Schumer has a history with Mamdani and moves closer to endorsing him. Is Hochul next?

Also: The former head of the New York State Troopers PBA is no longer a trooper as criminal charges related to his leadership of the union loom.

Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and World Suicide Prevention Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer met Monday with Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, signaling a breakthrough in the path to an endorsement.

• Thomas H. Mungeer, the former head of the New York State Troopers PBA, abruptly resigned Wednesday as criminal charges against him loom.

• State Sen. Jim Tedisco introduces the NYS Safe Pet Boarding Act bill in the wake of some troubling dog deaths.

Names in today’s CapCon include: Charles E. Schumer, Zohran Mamdani, Kathy Hochul, Elise Stefanik, Hakeem Jeffries, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Thomas H. Mungeer, Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Letitia James.

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in September 2021. (Schumer’s office)

Schumer’s meeting with Mamdani moves him closer to endorsing the Democratic socialist for NYC mayor

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer met privately on Monday with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who defeated Andrew M. Cuomo, among others, in the Democratic primary in June.

Their meeting at an undisclosed location in New York City came after Schumer had congratulated Mamdani on his primary victory in June, writing in a post on X that month that he has “known @ZohranKMamdani since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity.”

The senator and Mamdani are not strangers: Schumer was referring to their shared 2021 efforts to help rescue thousands of financially stressed taxi and for-hire drivers in New York City who were facing financial ruin due to what Schumer described as “predatory lending.” That September, they produced a video in which Mamdani and Schumer rode together in the back of a taxi as their driver, an immigrant from Burma, described the plight that led to the suicide of his brother, who was a taxi medallion owner.

But the senator, along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, has so far stopped short of endorsing Mamdani. On Schumer’s part, some of that hesitancy may stem from Mamdani being a staunch supporter of the Palestinian people and a critic of Israel dating back to his days at Bowdoin College in Maine. Eleven years ago, Mamdani wrote in an op-ed in the student newspaper that accused Israel of engaging in the “colonial occupation of Palestine” for more than 60 years. His political posture, including attending protests where Israel has been accused of genocide, has not wavered.

Those kinds of comments, as well as Mamdani’s statement in an interview in which he declined to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada” (since his primary win, he has said he would discourage the use of the phrase), have deeply concerned many members of New York’s Jewish community. In recent months, Schumer has faced increasing criticism from within that community that he is trying to appease the progressive wing of his party and fend off any Democratic challengers for his own seat.

And as the Jewish Journal noted in late June, Schumer stood on the Senate floor in November 2023 — a month after the terrorist attack against Israel by Hamas — and said, “The vitriol against Israel … in the wake of Oct. 7 is all too often crossing a line into brazen and widespread antisemitism, the likes of which we haven’t seen for generations in this country, if ever.”

But a day after their meeting on Monday, Schumer simply said: “We met yesterday. We had a good meeting. We know each other well, and we're going to keep talking.”