Cuomo’s seeking a Trump bump

Andrew Cuomo’s counting on President Donald Trump and top Republicans to tell the party faithful to vote for Cuomo for mayor if they want to stop Zohran Mamdani, and not to vote for GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa.

“We can minimize (the Sliwa) vote, because he’ll never be a serious candidate,” Cuomo told the crowd at a Hamptons fundraiser Saturday, according to audio obtained by Playbook. “And Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani. And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that.”

Publicly, Cuomo has shunned the idea of getting any help from Trump. Cuomo said he’d decline an endorsement, and denied a New York Times report that he’d spoken with the president about the race.

But Cuomo seemed hopeful for the president’s help behind closed doors, speaking to the more Trump-friendly crowd gathered at media mogul Jimmy Finkelstein’s home in Southampton. Another co-host, former New York City Council President Andrew Stein, briefed Trump last month on how Cuomo would be competitive in the general election, according to the Times.

An attendee asked Cuomo directly if he or his team was in conversation with the White House about how Trump might influence the race. Cuomo didn’t directly deny it this time.

“Let’s put it this way: I knew the president very well,” Cuomo said. “I believe there’s a big piece of him that actually wants redemption in New York. He feels that he was rejected by New York. We voted for Hillary Clinton. Bill de Blasio took his name off things. So I believe there will be opportunities to actually cooperate with him. I also believe that he’s not going to want to fight with me in New York if he can avoid it.”

Sliwa doesn’t think Trump would nudge the GOP to Cuomo, saying the party can’t get over Cuomo signing the law letting more people out on bail pre-trial and him “smacking fannies and killing grannies.”

“Why don’t we have a debate? And see how many Republicans go with Cuomo,” Sliwa said. “In the streets we have a word for that: a fugazi, a fake.”

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi downplayed Cuomo’s comments as “speculating” about a “hypothetical.”

“We’re not asking for or expecting help from anyone,” he said. “Governor Cuomo is the only chance to beat Mamdani and ensure the greatest city in the world stays the greatest city in the world.”

Cuomo is planning “to rig the election” Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement. “Since he’s too afraid to say it to New Yorkers’ faces, we’ll make it clear: Andrew Cuomo IS Donald Trump’s choice for mayor.”

Cuomo also talked about getting Mayor Eric Adams out of the race, so the anti-Mamdani vote isn’t split among them. A Gotham Polling survey for AARP this month showed Mamdani leading with 42 percent in the general, but his top four opponents collectively got 50 percent.

Adams “won’t allow himself” to be “a spoiler,” Cuomo said at the fundraiser. “If that happened, he’d have to move to Florida afterwards” because Adams would be “responsible for Mamdani winning. And he believes Mamdani would be horrendous for the city, and we’ve had that conversation.”

That didn’t sit well with Adams, who eviscerated Cuomo in a statement as “an embarrassing double-digit loser who couldn’t beat a socialist, and his failure created this entire scenario.”

“He should stop lecturing others, drop out of the spotlight, and maybe start by giving his daughter back her apartment,” Adams added. — Jeff Coltin

IT’S TUESDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany to attend the demolition of the central warehouse eyesore.

WHERE’S ERIC? Making a sanitation related announcement.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’ll be honest with you, there might have been moments when I’ve underestimated the governor and my message to Donald Trump is you underestimate Gov. Hochul at your own peril.” — Rep. Ritchie Torres on his conversion from Gov. Kathy Hochul critic to booster.

ABOVE THE FOLD

TALE OF TWO DEPLOYMENTS: Hochul believes her deployment of the National Guard to bolster safety on the New York City subway system is worlds apart from President Donald Trump’s use of troops to bolster safety on Washington’s streets.

The Democratic governor on Monday sharply criticized Trump’s stated anti-crime efforts in the nation’s capital as “overkill” and an “abuse of power.”

“The New York National Guard will never be sent there by me,” Hochul said, as red state governors this week deploy troops to the city.

The White House hit back in a statement to Playbook.

“This is why Democrats continue to be so unpopular among everyday Americans — they think the President of the United States cracking down on crime in our nation’s capital is a bad thing,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said. “President Trump is making Washington, D.C. safer for all Americans by stopping the vicious crime that has been plaguing the city.”

In New York, the governor in her role as commander-in-chief deployed the guard in coordination with the NYPD and the Adams administration. The state footed the bill for police overtime so more cops were visibly patrolling mass transit. Troops on platforms and at stations were not carrying firearms.

By contrast, Trump has federalized the Washington police force and his administration has deployed federal law enforcement officials to patrol city streets over the objections of the city’s elected leadership. And some guard troops in D.C. starting this week are armed.

It all comes as Republicans have telegraphed that they will make public safety a key plank in their 2026 election platform.

Hochul can count some victories on crime. Her administration has touted a sharp drop in shootings and a record-setting decrease in violent crime on the subway in July.

The guard deployment in large part was meant to reassure straphangers and deter would-be criminals, she said.

“They’re there as a calming presence,” she said. “And you know what happened? Crime went down almost immediately.”

Hochul’s Democratic allies also see a distinction between the two deployments.

“It wasn’t meant to humiliate, create a sense of a strongman, and obviously the relationship between the city and state seem to be in coordination with its deployment,” Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal said. — Nick Reisman

CITY HALL: THE LATEST

ELSEWHERE IN THE HAMPTONS: Mamdani has never had any intention of cancelling or pulling security from the Israel Day Parade down Fifth Avenue as mayor, his campaign told Playbook — hoping to quash what was a hot topic of conversation this weekend in the Hamptons.

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a close Cuomo ally, asked Hochul during a Sunday appearance at his Hampton Synagogue if she’d allow Mamdani to mess with the annual mid-May parade.

“And she was emphatic. She looked at the congregation, looked at me, and said ‘Rabbi, that will never happen. Never, never, never happen. That parade will always continue,’” Schneier told Playbook.

Schneier asked the question after Jewish Community Relations Council CEO Mark Treyger, who manages the parade, raised the issue at a separate Hampton Synagogue event Friday. He said many people are concerned, given Mamdani’s support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel — though he noted that Mamdani hadn’t given any indication he’d touch the parade.

Mamdani’s campaign emphasized that he wouldn’t cancel or restrict the parade and strongly believes in all New Yorkers’ rights to peacefully assemble. Hochul’s team also said she’s confident Mamdani wouldn’t touch it.

Just don’t expect him to march. Mamdani skipped the parade earlier this year. — Jeff Coltin

ENDORSEMENT WATCH: One hit wonder rapper Bobby Shmurda endorsed Jim Walden for mayor.

COURT DATE: The city doesn’t want to release Adams’ full personnel records as part of an ongoing lawsuit where a woman claims he sexually assaulted her as a cop in 1993, calling the request “not only irrelevant, but also grossly overbroad.”

And beyond that, some of the records were lost in Superstorm Sandy, the Post first reported.

Lawyers for the city and the woman accusing Adams are due in court this morning for a discovery conference. The mayor has denied even knowing the woman, Lorna Beach-Mathura, and questioned her credibility given her litigious history. — Jeff Coltin

More from the city:

— The City Council speaker race is shaping up, with a potential Mamdani administration looming. (City & State)

— The mainstreaming of social democratic candidate Mamdani. (The Atlantic)

— The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League attacks Mamdani, but gets the facts wrong. (The Forward)

NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY

HOLDING PATTERN: The Texas Legislature got its quorum needed to redraw the state’s congressional map, but New York Democrats are yet to come up with a formal redistricting plan.

“There is generally a consensus amongst Democratic leaders in the state that we need to empower New York to be able to respond to Texas and the question in the months ahead is exactly what form that should take,” Assemblymember Micah Lasher told Playbook. “It’s too early to tell.”

Hochul has embraced partisan redistricting as Republican-led Texas presses forward with its own plan to reshape House seats in the middle of the decade in a bid to maintain Republican control of the chamber.

But unlike deep blue California, New York cannot redraw its lines in time for 2026 barring a long-shot (and undoubtedly lengthy) court battle. So lawmakers and the governor are weighing a constitutional amendment, which can be put to voters by 2027 at the earliest, to alter New York’s redistricting process.

Conversations between state lawmakers have been ongoing over what the amendment would look like, but no formal plan has been reached, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Republicans who were part of prior redistricting legal challenges are also on standby for any possible legal challenges to Democratic efforts to change the rules.

“We’re just in a watchful waiting period,” former Republican Rep. John Faso said. — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— Attorney General Letitia James sued the federal government over funds for violent crime survivors. (Newsday)

— State lawmakers will investigate spiking home insurance premiums. (Times Union)

— Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal says the Citi Field casino has a good shot of being approved. (CBS New York)

KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION

SOCIAL MEDIA SPOT: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is sharing his plan for winning control of the Senate with a younger, more online audience by appearing on millennial influencer and Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg’s YouTube program.

Speaking from the passenger seat of a van driven by Schlossberg, grandson of the late President John F. Kennedy, Schumer laid out his three-pronged approach to winning Senate seats: show voters who Trump is, create a strong vision for America and recruit good candidates.

The New York senator’s guest spot on “Test Drive” came after he tapped Schlossberg to be part of the America250 Commission marking the country’s 250th anniversary.

Both Schumer and Schlossberg slammed Trump in the interview.

“He’s full of it,” Schumer said of the president. “He can say something one day and say the exact opposite the next day. He hates truth.” — Emily Ngo

More from the delegation:

— Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ views on Mamdani highlight a Democratic divide. (Gothamist)

— Protesters jeered GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik during a ceremony in Plattsburgh to honor the late John Zurlo. (NBC5)

— Democratic Rep. Tim Kennedy wants to lift tariffs on baby products. (Spectrum News)

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

— Manhattan’s federal court judges retained Jay Clayton as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, a victory for Trump. (New York Times)

— The “Mount Everest” of subway platforms is among 60 stations that will get elevators. (New York Post)

— Pizza in a cone is coming to the State Fair. (Post-Standard)

SOCIAL DATA

Edited by Daniel Lippman

MAKING MOVES: Eric Munson is now executive director of Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. He was previously chief operating officer at the Battery Park City Authority.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz … former President Bill Clinton … former NYC Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer … City & State’s Annie McDonough … Ezra Friedlander … Leecia Eve … former Assemblymember Anthony D’Urso … BusPatrol’s Ryan Monell … NYT’s Joe Kahn … Molly Jong-Fast … Emily Goodin … Julius Genachowski of the Carlyle Group … Brody Mullins … WSJ’s Madeline Marshall … McKinsey’s Neil Grace … CNN’s Paula Reid … Farhad Manjoo … Elizabeth Bibi … Winslow Eliot …

… (WAS MONDAY): WSJ’s Sadie Gurman … Jason Furman … former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner … Bob Woodruff … CNN’s Simone Pathe … Lincoln Foran … Emily Wolowitz … (WAS SUNDAY): Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) (6-0) … ABC’s Brittany Shepherd … Elise Foley … Fox News’ Will Ricciardella … Jordan Levy ... Glen Caplin ... Amanda Langer ... Matt Mittenthal … Daniel Penchina … Sam Haass … Kensey Johnson … Carl Sceusa … Nina Bianco …

Missed Monday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.