Politics
Is questioning electability racism? Texas’ tense Dem primary comes to a head.
DALLAS — James Talarico is fond of saying that the “closest thing we have to the Kingdom of Heaven is a multiracial, multicultural democracy.” But Texas’ battle royale of a Democratic Senate primary feels far from heaven.
Talarico, a white state representative, is facing off with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), who is Black, in a contest that’s turned increasingly bitter. It has ignited a fierce intraparty debate — with racial overtones — about what type of candidate Democrats need to nominate to win in tough places as they look to rebuild the racially diverse coalition that President Donald Trump shattered with his 2024 victory.
“Neither candidate can afford to crack Democrats’ multiracial coalition, and each candidate is going to have to work really, really hard to build, maintain and hold that coalition if they want to have any opportunity in a general election,” said Jeff Rotkoff, a veteran Texas Democratic strategist who is neutral in the race. “It is clear that from the math, in order to win Texas, you need to try to get everything right.”
In a state like Texas, Democrats will need every vote. They are desperate to win statewide after three decades of losses and fear that they could blow it this year when the environment feels riper than ever. Trump’s low approval ratings, especially with the young, Hispanic and Black voters he made strong gains with two years ago, gives them hope that flipping the Senate seat is within reach. So does the likelihood that scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton will win the GOP nomination.
The race has been fought much more over candidate style than any ideological or policy differences. Crockett, a political firebrand who spars regularly with Republicans, is focused more on turning out progressive, Black and Hispanic voters in record numbers. Talarico, a seminarian fond of quoting Jesus and the lyrics of John Prine, is pursuing a more big-tent approach that welcomes moderate Republicans and independents exhausted by abrasive GOP tactics. Those stylistic differences have led to questions from some Talarico allies about whether a candidate like Crockett can win a general election — and charges from Crockett’s supporters that those questions themselves may be racist.
Crockett famously responded to then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) saying her fake eyelashes interfered with her reading ability, a comment she and others viewed as racist, in a committee hearing by slamming her “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body.” She’s also mocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “governor hot wheels.”
Prominent Democrats have cautioned that her pugilistic rhetoric could be a problem in the red-leaning state. Democratic strategist James Carville warned last month on his podcast, for instance, that “anybody that has any sense of humanity” would find her Abbott remark offensive (though the governor himself has embraced it, putting on a campaign bumper sticker).
The debate over whether those are real concerns or coded racism has been a hot topic among the hyper-online, drawing in prominent figures within the party and pitting Talarico and Crockett’s supporters against each other in emotional fights on social media.
Crockett’s supporters see the electability conversation as a racist and sexist dog whistle that white male candidates like Talarico never have to engage with.
“Electability is rooted in racism,” said E.J. Carrion, a Fort Worth political activist and Crockett supporter. “James [Talarico] is less threatening to people, and I think if just those people who say that actually voted for the most qualified candidate, you wouldn’t have a problem.”
The first major dustup happened in January, when the hosts of the popular podcast “Las Culturistas” urged people not to send money to Crockett because she had a history of “making it too obviously about” herself rather than the voters, a comment that hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang later apologized for after a furious online response from Crockett supporters who accused them of being racist and sexist.
Tensions ratcheted up further when an influenceraccused Talarico of referring to Rep. Colin Allred as “mediocre Black man” in a private conversation. Allred, who dropped out of the Senate primary the day Crockett announced, took to Instagram to lambast Talarico for the alleged remarks, further heightening the situation.
Talarico defended himself by saying his comment was referring not to Allred’s race but to the quality of his campaign efforts against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024.
Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who is Black, said the Allred video “certainly didn’t help and it’s hard to measure how much it hurt, but I’m sure it hurts” Talarico’s standing with Black voters.
“I suspect he took it as a wake up call, and probably had to start spending more money and spending more time, and will probably be a lot more cautious,” said Ellis, a Houston power broker who endorsed Crockett.
Their primary has shown a sharp divide in support from different demographics, a sign both candidates have serious work to do if they win the nomination.
According to most polls of the race, Talarico pulls in the most white and Hispanic voters, while Crockett draws the vast majority of Black support. Polls show a mixed picture of who leads the primary. There has been little nonpartisan public polling for the general election. Talarico has polled a bit better than Crockett against their likely GOP foes in some surveys — but she appears competitive as well, especially against Paxton.
Talarico has been working hard to make inroads with Black and Hispanic voters. At a recent Dallas rally, he was introduced by Carlos Eduardo Espina, a Hispanic content creator with 14 million TikTok followers. The crowd was largely white and Hispanic.
Talarico acknowledged the current limitations of his coalition.
“We’re trying to build that, and we will build that for the general election,” Talarico said in an interview with Blue Light News, as a stream of young voters waited in a snaking line to snap a photo with the candidate. “I completely understand if I’m not Black Texans’ first choice in this race, but I would love to be their close second choice. And what we’ve seen in our polling is that my approval rating among Black Texans has continued to rise: It’s at the highest point it’s ever been. They may not vote for me in this race, and that’s quite alright. I’m competing for their votes.”
He added, “But if I don’t get it in this race, I’ll hope to have it in the general election.”
For her part, polls indicate Crockett has struggled to win over many Hispanic voters, and she has faced criticism for stating in a 2024 interview that Latinos who support Trump’s immigration policies exhibit a self-hating “slave mentality.” She also said on CNN in December it’s not her goal to win over all of Trump’s supporters.
At a rally in a downtown Houston beer garden last Saturday, speaking to a crowd of mostly Black supporters and elected officials, Crockett took a jab at Talarico over his thin resume, a common attack line from her campaign in its final stretch.
“Some people say, ‘Listen, there’s no way that Texas will support a Black woman,” she said. “We are a majority-minority state, we can start there. The reality is that I didn’t run because I was a woman. I ran because I’m qualified. At the end of the day. I just happened to be Black and woman, but I am the most qualified person in this. Period.”
Crockett declined an interview for this piece. In a statement, a campaign spokesperson said that Crockett “has a broad coalition of support across demographics and is leading with key constituencies that are critical to rebuilding the winning Democratic coalition.”
“Congresswoman Crockett has built strong relations and rapport with voters across Texas long before entering this race, which is why she has such strong support and is able to energize turnout,” Crockett spokesperson Karrol Rimmel said.
Asked whether he thought the concept of electability had functioned as a dog whistle in the race, Talarico said: “I guess it can be. I believe Black women are electable.”
When asked why he thought he was more electable than Crockett, Talarico said he was “concerned” when Crockett said she didn’t have to win over any Trump voters.
“I’m the only candidate in the race who has competed in a tough general election. I got elected to the statehouse by flipping a Trump district, and I held onto it after millions of dollars were spent against me, and it’s because I was able to build a big tent, a big coalition,” he said.
But he said that he thought Crockett could also win the general election — and promised he would campaign for her should she win the primary. A spokesperson for Crockett said the congresswoman has expressed she would “absolutely” support Talarico.
His team argues that the contest isn’t about the candidates’ own race and gender but about how well they can build out the diverse coalition necessary to win.
“It starts from a racial profile of one being a white candidate and one being a Black candidate, but then there’s also a difference in the philosophy, and who can actually connect with this new swing vote in Texas,” said Chuck Rocha, a 36-year veteran of Texas and Hispanic Democratic politics and a senior adviser to Talarico. “It’s not about James maximizing the white vote or Jasmine maximizing the Black vote to win a general. It’s about running a campaign that reaches across racial lines.”
Crockett is betting that she can turn out those Black and Hispanic voters who rarely show up in primaries in historic numbers. It will test whether she can translate the cultural status she earned by attacking Republicans into a surge at the ballot box. She’s running ads on BET, bar-hopping in Houston and holding rallies with prominent Black leaders. She campaigned in the Hispanic-heavy Rio Grande Valley on Thursday. Crockett’s campaign materials focus heavily on depicting her as the toughest fighter against Trump.
Her turnout operation also leans on the political power of Black churches. At a breakfast with Black faith leaders in Houston last week, Crockett walked a room full of pastors through how they could guide their congregations in the voting process. “We need you to make sure that you emphasize the importance of this election,” she told them.
Beyond the pews and in the streets, grassroots groups like Texas Organization Project are deploying members on Crockett’s behalf across major cities with a canvassing plan focused on connecting with Black and Latino voters. TOP helped Crockett get elected to the state House in 2020 in a primary she won by 90 votes, and for this primary they set a goal of knocking on 82,000 doors.
“Our theory of change in the state of Texas is that if we expand the electorate enough, driven by Black and Latino voters, we can win statewide office and we do that starting in cities and counties,” said Brianna Brown, co-executive director of TOP. “A lot of the Black folks we’re talking to at the doors, especially older Black women, are just excited about the idea that who they are is reflected back to them on a ballot and the years that they’ve waited.”
The primary is a significant test of old assumptions about the increasingly swingy Latino vote, said Mike Madrid, an anti-Trump GOP consultant and founder of the Latino Working Class Project who is neutral in the race.
“If Latino voters do break towards Crockett, then there is some evidence there’s a solidarity between voters of color, and that has been the orthodoxy of the Democratic Party for the past three decades,” Madrid said. “If Talarico wins, and if he wins by a good measurable margin, then I think that we will probably be able to finally put that to bed.”
NEW YORK — Vice President JD Vance will hit a key hurdle in his fence-mending effort with Jewish Republicans on Thursday when he hosts a popular conservative radio host at the White House.
77 WABC host Sid Rosenberg, a longtime friend and ardent ally of President Donald Trump, has publicly attacked Vance for maintaining a friendship with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality accused of invoking antisemitic tropes in criticizing Israel.
Rosenberg, who’s known for making inflammatory remarks, has also taken aim at Vance for what he sees as the vice president’s lack of commitment to a “strong” U.S. alliance with Israel.
In an interview Wednesday with Blue Light News, Rosenberg said he plans to grill Vance in person about both Carlson and U.S. aid for Israel at a meeting he described as coming at Vance’s request. And while he said the main purpose of Thursday’s meeting is to get to know Vance, he noted that he’ll raise his concerns to the vice president in the context of his most pressing political priority: His likely 2028 run for president.
“If he really wants to win in ‘28, he has no choice but to, at the very least, distance himself from [Carlson] if not completely disavow him,” Rosenberg said, adding that he believes the vice president “has pissed off the Jews and many Trump supporters.”
Describing distrust of Vance in right-leaning Jewish communities as “a big problem,” Rosenberg said he’ll ask the vice president to commit to steering clear of Carlson and continue significant U.S. support for Israel if elected president.
“I hope I can get some of those commitments. Do I think I can get it? I don’t know,” Rosenberg said. He added that he expects to meet with Trump in the Oval Office after his sit-down with Vance.
As the front-runner for the Republican Party’s 2028 presidential nomination, Vance’s tense relationship with Israel’s supporters in the GOP could become a serious liability. Major Republican donors have already said they would be reluctant to financially boost Vance’s presidential run because of his views on Israel, a sharp departure from how Trump has held a commanding grip in that realm, thanks in large part to his alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In that light, Vance’s meeting with Rosenberg — who has known Trump since at least 2018 — takes on outsize significance. It also comes after Vance extended an olive branch earlier this month at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit in Las Vegas, where he voiced concern about antisemitic hate crimes and said working with Israel is “in the best interest of the United States.” Vance touched on Carlson at that summit as well, acknowledging that “people in this room may disagree” with things he’s said, but the vice president avoided discussing his relationship with him.
Just days after that appearance, however, Vance ignited criticism from pro-Israel Republicans again by saying in a speech that the U.S. cannot allow its Middle East policy approach to be “subservient to the State of Israel.”
Asked about Rosenberg’s comments ahead of their White House meeting, a Vance spokesperson said Wednesday that the vice president would be meeting with the radio host after they didn’t meet in Las Vegas.
“The Vice President was unfortunately not able to meet with him in Las Vegas during the RJC Leadership Summit, and of course wanted to make time to meet with him in Washington,” the spokesperson said.
Rosenberg, a former sports commentator who now runs his own political radio show “Sid & Friends in the Morning” in New York City, confirmed Vance’s team asked for Thursday’s meeting. And despite his concerns about Vance’s Israel posture, he called the vice president an “affable” and “smart” person who’s “capable of the job.”
Still, Rosenberg made clear he doesn’t view Vance as the strongest Republican contender for president in 2028.
“He’s not my first choice. I’m a Marco guy,” Rosenberg said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who’s also rumored as a possible 2028 candidate. “If it turns out Marco doesn’t run, and JD wins the primary, in the end, if JD is the last man standing, I will support him.”
Rosenberg’s influence remains mostly limited to the relatively small world of Republican politics in deep-blue New York. Still, his friendship with Trump has elevated him as a voice on the right, even as he’s attracted his share of controversy.
In March, Rosenberg called Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim mayor, an “America hating, Jew hating, Radical Islam cockroach” while voicing displeasure with Trump’s surprisingly cordial interactions with Mamdani. After drawing intense pushback from voices across the aisle, Rosenberg apologized to Mamdani for the harsh remark, saying it was a “bit over the top” and admitting it’s “not nice to call somebody a bug.”
Rosenberg also came under intense fire earlier this year for calling Mamdani “a terrorist” — and apologized for that remark too. But he later retracted that apology, saying he was “exactly right” to use the term.
With additional reporting by Alex Gangitano
JACOB’S LADDER: Otsego County Democratic Chair Caitlin Ogden is launching a bid for the top spot in the state party — the first time its current chair, Jay Jacobs, has had a challenger during his lengthy tenure.
Jacobs, who also serves as Nassau County’s Democratic chair, has led the state party under the past three governors, with stints from 2009 to 2012 and 2019 through the present.
But those stints have unfolded despite years of grumbling from the party’s progressive flank.
“I came in as Otsego County chair about five years ago, and I’ve heard since then that Jay Jacobs has helped the party get by. And he definitely has,” Ogden said. “But I think the political landscape is shifting radically, and it’s time for a new leader to guide the party through the next phase and really deliver on Gov. Hochul’s vision of statewide, year-round party organizing.”
The friendly footing toward Gov. Kathy Hochul is a bit of a shift for Ogden. She was a top supporter of Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s challenge to the governor.
But expanding on Hochul’s efforts to use the party to help candidates up and down the ballot is now the focus of Ogden’s message as she attempts to win over party members. The Democratic Party has indisputably played a larger role organizing campaigns across the state in recent years, though numerous local officials have characterized this as a slapdash operation that emerges only in the run-up to congressional contests.
Ogden said that in 2022 she “had been expecting there to be a coordinated campaign structure because I had been told there would be.”
“There was not in any capacity — there was no organizational help from Albany or the state party,” she said. “We never got any literature for any of our Albany candidates; we finally got 40 signs for Kathy Hochul in the middle of October.”
The party apparatus has since been more helpful, Ogden said. But it’s still absent more often than not. It played no role as Democrats in her county had one of its best nights in history last November and has been quiet so far in the county that’s at the heart of Rep. Josh Riley’s battleground district.
“We don’t even have staff hired yet, at least to my knowledge,” she said. “And it’s so late in the game.”
“Is it something that would be helpful?” Jacobs said in response to Ogden’s call for a more regular statewide effort. “Of course.”
“But the big question is ‘where do you get the money?’ We raise millions now: This coordinated campaign is going to run through between $6 and $8 million. And that’s not easy to raise, so speculating that you’ll be able to fund not only election year coordinated campaigns, but also ongoing coordinated campaigns year-round every year, I don’t think is reasonable.”
Jacobs highlighted several accomplishments at the state party, such as a grant program that’s given $1 million to county committees and “allowing resolutions to come to the floor, where before they were always tabled to not allow for debate.” He also acknowledged that while 2022 was a “tough year” for the party, it did “very well” in 2024.
The party’s elected committee members select the chair. But historically, they’ve just gone along with whomever’s picked by the governor — a potential obstacle to the pro-Delgado Ogden, but one she thinks can be overcome.
“The conversation has been happening for a really long time now … about whether or not our leadership is on the right path,” she said.
Jacobs has faced calls for his ouster after the 2021, 2022 and 2025 elections, and easily survived a vote of no confidence six years ago. There were rumors last fall that his tenure was at an end after he declined to endorse then-mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, but Hochul said he was “doing a great job” and the party stuck with him.
“Since I’ve been the chair for ten years over two different tenures, I have heard repeatedly that I’m on the way out,” Jacobs said. “The only thing is, it’s never come from me.”
“It’s not that I need it for my livelihood — I like being involved in the Democratic Party and I find this a worthwhile endeavor. So as long as that remains, I’m happy to continue.”
The state Democratic Party will decide on Oct. 1 whether Jacobs stays on or not. — Bill Mahoney
FROM CITY HALL
ZO ON BIBI IN NYC: Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke publicly for the first time today on his plans to skip the protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Jewish head of state will be in New York City next week for the United Nations General Assembly.
“I have made very clear about my views, my thoughts, my assessments,” Mamdani said when asked why he’ll sit out. “When it comes to the UN General Assembly, my focus is ensuring that our city remains prepared to host representatives from across the world, to keep New Yorkers safe, and also to ensure that we’re able to both address the global conversation and the very local concerns New Yorkers have about traffic and their ability to get from point A to point B over the course of the next week.”
Mamdani’s nod to quotidian anxieties like gridlock is a far cry from his typically strident anti-Israel rhetoric and long history of pro-Palestinian activism. As recently as July, he was publicly railing against Netanyahu and entertaining the idea of having the NYPD arrest him on a controversial war crimes warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The war, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, has left more than 73,000 Palestinians dead.
Mamdani ultimately walked back his calls, saying in a social media video that his administration does not have the “independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.” Still, he has continued to condemn Netanyahu, whom he called the “architect of a horrific genocide.” And he has appeared to call New Yorkers to action, saying that, “while we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon.”
The mayor faced accusations that he was stoking antisemitism by continuing to talk about arresting Netanyahu despite knowing he lacked the power to do so.
The mayor took a more measured tone today when answering questions about whether he would encourage critics of Israel to protest Netanyahu’s visit to the city.
“To New Yorkers — I’ve never encouraged them to protest, but I always told them they have the right to do so, and we respect that right, and this city is proud of the first amendment,” Mamdani said.
Regardless, sizable protests are expected ahead of and during Netanyahu’s Sept. 24 speech at the UN. The mayor said he has been in close contact with the NYPD and there are no expected security threats. — Molly Reinmann
SEWER SOCIALISM: Mamdani’s administration plans to install 17 free public bathrooms across the five boroughs — part of a one-year, $4 million pilot project with the modular public toilet company Throne Labs.
Each of the modular bathrooms will be climate controlled, have a toilet, a sink and a baby changing station, and will close at 10 p.m. To enter, New Yorkers can scan a QR code, use an app, send a text message, or use a physical tap card.
“These 17 formerly bathroomless locations will soon become New York City’s number one place to go number two — or number one, you don’t need to tell me,” the mayor joked today.
The pilot program is set to place five toilets in the Bronx, four in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in Manhattan and one in Staten Island.
The initiative builds on a January announcement from Mamdani and is an attempt to solve an enduring problem that’s bedeviled city officials for decades: How to construct a simple public restroom without taking years and spending millions of dollars.
Former Council Member David Greenfield once highlighted a public restroom renovation in his district that — bogged down by municipal procurement and construction requirements — took nearly a decade and cost $2 million.
The commodes announced by Mamdani today, by contrast, are projected to come out to under $250,000 per bathroom, inclusive of maintenance, for the year-long pilot.
“We are essentially wasting taxpayer money,” Greenfield said at the time. “You can build a complete house in six months for $1 million.” — Molly Reinmann and Joe Anuta
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
EYES ON AI: Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan and former city Comptroller Brad Lander are among the signatories on a pledge to refuse cash from the big-money, pro-AI political group Leading the Future.
Lander, who’s all but certain to serve in Congress next year after winning the June primary in a safe-blue district, said he’s “determined to pass strong safeguards into law and make sure the American people have a true say in the future of AI.”
Ryan accused the “Big Tech oligarchs behind Leading the Future” of only caring “about their profits.” — an argument he made during the primary for NY-12. In that race to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, Ryan backed state Assemblymember Alex Bores, one of Leading the Future’s biggest targets. Bores finished in second place.
The public condemnations from Ryan and Lander come amid heightened concerns about the existential threat potentially posed by AI. New York politicians have urged the federal government to do more to address the rapidly developing technology, and Hochul vowed that the state will fill the void in the absence of action from Washington.
Leading the Future, which is backed by leaders at OpenAI and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has pushed back against criticism that it’s anti-regulation. It previously stated that it supports “passing a national regulatory framework for AI.” — Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
— GRACIE GATHERING: Students and teachers from two of New York City’s elite Orthodox Jewish schools will demonstrate Friday outside Gracie Mansion. (Jewish Currents)
— FLOWERY PLANS: City officials are weighing plans to put rain gardens on top of bus stops after a prototype went up in Brooklyn. (Gothamist)
— PROPERTY PAYOUT: New York City is spending $60 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit alleging a city-instituted program illegally stripped dozens of homeowners of their equity. (The New York Times)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
HELP! I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN GET UP: A report from the New York City Department of Investigation confirmed today what many political watchers have long suspected — that the city’s police pension system is ripe for abuse.
The Police Pension Fund doles out retirement payments to all NYPD officers and, in fiscal year 2025, paid $935 million to officers who qualified for accident disability retirement — meaning they were injured on the job and unable to perform their duties.
While DOI Commissioner Nadia Shihata said injured officers should be fairly compensated, her office found the pension system assigns this distinction — which boosts pension payments by 50% and allows officers to receive 75% of their average pay — without considering an officer’s specific job duties.
“No New Yorker wants to stand in the way of NYPD officers rightfully receiving accident benefits when they suffer injuries on the job and are unable to work,” Shihata said in a statement. “But the [Police Pension Fund’s] current administration of these benefits is vulnerable to misuse and does not employ standards consistent with those used in similar law enforcement retirement systems, such as the system for state police.”
Instead, the board has a single standard: whether an applicant can perform the general duties of a police officer, like subduing a suspect or operating a firearm — a threshold that makes less sense for officers with desk or administrative jobs.
The report specifically cited the case of former Chief of Department John Chell, who was awarded a $295,919 annual pension while serving as the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer under former Mayor Eric Adams. The huge sum came, in part, because of an ankle injury sustained in 2024. Chell was among several top Adams-era police officials who received lucrative payouts using this criteria, which the DOI report argued contributed to mistrust in the system and the belief that higher-ranking officers had an easier time securing disability pay. (The report did not make any assumptions about whether Chell would have been granted his pension under stricter criteria.)
DOI contends this standard incentivizes more people to claim a disability, citing a 2015 report that found 21% of NYPD employees retire on accident disability compared to 6% within the state system for police and firefighters, which has a more narrow criteria for awarding disability pay. Shihata even suggested that the pension board’s broad standard might not be legal, since courts have found, in the case of the state police pension rules, that job duty means what an officer actually does in practice.
Despite that, the board rejected a DOI recommendation to change the standard.
Notably, DOI pointed out in its report that two of the people on the medical board making the determinations are appointed by city agencies controlled by the mayor — which means Mayor Zohran Mamdani could push to overrule the board’s leadership.
City Hall did not respond to a question about whether he would do so.
The NYPD declined to comment, while the pension board did not respond. Chell could not be reached.
The pension system does include a safeguard to maximize city resources. The board is authorized to re-examine officers receiving disability pensions who aren’t yet of retirement age to see if their condition would allow them to work a different city job, even if it’s not in the NYPD. If they’re deemed able, then they’re primarily compensated with their pension money until they reach retirement age.
So is the pension system using this provision to examine the $100 million worth of annual pension payments doled out to NYPD officers who are under the retirement age, which the board is required by law to do?
In short, no.
Since 2019, the board has only reevaluated one pensioner, per the DOI report. And that person was found unable to do any other city work.
The report found examples indicating the board could be doing a more thorough job. DOI provided findings that suggest four officers under the retirement age are receiving disability pensions while engaging in activities like lifting weights, performing home renovations, playing competitive sports, doing pushups, instructing workout classes and, in one case, performing “complicated dance routines exhibiting a full range of arm motion.”
DOI recommended the board require officers receiving disability payments who are not yet of retirement age to periodically certify they still have a disability. The board rejected this recommendation, but agreed to create an online portal to gain input from the public on pensioners who may be healthy enough to work. It also agreed to reevaluate the four retirees flagged by DOI. — Joe Anuta
From the Capitol
META’S DAY IN COURT: New York’s top court opened its fall session this afternoon with a case that could have massive implications for the legal liability of social media companies and AI users.
Website owners are typically immune from liability for content created by third parties. But the families of the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo are arguing that social media companies shouldn’t dodge responsibility for radicalizing Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old who drove across the state with the goal of killing Black people.
The state Court of Appeals is now deciding whether these families can proceed with a lawsuit against companies such as Meta, Google, Discord, Reddit, Amazon and 4Chan.
Gendron’s diaries and confessions show he was motivated by white supremacist material he encountered while addicted to social media. The families contend these companies are liable because they intentionally designed an addictive algorithm that destroyed his mental health while proactively steering him to pro-violence content.
“The social media companies had a role in causing the crime,” attorney Jennifer Bennett argued. “Heavy social media usage goes hand-in-hand with mass shootings.”
Meta attorney Eric Shumsky said the entire argument boiled down to an attempt to sue over the actual content the shooter saw, a type of claim his company is protected against.
“If the addiction were to cooking tutorials or cat videos or anything else, it would be an absolutely incoherent theory of liability,” Shumsky said.
Judges on the seven-person court panel acknowledged the possibility of significant repercussions no matter how they rule.
“Let’s say I can’t function, I can’t work anymore, because of my addiction to social media,” Judge Michael Garcia said while questioning the plaintiffs about how far reaching lawsuits might be under their theory. “It’s addictive, I can’t deal with people, I stay home, I can’t work.”
“That is a viable claim,” Bennett said. “The evidence is very strong that the social media companies made a product to have this effect.”
While questioning Meta, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson raised the possibility of troubling precedents if the court supports the idea of widespread immunity for app creators.
“I use AI to, let’s say, ‘design me an app to create the most harm possible to teenagers,’” Wilson said. “It’s my intent to create an app that selects content designed to destroy the mental health of teenagers … Am I liable?” — Bill Mahoney
EYES ON AI: Gov. Kathy Hochul chided the federal government today for not doing enough to address concerns about the existential threats artificial intelligence potentially poses.
“Understandably, Americans are concerned, as am I,” Hochul told reporters after an event Tuesday in Manhattan. “We have an obligation to ensure that technological progress does not come at our own peril. So while Washington refuses to act, here in New York, we’re stepping up.”
Hochul pointed to the landmark RAISE Act, which goes into effect in January, and a one-year data center moratorium, which she issued in July, as evidence that New York is acting aggressively. Her administration earlier today rolled out a framework for communities that want to host a data center to minimize detrimental effects on the area.
The governor added that she’ll find “additional actions that we can take at the state level to lead the way in the absence of leadership from Washington” — though she did not specify what that looks like.
While some in Washington are eager to implement restrictions to slow down AI, President Donald Trump has tried to shut down those efforts, calling the AI dooming a “HOAX.”
Hochul said she hasn’t had conversations with legislators in recent days regarding AI. — Madison Fernandez
FROM CITY HALL
TO ENFORCE OR NOT TO ENFORCE — THAT’S THE QUESTION: Mamdani wouldn’t commit today to ordering the NYPD to step up enforcement of traffic violations in New York City — because he’s focused on “behavioral change,” not punishment.
The NYPD’s rate of issuing tickets to drivers who speed, blow through red lights, block bike lanes or otherwise break traffic laws remains far below pre-pandemic levels. And transit advocates, including left-leaning allies of Mamdani, say the police department must get back to issuing more violations, arguing that it’s critical to keeping city streets safe.
This afternoon, though, Mamdani declined repeatedly to say whether he will deliver such marching orders to the NYPD and suggested enforcement isn’t a key priority for him.
“Our goal here is not going to be measured in terms of the number of tickets that are issued or the violations, but rather behavioral change, and the NYPD is a partner in delivering that change,” Mamdani said, speaking at a press conference in Brooklyn held to unveil his new street safety plan, which contains ambitious proposals but is light on many implementation details.
How does the city change behaviors without stepping up enforcement, though? In response to that question, Mamdani suggested the answer could lie in developing more protected bus and bike lanes and otherwise redesigning streets to make them safer for pedestrians.
At the same time, Mamdani said he’s committed to “a continued partnership with the PD to use those tools of ticketing when any violation is present.”
“We’re going to be taking a hard look at how best we can change behavior that we’re seeing in violation of street safety laws, and then utilize that. That includes the PD,” he said.
The mayor’s comments came after Streetsblog reported the NYPD has shifted its traffic violation strategy to prioritize enforcement against scofflaws on e-bikes and other micromobility vehicles. That shift comes in spite of the fact that car drivers account for the vast majority of crashes and traffic deaths in the city, data shows. — Chris Sommerfeldt
FOILED ATTEMPT: The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, is suing the Mamdani administration over its handling of Freedom of Information Law requests.
The think tank has been seeking records related to meetings between foreign dignitaries and Ana María Archila, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. Archila has faced criticism for attempting to meet with an Iranian diplomat amid that country’s war with the U.S.
While the Adams administration provided tailored estimates for FOIL requests (but by no means fulfilled them in a timely manner), the institute found Mamdani’s City Hall team began giving out blanket six-month timetables for fulfilling requests.
“City Hall has turned FOIL into a six-month waiting room for everyone,” Manhattan Institute City Policy Analyst Santiago Vidal Calvo and General Counsel Cameron Macdonald wrote in explaining their suit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. “That is why we are suing.”
The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit. — Joe Anuta
SCREENS IN SCHOOLS: The New York City public school system banned unfettered access to YouTube on school-issued devices for the current school year, the Department of Education revealed Tuesday.
The ban — which went into effect last week, ahead of the first day of school — comes amid calls from City Council members to limit the use of YouTube, personal devices and AI in the classroom.
“We heard everyone loud and clear,” DOE official Scott Strickland said at a Council hearing today. “As of Wednesday night at 5 p.m., we filtered YouTube out of all student devices. They shouldn’t be able to access it either on a Chromebook or an iPad both at school and at home.”
Council member Shekar Krishnan, who chairs the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee and was co-leading Tuesday’s hearing, said he was “very glad to hear” of the YouTube ban.
Educational videos embedded into Google Classroom for specific lessons will be exempt from the ban.
Earlier this month, Mamdani announced a year-long AI moratorium for students in grades 2-K through eighth grade. Hochul and lawmakers in Albany also rolled out a full-day “bell-to-bell” restriction on cellphone use during the school day last school year.
Ahead of this afternoon’s hearing, Krishnan and Council member Eric Dinowitz, who chairs the Education Committee, held a rally railing against screen-heavy classroom instruction and calling, among other things, for a YouTube ban.
“We will not let the greed of big technology companies get in the way of our children’s future and their education,” Krishnan said at the rally. — Molly Reinmann
IN OTHER NEWS
— DECLASSIFIED DOCS: Trump said he’d consider releasing classified documents related to 9/11 after victims’ families pleaded for clarity on Saudi Arabia’s involvement. (NY Post)
— TIED UP: Long Island Democratic House candidate Christopher Gallant acknowledged he posed in bondage gear for an ad campaign over a decade ago. (The New York Times)
— ICE ARRESTS: Police in the Westchester village of Port Chester have turned over more people with no criminal record to ICE than other local law enforcement agencies, despite assertions the police department would not cooperate with ICE. (NY Focus)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
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