Jumaane Williams, Kathy Hochul, & Tom Suozzi

Governor Kathy Hochul squared off against her Democratic primary opponents, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, for the first time in a debate on Tuesday night. The debate, televised on CBS TV and radio, took place three weeks from primary day, June 28, and a few days after Hochul declined a debate last week where Williams and Suozzi faced each other on Spectrum News.

Hochul, who is running to be elected to the position for the first time, spent much of the debate touting what she has accomplished in the nine months since she took over from disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo and fending off attacks from the two challengers. The candidates sought to distinguish their track records, experience, and positions from the others on a raft of issues including gun violence and bail reform, ethics, congestion pricing, term limits, and more.

While there were a number of attacks on Hochul — who has had wide leads in polling and fundraising — and she rebutted many of them, the debate remained calm and cordial throughout the hour. The questions ranged from the serious to the trivial and a number of important topics were left off the table as the debate finished with a “lightning round” of personal questions. The three candidates are scheduled for one more debate, on June 16, just before the early voting period of June 18-26.

The leading issue at the debate was gun violence, in the wake of the recent racist mass shooting in Buffalo.

Williams has been an ardent proponent of investing in community-focused solutions to gun violence prevention, and he faulted both Hochul and her predecessor for stalling legislation and funding to prevent street-level crime. 

Hochul touted a package of ten gun control laws she signed just on Monday. “We got so much done that had been hampered and unfulfilled for a decade,” she said. She also said she was preparing the state for a potential adverse ruling from the Supreme Court that could weaken New York's restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms. “Within hours of that Supreme Court decision, we will have a response,” she promised, floating the possibility of convening a special session of the Legislature to address the issue. 

Suozzi pointed to his 15-point “crime intervention and prevention” plan, which includes changing the state’s bail reform law that was passed in 2019 and which has subsequently been watered down and modified twice, including in the April budget deal negotiated by Hochul. He and Williams both also criticized Hochul for her past record which earned her an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association and its donations for her campaigns. 

Hochul insisted that her positions have since “evolved” since she represented a conservative area of her native Western New York in Congress. “You know what we need? More people to evolve,” she said. “We have to change the hearts and minds of people all over this country so we can finally have common sense legislation from Washington.”

One of the main points of contention on bail reform this year was a push by moderates and conservatives to allow judges to use a “dangerousness standard” while setting bail for defendants. Hochul supported the change but was overruled by legislative leaders who noted that it could lead to disproportionate impacts on defendants of color, instead negotiating a compromise she touted for heading in that direction.

Asked why she did not use her political capital to push through the change, Hochul noted that the tweaks made this year did give judges more discretion. “I think what we gave the judges is better than this vague term that can be subjective and many times used against the individual because of the color of their skin,” she said. “We don't need to go backwards. We need to go forward in a thoughtful way but we're not compromising either justice or safety.”

Suozzi also supports instituting a dangerousness standard, which 49 other states already employ, while Williams has been opposed to it. The public advocate has repeatedly noted that there is little data to connect bail reform to the increase in gun violence over the last two years.

Suozzi was pressed by the moderators to explain a potential ethics probe by the House of Representatives into whether he failed to report stock transactions in a timely manner for years. “It's a paperwork error,” said Suozzi, who has a very large stock portfolio, insisting he regularly filed annual disclosures though he was required to report his transactions more regularly. “The reality is we've corrected it and we're moving forward with this on a going forward basis,” he said. Suozzi has repeatedly noted that he has no say in how his portfolio is handled by his financial manager.

But Suozzi also took the opportunity to pivot into an attack on Hochul for her appointment of Brian Benjamin, who had to resign as her lieutenant governor after being indicted on corruption charges from his time as a state senator, and for rushing through a last-minute deal in the budget to build a new Buffalo Bills stadium with $850 million in taxpayer subsidies. Hochul’s husband, William Hochul, is one of the top executives at Delaware North, the massive concessions company that currently has contracts with the Bills stadium. 

Hochul conceded that she was disappointed with Benjamin. “I promised the voters of New York and the people of the state that I would do everything I can to restore their faith in government and that was a setback,” she said.

She also would not say whether Delaware North should be precluded from bidding for contracts from the new stadium. “I worked hard to structure the best deal I could to the benefit of the taxpayers,” she said, insisting that her husband and the company had no involvement in the negotiations of the deal and that over many years both Hochul have had to be very careful on ethical lines, including during her time in Congress and his as a U.S. Attorney.

The debate also touched on a wide range of specific issues while a number of major challenges facing the state went fully or largely unaddressed, including affordable housing, child care, health care, and climate change.

Hochul and the Legislature recently accelerated the issuance of three casino licenses for downstate New York, and the candidates were asked if they would like to see one in Manhattan. 

“I’m not opposed to it but I do need to look more at it and I'm not sure that Manhattan would be a place to build,” Williams said, then stressing that he wants New York to be careful about how casinos often take money from those who can least afford to gamble it away. 

“I'm not opposed to it, but I'd rather have some public hearings, find out what the people have to say locally, as well as the state Legislature to have public hearings on the location,” said Suozzi, who had also criticized Hochul for not having any public hearings on the Bills stadium deal. 

“I'm not going to put my finger on the scale,” Hochul said about the potential site of a casino, touting the process that’s in place including a panel of decision-makers.

The plan to institute congestion pricing in New York City, specifically Manhattan below 61st Street, to limit traffic and bring in revenue for the MTA is still under environmental review by the federal government and isn’t expected to be approved until later this year. But the candidates differed on the timeline for implementation, though all three said they support congestion pricing overall.

Suozzi said the mechanism should be delayed by “at least a year,” arguing such a delay could be helpful to the state’s economic recovery. 

Hochul said the federal government has placed new hurdles in implementation. “So this is not going to happen over the next year under any circumstances, but now is not the right time,” she said, but added that it will happen.

“[We] should do it now,” said Williams, insisting that it is necessary for the environment as well as to raise much needed revenue for the MTA.  

With the Supreme Court leaning towards overturning Roe v. Wade, all three candidates have reriterated their support for safe, legal, and accessible abortions and expanding reproductive rights in the state. At the debate, Hochul defended her decision to create a $35 million abortion access fund, which will serve New Yorkers and those who travel from out of state to seek an abortion. 

Though Suozzi tried to put Hochul on the defensive for failing to usher through a constitutional amendment making abortion a constitutional right in the state. “She didn't put her weight behind it and it didn't pass through the legislature during the legislative session,” he said, noting that Hochul has TV ads touting her efforts to do so. 

But Hochul in turn critiqued Suozzi for refusing to support a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funds from being used for abortion coverage – thereby precluding it from Medicaid, which covers the poorest Americans. “I don't think that the right to have an abortion should be reserved only for wealthy women,” Hochul said. Suozzi said he didn’t know what Hochul was talking about.

Under newly drawn congressional lines, there is a crowded Democratic race shaping up in New York’s new 10th congressional district, covering parts of downtown Manhattan and a large swathe of Brooklyn. One of the candidates is former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the candidates were for unclear reasons asked if they would endorse his run. None of them said they would. 

“I am probably going to weigh in with that race so I don't want to tip my hand,” Williams said. 

“I don't think he's the best person for the job,” Suozzi said. 

“I'm not getting involved in primaries,” Hochul said, insisting that she is more focused on helping Democrats win races in the general election to maintain their tenuous hold on the House of Representatives.

New York City passed a local law that, beginning in January 2023, will allow hundreds of thousands of noncitizens with green cards and certain types of work authorization to vote in municipal elections. The candidates were pressed on whether they would push for such a provision statewide. 

“Of course, in the state, we want to make sure that everyone is civically engaged,” Williams said, indicating support for doing so but not explicitly saying it. “And that includes some of our noncitizen residents who are dealing with the impacts of very bad policy.” 

Suozzi said “the right to vote should be reserved for citizens” but touted his past efforts to help immigrants.

“I respect the right of a locality to make that decision as they did in New York City,” Hochul said. “But I will not be proposing that it be extended to the entire state.”

On term limits for state elected officials, Suozzi was entirely opposed. Hochul has previously proposed term limits for statewide officials, but not for members of the Legislature, and she reiterated that stance. Williams, on the other hand, said there should be limits for all state elected officials, with legislators allowed to serve more terms than statewide officials. 

After the Legislature approved a two-year moratorium on certain types of energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining, Hochul indicated that she may not sign the bill into law. Her critics have pointed out that both she and her new lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, have received major campaign donations from the cryptocurrency investors. 

At the debate, Hochul refuted that her reluctance to sign the bill was influenced by wealthy donors. “We have over 800 bills that were passed. And this bill came up at the very end of session,” she explained. “We didn't have a chance to have our legislative team engage with it to work out any problems or to say yes or no or any modifications that normally occurs in the process.”

Williams said he agreed with the moratorium and noted there are other methods of producing and verifying cryptocurrency than through the mining process. Suozzi said he agreed with a moratorium but that he would have liked it to be shorter than two years.

Williams was the only candidate to say that the state should pay compensation to the families of more than 15,000 New Yorkers who died of COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, in part because of the decisions of the Cuomo administration. “Of course they should,” he said. 

Suozzi critiqued Hochul for not having already convened hearings to examine the state’s covid response. “I don't know why the governor has not put together a committee to look at this so we could learn lessons from what we went through,” he said.  

The governor’s office previously confirmed to Gotham Gazette in April that such a review was underway, and Hochul has since talked more about it, again noting on the debate stage that she has a review underway. But Hochul would not say at the debate whether the families of the deceased deserved compensation. “I gave them an apology and I said I will look at this even further to determine what else we can do to help them,” she said.

Ben Max contributed to this story.

Board of Elections reform on the table (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

A package of reforms to the way elections are run in New York State all but died last week when the Assembly adjourned without bringing the legislation to a floor vote after they passed the Senate. That includes a sweeping bill to restructure the membership and executive leadership of the New York City Board of Elections, which has been plagued by political patronage, nepotism, and mismanagement year after year.

While legislators passed a number of voting and election reforms, they did not make changes to the board of elections structure, institute measures to professionalize the New York City Board of Elections, or improve the election day experience.

"So many pieces of this package are truly just common sense national best practices for improving how our elections are administered," said Joanna Zdanys, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, referring to proposals like training requirements for commissioners and staff.

"Going into the next session, we think there is every reason for voters to expect and demand that these measures become law," Zdanys said.

Few elections in New York, particularly in New York City, have been spared from controversy around mismanagement, accessibility, or public information – sometimes disenfranchising voters in the process. Last year, the city Board of Elections released incorrect preliminary vote tallies in the mayoral Democratic primary after mistakenly counting test ballots.

At least 12 bills that would change election administration in New York City and around the state, including by setting professional standards for commissioners, passed in the State Senate earlier this year. None of them made it out of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and several had not even been introduced in the lower chamber.

The highest-profile piece of the package is an omnibus bill, sponsored by Senator. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Nily Rozic to reform the New York City Board of Elections. It would impose minimum qualifications on the BOE executive director, reduce the number of commissioners from 10 to 2, and make them more accountable to the public by requiring public hearings before their confirmation. It would also require more stringent budget reporting and delineate some of the roles of commissioners and executives.

The bill won the support of some good-government groups when it was amended earlier this year to remove a provision of the state election law that has been interpreted by the city BOE as requiring bipartisan hiring at all levels of BOE staffing, down to the rank-and-file. Advocates said that interpretation created duplicative roles and enabled patronage and nepotism.

"The Senate did our job by passing my legislation to professionalize the New York City Board of Elections so that we can avoid the fiascos that we have witnessed in several recent cycles," said Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, in a statement.

"It's disappointing that the Assembly failed to act - now all we can do is cross our fingers that the current BOE gets it right in June, August, and November," Krueger said. "I suppose it's possible - after all, a stopped clock is right twice a day."

The bill's Assembly sponsor, Rozic, Speaker Carl Heastie, and Assembly election committee chair Assemblymember Latrice Walker, all New York City Democrats, did not respond to requests for comment.

Assembly Member Robert Carroll, a Brooklyn Democrat and co-sponsor of the BOE reform bill, told Gotham Gazette he was disappointed it didn't pass.

"We definitely need to professionalize our board and insulate it from political influence. I wish we passed this bill," he said.

"We need to do something about that because it's a real issue," he said of the partisan influence over elections. Carroll gave the example of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, which hand-picks commissioners and has also been accused of forging petition signatures to knock candidates off the ballot.

The Krueger-Rozic bill maintains the current commissioner appointment structure – where county party bosses select commissioners to be confirmed, usually without opposition, by the City Council – with two caveats: the Council would have to hold a public confirmation hearing, which is currently optional and often forgone; and, because each party will have one commissioner on the board instead of five, the Council will have to exert more control over the final selections.

It does not touch the bipartisan make-up of the board, itself, which is enshrined in the state constitution.

"Unfortunately, reform and structural change is not nearly as evocative, sometimes, as some other things," Carroll said. "Especially BOE reform, with some of the transgressions that we're talking about, you have to be an insider to understand what's happening."

Since Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2019, and thus full control of state government, the Assembly has become a bottleneck for many pieces of voting legislation and other democracy and good-government reforms. In recent years, the Legislature has passed significant changes to elections – including early voting, synchronized primaries, and shorter party enrollment deadlines – with Assembly Democrats often trailing their Senate counterparts on the latest frontiers.

It is not fully clear why Assembly Democrats would stand in the way of reforming the dysfunctional Board of Elections. Speaker Heastie has close ties to the Bronx Democratic Party, which he led before becoming Speaker. Meanwhile, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn is chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and Assemblymember Michael Cusick is chair of the Staten Island Democratic Party. Former Assemblymember Keith Wright is head of the Manhattan Democrats. (The Queens Democratic Party is led by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks.)

The other unpassed bills would have applied to local boards of elections statewide, not just in New York City. They would set professional qualifications for commissioners, prevent them from holding elected office, establish a process for removal by state regulators, and require hearings before confirmations. Others would make the commissioner a full-time position, mandate training for commissioners, staff, and poll workers, and ban financial conflicts of interest for BOE employees.

The bills would also set minimum staffing levels for local boards (something already in place in New York City), allow half-day poll worker shifts, raise compensation for election inspectors, and ensure the added income for poll workers doesn't impact their ability to receive public benefits.

"Voters have demanded change in how we run our elections, and it's important we respond to them. But reforming a system that's largely been in place for over a century isn't easy, and we never expected it to happen in just one session," said Senator Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat and chair of the Senate elections committee. Myrie sponsored a number of the bills after producing a report on election reform last fall following a public hearing tour around the state.

"Our report included over 50 recommendations to improve election administration. I'm proud the Senate overwhelmingly passed many of these recommendations, and there's much more work to be done," Myrie said.

This year, lawmakers passed several measures championed by voting rights advocates, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, a voter registration deadline extension, and a fix to the so-called "wrong church" problem. Three of the election administration reforms advanced out of the Assembly election law committee only to perish in the Ways and Means Committee, where bills often go when they might have fiscal implications.

While advocates, like good-government group Citizens Union, weren't surprised by the outcome, there was hope the bills that had passed the Assembly election committee would come to a floor vote.

"It was definitely a missed opportunity, and when the next election blunder happens, voters will wonder why nothing was done to fix this antiquated system," said Ben Weinberg, policy director at Citizens Union. "I’m sure senators will continue pushing for it next year and hope the Assembly will join. This package shouldn’t be such a hard sell; things like requiring training and setting qualifications are basic standards in any modern government body."

Assemblymember Dick Gottfried (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

June xx, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Dick Gottfried on 52 Years in the State Legislature

Assemblymember Dick Gottfried is retiring after 52 years in the Legislature. He joined the show to reflect on his tenure, including 35 years chairing the Assembly health committee, how state government has changed over time, his major accomplishments, the New York Health Act, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.

Climate march (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

The Democrat-led state Legislature ended its session over the weekend without passing any additional major pieces of climate-related legislation that some legislators and activists had been pushing for months. The failure to act has provided renewed vigor to several candidates running in the primaries this year who had already been centering climate action in their campaigns, many of them challenging incumbent Democrats.

They say that the state must take immediate and extraordinary action as the adverse effects of climate change continue to worsen, especially to meet the green energy requirements in the state’s landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). 

The candidates and activists they are aligned with say the most egregious failure at hand is the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), which picked up serious momentum as climate activists and elected officials rallied for it as the session was coming to a close.

The bill would allow the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to own and build new renewable energy projects, along with mandates for phasing out fossil fuel power plants by 2030, and being the sole provider of renewable energy to state-owned properties by 2030 and municipal properties by 2035. Its supporters say it is crucial to achieve the goals of the CLCPA, which they say is the last major climate legislation approved in New York, requiring the state to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and by 85% by 2050 from 1990 levels. 

The BPRA passed the State Senate but ultimately didn’t get a vote in the Assembly, despite activists insisting that they had corralled enough support for it. The backlash, particularly against Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, was swift and many of those activists say it will be felt at the ballot, where several progressive candidates are running with a focus on climate action in this year’s primaries — June for the Assembly, August for the Senate.

In a suprise statement on Monday, two days after the session ended, Heastie announced a hearing on the BPRA scheduled for July 28, a month after the Assembly primary. “We agree with the goals of the Build Public Renewables Act,” he said of the Democratic supermajority in his chamber. “The final version of the bill – amended two days prior to the scheduled close of our legislative session – had support in our conference, but not enough to move forward at this point.” 

He said the hearing would examine various aspects of the bill including, “capacity needed to meet goals, potential costs of needed infrastructure, impacts on consumers and taxpayers, acquisition costs, and siting and eminent domain criteria.”

“I think it was a real eye-opener for a lot of people,” said Aaron Eisenberg of the Public Power NY coalition, which was advocating for the BPRA. “I think, especially…recognizing that ‘vote harder’ or ‘vote blue only’ is not enough in this case, because seemingly with 105 Democrats out of 150-member body and 83 confirmed yeses, that was still not enough to bring substantive climate legislation to the floor for a vote.” 

He said the Assembly’s failure to vote on the bill was “a damning indictment of failed climate leadership and climate denial because it's saying that we don't need to do anything when every single alarm bell should be going off.” 

The New York Democratic Socialists of America is backing a slate of candidates this year who are running largely on the issue of combating climate change. They include Illapa Sairitupac, who is running for an open seat in Assembly District 65 in Manhattan; David Alexis, who is challenging State Senator Kevin Parker in District 21 in Brooklyn; Keron Alleyne, who is running against Assemblymember Nikki Lucas, who won Brooklyn’s District 60 seat in a special election in February; Sarahana Shrestha, who is challenging Hudson Valley Assemblymember Kevin Cahill in District 103; Vanessa Agudelo, who is running for an open seat in District 95 in northern Westchester and Putnam Counties; Samy Nemir Olivares, who is challenging Assemblymember Erik Dilan in Brooklyn’s District 54; and Kristen Gonzalez, who is running for an open newly carved State Senate seat in District 59 covering parts of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The New York Working Families Party have endorsed all of those candidates as well – the WFP endorsed Sairitupac on Thursday, June 9. (DSA has also endorsed all six incumbent legislators in its slate.)

“For us as organizers, we’re furious, we're upset, we’re disheartened,” said Sairitupac of the BPRA’s failure, “and it further bolsters our commitment to talk about primarying more Assembly people and to literally replace them with champions for the working class because they gave us no other recourse. This is class warfare…It further validates that we should be running more organizers to replace these dinosaurs who don't care about us.” 

The BPRA wasn’t the only climate bill that failed to make it across the finish line during the state session. Activists from the Climate Can’t Wait coalition had pushed for a series of bills that would have taken a multi-faceted approach to climate change including banning gas hookups in new construction, raising revenue to fund the implementation of the CLCPA, energy efficiency measures for utilities, repealing tax exemptions for the fossil fuel industry, divesting the state teachers pension fund from fossil fuel producers, banning new major electricity generating facilities powered by fossil fuels, and more.

There was one apparent victory, however, in the form of a two-year moratorium on certain kinds of energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining in the state, though it is unclear if Governor Kathy Hochul will sign the bill. The state is moving ahead with a series of renewable energy projects of various kinds including wind, hydro, and solar. This year’s $220 billion state budget included $500 million for offshore wind energy infrastructure, a $400 million Environmental Protection Fund, and the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, which is headed to a ballot referendum in the November general election. 

David Alexis said his opponent, Senator Parker, who is lead sponsor of the BPRA, wasn’t fully committed to it as was evident from his absence from the Senate floor when the bill was debated. “This bill has always been about life or death for millions of people across this state suffering from climate change…For Parker, he only began to move on it when it meant the life or death of his job in politics,” Alexis said.  

Parker’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“Because of this failure, climate activists are going to move. This is going to yield real momentum that I think will have impacts at the end of this month for the June primaries, but also for our primaries in August,” he added. 

“There should be a backlash at the ballot,” said Alleyne, who is running against Assemblymember Lucas, criticizing the Democratic supermajority for disappointing the people who put them in power. 

If Alleyne and his fellow insurgent candidates win their respective races, their voices will become harder to ignore, he said. “It’s going to make a huge difference because that drum is going to be beat well before we get into office,” he said. “The thing that changes immediately when we get to Albany is that this is not going to be put on the afterburner. Leadership is not going to be able to hide behind bills that don't make a difference truly in the lives of our neighbors.”

The BPRA may still be in play. Assemblymember Robert Carroll, the Assembly sponsor of the bill, said it is “the most important piece of climate legislation possibly in the country” and he’s hopeful that after the hearing in July, the Legislature will convene for a special session to approve the bill. 

“I think it's common sense,” he said. “Untying the hands of the New York Power Authority will only help produce more renewable projects and produce a more competitive market.”

According to estimates from Public Power NY, the BPRA would help scale up the New York Power Authority’s renewable energy capacity, generating between $48.6 and $93.5 billion in additional economic activity by 2030 and creating between 28,410 to 51,133 green jobs that pay a prevailing wage. 

“The inertia that is happening in Albany for a multitude of reasons, either political cowardice or or the donations of fossil fuel lobbyists, that inertia is just preventing us from taking the steps we need to fight climate change,” said State Senator Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn, a democratic socialist backed by the DSA and active in trying to help the slate of first-time candidates win this year.

“A composition change might be an order,” he added. “There need to be more people that prioritize climate in the Legislature or else we will be very sad in five to ten years when it is truly out of control.”

Note - this article has been updated with the WFP's latest endorsement of Illapa Sairitupac and to note U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement of the DSA-backed candidates. 

Note- this article has been updated to mention Kristen Gonzalez, who is also on the DSA slate of candidates.  

Jumaane Williams, Kathy Hochul, & Tom Suozzi

With just three weeks till the June 28 primary, and only eleven days till early voting begins June 18, Governor Kathy Hochul is set to face off Tuesday for the first time on the debate stage against her two Democratic primary opponents, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

The debate, set to air Tuesday at 7 p.m. on CBS television and Newsradio 880, comes a few days after Suozzi and Williams appeared for a debate on Spectrum News that Hochul declined to participate in.

Hochul, formerly lieutenant governor, is running for her first full-term as governor since taking over from Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year, when he resigned in disgrace after facing a series of sexual misconduct allegations, among other scandals. In the months since, Hochul has consolidated her position as the state’s top Democrat, courting wealthy donors that have bolstered her campaign coffers to a massive funding advantage over her opponents, and strengthening alliances with major labor unions and other special interest groups, and receiving the backing of many elected and party officials.

Hochul has sought to distance herself from Cuomo, and in some ways has followed through on promises of a different leadership style. While she has mostly proved to be more collaborative and respectful than her former running mate known for bullying and browbeating, Hochul raised hackles and to some extent soured relationships in the Legislature over the way she handled several major items in the state budget passed more than a week late in April.

Like Cuomo, Hochul is a moderate liberal. She has certainly moved leftward after her time as a county clerk and congressional representative in Western New York, where she opposed driver’s licenses for undocumented New Yorkers with threats of arrest and touted an “A” rating from the NRA. In the passage of this year’s state budget, her last-minute move to push through a large subsidy deal for the Buffalo Bills stadium project provoked more than a few comparisons to Cuomo.

Unlike Cuomo, Hochul has formed a friendly and productive working relationship with the New York City Mayor, who represents more than 43% of the state’s population in the city. While Hochul has worked well with Mayor Eric Adams, Cuomo spent years antagonizing and picking fights with Adams’ predecessor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, often to the detriment of New Yorkers.

Hochul is heading into the final weeks before primary day set to sign a number of bills bolstering abortion rights and gun control in New York, among many other pieces of legislation passed by the Legislature as it ended its 2022 session in recent days.

Though she has not been elected to the position, incumbency has given Hochul several advantages, including the ability to command headlines for those bill-signings and the allocation of budget dollars. Her time as lieutenant governor made her a ubiquitous presence around the state, giving her more name recognition than her opponents in many places. She has quickly built a massive campaign war chest and public polling has her well ahead of Suozzi and Williams.

Suozzi is running as a “common sense Democrat,” with many moderate policy positions that aren’t far removed from Hochul. He is running on the strength of his two decades of experience in executive and legislative positions, while touting his longtime record backing gun control, environment protections, and abortion rights. His campaign has largely been focused on rising violent crime, and he has criticized Hochul for failing to take tough measures to control it, aligning himself with his ally, Mayor Adams, in calling for far more judicial discretion to jail defendants pre-trial. Suozzi has called for cutting taxes and regulations to spur the economy.

Williams is challenging Hochul for the second time, after having failed to unseat her as lieutenant governor in 2018, though he came somewhat close. As a self-declared “activist elected official,” Williams is to the left of the other candidates. He has a long history as a progressive on many issues, especially housing and police reform coupled with community investment, and has been endorsed by the Working Families Party. Though he has also said that public safety is his top issue, he has insisted that the solution lies in funding the social determinants of crime rather than law enforcement. He has called for higher taxes on the wealthy to fund everything from education to affordable housing to climate action.

On Thursday night, Williams and Suozzi met at the first televised debate in the primary, which Hochul decided to skip. Though there are clear differences between the two, they did not battle it out at the debate, instead training their criticisms at the governor. It was a sneak peek into what is likely to happen on Tuesday as the candidates try to tarnish the incumbent and present their visions to voters.

“She's gonna get attacked from her left flank by Jumaane Williams and from her right flank by Tom Suozzi,” said Bruce Gyory, a veteran Democratic strategist with the firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, in a phone interview, previewing the debate. “The question is, what is the reaction of media, pundits, and most importantly the public? Is that attack going to be seen as tripping her up or is that attack going to make her seem like the obvious choice in the middle.”

The two challengers clearly have honed several lines of attack against the governor. They’ve both been critical of the deal to help build the Buffalo Bills stadium, at a cost of $1.4 billion that includes at least $850 million in state and local subsidies. Polls have shown that voters also overwhelmingly disapprove of the deal.

They also questioned the governor’s judgment in rushing through the vetting of Brian Benjamin to be her lieutenant governor, only for him to resign seven months later after being indicted on corruption charges from his time as a state senator. Hochul then chose U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado to replace Benjamin after the Legislature rushed through a bill that allowed Benjamin to get off the primary ballot, a move that also invited criticism from her opponents.

“The perception coming out of the polling data that they're way behind may lead one or both of them to overreach in the attack,” Gyory said. “On the other hand, they may perfectly calibrate it and…it's not easy to be attacked by two people.”

He had specific advice for the two candidates as well. “If Jumaane can add practicality to his progressivism, I think he'll do well,” he said. “I think for Suozzi, it's a question of how does he calibrate his attacks on Hochul…and distinguish himself from Hochul without coming across as being churlish and caustic.”

On The Issues
Public polling has consistently shown that crime is a top concern for voters. An April 25 Siena College poll found that 24% of voters picked crime as the single most important issue in deciding who to support in the primary, with taxes a distant second at 9%. It was on crime and the economy that Hochul’s approval fell dramatically in that poll.

Suozzi has attacked Hochul repeatedly for failing to rein in violent crime. “This governor has not made it the priority it should be,” he said at the Thursday debate with Williams. Suozzi has taken particular aim at the state’s bail reforms that were approved in 2019 and which subsequently have been used by moderates and conservatives as a scapegoat for rising crime, with very limited direct evidence to support the assertion.

Those reforms had already been altered somewhat in 2020 and were again this year, but Suozzi and others have insisted that leaders did not go far enough. He has called for allowing judges to consider a “dangerousness standard” while deciding to set bail, a position that Hochul in fact shares, as does Mayor Adams.

Williams, on the other hand, is pushing for greater resources for crime prevention, with $1 billion going towards anti-gun violence programs and community investments. Including at Thursday’s debate, he has repeatedly pointed out that the push for that $1 billion was not met in the state budget.

The two challengers have also said that Hochul has not done enough to tackle gun violence specifically, a particularly poignant issue in the wake of the racist mass shooting in Buffalo followed soon by the massacre of school children in Uvalde, Texas. They have both pointed to Hochul's past endorsement by the National Rifle Association, which gave her an “A” rating when she was in Congress and donated to her past campaigns. Hochul, however, has easy rebuttals to offer, having quickly moved to strengthen gun control after the two mass shootings and having been a public champion for the initial passage of the state’s “red flag” law under Cuomo.

Inflation and cost of living have become a particularly pressing issue and while Hochul has taken measures to tackle them, it's likely a topic that each of the candidates will have to address at the debate. Both Hochul and Suozzi have talked about reducing taxes – Hochul has continued tax cuts for the middle class that were approved in previous years, and passed a property tax rebate and gas tax holiday in the new budget – while Williams wants to raise taxes on the wealthy to increase state revenue and fund several progressive priorities.

Another issue at the forefront this year is abortion rights, with indications that the U.S. Supreme Court is getting ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. Hochul stands on a strong foundation on the issue, having quickly announced a series of measures to strengthen reproductive rights, funds for abortion, executive action on contraceptive coverage, and more. Williams and Suozzi have both expressed full-throated support for abortion rights, though they may be slightly vulnerable on the issue because of past positions that were more conservative to varying degrees.

Ethics and integrity in government could be another contentious sticking point. Hochul promised a new era in Albany when she took office, distancing herself from the several scandals that engulfed Cuomo as well as the overall culture he perpetuated where pay-to-play politics, bullying, and a lack of transparency and ethics enforcement were all rampant.

But Suozzi and Williams have taken aim at her for being quietly acquiescent as Cuomo’s number two and then, as governor, for continuing to raise massive sums from those with state business interests, the Benjamin debacle, and the Buffalo Bills deal, which government reform groups have criticized for several reasons including the secretive process and the fact that the governor’s husband, William Hochul, is a top executive at Delaware North, the massive concessions company that serves the current stadium.

The Money Race
After becoming governor, Hochul quickly built up a donor network to rival her predecessor and raised more than $20 million in five months, a record-breaking fundraising pace. According to the latest campaign finance disclosures from May, she has raised a total of $33.8 million for her campaign and has spent about $16.6 million – she raised $10.3 million and spent $13.1 million since January alone. She had a whopping $18.6 million in cash on hand as of May 23, according to that filing.

Suozzi is in second place. He raised $6.7 million in total in contributions (and also transferred more than $2 million from his congressional campaign) and has spent about $6.5 million. He had about $2.7 million left over as of the filing.

Williams has barely any funding compared to the other two. He has only raised $471,000 in total and has spent about $311,000. He had just $130,000 in the bank as of the latest campaign finance disclosure.

Hochul Ahead in Polling
Public polling shows the governor holding a commanding lead over both her competitors. In a March 28 Siena College poll, Hochul had a 40-point lead over Williams and Suozzi in a three-way race – she received 52% of the vote compared to 12% for Williams and 11% for Suozzi. The poll showed that Hochul’s standing in the primary had only improved over time, following a January poll that showed her with a 30-point lead. 

The March poll also considered whether Cuomo might jump into the race, in which case Hochul got 38% of the vote compared to 30% for Cuomo, 10% for Suozzi, and 7% for Williams.

A May 26 poll from Unite NY/John Zogby Strategies found that Hochul had a 58% approval rating, with 38% disapproving. In the Democratic primary, she led with 49.4% of the vote compared to 14.1% for Williams and 10.3% for Suozzi. She also led all potential Republican challengers by double digits as the poll looked ahead to the general election.  

Hochul did suffer some setbacks in April after the criticism over the Buffalo Bills deal, the Benjamin scandal, and the chaotic state redistricting process that led to lawsuits, new districts being drawn, and the congressional and state primary eventually being moved to August. Hochul declined to act to consolidate the primaries in August, apparently interested in trying to cement her advantages and not give her competitors (and potentially Cuomo) more time to dent her lead.

In the April 25 Siena poll, Hochul’s job performance rating plunged. Only 36% of those polled said she was doing an “excellent” or “good” job as governor, down from 43% in March; about 57% said she was doing a “fair” or “poor” job compared to 53% who said the same in March. 

Her overall favorability among voters remained relatively unchanged – 44% gave her a favorable rating compared to 34% unfavorable, compared to 45-35% in March. 

Suozzi had a favorability of 21% to 18% unfavorable, with 61% saying they either did not know him or have an opinion of him. Williams came in at 24% favorable and 20% unfavorable. For both candidates, it was a clear indicator that they are far behind in name recognition compared to the incumbent.

Along with Tuesday’s debate, the second and final televised debate Hochul has agreed to with Suozzi and Williams will be on June 16.

State Senator Diane Savino (photo: NY Senate)

June 6, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Diane Savino Says Farewell to the State Senate

State Senator Diane Savino, a Democrat representing parts of Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn, joined the show to reflect on her 18-year tenure in the Legislature as she moves on to the next phase of her career after deciding not to seek reelection this year.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts at Max Politics.

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi

State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive Democrat, garnered national attention after announcing her run in the new 17th Congressional District of New York against Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and currently represents the 18th district. Both districts are north of New York City in the Hudson Valley.

All of New York’s congressional and state legislative districts were just redrawn in a mandatory decennial process based on new Census information. It got particularly messy in New York, which is losing one seat in the House of Representatives, going from 27 to 26 come next year. Primaries for the House and State Senate are in August, following the June primaries for State Assembly and statewide seats.

The new district lines have altered many plans -- Biaggi, who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester in the State Senate, had been running in what was supposed to be the new 3rd Congressional District. But when maps drawn by Democrats who control the State Legislature were thrown out by the courts and new maps drawn by an appointed “special master” were released, that district was among many that were significantly reconfigured. Biaggi had to reconsider.

Meanwhile, Maloney announced he would run in the district where he lives but that is mostly still made up of Rep. Mondaire Jones’ 17th district. Jones in turn declined to stay put and fend off Maloney, and declared his candidacy for the new 10th district, based in downtown Manhattan and a large swathe of Brooklyn.

Then, Biaggi made her decision to run in the new 17th district, taking on the powerful Maloney, who had just pushed Jones out, inviting a wave of criticism.

“Voters can have a say and vote for someone who is a progressive Democrat who actually has a record of making progress…or they can vote for a selfish corporate Democrat who clearly only cares about himself,” Biaggi said in a recent appearance on the Max Politics podcast from Gotham Gazette, hosted by executive editor Ben Max.

Though she does not live in the district, Biaggi cited ties to the area and a plan to move within its new bounds, but said her motivations to run included bringing more fight to Congress to tackle the most pressing issues of this era and to stop the kind of leadership Maloney represents.

Biaggi said she was angered that the new map motivated Maloney to avoid a slightly more challenging race in his existing district and effectively pushing out the district’s current “beloved” representative in Jones. 

Biaggi said she sees a lack of “urgency” and “effort” from current elected officials to get things done, and pledged to bring a different perspective and energy to Congress if elected, including on issues like reproductive rights, fighting climate change, health care, gun control, and more.

Amid the chaos of New York’s redistricting, Biaggi said even she has had trouble following all the twists and turns and worries the combination of the new maps and two separate primaries will have a negative effect on voter turnout. Asked about why redistricting had gone awry under the Democratic Legislature, Biaggi said one key reason was related to the independent, bipartisan commission first tasked with drawing new maps and that there was  “no requirement for them to compromise.”

The maps are now final and New York will be among the states where races determine control of the House. New York’s 17th will be considered a swing district in the fall but it does have a solid Democratic lean. Still, it is expected to be a strong year for Republicans. First, the primaries.

With Democratic control of the House, Senate and the White House, Biaggi said there should be more momentum to pass legislation that addresses the most pressing issues.

“There is an incredible amount of urgency that is needed in our leaders around a lot of issues,” said Biaggi, who is chair of the State Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance and has led on issues related to workplace protections against sexual harassment and overhauling the state’s ethics oversight agency, while also helping to pass a very long list of Democratic priorities over her nearly two terms. “There are a lot of new and progressive and young leaders who feel like we are not acting fast enough.”

Biaggi said a key issue she and her opponent Maloney differ on is health care. Unlike Maloney, Biaggi supports “Medicare for All.” She criticized Maloney for voting with Republicans when he was first elected, which, Biaggi claimed, slowed enhancement of the Affordable Care Act.

“Obamacare is one of the most important policies that I think any Democratic administration has passed. It has helped not just Democrats, but people across this country and it’s something that I think makes our party very proud,” she said. She also pointed to Maloney and the DCCC he leads supporting anti-abortion, pro-gun rights incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar in a Texas primary where he is being challenged by progressive Jessica Cisneros.

Biaggi said she is drawing from her successful 2018 primary campaign against then-State Senator Jeff Klein, a moderate who led the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) of breakaway Democrats who formed a power-sharing agreement with Republicans. Biaggi ousted Klein and several other progressive challengers beat members of the IDC in what wound up being a major Democratic wave year that flipped the State Senate and thus meant all of state government was in Democratic hands for the first time in nearly a decade.

Despite being “outspent” and “underestimated,” Biaggi said she attributes her 2018 win to her authentic message. Biaggi said it is crucial for voters to feel like they can trust their elected leaders, and believes her previous record of legislative accomplishments is a marker of her credibility and reliability. 

Winning a campaign requires building a strong coalition of people that reflect the communities within the district, said Biaggi.

“People, really at the end of the day, are where the power comes from,” she said. It is important for voters to “feel like you hear and see them and honor them and the struggles that they also are going through.”

When people do not feel empowered to vote, they do not show up at the polls, Biaggi said.

“What makes me excited to vote…is when someone is bringing to me something that is bold,” she said. “We have such a lack of Democrats who are willing to take bold positions.”

Often touted by Republicans as a radical progressive, Biaggi said the issues she supports – abortion rights, fully funded schools, and protecting the environment – are mainstream and popular among Americans. 

If these issues are perceived as “too far left,” then America is “in a lot of trouble,” Biaggi said in response to whether she would need to moderate her stances given she’s moving to a more purple district.

The significance of Biaggi’s run against Maloney transcends New York State politics, she said.

“I think that this is a race that represents a clear option to bring the party in a different direction,” she said, though she said she did not know whether the race would garner national attention or become a focus for the progressive movement.

In the current political climate, Biaggi said the people behind policy are just as important as policy itself. People who deny election results and bills that restrict voting access are threatening American democracy, she said.

“We are not dealing with a traditional Republican Party,” she said. “What is it gonna take for this party to realize that we are not actually dealing with good faith actors and that we have to do whatever it takes for good, just like they do whatever it takes for evil?”

[LISTEN to the full conversation: Max Politics Podcast: Alessandra Biaggi on Running for Congress and Taking on Sean Patrick Maloney]

An Albany rally for abortion rights (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

State lawmakers voted on legislation late into the night Thursday, the scheduled end of the legislative session, and while the State Senate finished its business the Assembly continued passing bills throughout Friday and into Saturday.

A number of major deals were reached in the final week as the session came to a crescendo, while other marquee proposals fell by the wayside.

And as of Saturday morning, with the Senate on break but the Assembly still wrapping up business, the fate of at least two major pieces of legislation passed by the upper chamber was uncertain in the lower house. Neither wound up passing by the time the Assembly adjourned at about 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

With the end of the session, lawmakers return to their districts for campaign season ahead of the state primary elections — June for the Assembly and August for the Senate — and the fall general election. That doesn't mean they can't be called back into session to pass more legislation, which advocates for some failed measures have already begun calling for.

Legislators have been preparing for the final push on a host of bills since the state budget was finalized in April. This week saw the passage of a slew of legislation, driven by Democratic supermajorities in both houses, to strengthen voting rights, abortion access, gun control, street safety, and much more. Several New York City-focused bills passed, including an extension of mayoral control of city schools (with other changes attached), a new mechanism to allow NYCHA to raise funds for public housing repairs, and more.

Other proposals, like Good Cause Eviction protections for tenants, a replacement for the 421-a real estate development tax exemption, parole reform, a ban on gas hookups in newly-constructed buildings, and others appear dead, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, the Clean Slate Act — to seal most convictions after a sentence and parole period served — and the Build Public Renewables Act — to allow the New York Power Authority to finance renewable energy projects — were passed by the Senate but ultimately shelved by the Assembly.

Major Bills Pass Both Houses of the Legislature
The Assembly passed the New York Voting Rights Act Thursday afternoon, after the omnibus voter-protection bill passed the State Senate the day before. The bill is modeled on the federal Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965 to protect the rights of Black voters and largely defanged over the last decade by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is one of several moves Democratic majorities in both chambers are taking to respond to gaps or lapses in federal protections. The bill now goes to Hochul, who is expected to sign it after supporting the concept earlier this year.

"I am proud that New York is standing as a true bastion of voting rights despite the anti-democratic rollbacks being set forth by Republicans across the nation," said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Lawmakers passed legislation to protect medical providers from misconduct charges and subpoenas for performing abortions in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would strike down Roe v. Wade. The Legislature fell short of passing a state constitutional amendment that would enshrine the right to abortion and civil rights protections based on sex, gender orientation or expression, disability, and other categories.

"I look forward to signing these bills into law," Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement on the abortion-related measures that were passed. "Make no mistake: for as long as I am governor, New York will be a safe harbor for all those who need abortion care."

The Legislature also passed a series of gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, and on the heels of another Wednesday in Tulsa. The bills would raise the age to legally buy or own a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21, and require "microstamping" on new guns, which allows bullets to be linked to the weapon that fired them. Other legislation would disallow most people from purchasing body armor, bolster background checks, and make it possible for more people to file extreme risk protection orders to prevent certain people from purchasing firearms (thus strengthening the “red flag” law).

“The horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde have shown us, once again, that our country needs to have a conversation about the national obsession with guns. But it has also shown us that we cannot wait to take action," said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

A two-year extension of mayoral control of New York City schools was passed with additional caveats that have rankled Mayor Eric Adams. The extension comes with changes to the Panel for Education Policy and requirements to lower class sizes in city schools over five years. Adams criticized the legislation earlier this week, threatening that the mandate will mean reducing other school programs to pay for it if the state doesn't provide additional funding to the city — something disputed by the leader of the legislative effort, Queens State Senator John Liu, chair of the Senate’s New York City education committee. Liu pointed to additional state education funding already set to head to the city that can be used for the class size reductions.

In a statement after its passage, the mayor expressed hope that cuts could be avoided.

“While there is more work to do to deliver on the priorities New Yorkers are asking for, we are optimistic that there is a way forward on key elements, including ensuring we achieve the shared goal of smaller class sizes without forcing the city into a fiscal crisis and impacting programs for our most vulnerable students," Adams said Friday.

Lawmakers passed legislation to renew New York City’s School Zone Speed Camera program, championed by Brooklyn Senator Andrew Gounardes and Manhattan Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and expand its operation to 24 hours a day.

“Our life-saving speed cameras have proven to slow drivers down – but we can’t operate this program when reckless driving occurs the most: overnight and on weekends," said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "We are using every resource available, from enforcement to street redesigns, to curb senseless traffic violence and we look forward to the Governor’s bill signing.”

Lawmakers passed legislation to create the NYCHA Preservation Trust, a public benefit corporation that could lease up to 25,000 public housing apartments and borrow money for repairs and maintenance. The bill, supported by Mayor Adams and championed by Brooklyn Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Steve Cymbrowitz, is one mechanism experts have been looking to fund the tens of billions of dollars needed to fix New York City's crumbling public housing stock.

The Legislature also passed a bill sought by the mayor making it easier for distressed hotels to be converted into affordable housing. The legislation would build on the Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Act, passed in 2021, which set aside $100 million for the conversions. Another $100 million was set aside for the same purpose in this year's state budget. The law passed this week would ease regulations to allow those modifications to take place.

Adams applauded the Legislature on a number of actions it took this week in a statement Friday: “The creation of a NYCHA Trust will funnel billions of dollars to residents for critical repairs. Legislation facilitating the conversion of vacant hotels to housing will deliver much needed relief to our homelessness crisis. And keeping pedestrians on our streets safe and allowing life-saving 24/7 speed cameras is a victory for us all."

The Freelance Isn't Free Act passed both chambers Friday. The bill, modeled after a law passed several years ago in New York City, would guarantee labor protections for independent contracts. The legislation, championed by Brooklyn Senator Andrew Gounardes and Rochester Assemblymember Harry Bronson, mandates timely payments and contracts for jobs paying over a certain amount, requires the state to provide some legal assistance to freelancers, and includes anti-retaliation measures, among others. The bill is one of several dealing with labor that were approved as session drew to a close, while others languished.

Both houses approved a nation-leading ban on the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits by pet stores, as advocated for by bill sponsors Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris of Queens and Manhattan Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, the ASPCA, and many others.

In a last-minute change of heart, the Senate passed a two-year moratorium on cryptomining after the bill passed the Assembly in April. The bill would prevent the state from issuing new permits for carbon-burning plants used to power the servers used for some cryptocurrency. It also requires the state to study the impact of cryptomining on climate change. The legislation faced an uphill battle in the State Senate after months of lobbying and political spending by the cryptocurrency industry in opposition. It is unclear whether Hochul will sign the bill into law.

And there were many other bills passed by both houses in the final days of the 2022 session, on top of others approved previously, like the Adult Survivors Act.

Two Big Unknowns Shelved by Assembly
The Assembly was considering a vote on the Clean Slate Act, which would automatically seal the criminal records after a matter of years barring re-offenses and certain other criteria. But after passing in the Senate the Assembly declined to take it up before adjourning on Saturday morning. Civil rights advocates said the bill would help prevent discrimination in housing, employments, and other areas for formerly incarcerated individuals and reduce recidivism.

The Build Public Renewables Act to expand the development of alternative energy projects was also in limbo as of Saturday morning but not taken up by the Assembly. The bill, passed by the State Senate, would allow the New York Power Authority to create and own renewable energy plants and phase out fossil fuel-burning plants. The bill passed the State Senate, where lawmakers hoped it would help the state reach its climate goals of reducing greenhouse emissions by 85% by 2050 and have 70% of electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. The BPRA is seen by many advocates and legislators as a necessary follow-up to the landmark 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which set the state’s ambitious carbon reduction and clean energy standards.

And while there was much less optimism that the Assembly would take it up, the lower house also declined to pass legislation approved by the Senate that would professionalize the New York City Board of Elections, home to notorious dysfunction, patronage, and nepotism. 

Other High-Profile Bills Not Passed by Both Houses
Deals on other high-profile issues like Good Cause Eviction and the replacement of the 421-a real estate tax exemption, used in the construction of affordable housing, have not come together. The two houses also did not come to agreement on a bill to ban gas hook-ups in new construction (as of certain dates in the near future), something New York City passed last year.

The two houses did not come to a deal for first passage of an Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution that would protect abortion and many other rights and marginalized groups. Legislators also failed to follow through on a promise to re-introduce and pass state constitutional amendments for same-day voter registration and universal absentee voting — both of which passed two straight legislative classes but were defeated by voters last year. Any proposed constitutional amendment must pass two consecutive legislative classes in order to then appear on the general election ballot for voter approval or disapproval. If these measures are not passed this year, they would not be able to make the ballot before 2025 at the earliest.

Lawmakers also decided not to act on two parole reform bills long-sought by advocates. The legislation, known as the Elder Parole Bill and the Fair and Timely Parole Act, would help reduce the number of people in prison by requiring parole hearings for people over 55 who have served 15 years of a sentence; and by requiring release on parole after a minimum sentence is completed barring a current public safety threat.

“Today, New York State’s lawmakers are leaving their posts and going on recess with full knowledge of the fact that people are needlessly dying every three days in the prisons they oversee," said Jose Saldana, executive director of the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign. "More than 70 people – disproportionately Black Elders – are projected to die behind bars by the time they return."

And though there was little optimism from supporters that it would move by the end of the session, the New York Health Act, which would institute a single-payer health care system in the state, again did not move in the Legislature though majorities in both houses have supported the bill in the past.

Ben Max contributed to this story.

A housing rally (photo:John McCarten/City Council)

Two out of five people returning to New York City from prison last year were released to a shelter or another placement for homeless adults, according to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). At roughly 2,050 people, it was enough to fill the largest hotel in midtown Manhattan. They often ended up sleeping on the streets.

Those inside the so-called prison-to-shelter pipeline say cycling through the criminal legal and shelter systems is destabilizing and dehumanizing as they attempt to reenter society. The typical initial shelter stay for unhoused people under DOCCS supervision is 34 to 38 days, a grueling period compounded by the pressures of finding – at a minimum – permanent housing and employment.

"There should be a quicker process and these things should be asked and anticipated because it's dangerous out there in the streets," said a man who had recently been released from Rikers Island after being held on a parole violation. State parole officers directed him to Bellevue Men's Shelter in midtown Manhattan, where most New York City residents leaving incarceration are sent when they have no place else to go.

"I had no idea what I was in for when I went to Bellevue," he said, calling the level of sanitation and security "atrocious." After a few hours he decided to leave. "I started going to other organizations, sleeping on the train at night," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a pending parole hearing.

People have gone from state prison into New York City shelters more than 25,000 times over the past eight years, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. A DOCCS spokesperson said the agency tries to "avoid" referring ex-prisoners to shelters by exploring housing options and making referrals to other agencies.

The cycle is also prevalent in the city jail system; in 2021, there were at any point on average 2,300 people in the city shelter system either on parole, released from jail, or both, according to the city's Department of Social Services (DSS).

The system reinforces racial disparities in the criminal legal system and in housing. Black people make up roughly half the people in DOCCS custody and, according to Coalition for the Homeless, 56% of heads of household in city shelters (including single adults), despite being only a quarter of the New York City population. As of March, there were about 49,000 people sleeping in DSS shelters each night, with thousands more in other types of shelters, on the streets and subways.

The lack of stable housing is one of many factors that lead to recidivism, especially for homeless people who frequently come in contact with police. Supportive housing with tailored-social services has been shown in some cases to reduce recidivism.

New York City officials have for years blamed the state's reentry planning for being limited and short-sighted, beginning only a matter of months before the end of often-yearslong prison sentences. Advocates have added to that list rampant discrimination from landlords and a lack of both city and state investment in transitional and deeply affordable housing.

"There's not one entity that bears responsibility for making sure people leaving prison and jail have a place to call home even though stable housing is clearly key on a common sense level," said Lily Shapiro, policy counsel at the Fortune Society, a large reentry service provider based in New York City.

While DOCCS covers parole, which includes approving and sometimes making referrals for housing, it doesn't provide or ensure it for the vast majority of those leaving prison who cannot afford to rent an apartment. The city is legally required to provide temporary shelter through its Department of Social Services, and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) and Department of Probation offer some reentry services. Housing is often secured through a patchwork of reentry service providers using a mix of city, state, and federal vouchers.

While the pattern is the same year after year, few pieces of legislation have percolated in Albany and little funding has been set aside this year to address the situation.

"The sad reality is that the state government dumps state prisoners and parolees into New York City, often directly into our shelters, in a way that doesn't help anyone," then-Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference in June 2021.

At the city level, Mayor Eric Adams has presented few detailed plans around reentry services or transitional housing. His administration has focused on expanding safe haven shelter beds and long-term capital spending on affordable housing. In late May, he announced police and social workers have connected over 1,300 New Yorkers to shelter as part of his Subway Safety Plan.

The city is in the process of developing a long-term transitional housing plan to help those returning from incarceration, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams told Gotham Gazette. The details of that plan will be made public when they are ready, the spokesperson said.

"Even if we had the most robust transitional services that would not solve the problem in and of itself," Shapiro said. "But to be clear we do not have the most robust safety net for people coming home from prison."

“There is not a tremendous amount in the state budget that passed that would impact the prison-to-shelter pipeline, which is a very complex issue,” she added.

The state legislative session ending this week and the city budget being negotiated ahead of the new fiscal year that starts July 1 are two of the last major policy-making periods of 2022. During state budget negotiations earlier this year, advocates and some legislators pushed for the Housing Access Voucher Program and a stronger Fair Chance for Housing Act. The two bills could help New Yorkers who are on parole and homeless find permanent housing only in the long run. They would likely do little to stop people going immediately from prison or jail to shelter and according to the bill's sponsor, Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh, there is no carve-out in the voucher program for those set to leave prison. Neither bill passed and they appear unlikely to advance before the state legislative session ends.

Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature staked out $25 billion for a five-year affordable housing plan to create or preserve 100,000 units, including 10,000 supportive units that include social services. The program would help address the affordable housing crisis, a key driver of homelessness in New York, as well as challenges around stable housing for those with mental illness and substance use disorders. Still, as with the Housing Access Voucher Program, it appears to do little to stop the immediate transfer of people from prison to shelter.

Asked about the prison-to-shelter pipeline, a spokesperson for Hochul said the state was funding a new 70-bed transitional housing pilot at the Edgecombe Residential Treatment Facility run by DOCCS in Washington Heights. Transitional housing programs offer temporary shelter with accompanying services geared toward people exiting prison, including help securing employment and a permanent home. While the maximum stay at Edgecombe will be 90 days, the administration believes it will serve up to 625 people a year with average stays of 40 days. It is expected to open August 1, according to officials. Statewide, 3,400 people went directly from prison to shelter last year.

A spokesperson for Assemblymember Kenny Burgos, who chairs the Subcommittee on Reentry and Transitional Services, could not point to any policies or funding in the state budget that would provide an alternative to the release of incarcerated individuals into shelters.

Advocates say there is a need for greater reentry planning prior to release. "As soon as people are in prisons, prison officials should be helping people plan for their discharge," said Jacquelyn Simone, policy director at Coalition for the Homeless.

According to a state spokesperson, DOCCS works with individuals prior to release "to develop possible residences to submit for approval, in order to avoid a referral to the local Department of Social Services."

"Additionally, DOCCS has a Re-Entry Services Unit that networks, seeks out and investigates housing options, shares either new or existing resources, and connects with agencies with a history of working with persons with criminal justice involvement," the spokesperson said.

Service providers said parole officers often deny permanent residence with a family member or friend for a reason that may seem arbitrary, like the fact that the household has another person with a criminal record or a dog.

"That can really destabilize people and take away options that would have otherwise been viable for them,” Simone said.

There has been little legislative oversight of discharge planning, or reentry services more broadly, and none in the offing. "I am not aware of any oversight being planned at the moment," wrote Christain Barbato, Burgos' spokesperson, in an email.

At the city level, a spokesperson for Mayor Adams pointed to the proposed $171 million in his executive budget for new safe haven and stabilization beds, which are, respectively, types of shelter beds that have low barriers to entry and typically come with on-site services.

The City Council is seeking an additional $28 million in the city budget for 1,000 new beds at the city’s Justice-Impacted Supportive Housing initiative for people exiting the city jail system, which is run by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. The funding would bring the total number of JISH beds to 1,500. The additional funding also has the support of Comptroller Brad Lander, according to a spokesperson.

“New Yorkers returning to their communities after being incarcerated are too often being funneled into homelessness, exacerbating the housing insecurity challenges that undermine the health of our neighborhoods and city," Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement to Gotham Gazette.

"A past legal record can also be a continuing barrier to housing and other economic opportunities for stability that we must address to make our communities stronger and our city safer, as we seek to break this pipeline to homelessness," Speaker Adams said. She noted the proposed Clean Slate Act, a state bill that would automatically seal conviction records for non-sex-offenses after the end of a sentence and parole periods of different lengths based on the types of convictions involved. The Council passed a resolution in support of the legislation in May and it also has the backing of Mayor Adams. It would not impact housing discrimination during the period immediately following release because it goes into effect only after a set number of years post-parole.

A MOCJ program with the Exodus Transitional Community, a social service provider for people involved in the criminal legal system, has provided temporary housing in hotels for more than 800 formerly incarcerated individuals, according to a mayor's office spokesperson.

The city also has two shelters specifically for people with a criminal history coming online in the "coming months," according to a Department of Social Services spokesperson. Together they are expected to have the capacity to shelter 170 people at a time.

Like Hochul, Mayor Adams also proposed major spending on affordable housing. His executive budget includes $5 billion to NYCHA and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as part of a $22-billion, ten-year capital spending plan.

But affordable housing often comes with its own barriers, like discrimination based on source of income or criminal history.

Housing advocates are pushing for the Fair Chance for Housing Act in New York City, which would make it illegal for landlords to check the arrest or conviction records of prospective tenants. The bill was co-sponsored by more than half the City Council – including the current speaker, Adrienne Adams – last year but wasn't passed before the end of session. It has not been reintroduced in the current session.

Hochul backed a state-level Fair Chance for Housing Act but it lost the support of advocates who said exceptions added to the text rendered it toothless.

On Thursday, legislators passed a state bill that would allow formerly incarcerated people to live in public housing, the largest single stock of affordable housing in New York City. People leaving incarceration would still have to contend with NYCHA's long wait list. The bill now goes to the governor's desk.

"This bill would relieve families from hiding family members who are formerly incarcerated individuals, that would risk their public housing eligibility," reads a memo from Burgos, the legislation's sponsor.

Last year, New York City expanded the housing voucher program, known as CityPHEPS, which covers a portion of rent relative to income. The City Council called for the voucher increase to be fully funded in the fiscal year 2023 budget in its response to Mayor Adams' preliminary budget. Last week, lawyers for the nonprofit watchdog Housing Rights Initiative filed a sweeping lawsuit against 120 real estate companies alleging widespread discrimination against people using the vouchers. And there is no clear program for ensuring that people leaving prison have access to the vouchers.

After three weeks sleeping on the trains and looking for housing, the man who left Bellevue secured a different kind of voucher – for a hotel room that had been repurposed through the city's Exodus program in 2020. It has given him more stable footing as he considers his next move. "I would like to start a business one day," he said, to provide virtual services like social media and skiptracing to people in prison. It was a recent Sunday afternoon and he was sitting in a booth in the back of an uncrowded restaurant in Times Square. "Finally, at last, things are starting to come together and get better," he said.

The city's current Exodus contract goes through June of this year, according to a mayoral spokesperson. It is unclear whether it will be extended.

Note: This article was updated to reflect the passage of legislation Thursday to permit incarcerated people to live in public housing.

Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi

At the first debate of this year’s Democratic primary for governor, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi presented a cordial front to one another on Thursday night even as they sought to distinguish their individual political ideologies. The candidates reserved their barbs for Governor Kathy Hochul, who declined to participate in Thursday’s but has agreed to two upcoming debates.

Over the course of an hour, Williams and Suozzi expressed their similar and differing positions on various issues confronting New York including gun violence, the potential repeal of Roe v. Wade federal abortion rights, the state’s economic recovery, the worsening opioid crisis, and climate change, among others. Williams, who lost to Hochul in the 2018 primary for lieutenant governor,  is an avowed “activist elected official” and a progressive left candidate backed by the likes of the Working Families Party. Suozzi describes himself as a “common sense Democrat” with more moderate leanings similar to Hochul, though on Thursday he repeatedly sought to position himself to the governor’s left on some issues, like gun control, and to her right on others, like tackling crime.

On several occasions, Williams and Suozzi were in agreement, and trained their criticisms towards the absent governor. Thursday’s debate was hosted by Spectrum News, airing in New York City on its NY1 network, and moderated by political anchors Errol Louis and Susan Arbetter.

Williams said his top issue is public safety, while Suozzi said that crime in the state is the leading issue for his campaign. But they vary on the solutions that they presented, in particular on gun violence, an issue at the forefront in the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Buffalo and in Uvalde, Texas, as well as the ongoing pandemic-era spikes in shootings and murders in New York City and other cities around the state and country.

Williams, as he has in the past, insisted on investments in communities and in non-law enforcement solutions to gun violence prevention. “What we have to stop doing is spending more money on the consequence of accountability, which you should have for doing those things, and spend more on the prevention,” he said. 

In his response, Williams took a shot at Hochul for having received an endorsement from the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the past. “Buffalo, where I was, is reeling from that hate crime, but they've been reeling from other types of violence as well that no one has addressed,” he added. 

“I agree with everything that Jumaane said and I'm glad that he pointed out the hypocrisy of this governor, who sought the NRA’s endorsement, voted with the NRA, took money from the NRA and had an ‘A’ rating from the NRA in Congress,” said Suozzi, referring to Hochul’s record of roughly a decade ago and noting that he himself had a “F” grade from the gun rights organization. Suozzi touted his 15-point “crime intervention and prevention” plan including measures such as better implementing the state’s Red Flag law, which was enacted in 2019 and allows guns to be taken away from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others. “We need to educate the police, social workers, mental health experts, teachers, family members that you can take guns away from people that are mentally unstable, that have a drug and alcohol problem, by bringing them through a due process procedure,” he said. 

Where there were key distinctions between the two Democrats was on broader criminal justice issues. The Legislature and Governor Hochul recently approved additional tweaks to the state’s bail reform law that was first approved in 2019 but which has, with very limited evidence, been broadly blamed by critics for the state’s recent uptick in crime. The new changes were relatively minimal, including allowing judges to set bail for more gun crimes. However, Hochul and other leaders such as New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Suozzi have called for allowing judges to consider a “dangerousness standard” when setting bail, a proposal that progressive legislators have rejected. 

Suozzi supported the changes to the law, though he insisted “we need many, many more.” He has also pushed for the dangerousness standard and faulted Hochul for failing to get it approved. It was one of several issues where Suozzi said Hochul has not shown enough leadership or come through for Adams, whom Suozzi is close with and supported throughout his winning mayoral campaign.

Williams reiterated that there is no evidence of a link between higher crime and the bail reform laws of 2019. “The Democratic Party I belong to does a horrible job in talking about public safety,” he said. He also noted that demands by progressives to put $1 billion in the state budget for gun violence prevention were ignored. 

When pressed by the moderators, Williams pointed out that he has never used the phrase “defund the police,” saying he never thought it was the right framing but that he also doesn’t believe it appropriate to try to lecture activists on their language. Williams has long been part of the movement that garnered national momentum in 2020 and aims to move funding from law enforcement to social services and community resources.

“We know that law enforcement has a role to play. We want to lift that up with transparency and accountability. But if we want to support them, one thing we could do is make sure that everyone else has the services that they need as well,” he said.

With recent indications that the U.S. Supreme Court is leaning towards overturning Roe v. Wade, which established the federal right to abortion, New York leaders have been taking steps to make the state a haven for reproductive rights. At Thursday’s debate, Suozzi and Williams were asked how they would protect abortions if they were governor and given a chance to explain their own evolution on the issue. Both said they support making abortion a constitutional right in the state (Roe protections were enshrined in New York law in 2019).

“This state has to strengthen its laws, has to make sure that it is a sanctuary for folks to come get the service that they need,” Williams said. “What we also have to make sure we do is elongate that conversation so we have reproductive justice. So that people can have affordability, Black, brown, [immigrants], when they make this decision.”

He also reiterated that his past reservations about abortion – which he expressed more than a decade ago – were based on his personal faith and experience. “I brought myself into it. That should not have been done,” he said, insisting that he has since “removed myself…when I answer this question, make sure I answer it first from the people who will be most affected.” 

Suozzi touted his “100% rating from Planned Parenthood” and said he had never been opposed to abortion. “We have to do everything we can to keep New York State as a model for the rest of the nation to make sure that abortion remains safe, legal and accessible,” said Suozzi. But, he added, “I've always said that abortion should remain safe and legal. I used to say that it should be safe, legal and rare and we should encourage education and contraception.” He now says safe, legal, and accessible but reaffirmed he believes in expanding education and contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies.

When the candidates were given an opportunity to cross-examine each other, their questions were designed to elicit criticisms of Hochul not to differentiate from the other.

Williams asked Suozzi how he managed to receive an F from the NRA when Hochul received an A, though they are both moderates. “I'm a lifelong Democrat and kept those values,” Suozzi said. He contrasted himself with Hochul’s past conservsative positions such as her opposition to drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants and her current left leanings, including her appointment of an avowed democratic socialist to her administration. “She used to be on the far right and now she's on the far left. I don't know what she stands for,” he said. 

Suozzi, in turn, asked Williams his assessment of Hochul’s performance. Williams pointed to a recent Siena poll from April showing Hochul’s approval drop. “That means people believe that the job she's doing is not good for them,” he said. “They can feel it. They are facing eviction. They are facing foreclosure. They can't pay for their medicine. They can't pay for their medical care. They feel it right now.”

The two candidates did offer different prescriptions for economic revival, whether in New York City where Mayor Adams wants workers to return to the office or in Upstate New York, where local economies have struggled for decades. 

Suozzi said the requisite for the return to offices is public safety. “People are not coming back to their office buildings in New York City because they don't feel safe. They don't feel safe to take the subway…and it's not COVID, it's crime,” he said, though there is limited evidence to support that assertion. He did say he was open to conversation with the private and public sectors about allowing remote work where possible. On the upstate economy, Suozzi insisted that the state needs to cut taxes and regulations. 

Williams said the state needs to lead in embracing a hybrid work model that allows for a work and life balance without affecting productivity. “This is a great example of where people like the governor are trying to force the old normal when the veil has been lifted and we understand that we have a new normal,” he said. 

He also criticized the governor for continuing failed policies of the past that he said have not helped Upstate New York, such as former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program. “Instead of dumping money into these big projects, instead of dumping money into big corporations coming, what if we gave small businesses upstate and across the state…the same tax incentives that were given to these projects that never produced the things we wanted to produce?,” he said. 

One component of a possible economic boost upstate has been proof-to-work cryptocurrency mining, which comes at a major energy and environmental cost. Williams called for a two-year moratorium on that type of mining, aligned with a possible moratorium being considered by the State Legislature, noting that it has been banned in certain other countries. 

Suozzi emphasized his pro-environment record, but he insisted that climate solutions will have to be implemented and funded at the federal level. “[We] can't do it all by ourselves here in New York state where we're pushing our utility rates through the roof and it's hurting the people that can least afford to pay their utility rates,” he said. Pressed by Arbetter to answer the question about the proposed moratorium, he did somewhat reluctantly say he would consider a “brief” moratorium on crypto-mining. 

When pressed on how they would handle covid restrictions if cases should spike again in the state, both candidates criticized the Cuomo (and by extension Hochul) administration for how it handled the pandemic. 

Williams said he would be open to reinstituting minor restrictions and protections such as vaccine and mask mandates. “What we need to do when those numbers are going up is we need to do a little bit of restrictions at that time so we can prevent stronger ones moving forward,” he said. 

Suozzi was more circumspect about bringing back any restrictions. “I just want to be very clear that I supported mandates back in 2020, and most of 2021. But there's come a time now that mandates are too toxic in our culture, and they're not appropriate at this time,” he said. 

There was also a clear gulf between the two candidates’ approach to the opioid crisis, which has worsened significantly in recent years, particularly during the pandemic. 

Williams insisted on a non-punitive approach of “compassionate care,” pointing to the success of two overdose prevention centers in New York City that have saved lives. “We want to make sure that we're treating people as human beings who need assistance,” he said. 

Suozzi, however, seemed opposed to the centers and implied that they encouraged open drug use, though that is what they are designed to prevent. “It’s not fair to communities that they're being overburdened with these injection sites, with methadone sites, all concentrated in certain neighborhoods and not in other neighborhoods,” he said, while calling for a comprehensive plan to address mental health in the state including the expansion of Kendra’s Law, which allows for court-ordered out-patient treatment of individuals who may be a danger to themselves or others and was expanded already this year in the April state budget deal.

Both candidates called for more funding for the SUNY and CUNY systems, though Williams pushed for “free public education” while Suozzi said “the answer to everything is not college” and insisted the state must invest in skills and jobs training. 

In two lightning rounds, the candidates gave brief answers to various questions, both significant and trivial. 

Neither was in favor of permanently suspending the state’s gas tax, which was suspended till the end of the year in the state budget.

Suozzi supported a four-year extension of mayoral control of city schools – Mayor Adams was just awarded a two-year extension. Williams insisted it should be “municipal control” instead, with the City Council and other local electeds playing a greater role.  

Williams did not say whether the Legislature should lift the state cap on charter schools. Suozzi said the state cap should remain intact but the cap in New York City, which has already been met, should be lifted. 

They both supported an increase in the state minimum wage. And they both were in favor of banning state elected officials from trading stocks. 

Asked which former governor they consider a role model, Suozzi pointed to Mario Cuomo. 

Williams said, “The only thing I can say is, in about four years, I'd like to say myself.”

[LISTEN: Max Politics Podcast: Tom Suozzi on His Run for Governor]