Good Morning, New York! A bill is up for debate over the issue of snacking while waiting on line on election day, the MTA purchases 265 new electric buses, and Cuomo leads the mayoral race he has not yet entered. This is your Tammany Times AM Briefing for Monday, January 13th, 2025.

WHERE’S ERIC: Doing TV interviews following his State of the City.

WHERE’S KATHY: In Erie County, Albany and Rensselaer County hosting students at the State of the State for Future Leaders.

TIPS? Email me: [email protected]

Front Pages

Hall Monitors

— The biggest winner of congestion pricing so far has been the MTA, who just announced the purchase of 265 electric buses, which the funding for was “unlocked” by congestion pricing. The MTA pointed to improved air quality and a smaller carbon footprint as reasons for their purchase, with the goal of a zero-emission bus system by 2040. (amNY)

— Some of the biggest losers have turned out to be the residents of upper Manhattan, who have complained that commuters are now taking bridges and tunnels north of the toll and abandoning their cars in their street parking before jumping on the subway downtown. (NY Post)

— Airbnb has been secretly funding supposed ‘grassroots’ organizations in a bid to bring back short term rentals in the city. A new City Council bill would allow people to rent out space in one or two family homes without the owners being physically present, a move that would explicitly benefit the rental platform. Airbnb is listed as the sole funder of several of these groups, and the rest of their supposed membership is left intentionally vague. (NY Post)

Capitol Gains

— Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed universal free school breakfast and lunch, which she says could save families up to $2,000 a year. Most students already receive this benefit, her plan would simply extend it to the remaining roughly 300,000 students. (Times Union)

— New York lawmakers are planning a bill to allow election workers and political party representatives to serve snacks and drinks to voters while they are waiting in line. A similar bill has previously passed the State Senate, but it failed in the Assembly. (NY Post)

— With Kathy Hochul’s State of the State address just a day away, E.J. McMahon looks at the reasoning behind her location choice outside of the state Capitol. He expects it to be more of a return to the grandiose product rollout style favored by Fmr. Gov. Cuomo. (Ever Upwards)

Trail Mix

— Cuomo is already leading the polls of a mayoral race he has not yet entered, according to the survey by Progressives for Democracy in America and Hart Research. Cuomo led the field with 32%, followed by Scott Stringer at 10%, with Adams at just 8%. It also shows a ranked choice estimation, with Adams not benefitting from the system as he was expected to. (Politico)

— The Times Union has a full recap out of all of the candidates in NY-21. The candidates will have a limited time to convince their county parties to select them for the ballot, at which point the Republican is expected to win an easy victory. However the Democrats are still hopeful they could turn it into a close race. (Times Union)

— Rep. Ritchie Torres has attacked Kathy Hochul on what he sees as a “passive” stance on individuals with severe mental illness or drug addidtion. He wrote an open letter demanding they be placed in inpatient commitment or outpatient assisted treatment. He described an “open-air drug market” right in the South Bronx. (NY Post)