Drama with Charter, Cuomo still leads and a lemonade stand

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, proving that he is in fact just like us, was called in for jury duty on Wednesday, even showing up for his civic duty early. He was in the same courthouse of fellow lawmaker, Councilman Jumaane Williams. But far from being a juror, Williams was on trial for his January arrest during an immigration protest. It would have been more than a little awkward if de Blasio had been asked to serve on that jury. In the end, de Blasio wasn’t selected. More updates below in this week’s headlines.
 

Drama with Charter

Last Friday, the state Public Service Commission made the “pretty dramatic” decision to effectively kick Charter Spectrum out of the state by rescinding its approval for Charter Communications’ 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable. As part of the deal, Charter Spectrum was supposed to expand broadband service to more of the state, something the commission said the company has not done. The state gave Charter six months to end its cable operations in the state, but the company is not planning to leave without a fight, asserting they are in fact in compliance with the agreement.
 

Still in the lead 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has consistently led challenger Cynthia Nixon in the polls, but with the caveat: none of those polls looked at likely primary voters. The latest Siena College poll was the first to survey that demographic, and the results remained largely the same, giving Cuomo a 2-to-1 lead. The results were less clear in the races for lieutenant governor and state attorney general, showing many voters remain undecided in those.
 

No deal for Uber and Lyft

The New York City Council has moved even closer to imposing new regulations and caps on for-hire apps like Lyft and Uber. The two companies, along with Via, tried offering a deal to Council Speaker Corey Johnson, promising to underwrite a $100 million “hardship fund” for yellow cab drivers if the council paused its plan to restrict the companies’ growth for a year. Johnson decline the deal and the council is set to vote on the now formally introduced package of legislation next week.

Lemonade-gate

Seven-year-old Brendan Mulvaney got his five minutes of fame when his Saratoga County lemonade stand got shut down by the state Health Department. According to the agency, the boy needed a permit and did not have one. The story got picked up by news outlets around the state and Mulvaney gained the support state Sen. Jim Tedisco and GOP gubernatorial candidate Marcus Molinaro. Even Cuomo got involved, offering to pay for the boy’s permit himself.
 

New policy on marijuana prosecution takes effect

In June, the New York City Police Department announced it would stop making arrests in the majority of low-level marijuana offenses. On Aug. 1, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office’s new policy not to prosecute the majority of such cases officially went into effect. This change is expected to decrease the number of criminal marijuana cases from 5,000 a year to just 200 and is part of a the wider push toward decriminalizing the drug.
 

Good news for single payer

A long-awaited study from the RAND Corp. found that creating a single-payer health care system in New York is financially feasible and could actually cut the cost of health care spending in the long run. Although the findings come with big caveats, like the possibility of increasing the cost of health care for low-income people, the study is being touted as a win by single-payer health care proponents. Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, the sponsor of the New York Health Act, called the report a “triumph.