With help from Irie Sentner

NEW YORK MINUTE: Gov. Kathy Hochul is set today to join an audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City — part of her multination tour.

Hochul traveled this week to Italy to participate in a climate change conference with fellow U.S. leaders. She’s scheduled to visit Ireland next. — Nick Reisman

Mastro-ful maneuvering: Well over half of the 51 New York City Council members are opposed to Randy Mastro becoming the city’s top lawyer, a person familiar with member’s positions told Playbook — the latest whip count in the pending appointment.

That helps explain why Mayor Eric Adams still hasn’t formally submitted Mastro’s name to the council, one full month after the Times scooped that the mayor wanted to appoint the famously aggressive litigator to lead the city’s Law Department.

So Mastro won’t be on the agenda for today’s stated meeting, the first in four weeks.

But he’s been on the personal agendas of certain council members, with Adams’ chief adviser Ingrid Lewis Martin setting up meetings between Mastro and legislators she deems flippable.

Among those are Democrats Shaun Abreu, Kevin Riley, Rafael Salamanca and Eric Dinowitz — plus Justin Brannan, Keith Powers and Kamillah Hanks, as the Daily News reported.

“Never pass up an opportunity to look someone in the eye and get answers to your questions,” Abreu told Playbook.

It may seem like City Hall is scheduling coffees on the deck chairs of the Titanic, given previous reporting about widespread opposition to Mastro. (Some of the concerns are his controversial client list — Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Chevron — aggressive tactics and history of litigating for causes opposed by the council’s progressive members.)

But City Hall’s push is winning over some members.

“That meeting drastically changed my position on what I’m hearing from the press, what I’m hearing from other members,” Salamanca told Playbook. “I asked him tough questions. … And I think he’s extremely genuine.”

“He must be getting something from the mayor,” another member who’s less sold on Mastro quipped about Salamanca’s positive meeting, noting that he could use Adams’ support in his run for Bronx borough president.

After all, there’s a widespread concern in the council that Mastro would only serve Adams’ interests, not the council’s — as the job calls for — or the city as a whole.

So Mastro has been focusing on that in meetings, pitching himself as an proactive litigator for all.

“He committed to being a lawyer for the city. Not just the mayor, but also the council,” Dinowitz told Playbook. Mastro came up to his Bronx district and met the lawmaker at a diner. “We had a very pleasant breakfast,” Dinowitz added.

Few members are publicly committing to approving Mastro — though Republican Vickie Paladino told Playbook she’s with him “100 percent, you bet” — but some are eager for a hearing.

If and when Mastro will get one, followed by a vote of the council — or whether Adams submits his name at all — will depend on the success of the ongoing charm offensive and will portend relations between the mayor and the body as he runs for reelection. — Jeff Coltin

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

WHERE’S KATHY? In Italy and Ireland meeting with Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, joining an audience with Pope Francis and delivering remarks at Pontifical Summit “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience.”

WHERE’S ERIC? Meeting with faith leaders in the Bronx, making a public safety and retail theft-related announcement, appearing on Power 105.1’s “Way Up with Angela Yee,” delivering remarks and presenting a proclamation at the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation’s 240th anniversary celebration, speaking at the “Haitian Flag Day Celebration” and delivering remarks and receiving an award at Premios Latinos’ “2024 Latin Awards Show Urban Edition.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The best way to defeat our enemy is to know our enemy. That’s why we’re holding this inaugural summit.” — Mayor Eric Adams on hosting the first-ever inaugural National Urban Rat Summit in September.

DEFENSE SPENDING: Central Park is introducing a pizza-box shaped recycling bin, in a new effort to discourage pizza rats. (NBC New York)

ABOVE THE FOLD

HEATING UP: A newly launched local super PAC targeting Rep. Jamaal Bowman is circulating an attack mailer resembling a fire alarm to remind voters of his strangest misstep, Playbook has learned.

“In case of extreme failure,” the mailer begins, inviting recipients to pull down a flap before continuing, “sound the alarm on Jamaal Bowman.” It goes on to knock his “alarming” record.

The push is paid for by NY16 Mainstream Voters, Inc., which, according to FEC records, is a two-month-old, White Plains-based group.

The super PAC supports challenger George Latimer in the competitive Democratic primary viewed as a bellwether on Israel-Hamas war sentiment.

Its president, former Westchester Democratic Party chair David Alpert, told Playbook he expects the group’s mail and digital spending to be in the mid to high six figures.

“Contrary to many media reports, the residents of the 16th Congressional District were the ones who first encouraged Latimer to enter the race,” Alpert said, “driven by their desire for a representative who better reflects their views rather than the extremism and divisiveness of Congressman Bowman.”

The New York Working Families Party and others aligned with Bowman have called Latimer AIPAC’s “hand-picked candidate.”

The fire alarm mailer comes as the American-Israel lobby’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, booked nearly $2 million in ads set to begin airing today, according to tracking firm AdImpact.

“Between a mailer echoing D.C. Republicans and a $1.9M ad spend from a Republican-funded super PAC, it’s clear to all that the far-right is afraid of Jamaal Bowman,” Bowman campaign communications director Lawrence Wang told Playbook in a statement. “As a proven progressive champion for the working class, abortion rights, and our very democracy, there is no greater threat to MAGA extremism than a Congress with Jamaal Bowman in it, and we know that the voters of NY-16 agree.”

Bowman is fighting for his political life as one of Congress’ most endangered incumbents.

He was censured for triggering a U.S. Capitol fire alarm last year when there was no emergency. He said at Monday’s News 12 debate that he “freaking did it by accident.” — Emily Ngo

CITY HALL: THE LATEST

WORD POLICE: The mayor pushed back Wednesday on criticism over his recent comments suggesting that migrants are “excellent swimmers,” blaming what he termed the “word police” for seizing on his remarks.

“I’m not going to be distracted because there are those who want to turn everything into a political point. … There was nothing I said that was racist or offensive,” Adams told PIX11.

His defense comes a day after he suggested that migrants could make up for a shortage of lifeguards if there was better planning from the federal government.

“How do we have a large body of people that are in our city and country that are excellent swimmers, and at the same time, we need lifeguards?” Adams said at a news conference.

He went on to say that if nurses or food service workers in the migrant population could help fill job vacancies in those sectors, then the federal government should allow it by authorizing asylum-seekers to work.

“His comments on asylum seekers being ‘excellent swimmers’ implies that because some immigrants had to swim or wade across water on their dangerous journeys to seek safety in the United States, that they would make good lifeguards,” Murad Awawdeh of the New York Immigration Coalition said in a statement. “This comment is racist.”

The mayor, however, has said he knows of migrants’ swimming prowess from talking with them at shelters.

And City Hall argued Adams’ words were consistent with what he has long said about wanting to integrate asylum seekers into the local job market. A spokesperson pointed to eight separate instances since December of Adams mentioning pairing asylum seekers with lifeguard jobs. — Joe Anuta

More from the city:

— The Adams administration is overestimating migrant spending by $2 billion next year — projecting a summer surge in asylum-seekers that isn’t likely to come, per a new IBO report. (POLITICO Pro)

— City Council members must clear their desks of political signs, including Israeli hostage posters and flyers calling for a Israel-Hamas war cease-fire. (New York Post)

— The wave of NYCHA staff guilty pleas begins after a federal takedown charged 70 with pocketing bribes to award no-bid contracts to favored vendors. (The City)

— A cadre of local Muslim groups and Democratic council members condemned Adams’ “disheartening” termination of hate crimes prevention czar Hassan Naveed. (Daily News)

NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY

MODEL LEGISLATION: Prominent labor unions from the worlds of entertainment, media and fashion are lining up behind a measure to create labor standards for models in New York.

The bill is part of an end-of-session push in Albany, but it has struggled to gain traction for full support in the Legislature.

The groups backing the legislation include SAG-AFTRA, WGAE, Conde Nast Union, Freelancers Union, Workers United, the Healthy Nail Salon Coalition and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

“Regardless of employment status, all workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” Sara Ziff, the executive director of the advocacy group Model Alliance, said.

“Camouflaged by a veil of glamor and prestige, the lack of oversight within the fashion industry puts our mostly young, female, immigrant workforce of models behind others in regards to basic workplace protections.”

The measure would create a set of labor standards for models in the fashion industry and create compensation structures. — Nick Reisman

More from Albany:

— New York’s program moving migrants upstate has struggled. (POLITICO Pro)

— Sen. James Skoufis is not a fan of a new MTA ferry promotion. (Mid-Hudson News)

— State officials have launched a long-delayed commission on the country’s 250th anniversary. (Times Union)

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

— Manhattan Democratic Party boss Keith Wright’s son Jordan running for Assembly will either continue a political dynasty or start a rebellion among his rivals in the county party. (City & State)

— NYU is requiring students it says violated policy during recent pro-Palestinian protests to complete written assignments on character, morality and ethics. (Gothamist)

— Amid a steep rise in people living in New York City shelters, few are exiting the system and even fewer are getting housing placements, data shows. (City Limits)

SOCIAL DATA

Edited by Daniel Lippman

MAKING MOVES: Alex Shapanka is now vice president of real estate at Kasirer.

MEDIAWATCH — Rachel Wolfe is now an economics reporter at The Wall Street Journal. She most recently was a consumer trends reporter for the paper.

BIRTHDAYS: Tucker Carlson … Christine Delargy … Colleen McCain Nelson … Charlotte Leib … Stephan Cesarini … Natalie Epelman … CBS’ Rob Legare … (WAS WEDNESDAY): Joshua Muss … Amanda Collins, EVP and global head of corporate communications at Sony Music

MUST SUBSCRIBE: Friend of Playbook and reporter with THE CITY Katie Honan is launching “Summer & THE CITY,” a weekly newsletter guide on enjoying New York City during its hottest months.

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