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☆ Opinion | Better Government in New York Depends on Higher Voter Turnout
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Mara Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Adams, who is not the first New York politician to lose it with a voter, is up for re-election in 2025. “You have a government that is walled off from the concerns of the people,” Susan Lerner, the executive director of the good government group Common Cause New York, told me. Increasing turnout in primaries may be one of the best ways to get better, more responsive government. One promising bill passed by both legislative chambers in June would shift many local elections to even-numbered years. Some incumbents in New York, unsurprisingly, seem to enjoy things just as they are, and have opposed the shift to even years.

Persons: Mr, Adams, that’s, ”, ” Susan Lerner, Hochul, isn’t, “, ” Ms, Lerner Organizations: New, City Council, Board Locations: New York, Albany, New York City

Edward Caban, the New York Police Department’s first deputy commissioner and an ally of Mayor Eric Adams, will become the interim head of the agency, the mayor said Friday. “There’s a natural process in place that the first deputy commissioner falls in line until we make a permanent announcement on who the commissioner is going to be,” Mr. Adams said during a radio appearance on 1010 WINS. “And we are going to find a suitable replacement.”The announcement coincided with the last day in office of Keechant L. Sewell, the department’s first Black and first female commissioner, who abruptly announced her resignation two weeks ago, after finding that her powers had been circumscribed by the mayor and his allies. Her departure is one of a wave of high-level officials exiting the still-young administration. The mayor has also lost or is losing his chief housing officer, Jessica Katz, in the midst of a housing crisis; his social services commissioner, Gary Jenkins, in the midst of a record-setting homelessness crisis; his chief counsel, his communications director, his chief efficiency officer, his buildings commissioner and his chief of staff.

Persons: Edward Caban, New York Police Department’s, Eric Adams, “, Mr, Adams, Sewell, Jessica Katz, Gary Jenkins Organizations: New York Police

☆ The Number of Homeless People in Los Angeles Increases by 9%
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Jill Cowan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The increase in Los Angeles mirrors trends playing out in cities across the country, including Phoenix, as a housing shortage has led to rising costs, squeezing families. In Los Angeles, volunteers fan out over a couple of nights each January to visually count people who appear to be living outdoors or in vehicles. Washington, D.C., has already reported an increase of 11 percent, while the Phoenix area said its homeless population was up 7 percent. Los Angeles is hardly the only American city to struggle with homelessness, but its homeless population is disproportionately large, and about 30 percent of the nation’s homeless population lives in California. As a result, Los Angeles is a kind of large-scale test case for which solutions work and which don’t.

Persons: Karen Bass, ”, Adams, Bass, ” Ms Organizations: University of California, Homeless, Washington , D.C Locations: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, California, Washington ,, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles County

☆ Mayor Compares Housing Activist, Who Fled Holocaust, to Plantation Owner
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The woman, Jeanie Dubnau, an 84-year-old housing activist and molecular biologist, said in an interview afterward that her Jewish family had fled Europe during the Holocaust. Mr. Adams, the city’s second Black mayor, has often raised concerns about racism when he has felt under attack. More recently, he has twice compared himself to Kunta Kinte, a character from the 1977 television series “Roots” who was beaten for refusing to accept the slave name Toby. Mr. Adams also claimed recently that there was a “coordinated” effort to prevent him from winning a second term. When asked who was coordinating that effort, the mayor again compared himself to Kunta Kinte and said, “There’s a body of people who were pleased with 30 years without having a mayor that looked like me.”

Persons: Jeanie Dubnau, ”, Adams, Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Kunta, Toby, “, Kunta Kinte, Keechant Sewell Locations: Europe, New York

☆ A Record 100,000 People in New York Homeless Shelters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Andy Newman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Of the 50,000 now in shelters, more than two-thirds are families with children. At the same time, the city’s nonmigrant homeless population may also be growing. When Mr. Adams took office, there were 45,000 people in the city’s main shelter system. (At least 17,000 migrants are in facilities outside the main shelter system, the city says, which include large hotels and other venues set up especially to house them.) In all, about 1 in 80 people in the nation’s largest city do not have a permanent place to live.

Persons: Anne Williams, Isom, “, Adams Locations: New York City

☆ OpenAI-powered app from Microsoft is coming to Epic Systems to help save doctors time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft's speech recognition subsidiary Nuance Communications on Tuesday announced its AI-powered clinical notes application is coming to Epic Systems to help reduce physicians' administrative workloads. Epic is a health care software company that helps hospitals and other health systems store, share and access electronic health records. More than 500,000 physicians and 306 million patients across the globe use Epic's offerings, and the company has long-standing partnerships with both Microsoft and Nuance. Nuance told CNBC Tuesday that integrating its latest solution, Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) Express, into Epic is a "major step" toward that goal. "The last thing they want to do is pajama time," Peter Durlach, chief strategy officer at Nuance told CNBC in an interview Tuesday.

Persons: DAX, Garrett Adams, Peter Durlach, Adams, Durlach Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Tuesday, Epic Systems, Microsoft, CNBC, American Medical Association, DAX Express Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, U.S, HIPAA

☆ Why Eric Adams Issued His Second-Ever Veto Over Housing Bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Why It Matters: The mayor and the City Council have disagreed about how to address New York’s housing crisis. New York City is facing a housing crisis with soaring rents and record homelessness. Mr. Adams has received criticism from housing advocates for not moving quickly enough to create affordable housing, for supporting rent increases and for clearing homeless encampments. This one is the first by Mr. Adams since January 2022, when he vetoed a bill that would have increased penalties for zoning violations. But the mayor could sue the City Council to stop the laws — a tactic used by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — or the City Council could sue the mayor if he chooses not to implement them.

Persons: Adams, Jonathan Westin, “, Mr, Bill de Blasio, Kathryn Wylde, ”, Michael R, Bloomberg —, Mihir Zaveri Organizations: City, Families Party, City Council, Mr, Partnership, New, Bloomberg Locations: New York City, New York, “

☆ What’s Behind the Widening Divide Between New York City and Its Suburbs?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jesse Mckinley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Now, however, tensions are reaching new heights as attempts to solve the city’s most pressing problems are putting it in direct conflict with suburban residents and officials who feel that is simply not their job. City officials have criticized opposition to its policies as selfish, one-sided, or worse, particularly on the racially fraught issue of the migrant crisis at the country’s southern border, which has led to the arrival of 74,000 asylum seekers in New York City since last spring. Congestion pricing, which will create a new toll for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, has been cast by New Jersey leaders as evidence of a border war. Kathy Hochul of New York to spur affordable housing around the state — helping to address a shortage in the city — was torpedoed this year by suburban lawmakers. A business payroll tax to help the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was likewise fought by suburban interests; the tax survived, but suburban businesses were exempted.

Persons: Adams, Kathy Hochul Organizations: New, Gov, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Locations: New York City, Manhattan, New Jersey, New York

☆ The ‘Fiercely Loyal’ Adams Adviser Agitating From Inside City Hall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Brian M. Rosenthal | Jeffery C. Mays | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the days after Eric Adams was elected mayor of New York, several of his supporters approached him with some uncomfortable advice. They urged him not to hire his closest ally, Ingrid P. Lewis-Martin, for his administration, according to six people with knowledge of the conversations. It was an audacious suggestion. But the group of supporters argued that Ms. Lewis-Martin could cause trouble at City Hall, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. They noted that when Mr. Adams was Brooklyn borough president and Ms. Lewis-Martin was his deputy, she had alienated staff members and pushed the limits of ethics rules.

Persons: Eric Adams, Ingrid P, Lewis, Martin, Adams, “, God Organizations: City Hall Locations: New York, Brooklyn

☆ Choose Wisely, Choose Often: Ranked-Choice Voting Returns to New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Did the voting system help Eric Adams become mayor? Mr. Adams had expressed doubts about ranked-choice voting, but it might have helped him win — even if the process was messy. Initially, early unofficial results showed Mr. Adams with a narrow lead. Under the old system, Mr. Adams would have faced a runoff because he did not receive at least 40 percent of votes. Mr. Adams won the primary by a slim margin: only 7,197 votes.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams, Maya Wiley, Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Garcia Organizations: Democratic

Mr. Adams on Tuesday angrily rebuffed the notion that he was facing a staff exodus, and accused the media that covers him of existing in a narrative-generating “bubble.” He noted that he oversaw more than 300,000 employees, and the high-level departures represent just a fraction of the city work force. “And we’re saying, is everybody running for the door?” he said. “No, everybody is running to do their job.”Reached by phone on Tuesday afternoon, Ms. Sewell declined to comment on her exit. “This is an unprecedented moment in New York’s history and we should acknowledge that everyone who works in public service is under tremendous pressure to manage myriad crises,” Mr. Young said. “People will leave, but one thing remains the same: our commitment to handling the crises we inherited, turning this city around, and improving the lives of all New Yorkers.”

Persons: Adams, “, ”, Sewell, Banks, ” Max Young, Mr, Young

Around the same time, she was told she could not make discretionary promotions even at the lower levels of the department without getting clearance from the Adams administration, said Kenneth Corey, the former chief of the department, who worked under Ms. Sewell until he retired in November. “She was gradually being stripped of power,” he said. “They wonder what’s next,” he said. Ms. Sewell has not provided a reason for her decision to leave the job, which paid about $243,000 a year. On Tuesday afternoon, her office released a statement in which she thanked Mr. Adams — whom she had not mentioned in the internal email announcing her resignation — for the opportunity to lead the department.

Persons: Adams, Kenneth Corey, Sewell, “, ”, Corey, Ms, Mr, Sewell’s, what’s, Adams —, — Locations: ”

☆ A Pier Deal Is Full of Developer Perks, but Is It Good for the City?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Matthew Haag | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“From an economic development standpoint, it’s a giveaway,” said Jeffrey LeFrancois, the chair of Manhattan Community Board 4, which covers a stretch of the West Side that includes the pier. “Given that Vornado has already had the ability to do this the past 13 years and done nothing, it’s outrageous that they are taking this pier from taxpayers for pennies on the dollar.”Mr. LeFrancois said the terms were particularly friendly because Vornado, which primarily operates office buildings in New York City, has been eager to find new revenue sources as companies jettison physical offices. The relationship is mutually beneficial: Developers get to build on city land, and the mayor gets to point to new projects as evidence that he is leading New York out of the pandemic. In Queens, the mayor has touted a plan to redevelop a swath of the borough that will include the new soccer stadium and what officials have described as the largest construction of entirely affordable housing since the Mitchell-Lama developments of the 1970s. Like other stadiums in the city, the new one will not pay property taxes, although the team that will play there, the New York City Football Club, will pay some rent.

Persons: ”, Jeffrey LeFrancois, Vornado, Mr, LeFrancois, ” Mr, Adams, Mitchell Organizations: Manhattan Community, New York City Football Club Locations: New York City, New York, Queens

☆ Opinion | On the Smoke Crisis, New York City’s Mayor Chokes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Mara Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

He could have coordinated with the governor to use the subway system announcements to communicate about the smoke with residents. The mayor could have worked quickly to distribute high-quality N95 masks — and critically, information — to New Yorkers, especially in the city’s most vulnerable communities. The city’s Fire Department, which reports to the mayor, finally said on Twitter Thursday it would have masks available at certain locations. The city could have opened designated clean air centers, deploying air purifiers to school gyms or libraries, offering vulnerable New Yorkers a similar refuge during the smoke crisis. He could have led by example by clearly directing city workers to do the same, if their job allowed.

Persons: Adams, Kathy Hochul Organizations: Yorkers, Gov, Fire Department, Twitter, of Education Locations: New Yorkers

☆ New York City Residents Will Soon Have to Compost Their Food Scraps
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is unclear if Mr. Adams will sign the bill, but it appears to have enough support to override a mayoral veto. “We have a supermajority on all of the bills,” said Sandy Nurse, the councilwoman who chairs the Sanitation Committee and is one of three lead sponsors of the legislative package. “Whether or not the administration wants these bills to happen is irrelevant. The success of the Council’s mandate will depend on the Sanitation Department’s effective delivery of the program. That mandate does not apply to food scraps.

Persons: Adams, “, ”, Sandy Nurse, Jessica Tisch Organizations: Sanitation Locations: Queens

☆ Pence Seeks to Go Where No Vice President Has Gone Before
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Peter Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“Having a former vice president contest the president he served for their party’s nomination in contested primaries is like a 234-year flood,” said Joel K. Goldstein, a specialist on the vice presidency at the St. Louis University School of Law. The broken relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence is itself a historical anomaly, of course. “The reason why no other vice president appears to have run against his president is that he was selected by the president, and there is almost always a personal bond stemming from a sense of loyalty and gratitude,” said Richard Moe, who was the chief of staff to Vice President Walter F. Mondale. In 1800, Vice President Thomas Jefferson challenged President John Adams, defeating the incumbent’s bid for a second term. Adams and Jefferson had run against each other in 1796, with Adams prevailing and Jefferson becoming vice president because he was the runner-up.

Persons: ”, Joel K, Goldstein, ” “, don’t, “, Pence, Trump, Joseph R, Biden, Mike Pence ”, Richard Moe, Walter F, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Adams, Jefferson Organizations: St, Louis University School of Law, Electoral College, Mondale, Trump

☆ N.Y.P.D. Anti-Crime Units Returning to Illegal Tactics, Report Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Corey Kilgannon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The monitor, Mylan L. Denerstein, filed a report in federal court in Manhattan on Monday detailing what she described as unlawful policing. Earlier versions of the units were responsible for a disproportionate number of police shootings, and they were disbanded in 2020. Mr. Adams reinstated and renamed them after he took office last year, but critics were skeptical that they could be run without racially profiling young men of color, as previous units had. Almost all of the stops made by the rebranded “neighborhood safety teams” analyzed in the report — 97 percent — were of Black or Hispanic people, and 24 percent of the stops were unconstitutional. Of 230 car stops included in the sample, only two appear to have turned up weapons, the report said.

Persons: Eric Adams, Denerstein, frisk, Adams Organizations: New York Police, Police Locations: Manhattan

☆ Even People With Good Jobs Get Exploited - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Simone Stolzoff | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Indeed, creative, mission-driven and prestigious jobs often take advantage of employees’ love for what they do. This stems from bosses’ tacit assumptions that their employees would do the work even if they weren’t paid. The idea that employees work for something other than money is also pervasive in industries that are geared toward helping people, such as education. “Teaching is a calling,” tweeted Mayor Eric Adams of New York City a few weeks ago. When a workplace is seen as virtuous, she claimed, it’s easier for workers to be exploited.

Persons: ”, Charles Rogers, Eric Adams, Adams, Ettarh Organizations: ” Employers, New, New York Locations: Los Angeles, New York City

☆ Opinion | New York Politicians Are Turning Away From the Housing Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Mara Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

New York needs that plan, known as the Housing Compact, and hopefully Ms. Hochul can resurrect it over the coming year. In the coming days though, Ms. Hochul, Mr. Heastie and Ms. Stewart-Cousins can at least agree to policies that the governor has called “low-hanging fruit,” some of which could be achieved by executive order. Albany can also remove caps on the size of new residential buildings in New York City, paving the way for the higher density projects the city badly needs. New York City’s municipal government can do this, but it needs Mr. Adams’s help. At the Department of Homeless Services, more and better-trained workers are needed to help shelter residents apply for city housing vouchers, an onerous process that should be streamlined.

Persons: isn’t, Carl Heastie, Andrea Stewart, Cousins, Kathy Hochul, Hochul, Heastie, Stewart, Adams, Adams’s, Dave Giffen Organizations: Gov, City Hall, Legal, Department of Homeless Services, Coalition, Homeless Locations: Albany, New York, New York City

☆ Opinion | A Major Problem With Compulsory Mental Health Care Is the Medication
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Daniel Bergner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The New York City chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness — the country’s largest organization representing the mentally ill and their families — has protested on City Hall’s steps against Mr. Adams’s efforts to loosen standards for mandatory care. It is to say that the drugs shouldn’t be considered — as they tend to be now — the required linchpin of treatment. Science hasn’t made great strides in antipsychotics since the drugs were first introduced seven decades ago. Commonly, people abandon their antipsychotic drugs, whether they’re in mandatory treatment or the most sensitive, attentive voluntary programs. This is generally attributed to anosognosia and the disorganization that can come with mental illness, but it might well be seen as an outcome from the weighing of pros and cons.

Persons: —, they’re, that’s, Michelle Funk, shouldn’t, hasn’t, anosognosia Organizations: New, National Alliance, New York, New York City Bar Association, World Health Locations: New York City

☆ Mayor Adams Loves to Tell a Good Story. It Might Even Be True.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In early May, the mayor twice claimed that New York City schoolchildren “start their day going to the corner bodega buying cannabis and fentanyl,” despite there being little evidence of the trend. The mayor recently told reporters that nearly half of New York City’s hotel rooms were occupied by migrants, suggesting that the influx of asylum seekers was hurting the tourism industry and taking rooms away from vacationers. City Hall officials later walked back Mr. Adams’s claim, explaining that the mayor had meant to say that migrants had taken up 40 percent of the occupancy in the city’s midsize hotels. Hotel industry leaders said that migrants had not hurt tourism and that more than 20,000 rooms remained unoccupied. “At a time when the city is facing real crises, how can New Yorkers tell if the mayor is telling the truth when he keeps misleading them?” said Monica Klein, a Democratic political strategist and a deputy press secretary for former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Persons: “, Adams’s, Adams, ”, Monica Klein, Bill de Blasio Organizations: New, bodega, City, Independent, Democratic Locations: New York City, New York

☆ Sologamy: Why these women married themselves
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Faith Karimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Its adherents may be on to something, this expert saysThe concept of self-marriage, or sologamy, has been around for years. No data exists on how many people celebrate sologamy with ceremonies, but the practice has been explored in a handful of recent news articles. CNN talked to four women who’ve married themselves. Sologamy is not legally binding in the US and is not recognized by the laws of any country. Fideli’s message to younger women struggling with self-esteem issues: It’s never too late to love yourself.

☆ Supreme Court Criticism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( David Leonhardt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Many Republicans view the recent criticism as unhinged and damaging to American democracy. According to this view, the liberals criticizing the court are sore losers trying to subvert legitimate court decisions with which they disagree. Republicans and the judges they appointed have decided to use hardball tactics to shape the law, including the stonewalling of Obama’s last court nominee and the aggressive rulings of the current court. Roosevelt failed to pass his so-called court packing bill, but his criticism of the court — and his popularity — nonetheless seemed to influence the justices: They reversed course in his second term and stopped overruling major New Deal programs. But the harsh recent criticism is intended to be an early step in a long campaign to constrain the court.

On multiple occasions, White House officials told the mayor’s staff that they hoped to continue talking about the issues privately and emphasized the need to move forward as a partnership. Mr. Biden introduced legislation that would overhaul the immigration system, increasing funding for border security and providing citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants. While New York City has long prided itself on being a haven for migrants, more than 67,000 have traveled there in the past year. The Adams administration even asked an owner of the mostly vacant Flatiron Building if there was room there. Homeland Security officials in the Biden administration also privately expressed concerns last year about how cities would handle the influx of migrants from Texas and Florida.

☆ Outdoor Dining in New York City Is Here to Stay. (Just Not in Winter.)
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Emma G. Fitzsimmons | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York City’s outdoor dining program, a popular pandemic-era measure designed to be a temporary salve for a devastated restaurant industry, is about to become a permanent part of the city’s landscape. A City Council bill, released on Thursday evening, called for creating a licensing structure that would allow outdoor dining structures to exist in roadways, but only from April through November. The bill, which is supported by Mayor Eric Adams and still requires the approval of the full Council, aims to strike a balance between retaining a mostly popular program while taking steps to control its outgrowth. The bill would set forth basic design guidelines that are still to be determined. Some elements of the plan drew immediate criticism, including a provision requiring restaurants in a historic district or at a landmark site to receive approval by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for an outdoor dining site — a policy that could affect restaurant-heavy neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Park Slope, Brooklyn.

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