How Big AI money is shaping the marquee Manhattan congressional primary

Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay

Weather: ☀️ Sunny, highs in the upper 70s.

It's Tuesday in New York City, where Alex Bores is everywhere.

When the 35-year-old state assemblymember and former Palantir employee entered the Democratic primary to replace outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler, he was polling near last place.

Some residents of the 12th Congressional District didn't know who he was.

Then super PACs linked to AI companies started blasting voters with ads and mailers blasting Bores, a move that may have inadvertently boosted his profile.

Here's how this AI-centered arms race of outside spending has reshaped the Democratic primary in one of the most high-profile districts in the country.

And here's what else is happening:

• FIFA officials said all 12,000 tickets for the shuttle buses to MetLife Stadium for today's France vs. Senegal World Cup match have sold out, leaving NJ Transit rail service and Uber and Lyft as the best remaining travel options.
• NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said yesterday there were seven shootings over the weekend connected to “Knicks-related celebrations."
• Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he can't cancel school or reschedule regents exams to allow city kids to attend Thursday's ticker tape parade for the Knicks.
• The city's transportation department plans to install a protected two-way bike lane on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, taking over a patch of asphalt where drivers often park illegally. 
• The historic Carroll Street Bridge that spans the Gowanus Canal reopened yesterday after a five-year repair project.
• A woman with New Jersey ties who was deported to Congo — even though she's from Colombia — will remain there for the foreseeable future after a federal judge vacated his own earlier order directing the Trump administration to bring her home.
• Prosecutors have charged more than 30 alleged members of five different drug dealing organizations for allegedly selling fentanyl and other drugs in the South Bronx.

• Mayor Mamdani said more of the highly coveted $50 New York City World Cup jerseys are on the way.
• "He's hot — and our paper does talk about the role of his physical attractiveness": Ahead of Luigi Mangione's state trial in September, a researcher told NPR why the alleged murderer's appearance could help him out.
• Some of these new sidewalk sheds look a little better.
• Local reporters at Schneps Media papers, some of whom make $40K to $50K a year, are forming a union.
• The Knicks are at the club.
• OG Anunoby, Upper West Side Messiah?
• It's here: the summer of the $8 ice cream cone.