| | | | |  | | By Nick Reisman, Emily Ngo and Jeff Coltin | | | With help from Jason Beeferman
|  The Abortion Positivity Project will support a state constitutional amendment in New York to preserve abortion rights. | Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images | Sophie Nir thinks supporters of abortion rights are talking about the issue wrong and have set back the movement. Nir is among a trio of advocates launching the Abortion Positivity Project, whose work is expected to ramp up as the issue could be a defining one heading into the 2024 elections. “We’re going on offense for the first time ever,” Nir told Playbook in an interview. Nir, a former executive director of Eleanor’s Legacy, is forming the new organization along with Caileigh Scott, who had served as the vice president of creative at Eleanor’s Legacy, and Sarah Rowen, the former executive director of Vote Mama. At the crux of the group’s push is to no longer talk about abortion in what they feel have been apologetic terms like “safe, legal and rare.” The Abortion Positivity Project, instead, wants advocates to be “proudly pro-abortion.” They plan to train progressive advocates on abortion messaging and also lobby for measures meant to expand access. And the advocates are planning an “accountability” piece to ensure companies that have pledged to support employees receiving abortions are following through on those pledges. Eventually the group, currently designated a 501(c)3 nonprofit, will form a separate political action committee to donate to candidates. The organization is the latest sign of how the abortion-rights movement has shifted to a more unequivocal and vocal posture in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling last year that overturned Roe v. Wade. “I wish we had started doing this work in 1973. The abortion negativity of the pro-choice movement was contributive to the end of Roe,” Nir said. “If abortion supporters had embraced their own support of abortion instead of distancing and obfuscating, maybe we’d still have Roe, expanding Roe and building upon Roe rather than be in the position we’re in now.” The group is also forming as states have become the new abortion battleground after Dobbs v. Jackson. Voters have subsequently approved ballot measures in support of abortion rights in Republican-leaning states like Ohio and Kansas. A showdown underway in Texas over whether a woman can obtain an abortion has also highlighted the issue there. The Abortion Positivity Project, however, is focused for now on states like New York, where an amendment preserving abortion rights in the state constitution will be put to voters next year. The ballot referendum is expected to boost turnout as Democrats hope to regain control of the House next year by flipping key seats in the suburbs of New York City. States where abortions have ticked upward will also be a focus so the group can push for measures that would expand access, like allowing pharmacists to prescribe abortion medication. Abortion opponents have contended the issue won’t carry as much weight with voters as it did in previous elections following the overturning of Roe. “I think the Democrats lost control of the issue agenda, and frankly I think their only issue to talk about is abortion,” Conservative Party Chair Gerry Kassar said earlier this year. Jason McGuire, the leader of the conservative New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, also wants to change how abortion critics discuss the issue to include adoption and the cost of living for pregnant women. Supporters of abortion rights, mostly Democrats, have shifted their language around the issue over the last several years. Officials like Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, first elected in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe, are more likely to frame the issue using terms like “freedom” to describe their support for abortion rights. Nir believes a more muscular stance can be taken in the movement. “I think we are all steeped like tea in this abortion-negative framework for our entire lives,” she said. “We grow up never having been exposed to abortion positivity before.” — Nick Reisman IT’S TUESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | A message from Tax Equity Now New York: New York City's property tax system is broken. For decades, political leaders and independent analysts have agreed that the City’s property tax system disproportionately burdens lower-income and minority neighborhoods and imposes higher taxes on the lowest-valued properties and owners. Learn more about the problem and what we’re doing to ensure NYC has the best and fairest property tax structure in the state and country by visiting TaxEquityNow.nyc. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? Making a water infrastructure announcement in Suffolk County. WHERE’S ERIC? Speaking at the Mayor’s Office of Faith & Community Partnerships’ “Rejoice & Reflect Multi-Faith Gathering,” holding an in-person media availability session, speaking at the Detectives Endowment Association’s holiday luncheon and hosting a reception to celebrate Hanukkah. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “People come to me all the time — particularly those reporters — and they will ask the question, ‘Where’s your God now? … Where’s your God now that federal investigators are looking at your campaigns?’ … I am steadfast in my belief.” — Mayor Adams, at Faith Deliverance Pentecostal Church of God in Brooklyn on Sunday, via the Times’ Dana Rubinstein. We have not heard a reporter ask that.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
The would-be GOP successor to George Santos in New York's third congressional district is expected to be announced on Friday. | Patrick Semansky/AP | NY-3 AND THE GOP: Nassau County and Queens Republicans are expected to announce their candidate for ousted Rep. George Santos’ seat on Friday, Playbook has learned. The timing would give the Democrats’ pick more than a week’s head start in campaigning for the Feb. 13 special election. Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, whose candidacy was announced last Thursday, held a weekend rally in Levittown, began rolling out labor endorsements and is making TV appearances. But the GOP has learned the hard way (understatement of 2023) about the need for careful vetting, and they’re choosing from a much wider field. That pool included City Council Member Vickie Paladino. A Paladino spokesperson told Playbook that the Queens Republican’s name had been floated, but she never interviewed and remains focused on her Council district. Republicans are screening about 20 contenders and plan to announce their designee at the end of the week, Queens GOP chair Anthony Nunziato told Playbook. Nunziato is part of the decision-making process being led by Nassau Republican Party Chair Joe Cairo. Some GOP finalists are flawed, even if recent revelations aren’t deal-breakers. Mazi Melesa Pilip was revealed by Playbook to be an enrolled Democrat, even as she was elected to the Nassau County Legislature as a Republican. Mike Sapraicone, Playbook has reported, has been sued for allegedly coercing a false confession and suppressing evidence during his time in the NYPD and was heard in an April podcast saying he was afraid of someone because that person was Black. And The Spectator reported Monday that Sapraicone is settling a class-action lawsuit in California for unpaid wages. — Emily Ngo
| | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | | 
Mayor Eric Adams said the idea that he may be indicted is not based in reality on Monday. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO | PEOPLE ARE TALKIN’: Amid chatter by the political class, Adams was asked point blank Monday by a reporter: “Do you think you’re going to be indicted?” The mayor gave a look of incredulity. “You guys want to create a narrative, and that narrative is not a reality,” he said. “What I think I’m going to do is continue being the mayor and get us out of this crisis that Washington, D.C. put us in.” And who are the political opponents spreading innuendo, that Adams referred to on his radio show Sunday? “This is New York, man! This is New York!” he said, skipping his oft–repeated line that New York has 8.3 million people, 35 million opinions. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Progressives are ramping up pressure on Adams to reverse cuts to public schools and other municipal services. (POLITICO Pro) — Smaller residential projects requiring city approval would be exempt from environmental review under an Adams proposal that advanced Monday. (POLITICO Pro) — The Adams administration will stick with its plan to give several for-profit companies migrant shelter contracts worth more than $560 million. (New York Daily News)
| | | | A message from Tax Equity Now New York:   | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | |  Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration is getting the word out that the minimum wage is set to increase across the state come January. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | CHECK’S IN THE MAIL: New York’s minimum wage is set to increase as the year turns. Hochul’s administration wants to make sure workers aren’t getting stiffed. The governor on Monday announced the state Department of Labor is launching a PR campaign to alert both employers and employees of the increase. “If their paycheck does not go up and they're minimum wage earners, they need to report that because there could be instances of wage theft where the employers do not ensure that the increase goes into effect,” Hochul said. The wage is set to increase on Jan. 1 from $15 to $16 an hour in New York City, Westchester County and on Long Island. It will increase from $13.20 to $15 an hour in counties north of Westchester. It’s the first of multiple wage hikes, increasing by 50 cents each year. By the end of 2026, it will reach $17 in New York City and the downstate region and $16 in the rest of the state. After that, the wage will be indexed to the rate of inflation. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — New York’s semiconductor industry is getting a $10 billion boost. (POLITICO Pro) — A bill with union support is meant to curb bullying in state government. (Buffalo News) — The closure of a gun manufacturer in upstate New York is igniting a debate over firearms laws. (Times Union)
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | | | 
Representatives Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis, along with former Rep. Lee Zeldin, said Monday the New York Democrats' bid to redraw current congressional district maps is unconstitutional. | Jason Beeferman/POLITICO | MY MAP IS BETTER THAN YOURS: As the New York political world braces for a ruling on the redistricting case in the state’s Court of Appeals, New York Republicans are demanding the “fair lines” map be kept in place. “Democrats talk a lot about the need to protect our democracy; they’re doing everything they can to trample on it with this lawsuit,” Rep. Mike Lawler said Monday outside City Hall during a news conference to fight new maps. City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and former Rep. Lee Zeldin joined Lawler on Monday. They called the Democrats’ push to throw out last year’s special master-drawn maps “an abuse of the institution of the Court of Appeals.” “We can't allow this attack on the will of the people to go forward,” Zeldin said. “We can't ignore what the Constitution of the State of New York actually says.” The call to keep the current maps comes as a special election to replace Santos in NY-3 is scheduled Feb. 13. With the current maps, Republicans were able to pick up four House seats in 2022. The press conference was put on by Stop NY Corruption, a new organization that bills itself as a nonpartisan constitution-defending group. (City Councilmember Bob Holden, a conservative Democrat, was on hand to support the effort.) Zeldin said that if Democrats win their bid in the state’s highest court, there’s a “certainty” that a lawsuit would be filed to stop any changes to the maps — which would certainly be more advantageous to Democrats in the critical 2024 races. — Jason Beeferman More from the delegation: — Santos is in talks to plead guilty to federal charges, prosecutors disclosed with the ousted representative due in court today. (POLITICO)
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Catch the Gilgo Beach killer, and you might be a Winner of the Year … and if you lie about everything and get expelled from Congress, you could be a Loser of the Year. (City & State) — A building partially collapsed in the Bronx Monday afternoon, leaving FDNY crews to search through the rubble for possible victims. (New York Times) — Automated work zone speed checks were implemented six years ago, and over 130,000 violations have been caught so far with the systems. (Democrat & Chronicle)
| | | | A message from Tax Equity Now New York: New York City's property tax system is fundamentally flawed and over-taxes lower-income and minority residents. The current model unfairly shifts the tax burden onto those less able to bear it. This results in higher taxes for poorer and minority New Yorkers compared to wealthier condo, co-op, and homeowners in more affluent areas.
For over two decades, political leaders have talked about how NYC's property tax system is unfair and inequitable, but they’ve done nothing. Learn more about the problem and what we’re doing to ensure NYC has the best and fairest property tax structure in the state and country by visiting TaxEquityNow.nyc. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Risa Heller has been advising Harvard University on crisis communications related to antisemitism in recent weeks and played a role in prepping Harvard President Claudine Gay for the disastrous congressional hearing last week, three people familiar with the matter told Daniel. Heller was hired by the university to work on crisis comms as institutional tensions rose in the weeks following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Heller played a minor role in Gay’s hearing prep, according to two of the sources, and has since advised Harvard on how to deal with the fallout from the hearing. She declined to comment. Heller is a Chuck Schumer alum and veteran crisis comms pro who has represented such boldface names as fired CNN head Jeff Zucker, hedge fund maven Ray Dalio and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. She was part of a high-powered team including PR giant Edelman and the WilmerHale law firm that failed to stave off a national uproar after Gay testified that it “depends on the context” whether calls for Jewish genocide violate Harvard’s code of conduct. Gay later apologized. SPOTTED: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) showing up to the annual gala of the NY Young Republican Club at Cipriani on Saturday night and the after-party at the Underdog bar after earlier canceling as a speaker on the organization, citing a scheduling clash, three people familiar with the event told Daniel. After former President Donald Trump and all his associated security had left, without telling club organizers he was going to come after all, Donalds crashed the first after-party at Cipriani, walking into the green room to schmooze with guests and colleagues and take pictures with attendees. A couple club board members remarked to Donalds that they weren’t expecting him to attend and were surprised to see him that night, according to two of the people. Donalds then went to the Beach Cafe on the Upper East Side and took pics with Santos and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Donalds couldn’t make the event because he was asked to stump for the Trump campaign in South Carolina and was scheduled to do media hits on Sunday morning in New York, according to a Donalds spokesperson. MORE FROM THE BEACH: NYC EDC’s Adrien Lesser hosted a Fran Fine (Fran Drescher in “The Nanny)-themed Hanukkah Party at the Beach Cafe featuring a Klezmer band. (X Pic) SPOTTED: City Council Members Inna Vernikov and Julie Won, Eugene Noh, City Hall’s Moshe Davis and Menashe Shapiro, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Manhattan GOP Chair Andrea Catsimatidis, NYYRC’s Gavin Wax, Assembly Members Alex Bores and Al Taylor, Jordan Wright, Trip Yang, CNBC’s Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, R. Couri Hay, the Carpenter’s Megan Wylie, Miranda Goodwin-Raab, Rhonda Binda, Rebecca Dangoor of Tom DiNapoli’s office, Layla Law-Gisiko, Sylvia Di Pietro, Cameron Koffman, NY-1 candidate Craig Herskowitz, Jazmin Kaye, Sam Weinberger, political personality Skye Ostreicher, and the Post’s Jon Levine. MAKING MOVES: Emily Anne Epstein, former head of editorial at Asana, is joining Moonshot Strategies as managing director of communications. … Kimberly Kriger is joining Actum LLC as senior managing director. She was most recently a partner at Dentons Global Advisors. … Jessica Douglas is now political director of Community Voices Heard. She most recently was a chief of staff for the New York State Assembly. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Lanny Davis … Chris Plante … Jesse Ferguson … AP’s Seth Borenstein … Fox Business’ Liz Claman … Becky Perlow … Alexander Levine … Elizabeth Brim (WAS MONDAY): Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter ... Gustavo F. Bruckner ... Gideon Resnick
| | Real Estate | | — Three firms paid $164 million for the air rights above Midtown’s St. Patrick Cathedral, putting the area at an appraisal of $312.50 per square foot of air. (Crain’s New York Business) — A collection of prefab dwellings in Montauk — which could technically just be called a trailer park — has seen its average sale prices double since 2022 to a whopping $2.5 million. (New York Post) | | | | 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 | | | | |
