DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 38
VOTING RIGHTS DILEMMA: With Democrats’ national redistricting calculus now in disarray over today’s court order blocking new Virginia maps, party leaders are looking to New York as a prime opportunity to keep pace with Republicans.
But as top Democrats in the Empire State move ahead with their attempt to redraw lines in 2028, they’re also far more likely to pull their punches in the ongoing gerrymandering wars.
The Supreme Court’s decision last week to end a key provision of the Voting Rights Act allows states to break up districts previously drawn to accommodate minority voters. Republicans in states like Alabama and Tennessee are rushing to take advantage by dissolving majority Black districts. In New York — the state where Democrats have the most to gain by drawing new lines — there’s virtually no appetite to respond in kind, underscoring a looming barrier for blue states in the redistricting fight.
“People were walking across bridges and being mauled, and have lost their lives for these rights,” New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said of the VRA. “These laws are there because there has been a real effort to disenfranchise certain people, certainly Black people, from being able to vote. So we want to protect that.”
In the coming weeks, New York lawmakers are expected to begin the lengthy process of approving a constitutional amendment that would let them redraw congressional lines in 2028. If successful, the measure stands to turn a state with 19 Democrats and seven Republicans into one with a 22-4 or 23-3 edge.
Such an outcome is akin to what Republicans pushed through in Texas last summer — but not as extreme as the 9-0 Republican map Tennessee lawmakers drew Thursday by eliminating a Black majority district in Memphis.
In New York, a 26-0 map isn’t plausible. But in a deep blue state where Democrats routinely receive around 60 percent of the vote in statewide races, maps that feature tendrils extending from the Bronx and Brooklyn into the furthest regions of upstate and Long Island are possible. And such a reconfiguration would give Democrats an even greater advantage compared with maps they’ve floated in the not so distant past.
Doing that would require eliminating districts that were protected by the VRA until last week. Those districts include the Brooklyn seat held by House Minority Hakeem Jeffries.
“I don’t think we want to roll back protections for minority communities in New York,” said Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris who’s led his conference’s redistricting efforts since 2012.
The fact that keeping these districts intact is a core personal political belief for leaders like Stewart-Cousins — and a political third rail for everyone in the state’s Democratic Party — will likely limit how aggressively Democrats will approach redistricting.
On Long Island, for example, Democrats might be able to draw lines in 2018 that increase the delegation from a tenuous 2-2 to a safer 3-1. But taking a swing at a 4-0 set of maps isn’t possible without destroying districts in Brooklyn and Queens.
Read more from Bill Mahoney in POLITICO Pro here.
From the Capitol
CASE CLOSED: State investigators closed two probes into undisclosed conflicts of interest by SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s former CEO, David Berger, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.
The New York State Office of the Inspector General and the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government each opened investigations into Berger upon a referral from SUNY.
Investigators confirmed Berger had professional relationships with multiple companies that had contracts with SUNY Downstate, which he did not initially report. But investigators also discovered Berger — and potentially hundreds of other SUNY Downstate employees — hadn’t been placed on the institution’s list of people required to file financial disclosures.
Richard Friedman, an attorney representing Berger, said his client promptly filed the necessary forms once notified of his obligations. Berger does not believe his affiliation with the companies created any conflicts of interest, Friedman added.
Berger, who was hired in 2020, reported serving as an adviser to digital health startups Plannery, Opmed.ai, Mishe and Copient Health while he was CEO of the Brooklyn teaching hospital, according to copies of 2022 and 2023 financial disclosures. Berger also reported a consulting agreement with Murata Vios, which sells technology for remotely monitoring patients.
“At SUNY, we expect the highest ethical conduct from senior officials, and we will always uphold that value,” SUNY spokesperson Holly Liapis said in a statement. — Maya Kaufman
HOCHUL VERSUS TEACHERS UNIONS: The state and city’s powerful teachers unions pressed Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a GOP-backed federal tax credit program after she signaled support for the initiative.
States can voluntarily opt into the program, which lets taxpayers write off contributions to charitable organizations that offer scholarships for private school tuition and other expenses. Hochul’s office confirmed her support today, but insisted she wants to review the details “for poison pills that could harm New York’s education system.”
The teachers unions contend the program will funnel billions of tax dollars away from public schools and into private schools with no oversight.
“Vouchers — by any name — take money away from neighborhood schools and hand it to private institutions that don’t answer to the public,” New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said in a statement. “New Yorkers have rejected this approach before, and we sincerely hope that once the full details of President Trump’s voucher scheme emerge, it will be clear state leadership should reject it again.”
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said his union is “vehemently opposed to this optional federal voucher program.”
Support for the program could also set up a showdown between the governor and the Democrat-led state Legislature, which is closely aligned with the teachers unions.
State Sen. John Liu, who chairs the Senate’s New York City Education Committee, said the tax credit may appear “enticing” but warned of long-term damage to states’ ability to provide public education.
“Many governors and legislatures around the country have recognized this tax credit for the Faustian bargain it is and have already opted out, and I sincerely hope that New York will opt out as well,” Liu said in a statement. — Madina Touré
CARL CLARIFIES: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is dialing back his Hochul criticism today after his peevish press gaggle denying there was a state budget deal.
“The governor and I had a really good conversation,” the Bronx Democrat told NY1. “My issue was never with her. I feel like I have an amazing relationship with the governor. My concern was more of the process. I do think we’re very close on the budget and expect we’ll get it done in short order.”
For weeks Heastie has decried the amount of non-fiscal policy matters in the budget negotiations. Hochul on Thursday announced a “general agreement” on the spending plan without many details filled in, including specifics for pension changes, education spending and health care. — Nick Reisman
FROM CITY HALL
BOYLAN BACKS OUT: Lindsey Boylan, an activist who became the first woman to accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct in 2020, is pulling the plug on her campaign for a Manhattan-based City Council seat.
Boylan already lost last month’s special election for the vacant seat to Council staffer Carl Wilson. But after her defeat, she didn’t immediately say whether she would remain on the ballot for this summer’s Democratic primary for the 3rd Council District, which spans a section of Manhattan’s West Side.
This morning, Boylan announced she will bow out from the June primary, putting Wilson on a glidepath to winning a full term.
“After much consideration, I have decided not to run in the June 23 Democratic Primary,” Boylan said in a statement. “While I will not be running in the primary, I could not be prouder of what we built together.”
Boylan’s loss was a blow to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who endorsed her shortly before the April 28 special election. It was also a feather in the cap for Council Speaker Julie Menin, who endorsed Wilson along with other more moderate forces in the Democratic Party. — Chris Sommerfeldt
MAKING THE PITCH: Airbnb, a company whose primary business in New York City is all but banned, is trying to get back in the game during the World Cup.
The company held an event today at a Bronx public school to celebrate mini soccer pitches it’s bankrolling at several schools across the region — projects meant to leave what the company called a “meaningful and lasting impact on local communities in New York and New Jersey.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and the city Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels attended the groundbreaking.
A week ago, the company was at the Jamaica YMCA announcing it would provide kids with 1,000 tickets to the World Cup.
The goodwill events come as the company’s allies are looking to reopen doors through a revived City Council bill that would make way for short-term rentals in one- and two-family homes. The company made a similar push under former Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who tried but ultimately failed to get a previous version of the bill passed last year.
“We’re committed to helping ensure the legacy of the World Cup lasts far beyond this summer and actually benefits everyday New Yorkers, like our hosts and communities they call home in the outer boroughs — not just Midtown Manhattan hotels,” Nathan Rotman, a company spokesperson, said in a statement.
Airbnb’s appearances haven’t gone unnoticed by the company’s chief foe, the politically powerful Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, which this week launched the “GOALS Coalition” aimed at, among other things, ensuring that the anti-Airbnb restrictions are enforced during the World Cup.
Whitney Hu, a spokesperson for the coalition, said “people are tired of seeing mega-corporations use every major event as an excuse to weaken protections, exploit loopholes, and revive policies that primarily benefit corporate investors at the expense of the communities that actually live here.” — Ry Rivard
SECOND SUIT: A prominent NYPD union is suing the city’s police oversight board for the second time in two weeks.
The Police Benevolent Association filed a lawsuit Friday in state Supreme Court alleging the Civilian Complaint Review Board — which investigates cases of alleged police misconduct and recommends punishments to the NYPD commissioner — is mishandling officers’ records.
Specifically, the union alleges that the CCRB is failing to follow a state law requiring notification to any member of the force whose disciplinary records are sought via a Freedom of Information Law request.
“CCRB is so thoroughly infected with anti-police bias that it refuses to comply with even the most basic requirements of fairness and due process under the law,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said in a statement.
The city’s Law Department declined to comment and referred Playbook to the CCRB. A representative for the board countered the PBA’s assertions.
“The CCRB’s investigations are complete, thorough and impartial,” spokesperson Dakota Gardner said in a statement. “The Agency continually reviews all applicable laws and regulations regarding the public release of its records, including disciplinary histories of members of service, to ensure it is fully compliant.”
The legal volley is part of a broader effort to push back against the CCRB through the courts, according to the PBA, which has often clashed with the oversight body.
Two weeks ago, the union filed a federal lawsuit alleging the CCRB released unsubstantiated complaints against officers without redacting sensitive information. — Joe Anuta
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
LOYALTY: Antonio Reynoso has some thoughts on Mamdani.
The Brooklyn borough president is one of three Democrats running in a contentious primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who has endorsed him. Mamdani, meanwhile, is backing Assemblymember Claire Valdez, a fellow member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Editorial Board — after Reynoso relayed that the mayor suggested he shouldn’t run for Congress — he was asked what that meant to him. Reynoso, who endorsed Mamdani in the mayoral primary, replied that Mamdani doesn’t “know” him or his “history.”
“I think I was good enough to be in citywide Spanish media for him,” Reynoso said. “I was good enough to do a commercial in all of Brooklyn for him, supporting his candidacy. I think that we were aligned because I’m a [Working Families Party] pup, I’m a kid that’s always been with the WFP. He’s seen a lot of the progressive work that I’ve done, and he knows me as Antonio, maybe that way as a politician, but he doesn’t know my history.”
He’s not bothered, though.
When asked if he thinks Mamdani is “disloyal,” he responded: “I think he is disloyal,” referring to the tension between Mamdani and Velázquez. “And I want to say this, not to me so much. He’s DSA, he’s loyal to the DSA. I respect that. I’m not going to be mad at that.”
“I think it’s what he did to Nydia more so than me,” Reynoso continued. “I think he’s doing what he’s got to do for his people, and he doesn’t need to be with me, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. Even if I endorsed him, I get it. I think Nydia was asking him to sit down and come to an agreement and saying, ‘Hey, it doesn’t need to be Antonio.’”
A Mamdani spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mamdani had a commanding performance in the district last year, and his endorsement is seen as a huge asset to Valdez’s candidacy. So the harsh words might not land particularly well with the Mamdani fans in the primary electorate.
City Council member Julie Won, the other Democrat vying for the seat, has also come out against Mamdani on at least one issue: Sunnyside Yard, the housing redevelopment project that Mamdani met with Trump about earlier this year. — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
— SLICE OF TROUBLE: New York officials are struggling to finalize Hochul’s proposed pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes as legal hurdles and budget infighting stall the plan. (Bloomberg)
— KNOCK KNOCK: New York’s top utility regulator has launched a probe into debt-collection practices at major utilities, including PSEG Long Island and Con Edison, after reports of controversial remarks at a Florida conference. (Newsday)
— OFF THE RAILS: Five unions representing 3,500 Long Island Rail Road workers say contract talks with the MTA have stalled, accusing the agency of “surface bargaining” as a potential May 16 strike looms. (New York Daily News)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
Correction: An item in Friday’s Playbook PM misspelled the name of Airbnb spokesperson Nathan Rotman.