School delayed again — Progressives jealous of New Jersey on taxing the rich — NYC unemployment dwarfs national rate Presented by Ørsted

New York City schools will not open for most students as planned on Monday, after Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to delay his push to bring back in-person education in the nation’s largest school district.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it has happened before: Facing threats of a teachers’ strike, the mayor earlier this month delayed the first day of school which was originally set for Sept. 10. He swore up and down that schools would be ready to open instead on Sept. 21. Right before the bell, he now admits they won’t be.


Here's a sampling of reactions from parents, teachers and elected officials: “ Incredibly unfair and disrespectful ,” “ a confusing mess ,” “ a massive failure of leadership ,” “ so demoralizing ,” “ f— this up royally ,” “ pushed beyond the breaking point ,” “ a slap in the face ,” “ want to scream .”

Now, only pre-kindergarten, early education classes for 3-year-olds, and special education classes will open in person on Monday. Elementary and K-8 schools are now slated to open on Sept. 29, and middle and high schools will open on Oct. 1.

While there were a host of safety and logistical concerns facing the first day of school, the one that ended up derailing the reopening was a shortage of teachers. Thousands of teachers, in fact. The teacher shortage has been well-known for weeks, and the principals union began sounding the alarm about it in August. So why wait so long to act? De Blasio said that despite the public warnings, it was only an hourslong meeting he had on Wednesday with the presidents of the teachers and principals unions that convinced him the problem was real and insurmountable.

In announcing the delay on Thursday, the mayor declined to offer two things that parents may have been hoping for. One was a guarantee that schools will actually open on their new, twice-revised schedule. The other was an apology. Instead, he said that because parents are mostly working class or lower-income and live in the outer boroughs, they “understand the realities of life” and are “a lot more pragmatic than you might imagine.” “The vast majority of parents appreciate that we’re trying to bring back schools for their kids, rather than giving up,” de Blasio said.

IT’S FRIDAY. Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown tonight. We hope all those celebrating get to eat lots of great food and stay safe. Shana tova. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: [email protected] and [email protected] , or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERE’S ANDREW? In Albany with no public events scheduled.

WHERE’S BILL? Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer show.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I’ve never been jealous of Jersey before.” — Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, on Trenton rallying around a millionaire’s tax before Albany

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WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

“THE NUMBER OF deaths reported to the New York City Chief Medical Examiner’s Office more than doubled amid the coronavirus pandemic — described as 'the largest mass fatality incident in modern NYC history' in the mayor’s new management report released Thursday. The number of deaths reported to OCME skyrocketed from 30,964 in fiscal year 2019 (July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019) to 65,712 in FY 2020 (July 1, 2019 through June 30), ‘corresponding to the surge in NYC deaths during the pandemic,’ the annual report on city services said. The number of cremation applications reviewed by the ME also jumped from 17,148 to 27,863 from the prior year. The number of remains stored in the morgue also surged from 11,281 to 17,606.” New York Post’s Carl Campanile and Julia Marsh

HOMELESS FAMILIES staying at the Harmonia shelter in Midtown reported missing meals on Thursday, amid confusion over plans to transfer them elsewhere as a consequence of the mayor’s decision to kick homeless men out of the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side. The city said earlier this week it would pause transferring people out of both facilities, following pushback from numerous elected officials and the threat of a lawsuit from the Legal Aid Society. But a lack of clarity around the plans has caused a food shortage at the Harmonia, Legal Aid and families at the facility say — adding more chaos to an already chaotic week. They attribute the problems to the shelter provider not ordering enough food because they were expecting the transfers to have happened by now when a different provider would have taken over. Instead, they were left in a state of limbo by the city. POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha

— The number of New Yorkers sleeping on the Big Apple’s streets or in its subways climbed to a near-five year high in 2020 during the pandemic, as the homeless shelter population fell.

“IN FEBRUARY, before the pandemic forced the shutdown of the economy, the national unemployment rate was 3.5%. The jobless rate in New York City was 3.4%, a historic low, and the state labor department counted a record 4.698 million jobs. Now a recovery divide is growing between the city and the rest of the country. The latest figures, released Thursday, put New York’s unemployment rate at 16 % compared with 8.4% nationwide, following the city’s hemorrhaging of 689,000 jobs from its peak. While the nation remains mired in a severe downturn, almost nowhere is the economy worse than New York City, once the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic and now the epicenter of financial pain. The City’s Greg David

“NEW YORK’S Metropolitan Transportation Authority is warning its subway car makers, bus manufacturers and other suppliers that many of the agency’s contracts are at risk if it fails to receive $12 billion of federal aid to cover lost revenue during the pandemic. Pat Foye, chief executive officer of the MTA, sent letters to Kawasaki Rail Car Inc., New Flyer of America Inc., Bombardier Transportation and other suppliers Thursday, stressing the need for additional federal funding and highlighting the potential amount of jobs at stake in a vendor’s state. 'I am writing to alert you that because of this financial devastation, many current and all future contracts are in jeopardy without an injection of $12 billion in emergency federal aid,' Foye wrote. Foye’s letter is a warning to the companies but also to federal lawmakers as the MTA has said vendors and suppliers from Republican-leaning states and regions rely on the agency’s business.” Bloomberg’s Michelle Kaske

— “As cities emerge from lockdowns and people return to public spaces, the new cultural wars over wearing a mask — or refusing to — have sparked confrontations in retail stores, parks and restaurants. But in New York, where mask compliance has been generally high in most indoor settings, many of these confrontations are playing out on buses, where dozens of drivers have been attacked after trying to enforce the rules.” New York Times’ Christina Goldbaum

“THE MENTAL HEALTH hotline that’s a cornerstone of the $1.25 billion mental health plan run by Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife saw a 17 percent surge in calls during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — but still missed its annual target to actually connect people to services. In fact, the number of ‘supportive connections’ to suicide prevention, counseling and other services at first lady Chirlane McCray’s ThriveNYC declined by over 12,000 from 2019, when the city wasn’t experiencing a public health crisis.” New York Post’s Julia Marsh

SCHOOL CLOSURE NEWS: Yeshiva Darchei Torah will remain closed through Sept. 28 over a spike in Covid-19 cases that forced the city to shut down the school.





WHAT ALBANY'S READING

NEW YORKERS campaigning for higher taxes on the wealthy to help close an historic budget gap now find themselves looking towards Trenton for inspiration. Despite months of liberal activism designed to persuade Albany to raise rates on millionaires and billionaires, no such increase has been implemented. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, officials have announced an agreement to impose a new millionaire’s tax. It would subject annual income of more than $1 million to the top rate of 10.75 percent, which was previously applied only to income above $5 million. To the supporters of new taxes in New York, it’s a sign that Albany could and should get moving on one of the myriad of revenue options they’ve embraced.

“If a former Goldman Sachs executive thinks it’s appropriate to raise taxes on the wealthiest, that’s a good indicator of how noncontroversial of an item it should be,” said Democrat Emily Gallagher, who is expected to be elected to a Brooklyn Assembly seat in November, referring to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s past life. “We should have done this first. We had an opportunity to lead and we didn’t. But it’s OK to be second.” “It also shows a little bit about leadership,” said Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou (D-Manhattan). "I’ve never been jealous of Jersey before.” POLITICO’s Bill Mahoney and Anna Gronewold

“THREE DAYS into the new school year, [Schenectady] board members signed off on slashing dozens of additional staff and administrators as the district struggles to make up for a projected $28.7 million loss in state aid tied to the coronavirus crisis. The cuts were made over the objection of one school board member, Nohelani Etienne, and as the state's budget director, Robert Mujica, asserted school districts were acting prematurely in making mass layoffs and that the state has only withheld a fraction of the funds educators fear they'll lose. But on Wednesday, Acting Superintendent of Schools Aaron Bochniak and other school leaders warned that the district, which welcomed students back online and in person Monday, would be in even more financial trouble if it waited on cuts in hopes of getting more state funds with no guarantee the money will materialize. ‘If we waited until January, the amount of cuts that we’re making would have to be double because we would already have spent that money,’ said Bochniak. ‘This was really to slow the bleed as much as possible.’” Times Union’s Paul Nelson

“ENROLLMENT AT SUNY’s 64 campuses fell nearly 6% for this fall semester compared to last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing a downward trend of enrollment at New York public colleges over the past decade, new figures showed. SUNY enrollment is now down 16% over the past decade — and a whopping 30% at community colleges. Overall, SUNY enrollment was at about 394,500 this fall, a drop of nearly 24,000 students since last year and almost 77,000 since 2010, according to the data released by SUNY officials at its Board of Trustees meeting this week. Still, SUNY officials said the decline this semester is actually less than they expected as they feared the coronavirus would keep more students from enrolling in classes, whether in-person or online. The majority of students are online only this fall, the data showed.” USA Today Network’s Joseph Spector

#UpstateAmerica: Stewart’s is discontinuing Mountain Brew Ice and Mountain Brew Light after a decade of selling the “bottom shelf” beers.





TRUMP'S NEW YORK

“PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s son Eric is willing to comply with a subpoena to testify in a New York investigation into the family’s business practice, but only after the Nov. 3 election, the Trumps’ lawyers said in a court filing Thursday. The lawyers argued Eric Trump’s ‘extreme travel schedule’ related to his father’s reelection campaign prevented him from testifying sooner in state Attorney General Letitia James’ civil probe. They said they also wanted ‘to avoid the use of his deposition attendance for political purposes.’” Associated Press’ Michael R. Sisak

“A FORMER MODEL has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her at the US Open tennis tournament more than two decades ago, in an alleged incident that left her feeling ‘sick’ and ‘violated’. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Amy Dorris alleged that Trump accosted her outside the bathroom in his VIP box at the tournament in New York on 5 September 1997. Dorris, who was 24 at the time, accuses Trump of forcing his tongue down her throat, assaulting her all over her body and holding her in a grip she was unable to escape from. ‘He just shoved his tongue down my throat and I was pushing him off. And then that’s when his grip became tighter and his hands were very gropey and all over my butt, my breasts, my back, everything. ‘I was in his grip, and I couldn’t get out of it,’ she said, adding: ‘I don’t know what you call that when you’re sticking your tongue just down someone’s throat. But I pushed it out with my teeth. I was pushing it. And I think I might have hurt his tongue.’” The Guardian’s Lucy Osborne

“LEV PARNAS, the Soviet-born businessman who teamed up with Rudolph W. Giuliani to collect damaging information on President Trump’s political rivals, faced new federal charges Thursday that he duped investors in a company he founded that ostensibly protected consumers against fraud. Mr. Parnas, who already had been indicted on campaign finance violations in October 2019, was accused in the additional charges of conspiring to defraud investors in the start-up he created, Fraud Guarantee. The new indictment was announced by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan and by the F.B.I., which also brought the earlier case against Mr. Parnas and three other men.” New York Times’ William K. Rashbaum and Ben Protess

... 2020 VISION ...

TODAY: Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is endorsing Democrat Nancy Goroff for Congress in New York’s 1st District.

“FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS, Democrat Rebecca Seawright has represented Manhattan’s Upper East Side in the State Assembly, but due to a filing error, she lost the ballot position in May after her petitions were challenged in court. ‘It was a minor technicality,’ Seawright said. ‘It was a late cover sheet, but we are just so energized to be meeting voters and running on the Rise and Unite line.’ If you haven’t heard of the Rise and Unite party before, it’s because it’s made up for this election. Seawright is still running on her record, including her sponsorship of a bill requiring 3D mammograms, and a Civil Rights amendment. Seawright is being challenged by Lou Puliafito, an Upper East Side doorman, who’s running as a Republican. ‘I think she is taking the neighborhood and the Democratic support for granted,’ said Puliafito. ‘And that is why she failed to file the papers correctly.’ In yet another twist in this race, a third candidate, Patrick Bobilin, is running as an independent to Seawright’s left.” NY1’s Zack Fink

“REP. MAX ROSE and Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis’ nationally watched campaign for Staten Island’s House seat has turned into a referendum on Mayor Bill de Blasio. Both candidates in the swing-district race are slamming the mayor as their contest to represent the only borough to go for President Donald Trump in 2016 has become increasingly focused on city governance. ‘Bill de Blasio is the worst mayor in the history of New York City,’ Rose trumpeted in a much-discussed digital ad released last week, trashing his fellow Democrat. Meanwhile, Malliotakis, a Republican who got trounced everywhere but Staten Island in her 2017 challenge to de Blasio, is determined in her ads to tie the freshman rep to the mayor.” The City’s Clifford Michel





FROM THE DELEGATION

“IN A RARE SHOW of bipartisanship, all 27 members of New York’s congressional delegation are expected to sign on to a letter calling on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to ‘immediately’ return millions of dollars that the Trump administration has taken from the FDNY’s 9/11 health care program, the Daily News has learned. The unusual letter comes in response to reporting by The News revealing that the Treasury Department has over the past four years withheld nearly $4 million from the FDNY’s World Trade Center Health Program, which bankrolls medical services for the city agency’s 9/11 survivors. The Mnuchin missive, which The News obtained, was still being circulated among New York’s 21 Democratic and six Republican members of Congress on Thursday afternoon, but a source familiar with the matter said he expected ‘virtually the whole delegation’ to sign. The letter will be sent late Thursday or early Friday, the source added.” Daily News’ Michael Mcauliff And Chris Sommerfeldt

HOUSE DEMOCRATS are dismissing an internal review initiated by Eastman Kodak's board that claimed there was no evidence of illegal insider stock transactions at the company around a planned $765 million government loan to launch pharmaceutical production. House coronavirus subcommittee Chairman Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said the report “raises more questions than it answers” about the Trump administration's efforts to provide the loan despite the photography company’s lack of experience in the field and about windfalls gained by the company’s leaders. POLITICO’s Zachary Warmbrodt





AROUND NEW YORK

— A federal appeals court kept in place a prohibition on the release of police disciplinary records by the city while police unions appeal a lower court ruling that backed the release.

— It will cost $32 million more per week to open schools this year due to staffing, cleaning, and coronavirus testing expenses, the IBO estimates.

— New York City crime rose in fiscal year 2020, according to a City Hall report. Other findings include the relative stability of garbage pickup, and an increase in street homelessness despite less families and adults entering the shelter system.

— “Medical cannabis industry leaders and New Yorkers who rely on the program are urging the Cuomo administration to finalize and release long-awaited regulations, which they say have stalled amid the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

— A fire truck crashed into an ambulance in Brooklyn, killing the patient and critically injuring his sister.

— The Manhattan gynecologist who got a controversial no-jail deal for sexually assaulting patients was allowed to walk because the Manhattan DA’s office was caught withholding evidence, according to the doctor’s lawyers.

— Mount Vernon’s fiscal woes are attributable to the lack of financial transparency, leaving the City Council with no effective fiscal oversight of city operations, a state audit revealed.

— Members of the state attorney general’s office testified Thursday that former Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove and Troy police stonewalled their requests for information after the 2016 police shooting of Edson Thevenin.

SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Ric Grenell is 54 … Joan Walsh, producer of Peacock’s “The Sit In,” writer for The Nation and a CNN political contributor … Chris Lucas of BNYMellon’s D.C. office (h/t wife Jane) … WaPo’s Desmond Butler … Ben Dye … The Guardian’s Chris Taylor … Edelman’s Andrew Church ... Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble is 78 … Jackie Calmes … Adam Keiper (h/t Alice Lloyd)

WEEKEND WEDDING — Tatia Rosenthal, a writer/director, married Jim Hodgson, homeless outreach supervisor at Grand Central Terminal who previously practiced law (class action securities litigation) for a decade. The couple met on OKCupid. Pic

DEEP DIVE — “Skyhorse Publishing’s House of Horrors: Skyhorse Publishing, literary home to Michael Cohen, Woody Allen, and Alan Dershowitz, has struggled with bigger problems than a roster of political unsavories. Interviews suggest a history of workplace toxicity and inappropriate behavior,” by Vanity Fair’s Keziah Weir

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REAL ESTATE

“REAL ESTATE AGENTS from Long Island on Thursday fervently denied accusations that they steered certain homebuyers to particular communities and engaged in other alleged discriminatory practices. The real estate brokers and agents testified during a state Senate hearing on the alleged discriminatory housing practices that were uncovered in an in-depth investigation by Newsday. They defended their practices and protocols, contending that newspaper’s report took statements out of context. ‘I was extremely disappointed to see my test was featured in this article and that Newsday reached such an erroneous conclusion from a test taken months apart,’ Donna Rogers, a realtor with Douglas Elliman, testified. ‘My actions had nothing to do with race. I was influenced by each tester’s stated abilities and interests. It sickens me that my name was associated with this article and that my actions were so grossly misconstrued.’” Times Union’s Amanda Fries

“THE BATTLE OVER the proposed Industry City rezoning in Brooklyn has reached another tension point — between current employees and their union. The union, 32BJ SEIU, which represents 80,000 service workers throughout the city and region, supports the rezoning, advanced by developers who promise as many as 20,000 jobs. The union has been organizing with maintenance and custodial workers at the sprawling Sunset Park manufacturing and shopping complex since April 2019, but they still have not reached a contract agreement with management. The workers seek increased wages, a pension plan and other benefits. Now, nearly a year and a half after talks began, some have grown restless. Six Industry City employees, all 32BJ members, testified against the proposed expansion plan at a 12-hour-long City Council hearing Tuesday. The workers, citing their own collective bargaining agreement woes, say they have no faith their employer’s proposed project will generate thousands of ‘fair jobs,’ they testified.” The City’s Claudia Irizarry Aponte

