BLOOMBERG GIVES $7 MILLION: Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $7 million to a new campaign group tied to Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control organization he founded two decades ago. The donation appeared in recent days in a filing to the state Board of Elections from Everytown-Demand a Seat, which is registered as a PAC that can only spend relatively small sums donating to state and local candidates. The same contribution appeared in a nearly identical filing to the Federal Election Commission from a group with the same name. The federal one was registered as a Super PAC that can make independent expenditures of unlimited amounts. Representatives for neither Bloomberg nor Everytown returned requests for comment on their plans. But the two have worked together in the past — four years ago, the ex-mayor announced an initial funding commitment of $15 million to help Democrats in the 2020 federal and state elections. — Bill Mahoney SUBWAY CRIME DOWN: Mayor Adams and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber touted various strategies the city and agency have deployed to drive down crime in the subway this morning — efforts they said are working. Adams and Lieber said subway crime is down 8 percent year-to-date. Those safety efforts include more subway cameras, increased focus on mentally-ill individuals in the subways and a heightened presence of MTA and law enforcement officers. Neither Adams nor Lieber directly addressed the $16.5 billion that’s now missing from the MTA’s capital plan since the indefinite pause of congestion pricing during the announcement, but Lieber said capital improvements are important to public safety. “While we're celebrating the success of the subway safety program that Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams have put in place, we need to look forward to the investments that we can and must make,” he said. The MTA is expected to reveal more details on how the halting of the congestion pricing toll program will affect its financial health, including potential impacts to its operational budget, at the end of the month. — Jason Beeferman ALBANY D.A. LAUNCHES WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN: Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who lost the Democratic primary to defense attorney Lee Kindlon, is not done running for reelection. Soares, a tough-on-crime Democrat who railed against controversial criminal justice policies like cashless bail and raise-the-age in his bid for the nomination, announced the write-in campaign today at an event in downtown Albany. “I'm a loyal, faithful Democrat, but my party decided to impose the most reckless — I call it legislative malpractice — public safety laws that have endangered the Black and Brown community more so than any community,” Soares, who has held the post for two decades, said in a statement. Soares lost the primary to Kindlon, an endorsee of the Working Families Party, by about ten points. The DA had largely sought to make the race a referendum on the Democratic party’s approach to criminal justice, but he was also embroiled in a series of local scandals that damaged his image. In one instance, he awarded himself a personal bonus of about $24,000 with state grant money. He has since returned the money after news of the self-awarded bonus came to light. “I think he is trying to divide the Democratic Party,” Kindlon said of Soares in an interview today. “It’s not going to work,” he said of the write-in campaign. “Not only did I have overwhelming party support going into the primary, but that’s become even stronger now and the party’s united behind my candidacy. I’m just really disappointed in David, I’m just going to be honest.” — Jason Beeferman A PERFECT CALL: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s private love life became the subject of public interest when it was revealed Heastie was dating Rebecca Lamorte, a lobbyist for the Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust, a group advocating for building trades and construction unions. Now new reporting from New York Focus, which first revealed the relationship, is prompting more questions. The outlet reports that Lamorte has since been laid off from the company, and that her dismissal led Heastie to call her former employer to express that he is upset with her departure. The relationship, which first came to light in March, prompted concerns about conflicts of interest for Heastie, who has near total control over which bills pass the Assembly. Heastie’s spokesperson, Mike Whyland, did not respond to Playbook’s requests for comment about the call. — Jason Beeferman — CONGESTION SUITS: The MTA is reducing bus service, so the drivers’ union is suing, THE CITY reports — and that’s just one prong of a legal strategy organized by City Comptroller Brad Lander to force the enactment of congestion pricing. (am New York) — THAT’S SCHUMER’S MUSIC: Sen. Chuck Schumer’s $1.5 billion pension fix for the American Federation of Musicians’ collapsing pension plan is boosting Broadway musicians and other New Yorkers. (Deadline) — UPSTATE TORNADOES: One of four upstate tornadoes ravaged the Syracuse-area city of Rome Tuesday, damaging several buildings and leaving one dead. Hochul visited the area earlier today. (The New York Times) Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? Read it here. | 
