Giuliani: Smack on the back felt like ‘a boulder hit me’

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Monday Jun 27,2022 08:39 pm

Jun 27, 2022

Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he was assaulted by a worker on Staten Island on Sunday, but the worker's attorney said it was nothing more than pat on the back. | Jacquelyn Martin, File/AP Photo

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani spent the day explaining the shock and pain he felt after a worker at a Shop-Rite on Staten Island smacked him on the back on Sunday and cursed at him as he campaigned for his son, who is running for governor.

The 39-year-old worker was charged with second-degree assault involving a person over age 65, a felony, the New York Post reported. But later today, prosecutors downgraded the it to misdemeanor charges of assault in the third degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree, according to Business Insider.

“Our client merely patted Mr. Giuliani, who sustained nothing remotely resembling physical injuries, without malice to simply get his attention, as the video footage clearly showed,” the Legal Aid Society, which is representing the man, said in a statement, according to Business Insider.

Giuliani, 78, talked about how scary the situation was, even as social media was full of those who mocked the severity of the encounter.

"All the sudden, I feel a shot on my back, like somebody shot me. I went forward, but luckily I didn't fall down,” Giuliani said Sunday on the The Curtis Sliwa Show on WABC radio.

Earlier today, Giuliani talked to reporters about the fracas, explaining that the man yelled “dirty curse words as he retreated.”

“Then he turned around and said I was a woman killer. You kill women; your party kills women” in an apparent reference to Friday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Giuliani continued.

In a statement, Andrew Giuliani said the “assault on my father, America’s Mayor, was over politics. We will not be intimidated by left wing attacks. As governor I will stand up for law and order so that New Yorkers feel safe again.”

Critics mocked the Giulianis for their portrayal of the incident after the camera video was released.

“This is the big tough guy who tried to help overthrow the US government,” Rex Chapman, the former NBA player and social media star, wrote on Twitter.

And The Recount showed side-by-side videos of Giuliani’s description of the incident versus the actual slap, which Giuliani described as “if a boulder hit me.”

IT’S MONDAY: New York Playbook PM heads into the final day before New York’s primaries for governor and state Assembly. Stay with us as we keep you updated on the latest New York news from the campaign trail, in Albany and from City Hall. Summer is here, and the news keeps heating up!

From the Capitol

BUS DEPOT BILL SIGNING: Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill at Jamaica Bus Depot in Queens that would increase penalties for anyone who assaults or harasses a transit worker. The new law, which Hochul’s office says will apply to nearly 11,000 New Yorkers, will extend criminal charges to individuals who assault station customer assistants, ticket or revenue collectors, maintenance workers, repairers, cleaners, and their supervisors. Those groups weren’t protected by existing laws.

Though it’s part of a busy day of campaigning before tomorrow’s primary, Hochul told inquiring reporters after the event that it had “nothing to do with the election.” “Every other day or so we've been signing legislation, because I didn't want to wait any longer to be able to give these protections to all these workers,” she said. “Why should we make them wait a single day? So we signed voting rights, we signed gun legislation, rights to protect women, the right to abortion. Now we're here to protect our workers.” — Anna Gronewold

NEW JOB: Simone Kanter started today as communications Director for Dan Goldman's congressional campaign in NY-10. He was most recently a deputy press secretary in Hochul's office.

ON THE BEATS

HEALTH CARE: Mayor Eric Adams visited a public hospital to see how the system provides reproductive health care, including abortions. “I was pleasantly surprised to see how [NYC Health + Hospitals] is playing a real role,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference this morning. “People often think [of] the other clinics outside like Planned Parenthood.” He said he “enjoyed” seeing the number of women seeking services, which will be ramped up in the coming weeks in anticipation of an influx of pregnant people seeking care following the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v, Wade. — Amanda Eisenberg and Danielle Muoio Dunn

— New York City has run out of the monkeypox vaccine, according to the city health department. The federal government sent 1,000 doses to New York City last week, and the Adams administration made the shot available to men who have sex with men — the group that is experiencing the outbreak. New Yorkers seeking the shot will not be able to make an appointment until the federal government sends more supply, according to the city health department. — Amanda

— Attorney General Tish James joined a national coalition of AGs, who represent 22 states, in reaffirming their commitment to protecting abortion care and expanding access to the procedure. “We stand together, as our states’ chief law officers, to proudly say that we will not back down in the fight to protect the rights of pregnant people in our states and across the country,” they wrote in a joint statement. “While the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision reverses nearly half a century of legal precedent and undermines the rights of people across the United States, we’re joining together to reaffirm our commitment to supporting and expanding access to abortion care nationwide.”

… The coalition includes AGs from: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. — Shannon Young

EDUCATION: The state Education Department and the New York State Library are teaming with the 1,100 public libraries and neighborhood branches across the state to kick off the 2022 Summer Reading at New York Libraries program. This year, the program will focus on connecting students to the theme of oceanography and water resources. New York’s public libraries will host activities like reading challenges throughout the summer. “Our libraries offer free, fun, and enriching reading programs to ensure that the joy of learning does not end with the school year,” state education commissioner Betty Rosa said in a statement. “Children who participate can enhance their reading skills, prevent summer learning loss, and go back to school better prepared for a successful year.”

— The Summer Reading program received $150,000 in funding from the current state budget this year from the Love Your Library Special Revenue Fund, according to SED. The money will be distributed by formula to the state’s 23 public library systems to support Summer Reading activities. — Madina Touré

The Campaign Trail

DAY BEFORE PRIMARY: Candidates crisscrossed the state today for the final day before Tuesday’s primaries.

Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado were campaigning in New York City with other Democratic candidates, while the Republican candidates were making their way across upstate before returning to their home bases for election night parties tomorrow.

WORKING FAMILIES ENDORSEMENT: Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou picked up the endorsement of the Working Families Party and then released her first campaign ad. She’s in a contentious primary in NY-10 that includes Rep. Mondaire Jones and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

AROUND NEW YORK

— New York has more than 15,000 summer jobs available.

— Wegmans is recalling Vidalia onions.

— Amtrak service to Canada from Niagara Falls resumed for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Norse Atlantic Airways changed course and will not be flying in and out of Stewart International Airport after all.

— A state trooper rescued a golden retriever trapped for several days in a culvert pipe in Conklin.

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