12 minute read
FIRST READ
Former President Donald Trump made a couple curious endorsements in New York Democratic primaries, leaving all the candidates in those races scratching their heads.
TRUMP’S VENDETTA
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In bizarre posts on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump claimed to have endorsed Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the 12th Congressional District and 10th District candidate Dan Goldman – the man who helped impeach him the first time around. The former president heaped lavish, sarcastic praise on both candidates describing Maloney as “kind and wonderful” who will always “support me no matter what I do,” and Goldman as “highly intelligent” and someone who would assist Republicans in defeating “the Radical Left Democrats.” While many in the political world recognized the endorsements as Trump’s attempt to get back at two of his foes, candidates Yuh-Line Niou, Jo Anne Simon, Mondaire Jones pounced. The former president’s endorsement wasn’t the only one that got
SMOKED OUT
Looking to buy edibles in New York City’s least chilled-out locale? You’re officially out of luck. The NYPD cleared out 19 trucks openly selling cannabis food products from Times Square last week as the city cracks down on the now commonplace practice of selling marijuana and other cannabis products. While these products are now legal to possess and use in New York, the state has not issued permits to sell them yet.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll pass.”
– Rep. Carolyn Maloney on former President Donald Trump’s surprise – and unwelcome – endorsement of her candidacy in the 12th Congressional District, via The New York Times
– New York City Council Member Carlina Rivera on her 10th Congressional District opponent Dan Goldman, via the Daily News people talking: The New York Times released its long-awaited congressional endorsements about a week ago, spurring backlash after selecting three white men – Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Jerry Nadler, and Goldman. New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams endorsed Carlina Rivera in the 10th District.
FINAL CAMPAIGN DAYS
With the Aug. 23 primary less than a week away, it’s crunch time for candidates in a slew of competitive contests as they make lastditch efforts to sway voters. Early voting began on Aug. 13, though turnout was low so far. Polling showed Nadler had pulled ahead in the 12th District, with 43% of likely Democratic voters. With 24% support, Maloney could face an uphill battle against her colleague. One of the methods she deployed to try and make up some ground was to send nearly 26,000 letters to constituents, which had some ethics experts questioning whether she crossed a line due to a House rule that prohibits members from sending mass communications within the 60 days before a primary. Meanwhile, Goldman remained the front-runner in the 10th District with strong polling and coveted endorsements. This spurred his opponents to turn up the pressure on him during their final televised debate. Following the release of the Times
endorsement, progressive candidates Jones and Niou teamed up at a press conference to express their concern about the threats that the moderate Goldman could impose on the country. And people were also paying attention to a special election in Hudson Valley, where two high-profile candidates are vying to seize the 19th Congressional District swing seat last held by Democrat Antonio Delgado, who gave it up to serve as lieutenant governor. Whoever wins will be in office for only a few months, but the outcome is expected to offer insight into whether Democrats should expect a Republican wave in November.
ADAMS STRIKES AT OUTDOOR DINING
It’s not every day that a mayor puts on a hard hat and drives a sledgehammer into the side of a once-populated structure. Yet in the kind of slightly unusual photo op he seems to relish, New York City Mayor Eric Adams helped knock down an abandoned restaurant shed in Manhattan. He was taking the first swing in a new city initiative to demolish deserted sheds. Outdoor dining has been a COVID-19 pandemic staple over the past two and a half years. The structures have helped struggling restaurants remain open and ensure that thousands of employees could keep their jobs. But as cases have decreased and the restaurant industry has recovered, a citywide debate has resumed over the longevity of the outdoor dining program. Like many New Yorkers, Adams has defended outdoor dining and said it should become a permanent part of city life. It’s the “blight and disorder” at some sheds that the mayor was taking a swing at.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is starting to double down on demolishing deserted outdoor dining sheds amid the restaurant industry’s post-pandemic recovery.
Preparing NYC students for the real world
New York City schools Chancellor David Banks vowed that under his tenure, students will leave the system with a “sense of possibility” for the careers they want to have and the tools they’ll need to get there.
“We do a lot of schooling, but not necessarily educating, and certainly not making it clear for all of our young people about why we do this every day,” Banks said at City & State’s 2022 Education Summit. “As I’ve spoken to parents and teachers and students all across the city, we have framed what we think is our mission for this administration: And that is ultimately that every one of our students will graduate on a pathway to a rewarding career, long-term economic security and to be a force for change in their communities.”
Banks, who oversees the system of nearly 1.1 million students, underscored these points before a packed room of educators, elected officials, advocacy organizations, business leaders and other stakeholders last week.
He urged attendees to grapple with the true reasons for school, saying educators and parents have a duty to help children deepen their connection to what they learn and clarify that they aren’t in school to be compliant or complete assignments.
“I want young people to have a greater sense of possibility for themselves when they go through this K-12 system,” Banks said. “If you come into our schools in kindergarten and stay clear through 12th grade, we’ve spent close to $350,000 per student. The question that you should all be asking is, what’s the return on investment? What are the kinds of young people that we ought to be producing? What should we expect as we hand them that diploma and we offer up a hearty congratulations?”
Six months into his tenure as chancellor of the country’s largest school system, he has overseen a tumultuous school budget process, faced enrollment declines, rolled out two first-of-theirkind virtual academies and urged the state to extend mayoral control of schools.
Banks emphasized that leaders in the education space must create an environment where students graduate with a strong post-secondary plan regardless of whether they decide to go to college – where they’ll leave school with the tools and skills they need to get off “mommy and daddy’s payroll.” This, he said, was the department’s “North Star” and a driving theme in the years to come. – Sahalie Donaldson
THE WEEK AHEAD
MONDAY 8/22
The New York City Districting Commission holds a public hearing on the New York City Council district lines at 5:30 p.m. at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. TUESDAY 8/23
Having déjà vu? It’s primary Election Day, again! Get out and vote in races for Congress and state Senate – plus there will even be a couple of special elections. INSIDE DOPE
All eyes will be on the 10th Congressional District as well as on larger themes like how progressives will do after a tough showing in the June primary. WEDNESDAY 8/24
The New York City Council Health Committee holds an oversight hearing on the monkeypox virus at 10 a.m. in the council chamber.
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By Jeff Coltin
The New York congressional candidates contributing the most to their own campaigns.
The $2,900 contribution limit for congressional primaries doesn’t exist for the candidates themselves. That means wealthy people running for office can put extraordinary amounts of their own money into their campaigns – like $4 million for Levi Strauss heir Dan Goldman. These donations usually come in the form of loans, which candidates can forgive at any time, effectively turning them into cold, hard contributions. And some congressional candidates in New York are spending big on themselves.
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A Q&A with SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University President
DR. WAYNE RILEY
You have been handling a lot over the past two years with the public health crisis. Could you describe how SUNY Downstate has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic? We performed superbly during COVID, even in an environment where we have more constrained resources than other hospitals and health systems. The problem is the COVID-only designation created this perception in the minds of our patient base here in Central Brooklyn that we were, and still are, COVID only.
So needless to say, because the designation of being COVID only was in some respects, quote-unquote, an unfunded mandate, we find ourselves in a little bit of a fiscal rut. So we’ve been working with state leadership, SUNY leadership, the SUNY board, the Department of Health and the governor’s office to ameliorate the financial challenges that were brought on principally by that almost nine-month period where we were, officially COVID only.
You might have seen Chalkbeat New York had an article looking at your five Brooklyn school clinic closures. What was your response to these city officials’ disappointment? It was a tough decision. But again, with a $160 million deficit visited upon us because of our COVID work, we had to make tough decisions. And my job as a leader is to make tough decisions.
As much as I really enjoyed and was proud of the fact that we provided support for the schoolbased clinics, because of our fiscal situation, we had to make that tough decision to exit the schoolbased clinic. If we can one day get to a better fiscal situation, we will be happy to revisit that.
So again, this is a tough decision. We understand people are concerned. We’re working with the New York City Board of Education to help them to backfill with DOE personnel. We will help in the vetting of providers who could replace us. So we’re being very cooperative as much as possible to try to make sure that, even though we’re no longer there, somebody is there who can provide some level of service for these school-based clinics.
What is the biggest misconception then about SUNY Downstate, both in the public’s mind and in the mind of lawmakers? I think the biggest misperception is that we’re just a hospital. We’re more than a hospital. We have 4,000 employees, 2,000 students. We’re in the top 10 of all Brooklyn employers. When you roll up all of our economic impact, we have a $1.1 billion economic impact in New York City and to Brooklyn. We are a major contributor to the health sciences and health professions nationally. The medical school is the 16th largest medical school in the country out of 150-plus medical schools.
And that was part of why I, shortly after I got here, began discussions with the then-chancellor and the SUNY board that we needed to change our name – that we needed to change our official name to SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University because of that misperception that we’re just a hospital. – Peter Tomao
Our Perspective
Give Farmworkers the 40‑Hour Workweek now!
By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW Twitter: @sappelbaum
New York’s farmworkers work as hard — or harder — than most New Yorkers, yet they are not entitled to overtime pay after 40 hours worked. This injustice needs to end now — farmworkers deserve the same dignity and respect on the job as other workers in the state, most of whom are already entitled to a 40-hour workweek.
Unlike most workers in the Empire State — and the rest of the country — New York’s farmworkers are currently denied overtime pay by New York law until they’ve worked 60 hours a week. This is a shameful relic of Jim Crow-era labor laws that have historically treated farmworkers — the backbone of New York’s agriculture industry — as secondclass workers.
Thanks to the efforts of New York’s labor movement, including the RWDSU, farmworkers won historic legislation in 2019 that includes finally giving them the right to organize. Workers at Pindar Vineyards on Long Island made history last year when they joined RWDSU Local 338 and became the first farmworkers in the Empire State to join a union, and others are organizing across New York.
But as long as New York’s farmworkers are denied the 40-hour workweek, they are still denied justice and equality.
New York has made some progress towards correcting this unfair standard, but unnecessary delay is holding back this progress. This year, the New York State Department of Labor’s Farmworker Overtime Wage Board indicated it would recommend lowering the overtime threshold for farmworkers to 40 hours per week, bringing these workers in line with virtually every other hourly in New York over a ten-year period. And, to address farm owners’ concerns about increased labor costs, a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for farm owners to cover overtime pay over 40 hours was approved in this year’s state budget.
It’s been six months since the wage board met; it’s time to make this change a reality, and finally ensure justice and equality for farmworkers in New York. We call on state officials to immediately implement this plan and provide farmworkers with a 40-hour workweek. New Yorkers depend upon these workers every single day, and changing the labor law immediately to bring fairness to the fields where they toil is the right thing to do, both economically and morally. Let this be the last summer New York’s farmworkers are denied the 40-hour workweek.
