News: POLITICO New York Playbook: Final debate night — Pandemic restrictions lift — Cuomo inner circle raised money for convicted aide

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

POLITICO New York Playbook: Final debate night — Pandemic restrictions lift — Cuomo inner circle raised money for convicted aide

Jun 16, 2021

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze

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Eight Democrats will take the stage tonight for their final debate before next week's mayoral primary election, hosted by POLITICO, WNBC and Telemundo 47. Voters are already casting their ballots at early voting sites, and, according to a Marist poll released this week , Eric Adams leads the pack, followed by Kathryn Garcia, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang.

Adams has already felt the pile-on from his opponents, and the Brooklyn borough president is taking a rather cerebral approach to the last debate. "I find it fascinating that people are saying that Eric is going to take a lot of body shots, he's going to be hit hard, but let's be clear about something: I was beat by police. I was shot at as a police officer. I was almost fired by the police department," said Adams, who rallied with Latino voters in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

"I have been written about, attacked, criticized. When I'm on that stage, that's the easiest thing I've ever done in my life. Debating people? I sit there and I am so at peace," Adams said. "I am not ruffled. I'm not in any way disturbed. I'm just at a peaceful place."

Yang, who was the front-runner for months before beginning to slip, is now arguing that "this is anyone's race," as he said at a campaign stop in Queens. "I can't wait to talk to the people of New York again and hammer the message that I'm the mayor who is going to deliver real public safety for us and our families."

Among the undecided voters waiting to be won over? Mayor Bill de Blasio, or so he says, despite reports he's been maneuvering on Adams behalf. "I haven't even made up my mind who I'm voting for," the outgoing mayor said, after announcing the resounding victory of pepperoni in the city's official ranked-choice voting practice session. "I want to see more. I'm very concerned to see this next debate. I respect the candidates. I still think there has been a lack of clear vision, and I want to see more from these candidates and then I'll make my final decisions."

IT'S TUESDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold

WHERE'S ANDREW? In Albany with no public events scheduled.

WHERE'S BILL? Appearing on Hot 97 and holding a media availability.

DAYS TO THE PRIMARY: 6

ABOVE THE FOLD — " 'A Momentous Day': New York Lifts Most Virus Restrictions," by The New York Times' Luis Ferré-Sadurní: "Restaurants will no longer be forced to space tables six feet apart or use physical partitions; movie theaters will be allowed to pack their auditoriums without spacing seats apart; and entering commercial buildings won't require a temperature check. With 70 percent of adults in New York having received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Tuesday that effective immediately the state was ready to 'return to life as we know it.' Nearly all restrictions on businesses and social gatherings have been eliminated, he announced at a news conference. The changes, which will take effect immediately, mark yet another milestone in the economic recovery of a state that was once an epicenter of the pandemic, and are expected to bring back the type of scenes familiar to most New Yorkers in prepandemic times."

PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook will not publish on Friday, June 18. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Monday, June 21. Please continue to follow POLITICO New York.

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WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

"Battle for Black Voters in N.Y.C. Mayor's Race Centers on Policing," by The New York Times' Jeffery C. Mays: "With concerns rising over violent crime in New York City, the Rev. Al Sharpton posed a sensitive question to several mayoral candidates at a recent forum in Harlem: Would they consider embracing the stop-and-frisk policing tactic as part of their public safety strategy? 'Is that a serious question, Rev.?' said Maya Wiley, a civil rights lawyer. 'We are not going backward to what beat us, what broke our ankles, busted our jaws and put our kids in jail for poverty.' But Eric Adams, a former police officer who, like Ms. Wiley, is Black, saw the issue differently. 'It's a constitutional policy given to law enforcement officers,' he said, while quickly acknowledging that the police had been allowed to abuse it by stopping people without probable cause. "

"Eric Adams Failed to Disclose Co-Ownership of Brooklyn Co-op He Says He Gave Away to a Friend," by The City's Greg B. Smith and Yoav Gonen: "As a leading mayoral candidate, Adams has declared questions about where he lives and owns property to be settled. But a broken paper trail and unexplained entanglements raise questions about his holdings and his transparency about them as the June 22 primary approaches. These questions involve his ties with [Sylvia] Cowan, who is not only an owner of the Prospect Heights apartment but, as of 2018, owns another co-op unit in a Fort Lee, N.J. tower. She lives one floor down from the unit his campaign told THE CITY Adams purchased for $288,000 cash in 2016 in partnership with his girlfriend, Tracey Collins. Adams contends he gave away his shares in the Brooklyn apartment to Cowan shortly after he started in the state Senate in 2007. But a review by THE CITY found signs that he may have retained his co-ownership while serving as Brooklyn borough president, a post to which he was first elected in 2013."

"Bronx Woman Mourns Son Who Died at Rikers as Cellmate Says Help was Slow to Come," by The City's Eileen Grench: "When Martha Martinez, who speaks only Spanish, got a call Thursday night from an English-speaking jail official she thought he was talking about arresting her. She had no idea he was trying to notify her of her son's death. About 10 minutes later, a Spanish-speaking chaplain delivered the news: Jose Mejia Martinez, 35, had been found dead inside his cell in Rikers Island's George Motchan Detention Center on Thursday at around 4 p.m. 'I started to cry and went crazy,' she recalled. 'And he calmed me down.' Mejia Martinez, in jail on a parole violation for allegedly stealing beer, died around the time of the passage of a new law that could have kept him out of jail."

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Maya Wiley is getting a new slate of progressive endorsements: Sen. Gustavo Rivera, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, Make the Road Action, Empire State Indivisible, Alliance for Quality Education, Citizen Action of New York and Indivisible Harlem will back her candidacy as their No. 1 choice today. Most of the new endorsers had previously backed the campaigns of two other left-leaning candidates, Scott Stringer and Dianne Morales, who hemorrhaged supporters after sexual misconduct allegations and a campaign staff implosion, respectively. "Maya Wiley is standing up for truly affordable housing, high-quality public education, accountability for the NYPD's abuse and violence, and direly-needed investment in immigrant, Black, and brown communities," said Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road Action, which had previously endorsed Morales as its No. 1 pick and Wiley No. 2.

— Wiley is releasing her final TV ad of the campaign today, featuring herself speaking straight to the camera and making the case for her candidacy. "New York, we've got a big choice to make. We can elect yet another ally of the developers, the establishment and the police unions," Wiley says. "Or we can elect someone with the courage to take them on."

— Transportation advocates are hoping to see mayoral candidates zero in on their issues at tonight's debate, and are releasing a list of dozens of sample questions they'd like to hear answers to. "We are deeply disappointed by the lack of serious questions on transportation, infrastructure, and climate in the New York City mayoral debates. Even before the pandemic, New York City faced a crisis of climate, safe streets, and unreliable public transit service," said Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, NYLCV, NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, Regional Plan Association, Riders Alliance, StreetsPAC, and Tri-State Transportation Campaign in a joint statement. Among their questions for the candidates: Will they spend public money to expand Citi Bike? Where will they put new busways? What will they do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city from passenger cars?

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WHAT ALBANY'S READING

"Cuomo's Inner Circle Raised Money for Aide Who Was Convicted of Bribery," by The New York Times' Brian M. Rosenthal and J. David Goodman: "After one of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's most trusted aides and closest friends, Joseph Percoco, was convicted of soliciting and accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from executives with business before the state, the governor quickly distanced himself. There would be 'no tolerance' for corruption, he said, calling Mr. Percoco's behavior the opposite of everything he hoped his administration represented. 'The rule of law is paramount,' Mr. Cuomo said in 2018, when Mr. Percoco was sentenced to prison a few months later. 'Joe Percoco is paying the price for violating the public trust.' Privately, however, members of the governor's inner circle — including one of his sisters — have for years been quietly raising money for Mr. Percoco, according to interviews and newly obtained emails."

"Cuomo nursing home order did cause more deaths, should've been reversed sooner: task force," by New York Post's Bernadette Hogan, Carl Campanile and Bruce Golding: "The controversial directive for New York nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients increased the death toll among residents — and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's claims otherwise have been disproven, according to a New York State Bar Association report exclusively obtained by The Post. The 242-page report by the NYSBA's Task Force on Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care also blasts Cuomo for not reversing the Department of Health's 'unreasonable' mandate sooner than he did, saying it remained in effect weeks longer than necessary. 'Although a determination of the number of additional nursing home deaths is beyond the capacity of the Task Force, there are credible reviews that suggest that the directive, for the approximately six weeks that it was in effect, did lead to some number of additional deaths,' the report says."

New York's insurgent left turns its focus to Buffalo, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: While New York City's mayoral election has dominated discussions about the state of the Democratic Party in recent months, there's a chance that the insurgent left's best opportunity for a significant pickup this year is in the state's second-largest city. India Walton, a 38-year-old nurse and activist, is seeking to stop Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown from winning a fifth four-year term. Brown is certainly an establishment Democrat — he recently served as Gov. Andrew Cuomo's chosen chair of the state party — while Walton has enjoyed enthusiastic support from the sort of progressives that give establishment types headaches.

"Buffalo Diocese to monitor 18 priests accused of abuse with home visits, restrictions," by Buffalo News' Jay Tokasz: "The Buffalo Diocese, heavily criticized by State Attorney General Letitia James for not keeping better tabs on priests who molested children, is launching a monitoring program that will include monthly home visits and other restrictions for offending priests. Bishop Michael W. Fisher confirmed in an interview with The News that the diocese has developed and begun to implement a 'detailed monitoring plan with a professional monitor who will be in contact with each of these priests who have been relieved of ministry.' Fisher also sent a letter this week to all priests and deacons announcing that diocese lawyers and Sister Mary McCarrick, chief operating officer, met last week with the Attorney General's Office to outline the monitoring plan."

#UpstateAmerica: Premier League player Jamie Vardy is signing on as co-owner to revive the struggling Rochester Rhinos soccer club.

TRUMP'S NEW YORK

"Trump Executive Could Face Charges as Soon as This Summer," by The New York Times' William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich: "The Manhattan district attorney's office appears to have entered the final stages of a criminal tax investigation into Donald J. Trump's long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, setting up the possibility he could face charges this summer, according to people with knowledge of the matter In recent weeks, a grand jury has been hearing evidence about Mr. Weisselberg, who is facing intense scrutiny from prosecutors as they seek his cooperation with a broader investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The prosecutors have obtained Mr. Weisselberg's personal tax returns, the people said, providing the fullest picture yet of his finances. Even as the investigation has heated up, it remains unclear whether the prosecutors will seek an indictment of Mr. Weisselberg, which would mark the first criminal charges stemming from the long-running financial fraud investigation into Mr. Trump and his family company."

FROM THE DELEGATION

"Rep. Malliotakis endorses Curtis Sliwa in GOP mayoral primary," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "Rep. Nicole Malliotakis — the city's sole GOP congressional member — is endorsing fellow Republican Curtis Sliwa for mayor. Malliotakis was the Republican Party's standard bearer for City Hall in 2017, losing to Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio. Malliotakis' backing is a plus for Sliwa, as the Guardian Angels founder fends off a June 22 primary challenge from taxi and bodega advocate Fernando Mateo, who recently met with former President Donald Trump."

" N.Y. Rep. Elise Stefanik backs Trump-era subpoena of journalists and Democrats," by New York Daily News' Dave Goldiner: "New York Rep. Elise Stefanik on Tuesday defended the Trump-era effort by federal prosecutors to subpoena phone and email records from journalists and prominent congressional Democrats. The newly-minted No. 3 member of House Republican leadership said she agreed with the Department of Justice's aggressive effort to probe critics of then-President Trump for leaking sensitive information."

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AROUND NEW YORK

— Hillary Clinton endorsed Tali Farhadian Weinstein for Manhattan DA.

— The manager of a Shake Shack branch falsely accused of poisoning cops' milk shakes is suing for defamation.

— Harvey Weinstein will be extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face rape and sexual assault charges.

— A City Council hopeful in Queens posted a number of vulgar and misogynistic comments on social media before backtracking and claiming he was being sarcastic.

— President Joe Biden selected "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Chesley Sullenberger as his nominee for ambassador to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

— An off-duty NYPD officer was stabbed in the head with a pair of scissors at a Manhattan subway station.

— Another inmate was accidentally released from Rikers Island.

— A new marathon will be run in Brooklyn next spring.

— Bob Marley's son is one of the investors in a startup cannabis group that is considering several western New York locations for a marijuana production facility.

— The business community is concerned about a handful of Midnight Rider bills that passed quietly in the final hours of session.

— Amherst police have appointed the first female captain in the department's nearly 100-year history.

— Yankee Stadium will return to full capacity seating starting Friday.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Yahoo News' Michael Isikoff … Phil Singer of Marathon Strategies … Indira Lakshmanan of National Geographic … Snap's Kara Rivers … Ronen Bergman … Alison Gopnik … David A. Vise

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REAL ESTATE

"A Possible Progressive Wave on NY City Council Is Making Developers Nervous," by Commercial Observer's Rebecca Baird-Remba: "New York is about to elect an almost completely new City Council, with a slew of left-leaning candidates endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America leading races in certain consequential seats. But it's not clear what that will mean for land use and housing policy at the city level, particularly considering the three front-runners for mayor are moderate Democrats. Nearly 40 of the council's 51 seats are open and up for grabs in the upcoming June 22 primary, and a broad array of candidates, from DSA-endorsed leftists to establishment Democrats and conservative Republicans, are jockeying for the open slots. All but two of the returning incumbent members are also facing challengers."

"Notorious Brooklyn slumlord sentenced to five years for arson scheme," by New York Post's Ben Feuerherd: "A notorious New York slumlord was sentenced to more than five years in prison Tuesday for ordering an accomplice to set fires at properties he wanted to flip, prosecutors said. Daniel Melamed was hit with a 66-month sentence by Manhattan federal Judge Lewis Kaplan after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. Melamed copped to ordering fires set at three properties in Brooklyn and Long Island between 2011 and 2013, including one house in Albertson where a family lived with their pets, according to the feds. The family escaped from the house unharmed, but the blaze badly damaged the house and burned the pets alive, prosecutors said."

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