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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Scott Stringer calls Trump a ‘schmuck' in mayoral race TV ad
NEW YORK — The year was 1975. The disco song 'The Hustle' topped the charts. And 15-year-old Scott Stringer was campaigning for his cousin Bella Abzug's unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in New York. Fifty years later, Stringer is releasing his first TV ad of his New York City mayoral campaign. Entitled 'Hustle,' the message is that he's a real New Yorker with the energy to 'get our city back on track' and stand up to President Donald Trump. (In 1975, the future president was settling a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in his rental housing.) Stringer takes a shot at 'this schmuck' in the ad and says he'll 'tell Trump where to stick it.' To underscore his New York-ness, the ad shows footage of a commuter rushing up the steps of a Manhattan subway and the candidate buying a coffee in a ubiquitous blue carryout cup from a food cart. But unlike the first television ads from opponents in the mayoral race, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the Democratic primary. 'Voters want to know what you are going to do, not necessarily someone who is throwing dirt on other candidates,' a Stringer spokesperson explained. In the 30-second spot, Stringer says he'll 'put a cop on every train, hire more mental health workers, turn vacant lots into affordable apartments.' That's just the ad strategy though, the spokesperson said. The former city comptroller plans to stick it to the ex-governor in debates and has slammed him on the trail, even hosting an anti-Cuomo van tour around Manhattan. 'The Cuomo campaign wants to end this race by May 24. They keep telling us how far ahead they are, how everything is going well,' Stringer said at a press conference Tuesday. 'But that's OK. The race goes to June 24.' Stringer has been here before, he's quick to mention — down double digits to a former governor who resigned in scandal with weeks to go. He beat former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the 2013 race for city comptroller thanks in part to The New York Times editorial board backing. Stringer's new TV ad actually quotes that 12-year-old endorsement — the Times logo serving either as a talisman or a misleading implication about this year's race, depending on one's perspective. Stringer won't be saved by the Times this year, since the editorial board announced it won't be endorsing in local races. And Stringer is in a worse position now than he was then. A Marist College poll out this week has him sitting in a distant fifth place with just 4 percent. Stringer also finished fifth in the 2021 mayoral primary. But his is a campaign built on a lifetime of experience, having previously served as Manhattan borough president, a state assemblymember and a political aide to then-Assemblymember Jerry Nadler before he won his congressional seat. Stringer is spending more than $500,000 getting the ad on cable and broadcast over the next 10 days, his campaign said. And he believes it marks a new phase. 'This campaign is just getting revved up,' Stringer said Tuesday. 'Give us a couple more weeks to get this thing rolling, and we'll see who wins at the end.' A version of this story first appeared in Thursday's New York Playbook. Subscribe here.
Politico
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Scott Stringer calls Trump a ‘schmuck' in mayoral race TV ad
NEW YORK — The year was 1975. The disco song 'The Hustle' topped the charts. And 15-year-old Scott Stringer was campaigning for his cousin Bella Abzug's unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in New York. Fifty years later, Stringer is releasing his first TV ad of his New York City mayoral campaign. Entitled 'Hustle,' the message is that he's a real New Yorker with the energy to 'get our city back on track' and stand up to President Donald Trump. (In 1975, the future president was settling a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in his rental housing.) Stringer takes a shot at 'this schmuck' in the ad and says he'll 'tell Trump where to stick it.' To underscore his New York-ness, the ad shows footage of a commuter rushing up the steps of a Manhattan subway and the candidate buying a coffee in a ubiquitous blue carryout cup from a food cart. But unlike the first television ads from opponents in the mayoral race, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the Democratic primary. 'Voters want to know what you are going to do, not necessarily someone who is throwing dirt on other candidates,' a Stringer spokesperson explained. In the 30-second spot, Stringer says he'll 'put a cop on every train, hire more mental health workers, turn vacant lots into affordable apartments.' That's just the ad strategy though, the spokesperson said. The former city comptroller plans to stick it to the ex-governor in debates and has slammed him on the trail, even hosting an anti-Cuomo van tour around Manhattan. 'The Cuomo campaign wants to end this race by May 24. They keep telling us how far ahead they are, how everything is going well,' Stringer said at a press conference Tuesday. 'But that's OK. The race goes to June 24.' Stringer has been here before, he's quick to mention — down double digits to a former governor who resigned in scandal with weeks to go. He beat former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the 2013 race for city comptroller thanks in part to The New York Times editorial board backing. Stringer's new TV ad actually quotes that 12-year-old endorsement — the Times logo serving either as a talisman or a misleading implication about this year's race, depending on one's perspective. Stringer won't be saved by the Times this year, since the editorial board announced it won't be endorsing in local races. And Stringer is in a worse position now than he was then. A Marist College poll out this week has him sitting in a distant fifth place with just 4 percent. Stringer also finished fifth in the 2021 mayoral primary. But his is a campaign built on a lifetime of experience, having previously served as Manhattan borough president, a state assemblymember and a political aide to then-Assemblymember Jerry Nadler before he won his congressional seat. Stringer is spending more than $500,000 getting the ad on cable and broadcast over the next 10 days, his campaign said. And he believes it marks a new phase. 'This campaign is just getting revved up,' Stringer said Tuesday. 'Give us a couple more weeks to get this thing rolling, and we'll see who wins at the end.' A version of this story first appeared in Thursday's New York Playbook. Subscribe here.
Politico
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Stringer's gotta Hustle
Presented by The Public Policy Institute of New York With help from Cris Seda Chabrier The year was 1975. The disco song 'The Hustle' topped the charts. And 15-year-old Scott Stringer was campaigning for his cousin Bella Abzug's unsuccessful Senate run. Fifty years later, Stringer's releasing his first TV ad of his New York City mayoral campaign. Entitled 'Hustle,' the message is that he's a real New Yorker with the energy to 'get our city back on track' and stand up to President Donald Trump. (In 1975, Trump was settling a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in his rental housing.) Stringer takes a shot at 'this schmuck' in the ad and says he'll 'tell Trump where to stick it.' To underscore his New York-ness, the ad shows footage of a commuter rushing up the steps of a Manhattan subway and the candidate buying a coffee in a ubiquitous blue carryout cup from a food cart. But unlike the first television ads from opponents Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander, there's no mention of Andrew Cuomo, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary. 'Voters want to know what you are going to do, not necessarily someone who is throwing dirt on other candidates,' a Stringer spokesperson explained. In the 30-second spot, Stringer says he'll 'put a cop on every train, hire more mental health workers, turn vacant lots into affordable apartments.' That's just the ad strategy though, the campaign said. The former city comptroller plans to stick it to the ex-governor in debates and has slammed him on the trail, even hosting an anti-Cuomo van tour around Manhattan. 'The Cuomo campaign wants to end this race by May 24. They keep telling us how far ahead they are, how everything is going well,' Stringer said at a press conference Tuesday. 'But that's OK. The race goes to June 24.' Stringer has been here before, he's quick to mention — down double digits to a former governor who resigned in scandal with weeks to go. He beat Eliot Spitzer in the city's 2013 comptroller race, thanks in part to The New York Times' editorial board backing. Stringer's new TV ad actually quotes that 12-year-old endorsement — the Times logo serving either as a talisman or a misleading implication about this year's race, depending on one's perspective. Stringer's in a worse position than he was then, now sitting in a distant fifth place with just 4 percent, per a new Marist poll. Stringer also finished fifth in the 2021 mayoral primary. But his is a campaign built on a lifetime of experience. He's spending more than $500,000 getting the ad on cable and broadcast over the next 10 days. And, he believes, it marks a new phase. 'This campaign is just getting revved up,' Stringer said Tuesday. 'Give us a couple more weeks to get this thing rolling, and we'll see who wins at the end.' — Jeff Coltin HAPPY THURSDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE'S KATHY? Speaks at the New York State Affordable Housing Conference in midtown Manhattan and makes a housing announcement in Brooklyn WHERE'S ERIC? Public schedule unavailable as of 10 p.m. Wednesday. QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'I know that Cuomo is a name that many know. I recall a conversation with my mom where she told me she likes Cuomo. I said, 'You like his dad, Mario!'' — Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, at a press conference announcing his endorsement of Mamdani for mayor. ABOVE THE FOLD FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Hudson Valley Democratic Sen. James Skoufis will introduce a bill today that takes aim at Gov. Kathy Hochul and her plan to send out 'inflation refund' checks to over 8 million New Yorkers. Skoufis' bill will require that 'no checks issued by the state that are associated with the inflation refund credit … shall contain the name, likeness, image, facsimile signature, or actual signature of the governor.' 'Inflation refund? More like inflated ego,' Skoufis said in a statement. 'Instead of slapping her big signature on these gimmicky checks, she should be more concerned with restoring checks and balances in state government.' The governor announced Wednesday the checks will be mailed to voters this fall, which times the measure to a year before she's on the ballot for reelection. The checks are intended to be a 'refund' to New Yorkers who paid higher sales taxes when inflation raged in 2022, and Hochul discovered about $3 billion in unanticipated tax revenues. Skoufis' broadside comes after he railed against Hochul's 'authoritarian' budget process on the Senate floor ahead of the spending plan's 38-day-late passage last week. His polemic led to a popcorn-worthy social media fight between him and Hochul's spokesperson, Avi Small. 'We understand it's easy for backbench legislators to get attention by attacking the Governor, but we're not going to waste any time worrying about the daily stunts from this camera-chasing political fraudster,' Small said in a statement responding to Skoufis' bill. — Jason Beeferman PEN FOES: The long-running and increasingly nasty feud between Lander and Mayor Eric Adams is playing out in an exchange of letters. 'A dedicated public servant — not an individual with a personal conflict of interest — should be making such decisions based on the facts and the law,' Lander wrote late last month to Adams, demanding that he recuse himself from city matters relating to 'sanctuary city' policies that Trump has targeted. 'You are simply wrong. As Mayor of the City of New York, I am beholden only to the nearly 8.5 million New Yorkers that I serve,' Adams responded in a missive mailed last week. The letter listed four lawsuits against the Trump administration to preserve federal funding to New York City. On Wednesday, Lander — one of several Democrats struggling to gain traction against Cuomo in the mayoral race — leaned into his case that Adams is too close to Trump. He said Adams was 'humiliated' by the president at their White House meeting last week. 'If we had a mayor more like Ras Baraka willing to stand up and fight … and prepare to protect New Yorkers from the cuts that are coming, we would be on much firmer financial footing,' the comptroller said, referencing the Newark mayor arrested at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus shot back, 'While we've long known that Brad Lander will say anything for attention, it's alarming to see his rhetoric growing more desperate and detached from reality by the day.' The mayor is running for reelection as an independent. The Trump DOJ directed a judge to drop corruption charges against him. He has maintained that his administration is trying to work with Trump, though a lead prosecutor on the case resigned in protest of what she described as a quid pro quo between the mayor and president. Adams has denied that. — Emily Ngo BP BATTLE: First in Playbook, former Gov. David Paterson is endorsing state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal for Manhattan borough president. He's joining other Black leaders from Harlem — including Manhattan Democratic Party leader Keith Wright, Council Member Yusef Salaam and former Assemblymember Inez Dickens — in supporting Hoylman-Sigal. Hoylman-Sigal and his top rival, City Council Member Keith Powers, both live downtown, but their race is becoming a proxy battle uptown. Powers has been endorsed by Rep. Adriano Espaillat and several of his political allies, who have a longstanding and fierce rivalry with Wright and his camp. Physician Calvin Sun will also appear on the Democratic primary ballot.— Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Former Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to pay a six-figure settlement for improperly using his security detail during his presidential race. (POLITICO) — Adrienne Adams didn't have enough mayoral race donors to qualify for public matching funds, but also had hundreds of claims rejected for paperwork errors. (Daily News) — GOP mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa he isn't the Trump candidate — 'If the president says, 'Eric, jump,' Eric Adams says, 'How high, Mr. President?'' (City & State) NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY PRISON REFORMS: In a push for state prison reforms, state Sen. Julia Salazar rallied Wednesday with the father of the late Robert Brooks, who died in custody after correction officers fatally beat him inside the Marcy Correctional Facility. Salazar is lobbying for a bill that would grant the commissioner of the state's prison system the power to discipline his own correction officers, a second measure that would expand the body that oversees that system and a third that allows inmates to petition for their sentences to be reconsidered. 'Every time I come in this building, I want to cry,' Brooks' father Robert Ricks said during the rally. 'The reason I want to cry is not just because my son passed away and because this is a constant reminder, but because this is where the power is. I know that if the desire to make a difference is there, then the people in this building can make a difference.' The press conference came ahead of an hourslong hearing on the correction system, during which prisons Commissioner Dan Martuscello was questioned by lawmakers. Martuscello revealed that 46 deaths have occured in the state's prisons this year. 'There is a rampant culture in our state prisons of incarcerated individuals being subjected to torture, and there is little to no accountability for the violence that is committed in our state prisons,' Salazar said. In a statement, the governor said she 'recognizes the need to improve conditions within our correctional facilities' and that she's worked with Martuscello to make 'immediate changes and long-term improvements' following Brooks' death. — Jason Beeferman FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Most New Yorkers are jittery about the state's economy — given the high cost of living and job losses, a business-backed poll released this morning found. The poll, conducted by Echelon Insights, found 80 percent of the 864 likely voters surveyed last month are concerned about high prices and 70 percent worry about joblessness. Another 74 percent fear the impact of rising prices on small businesses. And 56 percent believe the state is headed in the wrong direction — a troubling sign for Hochul, whose own approval rating in other voter surveys is just an inch above water. New Yorkers for Local Businesses, a group of restaurant franchise owners that include McDonald's, paid for the poll. It has a 3.8 percent margin of error. The survey was released days after Hochul and state lawmakers finalized her $254 billion budget, which the Democratic governor framed as a spending plan that tackles affordability issues. Her decision to pay off the remaining $6 billion in unemployment insurance debt accrued during Covid — ending a tax hike on employers in the process — has been cheered by unions and businesses as well. 'This period of rising costs and shared concerns by business owners and workers shows this is a uniquely challenging moment in our state,' said Dave Singelyn, chair of New Yorkers for Local Businesses. 'We appreciate the governor and Legislature taking proactive steps such as through solving the UI debt crisis, but our poll shows there is much more work to do to make the state more affordable and business friendly.' — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — State lawmakers are signing onto a constitutional amendment to clip Hochul's budget powers. (Spectrum News) — A piece-by-piece reconstruction of the state Capitol building's staircase is underway. (Times Union) — Republicans want to bottle up a sneaky $10 million 'slush fund' that could be used to pay Attorney General Letitia James' legal bills. (New York Post) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION FACTIONS TO TALK SALT: SALT Republicans pushing to boost the state and local tax deduction cap are set for a rare meeting this morning with House Speaker Mike Johnson, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and other lawmakers, POLITICO reports. The confab comes as New York, New Jersey and California Republicans hold out for a better deal on an increase to the $10,000 SALT cap. Tax legislation that passed the Ways and Means Committee early Wednesday morning includes a $30,000 cap with a new income limit on the deduction, but most of the blue-state Republicans are unsatisfied with the proposal. Members of the House Freedom Caucus have argued that an increased SALT deduction would unfairly subsidize blue states with high taxes and must be fully offset by spending cuts or other changes. 'We sat last night for hours with the speaker, the (Ways and Means) chairman and a couple other Ways and Means Committee members to figure out what are the possibilities. But the window is closing,' Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island told reporters Wednesday. Malliotakis cautioned that 'the longer this takes and the closer to Memorial Day we get, the low-sodium diets of many of my colleagues on Ways and Means is growing.' — Benjamin Guggenheim and Meredith Lee Hill More from the delegation: — Republicans wrestle with the possible failure of the 'big, beautiful bill.' (Semafor) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused Trump of conducting his trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as a 'personal business venture.' (The Hill) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 3 a.m. comment over miscarriages sparks fiery exchange with GOP male counterparts. (POLITICO) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — New York's food banks are bracing for a triple whammy of federal cuts, tariffs, and even higher costs. (New York Focus) — The Trump administration plans to rescind the federal limits on four 'forever chemicals' in drinking water, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced. (Newsday) — The lake chubsucker is among the four fish once native to New York that no longer live in the state, according to a recently updated list of imperiled species. (Post-Standard) SOCIAL DATA HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Empire State Development's Noah Rayman … Rachel Estroff, chief of staff to state Sen. Shelley Mayer … NYT's Nicholas Confessore … USCPR's Iman Abid … Atlas NYC's Sharese Crouther … Adrienne Leaf … (WAS WEDNESDAY:) POLITICO's Jason Beeferman Missed Wednesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
