With help from Shawn Ness
New from New York
Happening now:
- Michael Carey, an advocate for patients with disabilities and a regular presence at the state Capitol, said he was pressured by state Sen. Kevin Parker.
- Labor chairs of the state Legislature want to do more to protect retail workers.
- Efforts to move migrants north of the state to five counties have been slow.
- Today there was a new class of State Police graduates.
CAPITOL FIGHT: State Senator Kevin Parker allegedly pushed disability rights advocate Michael Carey before the start of the Senate Energy Committee meeting today, according to Carey and two other people who witnessed the altercation.
Carey, who is known for defending lawmakers, shared with POLITICO a copy of a police report he filed, which can be read here.
In it, Carey alleges that the lawmaker approached him and shouted, “I don’t care,” before putting his hands on him twice and pushing him in front of a room full of people, according to the report and a subsequent interview.
At the same time as the incident was unfolding, the screams could be I heard it on the recording of the electoral committee taking place next door, on the first floor of the Capitol.
Parker did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Playbook.
He is Known for his explosive outbursts and physical altercations, which include allegedly shoving a legislative staffer, breaking a New York Post photographer’s camera and swearing at other lawmakers. Carey said she was completely unaware of this history, which includes being convicted of a misdemeanor for the altercation with the Post photographer.
“There are several situations,” Carey said. “He is a danger to other people. He was a danger to me.
The disability advocate said the incident began minutes before the committee meeting, when he asked Parker to co-sponsor a Civil Rights Bill 911which he is trying to pass into law in memory of his son, who died in 2007 in a group home.
When Parker, chairman of the energy committee, said he was looking into the matter, Carey said he told Parker the issue was analogous to Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight against discrimination and reminded Parker of his son’s death. Parker then shouted “I don’t care” when Carey mentioned her dead son and moved inches away from Carey’s face before pushing him, according to Carey.
Witnesses, who were granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, said Carey also yelled at Parker during the incident.
Carey then said he left the meeting and requested that a state trooper come to the scene. He asked the officer to inform Parker that if he apologized to Carey, he would not press charges. Parker did not apologize and instead invoked his right to an attorney, Carey said.
“I was kind of shocked, he didn’t apologize,” he said.
State Sen. Mario R. Mattera, a Republican from Long Island who serves as the ranking member of the Energy Committee, also said he witnessed the altercation but declined to elaborate.
“There were tensions, yes, there were tensions, and it was unfortunate in many ways, but this is something that Senator Parker and that gentleman need to overcome, and I hope they can,” Mattera said.
He also said it was inappropriate for Carey to bring up the issue of the bill at the committee meeting rather than trying to speak with Parker in his office.
Carey said he wants a restraining order against the senator.
“I understand that when people don’t deal with anger issues, they end up hurting other people,” Carey said. -Jason Beeferman
CRIME IN RETAIL IS NOT OVER: Governor Kathy Hochul worked hard to reach a budget deal that included repression about retail theft, but Labor Legislature chairs said the state government needs to go further to protect workers.
“There were some things done in the budget regarding retail workers that were punitive and all related to law enforcement,” said Assemblyman Harry Bronson, a Democrat from Rochester. “We need more than that.”
The budget raised assaults on retail workers from a misdemeanor to a felony. It also created dedicated retail theft teams for state and local law enforcement and added $5 million in tax incentives for store security cameras and other anti-theft expenses.
But labor rights advocates say they need more proactive measures, rather than “punitive” ones, to protect retail workers.
They are pushing for Retail Worker Safety Actsponsored by Bronson and State Senator Jessica Ramos, which would require retailers in the state to train employees in de-escalation and violence prevention tactics.
The two legislators also mobilized this week in favor of three other labor bills: reduce injuries to warehouse workers; for set standards for extreme temperatures while working in agriculture, construction and other industries and a third for supervise beauty salon workers rights.
“We have a very important decision to make about whether we are going to tip the scales toward workers or whether we are going to continue to allow the scales to be tipped toward the bosses,” Ramos said Tuesday at a rally at the Capitol. “And I say no to that. I say ‘Yes’ to protecting workers.”
The New York State Retail Council is working to oppose Ramos and Bronson’s Retail Worker Safety Act.
“The costly mandates proposed in the bill – including onerous record-keeping requirements, panic buttons and additional security guards – will do little or nothing to deal with repeat offenders who enter stores with the intention of engaging in illegal activity, such as shoplifting and assaults,” Melissa O. ‘Connor, the group’s president, wrote in a memo of opposition.
Justin Henry, Hochul’s spokesman, did not comment on the Labor presidents’ bills, but instead pointed to Hochul’s comments on retail theft earlier this month:
“No one wants to see their neighborhood stores boarded up because business owners simply say, ‘I can’t do this anymore. It’s just not working. It’s not worth it,’” Hochul said in a post-budget retail theft Press conference. “This threatens the very vitality of these communities, which I will stop at nothing to protect.” -Jason Beeferman
RELOCATION OF MIGRANTS: After the state launched a program to relocate migrant families who moved to New York City to upstate areas last August, it only relocated 283 families, according to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which administers the program. Read the full story here.
Only five counties received families: Albany, Erie, Monroe, Westchester and Suffolk; all with below-average housing vacancy rates. Nearly 1,000 families were waitlisted or found ineligible after being referred to the program.
“We are practically at the limit. We are at the limit. I only have 320,000 residents in this county and we already have a housing crisis,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. “We’re having trouble getting people into housing.”
And plans to offer bonuses and incentives to owners for joining the program have not been very successful. Despite these problems, the state is still committed to relocating families.
“OTDA is committed to helping migrant families who choose to relocate through the Migrant Relocation Assistance Program,” the agency said in a statement. -Shawn Ness
SZN GRADUATION: The state police force now has 4,977 officers after Hochul congratulated 228 new troopers upon graduating from the academy today.
“Today’s graduates have dedicated themselves to a life of public service and are making a commitment to serve and protect all New Yorkers,” Hochul said in a statement.
Three different awards were also presented to some selected graduates. Nicholas Krafft received the Academic Achievement Award; Matthew Grant received the Firearms Proficiency Award; and Dominick Battaglia received the Joseph T. Aversa Investigator Physical Fitness Award.
“Today’s ceremony is one of our finest traditions and introduces a new generation of highly trained men and women to the New York State Police. These new troopers will serve New Yorkers with honor, integrity and bravery, and I welcome them to our ranks,” State Police Superintendent Steven James said in a statement. -Shawn Ness
RESEARCH OBSERVER PRESSURE: Advocates are calling on lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow nonpartisan groups to be certified to send neutral observers to polling places on Election Day.
“In this highly polarized context, having neutral eyes on the ground so we can verify what is really happening in our polling places, which 99 percent of the time are organized and exactly how we want them to be, helps increase transparency and improve public faith in elections,” said Common Cause New York Executive Director Susan Lerner.
She noted that under current law, the only people who can be certified as observers are chosen by candidates and parties.
“This appears to be a pretty straightforward, common-sense solution to a problem that occasionally arises when a voter is improperly turned away for any reason,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, who sponsors the bill with Representative Amy Paulin. -Bill Mahoney
MIGRANT CRISIS: Rep. Ed Ra and other lawmakers attending the Republican minority conference are calling for a legislative hearing with New York City officials and organizations that are under contract to provide migrant-related services.
O Times Union reported on Monday over ongoing concerns with one of the main vendors, DocGo.
“This year, the state budget allocated 2.4 billion dollars to face the migration crisis, a considerable expansion of an expense that must be borne by New York taxpayers. Without the necessary protections for fiscal responsibility, these funds are at risk of the fraud and abuse we have become accustomed to with emergency government contracts that lack transparency and oversight guidance,” Ra, a Long Island Republican, said in a statement.
Republicans are also calling for the passage of one of the accounts of Ra that would be mandate reporting and audits on how money for migrant programs is being spent. It is co-sponsored by fellow Republicans. -Shawn Ness
– Two New York Democrats reintroduced a federal bill restricting public access to bulletproof vests one day after the two-year anniversary of the Buffalo Tops shooting. (State of Politics)
— State lawmakers are working on pass a bill to encourage emergency medical service providers to continue working. (Union of Times)
– The Seneca Nation of Indians is still in tense negotiations with the State over its pact. (POLITICIAN Pro)
This story originally appeared on Politico.com read the full story
