From the MTA to Malliotakis: Campaign and Policy Headlines for Monday August 7

Bill de Blasio Will Push for Tax on Wealthy to Fix Subway
New York Times
“Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to push for a tax on wealthy New Yorkers to pay for improvements needed to address the crisis engulfing New York City’s subway, city officials said on Sunday. The proposal is the latest move in the battle between Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over who bears responsibility for repairing the deteriorating transit system. The plan would also pay for half-price MetroCards for low-income riders…The tax changes would require approval from state lawmakers in Albany — a difficult task, with Republicans in control of the Senate, though the urgency of the subway’s decline has raised the stakes and captured the attention of both parties.” Our Take: On the one hand, you could call De Blasio’s proposal an election-year stunt. On the other, wouldn’t such taxes have a better chance of passing if Cuomo lent his support rather than dismissing the mayor from the start?

Removal of Last Primary Opponent Could Cost Malliotakis
Gotham Gazette
“…With the exclusion of De La Fuente from the GOP primary, Malliotakis’ camp has essentially disqualified itself from receiving any public funds before primary day…That fact raises the question of whether it was smart for her allies to move to knock De La Fuente off the ballot, given that Malliotakis would have been a strong favorite to defeat him in the primary. She also forgoes the exposure that one or two primary debates would have brought. It does, however, allow her to focus on raising money to use only for touting her candidacy and attacking de Blasio.” Our Take: Given the city’s Democratic majority and the possibility that it wouldn’t take too much interest in the Republican primary, perhaps Malliotakis’s strategy has logic.

De Blasio Backs Francisco Moya in City Council Race
NY Daily News
“Mayor de Blasio on Sunday endorsed Queens Assemblyman Francisco Moya, who is running for City Council against a disgraced ex-pol convicted of domestic violence and corruption. The contest pits Moya against Hiram Monserrate, who is trying to make a comeback after he was expelled from the state Senate for allegedly slashing his girlfriend’s face with glass, and did jail time for stealing city money in a separate fraud case. ‘I need him to be in the City Council as a partner and ally,’ said de Blasio, who appeared with Moya Sunday at Antioch Baptist Church in Corona.” Our Take: With De Blasio now backing Moya and vice-versa, it will be interesting to see what comes of Moya’s proposed plan for Willet’s Point, which the Times Ledger reports would include a third of units for families making less than $25,000.

De Blasio’s Bigger Fight Isn’t Building Housing, but Preserving It
City Limits
Co-published by City and State
Preservation deals are the bulk of what de Blasio promised on that sunny day in May 2014 when he unveiled his Housing New York plan. The backdrop to that announcement was the rebar and heavy machinery of a construction site, but it more accurately would have been a tub of joint compound or a loan agreement. While housing advocates and experts overwhelmingly agree that the de Blasio administration’s preservation numbers are “legit,” many also believe those changes – and some of the challenges inherent in preservation work – deserve more public discussion.

There Will be Three Big Questions on Your Ballot in November
Gotham Gazette
“A state constitutional amendment slightly loosening stringent environmental protections in the Adirondacks and Catskills in certain cases will be on the ballot this fall, the state Board of Elections announced this week.” Also: “a question of whether New York should hold a constitutional convention and whether pensions should be stripped from elected officials convicted of public corruption.” Our Take: Though city residents often feel Albany doesn’t sympathize with city issues, it’s probably our moral duty to fully understand how our votes on these important ballot measures will affect upstaters.