By Joe Anuta, Jeff Coltin, Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo

With help from Jason Beeferman

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off this Monday for Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend and thanks for reading.

Mayor Eric Adams meets with members of the H. Congreso del Estado de Puebla during his trip in Latin America. | Mayoral Photography Office

When Eric Adams touched down in Mexico on Wednesday evening, he wasn’t just kicking off a whirlwind tour covering three Latin American countries.

The four-day junket — which includes stops in Quito, Ecuador, and the treacherous Darién Gap in Colombia — is actually part of a legal, public relations and political strategy to discourage asylum-seekers from coming to New York City while attempting to extract the maximum assistance from Albany and Washington.

Sometimes, though, you had to look hard to see it.

Parts of the mayor’s first leg, witnessed firsthand by Playbook, felt disconnected from the crisis that drew him there.

He sat for a fireside chat at a business conference in Mexico City on Thursday morning before driving 2.5 hours to Puebla, where he received commendations, an honorary university degree and a dinner in his honor at three of the day’s events.

But through it all, Adams sought to drive home his central message: New York City is at capacity.

“My trip here is to speak directly to the people of all the countries that are migrating: There is no more room in New York,” he told a swarm of local and international media at a state congress building in Puebla.

With the migrant crisis costing billions and straining the capacity of local government, the mayor has been trying to reduce the number of people coming into the system and to get more outside resources.

To that end, his administration revealed a legal strategy earlier this week that works in tandem with Adams’ direct-to-migrant messaging.

City Hall — which recently limited the amount of time adult migrants can stay in shelter before having to reapply — asked a judge Tuesday to end the city’s right to shelter during emergencies.

The statute has, for 40 years, guaranteed a city-funded bed for anyone in need. Now, City Hall officials believe the mandate is attracting migrants from across the globe.

To maintain pressure on federal and state officials, the mayor has also been playing it cool whenever there is a breakthrough in policy that, while helpful, is short of a more holistic fix. Case in point: when the Biden administration announced a large group of Venezuelans would receive a quicker path to obtaining work permits, the news was met with lukewarm praise in City Hall.

The mayor’s legal gambit and rhetoric have drawn skepticism from immigration experts and recriminations from progressive organizations and politicians back home.

But Adams maintains they are necessary for the long term.

“It’s not sustainable,” Adams told reporters gathered outside a holy pilgrimage site for Catholics in Mexico City, where he kicked off his trip. “And that is why I must approach this on the local level, the state level, the national level and the international level.” — Joe Anuta

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

WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City and Albany with no public schedule.

WHERE’S ERIC? Flying from Mexico City to Quito, Ecuador; touring two different local migrant centers; holding a virtual press briefing; meeting with the Ecuadorian Minister of International Affairs and Human Mobility; meeting with representatives from various Ecuadorian Ministries and individuals from different international organizations; touring the historic center of Quito and traveling to Bogota, Colombia.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Building additional border walls will only divert immigrants to more dangerous parts of the border.” — City Immigrant Affairs commissioner Manuel Castro in a since-deleted X post that appeared to be a response to President Joe Biden’s waiving of laws to allow for wall expansion.

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A gambler at the Resorts World Casino at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. City Council is now pushing forward a citywide zoning amendment for new casino uses. | Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Adams administration and the City Council are moving ahead with a citywide zoning proposal to legalize casino uses in certain parts of the five boroughs — amid a highly competitive race to operate gaming facilities in and around New York City.

The initiative is intended to ensure casino applicants in the city are “not at a competitive disadvantage” compared to those in surrounding counties, Department of City Planning director Dan Garodnick and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a joint statement provided exclusively to Playbook.

The plan would also mean the firms behind at least nine casino bids in the city wouldn’t all have to submit individual land use applications to City Planning — a feature of the lengthy casino licensing process that had the potential to overburden city government.

Applicants for the three casino licenses up for grabs must obtain local zoning approvals before they’re considered by the state Gaming Commission.

“Casinos have the potential to bring jobs and economic opportunities to New Yorkers, but applicants within New York City are at a disadvantage today because the city does not currently have a mechanism in our land use regulations to properly review casino siting,” Garodnick and Adams said in the statement.

While the zoning proposal would enable casinos, the applicability of the changes would be conditioned on winning a state gaming license. And actually operating a gaming facility would still require going through the licensing process that’s currently underway, in which bidders must win support of a community board appointed by political leaders.

Officials plan to move the proposal into the roughly seven-month public review process before the end of the year, which will culminate in a Council vote. — Janaki Chadha

Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn is sparring with fellow Democrat City Council Member Justin Brannan over migrant shelters. | Andrew Toth

BRANNAN-BICHOTTE BROOKLYN BATTLE: Brooklyn Democratic Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn is openly battling over migrant shelters with the one Democrat with the toughest council reelection fight: City Council Member Justin Brannan. And he says she’s actively helping his Republican opponent, Council Member Ari Kagan.

“He’s showing his white-privileged self,” Bichotte Hermelyn told Playbook. “It has nothing to do with him, that’s the thing. You’re telling me to shut up about equity?”

She’s been calling on wealthier, whiter neighborhoods — like Brannan’s Bay Ridge — to welcome migrant shelters and claims the city’s considering it. But that’s a huge political headache for Brannan, since Kagan and the Republicans are using the threat of shelters in southern Brooklyn as a political rallying cry.

Bichotte Hermelyn said it’s not her problem — “let the two of them duke it out” — but Brannan said she’s simply wrong: There aren’t shelter plans, and she should be trying to help him.

“Ultimately, the county boss doesn’t decide where migrant shelters go,” Brannan said. “Her job is to help elect and protect Democrats in Brooklyn, and she’s failed miserably there.”

Read more here. — Jeff Coltin

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Brannan’s campaign outraised Kagan’s by more than double between Aug. 22 and Oct. 2, according to summaries shared with Playbook ahead of today’s filing deadline.

The Democrat raised about $25,000 and spent about $60,000 for the period while the Republican raised about $12,000, including $7,103 in matching claims, and spent about $68,000, their campaigns said.

Brannan had $132,000 on hand. Kagan, who had a primary while Brannan did not, had more than $33,000 left. — Emily Ngo

The union that represents New York's City Council staffers called for higher wages during a picket outside City Hall on Thursday. | Jeff Coltin / POLITICO

HOT LABOR FALL: About 50 members of the New York City Council staff union picketed outside City Hall on Thursday, saying Speaker Adrienne Adams is talking the talk on unions, but not walking the walk.

“Speaker Adams, despite her pro-labor rhetoric, is moving in lockstep with Mayor Adams’ austerity drive,” Association of Legislative Employee President Daniel Kroop said.

The roughly 400-member union has been negotiating its first contract for more than a year. They say the average staffer works 600 hours of unpaid overtime a year. They’re also looking for a fair grievance policy and higher wages.

The speaker’s office has been saying it’s fighting for “flexibility for council members” when it comes to staff, Kroop said. “Well, to us, that means a right to abuse.”

Speaker Adams demurred when asked about the demands: “Negotiation is handled at the bargaining table,” she said, “and not in the media.” — Jeff Coltin

More from the city:

— The city comptroller launched a probe into the mayor’s handling of last week’s flooding. (POLITICO Pro)

— The ninth detainee to die in city jails so far this year was a mentally ill homeless man. (Daily News)

— The federal monitor for Rikers Island concluded the Department of Correction is incapable of running the jail complex well. (City & State)

A watchdog group is calling on New York's Democrats and Republicans to collaborate on new redistricting lines if a current proposal is tossed out by a state court. | Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo

CAN’T WE ALL WORK TOGETHER? Democrats on New York’s redistricting commission want preliminary input from the public on how new congressional districts could look if the state’s top court throws out the current lines.

That’s raising an alarm among good-government advocates.

On Thursday, the watchdog organization Citizens Union urged both parties to work together and avoid a deadlock that could throw the process back to the Democratic-led state Legislature.

The Democratic-only request for public input while the high-stakes case remains undecided can only add to the confusion and partisan rancor surrounding the status of redistricting, executive director Betsy Gotbaum said in a statement.

“While we always encourage any government agency or commission to solicit public feedback, it is imperative that Democratic and Republican members of the Independent Redistricting Commission collaborate going forward and speak with a unified voice,” she said.

Democrats on the commission insist they want to work with Republicans.

“We agree that Democratic and Republican members of the commission should collaborate,” co-executive director Karen Blatt said in a statement to Playbook. “We did so when drawing the Assembly lines, and we are hopeful that we can collaborate on the congressional lines also should the Court of Appeals affirm that it is time for the commission to get back to work.”

Charlie Nesbitt, the redistricting commission’s GOP vice chairperson, said in a brief phone interview with Playbook that he was unaware of the request from the Democratic members for input on what new House lines should look like.

“I can’t really give you an opinion,” the former Assembly minority leader said. Officially, no work on new congressional boundaries is being done, though the commission itself remains fully staffed.

But Republicans are fretting the outcome of the latest redistricting challenge, which will be before the Court of Appeals in November.

Friendlier lines for Democrats could help them gain a majority in the narrowly divided House. New York is home to an estimated six frontline House seats. — Nick Reisman

VIRAL CONTENT: Cyberattacks increased by more than 50 percent in New York between 2016 and 2022, an audit Thursday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office found.

Attacks against critical infrastructure are also rising, nearly doubling from 48 instances in all of 2022 to 83 in the first half of this year, according to the report.

DiNapoli pressed state officials to guard against further attacks, especially for water, power and health care systems.

“Safeguarding our state from cyberattacks requires sustained investment, coordination, and vigilance,” DiNapoli said. — Nick Reisman

WATCH: ESPN’s Pat McAfee praised Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move to extend an application period for bars to serve drinks in the morning ahead of the Buffalo Bills’ London game.

More from Albany:

— Per-capita Medicaid costs in New York remain the highest in the nation. (Empire Center)

— New York is considering how to increase safety at state parks following the abduction of a 9-year-old girl. (Times Union)

— More than 100 candidates have filed for public matching funds even as pending legislation could change the relatively new system. (Gothamist)

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 new episodes – click here.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito's Wikipedia page is home to an online feud over what should be included in the politician's crowdsourced online biography. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

GOOD COP, BAD COP: There’s a fight going on behind the scenes of Rep. Anthony D'Esposito’s Wikipedia page over whether the complaints he received as an NYPD officer should be included.

On May 30, an anonymous Wikipedia user edited the Long Island Republican’s page to remove references to his disciplinary history with the NYPD and add flattering details about his service on the Hempstead Town Board. Another editor removed it, flagging an “unexplained removal of content.”

Similar edit battles have been going on since January, as some users included the number of arrests he made, while others added that D’Esposito violated the town ethics code. That one got deleted by another user for being “just basically opposition research.”

The disciplinary information remains on his page as of Thursday – in slightly inaccurate form. It says he “received four complaints of excessive force, for one of which it was recommended that charges be filed against him.” Only one of the complaints was for excessive force, and the only substantiated one was for an improper search.

D’Esposito’s campaign said it wasn’t doing the editing. “We weren’t aware of those changes being made to the Wikipedia page,” spokesperson Matthew Capp told Playbook.

But he’s not the only New York freshman whose Wiki page has garnered interest. Rep. Mike Lawler was briefly banned for editing his own page. And Rep. George Santos’ denials he ever performed in drag were contradicted by his bragging about it in a personal Wikipedia bio. — Jeff Coltin

More from the delegation:

— Santos’ former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge. (POLITICO)

— Some other Nany Marks clients? Lee Zeldin, Fernando Mateo, Inna Vernikov, Vito Fossella, David Carr, Lester Chang, John Flanagan.

— Democrat Mondaire Jones raised more than $1.1 million in a bid to return to Congress. (NBC News)

— A Montauk fisherman was convicted of trying to sell $900,000 of Illegal Fluke and Bass. (New York Times)

— A waste incineration plant on Long Island deposited potentially hazardous ash to a Brookhaven landfill for years. (Newsday)

— A pilot was arrested for allegedly stalking an upstate woman — with his single-engine Cessna 180 aircraft. (Times Union)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) … WSJ’s Eliza Collins … Jonathan Alter … U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Evan Williams and Patrick O’Connor.

MAKING MOVES: Jessica Woolford is now communications director for the New York Office of Cannabis Management. She’s an alum of NARAL Pro-Choice America and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s office.

— Eastern Queens’ Creedmoor Psychiatric Center should be the site for a major residential development, according to affordable housing activists. (Crain’s New York Business)

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