Live updates from Somos 2024

Before the election, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards quipped that this year’s Somos conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico “is either going to be a funeral or a party.” The results are in folks. For New York’s Democratic establishment, on the ground in San Juan now in their linen suits, it’s a mournful affair. Some opted to skip it altogether, reportedly including New York City Mayor Eric Adams and state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, who told reporters on election night, “I got my plane ticket, but I just don't think it's the right thing for me to do right now.”

How to describe the typical energy at Somos? Before the election, mayoral candidate Scott Stringer said the atmosphere at the conference has “a healthy craziness.” But everyone we talked to seemed to agree the conference would be particularly wild this year. A pivotal presidential election with six New York swing seats in the balance, a mayor facing federal charges, multiple mayoral challengers circling, several 2025 City Council seats up for grabs. Last year, news broke that the FBI had confiscated Mayor Eric Adams’ phones while everyone was at Somos – sending all of the two thousand politicos who had gathered in San Juan into a frenzy. In the intervening year, we’ve seen that truly anything can happen in New York politics, and it feels like things often really do start in the lobby of the El Caribe Hilton in San Juan. City & State is here bringing live updates to everyone experiencing Somos FOMO – though that emotion now seems less likely.

Friday

1 p.m. More meetings are on the docket for mayoral candidates with elected officials and labor groups in the rare quiet corners of the El San Juan hotel – and anywhere else they can make their pitches for much needed coalitions. One meeting on former Comptroller Scott Stringer’s agenda today – lunch with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who could find himself serving acting mayor in the event of a special election, and possibly running in a following primary. - Annie Mcdonough

10 a.m. Supporters of the Adams administration’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity program gathered at the El Caribe Bar. They included yimby folks from across city government – a good sign for the proposed legislation, which would change zoning laws to spur housing growth across the city. Eric Adams’ Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack, Adams adviser Menashe Shapiro, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar, Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick, Reggie Thomas, Comptroller Brad Lander, Chief of Staff to the First Deputy Mayor Nate Bliss, City Council Member Keith Powers, City Council Member Justin Brannan, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Open New York Executive Director Annemarie Gray were there among others. Lander was quick to point out that he was the highest ranking elected official to attend – and the only mayoral candidate. “Maybe not everyone would expect I would join the administration’s gaggle this morning, but we have to do the work to meet the real needs of New Yorkers,” Lander said. 

The Adams administration’s negotiations with the City Council members are well under way. The first vote might not be too far off. Garodnick said he expects there'll be a committee vote on an amended version of the plan in the next couple of weeks. “There’s a clock involved here,” he said. Whether or not the elimination of parking mandates – one of the key components of the proposal – is on the chopping block remains to be seen. The full City Council is expected to vote before the end of the year. – Holly Pretsky and Sahalie Donaldson

1 a.m. Espresso martinis were flowing at the packed El San Juan Hotel bar, where New York’s political class schmoozed into the wee hours. Former Manhattan DA candidate Eliza Orlins, TWU President John Samuelsen, Vito Pitta, CPC Chair Dan Garodnick, Menashe Shapiro, Assembly Member-elect Micah Lasher, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, City Council Members Keith Powers and Eric Dinowitz, City Council candidate Dermot Smyth, former Assembly candidate Eli Northrup were all spotted in the throng, as was former City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. - Holly Pretsky

Thursday

10:45 p.m. New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda attended a Somos party sponsored by Alleaves BioTrack and ConBud to promote the cannabis industry. Smoking weed recreationally is still illegal in Puerto Rico. Miranda has been cracking down on illegal pot shops in New York City. – Rebecca C. Lewis

10:34 p.m. City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, who insisted he didn’t just show up to gloat, has a doppelgänger named Connor. We are still working on confirming his identity. 

8:30 p.m. Veteran Puerto Rican political consultant Luis Miranda Jr. is fed up with how the Democratic political class talks about Latino voters after as many as 46% of them this year voted for Donald Trump. 

“I get pissed off every time someone tells me: ‘What happened with you guys?’ And it's usually a white person in the media asking me that. And I say, ‘What happened with you guys?!’” Miranda said, noting that a majority of white women voted for Trump and white men “overwhelmingly” chose Trump. While that moment of finger-pointing garnered applause in his audience at the Somos political conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miranda did offer a take on “what happened.” He spoke on a panel called “Navigating Change Together: The Latino Vote 2024.” Read more here. - Story by Holly Pretsky

6:10 p.m. Shortly after arriving, New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is getting a lot of love at Somos. Her remarks at the packed joint Bronx and Queens Democrats’ party were met with a roar of applause – as was Rep. Gregory Meeks’ glowing introduction of her. “She’s like a conductor,” he said of Speaker Adams. “She’s got all of these different pieces and all of these great council members and she conducts this music and makes it sound so sweet and moves the state in the right direction.” The triumphant sentiment comes just a few days after New Yorkers voted to approve most of the ballot proposals crafted by a Mayor Eric Adams-convened commission despite the opposition efforts of the speaker and much of the City Council. Taking the microphone, Speaker Adams kept it short, sweet and optimistic, vowing that the first women majority City Council will keep fighting for New Yorkers.  

“We are fearless in the Council in case you haven’t noticed. We have come up against powers and we have had to climb them,” she said. “We will continue to climb them on behalf of the people of the city of New York who deserve our leadership.” – Sahalie Donaldson

5:45 p.m. City Council Member Justin Brannan is bummed that his chief of staff Chris McCreight lost his Assembly race against Alec Brook-Krasny this week. "Presidential year is supposed to be the rising tide that lifts all boats. This year we saw the opposite,” Brannan said. "We appreciate folks taking buses to swing states, but you could also come to Dyker Heights." – Holly Pretsky

5:15 p.m. The loss of state Sen. Iwen Chu in Brooklyn cost Democrats their supermajority in the state Senate (although not their majority). According to Brooklyn Democratic Party Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, some of the blame for the loss lies at the feet of former Assembly Member Peter Abbate. She told City & State that she believes Abbate “has not been spending time on really focusing on investing in” Chu. “He sends out this negative mailer, putting myself, (Assembly Member) Bill Colton, (Council Member) Susan Zhuang, on a mailer fighting against Democrats,” she said. Bichotte Hermelyn said that it reflected negatively on Chu, a former Abbate staffer and an ally in the raucous world of Brooklyn Democratic politics. “When the population saw that mailer, they're like, ‘Okay, so Iwen is not… an ally to these people?” she said. “I think that hurt her.” Bichotte Hermelyn said she had hoped that Chu and Zhuang would have been able to work together, but that didn’t happen. “I hope it's just a lesson learned,” she said. Zhuang did not explicitly endorse Republican Steve Chan in the race, but she has appeared with him, including while protesting a proposed homeless shelter. Chu, meanwhile, has criticized Zhuang for supporting Republicans.

Abbate criticized Bichotte Hermelyn in turn when reached by City & State. “She’s been helping the Republicans out for the past three years,” he said. “That’s why Iwen Chu lost.” Abbate said Bichotte Hermelyn shouldn’t be the Democratic chair in Brooklyn. The pair are well known to be feuding, and she challenged petition signatures he filed to run against Republican Assembly Member Lester Chang, who beat him two years ago, ensuring no Democrat would run against Chang. – Rebecca C. Lewis

4:45 p.m. A mass deportation strategy promised by President-elect Donald Trump is prompting some New York lawmakers and advocates to strategize about how to strengthen sanctuary policies and head off any whiffs of cooperating with the incoming Trump administration’s drastic proposal. Assembly Member Karines Reyes floated a special session to “build a wall” of protections for New Yorkers ahead of Trump’s second term. Read more here. – Story by Annie McDonough

4:30 p.m. The Democrats may have lost the supermajority in the state Senate, but Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris is still feeling good. He said that while it was disappointing to see state Sen. Iwen Chu’s loss in Brooklyn, Democrats’ majority in the chamber is still strong. “Let’s put it this way: The Republican minority is as irrelevant today as they were before Election Day,” he told City & State. “That’s not going to change. They can put out all the press releases they want, it won’t give them a bigger seat at the table.”

Immediately before speaking with City & State, Gianaris was chatting with MTA CEO Janno Lieber. “We were just talking about the MTA capital plan that we have to fund next year, in addition to finding money to fill the gap that congestion pricing left in the last capital plan,” Gianaris said. On congestion pricing, he said that “whatever we’re doing, we better do it quick” because of the “hostile” incoming White House administration. 

On that Donald Trump victory and his historic overperformance in New York, Gianaris called the results “disheartening” and “very depressing.” But he said that it ultimately had “no consequence” on New York candidates down ballot, citing congressional victories, the continued strong majority in the state Senate and the maintained supermajority in the Assembly. He offered praise to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her coordinated campaign efforts with the state Democratic Party. “In all my years doing this, it was the first time the state party apparatus was genuinely helpful in a way that mattered to the rest of the political apparatus,” Gianaris said. – Rebecca C. Lewis

2:30 p.m. Mayor Eric Adams has officially confirmed he won’t be at Somos this year after all, but he’ll still have no shortage of eyes and ears on the ground. A City Hall spokesperson confirmed that ten staff members from the mayor’s office are attending in his stead. That list includes Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Ana Almanzar, Deputy Chief of Staff Paul Persaud, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry, First Deputy Mayor Chief of Staff Nate Bliss, Chief Business Diversity Officer Michael Garner, Senior Adviser to Deputy Mayor for Strategic Initiatives Madelyn Lantigua, First Deputy Mayor Chief of Staff Reggie Thomas, Intergovernmental Affairs Chief of Staff Kristen Rezek and Deputy Chief of Staff Menashe Shapiro. 

City & State also spotted Department of Citywide Administrative Services Commissioner Louis Molina making the rounds talking to people this morning. Senior Adviser Diane Savino and city Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez are here as well. – Sahalie Donaldson

Adams’ tight-lipped 2025 campaign attorney Vito Pitta is here. He’s got a wide-ranging lobbying, consulting and legal firm in addition to representing Adams’ campaign. He was seen meeting with City Council Member Sandra Ung. – Holly Pretsky

2:00 p.m. United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew is pleased with how new schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos has so far taken the reins of the country’s biggest school district. Speaking with City & State for a few minutes during a bustling UFT networking reception, Mulgrew said the city Department of Education is always pushing its chancellor to come out and state their grand vision for the system. Aviles-Ramos’ response? “‘Let’s make sure everything we have is working.’ … (I’ve) never heard that before. That’s a new one,”  Mulgrew recalled, explaining that New York City teachers don’t want to hear a new chancellor talking about their vision amid existing dysfunction. “Hopefully the Department of Ed wakes up and realizes it's their job to make sure things are actually working properly,” he added. 

As for his plans to chat with the candidates challenging Mayor Eric Adams – individuals who no doubt would love nothing more than to win the powerful union’s coveted endorsement? Mulgrew said he’ll be having conversations. Any actual endorsement decisions are likely a ways off though. “You don’t want to throw your eggs in a basket that might explode,” he said. “Everybody has to have their conversations and talk things through, but it’s a very difficult thing. If you go out and endorse and that person ends up not running, how do you explain that?” In 2021, the union backed then-Comptroller Scott Stringer, whose campaign was derailed by an allegation of sexual misconduct he vehemently denied. Stringer is once again running for mayor. – Sahalie Donaldson

10:20 a.m. City & State spotted mayoral candidate state Sen. Zellnor Myrie meeting with leaders from the New York Building Congress in the El Caribe lobby bar this morning. Myrie said they discussed “how we can build more housing in the city so we can abate our affordability crisis.” How did it go? “So far, so good,” he said. – Annie McDonough

10 a.m. MTA Chair CEO Janno Lieber said despite the victory of Donald Trump – who said that he would kill congestion pricing – he still takes Gov. Kathy Hochul at her word that she plans to implement the tolling scheme after pausing it indefinitely at the start of the summer. “I’d say as is evident in the governor's last couple of appearances, both before the election and yesterday, that she's got it front of mind, and she's thinking over what she wants to do,” Lieber told City & State. 

When asked about congestion pricing on Wednesday, Hochul reiterated what she has said previously about finding funds for the MTA. “We always knew this election would be a tossup – this is a scenario that we planned for starting last summer,” she said. “Before the end of the year, in a timely enough frame, we will have our announcements and a funding plan.” Hochul said she had also recently talked with White House officials about ensuring “nothing compromises the MTA.”

Advocates have warned that taking action next year once a new administration would be too late. Lieber said it was “I don't think it's productive for me to speculate” when asked whether waiting until January would mean the state misses its chance to get congestion pricing going. “As I said a million times, I do take the governor at her word” that it’s a temporary pause. But Assembly Member David Weprin, a consistent opponent of the tolling plan, told City & State on Wednesday evening that while he’s no fan of Trump’s, he hopes that congestion pricing stays dead for good. Lieber was also spotted meeting with Bronx Democratic Party Chair and state Sen. Jamaal Bailey. Concerns about congestion pricing abound in the Bronx – the borough is already plagued by high asthma rates and some are concerned about increased traffic if congestion pricing pushes more cars out of Manhattan. - Rebecca C. Lewis

8:30 a.m. What’s the mandate for mayoral candidates at Somos? A not insignificant part of it is simple: Be seen. Mayor Eric Adams may no longer be filling that requirement. Adams hedged about his plans earlier this week, but Politico New York reported that he’s unlikely to come – a spokesperson for City Hall did not immediately respond when asked about the mayor’s plans.

But the mayor’s challengers are here in full force – speaking on panels about labor solidarity this morning, the Latino vote and having as many meetings as possible with the people and groups they’re hoping to get on board. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie will be having meetings with labor leaders and elected officials in between his panel appearances. It’s a similar agenda for Comptroller Brad Lander, he told City & State Thursday morning. A lot of what Somos is, he said, is meeting with labor unions and elected officials – though he declined to say who specifically was on his calendar. And state Sen. Jessica Ramos will be checking in with her “labor family” as their focus shifts from 2024, spokesperson Astrid Aune said. “That’s a big focus.”

Ramos and Lander both spoke on a labor panel this morning, while Mamdani listened in the audience.

“This is a moment where so many different parts of the political world, the labor world – really much of New York City that engages in politics in any fashion – (to be) in one place,” Mamdani told City & State last night. “It’s an opportunity for me to reconnect with folks that I have worked with before, but also to introduce myself and the campaign to those that I haven’t had the opportunity to.” – Annie McDonough

Bronx Democratic Party Chair Jamaal Bailey told City & State the Bronx Dems are sticking with Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson in what’s shaping up to be a tough primary against City Council Member Rafael Salamanca. “The organization is going to be supporting Vanessa. I love Ralph,” Bailey said. Of City Council District 13, which Democrats lost to Republican insurgent Kristy Marmorato in 2023, Bailey said, “we will have a candidate.” Marjorie Velázquez, who lost to Marmorato and subsequently landed a job at Tech:NYC, was running around chatting until late last night. – Holly Pretsky

8 a.m. Donald Trump continued to be a main topic of conversation at Somos Thursday morning at the health care breakfast hosted by 1199 SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association. 1199 President George Gresham struck a defiant tone in his address to attendees. “We endured four years of the Trump administration, and we're not going to let that knucklehead take away our future,” he said. “That means we’re going to have to fight, and be prepared to fight, because nothing is going to be given to us.” Gresham went on to call Trump “the orange man New York rejects.” – Rebecca C. Lewis

Wednesday 

11 p.m. State Sen. and mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos addressed union members at the Laborers’ welcome reception, one of the first events of Somos. “(The conference) always comes at the best time, right?” Ramos said. “Whether we’re celebrating or commiserating, we are here for each other – and that’s what’s important.” She said that she wanted to “set the tone” for the traditionally festive conference. “To any Latino who may feel a little confused about what economic opportunity is available, know that these elections were won by the labor movement,” Ramos said, apparently referencing both Trump’s gains among Latino men and congressional victories for Democrats on Tuesday.

The election and shortcomings of Democrats were still a hot topic of conversation, even as Ramos and other speakers hyped up labor. One attendee, while waiting for a drink, was overheard opining that Democrats had “fully failed their working class campaigns” and that the victory of Donald Trump was the result. Ramos acknowledged to City & State that Democrats needed to do a better job at communicating economic measures to voters, especially to win back Latinos. “I feel like nowadays, it feels like we work and work, and it doesn't really amount to much,” Ramos said. “That's been really frustrating for people.” – Rebecca C. Lewis

9:30 p.m. Are the vibes way off? Or weirdly normal? Opinion was split on the first night of Somos, where some attendees crowded the bar at the El Caribe Hilton with their usual jittery excitement – consultants talking up their candidates, lobbyists elbowing in for a word with a lawmaker – while others huddled for quieter conversations on the corners of the swanky hotel’s ballrooms. 

“It is way more energetic and happier than I thought it would be this morning,” one lobbyist said. “I don’t know if it’s a coping mechanism or (being) happy to be around like-minded people, or it’s people excited to make New York the liberal stronghold of the country.”

City Council Member Diana Ayala, however, called the vibe “somber.” “It’s like a punch in the stomach,” she said. “It’s been difficult to come here and smile and network in the same way.” Still, Ayala said, she’s been having conversations with advocacy groups about how to steer the ship, and is hopeful the conference will hold more opportunities for those discussions. – Annie McDonough

8 p.m. The mayoral candidates are already fanning out. Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani is here for his first Somos. So is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who called the election results “devastating.” “Part of what we’ve got to do here is figure out how we can protect New Yorkers from what’s coming, while also reckoning with what we have to do to win people’s votes,” Lander said. – Holly Pretsky

7:30 p.m. Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas said she’s “still grieving”, but also said there’s strategy to figure out – how to protect undocumented people, trans people and women’s reproductive rights under a Trump administration, for example. – Annie McDonough

11:30 a.m. New York City Mayor Eric Adams and several of his top officials attempted to project calm and stability in wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, promising to fight for the rights of New Yorkers and to work with the incoming administration. “We know New Yorkers that woke up this morning with very strong feelings about the election,” First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, adding that the city has been preparing for the various potential outcomes.

Adams congratulated Trump on the win (and said he plans to do so personally), adding that City Hall will “work with the incoming administration for the good of all New Yorkers” – including on the migrant crisis. The mayor has been critical of the Biden administration’s approach, particularly as he pushed for the federal government to fast track work authorizations for asylum-seekers. Adams said his administration “will work with the new administration in Congress to develop a realistic and compassionate national strategy for our immigration system,” and on work authorizations specifically. But to Adams, that’s just business as usual.

“The elections are over, and it’s about governing now, and it’s about not taking this posture of, ‘We’re not going to communicate with Washington, D.C.’ –  just the opposite,” the mayor said. “We’re going to communicate with Washington, D.C., just as we attempted to communicate with the previous administration on our 10 trips to Washington to talk about the impact of migrants and asylum seekers … I’ve been very consistent on these working people issues that impact our cities, and I’m going to continue to do that. It’s not going to change.” 

Manuel Castro, commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, cautioned against adding to people’s anxiety, but declined to provide specifics on what the Adams administration will do to protect immigrant New Yorkers from mass deportations promised by Trump. “We want to take a step back and wait to see what will come in the next couple of months,” he said. – Sahalie Donaldson and Sophie Krichevsky

10:30 a.m. Despite Donald Trump winning Nassau County, Democratic Assembly Member Michaelle Solages still felt there was reason for celebration on the island. She pointed to the victories of Laura Gillen – who flipped NY-4 – and Rep. Tom Suozzi, who held onto his seat. She wasn’t entirely surprised by the presidential outcome. “Ronald Reagan once said, ‘If a Republican died and went to heaven, it would look like Nassau County,” Solages said. She’s looking forward to having conversations at Somos about how to win back Latino voters who are flipped Republican, and planning how to deal with a second Trump administration. “I’m not depressed – we survived four years of Trump and I think that as New York, we’ll survive another four years of his administration,” Solages said. “I’m not one to encourage any sort of libations, but if people want to meet me by the beach and strategize, I'm open to that.” – Rebecca C. Lewis

10 a.m. Neither Gov. Kathy Hochul nor Mayor Eric Adams are en route to San Juan yet – both are holding separate press conferences in Manhattan today responding to the election results. Adams’ briefing is at 11 a.m. while Hochul, who will be joined by Attorney General Letitia James, will speak to reporters at 1 p.m. – Annie McDonough

9 a.m. Rep. Ritchie Torres, spotted in line for his flight at JFK, said he’s “as depressed about the results as I can be” and he’s “shocked but not surprised.” He noted Trump’s inroads in his Bronx district. – Holly Pretsky

8:30 a.m. Before the election, mayoral candidates state Sens. Jessica Ramos and Zellnor Myrie, Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and former Comptroller Scott Stringer were all planning to come to Somos. And New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he’d try to make it as well. All these candidates are starting to staff up their 2025 campaigns. Read the details here. – Story by Annie McDonough

8:00 a.m. What are we watching for at Somos this year? Mayoral jockeying, the contours of a New York City Council speaker race, how Gov. Kathy Hochul emerges from this month’s election and more. Read more here. – Story by Rebecca C. Lewis and Eric Holmberg