| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Emily Ngo and Jeff Coltin | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Irie Sentner
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Assemblymember Marjorie Byrnes is among the plaintiffs in a case challenging the amendment’s spot on the November ballot. | Nick Reisman/POLITICO | New York Democrats’ plans to leverage a proposed state constitutional amendment to retake the House could be dashed by a low-key GOP lawmaker from the western edge of the Finger Lakes. Assemblymember Marjorie Byrnes is among the plaintiffs in a case challenging the amendment’s spot on the November ballot — a challenge she said in an interview isn’t rooted in politics, but the procedural failures of Democrats. “It’s a level of arrogance that they’re so used to running over the minority to do what they want — everyone else be damned,” Byrnes told Playbook in an interview. The case hinges on whether Democratic lawmakers properly sought an opinion from the state attorney general before approving the amendment, which would enshrine a broad array of rights in the state constitution, including the right to an abortion. Byrnes, who is set to retire this year from the Assembly after six years, is an unlikely central character in New York’s political drama. The case was born after Byrnes attended a forum at a winery in her district on vaccine mandates, where she met attorney Bobbie Anne Cox, who is now representing the plaintiffs in the case. Republicans won the first round of the case last week; state Attorney General Tish James, a Democrat, on Tuesday signaled she will appeal. GOP lawmakers sit in a powerless minority in Albany and seemingly have no chance of winning back control of either chamber of the Legislature anytime soon. But the court system has been friendlier territory in recent years, with GOP-backed legal challenges scoring wins with issues like redistricting and non-citizen voting in New York City. Democrats and supporters of abortion rights expect the amendment will survive the court challenge so voters can consider it this November. “Democracy is on the docket today and reproductive freedom will be on the ballot this November,” said Sasha Ahuja, the campaign director of the group pushing for the amendment New Yorkers for Equal Rights. Gov. Kathy Hochul, too, has been dismissive of the ruling and declared the effort won’t be “thrown off track by one extremist judge.” Byrnes bristled at any implication the effort to sink the amendment was aided by an effort to go “judge shopping” to find a friendly face on the bench in her comparatively conservative part of the state. The judge in the case, Byrnes noted, was assigned by the state Office of Court Administration. And she can’t help it if the law requires filing a case where she lives in Livingston County. Democrats hope to flip as many as five House seats in New York and want to use the amendment to goose turnout as abortion rights loom large across the country. But Byrnes insisted she was not contemplating that. She said she believes the state already has codified the rights in the proposed amendment, including access to abortion, which won’t change due to the Democratic domination of state government. “This is an issue the Democrats created for themselves,” she said. — Nick Reisman IT’S WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Amazon: When Lisa-Jae and Kammy took their local business beyond their hometown of East Hampton, New York they turned to Amazon’s suite of tools to help. “Amazon was a major turning point in our growth,” they said. More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store are from independent sellers, most of which are small to medium-sized businesses. See the impact. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In Italy meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donnelly and attending a reception with governors and U.S. Ambassador to Italy Jack Markell. WHERE’S ERIC? Appearing on 94.7 The Block’s “Jonesy in the Morning,” delivering remarks and presenting a proclamation at Dance Parade’s celebration for its upcoming 18th Annual Dance Parade and Festival, appearing live on PIX11’s “PIX11 News at 6 p.m.,” meeting virtually with members of the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development’s My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper Youth Council, appearing on on Telemundo Network’s “Noticias Telemundo,” delivering remarks at the grand opening of the newly-renovated One Madison office tower, speaking at the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce’s Person of the Year Awards Gala and appearing on Telemundo Network’s “Noticias Telemundo en la noche.” QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Shalom aleichem, dos iz Mayor Eric Adams.” — A generative Artificial Intelligence program speaking Yiddish using the mayor’s voice, in a robocall finally released by City Hall after Hell Gate threatened to sue.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
As part of the entourage accompanying Trump at his Manhattan trial, Rep. Byron Donalds raised his profile as a prospective running mate. | Emily Ngo/POLITICO | RISING GOP STAR’S ROOTS: Rep. Byron Donalds returned to his hometown Tuesday to support his fellow native New Yorker turned Florida man, former President Donald Trump. As part of the entourage accompanying Trump at his Manhattan trial, Donalds raised his profile as a prospective running mate. Are you interested in joining a Trump administration? Playbook asked him outside the courthouse. “I don’t know. I’m not going to get into that right now,” he said. Donalds, one of the country’s most prominent Black Republicans, did delve more readily into how he believes the city has changed since he was growing up in Brooklyn during the crack epidemic and Crown Heights riots. “It was Ed Koch, David Dinkins and then Rudy Giuliani. I saw Rudy clean up the city,” he told Playbook. “And even to a lesser degree, Michael Bloomberg. Gotta give him some credit for that. He kept the streets safe. To see what’s happened after that, it’s really messed up.” Messed up how? “You’ve got to deploy the National Guard into the subways? I mean, come on now,” Donalds said, referring to a recent — and controversial — move by the governor. The Florida Republican, like other Trump loyalists, also made sure to blast Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for “focusing” on the hush money trial instead of keeping the borough safe. To be sure, NYPD crime statistics show decreases in murders, shootings and other offenses in the past two years, including in Manhattan and Brooklyn. — Emily Ngo | | | | 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.
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Mayor Eric Adams wears a hat that reads "stay focused no distractions and grind." | Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office | PHILOSOPHER KING: The Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” mercilessly roasted Mayor Eric Adams as the “Philosopher King of New York” in a seven-minute compilation Tuesday of some of his most head-scratching quotes, as reported first in Playbook. There are plenty to choose from. But City Hall defended his honor with the quote he’s made his mantra. You know the one. “Seems like they forgot to mention that under Mayor Adams’ leadership, crime is down every single month this year in the safest big city in the nation, that jobs are at an all-time high across the five boroughs,” a mayoral spokesperson told Playbook, adding other wins including for working-class New Yorkers. “But, like the mayor likes to say, ‘Stay focused, no distractions, and grind.’” — Emily Ngo EDUCATION FIGHT RAMPS UP: The City Council’s Progressive Caucus is ramping up pressure on City Hall to boost funding for early childhood education and other key initiatives. The lawmakers — who have long signaled funding for the city’s preschool program is a budget priority this year — are set to unveil their education priorities this morning ahead of a council hearing on the DOE’s executive budget. The caucus is calling on Adams to restore $170 million in cuts to 3K and pre-K and add $45 million to a $15 million council pilot, expanding the number of so-called extended day and year seats. Council members also want the Adams administration to allocate $10 million for marketing and outreach to inform families about the city’s programs for 3- and 4-year-olds. Another priority for the lawmakers: $150 million to expand programs like CUNY Reconnect, which seeks to help New Yorkers who have college credit but did not complete their degree return to the City University of New York. The push comes after Adams last month committed $500 million in city and state dollars to support programs that depend on dwindling federal money, including an expansion of 3K and social workers. Asked Tuesday about criticism of his budget cuts from state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who recently announced his interest in running for mayor, Adams touted his record on crime and affordable housing while achieving strong bond ratings. “Get past the personality and just say I'm going to put a blindfold on and I'm going to just look at the numbers of what this man has done,” he added. “You could say what you want, but competency is not what you can critique this administration on.” — Madina Touré HELPING STUDENTS COME BACK TO CUNY: More than 33,000 students returned to CUNY to complete their degrees through a city-funded program, Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez will announce at a council budget hearing today. The aforementioned CUNY Reconnect, an initiative spearheaded by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, helped the university matriculate 16,319 students during the 2023-24 school year. That brings the total number of students who have benefited from the program since it launched in 2022 to 33,378. Over 10 percent of them — 3,375 — have already finished their degree or are on track to do so this spring. Of those students, most were part-time. “CUNY Reconnect is integral to the university’s mission to engage more New Yorkers and make it easier for them to access the many long-term benefits of higher education,” Matos Rodríguez said in a statement. — Madina Touré More from the city: — City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is pushing for a new law that would require the mayor to secure Council consent for more top government appointments. (Daily News) — Adams has abandoned the cause of school integration and, in some cases, even moved the city backward, according to an NYU report. (City & State) — Errol Louis calls Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s challenge to Adams a “moment of reckoning.” (NY Mag)
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Jerrel Harvey is joining the Hochul administration as a strategic communications advisor. | Hans Pennink/AP | HOCHUL HIRES: Jerrel Harvey is joining the Hochul administration as a strategic communications advisor, Playbook has learned. Harvey was most recently a senior director of communications and global affairs at Global Strategy Group. He had previously served as the Hochul campaign’s communications director and prior to that a spokesperson to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2021 reelection campaign and administration. “Jerrel knows how to creatively and effectively communicate Governor Hochul’s vision and I’m excited to have him help us develop and drive innovative strategies to reach even more New Yorkers,” Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe said. — Nick Reisman TRUMP LOOMS LARGE: Immigration advocates want to protect the state’s undocumented immigrants from deportations — and the specter of a second Trump administration is making the push all the more critical. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Karines Reyes are sponsoring a bill that would expand New York City’s “sanctuary city” protections to the entirety of New York state. The New York For All Act would prevent local law enforcement from collaborating with federal immigration authorities like Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Lawmakers and advocacy groups like the New York Immigration Coalition, the Bronx Defenders and others say the state needs to pass protections for undocumented immigrants before a federal government hostile to undocumented immigrants takes over the reins. “The stakes are incredibly high: Donald Trump has already announced extremist proposals to carry out sweeping raids and deputize local police to detain immigrants on a mass scale if he's re-elected,” Gounardes said in a statement. “By prohibiting local law enforcement from conspiring with ICE and Border Patrol, we allow parents to attend parent-teacher conferences, go to the grocery store, or visit public hospitals without worrying their family will be torn apart by deportation,” he added. In many Republican-controlled counties across the state, local officials have few limitations when it comes to cooperating with ICE. In Albany’s backyard of Rensselaer County, for instance, the county sheriff has opted to participate in a federal program that allows local law enforcement to act as ICE. This bill aims to thwart that type of local-federal cooperation. — Jason Beeferman FEED FIGHT CONTINUES: Supporters of a measure to regulate social media sites for child users are making an end-of-session push today at the Capitol. The advocates, including groups like Common Sense Media, National Urban League, Mothers Against Media Addiction, National Alliance On Mental Illness, and the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children will press lawmakers today for a data protection bill as well as a measure to end algorithmic feeds for minors with social media accounts. Tech companies have opposed the measures, questioning whether they would be beneficial for kids and have raised free speech concerns. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — New York City Transit President Richard Davey, who runs the MTA subways and buses, is leaving for a job in Massachusetts. (Gothamist) — A key health care workers union says a nursing staffing law is not being enforced. (Times Union) — State lawmakers are going to wait for the top court to weigh after Cuomo notched another legal victory against ethics regulators. (POLITICO Pro)
| | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
Rep. Marc Molinaro was rated the second-most bipartisan member of the House in the Lugar Center and Georgetown’s annual index. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP | BI-CURIOUS: GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro might have found the secret to surviving in a Biden +4 district: signing onto a bunch of Democratic-backed bills. Molinaro was rated the second-most bipartisan member of the House in the Lugar Center and Georgetown’s annual index, which is based on co-sponsorship of bills, but not votes. Fellow Republican swing seater Rep. Mike Lawler was fourth on the list, out of 436. New York Squad members Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were both in the bottom five. “This for me, is an affirmation of the work we said we would engage in,” Molinaro said in a virtual press conference Tuesday touting the ranking. “I know this Congress has not been as productive as some would want, and I fight that every day.” He highlighted support for daycare access and infrastructure spending, plus opposition to a ban on abortion pills. Molinaro’s opponent, Democrat Josh Riley, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Lawler, who represents a Biden +10 district, also touted his rating, calling it a “distinct honor.” His Democratic opponent, Mondaire Jones, fired back, saying Lawler is pointing to “meaningless statistics on bill sponsorships because his extreme voting record is out-of-touch with his district.” — Jeff Coltin
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Brooklyn judge Vincent Del Guidice is set to retire amid a campaign mounted by progressives that targeted his “punitive record” and “unfit judicial temperament.” (New York Law Journal) — Cannabis regulators in New York quietly changed their rules amid a legal controversy with a processing company. (Post-Standard) — Suburban commuters are going to get a discount for bus and ferry rides after a backlash against the MTA. (LoHud) — Gateway CEO says the Hudson River tunnel project is close to unlocking federal funding to keep it on track, regardless of who is president next year. (NY1)
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Find out more. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES – Joyce White Vance has joined the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law as a senior fellow. She was previously U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. … Mike Holtzman has joined the boutique advisory firm Laurel Strategies as a senior adviser. He is a longtime crisis communications operative and is a State Dept. alum. MEDIAWATCH — Ken Armstrong is joining Bloomberg as a reporter, editor and coach for investigations and longform narrative pieces. He most recently has been a reporter at ProPublica and has won multiple Pulitzers. SPOTTED on Monday night at a book party for Nellie Bowles’ “Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History” ($27) hosted by Liz Lange and David Shapiro on the Upper East Side: Bari Weiss, Bobby Kotick, Lloyd Blankfein, Tim Dillon, Michael Moynihan, Jonathan Rosen, Uri Berliner, Shawn McCreesh, Olivia Nuzzi, Keith Urbahn, Adam Rubenstein, Emma Goldberg, Hope Hicks, Dana Perino, Arianna Huffington, Ben Schreckinger, Alana Newhouse, David Samuels, Graydon Carter, Ariel Levy, Elliot Ackerman, Dana Perino, Suzy Weiss, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Roland Fryer, Risa Heller and Danielle Sassoon. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYT’s Eli Saslow, Elisabeth Bumiller and Nick Confessore … Rachel Kelly of Mastercard … Chloe Schama … Elizabeth Poniarski … (WAS TUESDAY): Suzy Kolber ... Alex Katz … Jason Koppel
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