The Wall St.Journal 24Feb2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. **** Monday, February 24, 2020 |A10A

tors” who were backtracking

on gains important to Afri-

can-Americans and Hispanics.

Senators said their proposal

was still under development.

Assembly Democrats are

expected to propose raising

income taxes as a way to ad-

dress the state’s $6.1 billion

budget deficit. Ms. Stewart-

Cousins has said senators

are reluctant to raise taxes.

Last year, Ms. Stewart-

Cousins and Mr. Heastie regu-

larly appeared in public to an-

nounce action on various bills

and they called themselves

the “wonder twins.” There

have been no such events

since lawmakers returned to

the Capitol on Jan. 8.

One senator said the new-

STATE STREET|By Jimmy Vielkind

Democratic Legislative Leaders Split on Taxes, New Bail Law

After mov-
ing in tandem
for most of
2019, Senate
Majority
Leader An-
drea Stewart-Cousins and
Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie are diverging over
taxes and criminal-justice
policy as budget negotiations
start in earnest.
The two legislative lead-
ers and the Democratic
members they represent
have been most pointedly at
odds over whether to amend
the state’s new bail law. That
measure, which took effect
Jan. 1, forbids the use of
cash bail for people charged
with most misdemeanor and
nonviolent felony offenses.
Democratic senators
floated a compromise that
would give additional discre-
tion to judges, but a half-
dozen Democratic Assembly
members denounced it dur-
ing a rally at the Capitol. As-
semblyman Michael Blake, of
the Bronx, called his Senate
colleagues “fake-ass legisla-

found distance could be ex-

plained by differing political

considerations. Ms. Stewart-

Cousins is most concerned

about protecting suburban

senators who helped Demo-

crats win the majority in No-

vember and is mindful of

those legislators’ concerns

about the bail law and their

susceptibility to GOP attacks,

the senator said.

Mr. Heastie is focused on

several longtime Assembly

members who are facing

Democratic primary chal-

lengers backed by progres-

sive groups. The incumbents

tout the new bail law, and

any changes to weaken it

could hurt them with voters.

A spokesman for Mr. Heastie

said the speaker sees the law

as a major part of his legacy.

Both legislative leaders

played down the conflict. Mr.

Heastie told reporters earlier

this month that despite dis-

agreements, “we’re all in re-

sponsible positions and re-

sponsible jobs, and we have

to continue to do our jobs.”

Ms. Stewart-Cousins’ spokes-

man said she and Mr.

Heastie have “different ap-

proaches to the same goal,

but they have a great rela-

tionship and work together

as a united legislature to

help all of New York.”

The current state of af-

fairs could strengthen Gov.

Andrew Cuomo’s hand in

budget negotiations. The

state constitution restricts

the ways in which legislators

are able to amend spending

legislation, and any chance

of major changes would re-

quire close coordination.

ROAD TRIPPIN’:As lawmak-

ers continue to talk about le-

galizing recreational mari-

juana in New York, Mr.

Cuomo said last week that

he wants to visit other states

where pot is sold legally to

check things out.

The Democratic governor

said he would visit neighbor-

ing Massachusetts—where

you can find cars with New

York license plates outside

the retail shop just over the

border in Pittsfield—as well

as Illinois and California.

Mr. Cuomo and top legisla-

tors say they want to legalize

marijuana but disagree over

how to distribute tax revenue

from pot sales. The governor

said he also wants to meet

with law-enforcement offi-

cials and industry experts to

see what other states’ experi-

ences have been.

But why not just pick up

the phone? Mr. Cuomo said

Friday during a conference

call that he wouldn’t be in-

gesting any cannabis on the

trip, joking instead that he

would designate an “official

taster.” (An administration

aide later called to say there

wouldn’t actually be an offi-

cial taster.)

Lawmakers from suburban

areas still have qualms about

legalization, which Mr.

Cuomo believes can only be

overcome if it is addressed

as part of the state budget

due by April 1. He said he

would take the trip during a

coming weekend.

[email protected]

As improvements were

made, the restaurant also

needed to be brought up to new

city codes. The process and

continual costs became “over-

whelming,” Mr. Weprin said.

For years after Sandy, Mr.

Weprin had something of a re-

frain for the locals and report-

ers who inquired about the

restaurant reopening: “We’re

about two months away!”

“I’m an optimistic guy,” Mr.

Weprin said. “But honestly,

there was a lot of emotion in-

volved in this process, too.

This was my parents’ baby;

this was a place that had sur-

vived centuries, and it was dy-

ing on my end.”

South Street Seaport and

the Bridge Cafe were very dif-

ferent places when Mr. We-

prin’s father, Jack, purchased

the building in 1979. Then

much grittier, the neighbor-

hood was still home to the

Fulton Fish Market, and the

restaurant was called McCor-

mick’s, a bar where fishmon-

gers would eat, hang out and

sometimes gamble, Mr. Weprin

said.

Under his father, the Bridge

Cafe turned into a white-table-

cloth restaurant, where the

city’s power players, including

former Mayor Ed Koch, were

lunchtime regulars. But the

old-timers were still part of

the scene. “It was that only-in-

New York mix of customers,”

Mr. Weprin said.

Mr. Weprin started working

behind the restaurant’s im-

pressive oak bar during col-

lege, then eventually became

the manager. “Hospitality is in

my bones,” he said.

While Mr. Weprin looked

into the potential of running

another restaurant in recent

years, he keeps coming back to

his family’s vacant business.

“This place is filled with mem-

ories,” he said.

He plans to meet with a

contractor and an expediter to

assist him through the city

permitting process, one more

time, to see if he can open the

Mr. Murphy, 62 years old,

took office in 2018, succeed-

ing former Republican Gov.

Chris Christie. A former Gold-

man Sachs executive, Mr.

Murphy hadn’t previously

held elected office. He served

as U.S. ambassador to Ger-

GREATER NEW YORK

In subsequent tweets, the

governor wrote that health

care is a right and “we need

to continue fighting for af-

fordable health care for all.”

“Over 50,000 New Jersey-

ans will hear the words ‘you

have cancer’ this year, so I’m

far from alone here,” he

added.

Mr. Murphy’s doctor discov-

ered the 3-centimeter-wide tu-

mor on his left kidney during a

recent checkup, a spokesman

for the governor said.

A partial nephrectomy is a

surgery that removes a tumor

or diseased tissue but leaves

the healthy portion of a kid-

ney in place. It is a less dras-

tic procedure than a full ne-

phrectomy, in which surgeons

remove the kidney.

many from 2009 to 2013.

Local and regional officials

sent the governor good

wishes over the weekend.

“My thoughts are with

@GovMurphy and his entire

family as we wish him a full

and speedy recovery,” New

York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a

Democrat, wrote on Twitter.

“NY has your back, Governor.”

New Jersey Assembly

Speaker Craig Coughlin, also a

Democrat, said in a statement

that he had spoken to the

governor earlier. “His good

health is foremost in our

minds and hearts,” Mr. Cough-

lin said.

Mr. Murphy is scheduled to

give his budget address Tues-

day at the State House in

Trenton.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Mur-
phy is set to undergo surgery
next month to remove a likely
cancerous tumor on his kidney.
“Friends—I’ve got a tumor
on my left kidney and will un-
dergo a partial nephrectomy
in early March to remove it,”
Mr. Murphy, a Democrat,
wrote on Twitter on Saturday
evening. “The prognosis is
very good and I’m profoundly
grateful to my doctors for de-
tecting the tumor early.”

BYCORINNERAMEY

N.J. Governor Has Kidney Tumor

Murphy says he will

undergo surgery

to remove likely

cancerous growth

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, shown last month at his State of

the State address in Trenton, says his prognosis is ‘very good.’

SETH WENIG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Four recent cases of neona-

tal herpes infection following

a Jewish circumcision ritual

have health officials once

again urging parents in New

York City’s ultra-Orthodox

population to avoid the prac-

tice or at least limit its risks.

Health officials on Sunday

said there have been three

cases of herpes simplex virus 1

infections in infant boys re-

ported to the New York City

Department of Health and

Mental Hygiene since Dec. 1,

2019. The fourth case was re-
      ported in September 2019.
      Health officials don’t be-
      lieve the cases are linked. The
      infants were hospitalized, re-
      ceived intravenous antiviral
      drugs and are now recovering,
      health officials said.
      Rabbi David Zwiebel, execu-
      tive vice president of Agudath
      Israel of America, an ultra-Or-
      thodox umbrella group, de-
      clined to comment.
      The ritual is known as
      metzitzah b’peh. A mohel, a
      religious leader who performs
      the circumcision during a bris,
      uses his mouth to suck blood
      from the cut. Since April 2006,
      when reporting of cases be-
      came mandatory, 22 babies
      were reported to have devel-
      oped infections following
      metzitzah b’peh. Two died.
      City health officials have
      struggled through several at-
      tempts to stem the practice.
      Five commissioner’s orders, in-
      cluding one recent one, have
      been issued since 2014 to mo-
      hels. The order prohibits them
      from engaging in direct oro-
      genital suction. Violating the
      order is a misdemeanor.
      Beginning in 2012, the city
      required parents to sign a con-
      sent form that warned of the
      ritual’s dangers. Health officials
      said the form, which was in-
      tended to be educational,
      eroded trust with the commu-
      nity. The form was replaced
      with an educational brochure
      in 2015, which is still in use, ac-
      cording to Demetre Daskalakis,
      the deputy commissioner for
      the division of disease control
      at the city’s health department.
      While the city continues to
      stress that avoiding the prac-
      tice is the only way to effec-
      tively eliminate the risk of
      herpes transmission, said Dr.
      Daskalakis, the city is also
      adopting a new harm-reduc-
      tion strategy. Health profes-
      sionals are being urged to in-
      form parents and religious
      leaders that steps can be taken
      to reduce the risk of disease
      transmission, including asking
      the mohel to use antiseptic
      mouthwash immediately be-
      fore performing direct orogen-
      ital suction to reduce viable
      herpes virus in the saliva.
      Trying to undo a ritual that
      is thousands of years old is
      challenging, said Dr. Daskala-
      kis. Offering the option of
      don’t do it, but also instruc-
      tions on how to keep an infant
      healthy, is, he said, “the best
      we’re going to do.”

BYMELANIEGRAYCEWEST

Herpes

In Babies

Prompts

Warning

space, he said. He knows he

would have to replace the

floors again; they have buck-

led since he replaced them af-

ter Sandy. And there are likely

bigger changes to be made to

bring the restaurant up to the

city’s fire code.

“I want to try again, with

less emotion and a clear head,”

he said. “If it doesn’t make

sense, I will finally let it go.”

Standing inside a 226-year-
old building at the edge of
cobblestoned Water Street in
Manhattan’s South Street Sea-
port, Adam Weprin conjured
up a plan to awaken old
ghosts.
“We used to hear them, the
ghosts stomping upstairs,”
said Mr. Weprin, 54 years old,
walking through the small,
dusty barroom of the Bridge
Cafe.
The property, which dates
to 1794, has been owned by
Mr. Weprin’s family for more
than 40 years. Its landmarked
building, on a now-quiet street
in the shadow of the Brooklyn
Bridge, has been home at
times to a gritty saloon for
river pirates, a gambling den
and a brothel, and was the site
of at least two 19th-century
murders.
But for Mr. Weprin, that
isn’t the roughest part of its
history. What’s most difficult,
he said, is more personal: see-
ing the restaurant he managed
for more than 12 years—and a
bar that had been one of the
city’s oldest continually run-
ning taverns—sit empty.
Nearly eight years ago,
when superstorm Sandy
struck New York, murky flood-
waters from the East River
gushed through South Street
Seaport. The storm caused se-
vere damage to much of the
historic area’s businesses and
homes. Recovery was slow and
costly, and especially tough
for the neighborhood’s aging
properties.
The basement of the We-
prins’ red, three-story building
at 279 Water St.—the only
surviving wood-frame prop-
erty in the district—was
flooded. Much of the restau-
rant was inundated with more
than 5 feet of water.
Fixing the space, with its
ancient wood beams, was
tricky. Mr. Weprin replaced
the entire kitchen, overhauled
the basement and redid his
wooden floors. The family
sank several hundred thou-
sand dollars into the repairs,
he said.
“But every time we fixed
something, something else
would crop up,” Mr. Weprin
said.

BYIRENEPLAGIANOS

Historic Seaport Tavern Has One Last Shot

The Bridge Cafe, located in a landmarked wood-frame building that dates to 1794, has been closed since it was hit by superstorm

Sandy. Adam Weprin, below, whose family purchased the property in 1979, hopes to reopen it but says there are challenges.

JAMES SPRANKLE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)

Senate Majority LeaderAndrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly

Speaker Carl Heastie have both played down the disagreements.

HANS PENNINK/ASSOCIATED PRESS

NY