Source: Politics<\/p>\n
JACOB\u2019S LADDER: Otsego County Democratic Chair Caitlin Ogden is launching a bid for the top spot in the state party \u2014 the first time its current chair, Jay Jacobs, has had a challenger during his lengthy tenure.<\/p>\n
Jacobs, who also serves as Nassau County\u2019s Democratic chair, has led the state party under the past three governors, with stints from 2009 to 2012 and 2019 through the present.<\/p>\n
But those stints have unfolded despite years of grumbling from the party\u2019s progressive flank.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came in as Otsego County chair about five years ago, and I\u2019ve heard since then that Jay Jacobs has helped the party get by. And he definitely has,\u201d Ogden said. \u201cBut I think the political landscape is shifting radically, and it\u2019s time for a new leader to guide the party through the next phase and really deliver on Gov. Hochul\u2019s vision of statewide, year-round party organizing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The friendly footing toward Gov. Kathy Hochul is a bit of a shift for Ogden. She was a top supporter of Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado\u2019s challenge to the governor.<\/p>\n
But expanding on Hochul\u2019s efforts to use the party to help candidates up and down the ballot is now the focus of Ogden\u2019s message as she attempts to win over party members. The Democratic Party has indisputably played a larger role<\/a> organizing campaigns across the state in recent years, though numerous local officials have characterized this as a slapdash operation that emerges only in the run-up to congressional contests.<\/p>\n Ogden said that in 2022 she \u201chad been expecting there to be a coordinated campaign structure because I had been told there would be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was not in any capacity \u2014 there was no organizational help from Albany or the state party,\u201d she said. \u201cWe never got any literature for any of our Albany candidates; we finally got 40 signs for Kathy Hochul in the middle of October.\u201d<\/p>\n The party apparatus has since been more helpful, Ogden said. But it\u2019s still absent more often than not. It played no role as Democrats in her county had one of its best nights in history<\/a> last November<\/a> and has been quiet so far in the county that\u2019s at the heart of Rep. Josh Riley\u2019s battleground district.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t even have staff hired yet, at least to my knowledge,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s so late in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs it something that would be helpful?\u201d Jacobs said in response to Ogden\u2019s call for a more regular statewide effort. \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut the big question is \u2018where do you get the money?\u2019 We raise millions now: This coordinated campaign is going to run through between $6 and $8 million. And that\u2019s not easy to raise, so speculating that you\u2019ll be able to fund not only election year coordinated campaigns, but also ongoing coordinated campaigns year-round every year, I don\u2019t think is reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacobs highlighted several accomplishments at the state party, such as a grant program that\u2019s given $1 million to county committees and \u201callowing resolutions to come to the floor, where before they were always tabled to not allow for debate.\u201d He also acknowledged that while 2022 was a \u201ctough year\u201d for the party, it did \u201cvery well\u201d in 2024.<\/p>\n The party\u2019s elected committee members select the chair<\/a>. But historically, they\u2019ve just gone along with whomever\u2019s picked by the governor \u2014 a potential obstacle to the pro-Delgado Ogden, but one she thinks can be overcome.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conversation has been happening for a really long time now \u2026 about whether or not our leadership is on the right path,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jacobs has faced calls for his ouster after the 2021, 2022 and 2025 elections, and easily survived<\/a> a vote of no confidence six years ago. There were rumors last fall that his tenure was at an end after he declined to endorse then-mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, but Hochul said he was \u201cdoing a great job\u201d and the party stuck with him.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I\u2019ve been the chair for ten years over two different tenures, I have heard repeatedly that I\u2019m on the way out,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cThe only thing is, it\u2019s never come from me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not that I need it for my livelihood \u2014 I like being involved in the Democratic Party and I find this a worthwhile endeavor. So as long as that remains, I\u2019m happy to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n The state Democratic Party will decide on Oct. 1 whether Jacobs stays on or not. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/p>\n ZO ON BIBI IN NYC: Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke publicly for the first time today on his plans to skip the protests<\/a> against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n The Jewish head of state will be in New York City next week for the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n \u201cI have made very clear about my views, my thoughts, my assessments,\u201d Mamdani said when asked why he\u2019ll sit out. \u201cWhen it comes to the UN General Assembly, my focus is ensuring that our city remains prepared to host representatives from across the world, to keep New Yorkers safe, and also to ensure that we\u2019re able to both address the global conversation and the very local concerns New Yorkers have about traffic and their ability to get from point A to point B over the course of the next week.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s nod to quotidian anxieties like gridlock is a far cry from his typically strident anti-Israel rhetoric and long history of pro-Palestinian activism. As recently as July, he was publicly railing against Netanyahu and entertaining the idea of having the NYPD arrest him<\/a> on a controversial war crimes warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n The war, launched in response to Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, has left more than 73,000 Palestinians dead.<\/p>\n Mamdani ultimately walked back his calls<\/a>, saying in a social media video<\/a> that his administration does not have the \u201cindependent legal authority to enforce this warrant.\u201d Still, he has continued to condemn Netanyahu, whom he called the \u201carchitect of a horrific genocide.\u201d And he has appeared to call New Yorkers to action, saying that, \u201cwhile we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n The mayor faced accusations<\/a> that he was stoking antisemitism by continuing to talk about arresting Netanyahu despite knowing he lacked the power to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n The mayor took a more measured tone today when answering questions about whether he would encourage critics of Israel to protest Netanyahu\u2019s visit to the city.<\/p>\n \u201cTo New Yorkers \u2014 I\u2019ve never encouraged them to protest, but I always told them they have the right to do so, and we respect that right, and this city is proud of the first amendment,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n Regardless, sizable protests are expected ahead of and during Netanyahu\u2019s Sept. 24 speech at the UN. The mayor said he has been in close contact with the NYPD and there are no expected security threats. \u2014 Molly Reinmann<\/p>\n SEWER SOCIALISM: Mamdani\u2019s administration plans to install 17 free public bathrooms across the five boroughs \u2014 part of a one-year, $4 million pilot project with the modular public toilet company Throne Labs.<\/p>\n Each of the modular bathrooms will be climate controlled, have a toilet, a sink and a baby changing station, and will close at 10 p.m. To enter, New Yorkers can scan a QR code, use an app, send a text message, or use a physical tap card.<\/p>\n \u201cThese 17 formerly bathroomless locations will soon become New York City\u2019s number one place to go number two \u2014 or number one, you don\u2019t need to tell me,\u201d the mayor joked today.<\/p>\n The pilot program is set to place five toilets in the Bronx, four in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in Manhattan and one in Staten Island.<\/p>\n The initiative builds on a January announcement<\/a> from Mamdani and is an attempt to solve an enduring problem that\u2019s bedeviled city officials for decades: How to construct a simple public restroom without taking years and spending millions of dollars.<\/p>\n Former Council Member David Greenfield once highlighted a public restroom renovation in his district that \u2014 bogged down by municipal procurement and construction requirements \u2014 took nearly a decade and cost $2 million.<\/p>\n The commodes announced by Mamdani today, by contrast, are projected to come out to under $250,000 per bathroom, inclusive of maintenance, for the year-long pilot.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are essentially wasting taxpayer money,\u201d Greenfield said at the time<\/a>. \u201cYou can build a complete house in six months for $1\u2009million.\u201d \u2014 Molly Reinmann and Joe Anuta<\/p>\n EYES ON AI: Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan and former city Comptroller Brad Lander are among the signatories on a pledge to refuse cash from the big-money, pro-AI political group Leading the Future.<\/p>\n Lander, who\u2019s all but certain to serve in Congress next year after winning the June primary in a safe-blue district, said he\u2019s \u201cdetermined to pass strong safeguards into law and make sure the American people have a true say in the future of AI.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan accused the \u201cBig Tech oligarchs behind Leading the Future\u201d of only caring \u201cabout their profits.\u201d \u2014 an argument he made during the primary for NY-12<\/a>. In that race to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, Ryan backed state Assemblymember Alex Bores, one of Leading the Future\u2019s biggest targets<\/a>. Bores finished in second place.<\/p>\n The public condemnations from Ryan and Lander come amid heightened concerns about the existential threat potentially posed by AI. New York politicians have urged the federal government to do more to address the rapidly developing technology, and Hochul vowed<\/a> that the state will fill the void in the absence of action from Washington.<\/p>\n Leading the Future, which is backed by leaders at OpenAI and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has pushed back against criticism that it\u2019s anti-regulation. It previously stated that it supports \u201cpassing a national regulatory framework for AI.\u201d \u2014 Madison Fernandez<\/p>\n \u2014 GRACIE GATHERING: Students and teachers from two of New York City\u2019s elite Orthodox Jewish schools will demonstrate Friday outside Gracie Mansion. (Jewish Currents<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 FLOWERY PLANS: City officials are weighing plans to put rain gardens on top of bus stops after a prototype went up in Brooklyn. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 PROPERTY PAYOUT: New York City is spending $60 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit alleging a city-instituted program illegally stripped dozens of homeowners of their equity. (The New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\nFROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/h3>\n
IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n