MTA Adding 500 More Cops + Fusion Voting & Public Campaign Financing Debated

Local News

• Brooklyn Eagle polled all 51 Council Members for their views on the Mayor’s plan to replace Rikers with four smaller jails and found that the plan will likely pass thanks to City Hall conceding reduced sizes for all four new sites.
• The de Blasio administration is putting another $43 million into the city’s lightly-used ferry system. The ferries carry only 18,000 passengers a day. Some, including Comptroller Scott Stringer, say this money could be better invested in the bus or bike system.
• The City Council is planning to repeal a two-year old ban on conversion therapy. The move comes after an anti-LGBTQ hate group based in Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging the ban’s legality. Rather than take the risk of having the courts weigh in, the Council will rely on state law, which will allow for adults in the city to undergo conversion therapy but maintain the ban for minors. The Council and some LGBT+ advocates fear a court could strike down the entirety of the law and call into question the state law.
• The MTA is adding 500 new cops to police “quality of life” issues in the subway, amid potential cuts to the subway and bus service.
• About 25% of the 16,242 luxury apartments built in New York City since 2013 are reportedly unsold and vacant. The median price of these units is $1.1 million.
• The NY Department of State announced that licensed real estate brokers and salespeople cannot collect application fees greater than $20, clearing up weeks of confusion over the rule and closing a loophole.

Elections

• On Tuesday the New York State Public Campaign Financing Commission held its first public hearing. The 9-member Commission was created earlier this year when the state Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo failed to come to an agreement over a public campaign financing system for state races; their recommendations are due December 1 and will become law unless the state Legislature holds a special session. They are also required to make suggestions regarding fusion voting. At Tuesday’s meeting activists showed up in force to testify in favor of a generous public campaign financing system and to implore the Commission to stay away from fusion voting. 
• The Daily News reported on NYC-DSA’s plan to contest City Council races in 2021.
• Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio is concerned that the recent progressive push to reject real estate donations is threatening the party’s financial stability.
• Party bosses in both the Bronx and Manhattan have come under fire recently over corruption charges. In the Bronx, a judge claims he was forced off the bench after refusing to hire the party chairman’s former aide. In Manhattan, party leaders are attempting to change their rules to prohibit a lobbyist from becoming an elected party leader; the current Manhattan party boss is a director at a prominent lobbying firm.