| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Irie Sentner
| 
New York lawmakers have 15 more scheduled days of the 2024 legislative session, after which many head home to run for reelection. | Hans Pennink/AP | NEW YORK MINUTE: Mayor Eric Adams was scheduled to touch down in Rome overnight for a multiday trip that will include a private audience with Pope Francis at the Holy See. Can’t avoid city politics though — he coincidentally sat across the ITA Airways aisle from retired UFT political director Marvin Reiskin. Adams, who relishes the opportunity to conduct diplomacy abroad, has openly mixed religion and governance: He has said that, 32 years ago, God told him he would be mayor in 2022, and he has dismissed the separation of church and state. So what will Adams say to his holiness? “I’m going to pray for the entire media that follows me, I’m going to ask him to lift you up in prayer … Lord, please save her,” Adams said as he placed his hand upon the head of THE CITY reporter Katie Honan, in what he described as the style of a Baptist pastor blessing one of the faithful. — Joe Anuta WHAT GETS DONE: New York lawmakers have 15 scheduled days left until the book closes on the 2024 legislative session. After that, many head home to run for reelection (or, maybe, another job). But until then, legislators will try to put the finishing touches on a range of measures that didn’t make the final budget deal last month. Outside of the big-ticket items, lawmakers will also have to contend with mundane measures like an extension of sales tax laws. “We lost some time because of the budget going into overtime,” state Sen. James Skoufis, a Hudson Valley Democrat, told Playbook. “We are substantially behind in the number of bills we hope to do and expect to pass by the first week of June.” Here’s a look at what’s being considered and what stands a chance: Social media regulation: Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to change how kids are viewing social media apps like Instagram and TikTok by preventing tech firms from offering algorithmic-based feeds that critics contend are designed to be addictive. And the influential Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus is throwing support behind the bill. “We want to make sure our youth are protected,” Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, the caucus chair, told Playbook in an interview. But social media companies have lined up opposition to the bill, warning of First Amendment violations and will inevitably be challenged in court. Does it pass? It’s likely, even with the tech firm opposition. The measure fell out of the budget talks, but lawmakers and Hochul have signaled they are on the same page. Sex crimes prosecutions: After the state’s top court overturned former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction, lawmakers and Hochul began discussing how to shore up the weakness cited by judges in the case. Lawmakers want to bolster the use of “Molineux Rule” evidence in sex crimes cases like Weinstein’s, giving statutory backing for prosecutors to call witnesses and submit evidence meant to demonstrate prior bad acts that are not part of the criminal charges in the case. “Every woman has the right to be heard in the courtroom with appropriate witnesses,” Hochul told reporters Thursday and added the measure is under review by her office. Does it pass? It could be difficult. Negotiations over criminal justice policy can be tricky in Albany, and this measure is especially complex. Pack it up: Requiring companies to significantly curtail packaging material has become a major end-of-session push for environmental organizations. Opposed by business groups over concerns it will lead to increased costs inevitably passed on to consumers, the measure has been the subject of significant last-minute lobbying. “When you’re trying to change how much of the economy operates in New York, it’s like turning around an aircraft carrier,” bill sponsor Sen. Peter Hackham told Playbook. Does it pass? The ever-influential New York Post has stirred opposition, warning the bill could lead to the end of individually wrapped cheese singles. Maybe not everyone’s favorite snack, but perhaps enough to stoke opposition from the deli counter caucus. — Nick Reisman HAPPY FRIDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First: ADVANCING EQUINE SAFETY IN HORSERACING: Thoroughbred racing is applying unprecedented resources to protect the wellbeing of our horses. For the first time ever, all horses now run under the same safety and anti-doping rules, overseen by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Advanced diagnostic technologies and big data add a new layer of protection. Combining uniform rules and hands-on care with the latest technologies ensures safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany with no public schedule. WHERE’S ERIC? In Rome, attending the 2nd Edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, visiting the Colosseum Metro Station construction site with Rome Deputy Mayor of Mobility Eugenio Patanè, visiting the Urban Regeneration Site of Testaccio with Rome Deputy Mayor of Heritage and Housing Andrea Zevi, participating in a series of roundtable discussions with Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, meeting with Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri, holding a virtual media briefing to discuss his trip to Italy, touring the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, attending Cardinal Mauro Gambetti’s opening remarks for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity and attending the World Meeting on Human Fraternity dinner. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is not a policy designed or implemented to help families achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency and integrate into our city.” — City Comptroller Brad Lander, on his office’s probe into the Adams administration policy limiting some migrant family shelter stays to 60 days.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | 
Just 33 percent of state voters in a new poll viewed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo favorably, while 50 percent had an unfavorable view. | Richard Drew/AP | CUO-NO THANKS: Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s poor polling could complicate a comeback attempt as he dips more than a toe in the political waters. Just 33 percent of state voters viewed him favorably, while 50 percent had an unfavorable view, according to a new Slingshot Strategies poll. Cuomo’s unfavorability was the highest of the 32 political figures respondents were asked about. It’s Republicans that really hate Cuomo though — 81 percent of them viewed him unfavorably, while he was at 51-34 among Democrats in the state. But that was well below Hochul’s 77-10 approval with Democrats. Hochul has room for improvement, though. More than two years out, 34 percent of voters said she should be reelected, versus 44 percent replaced. Hochul’s campaign declined to comment, as did Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. In heavily Democratic New York, the numbers for most Democrats in the poll are lower than political teams would hope for, Slingshot pollster Evan Roth Smith told Playbook. “I think we’re seeing a combination of frustration and maybe fatigue with Albany, and institutional Democrats in New York in general.” The New York City mayor’s race is heating up with state Sen. Zellnor Myrie entering the race. While Cuomo isn’t expected to run against Adams unless the mayor’s legal troubles worsen, his 39-40 approval among city voters — which is just a subsample of the poll — beats the mayor’s own 33-47. The poll also asked for voters’ views on recent campus protests, finding that about one-third were generally supportive of their right to protest, while about half think students have gone too far. Slingshot conducted the online poll with a panel of 1,059 registered voters in the state on May 2-3. — Jeff Coltin
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | | | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
Sen. Zellnor Myrie opened a committee to challenge Mayor Eric Adams this week. | Courtesy of state Sen. Zellnor Myrie's office | 2025 REVS UP: New Yorkers haven’t yet hit the polls for this year’s congressional primaries, but the race to replace Adams is heating up. Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie opened a committee to challenge Adams this week — and with that, one prominent Manhattan lawmaker immediately threw down for the progressive challenger. “I will happily go on record. I want a different mayor for New York City. Desperately. One who has competence and actually understands the job,” Myrie’s state Senate colleague Liz Krueger told a New York Times reporter. Krueger endorsed Adams’ most formidable challenger, Kathryn Garcia, last time and he clearly hasn’t won her over since — a warning sign as he prepares to compete in the high-voting areas of Manhattan that backed Garcia. In response, one of Adams’ political advisers offered a rebuttal from an ally in his Central Brooklyn base. “I served with Eric Adams in the New York State Senate, and I know the mayor well; he is a smart and thoughtful leader who has won countless fights for working families because he understands government and how to get things done,” former Democratic state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery said. The elderly Black Democrat who typifies Adams’ core constituency took aim at Krueger’s criticism, saying, “Not only does Mayor Adams understand the job and what it means, he understands working people of color and what they need.” Her statement was a harbinger of the campaign messaging from Adams — who is diminished by legal troubles and unpopular budget cuts but boasts a formidable financial advantage and union support. — Sally Goldenberg WHAT ABOUT: The spotlight is on his NYPD chief of patrol telling social media followers “you know what to do” about a critical council member, but Adams reiterated Thursday that he believes the scrutiny should be on some legislators’ rhetoric. “What I don’t agree with is how brutal some of the council people have been,” he told reporters. A council spokesperson told Playbook, “This is a sad attempt to distract from the fact that some NYPD executives’ troubling use of social media to attack elected officials, journalists, and members of the public is unprecedented and dangerous.” Earlier Thursday, police leaders repeatedly declined at a council hearing to discuss Chief John Chell’s X posts or say his targeting of Council Member Tiffany Cabán is inappropriate, citing an ongoing Department of Investigation probe, as Playbook reported. (The DOI says there’s no gag order, per the Daily News.) A mayoral spokesperson has said Adams hopes the DOI review includes the “unprofessional actions” of some council members. But consider: 1.) the DOI’s Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD isn’t charged with probing the council and 2.) elected politicians making political remarks aren’t comparable to a hired NYPD leader wading into politics on the job. Chell had been expected at the council hearing but skipped out at the last minute. NYPD representatives noted to Playbook that senior police brass were there and said Chell was addressing “other urgent, day-to-day issues affecting New Yorkers.” — Emily Ngo More from the city: — Adams’ brother Bernard joined forces with a former model to start an organization fundraising for arts and culture — and the mayor was going to appear at a postponed black-tie gala. (New York Times) — Chinese business owner Hui Qin, who admitted to making straw donations to Adams’ campaign, will be removed from the U.S. by federal law enforcement. (Newsday) — Mayoral aide Winnie Greco, who returned to work last week after the FBI raided her homes in February, has nearly doubled her salary since Adams hired her in January 2022, records show. (THE CITY)
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo got another win when an appellate court upheld a ruling that the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government was unconstitutional. | Seth Wenig/AP | FIXING ETHICS: Team Cuomo scored another win in court Thursday as part of his bid to dismantle the state’s ethics and lobbying commission in the ongoing saga of the attempt to clawback the money he earned from a $5 million Covid book contract. With the legal drama still playing out, the top official at the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government called for “interim legislation” to address the web of issues raised in Cuomo’s suit. But a legislative fix is far from certain. This isn’t the first time the ethics panel has called for measures meant to address the legal exposure for the commission, which regulates lobbying activity at the state level. And it’s not clear if any action will be taken by state lawmakers before the end of the legislative session on June 6. Until then, independent watchdog groups want the state’s top court to hear the case. The good-government Reinvent Albany frets the ruling, if it stands, will invest even more power in the governor’s office. “The terrible logic of this decision is to create an imperial governor who can ignore ethics laws” the group said in a statement, “and can only be removed through impeachment or the ballot box.” — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — A state senator is pushing officials to release taxpayer-funded donations meant to aid veterans. (Times Union) — Hochul and lawmakers are at odds over expanding paid medical leave benefits. (Spectrum News) — McDonald’s franchise owners are opposing a measure that’s meant to crack down on wage theft. (NYS Focus)
| | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
Rep. Tom Suozzi is applying bipartisan pressure on the White House to take executive action to bring “order to the border.” | John Minchillo/AP | BORDER EO PUSH: Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Long Island Democrat, appeared Thursday on Capitol Hill alongside Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) to apply bipartisan pressure on the White House to take executive action to bring “order to the border” and expand access to work permits. “Congress has failed to act and we now need the president,” Suozzi said in a call not unlike one by his fellow New Yorker Rep. Pat Ryan, as Playbook has reported. “Organized crime ‘coyotes’ are scamming the asylum system enacted in 1980 that was designed to help Cold War defectors.” The centrist member of Congress additionally seeks work authorization for undocumented immigrants who have been living in the United States for decades and are married to U.S. citizens. He and Fitzpatrick outlined their demands in a letter to President Joe Biden. Biden was set to propose changing an asylum rule to speed up the deportation of some migrants. A White House spokesperson additionally noted to Playbook that the president had raised the “credible fear” standard last year, one of several steps addressing the border crisis. — Emily Ngo More from Congress: — New Yorkers' right to vote early by mail was upheld in a unanimous appellate court decision in a blow to Rep. Elise Stefanik and New York Republicans who brought the case. (Times Union) — AOC’s longshot primary challenger messed up all his campaign finance filings, per an FEC complaint. (City & State)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | | 
New York political strategist Luis A. Miranda Jr., center, representing the Hispanic Federation in 1993. | Courtesy of Luis A. Miranda Jr. | SPARKING CHANGE: Veteran political strategist and activist Luis A. Miranda Jr.’s memoir, “Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America,” released this week, includes a look at his time advising Mayor Ed Koch. Miranda writes that Koch won reelection with 80 percent of the Latino vote. The following is an excerpt, keeping in mind that Edward Caban made history last July as the first Latino commissioner of the NYPD: “I told Koch we needed to increase the number of Latinos in the police department because it would take a while for people to move through the ranks. If we did not start recruiting Latino police officers, the NYPD would continue to be all white." “I was a little ahead of the times. It was the 1980s, and what is now a widely accepted practice appeared radical back then." “The police commissioner Ben Ward, who was the first African American to get the job, was not impressed by this little Latino shrimp coming to tell him how to run his department. As nice as I seem, I was — and continue to be — relentless.” — Emily Ngo — Petitioners gathering signatures for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign in Brooklyn are hiding his name and not saying who they’re trying to get on the ballot. (New York Times)
| | | | A message from Safety Runs First: BRINGING RACING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: Three years ago, Congress created the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to enhance the safety and integrity of Thoroughbred racing. Under HISA, for the first time in the sport’s 200-year history, every horse across the country is now running under the same safety and anti-doping rules. In addition, HISA is partnering with leading technology providers, including AWS and Palantir, to create new data-enabled tools to assist veterinary screenings. These tools add a new layer of protection by helping identify at-risk horses before they reach the starting gate.
The industry is also investing in the latest technologies for diagnostic imaging and wearable biometric devices. Combining enhanced, uniform rules, data analytics and cutting-edge technologies is improving safety outcomes and enhancing the ecosystems of care at every track nationwide, ensuring safety always runs first. To learn more visit SafetyRunsFirst.com. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Adams announced the appointments of four judges to criminal court: Edward Daniels of Brooklyn Defender Services, Daniel Lewis of the Queens County District Attorney’s Crimes Against Revenue Unit, Michelle Weber of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s elder abuse unit, and Christopher Whitehair of the Queens Defenders. … Danna DeBlasio, managing director of lobbying firm CMW Strategies, has been named a partner. MEDIAWATCH — Rebecca Carballo is joining POLITICO’s education team to lead coverage of student loan forgiveness, artificial intelligence and more. She most recently was a breaking news fellow at the NYT. OUT & ABOUT: At the Visionary Award at Urban Resource Institute’s annual gala Thursday at Cipriani 25 Broadway, celebrating 10 years of the nonprofit’s PALS (People & Animals Living Safely) program: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, the honoree; Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright; Council Member Farah Louis; Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson; Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark; NYC Department of Homeless Services administrator Joslyn Carter and others. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bloomberg News’ Craig Gordon and Jorja Siemons … N.Y. Mag’s Gabe Debenedetti … CNN’s Jeremy Herb … NBC’s Melissa Frankel … Adam Janofsky … Lucy Jackson … Lance Gould … (WAS THURSDAY): Arkady Lipnitsky ... Dylan Lauren ... Nathaniel Rosen
| | YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY | | | | $6 million Estimated NYPD overtime costs relating to their responses to protests between April 21 and May 7 alone, according to police testimony Thursday before the City Council. | | | | | | JOIN 5/22 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF TAXATION: With Trump-era tax breaks set to expire in 2025, whoever wins control of Congress, and the White House will have the ability to revamp the tax code and with it reshape the landscape for business and social policy. Join POLITICO on May 22 for an exploration of what is at stake in the November elections with our panel dissecting the ways presidential candidates and congressional leaders are proposing to reshape our tax rates and incentives. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment