| | | | |  | | By Jeff Coltin, Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Shawn Ness DRINKS ON US — Come celebrate the end of session with POLITICO. We’re hosting a happy hour on Wednesday, May 29, at the Albany War Room Tavern. Join fellow New York insiders for drinks and hors d'oeuvres, meet our editorial team and learn more about our coverage of politics, policy and power in Albany. You can RSVP here.
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Protesters gather outside of former President Donald Trump's campaign event at Crotona Park in the Bronx on Thursday. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO | Some New York Democrats got caught up giving each other Bronx cheers over their response to former President Donald Trump’s headline-stealing campaign rally Thursday night. Pffft. While Trump spoke in Crotona Park, progressive organizer Kirsten John Foy manned the stage at the semi-official counter-rally nearby — and briefly broke from trash-talking the ex-president to slam fellow Dem Rep. Ritchie Torres instead. “There are some people who claim to love the Bronx,” but who wouldn’t show up, complaining slim attendance would be a bad look for Democrats, Foy yelled to the crowd of a couple hundred people, mostly union members. “Well then show up! Bring some people with you. Or Shut. Your. Mouth.” “He should be ashamed of himself,” Foy said about Torres not coming, after the rally. “We are at an existential crisis … what did you want? The million man march?” Sure enough, Torres had told Playbook earlier in the day that if a counter rally measured smaller than the main rally “it defeats the purpose.” If Trump pulls thousands and Dems pull dozens, he said, “the contrast is flattering to him.” (To Foy’s comments, Torres said unless he is a resident of his congressional district, which Foy is not, then he does “not remotely” care what he thinks.) Torres reps the South Bronx. He hosted a presser with about 20 Bronxites Thursday morning, huddled under tents amid the brief downpour. His message to Trump: “We refuse to play your game. The Bronx has serious challenges, and we need serious leaders.” The split was emblematic: New York Democrats dithered over how to respond to Trump’s provocation of a South Bronx rally, as Playbook reported, so Assemblymember Amanda Septimo and Foy took the reins and planned the counter-rally. “It was never about the numbers,” Septimo said. “They’re here to answer Trump and remind him that he doesn’t represent anything about Bronx values.” Democrats can take the Bronx for granted. Trump is almost certainly going to lose it. But the national picture is not comfortable for President Joe Biden, and the in-fighting seemed symbolic of a party that often fails to keep its focus. Dems aren’t the only ones who fight. Former council staffer Lattina Brown is accusing New York Young Republican Club President Gavin Wax of stealing credit for getting Trump the Bronx. Other Dems skipped out Thursday night. Mayor Eric Adams seemed to ignore Trump’s rally altogether, while Gov. Kathy Hochul stuck to slamming him on CNN. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, roasted the rally on livestream with progressive commentator Hasan Piker to nearly 28,000 viewers. — Jeff Coltin HAPPY FRIDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. PROGRAMMING NOTE: New York Playbook will be off Monday for Memorial Day and back in your inboxes on Tuesday, May 28.
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All: New York State has the potential to pave the way to a cleaner, safer, and more accessible future with autonomous vehicles. Using real-world data from over 7 million rider-only driving miles in 3 major cities, studies have shown that autonomous vehicles (AVs) can avoid injury-causing and fatal crashes better than human driver benchmarks. | | | WHERE’S KATHY? In Erie County hosting a youth mental health roundtable. WHERE’S ERIC? Meeting with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States H.E. Al Khalifa, hosting a celebration for human services partnerships, speaking at Guyana’s flag-raising ceremony and going on 105.1 FM HD2 “RUSA Radio.” QUOTE OF THE DAY: “A Charter Revision Commission should be focused on good government. And if that’s the intention of this commission, I wouldn’t want to stop it … If it’s a commission that is going to be focused on retribution, however, then we’re looking at something totally different.” — City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, showing mild annoyance Thursday at the “convenient” timing of Mayor Adams’ commission which could block a council effort to increase its oversight powers.
|  | ABOVE THE FOLD | | | 
Rep. Mike Lawler joked he would run for governor in the video he submitted for the annual Legislative Correspondents Association's dinner. | Francis Chung/POLITICO | JUST KIDDING … OR IS HE: Is it too soon to talk about the 2026 race for governor? Republican Rep. Mike Lawler — kiddingly — doesn’t think so. Lawler, a Hudson Valley freshman running for a second term in one of the most competitive House seats in the country, made a joking reference to running statewide in a video he sent to the annual Legislative Correspondents Association gridiron dinner Wednesday in Albany. “I wish I could have been there with you in person and shared some laughs, but we’ll have plenty of time for that when I’m governor in a couple of years,” he said at the end of a “Daily Show”-themed presentation. It was a winking reference to a potential Lawler-for-governor campaign for a lawmaker who has won in heavily Democratic areas. The Republican, of course, still faces reelection in a hotly contested suburban swing district against Democrat Mondaire Jones. Lawler formally announced his bid earlier this month. Hochul’s political team referred Playbook to her own dig at Lawler. In her presentation, sprinkled with self-effacing jokes about her own low poll numbers, Hochul deadpanned about Lawler’s foibles. “There are two types of Republicans in New York: the MAGA Elise Stefanik types who capitulate to Trump every day, and the moderates like Mike Lawler who capitulate to Trump every other day,” she joked. — Nick Reisman
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New York City's school system is teaming up with IBM to test the Department of Education's system, which allows students to take classes from home. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images | SNOW DAY PRACTICE: The nation’s largest school system is teaming up with computing giant IBM to test its systems following a remote learning software meltdown during a snowstorm earlier this year. Students and educators will log onto the Department of Education systems during a predetermined time slot as part of a pivot-to-remote drill on the morning of June 6, a professional development day for staffers. The exercise, which allows students to participate from home, comes amid criticism over the DOE’s decision to conduct previous simulations without IBM, which provides a key element of the virtual learning system. Schools Chancellor David Banks and the mayor blamed IBM for the snafu, which delivered a blow to the city’s no-snow-day approach. An IBM official disputed that charge. “We are encouraging every family to participate in this test to help us ensure that our families are ready to go remote if and when the time comes,” Banks said in a statement. — Madina Touré FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: New York City’s top public health official is trying to drum up support for the state-level social media legislation that’s meant to turn off algorithms for children. Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, in a letter obtained by Playbook and sent this week to state lawmakers, made his pitch for the legislation in the final days of the Albany session. “Our youth are facing mental health challenges that no previous generation has experienced before and social media is playing a large role in it,” Vasan wrote. “New York City is taking action at the local level, but we need the state Legislature to provide meaningful and swift regulatory safeguards for these platforms.” — Nick Reisman More from the city: — The City Council introduced a bill aimed at expanding its approval power over top mayoral appointments, a measure Eric Adams’ team is trying to short-circuit. (Daily News) — New Yorkers incensed over the city’s plan to build a homeless shelter in their south-central Brooklyn neighborhood descended on City Hall. (New York Post) — The Rent Guidelines Board considered reports on vanishing rent-stabilized apartments as they weigh the size of a rent hike it’s set to vote on next month. (THE CITY)
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All:   | | | | | NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY | | |  Tech firms are saying their social media algorithms are a good thing as lawmakers try and pass a bill that would prohibit them from kids' social media accounts. | Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images | SOCIAL CURATION: While fighting a measure that could result in regulating how kids interact with social media, tech firms are trying to highlight the potential benefits of the algorithm. At issue is a bill that would no longer allow child users of social media to be exposed to feeds guided by algorithmic decisions. But the Chamber of Progress, an industry group opposing the measure, is pointing to a survey that found most young people support having tools to control the content in their social media feeds. “Although these bills aim to keep minors safe, they may end up harming at-risk teens and invading their privacy by banning the use of algorithms in teens’ digital media feeds, including algorithms that filter out hate speech and harassment,” the group wrote in a letter to top state officials and obtained by Playbook. The letter is meant to address cornerstone concerns raised by supporters about the impact of social media on the mental health of youth. Hochul this week pointed to research that she said bolstered her case for the new regulation. “If we as elected adults don't heed the damning data and the cries for help that are coming from across our state and take action, then we have failed in our most instinctive duty -- that is to protect children,” she said. — Nick Reisman IS IT STILL 1989?: State lawmakers are scrambling to boost the benefit for New Yorker’s maximum temporary disability insurance — which hasn’t been increased since 1989 — before the session ends. An increase to the benefit was left out of the state budget, even though the governor and both Houses included plans to increase the program in their fiscal proposals. Temporary disability insurance, which provides workers with income when experiencing an illness or sickness unrelated to their job, has been capped at $170/week for 35 years. The governor’s proposal to increase TDI also included a provision that lowered the benefit after 12 weeks — something Assemblymember Harry Bronson and workers’ advocates disagree with. “That’s inappropriate,” said Bronson, who chairs the Assembly’s labor committee. “Your disability is the same, whether it’s the first 12 weeks or [weeks] 13-26.” Bronson is sponsoring a bill with state Sen. Jeremy Cooney to increase the benefits, and Assemblymember Michaelle Solages and Sen. Jessica Ramos are pushing a bill of their own on the issue. The Ramos-Solages solution would require businesses to implement the increased benefits program faster than Bronson’s proposal and also give low-wage workers a larger benefit, Ramos’ office said. Legal advocacy organization A Better Balance is behind Ramos and Solages in that effort. They’re expected to drop digital ads today across the state to push the issue. “Individuals shouldn't have to choose between a paycheck and their medical conditions,” Solages said. — Jason Beeferman More from Albany: — Supporters of a pair of environmental bills hope the measures are still alive with some new polling to back them up. (Times Union) — MTA chief Janno Lieber’s salary is coming under scrutiny in the congestion pricing debate. (New York Post)
| | NEW YORK STATE OF MIND | | — The deadline for getting a Real ID in New York is fast approaching. (Democrat and Chronicle) — Donations are already flowing into the race to replace City Council Member Carlina Rivera. (City & State) — Nassau County and its police department were held in contempt of court this month for ignoring a court order to hand over the department’s phone directory to a journalist. (Gothamist)
| | | | A message from Safer Roads For All: Autonomous vehicles are never distracted, intoxicated, or tired. Whether from drowsy, distracted, or drunk driving, human error is to blame for many of the 1.36 million traffic collisions in the U.S. each year. Even on their best days, people are prone to making mistakes - and every New Yorker has been impacted in some way by car crashes. Deploying a framework to allow AV expansion in New York will have a life-saving impact in stopping the avoidable traffic deaths on our roads. | | | | | SOCIAL DATA | | Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Brooke Marinovich is now a government relations associate at Kasirer. MEDIAWATCH — Teddy Schleifer is joining the NYT as a correspondent on the politics desk. He previously wrote “The Stratosphere” newsletter for Puck, covering politics, philanthropy and technology. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Jack Rivers, an associate portfolio manager at Point72 and a Goldman Sachs alum, and Kristen Askin Rivers, COO of investment firm Skye Global and a GS alum, on May 15 welcomed Elizabeth Rose Rivers. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Kasie Hunt ... Rory Cooper of Teneo … Ben Milakofsky … Madeleine Anderson … Sophie (Mussafer) Griffin … (WAS THURSDAY): Robert A. M. Stern ... Casey Greenfield ... Daniel B. Gropper ... Poppy King ...
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