New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams stayed close to home Saturday, kicking off her mayoral campaign in Rochdale Village. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO
Adrienne Adams’ mayoral campaign kickoff was all about Queens — underlining how she plans to win votes in predominantly Black Southeast Queens that Cuomo was counting on to go to him.
“Every New Yorker has their corner of the city that they call home,” Adams said in her speech Saturday, “but Southeast Queens is my corner.”
Introducing herself as “Adrienne from Queens,” (intentionally omitting the last name she shares with the unpopular incumbent), the City Council speaker filled the food court at the Rochdale Village Shopping Center with hundreds of supporters for an energetic rally. It was a bold choice, far from the power center — and television news stations — in Manhattan. But it sent a message.
“Did you know that Southeast Queens has more Black people than metropolitan Atlanta?” state Sen. James Sanders asked the crowd. “If Adrienne Adams, our speaker, is going to be the mayor, it’s because she will have a base called Southeast Queens.”
Assembly districts in Southeast Queens have the highest turnout in the borough. And while Cuomo was raised in Holliswood, Adrienne Adams noted that she still lives in Southeast Queens, and is “not part of any political dynasty.”
She racked up some endorsements — Sanders, Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi and City Council Members Diana Ayala and Yusef Salaam among them — but many big names weren’t on board for her late-entry kickoff. Rep. Greg Meeks, Southeast Queens’ power broker who leads the Queens Democrats, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and unions that helped her become council speaker were not in attendance.
Over in Brooklyn, Cuomo is solidifying support from the borough’s Democratic party, POLITICO reported Saturday.
In fact, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the party leader who has been an ardent defender of Mayor Eric Adams, has told several people she is considering backing Cuomo.
With Eric Adams’ campaign on the ropes, Cuomo also picked up an endorsement Sunday from Assemblymember Jordan Wright, the son of Manhattan Democratic leader Keith Wright. The elder Wright backed Eric Adams four years ago.
The endorsement came after Cuomo criticized other candidates for previously saying “cut the police” while announcing he would raise the NYPD’s ranks to 39,000 by hiring 5,000 more cops.
Candidates to Cuomo’s left, seizing on concerns over crime, have shifted their earlier stances by also proposing to grow the police force. — Jeff Coltin
WHERE’S KATHY? Speaking at the United Federation of Teachers’ Lobby Day in Albany.
WHERE’S ERIC? Making a public safety-related announcement in Brooklyn.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I looked at so many photos of people with brown hair, the same complexion. I’d be like, ‘No, that jawline is not chiseled enough. Those eyebrows are not wild enough.’” — NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, in New York magazine’s profile, on the hunt for alleged killer Luigi Mangione.
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ABOVE THE FOLD
Hochul may not be as vulnerable as some people think. | Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images
PRIMARY CONCERNS: Gov. Kathy Hochul’s likely primary opponents have their work cut out for them, with a new poll finding them lacking name recognition and trailing the incumbent.
A statewide Siena College survey of registered voters released this morning found the Democratic governor draws 46 percent from voters in her own party, against Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s 11 percent and Rep. Ritchie Torres’ 10 percent. Nearly three in 10 of those polled said they don’t know who they’d vote for in that lineup.
The poll of 806 registered voters, conducted last week, is largely based on name recognition.
The governor remains unpopular with voters, half of whom gave her an unfavorable rating compared to 40 percent who view her positively. Within her own party, 59 percent of Democrats registered a favorable opinion of her.
Torres and Delgado have signaled they are preparing runs, but neither has yet declared a candidacy. Their profiles with the vast majority of voters are low: About two-thirds said they don’t know enough about either of them to form an opinion.
Meanwhile two potential GOP gubernatorial candidates — Rep. Mike Lawler and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — similarly struggle statewide with name ID: 63 percent don’t have an opinion of Lawler — including 68 percent of Republicans — while Blakeman remains largely unknown to 74 percent of voters surveyed.
Hochul’s popularity a year before she runs for a second full term is dragging among a growing group of independent voters, 55 percent of whom hold an unfavorable view of her. She is similarly under water in the politically crucial suburbs, where only 39 percent of voters seem to like her.
Siena found Trump draws a 39 percent favorable rating, and the scandal-scarred Cuomo — who resigned in 2021 — is viewed favorably by 37 percent of voters statewide. In the city, he has a 48-41 favorability rating. — Nick Reisman
CALIFORNIA DECODED: The technology industry and its key characters are driving the national political narrative right now, but it is also a uniquely California story. To understand how the Golden State is defining tech policy and politics within its borders and beyond, we’ve launched POLITICO Pro Technology: California Decoded. This new daily newsletter will track how industry players in Silicon Valley are trying to influence state and national lawmakers – and how government officials are encouraging or foiling those figures. Sign up now to get a limited, free trial of this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
CITY HALL: THE LATEST
Eric Adams is one step closer to getting off. | Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
WITHOUT PREJUDICE: An outside lawyer appointed by the judge overseeing the criminal case against Eric Adams advised the judge on Friday to dismiss the case permanently, rather than approve the Justice Department’s request to abandon it for now while preserving the right to reinstate it in the future, POLITICO’s Erica Orden reports.
A permanent dismissal would be a huge relief for the mayor. But the debate over whether to drop his case has led to unprecedented drama within the Justice Department.
Two top Trump appointees defended the Justice Department’s argument for ending the case by releasing internal emails and texts showing assistant prosecutors questioning decisions by former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who charged Adams.
In one of the messages, Hagan Scotten, who had been one of the lead prosecutors on the Adams case before resigning wrote that it was “pretty plausible” that Williams “had a political motive in bringing this case.”
Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro responded, saying he was vindicated in calling the case “a political hit job masquerading as a prosecution.”
Earlier Friday, the Times reported two Manhattan prosecutors who worked on Adams’ case were put on administrative leave by Trump’s Justice Department. — Jeff Coltin
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Shontell Smith is joining Cuomo’s mayoral campaign as political director, a person with direct knowledge of the move told Playbook Sunday.
Smith served as Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins chief of staff and counsel before becoming a partner at the Manhattan-based consulting and lobbying firm Tusk Strategies.
Smith is working on Cuomo’s comeback bid in an individual capacity, and Tusk CEO Chris Coffey is also informally advising Cuomo. The company, which ran Andrew Yang’s unsuccessful 2021 mayoral campaign, has a sprawling practice that would benefit from ties to a New York City mayor.
Smith is also friends with Melissa DeRosa, the longtime aide and adviser to Cuomo who remains a key strategist in his campaign.
As POLITICO reported in January, Cuomo confidant Charlie King was brought on board to advise the mayoral campaign.
The New York Post previously reported the former governor’s team has been rounded out by veteran operatives Neal Kwatra, Prisca Salazar-Rodriguez, Jason Elan and Esther Jensen. Kevin Elkins, a former aide to ex-Rep. Max Rose and political director for the New York City District Council of Carpenters, has also taken a role with Cuomo’s campaign. — Nick Reisman
ICING OUT TRUMP: A couple of park-loving pols are pouring cold water on the Trump Organization’s bid to win back the contract to operate a Central Park skating rink four years after the city pulled the rights because of the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol.
“Parks are supposed to represent openness and be welcoming to all, and I can’t think of a name that more contradicts that history than ‘Trump,’” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who’s running for city comptroller, told Playbook.
He and City Council Parks Committee Chair Shekar Krishnan sent a letter to Eric Adams Friday saying the city shouldn’t even consider the Trump company’s bid. Levine favors giving the contract to operate Wollman Rink to the Central Park Conservancy instead.
Trump’s company said in November it would submit a bid. A Parks Department spokesperson told Playbook the city is “in the process of reviewing all proposals.”
It’s an easy move for Levine, given Trump’s unpopularity among New York City Democrats who will decide between him and City Council finance chair Justin Brannan in the June 24 primary. It also stands to put the mayor in an awkward position, given his legally motivated desire to stay in the Republican president's good graces. — Jeff Coltin
More from the city:
— Cuomo’s legal fees soared since he left office — and taxpayers are holding the bill. (New York Law Journal)
— Allies of socialist Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani have formed a super PAC to support his mayoral bid. (Daily News)
— Eric Adams has lost New York, and after promising law and order, his scandal-ridden mayoralty became a symbol and engine of the city’s chaos. (New York Times Magazine)
NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY
New York Sen. Jessica Ramos stands with protesters urging lawmakers to raise New York's minimum wage during a rally at the state Capitol, March 13, 2023, in Albany, New York. | Hans Pennink/AP
A WEEK IN THE LIFE: Two state lawmakers — Democratic Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas — are participating in a weeklong challenge of living off the average $20-a-day pay of a nonprofit human service worker.
The effort is meant to highlight the low pay — about $36,588 a year — social workers, foster care employees and language access teachers receive and secure a pay raise for them in the state budget, which is due April 1.
The state Senate and Assembly today will unveil their non-binding budget resolutions in response to Hochul’s $252 billion plan.
“New York’s human service workers are the backbone of our state, showing up daily to care for our neighbors — seniors, children, families in crisis, and people with mental health needs,” said Michelle Jackson, executive director of the Human Services Council, an advocacy group. “Yet, despite their essential work, they are paid meager wages in one of the most expensive states in the country.” — Nick Reisman
More from Albany:
— The firing of federal workers has hit employees in the Capital Region. (Times Union)
— Many corrections officers are expected to be back at work today after a deal was reached to end the unauthorized strikes. (Buffalo News)
— Democratic lawmakers will release their state budget counter proposals this week. (NY1)
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KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
Pro-Palestinian supporters demonstrate with an encampment on the campus of Columbia University on April 29, 2024. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
CONFLICT AT COLUMBIA: Trump’s yanking of $400 million from Columbia University drew praise from Republicans and condemnation from Democrats in an ongoing clash over antisemitism on college campuses.
Tensions at the Ivy League institution were heightened a day later when federal immigration agents arrested a graduate student central to last year’s protests against Israel, according to the attorney for the student, Mahmoud Khalil.
Before the arrest, Reps. Jerry Nadler and Adriano Espaillat had said the slashing of Columbia’s grants and contracts would send a chilling message that schools must align with the MAGA agenda but would not keep Jewish students safe.
“Revoking federal grants to Columbia University isn’t about combating anti-Semitism; it’s about the Trump administration’s war on education and science,” the Manhattan Democrats said in a joint statement. “If the Trump administration were as serious about anti-Semitism as they claim, they would not have filled their ranks with unapologetic antisemites.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik applauded Trump’s move.
“President Trump is delivering on his promise to hold universities like Columbia accountable by defunding them for failing to protect their Jewish communities,” she said in a statement. “I’m proud of my efforts on the Education Committee which led to the FORMER Columbia University President’s resignation.”
The North Country Republican, who is awaiting confirmation as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was referencing how she gained prominence by grilling university leaders at a congressional hearing.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, told Newsmax that Americans have been shocked that Columbia receives that sum of federal money.
Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, responded, “There is no question that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the University, impacting students, faculty, staff, research, and patient care.” She called combating antisemitism on campus the school’s No. 1 priority.
New York University is on the list of schools that could be next. — Emily Ngo
More from the delegation:
— “Potty mouth” Democrats have some new fighting words. (POLITICO)
— Rep. Tom Suozzi says Democrats have been left out of the House spending plan. (Newsday)
— Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) have become unlikely allies on legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. (New York Post)
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
— The utility that serves New York City and Westchester County has filed a request to raise its rates to help pay for the shift to cleaner energy, sparking dismay. (New York Times)
— Truckers are using a Southeast Queens neighborhood as a parking lot. (Gothamist)
— Officials are investigating whether a large wildfire on Long Island was due to arson. (Newsday)
SOCIAL DATA
Edited by Daniel Lippman
MAKING MOVES: The Museum of the City of New York has hired Zoe Costanzo as chief development officer. She was previously senior director of individual giving at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: FDNY’s Derek Poppe … Corning Place’s Chyresse Wells … Paul Egan … CNN’s Jim Sciutto and Mike Callahan … POLITICO’s Brad Dayspring … NYT’s Danny Hakim … CNBC’s David Faber … Murong Yang … Alina Cho … (WAS SUNDAY): City Hall’s Erika Tannor … Raj Shah of the Rockefeller Foundation … Axcelsior’s Michael Harrison … NYPD’s Seth Severino … Leah Nylen … Warren Rojas … NBC’s Doug Adams … Kimberly Guilfoyle … Charlie Gibson … Michael Kinsley … EY’s Margaret Carlson ... Neal Shapiro ... Nouriel Roubini ... Gordon Platt … Nicole Scro … Michelle Merlin … Sarah Swinehart Massey …
… (WAS SATURDAY): DHC’s Zack Fink … NBC’s Lester Holt … Jenna Laing … former state Sen. Ted O’Brien … Tunisha Walker-Miller … David Malpass … Robert Wolf … Larry Fine ... Alexander Rapaport ... Nate Sobel ... Emma Brodie … Taylor Lustig … Alexandra Olsman … (WAS FRIDAY): Myron Belkind ... Nicole Lapin
Missed Friday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
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New York has some of the highest rideshare insurance costs in the country. In fact the state requires $1.25 million in liability coverage when a passenger is in the car. That's 25 times more than what's required for personal vehicles.
Rising insurance premiums are also fueled by lawsuit abuse, making trips more expensive for riders and harder for drivers to afford.
"Everybody's using Uber. But because insurance keeps going up, it's hard for them to afford it. That wasn't really an issue before. Lawmakers need to do something about it," says Uber driver Withman Santiagos.
Uber is advocating for commonsense reforms to keep trips covered while lowering costs.
