New York’s president’s club

Presented by

With help from Shawn Ness

Four — count ‘em, four — presidents came to New York Thursday. And while our anticlimactic presidential primary is just days away (don’t forget to vote!) the focus was squarely on November.

President Joe Biden took the stage at Radio City Music Hall with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, reportedly breaking fundraising records for a single event by bringing in $25 million.

But the evening was not all upside for the president: Pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted the event multiple times, while a cease-fire protest raged outside. They chanted “genocide supporter” at attendees as they left. Read all about the event here.

Hours earlier and 35 miles away, Donald Trump attended the Long Island wake for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop.

Backed up by Nassau County police — not the NYPD, City Hall was eager to note — Trump praised GOP County Executive Bruce Blakeman who “worked so hard to make this area beautiful and safe.” On the killing, he said, “We’ve got to have law and order. These things can’t happen.”

The split screen of wake versus fundraiser seemed deliberate for Trump, as Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito — whose own reelection hinges on Biden’s bringing out the vote on Long Island — eagerly pointed out.

The Democrats “are raising money & partying w/ @Lizzo,” while Trump “is on #LongIsland saluting my fallen #NYPD brother, consoling the Diller family & denouncing this pro-criminal, anti cop agenda,” he posted on X.

That tragedy, and Biden’s visit, also broke the ice in a small way between Biden and Mayor Eric Adams.

The two Democrats talked on the phone, and Biden paid his condolences for Diller’s death. “I really appreciated him calling,” Adams told Playbook Thursday afternoon. But declined to say if they talked about anything else, like migrant funding.

It was the first time they’d personally talked, as far as we know, since January 2023 amid ongoing criticism from Adams on Biden’s response to the city’s migrant crisis.

Adams didn’t attend the fundraiser due to scheduling conflicts, though he was invited, a person familiar with the planning told Playbook.

Inside, NY Dems Chair Jay Jacobs texted Playbook he was in line for a photo with the presidents. “It’s a who’s who,” he added — attended by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Greg Meeks and Jerry Nadler, among others.

But most folks had to wait an hour in the cold rain to get in — even members of the Biden administration like Deputy U.S. Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, who told Playbook she was there “as a civilian.”

Assemblymember Alex Bores, who will be a delegate at the Democratic National Convention for Biden and also waited in line. “Every election we hear it’s the most important election of our lifetime,” he said. “I don’t want to give into that trope, but the stakes on this one feel quite substantial.” — Jeff Coltin

HAPPY FRIDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.

DO WE HAVE A BUDGET YET? No.

WHERE’S KATHY? On Long Island attending NYPD officer Jonathan Diller’s wake.

WHERE’S ERIC? Appearing live on Power 105.1 FM’s “The Breakfast Club,” and meeting with detainees on Rikers Island.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is an example of something where New York City does not have to be first.” — State Sen. John Liu, speaking to the Daily News about the city moving to allow testing of driverless cars.

ABOVE THE FOLD

RETAIL WORRIES: Combatting retail theft has been a cornerstone public safety issue for Gov. Kathy Hochul this year, with budget proposals that would create a tax credit for businesses to upgrade their security and the creation of a task force to study the issue.

But increasing penalties for assaulting a retail worker faces sustained opposition from some Democrats in the Legislature.

Lawmakers expect some elements of Hochul’s original proposal to win approval in the budget.

“But I don’t see any increase in penalties coming out of the state Legislature around that,” Brooklyn Sen. Kevin Parker said.

Public safety has remained an ongoing concern for voters in New York and an issue that’s shown to be potent for Republicans in elections.

And yet, the party is split over how to handle retail crime.

That’s a disappointment to Democrats who have pressed for a more aggressive approach to address the ongoing theft of items from stores. Some see it as a relatively low-risk way of taking on a crime most New Yorkers can see the effects of anytime they try to buy toiletries locked away in a cabinet.

“I think there’s a lot of my colleagues who see this as a problem and know it’s a problem,” Staten Island Democratic Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton said. “The solution to the problem is where we differ.” — Nick Reisman and Marie J. French

CITY HALL: THE LATEST

PASS US THE DUTCHIE: Shutting down illegal weed shops is the rare issue to unify City Council Members Chi Ossé and Vickie Paladino.

The progressive, the conservative and 27 other colleagues signed onto Council Member Gale Brewer’s open letter calling on Hochul and legislative leaders to get local enforcement of unlicensed cannabis into the state budget.

First in Playbook, Brewer specifically asks for an addition to the municipal control and preemption section of state cannabis law, letting the city adopt its own local law to stop unlicensed shops.

That’s a different legal approach than a bill backed by Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, which gives all municipalities the power to immediately close unlicensed head shops, and also allows the legal seizure of marijuana. Adams’ top ally in the Legislature held a small rally for the bill in the middle of a rainy Times Square Thursday.

“New Yorkers feel like they’re high right now because this situation just makes no sense,” she said. “There’s 36,000 illegal cannabis shops across this state and only 40 legal ones.”

Currently, enforcement is left to the state Office of Cannabis Management, which is understaffed and beset by legal delays.

So while there’s disagreement over the legal language, the idea of better enforcement has widespread support.

More than 100 people who operate and support the licensed cannabis industry sent their own letter to leaders Wednesday, backed by Adams, saying local enforcement would help the legal market thrive. — Jeff Coltin

FAMOUSLY NOT A PRESIDENT: But Hillary Clinton also made a New York appearance this week and came out against Adams’ cuts to libraries in the city budget.

More from the city:

— Gun detection technology will be coming to the subways in Adams’ latest attempt to crack down on crime in the system. (POLITICO)

— The Conflicts of Interest Board is tweaking some of its reporting requirements to better understand which public servants have “substantial” influence over policy. (The City)

— Top Adams adviser Joel Eisdorfer is being sued for allegedly stiffing a real estate agent on a $355,000 broker fee owed as part of a scuttled business deal for a marina he initiated while working at City Hall. (Daily News)

NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY

CUOMO AND COVID: The House panel investigating government decision-making during the Covid-19 pandemic wants to question two former members of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Thursday released letters to former staffers Rich Azzopardi and Larry Schwartz for “an in person transcribed interview” in April.

The letters come after the Republican-led panel subpoenaed Cuomo earlier this month to compel his testimony.

Former Health Commissioner Howard Zucker spoke to the subcommittee last year.

Schwartz, a longtime aide to the former governor who served in a variety of roles, led vaccine distribution efforts as the state’s “vaccine czar” Schwartz did not return a call seeking comment.

Azzopardi served as a spokesperson and senior adviser to Cuomo. He has retained the former governor as a client through his firm Bulldog Strategies.

Azzopardi compared the panel’s request to interview him to the criticism he received when responding to other investigations of Cuomo.

“This is the third time they’ve tried to silence me even though my job is to talk on behalf of my clients,” he told Playbook. “It didn’t work then, it’s not going to work now.” — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— Alleged abuse survivors want an investigation of how the insurance industry is handling settlements for victims. (Times Union)

— There’s a new push to get the NY Heat Act in a final budget deal. (City & State)

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

— The state’s education department is looking at a specific number of lockdown drills to mandate and to allow students to opt-out. (State of Politics)

— A new law proposed in Albany would protect rodents from glue traps. (New York Times)

— Drug treatment providers are urging Hochul to declare a state of emergency for addiction. (Times Union)

— House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries formally endorsed Rep. Jamaal Bowman as he faces a contentious primary with George Latimer. (NY1)

SOCIAL DATA

Edited by Daniel Lippman

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Peter Velz … Paul Farhi … CNN’s Melanie Zanona … Rockefeller Foundation’s Eric Pelofsky … Marissa Padilla of Global Strategy Group … Annie Rosen Pai … Alexander Zafran … (WAS THURSDAY): James Bennet ... Lauren Weisberger.

YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY