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March 18, 2019

City & State New York

CELESTE SLOMAN; BENJAMIN KANTER/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

EDITOR’S NOTE

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THE

I’M NOT AN EARLY ADOPTER. I kept an old flip phone for years, even when most of my friends had bought smartphones. I didn’t sign up for Uber until a few years ago. I’ve used Airbnb once, when a relative set up a stay for me. I joined Twitter several years after it launched, only because I felt I had to as a journalist in our increasingly social media-driven world. I created a Facebook account as soon as it was available at my college, but only because I was writing a story about it for the school newspaper. (I asked co-founder Chris Hughes whether it would be a moneymaking venture, and he dodged the question.)

Today, it’s still my career in journalism that keeps me up to speed on tech news – and tech has been a growing area of coverage at City & State. Our tech reporter, Annie McDonough, is covering the space with a new must-read morning email, First Read Tech. And in addition to her daily posts and aggregation of the top tech news in New York and beyond, she’s digging deeper into complex regulatory issues – and in this week’s cover story, she tracks the evolving tactics of tech startups as they come under growing government scrutiny.

HEALTH CARE ISSUE JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a rally celebrating the passage of for-hire vehicle legislation last year. See page 6.

CONTENTS

TECH … 6

How startups learned to play nice with government SINGLE-PAYER … 14

Is this the year universal health care comes to New York?

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA … 19

The public health pros and cons

OPIOIDS … 22

Will consumers have to pay the price for the epidemic?

WINNERS & LOSERS … 30 Who was up and who was down last week

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The

March 18, 2019

Latest LI PASSES ON POT Long Island is feeling the winds of change – but doesn’t want to smell anything funny in that wind. Both executives in Nassau and Suffolk counties said last week that they want to opt out of marijuana sales if the state legalizes recreational use. They were followed by county executives in Rockland, Putnam and Chemung, who plan to urge their counties to forgo the revenue.

Albany is expected to legalize it after the budget is done, and will likely include an opt-out clause for nervous municipalities.

Albany Democrats spent last week negotiating a state budget deal in public. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders squabbled over education funding, the urgency of making permanent a 2 percent cap on property tax growth and whether President Donald Trump’s budget proposal necessitated more state Medicaid spending.

Party unity? Not when there’s $175 billion at stake.

Cuomo insulted the new-look Senate Democrats, spurring Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins’ allies to accuse the governor of treating her differently because she’s a black woman. All the while, the Capitol teemed with interest groups hoping to get their asks into the budget before the April 1 deadline.

The

MANAFORT CHARGED DOUBLE Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday for the second time in two weeks. And then he was charged again – this time by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who accused Manafort of mortgage fraud.

Legal observers saw it as New York reminding Trump that local prosecutors may put Manafort behind bars, even if he’s pardoned.

Back & Forth What are some things you are keeping an eye on in the state budget?

I have been a very vocal against the legalization of marijuana. The tax cap is also a very important thing, but we also have to keep in the back of heads that our schools have their hands tied. We need to find ways to allow our schools to provide children with a quality and sound education, and unfortunately sometimes the tax cap holds them back. Therefore we have to find different avenues to help them in order for them to able to fund security, to make sure they have enough personnel and teachers.

A Q&A with state Sen.

Monica Martinez The

The Assembly Health Committee passed the New York Health Act. What is your position on single-payer health care?

Do I believe that individuals should have affordable health care? I think as the bill stands

now, it does not do that. As of right now, I have not taken a position whether I agree or not.

As an immigrant and a woman, what does your election show about how Long Island is changing?

My mother came on her own. After two years, she found a sound job. She went to school at night to learn the language and then we all came over. The sacrifices that she made is the reason that I never want to let her and my father down.

For me, this is a journey that I respect my parents for doing. I believe there should be a pathway to citizenship, just like I had a pathway. Every child should have the ability to go to school to learn.

But I owe a whole bunch in loans, so I honestly don’t believe in free education because I didn’t have a free education. I worked my way to where I am today.

Kicker

“I’m thinking it’s SDDS – Senate Democratic derangement syndrome. I don’t understand what the problem is.

He seems to be looking at our conference differently.”

– state Senate Majority Leader ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS, on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent criticisms of the chamber, via the Daily News Get the kicker every morning in CITY & STATE’S FIRST READ email. Sign up at cityandstateny.com.

ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS; KEVIN P. COUGHLIN, DON POLLARD/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; MARK REINSTEIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; MONICA MARTINEZ FOR STATE SENATE

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

FOLLOWING THE LEADER March 18, 2019

City & State New York

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THERE ARE A LOT OF LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP POSTS, AND THEY DO MEAN SOMETHING.

BY ZACH WILLIAMS

A FORMER ASSEMBLY DEPUTY SPEAKER reportedly would yell at anyone who didn’t address her by her full title. Between them, the two houses have more whips than “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

So while you might know what the Senate majority leader and the Assembly speaker do (or even the Senate deputy majority leader and Assembly majority leader), what are all these other leadership titles for?

SENATE ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER ON CONFERENCE OPERATIONS BRAD HOYLMAN SENATE SENIOR ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER BRIAN BENJAMIN ASSEMBLY DEPUTY SPEAKER CATHERINE NOLAN ASSEMBLY ASSISTANT SPEAKER FÉLIX ORTIZ ASSEMBLY DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER PHIL RAMOS ASSEMBLY ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER DAVID GANTT Every leader has several deputies to help manage the internal and external politics of their conferences. But is a “deputy” different than an “assistant”? “I don’t think those little hierarchies have any consequences,” said former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.

SENATE VICE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE NEIL BRESLIN ASSEMBLY SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE JEFFRION AUBRY Pro tempore is Latin for “for the time being,” so think of these positions as the elected help who swing the gavels when more senior lawmakers don’t want to.

STATE SENATE; ASSEMBLY; A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

SENATE MAJORITY WHIP KEVIN PARKER SENATE MAJORITY DEPUTY WHIP JOSEPH ADDABBO JR. SENATE MAJORITY ASSISTANT WHIP JOHN LIU ASSEMBLY MAJORITY WHIP WILLIAM COLTON ASSEMBLY DEPUTY MAJORITY WHIP JOSÉ RIVERA ASSEMBLY ASSISTANT MAJORITY WHIP MICHAEL MILLER Left to their own devices, lawmakers could wander away from their seats or stray from the party line. Whips tend to the partisan flock and make sure that the herd stays together on key votes.

SENATE MAJORITY CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN JOSÉ M. SERRANO ASSEMBLY MAJORITY CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN STEVEN OTIS When a conference convenes to talk strategy, someone needs to make sure everyone has a turn at holding the conch, the speaking stick or whatever else they might want to call it.

SENATE MAJORITY STEERING COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN ROXANNE PERSAUD ASSEMBLY MAJORITY STEERING COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN BARBARA LIFTON If a conference is at odds over legislation, they refer the issue to the steering committee, where everyone can hash things out.

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March 18, 2019

THE

RISE&FALL OF THE

ASSHOLE STARTUP Uber revolutionized an industry by driving circles around regulators. That doesn’t work anymore.

J

OSH MOHRER WAS ON Long Island talking about launching Uber in Nassau County when he first heard that the New York City Council was going to propose a cap on his company’s vehicles. “I got a call from our lobbyist saying, ‘The City Council’s about to propose this thing, it’s definitely going to pass, you’re definitely going to lose,’” Mohrer recalled.

That was in the early summer of 2015, back when daily trips using ride-hailing apps in New York City were still outnumbered by yellow taxi rides by a ratio of 4-to-1, but were on their way to surpassing taxi rides – something that would happen by the end of 2016. While competitors Lyft and Via were already on the scene

by July 2015, Uber’s share of the ride-hailing market still hovered around 90 percent, clocking more than 100,000 trips per day.

Summoning a car with a smartphone meant one thing to most New Yorkers: calling an Uber.

At the time, Mohrer was the general manager of Uber New York and the de facto face of all its skirmishes with City Hall, which came to a head when Mayor Bill de Blasio and his allies in the City Council proposed the cap on new for-hire vehicle licenses

while the city conducted a study on the effect of for-hire vehicles on congestion.

“We sort of sprung into action, like this is bad,” Mohrer said.

“This would really end the business. At that point, we’re doing about half a million rides a week, and it kind of felt like there was (an) opportunity to make it much bigger. To not be able to have new vehicles would be a big problem.”

The vehicle cap ultimately didn’t pass that summer, striking a decisive win for the company that paved the way for its rapid growth. In July 2015, de Blasio dropped the proposed cap after growing dissent from City Council members and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. At that time, roughly 21,000 unique vehicles were associated with Uber. By the end of 2018, that figure more than tripled to roughly 77,000.

But last year, a cap on new licenses for app-based ride-hailing vehicles passed in the New York City Council as part of a package of other bills regulating the ride-hailing industry, including a new minimum pay rate for drivers. The measure imposed a moratorium on new for-hire vehicles for one year while the city studies

BEBETO MATTHEWS/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

by ANNIE MCDONOUGH

March 18, 2019

City & State New York

Josh Mohrer, then Uber’s New York manager, led a rally in front of City Hall in 2015 while the council considered a cap on for-hire vehicles.

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March 18, 2019

ride-hailing vehicles – which now number more than 100,000 – Uber is discovering that it can’t get away with that approach anymore. Under the leadership of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber is and their effect on traffic congestion.

Several things have changed since Uber’s early years in New trying to be a kinder version of its old self. “We think Uber and the York, including its launch in the city in 2011 and its successful cities we operate in have a lot of shared goals, and although it may fight against a potentially damaging cap in 2015. Uber and other take compromise and concessions, ultimately working together ride-hailing apps have now overtaken taxis, and cars associated can get us to those shared goals faster,” Uber spokesman Harry with the apps are increasingly blamed for exacerbating conges- Hartfield wrote in an email.

For both established companies and new startups, the question. Uber, still dominant among its competitors, bears more of the blame than others. New York regulators are also taking start- tion of how best to work with regulators is paramount, especially ups like Uber and Airbnb more seriously now because of their for tech companies with a mind to disrupt entrenched industries.

While there may not be a universal strategy, what seems clear ability to disrupt established industries.

But Uber itself has also changed since 2011 – and even since 2015. is that there’s no room to replicate early Uber’s irreverent, even Still led by Travis Kalanick in 2015, Uber was a company riddled combative, approach.

“This is something that works once,” said Bruce Schaller, a with sexual assault and price-surging scandals, and whose approach to political resistance in New York was to launch a feature called “de transportation policy expert and former deputy commissioner at Blasio’s Uber” on the app, which showed the 25-minute wait times the New York City Department of Transportation. “Everyone gets riders would endure if the cap passed. Kalanick, famously a fan of wise to it.”

Ayn Rand, summed up Uber’s ethos in a 2013 interview with The Wall Street Journal as a company that asked for neither permission nor forgiveness. “We don’t have to beg for forgiveness because we are legal,” he said. “But there’s been so much corruption and so much cronyism in the taxi industry and so much regulatory capture that if you ask permission upfront for something that’s already legal, you’ll never get it. There’s no upside to them.”

Today – after facing increasing pressure from regulators and lawmakers, resulting in a package of regulations passed – J U L I E SA M U ELS, T EC H: N YC E X EC U T I V E DI R EC T OR for app-based services last summer –

“It used to be that you could build a company in a vacuum, where regulators weren’t really paying attention, until it was huge. Those days are done.”

MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE; WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signs legislation last year to cap for-hire vehicles and mandate a minimum wage for drivers.

March 18, 2019

Julie Samuels, executive director of the industry group Tech:NYC, agreed. “It used to be that you could build a company in a vacuum, that you could build a huge network around that company in a vacuum, where regulators weren’t really paying attention, where competitors weren’t really paying attention, until it was huge,” she said. “Those days are done.”

U

BER’S REPUTATION FOR causing trouble began with its 2011 launch in New York City. “In New York, they opened up shop without getting the proper licensing approvals,” Schaller said. Mohrer, however, said the company did abide by the regulations and obtained the necessary licenses. With forhire vehicles, that meant obtaining three types of licenses – a base license, a vehicle license and a driver’s license – from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. “The idea of pre-arranging a ride and not a street-hail and how those things are different – that all already existed,” Mohrer said. “You had your Carmel and Dial 7 and all these companies already operating. We were able to just kind of be part of that. And I think if you ask the commissioners who New York City lawoversaw us, they’d probably both say that makers led a rally we’re pretty good at following the rules.” in 2015 against While the taxi commission in some ways Airbnb’s practices, which allowed its welcomed Uber as a transportation alternausers to effectively tive at the time, the company continued to run illegal hotels in break regulations, according to a former city city apartments. official. In 2012, the commission outlined a number of additional rules that Uber violated, including that customers’ fares weren’t entered into T-PEP, the city system that calculates and records fares, and that drivers were not following a rule banning the operation of electronic communication devices while driving.

That year, Uber also moved to expand beyond black car service into an option that would allow riders to hail yellow cabs through the app, without explicit permission from the taxi commission.

Uber shut down the unsanctioned beta program called UberTaxi after roughly one month in New York City, saying that roadblocks put in place by the taxi commission had killed the program. Later, however, Uber would participate in a government-sanctioned pilot testing out the same idea.

By 2013, the company’s problems became more political than regulatory. “New York was the one place that brought them to heel because every other city, they could say, ‘If you don’t play by our rules, we’ll leave,’” Schaller said. “And they did, in a number of cases. In New York, because of New York’s market power, they could not do that. And also because of the competence of the city in regulating the for-hire industry.”

By 2015, when the number of vehicles associated with Uber was approaching the number of taxis in New York City, Uber had not only developed a national reputation for being an aggressive company, but it had allowed a thorny relationship to fester with de Blasio, who was feeling pressure from the taxi industry to crack down on the apps.

Standing out from competitors Lyft and Via, Uber had weathered innumerable scandals that ran the gamut from rude, sometimes sexist, behavior from top executives and managers, to outright unethical practices. In New York City, that included employees ordering and canceling rides on competing apps to waste drivers’ time and tracking riders with an aerial view that also showed riders’ locations. The tracking system, known as “God View,” was investigated by then-state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2014, who reached a settlement with the company that required Uber to adopt more comprehensive privacy protections, including encrypting rider geolocation information.

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In 2014, Mohrer himself was investigated by the company for using the God View tool to track a BuzzFeed reporter’s location without her knowledge – Mohrer showed the reporter that he was using the tool, but she, like all other riders, was not aware that the company had that tracking ability. Uber said it took “disciplinary action” against Mohrer.

Outside of New York, the questionable practices of the company and its top executives have spanned everything from using software to deceive local law enforcement in cities where the company violated local laws to allowing prices to surge during natural disasters.

The lobbying and organizing that the company was able to do in New York in 2015, convincing lawmakers that a cap would hurt the largely immigrant Uber drivers, was based on goodwill that Uber no longer had in 2018. The first time around, the company was still hanging on to its reputation as an admirable upstart – even if only by a thin string. By last summer, however, some viewed Uber as the taxi industry’s cause of near-death.

“When Uber was the underdog, it was sympathetic in a specific way, and it’s not the underdog anymore,” said Mohrer, who is now the co-founder of the investing syndicate Moving Capital.

While he said the company is largely OK with the new minimum pay standard passed last summer, it’s the passage of the de Blasio-backed cap that Uber objects to – enough to have filed a lawsuit against the city last month to overturn the new law. “It feels vindictive,” Mohrer said. “It’s like revenge.”

T

HE UNEXPECTED DISRUPTION caused by a company like Uber, and the belated backlash to keep those companies in check, is mirrored by a national conversation about how to reverse the questionable privacy and data practices of all-powerful tech giants like Google, Facebook and Amazon.

As those companies attempt to cooperate with the government now that strict regulations are being drafted, some startups are attempting to start off with a government-friendly approach – or hit the reset button – in New York City too.

New York was one of the first cities where people used Airbnb after its founding in 2008, and in that early environment, it was able to slip in relatively unnoticed by policymakers, much in the same way that Uber did in 2011. Airbnb’s head of public policy for the Northeast, Josh Meltzer, said this was due to the company’s

CityAndStateNY.com

small scope and an ill-defined regulatory landscape in New York. New York state’s multiple dwelling law – which forbids most units from being rented out for fewer than 30 days – had yet to be updated to include that provision when Airbnb rentals first started popping up. “The size of the host community was so small, and Airbnb was also really small,” Meltzer said. “I don’t think there was any sense of what the regulatory landscape in New York meant for this startup, effectively.”

Like Uber, Airbnb was then a startup whose potential to disrupt established industries was unknown. “I just don’t think elected officials in 2011 thought that an app for ride-sharing or home-sharing was going to revolutionize industries the way that they have,” Samuels said.

Today, Airbnb’s footprint has expanded to include more than 50,000 listings in New York City, and the company is embroiled in a yearslong battle at both the city and state level to establish a proper regulatory framework. Most recently, Airbnb and competitor HomeAway won an injunction against a New York City law that would require the companies to disclose to city regulators detailed address information about their hosts. Airbnb is fighting a similar bill in Albany sponsored by Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and backed by the powerful hotel lobby. As an alternative, the company is pushing a bill it helped write, sponsored

by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, that wouldn’t require that kind of disclosure, but would allow Airbnb to collect the same taxes that hotels usually do, limit hosts in New York to listing one unit on the website and require hosts to register with a state agency.

Meltzer said that the company’s approach to working with the government hadn’t really been formalized until around 2015 – about the same time that he said Airbnb started to feel pressure from the hotel industry. “As the community was growing and growing and bumping up against local, most of the time undefined, regulatory situations, that’s when more of a focus on proactive public policy happened,” he said, drawing a contrast to what he said was previously a reactive approach.

Airbnb’s critics argue that the Lentol bill doesn’t go nearly far enough in protecting the city’s dwindling supply of affordable housing from landlords who use the service to profit by operating illegal hotels. But what’s clear is that after disrupting the hotel industry in much the same way that Uber disrupted taxis, Airbnb sees no benefit in adopting a combative approach to public policy. “A big lesson from all of this is that it’s important to have sustained, meaningful conversations with local elected officials and local community groups,” he said. “I think that general approach

March 18, 2019

is one that any tech company or innovator can successfully apply.”

Instead of mocking de Blasio with a feature on its app, for example, last summer Airbnb donated $10 million to nonprofit organizations as a representation of the $100 million in added annual tax revenue the company said New York would make if its proposed tax collection measure passed the state Legislature.

In other words, the company may be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to push their favored regulations in Albany, but they’re not being jerks about it.

T

ODAY, WITH NEW YORK having witnessed the power of companies like Uber and Airbnb, the days of tech startups slipping into residents’ daily lives unnoticed are over.

“Now, people take startups very seriously, they understand their potential – both negative and positive, I’d argue – and I think that holds true with regard to regulators, with regard to competitors, with regard to potential users,” Samuels said. “If anything, I would argue, we’ve swung the pendulum in completely the other direction in that people take every idea seriously, which they probably shouldn’t.”

One emerging field that has cultivated a particularly cozy relationship with government is transportation alternatives like e-bikes and e-scooters. Some of the largest e-bike companies are participating in a concentrated pilot program to deploy their dockless bikes – both traditional and pedal-assisted e-bikes – in outer-borough neighborhoods.

With a fight brewing in the New York City Council about legalizing e-scooters and throttle e-bikes – a bike that can move without any pedaling – the behavior of – PH I L JON ES, E A ST C OA ST G OV ER N M E N T companies participating in the pilot, who ultimately A F FA I R S SE N IOR DI R E C T OR OF L I M E

“We’ve been able to stick around and work and grow (by) working with elected officials to get it right.”

JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

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March 18, 2019

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er path than Uber or even Lyft. In some cases, it’s a case of those companies changing themselves. Last summer, Lyft acquired Motivate, Citi Bike’s parent company, and Uber now owns Jump.

“When those companies launched, they didn’t have a single policy person on staff,” Samuels said. “If you were to look at some of the e-bike companies, the scooter companies for sure, my well-informed guess is that they hired policy teams much earlier than it took Uber and Lyft to realize they needed to hire policy teams.”

That a re-energized effort to legalize throttle bikes and e-scooters coincides with the success of pedal-assisted bikes in the dockless pilot program may not be a matter From left, New York City Counof chance. New York City Council cilmen Antonio Reynoso and members, including Rafael EspiRobert Cornegy, de Blasio and nal Jr. and Fernando Cabrera, are Transportation Commissioner backing a new package of bills to Polly Trottenberg try out Bird, legalize both, and Cuomo’s budget Lime and Pace bikes and scooters. The companies have opted includes categories for both e-bikes to work alongside government. and e-scooters and calls on localities to decide whether to authorize the hope to launch their e-scooters or throttle bikes in the city, vehicles. “We feel that with the overwhelming support that we are could be instrumental in changing the minds of holdouts, in- seeing at the City Council, the governor putting micromobility into his fiscal year budget, and the discussions that we’ve been having cluding de Blasio.

The New York City Department of Transportation’s pilot with our state senators and our state Assembly people, the outlook is program, which began in July 2018, has been extended mul- good in New York,” Jones said. “We really do feel that scooters and tiple times, and is now on set to continue through May. The e-bikes will be made available to New Yorkers in the near future.” companies still participating include Lime, Jump and Citi Bike.

The companies are using both pedal-assisted e-bikes – which T’S HARD TO SAY whether a friendlier approach with govwere legalized last year and give bicyclists a boost of up to ernment – or even with de Blasio – would have prevented Uber 20 mph – and traditional bikes, but all operate without a dockand its competitors from being hit with the ride-hailing license ing station. From the start, those companies’ approaches have cap last summer. After all, had Uber acquiesced to de Blasio’s been government-centric. attempts to install the cap in 2015, it wouldn’t have experienced “We understand that each neighborhood is unique, so that’s the massive growth it had in those intervening three years. why it’s so important for us to work with the local elected of“For some companies, in certain industries, a more hard-nosed ficials, the community groups, the stakeholders who’ve been in tactic might be appropriate, and for some companies in other inthese places for decades, because they help us understand how we dustries, a more kind of compromising tactic might be approprishould be implementing these new forms of transportation,” said ate,” Samuels said, noting that every New York regulatory agency Phil Jones, Lime’s East Coast government affairs senior director. is different and that the experiences of every startup will vary.

Every two weeks, he said, Lime has a conference call with DOT But that Uber is taking a gentler approach today is clear. The officials to discuss ridership, issues like cluttering and deployment company said it is working with the city on regulations, even on strategies. “Working with the DOT, we were able to really find provisions it might have once scoffed at. “Congestion and susthose places where we needed the e-bikes, worked with them to tainability are great examples. We’ve committed $10 million put them on the ground, and then we’ve seen increased ridership over the next three years to campaign for sustainable mobility from there,” Jones said. “It’s a two-way street.” and congestion pricing,” Hartfield, the Uber spokesman, said.

To be sure, dockless bike companies like Lime are not entirely “There will continue to be moments where we disagree with regcomparable to Uber. For example, if Lime were to launch e-scoot- ulators, but our hope is that an open and honest dialogue, based ers in New York without permission, it would be relatively easy for on mutual respect, strengthens our ability to have our concerns law enforcement to spot and crack down on the flashy, lime green taken seriously.” scooters. It’s also easier to impound an e-bike than it is an Uber Mohrer called the company’s current ethos “less combative,” car. But Jones said he thinks Lime’s efforts to work with the DOT though he disagrees with the idea that industry-disrupting starthas put the company ahead of its competitors. “What we’ve found ups are being more cautious in New York because Uber is in some is that we’ve been able to stick around and work and grow in a way way paying for its previously aggressive demeanor. But as policythat other companies have not because we’ve put so much effort makers grow more cognizant of the impact these companies can into making sure that the community understands the platforms, have, common wisdom might say that in New York today, it’s betthat they are a part of our workforce, that they see it as engag- ter to ask for permission than forgiveness. ing the groups that they care about currently on the ground, and “My instinct would be to work with government where and working with those elected officials to get it right,” he said. when possible, and as early as possible,” Samuels said. “That’s not This is not just an example of new startups forging a friendli- a blanket prescription. That’s, to my mind, the starting point.”

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A

What will New York look like a year from now?

With a commanding majority in the state Legislature, previously pent-up Democrats, energized by opposition to the Trump administration, are tripping over each other to enact long-gestating progressive priorities. A handful of popular health care bills, in particular, have the potential to completely transform the state.

From legalizing recreational marijuana to implementing universal health care, lawmakers are on the precipice of radical change that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. In the following pages, we examine some of that legislation, and whether it has any chance of passing, even in blue New York.

PICTURE

OF

HEALTH

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March 18, 2019

HOW MUCH LONGER WILL

RICHARD

GOTTFRIED

WAIT? The Manhattan Democrat has tried to pass single-payer health care for over a quarter century. Is this his year?

A

FTER PUSHING FOR single-payer health care for the past 27 years, Assemblyman Richard Gottfried has heard all the reasons why the state is not ready for it. New York is too big. There is not enough funding. Federal waivers are needed. More study is needed.

What about protecting moderate Democrats in the next election, the critics ask.

Sitting in his Albany office one recent morning, Gottfried explained how the recurrence of such questions creates a sense of legislative déjà vu. “This is a bill that has been analyzed and questioned and picked over for a couple of decades now,” he said.

“A lot of very smart people have looked at it and asked a lot of questions about it. I think those questions have all been answered.”

Yet, people keep asking – including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who could single-handedly block the measure.

Yet if the New York Health Act were to pass in the state Legislature this year, it would

be a major landmark in the history of U.S. health care – a progressive dream come true.

Right now, governments at all levels have pushed for universal health care by expanding the current health insurance system. But Gottfried wants to replace that system with one in which a single government-run insurer would provide all 20 million people statewide with medical, dental, vision, mental health and long-term care services.

A single-payer health care system has never been successfully implemented at such a scale in the U.S. If New York made it happen, other states – particularly California – would take notice. “There’s no reason to wait,” said Gottfried, the longtime chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. “Americans still hear the word ‘taxes’ as a dirty word. But an increasing number of people understand that what matters is whether the money we spend is reduced.”

While single-payer health care has not been a major topic of debate this budget

season, the political storm clouds are gathering around the issue. Gottfried has already gotten the New York Health Act through his committee, and his counterpart leading the state Senate Health Committee, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, plans to hold hearings on the bill as soon as next month. “Hopefully, both houses will be able to take the bill up before we adjourn in June,” Gottfried said. But the Realities of Single Payer – a coalition of business, labor, insurance and other groups – is growing and gearing up for a fight at the upcoming hearings. “We’re just waiting to see when and where,” coalition spokeswoman Leanne Politi said.

Democrats might agree on single-payer in principle, but interviews with more than a dozen Democratic legislators shows that some are skittish about passing single-payer – at least for now. An unfriendly federal government means that funding a single-payer system originally required an

MIKE GROLL/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

by Z A C H W I L L I A M S

March 18, 2019

estimated $139 billion in additional taxes and voters might balk at seeing their taxes go up, even if society as a whole might save money in the long run. However, even if supporters of the New York Health Act cannot win the legislative battle now, they remain confident that they are winning the broader war in the realm of public opinion over what universal health care really offers.

The insurance market, Gottfried said, is like the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic. New Yorkers are flailing about and drowning among high premiums and high copays, and he wants to help them get something better than your standard American health care plan. “It’s better to be in a lifeboat than treading water,” he said. “But what is really better is to be onboard a ship heading back to New York Harbor.” But there are fears that the New York Health Act – like the Titanic – would be a colossal disaster that risks the health care coverage, however imperfect, that the

City & State New York

vast majority of New Yorkers already have.

The current system already provides 95 percent of people with health insurance. By expanding coverage to the remaining 5 percent and codifying provisions of Obamacare into state law, the governor has argued that state government will have done its job. “We must enshrine the protections of the Affordable Care Act into State law to continue our historic progress whatever happens in Washington,” he said in a statement last month.

A spokesperson for the governor could not be reached for comment, but the governor’s proposed budget did not include a single-payer proposal – no surprise given his position that he supports the idea, but only when implemented at the federal level. It would “double everybody’s taxes,” the governor told The Atlantic when asked recently how far to the political left he would go. “You want to do that? Let’s go,” he said. “They can never pass it. But I have no problem with the dare. Every union

15

is against it. The hospitals are against it.

The Civil Service Employees Association is against it. The 1199 health care union is against it. That is the only issue. Marijuana, I’m there. Voting rights, I’m there.

Contraceptive Care Act? I’m there first.

Anything else you can name, I’m there.”

However, whether in jest or not, the interview appears to have been the first time the governor said, “If they pass it, I’ll sign it.”

Another proposal in the governor’s budget would set up a commission of “health policy and insurance experts” to figure out how best to deliver health care statewide.

But leading lawmakers say the commission, which would be supported by the Department of Health and the Department of Financial Services, is a non-starter because it would give any nominal supporter of single-payer an excuse to wait on its findings, which would not be due until December.

“It’s a way of just kicking the can down the road in a way that we don’t feel is pro-

CityAndStateNY.com

GOTTFRIED ON THE WAY FORWARD TO SINGLE-PAYER YOU’VE SPONSORED THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT FOR A LONG TIME, WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS YEAR? We’re trying to coordinate our action on the bill with the state Senate. I know they have talked about wanting to hold some hearings about the bill, because for them it’s a newer topic than it is for the Assembly. Hopefully, they will be able to do that early enough in the session that both houses will be able to take the bill up before we adjourn in June.

DOES NEW YORK NEED HELP FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO MAKE A SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM HAPPEN? It would be simpler to implement the system with federal cooperation. It would also save the federal government money. But there are mechanisms for essentially wrapping around the federally subsidized pieces of the health care system even if the feds won’t fully cooperate in merging it into one program. With Medicare, there are a variety of ways to handle the situation.

One would be to have New York Health operate essentially as a wraparound program to traditional Medicare. Another mechanism would be for New York to create a giant Medicare Advantage plan, that unlike other Medicare Advantage plans, would have no cost sharing with patients, no restrictive provider network and would offer the full range of benefits under the New York Health Act. Similarly, with ACA subsidies, we may need to create a shell health plan that would be the vehicle.

THE GOVERNOR IS PROPOSING THAT A COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS FIGURE OUT A UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PLAN. WOULD THAT HELP OR HINDER YOUR OWN EFFORT? This proposal would create a commission made up of “health policy experts and representatives of the insurance industry” – notice no reference to representatives of health care providers or, more importantly, consumers. This commission is just a gimmick for kicking the issue down the road. There have been numerous studies and highly professional analysis of the New York Health Act and similar proposals in other states for years.

We don’t need a commission. That’s the last thing we need.

March 18, 2019

ductive,” said Rivera, who is sponsoring the New York Health Act in the state Senate. But given the governor’s power over the budget process, the commission may well be created and could, at a minimum, delay the New York Health Act. Single-payer was an issue that many progressive candidates embraced on the campaign trail, whether in New York City, on Long Island or in the Hudson Valley.

Despite large Democratic majorities in the state Senate and Assembly, lawmakers from Long Island and the Hudson Valley say they do not see single-payer happening anytime soon. “This is, in my opinion, an impossibility in the next two years,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, who voted for the bill when he was in the Assembly. “Until there is a new federal administration, I don’t know how we can do it.”

The inclusion of long-term care in the New York Health Act has also given lawmakers reason to qualify their support for the bill, especially considering how it would add to the costs of a program that, if enacted, would likely double the state’s annual budget. “The bill now is not the bill that existed then,” said state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat who co-sponsored the legislation last year. “It’s a behemoth.”

So far this year, only 26 out of 39 members of the Senate Democratic conference have signed on to the bill, compared to the full conference last year when they were in the minority. While the Assembly has passed the bill the past four years, there is no guarantee that it will pass again this time around with Democrats in control of the Senate.

To some extent, a resistance to raising taxes for any reason is to be expected from suburban lawmakers, especially on Long Island, said Lawrence Levy, executive dean at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. “Single-payer is a concept that tends to make independent, moderate suburbanites who are very conservative about their taxes nervous,” he said. “Even if they are supportive of the concept, they know the devils are in the details.”

Among the biggest unknowns with the New York Health Act is how it could work without the help of the Trump administration. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has already signaled that it would not support federal waivers to allow the state to redirect billions of dollars in Medicare, Medicaid and other funding to a single-payer system. Gottfried said there would be ways to work around this by setting up shell health care plans that would

We’re going to be holding hearings on this bill. Our goal is to have them right after the budget in different parts of the state. Gottfried has had hearings before, but these would be bipartisan. I mean we will invite Republicans to come if they want to, but I really meant that it will be bicameral between the Assembly and the Senate. The commitment that I make to folks who are interested in seeing this become a reality is that there will definitely be some forward movement.

I will make sure that people understand what the bill is and what it is not, but I’m not going to provide a timeline right now because I don’t have one.

GUSTAVO RIVERA CHAIRMAN STATE SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE

ADDING LONG-TERM CARE TO A SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM THE ASSEMBLY GOT A FAST START ON THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT. WHAT ABOUT THE STATE SENATE?

THE LATEST VERSION OF THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT INCLUDES A NEW PROVISION TO PROVIDE LONGTERM CARE. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE OVERALL SIZE AND COST OF SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE? The disability community and the elderly community have been consistently telling us that it was something we needed to do, but it certainly adds to the cost of the overall plan. However, if I’ve said this once, I’ll say it a million times: When you think about the costs of health care

STATE SENATE

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March 18, 2019

City & State New York

1992

“Single-payer is a concept that tends to make independent, moderate suburbanites nervous.”

YEAR GOTTFRIED’S SINGLE-PAYER BILL FIRST PASSED THE ASSEMBLY

– L AW R ENC E L EV Y, HOFST R A U N I V ER SI T Y NAT IONA L C E N T ER F OR SU BU R BA N ST U DI ES E X EC U T I V E DE A N receive federal money and then redirect it to New York Health, the state entity that would oversee single-payer in New York.

“Doctors and hospitals and patients would never have to know the difference,” he said.

Then there is the matter of raising taxes to fund New York Health. A 2018 study from the Rand Corp. found that under positive conditions, single-payer could save the average New Yorker money. However, explaining how it would do this in a way that is understandable to voters is a challenge.

As of now, the legislation does not include specific tax rates, but the goal is to set up a progressive system in which high-income earners pay more – say 13.5 percent of income – while low-income people pay

right now, including long-term care, Medicare, Medicaid, private health insurance, etc., you have a system that already costs $150 billion to $160 billion. We believe if you put all these things together, it gives you a program that will provide better results than the one we have now, and it will cost less.

COULD TAX RATES BE SET BEFORE PASSING THE BILL? It’s one of the conversations that we are having. One of the things that we want to do is give give people some scenarios. Say “Bob” is a 62-year-old male self-employed accountant. How much is that person paying for health care now? What kind of benefits does he have? I was doing a panel just a couple of days ago in Riverdale and one woman said she had actually done the math herself about how single-payer would affect her. She was saying how much she had spent.

She rolled out the math and I’m like, “Holy Jesus, this woman did the math.”

I want to use her story and math to show the difference between what she has now and what she would be paying if the single-payer passes.

something close to 4.5 percent. Either way, this would cover about 20 percent of the costs associated with health care, with employers picking up the other 80 percent.

Then there are the divisions among labor unions. Gottfried likes to say that organized labor supports the New York Health Act. “A very large chunk of the labor movement is very fully committed,” he said, including the the New York State Nurses Association and 32BJ SEIU. Representatives of these unions did not respond to requests for comment. But if private insurance were eliminated statewide, where would that leave unions who have negotiated for health benefits at the expense of higher pay? “Basically this would disregard all those sacrifices that our members have given up to have their health insurance protected,” said Shannon Hutton, director of communications at the Civil Service Employees Association. While CSEA, New York State United Teachers – whose president, Andrew Pallotta, praised the New York Health Act last year – and other unions say they favor single-payer at the national level, lawmakers say they are feeling pressure from some unions to block single-payer at the state level. There has been “a lot of pushback,” said Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, a Bronx Democrat who is a registered nurse, “even to the point where they question whether I’m a supporter of labor and I’m like a rank-andfile member.”

This combination of union pressure, taxpayer backlash and opposition from the Trump administration makes it difficult to convince lawmakers to pass the New York Health Act this year. But if the upcoming hearings do not convince reluctant legislators to get behind the bill, they might want to also consider that this could be their best chance to pass the bill, Gottfried said. Democrats have commanding majorities in the Assembly and state Senate now, and there are no guarantees that progressive voters will support them again if they fail to make single-payer a reality in New York. “Nobody can accurately predict the political future,” Gottfried said. “And as with any number of other issues that we have taken up this year, I think progressive Democratic legislators campaigned on this issue and ought to deliver.”

■

STATE SENATE DEMOCRATS SIGNED ON TO THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT

2018 31 OF 31 2019 26 OF 39

BY 2031, NEW YORK’S PROJECTED HEALTH CARE SPENDING WILL BE:

$475B $461B

UNDER THE CURRENT SYSTEM

UNDER THE NEW YORK HEALTH ACT = $80B IN SAVINGS OVER 10 YEARS, OR 2%* * ACCORDING TO A RAND CORP. REPORT THAT DID NOT TAKE LONG-TERM CARE INTO ACCOUNT

17

THERE IS ONLY ONE RESPONSE: NO HEALTH CARE CUTS! These cuts would devastate health care in New York: •

Struggling safety net hospitals, nursing homes, and home care agencies would close

•

Hospitals would cut vital community services

• •

Essential health care workers would lose their jobs Access to care would be severely compromised

Every New Yorker must deliver a powerful message:

“DO NOT CUT HEALTH CARE” The well-being of our patients and communities depends on it.

March 18, 2019

THE

City & State New York

19

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

MARIJUANA MYSTERY Without being able to study the drug, scientists aren’t sure whether legalizing pot would promote public health – or spur a new epidemic.

ROMAN SAMBORSKYI/SHUTTERSTOCK

A

S THE STATE RACES toward legalizing recreational marijuana, much of the discussion has revolved around the criminal justice and tax revenue aspects of the issue. Less attention has been paid to the potential public health effects of legalization. While this may be due in part to the fervor of advocates who are championing the change for social justice or economic reasons, it also is rooted in the troubling fact that the extent of marijuana’s potential harms, and its potential benefits, are still not fully understood.

Even as more states legalize marijuana or move closer to doing so, the extent of available research on the drug and its long-term effects remains minimal compared to data on other drugs. Because the federal government still categorizes marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, U.S. scientists have faced significant roadblocks in studying the drug. Decades of prohibition has also meant that the degree of public education about some of the known effects, positive or negative, is limited, and potentially colored by anecdotal evidence. According to one 2017 survey in the Annals of Internal Medicine, respondents generally viewed marijuana more favorably than current evidence supports.

Doctors and public health professionals who want to hit the brakes on full legalization have concerns that because scientists have not been able to study the harms and benefits of marijuana as thoroughly as other drugs on the market, it could have unknown and unintended negative consequences. For example, discussion about marijuana use disorder – pot addiction – had not begun to enter the public sphere until recently. Some studies have estimated that marijuana use disorder hovers around 30 percent.

Some experts argue that plowing ahead with legalization could lead to another addiction epidemic like the country currently has with opi-

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CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

oids. As with prescription painkillers, people are minimizing potential negative impacts and pushing ahead with widespread use before understanding or properly educating people on the health risks, said Dr. Thomas Madejski, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York.

Growing reliance on prescription painkillers increased exposure throughout society and led to a surge in substance abuse.

“There is an experiment going on elsewhere, so we don’t need to rush to do this,” Madejski said, referring to legalization in other states. “If things get better … we’re very open to further discussion.”

For now though, Madejski and his organization believe the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits of legalization. It is instead calling for further decriminalization and a recategorization of the drug to Schedule II to enable more research.

Daliah Heller, director of drug use initiatives at the global public health organization Vital Strategies, questioned drawing an analogy between marijuana legalization and the more widespread use of opioids. She pointed to the fact that opioids exist in an entirely different framework that involves rigorous testing and approval by the Food and Drug Administration before being placed on the pharmaceutical market to be prescribed by doctors. She said marijuana is more akin to alcohol and tobacco, which are sold over the counter and subject to public health regulations. “I think that comes to the same issue here – the rationale for bringing cannabis out of the shadows and into the public health realm is the ability to regulate,” Heller said. She said she is unaware of any evidence to suggest legalization would lead to a large enough increase in marijuana use among current and first-time users that would result in a significantly higher rate of abuse. She also argued that marijuana use is already ubiquitous enough that such an epidemic would already be apparent.

Many medical and public health professionals who support legalization say that while there are health risks involved with marijuana consumption – it is still a drug after all – it is safer to create a legal, regulatory framework so people know what they are putting in their bodies, rather than taking their chances buying drugs off the street. It also comes down to relative risk, in that marijuana is considered by these proponents to have a

ization found that adolescent consumption did not increase.

Concerns about the effects of marijuana on adolescents also raise the issue of how the drug will be marketed. Recently, New York City lawmakers introduced legislation to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes, arguing that the flavors make the product more enticing to adolescents. Critics say the marijuana industry, following the lead of the tobacco industry, could deploy irresponsible marketing campaigns. Tobacco giants have also begun heavily investing in marijuana companies. However, Adinoff said keeping the drug illegal simply makes access to it even easier for young people.

Another potential health impact that has received less attention is the effect of marijuana smoke. Anytime a marijuana user inhales smoke, there is a risk of developing cardiovascular problems. But unlike tobacco smoke, relatively little research exists on the long-term effects of smoking marijuana, and even less on the effects of secondhand smoke. One study in rats suggests that marijuana smoke may actually have a more severe effect on blood vessel function than tobacco smoke. And another study found that being in an enclosed space with someone smoking mar– D r . Bryon A di noff, D o c t or s f or ijuana with a high conCa n na bis R e gu l at io n b oa r d m e m be r centration of THC could result in a contact high.

Under proposals by both Gov. Andrew the emergence of psychiatric disorders.

Madejski said he had a 16-year-old patient Cuomo and state legislators, smoking in who was being treated for depression, and public spaces would remain prohibited, when he began smoking marijuana, his much like drinking in public. But such condition worsened and he became sui- prohibitions have not stopped many maricidal. Beyond anecdotal evidence, Made- juana smokers, as anyone walking around jski referenced a recent study that found New York City could tell you. And rethat while individual risk remains low, search has suggested that as more states high rates of marijuana use by adolescents decriminalize and legalize the drug, marcould lead a large number of young people ijuana smokers in the city have gotten bolder about smoking in public. While to develop depression.

Of course, like alcohol, proposed leg- other states have not studied the matter, islation to legalize marijuana would do so it is possible that the practice will become only for adults age 21 and over. Lawmak- commonplace should recreational mariers in New York have not entertained pro- juana be made legal.

Such a step is not risk-free – driving posals that would allow teenagers to use the drug recreationally. Yet regulations while high is yet another problem and achave not prevented underage drinking, curate testing for marijuana intoxication and opponents fear that easier access to levels has yet to emerge. Lack of data adds marijuana could increase youth exposure, to the worry since it still poses many unboth through conscious decisions and knowns. While opponents remain wary through accidents. Data shows that calls and await new research, proponents say to poison control centers about accidental the available body of knowledge provides marijuana ingestion by children increased enough to evidence to move forward. And in states that allow medical marijuana. if more research is what opponents want, However, a five-year study out of Colorado supporters say the best way to gather it is examining the effects of marijuana legal- through legalization and regulation. low relative risk when compared to opioids or even alcohol. When asked how a doctor could advocate for the recreational legalization of an intoxicant that poses even a small threat, Dr. Bryon Adinoff, an addiction specialist and a board member of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, drew comparisons to gambling, which also contains inherent risks but is legal, or unhealthy food. “There’s all sorts of things we allow in our environment by way of ingestion, behaviors that have risks attached to them that we allow because people enjoy doing it,” Adinoff said. What is critical, experts say, is that marijuana legalization happen with a robust education campaign to create a well-informed society.

Marijuana use by minors is perhaps the greatest concern among health professionals on both sides of the legalization fight.

Use among children and teenagers has been linked to mental health issues and

“There’s all sorts of behaviors that have risks attached to them that we allow because people enjoy doing it.”

■

FIGHTING

— FOR THE —

HEALTHCARE NEW YORKERS

DESERVE!

SAFE STAFFING RATIOS SAVE LIVES

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CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

PASSING PUNISHMENT ON TO CONSUMERS

by M A T T I E Q U I N N

Cuomo’s opioid tax was meant to penalize companies for their role in an epidemic. But patients could end up paying the price. oid Stewardship Act was expected to raise $600 million. Pharmaceutical companies were slated to be taxed on the amount of “morphine milligram equivalents,” which accounts for the varying strengths of different opioids, distributed in New York.

Opioid taxes are an issue that’s been percolating in statehouses across the country for several years, with little success, and New York was the first state to pass a tax. Lawmakers in New Jersey and Massachusetts introduced similar proposals this year, and other bills have been debated in more than a dozen states since 2017. The Healthcare Distribution Alliance, which represents pharmaceutical distributors, brought the litigation against New York and said it is gearing up to battle the tax in several states this year.

“This is an emotional issue, but what I

think gets lost in the emotion is that these are legit patients in need of legitimate drugs,” said a Healthcare Distribution Alliance spokesperson. “We are not in the position of providing medical care, we are simply filling orders. We do not drive the demand.”

This time around, Morris Peters, a state Division of the Budget spokesman, wrote in an emailed statement that the measure is “simply an alternative method for collecting opioid resources anticipated in last year’s and the current budget to support investments that respond to the opioid crisis.” The new legislation specifically allows for the tax to get passed on to consumers, a move made to strengthen their legal argument if the tax bill ends up back in court.

Experts have mixed opinions on opioid taxes, with some arguing that taxing a medication is a lot less straightforward than tax-

STEPHEN VANHORN/SHUTTERSTOCK

J

UST A FEW MONTHS after getting shot down by the courts, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying again to institute an opioid tax.

The pharmaceutical industry, predictably, remains opposed – but health care experts and advocates are also raising concerns about the governor’s proposal, which has a good chance of advancing as part of the state budget.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla struck down a previous version of the legislation in December, siding with pharmaceutical interests. She specifically took issue with a clause that prohibited the tax to be passed down to the consumer, which the plaintiffs argued would inevitably happen.

In her ruling, Failla wrote that the legislation was “not a tax but is rather a regulatory penalty on opioid manufacturers and distributors. And as currently structured, it improperly burdens interstate commerce.”

The idea behind an opioid tax is to punish pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic. It’s also seen as a way to raise money for opioid treatment and overdose prevention programs. Last year’s Opi-

March 18, 2019

A STATEWIDE SCOURGE DRUG EPIDEMICS have historically been limited to inner cities, but recent spikes in opioid overdoses have also taken place in suburban and rural areas – spurring unprecedented bipartisan efforts throughout the nation to combat opioid abuse. New York provides a stark illustration of the demographics of the epidemic, with the per-capita rate of opioid overdoses in New York City being significantly lower than the rest of the state.

1,216 2,137

TOTAL OPIOID-RELATED DEATHS IN NYC IN 2017

TOTAL OPIOID-RELATED DEATHS IN NEW YORK STATE OUTSIDE NYC IN 2017

City & State New York

IN NEW YORK CITY

20

RATE OF OPIOID OVERDOSE ER VISITS (PER 100,000 PEOPLE)

15 10 5 0 A PR

THE COUNTIES WITH THE HIGHEST OPIOID OVERDOSE DEATH RATES IN 2016

SOURCE: STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

JU IL -

NE

20 1

7 Y J UL

PT - SE

20 1

7 OC

ALL OVERDOSES

T

C - DE

20 1

7 JAN

-

RC MA

H2

018 A PR

HEROIN OVERDOSES

JU IL -

NE

8 20 1

PAIN RELIEVER OVERDOSES

OUTSIDE NEW YORK CITY

20

RATE OF OPIOID OVERDOSE ER VISITS (PER 100,000 PEOPLE)

15 10 5 0 AP

OVERDOSE HOT SPOTS

23

R IL

J UN

E2

017

SE YJ UL

PT

20 1

7 OC

T

C - DE

20 1

7 JAN

COUNTY

DEATHS

A -M

R CH

8 20 1 AP

R IL

J UN

E2

018

POPULATION

RATE (PER 100,000 PEOPLE)

33.6

ULSTER

54

179,225

BROOME

57

195,334

32.1

ERIE

274

921,046

31.3

GREENE

12

47,508

30.4

ONONDAGA

129

466,194

28.8

DELAWARE

10

45,523

26.7

COLUMBIA

13

60,989

25.9

SUFFOLK

344

1,492,583

24.6

PUTNAM

21

98,900

24.3

SULLIVAN

16

74,801

24.1

GENESEE

14

58,482

24.1

NIAGARA

46

211,758

23.9

ONEIDA

50

231,190

23.8

STEUBEN

17

96,940

22.7

MONROE

159

747,727

22

MADISON

14

7 1,329

22

RICHMOND

106

476,015

22

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CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

ing an unhealthy commercial product.

“We tax cigarettes not just to punish the companies, but to get fewer people to buy them. But with opioids, do we want people to stop taking pain medication?” asked Richard Auxier, research associate at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. “With cigarettes it’s easy to say, cigarettes cause cancer, so you shouldn’t use them. Opioids are more complicated.”

Auxier added that health-related taxes work best when there’s a strong connection to the behavior you’re trying to disincentivize. “If you smoke, you will likely get cancer. The tax being used to break that cycle is a good thing,” he said. “But the link here isn’t as strong, and there’s a lot of confusion.

These industries did horrible things, but is a tax the best tool in the toolkit?”

John Coppola, executive director of the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State, said he supports the idea of an opioid tax and he doesn’t take as much of an issue on the possible pass-through cost to

consumers, saying that’s not the worst outcome. However, he wants confirmation from lawmakers that they’ll create a fund to help those struggling with addiction.

“It wouldn’t shock me if we used it for the

state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, which only grew 1 percent between 2012 and 2018.

“Now that consumers are paying for the tax, it’s not punishing the pharmaceutical companies,” said Bill Hammond, director of health policy with the Empire Center for Public Policy. “The alleged wrongdoings has become a pretext for raising money and grabbing cash. I’m not saying we’re not spending any money, but if you looked at the budget you wouldn’t know we were at crisis levels.”

Experts agreed the opioid tax would likely pass again, but it’s unclear if it would hold up in court. Despite the mixed research and previous court – R IC H A R D AU X I ER , U R BA N I NST I T U T E decision, count on the Cuomo administration’s determinaR ESE A R C H A SSO C I AT E tion to push the policy as far as it can go. deficit, or the MTA,” he said. “The Legisla“When the governor makes up his mind on ture should insist that the dollars support re- something,” Coppola said, “most of the time covery and treatment efforts.” he moves the needle – no pun intended.”

Another way to increase money for treatment and prevention would be for the Cuomo Mattie Quinn is the health reporter for Govadministration to boost the budget of the erning magazine.

“We tax cigarettes to get fewer people to buy them. But with opioids, do we want people to stop taking pain medication?”

■

March 18, 2019

City & State New York

MARK LEVINE CHAIRMAN NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL HEALTH COMMITTEE

MARIJUANA, E-CIGS AND THE VACCINATION DEBATE NEW YORK CITY IS PLANNING TO BAN CANNABIDIOL. YOU DON’T WANT TO BAN IT, SO ARE YOU ASKING THE CITY TO STAND UP TO THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION? Yes. I don’t think it should be banned. It is legal in many states. And there’s no concrete evidence that it’s harmful. It’s been on sale in New York City for years, and we are potentially about to legalize recreational marijuana, and I don’t think that prohibiting CBD is consistent or warranted by the science.

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO ANNOUNCED A PLAN IN JANUARY TO EXPAND HEALTH CARE COVERAGE FOR CITY RESIDENTS. HAS CITY HALL BEEN DOING ENOUGH TO SELL THE PROGRAM SO FAR? There is enormous misunderstanding about what the program is. Many people think that we passed single-payer in New York City. The truth is, this is a continuation of one of the most important things we

do as a city, which is provide medical care through public hospitals, regardless of ability to pay. There is an important new program which will help undocumented New Yorkers get access to primary care, which I strongly support. I think we’re certainly exploring what kind of role the council could have in helping to make sure that every New Yorker who needs it is reached, and this is the best program it could be. But rollout is supposed to begin in August in the Bronx, so this is happening pretty fast.

THERE’S ALWAYS CRITICISM THAT E-SCOOTERS AND E-BIKES ARE DANGEROUS, THAT EMERGENCY ROOMS ARE FULL OF VICTIMS. DO YOU SEE THEM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE? Giving people new ways of getting around that doesn’t pollute, that reduces congestion on the streets, is a win

An advocacy campaign including City & State First Read provides a targeted way to reach decision makers in New York government and politics.

Campaigns Include:

NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

ADVOCACY MESSAGING OPEN-HOUSE PROMOTIONS NEW HIRE ANNOUNCEMENTS Contact us at advertising@cityandstateny.com for advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

for everybody. Obviously safety is paramount, no matter what kind of vehicle you’re on, whether it’s a car, a bike, a motorcycle or a scooter, you’ve got to follow all the traffic laws. Adults can’t ride bikes on sidewalks and people can’t go against traffic. But the right response is to give people options and ensure that they adhere to traffic safety laws – not to simply ban outright entire modes of transportation, which have already proven to be popular and overwhelmingly safe in other cities, which are ahead of New York. And look, there’s a health impact of breaking our addiction to the automobile as well, which is emitting fumes that contribute to asthma and global warming. And cars themselves are leading to hundreds of fatalities a year in New York.

I think it’s unfair to brand scooters and e-bikes as being particularly dangerous.

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

March 18, 2019 For more info.

212-268-0442 Ext.2039

Email

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com 113 Mulberry Restaurant, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 1/14/2019. 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, Attn: Koorosh Bakhtiar, 161 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10013. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of Sublime Videos LLC filed with SSNY on January 8, 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: 201 W 108th St #67, NY, NY 10025.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of DIGIDAY MEDIA LLC. Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/14/2018.

Office location: New York.

LLC formed in Connecticut on 2/8/2011. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: One Liberty Plaza, 9th Floor, NY, NY 10006. Principal office of LLC is One Liberty Plaza, 9th Floor, NY, NY 10006. Arts of Org filed with CT Sec of State, 30 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106. Purpose: Any lawful activity. The LLC is to be managed by one or more managers.

PNK LUSH, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/02/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: PNK LUSH, LLC, Attn: Alexandra Vassall-Beckford, 31 Oxford Place, apt. 1, Staten Island, NY 10301.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of Sharpe Home Designs, LLC filed with SSNY on January 20, 2017. Office: Westchester County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of MedAsset Recovery, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/18/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/13/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 1370 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10019.

Address to be maintained in DE: c/o Harvard Business Services, Inc., 16192 Coastal Hwy., Lewes, DE 19958. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

March 18, 2019

Notice of Qualification of PEGASUS FUND, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/12/17. NYS fictitious name: PEGASUS LITIGATION CAPITAL FUND, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cullen and Dykman LLP, Attn: Andrew Nitkewicz, Esq., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Hairvine Salon LLC filed with SSNY on January 25, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 480 Main St, Armonk, NY, 10504. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

App. for Auth. (LLC) Dear Annabelle LLC. App. for Auth. filed w/ the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/17/19. LLC formed in DE on 4/27/18. 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 The LLC, 998 5th Ave., NY, NY 10028, registered agent upon whom process may be served.

Purpose: All lawful purposes.

940 Dumont Ave, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 02/01/2018. Office loc: Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 940 Dumont Ave, LLC C/O Rosa, 153 Cooper Street MB#1, Brooklyn, NY 11207. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC). Name: 10 10 1 Foster Ave Realty LLC, Articles of Organization filed with New York’s Secretary of State (NYSS) on 3/13/18. Office Location: c/o 203 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222.

NYSS designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. NYSS shall mail copy of process of LLC, to: J. James Carriero, Esq., 108-54 Ditmars Blvd., North Beach, NY 11369.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Brasil Alta Cultura LLC filed with SSNY 10/11/17.

Office: Richmond Co. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 110 Logan Ave, Staten Island, NY 10301. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of FORESIDE CONSULTING SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/20/10. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o 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 Jeffrey W. Bullock, DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

AMPLE PROPERTIES, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 02/08/2019.

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, Attn: Ample Properties, LLC, 941 McLean Avenue, Suite 264, Yonkers, NY 10704. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of BRIGHT GARVIES POINT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/01/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o 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 Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of 200 Eleventh 6N Owner LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/2/14. 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: c/o Corporation Service Company, 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543 .

Purpose: Any lawful act ADLER PARTNERS, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/25/2019. 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, 77 Park Avenue, #2D, NY, NY 10016. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of 5th Avenue Salon LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/7/18.

Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

BALAYIRA LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 3/21/2018. 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, Attn: Mamadou Balayira, 298 W. 147th Street, New York, NY 10039 Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of HIDDEN GROVE DEVELOPER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/22/19. 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 Open6 LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/25/19. Office location: NY County.

Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 420 E. 72nd St., Apt. 18A, NY, NY 10021, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Qualification of Strategic Partners Fund Solutions Associates VIII (Lux) S.a r.l.

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/19.

“L.L.C.” will be added to the name for use in this state. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Luxembourg on 03/29/18. 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. Luxembourg addr. of LLC: 11-13, boulevard de la Fiore, L-1528, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Cert. of Form. filed with Registre de Commerce et des Societes, 14.

Rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

RMV Universal Solutions LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/30/2019. 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, Attn: Rakell M. Vazquez-Murray, Owner, 2 Ronalds Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of 165 East 66th Street (NY) Garage Owner, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/29/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Paracorp Incorporated, 2804 Gateway Oaks Dr. #100, Sacramento, CA 95833. Address to be maintained in DE: 2140 S. DuPont Hwy., Camden, DE 19934. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM Notice of Qualification of LibreMax Opportunistic Value Fund, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/02/19. Office location: NY County.

LP formed in Cayman Islands (C.I.) on 11/30/18.

Princ. office of LP: 600 Lexington Ave., 7th Fl., NY, NY 10022. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. C.I. addr. of LP: Maples Corporate Services Limited, PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, C.I. KY11104. Cert. of LP filed with General Registry, Ground Fl., Government Administration Bldg., 133 Elgin Ave, George Town, Grand Cayman, C.I. KY1-9000.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Flight Center Holdings LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/8/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1503 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 300, Dallas, TX 75234. LLC formed in DE on 8/2/17. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Adaptive Payroll, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/7/19.

Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 800 Hingham St., Ste. 2025-3, Rockland, MA 02370. 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., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016.

DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Sevier RE Group 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: c/o Brinster & Bergman LLP, 100 Merrick Rd., Ste. 320E, Rockville Centre, NY 11570. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of DANCING BROOMSTICK DEVELOPMENT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/12/18. 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: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674.

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.

Notice of Qualification of AdaptiveHR, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/7/19.

Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 800 Hingham St., Ste. 2025-3, Rockland, MA 02370. 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., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016.

DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

LISA & EVELYN CO., L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/14/18.

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 Solomon Zabrowsky, Esq., 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1301, New York, NY 10107.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of MSGN ENTERPRISES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/10/18. Princ. office of LLC: Two Pennsylvania Plaza, 19th Fl., NY, NY 10121-0091. 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: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of Rosa E., LLC amended to White Spark, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/05. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware on 7/28/05. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and mailed to: 465 W 23rd St, #11B, NY, NY 10011. R/A CSC, 80 State St, Albany, NY 12207.

Cert. of LLC filed with Secy. Of State of DE loc: 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of PEGASUS LEGAL CAPITAL, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/12/17. NYS fictitious name: PEGASUS LITIGATION CAPITAL, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cullen and Dykman LLP, Attn: Andrew Nitkewicz, Esq., 100 Quentin Roosevelt Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of CHESHIRE CAT DEVELOPMENT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/12/18. 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: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674.

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.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON FKA THE BANK OF NEW YORK, AS TRUSTEE FOR THE CERTIFICATEHOLDERS OF CWALT, INC., ALTERNATIVE LOAN TRUST 2006-OA14, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-OA14, Plaintiff against MIRIAM RIVERA A/K/A MIRIAM R. RIVERA; JOE R. RIVERA A/K/A JOE RIVERA; ANA RIVERA; JOE RIVERA, et al Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on October 25, 2017.

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 4th day of April, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York.

Said premises known as 12 Nichols Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11208.

(Block: 4109, Lot: 112).

Approximate amount of lien $ 628,907.05 plus interest and costs.

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

Index No. 511600-15. Doron A. Leiby, 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

Notice of Formation of HIDDEN GROVE HOUSING CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/22/19. 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.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to collocate antennas on the buildings at 236 Fifth Avenue (tip heights 166’, 172’ and 177’) (20190220), and at 311 East Broadway (tip heights 71’) (20190255), New York, NY. Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-809-1202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

Notice of Formation of BTTD, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/19.

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 Julien Kabla, Prime Realty Luxury, 48 Wall St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10043. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of BDG Design LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/12/19.

Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 100 Park Ave., 4th Fl., NY, NY 10017. LLC formed in DE on 2/8/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o WPP, 1740 Broadway, NY, NY 10019.

DE addr. of LLC: 3411 Silverside Rd., Tatnall Bldg. #104, Wilmington, DE 19810. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Formation of VWNG Holdings, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: the Company, c/o Steven S Pretsfelder, Van Wagner Group, LLC, 800 Third Ave., NY, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful activities.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of DL AND AP PHYSICAL THERAPY AND CHIROPRACTIC, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of PLLC: 113 W. 78th St., Ste. 1, NY, NY 10024. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the PLLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Physical therapy and chiropractic.

Notice of Formation of HUDSON POOL LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/26/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: c/o The Hudson Companies Inc., 826 Broadway, NY, NY 10003. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

GOTHAM FIX , LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 12/10/2018. 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, Attn: 2155 center ave apt 2 Fort Lee, NJ 07024.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Patois Republic, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 7/17/2018. 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: Shirley Semper, 78 Dora St, APT 2A. Stamford, New York.

00902. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

A.D. Advisory, LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/22/19. Office: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 199 Main St., 5th Fl., White Plains, NY 10601.

Purpose: any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC AUCTION Supreme Court of New York, KINGS County. WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR MFRA TRUST 2014-2, Plaintiff, -against- LEYLA DAVIS; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; KAYLIE JOHNSON; KYANNE JOHNSON; ANSIL JOHNSON; KAREN LIVERPOOL; AUDREY LIVERPOOL; VANESSA SIMPSON; LEO COLON; JESSICA CRUZ, Index No. 512846/2016.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated, January 9, 2019 and entered with the Kings County Clerk on January 18, 2019, Steven Z. Naiman, Esq., the Appointed Referee, will sell the premises known as 203 Cornelia Street, Brooklyn, New York 11221 at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, on April 11, 2019 at 2:30 P.M. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York known as Block: 3376; Lot: 54 will be sold subject to the provisions of filed Judgment, Index No. 512846/2016.

The approximate amount of judgment is $891,323.70 plus interest and costs.

FRIEDMAN VARTOLO LLP 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

Notice of Qualification of OpenDeal Portal LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/22/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/16/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 335 Madison Ave., 16th Fl., NY, NY 10017. 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 Secy. of State, 401 Federal St. Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

March 18, 2019

PARTY REQUIRED, LLC, filed with SSNY 2/24/2019. Office located in Westchester Co. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: PARTY REQUIRED, LLC. 941 Mclean Ave, #507, Yonkers, NY 10704. Purpose: any lawful business activity.

Notice of Qualification of TWO SIGMA MERCURY FUND, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/27/19. Office location: NY County.

LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/20/19. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Two Sigma Principals, LLC, 100 Ave. of the Americas, 16th Fl., NY, NY 10013. 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., 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of TWO SIGMA MERCURY MASTER FUND, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/27/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/20/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 100 Ave. of the Americas, 16th Fl., NY, NY 10013. 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., 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

T.I.P.P INVESTIGATIONS, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 08/23/2018. Office loc: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn KELVIN GOODWIN, M.D., 99 WAL STREET SUITE 215, NEW YORK, NY 10005. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

NOTICE OF QUAL. of Sugar Hill Property Offshore Fund V 2019 Holdings, LLC. Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 2/15/19. Off. Loc: NY Co. LLC org. in DE 2/11/19.

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

SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to 28 Liberty, New York, NY 10005. DE off.

Addr.: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste 101, Dover, DE 19904.

Cert of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of 200 East 87th Street Company, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/28/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 2/20/19.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 1290 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10104, principal business address. DE address of LLC: 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 Social Aces, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Dor Mizrahi, 100 West 26th St., Apt. 10F, NY, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful activities.

STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT: COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON MORTGAGE SECURITIES CORP., CSFB MORTGAGE-BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-12, Plaintiff,

vs.

RUDOLPH DRAGHINE, STEVEN DRAGHINE, et al., Defendants NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT In pursuance of a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in the office of the County Clerk of Kings County on December 11, 2018, I, Philip Kamaras, Esq., the Referee named in said Judgment, will sell in one parcel at public auction on April 11, 2019 at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, County of Kings, State of New York, at 2:30 P.M., the premises described as follows: 2090 Strauss St Brooklyn, NY 11212 SBL No.: 3569-37 ALL THAT TRACT OF PARCEL OF LAND situate in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York The premises are sold subject to the provisions of the filed judgment, Index No. 509813/2014 in the amount of $435,743.62 plus interest and costs.

Brittany J. Maxon, Esq. Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP Plaintiff’s Attorney 700 Crossroads Building, 2 State St. Rochester, New York 14614 Tel.: 855-227-5072

Notice of Qualification of Principium TMW LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/12/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/17/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty St., NY, NY 10005, also the registered agent upon whom process may be served. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of Monique Morin Design, LLC. Authority filed with SSNY on 12/20/18. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in OH on 4/17/15. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and mailed to: 1675 York Ave, 7J, NY, NY 10128. Cert. of LLC filed with SSOH loc: 180 E. Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215. Purpose: Any Lawful activity.

MiniaturizedLAB, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 4/18/2018. 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, 157 E 86th ST., STE 517, New York, NY 10028. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

Notice of Formation of The NikEra Company, LLC. Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 03/04/3019. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The NikEra Company, LLC Attn: Nickesha Bailey, PO Box 994, Ossining, NY 10562. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316700 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 722 FULTON AVE HEMPSTEAD, NY 11550.

NASSAU COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION.

One Dragon LLC Arts of Org filed with NY Sec of State (SSNY) on 1/29/19.

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

SSNY shall mail process to: 1270 Broadway, #709, NY, NY 10001. General Purposes.

722 MULLIGANS RESTAURANT INC.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316699 FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 27 BEDFORD ST NEW YORK, NY 10014.

NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. M DEGREE LLC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316698 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 106 E 60TH ST. NEW YORK, NY 10022.

NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. M & G 60TH STREET LLC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316718 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 1452 FULTON ST BROOKLYN, NY 11216.

KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. THREE POINT KINGS LLC.

PUBLIC NOTICE Dish Wireless (DISH) proposes to install antennas and equipment on an existing building/rooftop located at 3511-3515 Barnes Ave in Bronx, NY (Job #40207).

In accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the 2005 Nationwide Programmatic Agreement, DISH is hereby notifying the public of the proposed undertaking and soliciting comments on Historic Properties which may be affected by the proposed undertaking. If you would like to provide specific information regarding potential effects that the proposed undertaking might have to properties that are listed on or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and located within 3/4 mile of the site, please submit the comments (with project number) to: RAMAKER, Contractor for DISH, 855 Community Dr, Sauk City, WI 53583 or via e-mail to history@ramaker.com within 30 days of this notice.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of limited liability company (LLC). Name: Vetinsure Insurance Services, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/16/2019. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: THE LLC 2410 Hog Mountain Road Watkinsville, GA 30677. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of ANTHELLO, LLC filed with SSNY on 2/4/19.

Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 160 E91st St Apt 5F NY NY 10128.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of BWC Consulting, LLC filed with SSNY on 1/10/2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: United States Corporation Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Avenue Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of KARTOS PREFERRED A FUND, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/01/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/31/18. Princ. office of LLC: 119 W. 72nd St., Ste. #299, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316784 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 JFK AIRPORT, TERMINAL 1, GATE 9 + 10 JAMAICA, NY 11430.

QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. TAV NEW YORK OPERATION SERVICES LLC.

Notice of Formation of 131 Apawamis LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/15/19. Office location: NY County.

Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 1165 Fifth Ave., Apt. 15A, NY, NY 10029, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of AOP DOWNTOWN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/08/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 56 Leonard St., Unit P-54, NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Just Go, LLC filed with SSNY on January 24, 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: 255 W 94th St, #16B, NY, NY 10025. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF QUAL. of 269 West 7C LLC. Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 2/21/19. Off. Loc: NY Co. LLC org. in DE 6/5/18.

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

SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to NRAI, 28 Liberty St., New York, NY 10005, the Reg. Agt upon whom proc. may be served. DE off. Addr.: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (tip height 151.8’) on the building at 77 Bleaker St., New York, NY (20190562).

Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856809-1202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

29

214G LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/15/19. 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 Garvey Schubert Barer, 100 Wall Street, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10005, ATTN: Alan A. Heller.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316758 FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 22-41 31ST ST ASTORIA, NY 11105. QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. GALATA RESTAURANT INC. Notice of Hedy Hopping, LLC filed with SSNY on February 26, 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: 125 East 4th Street, #3, NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

30

CityAndStateNY.com

March 18, 2019

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

Who was up and who was down last week

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Director Derek Evers devers@cityandstateny.com, Digital Content Coordinator Michael Filippi, Social Media Editor/Content Producer Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND New York’s junior senator has made feminism a theme of her congressional career and extended it to her fledgling presidential campaign. But a former staffer is claiming that she is a #MeToo hypocrite because she went easy on a top aide accused of sexual harassment. It doesn’t help that no one in the New York delegation will endorse her – including Reps.

Kathleen Rice and Sean Patrick Maloney, who just jumped on the Beto bandwagon.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

ERIC ADAMS

GREGORY & MARCIA ABBOTT

KEVIN BARWELL

AL D’AMATO & RUDY GIULIANI

The Brooklyn beep’s “Meatless Mondays” will surely cure diabetes in NYC schools.

With proposed regulations nixed, the limo companies he represents can get back to carting your teens around with bad brakes.

GEORGE GRESHAM & KEN RASKE

These labor leaders are relieved Cuomo’s Medicaid cuts were just an April Fools’ gag.

CY VANCE

Nothing like sticking it to Paul Manafort to get back in Democrats’ good graces.

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 EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Director of Events Research & Development Bryan Terry, Marketing Coordinator Meg McCabe, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez

Vol. 8 Issue 10 March 18, 2019

The beverage barons loved their daughter enough to not trust her to take the SATs. Happy life? One’s getting sued by his ex, the other is screaming at his in court.

Cover Andrew Horton

KENNETH C. GRIFFIN

The priciest apartment in history came with a view, amenities ... and oh yeah, a tax on second homes for everyone. Thanks, Ken.

EDWARD & LINDA MANGANO The former Nassau executive is a real romantic. Does everything with his wife.

Like obstruction of justice.

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.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763.

General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2019, City & State NY, LLC

U.S. HOUSE; U.S. SENATE

GREG MEEKS Meek? Seems like a misnomer for a politician willing to take the helm of the Queens County Democratic Party, the once-and-future powerful political institution, now defending itself against the open hostility of liberal reformers. The post’s previous occupant, Joe Crowley, stepped down to pursue a more lucrative career in lobbying. It’s a tale as old as time, and with his election as the county’s new party leader, Boss Meeks is the latest protagonist.

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

WINNERS

For all the analogies that have been drawn between the Trump Organization and the Mafia, there were a few reminders of the real mob’s presence in New York last week – from an old-school boss who was gunned down on Staten Island to two alleged mobsters who were acquitted in court. To see who was a big earner last week – and who got whacked – read on.

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, 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

BARUCH COLLEGE • APRIL 24, 2019 City & State’s Healthy New York Summit will inform health care decision makers and policy experts on the most critical issues and priorities in New York health care. The full-day event brings insights and perspectives from all sectors of New York’s health care decision-making together to identify challenges and discuss solutions to improve our system. Join us for an extensive overview of New York’s 2019 health policy agenda and better understanding on the health care issues.

PANEL TOPICS •

Making Health Coverage Available and Affordable to All New Yorkers

•

Innovative Health Programs and Services in New York

•

Moving Toward Health Equity in NY

•

The Next Steps for Mental Health Care and Vulnerable Populations in New York

FE ATURED SPE AKERS •

Mitchell Katz, President and CEO, New York City Health + Hospitals

•

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, Chairman, Health Committee

•

Gale A. Brewer, Manhattan Borough President

•

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, Chairman, Health Committee

•

NYC Councilman Mark Levine, Chairman, Committee on Health

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

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

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The utility companies have lawyers to represent their interests. Residential utility customers don’t.

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