| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze | Presented by Planned Parenthood Federation of America | BREAKING — "Top Trump Executive, Allen Weisselberg, Surrenders to Face Charges," by The New York Times' Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich: "Donald J. Trump's long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, surrendered on Thursday to the Manhattan district attorney's office as he and the Trump Organization prepared to face charges in connection with a tax investigation, people with knowledge of the matter said. The exact charges were not yet known. Prosecutors were expected to unseal an indictment later in the day against Mr. Weisselberg and the Trump Organization." OK, where were we?... The new results are in, and they're a lot like the old results. After the Board of Elections botched a ranked-choice voting count this week, they published corrected preliminary numbers Wednesday evening. The numbers show Eric Adams emerging from the process with a razor-thin lead over Kathryn Garcia, beating her 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent in the final round. "[Tuesday's] ranked choice voting reporting error was unacceptable and we apologize to the voters and to the campaigns for the confusion," BOE president Frederic Umane and secretary Miguelina Camilo said in a statement released with the new numbers. "Let us be clear: RCV was not the problem, rather a human error that could have been avoided." Over nine rounds of counting, Garcia jumps ahead of Maya Wiley, who was in second place on election night, by just 347 votes. She then closes the gap with Adams, but ends up 14,755 votes behind him in the final round. These numbers still aren't official or final: There are more than 124,000 absentee ballots still to be counted, enough to sway the outcome significantly in such a close race. All three leading candidates are staying in this thing. "This election is still wide open," Wiley said Wednesday night. "That's why following yesterday's embarrassing debacle, the Board of Elections must count every vote in an open way so that New Yorkers can have confidence that their votes are being counted accurately." Adams' camp said they "are confident we will be the final choice of New Yorkers when every vote is tallied," while Garcia's campaign similarly said "we remain confident in our path to victory." Everyone has promised to wait patiently for the final results. The next date to mark on your calendar is Tuesday, July 6. That's when a new count will be run with some absentee ballots included. IT'S THURSDAY. 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? Holding a media availability. ABOVE THE FOLD — "Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg Indicted on Tax Charges," by Wall Street Journal's Corinne Ramey and Deanna Paul: "A New York grand jury has indicted the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer with tax-related crimes that will be made public Thursday in court, people familiar with the matter said, marking the first criminal charges against the former president's company since prosecutors began investigating it three years ago. The charges against the company and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg are a blow to former President Donald Trump, who has fended off multiple criminal and civil probes during and after his presidency. But the initial charges won't implicate Mr. Trump himself, his lawyer said, falling short of expectations about the high-profile probe that included a battle over his tax returns decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in the prosecutors' favor. The defendants are expected Thursday to appear in court, where the charges will be disclosed, the people said." PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook will not publish on Monday, July 5. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Tuesday, July 6. Please continue to follow POLITICO New York. | | A message from Planned Parenthood Federation of America: It's more urgent than ever to reclaim what's rightfully ours: access to quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care for all. Learn more about how you can take action today. | | |
|  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | After riding wave of economic prosperity, de Blasio caps tenure with blockbuster budget, by POLITICO's Joe Anuta : Mayor Bill de Blasio will leave office as he entered: with a flush budget. After winning the mayoralty in 2013 on a promise of a more progressive city government, the mayor enjoyed an unprecedented period of economic prosperity that allowed him to grow spending by $30 billion and the size of government by about 30,000 people. For six years, he was able to avoid many of the tough decisions that have bedeviled mayors before him. The economic fallout of the pandemic changed all that — grinding several sectors of the economy to a halt, raising the prospect of layoffs and creating a worrying drop in property tax revenues. But a $98.7 billion budget passed by the City Council Wednesday — the last negotiated by de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson — has put the city back on track by restoring spending to pre-pandemic levels. But in doing so, de Blasio has buried some potential land mines in the budgetary out years that the next administration will discover when they open the city's books come January. 'A relic from the past': New York's troubled election agency ignites fury , by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: Eric Adams and Kathryn Garcia are suing. Donald Trump is pushing conspiracy theories. And the final results in New York's mayoral primary may not be known for weeks or possibly months. The botched count of the city's ranked-choice election results Tuesday sparked a flood of criticism and calls for reform of New York's notorious Board of Elections — but as candidate Maya Wiley said Tuesday night, "It is impossible to be surprised." Like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and July 4 on Coney Island, bungled votes and the uproar that follows have become a tradition in New York where elections have long been run by a board controlled by political party machines and staffed through patronage... The Board of Elections was forced to retract a set of mayoral primary results it published on Tuesday, admitting that staffers had accidentally included 135,000 test ballots in the numbers. The election is the first citywide contest conducted under a new system of ranked-choice voting. "It's broken. It's arcane," Mayor Bill de Blasio said of the board on Wednesday. "This is a partisan board with no accountability ... They're a relic from the past." The cycle of election day fumbles — followed by recriminations, hearings and investigations — has played out many times before. But New York elected officials have never taken action to overhaul the board, whose structure is dictated by state law. Adams campaign files lawsuit in wake of elections board fiasco, by POLITICO's David Giambusso: Eric Adams' mayoral campaign has filed a preliminary lawsuit a day after the city's Board of Elections put out erroneous results for the first run of ranked-choice votes. "Today we petitioned the court to preserve our right to a fair election process and to have a judge oversee and review ballots, if necessary," the campaign said in a statement issued Wednesday. "We are notifying the other campaigns of our lawsuit through personal service, as required by law, because they are interested parties. We invite the other campaigns to join us and petition the court as we all seek a clear and trusted conclusion to this election." — BOE ignored offers of help from the non-profit organization that supplied its ranked-choice software. — BOE's executive director has been on medical leave for months, with his deputy filling in. — Kathryn Garcia said she's concerned the snafu could undermine public confidence in the electoral system. "NYC Impeding Probe of Police Conduct During Protests, AG Says ," by Bloomberg's Erik Larson and Fola Akinnibi: "New York City officials have been slow to cooperate with requests for evidence in a lawsuit accusing police of using excessive force and making false arrests during Black Lives Matter protests last year, state Attorney General Letitia James said. "The city's 'recalcitrance' has made it difficult to schedule crucial witness depositions, while the New York Police Department hasn't yet provided the names of some officers whose helmet numbers were captured in video footage, James said in a Tuesday letter to U.S. District Judge Gabriel Gorenstein in Manhattan. 'Plaintiffs continue to have to follow up endlessly to get the kind of basic information that is always necessary for parties to try to work issues like these out without seeking intervention from the Court,' according to the letter, which James signed with a group of lawyers for plaintiffs in several related suits." | | | | JOIN FRIDAY FOR A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH ANITA DUNN: Anita Dunn, a senior White House adviser to President Biden and one of the most influential women in Washington, will join Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza to discuss the administration's legislative priorities, including getting the massive infrastructure plan through Congress, the latest on efforts to get 70% of U.S. adults vaccinated against Covid, and preparations for the White House's first big public event on Independence Day. Don't miss this Playbook Live event, REGISTER HERE. | | | | |
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | New York Assembly OKs subpoenas in Cuomo impeachment probe, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: A state Assembly committee looking into a possible impeachment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo will begin issuing subpoenas as part of its investigation. Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Nassau), who chairs the chamber's Judiciary Committee, made the announcement at the end of a meeting in Albany on Wednesday. The subpoenas will likely be sent to 'a whole wide range of categories of people,' Assemblymember Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh) said after the meeting. 'This is the next step in the process, it's a normal step, we all expected this was going to happen.' Additionally, members have taken the technical step of issuing a commission to the law firm of Davis Polk, which the Assembly has retained to handle much of the probe. That step 'allows our independent counsel to take testimony under oath,' Lavine said. — "Troopers not interviewed in Cuomo's impeachment investigation," by Times Union's Brendan J. Lyons: "The law firm retained by the state Assembly to conduct an impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has declined to interview numerous current and former state troopers who have worked on the detail that protects the governor and may have information about the culture and practices in the administration dating back years. The troopers who have not been interviewed include high-ranking former members who worked for the State Police's Protective Services Unit and were close to the governor through their work, which included protecting him and his staff at the Capitol, the Executive Mansion in Albany, and residences where Cuomo has lived during his three terms in office." — "State ethics panel votes down criminal probe into Cuomo leak," by Times Union's Chris Bragg: "New York's ethics commission voted against seeking a criminal investigation into whether someone from within its own ranks leaked confidential information to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, even as new details emerged about the 2019 incident . At a Tuesday meeting of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, six members of the body voted in favor of seeking an investigation by Attorney General Letitia James' office – two votes short of the number necessary to formally pursue such an inquiry. Four commissioners, all appointed by Cuomo, voted against making the criminal referral, which James' office would need in order to pursue the matter. None of the Cuomo-appointed commissioners explained their votes opposing the probe, which would have directly touched a governor already facing multiple, unrelated investigations. " "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Raises More Than $1 Million at First Fundraiser Since Investigations," by Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind: "New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo drew more than 150 guests to a $10,000-a-head campaign fundraiser Tuesday night, his first since the launch of state and federal investigations into sexual-harassment accusations against him and into his administration's handling of the coronavirus at nursing homes. Democratic Party officials, labor leaders, lobbyists and real-estate developers gathered at a space in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, where Mr. Cuomo didn't mention the probes during his remarks but warned of the rising power of socialist Democrats, attendees said. The soiree was expected to raise more than $1 million for Mr. Cuomo's re-election campaign, a haul that will be reflected in a campaign disclosure report due in July, two people familiar with the event said. In January, Mr. Cuomo reported $16.8 million in his campaign war chest." "Giambra exits mayoral write-in following Brown announcement," by Buffalo News' Robert J. McCarthy: "Just after Mayor Byron W. Brown launched a write-in campaign to reclaim the office he preliminarily lost in the June 22 Democratic primary, two major figures in Buffalo politics weighing their own write-in bids have bowed out. Former County Executive Joel A. Giambra said Tuesday that the mayor's Monday announcement of a full-scale write-in campaign against primary winner India B. Walton prompted him to reconsider his own plans for a similar effort. 'It's very complicated and I don't know if it continues to make sense to pursue this,' Giambra said. 'And I think the best chance to beat her would be Byron, head to head.' And Delaware Councilmember Joel P. Feroleto, who had also been considering a write-in bid, said Wednesday via email while vacationing in Italy that he also will not run — though he did not elaborate." #UpstateAmerica: Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots are opening up the NYS Fair on Aug. 20. | | | |   | | |
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — NXIVM recruiter and actress Allison Mack was sentenced to three years in prison. — The New York Historical Society will expand and add a space for the new American L.G.B.T.Q.+ Museum. — New Yorkers were asked to conserve energy to avoid blackouts during a heat wave. — State monitors in East Ramapo can now veto or override decisions they view as not in the interest of the public schools, including the selection of a superintendent. — A new ferry servicing the Red Hook IKEA is kicking off this weekend. — Biz Markie's manager denied reports that the Harlem-born rapper had died. — A recent survey found that New York has the worst traffic of any city nationwide. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Add West Wing Playbook to keep up with the power players, latest policy developments and intriguing whispers percolating inside the West Wing and across the highest levels of the Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | |
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC's Kristen Welker … Diane Ravitch … Brett Zongker of the Library of Congress … Mike Czin of SKDKnickerbocker … Grace Koh … Clark Jennings of Crowell & Moring International … Pierson Fowler … Myron Scholes … Rob Eshman MAKING MOVES — Per POLITICO Playbook: "Max Rose, a senior adviser to [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin for pandemic response efforts, said Wednesday that he's leaving his Pentagon post as the department's Covid-19 task force winds down. Rose, an Army veteran, served in the House and lost his 2020 bid for reelection in a Republican-leaning New York City district based in Staten Island." … Kiki Burger is now senior public relations manager at Epic, the digital reading platform for kids. She most recently was with Sunshine Sachs and is also the co-founder of Mor for Moms. | | A message from Planned Parenthood Federation of America: After years of harmful policies blocking our sexual and reproductive rights, now we have the opportunity to reclaim what's Rightfully Ours: access to quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care for all. Learn more about how you can take action today. | | |
| | REAL ESTATE | | "Days After Buying 215 West 84th Street, Naftali Group Pushing Tenants Out," by Commercial Observer's Aaron Short: "The Cuomo administration extended a moratorium on COVID-related evictions through Aug. 31, but that's not keeping some owners from seeking to purge tenants from their buildings. Days after purchasing 215 West 84th Street for $71 million, representatives from the Naftali Group have told some longtime residents to leave once their leases run out or face eviction, a tenant told Commercial Observer. 'They said they're not offering month-to-month leases, just get out,' Candice Solomon, who has lived in the building with her fiance for more than a decade, told CO." | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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