Friday Headlines: State Democrat Convention Edition

The center of political gravity will shift from Albany to Syracuse for one day as Gov. Hochul seeks to cement her hold on the party and New York at the state Democratic Party Convention today.

We’ll have plenty of time to assess her transportation legacy as the re-election campaign continues, so let’s get straight to the news:

• Uber-backed Citizens For Affordable Rates is running ads to push its disastrous insurance reforms that put crash victims in peril. Streetsblog has explained what they’re after, why it hurts victims, who is behind it and how lawmakers are viewing it. (State of Politics)
• High premiums are a byproduct of insurance companies using customer payments as investment capital, Andrew Finkelstein writes. (The Times Union)
• Bus stops in Suffolk County are still facing accessibility issues nearly two weeks after snowfall hit the region. Shoveling blows, but isn’t it someone’s job? (Newsday)
• Big ghost car crackdown in Suffolk County (we wonder how many cops were caught up in it!). (WPIX)
• State DOT officials changed traffic and pedestrian light timing and also removed “no right turn on red” signs near a school, catching Potsdam lawmakers off guard. (The Watertown Daily Times)
• Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill found common ground on Port Authority appointments, but Sherrill’s pick for deputy executive director, Jean Roehrenbeck, will report to new Executive Director Kathryn Garcia and have no staff. (The Daily News)
• And Garcia plans to crack down on illegal cabbies coming to JFK. (Gothamist)
• State Democrats are set to condemn ICE today as Hochul plans to limit collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement. (City & State)
• Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay abruptly stepped down from his position and will not run for reelection. (NCPR)
• The guy who started the NYPD’s controversial Strategic Response Group now wants it disbanded. (Gothamist)