News: POLITICO New York Playbook: Adams and Sliwa trade insults at final debate

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

POLITICO New York Playbook: Adams and Sliwa trade insults at final debate

Oct 27, 2021

By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia

Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa met for their final mayoral debate last night , and this time things got nasty. Sliwa, the Republican nominee, ratcheted up his attacks on Adams, using nearly every question as an opportunity to go after the Democratic nominee as Adams made a few swings himself, comparing his opponent to a four-year-old and jabbing at his complicated marital history.

The insults started flying pretty quickly in the WABC debate. Sliwa opened with an attack on Adams for saying he had met with gang members accused of murder, before saying his opponent helped Mayor Bill de Blasio take a "Miley Cyrus wrecking ball to a city we love" and for his questionable residency status. "You fake where you live, Eric Adams. We still don't know where you live. You live in Jersey, most people say," Sliwa said.

Adams tried for an above-it-all posture, but it didn't always hold. "You're acting like my son when he was four years old. Show some discipline," Adams snapped at his foe. "You're interrupting. You're being disrespectful." He whacked Sliwa for having allegedly attempted to avoid child support, a charge that played out in a messy public divorce battle years ago. Sliwa called the accusation "scurrilous" and threw in a "how dare you?"

So can these two say anything nice about each other? Turns out they can, at least when expressly ordered to do so by debate moderators. Adams praised Sliwa for adopting 16 rescue cats and advocating animal rights, saying: "I commend him for what he's doing around cats." Sliwa expressed admiration for Adams' vegan diet and promotion of a healthy lifestyle, saying he hopes to go vegan some day himself. So if the mayor thing doesn't work out, maybe he can work on that.

IT'S WEDNESDAY. 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 KATHY? Holding a Covid-19 briefing in Manhattan and speaking at the New York Board of Rabbis interfaith meeting.

WHERE'S BILL? Holding a media availability and speaking at an NYPD graduation ceremony.

WHERE'S ERIC? No public schedule by press time.

WHERE'S CURTIS? No public schedule by press time.

JOIN TODAY FOR A PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH SEN. MARK WARNER : President Joe Biden's ambitious domestic agenda is in political limbo as the White House tries to reach a deal among congressional Democrats to vote on a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Join Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza for a conversation with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who helped write the bipartisan infrastructure bill, to discuss the fate of Biden's legislative agenda, including the more comprehensive reconciliation package as well as Virginia's tight gubernatorial race and what its outcome could mean for the Democratic Party. REGISTER HERE.

WHAT CITY HALL'S READING

"Faster Buses on 5th Avenue? Not if Business Leaders Get Their Way," by The New York Times' Dana Rubinstein and Winnie Hu: "On the second Friday in October, Mayor Bill de Blasio met at City Hall with Steven Roth, one of New York City's most powerful real estate developers. On the agenda: the developer's concerns about Mr. de Blasio's plans to transform Fifth Avenue, New York City's most famous shopping corridor, into a thoroughfare that prioritized buses over cars. Within days of the meeting, Mr. de Blasio's transportation commissioner asked staff to reconsider the plan the mayor had announced more than a year before, according to two people familiar with the decision who were not authorized to speak publicly."

"NYPD cop admits felony charge against Eric Garner after chokehold death was 'total mistake,'" by New York Daily News' Molly Crane-Newman: "One of the officers who wrestled Eric Garner to the ground during his fatal 2014 arrest testified Tuesday to falsely charging the Staten Island dad with a felony after riding with his lifeless body in an ambulance. NYPD officer Justin D'Amico also claimed he never heard Garner utter his infamous pleas: 'I can't breathe.' The testimony came on the second day of a historic judicial inquiry into the circumstances of Garner's fatal arrest on July 17, 2014, and how officials responded to it... D'Amico said he mistakenly accused Garner of the felony because he was stressed."

— "Days before the final votes are cast in an election likely to make him Manhattan's first Black district attorney, Alvin Bragg is showing just how different a prosecutor he might be. Instead of stumping for votes all day, the Democrat is spending the last week of his campaign questioning New York City police officials in a rare judicial inquiry."

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams is slated to receive the coveted backing of an Orthodox Jewish leader on Tuesday, several sources with knowledge of the endorsement confirmed to POLITICO. Rabbi David Niederman — who heads the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and leads the Zaloynim Satmar sect — is urging his community to vote for Adams, according to an announcement obtained by POLITICO. The campaign poster features a slate of Democrats, including Brad Lander for city comptroller, Antonio Reynoso for Brooklyn borough president and Lincoln Restler for City Council. The Satmars are split into two political factions, owed to a longstanding family feud between two brothers. Both sects tend to vote as blocs in elections and Niederman, who controls more of Brooklyn than the opposing side, can generally deliver between 5,000 and 10,000 votes. Despite his long relationship with Adams — a two-term borough president of Brooklyn — Niederman endorsed rival Andrew Yang in the Democratic primary. — Sally Goldenberg

"Ex-Bursa at NY City College Accused of Stealing More Than 900 Checks From Students: DA ," by NBC New York: "A 58-year-old man who used to work as a bursa at City College of New York has been accused of stealing more than 900 checks from students, according to prosecutors. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced Tuesday that Joseph Boselli of Hartsdale was charged with grand larceny, scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing after Boselli allegedly pocketed nearly $500,000 in scholarships and other financial awards for approximately 700 students from 2012 to 2019. According to the criminal complaint, Boselli began working at CCNY in October 2011 and his alleged scheme began in August 2012. The checks he is accused of stealing from students were as little as $4 and as much as $3,318."

WHAT ALBANY'S READING

"As Water Shutoff Moratorium Nears Expiration, Hochul Administration Isn't Enforcing It — or Distributing Federal Water Aid," by New York Focus' Julia Rock: "Haury lived without water for over a year until the pandemic hit in March 2020, when the city of Buffalo reconnected water for people who had been shut off. 'It was so nice to be able to turn the shower on and just have it,' Haury recalled. That July, New York passed a utility shutoff moratorium, which not only prevented water utilities from enacting shutoffs, but also gave the state an unprecedented role in regulating water utilities through a number of consumer protection and affordability requirements. But with less than two months until the moratorium ends on December 21 and mounting customer utility debt across the state, the vast majority of the state's water utilities are not complying with some of these requirements — and the agency tasked with implementing the law has not enforced them. Meanwhile, the Hochul Administration, widely praised for speeding up the process of getting rental aid out the door, hasn't distributed a single dollar of the approximately $70 million of federal water bill assistance set aside by the American Rescue Plan."

"To some of their colleagues' chagrin, progessive legislators are normalizing activist tactics ," by City & State's Zach Williams: "Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani has not eaten in a week. His vision is blurring and sleeping is getting awfully hard, but that is all part of a day's work for the democratic socialist from Queens. 'The opportunity we have as elected officials is to do exactly what ordinary people are doing when they risk their lives,' he said in an interview Tuesday. In this case, that means joining taxi drivers and their supporters who have declared a hunger strike until New York City backs their plans to help indebted taxi drivers. The hunger strike follows numerous suicides by despondent holders of medallion mortgages in recent years. Mamdani is one of a growing group of state lawmakers who are leveraging their backgrounds in activism as elected officials. This influx is moving direct action tactics like hunger strikes and occupations into the halls of power in Albany."

"Realtors unleash super PAC funds to help Brown's mayoral bid," by Buffalo News' Tom Precious: "A super PAC funded by the real estate brokerage industry has moved into the big leagues of statewide independent expenditure groups owning a financial stake in the outcome of Buffalo's mayoral contest. The New York State Realtors Fund has dropped nearly $300,000 into efforts to try to re-elect Democratic Mayor Byron Brown in his write-in campaign against Democrat India Walton. The group, which by law is not permitted to coordinate efforts with Brown's campaign, has been spending its money on mailings and things like hiring temporary workers to go door to door to find Brown backers and get them out to vote. The political action committee is an arm of the New York State Association of Realtors, a 60,000-member group that has been active in State Senate and Assembly races, as well as statewide contests, for years."

CLAWS ARE OUT in a post-Cuomo world: United University Professions president Fred Kowal will be testifying at a state Senate Higher Education hearing today and is planning to finally say how the union *really* feels about the former governor's handling of the state university system. His prepared remarks include accusing Cuomo of cutting funding from SUNY hospitals "to the benefit of his political donors and political interests" and creating a "façade" of free college with the signature Excelsior Scholarship. "Gov. Cuomo was no friend to UUP and no friend to SUNY; he fostered a public university system that has been forced to rely more and more on tuition dollars. Year after year of flat budgets included no operating aid increases, which pitted SUNY administrators against unions and campus against campus, scrapping for already scarce resources," Kowal is planning to say. And we're expecting a lot more of these tell-alls in the budget season to come. — Anna

#UpstateAmerica: You can make a lot of money as an influencer, one Albany native found, enough to pay rent in New York City, siblings' college debt and a mother's mortgage.

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FROM THE DELEGATION

7 House members back amendments on redistricting, voting, by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: Seven Democratic members of New York's congressional delegation are announcing that they support three election-related constitutional amendments on next week's ballot, including one to adjust the state's redistricting rules. The amendments include one to authorize the Legislature to create a permanent system of widespread voting by mail. Another would allow people to register on Election Day. "We can't waste this opportunity to expand voting rights and give New York a better redistricting process — especially while there is an anti-democracy wave moving across the country," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, Carolyn Maloney, Grace Meng, Jerry Nadler and Kathleen Riceare also endorsing the measures.

AROUND NEW YORK

— What's in Curtis Sliwa's wallet? Numbers for Trump fixer Roger Stone, conservative talk radio host Mark Simone, and three for Frank Morano, among others.

— Rep. Lee Zeldin — the presumed GOP gubernatorial nominee — is not pleased with SUNY's actions toward unvaccinated health care workers.

— Mary Ritayik was sworn in as SUNY's first female police commissioner.

— Ballston Spa Mayor Larry Woolbright resigned unexpectedly, due to a "strained and adversarial" relationship with the board of trustees.

— City Council members introduced legislation to create a city "drag laureate."

— Hochul signed a law requiring courts to take into account a pet's best interest when deciding custody during divorce proceedings.

— No cable news allowed for the Buffalo man accused of participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

— Rochester is outpacing New York state and the U.S. in private sector job growth year over year.

— De Blasio said he never supported removing school safety agents from the NYPD, despite announcing a plan to do so.

— A federal judge denied a Long Island mother's request that her daughter be allowed to go to school without a mask.

— A man convicted in 1981 for participating in the infamous Brink's robbery has been granted parole.

SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Matt Drudge … Vanity Fair's Michael Calderone … NYT's Ali Watkins … Chris Vlasto … Clark Reid of Commerce … Judy Smith of Smith & Co. … Zoe Chace of "This American Life" … Emily Vander Weele of Weber Shandwick … Nina Easton … The Economist's Tom Nuttall … Christina Mountz Donnelly of the Glover Park Group

MEDIAWATCH — Kimberly Leonard has moved down to Miami in her role as policy and politics correspondent at Insider. She most recently was based in D.C. for the publication.

REAL ESTATE

"City Eyes New Push to Buy Out Flood-Prone Houses as Climate Change Hits Home," by The City's Samantha Maldonado : "When Patricia Snyder's oceanside bungalow was demolished, relief washed over her like a wave. The then-resident of Oakwood Beach, Staten Island, knew she wouldn't have to ever again deal with what she'd endured due to Superstorm Sandy. The storm brought six feet of water into her basement and led to the drowning of her brother, Leonard, who lived nearby. Her home — and those of her daughter and her brother — were three of the hundreds of damaged houses the state agreed to pay for and knock down in Staten Island in the wake of Sandy, which made landfall in the city on Oct. 29, 2012."

"Progressives score another upstate win on good cause eviction," by City & State's Zach Williams: "First came Albany. Then came Hudson. And now comes Newburgh as the latest place in New York to pass so-called good cause eviction legislation. Activists say cities like Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Ithaca might be next, which could spark additional action at the state level. Good cause protections, put simply, bar landlords from removing tenants except under certain circumstances while limiting potential increases in rent. Such ideas have been increasingly pushed by progressive housing activists in upstate cities after the state Legislature voted in 2019 to make the state rental laws permanent."

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