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Presented by Healthcare Education Project: POLITICO's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Jeff Coltin, Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo | Presented by Healthcare Education Project | With help from Jason Beeferman
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Voters in New York will head to the polls today to vote on local elections, including for City Council and key county executive races. | Bebeto Matthews/AP | There’s no such thing as an off-year election, really. Just, perhaps, a less-on year. It’s technically a statewide election, with a couple of unsexy local debt proposals on the ballot. And with New York City Council clashes, and county-level confrontations for executives and legislatures, too, there’s a lot to learn. Some open questions that may get answered tonight: — Will switching parties pay off? New York City Council member Ari Kagan re-registered as a Republican last December, after much of once-blue southern Brooklyn voted GOP down the line last year. Somehow, Kagan seemed to have maintained the support of Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, but … Democrat City Councilmember Justin Brannan knows he’s in for a close race, and big labor unions answered the call for help. — Will the East Bronx go MAGA? Democratic City Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez’s campaign has spent a lot of time highlighting Republican opponent Kristy Marmorato’s ties to loyalists of former President Donald Trump, no matter how tenuous. The strategy makes some sense — while the district backed Republican Curtis Sliwa for mayor, Trump himself lost there bigly. — Will a gun charge stick with voters? Republican City Councilmember Inna Vernikov was arrested for exposing her licensed handgun at a pro-Palestine rally a few weeks before Election Day. General consensus among political observers is it won’t hurt her – and now Democratic challenger Amber Adler has her own October surprise. Listed donors to her campaign told City & State they never gave and blamed the illegal contributions on her campaign manager, who has since been fired. — Will Suffolk stay blue? Democratic County Executive Steve Bellone has held on, even as Republicans keep winning in Suffolk County. That means if Democrat Dave Calone even keeps it within 10 points — let alone wins — over GOP nominee Ed Romaine, Democrats looking ahead to 2024 will be spinning faster than an offshore wind turbine. — Is there life after the state Senate? Republican Sue Serino is running for Dutchess County executive just a year after losing her state Senate seat post-redistricting to Michelle Hinchey. Whoever wins between her and Democrat Tommy Zurhellen, you can bet Rep. Pat Ryan and Alison Esposito will be watching closely. — What’ll turnout be? Low, obviously, but immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New York, working with organizations like the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, have made 50,000 door knocks and phone calls in the Hudson Valley, Long Island and upstate — where there are other key races for Monroe and Erie county executives. It’s three hundred and sixty four days until next Election Day, noted political strategist Richie Fife. “People are both looking forward to, and dreading, turning the corner and knowing 2024 is upon us.” IT’S TUESDAY. HAPPY ELECTION DAY! POLLS ARE OPEN TILL 9 P.M. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
| | | | GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here. | | | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City with no public schedule. WHERE’S ERIC? Also in New York City with no public schedule. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I find it shocking and offensive, if not obscene, that the judges in our court of general jurisdiction are paid less than a recent law school graduate” – Victor Kovner, a member of the state’s pay commission, on the need to give judges, who make $210,900 a year, a salary increase.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | | 
Former President Donald Trump took the witness stand Monday in a trial that will likely determine the fate of much of his real estate empire. | AP | TRUMP ON THE STAND: It was an historic scene — a former president taking the stand at his civil fraud trial. Naturally, there was a chaotic and circus-like atmosphere outside the Manhattan courthouse on Monday where Trump sought to defend himself. The mood fit the moment as protesters and hordes of reporters gathered to see what twist the story would take that could ultimately determine the fate of Trump’s real estate empire. “All these lawsuits are bogus,” said Trump supporter Ayton Eller, who had a flag featuring the 45th president as a shredded bodybuilder. It was also a moment for New York Attorney General Tish James, who had vowed to hold Trump accountable — a campaign pledge the former president and his allies have repeatedly turned to in their criticism of the case she’s brought to trial. “It’s probably the most visible case ever brought by the state attorney general’s office,” former state Attorney General Bob Abrams, a Democrat, told Playbook. And it’s a moment that comes with hazards for James, reelected to the attorney general’s office in 2022 following a short-lived run for governor, with the entire country watching closely. “Taking on Trump as a Black woman, even in New York, is no easy task,” said Jasmine Gripper, the co-director of the progressive Working Families Party, a longtime ally for James. “His folks are trolling her like crazy. You have to have enough. You can’t come at this lightly, because you don’t want him to get away.” – Nick Reisman and Jason Beeferman
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project: Medicaid pays New York’s hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of their care. But hospitals give all of their patients 100%, each and every day. Medicaid underpayments have already meant cuts to mental health services and maternity care. Albany can fix this injustice: Stop Medicaid underpayments and help hospitals stay open. Tell Albany: Every New Yorker deserves healthcare, no matter their income or ZIP code. End the Medicaid funding crisis now. | | | | | WHAT CITY HALL IS READING | | YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: The Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society are keeping up their open letter campaign, they first told Playbook. They got 70 other allied nonprofits and organizations telling Mayor Eric Adams to drop his legal efforts to roll back the right-to-shelter measure in New York City. And 93 of them told Gov. Kathy Hochul to stop supporting him on it.– Jeff Coltin
|  The inside of a living space, meant for a family of six, in one of Floyd Bennett Field's "semi-congregate" shelter tents that is set to welcome migrants later this week. | Jason Beeferman/POLITICO | WAITING FOR MIGRANTS: Pushback on the use of Floyd Bennett Field as a shelter for migrant families is intensifying as the Adams administration prepares to move people there in coming days. City Council member Gale Brewer toured the sprawling Brooklyn complex on Monday and left befuddled about how children will find stability in a “middle-of-nowhere tent” — especially if the Adams’ administration limits them to 60-day stays. “First of all, there’s nothing there. To get the kids into schools, I don’t even know how that will work in that area,” Brewer told Playbook. “And then they have to leave.” A lead critic of the plan, City Councilmember Joann Ariola, sued the administration to block migrants from living at Floyd Bennett Field and has been concerned about the fire safety there as well. Adams has said there’s no ideal for housing migrants, but shelter like Floyd Bennett Field is preferable to children sleeping in police precincts in Chicago. Arranging for use of the federal property to house migrants began in May when Hochul said she first began lobbying the White House in earnest. But so far, none have arrived. – Emily Ngo ADAMS FUNDRAISES: … But not for his campaign. The mayor was expected at a fundraising dinner for PCNY in the Streets Monday night at Thalassa in Tribeca — one of the organizations that hosts the Wednesday night food service for the homeless that he’s been joining for the last year. “This is not for him, no money is going to him, not a penny, not any of it. Even with everything going on," PCNY’s Wayne Schneider told Playbook, in reference to the FBI raid on Adams’ fundraiser’s house. “I’m sure there was hesitation. I was going to cancel last week. He said ‘no, it’s on.’” – Jeff Coltin WATCH IT: Adams’ 30 second cameo in a 2017 Turkish rom-com, where two men ask him for political favors in Turkish. He says he doesn’t understand the language. (New York mag) More from the city: — More than 2,000 people, a record, have registered for this year’s Somos conference in Puerto Rico, where the federal investigation into Adams’ campaign will be a hot topic. (Crain’s New York) — Just 86,000 city residents voted early this year, accounting for an anemic 1.9 percent of the Big Apple’s over 4.6 million active registered voters. (am New York) — Teens in the city's juvenile jails are being forced to sleep on the ground in common areas, including hallways and classrooms due to overcrowding following an increase in arrests. (Gothamist)
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project:   | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | |  Governor Kathy Hochul showed support for Mayor Eric Adams on Monday amid news that the mayor's top fundraiser's home was raided by the FBI. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | HOCHUL BACKS ADAMS: The governor signaled she continues to have “full confidence” in Adams after his campaign’s chief fundraiser had her home raided by the FBI last week. Hochul added she does not think the investigation into the mayor’s campaign will distract him from the broader concerns over the migrant crisis. “This state deserves to have a governor and a mayor who actually work together. We’ve been working very closely on the migrant crisis, on public safety, making sure our subways have all the services they need,” she said. Adams does not have as much unqualified support among other elected officials in New York. The mayor reversed plans to attend a White House briefing on migrant policy after he learned of the FBI raid. Some House members pointed to New York City’s clout already being weakened by Adams’ falling out with Biden. “The mayor has sent mixed messages,” Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, told Playbook. “On one hand, he wants to curtail ‘right to shelter,’ but on the other hand, he keeps opening up more shelters like Floyd Benneftt Field.” – Nick Reisman MENTHOL BAN DEBATE: The New York Association of Convenience Stores this year helped beat back an effort to ban menthol cigarettes in the state. Now, it’s trying to stop a federal regulation from going into effect. The group in a letter sent Monday to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged him to oppose a proposed Food and Drug Administration ban on menthol products, a move supporters argue is necessary to boost health. Association president Kent Sopris is deploying the same argument against the federal ban as he did in Albany earlier this year: A complete shutdown of menthol will only shift the marketplace to an illegal one. “Introducing an additional category ban into a market already failing to enforce current bans will not make people healthier but will pour fuel on the fire that is the illicit market and with it provide more opportunities for foreign distributors and criminal networks to thrive,” he wrote in the letter to Schumer. There is also a political element to the ban debate, with warnings the move could harm Democrats with Black voters heading into the 2024 election. – Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Pandemic-era contracts for Covid-related equipment continue to create legal problems. (Times Union) — Republicans running in local elections this year are knocking Democrats over the migrant crisis. (New York Times) — More recyclable trash is heading to landfills as local governments struggle to pay for recycling programs. (LoHud)
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Westchester and Rockland schools are experiencing an alarming uptick of racist and antisemitic incidents. (LoHud) — Even among other asylum-seekers, Mauritanians are especially vulnerable — and more than 10,000 have surrendered themselves at the U.S. southern border to seek asylum. (Hell Gate) — The 40 under 40 in New York City includes familiar faces from Health + Hospitals, the MTA and of course, the Rat Czar (Crain’s New York Business)
| | | | PLAYBOOK IS GOING GLOBAL! We’re excited to introduce Global Playbook, POLITICO’s premier newsletter that brings you inside the most important conversations at the most influential events in the world. From the buzzy echoes emanating from the snowy peaks at the WEF in Davos to the discussions and personalities at Milken Global in Beverly Hills, to the heart of diplomacy at UNGA in New York City – author Suzanne Lynch brings it all to your fingertips. Experience the elite. Witness the influential. And never miss a global beat. BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | MAKING MOVES — Perry Perlmutter has been named chief executive officer of UnderServed. He was previously the organization’s chief financial officer. … Statewide Public Affairs has created a new emerging technologies and innovation practice which will be co-chaired by Wayne Lair, Jr. and John Olsen. It has also hired John Olsen as SVP. He previously was New York state lead for the Blockchain Association and is an alum of the Internet Association. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: former CIA Director David Petraeus … Jen Friedman … Brunswick Group’s Siobhan Gorman … George Thompson of FleishmanHillard … Max Viscio … Kyle Kerchaert (WAS MONDAY): Yanky Lemmer
| | Real Estate | | — AG Tish James is launching “undercover tests” to determine racial biases in the real estate industry. (Newsday)
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project: All New Yorkers deserve equal access to quality healthcare, no matter their income or ZIP code. Yet today, Medicaid pays New York’s hospitals 30% less than the actual cost of care for the low-income individuals the program covers, including children, the disabled, and seniors. But hospitals give all of their patients 100%, each and every day. Medicaid underpayments have already meant cuts to mental health services and maternity care.
Albany can fix this injustice: Stop Medicaid underpayments and help hospitals stay open. The federal government will pay half the cost of closing the Medicaid funding gap, it’s a huge savings for New York. Tell Albany: End the Medicaid funding crisis now. | | | | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
