State corrections officials spent the weekend touring prisons around the state, hoping to convince correctional officers to end a two-week wildcat strike that has canceled visitation, forced lockdowns and prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to call out the National Guard.
My public media colleagues and I have been tracking the various aspects of the strike since it started on President’s Day. On Monday, I listened as relatives of the striking guards came to the Capitol to describe the dangerous and stressful conditions they face. My colleague Jeongyoon Han spoke with the mother of an incarcerated person and described how things have deteriorated in the state’s prisons.
There was some movement on Thursday night: the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association and the state struck a deal that both parties hoped would bring the striking workers back to their posts. (The union isn’t officially supporting or coordinating the strike.)
Under the agreement, a law restricting the use of solitary confinement would remain partly suspended for 90 days. There will be no departmental discipline for any of the thousands of corrections officers if they return to work by Saturday – though that seems to have been extended to Monday. The agreement also includes provisions to reduce mandated overtime, increase the overtime pay rate and temporarily hire retired corrections officers to assist in transporting incarcerated people. More than 3,500 National Guard personnel who were deployed to prisons during the strike will remain there, according to the agreement. Gov. Kathy Hochul will determine the “overall support and draw down,” the document says.
The Times Union reported that many officers weren’t satisfied with provisions of the deal, and picket lines remained active over the weekend. North Country Public Radio reporter Emily Russell broke down how the deal does and doesn’t address the concerns of the strikers. We’ll all be watching what happens next.
ON COVERING THE CAPITOL: I was a special guest on this week’s episode of The Media Project on WAMC. Click here to listen to me talk about how covering the State Capitol has changed in the last 15 years, or tune in to the station tonight at 6!
IS ANDREW CUOMO MAYOR YET? Former Governor Andrew Cuomo formally announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City this weekend, ending the speculation and upending this year’s race and laying the path for a comeback less than four years after Cuomo resigned in disgrace.
As my colleague Jon Campbell put it in Gothamist, “Cuomo becomes an instant contender in a crowded Democratic primary field that includes incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and a slew of challengers from the left, many of whom have spent months sharpening their attacks against both the incumbent mayor and the former governor.”
The Queens native released a nearly 18-minute-long video describing his candidacy, which is quite longer than the average social media video and probably too long for most average humans. I thought the heart of his message was around 12 minutes in.
Cuomo had already sketched a city in chaos (Cuomo Rule #1: Chaos is not Cuomonian) and reprised his biography, and then offered a familiar exegesis on what it means to be progressive. This is one of his double-platinum greatest hits; in his telling true progressive achieve stuff rather than just hold firm on liberal principles. (Cuomo Rule #2: Always take the deal)
Then the camera cut to a closer shot, and there was something approximating contrition …
I know what needs to be done and I know how to do it. Experience matters. Leading New York City in the midst of a crisis is not the time or the place for on the job training. Did I always do everything right in my years of government service? Of course not. Would I do some things differently knowing what I know now —certainly. Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for it and I hope to show that every day.
… and then the core argument:
I know what needs to be done and I know how to do it, and I will give it my all to get the job done.
And it will get done.
We’ll have to see how many voters buy in. Cuomo is quite skilled at using the powers of a government executive and laser-focusing on problems. He also knows how to move votes in New York City – something he started doing before I was born while working on Mario Cuomo’s early campaigns. (Andrew is Mario’s kid.)
The difference this time is that he’s fighting a multi-front war. There are his traditional lefty-progressive critics, who Cuomo loves to battle and often bests. This time he’s also going to be taking fire from the city’s second Black mayor, the women who accused him of harassment and the New York Post, which is blistering Cuomo in its coverage. (Cuomo Rule #3: Cuomo only responds to force.)
My fourth and last Rule of Cuomo is that you shouldn’t shoot a bear you’re not going to kill. Basically, avoid political risks. Polls show Cuomo with an early lead on the Democratic primary field.
Will it hold?
THE QUESTION: What do you think of the Cuomo mayoral candidacy?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: The last large-scale public employee strike in New York was in 2005 when the transit workers shut down the subway system.