights.
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Parks and Recreation will meet to hear CM Mark Levine’s bill that would create a taskforce to study the effects of building shadows on parks.
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Aging will meet for oversight on DFTA’s home care program.
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet to discuss a bill that would require residential buildings to have photoelectric smoke detectors.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Environmental Protection will meet to discuss two bills aimed at reducing noise by sightseeing helicopters.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management will convene for oversight of DSNY’s 2016 snow plan, and the introduction of two bills that would identify pedestrian bridges and create plans for de-snowing and de-icing them and make exemptions for senior citizens and persons with disabilities from being penalized for failing to remove snow from on sidewalks.
• At 1:30 p.m. the Committee on Veterans, jointly with the Committee on General Welfare will meet for oversight of the City’s efforts to end homelessness among military veterans.

Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at New York Law School: Law and the Lives of Young Black Men, "featuring Richard Buery, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives; Alphonso B. David, Counsel to the Governor; and Nicholas Turner, President and Director, Vera Institute of Justice. Moderated by Professor Mercer Givhan, New York Law School."

Thursday evening, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is holding a campaign fundraiser, a reception with Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the honorary guest.

At 6 p.m. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the Bronx Borough Board will host a public hearing regarding the Zoning for Quality and Affordability and the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing proposals of Mayor de Blasio through the City Planning department and toward his housing plan.

Mayor de Blasio will host a town hall meeting focused on education in Jackson Heights, Queens, Thursday evening. Council Member Daniel Dromm, who chairs the City Council education committee, will welcome de Blasio and his team to the district.

At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the New York City Department of Records and Information Services and WomensActivism.NYC will host the celebration of the 200th o birthday of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Women's Suffrage Centennial. Sponsored by the City of New York, the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC, The Cooper Union, and Lebenthal Asset Management, the event is expected to be attended by elected officials including Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.

FRIDAY
On Friday at 8:15 a.m. Vicki Been, the Commissioner for Housing Preservation and Development, will speak at the latest New York City Law School CityLaw breakfast event.

On Saturday: "Newly appointed New York State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia will give her first public address in New York City on Nov. 14 at the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators' (CSA) 48th Educational Leadership Conference...Elia will deliver the keynote at CSA's Professional Development Plenary."

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

Gov. Cuomo with graduates of the state police academy (photo: Governor's Office via flickr) 

Governor Andrew Cuomo is concerned that New York City is sliding backwards when it comes to order, citing disrespect for law enforcement as a key example and decrying a lack of leadership in allowing what he sees as an unacceptable atmosphere to permeate.

In comments to reporters after the recent killing of NYPD Officer Randolph Holder, Cuomo took veiled shots at Mayor Bill de Blasio and lamented the state of society when it comes to respect for the police. Calling violent incidents against police officers "troubling signs," Cuomo said, "I believe we've had more police officers assaulted in New York than any city in the country."

In the past ten months, four NYPD officers have been shot and killed while on duty. The most recent, Holder, was posthumously promoted to detective, and his death appears to have led Cuomo to conclude there is "no doubt that we have a violence problem against police officers."

Saying that he understands police officers feeling unsupported and repeatedly stressing in a frustrated tone that New Yorkers must "respect the police," Cuomo not only intimated that he believes de Blasio has allowed an anti-police environment to take root, but raised eyebrows among some who see the governor's comments as vilifying the police reform movement.

Further, critics say Cuomo's feud with de Blasio is getting in the way of a real discussion of how to improve relations between the police and communities and that the two leaders should be working together on the issue.

On the other hand, Cuomo's comments were met with applause from some who believe that there is not enough regard for the job police officers do in New York City and their role in making the city much safer than it was a generation ago.

"The police are not the enemy," Cuomo said last week, "and we've let the dialogue shift."

"They're public servants of the highest order and leadership has to communicate that message. I'm gonna do my part because the police are right," Cuomo said, referring to what he says are police officers feeling like targets and not feeling supported.

Norman Siegel, famed civil rights attorney and police reform movement leader, told Gotham Gazette that Cuomo should hold a summit with de Blasio that brings together law enforcement officials and reform advocates.

"His fight with de Blasio isn't necessary," Siegel said of Cuomo. "We need grownups in the room. The governor could bring us together instead of pandering. It might score political points in some communities but it won't change anything. He could be in the middle of this providing the leadership that is needed."

Cuomo had given his own explanation of what type of leadership is needed at this time. "As leadership, we have to send a different signal. And the signal is 'respect law enforcement.' I understand your civil rights, I understand freedom of speech, but I also understand the role of the police."

The governor continued, "The police are right when they say there's now an atmosphere, now an attitude that the police are fair game. They're not."

When asked if City Hall was not properly leading on the issue, Cuomo declined to say which officials have not been sending the right message, only that he was going to do his part.

Douglas Muzzio, professor of political science at Baruch College, told Gotham Gazette that Cuomo's latest comments achieved two things. "The bottom line is this is another shot at de Blasio. [Cuomo] does not miss a chance to take a shot at the mayor. It is both him using the mayor as his perpetual punching bag and at the same time making strategic calculations to appeal to certain constituencies. He is making a cost-benefit analysis with the dual purpose of taking a jab at de Blasio and appealing to certain communities."

As it turns out, de Blasio's message is not one that conservatives or many law enforcement officials want to hear, while Cuomo's is.

"Police need to have the upper hand in the street," Eugene O'Donnell, professor at John Jay Rockefeller School of Criminal Justice and former NYPD officer, told Gotham Gazette. "Our leaders are perpetuating this lie that police are like everyone else. And they aren't. They volunteer to put themselves in harm's way to enforce our laws and they need our support and respect to do their jobs."

O'Donnell actually blames Cuomo for some of that anti-police sentiment because of his executive order allowing the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate police killings of unarmed civilians.

"The governor is trying to have it both ways." said O'Donnell. "The special prosecutor order is basically feeding into the notion that police are out there killing people indiscriminately, that this is a 1950s throwback force, with "In the Heat of the Night" kind of stuff."

Cuomo has faced stiff backlash from law enforcement and district attorneys for his executive order, which he said was part of his efforts to reduce both real and perceived problems with the criminal justice system, and he has sought to put the burden of mending hurt feelings on Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Advocates who fought for the order say they felt they had to drag Cuomo to the signing "kicking and screaming" and were only successful because of immense political pressure.

Cuomo had promised he would sign such an order if the legislature didn't act on reforms. It became clear early in this year's session that Senate Republicans wanted nothing to do with Cuomo's proposals. The governor is expected to look for legislative action on the matter again next year, but those same Republicans appear fairly dug in and advocates note that Cuomo's rhetoric against criticizing the police is starting to more closely match those more strident supporters of law enforcement.

Republican Brooklyn state Senator Martin Golden, also a former NYPD officer, released a statement following Holder's death that called for the return of stop-and-frisk and condemned recent attempts to reform the criminal justice system.

"We must restore the practice of stop, question and frisk so to allow our police the opportunity to better secure our neighborhoods. There is no doubt that the suspension of this policy has resulted in the uptick in crime and shootings in our City, which for many years has been the safest large City in America," Golden said, referring to de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton overseeing a continued drop in the controversial tactic.

"At a time when we should be looking to keep criminals in jail and off our streets, the New York City Council is looking to create a publicly funded taxpayer bail program. I urge the City Council to immediately suspend these efforts and instead, focus on legislation that will make New York safer, not more dangerous," Golden said.

Both the de Blasio administration and the City Council have begun efforts to provide bail assistance to those arrested for low-level, nonviolent crimes who cannot afford bail.

Golden called for state lawmakers to soon propose and pass new, "meaningful legislation to make our streets safer." 

O'Donnell said officials need to reiterate that the police need support. "Everyone is a reformer these days. The police force has been orphaned. There is now a gotcha culture in our society around the police," O'Donnell told Gotham Gazette, sounding much like Cuomo had last week.

"We want the bad guys to cross the street when they see the police instead of the police crossing the street when they see the bad guys," O'Donnell continued, "and right now there is an environment where police are being threatened, mocked on the streets - people are crossing the street to start altercations with them."

De Blasio ran on reforming the NYPD after what some advocates, elected officials, and law enforcement officials see as an era of "over policing" under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, highlighted by their abuse of stop-and-frisk. Police officials quickly went on the defensive saying that de Blasio didn't fully support them. Several months into de Blasio's term, law enforcement officials and others were incensed when they felt de Blasio put controversial Rev. Al Sharpton on equal footing as Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

The situation was further exacerbated when, after the grand jury decision not to indict the police officer whose chokehold led to Eric Garner's death, de Blasio said he had advised his son Dante that he should be "very careful" when stopped by police.

Not long after, two members of the NYPD were ambushed and killed while on duty and hundreds of officers turned their backs on the mayor during the January funerals.

De Blasio has worked tirelessly since then to patch relations and has dialed back his rhetoric on police reform, but Cuomo has continually sought to open the wound with public comments that appear designed to exploit the rift between de Blasio and law enforcement, such as in September when Cuomo spoke after receiving the "Man of the Year" award from the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.

Following Detective Holder's death, de Blasio struck a unifying tone. "This painful cycle we've been through reminds us, the people who serve us come from all our communities. They look like us, they are us," de Blasio said. "The police are us, they represent us."

Norman Siegel, the civil rights attorney, told Gotham Gazette that Cuomo's comments could inflame the situation between police and the community and that his feud with de Blasio is counterproductive.

"This type of rhetoric is not helpful in understanding the situation or in attempting to fix things," Siegel told Gotham Gazette. "We have to be careful nobody engages in unnecessary rhetoric or even panders on these issues because officers can be killed, citizens can be killed."

Siegel said that Cuomo should call a summit aimed at improving communication and police-community relations. He noted that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, himself a former NYPD official with whom Siegel has worked on strengthening police-community relations, opened up Borough Hall for the first game of the World Series and that NYPD officers and community members enjoyed the game together. "I wish the governor could have been there," Siegel said. (Cuomo flew to Kansas City for the game on the Mets owner's private plane.)

O'Donnell said he would also like to see Cuomo take charge of the situation because he feels the police are forced to stand down in some neighborhoods because of the negative reaction they are getting from the community. He too said a summit would be a good idea, but said Cuomo should first hold a press conference to "tell the public that the police are here to enforce the laws."

Cuomo said as much when speaking to reporters last week: "[N]one of it works if you don't have the values underneath, and the fundamental value has to be this a city of law and order - yes, it's a city of civil rights - but it's a city of law and order, and one of the primary rules is 'no violence against a police officer,' period. And we need to send that message and we need to send that loud and clear - because the police are right when they say 'we're afraid to go out there because we feel that we may be a target and that whatever we do is going to be second-guessed,' that is a real problem and that's what we have to address."

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

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

Tuesday is Election Day 2015! There aren't many high-profile races on the ballot, but we will soon have two new members of the City Council, two new District Attorneys (Staten Island and the Bronx), and a few new state legislators. There are also lots of judges on the ballot. Tuesday sets the stage for several voting opportunities coming up for New Yorkers in 2016 (presidential, congressional, state-level primaries, etc.).

A year from now, there will be elections for all the seats in the New York State Assembly and Senate. Just ten months from now, there will be primaries in those races. As both former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and form Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos head to trial this month (Silver's trial starts Monday) on corruption charges, speculation continues to swirl around whether either will still be in office come next year's elections, and if they are, whether they will see significant challenges. [Read: As Sheldon Silver Heads to Trial, At Least One Democrat Prepares to Run]

We're even closer to the 2016 presidential primaries - yes, there are *many* opportunities to vote coming up (too many, some say). Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday morning. De Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as many other New York Democrats, are now firmly behind Clinton and it will be interesting to see how much surrogacy they perform.

Over the weekend, de Blasio celebrated the Mets and Halloween: on Saturday afternoon, Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray hosted a Halloween party at Gracie Mansion. In the evening, the Mayor and First Lady marched in the Park Slope Halloween Parade in Park Slope. They were dressed as Mets players. On Sunday, de Blasio kicked off the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon on Staten Island in the morning and, in the evening, was set to speak at the 60th Annual Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club Dinner Dance in Brooklyn, according to his public schedule.

There will likely be increased attention this week around traffic safety and de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative in the aftermath of a tragic weekend crash, which saw three people killed and several injured in the Bronx during Halloween festivities.

On Monday, at 1 p.m., "Mayor de Blasio, Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and other elected officials will host a press conference to make a fire safety announcement." This will take place in Brooklyn. "In the evening, the Mayor and First Lady Chirlane McCray will host a reception for the 50th Anniversary of the Lindsay Administration," at Gracie Mansion, according to de Blasio's public schedule.

This week sees Election Day as well as several other interesting hearings and events. It also features the annual Somos conference in Puerto Rico, where many New York politicos will head toward the middle or end of the week. See our day-by-day rundown below, and stay tuned for updates on Monday.

***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
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s corruption trial is set to start on Monday. [Read: As Sheldon Silver Heads to Trial, A Democratic Challenger is Poised to Run]

At 9 a.m. on Monday the Center for New York City Affairs in New School will host “Low-Wage NY: Pay Raises and Working New Yorkers” with economists, labor leaders, activists and policymakers. Experts will discuss the pros and cons of the $15 per hour minimum wage initiative that Governor Cuomo is pushing. Darrick Hamilton, associate professor of economics and urban policy, will moderate a conversation with Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City; Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU; Paul Sonn, program director, National Employment Law Project; Jennifer Jones Austin, chief executive officer, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies; and Edmund J. McMahon, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and president of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

Also Monday at 9 a.m., at City Hall, “Public Advocate Letitia James, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Council Member Margaret Chin, Council Member Andrew Cohen, Council Member Vanessa Gibson, Council Member Brad Lander, Local 372, principals, and public school parents will call on the NYPD to provide much needed crossing guards for downtown Manhattan public schools to increase child safety in one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the City.”

At 10 a.m. Monday, schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña will visit an elementary school, P.S. 133 in Brooklyn, to read with 2nd-graders and make an announcement, according to her public schedule.

Monday is the only day this week where the City Council has hearings scheduled; at the City Council Monday:

• At 1 p.m. the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions will meet to discuss several land use matters.

• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Technology will meet to discuss a five-year plan to expand wi-fi access in city parks.

• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Contracts and the Committee on Community Development will meet for a joint oversight on meeting self sufficiency standards for workers on Human Service Contracts. [Read our preview, with a deep dive into the issue of pay for city workers and workers at city-funded nonprofits: Hearing to Examine Pay for Workers Serving City’s Most Vulnerable.]

On Monday at 1 p.m. in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams “will launch Code Brooklyn, his initiative to give every public school student in Brooklyn the opportunity to learn how to code.” It is a five-point plan. “The announcement will be made in the library of PS/MS 282 Park Slope School...Among the speakers at the press conference will be New York City Chief Technology Officer Minerva Tantoco.”

On Monday at 1:30 p.m. at 7 World Trade Center, “Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Frank Pallone (NJ-6) Nydia Velázquez (NY-7) and Steve Israel (NY-3) and others will join 9/11 first responders and survivors to state their strong opposition to recent proposals from the Majority House Judiciary and Energy and Commerce committees that would provide an underfunded and temporary extension of the World Trade Center Health Program and Victim Compensation Fund.”

On Monday, Public Advocate Letitia James will have a "meet and greet with Brooklyn Community Board 3."

At 6 p.m. NYC Collaborates will host “Diverse Schools: Opportunities, Challenges in Integrating NYC Public Schools” at Brooklyn Law School. The event, focused on ways to increase diversity in the city’s schools, will include opening remarks by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, then a panel discussion with City Council Members Brad Lander and Ritchie Torres; Todd Sutler, co-founder of Compass Charter School, and others.

At 6:30 p.m. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence will hold its annual benefit, at which it is honoring Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and comedian Lewis Black. Political analyst Nomiki Konst will be the MC. Public Advocate Letitia James will attend.

Tuesday
Tuesday is Election Day! As mentioned earlier, via Tuesday's votes we'll know two new District Attorneys, two new City Council members, other new state representatives, and more.

In the spirit of Election Day, on Tuesday the "Vote Better NY" effort led by NYC Votes, good government groups, and others will launch a new petition drive in order "to modernize elections in New York." A rally will commence the campaign Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., Foley Square in Manhattan. Participating organizations include Citizens Union, NYPIRG, League of Women Voters, and more.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy will host a panel event on the on the 2016 primary elections and the challenges that each party faces while campaigning. Lis Smith, deputy campaign manager for Martin O'Malley; leading Republican strategist and CNN contributor Kevin Madden, and top aides from several other 2016 campaigns will be participating in the conversation with Robert George, deputy editorial page editor for the New York Post. Jeff Smith, assistant professor at the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy will moderate the discussion.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday the November NY Tech Meetup will take place at NYU.

Tuesday's City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Jumaane Williams (District 45, Brooklyn) at 7:30 p.m. [Read our recent look at the pros and cons of PB: Participatory Budgeting Grows in NYC - Why Isn't Every Council Member Doing It?]

Wednesday
The annual Somos El Futuro conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico will begin on Wednesday and run through Sunday. As always it is a way for New York lawmakers, lobbyists, and others to convene for all sorts of conversation and networking. It also comes at a most-tense time for Puerto Rico and as Gov. Cuomo has offered special New York government assistance to the island, which is facing harsh economic circumstances and issues with its healthcare system. Attendees will discuss a range of social issues including healthcare, education, juvenile justice, and more. A large health care rally will also take place in conjunction with the conference.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday another Citizen Preparedness Corps Training Program event will be held, at Queensborough Community College. Sponsored by Governor Cuomo, Congressional Rep. Grace Meng, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, and Assemblymember Edward Braunstein, the program is aimed to help citizens be prepared in for emergencies.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday the New York City Civilian Complaint Review will hold a public board meeting.

At 7 p.m. #BetaNYC will hold a Civic Hack Night.

Wednesday's City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Jumaane Williams (District 45, Brooklyn) at 6 p.m.

Thursday
At 8 a.m. Thursday, Crain’s New York Business will host a breakfast forum featuring Maria-Torres Springer, president and CEO of New York City Economic Development Corporation. She will discuss the de Blasio administration’s economic development strategy and agenda. She will specifically address subsidy policies and upcoming projects. Erik Engquist, Crain’s’ assistant managing editor, will moderate the event.

At 9 a.m. Thursday the Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on potential landmarks throughout the city which have been under consideration for more than five years.

At 5 p.m. Thursday in San Juan, Puerto Rico, City & State NY will host its kickoff event for the Somos El Futuro conference. Expect many elected officials, staffers, and other politicos to attend.

At 6 p.m. Thursday the Alliance for Quality Education will host its 2015 “Champions of Education” gala to honor Natasha Capers, Coordinator, NYC Coalition for Educational Justice; Andrew Pallotta, Executive Vice President, The New York State United Teachers; Laura Wolff, former program director, The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, for their contributions and dedication to educating future generations.

At 7 p.m. Thursday the New York Young Republican Club will have a gala honoring Congressional Rep. Chris Gibson for his service to the country.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday the Arab American Association of New York will host its 14th annual benefit gala.

Thursday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Jumaane D. Williams (District 45, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
At the New York State Legislature on Friday, the Assembly Standing Committee on Libraries and Education Technology will have a public meeting to discuss funding for Public Libraries.

On Friday evening at NYU, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York and NYU Muslim Students Association host "Being Muslim in 2016: Why We Can't Wait," a panel discussion on anti-Muslim sentiment gaining political currency as we approach the 2016 elections and asking how Muslim Americans can stem the tide of Islamophobia among politicians and elected officials and gain political power in New York and elsewhere. The panel discussion will be moderated by Ben Max, editor of Gotham Gazette, and will include Faiza Ali, Vice President, MDCNY; Zaheer Ali, Oral Historian, Brooklyn Historical Society; Moustafa Bayoumi, Professor, Brooklyn College; and Essma Bengabsia, NYU MSA Member.

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

Note: this post has been updated since its original publish

Cuomo and New York's Senators, in 2012 (photo via the Governor's Office on flickr)

The murder of NYPD officer Randolph Holder and the seemingly constant news of campus shootings has a number of prominent Democratic legislators calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lend his support to state-level gun control bills.

Cuomo, who is responsible for passing what many believe are the strongest state-level gun laws in the nation in 2013, has been particularly outspoken of late saying the federal government should take significant action to restrict the sale and flow of guns in the United States. While touting his SAFE Act, passed in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, Cuomo has said Democrats must make gun control a centerpiece of the 2016 election cycle.

While Cuomo has made a number of media appearances to centered on the point, going so far as to intimate Democrats should threaten shutdown of the federal government over passing new gun laws, some New Yorkers continue to look for additional regulations at home. A number of gun-control advocates and Democratic legislators say that the likelihood of action in Washington is negligible, but that with Cuomo's backing and political savvy New York could continue to lead the nation in moving to prevent gun violence.

New York, they say, can again set the example by passing gun safety legislation, bans on certain weapons, laws that would strip domestic abusers of their firearms, and stricter checks on gun sellers, including licensing of individual salespeople.

"The governor has the strongest political voice for change in this state," said Sen. Liz Krueger of Manhattan, "Having the governor on these issues could mean everything." Fellow Democratic Sens. Michael Gianaris, Jose Peralta and Daniel Squadron also told Gotham Gazette that despite opposition from Republican leadership, Cuomo's involvement could get the ball rolling on very basic gun safety legislation.

"The Senate Republicans have refused to move on these issues, but it is no reason to retreat," Squadron told Gotham Gazette of Albany dynamics. "We all need to work together to change it. The governor is right that we need national action to address the flow of illegal guns. He has been a national leader with The SAFE Act, but there is a lot more we can do in New York."

Cuomo had remained particularly quiet on gun control issues after facing backlash from gun-rights groups and seeing his poll numbers slump following implementation of the SAFE Act, but with the random shooting death of his aide Carey Gabay, this fall Cuomo returned to the issue with a vengeance, now with a focus on national action.

"[I]t's not enough for New York State to pass a gun law and close the front door when the guns are coming in the back door," Cuomo said in his late-September eulogy of Gabay. "When the guns can come up from Virginia or South Carolina for anyone willing to take a car ride. That this nation's leaders have to show the resolve to end this scourge once and for all and demand real gun control nationwide."

A number of New York politicos who were previously outspoken on gun control became uncharacteristically silent after the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other groups began organizing around the SAFE Act. The Act was seen as particularly damaging to Cuomo's support in Upstate New York during his 2014 reelection. When pushing for national regulations, Cuomo has repeatedly said that he has felt the backlash for what he was able to pass on guns; recently saying on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, "I know the political price because I paid it."

Calling the SAFE Act "the safest, smartest gun law in the country," Cuomo appears now to be looking to others to act on guns. In fact, new Republican Senate Leader John Flanagan apparently negotiated a slowdown of the implementation of one measure of the SAFE Act that would track ammunition sales.

The Cuomo administration signed a memorandum of understanding with Republican legislators indicating that a database tracking ammunition sales wouldn't be implemented until the technology for such a system was ready. Gun activists saw it as a concession from Cuomo on one of his signature accomplishments. The Cuomo administration pushed back saying it didn't mean anything in particular. Other elements of the SAFE Act recently survived court challenges, outcomes Cuomo celebrated.

Leah Barrett, the head of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said that it is time for Democrats and the governor, specifically, to push back on the state level against the NRA and support what she says are well-crafted, common-sense bills. "I know the governor said after the SAFE Act that he had paid a political price for it, but I hope his spine has stiffened a bit now," Barrett said. "We need to make sure background checks are full steam ahead, that the database is implemented," she added, saying that the governor should support new bills on the table. "He shouldn't be afraid of these gun groups who are really on the fringe, these bills have the support of most New Yorkers."

The governor's press office did not return a request for comment on whether Cuomo will pursue further gun-related regulations in New York.

Assemblymember Michelle Schimel of Great Neck, who has been a gun-control activist for years, said she feels some lawmakers have been woken up by recent events after hiding from gun issues for a time. "They went 'Oh no way!' because there was such a backlash" to the SAFE Act, said Schimel. "Well now reality has hit again and there is real focus again. This could be a real bellwether year for us.'

Schimel, who is bound for Washington this week for a national discussion on preventing gun violence, said she agrees with Cuomo that "it starts on the federal level with the gun show loophole." However, she said "there are a number of bills on that state level that have been vetted and are not just a kneejerk reaction to recent events."

Gun Dealer bill
Sponsored by Assemblymember Amy Paulin and Senator Jose Peralta, the legislation would require gun dealers to sell only in one specific location, install a security system, and provide all their employees with training. It would also have the State Police devise a plan to ensure gun dealers are complying with the new rules. Gun dealers have to be licensed in the state but their employees do not. "We have to hold gun dealers accountable," said Peralta.

Pro-gun groups say the law would have a chilling effect on small business owners by imposing more costs and mandates.

Schimel counters that plenty of other businesses in the state that sell more benign products and services are faced with regulation.

"The person who does my nails is licensed," said Schimel. "They've been trained. They've had their background checked and yet the person who works at a gun store hasn't."

Guns and Domestic Violence
"The Safe Homes Act," sponsored by Assemblymember Nily Rozic, would require police to ascertain whether there are guns present in a home where there has been a reported case of domestic violence. Officers would then remove those guns in the event of an arrest. The bill is in response to cases where victims of domestic violence have later been shot to death by their abuser after going to law enforcement.

"The Domestic Violence Firearm Prevention Bill" sponsored by Paulin would require police to strip firearms from anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence incident.

Neither bill has a cosponsor in the Senate, but Barrett said she hopes both bills could win bipartisan support.

Microstamping
Sponsored by Schimel in the Assembly and Peralta in the Senate, the bill would require all semi-automatic pistols manufactured in, or delivered to licensed dealers in New York, to be equipped with a specific technology that automatically marks shell casings with a code which can identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol. The legislation has support of a number of law enforcement entities because they see it as a tool that would make it easier to identify the owners of guns used in crimes.

Opponents say the technology is expensive and untested. Only California and Washington D.C. have similar laws.

Recently, California successfully defended itself against a lawsuit that sought to do away with its law. "We have technology to do so much to help law enforcement catch criminals," said Peralta. "We just celebrated "Back to the Future Day," we have the technology, we should use it. It isn't a matter of whether or not it works. It works. It is a matter of political will."

Nicholas' Law
Nicholas' Law, which requires safer storage of guns, is sponsored by Paulin in the Assembly and Sen. Jeff Klein, Independent Democrat of the Bronx, in the Senate.

The bill is named after 12-year-old Nicholas Naumkin, a resident of Saratoga Springs who was shot and killed by a friend who was playing with his father's pistol, which had been left loaded and unlocked.

"Nicholas' law is a gun safety bill that advocates from both sides can agree on. It's common sense," Paulin told Gotham Gazette earlier this year. The Assembly passed the bill this past session but it didn't get a vote in the Senate.

The bill requires gun owners to safely store their guns so they can't be accessed by children and others who should not be handling guns. Infractions against the law could be punished by a simple violation or a class E felony depending on previous history and severity of the violation.

High Caliber Ban
Sponsored by Squadron in the Senate and Brian Kavanagh in the Assembly, the bill would ban the ownership of .50 caliber rifles and require state police to seize the weapons from current owners and provide them with fair market value. Squadron and Kavanagh both say the firearms are designed to kill humans and disable vehicles, and have no value in hunting or home protection. Opponents say the bill would violate the Second Amendment. The bill is perhaps the least likely to see any bipartisan support given that it involves the actual surrender of property.

As hopeful as Shimel is for legislative action this year, many of her colleagues believe they will have to wait until after the 2016 elections to see real action and only then if Democrats win control of the state Senate. Gianaris told Gotham Gazette that he feels the same bipartisan gridlock Cuomo blames for stopping action on gun control in Congress is beginning to take over the state legislature. "A lot of the same stuff is happening here in New York. And we have to stand up to it," said Gianaris.

Short of Cuomo deciding to come out strongly in favor of additional New York gun control measures, they are likely to get minimal attention in the coming budget and legislative negotiations.

Asked what she thought it would take to get real action in the upcoming session Barrett was blunt. "Probably nothing short of another massacre in New York. We've seen that is what it takes to get our state government to act."

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

Note: this article has been updated to reflect the high caliber ban involving "surrender" of property, not "seizure" as originally stated

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week will be dominated by the World Series, we know that. The New York Mets begin their quest for the title against the Royals in Kansas City on Tuesday night, followed by another game in KC on Wednesday and then games in Queens on Friday, Saturday, and, if necessary, Sunday. If the series continues, games six and seven would be the following Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 3 and 4) back in Kansas City. On Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced a wager over the series, with the loser having to wear the jersey of the winning team to work for a day. There are other aspects of the bet, too, with significant home-state items to be sent from loser to winner.

Now, on to politics sans sport.

It was a quiet political weekend. Mayor de Blasio, City Council Member Dan Garodnick, and others touted the new Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village sales deal to the complex's tenant association on Saturday afternoon. [Read CM Garodnick's thoughts on the sale in this Gotham Gazette op-ed]

On Monday, de Blasio has no public events scheduled. Governor Cuomo is in New York City Monday, though, to make an announcement at 1:30 p.m. at Chelsea Piers.

There is a lot happening Monday and beyond. Services will occur this week to honor Police Officer Randolph Holder, who was killed on October 20. As has been the case since Holder was shot and killed, criminal justice reform and policing are sure to be sources of significant attention this week.

Thursday is the three-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy hitting New York; there are sure to be both rememberances of the people and property lost, as well as assessments of progress made in recovering from Sandy and preparing for the next big storm.

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 the City Council on Monday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Consumer Affairs will meet to discuss a bill that would ban the sale of personal care products or over the counter drugs that contain microbeads, as well as pass a resolution on the Microbeads-free Waters Acts.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Environmental Protection will meet to discuss bills related to the use of biodiesel.

On Monday morning, current and former elected officials and others will honor recently-retired former Assemblymember Joan Millman. Comptroller Scott Stringer is among those who will speak.

At 12:30 p.m. Monday, schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña will visit the High School of Fashion Industries to kick off College Application Week and make an announcement.

On Monday at 1 p.m. at City Hall, Congressional Rep. Nydia Velazquez will announce new legislation aimed at reducing the number of guns in New York and nationwide. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries; Public Advocate Letitia James; Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams; Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson; Leah Gunn Barrett, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence; and NYC families impacted by gun violence will also participate.

At 3 p.m. Monday, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will hold a Hometown Rally to cheer on the Mets as they start Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night in Kansas City. Other elected officials, including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Public Advocate Letitia James are set to participate.

Later, Mark-Viverito will speak at the 2015 Roy & Lila Ash Innovations Award for Public Engagement in Government, where she and the City Council are receiving an award for their Participatory Budgeting program. [Read more about the award and the participatory budgeting program in our new in-depth report: Participatory Budgeting Grows in NYC - Why Isn't Every Council Member Doing It?]

Then, Mark-Viverito "speaks at 2015 Shine Event for LGBT Immigration Equality."

At 7 p.m. Monday the Bronx Young Democrats will discuss the achievements and current initiatives of young female Bronx leaders. The event will feature Darcel Clark, Democratic candidate for Bronx District Attorney; City Council Member Vanessa Gibson; State Assemblymember Latoya Joyner; and Marsha Michael, Attorney & Law Clerk.

At 7:15 p.m. the Immigration Equality event “SHINE”, celebrating women’s leadership in in the LGBT community, will honor City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and  Denise Chambers, Immigration Equality client and asylum winner from Trinidad.

On Monday evening, several uptown Manhattan Democratic clubs are hosting Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer for a discussion of relevant issues. City Council Member Mark Levine will also participate in the dialogue.

Monday evening is the Riders Alliance gala. Public Advocate Letitia James is among those set to attend.

Monday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting event: CM Mark Treyger (District 47, Brooklyn) 6 p.m.

Tuesday
On Tuesday, at 8:30 a.m., Stroock, the public affairs law firm, will host a Government Leadership forum  “What is the Future of Organized Labor?” Vincent Alvarez, President of the New York City Central Labor Council; Gregory Floyd, President of Local 237 Teamsters; Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers; and Harry Nespoli, President of the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association will be on the panel. Robert Abrams, former New York State Attorney General and Chair of Stroock's Government Relations Practice Group, and Alan M. Klinger, Co-Managing Partner and Co-Chair of Stroock's Litigation Practice Group, will moderate.

On Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is in Westchester County meeting with elected officials and touring different areas.

At 10:30 a.m. the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) will meet on a number of matters including its ongoing search for a new Executive Director.

At 11 a.m. Vocal-NY, City Council Member Jumaane Williams, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, and others will hold the Fair Chance Rally. The purpose of the rally is to raise awareness about the Fair Chance Act, which makes it illegal for New York City employers to ask about one’s criminal record until after a job offer is made, and is going into effect.

At the New York State Legislature on Tuesday: the Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation and Assembly Climate Change Work Group will have a roundtable discussion on Climate Change.

At the City Council on Tuesday: at 11 a.m. the Committee on Women’s Issues; the Committee on Health; and the Committee on Education will meet for a joint oversight hearing on sex education in NYC schools. They will discuss three bills that would: require the Department of Education to provide a report on student health services to the Council; require the DOE to report annually on information about health education and HIV/AIDS education for students in grades six through twelve; require the DOE to submit an annual report on the sexual health education received by instructors in public middle and high schools.

Prior to that City Council hearing, at 10 a.m., there will be a "press conference to call for comprehensive sex education in NYC schools" led by Council Members Laurie Cumbo, Chair of the Committee on Women's Issues; Daniel Dromm, Chair of the Committee on Education; and Corey Johnson, Chair of the Committee on Health; as well as representatives from Planned Parenthood of New York City; NARAL Pro-Choice New York; New York Civil Liberties Union; and Reproductive Healthcare Advocates.

On Tuesday at 2 p.m. at 250 Broadway, "State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester), together with Public Advocate Letitia James, Council Member Annabel Palma and Make the Road New York, will release a bombshell investigative report "The American Scheme: Herbalife's Pyramid 'Shake'down.""

At 4 p.m. Safe Passage Project will hold an event composed of two parts. The first will be discussing the unmet needs of recent migrant children and young parent from Central America. City Council Member Rory Lancman will make opening remarks. There will be multiple related panel discussions thereafter.

Tuesday evening, Governor Cuomo is set to deliver remarks at the Business Council of Westchester’s Annual Dinner.

At 6 p.m. the city Panel for Educational Policy will have a public meeting in Manhattan. At the event the Chancellor will give an update on current policies and the panel will discuss a number of important topics including: Race and Diversity in School Admission, Aggregation of Community District Budgets Together with a Proposed Budget for Administrative Expenditures of the City Board and the Chancellor, and more; while also taking public comment.

At 6:30 p.m. during The Hispanic Leadership Awards, City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer will lead a celebration honoring several people for their outstanding leadership in the Latino community, including Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who will receive a Distinguished Public Service Award.  

At 7 p.m. City Council Members Donovan Richards and I. Daneek Miller will hold a Southeast Queens Transportation Town Hall. Representatives from DOT, MTA, TLC, and NYPD will attend.

Tuesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Mathieu Eugene (District 40, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Paul Vallone (District 19, Queens) 7 p.m.

Wednesday
At the New York State Legislature on Wednesday: The Assembly Standing Committee on Aging along with the Assembly Task Force on People with Disabilities, the Assembly Subcommittee on Community Integration, and the Assembly Subcommittee on Outreach and Oversight of Senior Citizen Programs, will hold a joint public hearing regarding the “New York State Office for the Aging’s study on the benefits of creating an office of community living”

At 6:30 p.m. several groups host “Why She Ran: A Conversation With Women in Politics” discussing the challenges women face in New York politics and encouraging women to run for office. Public Advocate Letitia James, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Member Julissa Ferreras, and Council Member Helen Rosenthal will speak at the event. Sponsors of the event include the Working Families Party, Eleanor's Legacy, Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Higher Heights for America, Ladies of Labor, Shirley Chisholm Institute, NOW-NYS, Women's Organizing Network, and WIN NYC.

Also at 6:30 p.m., school district 3 will host a Town Hall meeting with Chancellor Carmen Fariña.

Wednesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Paul Vallone (District 19, Queens) 6 p.m.
• CM Melissa Mark-Viverito (District 8, Manhattan/Bronx) 6 p.m.
• CM Helen Rosenthal (District 6, Manhattan) 6 p.m.
• CM Ritchie Torres (District 15, Bronx) time TBA
• CM Eric Ulrich (District 32, Queens) 8 p.m.
• CM Paul Vallone (District 19, Queens) 7 p.m.
• CM Jumaane D. Williams (District 45, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.

Thursday
On Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m. the Urban Land Institute will hold a conference about the best new practices to help fund public transportation infrastructure in the New York metro area in the face of withering public funding, including solutions through partnerships with the private sector.

At the City Council on Thursday:

• At 10:30 a.m. the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections will meet to hear communication from Orlando Marin of the City Planning Commission
• At 1:30 p.m. will be a City Council Stated Meeting; prefaced, as always, by the Speaker’s pre-stated press conference at 12:30 p.m.

At 5:30 p.m. United States Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates will discuss the administration’s top goals and priorities at the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity at Columbia Law School; following the speech will be a Q&A session.

At 5:30 p.m. The Hopkins-Hunter Forum for Education Policy, The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and The Hunter College Gifted and Talented Program will host “The Excellence Gap: The State of Gifted and Talented Education,” an event that will discuss the income based education gap among students, and talk about suggestions on how to address the issue in the future.

At 6 p.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio will be hosting a fundraiser for his 2017 campaign, as reported by Politico New York.

Thursday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Mathieu Eugene (District 40, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Corey Johnson (District 3, Manhattan) 4:30 p.m.
• CM Donovan Richards (District 31, Queens) time TBA
• CM Paul Vallone (District 19, Queens) 7 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
On Saturday and Sunday, Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray will hold two Spooky Parties at Gracie Mansion, inviting families with children 5-10 years old to come tour their haunted house. Families must have tickets through the ticket giveaway being held prior to the event.

On Sunday at 2 p.m. a large group of Democratic political clubs and progressive organizations will hold a Democratic Party Presidential Candidate Forum. Representatives from the Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley and Lessing campaigns will participate.. The forum will be moderated by Ronnie Eldridge.

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

Mayor Bill de Blasio was in Israel over the weekend, where he spoke at the Annual Conference of Mayors, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited recent terror attack victims, and made several other stops, including at the Western Wall and at a school educating a diverse student population. De Blasio spoke against a new wave of anti-Semitism and called for a "broken-windows" approach to combatting hate.

De Blasio is flying back to New York Sunday evening, he has no public events scheduled Monday.

Coming up this week, the 'new' Bill de Blasio will continue to show, with the mayor set to hold a joint press event with his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, on Wednesday. De Blasio and Bloomberg have appeared together several times since de Blasio came into office, but have not held a joint event, as they will for the planting of the millionth tree in the "Million Trees NYC" program launched by Bloomberg in 2007.

As always, there's a great deal happening all over the city, with many events to be aware of - read 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
On Monday, starting at 8:30 a.m., the City Council Progressive Caucus and allies are holding a conference to discuss progressive public policies and legislative priorities aimed at inequality and improving communities. Keynote will be given by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, with panel discussions on defending workers' rights, expanding and modernizing democracy, moving toward a greener city, and community safety and empowerment.

Afterward, at noon outside of SEIU 32BJ headquarters, Progressive Caucus Members and allies will “rally on their legislative priorities aimed at offering genuine opportunity to all New Yorkers, especially those who have been left out of our society’s prosperity.” Caucus Co-Chairs Donovan Richards and Antonio Reynoso, Vice-Chairs Helen Rosenthal and Ben Kallos, and other caucus members will be joined by “event sponsors Local Progress and Working Families Organization and advocates from SEIU 32BJ, VOCAL NY, Communities united for Police Reform, Bag It NYC, Streetwise and Safe and BRT for NYC.”

At 8:30 a.m. Monday, Black Live Matter / Fight for $15: A New Social Movement, a discussion on the convergence of the two movements and the chances of them sowing the seeds “for a broader social and economic justice movement” - featuring Alicia Garza of Black Lives Matter and Domestic Workers Alliance; Jelani Cobb, Journalist & Professor at UConn; Hillman Judge; and Kendall Fells, SEIU / Fight For $15.  

On Monday morning’s The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will appear in one segment, discussing several topics, and Queens state Senator Michael Gianaris will appear in another to discuss his bail elimination proposal.

At the City Council on Monday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Immigration will hold a joint oversight meeting with the Committee on Courts and Legal Services to evaluate Attorney Compliances with Padilla vs. Kentucky and court obstacles for immigrants in Criminal and Summons Courts.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Civil Rights will meet to hear several new bills related to protecting against discrimination; clarifying that any “person providing goods, services or accommodations” as stated in the Human Rights Law also includes government bodies; forbid any accommodation provider from discriminating based on income source; and make it unlawful for anyone who provides housing to refuse it to a person based the perception that the person is a victim of domestic abuse or violence. 

On Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Niagra Falls, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman "will discuss steps his office is taking with local officials to combat the use of designer drugs."

At 5:30 p.m., New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, together with the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of the Council will host a Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration.

Also at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will hold a Borough Board meeting to hear details from the Department of City Planning (DCP) on the “Zoning for Quality and Affordability” and “Mandatory Inclusionary Housing” proposed zoning text amendments.

At 6:30 p.m.,  Sanctuary for Families’ 13th Annual Above & Beyond Pro Bono Achievement Awards & Benefit will be honoring Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, Senior Advisor on Gender Equity and former Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, and others.

On Monday evening, Speaker Mark-Viverito will attend "the Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Services Gala."

Monday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• Mark Treyger (District 47, Brooklyn) 6 p.m.
• Steve Levin (District 33, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday
On Tuesday at 9 a.m., on the third anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the Center for New York City Affairs at Milano School of International Affairs will hold a panel titled Hurricane Sandy +3: Building Resilient Neighborhoods. Conversation will focus on the state of the post-storm infrastructure in the areas where the storm hit hardest. The panel will include Daniel A. Zarrilli, director of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency; Joel Towers, executive dean, Parsons School of Design at the New School; Klaus Jacob, special research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; Onleilove Alston, executive director of Faith in New York; Hugh Hogan, executive director of the North Star Fund;Shermane Margaret Stewart-Lester, lay leader at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Far Rockaway.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will hold a Borough Cabinet Meeting.

At the City Council on Tuesday:

• At 9:30 a.m. the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet to discuss land use applications.
• At 1 p.m. the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions will meet to discuss land use applications.

At the New York State Assembly on Tuesday: at 10 a.m. the Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities will convene for a public hearing on “The Adequacy of Supports and Services for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.”

On Tuesday, Public Advocate Letitia James chairs COPIC Commission meeting at Borough of Manhattan Community College (stream: http://livestream.com/BMCCMedia/events/4439178) at 10 a.m. Then, at 11:15, she is a panelist at "NASP's "The State of WMBE's Doing Business in NYS: From the Legislative Perspective" and at 6 p.m. she hosts "Staten Island Clergy Council Education Forum."

At 11:15 a.m. Monday near Stuyvesant Town, Mayor de Blasio and "local elected officials and tenant leaders from Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village will hold a media availability" about the imminent sale of the property.

On Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. from the 25th Police Precinct at 120 East 119th Street, "Mayor de Blasio – alongside Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton – will sign Intro. 917-A, criminalizing the manufacture, possession with intent to sell, and sale of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic phenethylamines; Intro. 897, allowing the City to apply public nuisance regulations to violations of the new criminal provision barring the sale of K2; and Intro. 885-A, allowing the city to revoke, suspend or refuse to renew a cigarette dealer license due to the sale of synthetic drugs or imitation synthetic drugs...After, the Mayor will appear live on Power 105.1 with Angie Martinez to discuss the K-2 legislation."

At 4 p.m. Mark-Viverito will host a press conference "to celebrate $1.2 Million in funding for STARS Afterschool Initiative with Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras-Copeland at P.S. 50 on 100th Street in Manhattan. Then, at 8 p.m., Mark-Viverito will host "#SheWillBe Twitter Party to Discuss the City Council's First In The Nation Young Women's Initiative...Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #SheWillBe."

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday Community Voices Heard will hold a rally titled “March on the Mayor: Stop Privatization, Start Funding NYCHA.” The demonstration will demand a stop to increasing privatization and an increase in funding for the New York City Housing Authority by $2 billion starting this year.

At 6 p.m. the Brooklyn Historical Society will host Life After Surveillance in Bay Ridge’s Muslim Community, a discussion about the post-9/11 surveillance in Bay Ridge and how this surveillance sowed seeds of distrust in the neighbourhood. Panelists include moderator Jarrett Murphy, Executive Editor of City Limits; Linda Sarsour, Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York; Moustafa Bayoumi; award-winning writer, and Professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York; and Dr. Ahmad Jaber, an OB/GYN at the Lutheran Medical Center in Bay Ridge and a Muslim religious educator.

Tuesday "evening, the Mayor and First Lady Chirlane McCray will host the Gracie Gala Dinner," according to de Blasio's public schedule. The Gracie Mansion Conservancy will hold an invitation only fundraiser to celebrate the grand re-opening of Gracie Mansion after recent repairs. The fundraiser will feature the mansion’s new art installation, Windows on the City: Looking Out at Gracie’s New York, curated with help of the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Historical Society, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Governor Cuomo will attend "the Nassau County Democratic Committee Annual Fall Dinner."

Tuesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• Jimmy Van Bramer (District 26, Queens) 6 p.m.
• Eric Ulrich (District 32, Queens) 7 p.m.

Wednesday
On Wednesday in the Bronx: Mayor de Blasio and his predecessor, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will meet to plant the millionth tree in the Million Trees NYC program, a Bloomberg initiative begun in 2007.

On Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Comptroller Scott Stringer will hold a “Queens Hearing for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs.” The event is the next installment of the Comptroller’s “Red Tape Commision Hearings” dedicated to listening to ideas and suggestion that would make it easier for entrepreneurs and business owners to grow their businesses, while partnering with the government. The event will bring together Borough President Melinda Katz; Queens Chamber of Commerce; Queens Economic Development Corporation; the Queens Tribune; and co-chairs of the Red Tape Commission Jessica Lappin and Michael Lambert.

Also at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly will headline a Fordham University event “Governance in New York City: The Bloomberg Years.”

At the New York State Legislature on Wednesday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection and the Committee on Aging and the Subcommittee on Consumer Fraud Protection will hold a joint public hearing on “State resource funding to protect consumers, including seniors, from frauds and scams.”
• At 11 a.m. the Senate Task Force on Workforce Development will convene for a public meeting “To examine initiatives and determine best practices for job skill training and re-training programs, and provide recommendations to foster workforce development in New York State.”
• At 12:30 p.m. the Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities will hold a public hearing regarding the “Transition of Behavioral Health Supports and Services into Managed Care.”

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Harry Siegel of The New York Daily News and Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute will try to answer the question, “Is The NYPD Doing Its Job?” The discussion will be moderated by social critic Kay S. Hymowitz, author of Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys, and will explore the new tracking system aimed at reducing police brutality and assess Commissioner Bratton’s effort to implement the program.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, City Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez and Mark Levine will host the event "Jewish Poverty in New York City" along with a group of civic organizations including YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood, the Russian-speaking Community Council of Manhattan and the Bronx, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, the Fort Tyron Jewish Center, the Jewish Community Council of Washington Heights-Inwood, the Hebrew Tabernacle, and The Workmen’s Circle.

Also at 6:30 p.m., City & State NY will be host its 2015 New York City Rising Stars: 40 Under 40 celebration. The list features stars in government, advocacy, labor, and consulting.

At 7 p.m. the Department of Education, the School Construction Authority, elected officials, and parents will meet for “Let’s Talk About Overcrowding.” The event will focus on the issue of overcrowding in public schools in Cobble Hill and Caroll Gardens, in addition to addressing several other school-related issues. State Senator Daniel Squadron, State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, City Councilmember Brad Lander, City Councilmember Steve Levin, and others will participate.

At 3:30 Wednesday in Manhattan, Families for Excellent Schools is planning to hold another rally to support charter schools, this time featuring charter school teachers, about 1,000 of whom are expected to rally.

Wednesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Mark Levine (District 7, Manhattan) 6 p.m.

Thursday
At 8 a.m. Thursday, The Sixth Annual MAS Summit for New York City will commence. The Municipal Art Society summit will run through Friday evening and include two days of networking opportunities and one hundred speakers. Notable presenters include: Commissioner Vicki Been, of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development; Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl, of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development; New York State Senator Chuck Schumer; Purnima Kapur, Executive Director for the Department of City Planning; and many more to speak about “The City We Want.”

Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Borough President Melinda Katz will hold a Land Use Hearing.

At the City Council Thursday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Finance will meet to discuss the extension of credit against the unincorporated business tax and the general corporation tax.
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Transportation will meet to hear several bills related to the TLC and commuter vans..
• At 11 a.m. the Committee on Land Use will meet, with agenda TBA.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disability, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Disability Services will hold a hearing on new accessibility-related bills.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Recovery and Resiliency will meet for oversight on coastal storm resiliency in the city two year after the SIRR report.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Economic Development will meet on bills that would require the NYCEDC to submit annual job creation reports to community planning boards; require SBS to collect data on gender and racial diversity among “executive level employees” in city contractor companies.

At the New York State Assembly Thursday, a “Budget oversight hearing for the Assembly Standing Committees on Local Governments and Cities.”

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Public Agenda will hold “Restoring Opportunity: The Role of Education,” an event to discuss how the education policies of both New York State and the entire nation need to change in order for the country to truly offer the opportunities promised by the American Dream. Brian Lehrer, from WNYC, will moderate the discussion, interviewing Andie Puriefoy, the former president of the Public Education Network and Alison Kadlec, an expert of higher education reform.

At 7 p.m. BRIC will host the panel discussion “Breaking Down the Walls: #BHeard on Immigration, a Community Town Hall.” The talk will be moderated by Brian Vines and feature City Council Member Carlos Menchaca; Linda Sarsour, Arab American Association; Adrian Carasquillo, immigration reporter for Buzzfeed news; Alina Das, NYU professor; and Shena Elrington, director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Popular Democracy.

At their annual fall dinner Thursday, Empire State Pride Agenda will award Governor Cuomo with the 25th anniversary Silver Torch Award for “his extraordinary efforts to make marriage equality a reality in New York — paving the way for the freedom to marry nationwide” and “his more recent commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic in New York.” Along with Cuomo, other speakers will be Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; City Public Advocate Letitia James; Pride Agenda Board Co-Chairs Norman C. Simon and Melissa Sklarz; and Pride Agenda Executive Director Nathan Schaefer.

Citizens Union, the good government group, will hold its 2015 Annual Awards Dinner Thursday evening. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will give featured remarks. Citizens Union honorees include Mylan L. Denerstein (Public Service Award), Adam Flatto (Business Leadership Award), Haeda B. Mihaltses (Public Service Award), and Stephen P. Younger (Civic Leadership Award).

Beginning Thursday evening and continuing through Friday, the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute will host “Youth, Jobs and Future: Responses to Youth Unemployment.”

Thursday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Helen Rosenthal (District 6, Manhattan) 6 p.m.
• CM Paul Vallone (District 19, Queens) 7 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
At the City Council on Friday: at 10 a.m. the Committee on Higher Education will convene for oversight on college testing access.

"The next public meeting of the New York City Campaign Finance Board will be held on Friday, October 23 at 10:00 AM."

At the New York State Assembly on Friday: at 10:30 a.m. the Assembly Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions and the Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry will hold a joint public hearing on “Providing Affordable and High Quality Cable, Broadband, and Telephone Service.”

Friday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn) 6 p.m.

Saturday at 10:30 a.m., New Yorkers Against Gun Violence will hold Walk Over the Hudson for Gun Sense, a march in response to recent bursts of gun violence across the US. The event invites citizens to show their “commitment to background checks, safe storage, and other common sense gun safety laws.”

At noon Saturday, BetaNYC will hold an event to improve CityGram.NYC, a website which allows New York City residents to subscribe to open government data based on their geographic location and areas of interest.

Saturday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting event is via CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn), 2 p.m.

On Sunday, the de Blasio family will open their doors to the public at a Gracie Mansion Open House. A ticket giveaway will take place on the event website. In celebration of the Mansion’s 35th anniversary, the open house will feature 49 new works as part of the “Windows on the City: Looking Out at Gracie’s New York” show.

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

We have an MTA funding deal! Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have agreed to a capital budget plan for the MTA, ensuring that the money will be there for the five-year, $26 billion program for infrastructure upgrades and expansion (the capital program is different from the operating budget).

The mayor and governor had been jockeying over how a remaining shortfall in the program would be filled - in the end, both agreed to increase the contributions from their ends, with the mayor ultimately putting up more money than originally expected and winning agreement from Cuomo that city-based decisions would largely be made by city reps and that the state would not "raid" money from MTA funds.

Is this the start of a new page in the de Blasio-Cuomo relationship? Will the mayor and the governor give more detail about how they are funding the commitments each has made to the MTA plan?

TRACKING DE BLASIO: Later this week, Mayor de Blasio leaves for Israel late Thursday evening and will be there Friday to Sunday. He will keynote the Annual Conference of Mayors, speaking "on the topic of Anti-Semitism in the West: How Cities Must Lead," according to his office. "The Conference is being hosted by the American Jewish Congress, American Council for World Jewry, and World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, and will bring together dozens of mayors from around the world to discuss the issues and challenges facing cities."

Before leaving on Thursday, de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray, and others will hold a ceremony to rename the Municipal Building for former Mayor David Dinkins.

Before that, on Wednesday, de Blasio will hold an open forum on "rent security and tenant protection," according to the mayor's office, as reported by the New York Times. It will reportedly include "about 250 tenants in Washington Heights."

De Blasio spent the weekend at a couple of different Columbus Day parades. On Tuesday, he'll "deliver remarks at the funeral for Department of Correction Assistant Deputy Warden Rodney Bowden....deliver remarks at the dedication ceremony for the Battery Park Police Memorial" and hold public hearings for several bills that have passed the City Council, signing some of them (others will be signed at a later date), see below for details. Tuesday evening, "Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray will deliver remarks at the second annual UpStander Awards," according to his public schedule.

Before we give you an extensive day-by-day rundown, a few other highlights of the Week Ahead:

• Governor Cuomo's "Common Core Task Force" is set to meet for the first time this week, though we don't know where or when yet, as reported last week by Politico New York. The task force is likely to meet privately and set dates for public hearings. [Read: The task force is without a student representative].

• On Wednesday in Albany, the Assembly Standing Committee on Education will hold a public hearing on "Chronically Struggling Schools and School Receivership" in order "to examine and study schools eligible for school receivership in order to better understand how to support these schools in their turnaround efforts to improve student performance."

• And, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton heads back to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, for, as he explained it to the media this past week, "a day-long meeting" with "the attorney general, a number of police leaders, government leaders, on the issue of – the incarceration issue – the idea that so many people put in jail, are now coming out. What do we do with them? How do we deal with that issue?...And there might be a potential meeting with the President on Thursday as a follow up to that."

As always, there's a great deal happening all over the city, with many events to be aware of - read 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, Columbus Day - Mets v. Dodgers, Game 3

Tuesday
At the City Council on Tuesday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet regarding three bills related to making buildings more bicycle-friendly.
• At 11 a.m. the Committee on land use will meet.
• At 1 p.m.The Committees on Health and Parks and Recreation will meet on a bill that would require defibrillators at baseball fields dedicated to youth activity.

"Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is in Colombia and Dutchess County on Tuesday" as he continues to tour the state.

More on Mayor de Blasio's Tuesday schedule:

• 10 a.m: Delivers remarks at the funeral for Department of Correction Assistant Deputy Warden Rodney Bowden.
• 11 a.m: Delivers remarks at the dedication ceremony for the Battery Park Police Memorial.
• 3:30 p.m: Holds "public hearings for and sign Intro. 903, granting the Mayor authority to extend health insurance benefits to the widow and family of Frank Musella, a sergeant in the New York City Department of Sanitation who passed away while on duty; and Intro. 730, in relation to reports on school discipline and police department activity in schools. The Mayor will also hold public hearings for Intros 917-A, 885, and 897, which would provide additional tools for City agencies to combat the manufacture and sale of the synthetic drug K-2, and will be signed at a later date."
• 6:30 p.m: With First Lady Chirlane McCray, delivers remarks at the second annual UpStander Awards.

On Tuesday starting at 7 a.m., The New York Civil Liberties Union will kick off its annual Week of Action, this year's focus is "students' rights when facing suspensions." On multiple days this week, "NYCLU volunteers will visit selected schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx before classes start and after the school day ends to speak with students and distribute Know Your Rights When Facing a Suspension palm cards."

On Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., New York City Chief Technology Officer Minerva Tantoco will chat with Jordan Crook, Senior Writer at TechCrunch, and Jessica Lawrence, Executive Director of the New York Tech Meetup, about her first year in the new position. The event will be held at LMHQ in Downtown Manhattan.

Also at 8:30 a.m., “NYS School Environmental Health Summit: Is Your School Clean, Green and Healthy?”, a statewide conference focusing on school environmental health, will commence at the Saratoga Springs City Center. The day-long event aspires to raise awareness and support for the newly developed NYS Clean, Green, and Healthy Schools program that’s mission is to provide every child and school employee with “the right to a safe and healthy learning and working environment that is clean and in good repair”. The event will include city and state officials.

On Tuesday at 9 a.m., "New York City Council Member Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Deputy Commissioner Edwin Torres will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by presenting a $1.4 million capital award to The Hispanic Society of America (Hispanic Society) in upper Manhattan."

On Tuesday at 11 a.m., "Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) will join concerned NYC college students, representatives from Moms Demand Action, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence for a press conference on gun violence prevention at Hunter College's Roosevelt House...Maloney will stress the need for Congress to take action, and outline where gun violence legislation stands in Congress...A community forum will take place prior to the press conference," at 10 a.m. Public Advocate Letitia James will participate in both the forum and the press conference.

At noon in Albany, “Assemblymember Sandy Galef and nuclear expert, Paul Blanch, will join New Yorkers to deliver over 30,000 petitions calling for Governor Cuomo to stop construction of a high-pressure gas pipeline next to the Indian Point nuclear facility.”

At 6 p.m. New Yorkers for Parks will host the “2015 Party for Parks Gala” at ICQ in Chelsea. The event will honor former Parks Commissioner Veronica White, former Executive Director at the Center for Economic Opportunity and current Chief of Staff at Bloomberg LP; and Shola Olatoye, recipient of the NY4P Urban Leader Award, Chair & Chief Executive Officer at the New York City Housing Authority. Tickets require a donation to the organization.

Also at 6 p.m. Tuesday, "Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman will co-host a forum with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to educate homeowners about deed theft and scammers in the housing market."

On Tuesday evening, city Comptroller Scott Stringer will deliver remarks at the Mill Basin Civic Association Monthly Meeting and then at the Bergen Beach Civic Association Monthly Meeting, both in Brooklyn.

On Tuesday night in Brooklyn, Public Advocate Letitia James will attend the official Hillary Clinton campaign debate watch party. Many miles west in Las Vegas, Council Speaker Mark-Viverito will be at the debate in person at the behest of the Latino Victory Fund. Both James and Mark-Viverito have officially endorsed Clinton.

Tuesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Ydanis Rodriguez (District 10, Manhattan) 6p.m.
• CM Eric Ulrich (District 32, Queens) 7:45 p.m.
• CM Jimmy Van Bramer (District 26, Queens) 6 p.m.

Wednesday
At the City Council on Wednesday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Higher Education will meet for oversight of College Testing Access.
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on General Welfare will meet to discuss two bills concerning the administration of HIV-AIDS treatment and services.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Oversight and Investigation, the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, and the Committee on Technology will meet for oversight on the Verizon FiOS Franchise.
• At 1 p.m. the Committee on Waterfronts will meet for oversight on an update concerning the development of the Governor’s Island.

On Wednesday at 8 a.m. City Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, chair of the Committee on Finance, will discuss her priorities while serving as head of the committee at a breakfast event hosted by Citizens Budget Commission (CBC).

Beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Morgan Library and Museum, "The Center for an Urban Future and the City of New York will hold a high-profile conference...about the future of the arts in New York City. The event...will feature NYC Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, Former NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Acting Commissioner Edwin Torres, Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak, Studio Museum Director Thelma Golden and choreographer Michelle Dorrance, a 2015 MacArthur "Genius" Award recipient." City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, chair of the cultural affairs committee, is also expected to speak at the conference.

"Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is in Suffolk County on Wednesday," touring and visiting with area legislators.

At 11 a.m. the the New York Ethics Review Commission will hold a public hearing at the New York Law School, “to receive public comments on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the Legislative Ethics Commission.”

On Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Staten Island, "Borough President James S. Oddo, City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation ("Parks") Staten Island Borough Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone, and Marie Didato, Executive Director of the New Dorp Friendship Club, will announce the progress made in the reconstruction of the Club, which was extensively damaged by Hurricane Sandy."

At 11:30 a.m., #PeoplesClimate groups and participants will assemble at St. Barts Church in Midtown to march to demand better environmental conservation policy. The protest, which will also have an early evening demonstration in Harlem, is promoted and organized by ALIGN NY and many other groups in the People’s Climate Movement NYC and is part of National Day of Climate Action.

At 12 p.m.,the Brennan Center for Justice will hold  “Stronger Parties, Stronger Democracy: Rethinking Political Reform,” a discussion on how strengthening parties in an age of super PACs can boost electoral participation and create a more transparent and inclusive democracy. The panel will feature Matea Gold, National Political Reporter at The Washington Post; Lee Goodman, Federal Election Commission Commissioner; Spencer Overton, President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies; and Daniel Weiner Senior Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Also at noon Wednesday, on the steps of the City Hall, homeless New Yorkers, faith leaders, and other homeless will come together for allies “Faith Leaders Say NO: #HandsOffTheHomeless”: a protest against the inhumane treatment of the homeless by the NYPD.

At 2 p.m. the Office of Manhattan Borough President Brewer will sponsor a symposium on urban agriculture. The event will be held at the Natural History Museum and allow participants and attendees to “exchange knowledge, experience, and best practices for growing community-based urban agriculture programs.”

At 6 p.m. the Supportive Housing Network of New York will hold its annual gala to honor partners in public and private sectors. State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi will be honored as representatives of the public sector.

Also at 6 p.m. the Civilian Complaint Review Board will hold a Public Board Meeting to field grievances from city residents.

On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., Robert Siano is kicking off his campaign to reform the Bronx District Attorney's Office. Siano will launch his campaign from the Bronx County Republican Party Headquarters.

The Police Reform Organizing Project, or PROP, will host a Wednesday evening event: PROP leaders will lead a public discussion at the Ethical Culture Society to review relevant issues and topics and plan future events.

The welcome reception for the 2015 Annual Environment Conference, sponsored by the Business Council of New York State, will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The event will bring together professionals from both public and private sectors to discuss the ever changing environmental policies of New York. Senator Thomas F. O’Mara will attend the conference along with a number of other high profile members of the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. The event will run through Friday, October 16th.

At 6:30 p.m., at the Sunset Park Recreation Center in Brooklyn, NYCEDC will hold a public open house and information session on the future of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

Wednesday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Mark Levine (District 7, Manhattan) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Helen Rosenthal (District 6, Manhattan) 4 p.m.
• CM Mark Treyger (District 47, Brooklyn) 6 p.m.

Thursday
At the City Council on Thursday:

• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Finance will meet to approve “the new designation and changes in the designation of certain organizations to receive funding in the Expense Budget.”
• At 10 a.m. the Committee on Public Safety will meet to discuss bills that would: require the police department to post weekly, monthly, and quarterly statistics reports on domestic and hate crimes; require the police department to post domestic crimes and murders that occurred in NYC’s public housing, and the percentage of felony crimes related to domestic violence; require the police department to report the percentage of all domestic violence crimes that involved intimate partners; and require the police department to report the number of all hate crimes and separate the tally to indicate which groups were most often targeted.
• At 1:30 p.m. will be the City Council Stated Meeting, prefaced as always by the Speaker’s pre-stated press conference, at 12:30.

On Thursday Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray will host a ceremony to rename the Manhattan Municipal Building in honor of former mayor David N. Dinkins. “He’s left an indelible impact on this city – and on Chirlane’s and my lives. We are so grateful for Mayor Dinkins’ decades of public service and everything he’s done to ensure a stronger, safer city” said de Blasio.

Thursday is “NYC Go Purple Day” in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. City Council Member Laurie Cumbo, chair of the Council’s women’s issues committee; Public Advocate Letitia James, state Senator Jesse Hamilton, and Assembly Member Walter Mosely will hold an 8 a.m. event outside Barclays Center.

On Thursday at 3 p.m. at CUNY School of Journalism, Errol Louis, of NY1 and the CUNY J-School, will team up with Tequila Minsky (Caribbean Life) and David Cruz (Norwood News), "two journalists from New York’s community and ethnic media,” for a Q&A with city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

At 7:30 p.m. the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association will hold its monthly meeting. The event with feature a panel discussion on “Citizens: Try creating a level playing field… before the field is purchased.” Adam Forman, senior researcher at the Center for Urban Future; Norman Siegel, attorney and past-director of NY Civil Liberties Union; Council member Jumaane Williams; and moderator NIck Powell, opinion editor at City & State NY, will participate in the discussion.

Mayor de Blasio leaves for Israel late Thursday evening, and is there for the weekend.

Thursday’s City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Elizabeth Crowley (District 30, Queens) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Mark Levine (District 7, Manhattan) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn) 6:30 p.m.
• CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn) 10 a.m.
• CM Donovan Richards (District 31, Queens) Time TBA
• CM Eric Ulrich (District 32, Queens) 7 p.m.
• CM Jimmy Van Bramer (District 26, Queens) 6 p.m.
• CM Jumaane D. Williams (District 45, Brooklyn) 6 p.m.

Friday and the weekend
At 8:30 a.m. Friday, Comptroller Scott Stringer’s Red Tape Commission will host its “Brooklyn Hearing for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs.” The event will serve as a brainstorming session for ideas and policies to improve government support for growing businesses, while eliminating detrimental bureaucracy. Commision members include: Council Member Robert Cornegy; Melissa Chapman, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; Antoinette Balzano, Totonno's Pizzeria; Jonathan Butler, Brooklyn Flea; Dr. Roy Hastick, Sr., Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Deb Howard, Pratt Area Community Council.

At noon Friday, "The NYC Jails Action Coalition (JAC) will hold a rally prior to the NYC Board of Correction hearing with faith leaders, children and families of incarcerated individuals and other criminal justice advocates. City Council Members have been invited."

At 1 p.m. the New York Board of Corrections will hold a public hearing, as board members consider passing new rules, including changes to the Department’s visitation rules and requirements for the Enhanced Supervision Housing Unit.

At 6:30 p.m. New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will be honored at the 3rd annual Power and Policy awards for her outstanding contributions as a New American Leader. The event will take place at the Newseum in Washington DC. Other honorees include California state senator Ricardo Lara and writer and Al Jazeera co-host Wajahat Ali.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., NYCEDC will hold the second public open house and information session about the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal for those unable to attend the first open house on Wednesday.

On Sunday PROP will hold its Mock Summons Action in Park Slope, Brooklyn. PROP volunteers with fan-out across the yuppie-filled, predominantly white neighbor to hand out mock summonses for “activities like biking on the sidewalk, jaywalking, spitting, open alcohol container, and being in the park after dark” in an attempt to bring attention to the racially biased ticketing practices of the NYPD.

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

Gov. Cuomo (photo via The Governor's Office via flickr)

Many of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's staunchest progressive critics appear to be convinced by his new push for a statewide $15 an hour minimum wage. Cuomo has repeatedly angered the left wing of his Democratic Party by supporting Republican candidates, backing charter schools, and routinely making middle-of-the-road compromises on various issues. Only a few months ago Cuomo scoffed at the idea of a $13 minimum wage, but now advocates and legislators who have repeatedly felt betrayed by Cuomo say they believe firmly that he plans to see through the $15 hourly wage.

"I have been a harsh critic of the governor sometimes," said Michael Kink, executive director of Strong Economy For All, "But this is going to be a big deal in the lives of so many New Yorkers and it is worthy of straightforward applause."

Democratic state Senator Liz Krueger, who has has repeatedly clashed with the administration on policy issues, told Gotham Gazette: "The governor has gone through an evolution and he is now at a wage that is greater than my conference put forward. I think it is a good thing."

Two elements of Cuomo's approach appear to have convinced progressive critics of the sincerity of his push.

The first is that Cuomo has made himself the first major elected New York state official to advocate the $15 minimum wage and the plan he supports is comparable to those passed into law in Seattle and Los Angeles and proposed in ballot initiatives in Washington, D.C. and California.

Secondly, Cuomo has made the fight personal by naming his plan the "Mario Cuomo Campaign For Economic Justice," after his father, the late governor.

Kink, a frequent, vocal critic of the Cuomo administration, has nothing but praise for Cuomo's wage push. "This will absolutely make a difference in people's lives. The phase-in schedule he is talking about is comparable to what other places are talking about. If we could wave a wand and get it today it would be wonderful," said Kink, acknowledging there's no chance of immediately shifting the minimum wage to $15 an hour. As recommended by his fast food wage board, Cuomo is calling for a phased-in $15 hourly minimum wage by 2019 in New York City and in 2021 all across the state.

Noting that the governor has had "varying levels" of commitment on progressive issues in the past, Kink sees new life from Cuomo on the wage. Cuomo has "supported" efforts on the DREAM Act, campaign finance reform, and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), but has not made powerful public or behind-the-scenes-efforts to enact them.

"He has made this so personal in naming it the 'Mario Cuomo Campaign,' I believe it puts this up there with marriage equality and guns," said Kink, referring to what are perhaps Cuomo's two crowning legislative achievements, marriage equality and the SAFE Act. "This is a different level of support than we've seen from the governor on other legislative initiatives."

The path to Cuomo's support for a statewide $15 wage took form earlier this year when he called on the state labor department to convene a wage board to examine compensation for fast-food workers. The board held hearings across the state, hearing from many workers, who also staged large rallies outside those hearings and elsewhere. James Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute said he believes the hearing testimony was extremely impactful for Cuomo.

"I can't help but think that incredibly compelling testimony of hundreds of fast-food workers from across the state moved the governor," said Parrott. "The testimony really got across how much worse the reality (of surviving on minimum wage) is to how many close observers like myself thought it to be."

In July, the wage board recommended that large fast-food chains pay their workers $15 an hour by 2019 in New York City and mid-way through 2021 in the rest of the state. Cuomo seized on the wage board's efforts, holding a celebratory rally just after its recommendations were made public. A $15 wage polls very well with Democrats in the state.

On September 10, Cuomo announced that he was advocating an eventual $15 minimum wage for all industries, to be implemented along the wage board's recommended timeline.

Krueger said that by using the wage board in the fight for an increased minimum wage, Cuomo spotlighted a power that past governors did not utilize.

"For decades we've know you could use a wage board in this manner, but the governor showed leadership in doing so," said Krueger. "I'd prefer legislative action, but we have been shown there are other ways to address wage issues."

In order to make the path to $15 an hour a reality in all industries, Cuomo will indeed need legislation.

Republicans have balked at the measure and criticized the wage board's recommendations as a fait accompli. They insist it will hurt businesses across the state.

"I don't agree with the wage board. I know it's a statute in the State of New York. I think that it's executive overreach," Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan said during a September event hosted by Crain's New York Business. "A lot of my colleagues feel very strongly about that, and as we come into next year. I think we have to be mindful of the fact that we actually have raised the minimum wage — we're one of the ten highest states in the country already."

The state's minimum wage is due to rise from $8.75 to $9 an hour at the end of this year, per the legislation Flanagan was referring to. The Senate leader insists that the governor must go through the legislature to take this kind of action, but he did not rule out another wage increase.

Many Democrats greeted Cuomo's plan with open arms, but skeptics still exist. A number of Democrats told Gotham Gazette they fear Cuomo has only championed the issue as a means to boost his sinking approval ratings and steal political thunder from Mayor Bill de Blasio, who fought with Albany early in his term to allow the city a say over raising its minimum wage.

Critics also note that Cuomo has begun talking about pairing a wage increase with tax cuts for businesses, indicating a willingness to cut a deal with Republicans. "I think linking the two is a mistake," Bill Lipton, director of the Working Families Party said recently on The Capitol Pressroom. "I think we should have a smart, progressive tax code policy. I think it should be discussed separately from the minimum wage. The minimum wage really stands on its own."

The governor, of course, is often one to lecture on how things get done in Albany, citing the necessity of compromise and touting his successes in making progress despite a split legislature.

Cuomo has also looked to boost his fundraising with the wage effort; his campaign sent out email solicitations earlier this month asking for a $15 donation "to help us fund the fight [for $15]."

Another point of contention for some is that they believe by putting himself at the head of the $15 per hour movement Cuomo now has an increased ability to set the timeline for phase-in. Given Cuomo's predilection for compromising with Senate Republicans, these critics fear the Governor may simply increase the deadlines for implementation of the wage hike. Cuomo himself described a $13 increase as a "nonstarter" with the legislature this past spring.

An economist analyst, Parrot said that concerns about the length of the phase-in at this point are unfounded. "It's hard to know exactly what the inflation is going to be like but it is pretty nominal," he said. "It will still be worth something that is more than $9 [is now] but it is not going to be $15 in 2015 terms." Parrot said that the state budget predicts two percent inflation per year, so judging by that, "it is not as if $15 in 2021 would be wiped out."

In other words, the move to a $15 minimum hourly wage by 2021 would be significant, even taking into account inflation.

Kink said that he isn't concerned by Cuomo's comments about a business tax cut, or that the governor might cave to pressure from Republicans. "The governor showed just how high of a priority he thinks this is for the state when he put his dad's name on it," Kink told Gotham Gazette. "He has decided that this is important to his legacy."

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

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week will include a focus on what the city can do to stop gas-related explosions after another such explosion occurred this weekend, this time in Borough Park; education politics and policy, as the pro-charter, anti-de Blasio group Families for Excellent Schools will hold a large rally; a continuation of negotiation and criticism between city and state entities over MTA funding; and more.

Oh, and it's the Major League Baseball playoffs, with both the Mets and Yankees in the post-season for the first time in a long time, with many hoping for a "subway series" World Series between the two, a la 2000, when the Yankees defeated the Mets.

TRACKING DE BLASIO: With the threat from Hurricane Joaquin abated, Mayor de Blasio decided to go through with his trip to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore on Friday and Saturday. The mayor delivered remarks at a reception for the State Innovation Exchange Conference on Friday, then attended the United States Conference of Mayors Fall Leadership Meeting on Saturday. The mayor then headed back to Borough Park, Brooklyn, where he attended to the emergency gas explosion that tore apart a building, killing at least one and injuring several.

The incident is another in a string of gas explosions, including East Harlem and the East Village, that has many worried and talking about a need for new measures to combat the deadly incidents. Gov. Cuomo announced he was deploying representatives to investigate and city officials are calling for action. This explosion appears to have been caused by mistakes made during the removal of an oven.

On Monday, Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray will be on Staten Island for the groundbreaking of The Staten Island Family Justice Center, at which the mayor will speak around 10 a.m. Read more from the Staten Island Advance, including that Staten Island will join the other boroughs, each of which already has such a center, which "provide comprehensive criminal justice, civil legal and social services free of charge to victims of domestic violence, elderly abuse and sex trafficking in the other boroughs."

As always, there's a great deal happening all over the city, with many events to be aware of - read 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 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Bronx County Courthouse, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman "will announce a major crackdown on distributors of synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs."

On Monday morning, "State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan joins state Sen. Martin Golden on a walking tour and media availability in Gerritsen Beach, starting in front of 3078 Gerritsen Ave., Brooklyn," according to City & State NY.

At 12:30 p.m. Monday, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will announce the "launch of MonumentArt, an International Mural Festival hosted in East Harlem and the South Bronx," from La Marqueta.

On Monday, Public Advocate Letitia James "will travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Funders' Committee for Civic Participation conference."

Monday evening, First Lady McCray will be among the honorees of a Feminist Power Award from the Feminist Press.

At 8 p.m. Monday, Comptroller Scott Stringer "Receives the Pacesetter Award at The National Association of Investment Companies 45th Annual Meeting & Convention Welcome Reception."

Monday's City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (District 8, Manhattan/Bronx) 6 pm
• CM Elizabeth Crowley (District 30, Queens) 6:30 pm
• CM Corey Johnson (District 3, Manhattan) 6:30 pm
• CM Julissa Ferreras (District 21, Queens) 7 pm

Tuesday
Tuesday, at 10 a.m., a press conference in PACE University's downtown campus will mark the beginning of Poverty Awareness Week, which is co-sponsored by Pace University and The Mayor's Office. The week will include a series of events. Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. will be one keynote speaker; Shola Olatoye, Chair and CEO of NYCHA will participate in a discussion on "Local Initiatives to Eradicate Poverty."

On Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio "will deliver remarks at the ribbon-cutting for the Brooklyn College Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School for Cinema at Steiner Studios."

At 5 p.m., the Mayor will appear on WCBS Newsradio 880.

In the evening, Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo, and many others will attend a birthday celebration for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Brooklyn Historical Society will host "Why New York? Our Broken Bail System." The event will be moderated by New York Times journalist Shaila Dewan, with panelists: Judge George Grasso, public defender Josh Saunders, criminal justice reform advocate Glenn E. Martin, and an individual who couldn't afford bail.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, NY Tech Meetup will be held at NYU, with a number of New York companies presenting demos of technologies that they are developing.

Tuesday's City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (District 8, Manhattan/Bronx) 4 pm
• CM Ydanis Rodriguez (District 10, Manhattan) 6 pm
• CM Jimmy Van Bramer (District 26, Queens) 6 pm
• CM Elizabeth Crowley (District 30, Queens) 6:30 pm
• CM Corey Johnson (District 3, Manhattan) 6:30 pm
• CM Brad Lander (District 39, Brooklyn) 6:30 pm
• CM Eric Ulrich (District 32, Queens) 8 pm

Wednesday
JCOPE is set to meet Wednesday morning in Albany.

Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., City & State NY holds its fifth annual "On Energy" event, inviting leaders in government, advocacy and business to speak on a number of topics related to the future of energy. Among the topics of discussion will be Governor Andrew Cuomo's regulatory overhaul in New York, Mayor de Blasio's 80 by 50 plan, and more. The event includes a panel with Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of Center for an Urban Future; Nilda Mesa, Director at NYC Mayor's Office of Sustainability; Kathryn Garcia, Commissioner, NYC Department of Sanitation. Other notable speakers to appear include: Richard Kauffman, NYS Chair of Energy & Finance; Arthur "Jerry" Kremer, Chairman of New York AREA; Ambassador Ron Kirk, Chairman of CASEnergy; Kevin Parker, a New York state Senator and ranking member of the Energy & Telecommunications Committee.

On Wednesday, The Families for Excellent Schools rally, postponed from last week because of weather and "to demand equal opportunity in our schools," will take place, starting mid-morning at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn, followed by a march across the Brooklyn Bridge, and a 12:30 p.m. press conference at City Hall. The rally is, in essence, to promote more more charter schools and criticize Mayor de Blasio's education agenda, which does not include more charters. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is expected to headline the rally, along with several high-profile performers, including Jennifer Hudson.

At the City Council on Wednesday:

• 10 a.m., The Committee on Transportation will meet to discuss a bill that would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct a study on the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists along bus routes. DOT would then institute new safety measures based on the data. The Committee will also discuss a bill that would require the identification of dangerous intersections based on incidents involving pedestrians, and implement curb extensions in such areas. The Committee will also make a decision on resolutions that would require the MTA to instal rear guards on bus wheels and to study ways to eliminate blind spots for buses.
• Also 10 a.m., The Committee on Aging will hold an oversight hearing on older adult employment.

At 10 a.m. The East 50s Alliance will hold a community rally to protest the planned construction of a 900-foot tower in the 58th street residential area. The residents are "deeply concerned that the tower will diminish the safety, accessibility and livability of a narrow side street during a lengthy construction process and forever after." City Council Member Ben Kallos will speak.

At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Vivertio, along with Council Members Paul Vallone and Vincent Gentile and others, will hold a Celebration of Italian Heritage at the Council Chambers in City Hall. The event will also celebrate Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday.

From 6 to 8 p.m. at Fordham Law School, The Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center and the Women's City Club of New York will host "This Bridge Called My Back: Women of Color and the Fight for Economic Security", on "how gender intersects with economic and racial inequality in New York City." Dr. Christina Greer, professor of political science at Fordham University, will moderate the panel, with Linda Sarsour, Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York; Luna Ranjit, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Adhikaar; Joanne N. Smith Founder and Executive Director of Girls for Gender Equality; and Margarita Rosa, Executive Director of National Center for Law and Economic Justice participating in the discussion.

Wednesday's City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Elizabeth Crowley (District 30, Queens) 6 pm
• CM Helen Rosenthal (District 6, Manhattan) 6 pm
• Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (District 8, Manhattan/Bronx) 6 pm
• CM Mathieu Eugene (District 40, Brooklyn) 6:30 pm
• CM Antonio Reynoso (District 34, Brooklyn/Queens) 6:30 pm
• CM Karen Koslowitz (District 29, Queens) 7 pm

Thursday
On Thursday at the City Council:

• 9:30 a.m., Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet to discuss three land use applications in Manhattan.
• 10 a.m., Committee on Finance will meet regarding the Department of Finance's Office of the Taxpayer Advocate.
• 11 a.m., Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses will meet to discuss a land use application in Brooklyn
• 1 p.m., Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions will meet to discuss another land use application in Brooklyn

Thursday at the New York State Legislature: the Assembly Standing Committee on Health, Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health, and Assembly Task Force on People with Disabilities will hold a joint public hearing regarding Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment and Services. "The Committees are seeking oral and written testimony from patients and their families, clinicians, service providers, and the Department on topics including the incidence, severity and consequences of TBI; treatment and service appropriateness and availability, including the rights of patients sent out-of-state; and issues relating to the transition of the TBI Waiver program to managed care."

At 9 a.m. Thursday New York State Assembly Members Latoya Joyner and Marcos Crespo will kick off "Let's Put Our Cities on the Map," sponsored and hosted by Google at the Bronx Museum of Arts, which will offer free counseling for small businesses on how to reach local customer bases, specifically by using "SmartLogic" online tools.

"The next public meeting of the New York City Campaign Finance Board will be held on Thursday, October 8 at 10:00 AM."

At 5 p.m. Thursday, EmblemHealth and LaborPress will honor 12 labor union members, from eight different labor unions, for their remarkable contributions to the labor communities at the fourth annual "Heroes of Labor Awards". EmblemHealth has invited many city elected officials to speak, several are expected.

At 6 p.m. Thursday in Washington, D.C., the Brennan Center for Justice and Vox will hold "The Politics of Participation: Building an Engaged Citizenry for Millennials and Beyond," including City Council Member Eric Ulrich. It is billed as "a candid conversation about what the shifting demographic landscape means for grassroots movements, political action, and civic engagement; how can we shape our democracy into one that is truly representative of the people being governed?"

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the Brooklyn Historical Society will hold "The Changing Face of Activism," which will explore the historical progression of activism from the 1960s desegregation movement to the present day Black Lives Matter movement. Moderated by Alethia Jones, a leader of 1199 SEIU, the panel will feature activist Barbara Smith; Joo-Hyun Kang of Communities United for Police Reform; and Jose Lopez, Lead Organizer at Make the Road NY and member of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

At 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Dan Abrams of ABC News will talk with Ray Kelly, the longest-serving NYPD Commissioner, at the 92nd Street Y. Kelly will hold a book signing for his new memoir Vigilance: My Life Serving America and Protecting Its Empire City, after his talk with Mr. Abrams.

Thursday's City Council Participatory Budgeting events:

• CM Steve Levin (District 33, Brooklyn) 5 pm
• CM Jimmy Van Bramer (District 26, Queens) 6 pm
• CM Antonio Reynoso (District 34, Brooklyn/Queens) 6:30 pm
• CM Karen Koslowitz (District 29, Queens) 7 pm
• CM Ydanis Rodriguez (District 10, Manhattan) 8 pm

Friday and the weekend
Friday at 8:15 a.m., NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton will speak at New York Law School, as part of the CityLaw breakfast series.

Weekend participatory budgeting:

• Friday, CM Antonio Reynoso (District 34, Brooklyn/Queens) 1 pm.
• Saturday, CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn), time TBA.
• Sunday, CM Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Brooklyn), time TBA.

*Note: we'll publish our next 'Week Ahead' on Monday, October 13 given the Columbus Day holiday

***
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 Colin O'Connor, Konstantine Beridze, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette