Good Morning, New York! Lots of tickets over congestion pricing, limiting private equity ownership of homes, and the targeting of Andrew Cuomo ahead of the 2020 election. This is your Tammany Times AM Briefing for Thursday, January 9th, 2025.

WHERE’S ERIC: Delivering the State of the City Address at the Apollo Theater.

WHERE’S KATHY: In Albany and New York City no public schedule.

TIPS? Email me: [email protected]

Front Pages

Hall Monitors

— Antisemitic hate crimes spiked to 354 last year, while overall hate crimes were down 4%. Gubernatorial hopeful Ritchie Torres took the opportunity to attack the current administration in New York, saying “New York has fundamentally failed to protect the Jewish community from a historic explosion of hate crimes.” (X/RitchieTorres)

— The NYC Board of Elections has refused to remove its executive director, Michael J. Ryan, despite a city investigation reporting that he sexually and racially harassed two employees. The investigation notes that this is the second set of allegations against senior BOE officials. Ryan instead served a three-week suspension without pay, and is now back on the job. (NY Times)

— Congestion pricing advocate Layla Law-Gisiko was attacked on the subway last weekend. Despite this, she still praised congestion pricing hours later. Her organization, the City Club of New York, sued Gov. Hochul earlier this year to implement congestion pricing. (NY Post)

— The NYPD has so far given 200 tickets, made 3 arrests, and seized 27 vehicles in their enforcement of congestion pricing this week. Tickets were handed out for obscured plates, tinted windows, unregistered vehicles, and other violations. (NY Post)

Capitol Gains

— Gov. Hochul wants to limit private equity ownership of homes in New York as part of her populist ‘affordability agenda.’ The policy would prevent institutional investors from bidding in the first 75 days of a home’s time on the market. (NY Times)

— The state attorney general has ordered 54 medical transportation companies to cease fraudulent billing practices. The companies are accused of illegally charging Medicaid for services they did not provide. (Times Union)

— Gov. Hochul wants to increase forced hospitalizations of people with mental illnesses, especially those on the street and on the subway. Mayor Eric Adams has been the recent driver of this policy, pointing to it as an important step to reducing crime. Previous legislation with the focus has been difficult to get through the Capitol due to pushback from civil liberties groups. (Gothamist)

Trail Mix

— A new investigation has found that the Department of Justice did target Andrew Cuomo ahead of the 2020 election, leaking data for partisan reasons. Cuomo’s spokesman Rich Azzopardi said that the investigation “confirms what we’ve said all along: The federal government corrupted and misused the Department of Justice to influence the 2020 presidential election — and in the process weaponized the real pain of those who lost loved ones to COVID in a nursing home for their own craven electoral gain” (Times Union)

— Andrew Cuomo is reportedly weighing a February launch date for his mayoral campaign, and is bringing on veteran Democratic consultant Charlie King. King has reportedly also been vetting other staff to work on the campaign. (Politico)

— SALT Republicans said they did not think a full restoration of the SALT deduction was in the cards, however, they are hopeful of some substantial increase that will benefit middle-class voters. (State of Politics)

— There is an interesting piece in City and State about the rise of YIMBYism on the Democratic side, and how it has impacted candidates’ willingness to take money from the real estate industry. Many candidates who previously rejected them have changed their tune, and are now open to donations as they promote pro-development policies. (City and State)

— Chuck Schumer says that he and Senate Democrats would support renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He also wants to work with the GOP to lower costs, which he sees as the biggest priority. (Business Insider)