Liberty Lights

Liberty Lights at the Statue of Liberty

Wednesday night. One hundred degrees. Already sweating before I left my apartment — and heading downtown to Battery Park to board a 7 p.m. ferry to the Statue of Liberty for an America 250 event, thanks to my friend Garrett Armwood, who was invited by Cédrik Fouriscot, Consul General of France in New York.

I took an Uber down so I could squeeze in a 6:30 p.m. Zoom with Felix Frisch and the Promise to America team — more on that in the Skyelights section below — and made it just in time for what was billed as a sharp 7 p.m. boarding. Smart to tell everyone the ferry leaves at 7 sharp. In reality, we pulled away closer to 7:45. The French Consulate did a beautiful job, and frankly, I felt especially badly for the men in suits. Even men’s forearms were sweating!

On board, I caught up with Ed Wallace of Greenberg Traurig, who also serves as Chair of the French-American Foundation, about his time as a New York City Council Member, and the recent City Hall reunion. We need to do a proper sit-down with Ed, because he is filled with stories — and, apparently, still a competitive swimmer. His stroke is the butterfly. Which raises an obvious programming question: can we recreate Mayor Mamdani jumping into the pool and turn it into an actual swimming race? Calling all swimmers in government!

Also on board: Julie Tighe from NYLCV, still crisp in white and blue after a full day of meetings, and Patty Ornst from Delta Airlines, as we made our way to Liberty Island for the celebration.

On the Island, something really cool happened — beyond my visceral reaction to the DJ-meets-monument mash-up. I was standing near the podium, listening to remarks from Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Stéphane de La Faverie of The Estée Lauder Companies, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (who, naturally, reminded everyone that Lady Liberty also welcomes visitors to New Jersey) and David Greenberg of L’Oréal USA — when a gentleman turned to me and said, “Skye? The Political Personality? It’s Matt Castelli — you interviewed me when I ran for Congress in 2021.” He introduced me to his fiancée, Laura Dimon, and that was the third or fourth sign for me this week. I have to bring back the Political Personalities interview series. A talk-show style video conversation featuring local public officials, public characters, civic personalities, and whatever is on their minds outside of their day jobs. Ed Wallace, you’re up first. Who’s next?

The Budget Deal

Mayor Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin reached an agreement on the $125.8 billion FY 2027 budget after several days of intensive negotiations that continued up to the deadline. The final vote was 45-6, though the process reflected clear tensions inside City Hall and within the Council itself.

One of the central sticking points was CityFHEPS funding, which became a major point of negotiation in the final stretch. There were also visible political undercurrents following last week’s primary, with some members still processing the results and others weighing how closely to align with the administration. Several members of the Council’s progressive caucus did not attend the morning handshake ceremony, with one councilmember describing the mood as less celebratory than procedural.

The vote also surfaced internal Council friction. Councilmember Althea Stevens, the lone Democratic “no” vote, publicly criticized Speaker Menin, saying her Bronx district had been shortchanged in discretionary funding. Menin, meanwhile, broke with the Mayor over his decision to move away from a planned 580-officer NYPD expansion, arguing that the city still needs to increase police staffing. The reversal, which she learned about through a late-night call from the Mayor, prompted concern among moderates and conservatives and underscored one of the broader fault lines likely to shape the next phase of the administration: how to balance progressive budget priorities with public safety, housing, and district-level needs.

Charter Revision Lawsuit

Former Mayor Eric Adams‘ Charter Revision Commission is now suing Mayor Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Board of Elections, arguing that the panel was improperly blocked from advancing its work. The lawsuit — supported by a coalition that includes Councilmember Vickie Paladino, former Gov. David Paterson and former Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella — seeks to place an open primaries proposal on the fall ballot. The politics around this are delicate. Some supporters appear to be moving quietly, wary of turning the issue into another ideological fight. But the broader question is worth taking seriously: should more New Yorkers have a meaningful say in the elections that often decide who governs them? In a city where so many registered voters sit out of the process entirely, open primaries could become a way to bring more people in — particularly voters who feel alienated by the current system. Supporters argue that opening the process would create more space for moderate, pragmatic, solutions-oriented candidates, while critics worry it could weaken party identity and accountability. Either way, the debate is really about who gets to participate — and whether the current system is serving the city as well as it should.

Antisemitism, Allyship, and the Relationship Challenge

Bruce Blakeman at Rabbi Marc Schneier‘s The Hampton Synagogue on Sunday, July 5, speaking about antisemitism, DSA, what needs to change in NYS… not too dissimilar a conversation from the one I hosted on my terrace this past Monday, alongside Ariel Palitz and featuring guests from across government, hospitality, real estate, nonprofits and advocacy — talking about how we rebuild the relationships that antisemitism has damaged. Participants identified the greatest gaps as Jewish communal echo chambers, lack of broader allyship, insufficient Jewish historical literacy, and the need for more public, authentic dialogue across communities. The central takeaway was that antisemitism is not only a security or communications challenge — it is fundamentally a relationship challenge.

If you’re interested in furthering the conversation about ways to combat overall extremism, whether that’s political, religious or otherwise, please reach out.

Is anyone familiar with what the US Small Business Administration does? Well, I do now because I stumbled upon the business card of Matt Coleman, US SBA’s Atlantic Regional Administrator, and decided I would call and say hello. (Do you ever do that?) He provides loans to entrepreneurs, manufacturers, Small Business Development Centers — through the SUNY system — as well as Veteran Business Outreach Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and the Service Corps of Retired Executives. He mentioned some work recently on Long Island, manufacturing and Hauppauge, HIA-LI’s Innovation Park at Hauppauge as the largest innovation park in the Northeast, with more than 55,000 employees, 1,300 companies and over $13 billion in economic output. Pair that with New York’s Small Business Development Center network — 20 regional centers and 70+ satellite locations statewide — and it is clear: Long Island is home to opportunity. The “Made in America” conversation has a New York address — from Hauppauge’s industrial base to Long Island City’s apparel manufacturers.

A Multilingual Reading of “The New Colossus”

Speaker Julie Menin hosted a star-studded multilingual reading of Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” with the Public Theater ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, featuring Broadway heavyweight Liev Schreiber alongside Sonia Manzano and Steven Skybell. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” they read. “These words belong to all of us.”

Savor the Bronx 2026

Bronx BP Gibson officially launched Savor the Bronx 2026 at Drips Restaurant and Lounge, bringing together over 40 restaurants for a week-long celebration of borough cuisine — from City Island seafood to South Bronx Latin fare. The event runs July 6–12 with pre-fixed menus and deals across the borough.

→ Taylor Swift shutting down massive swaths of Midtown for her Madison Square Garden wedding — with NYPD street closures reportedly bigger than during the NBA Finals.

→ Former New York City Council Member Justin Brannan — now serving as Senior Director of Major Event Operations, appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul — at the Sail4th250 celebration in Bay Ridge, watching tall ships and vessels pass under the Verrazzano-Narrows with hundreds of Bay Ridge residents.

→ Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer catching the Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail from Little Island on July 4th, where former FDNY firefighter Brenda Berkman saved her a prime shaded seat. “Brenda Berkman saved us a seat in the shade! Ships were beautiful.”

→ NYPD Chief Beaudette outside Madison Square Garden being mysteriously coy about what’s actually happening. Katie Honan called out the vibe: “The people in charge are all in on a big joke they won’t officially explain.”

→ CM Justin Brannan posting a relatable grilling moment: asking guests their burger preferences before cooking them all identically.

→ Brooklyn DA Gonzalez out in full community mode this June, marching in Pride, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and Caribbean Heritage celebrations — all while announcing a major gang takedown in Crown Heights and Flatbush.

→ Eric Adams, the FORMER mayor, is spotted at College Point Home Depot doing home projects and dancing with employees — a rare glimpse of life after City Hall. “Being mayor was a full-time job… and then some. I even had to prove to one of the employees that I still have my dance moves.”

✨ Skye’s Personal Reflection

Promise to America

This week, I signed the Promise to America pledge after being introduced to the effort by my longtime friend Tom Suozzi. The Promise to America is focused on organizing the Democratic Party around common-sense, broadly popular principles: disagreement without division, a competitive economy, safe communities, effective government, lower costs, expanded opportunity, and leaders who value persuasion over purity.

It resonated with me because, in many ways, this is how I have always felt. And like anything, when something comes from a trusted friend, you are more inclined to listen — and to say yes.

The Promise to America campaign feels especially important right now because somewhere along the way, being “pro-America” started to sound, to some people, like a Republican sentiment. It is not. Being pro-America should not belong to one party. And for some reason, parts of the modern Democratic Party have seemed hesitant to claim that language with confidence.

I joined a Zoom hosted by Promise to America with people from across the country who are feeling the same fracture in their own communities: extremism damaging friendships, neighborhoods, local politics, and people’s ability to have normal conversations with one another. This is not just about Washington or cable news. It is about what happens when disagreement becomes betrayal, complexity becomes weakness, and compromise becomes failure.

We are living in a system that rewards the most extreme voices. The angrier the post, the more clicks. The more outrageous the soundbite, the more shares. The more divisive the position, the better the chance of getting booked on television. And then we wonder why people feel exhausted, alienated, and governmentally abandoned.

Most regular people are not living at the political extremes. They are trying to afford their lives, raise their families, run their businesses, stay safe, and feel like their city, town, and country still work for them. They want leaders who solve problems, who can work with people they disagree with, and who can make government function. But those people are often not the loudest voices in politics. The loudest voices show up, organize, pressure, post, and vote — and that is how small, organized factions gain outsized power.

That is why I think efforts like Promise to America matter. I have also spent time with the Disagree Better campaign, which brings together governors and members of Congress from opposing political parties to film public service announcements. They sit next to each other on camera and say, essentially: we disagree on many things, but we can still respect each other, work together, and find common ground.

That may sound simple, but in this moment, it is necessary.

Elected leaders do not just make policy. They model behavior. When leaders perform outrage, the public learns outrage. When leaders reward purity tests, the public learns suspicion. But when leaders model respect, disagreement, cooperation, and problem-solving, they give the rest of us permission to do the same.

If more thoughtful, practical, solutions-oriented people spoke up, organized, and voted, they could outnumber the extremists many times over.

That is the “what next” for me: giving politically exhausted people a reason to come back in. Making moderation feel active. Making common sense feel courageous. Making patriotism feel shared again.

The Statue of Liberty experience sealed something for me: the path forward is not just policy. It is feeling. People have to feel invited back into the American story. They have to feel that freedom, liberty, democracy, justice for all, and a joyful, unifying, pro-America spirit belong to them, too. That is my wish for America 250 — and for the rest of this year: that we reclaim that feeling together.

→ Send tips to skye@intheroommedia.com  ·  Forward to a friend who should be in the room.