| | | | |  | | By Irie Sentner, Nick Reisman, Emily Ngo and Jeff Coltin | |  Columbia President Minouche Shafik called on the NYPD to enter campus and arrest over 100 protesters. | Irie Sentner/POLITICO | On Wednesday, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik faced the House committee whose grilling led to the ouster of her Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania counterparts last year. Panel members of the hearing focused on campus antisemitism and wanted to know how Shafik was protecting Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus with frequent pro-Palestinian protests. One day later, Shafik made national headlines — calling on the NYPD to descend on Columbia’s campus and arrest a group of students who had set up tents and refused to leave their “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” for 30 hours. The encampment, Shafik wrote to the NYPD, posed “a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the University.” In all, more than 100 protesters were zip-tied, loaded onto numerous NYPD buses and charged with trespassing. Thousands more surrounded the field, screaming for the officers to stop. “Columbia University’s students have a proud history of protest and raising their voices,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a news conference Thursday evening. “Students have a right to free speech, but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus.” It was the largest escalation yet for a university that has been engulfed in tension since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, and it shows no signs of abating. Rep. Jamaal Bowman today plans to attend a press conference with Columbia professors in response to the crackdown. Thursday’s scene unfolded as college campuses throughout the country have become a locus for friction around the war, and the arrests at Columbia are the latest evidence that prestigious universities are feeling more compelled to appease conservatives and other Israel supporters who have long criticized them for what they see as promoting progressive and sometimes anti-Zionist ideology. “I am glad President Shafik has taken the long overdue step of inviting the New York Police Department (NYPD) to clear this radical, unauthorized encampment,” North Carolina GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx, who chairs the House education committee, said in a statement. In Wednesday’s opening remarks, Foxx blasted Shafik and her administration for “repeatedly [failing] in their duty to protect Jewish students from” rising antisemitism. (The pro-Palestinian student groups at Columbia have emphasized that they do not believe anti-Zionism is antisemitism and that many of their members are Jewish.) But Shafik’s move also drew the ire of free speech hawks, who condemned the arrests at a university whose former president was a First Amendment legal scholar. “What merits asymmetric crackdowns on Palestinian human rights protests?” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an X post defending Rep. Ilhan Omar's daughter Isra Hirsi, a Barnard College student who was suspended and arrested. On Thursday, New York Civil Liberties Union executive director Donna Lieberman said in a statement that Columbia’s “excessive response” comes “amid heavy-handed pressure from Congress to clamp down on student protest that criticizes Israel” and “raises further concerns about [Columbia’s] commitment to free expression.” — Irie Sentner HAPPY FRIDAY. See you at the Inner Circle Show. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | 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.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | DO WE HAVE A BUDGET YET? Whoa-oh, we’re halfway there. WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany and New York City, making a cannabis budget announcement with Mayor Eric Adams. WHERE’S ERIC? Making a cannabis budget-related announcement with Gov. Kathy Hochul, calling in for a live interview on Good Music, Good Times LIVE’s “The Reset Talk Show,” meeting with high school students who participated in his “CivicsXcellence” program and delivering remarks at the Gay Officers Action League’s 42nd anniversary gala. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It was a mutual decision. … We’re not pushing anyone out.” — Adams chief adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin, confirming on PIX11 that corporation counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix would be leaving City Hall. Adams hopes to appoint Randy Mastro, despite City Council opposition.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a former Erie County clerk, has often talked about calibrating policies in Albany with local governments in mind. | Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | LET THE LOCALS DECIDE: Parts of the state budget will punt key decisions — from speed limits to rent regulations — to local governments in New York. Hochul on Thursday touted the pending approval of a measure known as Sammy’s Law in the state budget that will allow the New York City Council to lower the default 25 mph speed limit on many streets. “It should be up to localities,” Hochul told reporters after an unrelated event in Manhattan. “Let the localities be empowered to do what is right.” The speed limit provision is not the only measure in the budget granting some measure of power to local governments. Local governments outside of New York City will be allowed to opt into elements of the Good Cause Eviction rent regulations that is part of the pending housing package. And municipal governments will have a say over how they decide to crack down on illegal cannabis shops. Hochul, a former Erie County clerk, has often talked about calibrating policies in Albany with local governments in mind. And local officials — from Buffalo to the Bronx — have often chafed over a lack of “home rule” when it comes to decisions made by the state government. “You know my philosophy as a former local government official — a lot of these decisions shouldn’t be made in Albany,” Hochul said. — Nick Reisman
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
The Legislature and the Board of Regents will come up with a list of nominees from which Mayor Eric Adams can choose to serve on the Panel for Education Policy, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. | Mike Groll/AP | A PEP IN LAWMAKERS’ STEP: State lawmakers will now have a say in who heads an oversight panel central to Adams’ authority over public schools. As part of a tentative agreement granting Adams a two-year extension of mayoral control of schools, the Legislature and the Board of Regents will come up with a list of nominees from which the mayor can choose, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters Thursday. Currently, Panel for Education Policy members designate a chair through a vote. But the mayor effectively chooses the chair given that he appoints the majority of the governing body’s members. Stewart-Cousins said her conference is focused on determining “the right balance in terms of parental input.” She said that was part of what they were examining when they had state education officials study mayoral control, founded in 2002 under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The deal — a partial win for Adams as he secured a renewal through budget negotiations — comes with conditions. For one, the city has to maintain its share of school funding. And in a concession to the powerful teachers union, the administration will have to come up with a more detailed plan for building schools to adhere to a state law mandating lower class sizes. — Madina Touré and Katelyn Cordero ONE45, TAKE THREE: The Harlem real estate proposal blocked in large part by opposition from then-Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan has been revived for a second time, now that she’s out of office. First in Playbook, developer Bruce Teitelbaum filed Wednesday to start the land use review process to build an apartment building at the corner of 145th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Manhattan. “It’s taken way too long for us to build 1,000 new homes in Harlem but since there’s now light at the end of the tunnel,” Teitelbaum said, adding that he wouldn’t be moving forward if he didn’t have a good working relationship with new Council Member Yusef Salaam. Salaam’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. Teitelbaum, who was previously partnering with the Rev. Al Sharpton to build a civil rights museum on the site as well, pulled the rezoning application in 2022 when negotiations broke down and has been using the site as a truck depot — to local annoyance. — Jeff Coltin AMEN: Texas megachurch preacher Joel Osteen spoke at an NYPD event Thursday, according to an X post from Chief of Patrol John Chell. The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether the multimillionaire was paid for the appearance. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Another contributor to Adams’ campaign pleaded guilty to organizing a straw donor scheme. (POLITICO) — The Rent Guidelines Board is considering rent increases of up to 7 percent over two years based on a modest rise in landlord costs. (POLITICO Pro) — Potential changes to the city’s short-term rental law for owner-occupied and two-family homes are being debated. (NY1)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
"Everyone was in agreement that we needed to give cities and municipalities the authority to close down [unlicensed cannabis] shops on their own," Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar said. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office | CANNA-DEAL: State lawmakers have put the finishing touches on a measure Thursday meant to halt the spread of unlicensed cannabis shops across the state. The provision, tucked into the broader state budget agreement, satisfies one of the major priorities for Adams this year in Albany as well as Hochul. Both officials have pledged to address the issue of proliferating illicit cannabis sales they argue have helped strangle the legal sector of the industry. The agreement will give a freer hand to inspect and shut down unlicensed sellers. “By the time the budget season came, everyone was in agreement that we needed to give cities and municipalities the authority to close down these shops on their own because they have the manpower,” Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar told Playbook. New York’s cannabis marketplace has struggled under the weight of lawsuits and a slow rollout of licenses. But illegal sellers have become a target of ire — especially those that are set up near a school. “It was a fight and I know enforcement has been a hot topic since we were trying to pass the (Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act) three years ago,” state Sen. Jeremy Cooney told Playbook. “We just wanted to make sure we got it right.” Lawmakers and Hochul have also agreed to drop the state portion of a tax on medically prescribed cannabis — putting it in line with other prescription drugs that are not taxed by the state. “We don’t do that for any other type of health care prescription,” Cooney said. — Nick Reisman
| | | | POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2024 MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: POLITICO will again be your eyes and ears at the 27th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles from May 5-8 with exclusive, daily, reporting in our Global Playbook newsletter. Suzanne Lynch will be on the ground covering the biggest moments, behind-the-scenes buzz and on-stage insights from global leaders in health, finance, tech, philanthropy and beyond. Get a front-row seat to where the most interesting minds and top global leaders confront the world’s most pressing and complex challenges — subscribe today. | | | | | | | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — The 12-person jury in former President Donald Trump was officially set on the third day of his criminal falsifying business records trial. (POLITICO) — A plan to save SUNY Downstate in the budget will tie a $300 million bailout to a new panel's findings. (POLITICO Pro) — Liquor sales at movie theaters in New York are coming to a cineplex near you. (POLITICO Pro) — Local governments are in line to get more money from the state as part of the budget deal. (Newsday) — A last-minute budget change could limit penalties for employers that violate a wage provision. (NYS Focus)
| | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman SPOTTED: At the Hispanic Federation’s annual gala, chaired by Lin-Manuel Miranda, at the American Museum of Natural History on Thursday night: the nonprofit’s president, Frankie Miranda, Jennifer Lopez, Matt Damon, Diego Luna, Alex Sensation, Hochul, Adams, Attorney General Times James and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. … At Great White cafe in Venice, Calif. on Tuesday, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. MEDIAWATCH: New York Post senior reporter for civic affairs Nolan Hicks was laid off Thursday, among others at the paper. The Post is “making some changes in our newsroom to restructure our operation,” according to a note to staff from publisher Sean Giancola and editor-in-chief Keith Poole. But a Post source says they’ll be hiring new reporters to cover the city too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC’s Sheinelle Jones ... CNN’s Emily Kuhn … Bloomberg’s Felix Gillette … (WAS THURSDAY): Ira Glasser
| | YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY | | | | 15 Votes against the casino zoning text amendment before the New York City Council Thursday — and 35 in favor — easing the way for gaming in the city. | | | | | | 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 | | | | |
