Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers
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By ERIN DURKIN, ANNA GRONEWOLD and JULIAN SHEN-BERRO
Gov. Kathy Hochul arrived to last night’s final pre-primary squall in Manhattan with endorsements from The New York Times and New York City Mayor Eric Adams in hand, along with some new polling showing hearty favorability leads among registered Democrats.
So the debate quickly became “fiery,” as promised by NBC, as Rep. Tom Suozzi and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams piled onto the frontrunner.
Suozzi goaded Hochul by talking over her answers and usurping the moderators with his own questions, at one point repeating “governor, governor, governor,” in an attempt to engage her after she noted his shifting position on the Florida parental rights law that critics have dubbed "Don’t Say Gay." Williams joined Suozzi in pivoting most of his comments to criticizing Hochul, specifically that she should be judged by her actions — or lack thereof — during her years as lieutenant governor under Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The candidates didn’t tread much new ground in their positioning or even attacks on one another, though the tone was sharper, particularly from a visibly exasperated Hochul.
“Please stop interrupting me,” Hochul said when Suozzi pressed her on the National Rifle Association endorsement she received while in Congress. “People want to hear my answer, which is: I’ve addressed this. That attack is [from] over a decade ago.”
But there were a couple new topics, including whether the candidates would accept an endorsement from Cuomo, who resigned in August amid sexual harassment allegations. Only Suozzi said that he would. “I think he is still very popular among a lot of people in New York state. While he has a lot of baggage along with what he’s done, he’s accomplished a great deal in the state of New York,” Suozzi said.
Yes, they were asked where upstate New York begins and no, none of their answers will satisfy many upstaters. We also learned the bagel orders — lox and cream cheese for Williams; poppyseed with tuna for Suozzi; cinnamon-raisin with sweetened cream cheese and sometimes maple syrup for Hochul. Thankfully none were ghastly enough to inspire a fullnewscycle of thinkpieces.
Early voting starts tomorrow, and Republican candidates for governor still have one more debate scheduled for next week.
IT’S FRIDAY. Editor's note: "Cinnamon-raisin with sweetened cream cheese and sometimes maple syrup" is a lot to process. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: [email protected] and [email protected] , or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold
WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City and Erie County.
WHERE’S ERIC? Making an LGBTQ+ social services-related announcement and joining the inaugural ferry ride of the "Sandy Ground" Staten Island ferry from St. George’s Terminal in Staten Island to Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook will not publish on Monday, June 20 for Juneteenth. We’ll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. Please continue to follow POLITICO New York.
Instacart connects New Yorkers to the local stores they love in their communities. https://newyorkimpact.instacart.com/
“Poll Workers Become Pawns in Battle for Brooklyn’s Democratic Party,” by The City’s Yoav Gonen and George Joseph: “Someone working all 30 of those voting days would earn as much as $8,250. Poll workers confirm voters are casting ballots at the right location and shepherd them through the process of filling out and scanning their ballots. They’re on the payroll of the city Board of Elections. The poll worker power battle is playing out in a heavily contested election that could determine who controls the Brooklyn Democratic Party, which has also featured candidates placed on ballots without their knowledge and forged signatures on paperwork seeking to throw candidates off the ballot. Bichotte Hermelyn’s district leader allies are facing a wave of organized challengers threatening the establishment’s grip on power. In turn, Bichotte and her allies are challenging several incumbents opposed to her leadership. Poll workers have become unwitting pawns in that battle for party control.”
— “A coalition of government watchdog groups is calling on Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to investigate a rash of forgeries identified by THE CITY in ballot challenges linked to the Brooklyn Democratic Party establishment.”
“Ocasio-Cortez Accuses City Council Speaker of Playing ‘Dirty Politics,’” by The New York Times’ Jeffery C. Mays and Emma G. Fitzsimmons: “Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a frequent critic of moderate Democrats in her own party, has accused the speaker of the New York City Council of playing ‘dirty politics’ against several progressive Democrats. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez criticized the speaker, Adrienne Adams, over a final city budget deal that she said included ‘unconscionable’ cuts to education, and accused her of punishing Council members — most of them sharing Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s leftist views — who voted against her. In an Instagram video on Tuesday night that was captioned ‘What dirty politics looks like,’ the congresswoman said that the speaker deprived community groups that were supported by dissenting members, including an after-school program at a Boys & Girls Club in Queens.”
— Council speaker claps back at AOC's budget gripes, by POLITICO’s Sally Goldenberg: City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams told progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to stay in her lane on Thursday, after the Congress member weighed in on a Council budget dispute that has fractured the body’s progressive wing. “Some federal elected officials forget that a city is not managed through Twitter or social media,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference, not mentioning Ocasio-Cortez by name. “I’ve stepped back and decided not to engage in the back-and-forth mudslinging and frankly slander by some, who acted without factual information, showed no care to, and never bothered to even seek the truth. Today, I want to set the record straight, because facts still do matter, at least to me, even if they may not to others.”
“NYC and New Jersey picked as hosts for 2026 FIFA World Cup,” by Daily News’ Chris Sommerfeldt and Michael Gartland: “The Big Apple and the Garden State will play hosts to one of the biggest sporting events on the globe in four years time when FIFA’s World Cup is slated to kick off in North America for the first time since 1994. The news that New York City and New Jersey will be among 16 North American cities hosting the 2026 soccer games came late Thursday during a live-streamed announcement ceremony by FIFA officials. Mayor Adams and Gov. Murphy, who jointly filed an application to become a host, celebrated the news during a watch party Thursday night at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy celebrate FIFA’s announcement on Thursday, June 16 that New York/New Jersey would host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
“One in Three Jobless Workers in NYC Are Long-Term Unemployed,” by The City’s Greg David and Suhail Bhat: “New York City added 25,000 jobs in May, continuing a trend of modest gains — mostly in leisure and hospitality, such as restaurants and hotels — as the unemployment rate ticked down. But economists are increasingly alarmed by a worrisome increase in the number of long-term unemployed, defined as those who have been out of work for six months or more. … One year into the pandemic, seven out of 10 unemployed workers in NYC had been without a job for six months, according to a detailed survey of the city’s labor force released by the state comptroller last month. In March, two years after the pandemic hit, one in three unemployed city workers fell into that category compared with less than one in four nationally.”
“How Lobbyists Killed a Bill to Protect New York Elections, With An Assist from the NAACP,” by New York Focus’ Sam Mellins: “New York’s elections could soon be at risk of getting hacked. That’s because the state Board of Elections may soon approve certain voting machines that experts say are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. A bill that would have banned those machines passed the state Senate last month, but it died in the state Assembly after the elections committee chair refused to let it come to a vote.
After passing the Senate on May 31, the bill, sponsored by state Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), seemed like a solid bet for passage in the Assembly, since it was sponsored by nearly half of the Assembly’s Democrats, as well as several Republicans. But it never got a vote. It was blocked by a team of opponents including Assemblymember Latrice Walker (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the chamber’s Election Law Committee, lobbyists for the voting machine company Election Systems & Software, and—perhaps unexpectedly—the New York State chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, which used language taken directly from a lobbyist’s memo to successfully pressure key lawmakers to kill it.”
New York may have a partial ban on cryptocurrency mining. That’s if Hochul doesn't veto it., by POLITICO’s Marie J. French: The burgeoning cryptocurrency industry in New York and Gov. Kathy Hochul face a showdown over whether she will sign or veto the nation's first partial ban on fossil fuel powered Bitcoin mining. Industry groups and individual companies are pushing the Democratic governor to reject the first-in-the-nation bill that passed the state Legislature earlier this month to pause some permits for an energy intensive process in order to earn digital currencies if they are powered by fossil fuel plants spewing planet-warming gasses.
On one side, the industry is warning they will take their business to other states with energy-rich resources, even though the moratorium would probably have little impact on their operations. On the other side are environmental groups — who are planning rallies and making the case that Hochul must sign the bill if she wants the state to achieve its ambitious emissions reductions targets that are already enshrined in law. And in the middle is Hochul, who is seeking her first full term this year and hasn't signaled whether she will sign the groundbreaking bill into law.
“State’s mass vaccination sites to close as COVID-19 cases decline,” by Times Union’s Rachel Silberstein: “The state Department of Health is closing its eight COVID-19 mass vaccination sites this month, including those located at Crossgates Mall in Guilderland and Aviation Mall in Queensbury. The decision to close the clinics comes as average daily infection levels in every part of the state drop to a new low since the omicron surge began. Infections dropped approximately 20 percent since last week, according to state data published Wednesday.”
#UpstateAmerica: Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay has a just-OK Saratoga home but the backyard view of the Saratoga Race Course is exceptional.
“Steve Bannon goes from federal court to fundraiser to support Andrew Giuliani’s campaign,” by New York Post’s Bernadette Hogan: “Steve Bannon drove from DC federal court Wednesday to an Andrew Giuliani fundraiser at former President Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf course — praising him as the ‘next governor of New York, to save New York.’ Bannon said Giuliani was ‘born of the grit of two warriors’ — referring to Trump and his dad, ex-NYC Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, according to a source. A crowd of nearly 100 supporters gathered at the Trump National Bedminster Golf Club campaign soiree, co-hosted by Rudy and ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a source told The Post. But earlier that day, Judge Carl Nichols of the DC District Court slapped down Bannon’s motion to dismiss the criminal charges filed against him, after he refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the House select committee last fall tasked with investigating what happened during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.”
— Convicted scammer Anna Delvey said she plans to launch a collection of NFTs from the Orange County Correctional Facility.
— Republican state Sen. Joe Griffo wants more options for getting rid of hundreds of thousands of gallons of NY Clean hand sanitizer.
— Former Gov. George Pataki is headed to Ukraine for an aid mission.
— The company Carl Paladino founded has airbrushed him from the firm’s website.
— Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is pitching fellow Democrats on his idea for a new $85 million aquarium in Syracuse.
— Financial pressures are building at SUNY’s Erie Community College.
— Most uses of solitary confinement on Rikers Island would be banned under new legislation.
— New York state's private sectoradded more than 27,000 jobs last month.
— A TikTok account is documenting the locations of public bathrooms around New York City.
— LaGuardia and Newark Airports sawmore than a quarter of their flights canceled Thursday, with over a third nixed at the former.
— A Black composer’s orchestral piece is set to play in Harlem for the first time in 85 years, as part of Juneteenth celebrations.
— A Brooklyn venue has canceled a scheduled concert by John Hinckley Jr., who shot former President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Matt Canter of Global Strategy Group … Matt Miller of Vianovo … Alex Weprin … Diane Blagman of Greenberg Traurig … The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer ... Tory Burch … CBS’ Nicole Domenica Sganga ... CNBC’s Christina Wilkie … CNN’s Allie Malloy … Jon Leibowitz … Amazon’s Jessica Boulanger … Rebecca Zisser … Lee Newton Rhodes … Maxwell Nunes … (was Thursday): Ronen Bergman
MAKING MOVES — Rebecca Tulloch is now director of scheduling for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). She most recently was director of operations for Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Ben Hand, an associate attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, and Monica Somers, the senior epic principal trainer at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, recently welcomed Winston Anthony Hand. Pic ... Another pic
Across New York, Instacart shoppers connect local communities to neighborhood businesses and give customers more time to spend with friends and family. https://newyorkimpact.instacart.com/
“Here’s how real estate stocks are faring in Wall Street chaos,” by The Real Deal’s Cailley LaPara: “The stock market has been battered by a torrent of inflation and monetary policy news in the past week, and the real estate industry has not escaped the chaos. The real estate industry did not perform equally throughout the pandemic, with sectors such as industrial and multifamily buoyed by high demand while office and retail languished during lockdowns and beyond. But the factors bringing the stock market down, notably inflation and the rising interest rates it triggered, are now affecting the real estate market as a whole. On top of that, pandemic-era conditions that favored the residential and industrial sectors have been tapering since the beginning of this year. Industrial and multifamily stocks have come down sharply since peaking in December. Share prices of Prologis and Lennar, indicators for the industrial and multifamily sectors, respectively, have dropped 50 to 60 percent."