City and State Workers Get a Vaccine Mandate + Adams Declares War on DSA

Local News

• New York City will require all of its 340,000 municipal workers, including police, firefighters and teachers, to either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or tested weekly starting in mid September. All city workers must show proof of vaccination starting August 2nd or be forced to wear a mask at all times. State employees will also be subject to similar guidelines.
• The City’s municipal unions reacted with surprise to De Blasio’s vaccine mandate for city workers, and demanded that the Mayor negotiate with unions before imposing a sweeping mandate.
• Governor Cuomo announced that he wanted private employers to demand employees get vaccinated before returning to work, but employers say such a requirement is not possible without a government requirement.
• The Governor is insisting that the State will pay out all pending and verified applications to the $2.7 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program by the end of August. The program has been plagued by onerous documentation requirements and a confusing application process since its launch, and has so far paid out less than $1 million.
• After a rally outside the NYPD’s Inspector General’s office in protest of the police’s gang database, the City’s Department of Investigation confirmed that they are nearing the end of an examination of the database, which has operated for years without transparency and exposes many Black and Latinx New Yorkers to police abuse.
• The MTA is slated to receive $10.7 billion from the federal infrastructure bill.
• The New York City Council voted to extend a cap of 15% for deliveries and 5% for other services on the fees that third-party delivery apps, such as Uber Eats and Grubhub, can charge restaurants.
• Manhattan Community Board 2 voted against the Soho/Noho rezoning proposal, which would upzone the neighborhoods. Community board votes are advisory; the plan will now be considered by the Manhattan Borough President, whose opinion is also advisory, before going to the Citywide Planning Commission, whose decision is binding.
• The City University of New York (CUNY) will use $125 million of federal COVID stimulus funds to wipe out the debt of an estimated 50,000 students.

Elections

• At a fundraiser hosted by Republican Council Member Eric Ulrich, Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams stated that he was running against a nationwide movement of “DSA socialists.”
• The Independent Redistricting Commission held a virtual hearing in Queens to hear from everyday New Yorkers about how outlining neighborhood borders affects their lives before drawing new district lines for the State Legislature to review and vote on.
• Nearly every Democratic City Council nominee was thrown off of the Working Families Party ballot line in November’s general election thanks to a conflict about electronic signatures during the petitioning process.
• At the first of a series of hearings with voters held by the State Senate election committee, angry voters and election officials demanded reforms.
• The Republican primary for a City Council seat on Staten Island is going through a hand recount, with the candidates alleging fraud and discrimination.