Politics

Billionaires of the world, unite!

Published

1 month ago

May 5, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

CEO of Vornado Realty Trust Steve Roth (right) scorned New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's efforts to tax the rich in a Tuesday earnings call.

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 35

VORNADO CHIEF SLAMS MAMDANI: Billionaire real estate magnate Steve Roth is standing strong with fellow billionaire Ken Griffin in his spat with Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Instead of being singled out and scorned in viral videos, Roth, CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, thinks the ultra-rich should be “praised and thanked,” and said calls to tax them more are akin to some racial slurs.

“I must say that I consider the phrase tax the rich — quote tax the rich — when spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs, and even the phrase ‘from the river to the sea,’” Roth said, referring to the controversial rallying cry used by pro-Palestinian activists, during a Tuesday earnings call.

Roth decried Mamdani’s social media video on the proposed pied-à-terre tax — in which the mayor used Griffin’s $238 million second-home as a backdrop — as “irresponsible and dangerous.” Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, was offended by the video, and according to The Wall Street Journal, his chief operating officer suggested Citadel may pause its $6 billion plan to develop a Midtown office tower with Vornado and Rudin Management.

“We are all shocked that our young mayor would pull this stunt in front of Ken’s home and single him out for ridicule,” said Roth, who brought up the “blunder” unprompted before launching into a six-minute rant about the mayor.

On the planned office redevelopment at 350 Park Avenue, Roth said “it’s a good bet that we will go all in.” But he added that “this fence cannot be mended by a short, terse, insincere private apology.”

City Hall did not immediately return a request for comment. Mamdani ran on a pledge to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest New Yorkers, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted that push — save for the pied-à-terre tax.

Griffin further blasted Mamdani at a conference Tuesday while voicing fears the video could spark political violence, noting the CEO of United Healthcare was “killed just a few blocks from my house.”

Roth on Tuesday stressed the significant contributions of the city’s wealthiest residents to its tax base and said these members of the so-called one-percent are “not enemies” and are “at the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason.”

Roth, who donated generously to Mamdani’s opponent — former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — in last year’s election, went on to ponder: “Maybe we can draft Ken to become active and lead an effort to educate New York voters and to elect right-minded candidates.”

For now, he wants the city’s democratic socialist mayor — who, he allowed, is “young, smart and energetic” — to be friendlier to billionaires.

“What I beg my mayor to do is to begin every day being business-welcoming and business-friendly as his first priority,” Roth said. “That’s the only way to get the growth and financial wherewithal to accomplish his programs, some of which I must say are interesting and valid.” — Janaki Chadha

From the Capitol

New poll shows Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson leading the race for the Democratic primary to replace Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.

CHECKING IN ON LAWLER LAND: The crowded and competitive Democratic primary to replace Republican Rep. Mike Lawler just got a pulse check — and the out-of-district military vet who’s wooed party insiders with her compelling biography has some ground to make up.

A new poll of likely Democratic primary voters commissioned by left-leaning underdog Effie Phillips-Staley shows Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson leading the pack with 26 percent of the vote, an 11-point lead over Cait Conley, who served in the Army for 16 years and netted 15 percent of the vote. Still, 48 percent of those polled were undecided.

The poll was shared with Playbook and first reported in left-leaning outlet Zeteo. It was conducted by the left-leaning firm Data for Progress from April 17 to 24, about a week after former Briarcliff Manor Mayor Peter Chatzky dropped out of the race. The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percentage points, and respondents were quizzed online and via text.

“This Democratic primary clown car keeps producing surprises, but Conley’s flameout might be the biggest yet,” Lawler’s campaign manager Ciro Riccardi said in a statement to Playbook.

But beyond NY-17, the poll also provided some interesting tea leaves for Democrats weighing where to land on one of the most contentious issues ahead of the midterms: the conflict in the Middle East. Even in this suburban, heavily-Jewish congressional district outside New York City, Israel is increasingly unpopular with Democratic voters.

The poll found 44 percent of Democratic voters sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis, with 18 percent favoring the Jewish state. Twenty-three percent of respondents sympathized with both equally and 11 percent sympathized with neither.

And if that wasn’t surprising enough, Mamdani is so far not proving to be the political pain point for swing district Democrats that Republicans had hoped. In the hills of Rockland and Westchester counties, Mamdani has an 80 percent favorability rating with Democratic voters, with just 16 percent of respondents viewing him unfavorably, per the poll.

In the survey’s initial polling question on the primary, Phillips-Staley trailed behind Conley and Davidson at 8 percent. But after respondents were flooded with messaging on her opponents, Phillips-Staley’s support jumped to 31 points, just above .

The poll also tested negative messaging on Phillips-Staley, including the fact that she apparently “owns stocks in casino companies, defense contractors, and other industries that profit off the backs of working Americans,” according to one of the messages tested in the poll. — Jason Beeferman

NOT FONDA THIS IDEA: Actress and activist Jane Fonda is weighing into the politics of the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline.

The Williams Co. project, which was boosted by the Trump administration last month during a ceremonial groundbreaking event, would deliver fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New York City and Long Island. Despite rejecting water quality permits for the project in prior years, both New York and New Jersey awarded those permits last November, sparking ire from environmentalists. Advocacy groups sued both states over the about-face.

On Wednesday, the New Jersey Tidelands Resource Council will consider awarding a permit to the pipeline project. It is unclear what the project’s fate will be if the council does not approve the permit.

“You have the opportunity to exercise leadership on this issue that will resonate all over the United States,” Fonda wrote in a letter to Sherrill this week.

“If the pipeline is rejected by the Tidelands Resource Council, that rejection will be a giant victory for New Jersey’s environment and the world’s climate,” the letter later added.

A spokesperson for Sherrill declined to comment on the letter.

While Sherrill, like Hochul, supports an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy, Hochul has cited affordability concerns in her defense of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision to issue the water quality certification, arguing that she needs to “govern in reality” amid skyrocketing bills and the Trump administration’s antipathy to renewables.

Sherrill, while also focused on affordability, is in a tough spot as the pipeline would not deliver any energy to New Jersey. She has not weighed in on the project since taking office, but she criticized the pipeline while she was governor-elect for doing “nothing to lower electric bills for New Jersey residents.” — Mona Zhang

FROM CITY HALL

Carl Wilson, the former chief of staff to Council District 3's Erik Bottcher, won the April special election to succeed Bottcher.

IT’S IN THE BAG: Carl Wilson was officially crowned the winner of a high-stakes City Council race today after ranked-choice tabulations put him more than 2,000 votes ahead of Lindsey Boylan, his closest competitor whose defeat is seen as a black eye for Mamdani.

Wilson’s victory was already all but certain after Election Day on April 28, as he trounced Boylan by a wide margin in early ballot returns.

But since no candidate secured a simple majority in the April 28 results, the city Board of Elections needed to run ranked-choice tallies.

Those tabulations, released by the board this afternoon, show Wilson won after three rounds of ranked choice tallying with 7,863 ballots, or 59.4 percent of the vote total.

That put him well ahead of Boylan, who netted 5,373 ballots, or 40.6 percent of the vote total, the ranked-choice tallies show. The other two candidates in the special election for the 3rd Council District, Layla Law-Gisiko and Leslie Boghosian Murphy, were eliminated in the third and second ranked-choice rounds, respectively.

“This victory belongs to all of us,” Wilson said in a statement after the release of the ranked-choice results. “From the start, this was a true grassroots effort powered by neighbors, volunteers, unions and supporters who showed up day after day. We build something real together, and these results reflect that.”

Last week’s special election was called because former Council Member Erik Bottcher, who used to count Wilson as his Council chief of staff, vacated his seat after being elected to the state Senate in February.

After initially being seen as a shoo-in for Wilson, the race was scrambled in mid-April when Mamdani endorsed Boylan, a onetime adviser to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo who became the first woman to accuse him of sexual misconduct in 2020 (Cuomo has denied the accusations). Mamdani’s move made the race the first true test of his endorsement power since his inauguration and created a proxy war between him and more moderate Democrats backing Wilson, including Council Speaker Julie Menin.

Read the story from Chris Sommerfeldt in Blue Light News Pro.

ACCESS DENIED: The city’s Department of Investigation released a report today outlining several ways its oversight of the Administration for Children’s Services is stymied by both state law and a state agency, leaving the municipal watchdog unable to properly probe some of the most sensitive work done in government.

The problem is twofold.

First, a provision in state law prohibits investigators from accessing ACS records of unfounded accusations of child abuse or maltreatment. A second provision ices out the department if a case is put into a deferral program that avoids a full-blown investigation of a caretaker.

Often, that is the very information investigators need to draw a conclusion in instances where children are harmed.

“If there is a history of unfounded investigations by ACS, we’re unable to go back and look and see: Were these investigations conducted properly? Was there some misconduct? Was there a home visit that a caseworker said they did but never actually did?” DOI’s newly installed commissioner, Nadia Shihata, said in an interview. “We can’t look into it because we can’t even access the records.”

The rules can have tragic consequences: In 2025, DOI was prohibited from accessing the full case history in 17 out of 18 child deaths it was notified of. In 2024, it was denied full records in 13 out of 16 child fatalities. And the year before that, the same thing happened in 19 out of 25 cases, according to the department.

The state Office of Child and Family Services at times can present its own roadblocks. State law requires DOI to obtain authorization from that office before receiving nearly any type of record relating to children who have encountered ACS, placing a drag on inquiries. And DOI has found the state office often goes above and beyond what the statutes lay out, excessively delaying or limiting records in a way that limits DOI’s ability to investigate potential shortfalls in city service delivery.

“What we want to look into affects the most vulnerable children in the city,” said Shihata, who noted the department is supporting state legislation that would alter the rules and allow DOI more access. “It’s frustrating.”

The state countered that limitations on data sharing exist to protect the children involved but that it cooperates with DOI to the extent it can. Spokesperson Daniel Marans noted investigators are entitled to full records in criminal cases via law enforcement bodies and can obtain unredacted files with permission from the affected family.

“OCFS is deeply committed to the wellbeing of children and families and takes seriously its obligation under New York State law to protect the identities of children experiencing abuse and maltreatment or institutionalization,” Marans said in a statement. — Joe Anuta

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Darializa Avila Chevalier is challenging incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat for New York's 13th congressional district.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Progressive organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier is homing in on Spanish-speaking voters as she vies to unseat Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in next month’s primary.

Avila Chevalier’s campaign is going up with its first broadcast ad of the primary, backed by an initial buy of more than $165,000. The Spanish-language spot leans into an issue that Democrats have been using in primaries across the country to activate their base: Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In the spot, Avila Chevalier touts her work to release people detained by ICE, and vows to abolish the agency in Congress. She also takes a swipe at Espaillat, whom she claims aided President Donald Trump by funding ICE — a reference to votes he took in line with many other Democrats approving DHS funding.

During the latest DHS funding standoff, Espaillat was adamant about not providing funding for immigration enforcement without guardrails.

Hispanic residents make up around half of Espaillat’s district, which covers parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, according to Census data. The five-term incumbent is chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Avila Chevalier, who is backed by the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, is running to Espaillat’s left and looking to harness the progressive energy that got Mamdani elected last year. The mayor has not endorsed in this race. — Madison Fernandez

IN OTHER NEWS

— ‘NOT MY BOSS’: Brooklyn police captain James Wilson has been transferred following a video capturing him trashing Mamdani at the scene of anti-immigration enforcement protests. (Gothamist)

— JUDGE OF CHARACTER: The opaque, party-controlled and patronage-driven system that selects and assigns New York City judges raises concerns about accountability and persistent abuses. (Hell Gate)

— GETTING SQUEEZED: New York’s budget woes are forcing upstate cities to implement government layoffs and service cuts as officials say state and federal funding are not meeting rising costs. (Syracuse.com)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

Politics

US to reach $41T debt ceiling as soon as late winter, forecasters predict

Published

2 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Treasury Department could prevent a U.S. debt default for several months after that…
Read More

Politics

The small-town voters deciding the UK’s future are demanding change, our focus group found

Published

3 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

ASHTON-IN-MAKERFIELD, England — Voters in perhaps the most consequential special election ever held in Britain are angry, and they really want someone to feel their pain.

That’s the clear verdict from a special focus group by Public First for Blue Light News of voters in Makerfield, the former mining area in northwest England whose June 18 vote could determine the next prime minister.

Some in the group said Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate who is hot favorite to succeed party leader Keir Starmer as PM if he can get himself back into Parliament, might make a difference. But the overwhelming mood during the 90-minute conversation in the Golden Lion pub was one of deep cynicism and bitterness: Life in 2026 is unfair, miserably expensive, and only getting worse, they said.

The goal of Wednesday’s focus group was to get a deep understanding of life in Makerfield — and how voters there are thinking about next week’s by-election. The voters had a mix of political histories and leanings, with longtime Labour voters sitting with supporters of right-wing parties and people who were undecided. But all expressed remarkably similar concerns about the cost of living, immigration, public safety and frustration about an increasingly unequal society.

“These were not a group of people that were thrilled about anything that was going on in Westminster,” said Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First, who moderated the discussion.

Can Burnham overcome that deep disillusionment with the political system? Or will Nigel Farage’s hard right Reform UK party tap into the anger at “two tier” Britain and eject center-left Labour from a seat it has held for decades?

Here are the key takeaways from Blue Light News’s Makerfield focus group:

Starmer’s Labour Party has let them down

There was no love for Starmer — and some even felt there was no real difference between his two-year old government and the center-right Conservatives who held power for the previous 14 years. Not one of the nine people in the group said they thought he’d done a good job as prime minister.

And Labour’s party brand has been damaged as a result.

Tom, a father who is planning to vote Reform, said Labour had always claimed to stand for working-class people — but with the cost of daily essentials now punishingly high for everyone in the room and no relief in sight, “How are they for the working class anymore?”

Daily life is too expensive

The participants easily rattled off the exact prices they‘ve watched increase: The cost of living — from a fast-food meal to rent, to a family trip to the cinema — has risen rapidly and become unsustainable for many people in Makerfield, they said. Family holidays they could afford in the past, even for people working full time, are “just a dream” now, one person added.

Jenny, who is retired, said the cost of living has become “terrible.”

Paul, a father who works three jobs, often from 7:30 a.m. until 4 a.m. the next morning, is struggling, and feels let down. “No one should work 60 hours a week and not be able to have a nice life,” he said. “It’s a joke.”

Paul (right) said he works three jobs and feels let down.

They’re gloomy about politics

Few in the group could point to a political leader of the last 10 years who they felt had made a positive impact on their lives.

Peter, who usually votes Conservative, praised David Cameron’s decision to call a referendum on Brexit 10 years ago. A couple of participants went further back — almost 20 years — to name Tony Blair, who ushered in a Labour government in 1997 after almost two decades of Conservative control, as the last PM who delivered for them.

But most had little confidence that any of today’s politicians would make a difference.

“No government is going to change it,” said Paul. “They’re all crooks, mate. Biggest gangsters in the world.”

Bob, who is in his 90s, added: “I’ve not met a bloody good one yet to be honest.”

They’re very upset about immigration

Farage’s Reform UK is surging ahead in national polls and local elections across the country and is in with a chance of taking Makerfield from Labour. Tackling immigration is his signature policy, and it is clearly a huge concern to participants in the Blue Light News group.

The three-letter acronym they kept coming back to was “HMOs.” It stands for Houses in Multiple Occupation — and that means by migrants, in the perception of the focus group.

The concern, the Makerfield voters said, is that landlords and developers are turning homes into residences not for existing local families to live in but for newly arrived immigrants — who are not related to each other — to share. They fear that pushes up rent prices for people who have been living in the area for many years and changes the nature of their community, which is 95 percent made up of people from a “White British” background.

Participants also said they believed many illegal migrants were overwhelming the local health service, making it harder for taxpaying residents to get medical care.

Farage is winning converts who want change

With their anger at the status quo — and demand for a change in their lives and the country’s direction — several focus group participants said they’re increasingly looking to Reform UK.

“I’ve always voted Labour. This is the first time I’m not voting Labour, I’m voting Reform,” said Tom, who is married with two children and works full-time. “They are pushing big on immigration, which is one of our biggest factors.” Reform is not perfect, he said, “it’s more how bad the country’s got over the years with Labour in charge. There needs to be change.”

Dan, another local father who works but struggles to make his money last, said he’d also be switching from Labour to Reform: “I think the country just needs a bit of a shakeup, even if it’s just for one term.”

Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage speaks at a press conference for the Reform candidate Robert Kenyon ahead of the Makerfield by-election.

Crime is a big worry

Crime and disorder seems to be rising up their agenda. A knife attack in the street in Belfast this week, which sparked protests and violent disorder, was at the top of many participants’ minds. They raised fears about crime locally, too, including “feral kids” who harass people in the streets and lead some residents to feel unsafe while out with their families.

There are now fewer police on the streets and they don’t tend to care much about incidents in the constituency’s biggest town, Ashton-in-Makerfield, participants said.

Life isn’t fair in “two-tier” Britain

For the right in British politics, it is now an article of faith that the country is suffering from a “two tier” system in which ordinary Brits miss out, often thanks to politically correct decisions that police and others take to satisfy equality laws.

Farage and Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch have both seized on high-profile cases in recent days to make this point, and in Blue Light News’s focus group, it had clearly landed — even among some who are going to vote Labour.

The participants in the focus group represented a mix of backgrounds and political identities.

“We need to come up with a better system that makes it fair for everybody. It is a two-tier system here,” said Peter, the local butcher, who is switching this time from the Conservatives to vote for Labour’s Burnham.

Many in the group agreed that the problem was not just policing, but also a wider sense of unfairness — that places like London and even Manchester get all the money and attention, leaving towns like Ashton to struggle.

“A lot of the politics, like Andy has said, has been Londonised. We need somebody from up north,” Peter said.

Traffic jams and warehouses

Alongside immigration from overseas, the changing nature of the area and its “close-knit” local community was a worry for many in the group. In particular, they raised concerns that plans to build hundreds of new homes and five “super unit” warehouses would lead to a huge increase in traffic that the already clogged road network would be unable to handle.

The green landscape around Ashton is highly prized, and several people in the group said they did not want fields to be built on, turning their area into another endless suburb like Liverpool or Manchester.

Andy Burnham stands in front of supporters during the launch of his campaign as Labour’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election.

‘Andy cares’

Burnham’s record as Mayor of Greater Manchester, the broader area, was seen as a big plus, even by people who were not likely to vote for him.

Participants in the group readily named his achievements at improving local transport infrastructure and hiring more police. Two even said they had in the past gone directly to Burnham with problems they or their families were facing and he had fixed them.

Most of all, there was a sense that Burnham, who grew up nearby and previously represented people in the area in parliament, understands their lives. Bob, Peter, Emma and Mandy all said they were planning to vote for Burnham next week.

“He just comes over as if he cares and as if he wants to sort the country out,” said Mandy, who works part-time as a cleaner and merchandizer. “I just think he seems to be a more down-to-earth person who is looking out for people. He seems more genuine.”

Having someone from the North as prime minister would also help their area, several participants said. “We need better leadership,” added Peter. “We need somebody who cares and I do feel like Andy cares.”