Fearing Trump interference in midterms, NY Democrats push voting rights package

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ⛅ Cloudy this morning, then sunny later with highs in the mid 40s.

It's Tuesday in New York, where Democratic state lawmakers are renewing a push to strengthen voter protections as President Donald Trump floats the idea of “nationalizing” the high-stakes midterm elections.

A new legislative package in Albany includes bills that would improve the state’s automatic voter registration system, increase security for election workers and voters, and provide a reliable source of funding for county boards to ensure that they have the resources to administer elections.

The changes would also allow the state Attorney General to sue federal immigration officials over any attempted arrests in these settings.

Here's what else is happening:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani yesterday announced a $1.5 billion state investment over two years to help stabilize New York City’s finances.
• Mayor Mamdani plans to appoint Faiza Ali, former first deputy chief of staff to prior City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, as the city's chief immigration officer.
• A 2019 state law requires New York to run on 70% renewable energy by the end of this decade, but the state's utility regulator said it's now considering suspending that goal in order to provide enough "safe and adequate electric service."
• Following two recent cases where NYPD officers shot someone whose family called 911 requesting medical help, the Mamdani administration is facing added pressure to overhaul how the city responds to mental health crises.
• Gov. Hochul is scrambling to amend a popular health insurance program called the Essential Plan, which 1.7 million New Yorkers currently use, after Republicans in Congress slashed half of its funding.
• In response to a recent court order, the federal government has disbursed $30 million for the project to build new Hudson River train tunnels. 
  • Hundreds of millions of dollars in funding that were already approved by Congress remain in dispute after the Trump administration froze the money late last year.
• Mayor Mamdani on Sunday signed off on the creation of a new Business Improvement District in Coney Island, which will help with sanitation and landscaping improvements ahead of the summer season.
• A new exhibit celebrating "The Sopranos" has opened at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. 

• The Rev. Jesse Jackson, one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the last half century, has died at the age of 84.
• Hundreds of people gathered outside Trump Tower yesterday to hold up their middle fingers at the building as part of a Presidents' Day protest.
• Julie Brown, the Miami Herald reporter whose early reporting on Jeffrey Epstein thrust his crimes into the spotlight, told the New Yorker Radio Hour she thinks Epstein didn't kill himself.
• Only 7% of ride-hail app vehicles in New York City are wheelchair accessible, according to a new report.
• Astoria the wild turkey is thriving in the Battery.
• Midtown coffee cart operators have had to raise the price of a small cup to $1.50. (Kirkland tubs of ground coffee, which some of them use, have also gone up in price.)
• Ferry service is back.
• Good rare beer.