Pitta LLP & Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC
Administrative Update
Effective May 1st, 2026, Vincent F. Pitta has announced that he is stepping away from the administrative duties associated with the roles of Managing Partner of Pitta LLP and Managing Member of Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC which he has shared with his son, Vito, for the past five years.
Vincent will continue as Chairman of both Pitta LLP and Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC. Mr. Pitta represents clients of both firms concentrating on contract negotiation, litigation matters, and the development of critical strategy.
Vito R. Pitta has assumed the roles of the sole Managing Partner and Managing Member of both the law firm and the government relations firm.
These administrative changes are a step in a long-range plan to ensure the orderly transition of our firms to the next generation. We are committed to providing our clients with the best representation possible for years to come.
In The News-New York State
“Agreement” is in the Eye of the Beholder
Governor Kathy Hochul yesterday announced that an agreement had been reached with the legislative leaders on key priorities in the Fiscal Year 2027 New York State Budget. “We got it done!” Governor Hochul said multiple times during her 9 a.m. Red Room address.
On the 3rd floor of the Capitol, Heastie negated the announcement, “There is no budget deal, while a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins referred to what the leader told reporters earlier in the week that the leaders were “nearing the beginning of the end.”
The Senate and Assembly left Albany Thursday after passing the 10th budget extender through Monday, May 11th. The Senate is scheduled to come into session at 3 p.m. on Monday. The Assembly is at the call of the Speaker.
Below is a list of initiatives that Governor Hochul announced as agreed-upon. Time, and the final budget bills, will determine the accuracy.
Taxes
- Create the state’s first Pied-a-terre tax program, a targeted surcharge on high value second homes and investor-owned apartments worth $5 million and up in New York City, which will generate at least $500 million in tax revenue annually.
- Eliminate New York State income tax on tipped wages up to $25,000 per year, ensuring more money stays in people’s pockets.
Auto Insurance
- Cap payouts for drivers engaging in criminal behavior at the time of the incident, including uninsured motorists, drunk drivers, and drivers in the act of committing a felony.
- Define what actually constitutes a ‘serious injury’ so that damages for pain and suffering or emotional distress are reserved for those able to objectively demonstrate that they have suffered a serious injury.
- Ensure that if a driver is found to be mostly at fault for causing an accident, they cannot claim “outsized” payments for damages.
- Prevent insurance companies from exorbitantly raising rates by setting a legal threshold that prevents excess profits and returns savings to consumers.
- Create new regulatory safeguards to prevent insurance companies from raising rates without seeking express approval from the Department of Financial Services.
- Protect consumers by prohibiting insurance companies from setting rates based on extraneous, personal factors like homeownership status, occupation, education level or zip code.
Utilities
- Provide a one-time, $1 billion energy rebate to provide relief to New Yorkers.
- Enact the Ratepayer Protection Plan comprised of reforms to “modernize” the Public Service Law. The Plan will tie executive pay directly to customer affordability; require utilities to present a Budget constrained option that keeps their operating and capital costs below the rate of inflation when requesting a rate increase to ensure efficiency and affordability are prioritized; ensure customers do not fund hidden costs like lobbying, political contributions and unnecessary executive travel.
Immigration
- Prohibit local law enforcement from being deputized by ICE for federal civil immigration enforcement by eliminating 287(g) agreements, barring state and local police from acting as civil immigration agents, or using taxpayer-funded resources or personnel to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement and detention.
- Establish a state right to sue federal, state, and local officials, including ICE officers, for constitutional violations.
- Deny ICE permission from entering sensitive locations – including schools, libraries, health care facilities, polling locations, and homes – without a judicial warrant.
- Ban federal, state, and local law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty.
- Prohibit the use of state, local or school civil resources for civil immigration enforcement activities.
- Ensure all students can access education without fear of ICE interference, codifying the right to a free public education regardless of immigration status.
Housing
- Provide environmental review exemptions for new housing. In New York City, qualifying housing in medium and high-density areas up to 500 units will be exempted, with projects up to 250 units exempted in the rest of the city. Outside of New York City, the exemptions would apply to qualifying housing of up to 300 units in urbanized areas, up to 100 units in non-urban areas, and up to 20 units in areas that have no zoning. Housing must be on previously disturbed land and connected to water and sewer systems.
- Add further SEQRA exemptions for categories of beneficial projects including clean water infrastructure, public parks and trails, green infrastructure, and public schools within New York City.
- Establish a clear, two-year timeline to complete an environmental impact statement, creating accountability and ensuring faster decisions for communities.
New York Democrats Push Redistricting
This week, New York Democrats intensified their push to redraw the state’s congressional lines following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. At the start of the week, Representative Hakeem Jeffries and Representative Joseph Morelle announced the New York Democracy Project, which includes a proposal to amend the state constitution to allow for mid-decade redistricting favoring Democrats. Following this announcement, Rep. Morelle meet with Governor Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the legislature to plan for such a change.
Under consideration is a vote on an amendment to the state constitution before the end of the legislative session, opening the door to a referendum next year and new lines in 2028. State Democrats could then revisit their earlier attempt to adopt a map that could yield 22 or 23 Democratic seats. New York’s current congressional delegation consists of nineteen Democrats and seven Republicans. Redrawing lines could put Republican seats in Long Island and Staten Island at risk.
If New York were to redraw its lines, it would join a growing number of states capitalizing on the US Supreme Court’s recent decision. In addition to Louisiana, the states of Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee are also opening the doors to redrawing their district maps in favor of Republicans. Redistricting in Alabama and Tennessee could eliminate any Democratic seats from those states. These states would follow California, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, which already redrew their lines in mid-decade redistricting.
Following the US Supreme Court’s opinion in Louisiana v. Callais, the state suspended their House of Representatives primary elections. Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court granted a request to finalize their opinion, allowing Louisiana time to redraw its map ahead of this year’s elections.
In The News-New York City
NYC Rent Guidelines Board Approves Possible Rent Freeze in its Preliminary Vote
The nine-member New York City Rent Guidelines Board yesterday held its preliminary vote to set the proposed lease guidelines for rent stabilized apartments, lofts and hotels:
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- For a one-year lease commencing on or after October 1, 2026 and on or before September 30, 2027: 0%-2%.
- For a two-year lease commencing on or after October 1, 2026 and on or before September 30, 2027: 0%-4%.
Board members voted 7 to 1 in favor of the range, with one abstention.
Acording to published reports, the board has only considered a 0% increase for one-year leases on two other occasions in the past decade. In addition, it is the first time board members have considered freezing rent on two-year leases.
In February, Mayor Zohran Mamdani named five new members to the Board and reappointed a sixth. Chantella Mitchell was appointed the Chair of the RGB; Sina Sinai, Lauren Melodia and Brandon Mancilla were appointed as public representatives; Maksim Wynn was appointed as an owner representative; and Adán Soltren has been reappointed as a tenant representative. They joined Arpit Gupta (public member), Christina Smyth (owner member) and Sagar Sharma (tenant member) on the nine-member board.
“New Yorkers are being crushed by the cost of living, and they need real relief,” Mayor Mamdani said in a statement on Thursday night. “I’m encouraged to see the Board taking seriously the data around affordability, operating expenses, and the pressures facing both tenants and small property owners as it sets this preliminary range.”
The board will hold a series of public hearings in the coming weeks and is scheduled to take its final vote on June 25.
Representatives of the real estate industry expressed concern over the initial vote.
“… Politics has pitted the two groups against each other as if they’re not all New Yorkers who are investing in their communities and seeking the same thing: the means to live,” New York Apartment Association president Kenny Burgos in published reports. “…An owner’s ability to pay for the costs of the building you’re living in should matter to every tenant. Rent isn’t going into the pockets of rent-stabilized owners, it’s going into keeping the buildings standing. This threat of a rent freeze nearly guarantees our owners and tenants will live in declining conditions for years to come.”
Briefs
Westchester Board of Legislators Passes Landmark Prevailing Wage Bill for County-Lease Properties
On May 4, 2026, the Westchester County Board of Legislators unanimously passed the Westchester County Lessor Prevailing Wage Act which closes a long-standing loophole in New York State Labor Law that left construction workers on Westchester County leased properties without prevailing wage projects. The new law ensures that construction workers on qualifying Westchester County-leased properties receive the same prevailing wages as workers on County-owned public works projects. Specifically, when the County enters into a lease agreement of 10 years or more, and construction work undertaken on behalf of the County exceeds $250,000, contractors will be required to pay prevailing wages and maintain certified payroll records to verify compliance. The law will take effect 120 days after adoption.
IBEW Local 3 members from Westchester played a leading role in advancing this reform. Through their advocacy and leadership, Local 3 helped bring public attention to a gap in the law that allowed major publicly supported construction projects to move forward without the wage standards that ordinarily apply to public work.
Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno LLC worked closely with Local 3 on the drafting and development of the legislative text, helping craft a balanced measure that protects workers, promotes transparency, and ensures responsible stewardship of public construction dollars.
Labor leaders and County officials rightly recognized the legislation as a major achievement for organized labor and working families throughout Westchester. The Westchester County Lessor Prevailing Wage Act may serve as a model for broader statewide reform, helping ensure that workers across New York receive fair wages on publicly supported construction projects regardless of technical ownership structures.
Attorney General James Successfully Protects Counterterrorism Funding
New York Attorney General Letitia James this week secured a final victory in her lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from cutting critical public safety funding to New York and other states.
Attorney General James and 11 other attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on September 29 after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) abruptly cut funding from states that refused to support the administration’s mass deportation agenda. In December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted Attorney General James’ motion for summary judgment, and yesterday the Trump administration dropped its appeal, ending the case and preserving critical homeland security funding for New York.
According to the Attorney General, New York’s homeland security funding was cut by 79 percent, totaling more than $100 million. These funds support counterterrorism activities, border security measures along the Canadian border, and efforts to protect essential infrastructure, including power grids and water systems, throughout the state. The grant programs also direct tens of millions of dollars each year to the New York City Police Department and the New York City Fire Department for training and planning to protect high-risk areas of the city.
Comptroller DiNapoli: Incomes for Many New Yorkers Not Keeping Pace with Inflation
Despite median household incomes increasing in every county from 2019-2024, they did not keep pace with the cost of living when adjusting for the 23.1% inflation during that time period, according to a report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Statewide, the inflation adjusted (“real”) median household income increased by $1,688, or 2%, from 2019 to 2024. However, in 23 of the state’s 62 counties, real median household income decreased. Tioga County had the largest decrease both by dollar amount (-$4,794), and percentage (-6.2%). Rockland County had the second largest decrease by dollar amount (-$4,526), while Chemung County had the second largest decrease by percent (-5.8%).
Comptroller DiNapoli’s analysis also found:
- Among the five counties that comprise New York City, results were mixed. The real median household income increased in Brooklyn by $6,136 (8.3%) and in Queens by $1,628 (1.9%). It decreased in Staten Island by $3,549 (-3.5%), in Manhattan by $2,590 (-2.4%), and in the Bronx by $661 (-1.3%) between 2019 and 2024.
- Three of the ten largest percentage decreases in real household incomes were found in the Southern Tier, including Broome (-2.6%).
- Every Western New York county had a positive percentage increase in real household income with the exception of Cattaraugus (-0.7%).
Department of Civil Service Announces Opening of New Computer-Based Testing Center in Cohoes
The New York State Department of Civil Service announced the opening of a new Computer-Based Testing Center in Cohoes, the first of 12 centers opening by the end of 2027.
The centers, which will be located in each region of the State, will provide access to state employees seeking to further their careers by taking promotion exams, while allowing interested candidates to self-schedule their own tests.
The Cohoes CBT Center, which has already offered several promotion exams for state employees, offers testing space for approximately 150 candidates to be tested at once. The space also offers multiple, smaller testing rooms for candidates who may require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the civil service exam process. As CBT Centers open across the state, civil service promotion exams will be offered on a more frequent basis to provide candidates with more career advancement opportunities, and test scores will be released more expeditiously, Department of Civil Service Commissioner and Civil Service Commission President Timothy R. Hogues.
Mamdani Administration, Representative Ritchie Torres Announce $2 Million to Expand Free Broadband Internet Access
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani, U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, The New York Public Library (NYPL) President Anthony W. Marx and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy celebrated a $2 million expansion of the Neighborhood Internet program at an affordable housing development in the Bronx.
Neighborhood Internet is a groundbreaking partnership between the City and NYPL that extends free, high-speed broadband to low-income New Yorkers. The initial pilot of the program, funded by HPD, will serve over 700 low-income households in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan by this summer, with the federally-funded expansion supporting thousands more across the Bronx over the next two years. Eligible households receive free, high-speed Internet access managed by The Library
The expansion is funded by $2 million secured by Rep. Torres in Fiscal Year 2026 Community Project Funding. The funding will cover microtrenching, rooftop network equipment installation, dedicated internet access infrastructure and in-unit connectivity for thousands of homes across 50 buildings.
Congestion Pricing Mitigation Funds to Address Childhood Asthma in the Bronx
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and the New York City Department of Health today announced a $20 million investment from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to improve childhood asthma outcomes in the Bronx.
In partnership with the MTA and the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), the Health Department will direct the $20 million investment to two major programs: $8.9 million for the Bronx Asthma Program, which supports community-based services, and $11.1 million to expand the Asthma Case Management Program. The funding is part of the MTA’s congestion pricing mitigation program, which has allocated $100 million to neighborhoods disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution, climate impacts and poor health outcomes.
The expansion will offer intensive support for students with asthma, including in-school medication administration and self-management education for students with asthma and their families. Fifteen additional Bronx schools will join the program. The funding will also support a new electronic system for submitting asthma medication administration forms, replacing the current paper-based process, with implementation expected before the 2026-27 school year.
Coming Up
New York State
Monday, May 11th
Senate Disabilities Committee Meeting, 709 Legislative Office Building, 11:30 a.m.
Senate Housing, Construction and Community Development Committee Meeting, 511 Legislative Office Building, 12 p.m.
New York State Senate Session, Senate Chamber, Albany, 3 p.m.
New York State Assembly Session, Assembly Chamber, Albany, At the Call of the Speaker.
Tuesday, May 12th
Senate Social Services Committee Meeting, 410 Legislative Office Building, 9:30 a.m.
Senate Libraries Committee Meeting, 901 Legislative Office Building, 9:45 a.m.
Senate Judiciary Committee Meeting, 124 Capitol Building, 10 a.m.
Senate Consumer Protection Meeting, 804 Legislative Office Building, 10:30 a.m.
Senate Banks Committee Meeting, 710 Legislative Office Building, 10:30 a.m.
Senate Finance Committee Meeting, 124 Capitol Building, 11 a.m.
Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee Meeting, 611 Legislative Office Building, 11:30 a.m.
Senate Health Committee Meeting, 124 Capitol Building, 12 p.m.
New York State Senate Session, Senate Chamber, Albany, 3 p.m.
New York State Assembly Session, Assembly Chamber, Albany, tbd.
Wednesday, May 13th
Senate Women’s Issues Committee Meeting, 801 Legislative Office Building, 9:30 a.m.
Senate Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business Committee Meeting, 816 Legislative Office Building, 10:30 a.m.
Senate Labor Committee Meeting, 308 Legislative Office Building, 12 p.m.
Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee Meeting, 124 Capitol Building, 12:15 p.m.
New York State Senate Session, Senate Chamber, Albany, 3 p.m.
New York State Assembly Session, Assembly Chamber, Albany, tbd.
Thursday, May 14th
Senate Cities 1 Committee Meeting, 124 Capitol Building, 9 a.m.
New York State Senate Session, Senate Chamber, Albany, 11 a.m.
New York State Assembly Session, Assembly Chamber, Albany, tbd.
New York City
Monday, May 11th
Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics,
25 Broadway – 8th Floor – Hearing Room 3, 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, May 13th
Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, Resiliency and Dispositions,
250 Broadway – 8th Floor – Hearing Room 3, 11 a.m.
Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Relations,
205 Broadway – 8th Floor – Hearing Room 1, 1 p.m.
Thursday, May 14th
City Council Stated Meeting, Council Chambers – City Hall, 1:30 p.m.