ALEXIS GRENELL on PHARMACISTS who lack a
PLAN B
NY SLANT
Endorses JOHN FASO, TOM SUOZZI and ZEPHYR TEACHOUT PREVIEWING the
CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES ALBANY AFTERMATH: What’s in, what’s out
RANGEL
STCELFER
THE CONGRESSMAN WEIGHS IN ON HIS LEGACY, HARLEM’S TRANSFORMATION AND DONALD TRUMP
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@CIT YANDSTATENY
June 20, 2016
RWDSU NYCapitolNews AD 6-2016 FULL PAGE_Layout 2 6/17/16 11:57 AM Page 1
By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
acy’s has a unique history and role in New York City. Its iconic flagship store in Herald Square is the largest department store in the United States. Every year, Macy’s promotes its annual fireworks display here, but the workers are the ones who truly light up the lives of New Yorkers. Indeed, the workers are the real magic of Macy’s. That’s why Hillary Clinton, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and countless political leaders and everyday shoppers threw their support behind Macy’s workers this month during a tough contract fight. During intense negotiations, 5,000 Macy’s workers from the flagship store and other stores in the New York City area never wavered in their support for each other and for a better future for retail workers. By standing together and articulating their demands in a unified voice, Macy’s workers achieved a new contract that
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Our Perspective As Union Strikes Deal with Macy’s, Workers Remain the Real Magic raises the bar for what retails jobs can be and should be. Among the key provisions of the contract are: substantial wage increases, a better, more affordable healthcare plan, and scheduling protections that do not require workers to report for shifts on holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving if they want to have time to spend with their families. Macy’s workers will now see major improvements in the quality of their jobs. I am deeply moved by the bravery, commitment, and tenacity of these workers who are members of Local 1-S of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), UFCW. Overwhelmingly, these Macy’s workers are women, people of color, and immigrants who are struggling to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world. It’s an incredibly diverse group of workers, but they are united in the belief that this contract fight was a fight for the very heart and soul of retail work.
Macy’s workers create a unique shopping experience that has been a big part of the magic of New York City for decades. They are central to the positive image, brand, and profitability of the company. And this contract is important not just for Macy’s workers, but for all of New York City. It raises the bar for what retail jobs can be and should be. It’s a major step forward for the entire retail industry, and it shows the importance of what having a union does to empower retail workers. With a union, working women and men have dignity, justice and respect. By coming together and joining a union, retail workers can make their jobs better, and create better lives for themselves and their families.
For more information, visit www.rwdsu.org
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EDITOR’S NOTE / Contents In the narrative of New York politics, it’s time to close one chapter and start a new one. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reached a deal on the budget, which will go into effect next month. In Albany, state officials were poised to wrap up this year’s session with a flurry of last-minute legislating as this issue went to press. Meanwhile, election season is getting underway. Dozens of New York congressional candidates will face off in the June 28 primary, with the rest of the state’s primaries set for September. Change is coming to City & State, too. As you probably noticed, we are shifting to an all-glossy magazine and slimming down our page size, providing our readers with a sleeker product that coincides with our growth as a company and news provider. And while our print product is “smaller,” we won’t cut back on content. In this issue alone, we feature a revealing Q&A with U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, a preview of every congressional primary, a recap of the state legislative session, and more.
Jon Lentz Senior Editor
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CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY PREVIEW City & State looks ahead to June 28 with summaries of every contested congressional primary in the state.
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RANGEL REFLECTS U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel opens up about his 46 years in office, the changing face of Harlem and the rise of Donald Trump.
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NEW YORK SLANT Columnist Alexis Grenell writes that allowing pharmacies to refuse to carry emergency contraception is a loophole large enough to get someone pregnant.
STATE SESSION RECAP In the aftermath of the state legislative session, a rundown of what got done and what got left out.
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ENDORSEMENTS City & State’s editorial board endorses three congressional primary candidates: John Faso, Tom Suozzi and Zephyr Teachout.
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EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editorial Director Michael Johnson mjohnson@cityandstateny.com Senior Editor Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com Albany Reporter Ashley Hupfl ahupfl@cityandstateny.com
City & State is the premier multimedia news organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Our indepth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders every day as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York. We offer round-the-clock coverage through our weekly publications, daily e-briefs, events, on-camera interviews, weekly podcast and more.
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Vol. 5 Issue 24 June 20, 2016
ALEXIS GRENELL on PHARMACISTS who lack a
PLAN B
NY SLANT
Endorses JOHN FASO, TOM SUOZZI and ZEPHYR TEACHOUT PREVIEWING the
MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING Chairman Steve Farbman, President/CEO Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Associate Publisher Samantha Diliberti sdiliberti@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi dpirozzi@cityandstateny.com, Business & Sales Coordinator Patrea Patterson
CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES ALBANY AFTERMATH: What’s in, what’s out
RANGEL
STCELFER
THE CONGRESSMAN WEIGHS IN ON HIS LEGACY, HARLEM’S TRANSFORMATION AND DONALD TRUMP
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ON THE RISE
Albany’s next generation of leaders came together last week for the launch of City & State’s latest 40 Under 40 Rising Stars list. Top aides, lobbyists, entrepreneurs, journalists – all of them under the age of 40 – were honored at the event, which was hosted by Cornerstone at the Plaza and sponsored by the New York State Nurses Association, Cordo & Co., the United Federation of Teachers and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.
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1. LISA ROSSI, LOREN AMOR 2. STATE SEN. JEFF KLEIN 3. MATT HAMILTON, JOE BONILLA, TYLEIGH VERSOCKI, KYLE SEELEY 4. EMILY COTE, JESSICA LADLEE, JOSHUA TERRY 5. GIORGIO DEROSA, JOSEPH DEROSA 6. HEATHER LIEBOWITZ, NED NAKLES 7. MARIE ZIMMERMAN, BRITTNEY FELLOWS, BETHANY CLAGUE
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HARLEM
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in the
A KATZ
A Q&A with U.S. Rep. CHARLES RANGEL
A KATZ
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ITH THE RACE for the 13th Congressional District seat in its final weeks, the attention is focused on the crowd of candidates. But U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, who is giving up the seat after 46 years, remains one of the most influential voices in the AfricanAmerican community and one of the most iconic elected officials in New York. On The Slant Podcast, City & State’s Nick Powell and Gerson Borrero met Rangel at his Harlem office to discuss the changes the congressman experienced during his time in office and his thoughts about the future – both locally and nationally. The following is an edited transcript. C&S: You entered office in January 1971, in the wake of the Civil Rights movement. Fast forward 46 years, it’s the final year of the second term of the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama, and you said you wanted to exit at the same time as him. How the country has changed in those 46 years? CR: The reason is that I had such high expectations when President Obama was elected. Somehow I thought really that America was saying, “It doesn’t really make any difference what your color is, we want someone who we have confidence in that can make our nation better within and out.” And then I saw the Republicans announce that their very first priority was to make sure he never was elected. And then I saw the Congress not support anything, even health care for their own poor, sick community. Then I saw governors impeding the right of people to vote. Then I saw the Supreme Court, which so many people marched and died for believing they would bring justice to this. They didn’t. So I said, “My God!” Slavery is over, but the vestiges of hate are still there. There’s people that just can’t get over it, and that no matter how great we are, we’re the most powerful, the richest country in the whole world, there’s people that have this stigma of people who worked in the fields to make this country great, there’s still hatred there. But fortunately I’m able to take a deep breath and say that there’s probably no other country in the world with such a short history that their history would be able to say, “The people we brought in as slaves are now a part of our great government and success.” So, there’s been dramatic changes in the 46 years I’ve been in the Congress, from Mandela and Obama, it’s just so many things, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, but damn it to hell, we are not
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there yet, and in a way I think I’m going to have to thank Donald Trump for pulling the sheets off these people who run around saluting the flag and singing the StarSpangled Banner, but they don’t mean that we are the United States of America. C&S: I never figured I would hear Charlie Rangel thanking Donald Trump. But what are you specifically saying that he’s pulled back, in terms of having these angry white folks who are intolerant of others? CR: You know we all have in our family some uncle that drinks too much during Thanksgiving and starts talking about people in the family, and you know damn well he’s telling the truth, but my God you don’t raise that up at Thanksgiving! You have people in America who are frustrated that they’re not as successful as they think they should be, they had hopes to be more successful, and they can’t say that they’re incompetent, and so they look around and say, “You know, if it wasn’t for you or your kind, I could be doing a lot better!” And you don’t say that publicly, but along comes Donald Trump and he says, “You know, anyone who doesn’t look like they’re Anglo-Saxon, then there’s something wrong. First of all, we’ve got 14 million people in the United States who don’t look like what we think this country should be. So I’m going to arrest them all, and I’m going to deport them.” Well, the average person would say, how are you going to do that? A person who’s just prejudiced would say, that’s right get rid of those people. And then there’s that advice that mothers are just supposed to breastfeed and not be in the executive room – we’ve come a long way in shattering that, but there are some people that are so insecure, that’s all they’ve got. And you don’t stand out there talking about gays and women anymore like you did 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago – he’s doing it. And then when you say the people that don’t look like us, you call them ISIS, what are you going to do? “Oh, bomb the hell out of them! And kill their families, too.” Now all of this insanity is something that the wealthy white Republicans say, “how did this happen to our party? What happened to us?” Well, it’s one reason and one reason only – you refused to count the people that don’t look like them. You could give them a pencil, and they can do the math and they can’t win unless they recognize there are people that have become Americans the same way they did, that they’ve registered and they vote, and until the Republican Party
starts looking like the party of Lincoln, it will just be frustrated, angry, bitter people saying mean things. So here is Trump, on the eve of an outstanding political victory against Senator Cruz, but he figures that he has to talk about this man’s father attempting to kill the president of the United States. You know it’s insanity, but it’s an appeal to people that are not rational. So I’m saying that if some people try to steal this election away in Ohio, I’m going down there, because we need Donald Trump to show this country and this Republican Party that it needs to reorganize and it needs to be organized on the principles that made America great, not the people who are frustrated that they’re not doing as well as they think they should be doing. C&S: We’re sitting here in Harlem, so we would be remiss if we didn’t touch on how the neighborhood and the district has changed during your time in Congress. It’s now a majority Hispanic district, but you’re also seeing traces of gentrification all over and if you walk down 125th Street now compared to 15 years ago or 20 years ago, it looks a lot different. Is there anything you could have done to prevent the increasing unaffordability of neighborhoods like Harlem and East Harlem, which were once bastions of black and Hispanic communities? CR: The first thing I’m going to have to do is lead with the cause of gentrification because I was able to get the empowerment zones which invested billions of dollars. I was able to get the low-income housing credit at a time when we had more property owned by the city, because landlords were burning down the buildings, abandoning the buildings – I had more abandoned property in my district than the whole city of New York. And with Koch and Dinkins and the investment that people made, we not only rebuilt the community but we were able to rebuild the schools, the crime went down, and I would look at lowincome housing and say, “Damn, I make too much money to get into these places.” So what has happened now is that we did not and do not look at housing as a constitutional right that should be subsidized. We should not have one tax credit going to luxury housing. Those that can afford luxury housing, they don’t need any city, state or federal assistance as they’re getting now. There should be a moratorium against it, and we should concentrate on affordable housing for
“I DON’T CARE HOW MANY PU E R T O R I CA N S T H E Y H AV E IN FLOR IDA , THE Y ’RE NOT G O I N G T O H AV E E L B A R R I O . BL ACKS CAN H AV E THE G R E AT E S T P O P U L AT I O N S T H E Y W A N T I N B R O O K LY N , THEY’RE NOT GOING TO BE HAR LE M . AND WAS HINGTON HEIGHTS, T H AT ’ S WHERE T H E S TAT U E O F L I B E R T Y SHOULD BE! FOR CUBANS, GREEKS, JEWS, T H AT ’ S WHERE THE PEOPLE WENT T O A S S I M I L AT E T H E R E . ”
people who work every day, because they can’t be healthy and employable unless they have a decent place to stay. Now when you talk about the district becoming more Hispanic, it’s always interesting to me because saying it’s more Hispanic is like saying more European. They may speak the same language, but I don’t really think the Puerto Ricans and the Cubans work that closely together. I know the Cubans and the Mexicans don’t, because of the unfair policy. Spanish isn’t the thing that keeps people together, it’s the hopes and dreams that they can do better for themselves and the community. When things are more similar to them, the minorities stick together, and the cultures that have come to this community, we’ve got people from Bangladesh, the Bronx, Muslims from Africa, and they have their own community, which I’m learning from. I mean, the only black I used to know that had an African father was Obama! So we need to put a halt to – I don’t like to call it gentrification – but we cannot make it in the marketplace, incomes don’t allow us to do it. So when people pay 10 times more for the same apartment we have had for a reasonable rent, we have to put a freeze on this open market type of thing. And if developers say they can’t afford to do it, well, can we not afford to build hospitals? Police stations? Libraries? Schools? No! We find the money to do this, and it doesn’t make a difference what the market value is. Do you get a return on this investment? You bet your life! You retain the cultures: El Barrio is historic from a national viewpoint. I don’t care how many Puerto Ricans they have in Florida, they’re not going to have El Barrio. Blacks can have the greatest populations they want in Brooklyn, they’re not going to be Harlem. And Washington Heights, that’s where the Statue of Liberty should be! For Cubans, Greeks, Jews, that’s where the people went to assimilate there. So no, there’s nothing I can think of that I’ve done. All I can say is that when I hear the mayor and other people talk about 20 percent set-asides, I think what would happen if I said someone needed a hospital, and you told me I could get it, but the developer said that 20 percent for the sick, and 80 percent would be for the people? Why are we talking about set-asides? We have an emergency here in decent housing and it’s hard to say which is more important, but I know one thing, if you’re sick you need decent housing, if you’re going to school you need decent housing, if you have a job you need decent housing,
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if you want to keep your marriage together you need decent housing. Decent housing is an investment for people to be able to be productive and to produce and to give back to the community, so it’s not a giveaway. C&S: In 1971 not too many people knew who Charlie Rangel was. When you exit Congress and you look back, what will you take from your experience in the House of Representatives? CR: I want so badly to be sophisticated in response to such an intellectual question, but ... I come from the best country in the world, and I’m pissed off that we’re not doing all that we can do to make it better. I’ve been blessed that the biggest, most effective pull you can have on the direction the country is going is through 435 people who have been elected to tell you where they think the country is going. You can go to any part and sit down right in the middle of them and you’ll get a pretty good understanding of what the country looks like. If we’re not talking with each other, if we’re angry with each other because a guy sounds different or looks different, or he’s got an “R” next to his name or a “D” next to his name, then it
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means to me what I’ve always known – it’s America, not members of Congress. Congress is only reflective of the 700,000some people they represent. Only when we can work together and believe there is enough for all of us and it’s better for all of us if we’re better educated, if we’re doing better, if we’re living better, then you don’t have time to hate when you’re doing good and your kids are saying they’re proud of you and you tell them your heart is bursting open and you only imagine what they will be able to do. But if 1 out of 3 blacks know they are going to end up in jail, if blacks and Hispanics know they are going to get shot as part of growing up, and they know it’s because of what they look like, and what their names are, and where they live, how do you sell that as a part of the United States of America? How do you explain that to anyone, to Communists, to other people? And it doesn’t have to be that way and that’s why when you find a bull going into that china closet trying to break up everything, I don’t look up at the shattered impressions that foreigners are going to have. I know one damn thing – we’ve got to start picking up the pieces and trying to put this thing back together, and we may have to find
new pieces because the old ones have clearly been simmering and sweltering, and people hating and never saying anything, and along comes Donald. So when he says, “I’d like to punch somebody right in the face,” that’s how a lot of people feel. They just got fired, they just got laid off, they’re just about to make their pension, they’re just about to send their kids to college. Do they feel like doing anything except punching someone right in the face – not in the head, not in the stomach, right in the face – you can’t get meaner than that. And I think that we see how God has blessed this country with the resources that we have and the fact that everybody comes over here with a little extra hustle, they kind of think they’ve got something going for them, or they wouldn’t be willing to get on that boat or plane and they’re willing to share that and become a part of that? When you think about it, where else in the world can you walk into a room and try to guess whether they’re Japanese or Korean or German? You go in a room full of Americans, you don’t know where they’re from, who they are because we’ve got a little bit of the whole world in all of us. And we’ve got to work on that.
The Must-Read Morning Roundup of New York Politics and Government As an advertiser, an advocacy campaign including City & State First Read provides a targeted way to reach New York State’s most influential leaders and political professionals.
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2016 CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY PREVIEW By MICHAEL GARETH JOHNSON and JON LENTZ
On June 28, tens of thousands of New York voters will head to the polls – and many more likely won’t even know there is a congressional primary taking place. Due to a lack of political will to streamline the process, the state is holding three different primaries this year: the presidential primary that took place in April, this month’s congressional primaries and the state legislative primaries scheduled for September. For those New Yorkers who live in districts with competitive primaries and are registered as a member of the appropriate party – as well as party officials, campaign staffers and the many political diehards among our readers – here’s a quick guide to help you navigate through the races in play next week.
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THE PRIMARY PRIMARIES NY-1: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY This Suffolk County congressional district is as purple as it gets in New York. In 2012, Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop won re-election by nearly 14,000 votes. In 2014, he lost to Republican Lee Zeldin by more than 15,000 votes. But 298,533 votes were cast in 2012, while only 176,719 people voted in 2014, for a 40 percent drop in turnout. Indeed, in a presidential election year more voters participate, which tends to benefit Democrats – and that means the winner of this Democratic primary has a decent shot against Zeldin. Both Anna Throne-Holst, the former Southampton town supervisor, and David Calone, a venture capitalist and former federal prosecutor, have raised more than $1 million, though Calone loaned his campaign $250,000. The two have clashed in debates over job creation and environmental issues, but both have focused on making the case that they will be stronger against Zeldin in November.
David Calone
Anna Throne-Holst
NY-3: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY Jonathan Clarke
Jon Kaiman
Anna Kaplan
Steve Stern
Tom Suozzi
Democratic Rep. Steve Israel’s decision earlier this year not to run for re-election after more than a decade in office sets the stage for another potentially competitive race on Long Island. The district, which includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties and a few neighborhoods in Queens, has a slight Democratic enrollment advantage, and Israel was comfortably re-elected each cycle. Republicans hope state Sen. Jack Martins steals the seat back (more on Martins below). In the crowded Democratic race, the biggest name statewide is Tom Suozzi, the former Nassau County executive who made a failed bid for governor in 2006. The rest of the field includes attorney Jonathan Clarke; Jon Kaiman, a former North Hempstead supervisor and former chairman of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority; North Hempstead Town Board member Anna Kaplan; and Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern, who was endorsed by Israel and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Stern has raised just over half a million dollars so far, exceeding Suozzi’s $451,306. * READ OUR SLANT ENDORSEMENT ON PAGE 24
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NY-13: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Yohanny Caceres
Suzan Johnson Cook
Adriano Espaillat
Mike Gallagher
Guillermo Linares
Adam Clayton Powell IV
Sam Sloan
Clyde Williams
Keith Wright
Rep. Charles Rangel is stepping down after decades of representing Harlem in Congress. Rangel’s bitter foe, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, mounted strong challenges the past two cycles and is hoping the third time’s the charm in a district experiencing demographic change. Espaillat faces two other big-name rivals: Assemblyman Keith Wright, Rangel’s preferred successor, and Adam Clayton Powell IV, the son of Rangel’s predecessor. Add in another six candidates – and the fact that the winner is all but guaranteed victory in the Democratic district this fall – and this is June’s must-watch contest. Beyond redrawn lines that added part of the Bronx in the last round of redistricting, racial lines will be a key factor. Espaillat won endorsements from a number of local elected officials who are fellow Hispanics, but will have to contend with Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, another Dominican-American. Wright leads in fundraising and has strong establishment support, but other African-American candidates – Powell, former Democratic National Committee Political Director Clyde Williams, pastor Suzan Johnson Cook – could impact the primary contest.
* DON’T MISS THE CITY & STATE/NY1/LATINO LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE DEBATE ON JUNE 20! SLANT WILL ENDORSE A CANDIDATE FOLLOWING THE DEBATE.
NY-19: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Zephyr Teachout
Will Yandik
* READ OUR SLANT ENDORSEMENT ON PAGE 25.
Zephyr Teachout burst onto New York’s political scene in 2014, when she mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and won about a third of the vote in the Democratic primary. Now, with Republican Rep. Chris Gibson stepping down after two terms representing all or part of 11 counties in the mid-Hudson region, Teachout is making another run for elected office. Teachout, a law professor at Fordham University, will face Will Yandik, a Livingston deputy supervisor in Columbia County. Yandik has tried to differentiate himself from Teachout by highlighting his deep roots in the community while balancing his support for gun control with an emphasis on gun rights. Teachout hasn’t been slowed, leading the fundraising with $530,732 – more than double Yandik’s haul – garnering more high-profile endorsements, and running ahead by 30 percentage points in a recent Time Warner Cable News/ Siena College poll. The winner will face either John Faso, the former Assembly minority leader, or businessman Andrew Heaney.
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NY-19: REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
NY-22: REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
George Phillips
John Faso
Andrew Heaney Steven Wells
There’s a battle for the 19th Congressional District within both parties. On the GOP side, John Faso, a lawyer who once served as Assembly minority leader, is facing businessman Andrew Heaney for the mid-Hudson seat that is being vacated by another fellow Republican, Rep. Chris Gibson. The race has also been one of the more contentious in the state, featuring insults, attack ads and allegations of illegal behavior. Faso, who is seeking a comeback after his failed gubernatorial bid in 2006, has touted the support of the Republican, Conservative, Reform and Independence parties as well as Robert Bishop, a third candidate who is on the ballot but dropped out of the race and endorsed Faso in May. In a high-spending contest, Heaney leads Faso in fundraising, pulling in $1.23 million compared with Faso’s $1.08 million. But a recent Time Warner Cable News/Siena College poll found that Faso has a 22-point lead over Heaney, due in part to his significantly better favorability ratings. The winner will face either law professor Zephyr Teachout or Livingston Deputy Supervisor Will Yandik.
* READ OUR SLANT ENDORSEMENT ON PAGE 24.
The decision decision by Rep. Rep.Richard Richard The Hanna, annually annuallylisted listedasasone one Hanna, most liberal liberal Republican Republican of the most members of Congress, Congress, not not to members run forforre-election to run re-electionhas hasled ledto a athree-way primary to three-way GOP primary theseat, seat,which which stretches for the stretches BinghamtontotoOswego Oswego from Binghamton Claudia encompasses Rome Rome and and and encompasses Tenney Each candidate candidate isis from from Utica. Each a different part of of the the district. district. Assemblywoman ClaudiaTenney, Tenney, who seeking the Assemblywoman Claudia who is is seeking seat for afor second time after she lost a primary against the seat a second time after sheinlost in a primary Hanna 2014, in is from Rome and Uticaand area. George againstin Hanna 2014,the is from the Rome Utica Phillips is a history in Broome in the area. George Phillipsteacher is a history teacherCounty in Broome Southern And businessman Wells, who leads County inTier. the Southern Tier. AndSteve businessman Steve the fundraising $362,064, iswith from the suburbs Wells, who leadswith the fundraising $362,064, is of Syracuse. The winner will faceThe Democrat Kimface Myers, from the suburbs of Syracuse. winner will the minority leader of the Democrat Kim Myers, theBroome minorityCounty leaderLegislature. of the Broome County Legislature.
NY-24: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Colleen Deacon
Eric Kingson
Steve Williams
In this swing district, Democrats have won in the last two presidential elections (2008 and 2012), while Republicans have won the last three midterm races (2006, 2010, 2014). If history is any indication, the winner of this Democratic primary has a good chance against GOP Rep. John Katko in November. Deacon is a Syracuse native and has worked for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the past six years. She has the backing of the Onondaga County Democrats – and Onondaga County has the biggest bloc of Democrats in the district. Eric Kingson, a professor of social work at Syracuse University, is considered the most progressive candidate in the race and has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Steve Williams is a lawyer and former U.S. Navy JAG officer who has focused his campaign on bringing jobs back to upstate New York.
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THE SECONDARY PRIMARIES NY-3: REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
Jack Martins
Philip Pidot
State Sen. Jack Martins, a rising star in Long Island politics, is the only Republican currently on the ballot in the race to replace retiring Rep. Steve Israel. While Martins is the party-backed candidate, Philip Pidot’s campaign continues to wage a legal battle to get back into the GOP primary race. Pidot fell 16 signatures short of the minimum needed on petitions, and his legal efforts have been unsuccessful so far. Martins or Pidot will face the winner of a crowded Democratic field, and the general election battle could be one of the closer races in the fall.
NY-7: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Jeffrey Kurzon
Yungman Lee
Nydia Velazquez
NY-5: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Gregory Meeks
Ali Mirza
Veteran U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks is facing a challenge from Ali Mirza, a Pakistani-American who has for years organized interfaith activities and promoted religious and ethnic tolerance. Mirza, who also served in Nassau County government, faces an uphill battle against Meeks, who has deep ties in the Democratic Party and who has represented parts of Queens since his election to the Assembly in 1992. Meeks also benefits from state Sen. James Sanders’ decision to drop out of the primary.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez is facing two longshot challengers as she seeks a 13th term. Yungman Lee is a banker from the Manhattan portion of the district, which also includes larger parts of Brooklyn and Queens, and he has attacked Velazquez for not doing enough for Asian-American constituents. Jeffrey Kurzon, a Manhattan attorney, is focused on campaign finance reform and reducing the influence of money in Congress.
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NY-10: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
NY-12: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Jerrold Nadler
Pete Lindner
Oliver Rosenberg
In the wake of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s vote for the Iran nuclear deal, entrepreneur Oliver Rosenberg, who describes himself as a tireless advocate against anti-Semitism, mounted a challenge. The issue has dominated the low-profile race, but there have been other twists and turns, such as Rosenberg claiming Nadler bribed him to drop out. Rosenberg has positioned himself as an outsider and touts his work establishing a congregation for gay Jews. Nadler, one of the most liberal members of Congress, has faced little opposition since he was first elected in 1992.
NY-15: DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Leonel Baez
José Serrano
Since taking office in 1990, U.S. Rep. José Serrano has had virtually no opposition in his re-election bids. This year, he has a challenger in Leonel Baez, but it would be inaccurate to categorize this as a truly competitive race. Baez has raised no money and garnered virtually no attention from the media in his bid. Former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. had reportedly considered a challenge, too, but he is not on the ballot.
Carolyn Maloney
Seeking a 13th term, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney is in a primary battle with an outsider challenging her from the left. Pete Lindner says he would use his background in technology and statistical analysis to bring more datadriven solutions to the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, Maloney continues to talk about the specific issues impacting her district, like securing funding for the Second Avenue Subway, and touts her record as a fighter for women’s health, gun safety and the Zadroga Act.
NY-18: REPUBLICAN PRIMARY
Kenneth Del Vecchio
Phil Oliva
At one point at least six Republicans wanted to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who is in his second term. However, only two Republicans ended up on the primary ballot: Phil Oliva, a political communications consultant and a top aide to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, and Kenneth Del Vecchio, an independent filmmaker, author and former judge. While the two have similar fundraising totals, Oliva has the backing of local Republican officials. The Hudson Valley district has been a swing seat, but higher turnout could make it hard for the eventual GOP nominee to knock out the incumbent this fall.
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DYLAN FORSBERG
ALBANY AFTERMATH
WHEN GOV. ANDREW CUOMO announced a state budget agreement a couple months ago, the sweeping spending plan featured a minimum wage hike, a paid family leave measure, a tax cut and major education and transportation funding increases. Cuomo called it “the best plan that the state has produced … in decades, literally.” As the governor and lawmakers scrambled to finish the rest of the business by the end of the 2016 state legislative session, the bar was set lower. Indeed, Cuomo himself scaled back expectations and reframed the debate at the beginning of the final week of the session when he identified just six remaining priorities. Several of them breezed through, including bills combating opioid abuse, improving breast cancer detection and improving rail crossing safety. Another lastminute Cuomo priority, allowing alcohol to be served on Sunday mornings, also advanced. The other two goals were still in play as City & State went to press, with efforts to combat political spending ushered in by the Citizens United decision being debated and comprehensive ethics reform seemingly out of reach. Cuomo unveiled a sweeping package of ethics reforms after the corruption convictions of former legislative leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos, but it’s unclear how much of it will advance this year. A Cuomo-backed push to close the LLC loophole, for example, failed to garner enough support. To many, what stood out in Cuomo’s six-point wish list was more what the governor excluded than what he included. Mayoral control of schools in New York City, which Mayor Bill de Blasio and his Democratic allies wanted to extend for three years, wasn’t mentioned. (According to reports, mayoral control will be extended, again, for a single year.) Nor did the governor note that the nearly $2 billion for housing allocated in the budget has been on hold while top leaders decide how to distribute it. Some lawmakers claim that the money has been tied up with 421-a, the lapsed real estate tax credit that is crucial to New York City’s affordable housing goals, which also has faced long odds. Additional hotly debated measures, like daily fantasy sports, remained up in the air as City & State went to press on Friday afternoon. Other bills will depend on whether Cuomo decides to sign them. In this recap, we offer the latest updates on all these bills, and more.
CityAndStateNY.com
WHAT GOT DONE
WHAT DIDN’T GET DONE TO BE DETERMINED
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Mayoral control – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has struggled to get state Senate Republicans to support his control of New York City schools after he campaigned unsuccessfully for state Senate Democrats in 2014. For a second straight year, the Legislature is poised to extend the law giving the mayor control over the city schools for just a year — far less time than de Blasio had been seeking and well short of what his predecessor had received. Senate Republicans also called for more oversight over de Blasio, and according to at least one report, the latest deal will require the city to share information about how much funding schools receive. Opioid abuse – Legislators agreed early in the week to a package of three bills that will bring sweeping changes to opioid addiction treatment, including shortened prescription periods, required education for prescribers and the ability of health care providers to provide drugs and treatment without first checking the patient’s insurance. Senate Republicans and the governor’s office, responding to concerns over the rapidly growing crisis of opioid addiction, set up a task force this year to study the issue, and many recommendations included in the reports they produced were included in the legislation. Brunch bill – New York State has changed its 80-year-old Alcoholic Beverage Control laws to allow restaurants and bars to serve alcohol beginning at 10 a.m. on Sundays and also allow them to apply for 12 daily permits per year to serve alcohol on Sundays starting at 8 a.m. The so-called “brunch bill” also eliminates “burdensome” paperwork requirements for craft manufacturers and reduces fees for salespeople, authorizes the sale of wine in growlers, reduces fees for small wholesalers and authorizes the sale of gift wrapping in liquor stores. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pushed the growth of wineries, cideries and breweries in the state in recent years. Upstate ride-sharing – While public support is high for allowing ride-sharing services, like Uber and Lyft, to expand to upstate New York, a last-minute amendment to Assemblyman Kevin Cahill’s bill that raised the insurance limits needed for ride-sharing cab drivers ultimately doomed the legislation’s chances of passage. Previously, the Assembly’s bill mirrored the insurance limit requirements in the state Senate’s bill. The influential state Trial Lawyers Association has pushed for the higher insurance requirements, and both Uber and Lyft blasted the amendment and withdrew support from the Assembly bill. Ultimately, the two houses failed to find a compromise on the insurance requirements. Child Victims Act – Despite momentum built by the Daily News’ coverage of the issue, legislation that would extend by five years the time child sex abuse victims can bring forward cases, open a six-month window to revive old cases and treat public and private entities equally when it comes to child sex abuse cases has once again stalled in the state Legislature. Assemblywoman Margaret Markey has sponsored the bill since 2005. Despite having personally met with rape victims and pledging support for the legislation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was not successful in striking a deal with legislative leaders. The bill faces opposition among state Senate Republicans. 421-a – Renewing the controversial 421-a program appears to be a part of a final agreement between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders. Also included in the tentative deal last night was $100 million to $150 million in funding for supportive housing for the homeless, although that falls short of the nearly $2 billion allocated for housing in the state budget. Ethics reforms – Also awaiting a final agreement are ethics reforms. There had been a deal on pension forfeiture, however that appears to have collapsed in recent hours. Closing the so-called “LLC loophole” and tightening restrictions and requiring greater transparency from independent expenditures are also a part of discussions. In recent weeks, Cuomo also proposed tightening limits on political contributions allowed due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Daily fantasy sports – Despite repeated statements from state Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Chairman John Bonacic that there is a deal on legalizing daily fantasy sports, its fate still remains uncertain in the state Senate. The Assembly is currently expected to vote and pass the legislation. There have been reports that there is not enough support among state Senate Republicans to ensure its passage.
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New York City working to help communities fight ‘data poverty’ By JEFF COLTIN
COMMUNITIES THAT DON’T share data will be left behind as technology advances to serve those who do, according to New York City’s chief analytics officer. Amen Ra Mashariki of the Mayor’s Office of Data and Analytics spoke about the concept of “data poverty” at a panel on tech solutions for small business at City & State’s On Small Business forum this month at NYU. “Data poverty is not the digital divide,” Mashariki said, referring to the difference between those with ready access to the internet and those without. “There are some people who are being counted when we as a city, state, federal government use data,” he continued.
“Think about it like when you have your Fitbit, or your UP or your Nike Fuel. You’re learning information about yourself. There are people who don’t have those, so they don’t learn information about themselves. So when Nike or Fitbit uploads all of that information and they modify their products to make them better, they’re not thinking about the people who don’t have the product. They’re modifying the product for the people who have been using, who’ve been sharing that information about themselves. So if you’re a community who’s not sharing information about yourself, who’s not part of that metric, then you may not get affected.”
Mashariki said his office is combatting data poverty by spreading the word about New York City’s Open Data portal in all five boroughs. The office has met with community colleges and nonprofits and has launched a study with Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs to find out how it can get diverse groups to start using open data. Earlier in the discussion, panelist state Sen. Kevin Parker complimented such outreach efforts. “Part of the problem with small businesses is they simply don’t have the time to go seek the help,” he said. “Even if you’re saying, ‘I have help, come get it,’ they’re between trying to make sales, do marketing, do accounting, and then trying to figure out how to get this help.” The city provides over 1,500 data sets for free online, including contract awards, taxi trips and a list of every single legally operating business in the five boroughs. Mashariki highlighted one project, the Business Atlas, which prospective small business owners could use for market research. It provides the relative income, a list of new businesses and foot traffic for every neighborhood in the city. Much like Fitbit reaches out to new customers, Mashariki said his office is reaching out to New Yorkers in “data poverty” and working to introduce them to the city’s open records. “Because when you use data,” he said, “is when you’re actually going to be a part of the data and the data metrics as well.”
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JULIA LECATO
Left to right: Acuta Digital President Dominic Ebanks, New York City Chief Analytics Officer Amen Ra Mashariki and state Sen. Kevin Parker at City & State’s On Small Business forum. Above: A map pedestrian activity from the NYC Business Atlas, part of the city’s Open Data portal.
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MOM-AND-POPS AND THE CITY Running a small business in the Big Apple can feel like more than a 24/7 job. At City & State’s annual On Small Business conference on June 7 at NYU, some of the biggest supporters of the city’s busy entrepreneurs came together to discuss tech solutions, challenges for minority and women-owned businesses, financing advice and more. Here’s some of what they had to say.
GALE BREWER
MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT
ON REMEMBERING SMALL BUSINESSES “I just came from another forum this morning on Lower Manhattan and the first question from the audience was, ‘What about the mom-andpops? You’re all talking about the wonderful opportunities for some of the larger corporations in Lower Manhattan, but what about me? I live here and I don’t want to lose all the storefronters.’ … We have ads across the city and firms with fewer than 20 employees constitute over 90 percent of the businesses in New York. So we still need to think more about these smaller businesses.”
ROBERT CORNEGY
CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION TO FIGHT TENANT HARASSMENT AND NEGLECT From a legislative standpoint, we have a bill, Int. 0851, which hopefully will be voted on very quickly. It’s a tenant harassment and neglect bill. It marks the first time that a bill has been designed specifically for commercial businesses. It doesn’t solve all of the problems of the rent issues, but what we found is landlords have gotten so aggressive with wanting to move commercial tenants out that they’re being unscrupulous as they were with residential tenants. And there were no protections in place. The great thing about the bill is SBS immediately put in for a few million dollars to help with the litigation of the bill, which is also unprecedented. So a bill was proposed, and if you fall in the range of the bill and you’ve been harassed or neglected to the tune that you’ve had to move or you’re thinking about moving, now there’s also a pot of money for you to have a litigator or attorney to work on that. As a legislator, I’d like to say we’re thinking ahead, but no, this horse has clearly left the barn – and horses are a tough subject at the Council.”
ASSEMBLYWOMAN RODNEYSE BICHOTTE
CHAIRWOMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT OF MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES ON HOW MWBES CAN GET GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS “We have to find a way to bring business accelerator programs into our communities. We need to think about a model that decentralizes these different services out into underserved, unrepresented communities. … We are also trying to make the contract opportunities more transparent. Right now there are a number of contracts but a lot of small businesses aren’t aware that these contracts are available. We have a bill to put that at the forefront. We’re looking at ways to bring the services to the MWBEs, but I would suggest, MWBEs, you’ve just got to hustle. You’ve got to partner with other MWBEs, partner with a lot of the contractors here who’ve been successful, adopt best practices and so forth.”
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A fresh perspective on opinions/ Edited by Nick Powell
B
A MAN WITH NO PLAN
New York state’s emergency contraception loophole
By ALEXIS GRENELL
ainbridge Pharmacy sits atop the highest point in the Bronx, all the way at the end of the D train. A small, family-owned shop, it’s nestled between a greengrocer and a bodega with an ice machine chained to the front. The rest of the block is teeming with specialty stores advertising Mexican, Albanian and South Asian foods. You can inspect slabs of halal meat sitting out on dusty canisters while waiting to pick up your non-governmental emergency ID at the one-hour photo. “EBT accepted” decals dot the entrance of almost every business. Inside the pharmacy, it’s so cramped it feels like being inside a gumball machine shoved full of pink and blue bottles. You could almost miss the discrete sign on the wall, if the words were not so loud: “No Morning After Pills Sold.” Bob Ryan, the pharmacist who owns the store, is a husky man with a lowkey manner. He says he refuses to sell a drug that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg. When asked why, he would only explain that “Jesus is my savior.” The origin of the sign dates back to
Bainbridge Pharmacy in the Bronx, which does not stock the morning-after pill. 2003, when access to the morning-after pill required a prescription. That year, the New York City Council passed Local Law 25, which requires pharmacists to post the sign if they refuse to carry it. The law’s intention was to save women time, protect their privacy and spare them any moralizing. Or as Christine Quinn, then chairwoman of the Council’s Health Committee, put it: “That horrible moment where the pharmacist screams out, ‘Do we have the emergency contraception in the back?’ and then the woman is mortified and, like, leaves.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
approved levonorgestrel – also known as Plan B – for public use in 1997. But a 2002 report by the City Council surveyed 195 pharmacies and found that only 55 percent carried at least one brand of the pill, and 30 percent didn’t carry it at all. The situation was especially acute in the outer boroughs and at independent pharmacies in particular – in Queens only 37 percent of pharmacies carried it, and on Staten Island, only 47 percent did. At the Health Committee hearing on the bill, pharmacists from both city and state professional organizations testified against it. They claimed that the bill would
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“BOB RYAN ... REFUSES TO SELL A DRUG THAT PREVENTS THE IMPLANTATION OF A FERTILIZED EGG. WHEN ASKED WHY, HE WOULD ONLY EXPLAIN THAT ‘JESUS IS MY SAVIOR.’” brand a scarlet letter on pharmacists who objected to carrying the drug on religious grounds. Then-Councilwoman Margarita López, a gay woman from the Lower East Side, could barely believe her ears. “I want to suggest that at this moment, the Council look further into this issue,” she said. “How many other religious beliefs are out there that are dictating products being sold by pharmacies in our city, violating the rights of people to have access to those products?” That’s a question without a straight answer. Although so-called “refusal clauses” for medical professionals exist under federal law for abortion, birth control and sterilization, no such exemption exists for emergency contraception. However, if a pharmacist objects to filling a prescription for reasons of conscience, his or her employer must make reasonable accommodations. Meanwhile, an independent pharmacist can evade the issue by simply not stocking a product. It’s a loophole large enough to get someone pregnant. When the City Council bill came to a full vote, Councilman Lew Fidler empathized with the pharmacists and urged the Council to be more sensitive to the needs of small businesses. But he decided that “this would be the wrong place to draw the line. The importance of emergency contraception and availability and the fact that there is a brief time frame in which, you know, emergency contraception is viable and useful, makes this bill imperative.” Only eight Council members voted against it. With the exception of Simcha Felder, they were all white, Catholic men from parts of the city with the least access:
Peter Vallone, Tony Avella, Andrew Lanza, Dennis Gallagher, Allan Jennings, Jimmy Oddo and Mike McMahon. Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed the bill, but the Council voted to override. Ten years later, in 2013, the FDA approved emergency contraception for over-the-counter use. As a result, New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs no longer enforces Local Law 25, which defines “emergency contraception” as prescription only. But pharmacists still maintain the right not to stock or dispense a product. “They can exert their right but they can’t get in the way of the patient’s right to procure emergency contraception,” explains Martha Rumore, who teaches ethics at Touro College of Pharmacy, where she advises her students to adhere to the American Pharmacists Association guidelines. The Pharmacists Society of the State of New York also reserves the right not to carry a product, but the organization’s executive director, Kathy Febraio, urges pharmacists to “assure that patients have access to legal medications through referrals to other pharmacists or health care providers while treating that patient in a timely, professional and nonjudgmental manner.” That’s an easy enough accommodation to make in the Bronx, where there’s a CVS half a block from Bainbridge Pharmacy that sells about five to seven packs of emergency contraception per week (according to the pharmacist). But in more rural parts of the state, finding it in a timely manner could prove difficult. A woman needs to take emergency contraception within 72 hours for it to be effective, and every hour lost is a race against biology.
Regardless of geography, Katherine Bodde, policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, sees a potential conflict: “A pharmacy that refuses to satisfy a woman’s request for a medication that only women use may be discriminating on the basis of her sex.” Sex discrimination is of course illegal, yet the New York State Office of the Professions, which regulates pharmacists, does not require them to state their position on emergency contraception as a condition of licensing. “The laws are silent with regard to whether or not they have to carry products. It’s free enterprise,” adds Rumore. The problem is when free enterprise encroaches on someone else’s legal freedoms. In 2006, the NYCLU filed a complaint on behalf of Planned Parenthood against two upstate pharmacies that refused to refill a prescription for emergency contraception. The complaint asked the Pharmacy Board to “clarify its guidelines by stating that, absent a health-related justification, a pharmacist must log and dispense refills for all prescriptions and that a pharmacist’s refusal to do so on the basis of sex would constitute a violation of New York state’s discrimination law.” The state Office of the Professions dodged the issue with a generic response, writing that a pharmacist may and should question refills if “there may be harm to a patient, drug interaction, or the drug was mis-prescribed.” One would think that undermining a physician at an organization that specializes in women’s health and is the frequent subject of political attacks would raise some red flags. Instead, the state declined to investigate further on the grounds that such conduct did not meet the definition of professional misconduct. Bodde disagrees. “Pharmacies have an obligation to make medicine available as consistent with the standard of care,” she said. “Places of public accommodation should not be allowed to discriminate based on their religion.” Emergency contraception may be only for women, but they’re not the only people who need and can’t get it. Pharmacists turned away 1 in 5 male customers looking for emergency contraception, according to a 2014 study by Dr. David Bell at Columbia University Medical Center. Bell conducted a mystery shopper survey of 158 pharmacies in various Manhattan neighborhoods, with men between the ages of 19 and 28. Of
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the pharmacies that refused to serve a man, 73 percent required the presence of a woman or her identification card at the time of purchase and 27 percent “reported” they did not have the product in stock. In addition to screening men out of being full and valid partners in prophylactic care, some pharmacists also gave a range of misinformation. One even told a shopper that the pill would cause a miscarriage or abortion, while another claimed it was associated with birth defects. Essentially, pharmacists enjoy broad discretion to purchase, refill and dispense products at will. At Bainbridge Pharmacy, Bob Ryan is asked regularly about his sign. It’s provoked several confrontations, which Ryan describes as “aggressive.” But his position is steadfast. “I wouldn’t care what anyone told me, I will not stock it. If it becomes illegal, I’ll close,” he said. That would undermine the marketdriven strategy of the signage law. Local Law 25 gives people the right to run a business within certain parameters while affording customers a choice about where to spend their money. In fact, at the City Council Health Committee hearing in 2003, Planned Parenthood of New York City testified that it hoped the sign would incentivize pharmacists to carry emergency contraception rather than suffer public scrutiny. The goal is to put pressure on pharmacists, not drive them out of business. A year after passing the law, the Council conducted another investigation and found that by 2004, 75 percent of pharmacies were stocking the product – a 20 percent increase over its 2002 findings. Seventy-one percent of pharmacies that
had previously not stocked the drug were now carrying it. None of the remaining pharmacists who still refused to stock it had posted the requisite signage. It’s possible that some refuseniks changed their position, but the more likely explanation is that they decided to start stocking the product to meet growing demand. Maybe the threat of the sign helped nudge them in that direction. Maybe not. Since the city Department of Consumer Affairs no longer enforces the law (and it’s unclear if it ever did), a representative could not provide information about how many signs still exist. Today, access to the morning-after pill in New York City is relatively high, but getting it is not necessarily easy. Beyond choosing which products to stock, pharmacists can exercise discretion on where they place them in the store. Some pharmacies stock emergency contraception in the aisles alongside other non-prescription drugs, but plenty still keep it behind the counter, even though there’s no guidance from the FDA requiring them to do so. After I visited Bainbridge Pharmacy, I scoped out the local CVS, which sells about 18 different kinds of condoms in an aisle marked “Family Planning,” with everything from ribbed to the mysteriously named “Trojan Groove.” Their position opposite the nutrition supplements designed to pump up the male physique (“Pre-Work Out N.O. Fury,” anyone?), gives some indication of who the pharmacy envisions its clientele to be. Breeze on down a few shelves and you can pick up some ex-lax and a pack of Tums, all tax-free. There’s no stigma or barrier between sexuality and general well being. For men, they’re
“AN INDEPENDENT PHARMACIST CAN EVADE THE ISSUE BY SIMPLY NOT STOCKING A PRODUCT. IT’S A LOOPHOLE LARGE ENOUGH TO GET SOMEONE PREGNANT.”
one and the same. A few aisles over, a blue wall of tampons and pads bleeds into the creamy yellows of the baby products directly adjacent. The message is pretty clear: For women, what happens below the waist is all about what comes out of it. Sex is about reproduction and pleasure is secondary. These thoughts are separate but related to Bob Ryan’s refusal to stock emergency contraception. I’m torn. On the one hand he’s entitled to his beliefs, and on the other I think his conduct is wholly inconsistent. If you refuse to sell a drug because you believe that life begins at conception and you don’t want to violate your interpretation of God’s law, don’t you also have to make sure that every person you sell a pack of condoms to doesn’t intend to have sex outside their marriage? Don’t you also have to refrain from dispensing birth control pills so that a man doesn’t spill his seed in vain? Bob Ryan sells both, yet he’s fixated on that point where sperm meets egg, a phrase he used repeatedly. That’s the whole ballgame, not the rest of God’s law, which also includes stoning adulterers to death. I just can’t get away from the fact that he’s an originalist in this one instance of recreational sex, in which women pay the full freight. In his universe, people can express agency by using birth control and condoms. When they fail, or a couple fails to use them, it’s up to God. But the Bronx has the highest abortion rate in the city, which Bob Ryan must think is worse than preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg. So he’d rather block access to the morning-after pill than avoid the termination of a several-week-old fetus? There’s no logic to it. I also don’t see how his constitutional right to religious freedom extends into restricting the legally protected freedoms of others. It is one thing to make a personal choice about what you believe, and another to impose that system on someone else. The exemption he claims is a creeping carve-out, which pre-empts secular law, and it’s up to the state to clarify which has primacy. Regardless, the matter is simple. The morning-after pill is an approved over-thecounter drug. If Bob Ryan can’t dispense it, then he shouldn’t be a pharmacist. In the meantime, I’ll continue to support Planned Parenthood of New York City, which last year dispensed or sold 1,049 packages of emergency contraception in the Bronx alone.
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A fresh perspective on opinions/ Edited by Nick Powell
NY-3 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
Replacing a Washington, D.C., mainstay like U.S. Rep. Steve Israel is no easy task. Not only was he a key Democratic voice in the New York congressional delegation and a strong advocate for Long Island for 15 years, he was also the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, responsible for recruiting candidates to run for the House of Representatives. Israel’s retirement presents a golden opportunity for the Democratic Party to solidify a seat that might very well be vulnerable in November. Long Island Dems are fortunate to have five very good options to choose from in the 3rd Congressional District primary on June 28 – Jonathan Clarke,
Jon Kaiman, Anna Kaplan, Steven Stern and Tom Suozzi – whose positions on key issues such as education, job creation and environmental protection, as well as their dedication to public service, are virtually indistinguishable. However, with the political climate as fractured as it is in Washington, where bipartisan cooperation is scarce and government inertia is the new normal, Long Island Democrats need a seasoned voice as their nominee this November, someone who will shake up the status quo with bold ideas. That is why we are endorsing Tom Suozzi in the Democratic primary. Suozzi’s credentials as a former mayor and Nassau county executive help separate him from the pack, but even more impressive is his uncompromising perspective on what it takes to govern in an increasingly polarized environment. At a time when the two political parties are shifting further to the extremes, Suozzi’s political philosophy – a self-described moderate – is a helpful reminder of how much tougher it is to achieve legislative goals while governing as an ideologue. Suozzi pointed out that, as county executive, he faced continual opposition from the Republican-controlled county legislature, but rather than allow petty political differences to slow the machinations of government, he managed to find enough points of agreement to pass balanced budgets. Suozzi has also been at the forefront of several major, fiscally responsible mea-
sures in New York that could help curry favor with colleagues on the other side of the aisle when it comes to finding rare areas of bipartisan compromise. Suozzi was an early proponent of a Medicaid spending cap as county executive and, as the head of a commission on property tax relief in 2008, proposed a statewide property tax cap. Both proposals were adopted and instituted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and are largely seen as a success in reining in state spending and providing relief to businesses and homeowners. But arguably the primary role of a congressional representative is to bring resources and money back to their district to invest in jobs, programs and infrastructure. Suozzi demonstrated that he has a firm grasp of this job requirement, and spoke eloquently about how New York is a “net donor” to the federal government in tax revenue but receives little in return. Suozzi’s commitment to a more equitable tax policy and revenue sharing with the goal of bringing some of those tax dollars back to his district should be music to the ears of his potential constituents. Each Democratic candidate in this race has qualities that voters should look for in their representative, and all should be encouraged to continue in public service in some capacity. In Tom Suozzi, Long Island Democrats have a responsible, experienced candidate who will help bring an end to the partisanship that has plagued Congress.
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NY-19 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY Faso has the experience to get things done in Washington Republicans in the 19th Congressional District have a clear choice when they head to the polls on June 28. One candidate has decades of experience as a politician, great command of the issues and a willingness to work with others. The other is a politi-
cal outsider and businessman who wants to “radically reform the way Washington works.” The latter is in vogue in this election cycle, but City & State’s editorial board encourages voters to cast their ballots for the
former – John Faso. Now, we are not arguing that D.C. doesn’t need fixing. It is dysfunctional. But simply shouting loudly about it doesn’t qualify you to be elected. Washington needs more people with the experience and faculty to de-
SUOZZI 2016
Suozzi’s leadership credentials set him apart
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FASO FOR CONGRESS
NewYorkSlant.com
bate and compromise on important issues, not newcomers fueled by outrage with unrealistic ideas of how government works. In his career and in the campaign Faso has demonstrated a solid understanding of the issues that matter to voters. He speaks articulately about the problem of opioid abuse and his desire to find common ground with Democrats to pass legislation to help address this crisis hitting rural communities. His position on immigration is holistic, with clear consideration for the unique concerns of the farmers in his district, while promising to uphold the mainstream Republican position of strengthening the border and implementing a policy that allows millions of undocumented residents to “normalize” their status. And his push for less regulation of the financial services sector isn’t the often tout-
ed free-market-at-all-costs mantra some spout like religious doctrine, but a nuanced criticism of how the reforms of the system have unfairly punished community banks that played no part in the economic collapse that started in 2008. The problem of high property taxes could easily be dismissed as a state issue that a member of Congress would have no ability to impact. But the former assemblyman and 2006 candidate for governor rejects that sentiment and has presented a plan to tweak federal law so that New York state can no longer shift Medicaid costs onto localities (currently states have the power to do this, but the vast majority of them do not). While this proposal may be a bank shot, it is a creative and shrewd idea to solve a problem that has plagued upstate commu-
nities for decades. Congress needs more people who are willing, and more importantly able, to think this way.
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NY-19 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY
ZEPHYR TEACHOUT FOR CONGRESS
Teachout’s anti-corruption bona fides make her the best choice Two compelling Democratic candidates are vying to replace retiring Republican Rep. Chris Gibson in the 19th Congressional District. Will Yandik, a homegrown farmer’s son, understands the district’s issues from the inside out. He has seen federal price-setting take profits out of his father’s hands, and has seen the region become less affordable for middle-class families and less hospitable to small-business owners. Zephyr Teachout, a newcomer to the politically moderate district, has not lived these issues, but brings to the table a timely passion for amplifying unheard voices and freeing politics from the influence of money and lobbyists. Each comes across as genuinely passionate about their priorities, and well able to articulate their positions. But the depth of knowledge and credibility that Teachout brings to the anti-corruption issue gives her an edge. Unlike many well-intentioned candidates in the past who have pledged to clean up Washington, D.C., she may actually be able to meaningfully effect change because of her expertise on the topic. This is why we urge Democrats in the 19th Congressional District to cast their ballots for her in the June 28 primary. Teachout is a staunch supporter of public education, calling it the foundation and
infrastructure of our democracy. She supports community schools and reforming Common Core with greater input from local communities and administrators. She opposes burdensome tests that divert teachers away from other instructional priorities and “charterization” efforts that draw resources away from public schools. Given the current climate, Teachout will likely face questions about her position on gun control. Early in her congressional campaign she was accused of flip-flopping on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Safe Act gun control law. She has said she does not approve of the legislation as a whole, but is in favor of background checks for firearm sales. With the mass shooting in Orlando pushing the issue back to the fore, her opponents may challenge her to clarify and solidify her stance. Teachout’s sensibilities, especially her efforts to prohibit politicians from soliciting and receiving large contributions from special interests, align with those of Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose presidential campaign successes have shown that a large number of Democrats want an advocate on these issues. Her anti-corruption platform includes overturning Citizens United and passing Rep. John Sarbanes’ bill call-
ing for publicly funded elections. The Fordham Law professor, whose specialty is the constitutional history of corruption, brings great credibility to the effort. If she wins the primary, it should be interesting to see a general election race featuring a woman who literally wrote the book on “Corruption in America” – a timely issue that New Yorkers are primed to engage in.
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CityAndStateNY.com
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STEVE MCLAUGHLIN – There still haven’t been hearings on Hoosick Falls, months after the public found about about the tainted drinking water. So it wasn’t insignificant that McLaughlin and others rallying at the Capitol got a meeting with a key Cuomo administration official after initially being met with a locked doors. Assembly Republicans have to take what they can get from Cuomo, and McLaughlin is proving himself a fighter for Hoosickers. THE BEST OF THE REST MELISSA FLEISCHUT - Brunch bill deal AMEDORE, MURPHY & ORTT - Targeting opioid abuse JAMES DOLAN - Cablevision merger OKed REARDON, ROSADO, SEGGOS & VULLO - Confirmed
OUR PICK
OUR PICK
WINNERS
LOSERS
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended the session with something of a mixed bag, getting a number of bills passed but failing on others, like several of the ethics reforms he championed. (Anyone remember that LLC loophole?) Likewise, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was expected to get mayoral control of schools extended, if only for another year. But before the final end-of-session deal was announced, we presented the week’s Winners & Losers.
JOSH MOHRER – A popular measure to permit ridesharing in upstate New York appears to have failed to pass in the state Legislature. While Mohrer and Uber have beat back regulations in New York City, they have hit the brakes time and again in Albany. Maybe the next big app Uber’s founders can create will solve the one of America’s biggest problems – government gridlock.
THE REST OF THE WORST MARGARET MARKEY - Child Victims Act stalls SHOLA OLATOYE - High lead levels in NYCHA buildings GERALD VAUGHN - Convicted for inmate beating MINERVA ZANCA - Principal accused of racism
WINNERS & LOSERS IS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MORNING IN CITY & STATE’S FIRST READ EMAIL. SIGN UP FOR THE EMAIL, CAST YOUR VOTE AND SEE WHO WON AT CITYANDSTATENY.COM.
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