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| By Jeff Coltin, Janaki Chadha, Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo | ||||
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With Timmy Facciola | ||||
The need for legislative action to promote more housing has been a rare point of agreement between a mayor and a speaker who have become political adversaries. | Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office |
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As the clock counts down to a Thursday vote, the New York City Council still hasn’t reached a final deal with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan. But the two sides are narrowing in on a series of changes to the plan to address sticking points and get members to a yes. Parking minimums: The council is unlikely to approve the total elimination of rules requiring off-street parking spaces with new housing due to concerns from members in more car-centric neighborhoods. So they’re considering a tiered system where the rules would be lifted in certain parts of the city, while other areas would see reduced requirements. Accessory Dwelling Units: The proposal to allow apartments on single-family lots has been especially controversial and may be limited geographically to appease members who represent suburban-style neighborhoods in the outer boroughs. Funding: Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is trying to get the mayor’s team to commit to increased money in the next budget for subsidized housing and tenant protections. And many members want the plan to come with infrastructure improvements, like sewer upgrades. “We have flooding,” Council Member Rita Joseph told Playbook. “And now you added 500 new toilet bowls flushing at the same time. You have to include the infrastructure.” ”I’d say we’re all on the same page there,” First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said about funding negotiations with the council after a rally for the plan Monday. “We’re working through how to get to the finish line in ways that will produce the strongest possible version of City of Yes and the types of investments that we typically make that will allow us to tackle all of the components of our housing crisis.” The need for legislative action to promote more housing has been a rare point of agreement between a mayor and a speaker who have become political adversaries. Everyone involved expects a final deal by Thursday, when the council’s Land Use Committee would vote to approve it. The full council would then vote at its following meeting on Dec. 5. But it hasn’t been easy to get here. The two sides of City Hall negotiated through the weekend, while the mayor’s office has largely left it to the speaker to secure member’s votes. Exempting less dense neighborhoods from changes like parking minimums could win over some members, but that risks turning off others who want every district to do its part in building — and reduces City Hall’s target of of adding 108,000 new housing units over the next 15 years Speaker Adams’ team isn’t trying to get every member to a yes but would be fine with a bare majority of 26 votes — with a few buffers in case of absences or last-minute changes of heart. “If we had a unanimous vote, it would probably be a really shitty housing plan,” explained a person involved in negotiations. “We don’t need all of them.” — Jeff Coltin & Janaki Chadha HAPPY TUESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin
, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. | ||||
| A message from Uber: Study Reveals Uber Drivers Make More than EMTs: NYC Uber drivers now earn an average of $52,900 annually after expenses, outpacing the salaries of many essential city employees, including EMTs and sanitation workers. Despite delivering vital services, these workers struggle with stagnant wages while Uber drivers have benefited from five TLC-mandated pay hikes since 2020. Read more on the wage disparity impacting NYC’s workforce. Learn More. | ||||
WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City. WHERE’S ERIC? Holding his weekly off-topic press conference, and later taking questions from New Yorkers on News 12. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our city vehicles may look a bit dirtier, and our subways may look a bit dustier, but it’s what we have to do to delay or stave off a more serious drought emergency.” — Mayor Eric Adams, on measures to cut water upon
declaring a drought warning. | ||||
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Rep. Mike Lawler in recent days has knocked Hochul over congestion pricing, producing a campaign video that blasted the governor’s decision to revive the controversial toll program. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | ||||
FUTURE FEARS: New York City Council Member Chi Ossé is publicly saying what many Democrats have only spoken about in private settings: Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a tenuous path to another term. Ossé wrote Monday on X that he’s concerned about Hochul’s political strength going into the 2026 election as Rep. Mike Lawler has launched broadsides at the governor. “I fully believe Mike Lawler could be elected Governor in 26’ if New York Democrats don’t get bold, inspiring leadership ASAP,” he posted. Hochul’s political team — in keeping with how they’ve reacted to Lawler’s criticisms of the governor in the days since Election Day — declined to comment on Ossé’s tweet. Lawler in recent days has knocked Hochul over congestion pricing, producing a campaign video that blasted the governor’s decision to revive the controversial toll program. He also raised eyebrows by blaming the governor for the closure of a rubber plant in her native western New York — a move that suggested he wants to raise his profile outside of his own House district in the northern suburbs of New York City. Lawler was reelected to a second term earlier this month, handily defeating Democrat Mondaire Jones — a victory that came after Democrats targeted his seat as a potential flip opportunity. Democrats fear Lawler would be a formidable opponent against Hochul given his moderate profile in Congress. The path for his nomination became clearer after President-elect Donald Trump tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, the party’s 2022 nominee, to become the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin startled Democrats when he won 46 percent of the vote against Hochul — the best showing by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in more than a decade. Trump won 43 percent of the vote share against Vice President Kamala Harris. Still, Hochul has advantages heading into the new election cycle. New York Democrats flipped three House seats after building out the organizational muscle of the state committee — a move done at Hochul’s direction after disappointing results in 2022. The party has reams of voter and volunteer data in crucial regions of the state like the Long Island suburbs. Even Democrats who worry the deep blue state is turning a shade of purple believe the infrastructure of the coordinating committee will be put to good use for the governor. “That’s the step in the right direction, which we have not had before,” Assemblymember Chuck Lavine told Playbook. “The people they have hired were as dedicated as they could be and helped all of our campaigns. I have a measure of confidence because of that structural change.” — Nick Reisman | ||||
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State Senator Jessica Ramos announced her bid for mayor two months ago. | Hans Pennink/AP | ||||
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Jessica Ramos is shaking up her mayoral campaign staff just two months after launching, two people familiar with the move told Playbook. Campaign manager Charlene Obernauer and fundraiser Luis Escobar were among those let go. Ramos had a relatively slow start to her campaign, raising just $52,513 in her first month. The extent of Ramos’ shake-up wasn’t immediately clear. The state Senator, her spokesperson, Obernauer and Escobar all did not respond to a request for comment. — Jeff Coltin ADAMS’ COURT DATE: The mayor’s lawyer is accusing federal prosecutors of trying to withhold evidence that could raise issues about star witness Rana Abbasova’s credibility. “The government is playing games with the Mayor’s constitutional rights,” Alex Spiro wrote in a letter Monday to Judge Dale Ho. Prosecutors, Spiro argued, do not dispute they are in possession of pretrial evidence that could help the mayor’s case, but “the government simply does not want to produce anything helpful to the defense until the last minute.” Spiro attached a letter sent last month where Adams’ legal team requested the immediate production of communication between federal prosecutors and Abbasova. She was Adams’ liaison to Turkish donors with whom he’s accused of running an illegal straw donor scheme. Spiro is trying to get the judge to move Adams’ trial up to April 1 from April 21 — a month before the Democratic primary. Spiro’s letter Monday was in response to federal prosecutors’ request to clarify rules for discovery, as Playbook reported. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Migrant families with kids in grades K-6 will get a partial reprieve from a widely criticized policy that evicted them from New York City shelters every 60 days. ( Chalkbeat) — Adams blamed the criminal justice and mental health systems for failing after a man stabbed three people in Manhattan. (Gothamist) — Building supers say the city’s new trash rules are ruining their lives. (
Gothamist) | ||||
| A message from Uber:
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The lucrative licenses to build three casinos in the downstate market are expected to provide revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. | Hans Pennink/AP | ||||
DON’T BET ON IT: A proposal to set a hard deadline into state law for the approval of downstate casino licenses has landed on Hochul’s desk — and action is expected as early as next week. The bill would require a December 2025 approval for the three licenses in the New York City region. The date is in line with what state gaming regulators have made their target for awarding the licenses. Deadlines for formal action have been pushed back amid debates over city zoning regulations, and the delays have frustrated gaming supporters. Queens Democratic state Sen. Joe Addabbo wants that deadline to have the force law since there’s no guarantee the state will act by the end of the year. “We need to codify the deadline,” he told Playbook. “The current deadlines are verbal; they have no set-in-stone timeline.” Addabbo’s bill, which the state Legislature approved at the end of its six-month session in June, is already out of date. The proposal included an Aug. 31 deadline for license applications; gaming regulators have set a June 2025 deadline. Addabbo had wanted the expedited timeline to lead to earlier decisions by the state Gaming Commission. The governor’s office has not indicated how she will act. Even if Hochul vetoes the legislation — a move that seems possible — Addabbo believes a firm deadline is needed for casino approval because it would provide more certainty for potential developers and the unions that would benefit from the construction jobs. “At least let the unions and New Yorkers know when these jobs are available,” he said. The lucrative licenses to build three casinos in the downstate market are expected to provide revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Hochul is taking political heat for a congestion pricing toll program that’s expected to raise money to aid mass transit infrastructure projects. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Congestion pricing is fueling more political backlash for Hochul. (New York Times) — States are in a rush to secure approvals for Medicaid ahead of Trump taking office. (POLITICO Pro) —
The Catskill OTB will cease operations as the industry has struggled to adapt. (Capitol Pressroom) | ||||
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The House leader punted when asked recently about his hometown being a sanctuary city. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | ||||
JEFFRIES TO LEAD CAUCUS: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is expected to be reelected today to serve another term as minority leader through an internal Democratic caucus vote. The Brooklynite would return to helm House Democrats as they face a reckoning over widespread election losses, serving at the frontline of a party that must pick its fights with Trump and the Republicans. The two other Democrats in the top three House spots, Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California, are also running unopposed for minority whip and House Democratic Caucus chair, respectively. One of the biggest clashes they’ll face will come over Trump’s promised mass deportations, which would hit New York City hard. Jeffries told WNYC that deportations should prioritize felons, criminals and those who pose a risk — and that an overreach by the Trump administration would backfire. The House leader then punted when asked about his hometown being a sanctuary city. Jeffries said the designation was a city and state matter, and it should be left to the city and state’s elected leaders to “evaluate whether it needs to be right-sized.” — Emily Ngo More from the Congress: — New Yorkers will have a major role in shaping the Trump administration’s foreign policy. (Newsday) — EPA nominee Lee Zeldin doesn't have a deep background in national environmental issues, but he has pushed back on "lefty policies" like congestion pricing. (POLITICO Pro) — Instead of leaving the job of electing House members completely to Hochul, senior New York Democrats became intimately involved this year. (
Vanity Fair) | ||||
| Policy change is coming—be the pro who saw it first. Access POLITICO Pro’s Issue Analysis series on what the transition means for agriculture, defense, health care, tech, and more. Strengthen your strategy. | ||||
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— A man was arrested in state Sen. Cordell Cleare’s office after he threatened to shoot it up or bomb it. (City & State) — A fight is brewing over how to make the Adirondacks more accessible for people with disabilities. (Times Union ) — The race to fill the Buffalo mayor’s office is getting underway. (Buffalo News) | ||||
| A message from Uber: Study Shows Uber Drivers making over $52k while NYC Heroes Get Left Behind | ||||
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Edited by Daniel Lippman IN MEMORIAM: Pat Koch Thaler, sister of former New York City Ed Koch and a former dean of arts, sciences and humanities at the School of Continuing Education at New York University, died at 92 by self-administering a lethal prescription. ( New York Times) MAKING MOVES: Moxie Strategies announced a series of hires and promotions — Hochul’s first deputy press secretary Katy Zielinski as SVP of public affairs, Avōq alum Sam Berman as SVP of campaigns, Mothership Strategies’ Siming Hsu as principal of client engagement and Jackie LaBarbera as New York operations director. The firm also promoted Jeannine Frisby LaRue and Tommy Meara as partners and Megan Cryan as New Jersey state president and EVP of public affairs. ENGAGED — Joe Pelt, a cancer biology researcher in the Weill Cornell MD/PhD program, on Friday proposed to Sam Jordan, head of computing and emerging technology at Future Today Institute. The couple met in 2019 at the Iron Gate restaurant in Washington, and he proposed at Signers’ Island on the Mall as they were training for the Philadelphia marathon next weekend. He popped the question on their last long run before that marathon. Pic ... Another pic ... A third WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Michael Basch, CEO and general partner of VC firm Atento Capital, and Romina Kaplan recently welcomed Sofia Arizona Basch, who joins big brother Leo and big sister Olivia. Pic ... Another pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: State Sen. Gustavo Rivera … NBC New York’s Melissa Russo … Nina Saxon … Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi … NYC Kids Rise’s Marie Boster … former Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) … Success Academy’s Cathleen Sims … Urban Resource Institute’s Lauren Schuster … journalist Ann Curry … Ted Turner … Time’s Sam Jacobs … WSJ’s Vera Bergengruen … BerlinRosen’s Adriana Guzmán … Emily Kohlman … Ivan Levingston … Caitlin Graf … NBC’s Lauren McCulloch ... Charlie Siguler ... Economic Innovation Group’s Milica Cosic … (WAS MONDAY): Shira Dicker ... Ian Lipkin ... Eric D. Roiter Missed Monday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here. | ||||
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