Attorney General James Announces Sentencing Of Cortland County Farmer Following Death Of 14-Year-Old Employee

With help from Shawn Ness

New from New York

Happening now:

• Michael Carey, an advocate for disabled patients and a regular presence at the state Capitol, said he was pushed by state Sen. Kevin Parker.
• Labor chairs of the state Legislature want to do more to protect retail workers.
• Efforts to move migrants upstate to five counties has been slow going.
• There was a new graduating class of the State Police today.

CAPITOL FIGHT: State Sen. Kevin Parker allegedly shoved disability rights advocate Michael Carey before the start of the Senate Energy Committee meeting today, according to Carey and two other individuals who witnessed the altercation.

Carey, who is known to be vocal with lawmakers, shared with POLITICO a copy of a police report he filed, which can be read here.

In it, Carey alleges the lawmaker got in his face and screamed “I don’t care,” before putting his hands on him twice and shoving him in front of a room full of people, according to the report and a subsequent interview.

At the same time the incident was unfolding, shouting can be heard on the recording of the elections committee happening next door on the Capitol’s first floor.

Parker did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Playbook.

He is known for his explosive outbursts and physical altercations, which include allegedly shoving a legislative staffer, breaking a New York Post photographer’s camera and cursing out other lawmakers. Carey said he had been completely unaware of that history, which includes being convicted of a misdemeanor for the altercation with the Post photographer.

“This is multiple situations,” Carey said. “He's a danger to other people. He was a danger to me.”

The disability advocate said the incident started minutes before the committee meeting, when he asked Parker to cosponsor a 911 civil rights bill, which he is trying to make law in memory of his son who died in 2007 at a group home.

When Parker, chair of the energy committee, said he was looking into the matter, Carey said he told Parker the issue was analogous to Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight against discrimination and reminded Parker of his son's death. Parker then yelled “I don’t care” when Carey brought up his dead son and got inches away from Carey’s face before shoving him, according to Carey.

Witnesses, who were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said Carey was also shouting at Parker during the incident.

Carey then said he left the meeting and requested a State Police officer come to the scene. He asked the officer to inform Parker that if he apologized to Carey he would not press charges. Parker did not apologize and instead invoked his right to counsel, Carey said.

“I was kind of shocked, he didn’t apologize,” he said.

State Sen. Mario R. Mattera, a Long Island Republican who serves as the ranking member on the Energy Committee, also said he witnessed the altercation but declined to go into detail.

“There was tensions, yes, there was tensions, and it was unfortunate in a lot of ways, but that's something that Senator Parker and that gentleman need to get through, and hopefully they can,” Mattera said.

He also said it was inappropriate for Carey to take up the issue of the bill at the committee meeting instead of trying to speak with Parker in his office.

Carey said he wants a restraining order against the senator.

“I understand when people don’t deal with anger issues, they’ll go on to hurt other people,” Carey said. — Jason Beeferman

RETAIL CRIME IS NOT OVER: Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed hard to get a budget deal that included cracking down on retail theft, but the Legislature’s labor chairs said that state government needs to go further to protect workers.

“There were some things done in the budget regarding retail workers that were punitive and all about law enforcement,” Assemblymember Harry Bronson, a Rochester Democrat, said. “We need more than that.”

The budget upgraded assaults on retail workers from a misdemeanor to a felony. It also created dedicated retail theft teams for state and local law enforcement and added $5 million in tax breaks for store security cameras and other anti-theft expenses.

But labor advocates say they need more proactive, instead of “punitive,” measures to protect retail workers.

They’re pushing for the Retail Worker Safety Act, sponsored by Bronson and state Sen. Jessica Ramos, that would require retailers in the state to train employees on de-escalation and violence prevention tactics.

The two lawmakers also rallied for three other labor bills this week: to reduce warehouse worker injuries; to set standards for extreme temperatures while working in agriculture, construction and other industries and a third to oversee nail salon workers’ rights.

“We have a very important decision to make on whether we're going to tilt the scales towards the workers or we're going to continue to allow for the scale to be tilted towards the bosses,” Ramos said Tuesday at a rally at the Capitol. “And I say no to that. I say, ‘Yes’ to protections for the workers.”

The Retail Council of New York State is working to counter Ramos and Bronson’s Retail Worker Safety Act.

“The costly mandates proposed in the bill — including onerous recordkeeping requirements, panic buttons and additional security guards — will do little, if anything, to address recidivists entering stores with the intent to engage in illegal activity such as shoplifting and assault,” Melissa O’Connor, the group’s president, wrote in a memorandum of opposition.

Justin Henry, a spokesperson for Hochul, did not comment on the labor chairs’ bills, but instead pointed to Hochul’s comments on the retail theft earlier this month:

“No one wants to see the shops in their neighborhood boarded up because business owners simply say, ‘I can't do this anymore. It's just not working. It's not worth it,’” Hochul said at a post-budget retail theft press conference. “That threatens the very vitality of these communities, which I will stop at nothing to protect.” — Jason Beeferman

MIGRANT RELOCATION: After the state launched a program to relocate migrant families moving to New York City to upstate regions last August, it has only relocated 283 families, according to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which administers the program. Read the full story here.

Only five counties have received families: Albany, Erie, Monroe, Westchester and Suffolk; all of which have below-average housing vacancy rates. Nearly 1,000 families have been put on a waiting list or were deemed ineligible after being referred to the program.

“We're pretty much maxed out. We've been maxed out. I only have 320,000 residents in this county, and we already have a housing crisis,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. “We're having issues putting people in housing.”

And plans to offer bonuses and incentives to landlords to join in on the program have not been very successful. Despite those woes, the state is still committed to relocating families.

“OTDA is committed to assisting migrant families that choose to relocate through the Migrant Relocation Assistance Program,” the agency said in a statement. — Shawn Ness

GRAD SZN: The State Police force is now up to 4,977 officers after Hochul congratulated 228 new troopers after they graduated from the academy today.

“Today’s graduates have dedicated themselves to a life of public service and are making a commitment to serve and protect all New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement.

Three different awards were also presented to a select few graduates. Nicholas Krafft was given the Academic Performance Award; Matthew Grant was given the Firearms Proficiency Award; and Dominick Battaglia was given the Investigator Joseph T. Aversa Physical Fitness Award.

“Today’s ceremony is one of our finest traditions and introduces a new generation of highly trained men and women to the New York State Police. These new Troopers will serve New Yorkers with honor, integrity, and bravery, and I welcome them to our ranks,” state police superintendent Steven James said in a statement. — Shawn Ness

POLL OBSERVER PUSH: Advocates are calling on lawmakers to pass a bill to let nonpartisan groups be certified to send neutral observers to poll sites on Election Day.

“In this highly polarized context, having neutral eyes on the ground to be able to verify what’s actually happening in our polling places, which 99 percent of the time is organized and exactly as we want to it be, helps to increase transparency and to improve the public’s faith in elections,” Common Cause New York executive director Susan Lerner said.

She noted that under current law, the only people who can be certified to be observers are picked by candidates and parties.

“This seems to be a pretty straightforward and commonsense solution to a problem that occasionally arises, where a voter is improperly turned away for whatever reason,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, who sponsors the bill with Assemblymember Amy Paulin. — Bill Mahoney

MIGRANT CRISIS: Assemblymember Ed Ra and other lawmakers in the GOP minority conference are calling for a legislative hearing with New York City officials and organizations that are under contract to provide migrant-related services.

The Times Union reported on Monday about ongoing concerns with one of the key vendors, DocGo.

“This year, the state budget allocated $2.4 billion to address the migrant crisis, a considerable expansion of an expenditure for New York’s taxpayers to shoulder. Without the guardrails needed for fiscal responsibility, these funds are at risk of the fraud and abuse we have become accustomed to with emergency government contracts that lack transparency and oversight guidance,” Ra, a Long Island Republican, said in a statement.

Republicans are also calling for the passage of one of Ra’s bills that would mandate the reporting and auditing on how money for migrant programs are being spent. It is co-sponsored by fellow Republicans. — Shawn Ness

— Two New York Democrats have reintroduced a federal bill that restricts the public’s access to body armor one day after the two-year anniversary of the Buffalo Tops shooting. (State of Politics)

— State legislators are working on passing a bill to incentivize emergency medical service providers to keep working. (Times Union)

— The Seneca Nation of Indians is still in tense negotiations with the state on its compact. (POLITICO Pro)

With help from Shawn Ness

New from New York

Happening now:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul and regulators took steps to bolster the failing recreational marijuana industry.
• A Buffalo Senate seat vacated by now-Rep. Tim Kennedy will remain empty through the remainder of the year.
• Mayor Eric Adams kicked off his trip to Italy by offering praise of the Pope.
• Hochul told reporters that she’s hopeful a deal can be reached to address the ills of social media on children.

TROUBLE IN THE WEED WORLD: Chris Alexander, the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, will leave at the end of his term to “pursue other opportunities,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters today during a press conference announcing an overhaul of the state’s cannabis agency.

Meanwhile, the Cannabis Control Board was meeting at the same time to approve additional licenses and a shift in how licenses are processed.

The overlapping press conference and agency meeting were the culmination of years of New York’s troubled cannabis rollout amid an effort to redress the harms of past cannabis enforcement.

Entrepreneurs have long spoken out about the botched program, outlining the financial consequences of the slow licensing process.

Hochul acknowledged how those hardships have affected specific applicants who were supposed to be positioned to take advantage of an economic opportunity in the recreational marijuana industry, only to have suffered devastating financial consequences.

She told reporters about an applicant who invested more than $40,000, but still has yet to hear any news on their application — a story that is familiar to anyone who has been listening to public comments at the board meetings.

Staffing issues: Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy, who led a review released today on the system, told reporters that the state is recruiting additional staffers to review licenses in hopes of speeding up the process.

Agencies need to prioritize requests for staffing, she said.

“If the idea is that the office was sitting there not asking for additional staff … and all of a sudden somebody's saying that we need to ask for additional staff, it sounds like that's not accurate,” said Cannabis Control Board member Adam Perry during Friday’s meeting. “It sounds like the office has asked for additional staff.”

Perry was also critical that the board wasn’t provided with a draft of the report ahead of its public release, as is customary for external reviews.

Board Chair Tremaine Wright said the board had not been presented with a report and that she had requested that it receive an update on the findings of the audit. A spokesperson for the governor said that Wright was briefed on key information from the report on Wednesday.

Other new developments: The governor also announced a task force to crack down on the illicit cannabis market, as well as a $5 million grant program to help entrepreneurs impacted by past cannabis enforcement.

The board approved more than 100 additional licenses today, though only 31 more retailers. Cannabis regulators are also changing the licensing review process, and they plan to review significantly more applications than from the general application window last fall.

Not everyone was happy about the change.

Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said during the board meeting that the licensing process was supposed to be protected from the whims of the governor.

“People want to ask why folks of color do not stand up to be in these positions as elected officials… It's because we get set up and then they cut our heads off in public. And that is what is happening to the OCM.” Frederique said of the state Office of Cannabis Management.

“It is not lost on me that for the first time we have Black leadership … We're changing the goalposts and the cannabis board was supposed to be independent to protect the intentions of the work.” — Mona Zhang

NO SPECIAL EXPECTED IN BUFFALO: Rep. Tim Kennedy took the oath of office for his new job on Monday evening, which leaves state Senate Democrats one vote shy of the 42-member supermajority they’ve enjoyed since 2021.

But senators are predicting there won’t be a special election to fill the seat before the November elections.

A 2021 law overhauled the rules for calling special elections. Governors now need to quickly call them, but they’re not allowed to do so if a vacancy is created after April 1 of an election year — unless there will be a special session sometime before January, in which case calling one is mandatory.

But that begs the question: How do we know there won’t be a special session later this year?

Albany doesn’t hold special sessions anymore. There are occasional “extraordinary” sessions — when the governor calls lawmakers back to Albany. And there are plenty of times when lawmakers come back to town to vote on issues like pay raises that are colloquially called “special sessions."

But technically, those aren’t special sessions.

Those only occur when the Legislature comes back after adjourning for the year. And the Legislature hasn’t formally adjourned before New Year’s since the 1970s, thanks to members like state Sen. Neil Breslin holding two-minute sessions in the off weeks. — Bill Mahoney

NYC IS THE ROME OF AMERICA: Mayor Eric Adams today lauded Pope Francis’ calls for migrants to be treated humanely as he kicked off a multi-day visit to Italy that will culminate in an audience with the pontiff.

“His voice on these topics will cause those who would probably traditionally ignore the topic to sit up and take note,” Adams said in a news conference from Rome, adding the pope urges people to “just look at your fellow human being as your fellow brother or sister.”

He described the pope ahead of their meeting as a “credible messenger” in parts of the world struggling with influxes of newcomers, including New York City, where 195,000 migrants have come in the past two years.

The pope has challenged anti-immigration postures in Europe and in March penned a letter to migrants in Panama calling them “the face of Christ.”

Day One of Adams’ Roman holiday has been far from restful as he toured a subway tunnel under construction near the Colosseum, a slaughterhouse that was converted into an arthouse and sat with a roundtable of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

The Democratic mayor is visiting Rome for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, and his travel bill is being footed by the pope’s Fondazione Fratelli Tutti, according to City Hall. — Emily Ngo

CULTURE CLUB CRIES CUTS: Do you really want to hurt them? The cultural institutions that get direct city funding say Adams didn’t restore nearly enough of their cuts, and they need another $53 million in the upcoming budget.

“Mr. Mayor, our city’s recovery is significant but fragile — and it cannot withstand uncertainty and continued cuts to culture,” reads the Culture for All petition from the Cultural Institutions Group, made up of 34 organizations ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Staten Island Zoo.

Adams cut $12 million from this year’s budget and the next in November, and another $13 million in January. The second cut was restored to fanfare last month, but the institutions want the initial cuts restored too, plus the same $40 million boost to baseline funding they fought for, and got, for last year’s budget.

The city allocated the Cultural Institutions Group about $141 million total in operating expenses for fiscal year 2024 budget.

The mayor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment, though they have previously defended their commitment to culture, while saying across-the-board cuts were needed to balance the budget.

A City Council spokesperson said the council will be prioritizing the full restoration in the budget. — Jeff Coltin

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT: New figures released by the New York City school system shows a projected increase in enrollment for the 2024-25 year.

An additional 778,000 students are expected to be enrolled, making it the first time enrollment increased year-over-year since before 2016.

"The proof is in the enrollment projections — through a mix of new and innovative programming, engaging academics, and genuine family and student engagement, our system is bouncing back from years of declining enrollment and leading the nation in public school education,” Schools Chancellor David Banks said in a statement.

Banks attributed the increase to three programs: NYC Reads, Student Pathways and the Summer Rising program. — Shawn Ness

JAMES SIMONS, 86: Hedge fund manager James Simons passed away at the age of 86 today. A former math professor at SUNY Stony Brook, Simons made a fortune in hedge funds in recent decades.

He had become a major figure in New York state politics and policy. During Gov. David Paterson’s administration, he lobbied the state for tuition hikes for SUNY to place it on sounder financial footing. He appeared with Gov. Kathy Hochul last year to announce $500 million for Stony Brook, one of the largest charitable donations in American history.

“Jim was a brilliant mathematician and understood the important role science and math play in our future,” Stony Brook alum Carl Heastie, the Assembly speaker, said in a statement. “Throughout his life he donated billions of dollars to support grand scientific endeavors and lower barriers of access to all those dreaming of innovation.”

Simons has also repeatedly been the top donor to New York Democrats.

He and his wife have given at least $7 million to state and local level candidates and parties since 2011, including $3.9 million to the state Democratic Committee, $370,000 to Andrew Cuomo and $205,000 to Hochul. — Bill Mahoney

HOCHUL’S SOCIAL: The effort to limit kids’ exposure to social media algorithms is getting some personal involvement from Hochul.

The governor today told reporters that the measure, which is meant to block social media firms from providing algorithmic feeds to the accounts of children, is her top end-of-session priority.

And unlike some bills that pass without involvement from the governor’s office, Hochul said her legal team is working with lawmakers to craft the final details of a potential agreement by June 6.

“We will find the right balance,” she said. "We want to make sure we protect the interests of children, number one, and make sure we’re creating an environment where these companies can thrive, but within limitations.”

Opponents believe algorithmic-powered feeds can be addicting and lead to mental health problems. But social media companies have warned the proposal would create free speech violations and likely face a court challenge. — Nick Reisman

HER NO WORRIES ERA: New York Democrats want a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution to galvanize turnout this election year. A Republican-backed challenge to its ballot status is putting a question mark on those plans.

But Hochul told reporters she is not concerned the amendment would be blocked from the ballot this November over procedural grounds.

The proposal would enshrine a broad array of rights such as the right to an abortion in the state constitution. Republicans won the first round of a lawsuit over the amendment’s placement on the ballot in a ruling that’s almost certain to be appealed.

The amendment is considered a key piece of the Democratic efforts to retake the House with the party trying to flip five seats in New York and take power in the narrowly divided chamber.

But even if the amendment is taken off the ballot, Hochul believes Democrats have a stable of issues to run on, including housing, anti-retail theft measures and cracking down on illegal cannabis businesses.

“There will be plenty of messaging that the Democrats can and will lean on — not the least of which is our strong support of reproductive rights,” she said. — Nick Reisman

— A newer, bigger, better bottle bill is facing the same old problems. (POLITICO Pro)

— Orange County is the latest county to sue the state over proposals to host local elections in even-numbered years. (Times Union)

— State Democrats are sure that the decision to toss out the Equal Rights Amendment will be challenged in the state’s highest court. (POLITICO Pro)