Bowman loses, Jeffries shrugs

With help from Rich Mendez

NEW YORK MINUTE: City Hall is on budget watch. Whispers are that a handshake deal between Mayor Eric Adams and Speaker Adrienne Adams could come as soon as today… though negotiations could easily drag into Friday.

The Council must pass the finished product into law ahead of a July 1 deadline. And a late handshake could require members to vote on Sunday, potentially raining on their Pride Parade plans. — Jeff Coltin

HOW RUFF RYDERS ROLL: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Rep. Jamaal Bowman, donated to his campaign — and otherwise kind of phoned it in.

As in, the House minority leader recorded a robocall this week for his vulnerable colleague in lieu of being an active, visible presence on the campaign trail.

“The results speak for themselves. The voters have spoken,” Jeffries said plainly in Washington the morning after Bowman’s brutal loss. “And we accept those results across the board, across the country.”

Yes, Bowman, felled by moderate George Latimer and unprecedented millions in AIPAC attacks, entered this primary with numerous vulnerabilities.

Yes, the Yonkers Democrat was AIPAC’s No. 1 political target while the Brooklyn leader is endorsed by AIPAC.

But many in Bowman’s lefty coalition say Jeffries’ job is to protect the party.

“Jamaal Bowman was an incumbent. Hakeem Jeffries is the leader of the Democratic caucus. So this is a loss for us and a loss for him,” Usamah Andrabi of Justice Democrats told Playbook.

Asked to reflect on Bowman’s race, Andrabi said, “I think as the Democratic Party, we should be pretty aligned on what we want to see in our democracy. And I don’t think breaking records on super PAC spending is that.”

Other Bowman allies called on Jeffries to disengage from AIPAC.

“We write today with dire concerns about what your continued association with AIPAC means for the future of the Democratic Party, the future of our multiracial democracy, and the future of our planet,” a coalition of 14 left-leaning and hard-left groups, including NYC-DSA, wrote in a letter to Jeffries.

It’s no secret that there’s no love lost between Jeffries and DSA or Justice Democrats.

His spokesperson responded by stressing his commitment to win back the gavel in November, then mocking Justice Democrats for citing a goal in 2017 to “destroy the Democratic Party.”

Christie Stephenson told the New York Times of Justice Democrats, “They have failed miserably in every way. Is anyone surprised?”

Additionally, Jeffries senior adviser André Richardson crowed on X that the House member now has a 6-0 record of supporting local and state New York Democrats who faced DSA challengers.

Jeffries was especially involved in state Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman’s successful effort to ward off progressive Eon Huntley in his backyard.

On Capitol Hill, Bowman’s fellow Squad members focused their ire on AIPAC more than Jeffries.

“To me, this is not about leadership. What it should be is about all of us trying to actually have a conversation about the role of AIPAC,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said.

The deep-pocketed lobby pointed Playbook to a past comment about its bipartisanship.

“We support candidates from both parties solely based on one criterion — their commitment to strengthening the US-Israel relationship,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann said. — Emily Ngo, Daniella Diaz and Mia McCarthy

IT’S THURSDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City, Albany and Westchester County with no public schedule.

WHERE’S ERIC? Kicking off outdoor pool season in Astoria, and hosting a Caribbean-American Heritage celebration at Gracie Mansion.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Our team is working hard with election officials to make sure every vote is counted and every voice is heard in this election.” — Mondaire Jones’ spokesperson Shannon Geison on the Working Families Party primary in which he is trailing an elusive candidate alleged to be a GOP-aligned spoiler

ABOVE THE FOLD

20-25 VISION: Adams is only one-quarter of New York City Democrats’ top pick for mayor right now, Scott Stringer isn’t far behind and nobody knows Zellnor Myrie.

That’s according to a June poll of more than 1,400 registered Democrats, conducted by polling firm Slingshot Strategies and shared first in Playbook.

The troubling topline for the incumbent: Only 24 percent of Democrats said Adams deserves reelection, while 57 percent said he should be replaced.

But a lot of voters are still up for grabs when it comes down to next year’s primary. Asked to choose between those three serious candidates raising money, 50 percent said they weren’t sure. Adams topped the list with 24 percent, but voters either love him or hate him — essentially nobody ranked him second or third, while Stringer got notable support as a backup option.

Only 5 percent picked Myrie first, reflecting the survey-leading 82 percent of respondents who didn’t have an opinion about him.

“Yawn,” Myrie spokesperson Monica Klein said about the poll, one year out from the expected June 2025 primary.

The poll asked Democratic voters their impressions of 16 current and former elected officials, or would-be candidates, and Adams was the only one for whom more city Democrats said they had an unfavorable opinion than a favorable one (a list that also included former Gov. Andrew Cuomo).

Slingshot worked for Andrew Yang’s campaign in 2021 and is expected to work against Adams’ reelection effort.

Somebody close to Adams wrote it off to Playbook: “Any poll that has 50 percent of voters undecided about an incumbent is not a serious poll,” they said. “These are the same guys who said their client Andrew Yang was going to win the mayor’s race a month before the election.” — Jeff Coltin

CITY HALL: THE LATEST

CELL NO: The New York City public school system announced Wednesday that it is planning to prohibit cellphone use during the school day, a major policy shift that comes as the Biden administration issues new warnings about the threat social media poses to children, POLITICO reports.

Officials will announce the rules affecting more than 900,000 students early next month, Chancellor David Banks said, responding to widespread concern about youth mental health.

The district consulted physicians as it developed the ban, Banks said.

“Our kids are fully addicted to these phones,” Banks told NY1. “We’ve got to do something about it.” — Madina Touré

More from the city:

— The Adams administration is reversing course on its proposal to slash HIV/AIDS funding from the city Health Department in the upcoming budget. (Gay City News)

— NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey is making a last-ditch attempt to toss his abuse of authority case. (New York Post)

— Chinese tenants are stranded in the city’s housing court without language support. (Documented)

NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY

CUO-MENTUM: Cuomo opened his checkbook for five incumbent Assembly Democrats in their primaries.

And the financial support will further stoke expectations that Cuomo is planning a political comeback, a move he hasn’t ruled out.

Cuomo dipped into his own campaign fund to contribute $3,000 — the maximum allowed under state law — to Democrats Vivian Cook, Latrice Walker, Jamie Williams, Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Eddie Gibbs, the ex-governor’s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said.

Cuomo also recorded a robocall for Gibbs, a Manhattan Democrat who is running for a second term this year. (Adams, along with state Attorney General Tish James, recorded a robocall for Gibbs as well.)

The help was initiated by Cuomo himself: Gibbs told Playbook in an interview Wednesday that the former governor reached out to him during the primary to ask how he could help.

This is the largest number of candidates Cuomo has contributed to since his resignation nearly three years ago. Gov. Kathy Hochul, his successor, largely stayed neutral during the primary season, though she did appear at a fundraiser for her former adviser-turned-Assembly candidate Micah Lasher.

Cuomo resigned in 2021 after a barrage of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations. His administration’s handling of the initial weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic has also come under scrutiny by federal and state officials.

Despite the scandals, Gibbs believes Cuomo retains appeal with voters.

“He’s a viable candidate — especially a statewide seat,” Gibbs said. “He’s still Andrew Cuomo. The state loves him.” — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— Political action committees flexed their muscles in legislative primaries. (Times Union)

— A board to advise state lawmakers on LGBTQ+ issues is being weighed. (Spectrum News)

— The scene at DSA Assembly candidate Eon Huntley’s election night party (Hell Gate)

KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION

NEXT FOR AIPAC: Pro-Israel and centrist groups dealt a blow to the left by taking out Bowman in a Democratic primary.

But it may be difficult for moderate forces to gain wider momentum this year against left-wing Democrats, many of whom are heavily armored against primary challenges, POLITICO reports today.

AIPAC made Bowman’s race against Latimer the most expensive House primary in history.

And now Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, another member of the progressive Squad, could also be ousted when she faces St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell in an Aug. 6 primary.

“We saw in New York that people were turned off by Bowman’s national agenda,” said Patrick Dorton, spokesperson for AIPAC super PAC United Democracy Project. “The same thing is happening in St. Louis.” — Emily Ngo

More from the delegation:

— House Democrats say Bowman is mainly to blame for his own defeat — but progressives still have to deal with the realities of a shrinking Squad. (POLITICO)

— Moderate Democrats took a victory lap after Bowman’s primary defeat. (Daily News)

— Former CNN anchor John Avlon could help Democrats take control of the House. (CBS News)

SOCIAL DATA

Edited by Daniel Lippman

OUT & ABOUT: Rev. Al Sharpton honored actor Robert DeNiro at the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club’s Gay Pride Gala Wednesday night at the Hard Rock in Manhattan. ”It really doesn’t matter what kind of bigot Trump is,” DeNiro said “A true homophobic bigot, or a cynical-abuser-of-LGBTQ-people kind of bigot. He still needs to be stopped.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul also took the stage and vowed to fight the Nassau County Legislature’s bill banning trans women from playing on women’s sports teams. “As the birthplace of the Pride movement, here in New York state, we are near unanimous in our support of those (LGBTQ) rights,” she said. “But there are outliers, my friends, there are places, my friends, like Nassau County, that just voted to say that trans kids don’t have the same rights as other kids. This is the state of New York. You do not get away with that here. And we will stand up and fight you every step of the way.”

SPOTTED: Club President Allen Roskoff … Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, state Sen. Cordell Cleare … Council Members Erik Bottcher and Chi Ossé … Assemblymembers Jo Anne Simon, Tony Simone, Rebecca Seawright and David Weprin … RWDSU’s Stuart Appelbaum … Frank Seddio, Jeffrey Lewis, Ariel Palitz, Chris Sosa, Craig Herskowitz, Louis Cholden-Brown, Rob Gottheim, Mike Corbett, Breeana Mulligan, Steph Campanha Wheaton… Michael Musto and Mickey Boardman … performers Marilyn Maye and Brian Stokes Mitchell.

MAKING MOVES – Brian Phillips Jr. is now deputy director of the Office of Media Relations at the FCC. He previously was comms director for Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and is a Joe Kennedy alum. … Jana Nelson is now deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western hemisphere. She most recently was senior policy adviser at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. … David M. Posner and Gianfranco Finizio have joined Lowenstein Sandler as partners of its bankruptcy and restructuring department and will be based in its New York office. Posner will also serve as a department vice chair. Both most recently worked at Kilpatrick Townsend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Charles Bronfman (93) … Tony Fratto … Jesse Lehrich … former USTR Ron Kirk (7-0) … CNN’s Carrie Stevenson … NYT’s Krista Mahr and Lisa Friedman … Reuters’ David Shepardson … George Malkin … Paul Roveda … Scott Livingston

(WAS WEDNESDAY): Queens Chronicle Associate Editor Kristen Guglielmo

Missed Wednesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.