After a weekend of singing and dancing in the streets, it didn’t take New Yorkers long to start gaming out what a Joe Biden presidency will mean for New York.
It’s been a long wait.
President Trump has been at odds with Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio for the entirety of his term, a protracted political war that has deeply impacted a number of key areas. Foremost among them are the federal government’s response to the coronavirus, economic relief for cities and states, and rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure — a cause Trump vowed to take up but never did.
FILE - Vice President Joe Biden (left) and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo discuss infrastructure modernization at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology; William Decota Hangar, located at 86-01 23rd Avenue in Queens on Monday, October 20, 2014. (Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News)
Now, the war is over, and that will have far-reaching implications for the city and the state.
One of the first effects of a Biden presidency could be the migration of top local talent to the new administration. Advertisement
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who campaigned against Biden during the Democratic primary, is viewed by many as ripe for an appointment, though not clear to what post.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)
“She’s worked well with Biden in the past,” said Christina Greer, a political scientist at Fordham University. “She’s proven she can be a pragmatic progressive when necessary and a moderate when necessary.”
Gillibrand has pushed for reforms to address sexual assault in the military and the legal system that’s allowed it to persist, issues she spoke about while campaigning and which she crafted legislation around.
Many observers believe that a job for her in the Biden administration will involve working on that issue. It would also leave an open Senate seat, which Cuomo would have the power to fill.
There’s also been plenty of speculation that Gov. Cuomo could be tapped to become the next U.S. Attorney General, but with the coronavirus and a fiscal crisis still on the front burner in New York, some say it’s unlikely he would leave because it could be viewed as abandoning New Yorkers in their time of need.
FILE - New York Mayor Bill de Blasio cheers for Vice President Joe Biden at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on the third day of the Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Cuomo himself has repeatedly said he intends to stay in New York. And while many political observers remain skeptical, at least one thinks we should take him at his word.
“Cuomo is not going anywhere until the fiscal crisis in the state and city are resolved,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime political consultant and friend of the governor.
Michael Bloomberg’s name is also being floated in political circles as a possible member of Biden’s cabinet, though one source close to the former mayor said it’s unlikely he’d accept such an offer.
FILE - Democratic presidential candidates, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden talk during a break in a Democratic presidential primary debate Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
Biden has vowed to take a much different approach to COVID-19 and the nation’s economic recovery than Trump, much to the relief of both Cuomo and de Blasio, who for months have been banking on a federal stimulus package to lift their governments out of their respective fiscal spirals.
On a website dedicated to his transition, Biden has vowed to extend COVID-related unemployment benefits and provide state and local governments “with the aid they need so educators, firefighters, and other essential workers aren’t being laid off.”
But any aid package will be contingent on Senate approval. For months Senate Republicans have blocked a stimulus deal, and it won’t be clear if they’ll retain control of the body until January when two runoff elections are to be held in Georgia.
Aside from COVID and the economy, Biden has pointed to racial equity and climate change as two key pillars of his agenda and has also emphasized infrastructure and education as focal points.
President-elect Joe Biden (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, which represents the city’s business leaders, said the priorities in New York should be fiscal aid; how to best address back payments renters owe their landlords; bailing out the MTA, which is facing a $10.3 billion budget hole through 2023; and housing and community development.
According to Wylde, Biden’s approach on that front will mean a departure from Trump’s Opportunity Zones, which were not geared to community-based organizations and which relied on tax-incentives rather than front-end funding.
More federal dollars and programs tailored to neighborhood-based groups will translate into more local involvement with and support for economic development and recovery, she predicted.
The world celebrates after Joe Biden wins the 2020 presidential election
“There will be a receptivity to a community development agenda in cities that wasn’t necessarily there during the Trump administration, which was oriented to private development,” she said.
Righting the greatly diminished housing sector should be one of the top things on Biden’s economic to-do list, according to Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator for the tenant advocacy group Housing Justice for All.
Eventually, she said, someone will have to pay all the back rent owed by about 700,000 households in the state, but who that will be remains an open, and important, question.
“That could be the federal government. It could be the state. It could be the tenants. It could be the landlords,” she said. “Stabilizing the real estate market in a way that is pro-tenant is a priority.”