I traveled up to Albany this week for “Tin Cup Day,” when mayors from around the state ask the state for money. Mayor Adams went up, his palms outstretched, to again ask the state to cover half the cost of the city’s migrant spending. He also wants mayoral control of schools re-upped, and state help in creating more affordable housing.
The mayor is usually very sensitive to criticism surrounding his Albany trip. It starts way back in 2022, when the Daily News ran a small headline saying, essentially, that his trip was a dud. It truly riled the mayor up. He said the mostly white press corps didn’t understand him. From Feb. 2022:
“You guys kill me,” he said at the very beginning of a City Hall news conference Tuesday. “What part of Albany were you covering? ‘Eric gets beat up in Albany?’ What meetings were you guys in?”
He became upset when asked about it again this week, as his Deputy Mayor for Spokespeople Fabien Levy (a person who has been asked zero questions at these briefings but manages to chime in on nearly all of them) recounted his wins up in the 518.
A sampling:
Anyways, the stakes felt even higher this year as he went to Hearing Room B to testify. Many of the lawmakers seemed skeptical of his ask for more state money, grilling him on the city’s current care for migrants. Others pointed to budget cuts to schools as a reason why the mayor shouldn’t continue to run schools. You can read all about it here.
Other interesting stories
🌟Our vacancy rate for apartments is very, very low [THE CITY]
🌟Once you find an apartment, you sewer might back up [THE CITY]
🌟But at least the buses might be improving [THE CITY]
🌟The City Council has cleared the way to sue the other Adams over not fulfilling its mandated CityFHEPs expansion [THE CITY]
🌟FDNY shuts down Queens scooter battery factory, as lithium-ion cells start igniting during inspection (!) [DAILY NEWS]
BUY TICKETS AND LAUGH
My friend April is recording a stand-up album next week at West Side Comedy Club. She is incredibly funny, tickets are affordable, and we could all use a laugh! You can buy tickets here.
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And finally —
The highlight of my Albany trip was not, believe it or not, the mayor’s hours-long testimony begging for more money. It was lunch. Which brings me to this week’s -
I carpooled up to Albany with Liz Kim from WNYC/Gothamist (my editor, noting that we are two non-profit newsrooms who always ask people for money, dubbed it “Two Broke URLs.”) Like I do for any road trip, I was thinking about what we would eat, and while we thankfully had diner breakfast, the day was so busy we didn’t get lunch until it was nearly dinner. Bernadette recommended Sovrana, and I drove there once we were all filed without looking it up (which means I entered without any expectations.)
I had the same feeling I had when I first laid eyes on Mama Louisa’s – a good vibe just from the sign. I was not disappointed.
Although they had pizza in the display window, I wanted a sandwich. Liz and I decided to split two different ones, a chicken parm and an Italian combo, and we admired the ambiance as we waited for our food. There were paintings and framed photos on the wall, including one of the inside of Sovrana. The menu sign was hand-painted.
But behind the counter was the real signs of great Italian food – there were multiple photos of Padre Pio, who I’ve previously dubbed the Patron Saint of Italian Food. He was posted up repeatedly in the makeshift shrine of mass cards and rosary beads and palm crosses and crucifixes and even a bottle of holy water.
The Italian combo arrived first on their special hero bread, baked in-house. They sell around 100 a day, with longtime customers rarely veering from their usuals, I was told. I wasn’t overstuffed or overpowering. The ratios were perfect.
The chicken parm came out after, and it too was perfect, the right proportions of sauce and cheese and cutlet. Bern raved about the tiramisu and they ended up bringing us over one, on the house (I tipped very well.) I also couldn’t resist their absolutely sick t-shirt.
That was the perfect end to a long day, and now I am scheming ways to return. See for yourself:
Thanks for reading!
The food looks delicious! Interesting articles too.
I see Padre Pio so it’s definitely legit.