CUOMO’s small donors problem — Council set to rein in AIRBNB — New York sues TRUMP administration over tax law Presented by Facebook

By Jimmy Vielkind in Albany and Laura Nahmias in Manhattan, with Daniel Lippman

The four year anniversary of Eric Garner’s death in NYPD custody on Staten Island came and went yesterday. Garner’s mother stood on the steps of City Hall, where she pointed out the fact that the NYPD has yet to even begin disciplinary procedures that could lead to punitive measures being taken against the officer who placed him in the chokehold, or against any of the other officers involved in his arrest.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration marked the anniversary by pledging to take action. Maybe.

The mayor has said that any departmental trial for the officers involved should wait until federal law enforcement officials have decided whether or not to pursue their own action in the matter. They still haven’t decided. So the NYPD announced Monday, on the eve of the anniversary of Garner’s death, that if the Department of Justice hasn’t pursued disciplinary action against Daniel Pantaleo or other officers involved in Garner’s case by September, then, the NYPD will act.

“So I think the NYPD is doing exactly the right thing here,” de Blasio said Monday on NY1, of the Department that he controls.

“NYPD waited but it’s gotten to the point where for reasons I don’t understand we have never gotten a clear answer from the Justice Department. I think the NYPD is right now to proceed. And they are giving the Justice Department one final chance if they want to act, up or down, they can do that,” he said.

But past precedent and public statements from the Department of Justice suggest the city didn’t need to wait four years, or more, before beginning to examine whether the officers involved should be fired or punished for their role in Garner’s death. A letter from DOJ, written in response to the NYPD’s announcement that they would act if DOJ hadn’t, said federal officials had told the NYPD “this spring” that it could “move forward with its disciplinary proceedings.”

Garner’s mother Gwen Carr and police reform advocates pointed to examples where local police departments had moved to discipline officers before the DOJ had wrapped up civil rights investigations. In 1994, the NYPD fired officer Francis Livoti for the chokehold death of Anthony Baez, before Livoti was convicted on federal charges he’d violated Baez’s civil rights.

IT’S WEDNESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: [email protected] , [email protected] , and [email protected] , or on Twitter: @JimmyVielkind , @nahmias , and @dlippman .

WHERE’S ANDREW? Speaking at a noon press conference honoring Billy Joel.

WHERE’S BILL? delivering remarks at the Harlem Week Reception at Gracie Mansion and later, delivering remarks at the Bronx County Democrats Dinner.

WHERE’S CYNTHIA? No public schedule as of press time.

WHERE’S MARC? In Albany, attacking Cuomo over his use of state scholarship data.

The Tabloids: — Daily News: “LOST IN THE WOULDS”— New York Post: “WHOOPSKI!”— See Them : — Newsday:”SKELOS AND SON GUILTY IN RETRIAL” — El Diario New York: “Sin poder llegar el tren”—TRANSLATION: “Can’t get to the train” — See Them

The Free Papers: — Metro New York: “HAIL TO THE KNIGHTS”— AM New York: “FOR THE 100TH TIME”— See Them

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WHAT ALBANY IS READING:

— SMALL DONORS STILL AN AFTERTHOUGHT FOR CUOMO — POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney: Under pressure from challengers painting him as a captive of moneyed interests, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign has been touting recent growth in his typically-anemic small donor base, saying Monday night that 57 percent of his latest contributions were for $250 or less. But a close look at his campaign finance filing, posted online late Tuesday morning, show that small donations still played a negligible role in Cuomo's overall fundraising efforts. All told, donations from individuals for $250 or less accounted for $63,700 — just 1.09 percent of the $5.85 million in contributions that Cuomo received. And the math behind the 57 percent figure released by Cuomo’s campaign is dependent on contributions rather than contributors — one person, a Long Island City resident named Christopher Kim, made 69 contributions and was thus counted 69 times. And even then, 57 percent is only accurate if one rounds up from 56.37 percent, rather than rounding down, as most math textbooks would recommend. Still, the 1.09 percent amounts to a massive surge for the governor. In the comparable stretch of time four years ago, he raised only 0.12 percent of his money from people giving $250 or less. Read more here

— Shane Goldmacher in the New York TImes : “[Kim] shares the same address on his filing as one of Mr. Cuomo’s campaign aides, Julia Yang. ‘We appreciate his enthusiasm,’ said Abbey Collins, a spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo’s campaign. ‘Going forward, we’ll put measures in place to count contributions like this differently.’ But Mr. Kim was just one in a line of aides, relatives, roommates, allies, appointees and lobbyists sprinkled through Mr. Cuomo’s filing, giving tiny sums like $1 and $5. Mr. Cuomo’s finance director, Jennifer Bayer Michaels, whose firm received $126,500 from Mr. Cuomo in the filing period, donated $5. Other small donors included the father of one of Mr. Cuomo’s spokeswomen (who gave $1), the lobbyist father of Mr. Cuomo’s top aide (who gave $10), as well as others who share addresses with Mr. Cuomo’s paid campaign staff.”

— Cuomo’s donors include the Winklevoss twins , who gave $100,000 at the time the state was approving their new crypto-currency exchange. The governor did, however, give up some donations on Tuesday: His campaign said he’d be donating money at the center of two recent corruption trials.

— Crain’s Will Bredderman: “A Long Island-based state contractor gave the governor's re-election effort a whopping $162,405 in the first six months of 2018, apparently making it the largest contributor in that period….Haugland Group's website shows it and its affiliates have received hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts from Cuomo-controlled entities like New York City Transit , the Long Island Rail Road , the Long Island Power Authority , the Port Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation for everything from road paving to electrical work. The firm also appears to have been by far the lowest bidder on a $38 million contract for light-circuit replacement at Port Authority-owned John F. Kennedy Airport in December.” Read it here

— CUOMO CAMPAIGN SOLICITED EXCELSIOR SCHOLARS — New York Post’s Carl Campanile: “Despite privacy laws, Gov. Cuomo’s campaign obtained the names of students who scored one of the state’s new Excelsior Scholarships and solicited them to appear in an ad promoting Cuomo’s re-election. Federal law requires government and universities to protect students’ personal information and records. So how did the Cuomo campaign find these kids? It says it just happened to know that many of them had been invited to the governor’s 2018 State of the State speech — and asked the Cuomo administration for the invite list. ‘We requested any publicly available list of State of the State invitees,’ said Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Fashouer. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act generally protects the privacy of college student records — and forbids the release of personal identifying information about an individual student, according to Kristin O’Neil of the state’s own Committee on Open Government, which advises government about privacy laws.” Read more here

— SKELOS, SON GUILTY AGAIN — Newsday’s James Tiberius Madore: “A Manhattan federal jury on Tuesday convicted former State Senate leader and Long Island power broker Dean Skelos in his retrial of charges that he used his official power to corruptly secure work for his son, Adam. On their third day of deliberations, jurors also convicted Adam Skelos, who was accused in his retrial of conspiring with his father to shake down a real estate company, a malpractice insurer and a Nassau County contractor for more than $300,000. The father and son — each convicted on eight counts of conspiracy, extortion and bribery — briefly embraced and touched cheeks after the verdict was read.” Read more here

WHAT CITY HALL IS READING:

— “After blistering public fight, Council takes up vote to rein in Airbnb,” by POLITICO's Sally Goldenberg: “The City Council is scheduled to pass legislation Wednesday that would damage home-sharing giant Airbnb in one of its largest markets across the globe, punctuating a high-stakes fight between the $31 billion company and the hotel workers union. The battle is about money, politics, housing policy and optics and it crystallized in a matter of days the deep roots the Hotel Trades Council has among city lawmakers: Virtually no one was willing to side with the ubiquitous short-term rental company in the face of what most politicians described as a relatively modest push from a union that poured more than $100,000 into city elections last year. For all its money and popularity, Airbnb was no match politically. The legislation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign, would require Airbnb report detailed information on all its booked listings monthly to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, which has ramped up violations against home-sharing in recent years. Each undisclosed listing could carry a $25,000 fine.” Read the story here

UBER ANTES UP — POLITICO’s Dana Rubinstein: With New York City preparing to more tightly regulate Uber, the Silicon Valley unicorn will on Wednesday announce a $1 million effort in pursuit of an alternative traffic-reduction method. Congestion pricing “is the best way to fix the subways and ease congestion in Manhattan and everyone — whether using a delivery truck, personal vehicle, taxi or Uber — should pay their fair share to help keep the city moving,” said Uber’s regional general manager, Sarfraz Maredia, in a statement provided to POLITICO. More here

“Ex-Jails Chief in New York Is Fined $18,500 for Improper Car Use”— New York Times’s William Neuman: “The former New York City correction commissioner, Joseph Ponte, has paid the city $18,500 as a penalty for his improper use of a city vehicle for personal trips, including many to his former home in Maine, according to the Conflicts of Interest Board. In a signed disposition, Mr. Ponte acknowledged that his abrupt resignation last year was “in part because of the conduct” related to his improper vehicle use — contradicting statements made at the time by Mayor Bill de Blasio...After Mr. Ponte’s far-flung travels were revealed last year in a report by the Department of Investigation , Mr. de Blasio said that Mr. Ponte would reimburse the city for every mile driven and all gas and tolls 'from the day he came on board.' The investigation department issued its report on Mr. Ponte in April 2017, and he announced in May that he would retire. But Mr. de Blasio insisted at the time that Mr. Ponte had been planning to retire and that his departure was not prompted by the vehicle use scandal.” Read it here.

TRASH WARS: A NEW HOPE — POLITICO’s Danielle Muoio: After years of languishing in the City Council, a bill aimed at reducing the amount of trash processed in overburdened districts will go up for a Wednesday floor vote. The bill, Intro 157 , targets four districts — located in north Brooklyn, southeast Queens and the south Bronx — that handle 64 percent of the waste collected by the city’s private carting industry. The legislation has been a top priority for Council Member Antonio Reynoso, and recent backing from Speaker Corey Johnson could finally push the controversial measure over the finish line. But the bill is far less aggressive than prior versions of the legislation, highlighting how industry lobbying has curtailed a significant piece of legislation championed by environmental groups and community activists. Intro 157 is likely to only result in waste reductions in half of the transfer stations targeted in the bill. And the way the bill is written, it’s not clear whether residents will witness a noticeable decline in the amount of trash being hauled into their district. Read more here

TRUMP’S NEW YORK

— NEW YORK LEADS TAX SUIT — Buffalo News’ Tom Precious: “Seven months after making the legal threat, Cuomo said Tuesday that New York has joined three other states to sue the federal government over new tax limits on state and local deductions on next year’s federal tax forms. The lawsuit will be filed today in federal court in Manhattan and will feature an expedited hearing request by New York State, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland. Cuomo, in a phone call with reporters in which he cited words by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln, called the new federal tax law ‘un-American’ and one that targets states with high numbers of registered Democratic voters, such as New York. ‘This is their political attempt to hurt Democratic states. It is totally repugnant and hypocritical of the fundamental conservative ideology which they preach,’ Cuomo said of President Trump and congressional Republicans who pushed through the new tax laws and a $10,000 limit on deductions of state and local tax, known as SALT, in the partisan tax fight.” Read more here

“De Blasio Administration Slams “Shockingly Biased” Federal Bill on Faith-Based Foster Care and Adoption” — Chronicle of Social Change’s Michael Fitzgerald: “Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is speaking out against a proposed federal bill that protects faith-based foster care agencies that refuse to place adoptive or foster children with qualified LGBT adults.The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, were it to become law, would impose a massive financial penalty for states that took “adverse action” against faith-based providers that choose not to work with gay couples, single people, or members of another religion. If New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) declined to change a Bloomberg-era anti-discrimination policy, New York State could be exposed to that penalty.” Read it here

ERIC TRUMP CAMEO AT PIRRO PARTY — Page Six: “While his president dad, Donald Trump , was caught in controversy over his Helsinki meeting on Monday, Eric Trump — who keeps a low public profile — was seen out at a pro-Trump book bash. The first son was spotted with wife Lara at a launch of Jeanine Pirro’s ‘ Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy ’ at Tender at Sanctuary Hotel. (Pirro defended the president’s performance with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, asking on ‘Fox & Friends’: ‘What was he supposed to do, take a gun out and shoot Putin?’) At her book party, ‘Eric came in, circled the room for about 15 minutes,’ a spy said. ‘He avoided drinks — and discussing the Russia stuff — before making a quick exit.’ Also at the event were Geraldo Rivera, Bernie Kerik, Monica Crowley and sporting goods guru Mitch Modell. Pirro’s poodle, Sir Lancelot, also made an appearance by arriving in high style via a chauffeured car with a handler, we’re told.” Read it here.

2018: Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman is out with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging voters to vote for Joe Crowley on the Working Families Party line: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley seems likely to hurt Congress, America and the Democratic Party. It doesn’t have to.Because the policies Ms. Ocasio-Cortez advocates are so far from the mainstream, her election in November would make it harder for Congress to stop fighting and start fixing problems. Thanks to a small percentage of primary votes, all of the people of New York’s 14th Congressional District stand to lose a very effective representative in Washington. Fortunately, Joe Crowley and the voters in his district can prevent this damage. On Election Day, his name will be on the ballot as the endorsed candidate of the Working Families Party. But for Mr. Crowley to have a chance at getting re-elected, he will have to decide if he wants to remain an active candidate. I hope he does.” Read it here

JUST RELEASED: View the latest POLITICO/AARP poll to better understand Arizona voters over 50, a voting bloc poised to shape the midterm election outcome. Get up to speed on priority issues for Hispanic voters age 50+, who will help determine whether Arizona turns blue or stays red. Read it here

Catch all the highlights from Tuesday's POLITICO Pro Summit. Video clips, event content and more are now available from a full day of incisive policy conversations. View Summit Highlights.

SOCIAL DATA:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, is 71 -- Q&A: http://bit.ly/2zLf8g0 … Candid’s Varun Anand, an HFA alum, is 24 … David Vandivier of BNY Mellon ... John Yanchek, associate at ArcLight Capital Partners and a Goldman Sachs alum ... CNBC’s Jackie DeAngelis ... Britta Towle of PR firm Battalion (hubby tip: Rowan Morris) ... Dillon Fontaine is 3-0 ... Omar Kasule … Michael Luongo … GlobalFoundries lobbyist Greg Connors … lobbyist Sid Davidoff, one of four living members on the enemies list created by Nixon’s aides Chuck Colson and John Dean

HAPPENING TODAY -- per a tipster: “At 11 a.m. at Brooklyn Housing Court, progressive state Senate candidate Julia Salazar will announce a major new endorsement.”

ON THE MOVE: Sabeel Rahman has been named the new president of Demos. … John Tomlin has joined Mercury as a vice president in its New York City office. He was previously an aide to Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins. ... Jesse Meyer is now working for Aaron Gladd’s state Senate campaign. … Steven J. Weiss, managing partner at Cannon Heyman & Weiss, LLP, has joined the board of the Community Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization finance company. … Maria Paula Corre will be the private secretary to the new president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, who previously worked for Luís Alberto Moreno at the Inter American Development Bank. She most recently was the senior director of strategic engagement of Concordia.

MORNING MEDIA, with POLITICO’s Michael Calderone:

‘THAT EXCUSE JUST DEFIES ALL BELIEVABILITY,’ Associated Press reporter Jonathan Lemire said Tuesday in response to President Donald Trump’s convoluted attempt to walk back having taken the word of Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies more than 24 hours earlier. Lemire said that even if Trump “did actually misspeak in that one sentence, to take that as fact means you had to ignore the rest of the press conference.”

- And the president didn’t claim to have misspoken during his post-press conference interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity. He was reportedly pleased with his performance until seeing negative coverage Monday aboard Air Force One. Even reliably pro-Trump “Fox & Friends” highlighted criticism of Trump's remarks on Tuesday, with co-host Brian Kilmeade urging a correction.

- “Trump appears to have been listening,” reports POLITICO's Eliana Johnson, who notes the president was said to be “far more impacted by external critics, including those on Fox, than by any of his advisers.” Trump’s attempted walk-back may satisfy some media allies, though journalists were quick to point out he still suggested “other people” beyond Russia could be at fault.

- By Tuesday night, Trump was back to lashing out at the press, tweeting: “The meeting between President Putin and myself was a great success, except in the Fake News Media!” Of course, the public has to take Trump's word for it considering that it’s still unknown what exactly Trump spoke to Putin about for nearly two hours in private.

- What happened in Helsinki is sure to be discussed more today when “CBS Evening News” anchor Jeff Glor interviews Trump at the White House.

-- IRIN CARMON is joining New York magazine as a senior correspondent, CNN’s Oliver Darcy scooped. She helped break the Charlie Rose #MeToo story for the Washington Post and co-wrote “The Notorious RBG,” a biography of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

You can read the full Morning Media column and sign up to receive it in your inbox by clicking here.

Link: https://www.politico.com/magazine/thedeciders

REAL ESTATE, with POLITICO New York’s Sally Goldenberg:

TWO CITIES — New York Post’s Yoav Gonen: “NYCHA failed to report to the feds more than half of the cases of elevated blood lead levels in its buildings over a yearlong period, as required under the regulations. A revised Lead Safe Housing Rule that went into effect on July 13, 2017, mandates that New York Housing Authority and similar housing agencies report all cases of ‘Elevated Blood Lead Level’ in young kids to the feds within five days. Records obtained by The Post from the Department of Housing and Urban Development show it received just 17 such reports from NYCHA from July 2017 through June 2018. But NYCHA has publicly stated that there were 40 such cases during that stretch — a time when the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office was already well into an investigation of the authority’s systemic failures to protect kids from lead hazards.” More here .

City OKs controversial tower being built on oddly shaped lot — Crain’s’ Joe Anuta: “The city's Board of Standards and Appeals ruled against opponents of a 668-foot apartment tower rising on the Upper West Side, bringing a more than yearlong challenge to a close. However, neighborhood groups are discussing plans for a lawsuit. The project, 200 Amsterdam, is being built by SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America using a bizarrely shaped zoning lot— separate from the physical property —that snakes around the block to pick up unused development rights from neighboring owners. Neighborhood groups argued to the Department of Buildings in the spring that the zoning lot was not up to code. And after the department affirmed its original approval in the fall, opponents took their case to the Board of Standards and Appeals, which today reaffirmed the agency's decision to grant a building permit.” Read it here

You can find the free version of Sally’s real estate newsletter here: http://politi.co/2a1DgJk

AROUND NEW YORK:

— Former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano spent $900,000 in campaign funds on his legal bills in the first half of the year.

— Nixon did an interview with Bustle.

— Rep. Greg Meeks appears to be one of the unnamed Congressmen who traveled to Moscow and met with alleged Russian spy Maria Butina.

— One person has died in New York City in the most recent Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak, which has infected at least 18 people.

— Owners of New York City bars and clubs avoid summonses and fines more than 99 percent of the time after receiving official complaints through the city’s 311 system.

— A judge cleared the way for LIRR commuters to sue the railroad over the “unsafe conditions” for passengers during last year’s “summer of hell.”

THE HOME TEAMS — by Howard Megdal:

Aaron Judge homered in Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All Star Game.

Tina Charles was selected to the WNBA All Star Game.

Wings 104, Liberty 87: Not what Katie Smith and company had in mind. Liz Cambage scored 53 points, a WNBA record, to send New York to a loss. Kia Nurse was a bright spot off the bench, scoring 25.

#UpstateAmerica: An artist is installing Frederick Douglass statues throughout Rochester.

#ZooYork: Peter Luger is expanding to Tokyo

FOR MORE political and policy news from New York, check out Politico New York’s home page: http://politi.co/1MkLGXV

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