Sunday Edition: New York City and the next president
Plus it's cold #109
The mayor flew down to Florida last Thursday to meet with incoming President Trump, visiting the next day near Mar-A-Lago with a group that included his former chief of staff Frank Carone and billionaire developer Steve Witkoff.
They discussed New York City, a statement from his communications office sent hours after the meeting explained — the Middle East ceasefire, manufacturing in the Bronx, and federal investment in the city’s infrastructure.
What they did NOT talk about, the mayor and his team assured the public in that statement, was his legal case:
“To be clear, we did not discuss my legal case, and those who suggest the mayor of the largest city in the nation shouldn't meet with the incoming president to discuss our city's priorities because of inaccurate speculation or because we're from different parties clearly care more about politics than people.”
Mayor Adams gets mad when we ask him things more than once, but we have to because he doesn’t often answer things directly. He and his team can be slippery; that statement leaves open the possibility of Trump just bringing up a potential pardon or involvement. Or that Carone or someone else brought it up.
So I asked the mayor again on Saturday — first, of course, why his former chief of staff was there and then, if he was willing to say in front of TV cameras and the public that he didn’t ask in any way or intimate in any way or suggest in any way he wants Trump to intervene.
You might have guessed this, but he didn’t want to answer! He did offer another take on what it means to be American. And for the record, it was NOT a long question. He just says that to try and intimidate or belittle reporters who ask things he doesn’t like.
You can read more coverage of his visit here and here, and coverage of any potential fallout here.
And I took a little look at the mayor’s re-election strategy, riding on name recognition and his current accomplishments and a spokesperson who gets mad when you say he works for the campaign but who frequently reaches out to other reporters about the campaign. Like sharing the mayor’s most recent fundraising numbers. Read that here.
Ahead of tomorrow’s inauguration, THE CITY has a special Sunday newsletter recapping some of our coverage. You can check it out here.
More stories from THE CITY
Faith leaders and others working with the city’s immigrants don’t feel that supported by Adams [THE CITY]
A deep dive on a Times Square billboard claiming it’s helping LA’s fire victims [THE CITY]
The mayor’s legal defense fund isn’t doing great [THE CITY]
Other fundraising stats [THE CITY]
Other interesting stories
The MIDI notation for Laura Palmer’s Theme” are literally Twin Peaks [PITCHFORK]
A plan to fix 74th-Roosevelt subway hub [JACKSON HEIGHTS POST]
Cuomo continues to lead polls and he isn’t officially running [POLITICO]
A perfect description of this very fancy food hall [GRUB STREET]
It’s going to be very cold all week, here’s the forecast. I love cold weather but the key is to layer.
St. John’s is in first place in the Big East! Thanks for reading!