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The man many Democrats want won’t run away


Good morning. Today is Wednesday. We’ll be looking at Representative Thomas Suozzi, a centrist Democrat who is giving up his House seat to try to get rid of another centrist Democrat, Governor Kathy Hochul. We will also review plans to renovate Penn Station and redevelop the surrounding area.

“I can stay in Congress for the rest of my life if I want to and get re-elected, I believe,” said Representative Thomas Suozzi — and many Democrats expect him to do so. .

Among them: Representative Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, who is widely mentioned as a potential speaker of the House. And former Governor Eliot Spitzer, who beat Suozzi with ease in the preliminaries 16 years ago. And Hillary Clinton, who urged Suozzi to do her part to help Democrats take control of the House.

Running for governor will not further achieve that goal. But Suozzi is building a campaign around fighting crime, cutting taxes and claiming that Governor Kathy Hochul can’t afford to work.

My colleague Nicholas Fandos said the race is probably Hochul’s to lose. She has a double-digit lead in recent polls, more cash to spend and the backing of a Democratic base eager to see New York’s first female governor win her term. . But Suozzi seems to be finding an audience among New Yorkers suspicious of Hochul. “The people of New York will not forget this terrible sentence she served,” said Suozzi a day after Hochul’s cleverly chosen lieutenant governor resigned over allegations of corruption.

The question is whether he can attract as many voters as he needs to win.

Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive whose congressional district stretches from Nassau to Suffolk County and also includes two in Queens, is clearly targeting Mayor Eric Adams’ coalition of congressmen. Black and Latino voters around New York City. He selected Diana Reyna, a former female city councilwoman and the first Dominican woman elected in New York State, as his executive friend. Fernando Ferrer, a former Bronx county president, is his campaign chairman.

But sometimes Suozzi seems to have gone to great lengths to alienate another powerful bloc of primary voters – the progressives. Other prominent Democrats did not like the tone of his attacks on the state’s first female leader, whom he often referred to as an unqualified “interim governor.”

“What he’s saying is, ‘I should be governor because I can do it better,'” said Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state Democratic Party. “The implication is that he is male and she is female. That’s not where this party should be. “

Suozzi said that Jacobs, who hosted his 2006 campaign, was “completely wrong”. He also defended his approach on Hochul: “Kathy Hochul has not been elected governor of New York, and she will serve from now until the end of Andrew Cuomo’s term,” he said. “The definition of that is temporary.”

A spokesman for the governor declined to comment.


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It was another sunny day near the 60s peak with temperatures dropping to the mid-50s on a partly cloudy evening.

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New York State wants remake of shabby Penn Station transit center with massive real estate development. I asked my colleague Matthew Haagwho protected the resurrection with Dana Rubinstein, to explain what is in the work.

How much does it cost? Who will be involved if the project doesn’t go as Governor Kathy Hochul expected?

It’s best to think of the whole project in two parts: Penn Station and 10 skyscrapers.

Rebuilding Penn Terminal, along with aesthetic improvements there and an additional tunnel under the Hudson River, is expected to cost $30 billion to $40 billion. The new towers, with more than 18 million square feet, will be privately funded. Most of the towers will be built on properties owned by the Vornado Realty Trust, one of the city’s largest real estate conglomerates.

New York State is leading the way in upgrading the Penn station, and state officials say that portion of New York’s costs is expected to be only a fraction of the total – about $10 billion – because New Jersey and The federal government will also contribute. But nothing is written in stone, so the cost, and how it will be shared among all parties involved, can vary. If all goes to plan, construction will begin in 2024 at Penn Station and be completed in 2032.

To pay for the work at Penn Station, Hochul wants to build 10 skyscrapers around Penn Station, which will primarily contain offices but will also include hotel rooms, retail space and residences. Revenue generated by the buildings will be used to pay for construction costs at Penn Station.

The final tower will be completed in 2044, creating a 12-year period between the completion of Penn station and the final building. If the revenue from the new buildings isn’t enough to pay off the debt, taxpayers will be forced to cover the bill.

State officials said that if there was a shortage, the city would be protected as the state would cover the costs. However, it will be the taxpayer on the hook.

But there are doubts from some quarters. What’s wrong with the city’s Independent Budget Office about the plan? And what is the Independent Budget Office?

The Independent Budget Office, which oversees the city’s budget and tax collection, said it would be nearly impossible to analyze the plan for its value. The agency said there is little information available, particularly about projected construction costs and estimated revenue from the towers.

State officials told us that they shared the budget office’s desire to fully calculate costs and stated that all figures would be completed before the project was approved within coming months by the Empire Development Corporation, the state agency that oversees the project.

The renovations announced by Hochul appear to be a scaled-down version of what her predecessor, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, envisioned. So New York State is responsible. What about City Hall?

When Cuomo announced the scope of the development, immediately local residents, elected officials and community leaders feared it was too large.

After Cuomo stepped down and Hochul took office, she made her mark on the project with some modest changes. But the general specifications of the project – 10 towers and a new Penn station – remained largely the same as in Cuomo’s plan.

While New York State is leading the project, City Hall has stepped back. Mayor Eric Adams’ spokesman told us he still supports the project but “in a financially responsible way”.

Community outcry continues. What do critics of the plan say?

The budget office’s report echoed many of the criticisms from opponents, including those of Layla Law-Gisiko, a community board member in Midtown Manhattan. Law-Gisiko, who is running to represent the region in Parliament, told us “the project needs to be stopped”.



METROPOLITAN . Diary

Dear Diary:

It’s 2 a.m., and I’m racing up the subway stairs to catch F back to Manhattan.

When I reached the platform, the train doors closed and the train started to move away. The digital message board says the next message will arrive in 20 minutes.

I went to a bench and sat down. As I waited for the train, a boy happily ran up the stairs to the platform. He flashed a very bright smile while staring across the tracks at the other platform.

A girl there beamed at him. They started playing rock-paper-scissors. They didn’t say a word. They played about six rounds, laughing and giggling at the end of each round.

The train in the opposite direction rushed straight into the station, cutting the boy and girl in half. Seconds later, she appeared in the carriage window, smiling again and waving goodbye.

The young man waved back when he saw the train going far away.

– Pamela Ingebrigtson

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and Read more Metropolitan Diary here.


So glad we can get together here. See you tomorrow. – JB

PS This is for today Small crosswords and Spell Bee. You can find all our quizzes here.

Melissa GuerreroOlivia Parker and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].

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