NEW YORK MINUTE: Mayor Eric Adams is expected to publicly address the detailed sexual misconduct complaint filed against him — more on that below — for the first time today at his weekly, wide-ranging news conference. The lawsuit came on a tough day for the mayor: His schools chancellor refuted his pre-K budget cuts and a billionaire pled guilty to straw donations in a case resembling one involving his campaign. CUOMO’S SPOTLIGHT: It’s been a split-screen life for Andrew Cuomo this year. On one screen, there is the ongoing fallout from the scandals that drove him from office: Cuomo is being sued by a former member of his State Police detail who accused him of sexual harassment and has been subpoenaed by a Republican-led House panel investigating the governmental response to the Covid-19 pandemic. But on the other screen is pundit Cuomo. He opines on the condition of New York City, opposing the looming congestion pricing toll plan he previously championed and pushing the state to give more funding to the city to deal with the ongoing migrant crisis. Allies believe he is trying to position himself for his next act — one that could land him back in office. “He wants to get elected to something,” John Catsimatidis, the Republican business owner, campaign donor and WABC radio show host, told Playbook. “He feels that he got a raw deal, and I can sympathize.” Cuomo has called for the state to fully fund New York City’s migrant costs, essentially doubling what Mayor Eric Adams has called for during the budget negotiations. He has also abandoned his support for congestion pricing and argued it’s not the right time given the fragile post-pandemic economy in New York City. Cuomo, who was not made available for an interview, has cautiously stepped back into the public arena over the last several weeks, a move that comes months after he first began weighing a run for New York City mayor. Cuomo would not challenge Adams directly in a hypothetical Democratic primary. Both men share an overlapping base of blue-collar, outer-borough voters. Anthony Scaramucci, the business owner and short-lived Trump spokesperson-turned-critic, told Playbook he would prefer to see Cuomo run for governor again. “I think he’s learned a lot from the political crisis he’s faced,” said Scaramucci, who is also an Adams booster. “It’s made him wiser and more balanced and more consensus-oriented.” Scaramucci added, “I would raise him money and support him.” And former Cuomo advisers see an opening for him to be a voice on key issues. “He feels that the city he loves, that he grew up in, is at a dangerous moment right now,” former top aide Melissa DeRosa said. “He’s going to speak up.” Still, Cuomo’s record as governor continues to raise questions — including from Congress. Cuomo was ordered to appear in May in a closed-door session before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. He will likely be grilled about his handling of nursing homes and long-term care facilities during the initial months of the pandemic and how the state counted resident fatalities. Democratic Assemblymember Ron Kim, a longtime Cuomo critic whose uncle died of Covid in 2020, said the subpoena was welcomed by family members of those who perished in the facilities. Kim spoke to the Covid House panel last fall, he told Playbook. “It’s a level of scrutiny and accountability that these families desperately wanted,” Kim said. “This governor is a born and bred politician who can change narratives and change topics and dodge accountability.” Kim believes Cuomo’s strategy this year has been to change the subject. “He’s doing what he knows how to do: manipulate the media,” Kim said. Cuomo’s team has long maintained the criticism of his handling of the pandemic, an event that initially turned the governor into a national star, is driven by partisanship. And they are still swinging. “Kim knows he’s only relevant when giving MAGA Republicans cover to politicize Covid policy — which was investigated three separate times by DOJ, as well as his own chamber and there was never any there, there,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said. “As he barely wins his own races, I’d hardly call him an expert on elections.” — Nick Reisman IT’S TUESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
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