New: Zohran Mamdani has as mayor used Signal to communicate with fellow elected officials and political advisers. At least once, he has discussed government business over the encrypted app, raising concerns about compliance with record-keeping laws. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

"I think it's important to be on the record here, given the scale of the consequences that we are speaking about,” Mamdani told us today when asked if he's concerned Trump may punish NYC for his rebuke of the Iran strikes. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

New: Mamdani did Trump a solid by keeping their second meeting under wraps in the days leading up to it, with three sources telling us City Hall didn't announce it at all because the White House asked it be kept secret as long as possible. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Mamdani's NYPD troubles are snowballing after his response to a frosty fracas in Manhattan this week stoked cop backlash. A deep dive into how a snowball fight is putting Mamdani's relationship with his NYPD commissioner through a stress test: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Mamdani is asking Trump for $21 billion in federal grants for the Sunnyside Yards housing development they discussed in their White House meeting today, City Hall finally confirms. Full coverage of today's second chummy meeting between Mamdani and Trump: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Mayor Mamdani just shared this on Instagram after his (unannounced) meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. Read more here: www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

New: In their meeting today, Mamdani and Trump are set to discuss ways NYC can create more "big" housing developments. This comes after we reported weeks ago that Trump grew especially animated during their first meet when Mamdani brought up ULURP reform. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Mayor Mamdani has a rare empty public schedule today. I'm pretty sure this is the first weekday he has had with a totally empty schedule since becoming mayor.

New: City Council progressives are ratcheting up pressure on Hochul to raise taxes on the rich, with 22 of them demanding action today. In a setback, tho, three Council Progressive Caucus members aren't lending their names to the pressure campaign. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

New: Can a City Council speaker co-host a podcast funded by companies with business before the Council? Julie Menin apparently thought so. But her role on a new podcast is now being scaled back after we started asking about the funding arrangement. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

“I don’t think classes needed to be cancelled," DOE Chancellor Kamar Samules told Playbook when asked if schools had to scale back education today given that 12,000 teachers called out amid the snow. w/ @madinatoure.bsky.social www.politico.com/newsletters/...

"I think there were two officers who were facing lacerations on their face," Mamdani says of the cops hit with snowballs in Manhattan. Asked if he thinks those responsible should be prosecuted, he says, "I've seen the videos of this snowball fight, I think it was a snowball fight."

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels says 63.3% of NYC students showed up to school today.

Mamdani's getting a cold reception for ordering NYC kids into classrooms today instead of opting for remote learning. "It's kind of the perfect day for a remote day," progressive Council Member Kayla Santosuosso said. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

After Mayor Mamdani drew bipartisan criticism for ordering NYC students back to in-person classes tomorrow, his office issues this statement:

Before launching her state Senate campaign, Yuh Line-Niou spent weeks angling for a job in Mayor Mamdani's administration, an effort that ultimately didn't pan out, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Mamdani announces NYC schools will be back with in-person classes tomorrow. He says NYC kids "can still pelt me with snowballs when you see me."

On 1010WINS, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says Department of Sanitation workers had as of 5:30 a.m. done a first plow on 99.3% of NYC streets.

State comptroller hopeful Raj Goyle and his wife pumped $107,672 into his campaign coffers, far exceeding what they're allowed to give under the law. After Playbook inquired, Goyle's now refunding $80,672 of it. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

With blizzard conditions expected in NYC, Mayor Mamdani announces a travel ban in the city between 9 p.m. tonight and 9 a.m. tomorrow, shuttering all bridges and roads to non-essential traffic. He also says all public schools will be closed tomorrow for an "old school show day."

In a sign of the power of a Mamdani endorsement in NYC, Claire Valdez beats Antonio Reynoso by 13 points in the NY-7 race when voters are aware that the mayor's backing her — but loses to Reynoso by 4 points when they aren't aware, per a new poll. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

NYC's influential hotel workers union is endorsing Jessica Ramos' primary challenger, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, dealing a big blow to the Senate Labor Committee chair whose political standing has faltered since she aligned herself with Cuomo's mayoral bid. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Members of NYC congressional delegation arriving at City Hall for a meet with Mayor Mamdani. Reps. Greg Meeks & Dan Goldman were both tight-lipped when asked about Mamdani's threat to raise city property taxes if Albany doesn't hike state taxes on millionaires & corporations.

New: In 2025, Brad Lander touted how he as comptroller "led NYC's pension funds to fully divest from fossil fuels." But the truth's more complex as the funds still hold hundreds of millions of $ in fossil fuel stocks, including in one of the U.S.' worst greenhouse gas emitters.

Everybody needs an editor, the 70th State Assembly District version. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Mamdani notably didn't reiterate his rent freeze pledge in today's press release announcing his Rent Guidelines Board appointments, an omission that comes as landlord groups have signaled they'll try to legally challenge any freeze his RGB enacts. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

Inbox: Mamdani has appointed 6 new members to NYC's Rent Guidelines Board, including making the New York Community Trust's Chantella Mitchell its new chair. These are the RGB members who'll be tasked with enacting the rent freeze Mamdani has promised for stabilized tenants.

Ali Najmi, a close adviser to Mamdani, is endorsing Raj Goyle’s campaign for state comptroller — a move that could give the insurgent candidate a boost with the mayor’s political base.   In this morning's Playbook: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Council Finance Chair Linda Lee slam Mayor Zohran Mamdani's "last resort" proposals to increase NYC property taxes and dip into rainy funds, saying those ideas "should not be on the table whatsoever."

If he doesn't get new revenues from state-level tax hikes on the wealthy, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's preliminary budget proposal says the city will need to raise NYC property taxes by 9.5% and drain $1 billion from the "rainy day" reserves for the current fiscal year alone.

"I'm not supportive of a property tax increase, I don't know that that's necessary," Gov. Hochul said a bit ago in response to Mayor Mamdani's $127B budget plan threatening NYC property tax hikes unless she gets onboard with taxing the rich. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

New: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is appointing Ana Maria Archila, a top leader of the Working Families Party, as his international affairs commissioner, rewarding a key political ally with a high-profile post as he seeks to consolidate his influence on the left. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

New: Mayor Mamdani has tapped Bitta Mostofi, a former Biden admin official, to audit six municipal agencies, including the NYPD, for violations of local sanctuary laws — an effort aimed at defending NYC against President Trump’s immigration crackdowns. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Inbox: Gov. Hochul is committing $1.5B in additional state funds for NYC over the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years to help put the city "on stable financial footing." Last week, Mayor Mamdani said NYC's budget deficit stood at $7B over FY26 and FY27.

Kaif Gilani, the "Hot Girls 4 Zohran” co-founder under fire for his offensive social media rants, has worked for Assembly candidate Brian Romero, in addition to Brad Lander. Now, Romero's campaign is cutting ties with Gilani, too. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Palestinian organizer Aber Kawas is dropping her Assembly bid and will instead run for a state Senate seat, averting a left-wing civil war that had been brewing in the Assembly district after AOC and Mamdani were seen as backing different candidates. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Back in September '24, @caylabam.bsky.social, @c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social and I broke the news that SaferWatch -- which hired the brother of a deputy mayor & the school chancellor as a consultant -- had been raided by the feds.

City Hall press secretary Joe Calvello on Mayor Mamdani's meeting today with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey:

The City Council has delayed action on pay raises for local elected officials after Mayor Mamdani — who's drawn some scrutiny for appointment delays lately — asked for more time to name picks for the commission tasked with setting salary levels. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Mayor Mamdani names former federal prosecutor Nadia Shihata as the new commissioner of the Department of Investigation. "There will be zero tolerance for self enrichment or corruption in my City Hall," he says.

While Mamdani's deficit lowering is seen as a positive development, Sherif Soliman, his OMB director, told POLITICO it comes in part, from tapping $1.45B in reserves — a solution his team acknowledged isn't sustainable in the long run. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani testified this morning his administration has been able to shave NYC's budget deficit by $5 billion, in part by tapping into the city's "in-year reserves." He hasn't said how much funding he's planning to take out of the reserves. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani testified this morning his administration has been able to shave NYC's budget deficit by $5 billion, in part by tapping into the city's "in-year reserves." He hasn't said how much funding he's planning to take out of the reserves. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...

Former State Assembly member (and current New York City mayor) Zohran Mamdani has arrived at the state Legislature's joint 2026 budget hearing. He's making the rounds, giving hugs and handshakes to all the lawmakers here to grill him.

Erick Salgado, a controversial pastor and immigration adviser to former Mayor Eric Adams, was fined $2,250 late last year for directing a City Hall subordinate to help Salgado’s mother with rental assistance paperwork. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

In her speech today, NYPD Commissioner Tisch stopped short of calling for ICE to be abolished and hinted at the many other policy clashes she has with Mayor Mamdani. Asked for his thoughts on the speech afterward, Mamdani told Playbook: "I appreciated being here.” www.politico.com/newsletters/...

At the NYPD breakfast, Commissioner Tisch shouts out electeds in the audience, including Mayor Mamdani. Notably, she says of Speaker Julie Menin: "You've been in your current role for only a short time, but your focus on public safety issues long predates it."

New: State Assemblymember Alex Bores’ congressional campaign has staffing, fundraising and advertisement overlap with a super PAC supporting his candidacy — a nexus that a government watchdog says raises red flags. In today's Playbook: www.politico.com/newsletters/...

"Also on Monday, an ex-aide in Adams’ office was fined $400 for violating city rules by using his government email account to advertise a kickoff event for Adams’ reelection bid. That violation was first reported by the Daily News in June." www.nydailynews.com/2026/02/09/f...

ICE officials, under a judge’s order to clean up overcrowded and squalid conditions inside holding cells at 26 Federal Plaza detained migrants on a separate floor where they decided the the ruling didn't apply. The revelation comes in a hearing today: www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/09/2...