Politics
The Knicks are the (only) talk of the town
VERY SUPERSTITIOUS: For the first three quarters, it looked like the San Antonio Spurs were going to cream the Knicks in last night’s Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
But in an epic comeback, the Knicks overcame the Spurs’ 29-point lead — a new record in an NBA Finals game — and beat San Antonio 107-106, putting the hometown team just one win away from claiming its first championship in over five decades.
In New York political circles, there was an almost singular explanation for the unbelievable come-from-behind victory: The Trump curse had been lifted.
“THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO BLESSED MSG TODAY TO GET THE STANK VIBES OUT,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X just before midnight. “YOUR SERVICE IS APPRECIATED.”
The progressive lawmaker’s all-caps missive was a reference to superstitious Knicks fans burning sage outside Madison Square Garden to cleanse it of what they saw as the bad juju President Donald Trump cast over the team by attending Monday’s Game 3 (which the Spurs won 115-111).
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards suggested Staten Island’s own Wu-Tang Clan — which performed last night’s halftime show at MSG — had a hand in rooting out the bad vibes. “Wu-Tang is for the children!!!” Richards wrote on X in response to a video of the rap group’s performance captioned: “Wu-Tang Clan have broken Donald Trump’s curse on the Knicks.”
No matter what brand of superstition is at play, it’s unmistakable that the Knicks’ playoff prowess has led New Yorkers to search for otherworldly explanations — and it seems to be the only thing local politicians can talk about.
In an Instagram video posted late last night, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested there was a more cerebral catalyst for the Knicks’ latest win.
“Wemby tried to taunt the Knicks when they were up by about 29, suggesting that he was in our heads,” Jeffries said in a video, referring to Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. “No. Actually Wemby, we were in your head.”
For his part, Mayor Zohran Mamdani turned to God for guidance about the Knicks.
“Knicks in five — inshallah, baby, let’s go,” he practically shouted on Hot 97 radio this morning, using the Arabic term for “God willing.”
Game 5 of the Finals is Saturday in San Antonio. If the Knicks win, they will claim the championship trophy for the first time since 1973.
Not everything has been peaches and cream in the Big Apple when it comes to the Knickerbockers, though.
An NYPD spokesperson said 56 Knicks fans were taken into custody last night after massive and destructive crowds converged near The Garden to “celebrate” the victory.
According to the spokesperson, 10 officers were injured in the rampage, including one who got hit in the head with a glass bottle as the crowds jumped on top of moving vehicles, tried to flip over a parked cab and set off fireworks.
“This demonstrates exactly why the NYPD has increased our presence in and around Madison Square Garden,” the police spokesperson said.
The chaos unfolded after Knicks owner James Dolan canceled last night’s ticketed watch party outside MSG because he was angry with Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch for blocking unauthorized pedestrian traffic in a large swath of Midtown around the arena due to security concerns. — Chris Sommerfeldt
From the Capitol
MESSAGE RECEIVED: Gov. Kathy Hochul responded today to White House border czar Tom Homan’s threat of an ICE surge into the Empire State.
“It’s not how we do things in New York,” Hochul said at an event in Queens. “Maybe Washington is a different breed there, and they think that intimidation and creating fear is a way to govern, and we’re just rejecting that here in the state of New York. That’s not who we are, never has been, never will be.”
Homan’s threats come after Hochul and state lawmakers sealed a deal on a package of measures meant to protect undocumented immigrants, following ICE’s deportation operation in Minneapolis. The bills would limit civil deportation warrants from being executed in sensitive locations and prevent law enforcement, including ICE agents, from wearing masks.
Homan blamed Hochul for the threatened surge after she signed legislation ending so-called 287(g) agreements that enable local law enforcement to share resources with federal authorities.
Hochul said such a surge would be “contrary” to what Trump previously told her. The governor also mentioned that Homan’s reasoning does not apply since only nine counties in New York previously participated in the 287(g) program — and none of those include any of New York City’s five counties.
“New York City, where we’re predicting he’ll send the agents to, has never had a 287(g) agreement. They’ve never been allowed to use the jails. Never been allowed to use local police enforcement,” the governor said. “It is irrational. It shows that they do not comprehend what is happening in the state of New York.” — Leah Clark
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS: A federal judge found former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander not guilty of misdemeanor obstruction Thursday for blocking an elevator while protesting last year outside an immigrant holding area.
Lander was hit with the obstruction charge in September while demonstrating in support of detained immigrants at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. He was offered a deal to drop the charge but opted instead for a trial to draw attention to the federal government’s immigration policies.
Lander said he was there with state legislators to view the facility’s conditions, not to purposefully block an elevator — and that he would have moved if asked. In reading his findings, Judge Henry Ricardo described Lander’s testimony as consistent with video evidence, noting that his movements didn’t suggest he was purposefully trying to block the elevator and that Lander appeared “tired and a bit resigned.”
“No offense to Mr. Lander,” the judge said.
Lander — who entered the courtroom in good spirits and holding a Knicks hat — told reporters after the verdict: “I didn’t feel tired.”
“I felt an urgency to show up that day and try to fight what ICE is doing,” he said.
After a month’s delay, Lander finally had his first day in court Wednesday — less than two weeks before the primary election — bringing immigration even more to the forefront in the waning days of his campaign against Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman.
Goldman, who often highlights his oversight visits at immigrant detention centers and his “triage center” to support detainees near 26 Federal Plaza, has repeatedly criticized Lander for his approach to immigration. On Wednesday, he referred to Lander’s case as “performative” and “self-promoting.” At a debate last week, Goldman chided him for the rhetorical refrain that he puts his “body on the line” for immigrants and for fundraising off of it.
“While Brad never did get the information he sought from ICE, I have all of that information from my weekly oversight visits and would be happy to brief him,” Goldman said in a statement.
Read more from Madison Fernandez in Blue Light News.
POLL POSITION: The race between Rep. Adriano Espaillat and primary challenger Darializa Avila Chevalier is close in the final stretch of the campaign, according to a pro-Avila Chevalier poll.
The survey, conducted by Data for Progress for Justice Democrats, the progressive group that recruited the challenger, found Avila Chevalier with 39 percent of support compared to Espaillat’s 35 percent. Twenty-two percent of respondents were undecided.
The poll was conducted among 319 likely Democratic primary voters from June 3 to 9, after Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier — and as pro-Espaillat entities bombarded the airwaves with negative attacks against her. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
The survey also shows that 86 percent of respondents in the district either have a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of the mayor. Avila Chevalier is leaning heavily into Mamdani’s endorsement.
There’s no public polling in the race, though it’s evident Espaillat’s allies are anticipating a tight battle, considering the millions of dollars being poured into the race on his behalf in the homestretch. — Madison Fernandez
FROM CITY HALL
2029 VISION: Most political players in New York are focused on this month’s primary elections — but Mamdani is already looking well beyond them.
In a text message blast this afternoon, the mayor asked supporters to donate “any amount” they can to his 2029 reelection campaign, telling them he needs to start fundraising now because the opposition will “be better funded, better organized and ready to spend earlier than before.”
“Their fundraising is constant and prolific,” he wrote in the text obtained by Playbook. “In closed-door meetings, wealthy donors and insider operatives consider how to influence our politics year-round. That’s how our opponents secured the resources to spend $83 million against our movement last year … That’s why we’re making investments in our movement starting right now.”
Mamdani’s missive did not identify the individuals behind the opposition he described.
But a group called NYC Common Sense, spearheaded by former independent mayoral candidate Jim Walden and political consultant Phil Singer, launched last month with a stated goal of fighting his agenda with ads, policy papers and lawsuits. The group, whose formation was first reported by The New York Times, has already raised $1 million from as-of-yet unidentified donors.
Mamdani’s pivot to 2029 fundraising indicates he’s taking the nascent opposition to his democratic socialist project seriously. Trip Yang, a longtime Democratic strategist, acknowledged it’s relatively early to fundraise for 2029. Still, he said it’s a smart move.
“A strong early fundraising number is important to show the reelection is well-positioned,” Yang said.
Read more from Chris Sommerfeldt in Blue Light News.
STILL LOADING: City Council Speaker Julie Menin exuded confidence today over the newly introduced protest buffer zone bill around education facilities, which has the backing of 35 council members, a veto-proof super majority.
“I did speak with the mayor about the bill. We had a brief conversation about it,” Menin said at a press conference. “I think the new bill really addresses some concerns that we had heard.”
Menin said the revised measure would still achieve the original proposal’s goals but more narrowly defines which types of locations are included. Universities, which were flash points for some of the country’s most heated demonstrations, have been excluded from the new bill.
The original measure was vetoed by Mamdani in April after he raised concerns about its broad definition of educational facilities and the potential impacts on protests tied to ICE, fossil fuel divestment and Palestinian rights.
He allowed a similar bill to become law in April while voicing opposition to both buffer-zone bills’ framing of “all protest as a security concern.”
A spokesperson for the mayor said the administration is still “reviewing the new version of the legislation.” — Gelila Negesse
IN OTHER NEWS
— BAIT AND SWITCH: A year after New York City banned broker fees, renters say the charges never really left. (Gothamist)
— COURT-ORDERED VISITS: New York will begin to require judges to make recurring visits to prisons after years of a long-neglected oversight rule not being met. (The City Reporter)
— STRAPPED FOR CASH: The Mamdani administration is considering invoking a fiscal exception to delay required payments to nonprofits, citing cash constraints. (NBC New York)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign is running into resistance within his own voter coalition, as more and more Republican candidates publicly break with him ahead of the November election.
New results from The POLITICO Poll help explain why: Non-MAGA Trump voters are more than twice as likely as self-identified MAGA Trump voters to say his mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, 31% to 14%. While roughly similar shares of both groups believe Trump’s campaign is about right, the MAGA base wants him to go even further: 36% of MAGA Trump voters say his campaign is not aggressive enough, compared with 23% of non-MAGA Trump voters.
Meanwhile, support across Trump’s entire voter coalition falls when it comes to deporting people beyond the most violent offenders, such as those with minor criminal offenses or who have been living in the U.S. for years without legal status.
The new survey, conducted by London-based Public First, reveals how Trump’s immigration agenda — which has long been one of his signature political issues and a reliable GOP rallying point — has divided the very coalition that helped power his two presidential wins. The president’s MAGA loyalists are still more inclined than other Trump voters to support a tougher immigration posture, but there are clear limits to how far voters want the administration to go.
Those intraparty tensions burst into public view this month, when Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) released a campaign ad pushing back against Trump’s deportation agenda, saying some of his efforts “have gone too far” and that Hispanic voters who supported him in 2024 “feel betrayed.” It was a remarkable break from a sitting GOP lawmaker over one of the president’s defining policies, as Democrats have locked in on Florida’s 27th District as a prime target in their bid to flip the House.
Salazar’s public rift with Trump exemplifies the fears Republicans had been privately warning about for months: that the president’s immigration enforcement — marked last year by high-profile, flashy raids that rippled through communities — was alienating moderate Republicans, independents, young voters and Latinos who support border security and immigration enforcement in theory but dislike how it is being carried out.
And as the party stares down a difficult midterm landscape, including in districts and states Trump won in 2024, other GOP candidates followed Salazar’s lead, increasingly putting distance between themselves and the administration on key issues like immigration — despite having voted last year to approve billions of dollars for border security and immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), whose race has tightened against Democrat Adam Hamilton, also softened his stance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement as raids in southwest Kansas prompt temporary business closures and schools.
“When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement. Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,” he wrote on social media, adding that he’s been in direct contact with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The Blue Light News Poll finds most Americans — including majorities of both MAGA and non-MAGA Trump voters — believe people convicted of serious violent or sexual offenses should be prioritized for deportation, underscoring broad agreement on a more targeted approach to enforcement.
The survey also finds that few people — including among both MAGA and non-MAGA Trump voters — prioritized targeting other groups for deportations. Less than a quarter of each group say people convicted of minor criminal offenses should be prioritized. Support falls further when voters are asked about prioritizing people who have lived in the U.S. for several years without legal status or people with dependent children in the U.S.
“A lot of it has to do with how you talk about it. They don’t want amnesty for people who have broken the law. They want everybody to do it the right way,” said a person close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss how Republicans are viewing the issue. “They understand that some people might be law-abiding, hard working.”
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said Blue Light News is “skewing data to paint a false narrative.”
“The American people sent President Trump back to the White House to stop the invasion of our country and deport the millions of illegal aliens Biden and Democrats allowed into the country. The president is delivering on his promises,” she said.
Days after releasing the ad, Salazar said she had a “fantastic conversation” with Trump and urged him to protect the political “fortune” he had brought to the Republican Party on immigration. She also told CBS last weekend that Trump and the average American understand “the between the narco and the nanny and the gangster and the gardener.”
She said the administration should distinguish between criminals and unauthorized immigrants working in crucial industries such as agriculture, construction, hospitality and health care.
That distinction is also reflected in The Blue Light News Poll. Both MAGA and non-MAGA Trump voters are open to maintaining or increasing the number of people coming into the U.S. to work in sectors facing labor shortages, such as health care or agriculture. Sixty-five percent of MAGA Trump voters and 69% non-MAGA Trump voters say they want to see about the same number — or more — people coming to the U.S. to work in those sectors facing labor shortages.
“Trump 2.0 that took over in January 2025 completely misread what voters were telling him and Joe Biden during 2024, which was that they wanted to see more order and security over the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Matt Barreto, who conducted polling for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. “Instead, what Trump told Americans was, ‘Now I’m going to go hunt down immigrants who are just working and contributing to America.’ And there was extremely limited support for that.”
Past POLITICO polling on immigration has shown that the Trump administration has been unable to reverse the damage with voters on the issue. Last fall, battleground Republicans were already expressing concern about the administration’s immigration tactics. Those concerns intensified in the months that followed, while negative voter sentiment hardened by April after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
The Trump administration, in the wake of bipartisan outrage, softened its rhetoric and abandoned flashy raids that often devolved into clashes with protesters. The president also installed Mullin, who moved quickly to repair relationships on Capitol Hill and keep the Department of Homeland Security out of the headlines.
But Mullin is also facing pressure from MAGA critics and immigration hardliners who think he’s not committed to the president’s vow to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants. In an effort to shore up his support with that contingent, top administration accounts, including Mullin’s, have ramped up posts about ICE, arrests statistics and tough talk about the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Gina Hinojosa wants to make Texas a test case for Democrats’ future
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President Donald Trump is tentatively set to visit Alabama for a political rally next week, a curious move in a deep-red state as his party fights for control of Congress in several battlegrounds.
The event is penciled in for Oct. 2 in Mobile, but the plans have not yet been finalized and are subject to change, according to two people with direct knowledge of the preparations who were granted anonymity to disclose private planning.
An October rally in Alabama would be a somewhat confounding decision for the president. The GOP has found itself having to play defense in their own territory recently, with Democratic candidates are seriously competing for Senate seats in normally red states like Alaska and Texas. But Alabama has not been considered a state where Democrats have any real shot at winning any statewide office.
Spokespeople for the White House and Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The rally could help shore up support for state Rep. Rhett Marques, who is locked in a somewhat competitive race with Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. Marques is still seen to have the advantage after the Supreme Court allowed the state to use a House map that reconfigured Figures’ majority-Black district earlier this year. Mobile, though, is outside of that district.
Marques’ campaign and Figures’ campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
A foray into Alabama would not be the first time that the president has tried to shore up support in a solidly Republican state this cycle — he rallied last month in South Carolina for Sen. Darline Graham during her primary runoff — but as the general election season has begun he has also started to visit battleground states. Last week, he rallied alongside GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley in North Carolina.
Trump’s potential campaign visit would follow Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy’s announcement last week that the Trump administration has granted a $2.5 billion loan to the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority. That money will fund the construction of the Mobile River Bridge — the largest infrastructure project in the state’s history. The president is also fond of GOP Rep. Barry Moore, who is running for Senate in the state. Another close ally, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, is the Republican nominee for governor. He’s running against Democratic former Sen. Doug Jones, who he unseated in 2020.
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