Reports of Michael Caputo’s Death Threats Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

FIRST UP: Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s commitment to back Rep. Adriano Espaillat was initially so ironclad they shook hands on it last summer. But Mamdani broke that promise last week when he endorsed Espaillat’s primary opponent, democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier — and the fallout is mounting. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, an early supporter of Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral run, said she’s not sure she can trust the mayor anymore after the Espaillat snub and won’t take just his word on anything going forward. “I will say I want it in writing,” Velázquez said.

Read more from POLITICO’s Chris Sommerfeldt and Madison Fernandez here.

MANNY ADDRESSES: Francesca Castellanos has run for state and city office in Upper Manhattan eight times, and lost every single time.

In her ninth bid for public office, she’s going to even greater lengths to oust her local assemblyman, Manny De Los Santos.

Castellanos has spent $8,000 of her own money on private investigators to surveil him at his wife’s Rockland County home and to stake out the Washington Heights apartment where De Los Santos says he lives, and she’s circulated thousands of flyers that question his residency and include a photo of his young child.

De Los Santos says Castellanos, a Spanish-language interpreter, is harassing him and his family. Castellanos says she’s applying well-intentioned scrutiny to a public official who, she claims, lives way outside the district he represents. And election law says the residency requirement for state legislative candidates actually isn’t that strict.

“I understand that public service comes with scrutiny. But this opponent has crossed a line,” De Los Santos said in a statement. “My opponent has spent thousands of dollars on private investigators to follow me and even my children.”

On Monday, Castellanos filed a complaint with Attorney General Letitia James alleging her opponent “moved out of Northern Manhattan, moved to the suburbs, cashed his taxpayer paycheck, and continues to hold a political seat he abandoned.”

“Mr. De Los Santos receives an annual salary of $142,000 as an Assemblymember. He has chosen suburban life for his own children, who attend well-funded Rockland County schools, while families in Northern Manhattan struggle with overcrowded classrooms and insufficient resources,” the complaint reads.

James’ office would not comment on the allegations but said they’ve received Castellanos’ letter.

Castellanos’ call for the state’s top prosecutor to investigate her opponent’s residency is the latest act from a perennial candidate and local politics junkie who has spent the last two decades trying to oust the army of elected officials allied with Rep. Adriano Espaillat. This time, her opponent says, she’s gone too far.

“That is not politics. It is wrong,” De Los Santos said. “I am an Assemblymember, but I am a father first. My children should not be dragged into a political campaign. This needs to stop.”

Castellanos’ complaint includes images from a grainy video recorded on April 12 by R.Q. Investigations outside a home owned by De Los Santos’ wife, Josenia Dominguez, who serves as the chief administrative officer for Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The images show a man who appears to be De Los Santos entering a two-car garage home in the Hudson Valley. Other photographs from the following day show a man again identified as De Los Santos raking leaves at the property. A different private investigator hired by Castellanos stood watch inside the Washington Heights apartment building where De Los Santos says he lives on two April mornings. That private eye, Michael Cotto, said in a signed affidavit that he never spotted De Los Santos or anyone else enter or exit the unit.

“He's a public figure, and he's lying,” Castellanos claimed to Playbook, adding that her scrutiny of him is completely within bounds. “If he doesn't want it, then he shouldn't run for public office.”

She denied De Los Santos’ claim that she assigned an investigator to watch his children and said she only told the shamus to surveil the Assemblymember.

Dominguez told Playbook she and De Los Santos are separated and co-parent their children, and that De Los Santos has lived in his Manhattan apartment “literally his entire life — since he arrived from the Dominican Republic at the age of 12 years old.”

“I hope this clarifies whatever narrative that crazy woman wants to spread,” she said.

Castellanos’ complaint includes records showing that De Los Santos’ Washington Heights apartment was placed under receivership in 2024. She says building staff told her they weren’t aware of De Los Santos living there and pointed to a 2014 Daily News article describing allegations that his apartment was “warehousing” voters, with six different people registered to vote out of the unit, including two with the same name born a month apart.

“His relatives live there, but he does not live there,” she asserted.

In 2024, when Castellanos was mounting her second Assembly bid, she and an ally, Michael Hano, began gathering evidence to try to prove De Los Santos lived outside the city. Two years prior, Hano himself had launched a quixotic primary challenge against Espaillat.

According to Hano and Castellanos, the pair noticed that scholastic athletic records indicated at least one of De Los Santos’ children was enrolled in Rockland County public schools and that property records showed his wife owning a home in Clarkstown.

So Hano said he and Castellanos drove there in May 2024 and saw Dominguez and the couple’s kids from afar. A week or two later, Hano claims he “swung by” the house again around 11 p.m. because it was on the way home from a karaoke night he attended in Haverstraw.

“I just drove past to see for instance if a car was in the driveway, you know, and as I’m driving past, there he is in the window,” Hano said. “It's not like I was sitting there, scoping the place out. In fact I had a friend with me, I was coming home from karaoke that night. These people, when they take public office, they're giving up a little bit of privacy.”

That year, Castellanos says she mailed about 4,000 Spanish-language flyers telling residents De Los Santos “resides in the suburbs.” The flyer included a photo of one of De Los Santos’ children, which she pulled from his Instagram account, and the address of his wife’s Rockland County home. (Hano says he told Castellanos at the time he thought this was wrong, and stopped talking to her after this happened, though the two have resumed communication.)

By the time 2026 rolled around, Castellanos was again running for the De Los Santos seat after losing a City Council race to Carmen De La Rosa last year. In April, she sued to knock De Los Santos off the ballot on the grounds that he doesn’t live in the district, but she says the case was tossed out on a technicality when the judge asserted Castellanos didn’t serve her opponent before the deadline. De Los Santos, for his part, also sued unsuccessfully to knock Castellanos off the ballot, but Castellanos represented herself and won.

She’s also printing more flyers about his residency — this time up to 10,000. Last month, she says a city health inspector came to her door because someone filed a complaint that a foul odor was coming from her apartment, where she lives with six cats. Without evidence, Castellanos suspects De Los Santos was behind it, so she says she’s sending flyers to neighbors of the Rockland County home. De Los Santos says he has no idea what she’s talking about.

The state constitution says any state legislative candidate must reside in their district in the 12 months before their election. But a 2016 Court of Appeals decision reaffirmed previous rulings that a candidate can legally claim residence anywhere they have “legitimate, significant and continuing attachments,” as long as there’s no fraud, deception or “reason to assume that a residence has been asserted merely for the purposes of voting.”

De Los Santos said his Assembly district “has been my home for decades” and “remains my home today.”

“I am a proud resident of District 72,” he said. “I continue to live in and represent the community that raised me and that I have spent my life serving.”

From the Capitol

GO NEW YORK: The Uber-funded group that spent heavily on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push to overhaul car insurance regulations is unveiling a final TV ad today with a Knicks theme.

The ad features delirious Knicks fans celebrating the team’s success while the “Hallelujah” chorus plays.

“Every once in a while New Yorkers stand united, celebrating as one, overcome with joy and reveling in an unexpected and remarkable achievement: Yeah, Governor Hochul’s lowered New York’s sky-high car insurance,” the ad’s narrator says.

That claim is an exaggeration: The governor herself has said New Yorkers won’t see a difference in car insurance premiums immediately.

Just in time for the NBA Finals, the basketball-themed spot will bring the advertising blitz full circle after it launched with a Buffalo Bills-centric ad at the start of the year. — Nick Reisman

HELPING NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS: The State University of New York is launching two new initiatives aimed at boosting supports for adult learners and students with kids.

The university system intends to work with community colleges to increase the number of in-person courses offered on evenings and weekends. And the final state budget included $12 million in additional operating dollars for community colleges.

SUNY is also establishing a grant program to help campuses better support student parents, including the addition of child-friendly lounges and study areas.

“Because one in five college students across the country are parents, we're boosting support for student-parents,” SUNY Chancellor John King said during his annual “State of the University” address in Albany today.

The state has also been taking steps to help college students with kids.

Earlier this year, Hochul moved to extend child care hours on community college campuses to align with the schedules of students enrolled in high-demand programs. SUNY has also used $10.4 million in state funding to open additional child care centers and increase the number of spots.

The state kicked off a program this school year that offers free tuition to older students seeking associate degrees in high-demand fields at SUNY and the City University of New York. — Madina Touré

FROM CITY HALL

HIGH HOPES: Mamdani offered a bold prediction this morning for the NBA Finals.

“Knicks in four — inshallah,” Mamdani said with a chuckle on Hot 97 radio.

For their first finals since 1999, the Knicks are playing the San Antonio Spurs tonight in Texas. The Knicks have been on a red-hot run in this year’s playoffs, winning 11 straight games, but it’d no doubt be a steep feat for the hometown team to sweep the Spurs as the mayor prophesies.

Mamdani’s office wouldn’t immediately say if the mayor will attend any of the games the Knicks are playing at Madison Square Garden (the first home game is Monday night).

“I’m going to be at a lot of different watch parties tonight — I can't wait,” Mamdani told Playbook at City Hall this morning when asked if he planned on attending the watch party hosted inside MSG tonight for Game 1.

Mamdani spokesperson Sam Raskin declined to immediately provide more details on where the mayor will be. Raskin did tout that the mayor’s office played a role in securing a permit for a separate watch party to be held outside the Garden tonight. (The NYPD previously suggested no more such bashes would be permitted after one turned especially chaotic during the Eastern Conference Finals last month.)

“As a Knicks fan and a New Yorker, the mayor feels the energy and excitement this team has brought to the city,” Raskin said. “This is a special moment for all five boroughs, and we're thrilled these celebrations are moving forward. Let's go Knicks."

Politics have already loomed heavy over the finals. On Sunday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted an AI-generated image on X of himself dunking over a Knicks jersey-clad Hochul, as President Donald Trump can be seen sitting courtside laughing.

Speaking of Trump: The president, who’s widely reviled in his native New York, said last week he will likely attend one of the Knicks’ home games at the Garden after being invited by team owner James Dolan. — Chris Sommerfeldt 

IN OTHER NEWS

— LONE STAR BACKING: A pro-Palestinian Texas businessman has poured major funding into American Prioirties, an anti-Israel super PAC that’s backing Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez’s congressional campaigns. (New York Post)

— SOUND THE ALARMS: Major fires have more than doubled in the Bronx and are being linked to deteriorating electrical infrastructure in older buildings. (Gothamist)

— ALL ABOARD: Mamdani has tapped former Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and former budget chief Melanie Hartzog to represent New York City on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. (New York Daily News)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 57

BRIDGING THE GAP: The debate over Israel is proving to be a wedge issue in the competitive primary between Rep. Dan Goldman and former city Comptroller Brad Lander. But the incumbent, who’s fighting for his political life, is making the argument that he and his challenger aren’t so different on the issue after all.

“We are both progressive Zionists who believe in Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and we both support a two-state solution to bring peace to the region,” Goldman said earlier today on a WNYC candidate forum. “It's disappointing to me that he's using this dog whistle attack, when in reality we really do share the same core principles.”

Lander — who, like Goldman, is Jewish and a Democrat — has positioned himself as more critical of Israel than the incumbent, and some in the party’s progressive wing have sided with him because of it. Lander and his supporters have repeatedly criticized Goldman for his ties to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group that has become a major player in elections on both sides of the aisle — and a subject of intense debate — especially as the public has an increasingly negative view of Israel.

Progressives have targeted AIPAC in their messaging, a strategy Lander has also embraced. Goldman “can't unrig the system because he's part of this system, he takes money from Wall Street, from private equity, from crypto, from AIPAC,” Lander argued at the forum.

Like Goldman, some have raised concerns about the criticism of AIPAC, which has a mixed record in races it gets involved in. In an interview with POLITICO, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, one of a handful of Jewish governors, said he thinks the arguments against AIPAC spending have “been used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices, to try and say that certain people participating in politics shouldn’t count or should be viewed in a toxic way.”

Goldman, who is endorsed by AIPAC, has said he returned the money from the organization. And four weeks out from the primary, there’s no indication that AIPAC’s affiliated super PAC is going to spend in it.

Still, Israel remains a prominent issue in the race — no matter how much Goldman attempts to neutralize it. Last month, the incumbent rolled out an ad denouncing President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Iran.

Public polling in the district, which covers parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, has been scarce. But a recent Emerson College survey found Lander leading Goldman by more than 30 points. Lander is endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani — whom Goldman did not support during the mayoral election — the Working Families Party and a slew of progressive officials and organizations. Goldman has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with more than a dozen unions. Goldman also recently received the support of Hasidic leaders from Brooklyn’s Borough Park enclave.

As for Goldman and Lander’s similarities on Israel, the challenger pushed back, pointing to Goldman having “voted for every single U.S. military aid package to Israel.” In a back-and forth during the forum about the boycott, divest and sanctions movement — which both Goldman and Lander said they do not support — Goldman said he agrees with Lander that “Israelis aren't going to be safe until Palestinians are free,” to which the challenger retorted: “You don’t do anything to make it happen.”

“I believe in the vision of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, but it's not acting consistently with Jewish or democratic values right now, and it can't while it keeps occupying the West Bank and Gaza, and imposing apartheid on Palestinians,” Lander said. “The differences here are strong. If people want someone who is really going to fight to end Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, to make it so that Jewish New Yorkers and Muslim New Yorkers can work together instead of be divided from each other, and try to address the failures of U.S. foreign policy, the choice is clear.”

Much of the forum focused on Israel. When asked if he would vote for the “Block the Bombs Act,” which would prohibit the sale or transfer of military equipment to Israel until the country guarantees compliance with international law, Goldman said it is “not going to come to a vote, because it was written last summer as an effort to support a ceasefire, which was reached in October, and our laws enforce international human rights law already.” When pressed again, he said the legislation has “been overtaken by events, and I think there are other issues with ‘Block the Bombs’” but also that we need to "aggressively enforce international law against Bibi Netanyahu.”

Lander has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.” Goldman said today it’s “really important that we move away from labels and terminology, especially for legal terms, and focus on how we can arrive at a two-state peaceful solution.”

The incumbent also expressed regret for voting to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in 2023 over her criticism of Israel, saying “there are better ways of dealing with that that I wish I had pursued” and “it was a very emotional time and sometimes emotion gets the best of you.”

“This is an incredibly, incredibly emotional issue right now for very, very many people, and what I'm worried about is that it is dividing all of us; it is dividing Muslims and Jews, it is dividing Jews,” Goldman said. “This is part of the reason why I disagree a little bit about what the critical issues are in this race. The critical issues are the ones facing the voters, and those are not necessarily what's going on 6,000 miles away, it's what's going on at their kitchen tables.” — Madison Fernandez

From the Capitol

REDISTRICTING REDUX: New York Democrats are expected to introduce bills by Friday to pave the way for new congressional lines in 2028, according to four people familiar with the talks.

Officials are weighing two constitutional amendments — one that would allow some minor tweaks, and another that would permit an aggressive Democratic gerrymander, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door conversations.

New York’s cumbersome process to change the state constitution restricts Democrats from redrawing House boundaries in time for the 2026 midterm elections. But House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, has made his home state’s House lines part of a broader, longer-term strategy to pick up seats in the closely divided chamber.

“This is a potentially existential matter for our democracy in the ‘28 elections,” said Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Democratic House candidate who previously proposed an amendment to allow for mid-decade redistricting. “There’s a broad understanding that in the redistricting arms race New York can’t be on the sidelines.”

Read more from POLITICO Bill Mahoney and Nick Reisman. 

HOCHUL BACKS ALT ROCK BAND: The governor’s press shop sent out a release today that heaped effusive and exuberant praise on a ‘90s rock band.

The missive — uncharacteristic of the staid memos typically dispatched by the gov’s press shop — was sent to promote a state-sponsored watch party on Long Island for the U.S. vs. Paraguay World Cup match on June 12, which will feature a pregame concert from Third Eye Blind, or 3EB.

“Participation in the older, untouchable realm of nervous star-making could color a band's identity,” the governor’s office said. “In the case of 3EB, it often blurred the perception of their brilliant musical creations.”

It’s unclear if the band behind hits like "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper,” which formed in San Francisco, feel the same way about the governor. In 2016, 3EB made headlines when their lead singer said he “repudiates” the Republican party and called Donald Trump’s then-presidential campaign deplorable. But there’s no record of him expressing similar passion — either in support or opposition — for New York’s 57th governor.

“3EB won wide success during a tumultuous group of years when the major-label recording industry was finally losing its grip on an enterprise that for decades it had dominated with steely efficiency,” Hochul’s office also said. “3EB now write, tour, record, and communicate in a fluid new world where their music continues to evolve naturally. Their exchange with their audience is unfiltered and being from the hub of tech, they are using it to develop a closer connection with their audience.”

Perhaps 3EB can release an updated version of its 2000 single “10 Days Late” to inspire lawmakers as they scramble to wrap up the nearly two-month late state budget. — Jason Beeferman

SHARPE SUBMITS: Libertarian Larry Sharpe has filed to run for the “Coalition Party” in this year’s gubernatorial campaign, making him the only candidate seeking to run without major party support.

The odds are long he’ll actually make the ballot — a reality he’s more than willing to concede.

“It doesn’t matter, we’re never going to make it. We’re going to be in lawsuits,” Sharpe said when asked how many signatures he submitted.

One individual familiar with the filing said he believes Sharpe submitted 1,600 of the required 45,000 signatures.

Third parties have become all but extinct in major races in New York since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo hiked the signature threshold from 15,000 in 2019. “Bobby Kennedy Jr. spent a million dollars,” Sharpe said of the now-health secretary’s 2024 presidential campaign. “He’s a fucking Kennedy and he couldn’t get on.”

The only other candidate to file for an additional ballot line in November was Bruce Blakeman, who submitted to add the “Vote Affordable” line to the Republican and Conservative ones he’s already running under. His campaign told the New York Post he submitted 66,345 signatures — not quite the number most experts say is needed to make a candidate immune from challenges. — Bill Mahoney

FROM CITY HALL

RAISING HELL: City Council member Shahana Hanif is under fire from critics for declaring on social media last night that two fellow Muslim women critical of Mayor Zohran Mamdani should be “condemned to Jahannam,” the Islamic concept of hell.

But Hanif, the first Muslim woman elected to the Council, says the criticism against her is overblown — and potentially bigoted.

“Let’s be serious: ‘Go to hell’ is a pretty common expression of frustration or disappointment … but the moment Arabic enters the conversation, suddenly people will act like I said something far more sinister,” Hanif told Playbook today.

Hanif delivered the broadside in an X post last night criticizing the two women, Anila Ali and Zeba Zebunnesa, for participating in a protest held outside Gracie Mansion to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Mamdani from office over the claim that he’s not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

“May Allah condemn you to Jahannam,” Hanif wrote in the post, which was responding to a message from Ali saying she and Zebunnesa were on their way to the Gracie demonstration.

Ali and Zebunnesa are organizers with a group called American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council.

In the Quran, Jahannam is portrayed as a place of divine justice where sinners are sent to face punishment in the afterlife. Broken into seven descending levels reserved for different groups of sinners, Jahannam is considered the Islamic equivalent of hell, with punishments becoming more extreme the deeper one goes.

Elchanan Poupko, a rabbi and social media commentator, said Hanif crossed “a red line” with her tweet.

“Why is @ShahanaFromBK, an elected official, using religion for targeted harassment against a Muslim woman @anilaali, for exercising her constitutional rights protesting @ZohranKMamdani????” Poupko wrote on X. “This is unacceptable.”

A few hundred people participated in the protest outside Gracie Mansion last night, though no elected officials or mainstream Jewish groups were billed as being in attendance.

The event featured people brandishing Israeli flags and demanding that Mamdani, a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, do more to combat antisemitism in New York. The event also featured more extreme, bigoted elements, including people shouting that Mamdani, an American citizen born in Uganda, should be deported.

Hanif pointed to the fact that rhetoric like that played out at the protest in justifying her Jahannam jab.

“I can and will criticize MAGA influencers joining a MAGA hate rally full of conspiratorial rhetoric and f-bombs,” Hanif said. — Chris Sommerfeldt 

IN OTHER NEWS

— TARGETING GAP: A database of more than 1,200 lawsuits shows more than 93 percent of immigration enforcement arrests in New York and New Jersey targeted Latinos, despite the fact that they make up only 66 percent of immigrants without legal status. (THE CITY)

— NO PLAYING AROUND: New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a joint investigation into FIFA’s ticket selling practices. (POLITICO)

— ‘I WAS HURT’: New York’s Legislature is considering bills to amend policies for imprisoned pregnant women after one gave birth while handcuffed in a Brooklyn courtroom. (Gothamist)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.