Midday News: Dozens Arrested While Protesting Military Parts Sent to Israel, Bronx Casino Plan Advances, and NYC Leaders React to Trump’s Immigration Enforce...

Announcer: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, June 12th. Here's the midday news from Verónica Del Valle.

Verónica Del Valle: Police have arrested dozens of people protesting at a shipping company yesterday. Demonstrators say the company plays a key role in delivering fighter jets to Israel. WNYC's Samir Ferdowsi reports.

Samir Ferdowsi: The protest was organized by two activist organizations, the anti-Zionist Jewish Voices for Peace and the Palestinian Youth Movement. About half of the protesters occupied the lobby of Grand Central Tower on 45th Street, aiming to disrupt logistics company, Maersk. Many more protesters were outside the building in a circle, chanting to end the US's military funding for Israel. The NYPD blocked off a section of 45th Street and loaded dozens of people onto two buses. They needed an extra one once the arrest started.

Verónica Del Valle: Maersk has previously told the AP it doesn't send weapons to conflict zones, but does transport parts internationally that are used in the F-35 supply chain. The Bronx is one step closer to getting a casino after the City Council gave a key approval for construction on the site of the former Trump Golf Course yesterday. Lawmakers approved a measure backing Bally's plan to build a casino and resort on the Ferry Point site it took over from Trump. The company still needs to win a gaming license from the state. The city would need to pay the Trump Organization $115 million if the deal goes through. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams says the economic boom to the Bronx would be worth it.

Adrienne Adams: We are looking to set Donald Trump aside and look more towards economic equity in the district.

Verónica Del Valle: Legislative leaders say Albany is likely to approve the project now that the council has signed off.

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Verónica Del Valle: 81 and Sunny right now, but with an air quality alert till midnight. On WNYC, I'm Verónica Del Valle.

Announcer: Stick around. There's more to come.

Sean Carlson: I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. It's time for Politics Brief, our weekly segment where we break down the news out of City Hall and Albany. Today, we're joined by WNYC's Jon Campbell in Albany and Elizabeth Kim in our Downtown Manhattan studios. All right, Liz, let's start here in the city. The New York City mayoral primary is less than two weeks away. Early voting starts on Saturday. We saw the protests against President Trump's immigration policies intensify in Lower Manhattan last night in part in response to the activation of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles. What are the mayoral candidates saying about all this?

Elizabeth Kim: They're saying quite a lot, actually. I was with Andrew Cuomo in Harlem, and he's delivering some of his strongest statements yet about Trump since he entered the race. He said that the president is trying to divide cities. He basically framed this as an authoritarian attack on cities. Now, Cuomo is the moderate frontrunner in the race, but his remarks on Trump are becoming pretty aligned with his left-leaning opponents. Some of those opponents are trying to use their elected office to intervene. For example, City Comptroller Brad Lander last week escorted three families at a federal immigration court. He felt that his presence there could deter ICE from arresting individuals.

The City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams this week demanded an investigation into the possible collaboration between the NYPD and ICE. Then you have Zohran Mamdani.

He is the most left-leaning candidate in the race. You might remember he had a viral moment a few months ago when he was trying to confront Trump border czar Tom Homan in Albany. Looking ahead, I think what's interesting will be whether Mamdani and Lander choose to attend one of the protests. They did go to the Newark rally for Mayor Ras Baraka, who was detained and arrested by federal agents. Would they attend a protest in New York City days before the election? I asked their campaigns and they said that they're deliberating it.

Jon Campbell: Liz, up here in Albany, Gov. Hochul, in contrast, has been pretty quiet about those protests in California and New York. She did sign on to a statement with her fellow Democratic governors, where they decried the president's decision to summon the National Guard in California over the governor's objections. That's the extent of what she said about it to this point.

Sean Carlson: Speaking of Gov. Hochul, Jon, you wrote this week about Zohran Mamdani's plan to tax the rich. Now, that would put him in direct conflict with the governor. Tell us more about that.

Jon Campbell: Yes, absolutely. Zohran Mamdani wants free buses in New York City. He wants city-owned grocery stores. He wants universal childcare. All of that costs money, and his plan to pay for that includes putting this extra 2% tax on people who earn $1 million or more, who are New York City residents. That puts the two of them in contrast with each other because Gov. Hochul hasn't increased income taxes since she took office and has been very steadfast against it. Now, I asked State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs about that this week. He's a big Hochul ally, and he said, "Zohran's got some good ideas like that plan for fare-free buses." Jay Jacobs says Hochul's anti-tax-hike policy is the right one here.

Sean Carlson: I'm not so sure that he'll be raising the money that he thinks the 2% increase will yield if the people expected to pay it, and then some move out entirely, and then he gets nothing.

Jon Campbell: Now, we've seen this situation play out before. Back in 2014, Andrew Cuomo was the governor then, and Bill de Blasio won the mayor's race on this promise of universal pre-k. Liz, de Blasio said he was going to tax the rich to pay for it, right?

Elizabeth Kim: He sure did, and he said it many times. He ran, as some listeners might remember, on this idea that New York City was a tale of two cities.

Jon Campbell: Oh, yes.

Elizabeth Kim: Raising taxes on the rich was something that was always core to his ideology. He really never wavered from that mantra. He's very similar to Mamdani in that respect. Bill de Blasio tried to get it done. He put a lot and lot of pressure on Cuomo to do it. Jon, as you recall, Cuomo wasn't having it, right?

Jon Campbell: Yes. He did not tax the rich at that point in time. Cuomo made other state money available to pay for this universal pre-k. de Blasio got the pre-k, but he didn't get the tax on the rich.

Sean Carlson: Now, Andrew Cuomo is a leading Democratic mayoral candidate in the polls, and he scored a big endorsement this week. Liz, who is the latest big name to come to the Cuomo camp?

Elizabeth Kim: It is former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He came out and endorsed Andrew Cuomo. It's a very big endorsement, in part because when you think about the Uber managers-- I think when people think about Michael Bloomberg, two things come to mind. He's a billionaire, and he was a very good manager. That's something that even candidates running for mayor will often invoke his name. It was still a surprising endorsement because, at least publicly, Bloomberg has tried to stay out of the mayoral primaries. Now, he did not endorse in the 2021 primary. He did go on to endorse Eric Adams in the general. This was an interesting decision by him to endorse Cuomo.

I will describe it as a marriage, the relationship between the mayor and governor. His marriage with Cuomo was rocky at times, but it was clearly not as spectacularly dramatic as the one he had with Bill de Blasio. In his statement, Bloomberg talks about his relationship with Cuomo and he said, "I served with four New York governors and had differences with all of them, including Cuomo. But I also know his strengths as a leader and a manager." I think that this kind of endorsement could play well with a lot of people who remember Bloomberg fondly.

Jon Campbell: Andrew Cuomo picked up another endorsement this morning. That would be former Governor David Paterson. That one's a little bit less of a surprise. Andrew Cuomo and David Paterson have been allies in the years since Paterson left office.

Sean Carlson: That is Politics Brief. If you want to answer questions or keep hearing more from our politics team, be sure to sign up for emails@gothamist.com/newsletters. Jon and Liz, thanks so much. It's a busy couple of weeks for you.

Elizabeth Kim: Thanks, Sean.

Jon Campbell: Thank you, Sean.

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