| | | | |  | | By Erin Durkin, Anna Gronewold and Deanna Garcia | Presented by CVS Health | Here's a funny thing about vegan Mayor Eric Adams: He gets the fish. At least, that's what a restaurant staffer tells our Sally Goldenberg and Joe Anuta — one of several revelations they unearthed during a look into Adams' habit of holding court at upscale Midtown restaurant Osteria La Baia, while a close confidant with a checkered past keeps watch. Far be it from us omnivores to police the mayor's eating habits, but here's what we know: Adams publicly espouses a health food diet he likes to describe as plant-based, which he credits with improving his health after he was diagnosed with diabetes. He has at times disparaged the term vegan, saying that vegans still eat unhealthy things like Oreo cookies. But he has also embraced the label, like in a visit to a Midtown restaurant this fall, and his veganism won him some fans on the campaign trail. He just launched vegan Fridays at the city's public schools, to not entirely rave reviews. When Adams dined at Rao's with John Catsimatidis and Bo Dietl after winning the Democratic mayoral nomination, both men told news outlets he ordered fish . Adams' spokesperson said nope, he got the eggplant parm — hold the parm. At Osteria La Baia, an employee says he typically dines on fish and salad. "He's not a vegan, he's a pescatarian," the person said. Three people who have witnessed Adams eating out also said they have seen him dine on fish. Yet Adams' communications director maintains he follows a strict plant-based diet and denies he eats fish. Make of that what you will. Besides ordering fish, Adams has turned the swanky Osteria La Baia into an unofficial office. (And if you want to understand the differences between Adams and his predecessor Bill de Blasio, start by contrasting the Italian restaurants they used as second offices: de Blasio's pick was Bar Toto in Park Slope.) Adams has recently met there with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and with de Blasio. And he's often hobnobbing at the restaurant with Zhan "Johnny" Petrosyants, a restaurateur who was charged in a money laundering case in federal court eight years ago. The mayor considers Petrosyants among his closest friends. Another enduring mystery about Adams has been where he lays his head at night — and on some nights, that has been at Petrosyants' Midtown condo in Trump World Tower, according to five people familiar with their habits. This one drew another staunch denial from City Hall. The mystery abides. IT'S MONDAY. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: EDurkin@politico.com and agronewold@politico.com, or on Twitter: @erinmdurkin and @annagronewold WHERE'S KATHY? Visiting a warming center in Kingston and updating Ulster County residents on a winter storm. WHERE'S ERIC? Making a health-related announcement in Brooklyn, signing an executive order on social justice recommendations, touring the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, and meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan.
| | A message from CVS Health: Throughout the pandemic, in communities across the country, CVS Health has been there. We've opened more than 4,800 COVID-19 test sites, administered 41 million tests and given 50 million vaccines. We've expanded access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine, increased remote access to mental health services and invested in affordable housing to help build healthier communities. We've been on the frontlines, making health care easier to access and afford. Learn more. | | | |  | What City Hall's reading | | " Mayor Adams apologizes for calling white NYPD officers 'crackers' in 2019: 'That was inappropriate,'" by New York Daily News' Rocco Parascandola and Chris Sommerfeldt: "Mayor Adams bragged in 2019 about being a better cop than his 'cracker' colleagues in the NYPD, the Daily News has learned. Adams, who was at the time gearing up to launch his campaign for mayor, went on the racially charged diatribe while at a private event in Harlem on Dec. 13, 2019, a video exclusively obtained by The News shows. 'Every day in the Police Department, I kicked those crackers' a--,' Adams says in the video." " How the Deaths of N.Y.P.D. Officers Have Shaped Eric Adams ," by The New York Times' Emma G. Fitzsimmons: "The stakes are high for the mayor. President Biden visited New York on Thursday to highlight Mr. Adams's public safety agenda, and Mr. Adams's first term could be judged on whether he reduces the number of shootings in the city. His predecessor, Bill de Blasio, faced perhaps the greatest crisis of his tenure with the killing of Officers Liu and Ramos in his first year in office. Officers turned their backs on him at their slain colleagues' funerals, and police leaders accused Mr. de Blasio of fueling anti-police sentiment after he described warning his biracial son, Dante, about encounters with the police." Confusion mounts over would-be appointment to helm city's office of mental health, by POLITICO's Amanda Eisenberg and Sally Goldenberg: Mayor Eric Adams' plans to appoint a political ally with a history of anti-LGBTQ beliefs to head the city's mental health office drew swift backlash Thursday evening, after POLITICO first reported the potential selection. Within hours of the news that former City Council Member Fernando Cabrera was under consideration to helm the Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health, a spokesperson for Adams issued a statement that he would not be taking on the role after all. Yet Cabrera, a Christian pastor with longstanding ties to anti-LGBTQ groups, has been seen working out of the Thrive office for a week and has met staffers, four people familiar with the situation told POLITICO. On Friday, a fifth person said Cabrera was still working out of 253 Broadway. — Adams appointed Susan Donoghue as the city's new Parks commissioner. " Manhattan D.A. Sharpens Crime Policies That Led to Weeks of Backlash," by The New York Times' Jonah E. Bromwich: "Taking a tougher stance on the prosecution of gun possession and robbery, the Manhattan district attorney on Friday officially revised several policies that had been fiercely criticized as too lenient, marring his first month in office. Days after taking office on Jan. 1, the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, instructed prosecutors in a memo to avoid seeking jail time for all but the most serious crimes. The document prompted weeks of pushback from police officers, small business owners and public officials, making Mr. Bragg a political target." — " With NYPD Stop and Frisk Case at Crossroads, Plaintiffs Demand Tougher Tactics," by The City's Greg B. Smith Adams backs controversial retiree health care plan, by POLITICO's Erin Durkin — The New York City Council redistricting process is set to kick off Monday.
| | | | HAPPENING THURSDAY – A LONG GAME CONVERSATION ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS : Join POLITICO for back-to-back conversations on climate and sustainability action, starting with a panel led by Global Insider author Ryan Heath focused on insights gleaned from our POLITICO/Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll of citizens from 13 countries on five continents about how their governments should respond to climate change. Following the panel, join a discussion with POLITICO White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López and Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, about the Biden administration's climate and sustainability agenda. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | " Andrew Cuomo Plans Comeback Months After Resigning Amid Sexual-Harassment Claims," by Wall Street Journal's Jimmy Vielkind: " Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his aides are intensifying an effort to revive his public standing, including discussing how to make his first public appearance since resigning in August, according to people close to him. Mr. Cuomo and his remaining aides have been calling former allies and political operatives to complain about New York Attorney General Letitia James, who oversaw an investigation that concluded Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former state employees." — " Matilda Cuomo canceled! Andrew's mom scrubbed from mentoring program she founded," by New York Post's Carl Campanile GOP sues over NY's congressional maps: 'A partisan gerrymander in its worst form,' by POLITICO's Bill Mahoney: Republicans have filed a lawsuit against the congressional maps approved by the Democratic-dominated state Legislature earlier this week, alleging that allowing the lines to go through would deal "a crushing blow to the state's representative democracy." The suit was filed in Steuben County, home to Corning, and a Republican-controlled county. That's a forum that's likely favorable to the GOP — the two Republican candidates for Supreme Court in that county each received about three times as many votes as the top-performing Democrat in 2021. The race is on to build a casino in New York City, by POLITICO's Joseph Spector: A multi-billion-dollar casino in Times Square? What about rows and rows of slot machines next to Citi Field, home of the New York Mets? Real estate developers and some of the world's largest casino operators are scrambling to search New York City and its suburbs to find the right location for a gambling resort in the nation's most attractive, untapped market. A flurry of behind the scenes deal making and negotiations is underway as state leaders grow increasingly close to lifting a moratorium on new gambling facilities in New York. — New York breaks U.S. mobile sports betting record in first month, by POLITICO's Joseph Spector: New York broke the national record for mobile sports betting for a month, hitting $1.6 billion in bets in January and surpassing the $1.3 billion record set in neighboring New Jersey last October, data from the New York Gaming Commission on Friday showed. " N.Y. lab losing battle of doping in horse racing's 'cat and mouse game,'" by Times Union's Emilie Munson: "New York's Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory is considered one of the most preeminent in the country, but its director, George Maylin, and his team acknowledge their lab can test for and identify only a portion of the substances found in the thousands of samples taken from New York racehorses every year." FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The League of Women Voters is joining a push to make incarcerated people eligible for the state's Tuition Assistance Program. In testimony before the legislative Higher Education Committee, they plan to call for funds for the aid to be included in the state budget, saying it's a "way of rehabilitating and empowering women and men while they are incarcerated, increasing their chances for returning to fruitful and productive lives." #UpstateAmerica: Pete Davidson, a very downstate American, was booed at a Syracuse University basketball game after calling the university's namesake city "trash."
| | | |   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | " Bill de Blasio plans to form exploratory committee for potential run at Congress," by New York Post's Rich Calder: "Former Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to soon create an exploratory committee to consider a run for a congressional swing seat that is drawing plenty of national attention in this year's midterm elections, The Post has learned. Sources familiar with de Blasio's thinking said Saturday he's planning to take advantage of a redistricting plan recently approved by state Democrats that would reshape the district boundaries." — A private poll is asking whether Democratic voters would support de Blasio in a primary in the district.
| | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | " Trump tirade on 'racist' DAs echoes other racist tropes," by The Associated Press' Bobby Caina Calvin: "Looking out at a sea of faces at a Texas fairground, most of them white, former President Donald Trump seethed about his legal troubles and blamed them on malicious prosecutors. 'These prosecutors are vicious, horrible people. They're racists and they're very sick, they're mentally sick,' Trump said, before warning his audience: 'In reality, they're not after me. They're after you.' He repeated his charge of racism, but skipped over an obvious detail: Those prosecutors are Black." " Michael Avenatti Convicted of Stealing From Stormy Daniels," by The Associated Press' Tom Hays and Larry Neumeister
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — The man charged with pushing a woman to her death in front of a Times Square subway train has a long history of mental illness and struggles with the health care system. — The city is giving "Saturday Night Live" comedians Pete Davidson and Colin Jost extra time to find a docking spot for the retired Staten Island Ferry they want to turn into a comedy club. — State Attorney General Tish James has concluded NYPD officers were justified in using tasers against a mentally ill Queens man who died during the encounter. — A group of protesters rallied against outdoor dining sheds in Greenwich Village on Saturday. — A socialist from Queens running for state Senate is a product manager for American Express. — The state's single-day Covid-19 positivity rate has fallen below 4 percent in New York for the first time since November. — The number of transit workers out due to Covid-19 has dropped sharply. — A Rochester-area group has brought the first lawsuit that cites the state's green amendment. — The NAACP is demanding an apology from Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano over a remark he made about Congressman Jamaal Bowman on a radio show.
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Gay Talese is 9-0 … Dave Levinthal … Cameron Langford … Beth Frerking … Bloomberg's Jeff Kearns and Colleen Murphy … former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) … Yevhen Kornskyi … Cappi Williamson … Dr. David L. Reich ... Ben Mezrich ... Mitch Silber (h/ts Jewish Insider) … (was Sunday): WSJ's Jerry Seib … Fox News' Kevin Corke … CBS' Fernando Suarez … MSNBC's Tiffany Cross … Martin Pengelly … C. Boyden Gray … Tom Brokaw … Amanda Fuchs Miller of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-N.Y.) office … ABC's Amy Robach … Lloyd Grove … AP's Marina Villeneuve … Justin Pope of Longwood University … Alexa Cassanos … Helaine Klasky of Activision Blizzard … Michael Pollan … Eric Weiner … Scott Atran turned 7-0 … David Moore … … (was Saturday): Michael Steel of Business Roundtable … Omarosa Manigault Newman … CAA's Ali Spiesman … McKinsey's Matt Cooke … Susan Szold … Sarabeth Berman … Jane Bryant Quinn … Brianna Spahn … Shelly Palmer … Harvey Epstein ... Benjamin Kallos (h/ts Jewish Insider) OUT AND ABOUT — Julie Samuels, founder and executive Director of Tech NYC, hosted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for a reception in NYC at Bergamo's on Friday afternoon. He discussed the Senate's priorities for the year ahead and to advance technology companies in NY. And he showed off his flip phone. SPOTTED: Warby co-CEOs Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, Joanna Coles, Girls Who Code CEO Tarika Barrett, Microsoft's Bruce Jackson, Anil Dash, Alex Levy and Jason Clark. MAKING MOVES — James Martin is now campaign press secretary for Gov. Kathy Hochul. He was previously an associate at Kivvit and press secretary for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) … Gil Ruiz has been promoted to deputy legislative director for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). He previously was senior adviser on health, technology and homeland security. (h/t POLITICO Playbook) … Liza Rebold is now working on the government innovation team at Bloomberg Philanthropies. She is an alum of Ray McGuire's mayoral campaign. … … Arielle Goren is now a managing director at Kivvit. She previously founded and led Juno Strategies. Kivvit has also named Christine Lee as a senior associate and Mashal Hashem as an associate. Lee was previously deputy press secretary to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Hashem was at the International Law Institute in Washington and previously worked at D.C.-based think tank Center for International Policy.
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Healthier Happens Together. Learn more. | | | | | Real Estate | | " STANDING ORDER: Legislators Demand Public Seating at the Moynihan Train Hall," by Streetsblog's Dave Colon: "Let my people sit! A group of Manhattan elected officials is demanding that Amtrak and the MTA install more seating in the Moynihan Train Hall, which is famously bereft of public benches, a standard feature in transit facilities worldwide. In a letter sent on Thursday, state Sen. Brad Hoylman and five other pols note that Moynihan is a mighty nice looking train hall, except for one glaring absence." " Bronx Fire Victims Say Red Tape, Slow Housing Process Has Stranded Them In Uncertainty," by Gothamist's Jake Offenhartz: "Like many residents who fled the smoke-filled stairwells of the Twin Parks apartment complex last month, Tatiana Strahn has vowed to never again set foot in her former Bronx home. She said the fire, which killed 17 of her neighbors, has left her four-year-old daughter traumatized. Her son's daycare teacher recently called to say the two-year-old hasn't been himself lately. Neither of them are adjusting to the sparse hotel where they are staying on Webster Avenue. But when Strahn, a 28-year-old single mother, met last week with a consultant hired by the state to help relocate the Twin Parks survivors, she says she left feeling 'shocked and confused.'" " Judge calls lack of hot water in Queens NYCHA building since November 'a crime,'" by New York Daily News' Noah Goldberg: "NYCHA is criminal. That was the message from a Queens Housing Court judge outraged by the agency's failure to provide hot water to as many as 300 tenants in a Rockaway apartment building since November, the Daily News has learned. 'If this was a private small landlord he [the landlord] would be in jail by now,' Judge Kimon Thermos said during a Jan. 20 hearing. 'He would have been in jail by now and the fines would have been $500 per day, per apartment. So he would have been in jail and he would have been losing his building too.'" | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | 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 | | | | |
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