$\"City$ <\/p>\n

CITY HAL 9000:<\/b> Amid a mad dash to try to regulate artificial intelligence, City Council Speaker Julie Menin is looking to make her mark.<\/p>\n

The Manhattan lawmaker is planning to hold a hearing with all 51 members of the legislative body next week, and today confirmed the attendance of four major AI firms to discuss both the dangers the technology poses and a suite of Council bills that seek to protect New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeading experts and AI executives themselves are warning about the potentially grave risks of rapidly advancing AI, and governments have a responsibility to act,\u201d Menin said in a statement announcing she issued a subpoena to SpaceXAI, the artificial intelligence company owned by Elon Musk, to compel the firm to attend.<\/p>\n

Council hearings \u2014 even those run by lesser-known committees \u2014 are not known as concise affairs. And the notion of having all 51 members in the room to pepper AI executives with questions can only mean a marathon day with plenty of news coverage. (Remember Randy Mastro\u2019s general counsel nomination hearing in 2024? No? You didn\u2019t tune in for all 11 hours<\/a>?)<\/p>\n

Between the White House\u2019s opposition to any type of AI regulation<\/a> and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s desire for federal guardrails \u2014 though he has enacted an AI ban<\/a> in elementary schools \u2014 a lane has opened for Menin to have her say in what has become one of the defining debates of the political moment.<\/p>\n

Her muscular posture \u2014 her office dangled the possibility of subpoenas in front of the companies she sought for Monday\u2019s hearing \u2014 shows she is not going to let it go to waste.<\/p>\n

The package of bills being pursued by the Council includes a \u201ckill switch\u201d requirement and a new private right of action that would make it easier to sue AI companies. Menin is hoping to get input on that package Monday from artificial intelligence purveyors who agree that something needs to be done to slow the development of frontier AI models.<\/p>\n

Google, which plans to be there Monday along with Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta, has released a white paper calling for a regulatory body that could develop safety standards along with audits for frontier AI models that are pushing the bounds of the technology. Separately, the firm has called for a regulatory framework for AI models like chatbots, which are already being used widely by the general public, and for the government to mitigate disruptions to the economy and workforce.<\/p>\n

None of the firms have weighed in formally on the Council\u2019s AI package, but one person with knowledge of the bills said there are early questions about how a \u201ckill switch\u201d activated in New York would affect a company\u2019s services elsewhere around the globe, how the private right of action might interact with existing tort laws and whether there are downsides to retaining AI chat histories with consumers for extended periods of time.<\/p>\n

Separately, there\u2019s also the question of how the city\u2019s AI bills would mesh with a separate AI regulation framework being pursued by Gov. Kathy Hochul. \u2014 Joe Anuta<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

From the Capitol<\/h3>\n
$\"Tunnel$ <\/p>\n
GATEWAY DREAMS: <\/b>The long-awaited Gateway project reached a new milestone today: the start of tunnel boring under the Hudson River.<\/p>\n
Hochul gathered with officials from New York and New Jersey to celebrate the latest stage of the development \u2014 which comes after more than a decade of planning and almost three years of construction work.<\/p>\n
Following the \u201cceremonial launch\u201d this morning, two hard-rock tunnel boring machines will be deployed this fall to construct a new rail tunnel between New Jersey and New York Penn Station. The machines are anticipated to clear about 30 feet of earth per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fought and beat efforts from the Trump administration to halt the Gateway project and today, that dream becomes a reality, with state of the art machinery operated by expert union workers starting their journey through soil and bedrock under the Hudson to Penn Station,\u201d Hochul said in a statement. \u201cThis is a historic day for New York and a clear demonstration of our ambitions to once again be a state that dreams and builds big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Construction on Gateway began in late 2023, but the project previously faced a near-shutdown and temporary work stoppages after the Trump administration froze federal funds for it. The project resumed following legal action from New York and New Jersey. \u2014 Janaki Chadha<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
DON\u2019T TRUST THE FILINGS: <\/b>Hochul\u2019s campaign is preemptively casting doubt on the accuracy of a disclosure report due to be filed by Republican opponent Bruce Blakeman on Friday.<\/p>\n
If the past is any guide, the report won\u2019t contain the definitive list of his financial activity. The campaign finance filing Blakeman submitted on July 15, for example, has since been amended on July 22, Aug. 13, Aug. 25 and Sept. 14.<\/p>\n
As a result, a significantly different financial picture has formed compared to what was widely reported a couple months ago: Blakeman initially identified $3 million worth of contributions and $1.8 million in expenses over the spring; the latest amended version shows $4.5 million in contributions and $5 million in expenses. The total number of transactions disclosed went from 25,534 to 41,724.<\/p>\n
Blakeman similarly resubmitted his March disclosure report four times and his January filing thrice.<\/p>\n
\u201cEither Blakeman wants to trick the press into reporting an inaccurate state of the race, or this guy sucks at math,\u201d state Democratic Committee spokesperson Addison Dick said.<\/p>\n
The Nassau County executive\u2019s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
FROM CITY HALL<\/h3>\n
$\"Mayor$ <\/p>\n
\u2018NOT IN AN INSHALLAH TIMELINE\u2019: <\/b>Mamdani said today he\u2019ll release a plan \u201csoon\u201d for disbanding the controversial NYPD unit he pledged to get rid of last year as a candidate \u2014 and he\u2019s leaving god out of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will fulfill that promise. The only question is the timeline of it \u2026 It’ll be not in an inshallah timeline, but an actual one,\u201d he told reporters at a press conference in Manhattan, using the Arabic phrase for godwilling. \u201cThe critical point of it is just how to ensure we’re doing so while protecting New Yorkers’ rights and keeping New Yorkers safe, and that’s something that we’re going to share more information about soon.”<\/p>\n
Mamdani made the comments after Playbook asked what\u2019s causing the holdup on breaking up the NYPD\u2019s Strategic Response Group, especially in light of the unit being deployed Thursday to arrest activists<\/a>, including politicians close with the mayor, protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.<\/p>\n
As a candidate last year, Mamdani was adamant that he would, if elected, abolish the SRG over concerns about its heavy-handed responses to protests.<\/p>\n
But since taking office in January, the mayor has dragged his feet on the pledge. When asked about the status of it, he\u2019s typically just said he\u2019s continuing conversations with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch \u2014 making today\u2019s comments stand out.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the NYPD declined to comment on Mamdani\u2019s remarks. But the spokesperson did note that video posted to social media<\/a> showed the SRG officers who effected arrests at last week\u2019s anti-Netanyahu demonstrations acted peacefully and were joined by NYPD Community Affairs personnel who informed protesters they would be detained.<\/p>\n
A political moderate, Tisch has defended using the SRG, once even cracking a joke<\/a> that seemed aimed at highlighting the static between her and the mayor on the topic.<\/p>\n
The fate of the SRG is among a number of issues Tisch and Mamdani have clashed on. They also hold divergent views on the issue of the NYPD\u2019s gang database, with Mamdani promising last year to abolish it while Tisch calls it a critical tool<\/a> that her department uses \u201cevery day.\u201d \u2014 Chris Sommerfeldt<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/h3>\n
$\"Planned$ <\/p>\n
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: <\/b>Hochul picked up an endorsement today from Planned Parenthood\u2019s PAC in her bid for a second term.<\/p>\n
In receiving the endorsement, Hochul touted her work in declaring the state as a \u201csafe haven\u201d for reproductive health care, creating a first-in-the nation paid prenatal leave program and increasing the child tax credit. Planned Parenthood Empire State Votes PAC Chair Robin Chappelle Golston said that the governor “understands what is at stake during relentless federal attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group also backed Hochul, the first female governor of New York, when she ran for a full term in 2022.<\/p>\n
Hochul\u2019s opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has described himself as a \u201cpro-choice Republican<\/a>.\u201d \u2014 Madison Fernandez<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
IN OTHER NEWS<\/h3>\n\u2014 ZOHRAN\u2019S SHADOW:<\/b> Hochul is counting on Mamdani to stump for her reelection campaign, but the governor\u2019s advisers are still figuring out the best way for him to do that. (The New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\u2014 SEX ED:<\/b> A new study from the New York Civil Liberties Union found that many school districts have selected an abstinence-only sex education curriculum. (Times Union<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\u2014 JOB HUNT: <\/b>As New York City government continues to reel from staff vacancies, Mamdani is opening a walk-in municipal jobs center to speed up hiring. (amNewYork<\/a>)<\/p>\n
Missed this morning\u2019s New York Playbook? We forgive you. <\/b>Read it here<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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