By Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo

Presented by Ørsted

Mayor Eric Adams has not released his detailed schedules to the public for over a year now. | Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office

New Yorkers don’t know what Mayor Eric Adams has been doing all day. At least not since June 30, 2022.

That’s the last day his office released the mayor’s daily schedule. Fourteen months ago.

Adams’ press office still releases a daily PUBLIC schedule, with things like press conferences, ribbon cuttings and flag raisings (There have been more than four dozen.).

But previous mayors shared much more detailed, granular schedules on a few months delay.

We know on Sept. 18, 2018, for instance, Bill de Blasio had two media interviews, four meetings, 10 phone calls — and we know who else joined them.

They weren’t perfect; they didn’t include all of de Blasio’s calls and meetings, and Mike Bloomberg’s didn’t either.

But they’re so much better than Adams’.

The schedules that Adams DID release last year were a mess. Screenshots of an online calendar app that often didn’t include the name of who the mayor was meeting with, or who else was there.

It was a huge backslide in transparency from the mayor who said he’d have “a clear transparent administration. And I think the press is going to be really proud with the level of transparency that I’m going to show.”

And it means City Hall is keeping private the vast majority of what Adams is actually doing all day as mayor.

“That to me is such a basic, fundamental symbol of transparency and goodwill with the people of New York,” said state Sen. Jessica Ramos, a potential mayoral challenger in 2025. “Letting them know where it is that you’re going to be focusing your energies on any given day.”

Ramos remembers helping compile de Blasio’s schedule in her job as her director of Latino media. Said another former BdB staffer: “It was a pain in the ass, and nobody wanted to do it.” But to not release them for over a year?

“Bill de Blasio would NEVER,” Ramos said.

“Our legal team answers public records requests as promptly as possible,” an Adams spokesperson said, adding that he “may be the most visible mayor New York City has ever had — and any reporter wondering what the mayor is up to can attend one of our many public events and ask.”

Or, instead of pretending the mayor would be able to recall at a public event who exactly was on a phone call with him two months earlier, the office could just publish his daily schedules. Of course, the mayor was unapologetic about the poor quality of the ones released last year.

Luckily, City & State provided all you need to know: Wake up, make a public appearance, say “the weirdest comment you’ve ever heard.”

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

WHERE’S KATHY? Delivering remarks at the Concordia Annual Summit, making a clean energy announcement in Queens and then announcing the latest steps to fight antisemitism in New York.

WHERE’S ERIC? Making a sanitation-related announcement, delivering remarks at a U.S. postal stamp dedication ceremony, talking with the mayor of Montreal and then with the mayor of Kansas City, Mo., speaking at a global citizenship awards dinner and attending the Africa-America Institute’s 70th Anniversary Gala.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The DocGo contract in particular raises real serious concerns for us about whether that blanket prior approval is being treated as a blank check.” — City Comptroller Brad Lander on emergency contracts in the migrant crisis.

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President Joe Biden lands at JFK on Sunday. The president, despite increased focus on New York's migrant crisis, does not have plans to meet with Mayor Eric Adams during his time in the city. | Susan Walsh/AP Photo

Speaking of Adams’ meetings, one that the mayor is almost certain not to have this week is with President Joe Biden, POLITICO reports.

This time last year, Biden and Adams were together at a high-dollar Democratic fundraiser and at the United Nations General Assembly’s marquee reception.

This week is a different story — with their relationship in tatters over the migrant crisis in New York. They have no immediate plans to cross paths during the president’s three days in the city.

Adams was invited to but likely will not attend the campaign fundraisers nor a reception Tuesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that are on Biden’s schedule, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Cobbling together a meeting could have been uncomfortable for both Democrats, with no obvious upside, some insiders said.

“It just means that the two of them are trying to avoid exacerbating an already tense situation,” a City Hall adviser said.

White House aides, meanwhile, also indicated that no meeting between Biden and Adams was on the agenda for New York City this week. —Emily Ngo

U.N. PLAYBOOK: The high-level week at the U.N. General Assembly kicked off Monday. Track all the news, analysis — and, of course, gossip — with our daily newsletter by Suzanne Lynch, who will be on the ground in Manhattan. Sign up to POLITICO’s U.N. Playbook here.

GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.

Chief Adviser to the Mayor Ingrid Lewis-Martin helped run a super PAC funded by developers who had successfully lobbied the Adams administration. | Office of the Brooklyn Borough President

As POLITICO previously reported, a state super PAC was partially run last year by a top aide to Adams, Ingrid Lewis-Martin.

Now a review of donor records showed most of the contributors were tied to a Meatpacking District development, whose builders lobbied the Adams administration and received a favorable approval weeks into the mayor’s term.

In February 2022, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved an application for the project, and months later roughly 20 entities connected to the development donated more than $330,000 to the PAC.

The PAC — with direction from Lewis-Martin— then used the money to boost the campaigns of several administration allies.

Good-government groups said the contributions show how easily donors can circumvent election laws by lavishing a government official’s pet organization with cash. And the decision by the PAC and Lewis-Martin to underwrite their political activity using developers who received a favorable city ruling raises the specter of a conflict of interest, even if there is no explicit quid pro quo.

The city said the donations had no bearing on the commission’s decision. And the developers — one of whom also threw Adams a fundraiser in 2021 — said they donated to the PAC simply to elect more moderate Democrats in Albany. — Joe Anuta

More from the city:

— Immigrants need faster access to work authorization, writes the City Council speaker. (AMNY)

— In a bid for a Bronx casino, Bally’s is offering free bus services in the hard to reach part of the borough. (Daily News)

A message from Ørsted:

Most voters in New York believe the cost of living is a major problem for the Empire State, according to a new poll. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A COSTLY DILEMMA: The cost of living in New York is a major problem, according to 83 percent of voters surveyed in a Siena Research Institute poll released Tuesday.

Challenges — such as the availability of affordable housing, crime and the recent influx of migrants — had lower shares of respondents describing them as major problems, the poll found.

Sixty-two percent of voters described the migrant crisis as a major problem, albeit with a wide partisan split (51 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans), according to the poll results.

A plurality — 27 percent — of voters said the cost of living was the most important issue Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature should be working on.

Meanwhile, a solid majority of New Yorkers didn’t believe Biden is fit to run for a second term, the poll found. — Emily Ngo

More from Albany:
— Clean Slate and a bill to create a reparations task force are still awaiting Hochul’s signature. (City & State)

— Hochul might want to take a page from California and get unions to support her housing plan. (New York Focus)

— Tolls on the Thruway will increase 5 percent in January. (Democrat & Chronicle)

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro said politicians from all levels of government have failed in their handling of New York's migrant crisis. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

MIGRANT FIGHT CONTINUES: Republicans continue to make the state’s migrant issues a weekly talking point.

Republican Freshman GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro held a conference call with reporters Monday to call the inability to control the influx of migrants to New York a failure by the city, state and federal governments.

The Hudson Valley lawmaker, seeking a second term next year in a battleground seat, criticized the Adams administration’s decision to send migrants to other parts of the state, and the legal battles between the city and communities pushing back against the move.

He touted legislation in the House to secure the borders and enhance the asylum-seeker application and work-authorization process. The Biden administration has been adamant that action needs to be taken by Congress to remove barriers and allow more people to work.

Molinaro said there's been no movement toward a deal.

"There aren't talks. The House has adopted a piece of legislation; the Senate has come forward with nothing; and the president hasn’t led with any degree of leadership on security or anything else," Molinaro said.

Molinaro, a former Assembly member, joined other Republican state lawmakers on the call to press for Hochul to call the Legislature back into session to remove the state's provision declaring sanctuary status and require health-checks and background checks on migrants. And he urged Democrats to oppose bills that would expedite work permits.

"There's a process that must be followed. What are the ramifications going to be to an employer that will hire these migrants under an expedited process, because clearly it's not going to be recognized federally." state Sen. Tom O'Mara (R-Chemung County) said. "What sanctions or problems will be created for that employer in doing that?" — Katelyn Cordero

— One of the Americans freed from imprisonment in Iran hails from Westchester. (LoHud)

— Pieces of artwork believed to be stolen during the Holocaust were seized by New York law enforcement authorities at the behest of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. (The Associated Press)

— The president of the Long Island Railroad is stepping down from her post. (Newsday)

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SPOTTED at Christie’s Rockefeller Plaza on Sunday night for the kickoff of this year’s Clinton Global Initiative: Joyce Aboussie, Rica Rodman, Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Bari Lurie, Chris Korge, Dennis Cheng, Alfy Fanjul, Kris Balderston, Richard Strauss, Luis and Luz Miranda, Jon Davidson, Rolando Gonzalez-Bunster, Kathy Baczko, Huma Abedin, Chris Korge and Democrat Matt Gorman.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Monica Crowley … Jeannie Bunton of the Consumer Bankers Association … Erin Pelton … Penguin Random House’s Stuart Applebaum … Brian Phillips Jr. of Rep. Yvette Clarke’s (D-N.Y.) office … Mark Stevens

WAS MONDAY: Tali Farhadian Weinstein ... Lisa Abramowicz … New York City Council Chief of Staff Jeremy John

— Moody’s downgraded a Chelsea building over Elon Musk’s rent strike there. (The Real Deal)

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