Mamdani’s investigation nominee faces questions on independence

DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 6

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: During his campaign, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani had a historic number of volunteers who canvassed on his behalf. Among them was his pick to lead the Department of Investigation.

In February, Mamdani nominated former federal prosecutor Nadia Shihata to lead the investigation department, which acts as a watchdog over city government.

On Monday as part of the confirmation process, she faced questions from members of the City Council, who focused particular attention on her prior support of the administration she would be charged with auditing and investigating.

Shihata gave $700 to Mamdani’s campaign in four installments last year. She spent a day canvassing for the then-mayoral hopeful. And after graduating from law school 20 years ago, she struck up a friendship with Ramzi Kassem, who is now the mayor’s chief counsel in City Hall and the person who reached out to see if she’d be interested in the job.

“How do you compartmentalize that political kinship, if you will, with a role that may have you investigating that very leader and his administration?” asked Council Member David Carr, leader of the body’s Republican caucus.

Shihata pushed back, saying the support she offered to her future boss would not cloud her ability to probe city government should she be approved by the Council, which has veto power over the pick. And she clarified that she and Kassem are not close friends, though she did consult him before establishing a law firm after leaving the Department of Justice.

“I have investigated people I have supported in the past,” she said in response to Carr’s question. “That has not affected my ability to investigate them and reach conclusions driven by the evidence of the law.”

Shihata worked for 11 years as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which has pursued past public corruption cases in tandem with DOI. Her stint there included serving as chief of the Organized Crime and Gangs Section and deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section — two roles that give her a law-enforcement pedigree typical of DOI commissioner candidates.

It is the training she received there that will serve her well in her potential new gig, according to someone who knows a thing or two about independence from City Hall.

“These questions were raised when I was up for confirmation, and I don’t think there’s a lot of doubt that I ultimately was very independent,” said former DOI Commissioner Mark Peters, who was a longtime friend and campaign treasurer to former Mayor Bill de Blasio before the then-mayor tapped him to lead DOI.

Once installed as commissioner, Peters pursued the administration aggressively — some might say that’s putting it mildly — and released several bombshell probes before de Blasio fired him, citing an independent report that found Peters abused his power and mistreated staffers.

Speaking with Playbook, Peters said Shihata would be an excellent DOI commissioner.

“If you’re like I was and like Nadia is — a trained, professional investigator and prosecutor — inherent in that training is learning how to be independent and compartmentalize other parts of your life,” he said. “Prosecutors are supposed to be politically independent. And well-trained prosecutors are.” — Joe Anuta

From the Capitol

BUDGET MONTH: Gov. Kathy Hochul is preparing to send state lawmakers a second stopgap spending bill as a broader deal over the state budget remains elusive.

The Legislature will return on Tuesday to take up the extender legislation. The bill will cover payroll for thousands of state workers, but it's not yet clear how long the government will be funded. The Legislature was initially scheduled to be on a two-week hiatus this month, but the late spending plan has scrambled the legislative calendar.

"We're still working out the details on the length of each extender," Hochul said Monday during an unrelated event in Albany. "Certainly we gave a longer one because of the religious observances of Easter and Passover."

Read more from POLITICO Pro’s Nick Reisman.

BLAKEMAN AVOIDS A PRIMARY: Libertarian Larry Sharpe did not submit petitions to run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, so GOP standard-bearer Bruce Blakeman is locked in as his party’s presumptive nominee.

Sharpe still plans to gather petitions later this spring to run as a Libertarian in November, eight years after he received 95,000 votes on that minor line. But he didn’t hit the 15,000 signatures needed to also run in the major party’s primary.

“Republicans are leaving the state left and right, there’s not enough out there for me to get,” Sharpe said, adding that it was a challenge finding registered Republicans to collect signatures since they’re “getting pressure from the elites to not carry for me.”

Sharpe also blamed the weather since February: “We had two snowstorms,” he said. “How am I supposed to get signatures when I’ve got snowstorms?”

As of a couple of hours before the Monday filing deadline, the state Board of Elections had posted submissions from three gubernatorial candidates. Each of these was able to skip gathering petitions thanks to their backing at a party convention: Hochul, on the Democratic line; Blakeman, who’s endorsed by the Republicans and Conservatives; and Amy Taylor, the Working Families Party’s placeholder. — Bill Mahoney

FROM CITY HALL

NEEDS NOT MET: Mamdani administration officials are moving to curb child welfare investigations of cases they say should instead be referred to community-based groups — a shift based on data showing most families can’t afford necessities that often form the basis of such cases.

At a Monday press conference, Mamdani tied the city’s preliminary racial equity plan to its “True Cost of Living” report, which found roughly 70 percent of families with children can’t meet basic expenses and nearly three-quarters of kids live in economically insecure households. For single parents, the crisis is nearly universal, with up to 93.8 percent falling short. By contrast, the only households meeting the cost of living are two-adult households with no children.

“New York City’s affordability crisis and its history of racial inequity are bound together,” Mamdani said.

The Administration for Children's Services’ child protection division is also strained and has required substantial funding. The city is set to spend roughly $142 million in the 2026 fiscal year on child protection personnel alone, with an average cost of about $2,800 per case.

The administration’s plan for children and families is to redirect those resources — expanding community-based referrals, training mandated reporters on when a report is legally required and emphasizing prevention.

According to the New York City Family Policy Project, a child welfare policy and research group, New York’s investigation rate was 17 percent higher than the national average in 2024 with nearly 80 percent of investigations unsubstantiated. This past December, Hochul signed a bill banning anonymous child abuse reports, following claims that such tips can double as harassment, often directed at families of color.

Nora McCarthy, director of the Policy Project, said the city’s shift in approach is likely driven in part by research showing the strongest predictors of investigations are economic: income loss, housing instability and material hardship.

“Poverty is the driver,” McCarthy said. “When you have a lot going wrong in terms of being able to meet your basic needs, you can really start having trouble, like getting your child to school.” — Gelila Negesse

FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

WHO’S THE WILD MAN NOW: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani today endorsed Republican House candidate Anthony Constantino, who is in a bitter primary against Assemblymember Robert Smullen.

The endorsement from the ex-mayor came after Constantino said he wrote “a beautiful two-page letter” to Giuliani.

“Rudy has a great eye for talent,” Constantino told Playbook.

The campaign to succeed outgoing Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik in the sprawling North Country House district has been a bruising one. Smullen has accused Constantino, the impresario of a sticker company, of hawking bawdy stickers mocking President Donald Trump. Constantino has called Smullen “Slime Bob.”

The Republican establishment has largely lined up behind Smullen, a retired Marine colonel who has the backing of the state GOP.

That makes endorsements from leading MAGA figures like Giuliani all the more valuable for Constantino’s outsider bid. Giuliani played a central role in Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. And Constantino has a flair for advertising his MAGA bona fides, like erecting a large pro-Trump sign atop a building.

In the lead up to the endorsement, Giuliani met with Constantino in Florida to discuss the race. Constantino came away charmed by the man once known as “America’s Mayor.”

“I want to become friends with him. He’s brilliant. He’s kindhearted,” Constantino said. “He likes the regular person. He doesn’t consider himself better than anyone.” — Nick Reisman

IN OTHER NEWS

— OPEN TO WORK: New York City’s Economic Development Corporation still has no leader as business leaders voice concerns over the city’s economic and job growth. (Gothamist)

— ALLEGED SCHEME: Frank Carone, former chief of staff to Eric Adams, says associates charged by federal prosecutors in an insurance fraud scheme scammed him too. (THE CITY)

— POLITICAL MISCHIEF: New York State Assembly member Andrew Hevesi accused primary rival Jonathan Rinaldi of changing his registration. (The New York Times)

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