City & State New York 030220

IS NY READY FOR CORONAVIRUS? CUOMO’S PLAN TO MARK DOWN MEDS

MAGIC MIKE BLOOMBERG MUSCLED IN ON CITY HALL — CAN HE DO IT AGAIN?

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

March 2, 2020

New York, your insurance company doesn’t pay full price for medicines.

So why do you?

Patients share the costs.

They should share the savings.

LetsTalkAboutCostNY.com

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

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CELESTE SLOMAN; LIGHTSPRING/SHUTTERSTOCK

EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG WAS in his final term as mayor of New York City when I got a job at City & State. I didn’t spend countless hours following him around, but I had plenty of opportunities to see him in action.

Sometimes, his appearances were light-hearted, such as his press conference with Kermit the Frog to announce the Muppets would be drumming up tourism as that year’s family ambassadors. “I know it’s going to make other cities – listen carefully – just green with envy,” Bloomberg quipped. Another press conference on the set of “Saturday Night Live” touted a film and TV tax credit bringing more productions to the city – and I made sure to dig into whether it was worth it. (I also asked which SNL era he liked best, and he didn’t understand the question.)

Another time, I pressed him on the blurred lines between his mayoralty and his private philanthropy, and he retorted that my question made no sense.

What stood out is how the billionaire often seemed out of touch, impatient, outright peevish – and as we’ve seen in his recent debates, those qualities can’t always be hidden. In this week’s magazine, we take a closer look at how he spent his money to get elected as mayor, and whether such tactics will help him rebound on Super Tuesday.

CONTENTS TIKTOK … 8

Young candidates are turning to the video app.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG … 12 How he bought City Hall

MEDICAID COSTS … 18 Will Cuomo’s savings plan “ruin” municipalities?

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS … 24

New York’s dueling plans to combat the cost of meds

GESTATIONAL SURROGACY … 26

The issue pits young and old progressives against each other.

CORONAVIRUS … 30 Is New York ready?

WINNERS & LOSERS … 38 Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

CRESPO THROWS IN THE TOWEL

Assemblyman Marcos Crespo has announced to constituents that he is not seeking reelection this year. In an emailed statement, he said he plans to leave government completely, apparently quashing rumors he would run for Bronx borough president. Separately, it has been reported that Crespo is also stepping down from his position

March 2, 2020

as chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party. Both developments come as a surprise and follow the decision of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Crespo’s ally, to drop out of the race for New York City mayor.

NEW YORK PREPARES FOR CORONAVIRUS

Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City

Mayor Bill de Blasio have begun making plans to prepare for the increasing likelihood that the new coronavirus will come to the state. Cuomo has pledged $40 million to help combat the virus and outlined plans for home and hospital quarantines.

He and de Blasio have asked federal officials if potential patient samples could be tested at a lab in New York City, rather than at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia, a process that takes several more days to get results. Cuomo was also one of several governors to recently speak with Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading up federal efforts to combat the new coronavirus. De Blasio announced that hospitals have made 1,200 beds available for potential patients and that 1.5 million masks will be distributed to health care professionals. Some hospitals in the city have also been taking steps

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg entered the presidential race with guns and wallets blazing, but his past has come back to haunt him in the debates. A small fortune spent on ads didn’t shield Bloomberg from attacks on his stop-and-frisk or education record. This week’s New Yorker cover shows Bloomberg’s money aflame, complete with charred top hat. Lucky for Bloomberg, he’s got more where that came from.

on their own to prepare, like stockpiling masks, as the state officials move forward with their plan.

“I just keep getting disappointed. I got about five friends left.”

– former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, after he thought he hung up on a reporter, regarding former Gov. George Pataki, who said in a new book that Giuliani asked him to suspend the 2001 mayoral race so he could keep serving in the aftermath of 9/11 – which Giuliani denies, via the Daily News

“What planet are you on, dude?”

– New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, slamming his predecessor Michael Bloomberg for suggesting de Blasio needed to “learn” something about stop and frisk, via the Daily News

THE FIGHT OVER TRUSTED TRAVELER PROGRAMS IS COOLING

For the first time since the Department of Homeland Security announced that it was suspending Trusted Traveler Programs in New York, it appears state and federal officials may be nearing a compromise.

The move by DHS came in response to New York’s new Green Light law, which allows immigrants living in the country illegally to receive driver’s licenses, but also prevents federal immigration agencies from accessing Department of Motor Vehicle data. Federal officials said that restricting access to that information poses a safety concern, while Cuomo said the suspension is simply political retaliation.

However, Acting Secretary Chad Wolf called a recent proposed compromise from Cuomo “promising” and said it “could lead to a solution for New York.”

Under the proposal, the state would allow access to all DMV data with the exception of Social Security numbers. In a statement, the Cuomo administration expressed hope that DHS will be “fair and open-minded.”

AMY LOMBARD; PAPARAZZZA, LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; PATRICK CASHIN/MTA; JEFF COLTIN

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March 2, 2020

A NEW STRATEGY FOR THE GATEWAY TUNNEL

As the Trump administration continues to hold up construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, Amtrak appears to be taking a different route in the meantime. Rather than using the money that it has pledged to build a new tunnel to replace the one currently in use, the company has proposed using those funds to rehabilitate the existing tunnel instead, which is over 100 years old and sustained damage from Superstorm Sandy.

The federal government appears likely to approve the change. However, the extent of the repairs will likely be limited, as they must be completed without shutting down the tunnel.

Doing so would not just cut off New Jersey trains from New York, but it would also effectively disable the heavily trafficked Northeast

City & State New York

Why stop with Billy Idol? We want more, more, more

Corridor, which runs from Washington, D.C., to Boston.

NEW YORK CITY’S NEW TRAIN FOSTER MOM With the exit of New York City Transit President and Train Daddy Andy Byford, the city was in need of a new train parental figure while transit officials search for a permanent replacement. Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Pat Foye tapped Sarah Feinberg to fill the role in an interim fashion.

Feinberg is a former Obama administration official who ran the Federal Railroad Administration for two years and whom Gov. Andrew Cuomo appointed to the MTA board last year. Feinberg would not say how long she thinks she’ll serve as the city’s transit chief, but pledged to continue Byford’s work during the time she’s in the position.

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took a quick break from looking over the mony mony in the city budget and, with a rebel yell, held one of the most theatrical press conferences of his six-year tenure, inviting ’80s rock star Billy Idol to a press conference announcing a war on idling – like, cars. The tag line: “Billy Never Idles – Neither Should You.” Why dance with yourself when you can team up with a celebrity? Since City & State subscribes to the theory of more, more, more – we’re suggesting some other civic-minded campaigns for the stars of the Reagan years.

Axl Rose from his seat for an elderly person. You should too.

Van Halen a cab? Stay on the sidewalk.

Cher your time. Volunteer with NYC Service.

Vanilla doesn’t cooperate with ICE. Neither does New York City.

Don’t Run-DMC red lights. Sucker!

Tom never Cruises above the speed limit. Neither should you.

Jane is Fonda New York. Visit the five boroughs!

Billy Joel didn’t start the track fire. Be like Billy.

Brooke Shields her phone. Avoid subway theft.

Winona doesn’t Ryder bike on the sidewalk. Neither should you.

Diane never blocks bike Lanes. Be respectful of city cyclists.

Glenn doesn’t get too Close. A crowded train is no excuse for inappropriate touching.

E.T. phones home – but not on the bus. Respect your fellow commuters.

David doesn’t Byrne. Wear sunscreen at the beach.

Farrah turns off her Fawcett while brushing her teeth. Save water.

Iggy doesn’t play Pop after 10 p.m. Neither should you.

Meatloaf will do anything for love. But he won’t ride between subway cars.

Madonna wears a face mask when she’s sick. Ma, don a face mask too.

Mariah Carries her dog in a bag when taking the subway. You should too.

Tom Waits for riders to exit the bus before boarding. You should too.

Don’t Pat Bene-tarnish New York’s image. Throw your trash where it belongs.

Make doves cry, like Prince. Please don’t feed the birds.

– Jeff Coltin and City & State

THE

WEEK AHEAD

THURSDAY 3/3 A state Climate Action Council will meet for the first time at 1 p.m. in Public Assembly Room 129 at the headquarters of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway in Albany.

INSIDE DOPE

The panel has until Jan. 1, 2022, to develop a state plan for an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 per last year’s Climate and Community Protection Act.

MONDAY 3/9

MONDAY 3/9

Bike lanes, safe streets and more – the New York City Council’s Transportation Committee and Capital Budget Subcommittee hold a hearing on the mayor’s transit budget, 10 a.m. at City Hall.

City & State, the Queens NAACP and Queens College host a Queens borough president debate at 6 p.m. at Queens College ahead of the March 24 special election.

PODLITICS 6

CityAndStateNY.com

BY JEFF COLTIN

AN INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL POLITICAL PODCASTS. PODCAST: House Party HOSTS: Kyle Ishmael, executive director of the Manhattan Democratic Party and the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus; Malik Wright, political director of the Manhattan Democratic Party UPDATED: Weekly, usually. On Tuesdays AVERAGE EPISODE: 90 minutes THE GIST: The black, queer millenial duo of Kyle and Malik are true political obsessives, talking at length about topics from the national to the hyper-local, while also playing drinking games like “Elect, Indict, Chill.”

PODCAST: Off Topic/On Politics: The NY1 Political Podcast HOSTS: NY1 reporters Zack Fink, Juan Manuel Benítez and Courtney Gross UPDATED: Weekly, on Fridays AVERAGE EPISODE: 30 minutes THE GIST: These experienced reporters talk about the week’s political storylines, but aren’t afraid to let their perspectives and personalities shine through. Stick around till the end for the always entertaining “Most New York Thing of the Week.”

PODCAST: FAQ NYC HOSTS: Christina Greer, Fordham political science professor; Harry Siegel, Daily News columnist; and Alex Brook Lynn, filmmaker UPDATED: Weekly, on Thursdays AVERAGE EPISODE: 40 minutes THE GIST: This interview-heavy Gen X political podcast is staffed by experts but maintains a pirate-radio feel. They’re always experimenting, jumping from the news of the day to Bad Old Days history and back again.

PODCAST: Prickly Politics HOSTS: Julio Agos, WFUV News reporter UPDATED: About every two weeks, during the season AVERAGE EPISODE: 25 minutes THE GIST: You wouldn’t know these reporters are still undergrads if we didn’t tell you. The podcast gets tweaked every semester, but always goes deep on the latest news in state politics.

March 2, 2020

IN WHAT MAY BE an effort to appeal to underemployed Brooklynites before a likely run for borough president in 2021, Chirlane McCray, the first lady of New York City, has started a podcast. “Thrive with Chirlane McCray” is an audio component of her multifaceted campaign to promote mental health, and thus isn’t likely to deal directly with local politics. But that’s OK, because local politics hounds have an abundance of options – enough to fill that weekly commute to Albany and the return trip.

Though City & State did it first (the “Slant Podcast” lived a brief but glorious life from 2016 to 2017), here are the best successors delivering political wisdom to the masses’ playlists.

PODCAST: You Decide with Errol Louis HOSTS: Errol Louis, NY1 political anchor UPDATED: Weekly, on Wednesdays AVERAGE EPISODE: 40 minutes THE GIST: Here, the esteemed “Inside City Hall” host is cut loose from the restraints of TV and goes longer on a new interview each week, with guests ranging from Bill Clinton to chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov.

PODCAST: City Journal’s 10 Blocks HOSTS: Brian C. Anderson, editor of City Journal UPDATED: Weekly, on Wednesdays AVERAGE EPISODE: 20 minutes THE GIST: An erudite podcast with a conservative slant, this product from the Manhattan Institute think tank has tackled everything from New York City schools Chancellor Richard Carranza’s leadership to the potential effects of closing Rikers.

PODCAST: New York NOW HOSTS: Dan Clark, New York NOW host UPDATED: Weekly, on Fridays AVERAGE EPISODE: 25 minutes THE GIST: Move over, NPR. The weekly TV show from the PBS affiliate WMHT in Schenectady is also available as a podcast. It’s interviews, it’s analysis, and, unlike the rest of these podcasts, it’s actually based upstate.

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

A Q&A with candidate for New York’s 15th Congressional District

SAMELYS LÓPEZ AN ASSIST FROM AOC

Final

How did the endorsement by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Courage to Change PAC come about?

They reached out to get a sense of what was going on in my campaign. And basically I told them what was going on, what we were doing in terms of the volunteer excitement and the grassroots donations that we’ve gotten. Over 80% of our funding has come from small individual grassroots donations. I don’t accept a dime of money, – corporate GNYADAPAC City & State lobbyists’ money, real

estate developer money and pharmaceutical money. I mentioned that we have the New York City DSA endorsement.

And that reinforced that I’ve been organizing in the community for a very, very long time. I’m an advocate in the housing justice movement, so after that, it was really their call to decide what they wanted to do in the ring.

In the past, you have criticized the Bronx Democratic Party. How has it been involved in the race so far?

I think that it’s healthy to critique, hold the powers accountable and create a spaceAd for – people to be March 2.27.2020 heard and to be seen.

What platforms are you using to promote your campaign?

We want to take advantage of everything.

Obviously, we’ve been using Twitter, Instagram, we’re looking at TikTok and other ways of getting our message out. In a grassroots message and campaign like ours, it is really important to take advantage of every free resource you can.

We’re also using traditional relational organizing, meeting the community, whether it’s knocking on doors, meeting people at train stops and going into their

I think that it’s healthy to critique, hold the powers accountable and create a space for people to be heard and to be seen. homes. We’re being invited to meet-and-greet events with our neighbors, and that’s a great way of building grassroots political power in a way that outlasts this campaign.

One of the things that I’ve been saying consistently since I announced this campaign is organizing should not stop. When you want to win an election, it should continue to grow. The most important thing to me is to make sure that we’re growing our movement here on the ground and abroad. We can carve this leftist, very progressive thing that reflects our local

politics, values and the needs of the community.

The South Bronx has a revolutionary and socialist legacy in the community, if you look in the ’70s and the ’80s or the rise of the Young Lords. This is an opportunity to stand on the shoulders of the leaders of the past that have paved the way for people like me.

I think that change always starts from the bottom up. It’s always led by the movement and people that are angry because they feel like they’ve been left out.

It starts when people reclaim their voices so that we can transform our politics and society.

ALBERTO MENENDEZ CERVERO, NOOMUBON PHOTO/SHUTTERSTOCK; LÓPEZ FOR THE PEOPLE

New Car Dealers Collect Over 9,000 Winter Coats for New Yorkers in Need When tem�erat�res dro�, many New Yorkers m�st s�ffer thro��h the cold� �ver ��� franchised new car dealers in the New York re�ion once a�ain ste��ed �� and collected more than �,��� coats – ro��hly ��� of the total – for this year’s New York Cares Winter Coat �rive�

�ince ����, when �reater New York ��tomobile �ealers �ssociation ��NY���� teamed �� with New York Care’s, members have collected more than ��,��� coats�

“Our member dealers have shown a sustained, enthusiastic and generous dedication to extend the reach and volume of the coat drive once again this year, delivering much needed new and gently used coats to New Yorkers facing a long, cold winter. This is an example of the enormous community impact and charitable nature of our industry” said Mark Schienberg, President of GNYADA. �NY��� thanks all the �artici�atin� dealers of the coat drive for each and every coat collected�

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CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

The New

Tactic: TikTok Twitter is so 2018. Young candidates are hoping a video app can help them go viral with Gen Z.

by A N N I E M C D O N O U G H

M

OVE OVER TINDER. There’s a new app that social media-savvy candidates in New York are turning to: TikTok, the video-centric platform that allows users to share short, often funny, videos set to music, which has made viral sensations out of its more successful “creators.”

Love it, hate it or utterly perplexed by it, TikTok is just the latest social media platform that political candidates are using in an attempt to reach out to voters and spread awareness of their campaigns. A handful of young insurgents running for the state Legislature and for Congress are attempting to reach voters on the app, which is wildly popular with Gen Z – the generation born between the mid-1990s and the early to mid-2010s, many of whom are reaching voting age.

Young challengers across the country are using the app to run for office, and in local races, especially, a bit of internet popularity can be valuable, said Joshua Tucker, a professor of politics and co-director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University. “If you think that people have limited bandwidth for politics, except when we’re really close to elections, and then you think how much of that bandwidth is being sucked up by the 2020 presidential election – let alone, things going on

in the Senate and the House – if you’re farther downstream, trying to get any bandwidth in front of people is really tough,” Tucker said. “And so doing something like making a TikTok video, it’s something that at least potentially can get talked about. But it also has the potential of making you look cool, especially to a younger demographic.”

For some candidates, TikTok has offered the one modern campaigning imperative that’s desperately sought but difficult to fabricate: internet virality. Everybody wants to be the next Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, garnering millions of Twitter followers and hundreds of thousands of retweets daily – and very few people have former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s resources to buy virality through memes posted on Instagram.

Where underdog candidates can gain some ground, however, is through both cheap advertising on digital platforms like Facebook and Google, and organic – meaning not-paid – content on platforms like TikTok and Twitter. For young candidates who are already fluent in the language and trends popular on TikTok, the latter is not only free but can appear effortless. “It gives a tool to challengers who may not have as much money or as much name recognition when they go into the election

against entrenched incumbents,” Tucker said of campaigns using social media – especially platforms like TikTok or Twitter, which don’t allow political advertisements, and where the cost of content is just the labor involved to create it.

Skyler Johnson, a 19-year-old Suffolk County Community College student, is running in a crowded Democratic primary this spring to replace retiring Republican state Sen. Kenneth LaValle on Long Island, with a progressive platform supporting proposals like the New York Health Act and reforming the prison system. When volunteers for Johnson’s campaign pressed him to sign up for TikTok, he was initially unsure but eventually embraced the idea, and posted a video poking fun at detractors who called his support for affordable medical care and climate change action “radical.”

The video follows a popular format on TikTok of users filming themselves pointing at floating text boxes with music playing in the background. “I went to bed that night and it had about three likes, and I was happy that at least some people liked it,” Johnson said of the night in early January when he first posted the video. “I woke up to find that it had 300, and I was very surprised. By the end of the day it had 1,000 and I was very shocked as it continued to

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

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Skyler Johnson, a 19-year-old student running for state Senate, has received over 87,000 views and nearly 31,000 likes for this simple TikTok video he made.

“I WENT TO BED THAT NIGHT AND IT HAD ABOUT THREE LIKES, AND I WAS HAPPY THAT AT LEAST SOME PEOPLE LIKED IT. … WITHIN EIGHT DAYS IT HAD OVER 20,000 LIKES.”

SKYLER FOR SENATE/TIKTOK; FOLLOWING: SURAJPATELNYC, CAMERON KOFFMAN/TIKTOK

– SK YLER JOHNSON, STATE SENATE CANDIDATE

grow, and within eight days it had over 20,000 likes.” Today, the video has over 87,000 views and nearly 31,000 likes.

Other videos Johnson has posted follow similar formats, though they haven’t quite reached the high viewership that his first one did. One video hit nearly 18,000 views, another over 12,000 views. “It allows us to reach a larger group quickly, and even with techniques such as email blasts, we’re only able to reach people that have previously subscribed to our list,” Johnson said. “Social media, people see us on their custom feed, and they engage with us.”

While Johnson, like many candidates, has also used campaign funds to buy cheap digital ads on platforms like Facebook and Google, he said he thinks voters his age connect more with social media outreach that isn’t paid for. “Voters like just seeing a quick 15-second video of who we are, because it excites them to see someone using it on a level that’s very down to earth, very much what they’re doing too,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, people feel frustrated because they see the paid ads spamming their timelines.”

Johnson has also helped other candidates get hooked on TikTok, like Demo-

crat Cameron Koffman, who is mounting a primary challenge against Assemblyman Dan Quart in the 73rd District on the Upper East Side. A recent graduate of Yale University, Koffman is the great-grandson of the real estate mogul Samuel LeFrak. Despite being a 22-year-old political newcomer, Koffman, in contrast to Johnson, has raised nearly half a million dollars since declaring his candidacy last October, thanks in part to large donors like former Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, who donated $4,700. Koffman points out that his campaign also had a number of smaller donations, with over 750 donors total.

While Koffman may not need TikTok for campaign donations, he said he thought it couldn’t hurt to try out the platform, and has so far been pleased with the results.

Koffman’s first video has amassed fewer than 500 views, but he posted another one on Monday, and hopes to push it out on other platforms to get more engagement.

“I think it remains to be seen whether or not TikTok is going to be an important social media political platform,” he said. “But I think that if there’s anybody who should be trying it, it is someone running at 22 for the New York state Assembly.”

And then there’s Lauren Ashcraft, a democratic socialist challenging

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CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the Democatic primary, who has also developed a modest presence on TikTok, with her most popular video reaching more than 14,000 views.

Ashcraft said that Twitter, where she has roughly 20,000 followers, is still one of her favorite platforms. But her campaign is continuing to try new ways of reaching voters. A few days ago, Ashcraft said, the campaign made an acAssembly candicount on Twitch, a popular video date Cameron Koffplatform that video gamers can man and congressional candidate use to livestream and chat while Suraj Patel followed gaming. “I have enjoyed playing Johnson’s lead and games in the past and if that can recently created also be a way to start dialogue their own TikTok accounts. with people, then why not?”

Ashcraft said.

A group of democratic socialist candidates running for office in New York City also recently released their first video on TikTok, and say they plan to post more.

Incidentally, higher-profile candidates and presidential candidates have not yet bought in to TikTok. Extensive security issues have been reported with the China-owned app, and agencies like the Transportation Security Administration have been barred from using it after Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer raised security concerns over the weekend. The U.S. military and State Department have already banned use

“IF YOU SUDDENLY PICK UP THE ENDORSEMENT OF TAYLOR SWIFT BECAUSE SHE SEES YOU ON TIKTOK AND SUDDENLY YOU CAN RAISE $1.5 MILLION – WELL, THAT MIGHT CHANGE THINGS IN A LOCAL ELECTION.” – JOSHUA TUCKER, CO-DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSIT Y

of the app on government phones.

Compared with some of the biggest “creators” on TikTok, who rack up millions of views per post, the performance of candidates like Johnson and Ashcraft is modest.

And more importantly, Johnson and Ashcraft still trail their competitors in fundraising. Though Johnson is no longer facing an incumbent, two of his Democratic primary opponents – attorney and social worker Laura Ahearn and Southampton Town Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni – have each raised more than $100,000, while Johnson has raised about $7,000. But John-

son points out that those contributions came from more than 100 separate donors, and argues that TikTok has helped build that grassroots support. Johnson told City & State that while TikTok doesn’t provide analytics showing which state views come from, the app shows that 95% of his viewers are in the United States. His campaign also knows that a number of his campaign donors reached the donation page of his website through a link on his TikTok profile.

So can a handful of modestly viral TikToks make a meaningful difference in a campaign? Probably not. In local races,

voters tend to vote down the ballot or go with an incumbent. But social media popularity could be a jumping-off point for an otherwise unheard-of candidate. “It can’t hurt to suddenly get attention for anything when you’re running in a crowded field, if you’re a 19-year-old kid trying to beat better-funded Democrats in the primary,” Tucker said of Johnson.

But the kind of virality that can push a candidate over the edge is rare, Tucker said. “If you suddenly pick up the endorsement of Taylor Swift or something like that because she sees you on TikTok and suddenly you’ve got a situation where you’re someone who’s expecting to be able to raise $10,000, and suddenly you can raise $1.5 million – well, that might change things in a local election,” he said. “But I don’t think we should overstate it.”

While the actual power of social media apps like TikTok to get someone elected has yet to be proven, if nothing else, the app is steadily catching on as a political platform in New York. Case in point is Suraj Patel, whose social media allegiances have shifted since 2018, when he infamously reached out to voters on dating apps like Tinder during his campaign against Rep. Carolyn Maloney. This year, Patel is challenging Maloney again, wielding a different social media app. The 36-year-old made a TikTok account and posted his first video last week.

■

Our Perspective Housing Works Employees’ Voices Will Finally be Heard

H

By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW Twitter: @sappelbaum

ousing Works employees have spent over a year trying to get their boss to accept that they want to join the RWDSU. Workers at the otherwise progressive Housing Works – founded in 1990 by several members of ACT UP in order to provide housing, healthcare, job training, legal assistance, and other supportive services for people living with HIV/AIDS – assumed that their employer would respect their rights and their wishes to join a union. But they were wrong.

After failing to secure a neutrality agreement that would promise zero interference from management during an organizing drive, Housing Works employees demanded recognition from their employer. Housing Works refused to recognize the union, despite a majority of the workers choosing to support the unionization efforts. Now, fed up with the delays and obfuscation, Housing Works employees have filed for an NLRB election so their wishes to join a union can finally be realized. After numerous

meetings with Housing Works and delays by management, they had no other choice.

It didn’t have to be this difficult. By insisting on an NLRB election, Housing Works has ensured the process will take more time and resources and delay better treatment for its workers and better care for its clients.

The 650 Housing Works employees at housing units, thrift stores, healthcare, and other locations throughout New York City have been clear from the outset that they need union representation to address a number of important issues and to provide their clients with the best possible care. Workers at Housing Works have raised serious concerns to management, describing unmanageable caseloads, lack of training, discrimination and harassment and health and safety issues. Workers have raised concerns about pay and benefits, including that their health insurance doesn’t provide adequate coverage, such as for workers transitioning genders.

These workplace concerns are central not just to employee welfare, but to client care as well, with these issues leading to high turnover rates for employees.

Workers believe that union representation is the best way for them to address their concerns.

Housing Works’ refusal to recognize the union – or at least to sign a neutrality agreement – has hindered that process.

And now, Housing Works is escalating their campaign to deny their workers’ rights by attempting to turn workers against the union with a classic misinformation campaign, even after claiming countless times that they would respect their workers’ wishes and remain “neutral.” Housing Works leadership does not know what remaining neutral truly means. By continuing their misguided fight to deny workers their rights, Housing Works continues to operate in a manner contrary to their progressive values.

Housing Works employees strive every day to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, and their work makes a real difference. It’s not too much for them to expect that their employer lives up to the same progressive principles toward their own workers. It’s past time that Housing Works ends its union-busting fight against its own workers, and allows the process to continue unimpeded.

www.rwdsu.org

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MONEY AND MIND GAMES

Hit pieces. Microtargeting. Sabotage.

Will Michael Bloomberg’s election playbook translate to the national stage?

by G A B E P O N C E D E L E Ó N

O

N JAN. 1, 2002, the richest man in New York City became its chief executive. For the next 12 years, Michael Bloomberg would lead an administration widely regarded as one of the most consequential in the city’s history. And though he entered electoral politics as a complete novice, New York City’s 108th mayor would go on to build a political apparatus the likes of which the city had never seen.

But can the playbook that succeeded in New York City be replicated nationwide? Can his vaunted political operation be scaled? With Bloomberg now emerging as a top-tier contender in the 2020 presidential race, these are multibillion-dollar questions.

Despite being the richest man in the city, Bloomberg was not particularly well known to ordinary New Yorkers in 2001. Nor did he possess the oratorical gifts that one would expect to see in a winning candidate.

When the newly minted Republican got behind a microphone, he looked like a stiff billionaire, and sounded like one too.

The year before, however, he had broadened his philanthropic footprint, donating more than half a billion dollars to hundreds of organizations, including 79 first-time beneficiaries located within the five boroughs. Bloomberg also opened up his pocketbook for some of the best talent in the business, including the pollster Doug Schoen, who had worked on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns, Kevin Sheekey, who

City & State New York

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had served as chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Patrick Moynihan, and the legendary political strategist David Garth.

New York City is a proudly Democratic town, and the path to City Hall for a Republican is typically narrow. Rudy Giuliani, Bloomberg’s predecessor in office, had leaned heavily on white support in his successful mayoral runs, but from the outset Bloomberg signaled a clear intent to fight for votes within traditionally Democratic constituencies.

“The first ad that he put on television was actually a Spanish-language ad,” recalled Bill Cunningham, a top adviser to Bloomberg in the 2001 campaign. “It was a way of announcing that he intended to compete for every vote in the city.”

No self-funding businessman had ever launched a serious mayoral bid in New York City, nor had one Republican mayor ever succeeded another, and early polls showed Bloomberg trailing potential Democratic rivals by huge margins.

“He didn’t start off strong with any group,” recalled Jerry Skurnik, a Democratic consultant who worked in the Koch administration. “He did what a lot of campaigns do, but I guess he did it on steroids.”

A lifelong Democrat, who switched party affiliation in order to circumvent a crowded primary, Bloomberg now reaped the benefits of that decision. “He was already running a November campaign in May and June,” Skurnik said. While the Democratic candidates competed among each other, Bloomberg was able to boost his name recognition through paid advertisements that touted his business and philanthropic record. But even for a campaign looking ahead, there are some events that can’t be foreseen.

The morning of the Democratic primary, two commercial airliners struck the twin towers. Even before the terrorist attacks, the city’s economy had shown signs of weakening, and now, amid fears of a recession on the horizon, Bloomberg’s business credentials became a compelling rationale for his candidacy.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, Giuliani saw his popularity skyrocket, but entering the final stretch of the campaign, “America’s mayor” had still not given an endorsement. Garth, in the end, persuaded the sitting mayor, who had been reluctant to support a losing candidate, and the Bloomberg campaign began flooding the airwaves with ads trumpeting his endorsement.

Throughout the campaign, Bloomberg’s paid media had been omnipresent. Even during the week of the runoff between former public advocate Mark Green and Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer, his campaign spent more on advertise-

RON ADAR/SHUTTERSTOCK

March 2, 2020

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ments than those Democratic rivals combined.

“It was dismaying that after years of raising money the hard way, ad rates rose so much in response to (Bloomberg’s) massive spending that it diminished the impact of my expenditures,” Green told City & State.

Green, who had accepted public financing, would end up spending $16.6 million on the race. Bloomberg would drop $74 million – $99 per vote – the most ever spent on a nonpresidential campaign at that time.

To the disbelief even of his own inner circle, the political rookie would eke out a 2-point win in November.

G

REEN WOULD LATER attribute Bloomberg’s victory to a “perfect storm,” including a racially divisive Democratic runoff, which likely factored into his Republican rival improbably winning almost half of the Latino vote, as well as quarter of the black vote.

Bloomberg, to be clear, was not the first New York Republican to woo Latino voters.

“Rudy (Giuliani) tried by appointing Hispanics to posts in his administration, but let’s face it: There are a hell of a lot of advantages in having unlimited amounts of money,” said Serphin Maltese, a former Republican state senator who is now a Donald Trump supporter.

Bloomberg would spend more than $250 million of his personal fortune on his three mayoral elections. Between cycles, however, he would dole out at least another $200 million in charitable donations to civic and cultural groups, which at times served to offset budget cuts and, other times, provided a support structure to advance his political goals.

In the year leading up to his first reelection campaign (against Ferrer this time), Bloomberg donated between $10,000 and $100,000 to 200 local groups. In addition to his vast wealth, Bloomberg now enjoyed the power of incumbency. Mailing a $400 property tax rebate to homeowners in an election year likely didn’t hurt his standing among a constituency of reliable voters. The mayor also negotiated a new contract with DC 37, the largest public employees union in the city, which would endorse him in the upcoming election, a considerable blow to the eventual Democratic nominee.

Within the mayor’s adopted party, however, a primary challenger emerged in Thomas Ognibene, a former New York City councilman who sought to galvanize the faction of conservatives that had never warmed to the former Democrat in City Hall. Bloomberg’s campaign would eventually challenge his petitions and knock Ognibene off the ballot, a tactic that Bloomberg had denounced a few years earlier. (Ognibene did himself no favors by collecting an unusually small number of signatures for a mayoral race.)

March 2, 2020

With the Republican nomination all but assured, Bloomberg found himself in a position not unlike 2001: looking ahead to the general election while the Democratic contenders battled amongst each other.

It was during his first reelection bid that Bloomberg’s political operation became a powerhouse. The mayor invested more than $5 million compiling voter profiles in a database that included information on income, occupation, religious affiliation as well as personal interests, which enabled his campaign to identify issues that resonated with narrow slices of the electorate and tailor their message accordingly. “Bloomberg’s mayoral campaigns were known for cutting edge work in the infancy of microtargeting work by campaigns,” said Bruce Gyory, an Albany-based political consultant.

The campaign began airing ads in Polish, Russian, Greek, Yiddish, Chinese, Haitian Creole and Korean, and its website could be accessed in multiple languages as well.

Bloomberg also purchased ad space on a scale unprecedented in the community and ethnic media, a strategy that drove the mayor’s message deeper into the electorate and, in some instances, garnered him some additional support. “There’s no question that when you commit ad dollars to a sector that is in dire financial straits you are buying good will, and especially in a market where ethnic media has been routinely excluded, who wouldn’t be appreciative?” said Sandy Close, the founder of Ethnic Media Services, an

“HE DID WHAT A LOT OF CAMPAIGNS DO, BUT I GUESS HE DID IT ON STEROIDS.”

– JERRY SKURNIK, POLITICAL CONSULTANT

American nonprofit that promotes media in languages other than English.

Along with its microtargeting, the Bloomberg campaign was carpet-bombing all media with paid ads. “When I would get up at five in the morning to look at the newspapers online, I would have to muddle through 10 to 15 ads from Bloomberg before I even got to a story about the campaign,” recalled Roberto Ramirez, a top adviser to the Ferrer campaign.

Prior to the race, Bloomberg hired Stuart Loeser, who had run opposition research for Green in 2001. Loeser would take the lead in leaking negative stories to the media about Ferrer, which successfully kept the former Bronx borough president on the defensive while dominating news cycles. “(Bloomberg) assembled a talented group of operatives who weren’t afraid to spill blood,” said Matt Epperly, a Democratic strategist who served as an adviser to New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a Democratic primary contender that year.

“They skillfully fed the beast of New York dailies with hit pieces, and used unprecedented oppo research and data analytics to define competitors and shape the contours of campaigns early.”

In 2001, Bloomberg won by the narrowest margin in a mayoral race since the city consolidated a hundred years earlier. In 2005, he would notch a nearly 20-point victory – the widest margin ever secured by a Republican – even as Democrats prevailed down the ballot. What made the victory all the more impressive were the headwinds coming from the nation’s capital. President George W. Bush, whom Bloomberg had warmly embraced during his 2004 reelection campaign, was a deeply unpopular figure in the city.

“Somehow he was able to have Republicans think of him as Republican, but everyone else think of him as being more nonpartisan,” Skurnik said. “He didn’t really govern much as a Republican.”

The 2005 cycle was the first in which non-Hispanic whites did not constitute the majority of the city’s electorate, and Bloomberg’s support among black voters rose to 47%, more than double Giuliani’s best performance. He also received 30% of the Latino vote, despite running against a Puerto Rican candidate. Ferrer spent $14 million on his campaign compared to Bloomberg’s $85 million – or $112 per vote – a figure that does not include the private philanthropy that likely boosted the mayor’s support in demographic groups that Ferrer needed to sweep.

“The Latino charities and nonprofits became very beholden to Bloomberg for their budgets, so he was able to get some of these people to do some of the mobilizing for elections,” said Jose Sanchez, chair of political science at Long Island University Brooklyn, adding, “It was like a parallel political machine.”

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

A

FTER DROPPING HIS Republican registration in 2007 and flirting with a presidential run, Bloomberg decided to seek a third term as mayor. There was just one problem: New Yorkers had twice voted – in 1993 and 1996 – in favor of term limits. Even Bloomberg’s own inner circle opposed the idea, but the mayor succeeded in convincing editorial boards and other key stakeholders that the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis called for continuity. His political team, meanwhile, mobilized cultural and advocacy groups that had benefited from his philanthropic largesse over the years.

One path toward obtaining his desired third term would have been via referendum, but the mayor opted to go through the New York City Council, where many members would benefit from a term-limit extension for themselves. “The leadership class of the city of New York folded like an accordion,” said Richard Brodsky, a former Democratic assemblyman from Westchester. “That was a consequence of years of benefits and threats in the way (Bloomberg) conducted his giving, and the way he extended his influence through the deployment of his resources.”

As a state legislator, Brodsky faced off against the mayor over congestion pricing and the proposed West Side Stadium, and would witness the modus operandi of a mayor whose not-so-secret sauce was colored green. “(Bloomberg) used his charitable giving in ways that were clearly and explicitly connected to his political agenda,” Brodsky said. “It doesn’t make him a bad person, but it’s a rich man’s view of how you get to where you want to go.”

People tend to notice when the most powerful man in the city demonstrates time and again a readiness to invest untold millions in the service of his political aspirations. “There are all the people who engage in what I call ‘anticipatory genuflection,’” said Green, who is now an Elizabeth Warren supporter. “Anybody who deals with Mike Bloomberg is aware – though he would never say anything explicitly – that at some point in the future he might hire them or harm them with the weight of his money, which includes, by the way – although it’s unspoken – some journalists.”

W

ITH A ONE-TIME TERM limit extension in the bag, the mayor’s political team got to work undercutting the opponent that it believed posed the greatest threat in a general election. During the 2005 Democratic primary, the Bloomberg campaign had not been shy about planting opposition research on potential foes in the media, but in 2009 the campaign didn’t even wait for the primaries to kick off.

“RUDY TRIED APPOINTING HISPANICS, BUT LET’S FACE IT: THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT OF ADVANTAGES IN HAVING UNLIMITED AMOUNTS OF MONEY.”

– SERPHIN MALTESE, FORMER REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR

Anthony Weiner was another “Jewish guy with an Italian first name,” Bradley Tusk, Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign manager, would later write. The Democratic congressman, moreover, enjoyed a following among liberals and, through his wife-to-be, Huma Abedin, access to the Clinton donor network.

“You have to pick your enemies whenever you can,” Tusk wrote. “You have to strangle the baby in the crib.”

The Bloomberg campaign began leaking negative stories to the press about Weiner’s

15

congressional voting record, campaign contributions he had received from foreign fashion models, and a favor that the Democrat had allegedly delivered to a donor. “It is just every single day,” Weiner at the time vented.

“It’s surreal.” Tusk, moreover, told The New York Times that the campaign would drop an extra $20 million on negative advertising should Weiner run.

In the end, the would-be rival stood down, having never even declared his candidacy.

“In his reelection races, they used his advantage in resources to define opponents before they were as well-known and scare away would-be competitors,” Epperly said.

“Bottomless resources poured against you in negative ads could have career-altering implications for your candidate when they come out at the other end of the buzz saw.”

In anticipation of a general election against Bill Thompson, the city’s black comptroller, the Bloomberg campaign began hiring seasoned consultants who had previously worked for Thompson, notably Howard Wolfson and Hank Sheinkopf. In January, Bloomberg had also poached Democratic strategist Basil Smikle Jr. away from Weiner.

Not only did the mayor starve his Democratic opponent of top talent, he succeeded in denying him critical support within his core constituency. Through city contracts, political appointments and administrative assistance, Bloomberg had managed to forge, over his two terms in office, strong ties to a number of prominent black ministers. Some influential clergymen, who would give the mayor their endorsement, had accepted large charitable donations from him.

“If you are the leader of some sort of institution – cultural, religious or otherwise – and you are falling on hard times, and you just get an anonymous donation that is specifically timed, I think a lot of people made assumptions that they knew where the donation was coming from, and they could link it back to Mayor Bloomberg,” said Christina Greer, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University. “We saw just a lack of, I would say, real dissent for 12 years from a lot of leaders in the city.”

Throughout his two terms in office, Bloomberg had been credited with easing racial tensions in New York, and changing the tone coming from City Hall, following the more racially polarizing Giuliani administration. Two days after the 2001 election, Bloomberg famously shook the hand of civil rights activist Al Sharpton. In 2009, Sharpton’s National Action Network reportedly received a $110,000 grant from a Bloomberg-funded nonprofit. Sharpton would support Thompson that year, but maintained an amicable tone with the mayor.

Bloomberg would ultimately win over 23% of black voters – and 43% of Latinos – en route to a 5-point November victory. The mayor would outspend Thompson 14 to 1,

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March 2, 2020

shelling out $174 per vote. Cultivating key allies in communities of color again helped Bloomberg cut into his rival’s vote total among those traditionally Democratic constituencies.

Thompson’s fundraising woes, as well as the low voter turnout that year, may be traced, in part, to the aura of invincibility that the Bloomberg campaign has been known to cultivate. “The perception that Bloomberg was a sure winner definitely helped him a lot,” Skurnik said.

W

ITH A NET WORTH estimated at more than $60 billion, Bloomberg is richer today than he was in 2001. In its first three months, his presidential campaign spent $400 million, easily exceeding the price tag of his previous races combined.

But expenditures only constitute one part of the Bloomberg political operation, and in recent years his philanthropic spending has grown in both volume and geographic scope, topping off at more than $3 billion last year.

(Bloomberg’s entire net worth was estimated at around $4 billion in 2001.)

And that does not account for campaign contributions to elected officials – a tactic straight out of the Bloomberg mayoral playbook. In the 2018 election cycle, Bloomberg was the largest Democratic donor. His $110 million helped flip the U.S. House of Representatives as well as the Virginia state legislature, which had been under Republican control for decades. The massive scale of his giving has likely aided Bloomberg in assembling a national network of supportive mayors and community leaders, including among critical Democratic constituencies.

Bloomberg has now received endorsements from more than 100 mayors across the country, according to his campaign.

Much was made of Bloomberg’s late entry into the Democratic field, and his decision to skip the early primary states, a plan that hinges upon the race remaining fluid until March, and leaves him with little margin for error on Super Tuesday. Whether by design or not, the strategy mimicked, to a certain degree, the dynamic of his previous mayoral races, in which Bloomberg never faced a serious primary challenger, a luxury that allowed him to look ahead to the general election while outspending all the battling Democrats combined. And the present race started in much the same manner: Bloomberg was able to flood the zone with ads while building out his campaign organization in the delegate-rich prizes of Super Tuesday. He avoided direct confrontations with other Democrats while outspending all of them combined, with the exception of fellow billionaire Tom Steyer. As his name recognition and poll numbers improved, however, Bloomberg started taking flak from

“MIKE HAS 10 TO 20 TIMES AS MUCH MONEY AS TRUMP, SO THERE IS NOTHING HE CAN DO TO HURT BLOOMBERG.”

– BILL CUNNINGHAM, 2001 BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN ADVISER

the other Democratic contenders (not to mention the incumbent in the White House).

With a rise thus far fueled by media – both paid and earned – questions remain as to whether Bloomberg will be able to connect with voters once he stands directly before them. His performance in his first presidential debates last month, for example, were widely panned. Yet even though Bloomberg is generally pedestrian behind a microphone, there are those who push back on the standard take that the former mayor of New York can’t do retail politics.

“One thing that people forget about him is that he’s a salesman,” said Eleanor Randolph, a former New York Times editorial board member and Bloomberg biographer. “He was the one who really sold the Bloomberg Terminals. He went around to all the businesses and talked them into trying out this new gizmo that turned out to make him a very, very rich man – and also did a lot

to change Wall Street. So he likes selling people on whatever it is that he thinks is important, whether it’s climate change – or Michael Bloomberg.”

In a normal election year, a billionaire interloper looking to leverage his personal fortune into the presidency might be too much for the Democratic rank and file to take.

But in 2020, many Democrats only care about evicting Donald Trump from Pennsylvania Avenue, whatever the cost. And Bloomberg – who has always run superbly equipped and organized campaign operations – has been positioning himself as the only candidate capable of competing with the president’s fundraising juggernaut, narrowing the digital edge that Trump’s reelection campaign holds over the Democrats, and appealing to persuadable moderates.

Back in 2009, the Bloomberg campaign played mind games with Anthony Weiner: They sent canvassers to his neighborhood in April and bought up the entire inventory of digital advertising that the congressman would see when browsing the web from his home. According to TV journalist Katie Couric, the Bloomberg campaign is hiring an expert on narcissism to pair with a comedy writer, just to get in the president’s head.

On the stump, Bloomberg has said, “I’ve been pretty blessed and there’s nothing Donald Trump can do or say that can hurt me.”

His former communications director, Bill Cunningham, agrees. “Mike has 10 to 20 times as much money as Trump, so there is nothing he can do to hurt Bloomberg.”

Early in his first mayoral race, when asked if he would consider spending as much as $30 million to win the election, Bloomberg replied: “At some point you start to look obscene.” But maybe obscene is no longer a liability. And, in 2020, maybe a candidate lacking innate oratorical talent can get by carefully packaging his image across media platforms. Maybe a Wall Street-friendly, former Republican champion of stop and frisk can sell himself to the Democratic base as a data-driven technocrat and national leader on climate change and gun control.

It won’t be easy: In New York City, Bloomberg never faced the level of opposition research and media vetting that awaits him.

But at the very least the former mayor has the financial standing to compete in the race as long as he wants. He won’t have to fundraise or end his bid due to lack of resources.

“What’s different is that in his mayoral races, (Bloomberg) had to create a reality, but by circumstance reality is coming his way right now, and by virtue of his money and his political skills he is now credibly arguing that he’s the best shot at beating Trump,” Brodsky said. “And he’s going to use the same playbook that’s always worked for him: buy as much as you can buy, be clear as to what you are going to do, and don’t get deflected by anything.”

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March 2, 2020

City & State New York

17

HEALTH

You may

have heard of the

coronavirus.

Technically, the new respiratory disease that first appeared in Wuhan, China, and is steadily making its way around the globe is called COVID19. “Coronavirus” is just a term for a family of viruses that cause a number of diseases, from SARS to the common cold. But it doesn’t matter.

Everybody’s talking about COVID-19, and everybody’s calling it “coronavirus.” It’s become a household word overnight.

People are debating how bad it will be. Will it turn the subways into a death trap? Is it any worse than the regular flu? Will we have to close down all the businesses in New York? Nobody really knows, but the public’s panic is revealing an incontrovertible truth: There’s nothing more

important than health. If you haven’t got it, what have you got?

It’s as true in New York as anywhere else. The state’s budget has a deficit in the billions. What’s causing it? The soaring cost of Medicaid. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to solve the issue could be “devastating” for municipalities.

And the one thing that the governor and President Donald Trump agree on? The one thing that can bring together two ideological enemies? That something needs to be done about the ballooning costs of prescription drugs.

In the following pages, we search for the answers on a topic we all obsess over, whether we want to or not – our health.

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March 2, 2020

Harsh Treatment

by R E B E C C A B E L L A N

Cuomo’s plan would force New York City and state counties to rein in Medicaid spending – or pay the price. But do they even have control over Medicaid?

N

EW YORK CITY and other municipalities are up in arms over the additional financial burden they might have to assume if Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2021 proposed budget passes. In an attempt to close a $6.1 billion gap, Cuomo has proposed shifting Medicaid costs to counties that don’t adhere to criteria that local officials and some experts say are going to be challenging to meet, especially for New York City.

Cuomo’s $178 billion plan would have counties limit property tax growth to 2% and Medicaid spending to 3% growth annually. Localities that exceed the property tax cap, even if they stayed within the 3% Medicaid spending cap, will be required to pay for all local Medicaid spending growth from the prior year. Local governments that stay within the property tax cap but exceed the Medicaid spending threshold will be required to pay for any growth over 3%.

Additionally, the governor created a new Medicaid Redesign Team to find $2.5 billion in savings within Medicaid by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the system.

Last month, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced that his office could only find nearly $800 million in Medicaid savings, so $2.5 billion seems like a tall order.

“The consequences are devastating,” New York City First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan said about the budget proposal.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration estimated that the additional Medicaid expenses would cost the city $1.1 billion, although the governor has reiterated that his budget shouldn’t cost localities anything.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer also spoke out against the proposal, saying that additional Medicaid costs would destroy the county’s budget. “Covering this cost will mean that roads, services and most importantly our taxpayers will suffer,” Latimer told state lawmakers. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz was similarly

pessimistic, stating that this move would result in double-digit property tax hikes and big spending cuts to local programs.

“The very purpose of the Medicaid Redesign Team is to reduce the program’s spending growth by $2.5 billion and return spending growth to 3% while continuing to provide high-quality care to 6 million New Yorkers and ensuring the system remains financially stable for the future,” said Freeman Klopott, spokesman for state Budget Division. “The budget does not include any funding from local governments for Medicaid, though it does project that the measures designed to return them to the search for savings in the program will work and reduce growth by $150 million.”

Medicaid costs are responsible for about $4 billion of the $6.1 billion state budget gap. The Cuomo administration posits that localities have “no financial incentive to

control costs” and that they have “failed to adequately monitor their programs, leading to overspending.” Medicaid has been around for 55 years. Traditionally, the federal government funds 50%, the state 25% and local governments 25%. Since 2015, the state has picked up all growth in local Medicaid spending, covering something like 35% of the costs of Medicaid. According to background information provided by Cuomo’s budget division, Medicaid growth is costing the state about $4.5 billion per year, while the costs for counties have remained flat. The goal of this budget, then, is to provide an incentive for the state and the counties to work together again to find savings.

“For years, when (counties) had local share, they would come and find areas of savings, they would identify inefficiencies in the program, and once we took over the program that completely stopped,” said state Budget Director Robert Mujica during a WNYC radio interview. “So as part of our efforts to control the growth in Medicaid spending, we want local governments to reengage with us and help us to control costs. This is not just the state’s responsibility. That’s a false narrative.”

Despite Cuomo’s claims of irresponsible spending, experts hold that it is the state, not localities, that controls the more powerful levers of Medicaid, specifically reimbursement rates and eligibility standards.

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

CUOMO’S PROPOSED RULES

3%

Medicaid spending growth If localities go over, they’d be on the hook for all Medicaid growth over 3%.

2%

Property tax growth

PETRYCHENKO ANTON/SHUTTERSTOCK

If localities go over, they’d be on the hook for all Medicaid growth from the previous year.

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“Localities have very little control over Medicaid spending, so to shift the burden onto them would be unfair, and in many ways regressive,” said David Friedfel, director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, a research and advocacy organization that supports fiscal restraint.

“It’s saying that because you have a lot of people who need Medicaid, people who don’t have a lot of income, that means that you as a locality need to pay more. That’s just the wrong approach, and it’s not how any other state in the country does it.”

That’s why even right-leaning analyses are skeptical that Cuomo’s plan will actually reduce waste. “It’s not really about controlling costs,” said Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy,

March 2, 2020

$85 billion in Medicaid spending but has twice the number of enrolled residents.

Normally, enrollment and costs rise fastest during recessions when more people qualify for Medicaid due to declining income. In recent years, thanks to unemployment being at an all-time low, enrollment in New York’s program has been flat. So why are New York’s Medicaid costs so high?

One cause is the state increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour. “We’re paying people who work in the health care sector better, and that increases costs,” said Jennifer March, executive director of Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, a nonprofit child advocacy organization. She is concerned that balancing the state budget will negatively impact New York City’s

“IT’S NOT REALLY ABOUT CONTROLLING COSTS. IT’S ABOUT SHIFTING THE BLAME FROM ALBANY TO CITY HALL.” – BILL HAMMOND, E MPIRE CE NTE R HE ALTH POLICY DIRECTOR

a conservative think tank. “It’s about shifting the blame from Albany to City Hall.”

According to de Blasio’s fiscal year 2021 budget, New York City property tax revenue is expected to reach $31 billion, up from $29.7 billion in 2020. That’s a 4.5% increase in revenue, which would likely breach the 2% cap. (It’s a little unclear because the cap excludes tax revenue from new properties that weren’t on the tax rolls the year before.) New York City has never had to deal with a state-imposed cap on property taxes before, but other localities have been adhering to a 2% ceiling since the law passed in 2011. However, if the economy slows down or enters a recession, sales tax revenues will begin to decrease, which will put pressure on localities to override the tax cap.

Medicaid spending growth outside New York City has also been slower, according to state Department of Health data on Medicaid spending, so other counties would typically have a better chance on average to stay under the 3% spending increase limit. Statewide, the average Medicaid spending growth rate from fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019 was 5.6%. New York City’s was 7%.

Medicaid costs in New York totaled nearly $75 billion in fiscal year 2018, with the state chipping in over $20 billion, counties paying about $7 billion collectively and the rest coming from the federal government.

It’s the second costliest Medicaid program in the country, after California, which had

neediest children both immediately and in the long run. “You can’t have it both ways,” March said. “We are a state that committed to providing insurance to people and committed to making sure people make liveable wages. Costs are going to increase.”

A $1.7 billion chunk of the $4 billion Medicaid gap comes from last year’s Medicaid bill that was rolled over into this year when Cuomo realized that total Medicaid spending would be higher than budgeted, according to Friedfel.

Sharp enrollment hikes in expensive long-term care programs are another major culprit, specifically personal care services, which involve at-home assistance with nonmedical care, like help getting dressed, going to the bathroom or making meals. In New York City alone, costs in this program shot up 14% in just one year.

In other states, enrollment in this program is discretionary. Slots are limited and they’re targeted to the neediest people.

“New York has made it an entitlement,” Hammond said. “So if you meet the minimum threshold, both financially and medically, you get as many hours of personal care as somebody approves for you. Demographics alone don’t explain what’s going on. The rate of enrollment in the personal care program is growing about 17 times faster than the growth rate of the over-65 population.”

Hammond and Friedfel agree that there’s room to control costs by looking at what has driven such a rise in personal care services.

“In New York City, there’s 1,800 people who run the Medicaid program,” Cuomo said during a press conference on Feb. 7.

“They do the evaluation as to what service you should get: nursing home, home care.

They make the determination on how much home care: two hours, four hours, six hours, 24 hours. They then reevaluate that.”

“Cuts to personal care services would be very detrimental to our clients’ health because they wouldn’t have the choice of providers,” said Susan McCormack, director of consumer directed personal assistance services at the Long Island Center for Independent Living. McCormack just went to Albany to lobby for the continuation of long-term care services. “The last thing we want to think about is that if somebody can’t get the services they need, it would mean either hospitalization or institutionalization. So many people can’t get access to services they need without having somebody in the home. We all understand the Medicaid budget needs to be brought under control, but I don’t think attacking personal care is the way to go.”

Advocates predict that localities will fight this budget proposal by holding press conferences and lobbying in Albany. “I’m assuming that the city of New York, the counties and other advocates are going to push back on the cost shifts to localities because it will impede their abilities to actually serve, in our case, the poorest New Yorkers,” March said.

The governor has 30 days from the date he unveiled the proposal to make amendments, and then the state Legislature will present its own budget.

“The Senate majority will be advancing our one-house budget which reflects our budget priorities,” said Gary Ginsburg, Senate Democratic spokesman. “We will continue to fight for a budget that provides essential government services and helps reduce the burdens on struggling New York families and localities.”

The state Senate’s one-house budget resolution includes a boost in aid to municipalities. “As a former county legislator and town councilman, I understand the struggles many municipalities face in providing top-quality services without burdening taxpayers, and I will continue fighting to ensure municipalities receive their fair share from Albany,” said state Sen. James Gaughran, a Democrat from Long Island and the chairman of the Local Government Committee.

It’s unlikely that the budget proposal will pass the Legislature as it is now. “We’re in the 10th year of an economic expansion,” Friedfel said. “The state shouldn’t be in a position where they have to defer payments or push costs onto localities.”

■

Rebecca Bellan is a journalist who covers cities, culture, innovation, and technology.

Albany:

NEW YORKERS ARE SICK OF PBMS. Protect patients, taxpayers, and community pharmacies from prescription drug middlemen in 2020.

A

INITIATIVE

.ORG

22 CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

DIANE SAVINO

veterinary medicines not enough?

It’s like people! If you have an animal and they require pain medication, they give them the same medication they give you! It’s just smaller doses. So, if it works for you, then why wouldn’t it work for pets? Other states have done it. If my cat requires oxycontin because he’s got cancer, there’s not special oxycontin for cats.

It’s the same stuff they give you or me.

STATE SENATOR

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE You’ve been pushing the Medical Aid in Dying Act for at least four years.

Is this finally the year that it passes?

There’s definitely more interest in it. Compassion & Choices, who are doing the advocacy work, they’re doing a really good job addressing some of the concerns that members have. But this is a very complicated issue because it’s very sensitive. Nobody likes to talk about death. Period. They don’t like to admit that it’s going to happen to anyone.

Right now it’s not a budget issue. Everyone is like, “Oh, come back and talk to me later.” But I have seen a difference in the way some of the members are looking at it. One, they’re not running away from me anymore! That’s always good. But I couldn’t tell you whether I think it happens this year. I hope so.

Are you interested in expanding or improving that program this year?

Yes! Absolutely. I’m not trying to disrupt the negotiations around adult use, but I’m not going to sit back and wait till the last minute because patients in this state are waiting too long, paying too much, and it’s unfair to them to get caught up in a political debate about whether or not we should do adult use marijuana.

We can walk and chew gum at the same time. We have an existing program that isn’t meeting the needs of patients because it is too narrow, too small and too expensive. We have to fix that.

You were also the lead sponsor on legalizing medical marijuana.

You also have a bill to legalize medical marijuana for animals. Are the current

RICHARD GOTTFRIED

you want to practice law for anybody, you need a license.”

CHAIRMAN, ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE

REGULATING PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS

STATE SENATE; ASSEMBLY

How do pharmacy benefit managers fit into the prescription drug supply chain?

A PBM is an entity that administers prescription drug benefits in that they decide what drugs to cover. They take money from manufacturers. They take money from drugstores and get paid money by the insurance.

So why do they need to be regulated?

Our bill is very carefully written. It doesn’t say anything about what an insurance company can do. It only says what a PBM can do and it says something like you can’t steal from your clients. You have to disclose what you’re doing to your client.

You have to use care and professionalism – all words that would govern a lawyer.

Staten Island is getting its first cannabis dispensary. You’ve said that people have turned to the black market if they’re too far from a dispensary. Do you see that as playing any role in the opioid crisis?

Yes, absolutely. In the past five years we’ve seen an incredibly sophisticated underground illicit market where they deliver stuff to your house that looks remarkably like medical products. That’s what our competition is on the medical side, if we don’t handle the adult use. If not, we’re just going to be losing all of our money, it’s going to bleed back into the black market.

And nobody feels bad, nobody sneaks into a back alley to buy marijuana anymore.

You sit at home, you open a weed app, somebody brings it to your house.

So what does this all have to do with something called ERISA? The Employee Retirement Income Security Act is federal legislation that prohibits states from passing any law that relates to any employment benefit plan. The governor has argued that because our bill tells a PBM how to behave, that therefore we are violating ERISA. That’s not a totally wacko thought in that there are a lot of people who believe that. I think it’s a completely erroneous line of thought. For example, if I tried to represent an ERISA plan in court, and I wasn’t licensed to practice law, New York wouldn’t be preempted from saying, “If

The governor also had concerns about how the legislation would affect administrative costs, undermine market competition and invite scrutiny from general agencies like the U.S. Department of Justice. What is your take?

The duties are to use reasonable care, professionalism and act in the best interest of your client. If that is an unfair burden, that is pretty scary. PBMs get big rebates from a drug company, don’t tell their clients, and instead pocket the money. I don’t understand how cracking down on that is anticompetitive and why that would offend the (Federal Trade Commission). The extent to which the governor tried to really gut the bill is pretty strange.

What comes next for the bill?

We are reintroducing the bill with technical changes. We will work to pass the bill again and try to get the governor to talk with us. There will also be more advocacy by consumer groups and pharmacists. That may help things get worked out better.

NEW YORK IS ON THE VERGE OF UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE

Why replace it with healthcare run by Albany bureaucrats?

The state has lowered its uninsured rate to under 5%, the lowest level in history.

The New York Health Act would mean: • Staggering tax increases: $250 billion in new taxes • Delays in healthcare: 39 weeks for a hip or knee replacement • Devastating job losses: Nearly 2 million jobs at risk—worse than the 2008 recession • Government-run healthcare: Lose your private health insurance—let Albany decide your benefits

LET’S FIX WHAT IS BROKEN INSTEAD OF BLOWING UP THE ENTIRE SYSTEM AND REPLACING IT WITH AN EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE, EXPERIMENTAL, GOVERNMENT-RUN SYSTEM. Members of the Realities of Single Payer coalition support universal healthcare coverage for all New Yorkers but believe Single Payer is the wrong approach.

Adana Veterinary Clinic Albany Associates in Cardiology American Property Casualty Insurance Association Associated General Contractors of New York State Benefit Design Services Corporation Big I New York Bond Benefits Consulting, Inc Buffalo Niagara Partnership The Business Council of New York State, Inc. Business Council of Westchester C & D Assembly, Inc. Canfield Machine & Tool LLC CAP COM Federal Credit Union Capital Region Chamber of Commerce Centers Health Care Century Benefits Group, Inc. Chemung County Chamber of Commerce Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company Consiliarium Group, LLC Corning Area Chamber of Commerce Crisafulli Bros. Plumbing & Heating Contractors, Inc. Critical Link, LLC

DiVirgilio Benefit Resources, LLC Dupli Envelope Eastwood Litho Employer Alliance EMS Financial Services, LLC EP Nevins Insurance Agency, Inc. FICS Incorporated Food Industry Alliance of NYS, Inc. Goetzmann & Associates Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce Greater Central NY Association of Health Underwriters Greater Niagara Frontier NY Association of Health Underwriters Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce Hart Rifle Barrels, Inc. Health Options NY Hematology Oncology Associates of Central NY Hilliard Corporation HMS Infitec, Inc. Kaatirondack Benefit Planning, Inc. Lawley Insurance Long Island Association Matt Industries Merchants Insurance Group

Mohawk Valley EDGE Multivista CNY, LLC National Association of Health Underwriters National Federation of Independent Businesses New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce New York City Uniformed Sanitation Officers Association New York Health Plan Association New York State Association of Health Underwriters NYS Building & Construction Trades Council NYS Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans NYS Hospitality & Tourism Association NYS Professional Fire Fighters Association NYS Society of Plastic Surgeons North Country Chamber of Commerce Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. Northern Tier Contracting Inc. Northeastern NY Association of Health Underwriters Northwest Bank NYC-LI-Lower Hudson Valley Association of Health Underwriters Partnership for New York City

SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE WILL HURT NEW YORK realitiesofsinglepayer.com

Pathfinder Bank Perry & Carroll Inc. Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC Police Conference of New York, Inc. Pompa Bros., Inc. Practice Support Services, LLC PrintRoc Inc. Pro Flex Administrators Queens Chamber of Commerce Ralph W. Earl Co., Inc. Rockland Business Association Sergeants Benevolent Association Sheridan Benefits, LLC Southern Tier Shopper Suburban Hospital Alliance of New York State, LLC Tech Valley Office Interiors The Agency The Reis Group Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater NY Unshackle Upstate Upstate Benefit Planning Vertex Solutions Village Tavern Restaurant & Inn Welliver McGuire, Inc. Western NY Association of Health Underwriters

24 CityAndStateNY.com

Drug Deals Lawmakers agree the costs of prescription meds need to be lowered – but how?

by J U L I A A G O S

A

S THE NEW YORK state legislative session kicks into high gear, the debate over prescription drug prices is back on the table. Gov. Andrew Cuomo set the stage in December by previewing a proposal to reduce prescription drug costs, including a cap on insulin payments, greater powers to investigate spikes in drug prices and the importation of Canadian drugs. Then, in late December, he vetoed a bill that had the same goal – by regulating pharmaceutical benefit managers.

But in his budget proposal, Cuomo included a provision that aims to increase transparency of PBMs, which negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurers and employers. The language in the proposal is similar to that of the bill he vetoed in December. Both would require PBMs to register with the state and disclose financial incentives for promoting certain drugs.

Cuomo and his Democratic colleagues have the same goal – lowering prescription drug costs – but they disagreed on the details. Cuomo’s office did not respond to a request for comment on how the bill he vetoed differs from his new proposal to regulate pharmacy benefit managers.

The policy debate in Albany comes amid calls across the country to contain prescription drug prices. Following stories of drug companies raising prescription costs a thousand times over, state and the federal governments are trying to come up with ways to keep prices affordable for patients.

“It’s a matter of life and death,” Cuomo said in his State of the State address.

Drug costs began to rise in the United States in the late 1990s as monopolies in the prescription drug industry grew. Between 1997 and 2007, drug spending in the United States tripled, according to Health Affairs. Advocates for reform point to cases like Heather Bresch, whose company, Mylan, increased the cost of the EpiPen by 500% in just eight years. Or the “Pharma Bro,” Martin Shkreli, who raised the price of an AIDS drug 5,000% as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. The issue caught the attention of federal lawmakers after Shannon Weston testified before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in 2016 about the life-saving drug her 1-year-old daughter needed to fight a parasitic infection.

The family could not afford the drug after it spiked from $13.50 to $75 a tablet in 2015.

While Cuomo’s budget proposal includes several reforms, lawmakers are pointing to the bill passed by both houses to regulate pharmacy benefit managers that Cuomo vetoed last session. Sponsored by state Sen. Neil Breslin and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, it would have required PBMs to register with the state and obtain a license.

PBMs are responsible for the pharmacy benefits management of over 266 million Americans, according to a study conducted by the state Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. The committee, which is chaired by state Sen. James Skoufis, concluded that PBMs play a

City & State New York

major role in the “strain on the contemporary healthcare system.”

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a co-sponsor of the bill, argued that it would have “safeguarded New Yorkers and local pharmacies by helping to rein in PBMs that are recklessly inflating the costs of prescription drugs,” adding, “The programs make money by charging pharmacies or insurance providers a fee for the service.”

The process is called spread pricing, which is defined as “the difference between the amount PBMs reimburse pharmacies and the amount billed the health plan,” according to the Pharmacist Society of the State of New York.

The Business Council of New York State opposed the PBMs bill, saying there is no evidence PBMs clients suffer as a result of their practices. “PBMs have become the latest easy target for state officials to blame for ever-increasing healthcare costs,” The Business Council said in a memo last year.

The PBMs bill passed both the state Senate and Assembly in June 2019, then was vetoed by Cuomo in December. “I can’t guess his motivation (on the veto),” said state Sen. Rachel May, another co-sponsor of the bill. “He definitely likes to be in control of the agenda.”

In a statement following the veto, Cuomo said that he appreciated “the intent” of the bill, but argued that it would be preempted by federal legislation, including the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, and would “increase administrative costs, facilitate anticompetitive conduct, and generate scrutiny” from federal agencies. In addition, the bill could “sweep in plans that are not true PBMs, but rather health benefit funds only,” Cuomo added. “For those reasons I am constrained to veto this bill.”

Gottfried, the Assembly sponsor, questioned the reasoning behind the veto. “The Employee Retirement Income Security Act is federal legislation that prohibits states from passing any law that relates to any employment benefit plan,” Gottfried said.

“The governor has argued that because our bill tells a PBM how to behave, that therefore we are violating ERISA. That’s not a totally wacko thought in that there are a lot of people who believe that. I think it’s a completely erroneous line of thought. For example, if I tried to represent an ERISA plan in court, and I wasn’t licensed to practice law, New York wouldn’t be preempted from saying, ‘If you want to practice law for anybody, you need a license.’”

25

Cuomo’s latest budget briefing argues that regulation of these brokers can help control costs, that they have a “lack of transparency that shrouds their operations” and contribute “to potential for collusion or conflicts of interest.” His budget proposes requiring PBMs to acquire a license through the state, which may require them to disclose financial incentives for promoting certain drugs.

In addition, Cuomo wants to include a three pronged approach to reduce prescription drug prices. First, he wants to cap copayments for insulin at $100 per month.

According to the American Diabetes Association, insulin costs have almost tripled over the last two decades.

Cuomo also wants to give the state Department of Financial Services the power to investigate and penalize drug companies that raise drug prices without justification.

The final component of Cuomo’s plan is to establish a commission to study the possibility and potential benefits of allowing drug imports from Canada. This is a proposal considered by both Democrats and Republicans in states across the country. In July 2019, the Trump administration took steps to allow Florida to import drugs from Canada, a process that is currently not legal in the United States. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said of the plan, “New pathways for importation can move us toward a more open and competitive marketplace that supplies American patients with safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs.”

However, representatives from the Canadian government have signaled concern that American exports will place too much of a burden on their drug manufacturers. Canada is already in the midst of a drug shortage, and opening up their supply to American consumers could cripple their system.

“This multipronged approach to tackling a complex problem will hold manufacturers accountable for drug prices that border on price-gouging and explore new ways to access less expensive medicines and bring more competition into the market,” Cuomo said.

Both May and Rivera say they will support Cuomo’s prescription drug proposal in the budget, even though they do not think it is aggressive enough. May vowed, “We’ll keep pushing to make it stronger in the budget.”

■

With reporting from Zach Williams.

PHOTO_MTS/SHUTTERSTOCK

March 2, 2020

26 CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

A Pregnant Pa U

NLIKE MOST ISSUES in Albany that divide state lawmakers along traditional ideological and partisan lines, paid gestational surrogacy pits liberals, LGBTQ legislators and feminist lawmakers of different generations against each other. But that could change in upcoming budget negotiations.

A bill to legalize gestational surrogacy – which allows a woman to bear a child using another woman’s egg – did pass the state Senate last year, but it did not get a vote by the full Assembly because of concerns among some older, female lawmakers who say the practice can commodify female bodies. Other Democratic lawmakers, especially those from the millennial generation, see surrogacy as a way to allow gay and straight couples alike to start families through a practice that is already legal in 47 other states.

One key ingredient to success this year is timing, according to Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, who has been the go-to person for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issue. “Gestational surrogacy was a big priority of ours last year and continues to be this year,” DeRosa said. “By jump-starting the campaign earlier, taking the time to properly educate legislators, and humanizing the issue, the likelihood of success is much higher.”

The state budget process this year offers supporters their best chance yet to legalize gestational surrogacy. This approach would allow Cuomo, who reiterated his support for the proposal at a press conference last week, to circumvent the Assembly committee process by making the issue part of a broader agreement that includes legislators’ other political priorities. A new bill to legalize paid gestational surrogacy was introduced this month by state Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger – the only Democrat in the Senate to vote against the bill last year – suggests that critics are coming around. But Krueger and other influential lawmakers in the Assembly are pushing for a resolution on the issue to be delayed until after the April 1 budget deadline.

With Cuomo and the state Senate having already demonstrated their support for the effort, the big x-factor remains Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who has said before that he generally opposes including policy proposals in the budget. Whether the As-

sembly backs the idea one way or another also remains an open question, he told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. “If there is support for it in the conference, I’d say it’s a priority to have a discussion on it,” Heastie told reporters Tuesday. “Whether there is enough support within the conference overall to do it, that’s another matter, and I don’t have that answer yet.”

Heastie did say that he would discuss the issue with a group of lawmakers from his conference. Though he declined to specify the specific lawmakers he planned to discuss the issue with, the most undecided

group among his members appear to be the same lawmakers who opposed the effort last year. “I’m very conflicted,” said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick of Manhattan, the state Legislature’s first openly gay or lesbian member and who opposed the effort last year. “On the one hand, I think this is happening and it’s going to keep happening so we should do what we can to make it as safe as possible. On the other hand, I’m very uncomfortable with some aspects of it.”

Other past opponents include the chairs of the two legislative committees that oversee state spending – Krueger and Assembly

March 2, 2020

DON POLLARD/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Pause

City & State New York

Gestational surrogacy is on hold until feminists and LGBT advocates can find common ground.

by Z A C H W I L L I A M S

are lots of different health issues, biomedical ethical issues.”

The Manhattan lawmaker said that further discussion could sway some Democratic lawmakers to withdraw support for the original bill, Gov. Andrew sponsored by state Sen. Brad Cuomo has pushed Hoylman of Manhattan and to legalize gestational surrogacy, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin which is legal in 47 of Westchester County, which states, and which served as the basis for the goverhe argues can help nor’s proposal. “It’s not a simple LGBT couples raise kids of their own. story,” Krueger said of the nearly unanimous support the Hoylman bill had among Democratic colleagues last year. “The bill has had very little attention from most legislators.” State lawmakers did hold a May 2019 hearing on the matter.

Hoylman said that he is amenable to revising his bill to address critics’ concerns, but he called the eight-day grace period a “nonstarter” that would undermine the whole purpose. “I speak from personal experience,” said Hoylman, who has had two children with his husband through gestational surrogacy. “I would never go into an arrangement where the woman acting as a surrogate, even though she’s not genetically connected to my children, might be able to claim parental rights.” His proposal includes requirements that contracting parents pay for independent legal counsel and medical insurance for their surrogate, who would get to choose her doctor. “I think the bill we have now is first in class among potential laws legalizing surrogacy across the country,” he said. Paulin did not respond to a request for comment.

New Yorkers who wish to have children through paid surrogates can travel to almost any state in the nation to do so. By inWays and Means Chair Helene Weinstein. centivizing residents to seek such services The new bill proposed by Krueger would elsewhere, the state is undermining its give surrogates additional rights that include own ability to protect the health of surroa grace period of at least eight days after birth gates, according to Hoylman. “We’re askto decide whether or not to contest the custo- ing New Yorkers to go to other states where dy of the child. There is also a provision that there may be very bad laws that might would not allow a woman to be a surrogate jeopardize our citizens.”

Delaying action on surrogacy, as Krueger more than two times, and a requirement that a woman have delivered one healthy baby is urging, until after the budget would give before she would be eligible for paid surro- opponents more opportunities to mobilize gacy. “One of the reasons I think it’s so im- and make their case. Hoylman, Cuomo portant for this issue to not go in the budget and other proponents have highlighted the is because it requires those kinds of conversa- issue as a matter of equal rights for sametions,” Krueger said in an interview. “There sex couples who want to have families

27

through surrogacy. Considering that some couples pay tens of thousands of dollars to surrogates, opponents argue that efforts by relatively wealthy people to have children should not come at the cost of protecting women. “Under this bill, women in economic need become commercialized vessels for rent, and the fetuses they carry become the property of others,” feminist icon Gloria Steinem said last year of the Hoylman-Paulin bill.

Avowed feminist lawmakers like Krueger, Weinstein, Glick and Assemblywoman Didi Barrett of Poughkeepsie are skeptical about last year’s Hoylman proposal to legalize paid gestational surrogacy. But their younger counterparts in state government have a different take on the issue. Most members of both houses under the age of 50 have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. While some of them say they share concerns about the danger of allowing women to be exploited, they do not oppose the idea as a matter of principle. “I am in support of legalizing surrogacy,” said Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou of Manhattan. “I have offered surrogacy to two of my friends before. I understand how hard it is to find a good surrogate.” She ultimately did not serve as a surrogate.

One reason for this generational divide is the emphasis that younger feminists have placed on allowing women, even those who might be more vulnerable to exploitation, to ultimately make their own reproductive health decisions. It is also an issue that allows women greater freedom to strike a balance between their careers and families, according to DeRosa. “Surrogacy is something that affects women of a certain age,” said DeRosa, who is 37. “It’s incredibly important to women across the state, who are not elected to the Senate or the Assembly. Until very recently, decisions were being made for them by old white men or older white women who are completely out of touch with this generation.”

For now, the political momentum appears to be behind Cuomo’s budget proposal, but proponents may need at least the tacit support of powerful critics like Krueger and Weinstein to get a budget that includes the legalization of paid gestational surrogacy. The reluctance of Heastie to include non-fiscal items in the budget could help them keep the issue out of the budget this year.

Considering that most powerful opponents of his bill are also some of his strongest allies on other issues, Hoylman said that taking the time to address concerns is a step he is willing to take – even if it means waiting until after April 1 to get the effort across the legislative finish line.

“I’m in favor of passing it however it gets done,” he said.

■

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March 2, 2020

City & State New York

MELISSA DeROSA

We will review it and hear all sides.

The proposal that we put forward was really drafted with the people in mind who have lived through gestational surrogacy, who have had to leave the state because of our antiquated, outdated, completely backward laws.

SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNOR

THE PARTY SPLIT ON GESTATIONAL SURROGACY What’s the latest with maternity, maternal mortality, and IVF? Medically necessary egg freezing went into effect on Jan. 1, but a lot of people don’t know about it. We’re putting money behind an education campaign and also trying to explore other ways to expand the mandate.

For maternal mortality, we put $8 million into the budget. We’re implementing implicit bias training and post-birth training for medical providers, creating a comprehensive prenatal data warehouse to increase timely access to maternal health data and convening a maternal mortality review board that reviews all of the maternal deaths to identify patterns in a more holistic way. We’re also doing a recruitment program in communities of color. When you are treating somebody who is like you, you’re more sensitive to their unique health care needs.

What about gestational surrogacy?

Gestational surrogacy was a big priority of ours last year and continues to be this year. By jump-starting the campaign earlier, taking the time to properly educate legislators, and humanizing the issue, the likelihood of success is much higher.

State Sen. Liz Krueger has expressed skepticism about the governor’s proposal and has proposed her own bill. What do you make of it?

I have not reviewed it yet. I have heard from a number of the different advocates, both in the women’s groups and in the LGBT groups, saying that there were provisions in it that they absolutely could not support. Their words, not mine.

CARLINA RIVERA CORONAVIRUS PREPAREDNESS AND MEDICARE FOR ALL

CELESTE SLOMAN; ALI GARBER

How do generational differences play into your approach to issues like surrogacy?

One of the first things that I did after becoming secretary was I went to the doctor and explored embryo and egg freezing because it was something my husband and I talked about. At that point, we were like: “We’re not doing this now. When are we going to do it?”

I am now 37 and I have to take full advantage of the position that I am in. Surrogacy is something that affects women of a certain age and so it’s something that is incredibly important to me on a personal level. It’s incredibly important to all of my friends. It’s incredibly important to women across the state, who are not elected to the Senate or the Assembly. Until very recently, decisions were being made for them by old white men or older white women who are completely out of touch with this generation.

Medicaid funding is shifting as we speak, but is New York City in trouble, in regard to state health care funding?

I have optimism. I mean, billions of dollars in cuts that could affect our ability to serve the people of New York City is certainly distressing. We’re the type of city, the type of state that wants to help our poorest New Yorkers, our most vulnerable people.

And I hope that we can figure out a way to not look at cutting health care for the poor first and foremost when it comes to filling budget gaps.

CHAIRWOMAN, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON HOSPITALS

You’re the lead sponsor of a bill to create an Office of the Patient Advocate. Don’t New Yorkers already have somewhere in the bureaucracy to lodge health care complaints?

We have an incredibly complex health care system. And that presents challenges for even well-seasoned veterans of bureaucracy. When you have problems in accessing care, whether it’s poor treatment or customer service or issues with insurance, it often feels like the only place where you can go is that same institution creating those problems – like the medical facility or the doctor you just saw. This allows you to have a place where you can not only contact for help, but it’s going to be able to use that data to influence or support what you know you need in your own community.

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Do you support Medicare for All? Is there anything the city can do?

I do support Medicare for All. We’re looking at expanding NYC Care. I know at the state level, we’ll be fighting for single-payer, which I think is a great introduction.

I have a bill with Council member Mark Levine and Speaker Corey Johnson which expands NYC Care – or something very similar – to Federally Qualified Health Centers. There’s not a Health + Hospitals facility in every neighborhood, but if we supplement the community health clinics, we can make a real dent in our primary care health access challenges.

You mentioned there’s a lot of talent in New York City when it comes to health care. Are you confident that the city is prepared for outbreaks like coronavirus?

I’m very confident. I think that unfortunately there’s been a lot of panic and unnecessary hysteria around misinformation. So I’m trying to be in Chinatown, whether it’s visiting a classroom or going to local businesses, and making sure that we understand that New York City has world-class institutions here, and we’re going to take care of every New Yorker, whether it’s coronavirus or whether it’s flu season. These are very serious issues, but we’re the best at this.

Going Viral

by A M I N A F R A S S L

W

Using experience from Ebola – and waning federal dollars – health officials are attempting to fortify against a coronavirus outbreak.

HEN THE CORONAVIRUS outbreak began in China, government officials there initially sought to deny that there was any public health issue. One doctor in Wuhan, the Chinese city hardest hit, noticed early warning signs of a potential epidemic, but was confronted by police and pressured to keep quiet. Eventually, after aggressive quarantine efforts by the government, the number of new cases in China peaked, but doubts remain as to how reliable China’s official figures are.

Now, as COVID-19, the new coronavirus that first appeared in Wuhan, spreads to other countries – including South Korea, Iran and Italy – public health officials in New York are bracing for the worst.

Even though there have been no cases documented locally as of printing, public health officials have been open about the threat for weeks.

And unlike in China, New York City’s health department has been transparent about the still small number of people who have been tested and the results of those tests.

But will it make a difference?

March 2, 2020

City & State New York

“IT’S NOT A MATTER OF IF, BUT WHEN, WE’LL SEE CASES OF CORONAVIRUS IN OUR CITY.”

DIMABERLIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

– NEW YORK CIT Y MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

“It’s not a matter of if, but when, we’ll see cases of coronavirus in our city,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Jan. 24. “We are prepared and we need you to take precautions as well.”

Last week, de Blasio asked the federal government to allow the city’s health department to test patients for the virus, arguing that it would allow the city to respond more quickly to a health emergency. Currently, the city has to rely on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.

While much remains unknown about the disease, whose flu-like symptoms range from resembling the common cold to life-threatening conditions, it appears to be more contagious than the related respiratory syndromes SARS and MERS. According to the CDC, infection with COVID-19 occurs through the air, in close contact of about six feet. Respiratory droplets are produced when an infected patient coughs or sneezes. These can land in the mouths or noses or are possibly inhaled into the lungs of people nearby.

Fast transmission is a particular concern in a dense city like New York. “The important thing for New Yorkers to know is that in the city currently, their risk is low, and our city preparedness is high,” said New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot on a Feb. 6 interview on NY1’s Inside City Hall show. “We are monitoring the situation daily to determine if our plans to protect New Yorkers need to be adjusted accordingly.”

This would not be the first time the city battles an infectious disease. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the New York City health department implemented extensive screening procedures and training. After the death of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas, health officials in New York City set up isolation rooms in public and private hospitals. Bellevue Hospital Center was turned into the go-to facility with separate rooms with sliding glass doors, private bathrooms and a lab only for testing the blood of Ebola patients.

Hospital preparedness was put to the test when Dr. Craig Spencer tested positive for Ebola after returning from Guinea, marking the first case in New York City. Spencer was immediately brought into isolation at Bellevue. The three people he came in contact with were quarantined, and the bowling alley he visited was closed and cleaned by health workers. The virus was ultimately contained, and Spencer was declared Ebola-free after less than a month.

Spencer’s case “is a good indication that it can be done,” Dr. Stephen Morse, professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, told City & State. “If you are

31

careful and mindful of the fact that (infection) could happen, you make sure to look for those cases, whether it’s Ebola or the 2019 coronavirus. It’s a matter of having the right procedures and infrastructure in place and people who know how to act.”

According to Syra Madad, the senior director for the systemwide special-pathogens program for NYC Health + Hospitals, the city’s health facilities are practicing basic infection control to detect COVID-19 amongst New Yorkers. “The first thing staff in the ER asks is – ‘Do you have fever, cough or rash?’” Madad told City & State. “If they do, patients are given a mask and escorted to isolation rooms right away to minimize the interaction with other patients.”

With the support of federal funding, Bellevue Hospital Center hosts in-service training to familiarize health workers with COVID-19. Medical personnel are taught how to identify cases and isolate them and undergo readiness and table-top protocols to ensure the system responds and functions properly should this outbreak worsen. “We drill all of our hospitals on what we call ‘mystery patients’ that may come in with respiratory illnesses to make sure that they are all at the same level of readiness,” a spokesperson for the New York City health department said.

If there is a surge of cases, NYC Health + Hospitals plans to address the situation from a four-S standpoint: staffing, supplies, space and system. This helps health officials ensure there are enough isolation rooms, masks and medical workers to accommodate infected patients.

While funding for the national Ebola preparedness program is set to expire early this year, individual medical systems can decide whether to continue funding the program. According to Madad, the NYC Health + Hospitals program will continue, but she voiced concern for health care programs around the nation.

“The unfortunate part is that funding was only for five years, and it actually expires in a matter of months – in 2020,” Madad told New York magazine recently. “So this entire infrastructure that we’ve built across the nation is going to get dismantled in a couple of months, which is mind-boggling knowing we’re in a potential pandemic situation and we’re letting our guard down.”

For now, travel restrictions issued by the Trump administration allow health officials to buy time and prepare for the worst. As of Feb. 2, foreign nationals who traveled to China within the past 14 days are no longer allowed to enter the United States. This does not apply to U.S. citizens who have recently been to mainland China.

They are allowed to enter but may be subject to health screening and possibly 14 days of federal or self-imposed quarantine. CDC staffers evaluate travelers for fever, cough or heavy breathing, and if they show symptoms, they will be brought to a medical facility. Travelers who do not show signs of illness are allowed to complete their travel itinerary but are instructed to self-monitor their health for two weeks by staying home and avoiding contact with others.

Should cases of COVID-19 be identified in the city, officials will likely expand airport screening beyond federal guidelines and CDC requirements. During the Ebola outbreak, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then-Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey issued a quarantine policy, ordering 21-day mandatory quarantine for all health care workers returning from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and traveling through John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty International airports.

In the meantime, the city’s health officials are doing their best to promote transparency. Cuomo recently allocated $40 million to the state Health Department to hire more staff and resources to combat the disease if and when it arrives. And while China failed to notify its citizens soon enough, as The New York Times reported, in New York both city and state health departments are updating their websites daily. “We are putting out a steady stream of press releases, website updates of suspected cases,” a spokesperson for the New York City health department said. “We are in constant communication with electeds, local health care providers and community partners to update them on the latest information.”

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

March 2, 2020 For more info.

212-268-0442 Ext.2039

Email

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Notice of Qual. of S&S BUSHWICK LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 10/03/2019.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 05/31/2019. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O Park-It Management, 250 West 26th St., 4th Fl, NY, NY 10001. Address required to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Drive, Ste 101, Dover, DE 19904.

Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of NSP Richmond Residential, LLC filed with SSNY on January 10, 2020. Office: Richmond County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 58 Bowdoin Street, Staten Island, NY 10314. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of JAMBON BEURRE TOPCO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/17/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-243.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Dua Maintenance and Construction, LLC filed with SSNY on December 06, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 2753 Bath Avenue, 3FL, NY, NY 11214.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Name: E M P I R E CSS, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/07/2020.

County: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to 65 Broadway #1400, New York, NY 10006-2503.

Purpose: to engage in any and all business for which LLCs may be formed under the New York LLC Law. Notice of Formation of LIVE BY REHAN, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/7/20.

Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 550 W. 54th St., Apt. 3D, NY, NY 10019. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Duggan Bertsch, LLC, 303 W. Madison St., Ste. 1000, Chicago, IL 60606.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

March 2, 2020

PARERGON PROJECTS LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 07/16/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 30 E 85th St., 8C, NY, NY 10028. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of Wherever You Go Pictures, LLC filed with SSNY on December 16, 2019. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 21 Egmont Place, Staten Island, NY 10301. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

SANDRA BURCH, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/14/2020.

Office loc: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 215 E. 95 St. #26G, NY, NY 10128. Reg Agent: U.S. Corp. Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of GENUINE LEADERS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/13/20. Princ. office of LLC: 88 Leonard St., #714, NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of R/S FULCRUM LLC. Arts. Of Org filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/28/20. Office location: NY County. Sec of State designated LLC agent upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 153 E. 96th St., 1A, NY, NY 10128, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of JIA LEE LLC filed with SSNY on August 5, 2019.

Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 57-59 2ND Ave, Apt. 74, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of NORTHPOINT TECHNOLOGY, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/24/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/15/20.

NYS fictitious name: NP TECHNOLOGY, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o ACA Compliance Group, Attn: Andrea M. McNamara, 8401 Colesville Rd., Ste. 700, Silver Springs, MD 20910. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of Hospitality GS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy of State of New York (SSNY) on January 24, 2020. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to One World Trade Center, Suite 47A, NY, NY 10007.

Purpose: any lawful act.

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of 116 SULLIVAN CASA, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/28/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 116 Sullivan St., NY, NY 10012. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

26 CEDAR, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/07/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Larocca Hornik Rosen & Greenberg LLP, 40 Wall Street, 32nd Fl, Attn: P. McPartland, NY, NY 10005. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of PMPGL, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/15/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of On and Offshore Quality Control Specialists, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/18/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in TX on 5/2/05.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. TX and principal business address: 111 Congress Ave., Ste. 900, Austin, TX 78701. Cert. of Form. filed with TX Sec. of State, 1019 Brazos St., Austin, TX 78701. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of RAHF IV FC Holdings, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/9/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 551 5th Ave., 23rd Fl., NY, NY 10176. LLC formed in DE on 6/22/16.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168.

DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of &VEST DOMESTIC FUND II L.P. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/28/20. Office location: NY County.

LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/09/20. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 3 Minetta St., NY, NY 10012. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

HSMH, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/27/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Basil Hamadeh, 149 E. 23rd Street, #1904, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

Notice of Qualification of COMPASS LONG ISLAND, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/27/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of 180 BEDFORD SUBDSO, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/16/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 1345 EASE AOA PROMOTE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/20. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 299 Park Ave., 42nd Fl., NY, NY 10171. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Attn: General Counsel at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity. mokanyra, LLC. Filed with SSNY on 01/16/2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail copy to: 1808 Arnow Ave, Bronx, NY 10469. Purpose: Any lawful.

SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS CALIBER HOME LOANS, INC., Plaintiff against PIERRE DUBOIS A/K/A PIERRE GERALD DUBOIS; MRS. “DOE” DUBOIS, et al Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on December 18, 2019.

I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 12th day of March, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn.

County of Kings, City and State of New York.

Said premises known as 543 55th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11220.

(Block: 824, Lot: 68).

Approximate amount of lien $ 216,620.62 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.

Index No. 515510-15.

Joel E. Abramson, Esq., Referee.

Stern & Eisenberg, PC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff Woodbridge Corporate Plaza 485 B Route 1 South – Suite 330 Iselin, NJ 08830 (732) 582-6344 *For sale information, please visit www. auction.com or call 800280-2832* Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC): NAME: 113-115 Tompkins Avenue LLC Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 2/5/2020.

Office Location: Westchester County.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: 113-115 Tompkins Avenue LLC, 462 Bedford Road, Bedford Hills, NY 10507.

Purpose: Any lawful act or activities

PUBLIC NOTICE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- JOHN MORALES, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated September 23, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Courthouse 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY on February 27, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the northerly side of St. John’s Place, distant 265 feet and 4 inches westerly from the northeasterly corner of St. John’s Place and Bedford Avenue; being a plot 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches by 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches. Block: 1245 Lot: 62 Said premises known as 679 ST. JOHNS PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY Approximate amount of lien $825,816.46 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney.

Index Number 13974/2014.

SHMUEL D. TAUB, ESQ., Referee David A. Gallo & Associates LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 99 Powerhouse Road, First Floor, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 File# 7254.1134 {* CITY*}

Notice of Formation of Birch Speech Therapy, LLC filed with SSNY on December 23, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 115 Washington Place #24, New York, NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Mitch Motivates LLC filed with SSNY on January 28, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 301 East 79th Street, APT 4C, New York, NY 10075. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of REVANTAGE CORPORATE SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/13/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Ace of Air, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/5/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/31/19.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to the principal business address: c/o Three Ocean Partners, 551 5th Ave., Ste. 3800, NY, NY 10176, Attn: Stephanie Stahl.

DE address of LLC: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Qualification of Antares Associates LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/23/19. Office location: New York County. NY Sec. of State designated agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served, and shall mail process to The LLC, c/o The Corporation Trust Company, Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801.

DE addr. of LLC c/o The Corporation Trust Company, Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801.

Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901 on 12/11/19. Purpose: any lawful activity. Principal business location: 80 Columbus Cir, Unit 75 AB, New York, NY.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS DITECH FINANCIAL LLC, F/K/A GREEN TREE SERVICING LLC, Plaintiff AGAINST FLOZENA WEEMS AKA FLOZEMA WEEMS, ET AL., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated May 01, 2019 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Room 224 of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, on March 19, 2020 at 2:30PM, premises known as 757 GEORGIA AVENUE, BROOKLYN, NY 11207.

All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK 4321, LOT 45.

Approximate amount of judgment $472,676.04 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment for Index# 500829/2017.

CHARLANE ODETTA BROWN, ESQ., Referee Gross Polowy, LLC Attorney for Plaintiff 1775 Wehrle Drive, Suite 100 Williamsville, NY 14221 67880

33

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Plaintiff AGAINST De’shawn Ware a/k/a Deshawn Ware a/k/a De’Shawn Carlos Ware a/k/a De’Shawn C. Ware a/k/a Deshawn Carlos Ware a/k/a Deshawn C. Ware; Maranyelly Vega; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated May 2, 2019 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on March 19, 2020 at 2:30PM, premises known as 345 Schenck Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block: 4012 Lot: 5.

Approximate amount of judgment $389,855.59 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 512319/2017.

Angelicque M. Moreno, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: January 8, 2020 For sale information, please visit www.

Auction.com or call (800) 280-2832

Notice of Formation of BABYGRAND LLC filed with SSNY on March 22, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 82 Irving Place, 1B, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

34

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC AUCTION Supreme Court of New York, KINGS County. U.S. BANK N.A., NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR THE RMAC TRUST, SERIES 2016-CTT, Plaintiff, -against- HARVEY WILLIAMS; LILLIAN WILLIAMS; KINGS SUPREME COURT; CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK; HSBC BANK NEVADA, N.A.; CITY OF NEW YORK TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; CITY OF NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, Index No. 513521/2016. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated, November 15, 2019 and entered with the Kings County Clerk on December 18, 2019, Joseph H. Aron, Esq., the Appointed Referee, will sell the premises known as 258 Legion Street, Brooklyn, New York 11212 at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, Room 224, on March 19, 2020 at 2:30 P.M. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New York known as Block: 3567; Lot: 143 will be sold subject to the provisions of filed Judgment, Index No. 513521/2016. The approximate amount of judgment is $556,685.34 plus interest and costs. FRIEDMAN VARTOLO LLP 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

Notice of Formation of Benowitz Family LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/13/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 160 E. 65th St., NY, NY 10065. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, 605 3rd Ave., NY, NY 10158, Attn: Jeffrey I. Citron, Esq. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of WALTER PROD CO, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/24/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/21/20. Princ. office of LLC: Two Pennsylvania Plaza, NY, NY 10121. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John D. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Entertainment.

Copy of Application for Authority of NJ Energy Realty, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, or a notice related to the qualification of the LLC filed with State Secretary of New York (“SSNY”) on 11/8/19. Office Location: Westchester County.

SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and mail process to: c/o Harriton & Furrer, LLP, 84 Business Park Drive, Suite 302, Armonk, NY 10504. Purpose:

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of The Reserve at Heritage Holdings LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/4/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC organized in MO on 10/4/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 14 E. 33rd St., #7S, NY, NY 10016, principal business address. MO address of LLC: 8909 Ladue Rd., St. Louis, MO 63124. Cert. of Org. filed with MO Sec. of State, 600 W. Main St., Jefferson City, MO 65101.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

March 2, 2020

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL ASSET MORTGAGE PRODUCTS, INC., MORTGAGE ASSET-BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIS 2006-NC3, V. NICHOLAS CALABRESE A/K/A NICHOLAS A. CALABRESE; ET. AL. NOTICE OF SALE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated March 06, 2019, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Kings, wherein U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL ASSET MORTGAGE PRODUCTS, INC., MORTGAGE ASSET-BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIS 2006-NC3 is the Plaintiff and NICHOLAS CALABRESE A/K/A NICHOLAS A. CALABRESE; ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the KINGS COUNTY COURTHOUSE 360 ADAMS STREET, ROOM 224, BROOKLYN, NY 11201, on March 26, 2020 at 2:30 pm, premises known as 2176 EAST 36TH STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11234: Block 8535, Lot 2: ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN, COUNTY OF KINGS, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 519461/2016.

Steven Naiman, Esq. - Referee. RAS Boriskin, LLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

STORAGE NOTICE

Modern Moving Inc. will sell at Public Auction at 3735 Merritt Avenue, Bronx, NY 10466 At 6:00 P.M. on MARCH 10th, 2020 for due and unpaid charges by virtue of lien in accordance with the provisions of the law and with due notice given all parties claiming an interest therein, the time specified In each notice for payment of said charges having expired household furniture & effects, pianos, trunks, cases, TV’s, radios, hifi’s, refrigerators, sewing machines, washers, air conditioners, household furniture Of all descriptions and the contents thereof, stored under the following names: -AYAMFI, ALEXANDER -BORROTO, FAUSTINO -CLARK, JAMEL -CABRERA, YVETTE -DODO, JONATHAN -DAVIDO, DINO/DAVIDO, ANNA -DAVIS, DWIGHT -DIENG, BATHIE -GARCIA, MIGUEL/ JOHN DOE/JANE DOE

-KAHAN, NEIL -LORA, STEPHANIE -MOULTRIE, SARAH/ NIYON, JOHN -STRICTMAN,DONNA/ FOSTER,EVE STRICTMAN/SARAH STRICTMAN -ZARAGOZA, KATHERINE AKA BALLENTINE, KATHERINE

Notice of Formation of SoHa Dental, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/2020. Office location: NY County. Paracorp Incorporated designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. Paracorp Incorporated shall mail process to: Brad Washington, 1845 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd., New York, County of New York, NY 10026. Purpose: to practice the profession of dentistry and orthodontics.

Notice of Formation of NJ GUNZ, LLC filed with SSNY on January 27th, 2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it mat be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 4345 Ely Ave, Bronx, NY 10466. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

VSM NY HOLDINGS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/05/20. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Village Super Market, Inc., 733 Mountain Avenue, Springfield,NJ 07081.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Saltu Projects, LLC filed with SSNY on December 26, 2019. Office: Kings.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: Alison St. Pierre 545 Prospect Place 3H Brooklyn, NY 06280. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

DOMONIQUE WORSHIP COACHING AND CONSULTING LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/19/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 272 Manhattan Ave., Apt. 4F, NY, NY 10026. Reg Agent: U.S. Corp. Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1324131 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR

BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 1957 PALMER AVE LARCHMONT, NY 10538. WESTCHESTER COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. SEMPRE NOI LLC

Villavicencio Landscape Architect LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on October 17, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Villavicencio Landscape Architect LLC. 20 North Broadway Apt. F327, White Plains, NY. 10601. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Sinsemilla Kitchen, LLC filed with SSNY on February 10, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 7014 13th Avenue, suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Sinsemilla Remedy, LLC filed with SSNY on February 12, 2020. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 7014 13th Avenue, suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

March 2, 2020

TO:

ACCOUNTING PROCEEDING FILE NO. 2018-3398/A CITATION THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Unknown Distributees Attorney General of the State of New York Alexander Herman Capital One credit card acct ending #4706 Con Edison c/o CBHV Reference No. 1XXXX0294 NY Presbyterian EMS acct ending #8288 Time Warner Cable c/o Credit Management, LP creditor acct ending #7911

and to the heirs at law, next of kin and distributees of Lila Binder, the decedent herein, if living and if any of them be dead, to their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, legatees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest whose names and places of residence are unknown and cannot, after diligent inquiry, be ascertained by the petitioner herein; being the persons interested as creditors, legatees, devisees, beneficiaries, distributees, or otherwise in the estate of Lila Binder, deceased, who at the time of her death was a resident of 434 East 58th St., New York, N.Y. 10022; A petition having been duly filed by the Public Administrator of the County of New York, who maintains an office at 31 Chambers Street, Room 311, New York, New York 10007.

YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the New York County Surrogate’s Court at 31 Chambers Street, New York, New York, on March 31, 2020, at 9:30 A.M. in Room 509, why the following relief stated in the account or proceedings, a copy of the summary statement thereof being attached hereto, of the Public Administrator of the County of New York as administrator of the goods, chattels and creditors of said deceased, should not be granted: (i) that her account be judicially settled; (ii) that a hearing be held to determine the identity of the decedent’s distributees at which time proof pursuant to SCPA §2225 may be presented, or in the alternative, that the balance of the funds in this estate be deposited with the Commissioner of Finance of the City of New York for the benefit of the decedent’s unknown distributees; (iii) that the Surrogate approve the reasonable amount of compensation as reported in Schedules C and C-1 of the account or proceedings to the attorney for the petitioner for legal services rendered to the petitioner herein; (iv) that the claims of Capital One credit card acct ending #4706, Con Edison c/o CBHV Reference No. 1XXXX0294, NY Presbyterian EMS acct ending #8288, and Time Warner Cable c/o Credit Management, LP creditor acct ending #7911 be rejected for failure to file a claim in accordance with the provisions of SCPA §1803(1); (v) that the persons above mentioned and all necessary and proper persons be cited to show cause why such relief should not be granted: (vi) that an order be granted pursuant to SCPA §307 where require or directed; and (vii) for such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper.

Dated, Attested and Sealed. February 18, 2020 (Seal) Hon. Rita Mella, Surrogate.

Diana Sanabria, Chief Clerk.

Schram Graber & Opell P.C. Counsel to the Public Administrator, New York County 11 Park Place, Suite 1008 New York, New York 10007 (212) 896-3310 Note: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to appear it will be assumed that you do not object to the relief requested. You have the right to have an attorney-at-law appear for you and you or your attorney may request a copy of the full account from the petitioner or petitioner’s attorney.

Notice of Formation of GRAMERCY PROSTHODONTICS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/07/19. Office location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 131 MacDougal St., NY, NY 10012. Purpose: Dentistry.

Notice of Formation of Prologue Properties, LLC filed with SSNY on October 21, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 155 East 108 Street, Suite 3B, New York, New York, 10029, Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of LEX PROSTHODONTICS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/07/19. Office location: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 131 MacDougal St., NY, NY 10012. Purpose: Dentistry.

Notice of Formation of limited liability company (LLC). Name: of 580 Grand Street LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on November 7, 2019. NY Office Location: Kings County.

SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her to RLVTK Service Corp at 172 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11249. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at a top height of 71-feet on 65-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 641 Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY 11206.

Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Lauren Schramm l.schramm@ trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Pkwy, Building 400 Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, 678-6538673.”

Notice of Formation of AI Eye LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 2/14/20. Office location: Westchester County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to Avner Ingerman, 7 Corell Rd, Scarsdale, New York 10583 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 67’, 69’, & 75.9’) on the building at 41-51 Kenmare Street, New York, NY (20200129).

Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

35

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT AS TRUSTEE FOR PRETIUM MORTGAGE ACQUISITION TRUST, Plaintiff, vs. YOELLY RODRIGUEZ, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to an Order Confirming Referee’s Report, and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on June 14, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on April 2, 2020 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 282 Hemlock Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 4147 and Lot 53.

Approximate amount of judgment is $485,489.15 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 501581/2016.

Jeffrey Miller, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff Cash will not be accepted.

Notice of Formation of Aesthetic Investing Consulting, LLC filed with SSNY on Feb 10, 2020. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 551 W 21st St. #3B, New York, N.Y. 10011. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

NRPI ACQUISITIONS, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/07/2020. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 122 East 42nd St., Ste 2405, NY, NY 10168. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of HAVEN PROPERTY 570BROOME LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/20/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 350 W. 42nd St., Apt. 25L, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of IEX DATA ANALYTICS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/20/20. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/06/17. Princ. office of LLC: 3 World Trade Center, 58th Fl., NY, NY 10007. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Operation of a business which provides data analytics products.

Notice of Formation of Lewis Media Company, LLC filed with SSNY on January 2, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 40 W. 135th Street, 3M, New York, NY 10037. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

36

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION Case No.: 19CV49908 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON FOR THE COUNTY OF WASHINGTON WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY IN ITS CAPACITY AS OWNER TRUSTEE OF MATAWIN VENTURES TRUST SERIES 2018-1, Plaintiff, vs. MICHAEL D. CODLING AKA MICHAEL DAVID CODLING; THE UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DEVISEES OF COLLEEN M. CODLING AKA COLLEEN MARIE CODLING; LAUREN HOWARD; HAILEY DANIELLE CODLING; RYAN MICHAEL CODLING; DREAMBUILDER INVESTMENTS, LLC; STATE OF OREGON; STATE OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE; OCCUPANTS OF THE PROPERTY, Defendants. To: DREAMBUILDER INVESTMENTS, LLC You are hereby required to appear and defend the Complaint filed against you in the above entitled cause within thirty (30) days from the date of service of this summons upon you, and in case of your failure to do so, for want thereof, Plaintiff will apply to the court for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

NOTICE TO DEFENDANT: READ THESE PAPERS CAREFULLY! You must “appear” in this case or the other side will win automatically. To “appear” you must file with the court a legal paper called a “motion” or “answer.” The “motion” or “answer” (or “reply”) must be given to the court clerk or administrator within 30 days of the date of first publication specified herein along with the required filing fee. It must be in proper form and have proof of service on the plaintiff’s attorney or, if the plaintiff does not have an attorney, proof of service on the plaintiff. If you have questions, you should see an attorney immediately. If you need help in finding an attorney, you may call the Oregon State Bar’s Lawyer Referral Service at (503) 684-3763 or toll-free in Oregon at (800) 452-7636. If you are a veteran of the armed forces, assistance may be available from a county veterans’ service officer or community action agency. Contact information for a local county veterans’ service officer and community action agency may be obtained by calling the 2-1-1 information service. Additionally, contact information for a service officer appointed under ORS 408.410 for the county in which you live and contact information for a community action agency that serves your area can be found by visiting the following link: https://www. oregon.gov/odva/services/pages/county-services. aspx and selecting your county. You can also access a list of Veterans Services for all Oregon counties by visiting the following link: https://www.oregon.gov/ odva/Services/Pages/All-Services-Statewide.aspx.

The relief sought in the Complaint is the foreclosure of the property located at 22778 SW Cochran Drive, Sherwood, OR 97140. Date of First Publication: March 2, 2020 McCarthy & Holthus, LLP s/ Jeremy Clifford Jeremy Clifford OSB No. 142987 920 SW 3rd Ave, 1st Floor Portland, OR 97204 Phone: (971) 201-3200 Fax: (971) 201-3202 jclifford@mccarthyholthus.com Of Attorneys for Plaintiff IDSPub #0161057 3/2/2020 3/9/2020 3/16/2020 3/23/2020 Notice of Qualification of Luma Financial Technologies, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/24/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 4/23/18.

NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to the DE address of the LLC: The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 71’) on the building at 49 Mott Street, New York, NY (20200062).

Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

March 2, 2020

PROBATE CITATION FILE NO. 2020-176 SURROGATE’S COURT, NEW YORK COUNTY CITATION THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, By the Grace of God Free and Independent TO: the heirs at law, next of kin, and distributees of Laurence J. Iacueo a/k/a Laurence Iacueo, deceased, if living, and if any of them be dead to their heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, legatees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest whose names are unknown and cannot be ascertained after due diligence.

Priscilla Weick, Leonard H. Jordan, Raymond J. Pardon, Anthony D. Nicastri, Francesca Denman, Thomas Giallorenzi, Albert F. Giallorenzi, Clarice Curry, Andrea Spica, Catherine Spica, John B. Marino III, Karen I. DiJulio, Public Administrator of New York County A petition having been duly filed by Raffaele F. Maietta who is domiciled at 65 Glenwood Drive, Hauppauge, NY 11788 YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the Surrogate’s Court, New York County, at 31 Chambers Street, Room 509, New York, New York, on March 31, 2020 at 9:30 o’clock in the fore noon of that day, why a decree should not be made in the estate of Laurence J. Iacueo, a/k/a Laurence Iacueo, lately domiciled at 372 Central Park West, Apt. 17J, New York, New York 10025, United States admitting to probate a Will dated January 30, 2018 (a Codicil(s), if any, dated _________) a copy of which is attached, as the Will of Laurence J. Iacueo, a/k/a Laurence Iacueo, deceased, relating to real and personal property, and directing that:

Notice of Formation of Beane and Sons, LLC filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on August 29, 2019. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 21 W. 110th Street, #25, NY, NY 10026. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of 200 West Optics, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Corporation Service Company, 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

[x]

Letters Testamentary issue to: Raffaele F. Maietta [ ] Letters of Trusteeship issue to: ______________________________ [ ] Letters of Administration c.t.a. issue to: ______________________________ (State any further relief requested)

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Dated, Attested and Sealed February 7, 2020 HON. Rita Mella, Surrogate Diana Sanabria, Chief Clerk Gina Raio Bitsimis/ Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern, LLP, Attorneys for Petitioner 1050 Old Nichols Road, Suite 100, Islandia, New York 11749 (631) 234-3030 grbitsimis@davidowlaw.com [NOTE: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to appear it will be assumed you do not object to the relief requested. You have a right to have an attorney appear for you.]

PROFF OF SERVICE MUST BE FILED TWO DAYS PRIOR TO THE RETURN DATE Court Rule 207.7(c) Brahim and The Di Ciollo Triplets LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 1/29/2020. Off. Loc.: Richmond Co. U.S. Corp. Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228 designated as service of process agent. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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March 2, 2020

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Lauren Mauro

Who was up and who was down last week

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Marketing Director Maria Cruz Lee, Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Digital Marketing Associate Chris Hogan, Web/ Email Strategist Isabel Beebe

HARVEY WEINSTEIN Disgraced former film producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted of two counts of criminal sexual assault in the first degree and one count of rape in the third degree.

While he managed to evade the most serious charges facing him – two counts of predatory sexual assault – he won’t be able to avoid a prison sentence, which could be as long as 25 years. Weinstein was shipped to Rikers for his sentencing, a far cry from the lavish life he used to live.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

SAMELYS LÓPEZ

JOSH EISEN

Backing from AOC’s PAC launched her NY-15 campaign into the limelight.

USHER PILLER

This union activist got his state job back after a judge said being a pain in the ass isn’t a good enough reason to fire him.

JANET SABEL

The Legal Aid CEO got the NYPD to stop keeping 12-year-old kids’ DNA, like creeps.

CY VANCE

The Manhattan DA got Havey convicted ... years after he decided not to prosecute.

Guess what? Harassing your opponents’ families makes you wrong for Congress.

SHELDON SILVER

How many more times do we have to write that the ex-speaker is going to prison?

JERRY WOLKOFF

He’s got to pay millions to 5Pointz artists for knocking down his own building.

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Vice President, Advertising and Client Relations Danielle Koza dkoza@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Assistant Zimam Alemenew EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez, Editorial Research Associate Evan Solomon

Vol. 9 Issue 8 March 2, 2020 IS NY READY FOR CORONAVIRUS? CUOMO’S PLAN TO MARK DOWN MEDS

MAGIC MIKE BLOOMBERG MUSCLED IN ON CITY HALL — CAN HE DO IT AGAIN?

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HOWARD ZEMSKY

Tesla will save us? Cuomo’s economic development guru had to spin Panasonic pulling out of the Buffalo Billion somehow.

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email.

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MARK LEVINE There’s nothing quite like cold, hard facts to prove that your bill is a success. And during a campaign for Manhattan borough president no less! In the two years after New York City Councilman Mark Levine’s Right to Counsel law passed in 2017, evictions covered by the law decreased nearly 30%. The legislation provides low-income tenants with free legal services for housing court. Now Levine just needs to figure out how to turn this data into a snappy slogan.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his own beer. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has his own way of eating a bagel. And now we’ve learned that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer has own secret food obsession: cheesecake. “Guilty as charged,” the Senate minority leader confessed to spending over $8,600 on the dessert. “I love Junior’s cheesecake.” To get a taste of who’s up and who’s down this week, bite into the latest Winners & Losers.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Deputy Editor Eric Holmberg, Senior Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny.com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@ cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Kay Dervishi, Associate Copy Editor Holly Pretsky

MANNY CANTOR CENTER 197 E BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10002 THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH City & State’s 2020 Digital New York will convene New York’s information leaders from government and industry for a day-long, dynamic program of candid discussion and thought-provoking presentations on the innovative ideas being used to improve the delivery of services to both citizens and government agencies.

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KEEPING UP WITH EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW YORK HIGH SPEED NEW YORK 21STCENTURY DATA SECURITY TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS FOR RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES

FEATURED SPEAKERS JESSICA TISCH, TISCH, Commissioner, New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications ASSEMBLYMAN CLYDE VANEL, VANEL Chairman, Internet and Technology Committee JOSHUA BREITBART, BREITBART Deputy CTO, Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer CORDELL SCHACHTER, SCHACHTER Chief Technology Officer, New York City Department of Transportation GALE BREWER, BREWER Manhattan Borough President

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For more than 5 decades WDF Inc. has helped rebuild our City’s Infrastructure for the following agencies: NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY NYC DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NYC SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY PORT AUTHORITY OF NY AND NJ NYC TRANSIT AUTHORITY CITY UNIVERSITY OF NY STATE OF NEW YORK DORMITORY AUTHORITY NEW YORK POWER AUTHORITY AND MANY OTHERS WDF Inc. is the ONLY full service, self-performing provider of Specialized Construction, Plumbing, Heating, Sheet Metal and Sprinkler services in New York City that serves the public and private sectors. We take pride in our attention to SAFETY and our efforts to create opportunities for M/W/L/DBE’s and SDVOB’s to help us service our great City. As an Equal Opportunity Employer with a state-of-the-art Compliance Program, we are passionate about providing opportunities for M/W/L/DBE’s and SDVOB’s in our procurement of goods and services on our projects.

We encourage all qualified M/W/L/DBE’s and SDVOB’s to contact our M/W/L/DBE & EEO Officer, Janald Walden (914-776-8000) or jwalden@wdfinc.net to work on WDF Inc. projects.

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