| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin , Anna Gronewold and Julian Shen-Berro | If you need any more evidence that we've got a real race on our hands for governor, take a look at the parade of heavy hitters who started dropping into the campaign trail this weekend as early voting kicked off . In Rep. Lee Zeldin's camp, there's Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who campaigned with the Republican nominee at a Long Island rally Saturday night. His pitch: Vote Zeldin to make New York just like Florida, which might sound like a dream or a nightmare depending on where you stand. Electing a Republican governor in blue New York, he said, "will be the 21st century version of the shot heard round the world." Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will headline another rally for Zeldin today in Westchester. Hochul is calling upon a Democratic star, former President Barack Obama. He debuted a radio ad for her campaign Friday, calling Hochul "a strong leader who has met the moment and fought for you." "So don't sit this one out. Your vote matters," Obama says. Hillary Clinton will also be campaigning for Hochul this week, while her husband Bill was in Nyack this weekend stumping in Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney's surprisingly close race. New York City Mayor Eric Adams made his first campaign-trail appearance with Hochul since the June primary, rallying in southeast Queens along with a host of other local officials. They blasted Zeldin for his support of Donald Trump and opposition to gun restrictions. Still, some further-left city pols — Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who ran against Hochul in the primary, and Comptroller Brad Lander — haven't campaigned with the governor. Despite Hochul's huge fundraising advantage, she and Zeldin have about the same amount of cash on hand with $6 million heading into the homestretch of the race. They'll both be making use of every buck as Election Day approaches. IT'S MONDAY. 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 gun control press conference, attending a trick-or-treat event in Manhattan, and visiting businesses in the East Village. WHERE'S ERIC? Meeting virtually with Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey and attending Robinhood/Harlem DREAM's Trick-or-Treat Street Party.
| | | | NEW AND IMPROVED POLITICO APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. With a fresh look and improved features, the sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don't miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. Already a POLITICO app user? Upgrade today! DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID . | | | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | 'We're not ready': NY, NJ still building for extreme weather 10 years after Hurricane Sandy , by POLITICO's Danielle Muoio Dunn and Ry Rivard: So Breezy Point and other neighborhoods remain unprotected, along with many lives and valuable property. Not because the money isn't there, but because of delays, red tape and politics. In Cochrane's neighborhood, the feds pulled funding for a major storm protection project after residents refused to open their private beaches to the public, which the city said was a condition under its Waterfront Revitalization Program. New York received $43 billion in federal disaster aid. But a recent report by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander found that more than one quarter of the city's $15 billion share has yet to be used — much of it tied up in major resiliency efforts, as well as projects to repair, replace or restore publicly owned facilities damaged by the storm. — " Coastal barriers finally begin to rise around NYC — but can they stop the next Hurricane Sandy? " by Gothamist's Nathan Kensinger — Sandy-related repairs to the A train in the Rockaways are delayed and getting more expensive. " NYC health commissioner tests positive for COVID-19 ," by WNYC's David Giambusso: "New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said he has tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating at home." " For asylum seekers looking to work in New York, desperation meets necessity ," by WNYC's Arya Sundaram: "Eduardo Palencia, joined by dozens of other Central and South American immigrants, rose before sunrise on a recent morning to wait on a Jackson Heights street corner for a job that would never come. In 50-degree weather, the 35-year-old Venezuelan prowled the sidewalk by a 7 train stop — one of the city's main day-laborer hubs, called 'paradas' in Spanish. A friend suggested the site after days of fruitless job-hunting at local restaurants. Wearing a Yankees cap and jacket gifted by a local church, Palencia waited until the late afternoon for a potential employer in a passing vehicle to stop. The former driver, exterminator, air-duct cleaner, and restaurant worker in Venezuela said he was willing to take whatever work he could get." " Monitor finds Rikers jails are as dysfunctional as ever, but gives leaders a thumbs up ," by WNYC's Matt Katz: "Rikers Island jails continue to be 'patently unsafe' and 'trapped in a state of persistent dysfunction,' but there are 'a few glimmers of progress,' a federal monitor overseeing the city jail system reported Friday night. Federal monitor Steve Martin and his seven-person staff, funded by city taxpayers, have investigated and evaluated progress at the city jails since 2015, after a lawsuit over violence and excessive use of force by officers led to a consent decree creating the monitorship." HEALTH PLAN FIGHT CONTINUES — The saga over municipal health care continued this weekend, as Mayor Eric Adams' administration insisted anew that it must enroll retired city workers in one health plan and charge active employees a premium if the City Council does not change local law. The city's controversial plan to shift 250,000 eligible retirees into a new plan — a de Blasio-era policy — called for retirees to pay $191 a month if they keep their current coverage, but a Manhattan Supreme Court judge deemed the penalty unlawful in March. Now Adams and the Municipal Labor Committee want the Council to change an administrative code so they can institute the charge. In a letter sent Friday to Harry Nespoli, MLC's chair, Labor Relations Commissioner Renee Campion lamented a "lack of progress" in the Council. "[I]f there are no updates on a swift timeline for passage of this legislation by November 4th, we intend to request that [arbitrator Martin Scheinman] order immediate implementation of a Medicare Advantage plan with the elimination of all other plans that otherwise would have been offered to retirees," Campion wrote. — Madina Touré
| | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | Democratic Governors Association to start spending in New York , by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: The Democratic Governors Association has created an independent expenditure committee in New York to boost Gov. Kathy Hochul in the final week of her election bid. It's a rare entrance for the national group into New York politics, where recent gubernatorial elections have been all but decided by primary night. It comes as Republican nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin has benefited from an unprecedented surge of outside spending while polls have gradually tightened throughout October. "Republican super PACs have spent a record amount of nearly $12 million to insert an election denying, abortion banning, MAGA Republican who would make New York less safe by rolling back laws to take illegal guns off the street," DGA Communications Director David Turner said. "The DGA is taking nothing for granted and won't sit idly by." — The New York City Police Benevolent Association donated $25,000 to Hochul . " GOP rival Michael Henry cries foul as AG Letitia James avoids debate ," by New York Post's Carl Campanile: "New York's Attorney General Letitia James is the only statewide incumbent who hasn't agreed to a televised debate — and her GOP rival is crying foul. Republican opponent Michael Henry is deriding James as too chicken to seal a debate deal with NY1/Spectrum News. Email chains obtained by The Post reveal NY1 wanted James to agree by Oct. 28 to a Nov. 2 debate — four days into early voting. But the station then gave James, who's seeking re-election to a second term, until Monday to respond." " How the Hasidic Jewish Community Became a Political Force in New York ," by The New York Times' Emma G. Fitzsimmons: "These challenges to the Hasidic community's management of its schools pose a rare threat to the outsized political clout it has built over the years, with nearly every local and statewide candidate treating it as a critical endorsement. Many religious or ethnic groups seek to use their influence to lobby politicians and to organize their community to vote in a unified bloc on Election Day. Few do it as well as the Hasidic community. Although there are only about 200,000 Hasidic Jews in New York, making up roughly 10 percent of the state's Jewish population, and about 1 percent of the state's population, few elected officials embrace positions that will antagonize the community, especially when it comes to scrutiny over yeshivas." #UpstateAmerica: There are fish weighing more than 150 pounds hanging out in Cayuga Lake.
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | " In NY House toss up, candidates court moderates by calling each other extreme ," by POLITICO's Anna Gronewold: Sherry Salvatore is the kind of voter causing grief for both Republicans and Democrats. She thinks Republican Marc Molinaro should win his congressional race in a wide swath of upstate New York because the Dutchess County executive — who has been running for various elected offices since he was 18 years old — has "paid his dues. He's a good man, and it's his turn." But the 76-year-old Republican isn't sold on any one party line. She only registered with the GOP because 50 years ago she was trying to get a job with the county, she said. Abortion rights are important to her, too. "Listen, I'm not a big pro-abortion person, but here's the thing: It's my body, if it [a pregnancy] affected my life — it's my choice," she added. A good share of New York's new 19th Congressional District is filled with voters like Salvatore, open to ticket splitting and turned off by politicians sitting too far on either end of the political spectrum. The race is one of the biggest battleground races in the nation as control of the House hangs in the balance. Republicans are hoping for a red wave that can carry moderate candidates like Molinaro to victory after he lost a special election in August. " Bill Clinton goes to bat for endangered chair of House Democrats' campaign arm ," by CNN's Gregory Krieg: "Bill Clinton made his case here Saturday for New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the endangered chair of the House Democratic campaign arm, in a nearly half-hour speech in which the former president attacked Republicans over plans to slash social services and the increasing vitriol of right-wing political rhetoric. Clinton's appearance on the campaign trail for Maloney – a longtime ally, friend and former staffer – reflected the anxiety engulfing New York Democrats as Election Day nears. Maloney is in a tough fight against Republican assemblyman Mike Lawler as he runs for a sixth term representing a redrawn Lower Hudson Valley district north of New York City that now-President Joe Biden would have carried by 10 points in 2020." " Two N.Y. GOP congressional candidates previously pushed to limit police funding ," by New York Daily News' Michael Gartland: "Two Republican candidates running for hotly contested New York congressional seats presided over pushes to reduce police pay in official posts they once held — a political stance that runs counter to broader GOP attacks against defunding of police. One of those congressional hopefuls is Nick LaLota, who's running to fill the Suffolk County congressional seat that will be left vacant by GOP gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin come next year. A Navy veteran who's highlighted the need to rein in crime on the campaign trail, LaLota is running against Bridget Fleming, a Suffolk County lawmaker who's secured the endorsement of the county's local police union. LaLota previously worked as a budget officer in Amityville, where he pushed the local police union to cut cops' salaries by reopening their contract." " Schumer, Pinion debate in U.S. Senate contest on Spectrum News/NY1 ," by Spectrum's Nick Reisman: "As he debated his Republican opponent Joe Pinion Sunday night, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer defended his record as a top Democrat in Washington. 'In the last two years under my leadership, the Senate has had the most productive session in decades,' Schumer said. But while Schumer has long pointed to his leadership role as beneficial to New York, Pinion knocked the longtime lawmaker's resume as falling short for New Yorkers. 'He's a failed senator,' Pinion said."
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S 2nd ANNUAL DEFENSE SUMMIT ON 11/16: The United States is facing a defining moment in the future of its defense, national security and democratic ideals. The current conflicts and developments around the world are pushing Washington to reshape its defense strategy and how it cooperates with allies. Join POLITICO for our second annual defense summit, "At a Crossroads: America's Defense Strategy" on November 16 in person at the Schuyler DC or join online to hear keynote interviews and panels discussing the road ahead for America's national security. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | " In Retrial, Man Who Helped Run Border Wall Charity Is Convicted ," by The New York Times' Colin Moynihan: "A man from Colorado who helped loot a charity that raised private money for a border wall of the sort championed by former President Donald J. Trump was convicted on Friday in a retrial in Manhattan federal court. An earlier trial was scuttled by a juror who was said to have insisted that the prosecution was a 'government witch hunt.' The man, Timothy Shea, has been the only one of four defendants to face a jury in the case so far, and his mistrial earlier this year was a setback for prosecutors in an office that has handled cases involving several defendants related to Mr. Trump and his allies." " Ex-Trump Adviser Concealed His Motives, Prosecutors Say ," by The New York Times' Rebecca Davis-O'Brien: "Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a friend of former President Donald J. Trump standing trial on charges of acting as an undisclosed foreign agent, has sought to portray himself as a voice of reason: a businessman managing big egos, upstart young leaders and political neophytes jockeying for influence in the Trump campaign and in the Middle East. On Thursday, federal prosecutors tried to undermine that image woven over nearly four days of testimony. What Mr. Barrack had presented to the jury as mediation, behind-the-scenes management of 'palace intrigue' or mere 'puffery' were reframed, during the government's cross-examination, as underhanded, opportunistic and deceptive."
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — The two men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X will receive $36 million in settlements from the city and state. — The city has made fixes to 1,200 dangerous intersections so far this year. — Former NATO Commander Wesley Clark endorsed former Rep. Max Rose in his Staten Island congressional bid. — The Adams administration released a plan to convert 100 schools to use electric heating instead of oil heat. — Deaths among riders of illegal mopeds have increased 42 percent this year . — Former New York City Transit president Sarah Feinberg was the victim of a random assault near a Chelsea subway station. — Public college campuses in New York will be required to carry overdose-reversing medication like naloxone under legislation signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul. — Canarsie residents worry Adams won't deliver on ferry service expansion despite his advocacy for it as Brooklyn borough president.
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Dan Rather … Jane Pauley … Frank Bruni … Olivia Alair Dalton of the White House … POLITICO's Betsy Woodruff Swan and Jack Shafer … ProPublica's Marilyn Thompson … Susan Orlean … Piper Perabo … Sam Tanenhaus … NBC's Elias Miller … Kenny Thompson Jr. of PepsiCo … George Bogden … Cathy Cavender … Yael Buechler … Richard G. Leibovitch … (was Sunday): Ivanka Trump (4-0) … NBC's Andrea Mitchell … Maggie Haberman … Laurence Leamer … Treasury's Paul Rosen … Robert Caro … … (was Saturday): Frank Carone … Jeffrey Garten ... CNN's Laura Jarrett … Bloomberg's Robert George … WaPo's Dave Clarke … NBC's David Siegel and David Corvo … WSJ's Kate Bachelder Odell … Frank Carone … Avery Miller of "Face the Nation" … Jamie McIntyre … Samantha Zeldin … Rena Finkel … Thompson Warren MEDIAWATCH — Veronica Bautista is now senior producer for Washington Post Live. She most recently was a producer for CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper." … Amanda Terkel is joining NBC News as senior politics editor. She previously was editorial director and Washington bureau chief at HuffPost. MAKING MOVES — Susan D. Ball has retired as executive director of development of the Fordham Fund at Fordham University, where she worked for nearly nine years. IN MEMORIAM — The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, the longtime pastor of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, died at age 73 .
| | Real Estate | | " NYCHA Residents Stunned By Secret Water Retesting After Years of Inspections by Firm That Retracted Arsenic Results ," by The City's Greg B. Smith and Jonathan Custodio: "In September 2018 three residents of the St. Nicholas Houses, a public housing development in central Harlem, came down with Legionnaires' disease, a pneumonia-like illness that can prove fatal to the elderly and individuals with compromised immune systems. The city health department found Legionella, the bacteria that causes the disease, in the tap water at St. Nicholas and, because the bacteria is transmitted via water mist, advised tenants to take baths, not showers, and run their taps slowly to avoid creating mist. Soon after NYCHA hired a contractor, LiquiTech, and installed a new system that relies on copper and silver ions to keep water tanks free of Legionella." | | | | 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 | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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