| | | | |  | | By Maya Kaufman, Emily Ngo, Jeff Coltin and Nick Reisman | Programming note: New York Playbook is off Wednesday for Juneteenth. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Thursday. With help from Rich Mendez
|  Mayor Eric Adams is facing increased pressure to ensure that IVF coverage includes gay men who wish to start a family but cannot provide an infertility diagnosis. | Michael Wyke/AP | The Adams administration is facing a legal and legislative battle over the meaning of “infertility.” The City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus is pushing Mayor Eric Adams to extend IVF coverage to gay men who work for the city but struggle to access the benefit. That’s because, according to the caucus, the city health plan only covers cycles of in vitro fertilization for employees who can show documentation of infertility — defined as the incapacity to impregnate someone else or to conceive. The definition is memorialized in a 2020 state law that requires insurance plans to cover three cycles of IVF for people facing infertility. “As members of the City Council, we strongly believe that the family building benefits should be offered to all employees, and it cannot be conditioned on a definition of heteronormative infertility,” the caucus wrote in a letter to Adams that’s first in Playbook. “Although the City’s discriminatory policy predates this Administration, the current Administration can solve this problem.” The city is already facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that the policy discriminates against same-sex couples who cannot obtain an infertility diagnosis. That case was filed in May by Corey Briskin, a former prosecutor at the Manhattan DA’s Office who alleges he was told in 2021 that he and his spouse were ineligible for IVF coverage. The exclusion has significant financial implications for municipal workers, often already working for lower salaries than they might enjoy in the private sector: A single IVF cycle can cost tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket, and more than one cycle is usually needed. Today, the City Council’s health committee will host a hearing on a bill that would require the city to cover assisted reproduction services and adoption for municipal employees — no infertility diagnosis needed. And Briskin, whose case inspired the legislation, is slated to testify. The measure is sponsored by Council Member Lynn Schulman, who chairs the health committee and is also a member of the council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus. “We’re hoping that the City Council’s great leadership on this issue will rub off on Mayor Adams,” Peter Romer-Friedman, Briskin’s lawyer, told Playbook. City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said the city’s health plan covers IVF treatments for municipal employees “regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation” — with eligibility based on state rules and guidance — but it does not cover costs associated with egg or sperm donation or with surrogacy. “The Adams administration proudly supports the rights of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to access the health care they need,” Garcia said in a statement. This comes as IVF is under fire by some segments of conservatives across the country. The Southern Baptist Convention last week voted to oppose it — a signal that anti-abortion activists on the right see the procedure as the next stage of their movement. — Maya Kaufman IT’S TUESDAY. 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. | | | | | WHERE’S KATHY? Delivering remarks about statewide preparations for upcoming extreme heat conditions, then making a cannabis-related announcement. WHERE’S ERIC? Joining Gov. Hochul in making a cannabis-related announcement, then speaking at NYPD Medal Day and hosting a Juneteenth celebration reception in the evening. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I want to witness an extraordinary embarrassment and outrageous conduct from a government official who stands up there and tries to act like he’s holier than thou.” — New Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, who in a bit of theater rivaling New York politics sat front row as Attorney General Matt Platkin announced racketeering charges against him.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
Lefty Democrats will start airing $900,000 in ads supporting Rep. Jamaal Bowman today. | Illustration by Bill Kuchman/POLITICO (source images via AP, Getty Images, iStock) | PRO-BOWMAN SPEND: Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party are all in for Rep. Jamaal Bowman, even if they can’t come remotely close to matching AIPAC’s unprecedented spending. First in Playbook, their PAC will be on air beginning today with a $900,000 buy for their final ad of the primary as Bowman tries to fend off formidable challenger George Latimer. “NY-16: Real” champions the endangered Squad member as best positioned to take on Republicans. The late-in-the-race spot will run through Tuesday, Primary Day. The pro-Israel AIPAC’s United Democracy Project, by comparison, has reserved $2 million this week to boost Latimer after $1.8 million last week, $1.7 million the week before that and earlier buys — together totaling nearly $13 million, according to AdImpact. Justice Democrats said the timing is crucial. “In the closing days of this race, when everyone is paying attention, we’re going all in to make sure voters understand the choice in this election: between Congressman Jamaal Bowman, an accomplished legislator who’s helped pass historic legislation and brought back over a billion in federal funding for this district, and George Latimer, who will be a thorn in the side of President Biden,” Hannah Fertig, independent expenditure director at Justice Democrats, told Playbook. Bowman has more recently sought to show where he and Biden are simpatico, including on a mission to tax the wealthy, amid attacks that he, as a far-left agitator, is too extreme to work with mainstream Democrats. But Latimer and his allies have noted that the incumbent House member voted against President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and said the $1 billion that Bowman claims to have brought back to his Westchester County and Bronx district is misleadingly calculated, as Playbook has reported. Expect those and other attacks to ramp up this evening, when the Democratic rivals meet for a televised debate hosted by PIX11. — Emily Ngo
| | CITY HALL: THE LATEST | | | | 
Adams' financial disclosures revealed he held onto his Bitcoin investment, had parts of his Latin America trip paid for by the Colombian government and more. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office | OPEN THE BOOKS: Adams held onto his Bitcoin investment. He’s still making royalties off his healthy eating book. And the mayor has kept his share of a Prospect Heights co-op he once claimed he’d given up. Adams’ annual financial disclosure that POLITICO reviewed Monday also revealed that he’d accepted free tickets to the U.S. Open — but that typically outlawed move was OK because he spoke at the tennis tournament’s opening ceremony. The mayor disclosed parts of his October trip to Latin America were paid for by the Colombian government, and by a Mexican forum — despite his previous public claims he was “paying my own way,” THE CITY pointed out. Filings also revealed details from other elected officials’ trips. The European Janusz Korczak Academy, a Jewish foundation, paid between $5,000 and $55,000 for Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine’s visit to Germany. The Attorney General Alliance covered Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s presentation at a South Africa conference. And newly-elected City Council Member Yusef Salaam reported giving 21 paid speeches last year, about being exonerated as one of the Central Park 5, to groups ranging from the University of Dayton to the Bally’s Corporation. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Rents on the city’s roughly 1 million regulated apartments will increase by 2.75 percent, following a vote that is fueling Adams’ political opponents. (POLITICO) — The City Council staffers union approved a resolution calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and for the city’s pension fund to be divested from Israeli investments. (Forward) — Adams reiterated his support for a ban on face masks proposed last week, but he did not say how it should account for those using masks out of medical necessity. (Daily News)
| | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | | 
In a report released Monday, the Hochul administration recommended more naxolone training to address opioid addiction in New York. | Mel Evans/AP | OPIOID CRISIS: Boost naloxone training. Increase outreach to veterans and older people. Expand safe drug disposal. Those were among the recommendations in a report released Monday by the Hochul administration to address opioid addiction in New York. The report from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Overdose Prevention came with little fanfare – or notice from advocates who have sought a more aggressive approach to address the problem. The task force’s recommendations, which included better training for countering the effects of opioid overdoses, following up on post-overdose care and a beefed-up public information campaign, did not include more controversial proposals such as supporting supervised injection sites. Hochul has often spoken about how opioid addiction has taken a personal toll on her family following the death of her nephew. “The illicit supply of drugs continues to increase and reflects a national concern,” the report stated. “The ‘demand’ problem lends itself to public health approaches that address the population at risk and minimize their exposure at multiple opportunities.” — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — A Siena poll found more New Yorkers are being impacted by opioid addiction. (Times Union) — A Democratic first-time state Senate candidate on Long Island reports over half a million dollars in fundraising. (City & State) — A consulting company New York hired to pay out federal rental assistance agreed to pay $11 million in a settlement over alleged cybersecurity issues. (Times Union)
| | KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION | | | 
House Speaker Mike Johnson is returning to the Hudson Valley to support Republicans Alison Esposito and Rep. Mike Lawler in their races. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | SPEAKER’S SWING: Fresh off a political strategy meeting with former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson is coming back to the Hudson Valley this weekend to fundraise for Republican candidates Alison Esposito and Rep. Mike Lawler. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus is hosting a Saturday afternoon fundraiser for Esposito, with Johnson as a special guest, according to an invite obtained by Playbook. The speaker endorsed Esposito in February in her run against Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, but this is his first event for her. Esposito is running to be the only out gay Republican in Congress — but the invite with the speaker who has fought same-sex marriage doesn’t mention it’s Pride Month. A spokesperson for Ryan dubbed them “Upper East Side Alison and Louisiana Mike — two far-right extremists nobody in the Hudson Valley had heard of 6 months ago, who nobody will remember 6 months from now.” Johnson will join investor Gary Killian and former lieutenant governor candidate Julie Killian later Saturday in Westchester County, to support Lawler, as Bloomberg first reported. And Johnson is attending another Lawler fundraiser in Rockland County early Sunday morning, LoHud first reported. Johnson fundraised for incumbents in New York in December, and again in February. Mondaire Jones said his opponent’s “support for the most extreme Speaker of the House in modern history makes it clear that while Lawler likes to masquerade as a moderate, he is a reliable vote for the extreme MAGA Republicans.” Lawler spokesperson Chris Russell said Johnson’s second visit to the district “is a clear indication of the Congressman’s stature as a serious-minded leader and problem solver.” — Jeff Coltin
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/26 FOR A TALK ON AMERICA’S SUPPLY CHAIN: From the energy grid to defense factories, America’s critical sites and services are a national priority. Keeping them up and running means staying ahead of the threat and protecting the supply chains that feed into them. POLITICO will convene U.S. leaders from agencies, Congress and the industry on June 26 to discuss the latest challenges and solutions for protecting the supply lines into America’s critical infrastructure. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — Congestion pricing may be paused, but the system's new cameras are up and running. (Daily News) — New York City has activated its Heat Emergency Plan ahead of an expected heat wave this week. (PIX 11) — About 23,000 people took part in the first weekend of early voting for federal and state primary elections in New York. (State of Politics)
| | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Johnny Celestin is now executive director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services. He was previously deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises. … REBNY VP for government affairs Ryan Monell has left to join BusPatrol as senior vice president of government operations. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NYC Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez … Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) … NYC Chief Climate Officer Rit Aggarwala … Dina Powell McCormick … Joanne Lipman … CNN’s DJ Judd … Axios’ Nick Johnston … Sophia Templin … Mary Ann Georgantopoulos … Dylan F. Pyne … (WAS MONDAY): Matthew Nimetz ... George Akerlof ... Tory Burch ... Dominic Green Missed Monday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here. | | | | 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 | | | | |
