Rebecca C. Lewis
@_rebeccaclewis
State politics at @CityandStateNY. She/her. Mom to Ivy the Capitol Dog. Pitches and dog pics to [email protected]. rfclewis.38 on Signal
I'd like to thank my employers at City & State for letting me write this
"Personally, I find it abhorrent," Gov. Hochul says of ICE agents wearing masks that help hide their identities, while declining to opine specifically on newly introduced legislation that would ban ICE from wearing masks in NY
It's Sliwa doing the slapping motion with his hand while making direct eye contact with the camera that really makes this
Sliwa: Eric Adams is damaged goods… Andrew Cuomo is a creep. Slapping fannies and killing grannies. Everybody likes Curtis Sliwa
In evidence of the reach of the Mamdani campaign, my bartender in Texas, upon seeing my friend and I were from NY, asked "Aren't you guys going to get government-run grocery stores or something?" (I of course explained that it's just the platform of a mayoral candidate)
Inbox: 1199SEIU endorses Dem nominee Zohran Mamdani for mayor. The health care union backed Andrew Cuomo in the primary.
Rep. Pat Ryan of the Hudson Valley had a different take. "Andrew Cuomo should go away and be nowhere near a position of any public trust ever again," he said.
In Kingston, Gov. Hochul was asked about former Gov. Cuomo reentering the NYC mayor's race. "I will not wade into that. Everybody has the right to run any race they choose to, and we'll just see how it all plays out." Will she be endorsing in the race? "I'll think about it."
NEW HOUSING STORY. First in @CityAndStateNY: Is NYC turning the corner after a years long slump in new building construction? 2025 Q2 @NYC_Buildings new building permit filings shows a 43% increase year-over-year. 485-x's impact? Via upcoming @REBNY report cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/07…
Inbox: the charter revision commission will *not* advance an open primaries proposal to the fall ballot, per chair @RichardBuery (it will likely advance land use reforms & even-year NYC elections)
In lieu of New York's bell to bell cell phone ban, I think the state should instead invest in making all public schools Faraday cages
BREAKING: Former interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon filed a bombshell lawsuit this morning — accusing Mayor Adams and his police leadership of running a criminal organization
NEW | Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas is launching a primary challenge against state Sen. Jessica Ramos, her neighbor in western Queens. cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/…
ASC noncommittal on potential special session in Albany "At this moment, that is not what we know right now" "We're ready to come back in a few months" "We will try to mitigate the pain but we can't fill the gaps"
Nassau County officials and U.S. AG Pam Bondi will soon cut the ribbon for the nation's first police "training village" (basically cop city lite). Live from the corner of Franklin Ave. and Cross Street, and the fake train station, in the safest county in the U.S.
Almost 1 year after making it illegal to wear masks in Nassau County, Bruce Blakeman signs executive order allowing police and ICE to wear masks while enforcing immigration violations via @JohnAsbury newsday.com/long-island/po…
The police department in the village of Camden in New York signed a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Task force model, which permits the deputization of local officers to act essentially as ICE agents. Apropos of nothing, Camden is not terribly far from the town of Mexico.
NYS Division of Budget director Blake Washington told reporters in the State Capitol that the bill that passed into federal law on July 4 will cause the state to need to backfill $750M in Medicaid-related costs by start of the next fiscal year - and faces a $3B deficit next year.
SCOOP: @chrismccreight is challenging @AlecBrookKrasny for the Assembly once again. More here: cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/…
New from @SahalieD: WFP would likely sue to stop nonpartisan "jungle primaries" if the Charter Revision Commission moves forward with them cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/…
UPDATE: Avi Small, Gov. Kathy Hochul's press secretary, resigned today. He had been placed on leave last week and was being investigated after another aide accused him of inappropriate touching. nytimes.com/2025/07/02/nyr…