Politics

Menin’s Fair Fares push tests Mamdani

Published

6 months ago

May 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

City Council Speaker Julie Menin is proposing to expand an existing city discount program for low-income residents, as an alternative to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s fast and free bus plan.

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 36

ALL’S FARE: City Council Speaker Julie Menin portrayed Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration today as stuck running a failing mass transit discount program.

The alternative? Her own plan to provide free fares to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

Drawing that very particular contrast served as an attempt to turn the tables on Mamdani, who made free buses a key campaign pledge. Menin’s preferred approach is to expand Fair Fares — an existing discount for low-income residents — into a free bus and subway program for people at or below 150 percent of the poverty level.

In the process, Menin and other Council members poked the administration for not enrolling enough people in the current iteration of Fair Fares by failing to cut unnecessary red tape. Right now, less than 40 percent of eligible people participate, leaving half a million New Yorkers paying full freight for rides they could get at half price.

Menin called it “failing” and blamed a multi-step enrollment process that includes downloading an app and filing out a lengthy form.

“There has to be a recognition that the system is broken,” she said during a Council hearing today.

Rebecca Chew, a chief program officer from the city’s Human Resources Administration, told Menin the agency “worked hard to streamline the process and identify efficiencies, and it’s something we’re continuously looking at to improve and refine.” Later, Chew said that nearly half the people enrolled in one year — right now that’s 380,000 — fail to re-enroll in the next.

Fair Fares largely predates Mamdani, but under lengthy questioning from Council Member Crystal Hudson, Chew and her colleagues did not offer specific targets for improving enrollment.

The Council is seeking to make enrollment automatic.

Menin opened the hearing by saying she was “very disappointed” in the Mamdani administration for not sending the head of the Department of Social Services to testify.

“I’d be remiss if I did not express our deep disappointment in that,” she said.

Mamdani has not yet taken a position on the Council proposal.

The democratic socialist has long been skeptical of means-tested programs. But by his own admission, his free-buses-for-all plan isn’t going to happen this year, which creates an awkward situation: He now appears unwilling to support an arguably half-loaf solution that would nonetheless help hundreds of thousands of people ride the bus and subway for free.

“Fair Fares is an important tool for low-income New Yorkers but does not reach enough of them,” Mamdani spokesperson Jeremy Edwards said in an email. “The administration is reviewing all Fair Fares proposals. We will continue to encourage eligible residents to enroll in Fair Fares and work with city and state partners to make transit more affordable for all New Yorkers.” — Ry Rivard

From the Capitol

State Sen. John Liu introduced a bill to increase the cost of marriage licenses and a City Hall wedding in New York City.

WEDDING BELL$: With New York City mired in red ink, one new idea might help Mamdani make a very small dent in the very big budget shortfall.

City officials have reached out to state lawmakers to let the City Council hike the cost of a City Hall wedding from $25 to $55 and the fee for a marriage license from $25 to $60.

The fee increases would be a miniscule boon to the city’s financial needs — perhaps to the tune of $4 million a year. And the sponsors in the state Legislature say the bill isn’t written with balancing the budget in mind

The fees haven’t been increased since the early 1990s, and the administrative costs of performing a wedding have since risen to $126 — meaning the total fee hike to $115 would simply mean city government loses less money on each ceremony.

“This is a request from the Marriage Bureau, so I think it makes sense,” said state Sen. John Liu, who introduced a bill on the subject Tuesday. “It’s important that people don’t view this as a marriage penalty — no one likes fees and no one likes fee increases, but it’s been the same for decades.”

Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine expects critics won’t hesitate to gripe about the minor change: “’If we make it more expensive to get married, then fewer people will get married,’” he said, predicting the GOP response.

The issue is being discussed outside of budget talks, so it will need to be dealt with in the dwindling number of session days before state lawmakers pack it in on June 4.

“We are going to be stuck with a handful of legislative days,” Lavine said. “I hope it’ll work. It’s about time those fees will be made a little more substantial.”

Mamdani has paid more attention to the Marriage Bureau than any of his predecessors — he’s notably the only modern mayor to stop by the City Clerk’s office to officiate ceremonies himself. — Bill Mahoney

NO ICE MELT: White House border czar Tom Homan’s threat of an ICE surge into New York if a package of sanctuary measures are approved isn’t deterring Democratic state lawmakers.

“If anything, it makes me want to double down,” Democratic state Sen. Pat Fahy said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers are close to an agreement on a series of bills that would limit how federal immigration agencies like ICE can coordinate with local police departments. They also plan to limit where civil deportation warrants can be executed, blocking them from being carried out in locations like educational facilities and houses of worship.

FROM CITY HALL

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced in February an audit on city agencies' response protocols with federal immigration enforcement.

ICE VENDOR FACES HEAT: Mamdani’s administration is scrutinizing NYPD contracts with a surveillance technology company that’s faced criticism for doing business with federal immigration authorities, our Chris Sommerfeldt reports today.

The examination of the NYPD’s dealings with Vigilant Solutions is part of an ongoing audit process being conducted by Mamdani’s administration at the police department and five other city agencies.

Mamdani ordered the reviews in February with the stated goal of strengthening New York City’s sanctuary laws as President Donald Trump’s administration continues its aggressive — and at times lethal — immigration crackdowns across the U.S. The laws bar city employees and resources from being used to assist federal authorities in civil immigration matters.

The revelation that the NYPD audit is looking at a private company indicates Mamdani wants to scrutinize not just whether the department is complying with the sanctuary laws but also its vendors. In ordering the audits, Mamdani specified they may result in “changes and updates to policies and protocols,” suggesting the singling out of Vigilant could come with repercussions for its NYPD contracts.

Asked why the police department’s Vigilant connections are being scrutinized in particular, mayoral spokesperson Sam Raskin provided little clarity. “The Mamdani administration has engaged with a number of agencies on their policies, guidelines and procedures related to federal immigration enforcement,” he said Tuesday. “We will share more soon.”

As part of the audit process, a questionnaire directed the NYPD to submit a “draft audit” to the mayor’s office with responses to all inquiries by April 20. The form then says the NYPD and the mayor’s office would review the draft before a finalized submission to Mamdani by Thursday.

Read the story from Chris in Blue Light News here.

ON A RELATED MATTER: When Jeff Blau of Related Companies sat for an interview at a real estate conference Wednesday, he likely expected a friendly crowd.

But three separate times during a 30-minute interview, activists from the left-leaning New York Communities for Change interrupted his remarks to protest a tentative Adams administration deal under which Blau’s firm would benefit from some $2 billion in public subsidies to complete Hudson Yards.

“$2 billion of taxpayer’s money!” the activists, who were quickly rushed out of the room, shouted. “Shame on you! Shame on you, Related!”

The progressive advocacy group is pushing the Mamdani administration to scrap the public financing scheme — calling it a “boondoggle” and the “biggest corporate bailout in New York City history.”

That tentative deal is now up to Mamdani, but he’s not rushing to move it forward. Mayoral spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach said Wednesday: “We are not actively engaged in negotiations to move this project forward at this time.”

Blau said he still hopes to advance the project.

“Our hope is that we will announce a transaction this year, we’ll start construction on another 3 million square foot office building and probably start about 2,500 apartments at the same time, 625 affordable units,” Blau said at the conference. “So really a great addition to New York City.”

The ticketed event Wednesday was hosted by The Real Deal, a trade publication that covers the real estate industry. Founder and publisher Amir Korangy, who interviewed Blau, slammed the interruptions.

“This is not the right venue for this,” Korangy said, clearly exasperated by the third instance. “This was clearly coordinated.”

He added, to some chuckles, “I mean, at least they bought tickets.”

Blau was generally bullish on New York City and offered some praise of the mayor, even as other members of the business elite have raised concerns about his approach in recent days.

“I think the mayor is very, very supportive of new housing construction and is trying to eliminate barriers,” Blau said. “He’s just getting started and our hope is that he will continue to do that and he will focus on things like [485-x] and engage with the private sector,” he added, referring to the property tax incentive for New York City residential projects that has garnered criticism from the industry.

“We’re doing things all around the country and even globally, but New York City is our home,” Blau continued. “This is the greatest city in the world, despite the protesters. I’m committed to New York City.” — Janaki Chadha

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman told reporters that climate change concerns should not influence energy policy decisions.

BLAKEMAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman demurred when asked today if he believed in climate change during a press conference at the state Capitol.

“Would it be accurate to say that you believe in climate change?” Blakeman was asked.

“I’m not a scientist and I’m not an engineer,” he responded. “Anytime we can make the environment better with a commonsense solution that’s affordable and makes sense, why not?”

Minutes before, Blakeman stressed to reporters that concerns about climate change shouldn’t guide energy policy decisions.

“To take drastic measures and pretend that you’re actually going to change the carbon footprint of our state and that’s going to have a material effect on the world is complete, utter fiction,” Blakeman said. “Our carbon footprint is miniscule compared to the rest of the world.”

His comments come as Democrats like Hochul are struggling to keep up with the state’s ambitious green policies. The governor poised to win changes to weaken New York’s climate law in the budget, eliminating a near-term deadline to reduce emissions.

Playbook followed up with Blakeman’s campaign this afternoon to ask if he’s landed on a stance on whether he believes climate change is real. We haven’t heard back yet. — Jason Beeferman

IN OTHER NEWS

— SCRUB-A-DUB: Mamdani’s administration has quietly removed a landing page on the city Economic Development Corporation’s website promoting New York City’s business ties to Israel. (Free Beacon)

— LONG LINES: The number of Long Island families receiving food stamps has grown significantly as thousands may lose access following eligibility changes. (Newsday)

— IN THE STREETS: Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israel protestors were met with a heavy police presence outside Park East Syngogue, which was hosting an event on land sales in Israel. (The New York Times)

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

Politics

The GOP has a midterm messaging problem. Ramaswamy isn’t helping

Published

9 hours ago

October 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The GOP has a midterm messaging problem. Ramaswamy isn’t helping

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Politics

Why Republicans’ massive cash advantage is evaporating on the airwaves

Published

10 hours ago

October 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Republicans are banking on a massive cash edge to help save their majority in Congress. But they are losing much of that advantage in an important arena: broadcast TV ads.

Republicans have spent $677 million on those ads across 10 key Senate battleground states, compared to $479 million by the Democrats. But the GOP’s money isn’t going nearly as far because they’re more dependent on outside groups that pay much higher rates than candidates.

The disparity has helped Democrats stay in the fight for Senate control amid an onslaught of GOP outside spending.

In Ohio’s Senate race, Republican groups make up 63% of the $218 million spent. But in spite of their nearly two-to-one spending advantage, they make up just over half of ads that are on the airwaves, according to data from the tracking service AdImpact. In Texas, Republicans have outspent Democrats by a three-to-one margin, but have aired just 58% of the ads. And in Michigan, the GOP accounts for 60% of the spending but just over half of the ads.

A large part of this discrepancy comes down to the mechanics of broadcast advertising. Candidates, and now political parties thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling, are entitled to significantly lower rates. That has allowed Democratic candidates — who have posted bonkers fundraising hauls — to offset much of the GOP advantage in super PACs. Republican Senate candidates, on the other hand, struggled overall with their fundraising. And some GOP outside groups bought their ad time later, when it was even more expensive.

“There are limitations to the impact of ‘big money’ in politics,” said Sean Cooksey, a Republican former FEC commissioner. “It’s a good demonstration of the economics of campaign fundraising. Hard dollars really just go so much further.”

The disparity also shows “the Republican overreliance on outside groups,” said Ian Russell, a Democratic admaker.

“You get an eye-popping dollar amount, but it doesn’t actually translate into as many spots as you would think relative to a well-financed candidate,” Russell said. “[Republicans] were just hoping that they could spend their way out of everything that was going wrong for them. But the problem is, their issues run much deeper than a few ad buys can fix. Especially when you’ve got monster fundraising hauls from the Democratic side.”

Republicans in House and Senate races have long been more dependent on outside groups and megadonors, and for multiple cycles have seen their cash advantage undercut by fundraising strength from individual Democratic candidates. But that trend is particularly pronounced this year given the combination of Republican super PAC money and their candidates’ struggles.

In 2024, Republican outside groups spent only about 15% more than Democrats on TV ads across House and Senate general election contests, according to a Blue Light News analysis of AdImpact data. This cycle, GOP outside groups have spent 7% more.

In a few states, the discrepancy between dollars and airtime is less stark. Republicans account for 60% of the spending in Maine’s Senate race and an equal percentage of the ads, according to AdImpact. That’s in part because Sen. Susan Collins has outraised her Democratic opponent Troy Jackson over the whole cycle, although Jackson, who didn’t launch his campaign until July, raised far more in the third quarter.

The numbers show the shifting dynamics of campaign strategy after the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to more spending from parties by granting them the lower advertising rate.

Republicans have been faster to take advantage of the new rules: Major coordinated spending efforts from the NRSC and RNC have helped their side significantly this cycle.

Republicans have far outspent Democrats on Senate party-coordinated Senate advertising, $90 million to $34.6 million across TV, radio and digital ads, according to data from AdImpact.

“If I were the leader of either party, I would say you shouldn’t give a dollar, you shouldn’t give a single penny to these super PACs until you’ve maxed out to the party committee,” Cooksey said.

Some Republicans say that strategic errors have contributed to erasing their cash edge. A number of GOP strategists have also privately griped that MAGA Inc. — one of the major outside groups backing their candidates — bought TV airtime too late, forcing them to pay even higher rates and further draining resources and increasing the price of reaching voters. Republicans fretted for months about whether Trump’s well-financed super PAC, MAGA Inc., would get involved. The group has since spent heavily, but only launched its first general election ad buys in September.

“There is no question MAGA Inc. should have bought ads earlier in the cycle,” said one national GOP operative who was granted anonymity to discuss party strategy, noting that rates across the country increase as Election Day nears. Other top GOP outside groups, like the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, made their early advertising reservations much earlier in the cycle than MAGA Inc.

Trump allies waved away that criticism. A person familiar with the Trump operation’s midterm planning, granted anonymity to discuss strategy, said it’s “indisputable that the spending from the Trump political effort has kept us competitive in many Senate races.”

MAGA Inc. declined to comment.

Still, GOP outside groups are utilizing their cash advantage in some underappreciated ways.

Republican super PACs have massively outspent their Democratic counterparts on mail — roughly $157 million to $35 million for the general election — according to a Blue Light News analysis of independent expenditure filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission. That’s led by a whopping $44 million in spending on mail across 24 races from the Trump-aligned No Going Back PAC, along with $23.8 million across 20 races from Elon Musk’s America PAC.

GOP-aligned super PACs have also spent more than Democratic ones on phone calls and text messages, the data shows.

Politics

Rick Jackson is Georgia Republicans’ best hope. Donald Trump may get in the way.

Published

10 hours ago

October 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Georgia Republicans are counting on Rick Jackson to save them from a wipeout in November — if President Donald Trump doesn’t get in the way.

The billionaire health care executive and political newcomer has spent nearly $200 million since he entered the Georgia governor’s race earlier this year. That’s boosted GOP hopes as many in the party have all but given up on the state’s marquee Senate race, where Rep. Mike Collins is struggling to close the gap against a formidably well-funded Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Republicans worry that their open contests for attorney general and lieutenant governor as well as control of the state general assembly could be in peril in a larger blue wave.

But Jackson’s deep pockets are being tested against a difficult political environment for Republicans, weighed down by unpopular Trump actions, including the war in Iran. And some in the GOP worry that the president’s repeated visits to Georgia could only make the situation worse.

“I don’t know that Trump coming helps Republicans more so than it excites Democrats, especially in a wave election year, and so becomes and becomes a catch-22 for Republican candidates,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County chair who is supporting Jackson.

One Georgia-based Republican strategist who is not involved in the gubernatorial race posited that Trump’s dual appearances in the state almost certainly did more harm than help. They, like others in this article, were granted anonymity to speak openly about the race to avoid reprisals.

“Every piece of data that I’ve seen, it is not MAGA Republicans that are unmotivated to vote in this election,” the person said. “All the data that I’ve seen is that the undecideds in our marquee races, and specifically in the governor’s race, have a very, very negative opinion of the president. So, I can’t really rationalize a case for how it would be helpful.”

Jackson, for his part, has carefully navigated his relationship with the president, and has not publicly broken with him on policy like other battleground Republicans. But he has not mentioned the president in any of the nearly 150 ads he’s run in the general election, according to an analysis of data from tracking firm AdImpact. Shortly after the RNC announced that Trump would return to the state this weekend, Jackson’s team said in a statement that the candidate will be campaigning in a different part of Georgia.

And during his only televised gubernatorial debate on Oct. 6 against Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, Jackson never name-dropped the president — despite his opponent invoking Trump’s name eight times. Instead, the Republican mentioned popular outgoing GOP Gov. Brian Kemp five times and focused on Bottoms’ tenure as mayor of Atlanta during the COVID pandemic.

“It’s been proven time and again that when the message is on Georgia, and the results under Brian Kemp and the conservative vision and roadmap that’s been laid out here, that we win in Georgia. When the focus is on D.C. and personal politics, we lose,” said Cole Muzio, president of the conservative Frontline Policy Action group.

The Jackson campaign declined to comment for this story.

“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.

Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement that Republicans “are laser focused on winning, and our candidates will run the races necessary to best represent their districts and prevent Democrats from taking control.”

Jackson is one of several Republicans across the country who now must balance between keeping the president close enough to turn out Republican base voters, but not so closely as to alienate the center.

Though many Georgia Republicans see Jackson as their de-facto ticket-topper, they don’t see his win as a guarantee against Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, in a finicky battleground state like Georgia. Jackson has outspent Bottoms nearly five-to-one in the final stretch of the race, but still remains in a close race in public polling.

And yet, without him, Republicans fear the bottom would have already fallen out on races up and down the ballot, given how poorly Collins is performing in polls against Ossoff. Republicans’ top Senate super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, was dark in Georgia last week, a sign the race may be slipping out of reach.

“If Rick Jackson weren’t running, we would all be in a lot of trouble,” said Stephen Lawson, a Georgia-based Republican strategist and Jackson ally. “He’s our best hope at keeping the state red.”

A second Georgia-based Republican strategist, who is working on other races in the state, underscored how Jackson’s money is keeping the party afloat. “There is no question in my mind that without the extra $150 million he spent in his general election, that the ticket would be lost,” this person said. “That is the only reason there’s still a fight to be had.”

But, this person cautioned, the race is still very much a toss-up, and Jackson’s victory will rely on a large share of Georgia voters choosing to split their ballots between Ossoff for Senate and Jackson for governor.

Jackson’s allies are optimistic that a significant number of voters will do just that. A private statewide poll reviewed by Blue Light News found that roughly 19% of Georgia voters say they are definitely or likely to cast a vote for at least one Democrat and one Republican — a potentially significant pool of crossover voters that could power two very different results in the marquee contests.

Whether the sheer force of Jackson’s spending will prove successful enough to overcome Trump is a microcosm of the larger issue his party is experiencing across the country: National Republicans, flush with cash, hold an enormous financial advantage over Democrats. But money alone may not be enough to insulate candidates in battlegrounds or even in traditionally red territory.

“I don’t know that Republicans across the country should feel as bullish about the cash influx that we’ve gotten because it didn’t work here,” said the first GOP operative. “In terms of actively moving races in our favor, it at least didn’t work here.”

In the last month, as Bottoms began to spend more heavily on the air amid Jackson’s spending advantage, her campaign has noted that polling has started to move marginally in her favor — even if the race remains largely within the margin of error. Her high name ID, as well as cash spent after the primary to define her early, are helping.

“Rick Jackson has spent $200 million in this campaign but all the money in the world can’t hide the fact that he would be a lackey for Donald Trump,” TaNisha Cameron, a spokesperson for Bottoms, said in a statement. “Despite being outspent, Keisha’s message is breaking through and she has the momentum in this race right when it matters.”

Jackson is making more of an effort to tie himself closely to Kemp, who won over moderates and independents in his 2022 reelection for governor and has an approval rating that sits 30 points higher than the president’s in Georgia, according to a recent poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp, for his part, has continued to be a presence on the trail for Jackson, including joining him on a statewide tour earlier this month and appearing in at least three TV ads for the campaign.

But Jackson’s pathway to victory requires him to not only secure crossover voters that may support Ossoff in the Senate race or the type of voters who broke for Kemp, but also turn out the MAGA base who powered the president’s two presidential victories in the perennial battleground.

The president is intent on still showing up for him.

Shortly after Jackson dispatched Trump’s initially preferred candidate, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, in June’s primary runoff, the president was quick to praise Jackson as standing “strong with ‘TRUMP.’” And in subsequent posts on Truth Social, Trump has called the health care executive a “good friend.”

Trump, onstage on Friday, called Jackson a “great businessman,” before adding: “I’ve been watching you, you are good, and he never did this before. Hedid it because he wants to straighten out things and he’s an amazing, an amazing story.”

Aaron Pellish contributed reporting.