| | | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Téa Kvetenadze | Eric Adams has been treated a bit like a mayor-in-waiting since sewing up the Democratic mayoral primary a few weeks ago, but he's still got a general election to win. On Monday, he formally kicked off his campaign in that race — by lining up a host of New York pols who once backed his competitors. At an Adams rally at City Hall Park there was Rep. Jerry Nadler, a staunch Scott Stringer backer. "We have a tradition in our party: we fight," Nadler said. "We fight, we disagree over issues, we disagree over personalities. We have another tradition: When the primary's over, we unite." Rep. Grace Meng, an Andrew Yang endorser, showed up to lend her support as well — as did City Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Assemblymember Simcha Eichenstein, and a number of unions that backed other candidates. Kathryn Garcia, who finished a close second in the primary, did not attend but issued a statement endorsing Adams. Also in Adams' corner, and saying so publicly this time: Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has long been believed to quietly support the Brooklyn borough president but stubbornly refused to say who he voted for in the primary. The outgoing mayor delivered his endorsement while praising Adams' career as a reformer within the NYPD. "It was not popular those years ago to challenge the NYPD hierarchy," de Blasio said. The left wing of the party isn't thrilled with Adams (and the feeling is mutual), and several prominent progressives have not endorsed him. The alternative, however, is Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, who on Monday was blaming illegal immigration for a mass shooting in Queens. Sliwa, for his part, is hoping to use de Blasio's public embrace of Adams' against him. "Eric Adams is proud to accept the endorsement of Bill de Blasio, the worst Mayor in NYC history," the GOP nominee and Guardian Angels founder said. "We have a choice: more of the same bad policies under Adams or a new direction with Curtis Sliwa." 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? Holding a media availability. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | |  | WHAT CITY HALL'S READING | | "New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says no to a mask mandate for vaccinated people," by CNN's Eric Levenson: "New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio strongly encouraged vaccinated people to wear masks indoors but stopped short of reissuing a mask mandate on Monday in what he said was an attempt to focus primarily on vaccinations. 'Everything we're doing is based on data and science, but it's also based on strategy,' de Blasio said. 'The overwhelming strategic thrust is vaccination, so we thought the right mix was to heavily focus on vaccination, continue to climb the ladder with more and more vaccine requirements in place, and to give a very clear message to all New Yorkers strongly recommending mask usage regardless of vaccination status...' The decision not to reissue an indoor mask mandate comes a week after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance that fully vaccinated people should wear masks indoors when in areas of 'substantial' or 'high' Covid-19 transmission. All five boroughs in NYC are in areas of 'substantial' or 'high' transmission, a metric based on case rates and positivity rates." "Cuomo mandates vaccines or testing for NYC transit workers," by The Associated Press's Karen Matthews and Michael Hill: "Gov. Andrew Cuomo said workers in New York City's airports and public transit system will have to get coronavirus vaccinations or face weekly testing, but he stopped short Monday of mandating either masks or inoculations for the general public, saying he lacks the legal authority to do so … Cuomo announced that the vaccinate-or-be-tested policies already covering thousands of municipal employees would be extended to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and for Port Authority employees working in New York facilities beginning Labor Day." — Newly-hired city employees will be required to be vaccinated, and will not have the option to get tested weekly instead like existing city workers do. — The city is launching a new ad campaign to get eligible students ages 12 and over vaccinated in time for the first day of school, Sept. 13. — Charter school operator Success Academy says all its teachers and staff have been vaccinated. State lawmakers say city's solitary confinement overhaul falls short, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin: More than 70 state legislators are accusing the city of violating a new state law with its plan to end solitary confinement at Rikers Island and other jails. Albany legislators this spring passed the HALT Act, which bans the long-term use of solitary confinement in prisons and jails, limiting it to 15 days. Separately, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last year that the city would end solitary confinement altogether in its jails. But in a new letter, dozens of lawmakers say the city's plan amounts to solitary confinement by a different name — and does not meet the new legal requirements. "We are dismayed by NYC's plan to implement a new system which would essentially constitute solitary confinement by another name in violation of HALT," wrote 74 Senators and Assembly Members, led by the legislation's chief sponsors, Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Jeff Aubry. — Correction officers calling in sick will now have to take a medical exam, in response to a staffing crisis in jails. " NYC workers who are white men make more than women, Blacks and Hispanic: City Council report," by New York Daily News' Michael Gartland: "Men who work for New York City receive a median salary that's $21,600 higher than their women counterparts, and white workers get paid $27,800 more than Blacks when it comes to median salary, according to new findings issued Monday by the City Council. The Council's report, which analyzed 2018 pay data, also found that the median salary earned by whites is $22,000 more than the median earned by Hispanics. Those salary figures do not account for job title, though. When comparing the pay among employees with the same civil service title, gender and ethnic disparities in pay still exist, but are less stark." "Sex assault survivors seek federal probe into NYPD's Special Victims Division," by New York Daily News' Rocco Parascandola: "The NYPD routinely bungles sexual assault investigations, a group of survivors wrote to the Justice Department Monday, with one victim recalling an insensitive detective asking 'is this a rape or is this a case of regret?' The 19 women who signed the letter, including the mothers of two victims, asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to open an investigation into the NYPD's Special Victims Division, arguing that mismanagement of the unit is akin to discrimination against women. The signers, which include two women who were victims of stalking, also asked the feds to examine how police investigate gender-based violence. The SVD doesn't have enough experienced investigators, key evidence is frequently overlooked and victims are too often treated as if they've done something wrong, the women wrote. They noted that most sexual assault victims are women of color. Disabled people, as well as gay and trans people, are treated less fairly by investigators, the survivors wrote." | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | THE END OF SUMMER: "Gov. Andrew Cuomo Sexual-Harassment Inquiry Nears Completion," by The Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind: "The New York state attorney general's investigation into sexual-harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo has entered its final stages and is expected to wrap up this month, people familiar with the inquiry said. Investigators questioned the Democratic governor in his Manhattan office on July 17, and have since conducted follow-up interviews with at least two of his accusers, some of the people said. Last week, several outside attorneys working on the attorney general's probe toured the Executive Mansion and the governor's office suite at the state Capitol — the sites of some of the alleged harassment under investigation, two of the people said." — Cuomo's Manhattan interrogation lasted 11 hours. BUT WAIT: "NY AG's office to extend Cuomo investigators' contracts to December," by Spectrum's Morgan McKay: "The New York Attorney General's office will be extending its contracts with two outside firms investigating sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo until late December, according to several sources familiar with the matter. The contracts for the firms were originally set to expire on September 6, but final documentation is being drawn up to extend the agreement, sources say. According to the sources, the request to extend the contracts does not necessarily signal that a long-awaited report on the allegations against Cuomo will be released later in the year, but more because there is a chance investigators could be assisting a separate probe by the State Assembly." — Taxpayers will foot a more than $2.5 million bill for the governor's legal defense. Cuomo holds off on new mask, vaccine mandates as political perils persist , by POLITICO's Shannon Young and Anna Gronewold: Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent most of last year ruling New York with decisiveness, declaring that "the buck stops on my desk" as he imposed business closures and barred local leaders from overruling his dictates. A year later, Cuomo is choosing to not choose. With the Delta variant spreading across the state, he is "strongly" urging local leaders and private businesses to implement mask and vaccine mandates. And he is putting the onus for any statewide action squarely on Albany lawmakers. His more-relaxed stance contrasts with new mandates imposed across the country and globe, as he faces a multitude of scandals and is mostly stripped of the statewide power he wielded just a year ago. The embattled governor, who is under investigation by the state attorney general for sexual harassment and is facing an impeachment probe in the Assembly, seems content with allowing local officials to make their own decisions on vaccinations, testing and mask-wearing... Cuomo, speaking during an appearance in Manhattan on Monday, asserted that he no longer has legal authority to require such practices. In his precarious political position, the governor has shied from issuing any statewide policies in response to the Delta variant-related surge. Mandating vaccines or masks, he argued, would now "require a law passed by the Legislature" and therefore would depend on "what the Legislature's appetite is to wade into that situation." — "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo urged private businesses to mandate vaccinations for customers and employees and warned that if coronavirus cases continue to rise, he believes that private health care workers, teachers and nursing home workers also should be mandated to be vaccinated." #UpstateAmerica: With stadium negotiations underway, the state — and all of us, really — want to make sure the Buffalo Bills stay in Western New York. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | | | Biden and the Boroughs | | "Biden Expands Protections for Thousands of Haitians in New York and Beyond," by The City's Eileen Grench and Clifford Michel: "Buying a house. Going to engineering school. Having a family. Those were the dreams that Evens, a 31-year-old Haitian, thought were out of reach during his last two years living in Brooklyn as an undocumented immigrant. But on Tuesday morning, everything could change for Evens and thousands more of the estimated 192,000 New Yorkers with roots in the turmoil-tossed Caribbean nation. That's when the Biden administration is expected to publish amended guidelines extending and expanding Temporary Protected Status for Haitian nationals amid government upheaval and civil unrest sparked by the assassination of the country's president last month." | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — New York Public Library workers are slamming the system's pandemic response as a "nightmare." — The city is appealing a court ruling that struck down part of its police anti-chokehold law. — Abortions will not be performed under a planned merger between Schenectady-based Ellis Medicine and St. Peter's Health Partners, the Ellis Medicine president and CEO said. — Some Saratoga County folks want to be part of the Capital Region congressional district, not the North Country. — The Nassau County Legislature approved a bill that will elevate police officers to "a protected class of first responders." — Two strangers from the Bronx and Yonkers are claiming the same lost dog as their own. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: FT's Emily Goldberg … ABC's Ben Siegel and John Parkinson … Scott Parkinson … CNN's Joe Ruiz … Brian Morgenstern … City Journal editor Brian Anderson … Reuters' Bradley Brooks … Brian Kateman … Charles Dharapak MEDIAWATCH — Stephen Brown is the new Metro editor at the New York Daily News. He previously covered courts for the paper. | | REAL ESTATE | | "NYC agrees to briefly suspend moving homeless people from hotels," by New York Post's Ben Feuerherd: "The city has agreed to briefly suspend moving homeless people from Midtown hotels to regular shelters while they assess the process, an spokesperson for the city Law Department said. The Department of Homeless Services agreed at a court hearing Friday not to relocate any of the homeless individuals Monday — and subsequently agreed on Monday not move any of the homeless people Tuesday. The self-imposed suspension is the latest move in a legal battle between the New York Legal Aid Society and DHS over the relocation of homeless individuals who were placed in the hotels amid the coronavirus pandemic." "New York State hotel jobs down nearly 40 percent as COVID outbreak lingers," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "The struggling New York State hotel industry will end the year with nearly 40 percent fewer jobs than it had in 2019 — before the coronavirus pandemic triggered travel restrictions and lockdowns that decimated the sector, according to a new report. New York hotels boasted a total of 116,106 jobs in 2019. Last year, hotels in the Empire State employed 69,088 workers — a loss of 47,018 jobs amid the worst of the COVID-outbreak. But the recovery from the pandemic has been slower for New York hotels this year than any other state in the nation amid ongoing restrictions in international and business travel, the mid-year analysis by the American Hotel & Lodging Association found." | | | | 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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