| | | | |  | | By Emily Ngo, Jeff Coltin and Nick Reisman | Presented by Soloviev Group | With help from Shawn Ness
|  Tom Suozzi held a press conference in the exact same spot as his opponent Mazi Melesa Pilip just a few minutes after she left. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO | Mazi Pilip and Tom Suozzi missed each other by mere minutes Thursday on the western edge of the congressional district they’re battling to represent. Pilip, the Republican nominee, had chosen the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center migrant shelter in Queens as the backdrop for her news conference on illegal immigration. Suozzi, her Democratic opponent, had chosen to hold court with reporters in the same spot immediately afterward to offer a rebuttal. Here’s what the dueling pressers revealed about their strategies as they barrel toward the bellwether Feb. 13 special election to replace George Santos in Nassau County and Queens: — Pilip will focus on blaming Democrats for the surge of migrants in New York City, link Suozzi to President Joe Biden on border security and play up how newcomers from the southern border impact and even endanger long-time residents. Her introduction on Thursday? “My name is Mazi Pilip. I’m a legal immigrant and a candidate for Congress.” — Suozzi will also cite immigration as a priority and blame Democrats, though specifically those who won’t compromise with Republicans. “It’s a my-way-or-the-highway bill,” he said of the GOP’s H.R.2. “And the Democrats who say ‘my way or the highway,’ they’re wrong, too.” The former representative, in contrast to Pilip, got into the weeds on his immigration policy positions. — Pilip will be reliant on surrogates, both because the Nassau County legislator is a political novice and because she wants to show a coalition has her back. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito opened her news conference by speaking for 12 minutes on the perils of unchecked immigration before introducing Pilip, who made four minutes of prepared remarks. He also answered questions with her. — Suozzi will likely go high and leave the scorched-earth approach to Pilip. (The DCCC and pro-Democrat PACs will do the attacking on his behalf.) The worst thing he said about Pilip on Thursday was that she didn’t have solutions and was using talking points from “Republican bosses.” And he was far from critical of Republicans as a party, saying only that they should work with Democrats. It was an odd affair outside Creedmoor, truth be told. The presser was the first of Pilip’s campaign, though she was nominated six weeks ago. Only a few news outlets were invited — with the New York Times, WNYC and others left out. (Playbook was tipped off and wrangled last-minute info.) Suozzi admitted that he was basically crashing what could have been a Pilip-centric local news cycle. He delivered wonky and winding remarks that included a self-deprecating reference to his failed bid for governor. The campaigning in and spending on the 3rd Congressional District are ramping up. The Nassau GOP plans to host a Pilip campaign rally Saturday featuring House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and at least seven New York Republican House members. — Emily Ngo IT’S FRIDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Soloviev Group: Optimally located on Manhattan’s east side, Freedom Plaza by Soloviev will emerge as an entertainment district with a first-class hotel, a casino by Mohegan, and the world’s first Democracy Museum. From improving overall quality of life by creating sustainable public green spaces to new affordable housing in a post-pandemic NYC suffering from a housing crisis, we envision innovative components that will introduce economic and social benefits to our East Side neighborhoods and New York City. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? Making an economic development announcement at the Center for the Arts in Buffalo and announcing a construction milestone for the Buffalo Bills new stadium. WHERE’S ERIC? Delivering remarks at the 119th annual United Irish County Dance. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I equate this to that old fable from Troy, the Trojan Horse. We close our homes and we believe that our children and families are safe, but little do we know this secret weapon is inside our bedrooms, our kitchen or the living room sofa.” — Mayor Eric Adams to NBC4 on the dangers of social media.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
Assemblymember Karines Reyes wants to leave Puerto Rico as the location for the annual Somos conference and instead move it to the Dominican Republic. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO | NUEVO SOMOS: Assemblymember Karines Reyes wants to move the annual Somos conference to the Dominican Republic after more than three decades in Puerto Rico — but the Dominican press isn’t welcoming the idea. More than 2,000 New York political players descend on San Juan each year after Election Day for a conference ostensibly focused on the whole Latino population in New York. Discussions go well beyond that, though, and piles of money are injected into the economy through hotel bars. Dominican newspaper El Caribe reported, in Spanish, that the proposal has been met with heavy criticism. It could create divisions between New York’s Dominican and Puerto Rican communities, and take money away from the Boricuan economy. And a conservative El Nuevo Diario columnist wrote that it’s “una idea absurda” that would pull the benefits to Puerto Rico. The move to the D.R. — possibly the resort region of Punta Cana — isn’t a done deal. The Somos board is meeting next month to discuss the plan, which could include Puerto Rico conferences alternating every other year with trips to countries with significant Latino immigrant populations. A player familiar with discussions speculated changes would be more likely for 2025 than 2024. But Reyes is dead serious about it, even talking to the president of the Dominican Republic directly on a December visit led by Rep. Adriano Espaillat. Reyes declined to comment on her plans. As chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, Reyes is the de facto host of the Somos conference. The Bronx Democrat has both Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage and lived on both islands as a child. The potential change may cause another issue, a past conference attendee joked. “You need a passport to go there. There’s going to be such a backlog of people asking their Congressmembers to get it done.” — Jeff Coltin
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
City councilmembers say Mayor Eric Adams misled them by tricking them into giving a positive statement about his State of the City address. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office | IN-VALIDATORS: Amid tension over a veto override, it was surprising to catch a couple of progressive New York City councilmembers’ quotes in the lovefest press release from Mayor Adams’ office: “New Yorkers Offer Praise” for the State of the City. Turns out, they say they were misled. “They didn’t say it was for the State of the City. They said it was for affordable housing,” Councilmember Julie Won told Playbook. She and fellow Progressive Caucus Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa were quoted among 37 other validators in the release, but specifically talking about developments in their district — which were briefly mentioned in the address — rather than the speech as a whole. Won didn’t even attend. “If you were really going to praise them, you probably would be there to stand in solidarity or something,” she said. Both members told Playbook that staff from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development reached out, and didn’t give the full context. “We were proud to give a quote in support of much-needed housing that’s coming to my district, and we gave that quote to HPD without any inclination that the quote would be used as a form of praise to the State of the City,” De La Rosa said. “We praise the creation of affordable housing.” Councilmember Erik Bottcher, typically an ally of Adams, was also quoted on affordable housing specifically but didn’t respond to a request for comment. HPD spokesperson Ilana Maier debated that they were misled. “We asked a handful of elected officials for quotes about a State of the City housing proposal to be included in a State of the City press release,” she said. “We’re very sorry if there was a misunderstanding. Most importantly we’re grateful for their partnership to build badly needed homes in their district.” — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Campaign finance regulators flagged roughly 400 donations to Adams’ campaign as not having the proper disclosure. (Gothamist) — Unionized reporters from the New York Daily News staged a 24-hour walkout Thursday in protest of overtime cuts and slow-moving contract negotiations. (The City) — New York families discuss why they chose to live in one-bedroom apartments with their children. (WNYC)
| | | | A message from Soloviev Group:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | |  Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose housing proposal was largely rejected by the Democratic-led Legislature last year, insisted to the New York Building Congress that she is ready to push through an agreement. | Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | HOUSING HOPES: Hochul insisted to the New York Building Congress on Thursday she’s ready to get a housing agreement in place. The governor, whose sweeping housing proposal was rejected by the Democratic-led Legislature last year, is making another run at the issue through a mix of incentives designed to spur building. “I loved seeing all the articles written in December saying, ‘Yeah, Hochul's throwing in the towel on her housing plan, she's not doing it, yeah, she tried one time, it didn't happen.’ Meanwhile, I'm working around the clock with my team to write our housing plan, and I said, ‘Well I guess they'll just have to wait and see,’” Hochul said. Her budget does include a housing package without a controversial mandate for local governments to build new housing, which was considered a major sticking point last year. But it could still run up against a push from Democrats in the Legislature for new tenant protections. Lawmakers are similarly insistent they want to work with Hochul to get a deal this year. For her part, Hochul said she is not throwing in the towel in pursuit of building 800,000 new units in the next decade. “That's not in my DNA. We will find another pathway,” she said. “But to work with the mayor who desperately wants this to happen as well, and as someone who is now an apartment dweller in New York City, I want the rents to go down, and we can do that by building more supply, right?” — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Hochul’s budget proposals for migrants and school aid is creating trouble for Suozzi on the campaign trail. (POLITICO) — A stalled redistricting process is bumping up against key election deadlines. (POLITICO) — Hochul slashed the budget for New York judicial ethics watchdog groups. (Times Union)
| | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) raised over $750,000 in the final quarter of last year against Republican Alison Esposito in the race for the Hudson Valley seat. | Mary Altaffer/AP | RYAN RAKES IT IN: Freshman Rep. Pat Ryan will report a big fundraising haul as he faces a competitive challenge for a second term this year, his campaign told Playbook. Ryan raised more than $750,000 in the final quarter of last year, receiving contributions from more than 5,500 individual donors — 4,000 of whom gave to him for the first time. Overall, Ryan raised $3.2 million during his first year in the House. A cash-on-hand total was not provided. His campaign believes Ryan will be among the top raising battleground Democrats in the country once all the campaign filings are in. It’s an early show of strength as Ryan is likely to face Republican Alison Esposito this year in a Hudson Valley district. Ryan’s seat is the only district Republicans are expected to try to flip in New York after winning seats on Long Island and the Hudson Valley in 2022. “Pat’s a juggernaut and the numbers back it up,” Ryan’s finance director Kevin Ralph said in a statement to Playbook. “He was the only swing-seat Democrat to win in New York in 2022, and this historic $3 million fundraising year, without taking a cent of corporate PAC money, shows that momentum is only growing.” — Nick Reisman More from Congress: — Rep. Jamaal Bowman officially launched his reelection campaign, the event taking on the cadence of an antiwar protest. (Gothamist) — Rep. Nick Langworthy wants common-sense energy solutions to help his district in Western New York. (State of Politics)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Donald Trump testified in his defamation trial against E. Jean Carroll. “I just wanted to defend myself,” he said. (Daily News) — There are 74 days until the total eclipse crosses over New York. The best place to watch: Buffalo. (Times Union) — New York State Senate Health Committee chair Sen. Gustavo Rivera proposed an alternative to Medicaid cuts. (State of Politics)
| | | | A message from Soloviev Group: Each year, 2% of net profits generated from the proposed gaming component of Freedom Plaza will be directly reinvested into the community through a contribution to a 501(c)3 that is registered to and solely operated by the community. The guiding mission of this project is a commitment to finding out what our neighbors need, listening to concerns, and encouraging our community to consider the many benefits a truly collaborative plan can deliver. Our goal is a win-win development that enhances the community and contributes positively to the economic and cultural life of New York City. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | MAKING MOVES: Sayo Kamara has joined the Durst Organization as an associate director on the commercial leasing team. He was previously a senior associate at Cushman & Wakefield. … Isaac Greaney is now a partner at Moses Singer LLP. He most recently was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP. ... Edgar Santana, Victor Petenkemani, Michael Kopko, Mayme Hostetter and Joyce Meng have been named as part of the new class of Presidential Leadership Scholars. MEDIAWATCH: CUNY’S Journalism school is going tuition-free, after another donation from Craig Newmark. (Axios) HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jim Papa of Global Strategy Group … Morgan Pearlman of the NYC Mayor’s office … Kendall Clark … Lindsay Bomar … Jon Tomashoff … John Fisher
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