HOCHUL’S AD CAMPAIGN: Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office is using taxpayer money to fund an advertising blitz promoting her agenda, brushing up against a ban on governors appearing in promotional material.

State law prohibits elected officials from appearing in ads paid for with state funds.

Hochul doesn’t directly appear in any of the ads. Instead, they encourage people to visit a state-run website where she’s prominently featured talking about wanting to cut red tape to build affordable housing.

“They’re skirting the very intent of what that law was meant to do, and that’s using taxpayer dollars to promote the image or likeness of the governor,” Republican Assemblymember Matt Slater said. “It’s clearly something that needs to be looked into so we can figure out what consequences she should be facing if she is in fact violating the law.”

The ads have appeared over the past week on Facebook, YouTube, and at least one billboard. The governor’s office said a FOIL request would be required to see the full scope.

One example is a YouTube commercial that simply states “Let Them Build” and directs people to the state’s website. The Executive Chamber has spent between $10,000 and $15,000 on that ad — one of 21 to air on YouTube or Google over the past week. The ad has been viewed one million times.

“The state routinely engages in awareness and education campaigns on critical policy priorities and this campaign was designed in compliance with all ethics laws,” said Hochul spokesperson Jen Goodman.

Reinvent Albany’s Rachael Fauss said that if the 20-year-old law had been written today, “it probably would take into consideration” campaigns like this.

“From a technical perspective, she may not be violating the law,” she said. “But I think the spirit of the law is to not have the governor’s likeness be promoted through the use of taxpayer funds. That was the intent of it. Unfortunately, this is an area where the law hasn’t kept up with the way people consume media and ads these days.”

The ban on advertising came about after former Gov. George Pataki ran state-funded commercials during an election year in which he encouraged people to register in a new healthcare program. Ethics reforms passed as part of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s inaugural agenda included language prohibiting the practice.

Hochul isn’t the first elected official to brush up against the intent of the law in recent months. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s likeness has appeared on WiFi kiosks, a practice that’s permitted since the city is given the screentime for free. And Mamdani, unlike Hochul, isn’t up for reelection anytime soon.

“She’s got plenty of campaign funds that she could be using to pay for these things,” Slater said. “What she’s doing right now is spending taxpayer money to enhance her image when she’s on the ballot this year.” — Bill Mahoney

FROM THE CAPITOL

PRICING POLITICS: Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James is throwing her support behind a bill meant to crack down on retailers’ use of algorithmic pricing.

James was in Albany this morning to back legislation meant to halt the practice, which uses a consumer’s personal data to set individually tailored prices.

The bill, backed by Assemblymember Michaelle Solages and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris, is part of a broader push being made by elected officials to address peoples’ pocketbook concerns.

“This online pricing model hits hardest where it hurts the most — food, medicine, diapers and other essentials,” James said at a news conference. “We all have all been focused on the issue of affordability across this state.” — Nick Reisman

FROM CITY HALL

EVIDENCE HUNT: The former NYPD sergeant accusing former mayoral aide Tim Pearson of sexual harassment wants to get her hands on the evidence that prompted the Mamdani administration to stop paying for Pearson’s legal bills.

In 2024, the former sergeant, Roxanne Ludemann, sued Pearson, a confidant and top adviser to former Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of sexually harassing her at work and then professionally retaliating against her when she rejected his overtures.

Thanks to an unusual arrangement greenlit by Adams’ Law Department, Pearson received taxpayer-funded private lawyers to defend him against Ludemann’s suit. But Mamdani’s corporation counsel, Steve Banks, announced last week that he had rescinded Pearson’s arrangement, citing unspecified “new evidence” that warranted terminating it.

In a court filing late Friday, John Scola, an attorney representing Ludemann, demanded that the Law Department provide his client with access to the evidence in question, arguing it’s relevant to her ongoing case.

“Produce all documents, records, evidence, reports, memoranda, and materials of any kind that constitute, refer to, or relate to the ‘new evidence’ relied upon, reviewed, considered, or referenced by corp counsel in making its determination to decline or withdraw representation of Defendant Timothy Pearson in this matter,” Scola wrote in the filing.

Also last week, Banks terminated a similar arrangement that allowed Jeffrey Maddrey, an Adams ally and former NYPD chief of department, to receive taxpayer-funded attorneys in the Pearson matter, too. Maddrey is accused by Ludemann of helping Pearson retaliate against her.

Scola’s filing demanded access to the information that prompted Banks to slash Maddrey’s arrangement as well.

Pearson and Maddrey, who resigned from city government in late 2024 after being ensnared in unrelated corruption investigations, have denied any wrongdoing.

A Law Department spokesperson did not comment when asked today about Scola’s demand.

New York City taxpayers have already paid more than $620,000 to cover Pearson’s legal tab alone. — Chris Sommerfeldt

FINANCE SHUFFLE: Mamdani is zeroing in on a pick to run the Department of Finance, a normally under-the-radar agency that has taken on new prominence amid the mayor’s push to raise property taxes.

Mamdani’s administration is in talks to hire Richard Lee for the job, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions who were granted anonymity to discuss an internal personnel matter.

Lee currently serves as director of the City Council’s Division of Finance. That means his move to Mamdani’s finance department would leave Council Speaker Julie Menin without her top budget adviser amid increasingly tense negotiations over the city’s $127 billion spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Council is conducting budget oversight hearings throughout the month to better ascertain how city agencies are planning to operate amid a precarious fiscal situation. The city is facing a projected multi-billion dollar deficit over the next fiscal year, and Mamdani’s administration is relying on cash reserves, optimistic revenue projections and an increase in property taxes to bridge that gap and balance the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Increasing levies on property owners would require approval from the Council, and Menin has dismissed the idea as a nonstarter. She has argued the city needs to look for other ways to cut costs beforehand. The mayor, by contrast, says drastic steps like property levy hikes can be avoided if Albany gives the city the authority to raise local taxes on millionaires and corporations — proposals Menin has declined to support.

Lee, should he ultimately join Mamdani’s administration, would be working for the finance department as it tabulates a key variable — the assessed value of property in New York City — which helps determine how much revenue the city collects from owners each year.

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

AROUND NEW YORK

— MACHIAVELLIAN MAMDANI: The mayor forced his political will on fellow lefty lawmakers, including by squashing Tiffany Cabán’s congressional prospects and threatening Chi Ossé. (The New York Times)

— ADAMS OFFICIAL UNDER PROBE: The former commissioner of the city’s probation department under Mayor Eric Adams is being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney. (Gothamist)

— MAYOR DINES WITH KNICKS: Mamdani broke his Saturday Ramadan fast with Senegalese Knicks player Mo Diawara. (GQ)

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