City & State New York 122319 by City & State

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WHY NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS

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December 23, 2019â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 6, 2020

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December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

IN THE SPRING OF 2014, City & State had a couple scoops about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. In one story, we summarized internal commission documents showing questionable campaign spending by state lawmakers. Several outlets, including the Daily News, The Buffalo News and WNYC, picked up our reporting, which centered on suspicious purchases by then-state Sens. George Maziarz and Greg Ball. In another piece, we exposed meddling in the selection of the writer of a key Moreland Commission report. It wasn’t until a few months later when The New York Times published its lengthy, deeply reported exposé on the commission – with City & State literally as a footnote – that the Cuomo administration was truly forced to respond. One takeaway from the coverage is that the political news ecosystem is a food chain, with more local or niche publications identifying issues that larger papers expand on. But there’s another conclusion: To get elected officials to react, it can require a negative headline in a big daily – and big dailies have fewer and fewer journalists covering local politics. In this week’s cover story, City & State’s Rebecca C. Lewis chronicles the string of newsroom cutbacks and closures in recent years and explores how publishers and political reporters are trying to fill the gaps.

CONTENTS LOCAL NEWS … 8

Reporters are stretched thin. Can they still hold government accountable?

CELESTE SLOMAN; STOCK2YOU/SHUTTERSTOCK

ENERGY 50 … 15 A power power list WINNERS & LOSERS … 38

Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

DE BLASIO ANNOUNCES NEW HOMELESSNESS PLAN

TRUMP IMPEACHED

President Donald Trump became only the third president in United States history to be impeached. After an all-day session, House Democrats voted to approve two articles of impeachment, finding Trump had abused the power of his office and

obstructed Congress. Each member of New York’s congressional delegation voted along party lines. The Senate trial over whether to remove the president from office is expected to begin early next year – that is, if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t delay it.

With just two years left in his tenure, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a five-year plan to end street homelessness – which means its success depends on his successor. The issue has plagued de Blasio throughout his time in office as homelessness levels remained high or even got worse. The mayor’s new $100 million-per-year plan – his third in four years – calls for building more hospitable shelters to get the estimated 1,800 chronically homeless who sleep outside off the streets. It also includes the city finding 1,000 apartments to provide permanent housing to those who need it.

“NYCHA is in a league of its own – they are in the hall of fame of bad landlords!” –New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, on the New York City Housing Authority’s top spot on his worst landlords list, via the New York Post

DE BLASIO DELAYED YESHIVA REPORT

JCOPE VOTES DOWN SELFASSESSMENT

If de Blasio’s new homelessness plan put

CAN’T LET IT GO At a meeting of the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics this week, rape survivor Kat Sullivan made sure to not only have the last word, but sing it. The commission recently dropped its controversial case against Sullivan after arguing that she should have registered as a lobbyist when buying billboards touting the Child Victims Act. Sullivan, in cat ears, sang her message (to the tune of Frozen’s “Let it Go”) to a bewildered room, demanding an apology from JCOPE.

renewed scrutiny on his past failures, the other big news involving him last week was worse. A probe from the city Department of Investigation concluded that his administration delayed the release of a long-anticipated report on yeshivas because it was engaging in “political horse-trading.” And the mayor was aware of what his officials were doing. De Blasio ordered the report four years ago to investigate whether students at ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshivas were getting an adequate education. But officials put off publicly releasing it as Albany negotiated de Blasio’s continued control of city schools. The end result? Only two out of 28 schools officials investigated were meeting standards by teaching basic subjects like English or math.

“Will be forgotten by 2/1/14.” – then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg shortly before leaving office at the end of 2013, in an email uncovered by The City

As the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics grapples with scrutiny regarding an alleged leak and calls for its dissolution, it voted not to perform a selfassessment of its own operations or a review of its inspector general’s office. The move follows reports that someone leaked how members voted on an issue to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, although such information is meant to remain private. The probe

EVAN EL-AMIN, LEV RADIN, STOCKLIGHT, JOE TABACCA/SHUTTERSTOCK; JCOPE

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

into the allegation by the inspector general also drew criticism because it did not include interviews with either official at the center of the controversy – Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

500 NEW SUBWAY COPS APPROVED

A fleet of 500 new police officers is on its way to the New York City subways. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board approved the controversial move as part of its $17 billion 2020 budget. Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed expanding the force last month to increase fare evasion enforcement and to address what he called a “dramatic increase in crime” in the subway system. Crime in the city remains at record lows overall, despite a slight uptick in subway crimes recently. The new cops will cost the MTA about $250 million over four years and will not be part of the New York Police Department, which already has 2,500 transit officers patrolling the system.

THE

WEEK AHEAD

City & State New York

ANOTHER GOP SENATOR EXITS

Another week, another Republican state senator jumps ship. This time, state Sen. Richard Funke announced that he would not seek reelection in 2020. His decision makes him the ninth Senate Republican to leave, decline reelection or seek a different office this year after Democrats gained a sizeable majority in the chamber.

GREEN LIGHT LAW TAKES EFFECT

Undocumented immigrants can officially get driver’s licenses in New York now that the state’s Green Light law has gone into effect. After the state successfully fended off multiple lawsuits seeking to strike down the law, people turned out in droves on the first day that they could receive or apply for their licenses. Department of Motor Vehicles offices in New York City had lines several blocks long.

Top headlines of the next decade “President Donald Trump Wanted a Moat Filled With Alligators and Snakes at Border.” Go back to 2009 and tell somebody that would be a real headline in 10 years. The 2010s were packed with news that would have defied belief for anybody who didn’t write for “The Simpsons.” With that in mind, here’s our rough guess for what the ’20s have in store for New York politicos. –Jeff Coltin

2020 CHASING YANG FOR DEM NOM, BLOOMBERG PLANS TO GIVE AMERICANS $1,001 EACH MONTH

2021 GOP TAKES CONTROL OF STATE SENATE AS SOCIALIST DEMS, MAINLINE DEMS FAIL TO FORM COALITION 2023 DE BLASIO EXPECTED TO RESIGN AS AMBASSADOR FOLLOWING NICARAGUA MOTORCADE SCANDAL

2022 NYC APPROVES NEW SALES TAX TO FUND FLOATING LANDING STRIP AT AMAZON’S WEST SIDE COMPOUND 2024 SEN. OCASIO-CORTEZ RALLIES IN CHENANGO TO NAME OAT MILK AS NY’S OFFICIAL MILK SUBSTITUTE

2025 SI MAYOR BORELLI QUESTIONED OVER HIGH TAXES AT NEW DORP TOWN HALL

2026 CUOMO TOPS TRUMP JR. TO WIN HISTORIC FIFTH TERM

2027 SOURCES: NEW YORK “CLOSE” TO LEGALIZING RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

2028 JCOPE COMPLETES INVESTIGATION OF FORMER IDC LEADER JEFF KLEIN

2029 TRILLIONAIRE MOGUL MIKE BLOOMBERG, 87, CONSIDERING A PRESIDENTIAL RUN

WEDNESDAY 1/1

WEDNESDAY 1/8

New criminal justice reforms take effect that place new limits on cash bail as well as the time that criminal defendants have to wait for their trials to begin and to see the evidence against them.

The New York City Council kicks off a new decade at high noon with its Charter-mandated first meeting of the year inside City Hall.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers his State of the State address at Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany, starting at 1:30 p.m. Requests for tickets will be accepted between Dec. 20-30.

INSIDE DOPE

The governor will offer his budget proposal this year at a different time than his legislative agenda, so we’ll have to wait to hear his plan to overcome a multibillion budget shortfall.

CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

V E T O S ’ E S O M O CU S WILLIAM BY ZACH

MAPS ENCOURAGING GOO’tDblam e

Don Assemblyman Michael DenDekker or state Sen. James Gaughran the next time a bus smashes into an overpass. Cuomo cited a lack of national standards in rejecting a bill that would require that charter buses use GPS systems designed to make sure they stay on the right type of roads.

THE GOVERNOR HAS REJECTED DOZENS OF BILLS, AND HE’S NOT DONE YET. LAWMAKERS PASSED HUNDREDS of bills in 2019, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed many of them in recent weeks. Here are a few of the more interesting examples of legislation tossed into the reject pile.

BIRDBRAINED IDEA? One unel

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GIFT LICEN

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December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

A Q&A with the Bushwick entertainer challenging Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

PAPERBOY PRINCE Why are you running for Congress against Rep. Nydia Velázquez? Well, first off, I want to say I really appreciate you. And I love you, and I care about you, and I believe in you and everything that you’re doing. And that goes for all of the citizens here. I care about them and I’m passionate about them. I wake up every morning, passionate, thinking of ways that I can help people have a better life and help them be more happy. The district that I aim to represent is a lot more radical than our current representation looks like. Our current representation is out of touch with technology, out of touch with the people, out of touch with real life.

Why are you running against Velázquez specifically? Is this about generational change? So where do I begin? The lion’s share of the most rapid gentrification in United States history happened under her watch over the last 15 to 20 years. So the reason that I had to even move back and forth between Maryland, D.C. and New York is because of the gentrification that helped to displace me and my family. Wouldn’t you consider yourself a part of that gentrification, being an artist from out of state that moved to Bushwick? No, I’m not a part of this gentrification. My family

has been here for over 70 years. My roots are native to this land. That’s like saying (Velázquez) is a part of the gentrification because she moved here from Puerto Rico. Like she’s not native to this land either. (A spokesman for Velázquez, Alex Haurek, responded: “Nydia is proud of her deep roots in New York City and Brooklyn, having lived in the community almost her entire life.”) Your stage name is Paperboy Prince of

the Suburbs, but this congressional district is entirely urban. Are you going to change your name to Prince of the City? Prince of the Urban Area? In music and hip-hop, we use a lot of metaphors. That was a metaphor. I’m from the city. And to me, when you’re in the city, when you’re actually in the hood, a lot of times the goal is to get out of the hood, to get to the suburbs. And it’s not saying the suburbs is a better place. My idea for New York is more trees, more greenery, more fresh

air that you can breathe, more clean streets. Are you aware of the efforts to rezone Bushwick? And do you have an opinion on it? I’m not fully up to date on everything regarding that. Are you planning to crowdfund your campaign online? Are you expecting any larger, institutional donors? We’re going to fund it with love. It’s going to be funded with love, and love always wins.

PATIENT CHOICE MUST BE PRESERVED IN PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLANS

LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; PAPERBOY PRINCE

By Richard Wells, President of The Police Conference of New York

Police officers across the New York State risk their health and well-being daily to ensure the safety of New Yorkers. But when it comes to protecting officers’ health, for-profit corporations often end up with the winning hand. Governor Cuomo has the opportunity to correct this record and put officers first by signing NYS Senate bill S6531. These organizations are often the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and health insurers, who use questionable business tactics that circumvent the doctor-patient relationship to pad their pockets by steering patients away from more expensive drugs or toward medications with a higher rebate from manufacturers. Either way, the patient loses just to make PBMs more money. Fortunately, the New York Senate and Assembly recently passed S6531/A2836 to provide important protections for the health of New Yorkers and their ability to receive the drugs their doctors have prescribed. Now, it is up to Governor Cuomo to sign this critical legislation into law. He will undoubtedly be under pressure to amend or veto the bill. He should resist any industry efforts to do so and sign the bill as-is. For years, PBMs have employed utilization management tools to deny or delay access to drugs that have been prescribed to patients. These tools commonly come in the form of step therapy (or “fail first”) and non-medical switching. Both tactics are detrimental to a patient’s health, whether worsening symptoms or in extreme scenarios, causing death. In step therapy, patients are required to first try medications that the insurance company or PBM prefers before they’re given access to their doctor’s prescribed choice. The process can often take weeks or even months, delaying necessary treatment to benefit the PBM’s profits while increasing a patient’s chances enduring complications. A 2017 study by The Doctor-Patient Rights Project revealed that step therapy “can lead to an increase in costs for emergency room visits and in-patient hospital

admissions.” With the surging prescription costs, extra medical fees for additional ER visits are unacceptable and unnecessary. Specifically, the bill would ensure that hard-earned health benefits are preserved for all workers by banning PBM policies like step therapy that place roadblocks between the patients and the drugs they need to manage their health. It would bar the substitution of prescribed drugs and require PBMs, whose secretive policies have been described as a “black box,” to fully disclose which providers they contract and to provide fiscal transparency by describing all revenue streams they use. The bill also requires PBMs to register with the Department of Financial Services by April 1, 2020 and be licensed by Jan. 1, 2021. DFS would regulate PBMs and monitor them for conflicts of interest and deceptive practices and anti-competitive practices. After years of collective bargaining for better union health plans, it’s unjust for New York’s police officers and their families to be put in a position where they must choose between delayed treatment or no treatment at all. Due to irregular work schedules and increased stress, officers’ health risks are magnified – and cardiac issues have been the third leading cause of line of duty death to officers. Therefore, it’s imperative that they are given swift, affordable access to health care. The New York Police Conference represents over 25,000 members in 230 localities, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our members are provided high-quality, affordable health benefits. When this important piece of legislation reaches the Governor’s desk for signature, I urge him to think of the hard-working men and women, who regularly put their lives on the line for our safety, and sign it into law.

CityAndStateNY.com

Is Local News Doomed ?

New York City’s biggest papers have slashed their metro staffs. Can reporters still hold politicians accountable?

HO IS ALEXANDRIA Ocasio-Cortez?” The New York Times posed that question in a headline the morning after Ocasio-Cortez knocked out longtime Rep. Joseph Crowley in a stunning primary victory. For Times readers, it was a good question – she had been mentioned only in passing in New York City’s supposed paper of record. Before her win, her name had appeared fewer than a handful of times, according to metro deputy editor Dean Chang. In one article, about female candidates who “didn’t play it safe,” she was the lead example, but appeared nowhere else in the story. A second story featured four Democratic insurgents in New York City, with significantly more discussion about two other long-shot 2018 congressional candidates, Suraj Patel and Adem Bunkeddeko. The paper’s Editorial Board criticized Crowley for skipping debates – which the

Times skipped, too. Finally, a Times newsletter flagged the race as one to watch on Election Day, with a link to an Intercept story about the faceoff. “Kind of pisses me off that @nytimes is still asking Who Is Ocasio-Cortez? when it should have covered her campaign,” former Times executive editor Jill Abramson tweeted. “Missing her rise akin to not seeing Trump’s win coming in 2016.” Ocasio-Cortez’s challenge did garner some early attention from left-wing outfits like The Intercept and millennial-focused sites like Mic and Refinery29, and some local Queens publications had covered the race. But none have the audience or influence of New York City’s largest daily newspapers. Nor was the Times alone in giving the congressional contest short shrift. The Daily News’ archive shows only one news article about Ocasio-Cortez, covering her cross-endorsement with gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon. The New York Post also wrote a single pre-election story about her, when a Democratic club snubbed

MAXX-STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK

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

CityAndStateNY.com

Crowley. Neither of the city’s two big tabloids bothered to speak to Ocasio-Cortez. The coverage of the race – or, rather, the lack thereof – illustrates in stark detail the depletion of New York City’s newsrooms. Years ago, the rise of classified ad websites like Craigslist eroded revenue that was once the lifeblood of local newspapers, not only in New York but nationwide. The Great Recession hastened the downsizing and outright closures of papers, while publishers scrambling to sell more digital ads confronted the growing dominance of Google and Facebook. To generate any kind of significant revenue, newspapers have chased clicks with national and entertainment news, leaving local reporting on the chopping block. With fewer reporters at fewer outlets, stories fall through the cracks – like the upstart campaign of a political unknown against one of the most powerful members of Congress. And it’s not just elections. Key functions of local government are getting less scrutiny, even in New York City, the nation’s media capital. “The ability to really dig into longer stories, that’s really been hobbled,” said Tom Robbins, a longtime New York City journalist who spent years at The Village Voice, which shut down in 2018. “We certainly get good stuff still … but it’s few and far between.” There are also fewer follow-up stories, the ones that explore why something happened and what can be done to address it. “A lot of our news organizations do a great job on first- and second-day stories,” said Jere Hester, founding editor of The City, a nonprofit news site that launched in April. “But in a lot of cases, sticking with it is a challenge just because of resources.” Trying to pick up the slack in the wake of the endless rounds of cutbacks at the city’s big dailies are a fragmented hodgepodge of neighborhood weeklies, local blogs, trade publications, insider-oriented outlets and nonprofits like The City – and it might not be enough. ON JULY 23, 2018, the summer interns at the Daily News got a special treat: The newspaper paid for them to attend a matinee showing of the new “Jurassic World” movie. When they returned to the office, they discovered that the editorial staff had been slashed in half after a sale to national newspaper publisher Tronc, since renamed Tribune Publishing. The tabloid was hemorrhaging money at the time – it was purchased at the cost of $1 and assuming its liabilities. It was just the latest hit to New York City’s local newsrooms. A few years earlier in 2015, the Daily News had shut down its borough bureaus after staff had dwindled there for years. At their height, the bureaus had an army of about 45 journalists hitting the city streets

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

outside Manhattan. By the time the bureaus shuttered, only about 10 reporters collectively staffed the three in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The string of closures began at least two decades earlier, in 1995, when Newsday ceased publishing its city edition, New York Newsday. For a brief time, New York Newsday invigorated local reporting as a third daily tabloid competing with the Daily News and the Post. Though critically acclaimed, the paper never turned a profit. In 2008, the short-lived New York Sun shuttered its print publication after only six years. When it began publishing in 2002, it was the first new broadsheet paper in the city in decades, launching at a time when print was on the decline. The paper was founded as a more conservative answer to the Times, but its robust local coverage and ability to get scoops earned it a place of respect in the media marketplace. The Times in 2008 folded its stand-alone Metro section into the newspaper’s A section, and in 2016 announced that it would further reduce its metro coverage, choosing to post fewer day-to-day stories. Instead, it would focus on the most consequential stories, and those that could appeal to its growing national and international audience. In 2001, the Metro Desk had a staff of 85. By 2017, that number had been halved, to 42. The Wall Street Journal has reduced local coverage too, shuttering its Greater New York section in 2016 – just six years after it launched – due to loss in ad revenue. Another blow in 2016 came when the New York Observer, whose Politicker blog had once been a must-read in political circles, halted its print publication. The salmon-pink weekly, owned by Jared Kushner, saw its demise a few days after Donald Trump – Kushner’s father-in-law – won the presidential election. The New York Post has had its share of downsizing, too, and it still loses money – in 2013, the estimate was that it lost $110 million a year. Although the paper is subsidized by billionaire Rubert Murdoch, combining conservative opinions with scoops

on unscrupulous politicians, the Post has never been known for its presence in the outer boroughs, focusing most of its coverage on the city’s power centers in Manhattan. The hyperlocal news site DNAinfo helped fill some of the gaps starting in 2009, but it lasted less than a decade. It was the passion project of billionaire Joe Ricketts, who kept the site running with a community reporting staff of over 30 journalists, even though it reportedly never turned a profit. Then in 2017, Ricketts announced that he was shuttering DNAinfo and the recently acquired Gothamist. This was not long after the two sites voted to unionize. Although Gothamist was later bought by the public radio station WNYC and began publishing again as a nonprofit, DNAinfo remained closed. Yet another blow came in 2018, when The Village Voice shut down. The sto-

MARK LENNIHAN/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

There’s a limit to the “views” a local news story can get online. To generate any significant revenue, outlets have desperately chased clicks by shifting to national news.

portation, and that’s true at most of the other papers, too.” What that means is that entire city agencies can operate without the kind of regular scrutiny they received in the past. And when stories are written about them, they are rarely reported by journalists with the deep, institutional knowledge that comes with focusing on just one area for years. Although reporters still write about major developments or public scandals at, say, the city’s municipal hospital system, beat reporters would have had the time and knowledge for deep-dive investigations. “I think the weakness tends to be with the issue-oriented stories,” said Paul Moses, a former New York Newsday reporter and Newsday city editor. He noted the mayor and City Hall are still heavily covered since every major news organization – including broadcast – still staffs reporters in City Hall’s press room. But even that is tougher to do, when bureaus consist of one or two reporters.

ON JULY 23, 2018, THE SUMMER INTERNS AT THE DAILY NEWS WERE TREATED TO A MATINEE SHOWING OF “JURASSIC WORLD.” WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THE OFFICE, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE EDITORIAL STAFF HAD BEEN SLASHED IN HALF. ried alternative weekly delivered in-depth analysis, investigative reporting and independent-minded journalism that held politicians and government accountable. The Voice had already ended its print product the year before. Stuart Marques, former managing editor at the Daily News who was fired in 2011

during one of many rounds of layoffs, said that repeated downsizing has taken its toll. “We covered a labor beat, we covered the Health + Hospitals beat, there was a transit reporter, there was an education reporter, there was a NYCHA reporter – we had a jillion beats,” Marques said. “Now basically, the only beats are education and trans-

ONE OF THE BIGGEST scandals to mar New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s legacy was the 2016 sale of a former nursing facility for AIDS patients called Rivington House in Manhattan. Newspaper reporting and government investigations exposed questionable transactions and mismanagement in a land deal that resulted in the development of luxury apartments at the property. The Wall Street Journal reported on the sale when it officially closed at the end of February in 2016, then broke the news of a city comptroller investigation into the deal in March. Things snowballed from there. But the Lower East Side news blog the Lo Down in December of 2015 first reported on what was at the heart of the investigations: The city had inexplicably lifted a deed restriction that would have forced Rivington House to remain a nursing home. This paved the way for a lucrative deal between a for-profit health care provider – Allure Group, which bought the shuttered nursing home in 2014 with promises to reopen it – and luxury apartment developers. Community weeklies, blogs like the Lo Down and hyperlocal news outlets like Patch or the now-defunct DNAinfo at times play a pivotal role in the larger news ecosystem in New York City. “News media

CityAndStateNY.com

New York’s paper of is kind of a food chain,” Moses record has reduced said. “They’re the ones that are its focus on local New closest to the neighborhoods, York City reporting in and they do find important stoorder to put resources into stories that appeal ries that need to be discussed to a broader internacitywide.” tional audience. But like the bigger papers, community weeklies and other smaller news sites have struggled to remain profitable. Many have been sold, spurring the consolidation of a growing number of once independent papers. A dwindling number of companies own local news outlets, with fewer unique stories produced when content is shared across publications. Of course, consolidation can at times save papers from closing shop altogether. For example, the Brooklyn Paper would likely have shuttered had it not been bought by News Corp. in 2009, according to former editor Gersh Kuntzman. Another local media company, Schneps Media, has been acquiring struggling publications right and left, and now owns several dozen newspapers in the five boroughs, giving it the largest portfolio of city papers with a presence in every borough except Staten Island. The company recently bought the free tabloid amNewYork, its first citywide acquisition, then fired a majority of the staff and replaced them with local reporters from the papers it already owned. Gothamist recently reported that Schneps is too cozy in its coverage of some of its clients and public officials. Josh Schneps, the company’s CEO, denied the accusations made in the Gothamist story, calling it the complaints of one disgruntled employee and asserted that his company had been hiring new reporters, although he could name only one new amNewYork staffer. Some other local publishers argue that Schneps has a business model that works, with a focus on digital and events. And something must be working, as the company has managed to continue growing with a sizable reporting staff in each borough, despite consolidation and downsizing after news landscape and stay afloat while proit makes acquisitions. Jeanne Straus, owner and publisher viding critical coverage. The Times’ 2016 of another local media company, Straus decision to scale back its metro section News, which owns a handful of Manhat- meant publishing fewer stories, but focustan weekly newspapers, said it’s always ing on enterprise reporting with high imbetter to have someone with roots in the pact. Then-metro editor Wendell Jamieson community in charge of local media. “We intended to publish more stories with nashould all be so thankful that Schneps tional or international interest that would bought (amNewYork) instead of Digital appeal to an ever-growing audience outside First,” Straus told City & State. “They’re the five boroughs. His model was expandthe people that just gobbled up Gannett, ed by his successor, Clifford Levy, who and they are, in my view, like the Darth continued to focus on fewer incremental reports and more high-impact stories, inVader of our business.” cluding through a new investigative unit NEW YORK CITY’S local media is in flux for the Metro Desk. The newspaper has put out impressive as reporters, editors and publishers figure out how to navigate a rapidly changing high-impact stories, like a deep dive into

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

individual murders in a South Bronx police precinct, and an investigation into the taxi medallion industry after a series of cab driver suicides that led to City Council hearings and new legislation. But many lamented the pivot by the Times, which once jokingly offered use of its expansive archives to The Wall Street Journal when that paper first launched its short-lived Greater New York section in 2010. Nonprofit outlets are also attempting to fill in the gaps. Among them are the transportation-focused Streetsblog and the education policy website Chalkbeat, which have presences outside of New York City alone, as well as in-depth policy-oriented outlets like City Limits and Gotham Gazette.

JUSTIN LANE/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

“WE ARE IN A POST-COMPETITION AGE IN LOCAL NEWS. WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT EVERYONE – PROFIT, NONPROFIT AND WHATEVER HYBRID OR NEW MODEL COMES DOWN THE LINE.” – THE CIT Y FOUNDING EDITOR JERE HESTER

The City, which launched in April, is experimenting with the nonprofit model with a news site focused entirely on New York City and its boroughs. Founding editor Jere Hester said that the purpose of The City is to fill the gap in local news coverage, particularly after DNAinfo’s demise in 2017. The site has already had an impact on local politics, both on a large and small scale. One early story uncovered misuse of community board funds in Brooklyn. The story got picked up by other outlets and directly led to an investigation by the de Blasio administration. The City also has broken ground covering ethics violations by de Blasio donors. Like the Times, The City reports on

local stories that editors feel have the greatest impact, rather than writing up every single community board meeting or covering general interest events. It encourages other outlets to republish its work, and its editorial staff is heartened to see when its coverage is picked up and expanded on by other publications. “The way I like to put it is that I feel that we are in a post-competition age in local news,” Hester told City & State. “We are here to support everyone – profit, nonprofit and whatever hybrid or new model comes down the line. For us, it’s all about getting the local news out there.” Even if such an idealistic approach is successful, it highlights another challenge facing the city’s press corps. Whereas at one time newspapers once had large enough staffs that someone reading just the Daily News or the Times could get a wide range of stories, coverage is now fragmented among many smaller, niche outlets that cannot singlehandedly fill the void. The average news consumer is not going to rely on more than a few outlets for what could once have been covered by a big newspaper with an army of reporters. “We do have lots of digital outlets that are beginning to meet some of the gap, but it’s still vast,” Robbins said. Even when a story gets covered in a smaller or niche outlet, it will likely not have the same political impact if it’s not in the Times, the Journal or the Daily News. The reach of other outlets is more limited, and reliant on larger publications to pick up the story. It’s hard to imagine that the New York City Housing Authority’s lead paint scandal would have had such an impact – from the resignation of several city officials to the launch of a federal investigation

– had it not been spearheaded by a legacy paper like the Daily News. It also comes down to the matter of resources; smaller operations simply do not have the money or manpower to afford consistent investigative reporting. “When The New York Times puts all of its resources into a story, you can’t beat that,” Marques said. “But nobody else is really doing that to any great degree because it takes resources and it takes commitment and it takes money.” Bernard Stein, the former editor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Riverdale Press, put it more bluntly. He was asked in 2017 whether community weeklies and other hyperlocal news outlets are filling the gaps left by the major dailies. “They aren’t,” he said at the time. Even under Hester’s ideal “post-competition” model, reporters and editors will still be left with tough decisions about what they have the time and bandwidth to cover. This is true for the Daily News, which still has print pages to fill every day, and the Times, which must decide which stories are big enough or important enough to pursue – as well as local papers like the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which is trying to do a little of both. Ned Berke, editor of the Eagle, said those decisions never come easy. “We don’t get to do every story the way we want because we try to be somewhere in between The City and Brooklyn Paper and Bklyner and even the Daily News,” Berke said. “So that does require a certain volume.” Ultimately, New York City, like so many other municipalities across the nation, is in a tough spot when it comes to local news. Loss of papers and staff have taken its toll on the city, even as the remaining outlets continue trying to churn out the stories necessary to keep local government accountable. “There’s still so much hunger – probably more so now – for news, for stories, for information,” said Adam Nichols, New York City managing editor at Patch. “The need is very high for what we do. The question is how to provide that – that’s the puzzle.”

■

OUR MISSION INVESTING IN A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

At TD Bank, we believe one of our most important responsibilities is working together for a more inclusive and sustainable future.We approach this through our global corporate citizenship initiative,The Ready Commitment, which focuses on four interconnected areas where we believe TD can make the greatest impact to support change, nurture progress and contribute to making the world around us a better place. The four areas are: Better Health, Connected Communities, Financial Security and Vibrant Planet. VIBRANT PLANET • None of us will be able to conduct business on the planet if we ignore the challenges of climate change. • Through Vibrant Planet, a key driver of The Ready Commitment, we aspire to help improve the environment, so people and economies can thrive. We are making this happen in two distinct ways: We continue to grow and enhance green spaces for everyone to enjoy and we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy as part of our balanced approach to energy. GREEN SPACES • We support community partnerships and programs that enhance urban green spaces, which helps foster a more sustainable tomorrow for the people and communities we serve. • In 2019 alone, we supported over 1,000 projects in NYC parks. • Why trees? They’re vital for a vibrant planet because they produce oxygen, improve air quality and address climate change by reducing carbon emissions, airborne pollutants and smog. Trees also provide cooling shade to cut energy costs. LOW-CARBON ECONOMY • We believe that TD has an important role to play in helping the transition to a low-carbon economy in North America. • In 2017, TD set a financial target of CAD $100 billion ($78 billion in U.S. dollars) to support the transition to a low-carbon

economy through low-carbon lending, financing, asset management and internal corporate programs. • We are expanding the impact of TD’s green bond strategy (issuing, underwriting and investing) to increase support for projects that provide both economic growth and environmental benefits. Additionally, we are developing programs, products and services that provide tangible actions for our customers and communities to help transition to the low-carbon economy. • By fostering understanding and dialogue on climate change and the low-carbon economy through research and supporting opportunities for conversations about climate change, we are helping society and the economy make a successful transition.

billion, representing approximately 30% of our $100 billion target. • From an economic perspective, our financing activities have supported more than 76,000 jobs. (Source: TD Bank Group 2018 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report).

TD ENVIRONMENTAL MILESTONES • In 2010, TD was the first major North American-based financial institution to become carbon neutral. • TD has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for six consecutive years. • TD has issued $1.7 billion in green bonds and participated in underwriting $15 billion in green bonds. • Since announcing our low-carbon financial target in 2017, TD’s contribution to the low-carbon economy totaled $30.3

SHELLEY R. SYLVA TD Bank, Head of Social Impact

ENERGY& &ENVIRON ONMENTPO POWER50 December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

SINCE TAKING OFFICE IN 2011, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has shaken up New York’s energy policy, from an overhaul of the state’s power plant siting law, to a deal to shut down the Indian Point nuclear power plant, to a reenergized focus on renewables, including efforts to develop significant offshore wind projects near Long Island. Yet there is an array of individuals in the energy industry and the environmental community who have also played key roles in the shaping of state energy policy. An impressive grassroots movement helped pressure the Cuomo administration to ban high-volume hydraulic fracturing in 2014, and many

City & State New York

of those same activists are seeking to block proposed pipeline projects in the state. Executives at leading power generators and utilities have been exerting their influence as well as the state rethinks everything from its reliance on fossil fuels to how its grid is configured. In City & State’s Energy & Environment Power 50 list – which was researched and written in partnership with Alexander Kaufman, a HuffPost senior reporter who covers climate change, environmental policy and politics – we identify the executives, advocates, academics and others who are true power players in New York.

CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

1 GIL QUINIONES

PRESIDENT AND CEO NEW YORK POWER AUTHORITY GIL QUINIONES has helmed

JUDY SANDERS/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

the New York Power Authority since 2012, but things got a lot more interesting this year as the push for a Green New Deal electrified the nation’s largest state utility. In February, NYPA – itself a holdover from a state program that laid the groundwork for the original New Deal in the late 1930s – signed its first large-scale deal to buy renewables. In June, Albany lawmakers voted to adopt a 100% clean-energy mandate. Since then, NYPA started outlining plans to hit the state’s goal of 70% renewable power by 2030, began work on 71 new electric vehicle charging stations and looked to spur new community solar projects. Born in Iowa to Filipino parents, Quiniones graduated from De La Salle College in Toronto. He led the New York Energy Highway Task Force and the Electric Power Research Institute and served in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. He spent 16 years at Con Edison, where he co-founded a division devoted to energy innovations and renewables. He joined NYPA in 2007 as an executive vice president.

TOMORROW ALONG THE HUDSON

WHAT THE SHUTDOWN AND DECOMMISSIONING OF INDIAN POINT ENERGY CENTER WILL MEAN FOR OUR AREA. The nuclear power plants at Indian Point have powered New York City and Westchester County for nearly 60 years. Now, due to challenging economic conditions and an agreement with the state of New York, Indian Point will stop generating electricity and permanently shut down by April 2021. After shutdown Indian Point will transition to decommissioning, a federaly-regulated process that will ultimately return the land to a new productive use. Entergy has taken the first step by selecting a leading decommissioning company as our partner, Holtec International. Here are a few things New Yorkers should know about the Holtec plan: Decades Sooner — With Holtec, decommissioning will begin immediately, allowing the site to be repurposed as much as 40 years sooner than if Entergy were to remain the owner of Indian Point. Holtec’s plan calls for completion of major decommissioning activities by the 2030s, decades sooner than it would take Entergy to complete decommissioning. Decommissioning Expertise — Holtec and its expert team have decades of experience managing large decommissioning projects around the world. Employee Retention — Holtec will begin the decommissioning process promptly upon taking ownership and will provide job opportunities for more than 300 of our current employees who want to remain in the region and continue to work at the site. Spent Fuel Management — Holtec is the global leader in spent nuclear fuel storage technology and transport. Holtec will transfer all of Indian Point’s spent nuclear fuel to secure canisters designed to withstand natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and other events within about three years of shutdown. As we work toward an orderly shutdown, safety remains our top priority. Indian Point is ranked in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s top column for safety and we fully intend to continue our strong safety record over our final months of operation. The NRC will regulate decommissioning at Indian Point and a citizen’s advisory board is already in place. As of today, more than 34 U.S. nuclear plants have safely completed decommissioning or are in the process of doing so. To learn more about Holtec’s plan for prompt decommissioning, visit www.indianpointdecommissioning.com www.holtecinternational.com www.hdi-decom.com

CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

2 JOHN MCAVOY

CHAIRMAN AND CEO CONSOLIDATED EDISON INC. JOHN MCAVOY is the quintessential company man who rose through the ranks. A graduate of Manhattan College and New York University, McAvoy started at Con Edison in 1980, working in various operations and engineering positions until taking charge of Orange and Rockland Utilities, the company’s Hudson Valley subsidiary. In 2014, he claimed the throne as president and chief executive of the publicly traded utility giant, which is valued at nearly $29 billion. His five-year tenure tracked with a historic moment for utilities as the electrical industry grappled with the realities of climate change. He took over two years after Superstorm Sandy and set about spending 10-figure sums on upgrades needed to keep power and gas flowing during extreme heat and storms. But there are choppy waters ahead. After a blackout in July, Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to yank the company’s license. Now Con Ed finds itself locked in a pitched battle with activists as it seeks approval to hike rates on electricity by 4% and gas by 7.5% in January.

CONGRATULATIONS to Kit Kennedy & Rich Schrader on a historic year of climate progress. WE CAN’T STOP NOW. LET’S KEEP UP THE MOMENTUM IN 2020.

CON EDISON; TIMOTHY H. RAAB & NORTHERN PHOTO

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

3 GAVIN DONOHUE

PRESIDENT AND CEO INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS OF NEW YORK INC. ASK ANYONE involved in New York energy and you’ll

hear the same thing: Don’t cross Gavin Donohue. One of the most powerful energy lobbyists in the state, he runs the Independent Power Producers of New York, the statewide trade group representing companies in all sectors of the utility industry. A graduate of Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and Harvard University, Donahue has served as the executive deputy commissioner for the state Department of Environmental Conservation and has run the IPPNY since 2003. He’s a fierce defender of private companies, which he has said “build and operate generation more efficiently and cost-effectively” than state firms. Following the passage of New York’s 100% clean energy law, Donahue joined the governor’s 22-member Climate Action Council and became a vocal opponent of allowing utilities to generate their own renewable power. As the state makes dramatic changes to its energy profile, Donohue will likely remain one of the most powerful advocates of a private sector that’s likely to see extraordinary growth over the next decade.

Congratulations to our dear friend and colleague

ROBERT DIFRANCESCO Executive Director of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance

on his selection to the Energy & Environment Power 50 List.

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City & State New York

20 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

4 DONALD JESSOME

CEO TRANSMISSION DEVELOPERS INC. DONALD JESSOME is riding the waves from two

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TRANSMISSION DEVELOPERS; TABOR WARREN

seismic quakes in New York energy. The first was the 2017 announcement that Indian Point Energy Center, the three-unit nuclear plant on the Hudson River that supplies much of New York City’s electricity, would shut down. The second was the passage of New York’s 100% clean energy bill, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. With a new mandate for zero-emissions electricity and a 2021 date by which the city would lose its No. 1 source, who would power the nation’s largest metropolis? Enter Jessome. His Albany-based Transmission Developers is proposing to build the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a 333-mile power line to carry hydroelectric power from Quebec to the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. The project, which had been in the works for years, got a big boost this year when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed it as part of an effort to reduce the city’s dependence on gas-fired plants.

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

5 ALAN ARMSTRONG

PRESIDENT AND CEO WILLIAMS COMPANIES ALAN ARMSTRONG is hard to beat, which is why – de-

spite significant setbacks for his company’s plan to build a gas pipeline to Long Island – he shouldn’t be brushed aside. The chief executive at Tulsa-based pipeline giant Williams Companies, Armstrong worked his way up, initially starting at the firm as an engineer in 1986. Under his leadership, the company was named to Fortune magazine’s 2015 list of most admired energy companies. But, a year later, a handful of directors on the company’s board made a bid to merge Williams with rival Energy Transfer, the Dallas-based giant that owns the firm behind the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline. The directors, after failing to oust Armstrong in what one trade publication called a “coup,” ultimately resigned. It would be foolish, then, to assume that Williams’ withdrawal in October of three pipeline applications for the New York project signaled acceptance of defeat. Armstrong has a war chest to draw from, too. In its third quarter, Williams earned a net profit of $242 million on total revenues of about $2 billion.

NY’s Climate Law – What Comes Next? The New York State Legislature is coming off of an incredible 2019 session for environmental policy, given the passage of the historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Law (CLCPA). The law’s ambitious mandates and timelines require a quick pivot to implementation. The challenge for New York now will be to act with equal urgency on at least two separate tracks. On one hand, the law rightly requires a comprehensive planning process on a strict schedule, and the Climate Action Council, Environmental Justice Work Group, Just Transitions Work Group, and other task forces need to get started – they have so much work to do! On another track, the State must move ahead with the programs that we already know we need to meet ambitious CLCPA goals. The best example is the 70% by

2030 renewable electricity requirement; the Public Servcice Commission needs to start a proceeding ASAP to establish this program so it can get rolling. Other examples are the Million Solar Strong goals – also included in the law -- which NYSERDA has already begun to tackle. And the energy efficiency goal – also in the law, around which we are waiting for a PSC Order. In short, New York needs to bring to the finish line the measures we already know we will need, even while the Climate Action Council deliberates. Meanwhile, the lawmakers that worked hard on the climate law are unlikely to sit back and let others completely take the reins, nor should they. For those lessdefined portions of the law – such as transportation – there are opportunities to pursue legislation to create a low-carbon fuel standard, electric rates that work

Executive Director, Anne Reynolds

for vehicle charging, measures to deploy electric buses, and incentives for New Yorkers to buy electric vehicles. We hope the Senate and Assembly take up these measures to push clean transportation policy forward. The single most important action the state can take to implement the climate law is to get wind and solar projects under construction. To green the grid – and to reap the benefits of transportation and building electrification – we need to have a fleet of new wind and solar power projects. The jobs that will be created are what will make this undertaking New York’s Green New Deal. ACE NY looks forward to working with the Administration and the Legislature to implement the climate law and bring real green jobs to our state.

22 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23–January 6, 2019

JUDITH ENCK

ANNE REYNOLDS PETE SIKORA

FOUNDER BEYOND PLASTICS JUDITH ENCK might

6 JULIE TIGHE

PRESIDENT NEW YORK LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS A VETERAN New York official, Julie Tighe left the Department of Environmental Conservation in August 2018 to take control of one of the state’s most influential environmental groups. Insiders say she has Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ear on climate issues, and helped shape the final version of New York’s 100% renewables bill. As environmental issues play a bigger role in elections, her endorsements could prove all the more influential in the critical next two years.

be one of the most influential environmentalists whose name you don’t know. After spending years in state politics fending off incinerator plants, she joined the Obama administration as the regional Environmental Protection Agency administrator, where she dogged Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his failure to act sooner on water contaminations upstate. Her new project, Beyond Plastics, aims to eliminate single-use plastics and reveal the ties between the industry and oil and gas interests.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY NEW YORK

THE PASSAGE of

SENIOR ADVISER NEW YORK COMMUNITIES FOR CHANGE

New York’s 100% clean energy bill was a milestone for Anne Reynolds. The former executive at the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the advocacy group Environmental Advocates of New York devoted much of her early career lobbying for the programs that set the state on a path to renewables. She also helped establish the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s largest interstate cap-and-trade program.

A NATIVE Manhattanite and onetime Assembly candidate, Pete Sikora has been a committed rabblerouser on climate change for years, facing arrest and braving bad weather to lead protests. He was one of the most influential leaders pushing for New York City’s historic building emissions bill – hailed as the city’s Green New Deal. Not many environmentalists can say they took on the city’s powerful real estate lobby and won.

10 ALEX BEAUCHAMP

NORTHEAST REGION DIRECTOR FOOD AND WATER WATCH A CONSUMMATE en-

vironmentalist, Alex Beauchamp has been a crusader for nearly a decade in New York’s anti-fracking movement. In nearly every fossil fuel fight, he helps to turn out significant numbers of protesters. He was a thorn in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s side as climate became a key issue in the contested primary fight against actress Cynthia Nixon. He remains a fixture in the fight against new gas infrastructure in the state.

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I’M DREAMING OF A CAR-FREE NEW YORK

ant a greener and healthier city, like me? Then let’s all get behind the City’s plan to roll out an all-electric fleet of buses and eliminate private car ownership.I know it’s hard to imagine, because cars (and the convenience of Ubers/Lyfts) are so ingrained in our psyche. But not that long ago, residents of New York and cities around the country traveled entirely by horse, street car, trolley and bus. To this day, my dad reminisces about the electric trolleys and clean rattan seats that once lined our streets and subways.For more than 125 years trolleys successfully transported a thriving economy, populous and City, only ending in 1957 due to the combined interests of the car, rubber and highway lobbies that literally buried the trolleys and their benefits in their wake.It wouldn’t be that hard to recapture. The MTA is already testing 10 standard all-electric buses in Queens and Brooklyn, introducing a life-time savings of approximately $168,000 compared to standard buses and wants to convert its entire fleet of 5,700 buses

by 2040. But we honestly can’t wait that long. The congestion, noise, pollution and climate implications we ingest every time we walk out the door will literally kill us before then.In all fairness, many New Yorkers do see the value of limiting car use again. The City Council is considering ending free street parking, the Village Crosstown Trolley Coalition has proposed restoring the trolley that carried passengers along 8thstreet from river-to-river, and Mayor DeBlasio has proposed $2.5 billion for a Brooklyn-Queens trolley. But there’s so much more we know we need to do. We just need to put our collective will to work on the initiatives to get us there. First, New York, along with its Albany and D.C. partners should expedite the MTA’s all-electric fleet and begin transitioning private cars off of our roads.Next, instead ofhiking fares AGAIN --and driving ridership away from subways --the governor, mayor and federal partners must develop alternative plans to make the MTA fiscally sound. Then, we should expand Subsidized Bike Share

programs like Citi Bike that receive no public subsidy while offering employers a way to subsidize employees’ membership, and improve everyone’s health. More public and private employers should do the same. More bikes, and fewer cars on the road also reduces the needed capital for expensive and never-ending road repairs.And finally, we should look at our sister cities around the world to adopt alternative solutions. London has moved beyond the narrow bike lanesto create a cycle-focused network called Cycle-SuperHighways that provide cyclists with wider, safer and more direct access to the City. And Madrid and Paris are successfully experimenting with policies like restricted and car-freedays. It’s not impossible to see New York following suit. With an increasing number of car-free zones --Times Square, Union Square and Herald Square --pedestrians are already contributing to growing a healthier city by enjoying outdoor cafes and farmers markets. All good habits worth dreaming into reality.

24 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

SANDRA STEINGRABER

JOE MARTENS

PETER IWANOWICZ

ROB DIFRANCESCO

DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE ITHACA COLLEGE AN ECOLOGIST and

11 MILES GOODRICH

NEW YORK STATE DIRECTOR SUNRISE MOVEMENT SUNRISE MOVEMENT stormed onto the scene

in 2018 when its young activists occupied then-incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office to demand Democrats champion a Green New Deal. Miles Goodrich has been the group’s tireless man in New York, campaigning for insurgent Democrats and rallying outside Sen. Chuck Schumer’s New York City office. Any 2020 contender who comes to New York without a strong climate plan should expect to see Goodrich and his cadre of demonstrators.

researcher, Sandra Steingraber emerged as the intellectual godmother of New York’s anti-fracking movement in the mid2010s. She credited Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book “Silent Spring” with convincing her to leave the laboratory and get on the picket line. That’s where she made a national name for herself. Once dubbed a “toxic avenger” by Rolling Stone, she’s the subject of a new documentary called “Unfractured.” She’s also a published poet.

DIRECTOR NEW YORK OFFSHORE WIND ALLIANCE IT’S HARD to believe

that North America’s lone five-turbine offshore wind farm only started generating electricity in 2016. It’s been a busy three years since for Joe Martens, whose advocacy group saw a windfall as federal and state authorities auctioned off huge swathes of the waters off Long Island to major offshore turbine projects. Now, with the new clean energy law, New York is looking to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2035.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK A VETERAN of the Spitzer and Paterson administrations, Peter Iwanowicz spent much of the last year suited up and testifying before lawmakers in favor of the clean energy bill that made history last summer. Now at the helm of one of the state’s most prominent green groups, Iwanowicz’s connections in Albany made him a notable power broker in New York Renews, the coalition that fought to pass major climate legislation.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK AFFORDABLE RELIABLE ELECTRICITY ALLIANCE

THE FORTHCOMING closure of Indian

Point will mark the end of downstate nuclear power, but the industry remains a major force along the Canadian border, and it could still make a comeback. If that happens, Rob DiFrancesco, one of New York’s leading pro-nuclear advocates, will be a top voice to help shape whatever that policy looks like.

We make clean energy happen. At Williams, we provide infrastructure that safely delivers the natural gas that is reliably fueling our nation’s clean energy economy. In fact, every day we provide more than half of New York City’s natural gas — to heat homes, cook food and generate electricity. And we do this while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping make energy more affordable to allow increasing investments in renewables.

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December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

TONIO BURGOS

RICHARD SCHRADER & KIT KENNEDY

KARL R. RÁBAGO RICHARD SENIOR ADVISER BERKLEY

FOUNDER TONIO BURGOS & ASSOCIATES TONIO BURGOS has been in the Cuomo World orbit for decades. The lobbyist, whose clients have included National Grid and NRG, worked as an aide to Mario Cuomo and donated hundreds of thousands to Andrew Cuomo’s campaigns through his firm and personally. From 2008 to 2018, he lobbied for Williams Companies, the firm behind the controversial pipeline project. He has also worked for the ascendant the wind industry, having lobbied for production tax credits.

17 JEFFREY PERLMAN

PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER BRIGHT POWER AS NEW YORK CITY’S real estate titans begin the work of complying with a sweeping new law requiring retrofits to curb power use, Jeffrey Perlman’s Bright Power is well positioned to make a windfall. The energy efficiency consultancy is one of the best known in the city. Perlman – who Crain’s New York Business named to its 40 Under 40 list in 2018 – is a name you’re going to hear more often.

NEW YORK LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR & SENIOR DIRECTOR, CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM NRDC THE NATURAL

Resources Defense Council was a dominant player in the fight for New York City’s buildings emissions bill and the state’s clean energy mandate. Kit Kennedy has been a leading voice on offshore wind – which looks likely to grow much faster in response to the legislation Richard Schrader helped enact.

Let’s create a world that runs entirely on green energy

MEGAN MAGRAY; BRIGHT POWER

Congratulations to this year’s Energy & Environment Power 50 List

PACE LAW SCHOOL FEW ON the aca-

demic side of New York energy have as varied a resume as Karl Rábago. Besides leading the influential law school’s Energy and Climate Center, he chairs the board of the San Franciscobased Center for Resource Solutions and helps oversee the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, as well as a Department of Energy solar project. Previously he served on the Public Utility Commission of Texas and in the U.S. Army for 12 years.

20 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK’S UTILITY PROJECT A FORMER aide

to Brooklyn state Sen. Kevin Parker, Richard Berkley took over one of the leading ratepayer advocate groups in 2015. He has since been fighting rate hikes at National Grid and Con Ed and arming ratepayers with information to press the utilities at a critical moment when the companies are trying to put pressure on officials to enact favorable policies. A consummate consumer advocate, his Twitter feed reads like a young Ralph Nader.

26 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

ROBERT HOWARTH

THOMAS BROSTRØM

CHRISTOPHER BAKKEN

BILL ACKER

ECOLOGIST AND

A DANISH Harvard

PROFESSOR CORNELL UNIVERSITY

CEO ØRSTED U.S. OFFSHORE WIND

biogeochemist Robert Howarth added serious scientific firepower to the antifracking movement several years ago. His research on the Marcellus Shale, the formation fracking companies hoped to tap in New York, helped propel the moratorium in 2014. He’s done vital work studying the effects of methane and biofuels, and has published extensive research on planetheating emissions from the agricultural sector.

graduate primarily based in Boston, Thomas Brostrøm now runs the U.S. division of Ørsted, the Danish offshore wind giant. The company bought Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island-based startup behind North America’s first offshore wind farm, in late 2018 for $510 million. Now it’s looking to massively expand in New York waters over the next few years as it establishes its foothold in the U.S. market.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF NUCLEAR OFFICER ENTERGY THE INDIAN POINT

23 JOHN GILBERT III

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER RUDIN MANAGEMENT JOHN GILBERT III , who works for one of the

most powerful real estate developer families in New York, might not seem like an obvious player in the energy world. But he’s an energy wonk, and it pays off. Just before the New York City Council passed its building emissions bill this year, insiders say he successfully pushed for provisions to allow developers to comply with the new regulation by buying renewable energy.

plant may be slated for closure, but it hasn’t stopped producing electricity just yet. Christopher Bakken, the chief of nuclear giant Entergy’s operations, is the person in charge for now. He fought hard to keep the plant open, and managed to get the licenses renewed after an 11year review in 2018. But the company ultimately struck a deal in 2019 to sell the plant off before its upcoming shutdown.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK BEST BATTERIES, LONG

considered the missing puzzle piece to make renewables competitive with fossil fuels, are coming online in a big way. One of New York’s dirtiest power plants in Long Island City announced plans last fall to build the state’s biggest battery project there. Bill Acker is a leading advocate for the battery and energy storage industry, and this is his territory. The sector is expected to balloon in the next few years.

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STEFANO UKMAR; JESSICA BRUAH

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December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

City & State New York

JOHN BRUCKNER

ZOHRAB MAWANI JULIA BOVEY

NEW YORK PRESIDENT NATIONAL GRID

YOU CAN’T SAY John

Bruckner isn’t a fighter. As the battle over the Williams pipeline raged, and National Grid said it was necessary to meet its demand for gas, Bruckner began using ratepayers as part of his hardball negotiation and refused to provide service to 1,100 customers in Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. That drew the governor’s fury, as Cuomo forced National Grid to back down after threatening to revoke the company’s operating license.

PRESIDENT ONEGRID

THE CHAMPLAIN

Hudson Power Express hydropower line isn’t the only big project in play. Zohrab Mawani’s transmissions startup OneGrid is positioning itself as the renewable-friendly alternative. The company has deep ties to renewables companies and could be a more politically palatable option for lawmakers and regulators concerned about ceding too much control to Canadian producers and not doing enough to spur the industry at home. The “All New York” project is gaining more attention.

30 THOMAS FALCONE

DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS EQUINOR

CEO LONG ISLAND POWER AUTHORITY

A FORMER reporter

who left journalism about 15 years ago to work in environmental advocacy and government – in recent years as a champion of offshore wind energy – Julia Bovey is helping to develop Equinor’s first significant U.S. offshore wind farm off of New York Harbor. The project, which is expected to generate 9,000 megawatts of renewable energy, is a major component of what Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls New York’s “Green New Deal.”

AS LONG ISLAND

29 EDDIE BAUTISTA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ALLIANCE SINCE LEAVING the New York City mayor’s legislative office in 2010, Eddie Bautista has established himself as one of the city’s leading environmental organizers. He offers a keen understanding of how power moves around the city. He studied city planning at the Pratt Institute, worked in various city offices, lobbied for nonprofits and eventually found himself in his current job, where he marshals constituents to push for change from the outside in.

takes a leading role in the state’s renewable energy plans, Thomas Falcone has emerged as a central figure. The former investment banker has headed the country’s third-largest public utility since 2015, and rattled some observers recently by saying incentives for solar are little more than a “kick start” and that the industry must be more “self sustaining.” He has also waged a fight with the Town of Huntington to cut LIPA’s property taxes.

Congratulations to the City & State Energy & Environment Power 50 on their well-deserved honor

IPPNY and its Members congratulate

Gavin J. Donohue for being named to the

The New York League of Conservation Voters works to combat climate change and protect public health through political action. www.nylcv.org

28 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

DANIEL EICHHORN

THOMAS BARTOLOMEI

CARL TAYLOR

CHARLES FRENI

DANIEL EICHHORN

THOMAS BARTOLOMEI spent

has a saying: “If we’re all working together and we all understand the direction we want to go in, then we can move mountains” – and he takes it to heart. At a moment when Long Island is increasingly vulnerable to weather-related disasters like Superstorm Sandy, the utility that powers 1.1 million homes is tasked with upgrading nearly 3,000 miles of wire in anticipation of the next big one.

PRESIDENT AND CEO NAES CORP. nearly three decades working in the energy sector before he was promoted to his current role as head of NAES, which provides operations and maintenance services to power plants including Astoria Energy and Athens Generating Plant. After joining the company formerly known as North American Energy Services in 2014, Bartolomei has also served as the company’s senior vice president and as chief operating officer.

33 JOHN CATSIMATIDIS

CHAIRMAN AND CEO UNITED METRO ENERGY HE’S A billionaire who wears many hats:

grocery store tycoon, radio host, occasional Republican candidate for mayor. But it’s John Catsimatidis’s role as a fuel oil mogul that makes him a compelling figure in New York energy politics this year in particular. In the midst of National Grid’s prolonged fight to build the Williams gas pipeline, Catsimatidis stepped in, offering to convert an “unlimited” number of New York customers to old-fashioned (and dirty-burning) fuel oil.

NY’s Climate Law – What Comes Next for NY’S Offshore Wind? New York is leading the nation toward a clean energy economy and the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, signed by Governor Cuomo last July, provides the framework and aggressive standards that will get us there. Perhaps the most ambitious and important standard in this new law is 9,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035. It is the largest commitment to offshore wind in the United States and, once built, is expected to provide 30% of statewide electricity demand. Needless to say, our ability to meet the Climate Act’s target of 70% renewable energy by 2030 rests on the success of offshore wind. We are off to a good start. The State has signed the first two contracts for offshore wind for a combined 1,700 MW of clean, renewable offshore wind power. These two contracts will result in $3.2 billion in direct investments in New York, 1,600 new jobs, $700 million in avoided health impacts and a major reinvestment in

New York ports. can’t stop there.

CARL TAYLOR is an ascendant figure in the state’s utility industry. In summer 2017, he rose from vice president of customer service to take over Rochester Gas and Electric Corp. and New York State Electric and Gas. He’s a veteran of the company who started in 1987 as an electrical engineer after graduating with a master’s from Binghamton University. As the state broadens its renewable energy supply upstate, his two companies will be key players.

But we

PRESIDENT AND CEO CENTRAL HUDSON GAS & ELECTRIC CORP. CHARLES FRENI is

a utility chief for an era of climate change. Nationally recognized for his efforts in restoring power in the Hudson Valley following major storms over the past decade, he earned acclaim in 2017 overseeing emergency efforts in Turks and Caicos following the devastating Category 5 Hurricane Irma. In May 2018, he rose from senior vice president of customer service to the top spot at the Poughkeepsie-based utility.

Director, Joe Martens

The New York Offshore Wind Alliance, which represents offshore wind developers, environmental organizations, labor unions, business groups, academic institutions and others, will be pushing for a second offshore wind solicitation in 2020 and a schedule of future solicitations to maintain our momentum and ensure we reach our 9,000 MW standard. We’ll also be advocating for the capital improvements necessary to support the shoreside assembly of offshore wind foundations and turbines and the transmission network to get the power to New York consumers. NYOWA looks forward to working with the state and local governments to make New York the offshore wind capital of the U.S.

RED APPLE GROUP

PRESIDENT AND COO PSEG LONG ISLAND

PRESIDENT AND CEO NYSEG AND RG&E

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30 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

ROBERT SANCHEZ

KEVIN KNOBLOCH CHRISTOPHER PRESIDENT ERIKSON NEW YORK OCEANGRID

PRESIDENT AND CEO ORANGE AND ROCKLAND UTILITIES RICHARD SANCHEZ

WITH SO MUCH new

took the helm at the utility giant’s major subsidiary in the suburbs north of New York City in 2017. Sanchez, who joined Con Edison in 1990, previously oversaw the company’s cyber security, infrastructure and hiring. But the most interesting thing about his rise is where it could ultimately take him. Con Edison chief John McAvoy served as the top dog at Orange and Rockland prior to taking the throne at the parent company.

offshore wind energy set to be produced in the next 15 years, there’s an obvious logistic challenge: getting the electricity from the turbines to the shore and onto the power grid. That’s where Kevin Knoblock comes in. The former chief of staff in the Obamaera Department of Energy is overseeing a project to build out infrastructure to connect 2,000 megawatts to substations in Brooklyn and Long Island.

40 BILL NOWAK

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK GEOTHERMAL ENERGY ORGANIZATION

BUSINESS MANAGER IBEW LOCAL 3

A SELF-DECLARED

“climate warrior,” Christopher Erikson serves on the executive board of Climate Works For All at Cornell University, works with the Urban Green Council, and spoke at New York’s climate march. That’s in contrast with the national International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which has been fiercely skeptical of the Green New Deal movement. But with 1,500 electricians, he sees a lot of potential in new jobs in any just transition program.

An advocacy campaign including CITY & STATE FIRST READ provides a targeted way to reach decision makers in NEW YORK GOVERNMENT and POLITICS.

AS AN aide to former

39 LEE ZIESCHE

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR SANE ENERGY IF YOU haven’t heard of Lee Ziesche, chances are you haven’t been close enough to any major fossil fuel infrastructure fights. Though only 30, Ziesche is renowned in New York environmentalist circles, not only as a wonk with a formidable ability to comb through regulatory filings, but as an activist with a flair for the dramatic. Amid the Williams pipeline fight, she went on a three-day hunger strike in front of the governor’s Manhattan office.

state Sen. Antoine Thompson, Bill Nowak earned a reputation as an effective policy researcher, particularly in the clean-energy space. Now he’s leading the state’s top trade group for the burgeoning geothermal industry. As geothermal heating looks set to expand, particularly upstate, over the next decade, NY-GEO is hosting events and workshops around the state to educate the public and businesses about how to affordably switch to clean heating.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LIPA CEO TOM FALCONE

CAMPAIGNS INCLUDE

ADVOCACY NEW HIRE OPEN-HOUSE MESSAGING ANNOUNCEMENTS PROMOTIONS Most Improved Utility in the Nation New York’s First Offshore Wind Farm Highest Credit Ratings in Company History

MARIA ZIESCHE; KATHY HUTCHINS/SHUTTERSTOCK; DANDELION ENERGY

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

41 CHRIS CRANE

PRESIDENT AND CEO EXELON INDIAN POINT’S

high-profile demise may mark the end of nuclear power in New York’s populous downstate region, but Chicago-based Exelon Corp. remains a major player, operating four of the state’s six reactors nestled along the northwestern border with Canada – and the company is expanding its presence. Chris Crane started his career in the nuclear energy industry as a senior reactor operator and worked his way up over the course of three decades.

City & State New York

PAUL THESSEN

SACHIN SHAH

BILL REID

BROOKFIELD’S

BILL REID’S com-

PRESIDENT LS POWER DEVELOPMENT

LS POWER Devel-

opment is far from a household name, but it maintains a household presence. The firm that Paul Thessen leads boasts of developing 10,000 megawatts of power and 630 miles of long-distance high-voltage transmission lines. In April, the company nabbed a big deal. The New York Independent System Operator selected LS Power to upgrade transmission lines across the state as part of an effort to deliver more clean power.

CEO BROOKFIELD RENEWABLE PARTNERS

energy arm has long been a major player in upstate hydro power issues. The firm waged a high-profile fight over a hydro project in the Schenectady area in the mid-2000s. Last year, Brookfield Renewable Partners started reapplying to federal authorities to extend its licenses on its Erie Boulevard Hydropower dam. Transmission Developers’ big proposal for New York City would likely run through Erie Boulevard, giving new political currency to the firm with Sachin Shah at the helm.

46 MAURICIO GUTIERREZ

NRG ENERGY owns

Staten Island’s biggest power plant and some gas turbines in Queens, but the utility giant’s real power play in New York came during a 2018 fight over a power station that shares its name with an infamous World War II battle. Under Mauricio Gutierrez’s leadership, NRG had hoped to turn the coal-fired Dunkirk plant in Western New York into a gas plant – but pulled the plug as costs and opposition mounted.

PRESIDENT AND CEO DANSKAMMER ENERGY LLC pany is caught in one of New York’s most contentious power plant fights as it seeks permission to build a $500 million, 535-megawatt facility to replace its existing 511-megawatt gas plant on the Hudson River. But it faces fierce opposition from environmentalists, who say the plan is out of sync with the state’s clean-energy goals. The Orange County Legislature recently gave the plant its support, but there’s a grassroots effort to stop it.

47 KATHY HANNUN

CEO DANDELION ENERGY MUCH OF decarbonization policy focuses on

electricity, but replacing oil furnaces with zeroemissions alternatives is just as important. That’s why Kathy Hannun’s geothermal company looks set to become a big player. The New York-based startup, spun out of Google parent Alphabet, is making a bid to make geothermal heating installation as simple and marketable as rooftop solar.

45 ELON MUSK CEO TESLA

THE CALIFORNIA-BASED CEO of electric car and solar giant Tesla is an important figure in New York. His company’s sprawling Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo was heralded as a crown jewel in the Tesla empire. But Musk has taken heat for rarely visiting the facility, which was built with state funds, and refusing to meet with the public when he finally did last April. In August he was accused of “failing to live up to promises.”

THOMAS SPANG

KAREN MOREAU

CEO ADVANCED POWER

PRESIDENT AND CEO NRG ENERGY

THOMAS SPANG and Advanced Power are at the center of one of New York’s most controversial energy projects. The Cricket Valley Energy Center plans to replace a coal plant with a fracked gas alternative, which Spang and his allies say is cleaner. But opponents and environmentalists – including protesters arrested at a November demonstration – say the new infrastructure will lock in years of gas use the state cannot afford as the climate crisis worsens.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK STATE PETROLEUM COUNCIL AS HEAD of the

American Petroleum Institute’s New York subsidiary, Karen Moreau is the oil industry’s leading representative in New York state. With the industry trade group stepping up its advocacy in the face of mounting opposition from climate hawks in the Democratic Party and steady support from the pro-fossilfuel Trump administration, Moreau has made herself a vocal critic of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s renewable energy efforts and opposition to the Williams pipeline.

50 MARIE J. FRENCH REPORTER POLITICO NEW YORK

NO ONE has a better grasp of New York’s rapidly evolving energy industry than Marie J. French. Politico New York’s Albany-based energy and environment reporter regularly cranks out the most reliably detailed dispatches on everything from the closure of New York’s last coal plant to a NYISO proposal that would “severely limit media coverage” of the energy market. Her newsletters set the agenda for energy and environmental professionals across the state.

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December 23, 2019â&#x20AC;&#x201C;January 6, 2020

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legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Notice of Formation of ENC Property Maintenance, LLC filed with SSNY on May 20, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 39 Tynan Street Staten Island, NY 10312. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Sylverlink LLC. Arts of Org. filed on 10/01/2019 w/ the Sec. of State of NY (SSNY). Office in NY. SSNY is designated agent upon whom process may be served and mail a copy to 40 Morningside Ave Apt 21, NY, NY 10026. For any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of MKP SUPPLY LLC. Articles of Org. filed with the Secretary of State of New York(SSNY) on 10/2/2019. Office located in Richmond County. SSNY has been designated for service of process. SSNY shall mail copy of any process served against the LLC to: 354 Castleton Ave Staten Island NY 10301. Purpose: any lawful activity or purpose. Notice of Formation of Mindful Modern Designs LLC filed with SSNY on September 11, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 3845 Gromer St, Yorktown Heights NY 10598. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

65 CPW 1F LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/24/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 65 Central Park West Apt 1F, NY, NY 10023. Reg Agent: Anand P. Desai, 65 Central Park West Apt 1F, NY, NY 10023. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Notice of Qualification of Wildflower Renewables LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 10/18/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 80 8th Ave., Ste. 1602, NY, NY 10011. LLC formed in DE on 10/16/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of Wildflower Partners LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 9/18/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 80 8th Ave., Ste. 1602, NY, NY 10011. LLC formed in DE on 9/17/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Brooklyn Eye Plastics MD, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/03/13. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the PLLC, c/o Chaneve Jeanniton, 115 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY 11215. Purpose: For the practice of the profession of Medicine. Notice of Qualification of HR Buds, LLC. Authority filed with SSNY on October 1, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 10 E. 40th St., 10th floor, New York, New York 10016. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of Graphic Athletics, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/02/19. Office location: Westchester County. LLC formed in Florida (FL) on 08/17/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cohen & Grieb, P.A. (CG), 4890 West Kennedy Blvd., Suite 370, Tampa, FL 33609. FL addr. of LLC: c/o CG, 12468 Jacqueline Rd., Brooksville, FL 34613. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of FL, Div. of Corps., 500 South Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399. Purpose: Any lawful activity Notice of Formation of JMD TITLE SERVICES LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/07/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, One Penn Plaza, Ste. 4530, NY, NY 10119. Purpose: Perform title services.

Notice of Formation of Brownstone Recordings, LLC filed with SSNY on August 31, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 28 W 123rd st , NY, NY 10027. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of INNOVATUS CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/01/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/22/15. Princ. office of LLC: 777 Third Ave., 25th Fl., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State of the State of DE, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity Notice of Formation of LUMBER LANE REAL ESTATE, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/04/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o Philip Krim At Casper Sleep, Inc., 3 World Trade Center, NY, NY 10007. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of Atacama Real Estate LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 11/6/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Alfredo Miguel Irigoin, 101 Warren St., Unit 2660, NY, NY 10282, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

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Notice of Qualification of GPMT CLO REIT HOLDINGS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/07/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/04/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of THE DTE DEVELOPMENT FUND LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/06/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: c/o DTE Holdings LLC, 1501 Broadway, Ste. #1304, NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of FEATHERSTONE DISTRIBUTION, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/08/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/12/19. Princ. office of LLC: 220 E. 42nd St., 29th Fl., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. GPG MEDALLION LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 10/1/19. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 6073 Flagstaff Dr, Eastvale, CA 92880. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of THE PRIVACY CO. MANAGEMENT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/12/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/07/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Renee M. Lercher, CFO, The Privacy Co. LLC, 845 3rd Ave., Fl. 18, NY, NY 10022. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of EDEN POINT PARTNERS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/08/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/09/18. Princ. office of LLC: Andrew Lutakome Kayiira Jr., 20 E. 35th St., Apt. 15L, NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of Happiness Ventures LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/06/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/06/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 112 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Address to be maintained in DE: 2140 S Dupont Hwy., Camden, DE 19934. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, Division of Corporations, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: any lawful activities.

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GO-ORGANIC UGANDA’S BEST COFFEE LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/21/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 215 W 104th St. #1860, NY, NY 10025. Reg Agent: U.S. Corp. Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose Notice of Qualification of KOHLBERG MANAGEMENT IX, L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/18/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/15/19. Princ. office of LLC: 111 Radio Circle, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Corporate Div., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of HUDSON MEDICINE, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/14/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of PLLC: 281 Broadway, Second Fl., NY, NY 10007. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Jonathann C. Kuo, MD at the princ. office of the PLLC. Purpose: Practice of medicine. \ Notice of Formation of Classic Dutch Cookie LLC filed with SSNY on 10/21/2019.Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 689 Fort Washington Ave PH5, NY, NY 10040. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Center Rock Advisors LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 11/12/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Brad McFadden, 200 W. 67th St., 10L, NY, NY 10023, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of Yonkers CSG LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 10/11/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o Dimension Energy LLC, c/o Rafael Dobrzynski, 3280 Peachtree Rd. NE, 7th Fl., Atlanta, GA 30305, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of BILTMORE PRESERVATION CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/25/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 60 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qual. of MAINSPRING PARTNERS LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 11/07/2019. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 09/30/2019. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. 10 East 40th St., 10th Fl, NY, NY 10016. Address required to be maintained in DE: 850 New Burton Rd, Ste 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

Notice of Formation of BILTMORE DEVELOPER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/25/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 60 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of Hart - Ditmars, LLC filed with SSNY on October 21, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 53 Bainbridge Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1323738, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 252 FRANKLIN ST BROOKLYN, NY 11222. KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. ALULA CAFÉ INC. Notice of Formation of Spin Cycle Coffee LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/29/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o James Veltri, 27 West 70th St., Ste. 2A, NY, NY 10023. Purpose: any lawful activities.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

NOTICE OF FORMATION MerchantCantos LLC. Application for Authority filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/21/2019. Office location: NEW YORK County. LLC formed in Delaware on 02/07/2013. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/ her is: MerchantCantos LLC, Legal Department, 245 Park Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10167 The principal business address of the LLC is: 245 Park Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10167 Delaware address of LLC is: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington DE 19801 Certificate of LLC filed with Secretary of State of Delaware located at: John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901 Purpose: any lawful act or activity

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Ciella James, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/05/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Denise Kilburg, 71 Broadway, Lobby 2B #138, NY, NY 10006. Purpose: any lawful activities. Notice of Formation of Primary Care Offices Of Manhattan LLC filed with SSNY on November 19, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 274 Madison Ave Suite 705, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE, FOR LEHMAN MORTGAGE TRUST MORTGAGE PASS THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2006-2, Plaintiff against SARA MITTELMAN A/K/A SARAH MITTELMAN; MAX MITTELMAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on August 9, 2019. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 16th day of January, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain lot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. Said premises known as 1518 53rd Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11219. (Block: 5477, Lot: 12). Approximate amount of lien $ 948,631.65 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 506279-13. Zvi A. Storch, Esq., Referee. McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce, LLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 420 Lexington Avenue – Suite 840 New York, N.Y. 10170 (347) 286-7409

Sunrise D LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 08/06/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Jin Qian, 15 WEST 61ST STREET,UNIT 22D,NEW YORK, NY 10023 Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose NOTICE OF FORMATION of Natural Shea and Textiles LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/15/2019. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against 790 Concourse Village West, Bronx, #9E New York, 10451. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of Formation of 451 TENTH MEMBER II LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/03/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 60 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

CORR EQUITY HOLDINGS, LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 11/26/19. Off. Loc. : New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served & shall mail proc.: c/o Ciara Corr, 334 West 46th Street, (Suite 1), New York, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of Harmony Medical, PLLC filed with SSNY on October 15, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to PLLC: 170 E 87TH ST, E12H, NY, NY 10128. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of SURF AVENUE L/CAL LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/14/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/07/19. Princ. office of LLC: One Penn Plaza, Ste. 1801, NY, NY 10119. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Own real estate and other activities related to it.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

Notice of Formation of TW OWNER 59B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/05/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Jeffrey D. Zukerman, Esq., Zukerman Gore Brandeis & Crossman, LLP, Eleven Times Sq., NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of Innovative Designs Enhanced American Spaces LLC, Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on November 08, 2019. Office Location: Westchester County. SSNY is designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC at: Innovative Designs Enhanced American Spaces LLC 6 Robbins Avenue, Elmsford NY 10523. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1319287, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 48-11 VERNON BLVD LIC, NY 11101, QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. 48-11 VERNON BLVD REST INC Notice of Formation of Ada Supper Club, LLC filed with SSNY on November 12, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 2601 Frederick Douglass Blvd, Apt 2D, NY, NY 10030. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Maya Khouri LLC filed with SSNY on October 09, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 305 Stuyvesant Ave #1, Brooklyn, NY, 11233. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of 11-01 43RD AVENUE LENDER LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/27/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/20/19. Princ. office of LLC: 280 Park Ave., 5th Fl. E, NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Xallarap Advisory, LLC. Arts of Org filed with the SSNY (SSNY) on 11/25/2019. Office loc: NY Co. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: : 99 Wall Street #3223 New York, NY 10005. The principal business address of the LLC is: 121 Reade St Apt 4F New York, NY 10013. Purpose: any lawful act or activity Notice is hereby given that license number 1324144 for beer, liquor, and wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, liquor, and wine at retail in a restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 735-739 9th Ave., New York, NY 10019 for on premises consumption. SC LIC LLC dba Shaking Crab.

ACCOUNTING PROCEEDING FILE NO. 2018-640/A CITATION THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK TO: Unknown Distributees Attorney General of the State of New York Christine Ann Aliferis Andrew George Aliferis Alexander William Aliferis Janet Edgar M. Plaza, L.P. c/o Gutman Mintz Baker & Sonnenfeldt, LLP BISLR Medical Group of Mount Sinai c/o Arcadia Recovery Bureau Cardiovascular Institute of Mount Sinai HRRG Lifewatch, Inc. Mount Sinai School of Medicine d/b/a MSMC Emergency St. Lukes Roosevelt Medical Center c/o Jzanus Ltd. Robert Gruwell To the heirs at law, next of kin and distributees of George Seymour, a/k/a George J. Seymour, a/k/a George Jerome Seymour, if living and if any of them be dead, to their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, legatees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest whose names and places of residence are unknown and cannot, after diligent inquiry, be ascertained by the petitioner herein; being the persons interested as creditors, legatees, devisees, beneficiaries, distributees, or otherwise in the estate of George Seymour, a/k/a George J. Seymour, a/k/a George Jerome Seymour, deceased, who at the time of his death was a resident of 484 West 43rd Street, New York, New York. A petition having been duly filed by the Public Administrator of the County of New York, who maintains an office at 31 Chambers Street, Room 311, New York, New York 10007. YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the New York County Surrogate’s Court at 31 Chambers Street, New York, New York, on January 24, 2020, at 9:30 A.M. in Room 509, why the following relief stated in the account of proceedings, a copy of the summary statement thereof being attached hereto, of the Public Administrator of the County of New York as temporary administrator of the goods, chattels and credits of said deceased, should not be granted: (i) that her account be judicially settled; (ii) that a hearing be held to determine the identity of the distributees at which time proof pursuant to SCPA §2225 may be presented, or in the alternative, that the balance of the funds be deposited with the Commissioner of Finance of the City of New York for the benefit of the decedent’s unknown distributees; (iii) that the Surrogate approve the reasonable amount of compensation as reported in Schedules C and C-1 of the account of proceedings to the attorney for the petitioner for legal services rendered to the petitioner herein; (iv) that the claim of Janet Edgar in the amount of $2,035.84, as set forth in Schedule C-1 of the account, be allowed and paid; (v) that the claim of M. Plaza L.P. in the amount of $48,806.95 for unpaid apartment rental expenses, as set forth in Schedules C-1 of the account, be rejected for failure to substantiate the claim; (vi) that the claims of BISLR Medical Group of Mount Sinai in the amount of $20.00, Cardiovascular Institute of Mount Sinai in the amount of $9.81, HRRG in the amount of $140.00, Lifewatch, Inc. in the amount of $6.05, Mount Sinai School of Medicine d/b/a MSMC Emergency in the amount of $935.00, St. Lukes Roosevelt Medical Center in the total amount of $808.33, as set forth in Schedule D of the account, be rejected for failure to substantiate their claims; (vii) that the claim of Robert Gruwell in the amount of $100,942.09, representing the proceeds of a certificate of deposit account at Discover Bank, of which decedent was the designated beneficiary, be rejected; (viii) that the persons above mentioned and all necessary and proper persons be cited to show cause why such relief should not be granted; (ix) that an order be granted pursuant to SCPA §307 where required or directed; and (x) for such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper. Dated, Attested and Sealed. December 13, 2019 (Seal) Hon. Rita Mella, Surrogate. Diana Sanabria, Chief Clerk. Schram Graber & Opell P.C. Counsel to the Public Administrator, New York County 11 Park Place, Suite 1008 New York, New York 10007 (212) 896-3310 Note: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to appear it will be assumed that you do not object to the relief requested. You have the right to have an attorney-at-law appear for you and you or your attorney may request a copy of the full account from the petitioner or petitioner’s attorney.

Notice of Formation of Etesian Capital, LLC, filed with SSNY on 12/03/19. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 85 Leonard Street, Apt 4, New York NY 10013. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

GPG MEDALLION LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 10/1/19. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 6073 Flagstaff Dr, Eastvale, CA 92880. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

STORAGE NOTICE

Modern Moving Inc. will sell at Public Auction at 3735 Merritt Avenue, Bronx, NY 10466 At 6:00 P.M. on JANUARY 14th, 2020 for due and unpaid charges by virtue of lien in accordance with the provisions of the law and with due notice given all parties claiming an interest therein, the time specified In each notice for payment of said charges having expired household furniture & effects, pianos, trunks, cases, TV’s, radios, hifi’s, refrigerators, sewing machines, washers, air conditioners, household furniture Of all descriptions and the contents thereof, stored under the following names: -BRISTOL, QUIN -BOSSE, DANOUCK -BOAKYE, OTEMAH A -CHANDLER, LOLITA -CHAN, LEE/ YA WANG/ XIAORANG, ZHANG -DOUGLAS, DANIELLA/ JOHNSON, ELIJAH -FERQUI, YOUCEF -HOWELL, WALTER/COHEN, CHARLES -IDRISSI, MOULAY -MACK JR. ROOSEVELT -MATINEZ, MARINO CASTILLO -MARMO, REMIGIA -ADAM, MARCDANA -MEJIA, ROCIO -NAVARRO, RUBEN

-NOVICK, DENNIS -POWELL, SHIRLEY/ POWERLL, BRANDON -SANCHEZ, NELSON -SANDERS, CRYSTAL -TORO, DANNY/DOE JOHN & JANE -THOMPSON, DARRYL -VARGAS, EDWIN -HENRY, WATKINS/ SAIDAH, WATKINS NAQUAH -WYATT, DAVID -ZAFRANI, ELIHU -ZARAGOZA, KATHERINE AKA BALLENTINE KATHERINE

Notice of Qualification of SIMON QUICK ADVISORS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/10/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 06/04/04. Princ. office of LLC: WeWork Tower 49, 12 E. 49th St., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. NJ addr. of LLC: 360 Mt. Kemble Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960. Cert. of Form. filed with State Treasurer, 33 W. State St., Fifth Fl., Trenton, NJ 08646. Purpose: Wealth management.

Notice of Formation of NORTH CROWN TOWN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/11/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Jordan J. Metzger, Esq., - c/o Cole Schotz P.C., 1325 Ave. of the Americas, 19th Fl., NY, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Howard Schwartz Design LLC filed with SSNY on December 18, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 82 Irving Place, 1B, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

At IAS Part 53 of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, held in and for the County of New York, at 60 Center Street, New York, New York, on October 15, 2019. P R E S E N T:

Hon. ANDREW BORROCK, J.S.C., Justice.

---------------------------------------------------------In the Matter of the Application : Index No. 655933/2019 of TESS HALEY WACHS, Holder of a 50% Interest in COMIC STRIP : PROMOTIONS INC. a New York Corporation, : Petitioner, For the Dissolution Of COMIC STRIP PROMOTIONS INC., a New York Corporation, Pursuant to § 1004 of the BUSINESS CORPORATIONS LAW, -againstRICHARD TIENKEN, JEAN TIENKEN, and COMIC STRIP PROMOTIONS INC., a New York Corporation,

: : MOTION SEQUENCE # 001 : : ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE : : :

Respondents. ---------------------------------------------------------Upon reading and filing the Verified Petition of Tess Haley Wachs, owner of 50% of the outstanding and issued stock of Comic Strip Promotions Inc. (the “Comic Strip”), a New York Corporation, verified on October 10, 2019, and the exhibits attached thereto, and all the papers and proceedings had herein, LET Respondents Richard Tienken, Jean Tienken, the Comic Strip, the State Tax Commission, and all other interested persons, show cause before this Court at IAS Part 53 of this Court, at the Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, on January 10, 2020, at 10:30 o’clock in the morning of that day, or as soon thereafter as counsel can be heard, why an Order should not be made: (a) dissolving the Comic Strip, pursuant to N.Y. Bus. Corp. L. (“BCL”) § 1104 and the common law; (b) appointing a receiver to conduct an orderly winding up of the affairs of the Comic Strip; (c) directing the Comic Strip to pay and/or reimburse Petitioner for Petitioner’s attorneys’ fees, costs and disbursements in connection with this special proceeding; (d) enjoining and restraining Richard Tienken and Jean Tienken, as persons interested in the Comic Strip, from expending and disbursing any funds or property of the Comic Strip in favor of any attorney-in-law; and (e) granting Petitioner such other and further relief as to this Court may seem just and proper; and it is further ORDERED that, pursuant to BCL § 1106(b), Petitioner shall arrange for a copy of this Order to Show Cause to be published in City & State, a newspaper in general circulation in New York County, once in each of three weeks before the time appointed for the hearing hereon, and that the Comic Strip pay all costs associated with such publication; and it is further ORDERED that a copy of this Order to Show Cause, together with the papers upon which it is based, be served by Petitioner upon Richard Tienken, Jean Tienken, the Comic Strip, and the State Tax Commission, on or before October 22, 2019, which shall be deemed good and sufficient service, and that the Comic Strip pay all costs associated with such service; and it is further ORDERED that a copy of this Order to Show Cause, together with the papers upon which it is based, be served by Petitioner upon any creditor and claimant identified in the schedules furnished by the Comic Strip in the manner and within the time prescribed by BCL § 1106(c), which shall be deemed good and sufficient service, and that the Comic Strip pay all costs associated with such service. Counsel shall file proof of such service by 10/23/19. Responsive papers shall be served and filed on or before November 25, 2019.

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

COUNTY OF KINGS

---------------------------------------------- x

In the Matter of a Custody/Visitation Proceeding VELERIA PHILLIPS O/B/O JUSTIN PHILLIPS, Petitioner, - against ACS-Kings, OLGA NICOLE PHILLIPS, Respondents. ------------------------------------------- x SUMMONS - Docket #: V-19233-19 IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: To: ACS-Kings, Brooklyn, NY, and OLGA NICOLE PHILLIPS, address unknown A petition under Article 6 of the Family Court Act having been filed with this Court YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before this court on February 10, 2020 at 11:30 AM Purpose: Return of Process Part 20,10th floor Presiding: Hon. Erik S. Pitchal Location: 330 Jay Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 to answer the petition and to be dealt with in accordance with the Family Court Act. On your failure to appear as herein directed, a warrant may be issued for your arrest. Dated: Brooklyn, New York NOTICE OF FORMATION OF IAP Partners LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/2019. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/ her is: Dontzin Nagy & Fleissig LLP, 980 Madison Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10075. The principal business address of the LLC is: 390 Park Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, New York 10022. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of SOA SIB GROUP, LLC filed with SSNY on November 04, 2019. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 1324 Forest Ave, Suite 120, Staten Island, NY 10302. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

E N T E R: ____________/s/_______________ HON. ANDREW BORROCK, J.S.C.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of The Royal Dogs, LLC filed with SSNY on October 07, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 82 Irving Place, 1B, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at a top height of 131-feet on 131-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 330 East 59th Street, New York, New York County, NY 10022. 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 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1323983, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 254 BROOME LLC. 254 BROOME ST NEW YORK, NY 10002. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. 254 BROOME LLC.

UNCLAIMED FUNDS! Insurance companies We can publish unclaimed funds for you quickly, easily and efficiently. WANT MORE INFO? EMAIL: LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

The go-to newsletter for the intersection of tech and policy in NY Recently launched, First-Read Tech covers the convergence of government regulatory and policy actions and their impact on the local, regional and statewide technology sector in New York. It’s the best way to stay in front of the elected leaders and decision makers in one of the most critical growth sectors of New York’s economy.

Become a First-Read Tech Member today! Our three levels of membership (Insider, VIP, Elite) each provide an immediate payback to your company through an array of services at an amazing value. Our packages include First-Read Tech banner and text ads, employment ads in the newsletter (a new feature), full screen pop-up campaigns on our website, complimentary event tickets, and an upgraded listing in our City & State Tech Directory. This is a new opportunity for your organization to get in front of government and technology leaders in this fast-growing community.

TO COMPLEMENT THE SUCCESS OF OUR CITY & STATE JOB BOARD, WE WILL NOW BE OFFERING INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYMENT ADS IN OUR TECH NEWSLETTER! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to capitalize on our First-Read Tech Membership Packages! We can also discuss creating a package that’s tailored around the current needs of your company. To learn more, please call Chris Hogan at (212) 268-0442 Ext. 2016 OR by email at chogan@cityandstateny.com

38 CityAndStateNY.com

December 23, 2019–January 6, 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

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Marketing Director Maria Cruz Lee, Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Digital Marketing Associate Chris Hogan, Web/ Email Strategist Isabel Beebe

DONALD TRUMP He leaves New York, he gets impeached. We’re not saying the two are directly connected, but when the case is so bad that even Trump Country Reps. Anthony Brindisi and Max Rose are voting to give you the boot, you’ve got a real problem. There’s no way the Senate will really force The Donald out of the Oval Office, but there in the history books next to our Queens boy’s glossy photo will be the asterisk: “One of three presidents to ever be impeached.”

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

NORMAN BIRENBAUM

MICKEY KEARNS & FRANK MEROLA

The governor’s new ganja guru will be able to answer all of Cuomo’s burning questions.

JAZMINE HEADLEY

A year after police ripped her baby from her arms at a benefits office, a $625K settlement means a merrier holiday season.

COREY JOHNSON

These county clerks were put in their place after trying to stop undocumented immigrants from getting driver’s licenses.

GREGORY RUSS

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Event Sponsorship Strategist Danielle Koza dkoza@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillanGrace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@cityandstateny. com, Senior Account Executive William Thomas EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez, Editorial Research Associate Evan Solomon

Vol. 8 Issue 48 December 23, 2019-January 6, 2020 THE ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT POWER

WHY NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

December 23, 2019–January 6, 2020

Cover Andrew Horton

NYCHA and its CEO topped the public advocate’s landlord “naughty” list – again!

With a new “X” gender option on death certificates, non-binary New Yorkers can get respect from birth until the day they die.

THOMAS SPOTA

JIMMY ODDO

CY VANCE

With a GDP explosion, Staten Islanders will need something new to gripe about.

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

Ultimately, the former Suffolk DA will go to prison over a duffel bag of dildos. The DA’s Manafort case got tossed. Will he ever get back in liberals’ good graces?

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email. Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2019, City & State NY, LLC

LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; EVAN EL-AMIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

ANDREW CUOMO The governor got to show who’s boss when the MTA board approved the hiring of 500 new police officers, per his request. There will now be more cops walking the beat in New York City subways – here’s hoping they play nice with the NYPD, which also patrols the system. Critics like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and state Sen. Michael Gianaris say the move threatens low-income people and the agency’s bottom line – yet somehow Cuomo got his way. It’s like he runs the place or something.

OUR PICK

WINNERS

Self-reflection can be such a drag. So it should come as no surprise that the ethically challenged Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted down a proposed review of its own operations. See, this way they can continue terrorizing rape victims for hiring a plane to fly a banner ad, while conveniently waiting to investigate lawmakers until they’ve been out of office for ages. While JCOPE has the power to avoid taking a look in the mirror, there were plenty of Winners & Losers last week who aren’t so lucky.

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

MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE 36 BATTERY PLACE, NEW YORK, NY 10280 THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020 | 9:00AM-4:00PM New York residents rely on its public transportation systems and roads to get everywhere, with varying degrees of success and frustration. Following the release of the MTA’s five-year capital plan and the continuation of long-planned expansion projects, New York’s systems for moving people and information are poised for a huge makeover. The NEW YORK IN TRANSIT SUMMIT will bring together experts across sectors to assess the current state of New York’s transportation systems, break down recent legislative actions, and look towards the future of all things coming and going in New York.

PANEL TOPICS MOVING NEW YORKERS SAFELY RESHAPING NEW YORK’S TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE CAN ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION METHODS SAVE NEW YORK? HOW TECHNOLOGY IS TRANSFORMING PUBLIC TRANSIT

FEATURED SPEAKERS POLLY TROTTENBERG, Commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation ERIC BEATON, Deputy Commissioner for Transportation and Management, New York City Department of Transportation CATHERINE RINALDI, President, Metro-North PHILLIP ENG, President, Long Island Rail Road GEORGE LATIMER, Westchester County Executive Assemblywoman NILY ROZIC, Sponsored legislation on ebikes and escooters CECILIA KUSHNER, Executive VP for Planning, Development, and Transportation, NYC Economic Development Corporation NYC Councilman RAFAEL ESPINAL JR., Sponsored legislation for ebikes Senator LEROY COMRIE, Chair Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee Councilman YDANIS RODRIGUEZ, Chair Committee on Transportation JOSHUA BENSON, Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations, New York City Department of Transportation RSVP at CityAndStateNY.com/Events For more information on programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lissa Blake at lblake@cityandstateny.com

BIG TOBACCO TARGETS US WITH MENTHOL

MENTHOL CIGARETTES ARE MORE ADDICTIVE AND HARDER TO QUIT. STOP TARGETING OUR COMMUNITY.