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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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Mayor Eric Adams didn’t come to Somos, but DC 37 executive director Henry Garrido and Comptroller Brad Lander found time to meet in San Juan. | Jeff Coltin/POLITICO | SOMOS: sun, sand, schmoozing, swizzles and … seizures of personal electronic devices. The FBI took Mayor Eric Adams’ phones and iPad last Monday in Manhattan, but many of those in attendance learned about it Friday in San Juan at the annual Democratic conference. “I’m wondering how many people at Somos are going through their texts with Eric seeing what we said,” one lobbyist told Playbook on Friday night. “He texts with everyone.” That could be on Adams’ “work phone” or the one for “shorties and shady stuff,” “Saturday Night Live” joked. Which phone did he use to text then-Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro in 2021, urging him to give a certificate of occupancy to the Turkish government’s new skyscraper? That’s just his “basic duties as the borough president” Adams said Sunday in response to the new reporting. Nothing sketchy. Nobody really knows where this will go, and Somos speculation varied from “charges won’t touch him, and he’ll get reelected” to “Acting Mayor Jumaane Williams would schedule a special election within 40 to 70 days of the vacancy.” (Adams adviser Evan Thies would like to remind you nobody has been formally accused of wrongdoing and no charges have been filed.) And even more potential mayoral candidate names kept coming up in Puerto Rico. Like Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO of the anti-poverty nonprofit FPWA. “Several high-profile people have been reaching out,” to Jones Austin about running, her consultant Rachel Noerdlinger told Playbook. Jones Austin hasn’t made any moves to run, but she’s taking meetings and listening. Former Assemblymember Michael Blake said at Somos that he hadn’t heard about Jones Austin, but that people have been asking him to run for mayor too. Justin Brannan, who just won reelection to the City Council, didn’t shut down talk of him running either. It’s all just chatter until folks file. And a date to watch is Jan. 16, 2024, the day after the next campaign finance filing. But the scene of political consultants frothing at the mouth for mayoral clients while the FBI investigates the mayor left some Adams’ defenders disdainful. “Yentas, backstabbers and political opportunists are all a tither,” said Bruce Teitelbaum, one-time campaign manager to Rudy Giuliani. “Even by New York standards, it’s startling and frankly disgusting. Eric deserves better.” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams may be the one deciding what Adams does or does not deserve, though. The rest of us are just waiting. – Jeff Coltin IT’S MONDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? Convening a law enforcement roundtable on hate and bias crimes in New York City. WHERE’S ERIC? Speaking at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir as part of his Five Borough Diwali Tour, making a transportation and climate-related announcement, hosting a roundtable with Jewish and Muslim leaders, hosting another roundtable about the asylum seeker crisis and speaking at a Business Council for International Understanding awards gala. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “In 2022, the voters of New York elected Kathy Hochul as governor and in 2023, they once again supported New York Democrats,” said Brian Lenzmeier, senior political adviser to the governor, on her being MIA on the campaign trail this year.
| | | | 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. | | | |  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | |  Federal investigators seized Eric Adams's personal devices last week as part of their inquiry into whether his mayoral campaign colluded with the Turkish government. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office | HOW MUCH TROUBLE IS ADAMS IN? The investigators probing the Adams campaign and its fundraising practices may still be in a preliminary stage of gathering information – suggesting any potential grand jury indictment is not imminent, said Dan Schorr, a former criminal prosecutor and inspector general of Yonkers. Nevertheless, the extraordinary step of taking possession of Adams’ electronic devices is a sign federal investigators have reason to believe the mayor has evidence that could further the case along. “It does show that a lot of work has already been done. Confronting a sitting mayor, asking his security detail to step aside, and then seizing two of his cellphones and an iPad is not something you do during an initial part of an investigation,” Schorr told Playbook in an interview on Sunday. “That’s only done when you’ve gathered other information when, in the opinion of law enforcement, he’s got relevant information on his electronic devices.” Adams has insisted his campaign is cooperating with investigators. His campaign’s lawyer, Boyd Johnson, said in a statement it was discovered “that an individual had recently acted improperly” and that was reported to investigators. It’s not uncommon for investigators to seize, without notice, electronic devices of someone who is a witness or potential defendant in a criminal case even if they are cooperating, Schorr said. “Witnesses and potential defendants, all the time, voluntarily hand over devices, but often law enforcement doesn’t want to wait for that,” he said. Public corruption cases have been difficult for prosecutors to sustain in recent years as the definition of honest services’ fraud has narrowed in court rulings. Schorr acknowledged the bar is an increasingly high one for prosecutors to meet. “Public corruption prosecutors know it’s going to be hard to sustain one of these convictions and therefore, are more reticent to go after corrupt politicians,” he said. “But politicians in New York have gotten very good at hosting a fundraiser with the heavy implication that people doing business with that politician need to attend that fundraiser.” – Nick Reisman
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The isolated location of the Floyd Bennett Field shelter was enough to dissuade many migrants from staying there. | Jason Beeferman/POLITICO | TOO FAR AFIELD: In a stark reminder that a migrant crisis still grips the city while the mayor is under the federal microscope for other matters, the first families arrived Sunday to Floyd Bennett Field – only to leave moments later. Migrants came by bus — some towing young children — took a look around the federal airfield-turned-shelter in a remote section of Brooklyn and almost immediately took a bus out of there, according to a video posted on social media by state Assemblymember Jaime Williams. The migrants had expressed they didn’t want to stay there and signed release forms acknowledging no other city beds were available to them at this time, an Adams spokesperson told Playbook. They can return to Floyd Bennett Field if they go to the Roosevelt Hotel arrival center to reapply, the spokesperson said. “We weren’t told where we were going,” one migrant told the New York Post. A broad coalition of elected officials, Democratic and Republican, and advocacy groups have said the tent complex at Floyd Bennett Field is no place for children. Williams and City Council member Joann Ariola have been among those so opposed to a migrant shelter there that they filed a lawsuit to block it. – Emily Ngo OFF TO ISRAEL: A handful of New York City elected officials are flying to Israel today in the midst of the country’s war with Hamas for a trip hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. JCRC hosts, and pays for, these tours regularly, but this one comes at a particularly tense time — to say the least. A spokesperson for JCRC would not confirm Sunday which politicians were planning to attend. Gov. Kathy Hochul visited Israel last month on a solidarity trip. – Jeff Coltin More from the city: — The Department of Education’s chief of student enrollment was ousted in the wake of a misconduct probe. (New York Post) — Vito Pitta, Adams’ longtime campaign compliance lawyer, has also had his firm lobby the mayor’s administration for private interests. (New York Daily News) — An annual Somos Shabbat event in Puerto Rico, hosted by UJA Federation New York and the Met Council, was disrupted by protestors rallying in support of Palestinians. (City & State)
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project:   | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | |  Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to sign the Clean Slate Act this week, which would seal over 2 million criminal records. | Office of Governor Kathy Hochul | CLEAN SLATE SIGNING: Hochul is expected to sign into law this week a measure that would seal more than 2 million criminal records in New York, a person familiar with the plans confirmed. It’s a long-sought victory for criminal justice reformers, but one that is being blasted by Republicans for the effect it could have on public safety. Records for crimes like murder and sexual offenses won’t be included. The measure, known as the Clean Slate Act, is the latest in a string of criminal justice law changes that have been approved in the last four years in Albany. Measures such as restricting when cash bail is required, timely access to evidence for defendants and changes to the juvenile justice system have also become fodder for Republicans during campaign season. Democrats do not expect the Clean Slate provision to have the same kind of weight with voters like the bail law did over the last several election cycles. “If you have repaid your debt to society, you should not have something hanging over you for a lifetime,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said earlier this spring. “I think it's something everybody agrees on." But Republicans believe unintended consequences are likely. “Everyone believes in second chances,” Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said in a statement to Playbook. “But unilaterally erasing criminal records as if crimes never took place is completely misguided.” – Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Critics are scrutinizing how judges are elected in New York and argue it gives voters no real choice. (Newsday) — A debate is intensifying over a proposal meant to stall deforestation. (Spectrum News) — Small city school districts finally got a boost from voters last week. (Buffalo News)
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U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins is abandoning his post as Buffalo congressman to lead a local performing arts center. | AP | HIGGINS OUT: Rep. Brian Higgins is stepping down early next year from the Buffalo-area House seat he’s held since 2005, the Democrat announced on Sunday. Higgins is set to take a job at the Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo. The seat he’s leaving behind in Congress is a likely Democratic hold. His resignation will take effect in February. Higgins at a news conference on Sunday said Congress is now a different place than the one he was elected to 19 years ago. “The pace in Washington, D.C. can be slow and frustrating, especially this year,” he said. “Therefore, after thoughtful consideration, I have made the difficult decision to leave Congress and explore other ways I can build up and serve Buffalo and Western New York." Higgins is among a wave of departures from Congress as the year draws to a close. Hochul, who is expected to call a special election to fill the seat, praised Higgins in a statement as someone who “defined what public service is all about.” “Once a formal letter of resignation is delivered to the Department of State, Governor Hochul will follow the process set out by law to fill a vacancy,” Hochul’s office said in a statement. – Nick Reisman More from the delegation: — Rep. Elise Stefanik wants a state panel to investigate the judge in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial. (Times Union) — Rep. George Santos’ fixation on AOC is very real, and it goes a long way to explaining his sudden rise, if not the unethical things he has done to achieve his fame. (POLITICO) — The clashing views of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres on Israel offer a striking glimpse into the future of one of American politics’ fiercest debates. (New York Times)
| | | | 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. | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Donald Trump Jr. will testify in Attorney General Tish James’ case accusing his father, the former president, of committing widespread fraud. (New York Daily News) — Bomb threats were made against multiple New York City Jewish sites on Saturday. (NBC New York) — A fire in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, has left three dead and 14 injured. (New York Times)
| | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | MAKING MOVES: Muriel Chase is now director of broadcast media at the White House. She previously was at Bully Pulpit Interactive. … Jessica Haller is leaving her role as executive director of The New Majority NYC for new opportunities. Deputy Director Abigail Martin will now lead the organization. WEEKEND WEDDING: NBC New York reporter Myles Miller and Megan Pfeiffer got married Saturday at the Bronx Zoo with Attorney General James presiding. (X Pics, via Anais Morales and Tracie Strahan) WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Kayla Tausche, a senior White House correspondent for CNN, and Jeff Izant welcomed Margaret “Maisie” McCall Izant on Wednesday. She came in at 7 lbs., 3 oz. and 20 inches and joins big sisters Grace and Catherine. More from People HAPPY BIRTHDAY: CNN’s Eric Bradner … Harry Hurt III … Nikki Blank … Julia Thompson … Jared Leopold (WAS SUNDAY): White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients … Al Michaels ... Bernard Wachsman ... Linda Rosenthal … Tim Urban … Olivia Lange (WAS SATURDAY): Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) … Rebecca Sharer of Sunshine Sachs … BCW Global’s Jenna Sauber … NYT’s Ruth Igielnik … Michael Leffell … Eric Ezzy Rappaport … Alec MacGillis … Anya Firestone
| | Real Estate | | — An antitrust suit was filed against the Real Estate Board of New York and 26 firms, accusing the group of unfairly inflating commissions. (The Real Deal) — Signature Bank sold $33 billion in commercial-property loans and other assets mainly in New York, leading to expected bids as much as 40 percent below face value. (Wall Street Journal) | | | | 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 | | | | |  |
