Good morning. It's Monday. We'll look at the rift between Mayor Eric Adams and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They have not spoken one-on-one in nearly a year. We'll also get some fashion advice from the jazz bassist Ron Carter. |
 | | From Left: Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times; Stephanie Keith for The New York Times |
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They are political stars from divergent wings of the Democratic Party: Mayor Eric Adams, who embodies "pragmatic" moderatism, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken progressive. Both are ambitious Democrats. Both are people of color who were born and raised by working-class families in boroughs outside Manhattan, their bootstrap backgrounds informing their politics and personal style. |
But my colleague Jesse McKinley writes that they have not spoken to each other one-on-one since shortly after Adams won the primary for mayor in the summer, according to representatives of both. |
In early January, shortly after his inauguration, Ocasio-Cortez scolded Adams on Twitter for referring to some workers as "low skill." The mayor shot back that the congresswoman and her followers were acting like the "word police." |
"I know they're perfect, and there's not much I can do about that," the mayor said. "I can only aspire one day to be as perfect as they are." |
The friction between Adams and Ocasio-Cortez is not as conspicuous as past feuds in New York politics, such as the prolonged, internecine one between former Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But it is troubling for some Democrats, who believe that party unity — or at least the appearance of it — is essential to avoid distractions and head off deep losses in this year's midterms. |
The discord surfaced last June, when Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Maya Wiley in the Democratic mayoral primary, arguing that she was best positioned to lead "a city for and by working people." Adams fired back, accusing Ocasio-Cortez and Wiley of wanting to "shrink the police force at a time when Black and brown babies are being shot in our streets" and hate crimes were increasing. |
Policing was the central issue for Adams as a candidate, and as mayor he has faced a number of high-profile violent crimes. He called for an increase in the police budget during his State of the City address. He has also agreed to hire nearly 600 new correction officers. |
Even before that announcement, however, Ocasio-Cortez had already rejected many of Adams's early ideas — including his approach to policing and the austerity measures he announced in February. In an Instagram post, she noted that the mayor was "cutting virtually every city agency's budget while raising NYPD's," adding, "It's a no for me." |
Adams, who at 61 is nearly twice the congresswoman's age, likes to communicate through street corner interviews and tabloid headlines, something he generated regularly with nights on the town, trumpeting his swagger as a selling point. His administration uses Twitter to amplify policy and city announcements, but he has made clear his disdain for the medium, as when he told a primary night crowd that "social media does not pick a candidate." |
"People on Social Security pick a candidate," he said. |
At 32, Ocasio-Cortez has millions of followers on Twitter, legions of devoted fans and a robust fund-raising operation. Dan Sena, a Democratic consultant in Washington, said she also possesses an uncanny political skill for defining her positions — and her opponents. |
"She is always, always, always on message," he said, adding: "She does a very good job of always creating a bad guy. And in this particular case, it's the mayor." |
It's a mostly sunny day near the mid-60s, with wind gusts. At night, it's mostly clear with temps dropping to the high 40s. |
In effect until May 26 (Solemnity of the Ascension). |
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had tested positive for the coronavirus — the worst sort of Mother's Day surprise for the first governor in New York history who is also a mother. Hochul wrote on Twitter that she was asymptomatic and would isolate and work remotely this week. The news forced her to call off a trip she had planned to see her week-old granddaughter in Washington, D.C. |
From a jazz great, fashion advice |
 | | Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. for The New York Times |
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With more than 2,200 recording sessions to his credit, Ron Carter is said to be the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. And although he made his reputation on bandstands and in recording studios, there he was one morning last week with a group of young jazz musicians in a public school in Manhattan. Our Corey Kilgannon was on hand. Here's what he saw and heard: |
When two pint-size trumpeters began trading blues licks in front of an auditorium of roughly 200 students ranging from pre-K to fourth grade, the children stopped fidgeting and became absorbed in the music, even echoing the trumpeters' licks back to them. |
Afterward, Carter emphasized to the students the most important element in becoming a jazz musician: practice. |
"I've been playing as long as all your ages combined, it seems to me," he said, adding that he still cannot practice enough. |
Looking snazzy in a dark blazer, he added another jazz prerequisite. |
"Get a great tie," he said, "and some great socks." He was wearing a dark blue tie with a white pattern and bright, multicolored socks. |
Carter said he believed that music in schools could nurture music awareness and help the social and emotional well-being of students. That's why he visited the Riverside School for Makers and Artists on West 61st Street, not far from his Upper West Side apartment. His visit was arranged by Counseling in Schools, a nonprofit organization that sends mental health professionals into the city's public schools to support the emotional and social well-being of students, said its executive director, Kevin Dahill-Fuchel. |
"In the aftermath of all this drama and strife," Dahill-Fuchell said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, which left students isolated at home using remote learning, "music and the arts in schools are something that can help bring the kids some joy and healing and bring us back together." |
With many public schools stripped of music programs, there is a greater need than ever to support it in learning spaces like the Riverside School, where some students live in lower-income neighborhoods, such as the nearby Amsterdam Houses public housing complex, Dahill-Fuchell said. |
When the children's choir belted out a spirited version of Irving Berlin's "I Love a Piano" — "I know a fine way / to treat a Steinway" — the jazzman beamed. They also sang "Happy Birthday" to Carter, who had just turned 85. |
Before leaving, Carter told the students he hoped to be back next year to make sure they had practiced — and to see whether their ties and socks were up to snuff. |
I often play Latin music when I'm at home in my apartment in Inwood. Once, after he heard La India coming from my stereo while he was at my place fixing a light, my super, Fernando, who mostly speaks Spanish, asked whether I spoke it too. |
"Solamente un poco," I said. |
A short time later, Fernando was back for another task. This time, my piano tuner was there and started to play "Che gelida manina" from La Bohème. |
Fernando began to sing along. In Italian. |
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. |
| Melissa Guerrero, Olivia Parker and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. |
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