City & State New York 02419

Steve Israel’s new politics institute

PIERCING THE DARKNESS MARIJUANA

In the weeds on Cuomo’s rollout plan

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

February 4, 2019

The next reassessment mistake by the Nassau County Administration is being made in Albany behind closed doors.

The Nassau County Administration wants Albany lawmakers to approve a

“Five Year Phase In” for tax assessment changes. But the “Five Year Phase In” is a poison pill

for the county’s working middle class and economically disadvantaged homeowners because if they are owed a deduction or a refund – they won’t get it for years. In fact, hard pressed home owners will continue to pay a higher tax rate during the five year “phase in” period.

The State Legislature shouldn’t be a willing partner in Nassau County’s next assessment mistake.

Coalition to Protect Nassau Taxpayers www.protectnassauhomes.com 1225 Franklin Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530 | Check us out on Facebook

February 4, 2019

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EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

THE NEW DEMOCRATIC ERA in Albany is off to a fast start. Capitalizing on their control of the state Senate, Democrats are checking measures off their list – voting reforms, abortion rights protections, the state DREAM Act, the Child Victims Act, teacher evaluation changes, gun control – at an impressive clip.

But are things moving too fast? Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who typically drives the agenda, has dozens of proposals packed into his budget plan, which is due

by April 1. And with only two months until the deadline, there’s a lot to debate in a short period of time. This month’s light legislative schedule – two two-day weeks, a week off, then a three-day week – doesn’t help.

Given the time constraints, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie made a plausible point last week that the legalization of recreational marijuana might have to be hashed out later this session. The governor and legislative leaders are on board in principle, but disagree over implementation and regulation – and while Heastie didn’t say it, negotiating the details outside the budget could give him and his fellow Democratic lawmakers more leverage.

This week, we get into the weeds on the complexities of recreational marijuana, from the businesses lining up to capitalize on the new industry to efforts to include minority communities in the prosperity of the coming gold rush.

CONTENTS GUN LAWS … 6

A U.S. Supreme Court case could change everything

STEVE ISRAEL … 8

The former congressman teams up with Cornell

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA … 13 Cuomo’s high-minded proposal

WINNERS & LOSERS … 30

CELESTE SLOMAN; LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

Who was up and who was down last week

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February 4, 2019

Latest YEARS IN THE MAKING After trying for more than a decade, the state Legislature passed the Child Victims Act, extending the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse. Now, survivors will have until age 55 to bring civil suits or age 28 to bring criminal charges. The bill also includes a look-back window, giving victims one year to retroactively bring a lawsuit – the aspect of the legislation that was ardently opposed by groups like the Roman Catholic Church. The Legislature also passed its first gun laws since passing the SAFE Act six years ago.

THE FATE OF NYCHA After two months of talks between New York City and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the two have reached an agreement over the future of the troubled New York City Housing Authority. The federal government will appoint a monitor to oversee the agency and the city will replace NYCHA’s interim chairman. The plan falls short of full federal receivership, which the city was hoping to avoid. The agreement will also require the city to invest an additional $1 billion in the system over the next four years, and $200 million a year after that. The new deal comes after the federal government sued over poor conditions and mismanagement at NYCHA developments.

New York City Council members had another opportunity to air their grievances about Amazon’s plan to build a campus in Queens at a hearing with company executives.

Amazon officials said they would guarantee about 30 jobs at a new customer service center to Queensbridge Houses residents, the NYCHA complex near the development site, but it did little to appease lawmakers’ discontent. They were especially displeased to hear that Amazon would oppose any unionization efforts at the new campus.

Back & Forth How have things been different as acting leader of the state Senate Republicans?

If you’re not the leader, you can commiserate (with fellow senators) and discuss what could and should be done. As the leader, they’re going to approach you differently and ask for things and lobby for things and then you’re in a position where you’ve got to make some difficult choices.

It could be anything from policy to politics to personalities. They all come into the equation when you’re trying to run a conference.

A Q&A with state Sen.

Joseph Griffo The

Your members say that you love to tell anecdotes. Has any particular one come in handy during the past couple weeks?

I try to dwell on past experiences. I like parables every now and then. We’re all different individual personalities, right? We try to dig into that personality and use that to help us and try to guide

Kicker

“Once you know you’re going to burn in hell ... you might as well do the right thing.”

— GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, on his support of abortion rights, which puts him as a Catholic at odds with his church, via Politico New York Get the kicker every morning in CITY & STATE’S FIRST READ email. Sign up at cityandstateny.com.

our conference and lead our people. It’s been quite an intensive period. My dad is hospitalized, very serious right now, and my mom is dealing with some issues too. There are those professional obligations and everything going on and the personal responsibilities all landing at the same time. That’s why I’ve got to keep looking in the mirror and see what I look like.

Has it been easy dealing with the new Democratic majority in the state Senate?

I’ve had an opportunity to meet with (state Senate Majority) Leader (Andrea) Stewart-Cousins.

We had a very good dialogue about the relationship moving forward, but I’m a caretaker right now. So after (Minority Leader John Flanagan’s) return it will be upon him to forge and develop that relationship. We have to continue to communicate and respect one another.

MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE; STATE SENATE; JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; JSTONE/SHUTTERSTOCK

The

AMAZON IN THE HOT SEAT

LEADING THE WAY February 4, 2019

City & State New York

BY ANNIE MCDONOUGH

BLACK LAWMAKERS WHO MADE POLITICAL HISTORY IN NEW YORK

ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR.

THE CRISIS; JAMES J. KRIEGMAN/U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; THOMAS J. O’HALLORAN/U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; STOCKLIGHT/SHUTTERSTOCK; FRED PALUMBO/WORLD TELEGRAM & SUN/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; EMIL COHEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; KEVIN P. COUGHLIN/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

FOR THE FIRST TIME in history, the state Legislature is led by two African-Americans – Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. That fact qualifies 2019 as a landmark year, but black lawmakers have been trailblazers in both New York City and state politics for a long time. To mark Black History Month, City & State assembled a list of New York’s notable black political pioneers – all of whom show the progress that’s been made and the work that’s left to be done.

EDWARD A. JOHNSON In 1917, Edward A. Johnson was the first African-American elected to the state Legislature.

Though he only served in the Assembly for one term, Johnson gained national attention for his writing, including a children’s history book on AfricanAmerican achievements.

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM

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Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was the first African-American man elected to the New York City Council in 1941. He later became the first black man to represent New York in the U.S. House of Representatives, winning election in 1945 and ultimately serving 12 terms.

CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY Constance Baker Motley’s life was filled with firsts: the first black woman to be elected to the state Senate in 1964, the first woman to serve as Manhattan borough president, and finally, the first black woman to serve as a federal judge.

DAVID PATERSON

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman elected to Congress, serving New York’s 12th Congressional District in Brooklyn for seven consecutive terms. Not only that – “Fighting Shirley” Chisholm was the first black woman to seek the presidential nomination from a major political party in 1972.

The first African-American governor of New York, David Paterson was sworn into office in 2008 after serving as former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s lieutenant governor.

LETITIA JAMES Letitia James has only been New York’s attorney general for a few weeks, but she has made history as both the first woman and the first AfricanAmerican to be elected to the post. Previously, she was New York City’s first black public advocate.

ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS Andrea Stewart-Cousins is now not only the first AfricanAmerican woman, but also the first woman, to lead a New York legislative chamber as state Senate majority leader.

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Openi Sa C O M M E N TA RY

A New York gun control case will reveal how a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court will interpret the Second Amendment.

by S C O T T L E M I E U X

O

N JAN. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear its first major case dealing with gun rights since 2010, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York. The outcome of the case will not have a huge impact on either public safety or the rights of gun owners in New York. But how the court decides the case could have a major long-term impact on Second Amendment rights across the country. It could affect both existing gun control regulations in states like New York and prevent states from passing such measures going forward.

This case will determine the constitutionality of a New York City regulation that prevents licensed handguns from being taken outside the city, even if they are unloaded. A unanimous three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the regulation. According to the court’s opinion, the regulation would not

February 4, 2019

KLEMPA/SHUTTERSTOCK; ALEX LAW

ning Salvo “significantly inhibit their ability to utilize training facilities to obtain and maintain firearm skills, let alone that the Rule operates as a substantial burden on the right to keep and use firearms for self-defense in the home.” Because the gun owners could maintain handguns in their homes for self-defense, had access to at least one firing range in each of New York City’s five boroughs, and could rent or borrow a firearm for practice at a firing range outside of the city, the court reasoned that the law did not infringe on the core Second Amendment right to keep a weapon for personal protection or to become sufficiently proficient in using the weapon as to make the handgun practical as a tool of self-defense.

Because the New York City regulation is unique and does not affect many people inside the city, the immediate stakes of the decision are limited. The regulation is not a severe burden on the rights of gun owners, and by the same token striking down the law would not have a large impact on the safety of people residing in New York. But this doesn’t mean that the court’s decision to take the case is inconsequential – far from it. The decision could provide an important signal of how a more conservative Supreme Court will interpret the Second Amendment going forward. And the most likely outcome is that the court shows an intention to

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limit the ability of states to enact gun control measures, ultimately leading to more gun-related violence.

The Supreme Court’s 2008 opinion in D.C. v. Heller was a landmark case because it held for the first time that the Second Amendment protected an individual’s right to bear arms from undue burdens imposed by the federal government. In 2010, this right was applied in McDonald v. Chicago to also protect individual gun ownership rights against state governments and their subdivisions, such as cities and counties.

And yet the scope of the decisions were modest. While striking down the ban on handgun ownership in the District of Columbia, the court left many questions about the nature of the individual right unanswered and gave state, local and federal governments substantial leeway to regulate firearms. “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” declared the court in Heller. “(N)othing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

Weapons that can be reasonably be deemed “dangerous and unusual” can also be banned. As a result, the precedents set in Heller and McDonald have not been used by lower courts to overturn many gun regulations.

Since McDonald, the court has been biding its time. But the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who authored the court’s relatively narrow opinion in Heller, and Anthony Kennedy, who may have had a moderating impact on the 5-4 opinions, are no longer on the court. The Roberts court, with Donald Trump’s very conservative nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh firmly in place, may be ready to more aggressively expand the Second Amendment, starting with this case.

It is possible, but very unlikely, that the court took the case to uphold the ban and lend its concurrence to a lower court’s judgment in a minor case. The smart money would be that the court took the case so that it could strike down New York City’s regulation. Assuming the court does so, how the court strikes it down matters.

It is possible that the Supreme Court will overturn the appeals court and throw out the law with a broad, aggressive opinion establishing a standard of judicial review for gun control laws that would threaten a substantial number of common gun regulations, including many of those that already exist in New York and some of the bills Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to soon sign into law, such as a prohibition on school employees carrying guns in schools. This would be a devastating blow in a country in which gun control laws are already far too lax.

But probably the most likely outcome is that the court strikes down the law with a minimalist opinion focusing on the specific facts of the case without necessarily doing much to clarify the scope of the Second Amendment as it might apply to future cases. The regulation under review is unusual, as most regulations apply either to keeping firearms out of the hands of people unfit to carry them or to particularly unsafe weapons, which would not be directly threatened by a narrow ruling applying to the specific facts of this case. This would still be significant as gun rights advocates would press more cases and lower courts increasingly filled with young, reactionary judges appointed by Trump would then have more ammunition to push the envelope.

The challenge to New York City’s idiosyncratic gun regulation, then, may ultimately just be a footnote in the ongoing battle over gun control. But it may also be remembered as the case that announced the Supreme Court’s war on states like New York that want to regulate firearms more than the rest of the nation.

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Scott Lemieux is a lecturer in political science at the University of Washington.

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CREDIT

ENLIGHTEN

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ENLIGHTE NMENTIN A DARK AGE Former Rep. STEVE ISRAEL is confronting our volatile era with a world-class politics institute.

by J O N L E N T Z

D

EMOCRATS AND Republicans are at each other’s throats. Foreign crises are erupting across the globe.

The American electorate, transfixed by the latest Twitter fights and susceptible to the spread of fake news, is swinging the country from right to left and back again.

“In 16 years in Congress, one of the lessons I learned was that for many policymakers, nothing matters until the military gives it an acronym – and the acronym that the military now applies to our state of affairs is VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous,” said Steve Israel, a former congressman who left office two years ago. “We now have one of the most volatile and complex political environments in our history. Yet we tend to apply

simple sound bites to that.”

And unlike many fellow Democrats, Israel insists it’s not just President Donald Trump.

“All of our politics is chaotic, across the board,” he said. “Just take a look at recent electoral history. In 2008, Americans elect Barack Obama. In 2010, they elect a sweeping Republican majority in the House to counter Barack Obama. In 2012, they re-elect Barack Obama. In 2014, they preserve the Republican majority to counter Barack Obama. In 2016, they elect Donald Trump. And in 2018, they elect a Democratic majority to counter Trump. If that’s not volatile, I don’t know what is!”

Israel’s answer to the fraught political era that we find ourselves in? This spring, he is launching a new academic institute – the Cornell Institute of Politics and Global Affairs – to “raise the discourse, deepen the understanding of political affairs,” he said. “I want the Institute of Politics to be the place that New Yorkers go to for an en-

riched understanding of political content and enhanced access to political leaders.”

Israel’s new, nonpartisan politics institute at Cornell University won’t be the first of its kind. In fact, Israel launched a similar entity, the Long Island University Global Institute, based at the school’s Brookville campus, shortly after retiring from Congress. Such luminaries as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Joseph Biden, Colin Powell and David Petraeus have come to speak at the LIU institute, a separate entity that Israel will remain affiliated with.

But this time, he is expanding his portfolio and setting his sights higher, partnering with a pre-eminent Ivy League university while aiming to emulate the track record of similar political institutes at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. Since its 2013 launch, the University of Chicago Institute of Politics has become a destination for political figures under the leadership of David Axelrod,

P O R T R A I T by J I L L G R E E N B E R G

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Barack Obama’s former political strategist, hosting the likes of Obama, Biden, Bernie Sanders, John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Israel believes New York should have its own version – and he is hoping to fill that void when Cornell University’s politics institute officially launches on March 1.

After all, the state is home to many of the nation’s best-known politicians – like sports stars, some are identifiable by a single name: Trump, Schumer, AOC, Hakeem. As many as half a dozen New Yorkers are at least flirting with a presidential run, from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who recently announced her candidacy, to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is expected to make a decision soon, to longer shots like Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“One of the reasons I believe that an institute of politics is valuable in New York is because New York has become an epicenter of intense political activity,” Israel said.

“The minority leader of the Senate is a New Yorker. The president of the United States, a New Yorker. The chairman of the Democratic caucus, a New Yorker. The early and brisk winds of change in Congress came to New York with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary outcome. The midterm elections changed more seats than anybody thought in New York. So New York really is the nexus of these swirling political winds – and a perfect place for an institute of politics and global affairs.” lsrael, who was invited by Axelrod to teach a course on the midterm elections at the University of Chicago this past fall, learned some valuable lessons.

“What I learned at the University of Chicago was that it’s become an almost mandatory place for political leaders to go – if they can wrangle an invitation, which is hard to get!” Israel said. “I would love to emulate that in New York.”

In early March, Israel plans to unveil an ambitious 2019 program. Democratic presidential contenders are already lining up to speak. Legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, including a number of Israel’s former colleagues, are being invited. Top Trump administration officials may make their way to Cornell’s flagship campus in Ithaca as well.

“I’ve talked to several Democratic presidential candidates who have agreed to come,” Israel said, although he wouldn’t name any names quite yet. “I’m hoping the Cornell Institute will be a stopping-off point for anybody running for president.”

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For those who know Steve Israel, it’s not surprising to find him heading up such an institute. He was a bookworm growing up, staying inside reading and writing when his peers were out playing ball. As a youth he submitted his first op-ed to Newsday, making the case for a monorail running down the Long Island Expressway from Riverhead to New York City. The newspaper published it, but didn’t note that the author was just 13 years old.

“You can’t imagine how many phone calls and letters I received from monorail companies wanting to hire me as a consultant,” Israel said. “Then I realized politics could be pretty good! It taught me a lesson that if you have a platform, you can get things done and get people to agree with you. That’s what kind of solidified it for me.”

He has been writing ever since – especially in his post-congressional career, which has allowed him to purse his love of teaching as well. “I tell you, as a member of Congress, I had town halls, I had to face off with angry and challenging constituents –

nothing compared to a student in one of my classes!” he said with a laugh.

While Israel was a relatively moderate congressman, given his politically divided Long Island district, he was not shy about fighting for Democratic causes, and even led the party’s House campaign efforts for several years.

But now, he is deliberately taking a more measured approach as the head of a nonpartisan institute.

“Absolutely, completely nonpartisan,” Israel said. “Sound bites just aren’t working any more. And to really understand the complexity and the volatility of politics, you have to be exposed to arguments outside your comfort zone. That’s one of the services we will provide.”

In an interview, Israel elaborated on why New York needs such an institute – now more than ever.

With President Donald Trump on one side and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the other, are they prime examples of politicians offering sound bites as op-

“WE NOW HAVE ONE OF THE MOST VOLATILE AND COMPLEX POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS IN OUR HISTORY. YET WE TEND TO APPLY SIMPLE SOUND BITES TO THAT.”

February 4, 2019

AT A GLANCE

represented by a Republican, now it’s represented by a Democrat. That’s another example of volatility in the electorate right now.

Directed by: Steve Israel

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn held a position you previously had, leading the House Democrats’ messaging. How did he do in that role – and what are his future prospects?

I think the sky’s the limit for Hakeem Jeffries. I worked closely with him when I was in Congress. There are three types of members of the House. Everybody’s climbing a ladder, trying to advance. There are three types of people on that ladder. There are ones ahead who are stomping on the knuckles of the person behind. There are those at the bottom grabbing the ankles of the people ahead of them. And then there are people like Hakeem Jeffries, who works with everybody, who lifts people up and supports people in front of him. So he’s become the quintessential model of excellence as a member of Congress, so it’s no surprise to me that he’s the chairman of the caucus – and will go even further if he so desires.

THE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS AT CORNELL Activities: Talks and panel discussions with leading U.S. and international government figures and scholars at the university’s flagship Ithaca campus, in the New York City metro area, in Washington, D.C., and abroad.

Academics: Faculty and students will drive programming, and Steve Israel will teach a class at the Ithaca campus – with the potential for an expanded teaching component in the future.

Study abroad: The institute will travel overseas to meet with leaders around the globe, likely including the Middle East and Asia.

Launch date: March 1, 2019 Team: 5 staffers as well as a faculty director and faculty partnerships Location: Offices on Long Island and in New York City, and a heavy presence in Ithaca

posed to real substance?

Look, people tend to view New York as a solidly blue state, and it may be a blue state in presidential elections, but it’s mostly pockets of purple. I served as a congressman for 16 years representing a quintessential middle-class community that could as easily vote for a Democrat as a Republican, or could as easily vote for a Republican as a Democrat. So the complexity of issues confronting those areas are different from other areas of New York. New York is just a fabric of different outlooks and dispositions, and one of the things the institute will be doing is examining that fabric.

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Ocasio-Cortez has become a national progressive icon. But there also are new Democratic House members from New York like Antonio Delgado and Max Rose who are more moderate.

I chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for four years, and so my job was not to look at the map as a whole, but to look at single districts in that map and examine what was happening in those districts. The complexity of politics for Democrats in the House right now is that there’s this incredible new energy and a vitally necessary infusion of progressives. At the same time, the growth in the Democratic caucus came from districts that were right of center.

So the analogy I often use is the Brooklyn analogy. The way the Democrats won the midterms in 2018, they won it in two places: They won in Brooklyn, New York, with progressive energy. They also won in Brooklyn, Iowa, with a more moderate candidate in a more moderate district. Brooklyn, Iowa, was

By contrast, there are reports that some fellow Democrats are unhappy with Ocasio-Cortez.

One of the things that I will not do as the new director of the Institute of Politics is

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fense. Were you vindicated?

I don’t need to be vindicated or validated.

I made that case because I was very close to her. I was her political lieutenant for four years while I chaired the DCCC, and I saw firsthand how she gets things done. I believe that if she had not been selected as speaker, the outcome of the shutdown may have been different.

Look, I may be a Democrat, but the only thing that I’m really partisan about is my love of the New York Mets. The argument that well, Mike Piazza has been with us a long time, so, you know, let’s let him go – no, if you’re good and you produce runs and you’re good at defense, you don’t go until you are not producing runs or you lose your ability at defense. Pelosi was producing runs, and she knew how to defend.

Early on last year you were skeptical about whether Democrats would pick up enough seats to take back the House, and you emphasized the importance of gubernatorial elections. How did that play out?

I’m not in the business of advising Democrats anymore, although I am a Democrat, but one of the things I think Democrats have recognized is what Republicans recognized in 2010, which is you can’t be a one-tool player.

You can’t just be about House races, or Sen-

“PEOPLE TEND TO VIEW NEW YORK AS A SOLIDLY BLUE STATE, BUT IT’S MOSTLY POCKETS OF PURPLE.” to pass judgment on any member of Congress. They make their own judgments as to how they will lead. What I will say is that success in Congress for many members requires a national platform, national effectiveness, while at the same time working hard for constituents.

Look, I was the DCCC chair, so I had this national platform in a district that didn’t have a strong affinity for Democrats. And we worked through that by making sure that if there was a veteran who was entitled to back pay or didn’t get a medal that he or she deserved, we busted our butts to get that done. So Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, I think she’ll be fine, because she will balance the two.

I was struck by the fact that she embraced Pelosi – She voted for her.

When some younger members were challenging Nancy Pelosi’s leadership after the election, you came to her de-

ate races. You can’t just be about governors.

You’ve got to do both. Now the Republican Party mastered this in 2010 when they defeated over 1,000 state and local Democrats around the country to control the redistricting and built a firewall. Democrats I think have recently and successfully emulated that effort, through the Democratic Governors Association and Eric Holder’s national redistricting trust. They’ve realized that you have to play short-term and long-term at the same time, something that Republicans schooled them on in 2010 and 2012.

Redistricting is a critical issue for both parties. Is it getting enough attention?

It is now. When I was partisan Democrat in Congress, I was very frustrated at the lack of attention that Democrats were giving to governors because I knew that governors were going to be essential to the drawing of maps that would protect Democrats. Forget partisan redistricting. If you just had fair redistricting standards in every state, Democrats would have 44 more seats than

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“AN UNLIKELY LEGISLATIVE DUO CAME TOGETHER TO RESPOND TO THE REFUGEE CRISIS IN NAZI GERMANY. … WHEN YOU READ THE TRANSCRIPTS, IT IS AS IF YOU ARE READING TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS.” they had in the last Congress. Now they actually took 40 in the midterm election.

One of the things we’re going to look at, without a partisan taint to it, is the effect of gerrymandered redistricting on our political discourse and on dynamics on Capitol Hill.

The new Cornell institute has the term “global affairs” in its name. What are the biggest international threats you see?

In Congress, I was deeply active and specialized in national security, a member of the Armed Services Committee, a member of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

I have never seen a global environment as volatile and as complicated as we have now.

Today we are withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, and at the same time there’s some contemplation of sending them to Venezuela.

That is pretty volatile! That is unpredictable!

One of the things I want to do at the institute is delving into those global complexities, because they impact New York immensely!

Trade impacts New York immensely! Global technologies impact business in New York.

The military movements abroad have an immediate impact to New York. The institute will be bringing those global leaders, political leaders and thought leaders to New York to explain what is happening in the world and to discuss how we address those trends.

Where will you be going?

I anticipate the Middle East and Asia. The rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe deserves more study and focused understanding. Quite literally, the world is our horizon.

There’s a Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Will you be working with them?

The thing that really attracted me to Cornell, other than it’s an Ivy League institution, was its extraordinary innovation. The fact that they have a tech campus on Roosevelt Island really appealed to me because a lot of our public policy and our politics will apply to the fastest pace of technological change that we’ve ever seen. So there’s this new intersection between technology and public policy, and what better place than the Cornell University Roosevelt Island campus? So we’re

going to be very active in that space and do conferences and research there.

You have a recent novel out called “Big Guns.” Are you working on a new novel?

I specialize in political satire. Right now the market for political satire is soft. It’s soft because we’re surrounded by political satire!

You don’t need to pay money for a book when you can get it from a tweet. You can get it from the late-night talk shows. So I’ve decided to take a hiatus from political satire and I’m right now working on a nonfiction book about the politics of immigration in Washington during the Holocaust, which I think has some application to current debate.

STEVE ISRAEL’S REQUIRED READING LIST

The former congressman and the author of the political satires “Big Guns” and “The Global War on Morris” reads several books a week.

Now a lecturer on politics, he compiled a list of essential books for today’s political moment.

THE POWER BROKER: ROBERT MOSES AND THE FALL OF NEW YORK

By Robert A. Caro “That is required reading for anybody who wants to understand the evolution of politics in New York.”

ENCHANTED AMERICA: HOW INTUITION AND REASON DIVIDE OUR POLITICS

By J. Eric Oliver and Thomas J. Wood “It argues that the electorate right now is not Democrats vs. Republicans.

It’s intuitionalists vs. rationalists. One is not better than the other. The American electorate up until recently has largely been comprised of voters who balance the two, but now the electorate is really either-or.”

Can you elaborate on that?

It was an unlikely legislative duo that came together to respond to the refugee crisis in Nazi Germany. One was Sen. Robert Wagner, who emigrated from Prussia to this country, was a ward heeler for Tammany Hall, just a good old New York street fighter. The other was a Republican congresswoman, Edith Nourse Rogers from Boston, who graduated from a finishing school in Paris, France, who was a critic of FDR, and loved to wear gardenias and orchids on the shoulder.

These two people, polar opposites, came together to introduce a bill to provide 20,000 additional visas to German children who wanted to flee Nazi Germany after the Kristallnacht, the “Night of the Broken Glass.” They introduce it in February 1939, when many people thought it was going to pass.

When you read the transcripts of the hearings, it is as if you are reading today’s newspapers about what is happening on the southern border. The same nativism, the same xenophobia, in many cases the same quotes. I want to do a book about that process, those dynamics behind the scenes in Washington in 1939. I want to explain what happened to that bill – but I’m not going to give away the ending.

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ON GRAND STRATEGY

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February 4, 2019

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OV. ANDREW CUOMO is finally rolling up to the party. After years of decrying it as a “gateway drug,” the governor has unveiled a robust plan to legalize recreational marijuana. If the state Legislature approves the plan, it will bring big changes to New York. The budding industry will likely attract new companies looking to capitalize on legalization, adding a new source of revenue for the state to tap into. Many advocates for legalization have demanded that the new legal framework benefit minority communities that have been disproportionately affected by marijuana policing, a task

easier said than done. Balancing business interests with racial justice may prove to be difficult. Indeed, Assembly Democrats are already suggesting that the complexities could prevent an agreement from being reached by the April 1 budget deadline.

In this special section on marijuana legalization, we identify the companies looking to gain a foothold in the state, and we assess the impact on the communities most hurt by past marijuana-related enforcement. And since those are just two of the myriad issues under discussion, we dove into the weeds to answer many of the other big questions about recreational marijuana, should legalization come to New York.

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The scramble to profit from legal pot

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HE EMPIRE STATE’S most popular illegal drug is poised to become its hottest legitimate business opportunity.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s rapid conversion on marijuana legalization – from chief obstacle to chief advocate – has triggered a gold rush mentality among marijuana entrepreneurs, who are investing deeply in what could quickly become one of the world’s most important emerging markets.

Even though how, exactly, the state plans to regulate the drug remains nebulous.

“It’s unbelievable for entrepreneurs,” said Hadley Ford, CEO and director of iAnthus Capital, a marijuana company operating in New York. “It is a free market, entrepreneurial, capitalism-at-its-best opportunity for anyone that’s got a passion for the world of cannabis. It’s fantastic.”

While total potential marijuana sales are hazy, the estimates are impressive. People spent an estimated $61.2 billion on illegal marijuana purchases in North America in 2018, according to a recent report

by Arcview Market Research in partnership with BDS Analytics that was provided to City & State. New York state’s tightly controlled medical marijuana market, with just 30 dispensaries, pulled in nearly $264 million last year according to the report, and analysts project total marijuana sales could jump to more than $1.5 billion by 2022 with full legalization of the drug that is expected to come this session.

“There’s always a chance that as one of the biggest states in the country, it could

quickly become one of the biggest markets in the world,” said Tom Adams, managing director and principal analyst of industry intelligence at BDS. Some industry experts go even further.

“New York is going to be one of the most consequential cannabis markets not just in the country, but in the world,” said John Kagia, chief knowledge officer for marijuana market analysis firm New Frontier Data.

Given the state’s large population, its Wall Street money as well as its magnified influence as a tourist mecca and role in “defining global cool,” Kagia said, “that nexus will make New York phenomenally influential in shaping tastes and trends for the industry.”

Much of the political chatter about legalization has centered around a social justice imperative to, as Cuomo said in his State of the State address, “create an industry that empowers the poor communities … not the rich corporations who come in to make a profit.”

The governor’s vision could become a reality as soon as April 1, as part of the state budget, as long as it can be reconciled with Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes’ and state Sen. Liz Krueger’s existing marijuana legalization bill. Their languishing proposal is designed to benefit communities of color who have disproportionate incarceration rates for marijuana-related crimes by aggressively decentralizing marijuana production and boosting small businesses.

Still, it’s far from certain how that can be achieved when so many well-orga-

nized corporate players are already poised to profit from legalization. Rhetoric about social justice has often been a part of the sales pitch in the 10 states and the District of Columbia that have preceded New York in legalizing the drug for recreational use.

“As we’ve seen places implement legalization around the country, the issue of racial and economic equity is not something that anyone has gotten right yet,” said Robert Galbraith, senior research analyst at the Public Accountability Initiative in Buffalo. In fact, he said at this point records show that familiar power players in New York are well-positioned to reap the benefits of legalization.

Galbraith noted that several wealthy Cuomo donors are busy locking up market share in the burgeoning cannabis industry – both to sell it as a legal drug but also to capitalize on its usefulness as hemp.

Richard and Robert Sands, who have do-

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by F R A N K G . R U N Y E O N

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nated more than $300,000 to the governor and own major alcohol distributor Constellation Brands, spent $4 billion to buy 38 percent of Canadian marijuana giant Canopy Growth shortly after New York state health officials endorsed marijuana legalization last summer. In turn, Canopy announced plans in January to invest up to $150 million in a hemp processing center in Binghamton. The Falcone family, which owns real estate firm Pioneer Companies, announced it will build a hemp processing facility with the help of a $650,000 state grant. The family and its companies have donated at least $180,000 to Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaigns. In Buffalo, Brad Termini, son of real estate developer and Cuomo donor Rocco Termini, has plans to build a $200 million marijuana growing and processing operation on the waterfront.

“From the way it looks now, you have the same economic actors that have benefited wonderfully from the status quo are the ones

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who are currently best situated to capitalize and profit from legalization,” Galbraith said.

Beyond those deep-pocketed donors capitalizing on infrastructure projects, the medical marijuana companies that have the state’s 10 distribution licenses may also be among the best situated to profit – particularly those with the most influential political connections and the thickest wallets, analysts note. Acreage Holdings certainly fits the bill, with Wall Street backers and former House Speaker John Boehner on its advisory board. But that doesn’t mean the company feels warmly welcomed.

“I think the governor and Assembly has spoken: They’re very anti-big business. Message heard loud and clear,” said Acreage Holdings President George Allen, adding that his company will find a way to work within the state’s forthcoming rules.

Marijuana executives told City & State that taxes and licensing requirements were

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among their chief concerns.

“There are some elements that are navigable but challenging, but the one thing is this grab for tax dollars,” Allen said. “In New York City specifically, we have the most rampant underground cannabis market in the world, and if you want to keep it that way, keep taxes high.”

Amid talk of using new marijuana revenues to fund everything from the beleaguered New York City subways to communities targeted by stop-and-frisk policing, some in the marijuana industry are concerned by the prospect of overzealous taxation. They see a cautionary tale on the West Coast.

California’s legal marijuana market shrank last year as it failed to compete with black market marijuana that was significantly cheaper, Adams said. Legal weed was 77 percent more expensive in California thanks to state taxes, BDS found in its report.

“There is no doubt that what happened

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in California last year has caused many people to tap the brakes and say, ‘Wait a minute. This might not be as straightforward as we thought,’” Adams said. The conundrum is setting taxes and regulations at a level that brings in tax revenue and controls quality, but does not raise the cost of legal marijuana so much that the thriving illegal market sails on unharmed as it undercuts legitimate businesses.

While Krueger is sensitive to keeping prices low for consumers, she is far less sympathetic to concerns over company profits. “I’m a little cynical about the industry’s hysteria that they won’t be able to price and make a reasonable profit,” she said. “I have not seen a study about the baseline cost of producing recreational marijuana. I think it’s a lot lower than these companies are trying to claim.”

The state senator added: “They dost protest too much. It’s just a plant you grow.”

While some medical marijuana executives expressed concerns that efforts to broaden access to historically disadvantaged communities could result in lax regulations that may endanger quality and safety, others agreed that New York was likely to err on the side of tight controls.

Amid all the frenetic energy from eager executives, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact

that marijuana reiAnthus Capital opened its first mains an illicit Schedmedical marijuaule I drug – alongside na dispensary in heroin, LSD and ecNew York under stasy – classified by its Citiva subsidthe Drug Enforcement iary at the end of Administration as a December. drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. As 33 states have now legalized marijuana for medical use and 10 states have legalized it for recreational use, some influential proponents – like Acreage – believe Congress could legalize the drug nationally in 2019. After all, Republican lawmakers legalized hemp production in the 2018 Farm Bill. Full cannabis legalization is the logical next step, they argue.

Still, some key Albany legislators – currently in the throes of passing landmark liberal legislation on a near-daily basis – say they are not in a hurry to legalize marijuana.

“I have a lot of colleagues coming to me saying that it’s rushing it to do it in the budget,” said Krueger, sponsor of the state Senate’s marijuana legalization bill. She doesn’t mind that a looming budget deadline of April 1 is pressuring legislators to examine the details of the issue, but it doesn’t matter to her whether a legalization bill passes in the budget or later this session.

“I will say some areas weren’t fleshed out in the governor’s proposal. I might even add that some of it’s missing,” Krueger said. “Their pricing and tax section was not complete and I think they’re even privately admitting that.”

Given the money at stake, the state’s emerging marijuana magnates will be watching carefully to see how those blanks are filled in. “Regulatory at the local level is always a concern,” said Ford, the head of the marijuana company iAnthus. “You’ve got to be a part of the process, not opposed

NY’s Patients Deserve Better Access to Medication Tatiana Gonzalez, Family Nurse Practitioner, NYSDOH Registered Medical Marijuana Provider Five years ago, New York demonstrated exceptional leadership by establishing a strong, well-regulated medical marijuana program that enabled practitioners to connect patients with the care they need. As a Nurse Practitioner, I’ve spent the past two years certifying patients for the program. But the program only allows for 40 dispensaries statewide – with far less in active operation. That’s one dispensary for every 500,000 New Yorkers, covering as much as 1,400 square miles each. As a medical professional responsible for recommending the best possible care to my patients, I can tell you first-hand that it’s simply not enough.

I am reminded of the 10-year-old girl from Rockland County with epilepsy that stood beside Governor Cuomo as he signed New York’s Compassionate Care Act into law. Luckily, the state approved patients with her condition for treatment, and her home was near several dispensaries — but for the vast

majority of New Yorkers, neither of those things hold true. There are hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who would be eligible for medical marijuana, but live as far as three hours from the nearest dispensary. Others live close enough to a dispensary, but the lack of competition drives higher prices.

Millions more are barred from the program because they do not have one of the limited number of qualifying conditions – even though their healthcare providers know that medical marijuana would ease their symptoms.

Right now, state law outlines just 13 qualifying conditions, severely constraining practitioners’ ability to provide the best care, and restricting patients’ access to the best available means of managing their symptoms.

New York’s program ensures the 87,855 participating patients have access to medication that is high quality and free from contaminants. It’s imperative that the market remains well-regulated but

also critical for the state to increase the number of dispensaries. It’s not enough to simply create the program – we need to ensure that patients who will benefit from this medication have equitable access, regardless of their zip code.

Of the eligible patients that visit a dispensary, only 66.5 percent return, citing distance as one of the primary reasons. Governor Cuomo and legislators took a great step for New Yorkers suffering from debilitating conditions in 2014, but five years later, we must again demonstrate our national leadership by giving medical professionals discretion in prescribing medical marijuana, and by increasing the number of dispensaries to ensure all New Yorkers have access to the treatments they need.

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FAQ HOW WILL SALES AND LICENSING WORK?

to it. You’ve got to kiss the rings and make your appropriate donations so you have access, be a part of the dialogue and advocate your position on behalf of your patients and staff and shareholders. But I don’t lose sleep over that. It’s a natural process.”

The bigger concern, Ford said, is staffing up: He’s already recruiting “top talent” to fill 1,100 new positions he expects to open up soon at iAnthus.

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THE STATE PLANS to offer individual licenses for cultivation, processing, distributing, retail and on-site consumption.

Anyone with a cultivation license to grow marijuana would not be allowed to also have a retail license to sell it. A single entity can, however, hold a processing and distribution license.

The idea is to avoid the vertical integration of the marijuana business and ensure a separation between the companies growing the product and those who ultimately sell it to consumers. This structure is different than the state’s medical marijuana industry, in which the same company that grows and processes the drug is the same company that runs the dispensaries.

There is an exception for organizations currently registered with the medical marijuana program that would allow them to produce and sell recreational marijuana without being subject to the restrictions applied to other companies.

On-site consumption licenses permit

consumers to use or ingest marijuana products within their premises. Those with a retail license may also have one for on-site consumption, though there are restrictions about consumption within locations that are also dispensaries.

And don’t expect to be able to purchase marijuana products at bars, as any location with a liquor license would not be allowed to have a retail license for marijuana.

WILL THERE BE A CAP ON LICENSES?

CUOMO’S PROPOSAL MAY set a limit on the number of licenses issued, but leaves that decision up to the unnamed executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management. That person could choose a number, or choose not to impose a limit. If the rules turn out anything like the medical marijuana program, licensing could be fairly restrictive. Only 10 medical marijuana companies are allowed to operate in the state, up from five initially, and each can only have a maximum of four dispensaries.

Frank G. Runyeon is a freelance reporter in New York City.

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Will legalizing recreational marijuana do enough for people of color?

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had a snappy idea for her New York City public advocate campaign: “Weed for Rails.” A great tagline with sharp art, it had a simple premise: legalize recreational marijuana and use the tax proceeds to help fund the New York City subways, which – needless to say – could use some help.

But New York City Councilman Rafael Espinal Jr., one of roughly 20 rivals for the vacant post, found fault with the former council speaker, calling the plan “tone deaf to the historic realities.” Instead, he said, revenue should be directed to “specifically support black and brown communities that have been most historically affected by marijuana enforcement laws.”

Mark-Viverito’s campaign shot back that she fully agreed. While it should be noted that the next public advocate will have virtually no say in where state tax revenue would be directed, it was just one example of just how much Espinal’s position had become accepted progressive orthodoxy. Supporting marijuana legalization in New York state is now a given among the state’s Democratic majority. The real lefty litmus test is how policymakers plan to involve people of color in that process. And stakeholders say they’re eagerly waiting for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers to hash out the details.

“He’s become some great progressive now. Nice words in his speech,” said Bertha Lewis, a longtime Cuomo critic now leading the We Rise to Legalize campaign, which advocates for incorporating racial justice in marijuana legalization. “But the devil is in the details.”

For supporters like Lewis, Cuomo certainly offered some nice words in his Jan. 15 State of the State and budget address, where he made legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana a central focus.

Only people over 21 would be allowed to buy and use the drug, the governor said, while counties and “large cities” would be allowed to opt out of the program. But the ELISSA MARK-VIVERITO

address and the accompanying bill showed that the governor’s team is keenly aware of the calls to have people of color involved in the industry.

“Stop the disproportionate criminal impact on communities of color,” Cuomo said during his speech. “And let’s create an industry that empowers the poor communities that pay the price and not the rich corporations who come in to make a profit.”

The proposal includes automatically sealing some records for marijuana-related crimes. And when issuing business licenses, the state will favor applicants that promise to “contribute to communities and people disproportionately harmed by cannabis law enforcement.” The state would also have to set up an equity plan and prioritize the applications of minority- and women-owned businesses. More broadly, the law would reduce almost all marijuana-related crimes – except for large-scale illegal trafficking – to misdemeanors and would attempt to maintain good working conditions by essentially mandating that all workers in the industry are unionized.

The details of Cuomo’s cannabis plan are extensive. The draft bill takes up 191 pages in his book of legislative proposals, almost as much space as the other 48 proposals combined. But there seems to be a lot of leeway when it comes to implementing the portions focused on equity for people of color.

Asked whether New Yorkers imprisoned on marijuana-related offenses would be released, a spokeswoman for Cuomo’s office noted the bill’s malleability. “The current proposal provides a robust framework for the automatic sealing of certain cannabis related convictions and we look forward to identifying additional measures, including resentencing, that reduce the direct and collateral consequences of cannabis convictions,” Nicole Leblond said in an email to City & State.

Chante Harris, a vice president with Capalino+Company, a lobbying firm representing companies interested in entering

New York’s cannabis market, agreed that there was more to come. “I think a lot of these things will get hashed out later on,” she said. Harris told City & State that there are big question marks around how the state will handle clearing people’s criminal records, and also how the state will work with disadvantaged business owners. New York already has an MWBE program, and Cuomo has set a goal of getting 30 percent of state contracting dollars to companies with majority ownership by women and/or racial minorities. Lewis suggested that the state could write that 30 percent goal into the recreational marijuana bill.

There’s reason to be skeptical of the administration’s efforts, however. New York’s medical marijuana program, which was legalized in 2014, has been roundly criticized for not including people of color. Of the 10 companies granted licenses in New York, not one of them is majority black-owned. “Most people can acknowledge the way the medical market was set up didn’t make it accessible to most New Yorkers,” Harris said.

State officials seem to have heard the criticism. The medical marijuana program, for example, is vertically integrated, meaning that companies can cultivate, distribute and sell cannabis “from seed to sale.”

The recreational marijuana proposal would

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be horizontally integrated, with companies receiving licenses for only one part of the process – cultivating, processing, distributing or retailing. A single firm would be allowed to hold multiple licenses to grow and distribute, but wouldn’t then be allowed to sell it to consumers. That structure is meant to allow more companies to enter the market with lower overhead costs and lower investment – in theory making the market more accessible for historically disadvantaged communities.

Cuomo’s proposal isn’t the only one on the table. Though the governor has outsized power in budget negotiations, Democratic legislators have been introducing their own marijuana legalization bills for years. The most recent version, sponsored by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, is even more explicit about efforts to benefit people of color. The bill gives more detail about how to clear past criminal records, creating a process for New Yorkers convicted of marijuana-related offenses to petition the court for resentencing, or to vacate the case. The bill creates a $5 million business loan fund to help launch small minority- or women-owned businesses. And Krueger’s and

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Peoples-Stokes’ bill specifically mentions tax revenue going toward “communities disproportionately affected by past federal and state drug policies” – a clause absent in the governor’s bill.

Thanks to the new Democratic state Senate majority, legislators have been passing bills at a relatively rapid pace to open the session. But the complexities of the pot bill mean that it might not get done by the budget, due April 1.

“I believe this can be achieved in the budget process, but if we need to wait until later in the session to bring people on board, then that’s what we’ll do,” Krueger said. “The communities hardest hit by the failed policy of prohibition have been very patient. It’s time to get this done.”

In the meantime, Lewis’ campaign, We Rise to Legalize, is reaching out to communities of color across the state to get more support for its concerns about the proposal.

“In the end, is the governor going to stand with us, the people who have paid the price over the years because of this war on drugs?” Lewis asked. “I’ll be damned if we’re going to stand by and at least not fight to get communities of color included in this new industry.”

FAQ WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE CONVICTED OF MARIJUANA-RELATED CRIMES?

THE NEW PROPOSED Office of Cannabis Management could review and seal past marijuana convictions, although the speed at which this might occur is not made clear in Cuomo’s proposal. The process may involve resentencing for those currently imprisoned to reflect lesser charges under new laws.

DOES THIS MEAN THERE WILL BE NO MORE MARIJUANA ARRESTS?

WHILE MARIJUANA WOULD be legal under Cuomo’s proposal, that does not mean that people will no longer be arrested on marijuana-related charges. Aside from DWI and DUI charges, growing a cannabis plant or selling marijuana without a license would still be against the law. Depending on the pricing and availability of the drug, there is a good chance that a black market would still exist that does not comply with new state regulations. For the most part, those found in violation of new laws and regulations would be charged with misdemeanors.

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HASHING the DETAI G CityAndStateNY.com

OV. ANDREW CUOMO unveiled a plan to legalize and tax recreational marijuana as part of his executive budget proposal.

The section spelling out the many, many details of marijuana legalization spans a whopping 191 pages. That gives lawmakers, advocates and opponents a lot to sift through. Some questions are answered in the bill, while other questions will likely spark ongoing debate over the next year. Here are some of the most pressing questions regarding what now seems like the nearly inevitable legalization of recreational marijuana in New York.

HOW MANY OTHER STATES ALLOW LEGAL MARIJUANA?

A total of 10 states and the District of Columbia have fully legalized recreational marijuana for adult use: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine. New York would be somewhat unusual among these states by legalizing marijuana through a statute, rather than through a ballot referendum with additional laws and regulations established after the

February 4, 2019

fact. The only other state to go this route was Vermont, whose law went into effect in July 2018.

BUT ISN’T THIS STILL TECHNICALLY ILLEGAL ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL?

Marijuana is still considered a Schedule I drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration, meaning the federal government considers it to have the highest risk for abuse and no accepted medical use. Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department eased its enforcement of federal drug laws in states that had legalized marijuana. The Trump administration reversed that decision, but no state has faced serious consequences for its medical or recreational marijuana programs yet.

WHO WILL OVERSEE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA?

Cuomo has proposed creating a new Office of Cannabis Management to oversee not just recreational marijuana but medical marijuana and industrial hemp as well.

The office would be part of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the state Liquor Authority. It would be in charge of licensing growers, processors and distributors, as well as certifying patients for medical use.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE STATE’S EXISTING MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROGRAM?

Much of the debate surrounding the legalization of recreational marijuana has centered around criminal justice and potential tax revenue. The fate of the state’s medical marijuana program, established in 2014 through the Compassionate Care Act, has played a smaller role in the conversation. Under Cuomo’s new budget proposal, patients with a “serious condition” must still receive certification from a doctor for medical marijuana, only now the Office of Cannabis Management would register patients, rather than the state Department of Health, which currently handles the program. This is still for the most part restricted to a limited number of conditions previously enumerated by the state, but Cuomo’s proposal expands the list slightly to include Alzheimer’s disease, muscular dystrophy, dystonia, rheumatoid arthritis and autism. It also gives the executive director of the Office

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What we know – and what we don’t – about legalizing marijuana in New York.

by R E B E C C A C . L E W I S

of Cannabis Management the authority to add more conditions. Medical providers must also still register with the state after completing a short educational course.

Overall, the proposal mostly transfers the program intact to the Office of Cannabis Management.

ARE THERE ANY CHANGES FOR PATIENTS USING MEDICAL MARIJUANA?

One notable change to the program is that patients would be able to grow their own marijuana at home, with a limit of four plants per registered patient. Patients previously were not allowed not grow marijuana, and the new proposal does not extend to recreational users. Further regulations regarding home growing would be determined by the executive director of

the Office of Cannabis Management.

The program still faces a larger existential question in the face of recreational legalization, which only time will answer: whether the program will survive. Right now, medical marijuana is both expensive and difficult to come by.

According to the Times Union, it can cost some patients close to $1,000 a month, and over a third of those who registered never got the drug last year. The possible proliferation of recreational marijuana may drive people away from the medical program in favor of self-medicating.

Doctors involved with the program hope that competition from the recreational market will drive down medical marijuana prices. Those in the medical marijuana industry say allowing them to also sell recreational marijuana would lower prices.

While the circumstances are not identical to New York, Colorado did not see a significant decrease in medical marijuana patients following recreational legalization.

Colorado also instituted a lower tax rate for medical products compared to its recreational counterparts.

SO HOW MUCH CAN I LEGALLY CARRY AT ONCE?

According to The Buffalo News, you would be able to carry up to 1 ounce of cannabis or 5 grams of concentrated cannabis. This

is also the same amount that a retailer would be allowed to sell to a single person in one day.

WHAT ABOUT HEMP?

The cannabis plant comes in many varieties, not just those with high concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the plant’s main psychoactive component. Hemp comes from the cannabis sativa L variety of plant, which has a a THC concentration below 0.3 percent and is used for industrial purposes like clothing, paper, biofuel, food, body care and bioplastics. The state estimates hemp can be used to manufacture over 25,000 different products.

Hemp has long been classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law, lumped together with marijuana as a drug as dangerous as heroin. That changed in December 2018 when President Donald Trump declassified hemp as part of the 2018 Farm Bill, making it legal on the federal level, though leaving specifics on regulations up to individual states.

An industrial hemp pilot program already existed in New York under the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, established in 2015 and expanded in 2017 to

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February 4, 2019

include businesses and farmers. Cuomo’s new proposal differentiates between industrial hemp, encompassing nearly all nondrug-related uses of the plant, and hemp cannabis, which refers specifically cannabis grown to cultivate cannabidiol, a popular form of hemp oil.

John Gilstrap of Hudson Hemp, an industrial hemp company participating in the pilot program, predicted that hemp will become a multibillion-dollar industry, outpacing the recreational marijuana business. “The recreational is always a sexy topic to talk about,” Gilstrap told City & State. “But people who are really into the science or to the business recognize that really, it’s the molecules, it’s all about the molecules in the end.”

HOW WILL RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA BE TAXED?

The governor proposed imposing three taxes on recreational marijuana. The first would occur during cultivation, at a rate of $1 per gram of cannabis flower or $0.25 per gram of cannabis trim. The second is a 20 percent tax on the sale of marijuana from a wholesaler to a retail dispensary. The third is a 2 percent tax on the same sale, but with proceeds going toward the county where the dispensary is located. Cuomo predicted this will generate $300 million in new revenues each year. However, he estimated that the first legal sale of recreational marijuana would not occur until at least

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April 2020, and if other states are any indication, it may take several more years for New York to see robust returns.

HOW WILL THAT NEW TAX REVENUE BE USED?

Many have already begun debating how best to use marijuana tax money, such as investing in public transportation or reinvesting it into communities of color that were hurt by marijuana policing. Cuomo’s proposal earmarked money for the administration of the program and other program-related expenses; small-business development and loans; substance abuse and mental health treatment; and public health education. Each expense seems to be directly or indirectly related to the recreational marijuana program.

Cuomo also said the Office of Cannabis Management could recommend other uses for the revenue.

Currently, it does not appear that the governor is specifically setting aside any of the money for the state’s general fund.

WILL DRIVING BECOME MORE DANGEROUS?

The short answer is maybe. In states where recreational marijuana has become legal, traffic accidents have increased. While studies haven’t proven a direct causal link between the two, the correlation is troubling.

Part of the problem, according to state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, is that there is not enough public education about the dangers of driving high. Despite the fact that research

City & State New York

has shown that driving while under the influence of marijuana slows reaction times and increases the likelihood of crashes, and a general consensus that driving while high is bad, Kaminsky referenced polling that shows there still seems to be a disconnect about just how dangerous driving high can be. “If we don’t have a conversation about road safety parallel to every other one about legalization, we’re not going to be prepared and we’re going to have fatalities,” Kaminsky told City & State. He held a roundtable with stakeholders last month to begin discussing the issue.

IS THERE A TEST FOR DRIVING WHILE HIGH?

Adding to the complications of safe driving in the age of recreational marijuana is that unlike with alcohol, there is no accurate field sobriety test for marijuana intoxication levels. Currently, the only way to determine someone’s blood THC content is through a blood test, which attorney and cannabis law expert Elizabeth Kase said can back up the court and quickly cost lots of money.

Breathalyzer-like devices claiming to accurately detect THC are in development, but are not yet on the market.

There is also the matter of determining what level of THC in the blood constitutes impairment. Some states have set the level at 5 nanograms per millimeter of blood.

But even this is imperfect, since different ingestion methods of the same amount of marijuana can lead to widely varying levels of THC in the blood.

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In order to address some of the concerns regarding impairment, Cuomo plans to convene a traffic safety commission as part of his marijuana proposal.

WHAT IF YOU DON’T WANT RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA IN YOUR TOWN?

As part of his proposal, Cuomo included the ability for municipalities to “opt out” of the new regulations by banning the cultivation, processing, distribution and sale of recreational marijuana within their jurisdictions. This does not mean that possession of marijuana would be illegal, but for the general consumer, one would need to purchase it somewhere else.

New York is not the first state to provide this option, with many municipalities in Michigan choosing to opt out of its new recreational marijuana program. So far, North Hempstead on Long Island is the only place to opt out.

Kase warned that allowing municipalities to opt out can impede the rollout of the program. She pointed to Massachusetts, which has similar opt-out options and local zoning issues, where she said it has taken the recreational marijuana program longer than planned to get up and running following its 2016 ballot initiative. Currently, the state has eight dispensaries. “I think you’re going to see more and more of this in upscale neighborhoods,” Kase said. “That is going to put a crimp and cramp in the rollout – potentially.”

HOW STRICT WILL NEW YORK’S REGULATIONS BE?

The answer to this question is still hard to determine as many specific regulations need to be established. But given the restrictive nature of New York’s medical marijuana program, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the state institutes a similarly strict recreational program.

■

26

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

February 4, 2019

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A. AS TRUSTEE FOR LSF8 MASTER PARTICIPATION TRUST, Plaintiff against JOSEPH FIORE AKA JOSEPH FRANCIS FIORE, et al Defendant(s).

February 4, 2019 For more info.

212-268-0442 Ext.2039

Email

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com A. REBECCA KELLY LAW PLLC filed Articles of Organization with the Department of State of NY on 5/18/2018. Office Location: County of New York. The Secretary of State of NY (“SSNY”) has been designated as agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any such process served to: The LLC, 64 W. 15th St., Apt. 6W, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of formation of Franks Tribe LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/24/2018.

Office location, County of New York.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 155 Wooster St., Apt. 7F, New York, NY 10012.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Full of Flavor Tapas, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 12/06/2018.

Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Maricarmen Lopez , 111 Sedgwick Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10705. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of 980 EAST 149 PROPERTY LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/05/18. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/26/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of KAZMIERSKI HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/19/18. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: Attn: Michael Kazmierski, 415 W. 47th St., Apt. 3E, NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on November 26, 2018.

I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 31st day of January, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the building and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York.

Said premises known as 1389 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11214.

(Block: 6468, Lot: 49).

Approximate amount of lien $ 386,141.96 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.

Index No. 500657-17.

Charlene Brown, Esq., Referee.

Stern & Eisenberg, PC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff Woodbridge Corporate Plaza 485 B Route 1 South – Suite 330 Iselin, NJ 08830 (732) 582-6344 *For sale information, please visit www.auction.com or call 800-2802832* Notice is hereby given that a license, number 1314591 for an “On Premises Liquor License” has been applied for by the undersigned to serve Liquor at retail in the restaurant under the Alcohol Beverage Control Law at Eisenberg’s S.S. LLC d/b/a Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop NYC, located at 174-176 5th Ave, South Store, New York, NY 10010 LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of 116 JOHN STREET NEW MASTER LEASE LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/20/18. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/14/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St.-Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

EIGHT VEGAN, LLC filed with SSNY on 09/18/2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: PAOLA BELTRAN 1760 LEXINGTON 4B NEW YORK, NY 10029.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Bright Future Montessori Daycare, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 10/01/2018. Office loc: Westchester County, N.Y. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Jailene Torres, MBA., 249 Lee Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10705. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of CWu Property, LLC filed with SSNY on January 1, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: Cara Wu, 1642 Bath Ave #2, Brooklyn, NY 11214.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of MasterPlan Studio, LLC filed with SSNY on 12/17/18. Office: NY Co. SSNY des. agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 1009 Park Ave, NYC 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Leaders of the Wave, LLC filed with SSNY 12/28/2018. Office: West.

County. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 10 California Road, Mt. Vernon, NY 10552. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of MDA PRODUCTIONS LLC. Articles of Organization filed with SSNY on 11/02/2018. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: the LLC at 1430 Broadway, Suite 1401, New York, NY 10018. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

THE CALAVERAS GROUP, LLC, Arts of Org. filed with SSNY 11/06/2018. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to LLC: 2445 8th Avenue, 33A, NY, NY 10027. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of ATLAS IMPACT FUND, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/19/18. Office location: NY County.

LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/13/18. Princ. office of LP: Attn: Richard Billig, 164 W. 79th St., Apt. 11C, NY, NY 10024.

Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Attn: Efrem Kamen, 888 Seventh Ave., 6th Fl., NY, NY 10106. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ATLAS IMPACT FUND GP, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/19/18. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/13/18. Princ. office of LLC: Attn: Richard Billig, 164 W. 79th St., Apt. 11C, NY, NY 10024.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Attn: Robert Brown, 164 W. 79th St., Apt. 11C, NY, NY 10024.

DE addr. of LLC: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of 1134 Fulton Street Investor LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/18/18. Off. Loc.: NY County. SSNY has been desig. as agent upon whom process against it may be served.

The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy to is: The LLC, 515 Ocean Ave, Lawrence, NY 11559 . Purpose: Any lawful act Notice of Formation of Amber Vittoria, LLC filed with SSNY on January 1, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 61 Lexington Avenue, Apt. 6A, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

DB Printing & Promotional Products LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 9/26/2018. Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: LLC: United States Corporation Agents, inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

February 4, 2019

Notice of Formation of AB telecommunication Specialists, LLC filed with SSNY on August 17th, 2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 316 East 83rd Street, 3B New York NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Song Family LLC Arts of Org filed with NY Sec of State (SSNY) on 8/24/18.

Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 482 Greenwich St., NY, NY 10013. General Purposes.

Notice of Formation of W7W Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/17/18.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, Att: Perry Cohen, 1350 Broadway, NY, NY 10018.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of formation of Klarbach Capital LLC. Articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State of N.Y. (SSNY)on 1/2/2019. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at1430 BROADWAY STE 1615, New York, NY10018.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of NEVIS GERMANY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/19/18. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 1501 Broadway, 24th Fl., NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Adventureland Limited Liability Company at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qual. of CORPORATE ACCESS GROUP, LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 12/18/2018. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in DE on 12/14/2018. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 902 Broadway, Ste 1611, NY, NY 10010 Attn: Tamer Farooqui. Address required to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS MTGLQ Investors, LP, Plaintiff AGAINST Oliver Barrett; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated November 28, 2018 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on February 21, 2019 at 2:30PM, premises known as 1740 East 54th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block 8493 Lot 71. Approximate amount of judgment $685,206.78 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 500455/2016.

Jack Segal, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: December 14, 2018 59942 The Loft Party, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed w SSNY 1/14/19. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: M.P. Moore, 335 Carroll St, 1D, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of The Perez Agency, LLC filed with SSNY on December 6, 2018. Office: Westchester County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 23 Mackellar Ct., Peekskill, NY 10566. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of Setauket Energy Storage, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/20/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of 50 WEST 14B HOLDINGS LLC Articles of Org. filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/3/2018. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

Original address of process was 50 West Street, Apartment 14B, NY, NY 10006 as amended by Cert. of Amendment filed with SSNY on 12/31/2018.

SSNY shall mail process to: 280 Stonewall Lane, Fairfield, CT 06824. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

The LLC is to be managed by one or more managers.

APP FOR AUTH for SHAKE SHACK NEW YORK LLC App for Auth filed with SSNY 9/3/15 LLC. Registered in Delaware on 5/12/15 Off. Loc.: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served & shall mail process to: c/o Shake Shack Enterprises LLC, 24 Union Square East, 5th Fl., New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of Nassau County Energy Storage, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/20/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

LADY STARDUST, L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/03/2019.

Office loc: Kings County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Katherine Blumm, 45 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn NY 11201. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Blue Lagoon Hospitality, LLC filed with SSNY on August 30, 2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 328 E 51st Street, NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of BOOKSMART PROPERTIES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/28/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Connecticut (CT) on 11/15/13. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Village Suds, 627 Mamaroneck Ave, Mamaroneck, NY 10543. CT addr. of LLC: Booksmart Properties LLC, 3 Happy Hill Rd., Stamford, CT 06903. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of CT, 30 Trinity Street, P.O. Box 150470, Hartford, CT 06115-0470.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

VIBE SUPPLY, LLC, Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/03/2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: VIBE SUPPLY, LLC Attn: Mickel Dussuaud., 5 Clinton PL 2A New Rochelle NY 10801. Purpose: Any Lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Nova Styles, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/14/18. Office Location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the LLC: 229 E. 85th Street #165, NY, NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of Rakuten Commerce LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/21/18. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/03/1998.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 800 Concar Dr., Ste. 175, San Mateo, CA 94402. Address to be maintained in DE: 3500 South DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, Division of Corporations; John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

MARISCOS CHELSEA, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/26/2015. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Watchale LLC, 63 Bank St. Apt 1B, NY, NY 10014.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

E Conn’s Magic Mirror Photo Booth, LLC, filed with SSNY 01/09/2019.

Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Registered Agent: Naomi Halevi., 10 California Rd., Mount Vernon, NY 10552. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

27

Notice of Formation of WHITE UNICORN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/10/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 104 E. 10th St., NY, NY 10003.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Sugar Maple Solar, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/18. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/30/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 Eighth Ave., 13th Fl., NY, NY 10011. Address to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, Div. of Corporations, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Global S Contracting LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 10/03/2017.

Office loc: Richmond County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, New York, 11228. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of 1 PARK ROW HOLDINGS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. Princ. office of LLC: 666 Fifth Ave., 20th Fl., NY, NY 10103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

28

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315787 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 662 9TH AVE NEW YORK, NY 10036. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. BOYYTHAI CORP. NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS SRP 2012-4, LLC, Plaintiff, Against Index No.: 520351/2016 EZEKIEL AKANDE, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered 12/11/2018, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction, in Room 224 of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on 2/28/2019 at 2:30 pm, premises known as 34 Jackson Place, Brooklyn, NY 11215, and described as follows: ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 1055 and Lot 42.

The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $376,471.69 plus interest and costs. The Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 520351/2016.

Leonard Spector, Esq., Referee.

Richland & Falkowski, PLLC, 35-37 36th Street, 2nd Floor, ASTORIA, NY 11106 Dated: 1/18/2019 PB A D TUDOR LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/11/18. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Agulnick & Gogel, LLC, 1129 Northern Boulevard, Suite 404, Manhasset, NY 11030. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Method and Practice LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/16/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Solomon Blum Heymann LLP, 40 Wall St., 35th Fl., NY, NY 10005, principal business address.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Formation of Caitlin Carr LLC filed with SSNY on January 7, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 368 Eastern Pkwy, 5C, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of MARINA VISTA PRESERVATION CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/18/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 60 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Civic Builders Sub-CDE 17, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/10/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Civic Builders, Inc., 180 Varick St., Ste. 1414, NY, NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful activities.

NOTICE OF QUAL. of 1601 Bronxdale Property Owner LLC. Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 01/17/19. Off. Loc: NY Co. LLC org. in DE 10/17/18.

SSNY desig. as agent of LLC upon whom proc. against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to 111 Eighth Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE off. Addr.: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

DIGA UNSCRIPTED LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/17/2019.

Office loc: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 130 West 42nd St., Ste. 950, NY, NY 10036.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

February 4, 2019

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315830 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR

BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 139 DUANE ST NEW YORK, NY 10013.

NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. FISH REPUBLIC LLC. MICHALFAM HOLDINGS, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/25/19.

Office: Kings County.

SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold, LLP, 200 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

PUBLIC NOTICE New York City Dept. of Consumer Affairs Notice of Public Hearing Notice is hereby given, pursuant to law, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a public hearing on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019 2 P.M. at 42 Broadway, 5th floor, on a petition for 2605 HOSPITALITY LLC to ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 522 HUDSON ST IN THE BOROUGH OF QUEENS FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS. REQUEST FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPT. OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004 ATTN: FOIL OFFICER

Notice of Formation of EGG COLLECTIVE II, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: EGG COLLECTIVE II, LLC, 360 Lexington Ave, Ste. 1502, NY, NY 10017. Purpose: any lawful activities.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PRIME WIN M A N AG E M E N T, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/2018.

Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process may be serviced and shall mail copy of process against LLC to: 400 5TH AVENUE. APT.#39F, NEW YORK, NY 10018. Principal business address: 400 5TH AVENUEM APT.#39F, NEW YORK, NY 10018.

Purpose: any lawful act.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315885 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR

BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 728 8TH AVE NEW YORK, NY 10036.

NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. AJARL RESTAURANT CORP. PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify existing facilities on the buildings at 104 2nd Ave (new tip heights 94.5’) (20190041), 16-18 2nd Ave (new tip heights 85’) (20190133), 41-51 Kenmare St, (new tip heights 65.5’, 67.5’, & 74.3) (20190071), New York, NY and at 831 Gerard Ave (new tip heights 68.9’) (20190131), Bronx, NY. Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856809-1202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

Fragrance Pub LLC Arts. of Org. filed w/ SSNY on 7/31/18 Off. in Kings Co. SSNY desig. as agt. of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Accumera LLC, 911 Central Ave, #101, Albany, NY 12206. The reg. agt. is Accumera LLC at same address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of Copley Coffee Kitchen, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/17/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Copley Coffee Holdings, LLC, 150 Newport Ave., Ste. 3, Quincy, MA 02171. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o TRAC - The Registered Agent Company, 800 N. State St., Ste. 402, Dover, DE 19901. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of 1 PARK ROW DEVELOPMENT, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. Princ. office of LLC: 666 Fifth Ave., 20th Fl., NY, NY 10103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO LAW, THAT THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS WILL HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019 AT 2:00 P.M. AT 42 BROADWAY, 5TH FLOOR, ON A PETITION FOR LA LAFAYETTE LLC TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE AN UNENCLOSED SIDEWALK CAFÉ AT 25 LAFAYETTE AVE IN THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS. REQUEST FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPARTMENT OF SUMER AFFAIRS,

CON-

ATTN: FOIL OFFICER, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004.

Notice of Qual. of 222 EAST BROADWAY INVESTORS, LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 01/23/2019. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/2018. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O the LLC, 147 W. 35th St., Ste 1207 , NY, NY 10011. Address required to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste 101 Dover DE 19904. Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

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February 4, 2019

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February 4, 2019

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi dpirozzi@cityandstateny.com, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Jenny Hochberg

Who was up and who was down last week

PRODUCTION Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton, Digital Content Coordinator Michael Filippi

LOSERS HÉCTOR FIGUEROA At a New York City Council hearing last week, Amazon said that it would refuse to support workers’ efforts to unionize at its new headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. It’s a particularly embarrassing development for Héctor Figueroa, the president of 32BJ SEIU, which struck an early deal to handle security and maintenance at the new HQ2. It’s not a good look for a union that has built up a progressive record to be cozying up to a decidedly anti-union tech giant.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

RICHARD CARRANZA

LAURA CURRAN

A quarter of all NYC seniors didn’t graduate this year. A new record low!

RICK COTTON

With the federal government running again, the Port Authority’s LaGuardia can return to its usual level of unreliability.

YUH-LINE NIOU

The Nassau exec learned: Don’t threaten ICE unless you can finish what you started.

BILL DE BLASIO

If hizzoner wants to be president, he really should try being mayor first.

EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Sharon Nazarzadeh, Senior Events Coordinator Alexis Arsenault, Director of Events Research & Development Bryan Terry

Vol. 8 Issue 4 February 4, 2019

Steve Israel’s new politics institute

PIERCING THE DARKNESS MARIJUANA

In the weeds on Cuomo’s rollout plan

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

February 4, 2019

Cover photo Jill Greenberg

TOM KING

The assemblywoman’s moving speech helped usher in the Child Victims Act.

The state Rifle and Pistol Association has its work cut out, as lawmakers had the gall to ban teachers from packing heat in class.

ANDY RATTO

ROGER STONE

It’s not every day a single heckler can stop a presidential candidacy in its tracks.

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Event Sponsorship Strategist Danielle Koza dkoza@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillanGrace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Junior Sales Executive Caitlin Dorman, Junior Sales Executive Shakirah Gittens, Junior Sales Associate Chris Hogan

So shady, even Richard Nixon’s foundation scrambled to distance itself from the guy.

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.

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices.

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A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

BRAD HOYLMAN & LINDA ROSENTHAL After more than a decadelong fight, victims of childhood sexual assault will have increased protections in New York, including an extended statute of limitations. It’s a major political victory for the sponsors of the Child Victims Act, state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, though to hear Hoylman tell it, the win doesn’t belong to lawmakers: “We would not be here today without the fierce advocacy of survivors across New York state.”

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

WINNERS

Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims he doesn’t control the MTA, but his heroic efforts during last week’s snowstorm left no doubt that he has complete and total control over … the Buffalo Skyway. (He lifted the gate all by himself!) You can’t blame the guv – he’s just trying to keep up with the state Legislature, which just finished another uncharacteristically productive week. Read on to see who’s staying warm, and who’s left out in the cold.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Digital Director Derek Evers devers@ cityandstateny.com, Copy Editor Eric Holmberg, Staff Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny. com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@cityandstateny.com

SUMMIT 03 . 21 . 19

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTER 226 W 44TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10036 City & State’s Diversity Summit will offer industry executives, public sector leaders and academics a full-day conference dedicated to fostering business partnerships between the state and local government, prime contractors and MWBEs. PANEL TOPICS: THE FUTURE OF MWBES IN NEW YORK FUNDING AND RESOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS BECOMING A PART OF NEW YORK’S BIGGEST MWBE PROJECTS DIVERSITY IN GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, TECH AND HEALTH CARE FEATURED SPEAKERS: Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman, House Small Business Committee State Sen. James Sanders, Chairman, MWBE Task Force Lourdes Zapata, Chief Diversity Officer, Office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Jonnel Doris, NYC Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women Owned Businesses Gregg Bishop, Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Small Business Services

RSVP at CityAndStateNY.com/Events For more information on programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lissa Blake at lblake@cityandstateny.com

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