Hochul: ADU idea is not DOA
Starting March 1, The Point will be available to Newsday subscribers only. Don’t want to miss The Point? Click here to subscribe at a special rate.
Daily Point
Hochul wants to rethink ADUs
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to remove from her proposed budget two key housing-related provisions — regarding accessory dwelling units and transit-oriented development — came after multiple discussions over the past week with advocates and elected officials, including key players on Long Island.
In an interview with The Point Thursday evening, Hochul promised those conversations would continue.
"We want to step back and build the coalition behind the ideas and find other ways to accomplish the same goals," Hochul told The Point. "We’re trying to be creative. We want to involve the local mayors and the towns. They’re excited about our new approach."
The conversations, especially on the village level, began in earnest last weekend at the winter legislative meetings of the New York Conference of Mayors. Hochul was unable to attend, but Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was there.
The concern over the two provisions, according to conference president and Rockville Centre Mayor Francis X. Murray, was universal and bipartisan among the conference’s 200 mayors, who were "very, very passionate" on the topic, he told The Point Friday.
On Sunday, Murray held a private meeting with Benjamin and conference executive director Peter Baynes to talk about the issue.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Hochul met in her Albany office with Long Island’s Senate Democrats. One source with knowledge of the meeting described it as "refreshing."
"It started from a place of honest discussion," the source said. "They were able to speak their minds."
The senators and Hochul talked not only about the budget language but also about alternative paths forward, focusing on developing incentives that would encourage municipalities to develop zoning and other provisions that would allow for the creation of more affordable housing and transit-oriented development.
"I want to credit them [the senators] for being part of the idea that we can do this in a different way," Hochul said in the interview.
Two days later, after a tanker truck explosion in Rockville Centre, Hochul called Murray to offer her assistance.
"Then, we started talking about ADUs," Murray recalled, noting that he may have initially raised the issue but Hochul clearly wanted to talk about it. "I told her I loved her executive budget except for two things — the items on ADUs and TODs. And she said, ‘Mayor, we’re going to walk it back.’"
By Thursday evening, Hochul called Murray again to follow up and let him know the items would not be in the budget.
Hochul told The Point that she understood the concerns and now was seeking a "thoughtful way" to approach affordable housing that included local elected officials.
"I’ve got to give the governor credit," Murray told The Point. "She listened to us."
— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall
Talking Point
Seeking solidarity forever
Labor unions tied to the Democratic Party base — always a factor in election turnout — had a special place in the appeals of speakers at the nominating convention conducted Thursday by state and Nassau County chairman Jay Jacobs. But the party may not have a lock on the whole labor movement, given the sometimes-rival Working Families Party’s standing boast of its partnerships with unions, community organizations, and social movements.
It is a strategic concern, especially in the wake of an election that drew anemic turnout for the state’s dominant party on Long Island and elsewhere. From that perspective, statements from the rostrum at the Sheraton New York sifted by The Point showed a clear collective motive.
State AFL-CIO president Mario Cilento made a pledge regarding "every single one of the 3,000 local unions of the AFL-CIO, all two and a half million members." He said, "We will educate and mobilize them from Buffalo to Brooklyn to Long Island, and everyone in between, from now until Election Day, so on election night we will celebrate together," with Gov. Kathy Hochul and all other key candidates.
The labor theme was laced through other speeches.
In nominating Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who seeks his fourth elected term this year, state committee member Lauren Corcoran-Doolin from his home Nassau County called him "union made and union raised. He knows New York’s working families need him to save their money and protect it so they can hope for brighter days ahead."
In a seconding speech, Niagara County Democratic Committee chairman Chris Borgatti, who has been involved with labor organizing in western New York, said DiNapoli "is there for labor at every turn. You’d be hard-pressed to find somebody in labor who didn’t like him."
New NYC Mayor Eric Adams, as part of his unity pitch for the ticket, said: "I was raised in a blue-collar family in a blue-collar neighborhood in a blue-collar town. And I know many of you were, too, whether it was from Queens, Buffalo, Rochester or Elmira. Blue collars are running the state and it’s time for blue-collar solutions to solve our problems."
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ biggest applause lines came when he said: "We believe in the unions and the right to collectively bargain … [Republicans] want to destroy your freedom to negotiate. But here’s a news flash, straight out of Brooklyn — Democrats will stand with organized labor today, Democrats will stand with organized labor tomorrow, Democrats will stand with organized labor forever."
Historical note: "Solidarity Forever," the popular trade-union anthem, was written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915. Who it might inspire today is a different discussion.
— Dan Janison @Danjanison
Pencil Point
Aiming higher
For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons
Puzzle Point
In the news
Welcome to this week’s news quiz, based on events that took place this week. As usual, provide the answer for each clue, one letter per blank. The first letter of each answer, taken in order, spells the term for the climate condition that has gripped the American West for 22 years, the worst such period in at least 1,200 years according to a study by climate scientists released this week.
A link to the answers appears below.
_ _ _ _ _ _ Name of the accounting firm that said financial statements it prepared for former President Donald Trump "should no longer be relied upon."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Long Island town served with three lawsuits filed to stop it from closing its airport and reopening it as a private facility.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Last name of the only sitting congressman from Long Island who appears not to be leaving office at the end of this term.
_ _ _ _ _ _ "Spiderman: No Way Home" passed this blockbuster film for third place on the list of highest-grossing movies in the United States.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Brooklyn politician chosen by Rep. Tom Suozzi to be his running mate as lieutenant governor.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Parents in the Sandy Hook school shooting reached a settlement with this company, the first gun manufacturer held liable for a U.S. mass shooting.
_ _ _ _ _ _ The police chief in this Canadian city resigned after criticism of his handling of the trucker convoy protest against pandemic restrictions.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Employees at two Starbucks stores on Long Island are joining dozens around the country seeking to do this.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Suffolk Police Chief Rodney Harrison formed a task force to investigate a series of killings at this Long Island location.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Gambling, hospitality and entertainment company that announced it has identified three potential sites for a New York City casino.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ The CEO of this major tech firm is challenging workplace stigmas by announcing he will take a few weeks of paternity leave.
Click here for the answers to the clued words and to the identity of the mystery climate condition.
— Michael Dobie @mwdobie
