City & State New York 060120 by City & State

ALBANY POWER 100

POWER IN THE TIME OF COVID WITH NEW YORK IN FREE FALL, BUDGET BOSS ROBERT MUJICA IS CALLING THE SHOTS

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June 1, 2020

Congratulations to Patrick Purcell Jr. on being chosen as one of City and Stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Albany Power 100 List

Patrick Purcell Jr. Executive Director Greater New York / New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

CITY & STATE is known for a lot of things – our must-read First Read emails, our irreverent Winners & Losers feature, our in-depth profiles of important New York politicians. And, of course, we’re known for our power lists, which document political influence in a number of spheres, both regionally and demographically. As the severity of the coronavirus outbreak became clear, however, we considered putting many of our lists on hold. One factor was that we could no longer hold live, in-person events to bring together and recognize the individuals featured on each list. Another factor was that assessing political power seemed beside the point as the state grappled with a threat that has killed tens of thousands of New Yorkers and put nearly 2 million people out of work. We decided to shift gears with our upcoming regional lists, which will instead identify some of the selfless individuals who are sacrificing their time and resources – and even their own safety – to battle the coronavirus. But as we pondered what to do with our Albany Power 100, we decided to move forward with it as originally planned. And as we began our research, we realized that it’s more important now than ever to identify and inform our readers about who’s in control during this unprecedented emergency – including state Budget Director Robert Mujica, the subject of this week’s cover profile.

CONTENTS ALBANY 100 … 9

The most powerful people in state government

ROBERT MUJICA … 12 It’s a new era for the budget director

CUOMO’S SECRETARIES … 18 Former top aides, back in action

POWER MOVES … 36

Who’s up, who’s down, and who dropped off the list

CELESTE SLOMAN; WFP

SOCHIE NNAEMEKA … 48 New leader, new direction for the WFP WINNERS & LOSERS … 54

Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

STATE LEGISLATURE MEETS AGAIN

After nearly two months of remaining on the sidelines during the coronavirus crisis, the state Legislature reconvened a mostly remote session to pass a slew of coronavirusrelated bills. It was the first time meeting since the Legislature passed the state budget at the

June 1, 2020

beginning of April. Over the course of three days, both chambers passed more than 30 bills, most of which related to the coronavirus response. They included several rent relief measures, including a limited voucher program for landlords with tenants who are facing financial hardships and an extended eviction moratorium that forbids landlords from ever evicting tenants for

rent payments missed during the pandemic. Tenant advocates strongly denounced the voucher bill, calling it “totally inadequate.” Lawmakers also passed a bill extending the look-back window for one year to file lawsuits under the Child Victims Act. The original yearlong window to bring lawsuits regardless of how long ago the alleged abuse occurred was set to end in August, but many cases were not able to be heard due to the pandemic halting most court activity. And in what turned out to be a slightly contentious matter, legislators repealed a nearly 200-year-old law that made it illegal for groups of two or more people to wear masks in public. Notably, many Republican state senators who made the trek to the Capitol chose not to wear masks on camera.

THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG The coronavirus has officially claimed more than 100,000 lives in the United States, and just before that devastating benchmark was hit, The New York Times commemorated just a fraction of those dead from the virus on the cover of its Sunday edition. The staggering display names 1,000 people who have died from the virus – only 1% of the total death toll.

“I thought I lived in the United States. I thought I lived in a country and now I realize we have 50 countries, essentially. Right now we’re in the country of New York.” – comedian Chris Rock, in the governor’s daily press conference, bemoaning lack of cohesive federal leadership on the coronavirus crisis

“I’m just frolicking in the surf, enjoying myself. And then finally I came back, and I kicked more sand in the effigy of Bill de Blasio’s face.” – Curtis Sliwa, conservative anti-crime activist, describing how he flouted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s no-swimming rule at a city beach, via the New York Post

REOPENING CONTINUES

It has been two weeks since five upstate New York regions entered the first phase of reopening, and because those areas haven’t experienced any red flags, upstate leaders expected more businesses to begin reopening on Friday. But as the day grew nearer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo stayed mum on the issue, sowing confusion and frustration. The next phase includes the return of off ice jobs, in-store shopping at retailers and limited hair salon service. Cuomo said a group of international experts first needed to analyze the state’s data and greenlight it. The delay left many upstate leaders fuming, and some even said they would encourage businesses to reopen regardless of the governor’s directive. However, Cuomo announced on Friday that those five upstate regions had the green light to move to Phase 2. Meanwhile, two of the state’s most populous regions, the mid-Hudson Valley and Long Island, entered the first phase of reopening last week, leaving only New York City closed now. Cuomo said that the city is on track to begin Phase 1 on June 8. New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio began laying out some preliminary plans for reopening.

NY SENATE MEDIA SERVICES; DARREN MCGEE/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; NOAMGALAI, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

June 1, 2020

PROTESTS ERUPT AFTER POLICEINVOLVED DEATH

Protests erupted across the country after the policeinvolved death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in Minneapolis after a police officer put a knee into his neck while placing him under arrest on the suspicion of using counterfeit money. Grimly reminiscent of Eric Garner’s death on Staten Island in 2014, among Floyd’s last words were “I can’t breathe.” Although the officers involved in the incident were fired, only one faced criminal charges related to Floyd’s death as of printing. In Minneapolis, thousands of Black Lives Matter activists and others took to the streets at various protests, some of which turned violent. For several nights, the city was burning, including when protesters set fire to a police precinct. In New

THE

WEEK AHEAD

City & State New York

York City, at least 70 people were arrested at a Union Square protest over Floyd’s death. The New York City Police Department said that several of its officers were assaulted, including one who was hit over the head with a garbage can. The same day that Floyd died, another racist incident sparked outrage in the city: A white woman was filmed calling the police on a black man who asked her to put a leash on her dog in Central Park, falsely claiming that he was threatening her, and repeatedly specifying that he was “an African American man.” Observers noted that while the man, Christian Cooper, walked away from that encounter, there was the possibility that he could have ended up like Floyd if officers had shown up. The woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), was fired from her job after the video went viral.

TUESDAY 6/2 The 2020 state legislative session was originally scheduled to end Tuesday, but state legislative leaders have suggested that they will reconvene again at a time TBD.

Stringer’s road map to a balanced budget New York City still has a $1.6 billion budget gap, but city Comptroller Scott Stringer has a plan to help close it – though it means making budget cuts that city agencies “have not yet performed out of laziness.” Stringer laid out his road map to a balanced budget last week during a City & State webinar on the pandemic’s financial impact on New York. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio submitted an executive budget in April that assumed a $7.4 billion reduction in revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. That proposed budget was balanced with the help of service cuts and pulling from the city’s reserves. But the mayor announced a revised projection on May 27, expecting the city will suffer a $9 billion loss. The final budget is due on June 30, and Stringer thinks he knows how City Hall can make up the $1.6 billion difference without resorting to borrowing. First: Find more savings. “We have enough efficiencies that agencies have not yet performed out of laziness,” Stringer said, which could save the city another $300 to $400 million. He’s not the first to find fault with de Blasio’s $3.9 billion savings plan, which has been criticized by watchdogs as not nearly aggressive enough and not spread out across agencies fairly. Stringer said his office was able to reduce its own budget by 4%, and urged all elected officials and agencies to do the same and “take the 4% pledge.” Stringer, a leading mayoral candidate in 2021, also said the city could reduce the $5.4 billion spent annually on outside consultants and professional service contracts. He also named the street homelessness outreach program and first lady Chirlane McCray’s embattled ThriveNYC mental health program as areas for potential cuts. The comptroller said the city could pull another $600 million out of its already depleted savings. And to fully

INSIDE DOPE

Some lawmakers are wary of meeting before the June 23 primaries in order to avoid any more politically tricky votes that could affect their reelection chances.

close the $1.6 billion budget gap, he would do his part as the city’s chief fiscal officer to refinance the city’s debt and take advantage of the lower interest rates. “I’m prepared today to put up $400 million for refinancing,” he said. The Office of Management and Budget “should call me later today, or the mayor, if he wants to, and we will get to work on that.” Asked for comment, the mayor’s office defended its ability to save, with or without Stringer’s help. “Since June we achieved almost $4 billion in savings over this year and the next,” de Blasio’s deputy press secretary Laura Feyer said in a statement. “And over the past six-plus years, we’ve worked with the Comptroller’s office to refinance billions of dollars in bonds and will continue to look at any opportunity to find savings in the future together.” Of course, the city’s fiscal picture could change entirely if the federal government delivers more aid to local governments. De Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been pleading with Washington to send more financial help for months, but U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said last week he doesn’t expect Congress to pass another relief bill for a month. As de Blasio seeks to shore up his budget, he has asked the state for the authority to borrow against the budget. Gov. Andrew Cuomo dismissed the idea, and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who negotiates with de Blasio on the city budget, said he opposed the idea of borrowing. Stringer, who views Johnson as a rival for the 2021 mayoralty, also reiterated his skepticism of the plan to borrow up to $7 billion. “Borrowing should be the last resort,” Stringer said during the webinar. “I’m not against borrowing, but I’m against doing something before it’s time.” -Jeff Coltin

THURSDAY 6/4

TUESDAY 6/9

The latest unemployment numbers will be released by the federal Department of Labor. While it is just one metric of the economic health of the state, any spike in new benefit claims would be bad news.

Ballots for school budget votes and school board elections are due for much of the state outside New York City. Originally scheduled for May, they were postponed and changed to entirely voteby-mail.

June 1, 2020 BY AMANDA LUZ HENNING SANTIAGO

CityAndStateNY.com

ANDREW CUOMO WE ANSWERED YOUR MOST BURNING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GOVERNOR. YOU’RE WELCOME.

ANDREW CUOMO AGE

Born on Dec. 6, 1957, the governor is 62 years old (and a Sagittarius).

ANDREW CUOMO NET WORTH

The governor’s net worth is reportedly $5 million, due to his current salary and past work as a real estate adviser. Cuomo also earned more than $700,000 from his book deal. Cuomo’s annual salary was bumped up to $225,000 this year, which makes him one of the highest-paid governors in the country.

ANDREW CUOMO EDUCATION

Cuomo graduated from Fordham University in 1979, and earned his law degree from Albany Law School in 1982.

ANDREW CUOMO QUEENS

Cuomo grew up in Queens, which is where his grandparents moved after emigrating from Italy.

ANDREW CUOMO RELIGION The governor is a practicing Roman Catholic.

ANDREW CUOMO WIFE

Cuomo is not currently married, but he does have an ex-wife, Kerry Kennedy – the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy – whom he was married to for 15 years, from 1990 to 2005.

That’s fine, we get it, people want to know everything about Cuomo now. We’ve been following the governor even before he took office in 2011, so we figured it’s on us to respond to your most pressing Cuomo searches.

ANDREW CUOMO AND SANDRA LEE

Cuomo and his longtime partner, TV chef Sandra Lee, confirmed their split in a joint statement on Sept. 25, 2019, after it was speculated that the pair broke up over the summer.

ANDREW CUOMO BROTHER

Cuomo’s younger brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, recently received widespread media attention for testing positive for the coronavirus, in addition to their sporadic on-air banter.

ANDREW CUOMO CHILDREN

The governor has three daughters, twins Mariah and Cara, and Michaela, who you may have seen at his press briefings over the past few months.

ANDREW CUOMO FOR PRESIDENT

Sure, the governor has said he has no interest in running for president. But in January 2019, he insinuated that he would have been interested in running in 2020 if former Vice President Joe Biden wasn’t. And since Cuomo has skyrocketed into the collective consciousness of the country, numerous individuals have called on him to run.

LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; MIKE GROLL/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

HERE AT CITY & STATE, we’ve been forced to face the fact that the country’s aggressive Googling about Gov. Andrew Cuomo has resulted in a significant uptick in our traffic – and not just because of our fantastic politics and policy articles.

THE POWER June 1, 2020

ALEX LAW; EMANUEL LEUTZE/THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART; GRANT WOOD/ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO; EDWARD HOPPER/ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO; JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL WHISTLER/MUSEE D’ORSAY; EVERETT HISTORICAL/SHUTTERSTOCK

NOT JUST BEHIND EVERY TALKING HEAD IN NEW YORK

7 City & State New York BY CAITLIN DORMAN

IS BROKER EVERYWHERE

AS NEW YORK POLITICOS grapple with lackluster audio and Zoom backgrounds, many have come to use a strategically placed copy of Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” as a reliable way to signal their clout and credibility. Some, like NY1’s Errol Louis, readily admitted the placement was intentional, while others claim that, oh, it’s been on that bookshelf as long as they can remember. Is it possible the legendary Robert Moses biography has been hiding elsewhere, unnoticed in plain sight?

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE

You didn’t expect America’s first president to go into battle without his handy-dandy, mist-soaked copy of “The Power Broker.” The surprise attack on the British was devastating, but so was Washington’s intimate knowledge of “how political power truly works.”

AMERICAN GOTHIC

WHISTLER’S MOTHER

It’s obvious upon reexamination that both figures in this painting have read “The Power Broker.” Unfortunately, they also probably intend to use its 1,200+ as kindling. Knowledge of the inner workings of New York City politics isn’t as relevant to a rural lifestyle during the Great Depression as heating that farmhouse in the background.

For some people, “The Power Broker” is the pièce de résistance of their carefully curated bookshelf. For others, it’s a convenient doorstop, or in this case, a footstool. To each Whistler’s mother her own.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT

NITEHAWKS

Few people know that this painting isn’t actually about lonely diners in the wee hours of the morning – it’s a depiction of a book club that started discussing “The Power Broker” when the sun was still up, and to this day they’re still not finished.

Despite taking great offense that Robert Caro chose to profile Lyndon B. Johnson next, this New York governor-turned president understands clout, and wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to sneak “The Power Broker” into a portrait. We’d have to imagine that his Zoom backgrounds would also involve a lot of taxidermy.

THE CASE FOR ALLOWING DAY PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN INSTEAD OF ADULTS AND CHILDREN MINGLING FOR NON-ESSENTIALS

- Dr. Anthony Fauci at a U.S. Senate hearing on 5/12/20: “You are right in the numbers that children in general do much, much better than adults and the elderly, and particularly those with underlying conditions.” - Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s Chief Scientist in a 5/17/20 interview with the BBC: “What we have seen in countries where schools have remained open is there have not been big outbreaks in schools. Where there has been, it’s been associated with events; not in regular classrooms... It does seem from what we know now, that children are less capable of spreading [Coronavirus], and certainly are at a very low risk of getting ill from the disease... The risks to children are extremely low.” - 14 of the 23,643 lab-confirmed Coronavirus deaths in New York as of Wednesday, May 27th are under the age of 20. No, not 14

percent. 14, as in 14 cases. (This is according to data from New York State which does not count “probable” deaths.) - The 14 children deaths over 75 days contrasts with the average of 4.91 daily deaths in NY State in 2017. Moreover, children were 1.15% of all 2017 deaths, but they are only 0.059% of Covid deaths in NY. This is 19 TIMES LOWER! - Adults make up 99.9% of New York coronavirus deaths. According to public policy, however, adults can be with children in parks, at stores, and on trains and planes. Yet children are not allowed to be at Day Programs with fellow children? This doesn’t make any sense! If the old can be with the young all over town, which is inevitable since children have nowhere else to go, then it’s likely preferred for children to spend time with other children a few hours a day with safety measures in place.

Paid for by OJPAC Inc. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) is a not-for-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).

ALBANY CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

POWER

100

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC has shaken up the power structure in Albany. For some New York politicians, their influence has grown dramatically – especially for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the commissioners, advisers and allies he has entrusted to shape the response to the deadly public health emergency and the alarming economic fallout. But other perennial power players’ abilities have been diminished – perhaps most notably among members of the state Legislature, who have

ceded significant powers to the governor. The 2020 Albany Power 100 details these ebbs and flows in political influence, with a newly reordered ranking that reflects the ways the crisis has reshaped responsibility in the state capital. And with so many Albany operatives and insiders retiring or resigning from their posts, fully one-quarter of the list is new this year. Read on to see where the new faces and the mainstays are ranked – and why they made the cut.

CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

states and cities, Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are opposed.

ANDREW CUOMO

Governor

The governor has won plenty of political victories during his three terms, but it has hurt his popularity at times. Then the coronavirus pandemic began, and his approval numbers soared into the stratosphere. His daily briefings have mobilized public support behind him to an extent that was unimaginable a few months ago. It’s the rare type of political weapon that can counter such threats as a presidential tweet.

HOWARD ZUCKER Commissioner

State Department of Health

2 DONALD TRUMP President

The one person who can stymie Gov. Andrew Cuomo is President Donald Trump. Whether it’s blocking federal bailout funds, stalling the Gateway Tunnel or capping state and local tax deductions, the president often gets the best of the governor. Yet in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Cuomo has found ways to pressure or persuade Trump to provide assistance – or to push the president out of his way.

3 MELISSA DEROSA

Secretary to the Governor As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide, it’s no surprise that Melissa DeRosa is a regular fixture at his daily coronavirus press briefings. She’s fielded questions about the state’s strained unemployment benefit system and is leading a maternity task force to help pregnant women during the pandemic. “As much as you try to anticipate, there’s really no

Andrew Cuomo’s popularity has soared during the pandemic.

way to predict what will arise,” she told Elle in an April profile.

4 ROBERT MUJICA Director

State Division of the Budget The state’s fiscal czar now manages the money for the Second Floor, but he learned his fiscal wizardry during nearly 20 years with the state Senate Finance Committee. This includes playing a role in the formation of an alliance between the Republican majority and a renegade band of Democrats. Nowadays,

he has to balance the state’s books – and decide what to cut as the economy crashes.

Howard Zucker is by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s side during must-see briefings on the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, making him “the most important person in New York who most New Yorkers never heard of,” as Newsday put it. With a background in global public health and infectious disease, he has the credentials for the job – which includes dealing with hospital staffing policies, reopening the economy and ongoing medical developments.

5 CHARLES SCHUMER

U.S. Senate Minority Leader U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has had a rough time of it during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, and not even the coronavirus pandemic has improved relations between the White House and New York’s senior senator. While there’s bipartisan support in New York for billions of dollars in aid to bail out

In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, Cuomo has found ways to persuade Trump – or to push the president out of his way.

7 LETITIA JAMES

State Attorney General In 2018, Letitia James became the first woman and first African American to be elected attorney general in New York. In the year that followed, she made headlines for filing 20 lawsuits against the Trump administration. More recently, the former New York City public advocate has taken on debt collectors, banning private companies from attempting to seize New Yorkers’ $1,200 stimulus checks to pay off debt.

HANS PENNINK, LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

TRANSIT WORKERS DESERVE

HAZARD PAY!

MORE THAN 120 DEDICATED TRANSIT WORKERS — MOST OF THEM MEMBERS OF TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION LOCAL 100 — HAVE NOW PERISHED OF THE CORONAVIRUS PLAGUE. Thousands more have been infected and quarantined. Despite the risks to personal health and safety, these brave men and women continue to report for duty, every day, 24 hours a day to get all essential workers to the front lines in this war for survival. We’re keeping this city moving — and fighting. We have a message for the MTA. Elected officials at all levels of government have stated clearly that transit workers deserve hazard pay.

Transit workers are doing their part. It’s time for the MTA to get this done!

PAID FOR BY TWU LOCAL 100 Tony Utano, President Earl Phillips, Secretary-Treasurer LaTonya Crisp, Recording Secretary Nelson Rivera, Administrative VP

www.twulocal100.org/hazard-pay

SLASH 12

CityAndStateNY.com

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

OOD LUCK KEEPING UP with Robert Mujica. On any given day, the 46-year-old state budget director gets up at 4:30 a.m., jogs five miles, and then races a Ducati 999 motorcycle 30 miles from his Columbia County home to the driveway outside the governor’s office in the state Capitol. If you had a boss like Gov. Andrew Cuomo, you too might be in a daily race against time. “He’s like let’s go, let’s go,” said one former colleague of Mujica’s approach to the job. Mujica has capitalized on a unique blend of fiscal know-how and political savvy to quietly become one of the most powerful figures in New York politics. But with the state now tumbling into its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Mujica has been tasked with assembling a package of cuts to close a multibillion-dollar shortfall – and he’ll likely have to use every budget trick he ever learned to get it done. Unemployment is now hovering around 15% in New York. State revenues have fallen at least $13 billion below projections in recent months. The economic cost to the state could reach $243 billion over the next few years – assuming the economy does not miraculously recover sooner. Call it the ultimate challenge for a three-term governor looking to take his self-defined brand of progressive politics to a new

June 1, 2020

New York is in Robert Mujica’s hands. But the budget director may have to make brutal cuts in order to save it.

level. As fate would have it, Mujica, a longtime Republican operative, is responsible for figuring out the details. Mujica takes a zero-sum approach to fiscal matters. “One dollar spent in one place is $1 not spent somewhere else,” he said in a recent interview. “Resources are finite.” On the political side of things, regular appearances at the governor’s daily press briefings highlight Mujica’s other assets. At one May briefing, for example, Mujica jumped in to answer a reporter’s question about outsourcing of unemployment claim processing to other states, which saved the governor from speaking about an issue that he appeared completely unaware of. Of course, the governor’s ongoing efforts to get billions of dollars in new federal aid could make things easier for Mujica. If that does not end up happening, Mujica explains, 20% cuts for public schools, health care and local governments are only the necessary thing to do. “In the event that those funds don’t occur, then we would have to make those reductions,” he said at one mid-May briefing alongside the governor. At other times, the bespectacled budget chief has played the tut-tutting technocrat on the governor’s behalf, lecturing state lawmakers during budget negotiations and shaming critics of the failed deal to bring a second Amazon headquarters to Queens.

portraits by B R A D T R E N T

& BURN

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

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June 1, 2020

AS FATE WOULD HAVE IT, A LONGTIME REPUBLICAN OPERATIVE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FIGURING OUT THE DETAILS.

Since joining the administration in 2016, the former Republican state Senate staffer’s responsibilities have grown dramatically. Beyond his job overseeing a $178 billion state budget, Mujica is the eyes and ears of the governor on the boards of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the City University of New York, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and the Public Authorities Control Board. Then there are the special projects assigned to Mujica, ranging from redesigning the state Medicaid program to coordinating with neighboring states on the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Other than Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, no one has the governor’s ear quite like his suspender-clad budget chief. “The institutional power that he represents is what makes him different from his predecessors,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “What is (also) different is his longevity in the role and the accumulated power of the executive vis-à-vis the Legislature.” Mujica’s aversion to raising taxes on the wealthy irks many on the political left. “I would suggest he leans more to the conservative side when dealing with fiscal policy,” said Ron Deutsch, executive director of the liberal Fiscal Policy Institute. “There seems to be a general willingness to talk cuts as opposed to other potential options … like tax increases on the wealthy.” But Albany insiders across the political spectrum acknowledge Mujica’s competence and vast knowledge of state finances. If someone takes too long to explain their point, his hands will start to urge others to speed up. “He has a certain threshold for bullshit,” said the former colleague. “You feel the pressure when you go to him. You want to get things right.” When the governor named the Columbia County resident to serve on the MTA board, he had to change a state law prohibiting board members from outside the agency’s service region. Yet the bigger issue that came up during the confirmation process was whether Mujica was just “too damned busy,” as state Sen.

Liz Krueger suggested, to do the job. He does have his hands full with other nonbudgetary roles, including 28 ex-officio roles at agencies as obscure as the New York State World University Games Commission and relatively high-profile as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. This ubiquity creates a direct line between the governor and a multitude of state agencies, which adds some perspective to official decision making while also challenging the nominal independence of state agencies, according to Horner. “I think it cuts both ways in terms of whether or not it’s good for the institutions,” he said. “But it raises the question of how does he do it all?” The work comes naturally to Mujica, a Brooklyn-born New Yorker who grew up in Staten Island. He spent plenty of afternoons as a kid hanging out at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, where his mother worked for years. “I would be there just helping put some budget books together, stapling books, just doing whatever they had me do around the office,” he recalled. “My mother always instilled in me the value of an education and work.” When his parents, who met in New York City after coming separately from Puerto Rico, got divorced, his mother married Steven Levine, who would go on to serve as a deputy budget director under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Mujica’s familial ties to the city bureaucracy – his father is a retired career staffer for the NYPD – put him on a path toward a life of public service. As an undergraduate at Brooklyn College, Mujica interned for a local congressman named Charles Schumer. He also worked briefly for the city’s budget director, Abe Lackman, while in college. After getting a masters in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, he would work for Lackman again – this time in Albany. By then Lackman had become a top staffer to state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Mujica completed his law degree from Albany Law School in 2005. Like the fictional Forrest Gump, the fiscal wizard has a knack for popping up at pivotal moments in recent state political history. Early on in his career, he was lodging voter fraud allegations at first-time state legislative candidate Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who eventually went on to become the Democratic state Senate majority leader. A group of Republican conspirators reportedly held a key meeting at Mujica’s house to plot the infamous 2009 state Senate coup. Before he

June 1, 2020

joined the administration, Mujica reportedly was an intermediary in talks with Cuomo to form a legislative alliance between the Republican conference and a group of breakaway Democratic state senators known as the Independent Democratic Conference. Mujica’s involvement in the murkier side of state politics has extended to his time off the clock. He was a sought-after attendee at a gubernatorial fundraiser in 2019 where attendees paid $25,000 for some filet mignon and a little face time with him just two weeks before the state budget deadline. His barside presence at an annual Somos junket in Puerto Rico where state leaders mingle with powerful union officials and lobbyists did not go unnoticed. He has also been known to date people he has worked with. “Have I been single?” he said. “Have I dated people that I’ve come across, you know, at work? Sure.” At times, Mujica’s approach to fiscal matters has been at odds with the image the Cuomo administration projects of balanced budgets and fiscal restraint. There was the yearslong practice whereby Mujica

City & State New York

kept state Medicaid spending within a state-imposed cap by moving payments from one fiscal year into the next. A good economy and billions of dollars in one-time legal settlements have smoothed the way for many of the governor’s spending priorities, at least after closing a $10 billion budget gap in his first year in office. But the administration will not enjoy such advantages in dealing with the damage wrought by COVID-19. Another secret to the governor’s fiscal success – off-budget spending by public authorities – is becoming more crucial than ever, according to John Kaehny, executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany. “The governor likes to brag about how the state’s debt ratings are really good,” Kaehny said. “Of course, the debt ratings for the state proper are really good because it’s only borrowing 5% of all the money that state government is borrowing. The (other) 95% is coming from the authorities.” Servicing much of that debt will cost taxpayers in the long run even though it will not show up on the official state budget. Yet Mujica disputed that such debt was a problem for the state long term. “If you look at what the authorities are spending money on, they’re spending money on things that are going to last well beyond any administration,” he said. “And I think that’s where you want to spend your resources.” State government is complex, and there are many factors to weigh when considering how to finance things like health care, public schools and mass transit with the state’s limited resources. A small number of ultra-wealthy New Yorkers might flee if taxes are raised too much. The debt acquired by a public authority offers an easy way to spread those costs out over many years. While the bill will come due at some point, much of Mujica’s work focuses on confronting problems that pose more immediate threats to the state and the services it provides to some 19 million people. Mujica is taking things one step at a time. That idea is taken to its literal extreme on a trail that Mujica is building through his 30-acre estate in Columbia County, where he shot his first buck with a .30-06 rifle. He has plans for a pathway that will offer a grand view of his property, where pheasants, turkeys and whitetails cross. He has already cleared more than three-quarters of a mile of low-lying foliage with the help of a Husqvarna chainsaw and plenty of sweat. However, with at least 120 more yards to go, he has yet to figure out exactly where his trail of wooden planks will end. It’s a sign that the New York state budget chief likes to focus on the task at hand – an approach that extends beyond a footpath through the wetlands of the Hudson Valley. “You do the best you can,” he said. “Then you worry about tomorrow.” But no matter how hard he works, no matter how much power he accrues, Mujica has always been working for someone else – and Mujica says that is not going to change anytime soon, despite the challenges of his most demanding boss yet. “The governor gets up before you, generally, goes to sleep after you and usually has read what you need to read before you,” Mujica said. “So you get up and try to deal with those expectations.”

■

It all started with a fearless woman. Nearly 60 years ago, Ethel Percy Andrus founded AARP, an innovator who transformed lives and changed the world. In honor of her legacy, AARP New York congratulates Beth Finkel and all the other recipients for being on the Albany Power 100 Listâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;keep blazing new trails for future generations.

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

The MTA under Pat Foye is in dire straits with sinking ridership.

justice reforms, the speaker is the foundation of liberal influence in the state’s halls of power.

11 BILL DE BLASIO

New York City Mayor Although New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is frequeently preempted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he’s still the leader of the state’s largest and most powerful city – and he’s one of few people to stand up to the governor. Even if he can’t avoid cost shifts in the state budget, he’s got real negotiating power. However, his ill-fated run for president damaged his reputation as an effective campaigner.

12 After scores of MTA workers died from COVID-19, the MTA now faces scrutiny for delaying safety measures.

THOMAS DINAPOLI

RON ADAR/SHUTTERSTOCK; STATE SENATE

State Comptroller

It is surely a stressful time to serve as New York’s chief fiscal officer. The state has already spent at least $2.8 billion fighting the COVID-19 crisis, and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has warned that, especially without federal aid, the state may experience a significant cash crunch soon. For the time being, DiNapoli has one piece of good news: The state’s pension fund has enough money to keep writing checks.

took over the state Senate after the 2018 elections, and she has kept the peace between New York City liberals and moderates in suburban swing districts. While the state Legislature has taken a back seat to the governor during the pandemic, state Senate Democrats will be further empowered if they can win a supermajority in the elections this fall.

CARL HEASTIE

Assembly Speaker

9 ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS

State Senate Majority Leader The Westchester County Democrat has faced plenty of challenges since her party

The Bronx power broker must balance the demands of the New York City liberals who dominate his chamber while making compromises with the governor and state Senate. Lefties might chafe at some of the deals the speaker has struck with the other two people in “the room,” but on issues like taxes and criminal

PAT FOYE

Chairman and CEO Metropolitan Transportation Authority After scores of MTA workers died from COVID-19, the transportation authority now faces scrutiny for delaying safety measures that could have protected its workforce. In addition to dealing with the human toll exacted by the virus, Pat Foye is seeking more financial aid to prop up a transit system that lost more than 90% of its ridership as a result of the stay-athome order.

13 KENNETH RASKE President

Greater New York Hospital Association Early this year, when the biggest health care quandary

CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

ALL THE GOVERNOR’S SECRETARIES FEW IN STATE GOVERNMENT are more powerful than the secretary to the governor. As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s closest aide and adviser, his secretary is often entrusted with both delivering the governor’s message and seeing that his will is done. So it’s no wonder that when faced with the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Cuomo turned to his past secretaries Larry Schwartz, Steve Cohen and Bill Mulrow – three men whose relationships with him go as far back as working for his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo – to help guide the state’s response. The three were given no small tasks. Schwartz headed up the more immediate efforts of the state, like procuring and distributing health equipment and working with hospitals to expand capacity. Cohen and Mulrow focused on the state’s economic recovery and led the commission that developed the New York Forward plan, the document now guiding the state’s gradual reopening. In many ways, Schwartz returned to the role that he had held working for both Cuomos and then-Gov. David Paterson – that of a behind-the-scenes enforcer who ensured that the governor got what he wanted. Perhaps most notably, Schwartz reportedly helped the governor hinder the 2013 Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption when its inquiries got too close to Cuomo. And although Schwartz left the administration in 2015, he never entirely stepped away; he’s been serving as Cuomo’s proxy on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board for the past five years. Schwartz is the first to admit that he is no expert when it comes to health care and hospitals. But he is a manager. “I think the governor wanted to use me more for my get-it-done skills,” Schwartz told City & State. When asked about his reputation as Cuomo’s former enforcer, he said that he’s loyal to his friends, like Cuomo, and to this administration. “I don’t have an agenda other than to help them get what they need done,” Schwartz said. “And I get it done, most of the time.” Schwartz said that among his responsibilities were getting private hospitals to comply with new inventory reporting standards, including beds and ventilators, and coming up with a plan to expand their capacity by at least 50%. When hospital executives expressed some resistance to the more burdensome requirements, Schwartz engaged in some light arm-twisting, according to The New York Times. After he reminded hospital executives that the state had control over their ability to purchase expensive new equipment, they complied with the state’s directives. Schwartz has also been heavily involved in the state’s procurement process, which has undergone scrutiny for the lack of transparency and oversight. The administration said in May that it had spent $2.8 billion on the crisis so far, but hasn’t detailed how it spent all that money. Schwartz said he plans to make recommendations on how to improve the state’s procurement process if there’s a resurgence of the coronavirus, but added that there

was nothing wrong with it. “Nothing is perfect; no one is perfect,” Schwartz said. “I would say we were pretty close to near perfect.” For the economic side of the crisis, Cuomo recruited Mulrow and Cohen, who both currently work for private equity firms. Compared to Schwartz, both Mulrow, Cuomo’s most recent secretary before Melissa DeRosa, and Cohen, the governor’s first secretary, were comparatively low-key. Fox Business described Mulrow as an “amiable” man who is willing to compromise, a sharp contrast not just with Schwartz’s persona, but the governor’s as well. The ties that Mulrow and Cohen have to the business community make them well-situated to plan the state’s economic recovery and advise businesses on best practices for safely reopening. “Steve and I have literally been on Zoom calls for anywhere from six to 12 hours a day, talking literally to every industry group in the state,” Mulrow said. With the state facing a more than $61 billion budget shortfall over four years and an economy not expected to rebound until the first quarter of 2023, Mulrow and Cohen have not been given an easy job. Their appointments to – Larry Schwartz, figure out the state’s economy during a Cuomo’s former massive fiscal crisis has drawn comsecretary and parisons to Felix Rohatyn, the financier reputed enforcer credited with saving New York City from financial collapse in the 1970s. And the criticisms that followed the otherwise revered government adviser will likely find echoes in the modern age – once again, unelected Wall Street executives have enormous control over New York’s finances. It’s not uncommon for the governor to task trusted staff with important missions. DeRosa, his current secretary, is officially leading the state’s coronavirus recovery efforts. But ultimately, it will always be the Cuomo show, and his staff and advisers know it. The governor surrounds himself with capable and loyal people who don’t try to upstage him. His three former secretaries are no different. “It’s not supposed to be about staff,” Schwartz said. “It’s supposed to be about the governor.” - Rebecca C. Lewis

“I THINK THE GOVERNOR WANTED TO USE ME MORE FOR MY GETIT-DONE SKILLS.”

KEVIN P. COUGHLIN, DON POLLARD/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

During the coronavirus crisis, the old guard – Schwartz, Mulrow and Cohen – comes back to do one more job.

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

Linda Lacewell is holding insurers accountable.

was how to close New York’s multibillion-dollar Medicaid shortfall, Gov. Andrew Cuomo convened a task force that excluded Kenneth Raske. Yet his omission seemed aimed at avoiding further scrutiny of his close relationship with the governor – and the coronavirus pandemic has shown that the savvy health care leader remains an integral player while guiding the hospital system through another crisis.

insurance for some 6 million New Yorkers. Despite that hefty responsibility, Frescatore stayed on as executive director of New York State of Health, the state’s online health insurance exchange. While she faced tough questions about rising Medicaid costs earlier this year, she is responding to the coronavirus threat – including by reopening the state’s insurance exchange.

14 GEORGE GRESHAM President

1199SEIU In many industries, employers and the leaders who represent unionized workers don’t get along. But George Gresham and his health care worker union enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship with the Greater New York Hospital Association, working together to influence Albany. Yet while Gov. Andrew Cuomo has delivered for Gresham’s workers, he may have to make major spending cuts – and the White House isn’t in a hurry to help.

15 JIM MALATRAS President

SUNY Empire State College Jim Malatras, who appears at many of the governor’s daily coronavirus briefings, has been working alongside Gov. Andrew Cuomo for a long time – including as deputy director of policy on Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign, director of state operations and now leader of a task force to “reimagine education” during the coronavirus crisis. The committee plans to explore how to better

18 BETTY ROSA

“Linda (Lacewell) will bite your head off in front of your lawyer,” a former colleague once said. utilize technology to serve the needs of students and reduce inequities.

16 LINDA LACEWELL Superintendent

State Department of Financial Services Few people better show how “power is where power goes” than Linda Lacewell, a former federal prosecutor who entered Cuomoland as a special counsel in the attorney general’s office and later was

chief of staff and counselor to the governor. “Linda will bite your head off in front of your lawyer,” a former colleague once said. Now the state’s top financial regulator, she is leading efforts on paid sick leave and climate change.

Chancellor

Board of Regents Schools are closed for the academic year, and the state Regents exams scheduled for June have been canceled and the requirements waived. With the statewide education system disrupted indefinitely by the threat of COVID-19, Betty Rosa is watching elected leaders for guidance on when – and how – New York schools will open again. A former principal and superintendent, Rosa had been exploring a revamp of the Regents exams.

DONNA FRESCATORE

STEVE COHEN, LARRY SCHWARTZ & BILL MULROW

Donna Frescatore took over as Medicaid director in 2018, overseeing the health

In late March, when the state was ramping up its efforts to battle the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo

State Medicaid Director; Executive Director, New York State of Health

Former Secretaries to Gov. Andrew Cuomo

20 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

It’s been a roller-coaster year for the health care industry – and 2020 shows no sign of slowing down. enlisted three trusted allies who had all served as his secretary, a top post in his administration. Steve Cohen and Bill Mulrow, both of whom have strong business ties, were tasked with guiding the state’s economic recovery. Larry Schwartz, once the governor’s enforcer, was handling hospital capacity expansion and procuring health equipment.

21 MICHAEL GIANARIS

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader State Sen. Michael Gianaris may be known as the “Amazon Slayer,” but the 19-year veteran of the state Legislature wears a few hats. As chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Gianaris helped turn the state Senate blue in 2018, and as deputy majority

leader, he helped usher in progressive reforms that led Gov. Andrew Cuomo to call last year’s session the “most productive in modern history.”

22 MICHAEL MULGREW President

United Federation of Teachers Michael Mulgrew is one of the most prominent labor leaders in New York, and the union he leads has been a political powerhouse in New York public education for decades. The coronavirus pandemic is perhaps the most difficult challenge in Mulgrew’s decadelong tenure, having presented such difficult questions as when to close schools, how to continue

educating students remotely and when to resume inperson classes.

23 KUMIKI GIBSON & ELIZABETH GARVEY

Counsel to the Governor; Special Counsel and Senior Adviser to the Governor Inspired to become a lawyer by her criminal defense attorney father, Kumiki Gibson was appointed last year as one half of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legal team – along with Elizabeth Garvey – and has been fielding release requests from attorneys concerned about the spread of the coronavirus in prison. Garvey, who handles budget and policy issues, weighed in on measures to quarantine

20 MICHAEL DOWLING President and CEO

It’s been a roller-coaster year for the health care industry – and 2020 shows no sign of slowing down. Michael Dowling, a seasoned public servant who spent a dozen years in state government, was recently charged with improving health services in New York as part of the state’s response to the coronavirus. He is also representing New York on a seven-state council tasked with developing a framework to restart the economy. Michael Mulgrew will help decide how and if schools reopen.

NORTHWELL HEALTH; NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Northwell Health

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22 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

beat has long been a top Cuomo priority.

28 ERIC GERTLER

President and CEO Empire State Development

Kirsten Gillibrand exited the presidential race with a higher profile.

represents – has struggled. An ally of both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Ward is poised to win new rules limiting nonunion hotels.

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND U.S. Senator

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential ambitions were dashed when she failed to qualify for a third debate and exited the Democratic primary. Since then she has called on President Donald Trump to provide more coronavirus aid to her hard-hit home state. After Trump called the U.S. Postal Service a “joke,” Gillibrand penned an op-ed in The New York Times describing her vision for transforming the historic institution.

25 PETER WARD President

Hotel and Motel Trades Council In 2012, Peter Ward was dubbed “the most powerful labor leader in New York City” – and it’s a title Ward still arguably deserves today. While some tech startups have thrived in New York, Airbnb – a threat to the workforce Ward

luncheon for a webinar offering tips on surviving economic hardship. A few weeks later, the longtime business leader and former president of the Long Island Power Authority pressed U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer to fasttrack relief to struggling small business owners.

27 KELLY CUMMINGS

Director of State Operations and Infrastructure

26 KEVIN LAW

President and CEO Long Island Association Kevin Law leapt into action in March to offer support to small businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, swapping the Long Island Association’s planned spring

For years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inner circle included one counsel and one director of state operations. Now, he has split the roles, with two counsels and three people taking on the duties of the director of state operations. Kelly Cummings was promoted to her current post in early 2019. And while the two other staffers were hired to handle agency and emergency management, Cummings’ infrastructure

Even in a chamber unified with the dissolution of the IDC, those Long Island votes still matter.

29 TODD KAMINSKY Chairman

State Senate Environmental Conservation Committee When Democrats took the state Senate in 2018, they also took Long Island, once a Republican stronghold. In a Democatic state Legislature dominated by New York City progressives, state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, the most senior Democrat from Long Island, leads a crucial group of swing votes representing generally more moderate

SCOOTERCASTER/SHUTTERSTOCK; LONG ISLAND ASSOCIATION; STATE SENATE

students returning from study-abroad programs as the outbreak intensified.

When Eric Gertler was nominated to lead Empire State Development last year, the state’s economic development arm had been rocked by Amazon’s stunning HQ2 exit and the criminal convictions of key figures running the governor’s marquee Buffalo Billion program. Now Gertler, the former executive chairman of U.S. News & World Report, faces the even more daunting task of reviving the state’s economy amid the worst slump since the Great Depression.

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City & State New York

The long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic “could be culture-changing,” Wylde said. suburban interests. And even in a chamber unified with the dissolution of the Independent Democratic Conference, those votes still matter.

pointed out that survivors are unlikely to file claims during a pandemic. In May, Hoylman introduced legislation extending eligibility for unemployment benefits to workers who leave work due to a lack of safety measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Chairman

State Senate Judiciary Committee

MARIO CILENTO

BRAD HOYLMAN

The state Legislature extended the “look-back window” for the Child Victims Act another year after state Sen. Brad Hoylman, the legislation’s original sponsor,

President

New York State AFL-CIO Mario Cilento has been making the case that New

York has some catching up to do, compared with other states, in providing workers’ compensation benefits to essential workers exposed to COVID-19 on the job. The ally of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who represents about 2.5 million members, has joined other leaders in labor, business and higher education as part of the governor’s committee overseeing the reopening of the state’s economy.

32 KATHRYN WYLDE

President and CEO Partnership for New York City As New York grapples with the economic impact of an extended lockdown, particularly in the urban epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Kathryn Wylde is among leading voices envisioning what recovery will

look like. Drawing on decades of experience in urban policy and economic development, Wylde cautioned that the city may not rebound as quickly as many wish it would. The longterm impact of the pandemic “could be culture-changing,” she said.

33 SURI KASIRER Founder Kasirer Suri Kasirer’s firm has solidified its status as the top lobbying operation in both Albany and in New York City for the past few years, based on annual compensation. Kasirer, who once worked for then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, founded her firm in 1997 and has represented Charter Communications, T-Mobile, Motion Picture Association of America, NBCUniversal and New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets.

34 FÉLIX MATOS RODRÍGUEZ YVONNE ALBINOWSKI; CUNY

Chancellor

City University of New York

Suri Kasirer’s company has been the top lobbying firm for years.

Last year, the former Queens College president became the first Latino person and person of color selected as chancellor of the City University of New York. As classes moved online this spring, Félix Matos

26 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

Shortages of PPE have put janitors, doormen other essential workers at risk.

Geoffrey Berman has stood up for his office’s independence and integrity. While he hasn’t gone after Albany politicians the way his predecessor did,

at risk during the coronavirus pandemic – and dozens have died. Nearly a year into his role heading the influential service workers union, Kyle

Rodríguez worked to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, directing students and faculty to produce face shields for local hospitals and launching an emergency relief fund for students affected by the crisis.

35 RICK COTTON

Executive Director Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

36 CRYSTAL PEOPLES-STOKES Assembly Majority Leader

The COVID-19 outbreak derailed any hope that the legalization of recreational

Rick Cotton was New York’s first known public official with COVID-19.

marijuana would be included in New York’s budget this year. And given how long the state has sat on the legislation before the health crisis, it’s unlikely to resurface anytime soon. Even so, Crystal Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalonian who as Assembly majority leader is the chamber’s unofficial upstate leader, is trying to push it forward.

37 GEOFFREY BERMAN

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York At a time of growing fears that U.S. Attorney General William Barr is politicizing the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney

he has had his hands full prosecuting former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and Rudy Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman – and probing associates of Jeffrey Epstein.

38 KYLE BRAGG

Bragg has asked Congress to mandate that workers receive hazard pay, personal protective equipment and layoff protections.

39 NEAL KWATRA

Founder and CEO

President

Metropolitan Public Strategies

32BJ SEIU

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Neal Kwatra is shifting his firm’s focus from promoting offshore wind development to helping the hotel workers union fight for worker pay and health benefits. Building off his work helping to run the New

Shortages of personal protective equipment, including face masks and gloves, have put many of the members of 32BJ SEIU who work as janitors, doormen and in other essential roles

LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; ASSEMBLY

Rick Cotton grabbed headlines earlier this year when he became the area’s first public official to test positive for the coronavirus. But Cotton didn’t rest during his time in quarantine. He continued working as the transportation authority saw more of its staff test positive for COVID-19. He has been reaching out to congressional leaders to secure financial aid after traffic and ridership at the transit authority fell dramatically.

New York’s Health Plans: Answering the call in the battle against COVID-19 As we all work together to combat this unprecedented public health crisis, our industry applauds the tens of thousands of dedicated health care workers caring for residents throughout the state. New York’s health plans continue to work extremely hard to meet the needs of consumers, employers and our health care partners, and to ensure patients have access to needed care. This includes waiving the cost of testing for COVID-19, eliminating cost-sharing for telemedicine services, providing support to hospitals and others in the delivery system to address the financial uncertainty they’re facing, and helping businesses and individuals who need extra time to pay premiums. The health and well-being of millions of New Yorkers remains our highest priority.

Honored to have NYHPA President & CEO Eric Linzer named to City & State’s Albany Power 100

Bill McCarthy, Tom Connolly, Ed Draves, Patrick McHugh, Juanita Scarlett, Mike Keogh, Samara Daly and Teresa Gonzalez congratulates our trusted partners, Giorgio DeRosa and Emily Giske on being two of the most influential New Yorkers as part of City & State’s Albany Power 100 list. You are outstanding advocates on behalf of our clients, unique problem solvers who advance ground breaking public policy outcomes and we’re proud to call you our friends.

The rest of the team at Bolton-St. Johns is proud of our colleagues Giorgio and Emily: Anne Marie Anzalone, Justin Berhaupt, John D. McCarthy, Patricia Reilly, Bill McCarthy, Jr., John Albert, Violet Moss, Julian Kline, Sara Anne Ritz, Joseph DeRosa, Robin Brown, Keyla Antigua, Philip Bolen, Sarah Bangs, Julie Jursik, Dave Siracuse, Iris White, Jessica Davos, Paul Santos, Jacob Policano, Ben Garrett, Paul Hypolite, Daniel Muñoz, Tori Newman-Campbell, Hannah Gonzales and Edward Amador. In these challenging times when you are uncertain how to navigate government orders, restart your enterprise or assist New Yorkers, we’re here to help. Bolton-St Johns has been a top ranked government affairs firm in New York for over 20 years. Contact our talented team of professionals for your public affairs needs.

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June 1, 2020

City & State New York

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40 JAMES WHELAN President

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41 LIZ KRUEGER Chairwoman

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Chief of Staff to the Governor

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44 JANET DIFIORE Chief Judge

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30 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

with issues stemming from the pandemic. DiFiore has a record of spearheading reforms, including establishing opioid intervention courts and ending cash bail for nonviolent offenders.

Heather Bricetti is a voice for businesses struggling in the crisis.

businesses and spoke out against a proposed statewide single-payer health system, has turned her attention to the coronavirus response as a member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s advisory board on reopening the state.

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hand-washing stations and disinfecting tools.

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EVAN STAVISKY

GARY LABARBERA

Business Council of New York State

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Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York

RICH AZZOPARDI

Gary LaBarbera and his union pushed for years to expand New York’s prevailing wage covering projects that receive public subsidies. The law finally passed this year, but will not be effective until early 2022. In the meantime, as construction projects slowly reopen across the state, industry leaders are implementing additional safety measures – such as mandating face masks for workers at all times, providing

A recent survey of upstate business leaders, sponsored by Heather Bricetti’s Business Council, revealed businesses are hurting, and many anticipate economic recovery will take more than six months. Briccetti, who earlier this year pushed for tax reform for small

statements to the press. But during the coronavirus pandemic, he has been emphasizing the importance of working together.

47 President

Senior Adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo While many other key officials in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inner circle have come and gone, one of the stalwarts has been Rich Azzopardi, a tenacious defender of the administration and its objectives. The former reporter and legislative staffer is known for battling and belittling political opponents on social media and in

President and CEO

Partner

Evan Stavisky handles the lobbying and public affairs operations at The Parkside Group. One of the top political and legislative consultants in New York, Stavisky grew up in a political family – his father served in the state Legislature, and his mother is a state senator from Queens.

Azzopardi is known for belittling political opponents on social media and in the press.

RITA THOMPSON; BUSINESS COUNCIL OF NEW YORK STATE

David Weinraub and Patrick Brown have consistently ranked in the upper echelon of New York lobbyists, attracting clients including Airbnb and MetLife to their firm in recent years. Both men served under former Gov. Mario Cuomo before breaking out on their own. After nearly two decades at the helm of Brown & Weinraub, the formidable duo have turned their firm into an Albany powerhouse.

The 200,000 members of the NYS Building & Construction Trades Council are proud of the accomplishments of our president, JAMES W. CAHILL and congratulate him on being named to City & State NYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 most powerful leaders in Albany.

Kevin S. Law President & CEO

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

Stavisky, who represents real estate companies, casinos, nonprofits and more, is often in the loop on key policy discussions in Albany.

51 TONY UTANO President

Transport Workers Union Local 100 Tony Utano has led 41,000 of New York City’s transportation workers through hairy contract negotiations with the MTA, but now the Transport Workers Union faces its biggest crisis yet with the coronavirus. As the virus takes a toll on front-line transit workers, Utano has worked to ensure that those employees receive personal protective equipment and that families of workers who died in the line of duty receive benefits.

Johnson was an advocate for online education even before the pandemic disrupted campuses. aid. Andrew Pallotta, a former New York City elementary school teacher, said now is the time to invest in education rather than take away resources.

President

New York State United Teachers

KRISTINA JOHNSON

ANDREW PALLOTTA

TWU; SUNY

Kristina Johnson successfully pushed for tuition-free education.

The head of one of New York’s largest unions – whose members include teachers, college professors and other education staff – pushed back against potential cuts to the state’s education budget, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned were imminent if the state does not receive federal

Chancellor

State University of New York COVID-19 forced universities to rapidly shift classes online earlier this year, but Kristina Johnson was an advocate for online education even before the pandemic disrupted campus life. To help

transition to online learning in April, SUNY distributed more than 8,800 laptops to students in need. In 2018, Johnson successfully pushed for the implementation of the Excelsior Scholarship providing tuition-free education to students earning less than $110,000 per year.

54 COREY JOHNSON

New York City Council Speaker No longer the new kid on the block, the 38-year-old speaker is in the midst of his third city budget as a counterweight to Mayor Bill de Blasio – but

he’s still got big ideas, like proposing city control over mass transit. Corey Johnson was relatively quiet on Albany issues this session, as the city dealt with the coronavirus, but he’s working hard to make the right connections ahead of his likely 2021 mayoral run.

55 SHANNON TAHOE

Interim State Education Commissioner Shannon Tahoe was appointed to her current role in November, a few months after MaryEllen Elia stepped down, and she has been working with lawmakers to shape education policy during a time of crisis. Amid the sudden shift to online learning, Tahoe has called attention to the fact that many families lack internet access. With the search for a full-time commissioner now underway, could Tahoe be a candidate?

34 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

caring for the elderly – are in the middle of the maelstrom. Experts like Harold Iselin, a veteran lobbyist with extensive expertise on health care policy, are in demand as the industry grapples not just with the rising death toll, but also major policy changes and potential funding cuts.

Suffolk County’s Steve Bellone is a close ally of the governor.

MARY SULLIVAN

STEVE BELLONE Andrew Cuomo’s reopening advisory board, sees modest signs of hope in recent federal funding for rural New York hospitals – which were struggling before COVID-19.

57 56 BEA GRAUSE President

Healthcare Association of New York State Hospital budgets have taken a hit in recent months – like the rest of the economy – as health care providers postponed lucrative elective surgeries while spending more on personal protective equipment for staff. Bea Grause, a member of Gov.

PAT KANE

Executive Director New York State Nurses Association Even before taking over the New York State Nurses Association at the end of 2019, Pat Kane had been helping it transition from a membership organization to a real labor union – which has proven to be critical during the coronavirus pandemic, when nurses need solidarity more than ever. And now that the world is acknowledging nurses as heroes, lawmakers will be very eager to

Suffolk County Executive Despite leading Suffolk County on Long Island, Steve Bellone is no stranger to Albany. A close ally of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Bellone recently served on the governor’s second Medicaid Redesign Team, which was tasked with finding $2.5 billion in Medicaid savings. Downstate, Bellone has made it his goal to reform Suffolk County government, and he has worked alongside Republicans in his swing county.

President

Civil Service Employees Association Mary Sullivan was settling into her job as leader of the public sector union when Gov. Andrew Cuomo instituted pay freezes for some 80,000 workers in an effort to manage the state’s ailing budget. Sullivan, a union activist for more than 35 years and CSEA’s first new president in 25 years, said freezing the salaries of frontline workers in a time of crisis is “inexcusable.”

WAYNE SPENCE

HAROLD ISELIN

Public Employees Federation

Managing Shareholder, Albany Office Greenberg Traurig As New York responds to the coronavirus pandemic, health care providers and operators – especially those housing and

President

Wayne Spence said the state’s health department “missed the mark” with its too-lax guidelines for how essential workers could return to work after a COVID-19 diagnosis, putting people at risk of infection. Spence, who was

KEVIN P. COUGHLIN/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK STATE; CSEA

Health care providers and operators are in the middle of the maelstrom.

align themselves with the 43,000-member union.

Thank you to all of the healthcare, construction, transportation, government, and other essential workers who continue to keep New York running and our communities safe during this unprecedented time. Congratulations to MANAGING PARTNER

MANAGING DIRECTOR

MAGGIE MORAN RICH BAMBERGER and all the Albany Power 100 Honorees!

CHICAGO

222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 2400 Chicago, IL 60654 312. 664. 0153

MIAMI

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NEW YORK

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NEW JERSEY

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WASHINGTON, D.C.

1100 G Street NW Suite 350 Washington, D.C. 20005 202. 331. 1002

36 CityAndStateNY.com

RISE AND What’s different on the Power 100 list this year THE ALBANY POWER 100 Is more than a ranking. It captures a moment in the ebb and flow of the power in state politics. So we want to highlight who’s new to the list and who no longer makes the cut – as well as the figures who made a big move up or down the list.

WHO’S DOWN

(The three biggest drops, their ranking this year and the number of spots they moved down) 1. State Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger (41), who failed to legalize recreational marijuana – and is having diminished input on budget matters as the Cuomo administration takes the wheel (down 15) 2. State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (90), who is following the lead of a number of state Senate GOP colleagues by opting not to seek reelection (down 13) 3. Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein (94), who like Krueger seems to have relinquished some control over state spending as cuts loom (down 12)

June 1, 2020

WHO’S OUT? (and their ranking last year) MOVING ON: Former Counsel to the Governor Alphonso David (9), former state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia (18), former Empire State Development President and CEO Howard Zemsky (21), former Real Estate Board of New York President John Banks (33), former SKDKnickerbocker Managing Director Jennifer Cunningham (36), former “Capital Tonight” host Liz Benjamin (43), former Civil Service Employees Association President Daniel Donohue (45), former Train Daddy Andy Byford (56), former New York State Nurses Association Executive Director Jill Furillo (61), former District Attorneys Association of the State of New York President David Soares (76), former Working Families Party State Director Bill Lipton (95), former Jackson Lewis Albany Office Managing Principal Lisa Marrello (98)

NO LONGER RUNNING FOR MAYOR: Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. (41) DECEASED: Former 32BJ SEIU President Héctor Figueroa (29)

Far left, state Sen. Liz Krueger has been overshadowed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Clockwise from top left: Alphonso David has joined the Human Rights Campaign; MaryEllen Elia has joined the International Center for Leadership in Education; Liz Benjamin joined Marathon Strategies; Andy Byford is London’s new transport commissioner; Héctor Figueroa passed away; Bill Lipton is promoting the Green New Deal with the national WFP; Ruben Diaz Jr. bowed out of the mayoral race; John Banks has retired.

City & State New York

WHO’S IN? (and their ranking this year)

STATE SENATE; JULIA LECATO; STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT; CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS; MTA; 32BJ SEIU; A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; OFFICE OF THE BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT; REBNY; MIKE WREN/NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; SUNY EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE; OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

LOST IN THE SHUFFLE: CUNY Chairman Bill Thompson (32), Related Cos. Chairman Stephen Ross (38), Rent Stabilization Association President Joseph Strasburg (46), state Sen. Jamaal Bailey (58), Uber Senior Manager for Policy and Communications Josh Gold (66), Thruway Authority Executive Director Matthew Driscoll (75), Buffalo News Albany Bureau Chief Tom Precious (78), Secretary of State Rossana Rosado (89), Pythia Public Co-founder Alexis Grenell (90), Internet Association Northeast Region Director John Olsen (96), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Chairman Richard Kauffman (99), state Joint Commission on Public Ethics Executive Director Seth Agata (100)

State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker (6), SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras (15), former Cuomo Secretaries Bill Mulrow, Steve Cohen & Larry Schwartz (19), Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling (20), Counsel to the Governor Kumiki Gibson & Special Counsel and Senior Adviser to the Governor Elizabeth Garvey (23), Empire State Development President and CEO Eric Gertler (28), 32BJ SEIU President Kyle Bragg (38), Real Estate Board of New York President James Whelan (40), interim state Education Commissioner Shannon Tahoe (55), New York State Nurses Association Executive Director Pat Kane (57), Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (58), Civil Service Employees Association President Mary Sullivan (60), District Attorneys Association of the State of New York President David Hoovler (66), Gibson Dunn Partner Mylan Denerstein (72), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals CEO Leonard Schleifer (73), state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos (76), New York State Building and Construction Trades President James Cahill (87), New York Building Congress President and CEO Carlo Scissura (88), Working Families Party State Director Sochie Nnaemeka (93), New York State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy (91), Verizon Vice President of Public Policy Leecia Eve (95), Retail Council of New York State President and CEO Ted Potrikus (96), National Supermarket Association Executive Director Elizabeth Peralta (97), CMW Counselor and Senior Adviser Skip Piscitelli (99), Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (100)

From top, Howard Zucker, Jim Malatras and Jill DesRosiers are all working closely with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

WHO’S UP

(The three biggest jumps, their ranking this year and the number of spots they moved up) 1. State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell (16), who’s putting pressure on insurers to help out COVID-19 patients and the unemployed (up 35) 2. State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore (44), who modernized court proceedings by moving them online – even before the coronavirus pandemic (up 16) 3. Jill DesRosiers (42), who is playing a central role in New York’s coronavirus response as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chief of staff (up 15)

38 CityAndStateNY.com

Andrew Cuomo declared that construction would be among the first industries to reopen after a weekslong interruption to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Public health is “priority No. 1,” Elmendorf said – but some developers have voiced concerns about worker safety on construction sites.

Katz’s Queens district attorney bid last year.

63 JEFREY POLLOCK

Founding Partner and President Global Strategy Group

62 MIKE ELMENDORF

President and CEO Associated General Contractors of New York State Members of Mike Elmendorf’s trade association can expect to resume work on their projects earlier than those in other industries. Gov.

Jefrey Pollock was at Global Strategy Group when it launched in 1995, and since then, it has grown from a New York-based boutique polling firm to a Democratic consulting powerhouse with clients all across the country. Pollock’s firm has done polling and consulting for top Democrats in New York, including for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both Michael Bloomberg’s and Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaigns, and Melinda

politics, from the governor on down. Now she will be holding the state’s power players accountable on the capital’s leading political television program.

KATHY HOCHUL

Lieutenant Governor

64 SUSAN ARBETTER

Host, “Capital Tonight” Spectrum News Susan Arbetter, the longtime host of “The Capitol Pressroom,” made the jump from radio to TV last year, taking the reins of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight” from Liz Benjamin. Arbetter started out at “The Capitol Pressroom” in 2009, interviewing many of the most influential figures in state

Charged with reopening Western New York after the coronavirus shutdown, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is sounding a hopeful note, saying she sees opportunities for innovation and progress as the state enters a so-called new normal. But one thing that hasn’t changed is that the indefatigable Hochul is still spreading the governor’s message all across the state – even if it’s on the phone instead of on the Thruway.

Kathy Hochul is leading the effort to reopen Western New York.

66 DAVID HOOVLER President

District Attorneys Association of the State of New York District attorneys are in the spotlight more than ever nationwide, and that’s especially true in New York, which just enacted major changes to bail, discovery and speedy trial laws – and then changed them again. The association and David Hoovler, its president, were some of the most influential players in the legislative process.

ASSOCIATED GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMERICA; MIKE WREN/DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; SUSAN ARBETTER; MEDIA SOLSTICE MARKETING & PR

reelected in 2018 as president of the union, criticized officials for failing to provide adequate protective equipment for union members working at a psychiatric facility where a large outbreak occurred.

June 1, 2020

Greenberg Traurig’s Government Law & Policy Practice is honored to be included on City & State’s Albany Power 100 list. Christopher A. Cernik

Robert M. Harding

Mark Weprin

Christopher Del Giudice*

Pamela A. Madeiros

Nicola T. Coleman

Michael A. Berlin

Laura Evangelista

Michael J. Murphy

Katherine J. Neer

Jonathan L. Bing

Mark F. Glaser

Joshua L. Oppenheimer

Jennifer Gomez

Lynelle K. Bosworth

Hank Greenberg

Jane Preston*

India Sneed

Harold N. Iselin COCHAIR, GT GOVERNMENT LAW & POLICY

Sam NeJame CHAIR, NYS GOVERNMENT LAW PRACTICE

G R E E N B E RG T RA U R I G, L L P

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

GreenbergTraurigLLP

AT TO R N E Y S AT LAW

GT_Law

Greenberg Traurig is a service mark and trade name of Greenberg Traurig, LLP and Greenberg Traurig, P.A. ©2020 Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved. Attorney Advertising. *Not admitted to the practice of law. °These numbers are subject to fluctuation. 34172

W W W.G T LAW.C O M

54 State Street | 6th Floor Albany, NY 12207 | 518.689.1400 MetLife Building | 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 | 212.801.9200

Ostroff Associates congratulates all of the

2020 ALBANY POWER 100 HONOREES During this crisis, we’d especially like to recognize and give thanks to healthcare workers, first responders and all the essential workers for keeping us safe and supported.

150 State Street, Suite 301 | Albany, New York 12207 | 518.436.6202 | ostroffassociates.com

40 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

The group’s members won some changes they wanted, particularly in regard to speedy trial reforms.

across the Northeast, and his position has only grown more influential during the coronavirus crisis. The union recently struck an agreement with Verizon on paid sick leave for its workers, and Trainor was named to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Labor and Workforce Sector Advisory Council.

67 RICHARD DONOGHUE

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York

68 PATRICK JENKINS Founder

Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates Patrick Jenkins’ government and community relations firm represents a number of top-tier clients with business before the state, including Charter Communications, CVS Health, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, charter schools, accounting firms and casino and gambling interests. While he is known for his friendship

Mylan Denerstein challenged Trump on reopening businesses.

with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Jenkins has also worked for such politicians as Carl McCall, Eliot Spitzer and Rep. Gregory Meeks.

69 SEAN DOOLAN Principal

Hinman Straub The coronavirus pandemic has completely disrupted state politics, largely putting legislating on hold while posing new challenges to companies and sectors regulated by the state. In this new uncertain climate, Sean

JAMES CAPALINO Doolan and his law firm have plenty of work to do. Health care providers and insurance companies – two sectors where Hinman Straub has plenty of experience – have been particularly hard hit.

70 DENNIS TRAINOR Vice President

Communications Workers of America District 1 At CWA District 1, Dennis Trainor commands the 700,000-member union of telecommunications, media and other workers

Founder and CEO Capalino+Company James Capalino is known for his deep knowledge and strong relationships in New York City, dating back to his experience in the Koch administration. But his scope extends beyond the five boroughs, with an impressive roster of clients that has placed his firm in the top 10 by compensation in both the city and the state. Among the clients he has represented in recent years are Airbnb, Related Companies and Uber.

72 MYLAN DENERSTEIN Partner

Trainor’s position has only grown more influential during the coronavirus crisis.

Gibson Dunn A former legal adviser and chief counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mylan Denerstein is weighing in on key issues during the

U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE; GIBSON DUNN; CAPALINO+COMPANY

Richard Donoghue criticized New York’s recently enacted bail reform law, saying it made “a bad situation worse” after a suspected serial bank robber was arrested on suspicion of committing a bank heist shortly after his pretrial release. Donoghue recently filed an opposition to “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli’s motion for release from prison, which the disgraced pharmaceutical executive submitted claiming that he plans to develop a cure for COVID-19.

Our co-founders are among the Albany Power 100 Congratulations to our own Patrick Brown and David Weinraub, named two of the most powerful people in Albany politics by City & State NY magazine!

50 State Street â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Albany, NY 518 427 7350 | brownweinraub.com

Government Relations | Strategy | Healthcare Consulting & Advocacy | Corporate and Legal Affairs

Government Relati tio ons and Public Aff ffa airs New York | Albany | Trenton | Washington www.tonioburgos.com

Global Strategy Group is proud to congratulate our President Jefrey Pollock, and all the Power 100 honorees, on their outstanding leadership.

GSG is the go-to public affairs, communications, and research partner for companies, causes, and campaigns. We work with our clients to build their reputations, tackle big challenges, create positive change, and win.

www.globalstrategygroup.com

Thanks to all of New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frontline workers and first responders for keeping us safe You are NEW YORK TOUGH 5 Penn Plaza 19th Floor, New York, NY 10001 |119 Washington Ave 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12210 www.patrickbjenkins.com

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

COVID-19 has made 2020 a more stressful year than most for older New Yorkers – who are more likely to become seriously ill – and Finkel has been busy sharing insights on how nursing home residents can stay healthy.

will include restoring wildlife habitats and mitigating flood risks. For now, Seggos, who previously served as deputy secretary for the environment for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is working to coordinate coronavirus testing and the gradual reopening of the state.

75 RICH BAMBERGER & MAGGIE MORAN

New York Managing Director; Managing Partner Kivvit

Beth Finkel has been a voice for vulnerable seniors amid the crisis.

coronavirus pandemic as part of the governor’s 116-member reopening advisory board. Denerstein, who is the cochairwoman of the Public Policy Practice Group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, recently co-authored an op-ed disputing President Donald Trump’s claim that he has authority to order businesses to reopen.

73 LEONARD SCHLEIFER

Co-founder, President and CEO

A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; NYPA

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals When Leonard Schleifer isn’t working with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on strategies to reopen New York, he’s overseeing the development of a potential antibody treatment for COVID-19. Since co-founding Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in 1988, Schleifer has become a leading pharmacy executive. The challenge

with a coronavirus vaccine is not distribution, he recently said, it’s producing enough to inoculate the world’s population. Locally, his son is battling for Rep. Nita Lowey’s open seat.

74 BETH FINKEL

State Director AARP New York With New York’s senior population growing, Beth Finkel warned in April that cuts to services for the elderly in this year’s state budget will have a long-term impact.

The public affairs firm Kivvit has a growing nationwide presence, with offices in Washington, D.C., Chicago and Miami, but its roots are in New York and New Jersey. Maggie Moran has a wealth of campaign experience, including managing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s successful 2018 reelection. Along with Rich Bamberger, a former Cuomo communications director, Moran and her team represent a variety of clients, including SUNY and FWD.us New York.

76 BASIL SEGGOS Commissioner

State Department of Environmental Conservation If the $3 billion environmental bond approved by lawmakers in April is certified by the state budget director and wins voter support in November, Basil Seggos will oversee its implementation – which

77 GIL QUINIONES

President and CEO New York Power Authority Gil Quiniones acted quickly as the coronavirus crisis intensified in New York in March, isolating critical employees in the agency’s power plants to ensure services would continue without interruption. With the recently announced sale of bonds earmarked for environmental projects, the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility has plans to ramp up transmission of clean energy and “lead by example in the responsible reopening of the state’s economy,” Quiniones said.

78 LOUANN CICCONE

Program and Policy Secretary

Quiniones acted quickly, isolating critical employees in the agency’s power plants.

Assembly Democratic Conference LouAnn Ciccone brings expertise and experience as a top staffer in the Assembly, having served as program

44 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

and policy secretary under then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and staying on when Carl Heastie took over in 2015. The first woman to the role, Ciccone has been a trusted adviser to Heastie as the conference contends with major changes, from Democrats taking full control of Albany last year to the threats posed by COVID-19.

BLAKE WASHINGTON Secretary

Assembly Ways and Means Committee The state Legislature has ceded control to the governor during the coronavirus epidemic. But with state lawmakers reconvening, there’s plenty of work for Blake Washington, a key Assembly Democratic staffer handling fiscal matters. If the federal government fails to bail out New York, there will be massive mid-year state budget cuts – and Washington will be on hand if lawmakers want to have a say in what’s on the chopping block.

80 SHONTELL SMITH Chief Counsel

State Senate Democratic Conference Shontell Smith certainly knows what it’s like to be in

Shontell Smith is one of the most powerful staffers in the state.

the minority in Albany, having spent more than a decade working for the state Senate Democrats. But ever since the 2018 elections, Smith has enjoyed life in the majority while serving her conference in a top staff position. Smith said that her boss, the powerful state Senate Majority Leader Andrea StewartCousins, is like a “second mother” to her.

81 MICHAEL MCKEON Partner

Mercury Michael McKeon’s firm does a lot of things well. Need a consultant to run a policy or political campaign? Looking for a well-connected government relations representative to lobby state lawmakers or the governor? Seeking a savvy communications

pro? McKeon, a former communications director in then-Gov. George Pataki’s administration, can do a lot of these things himself – and if he can’t, he has colleagues, Democratic and Republican alike, who can.

restrictions and the loss of customers due to rising unemployment.

82 ERIC LINZER

President and CEO New York Health Plan Association Since taking over the New York Health Plan Association in 2018, Eric Linzer has battled on behalf of the health insurance industry, most notably in the effort to prevent state lawmakers from creating a single-payer health system in New York. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has Linzer contending with more immediate challenges, including unexpected costs, declining revenue, new state

83 RICK OSTROFF

President and CEO Ostroff Associates In his three and a half decades in state politics and government, Rick Ostroff has worked in the state Legislature and in the Executive Chamber under then-Gov. Mario Cuomo – and since 1995, he has been

ASSEMBLY; STATE SENATE; OSTROFF ASSOCIATES; RIDDETT ASSOCIATES; NEW YORK BUILDING CONGRESS

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

84 KENNETH RIDDETT Lobbyist

Riddett Associates Â Â? Â? Â? Â? Â Â? Â Â

Â? Â&#x20AC;

Â&#x201A; Â Â&#x192; Â&#x201E; Â? Â&#x2026; Â Â&#x2026; Â? Â&#x2020; Â&#x2021; Â&#x2021; Â

85 ALFONSE Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;AMATO

Founder, Partner and Managing Director Park Strategies Â? Â&#x2C6; Â? Â? Â? Â&#x2021;Â&#x201A;Â?

Critical construction hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stopped; neither has Carlo Scissura.

Â&#x2030; Â&#x160;Â&#x160;Â&#x160; Â&#x2039; Â? Â? Â? Â&#x2030; Â Â? Â&#x152; Â? Â Â? Â&#x201A; Â

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New York State Building and Construction Trades Council

E.J. MCMAHON

Founder and Research Director Empire Center for Public Policy Â&#x2018; Â&#x152; Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039; Â&#x17D; Â? Â&#x152; Â&#x2019; Â&#x2019;

Â&#x201C;Â&#x201D; Â&#x2026; Â&#x2018; Â&#x2022; Â&#x192; Â&#x192; Â&#x152;

87 JAMES CAHILL President

Â&#x201C; Â&#x2013; Â&#x17D; Â? Â&#x152; Â?

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88 CARLO SCISSURA

President and CEO New York Building Congress Â&#x2122; Â&#x161; Â&#x201E; Â&#x152;

Cahill praised the expansion of prevailing wage laws, calling the measure â&#x20AC;&#x153;monumental.â&#x20AC;?

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

John Flanagan is retiring after the Senate GOP lost power.

Â&#x201C;

92 TONIO BURGOS CEO

TBA

Flanagan is calling for an investigation into outbreaks that spread in nursing homes.

Â Â?

89 President

National Organization for Women New York City

JOHN FLANAGAN

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Â&#x160; Â&#x2039;

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SONIA OSSORIO

MIKE GROLL; TBA

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State Senate Minority Leader

Â&#x2018; Â&#x20AC;

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91 NICK LANGWORTHY Chairman

State Republican Party Â&#x2030; Â&#x17D; Â&#x20AC; Â&#x2019; Â&#x2019; Â&#x201C; Â&#x201D; Â? Â

Â&#x201D; Â Â&#x201D; Â&#x2022; Â Â&#x201A; Â? Â? Â&#x2019; Â? Â&#x20AC;Â&#x2030;Â&#x201C; Â&#x2013; Â&#x2022;

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93 SOCHIE NNAEMEKA State Director

Working Families Party Â&#x201D; Â&#x2030;Â&#x2039;Â&#x2019;

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48 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

Sochie Nnaemeka brings an activist edge at the most perilous moment for the Working Families Party by J E F F C O LT I N

HERE ARE FEW THINGS that political candidates love more than announcing endorsements. It’s validating to know that somebody wants you to win! But candidates often get a bit overzealous, like when they publicly treat a private wish of good luck as an official endorsement. And voters might be less impressed by an endorsement from the National Association for Progressive Politics, North Brooklyn Chapter, if they knew it was just one person with a Facebook page. Endorsements from some organizations really matter in New York, however, and for the past 22 years, one of those has been the Working Families Party. But the past few years have presented major challenges for the party that has long served as a progressive check on the Democratic Party. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on the Democratic Party’s right, may finally succeed in starving the WFP out of existence. And the Democratic Socialists of America, on the party’s left, has grown in size and power, causing the WFP to form an often uneasy alliance. In the middle of it all is the WFP’s brand new New York state director, Sochie Nnaemeka, who needs to make sure the party’s self-proclaimed “progressive seal of approval” remains an endorsement that matters. For two decades, the WFP’s endorsement came with a nice validating quote from the party’s New York state director, Bill Lipton. But now, those quotes are coming from 32-year-old Nnaemeka, who took over for Lipton in December. Nnaemeka came from outside the party – she was previously a director at the progressive advocacy group the Center for Popular Democracy. As a younger

black woman, she represents a demographic shift from Lipton, who like most party leaders now and throughout history, is an older white man. Nnaemeka was raised in Westchester County, in New Rochelle and Mount Vernon. She was the daughter of Nigerian immigrants who always felt like outsiders in the United States. Politics and organizing soon became a role Nnaemeka herself could play in the country, she said in an interview with City & State, and a way to reshape the United States into “a place in which my parents felt wanted.” Her career started as an undergraduate at Yale, where she got involved with labor organizing with the school’s cafeteria workers. After college and some months on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, she joined the national labor union Unite Here! Nnaemeka then got a law degree from Georgetown, but never practiced, instead working for the Center for Popular Democracy for two years before joining the WFP. Nnaemeka is a political rarity in New York – an actual, registered member of the Working Families Party (and she has been since long before the party hired her). There are only 46,043 registered members in the whole state – a miniscule 0.37% of New York voters. But the party’s influence goes far beyond that, thanks in part to its active role in funding and consulting favored candidates. Plus, it makes Democratic primary endorsements that many registered Democrats follow. With ballots getting mailed out soon for the June 23 primary, now is one of the highest-pressure moments for the party – but even more so this year, because the WFP has made some strategic changes since the 2018 elections. As left-wing activists have grown in influence in New York, thanks in part to Bernie Sanders’ consecutive presidential campaigns, the party has adjusted. Two years ago, it endorsed a handful of incumbent members of Congress who were funded in part by corporate political action committees, even if they were facing more progressive challengers. Former Rep. Joe Crowley got the WFP’s endorsement in 2018, over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So did Reps. Tom Suozzi, Yvette Clarke, Carolyn Maloney and Eliot Engel. This year’s list looks different. Oca-

sio-Cortez, who beat Crowley two years ago, earned an early, full-throated endorsement. The party declined to endorse Suozzi, Clarke and Maloney, but did not endorse any of their more left-leaning opponents either. That can’t be said about Engel’s race, however, where the WFP endorsed one of his opponents, middle school principal Jamaal Bowman. But of the WFP’s 18 congressional endorsements in New York so far, Bowman is the only candidate challenging a Democratic incumbent the WFP previously backed. Nonetheless, the WFP has made some changes to reflect the increasing influence of the DSA. If the Democratic Party is a big tent, and the WFP is a small tent connected to it, then DSA is the group of people outside picketing the tent. And more and more, Nnaemeka’s WFP is deciding to step outside and join the picket line. The two organizations worked closely together on Tiffany Cabán’s 2019 run for Queens district attorney, and she remains an official bond. A DSA member, Cabán now works for the WFP. The WFP and DSA are aligned again on some local campaigns this year – both organizations have endorsed Samelys López for the open South Bronx House seat, plus left-wing state Sen. Julia Salazar. The WFP also joined DSA in endors-

WFP

NEW LEADER FOR A NEW AGE

June 1, 2020

City & State New York

Sochie Nnaemeka, flanked by progressive congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Since she took over leadership of the WFP in December, Nnaemeka has led the party to the left.

IF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS A BIG TENT, AND THE WFP IS A SMALL TENT, THEN DSA IS OUTSIDE PICKETING. AND NNAEMEKA’S WFP IS DECIDING TO JOIN THE PICKET LINE.

ing Jabari Brisport for an open state Senate seat in Brooklyn, and the insurgent Marcela Mitaynes over the incumbent Assemblyman Félix Ortiz, also in Brooklyn. While the WFP didn’t endorse the DSA-backed Zohran Mamdani’s Assembly campaign in Queens, the party also declined to endorse the incumbent he’s challenging, Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, who had the WFP’s endorsement in 2018. The only real point of disagreement between the groups this year in local contests is in a Brooklyn Assembly race. The WFP has endorsed the incumbent, Assemblyman Walter Mosley, while DSA has endorsed Phara Souffrant Forrest. The WFP’s endorsements this year aren’t Nnaemeka’s alone – they come out of an internal process with questionnaires and interviews with WFP stakeholders. The party’s aim, as Nnaemeka put it, is to “build a state, a country, a world that works for the many, and not for the few.” In more concrete terms, they’re looking for candidates who support higher wages and universal health care that isn’t tied to employment, and candidates who take a “clear stance against corporate money and the growth of the billionaire class.” That message has been more or less consistent since the party’s founding, but the campaigns the party supports have shifted. The

WFP is no longer the party that supported Republican state Sen. Nicholas Spanos’ 2004 reelection campaign over his Democratic challenger – future Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins – because of Spano’s support for organized labor. But the more recent changes came courtesy of Cuomo. The WFP declined to endorse the governor’s 2018 reelection campaign, and instead backed his more progressive opponent, the actress Cynthia Nixon. Much has been written about the governor’s response, but the WFP snubbing the most powerful politician in the state led labor unions to leave the party in droves. Unions had been founding members of the WFP, but they’d also historically been a moderating force for the party, compared to the grassroots activists who made up another segment of its membership. Some more progressive unions, like the New York State Nurses Association and the New York State United Teachers, still officially remain part of the party. And while the departure of some unions has hurt the WFP’s numbers, that loss hasn’t proven to be a death blow – unlike what may be coming next. For the last year, Cuomo has been supporting a measure to raise the standards for third parties’ ballot access in the state. Though the original measure was struck down by a court, the new standards got passed into law in this year’s state budget. The WFP has seen this as Cuomo’s attempt to kill the party, because it means the party will need to earn a higher percentage of the vote than it has in years in order to maintain automatic access to the ballot in the state and the benefits that come with it. It’s easy to get lost in the politics of it all – the dealmaking and the strategy and the promotional campaign that will be necessary to get New Yorkers to vote on the WFP line on the presidential ballot in November. But Nnaemeka insisted that the WFP wasn’t just fighting for the sake of its own survival, but because the party can do good things. “We’ll fight to preserve our party function, but because of what it can do,” she said. “Not because of the entity it is, but because we know that it can help move us closer to a New York where all of us can thrive.”

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50 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

years, leading a super PAC that helped the Democrats take the state Senate.

HELENE WEINSTEIN

Chairwoman

Assembly Ways and Means Committee

ANTHONY “SKIP” PISCITELLI Counselor and Senior Adviser CMW Strategies

Helene Weinstein stood up for medical workers lacking PPE.

96 TED POTRIKUS

President and CEO Retail Council of New York State

95 LEECIA EVE

Vice President of Public Policy Verizon As the daughter of longtime Assemblyman Arthur Eve, New York politics runs in Leecia Eve’s family, but the Verizon public affairs executive has carved her own path. A former adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and onetime candidate for state attorney general, Eve’s work at Verizon has recently focused on the rollout of 5G technology. She was recently named to Cuomo’s advisory board on reopening the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on retailers across New York – after shopping malls and business districts were shuttered in March – and Ted Potrikus says it’s too early to tell if they will rebound after restrictions are eased. In the meantime, Potrikus hopes consumers will support local shops by visiting RetailNewYork.com, a website created by the Retail Council that now includes more than 400 businesses in the state.

97 ELIZABETH PERALTA Executive Director

National Supermarket Association Earlier this year, Elizabeth Peralta was grappling with the enforcement of the plastic bag ban in supermarkets across New York City, but her immediate concerns abruptly pivoted to the

coronavirus pandemic: social distancing complaints against grocery stores and dealing with declining consumer demand for certain foods. Peralta, whose Queens-based organization teamed up with Lyft to provide seniors with free rides to the supermarket, is on the governor’s reopening advisory board.

98 PATRICK PURCELL Executive Director

Greater New York LECET The coronavirus threat delayed the rollout of a new prevailing wage law until 2022, but its passage this year was a victory for Patrick Purcell and other construction union leaders. Purcell – who runs the Greater New York LaborersEmployers Cooperation and Education Trust, which spent more than $2.1 million in lobbying in 2018 – has been particularly active in recent

CMW Strategies, which recently changed its name from Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz, has established itself as a leading lobbying firm in New York City. Now it’s expanding in Albany, opening a new office and bringing veteran Skip Piscitelli aboard. Piscitelli worked in New York City’s Office of State Legislative Affairs under three mayors – Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani and David Dinkins – and at the former lobbying powerhouse Wilson Elser.

100 WILLIAM BARCLAY

Assembly Minority Leader With COVID-19 cases declining in New York, William Barclay called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to give up the emergency powers he assumed in early March, arguing – unsuccessfully – that state government was not designed for “one-person rule.” Barclay, who lives in a small village near Lake Ontario, is focusing on restarting the upstate economy and working with industry leaders and other elected officials to come up with a plan.

With cases declining, Barclay called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to give up his emergency powers.

ANTHONY ALVAREZ; ASSEMBLY

After health care workers faced potential retaliation because they spoke out about shortages of personal protective equipment without their employer’s permission, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein introduced a bill amending the whistleblower law to include more employee protections. Weinstein, the longest-serving woman in Assembly history and chair of the influential Ways and Means Committee, was among the first state lawmakers to test positive for the coronavirus in March.

NONPROFIT RESILIENCE THROUGH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC JUNE 4, 2020 - 2:30PM-3:30PM EST As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout New York, the country and the world, nonprofit organizations are facing unprecedented challenges to their operations, staffing and fundraising. Nonprofits must find ways to protect employees and manage staffing levels while preventing potential financial shortfalls. They must remain flexible and resilient to effectively navigate these uncertain timesand provide services during this crisis. How nonprofits respond during this crisis could determine their long-term sustainability.

PA N E LI STS I N C LU D E

MICHELLE YANCHE Executive Director, Good Shepherd Services

MARCO DAMIANI Chief Executive Officer, AHRC NYC

LISA DAVID President and CEO, Public Health Solutions

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

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

June 1, 2020

DCJB, LLC . Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/4/2020. Office: Richmond 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, 54 West Terrace Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

June 1, 2020 For more info. 212-268-0442 Ext.2039

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Notice of Formation of JB Capstone Enterprises, LLC, filed with SSNY on 2/4/14. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 12 East 37th St, 2nd Floor, NY, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of 5hndred Autohaus, LLC filed with SSNY on March 3, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 615 Manor rd, Staten Island, NY. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE OF FORMATION of a limited liability company (LLC). The name of the limited liability company is 1321 EAST 7TH STREET LLC. The date of filing of the articles of organization with the Department of State was January 21, 2020. The County in New York in which the office of the company is located is Kings. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the company upon whom process may be served, and the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the company served upon him or her to 1321 East 7th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11230. The business purpose of the company is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under the laws of the State of New York.

App. for Auth. (LLC) Solid & Striped LLC. App. for Auth. filed w/ the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/1/20. LLC formed in DE on 6/7/12. 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, 529 W. 20th St., #7E, NY, NY 10011, registered agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: All lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of AR Practice Management Firm, LLC filed with SSNY on March 5, 2020. Office: NY Dutchess County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 59 Hudson Heights Drive, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of ReVased, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Maryland (MD) on 10/16/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o ReVased, LLC, 1829 Reisterstown Road, #425, Baltimore, MD 21208. Cert. of Form. filed with Director of State of MD Dept of Assessments and Taxation, 301 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of YL Partners LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/10/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail a copy of process against LLC to the LLC, 145 East 48th Street, # 29B, New York, NY 10017. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of Formation of Rise N’ Shine Commercial Cleaning, LLC filed with SSNY on April 20, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served: Jordane Johnson. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 160 Concord Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE OF FORMATION of limited liability company (LLC). Name: MO WELLNESS FOUNDATION, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 04/01/2020. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: MAURICE HURD 3410 DE REIMER AVE APT 7J BRONX, NY 10475. Purpose: any lawful purpose. DCJB, LLC . Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/4/2020. Office: Richmond 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, 54 West Terrace Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

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Notice of Formation of Saturday Cartoons LLC filed with SSNY on 1/17/20. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 694 Metropolitan Ave,#201 Brooklyn, NY 11211. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

ZNK, LLC Art. of Org filed with the SSNY on 4/17/20. 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, 47 E 30th St., Apt. 5, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of formation of MikeGeez Fitness Boutique, LLC. Filed with SSNY Richmond County on 1/20/2020. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it ay be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 4131 Hylan Blvd, SI, NY 10308. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Design Lady LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/07/2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the LLC, 7014 13th avenue suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of Rise N’ Shine Commercial Cleaning, LLC filed with SSNY on April 20, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served: Jordane Johnson. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 160 Concord Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NOTICE OF FORMATION of WIRED FOUNDATIONS LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with Sec. of State of NY (SSNY) on 4/22/2020. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: WIRED FOUNDATIONS, LLC P.O. Box 8350, Pelham, NY 10803. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Peach Ink LLC filed with SSNY on February 18, 2020. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 50 Deertree Lane, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of formation of JJS 220, LLC, a domestic LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/11/20. Office location: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served and the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: The LLC, 1 Stoneleigh Plaza, Bronxville, New York 10708. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of SHLUF LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/5/20. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 888 7th Ave., 4th Fl., NY, NY 10106, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

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Notice of Formation of Malone Services, LLC dba Purely Clean Services filed with SSNY on May 15, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 31 Parcot Ave. New Rochelle, NY. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of Trade Signal’s, LLC. Arts of Org filed with Sec. of State of NY on 5/20/20. Office Location: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and mail process to: c/o the LLC, 4218 Amboy Rd. SI, NY 10308. Purpose: any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of Yumin 11106, LLC filed with SSNY on March 11, 2020. Office: Kings County, NY. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to LLC: 2042 W 8th St Brooklyn, NY, 11223. Purpose: any lawful act or activity Notice of Formation of Too High Records, LLC filed with SSNY on March 26, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 24 Monument Walk, Apt 2B, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of qualification of Kabia & Santos LLP for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/08/20. Office location: NY County. LLP formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 01/05/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Regus, 77 Water St., 7th and 8th Fl, New York, NY 10005. NJ addr. of LLP: c/o Regus, 221 River St, 9th Fl, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of NJ, Dpt. of Treasury, Div. of Revenue and Enterprise Services., P.O. Box 628, Trenton, NJ 08625-0628. Purpose: Any lawful activity

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC) Name: 159 KANE ST., LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on April 27, 2020. Office Location: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: 175 Van Dyke Street, Brooklyn, New York 11231. Purpose: to engage in any and all business for which LLCs may be formed under the New York LLC law. Notice of Formation of Bre Travel, LLC filed with SSNY on March 25, 2020. Office: Kings County. Sydney Baker designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 655 Macon Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11233. Purpose: any lawful act or activity Notice of Qualification of Marimatic Oy. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 5/13/2020. Office location: NY County. LLC organized in Finland (FI) on 9/6/1989. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. FI address of LLC: Pohjantahdentie 17, 01450 Vantaa, FI. Cert. of Org. filed with Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce, Finnish Patent and Registration Office, Trade register, Sornaisten rantatie 13 C, 00530 Helsinki, FI. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

THE ANNUAL RETURN OF THE CAROL & EDMUND BLAKE FOUNDATION for the year ended December 31, 2019 is available at its principal office located at 335 Madison Avenue, Suite 1100, NY, NY 10017 for inspection during regular business hours by any citizen who requests it within 180 days hereof. Principal Manager of the Foundation is ERIC FREEDGOOD.

CITATION NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

CAUSE NO. 2019-63544

Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at four locations. Antennas will be installed at a top height of 153 feet on a 161-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 9-11 Maiden Lane, Manhattan, New York County, NY 10038; at a top height of 81 feet on a 85-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 1245 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY 11213; at a top height of 126 feet on 93-foot rooftop at the approx. vicinity of 410 West 58th St, New York, New York County, NY 10019; and at a top height of 61 feet on 44-foot rooftop at the approx. vicinity of 205 Central Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY 11221. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Morgan Rasmussen, m.rasmussen@trileaf.com, 1395 S. Marietta Pkwy, Building 400, Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067; 678-653-8673 ext. 657

RECEIPT NO. PLANTIFF: PELLOT , ESTRELLA VS DEFENDANT: ABDELALL, MOUSTAFA

§IN THE DISTRICT COURT § § § 246th JUDICIAL DISTRICT § § HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS

PUBLICATION (DIVORCE) THE STATE OF TEXAS County of Harris TO: ABDELLALL MOUSTAFA ABDELNABI MOUSTAFA whose residence and whereabouts are unknown You have been sued. You may employ an attorney. If you or your attorney do not file a written answer with the Clerk who issued this citation by 10:00am on the Monday next following the expiration of 20days after you were served this citation and petition, a default judgment may be taken against you . The Petition of PELLOT, ESTRELLA, Petitioner , was filed in the Court of Harris County, Texas on the 5th day of September, 2019 against ABDELELALL, MOUSTAFA ABDELNABI MOUSTAFA Respondent(s) , numbered 201963544, and entitled “In the Matter of the Marriage of PELLOT, ESTRELLA and ABDELLALL MOUSTAFA ABDELNABI MOUSTAFA. The Suit Requests DIVORCE NO CHILDREN . The Court has authority in this suit to enter any judgment or decree dissolving the marriage and providing for the division of property which will be binding on you. ISSUED AND GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND SEAL OF SAID COURT at Houston, Texas, this 8th day of November, 2019 Issued at the request of: OLADAPO- JIMOH, ADENRELE 5225, KATY FREEWAY SUITE 77002 685 Texas 77210) HOUSTON , TX 77007 Tel: (713) 271-8484 Bar No: 24041626 NEWSPAPER: CITY & STATE NY

MARILYN BURGESS , District Clerk Harris County, Texas 201 Caroline, Houston, Texas (P.O. Box 4651, Houston, Generated By: PORTER, LONYA

PUBLIC NOTICE

OFFICER’S RETURN Came to hand on November 11, 2019 A.D, AT 11.15 o’clock___________M, and I executed the within Citation by publishing the same in the ___________Newspaper published in the County publication was made respectively on ______________ day of ___________, ___________A.D., and printed copy thereof is returned herewith. Fees: Serving Citation _____________ ___________________County, Texas __________________ County, By________________Deputy,

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 56.2’) on the building at 72-28 Broadway, Jackson Heights, NY (20200711). Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

NOTICE IS HEREBY given that a license number #TBA for a beer and wine has been applied for by Antwerp J LLC D/B/A/ MOJO DESSERTS, to sell beer and wine at retail in a coffee and dessert shop for on premises consumption under the Alcoholic Beverage Control law at 177 E. 100th St., New York, NY 10029, New York County.

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Notice of Formation of Prime Innovations Professional Development, LLC with SSNY on 05/04/2020. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: ANNE S. BURGUNDER 555 KAPPOCK ST 1T BRONX, NY 10463. Purpose: any lawful act of activity.

Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at a top height of 137 feet on a 158-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 1719 West 45th Street, New York, New York County, New York 10036. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Lauren Schramm l.schramm@trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Pkwy, Building 400 Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, 678-653-8673

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Exploring The Wonder Years LLC. Filed with SSNY on 05/26/20. Office: BX County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail copy to LLC: 1368 Metropolitan Ave #8G, BX, NY 10462. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of Formation of Angelic Tresses By Chelly LLC filed with SSNY on April 28, 2020. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 200 E39th Street 2FL., Brooklyn NY 11203. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of Sandys Consulting and Coaching LLC. LLC appl for auth filed with Secy of State (SSNY) on 1/29/2020. Office Location: NY County. LLC formed in New Jersey on 7/5/2019. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Jay Sandys, 15 Plymouth Ave Maplewood, NJ 07040 NJ address for LLC 15 Plymouth Avenue Maplewood NJ 07040. Purpose: any lawful activity

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54 CityAndStateNY.com

June 1, 2020

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 Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Web/Email Strategist Isabel Beebe

AMY COOPER The week’s most hated person in New York was Amy Cooper, who was filmed calling the cops on a black bird-watcher after he asked her to leash her dog in Central Park. The video of Cooper, who told police that there was an “African American man threatening my life,” went viral – and just 24 hours after the video was shared, Cooper lost her job and her dog. The graphic death of a black man at the hands of cops in Minnesota only highlighted the potentially deadly consequences of her actions.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

BRAD HOYLMAN & LINDA ROSENTHAL

WILL BARCLAY

Lawmakers passed state Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal’s bill to extend the look-back window for their Child Victims Act by a year. Seems like a massive public health crisis was just the push they needed.

DONNA LIEBERMAN

Small religious services and Memorial Day barbecues get a pass? The New York Civil Liberties Union said not so fast. The organization filed a lawsuit and the state changed course – allowing any and all gatherings of up to 10 people.

The Republican Assembly minority leader must’ve hoped he could make a few political waves by proposing legislation to limit Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers. Alas, the bill was dead on arrival.

ROBERTA REARDON

State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon hasn’t had a glowing reputation with all the unemployment insurance delays. Now, she’s hit with a lawsuit from Uber and Lyft drivers who say they weren’t paid benefits in a timely way. The problem is getting Uber and Lyft to cooperate. But it’s Reardon’s name on the paperwork.

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.

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Vice President, Advertising and Client Relations Danielle Koza dkoza@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Assistant Zimam Alemenew EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez

Vol. 9 Issue 21 June 1, 2020

ALBANY POWER 100

POWER IN THE TIME OF COVID WITH NEW YORK IN FREE FALL, BUDGET BOSS ROBERT MUJICA IS CALLING THE SHOTS

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

June 1, 2020

Cover photo Brad Trent

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 ©2020, City & State NY, LLC

MARC A. HERMANN/NYC TRANSIT; FACEBOOK

ANDY BYFORD We’re all tired of “Why I left New York” essays, but we’re dying to read one by the Train Daddy. The bald-headed Brit became beloved soon after getting the job leading New York City Transit, but he said “cheerio” after too many differences of opinion with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Now he’s got a job as the commissioner of Transport for London. Goodbye, Governor. ’Ello, Guv’na.

OUR PICK

WINNERS

If “Mr. Cuomo Goes to Washington” were a movie, it seems like it wouldn’t have a happy ending for the governor. For all the times Gov. Andrew Cuomo has visited the White House, he can’t get President Donald Trump to deliver on his biggest asks. Will that change with last week’s request by Cuomo that Trump invest in infrastructure to boost the economy? It seems like a win-win … but it’s too soon to tell if it’ll land either man on our Winners & Losers list.

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, Deputy Editor Eric Holmberg, Senior 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, Staff Reporter Kay Dervishi, Associate Copy Editor Holly Pretsky

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH–THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH 1:30PM-4:00PM In what would have been our 6th Annual Nonprofit OpCon, we have adjusted to the world as it is with COVID-19, and are pleased to bring you the first-ever VIRTUAL NONPROFIT OPCON. Over the course of two days, we will bring you the same level of expertise and content focusing on streamlining processes and operations for nonprofits in New York. It’s a new day in the nonprofit industry; join us as we explore these insights and strategies!

PANELS INCLUDE COVID-19 AND THE POTENTIAL ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL IMPACTS ON NONPROFITS HOW NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP AND BOARD MEMBERS CAN RESPOND TO COVID-19 THE INTERSECTION OF TECHNOLOGY AND OFFICE SPACE IN A POST COVID-19 ERA NONPROFIT EFFICIENCY: MANAGING RISK, OVERHEAD AND FAILURE AMID COVID-19 RSVP at NYNMedia.com/Events .For more information on programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lissa Blake at lblake@cityandstateny.com

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

CINTRIN COOPERMAN MILLIN ASSOCIATES NONPROFIT SECTOR STRATEGIES ROBERT KATZ CONSULTING YOUR PART-TIME CONTROLLER NFP ADVISORS LLC

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD PARKSIDE GROUP INCLINE PENSION CONSULTING NATIONWIDE PENTEGRA

On behalf of thousands of appreciative families, I am extending a heartfelt

THANK YOU TO THE HONORABLE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK

ANDREW M. CUOMO For implementing a hospital visitation pilot program which permits PPE-protected loved ones to visit hospitals a few hours a day. This is a good first step in restoring patient rights during these difficult times. A thanks is also extended to the Greater New York Hospital Association and to the Healthcare Association of New York State for coordinating this initiative. Especially noteworthy is

THE MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL for going beyond what is called for in the pilot program. Let us all work to restore full patient rights at all hospitals at all times. With much appreciation,

Rabbi MoisheIndig Director of Public Affairs, CYL Satmar of NY and the Williamsburg JCC

CYL Satmar is a community of tens of thousands of families and close to 200,000 people across New York State. The Williamsburg JCC serves people in Brooklyn.

City & State New York 060120

Articles inside

ALBANY 100