Source: Politics<\/p>\n
DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 35<\/span><\/p>\n VORNADO CHIEF SLAMS MAMDANI: Billionaire real estate magnate Steve Roth is standing strong with fellow billionaire Ken Griffin in his spat with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/p>\n Instead of being singled out and scorned in viral videos, Roth, CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, thinks the ultra-rich should be \u201cpraised and thanked,\u201d and said calls to tax them more are akin to some racial slurs.<\/p>\n \u201cI must say that I consider the phrase tax the rich \u2014 quote tax the rich \u2014 when spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs, and even the phrase \u2018from the river to the sea,\u2019\u201d Roth said, referring to the controversial rallying cry used by pro-Palestinian activists, during a Tuesday earnings call.<\/p>\n Roth decried Mamdani\u2019s social media video on the proposed pied-\u00e0-terre tax \u2014 in which the mayor used Griffin\u2019s $238 million second-home as a backdrop \u2014 as \u201cirresponsible and dangerous.\u201d Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, was offended by the video, and according to The Wall Street Journal<\/a>, his chief operating officer suggested Citadel may pause its $6 billion plan to develop a Midtown office tower with Vornado and Rudin Management.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all shocked that our young mayor would pull this stunt in front of Ken’s home and single him out for ridicule,\u201d said Roth, who brought up the \u201cblunder\u201d unprompted before launching into a six-minute rant about the mayor.<\/p>\n On the planned office redevelopment at 350 Park Avenue, Roth said \u201cit’s a good bet that we will go all in.\u201d But he added that \u201cthis fence cannot be mended by a short, terse, insincere private apology.\u201d<\/p>\n City Hall did not immediately return a request for comment. Mamdani ran on a pledge to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted that push \u2014 save for the pied-\u00e0-terre tax.<\/p>\n Griffin further blasted Mamdani<\/a> at a conference Tuesday while voicing fears the video could spark political violence, noting the CEO of United Healthcare was \u201ckilled just a few blocks from my house.\u201d<\/p>\n Roth on Tuesday stressed the significant contributions of the city\u2019s wealthiest residents to its tax base and said these members of the so-called one-percent are \u201cnot enemies\u201d and are \u201cat the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Roth, who donated generously to Mamdani\u2019s opponent \u2014 former Gov. Andrew Cuomo \u2014 in last year\u2019s election, went on to ponder: \u201cMaybe we can draft Ken to become active and lead an effort to educate New York voters and to elect right-minded candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, he wants the city\u2019s democratic socialist mayor \u2014 who, he allowed, is \u201cyoung, smart and energetic\u201d \u2014 to be friendlier to billionaires.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I beg my mayor to do is to begin every day being business-welcoming and business-friendly as his first priority,\u201d Roth said. \u201cThat’s the only way to get the growth and financial wherewithal to accomplish his programs, some of which I must say are interesting and valid.\u201d \u2014 Janaki Chadha<\/p>\n CHECKING IN ON LAWLER LAND: The crowded and competitive Democratic primary to replace Republican Rep. Mike Lawler just got a pulse check \u2014 and the out-of-district<\/a> military vet who\u2019s wooed party insiders with her compelling biography has some ground to make up.<\/p>\n A new poll of likely Democratic primary voters commissioned by left-leaning underdog Effie Phillips-Staley shows Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson leading the pack with 26 percent of the vote, an 11-point lead over Cait Conley, who served in the Army for 16 years and netted 15 percent of the vote. Still, 48 percent of those polled were undecided.<\/p>\n The poll was shared with Playbook and first reported in left-leaning outlet Zeteo<\/a>. It was conducted by the left-leaning firm Data for Progress from April 17 to 24, about a week after former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky dropped out of the race. The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percentage points, and respondents were quizzed online and via text.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Democratic primary clown car keeps producing surprises, but Conley’s flameout might be the biggest yet,\u201d Lawler\u2019s campaign manager Ciro Riccardi said in a statement to Playbook.<\/p>\n But beyond NY-17, the poll also provided some interesting tea leaves for Democrats weighing where to land on one of the most contentious issues ahead of the midterms: the conflict in the Middle East. Even in this suburban, heavily-Jewish congressional district outside New York City, Israel is increasingly unpopular with Democratic voters.<\/p>\n The poll found 44 percent of Democratic voters sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis, with 18 percent favoring the Jewish state. Twenty-three percent of respondents sympathized with both equally and 11 percent sympathized with neither.<\/p>\n And if that wasn\u2019t surprising enough, Mamdani is so far not proving to be the political pain point for swing district Democrats that Republicans had hoped. In the hills of Rockland and Westchester counties, Mamdani has an 80 percent favorability rating with Democratic voters, with just 16 percent of respondents viewing him unfavorably, per the poll.<\/p>\n In the survey\u2019s initial polling question on the primary, Phillips-Staley trailed behind Conley and Davidson at 8 percent. But after respondents were flooded with messaging on her opponents, Phillips-Staley\u2019s support jumped to 31 points, just above .<\/p>\n The poll also tested negative messaging on Phillips-Staley, including the fact that she apparently \u201cowns stocks in casino companies, defense contractors, and other industries that profit off the backs of working Americans,\u201d according to one of the messages tested in the poll. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n NOT FONDA THIS IDEA: Actress and activist Jane Fonda is weighing into the politics of the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline.<\/p>\n The Williams Co. project, which was boosted by the Trump administration<\/a> last month during a ceremonial groundbreaking event, would deliver fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New York City and Long Island. Despite rejecting water quality permits for the project in prior years, both New York and New Jersey awarded those permits last November<\/a>, sparking ire from environmentalists. Advocacy groups sued both states over the about-face.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the New Jersey Tidelands Resource Council will consider awarding a permit to the pipeline project. It is unclear what the project\u2019s fate will be if the council does not approve the permit.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the opportunity to exercise leadership on this issue that will resonate all over the United States,\u201d Fonda wrote in a letter to Sherrill<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the pipeline is rejected by the Tidelands Resource Council, that rejection will be a giant victory for New Jersey\u2019s environment and the world\u2019s climate,\u201d the letter later added.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Sherrill declined to comment on the letter.<\/p>\n While Sherrill, like Hochul, supports an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy<\/a>, Hochul has cited affordability concerns in her defense of the Department of Environmental Conservation\u2019s decision to issue the water quality certification, arguing that she needs to “govern in reality” amid skyrocketing bills and the Trump administration’s antipathy to renewables.<\/p>\n Sherrill, while also focused on affordability, is in a tough spot as the pipeline would not deliver any energy to New Jersey. She has not weighed in on the project since taking office, but she criticized the pipeline while she was governor-elect<\/a> for doing \u201cnothing to lower electric bills for New Jersey residents.\u201d \u2014 Mona Zhang<\/p>\n IT\u2019S IN THE BAG: Carl Wilson was officially crowned the winner of a high-stakes City Council race today after ranked-choice tabulations put him more than 2,000 votes ahead of Lindsey Boylan, his closest competitor whose defeat is seen as a black eye for Mamdani.<\/p>\n Wilson\u2019s victory was already all but certain after Election Day on April 28, as he trounced Boylan by a wide margin in early ballot returns<\/a>.<\/p>\n But since no candidate secured a simple majority in the April 28 results, the city Board of Elections needed to run ranked-choice tallies.<\/p>\n Those tabulations, released by the board this afternoon, show Wilson won after three rounds of ranked choice tallying with 7,863 ballots, or 59.4 percent of the vote total.<\/p>\n That put him well ahead of Boylan, who netted 5,373 ballots, or 40.6 percent of the vote total, the ranked-choice tallies show. The other two candidates in the special election for the 3rd Council District, Layla Law-Gisiko and Leslie Boghosian Murphy, were eliminated in the third and second ranked-choice rounds, respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cThis victory belongs to all of us,\u201d Wilson said in a statement after the release of the ranked-choice results. \u201cFrom the start, this was a true grassroots effort powered by neighbors, volunteers, unions and supporters who showed up day after day. We build something real together, and these results reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s special election was called because former Council Member Erik Bottcher, who used to count Wilson as his Council chief of staff, vacated his seat after being elected to the state Senate in February.<\/p>\n After initially being seen as a shoo-in for Wilson, the race was scrambled in mid-April when Mamdani endorsed Boylan, a onetime adviser to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo who became the first woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct in 2020 (Cuomo has denied the accusations). Mamdani\u2019s move made the race the first true test of his endorsement power since his inauguration and created a proxy war between him and more moderate Democrats backing Wilson, including Council Speaker Julie Menin.<\/p>\n Read the story from Chris Sommerfeldt in POLITICO Pro<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n ACCESS DENIED: The city\u2019s Department of Investigation released a report<\/a> today outlining several ways its oversight of the Administration for Children\u2019s Services is stymied by both state law and a state agency, leaving the municipal watchdog unable to properly probe some of the most sensitive work done in government.<\/p>\n The problem is twofold.<\/p>\n First, a provision in state law prohibits investigators from accessing ACS records of unfounded accusations of child abuse or maltreatment. A second provision ices out the department if a case is put into a deferral program that avoids a full-blown investigation of a caretaker.<\/p>\n Often, that is the very information investigators need to draw a conclusion in instances where children are harmed.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there is a history of unfounded investigations by ACS, we\u2019re unable to go back and look and see: Were these investigations conducted properly? Was there some misconduct? Was there a home visit that a caseworker said they did but never actually did?\u201d DOI\u2019s newly installed commissioner, Nadia Shihata, said in an interview. \u201cWe can\u2019t look into it because we can\u2019t even access the records.\u201d<\/p>\n The rules can have tragic consequences: In 2025, DOI was prohibited from accessing the full case history in 17 out of 18 child deaths it was notified of. In 2024, it was denied full records in 13 out of 16 child fatalities. And the year before that, the same thing happened in 19 out of 25 cases, according to the department.<\/p>\n The state Office of Child and Family Services at times can present its own roadblocks. State law requires DOI to obtain authorization from that office before receiving nearly any type of record relating to children who have encountered ACS, placing a drag on inquiries. And DOI has found the state office often goes above and beyond what the statutes lay out, excessively delaying or limiting records in a way that limits DOI\u2019s ability to investigate potential shortfalls in city service delivery.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we want to look into affects the most vulnerable children in the city,\u201d said Shihata, who noted the department is supporting state legislation that would alter the rules and allow DOI more access. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n The state countered that limitations on data sharing exist to protect the children involved but that it cooperates with DOI to the extent it can. Spokesperson Daniel Marans noted investigators are entitled to full records in criminal cases via law enforcement bodies and can obtain unredacted files with permission from the affected family.<\/p>\n \u201cOCFS is deeply committed to the wellbeing of children and families and takes seriously its obligation under New York State law to protect the identities of children experiencing abuse and maltreatment or institutionalization,\u201d Marans said in a statement. \u2014 Joe Anuta<\/p>\n FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Progressive organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier is homing in on Spanish-speaking voters as she vies to unseat Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in next month\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n Avila Chevalier\u2019s campaign is going up with its first broadcast ad of the primary<\/a>, backed by an initial buy of more than $165,000. The Spanish-language spot leans into an issue that Democrats have been using in primaries across the country to activate their base: Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n In the spot, Avila Chevalier touts her work to release people detained by ICE, and vows to abolish the agency in Congress. She also takes a swipe at Espaillat, whom she claims aided President Donald Trump by funding ICE \u2014 a reference to votes he took<\/a> in line with many other Democrats approving DHS funding<\/a>.<\/p>\n During the latest DHS funding standoff, Espaillat was adamant about not providing funding<\/a> for immigration enforcement without guardrails.<\/p>\n Hispanic residents make up around half of Espaillat\u2019s district, which covers parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, according to Census data. The five-term incumbent is chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.<\/p>\n Avila Chevalier, who is backed by the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, is running to Espaillat\u2019s left and looking to harness the progressive energy that got Mamdani elected last year. The mayor has not endorsed in this race. \u2014 Madison Fernandez<\/p>\n \u2014 \u2018NOT MY BOSS\u2019: Brooklyn police captain James Wilson has been transferred following a video capturing him trashing Mamdani at the scene of anti-immigration enforcement protests. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 JUDGE OF CHARACTER: The opaque, party-controlled and patronage-driven system that selects and assigns New York City judges raises concerns about accountability and persistent abuses. (Hell Gate<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 GETTING SQUEEZED: New York\u2019s budget woes are forcing upstate cities to implement government layoffs and service cuts as officials say state and federal funding are not meeting rising costs. (Syracuse.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\nFrom the Capitol<\/h3>\n
FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/h3>\n
IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n