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| It's Monday. |
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| Weather: Mostly sunny, then a slight chance of thunderstorms after noon. The mercury should be around 90. |
| Alternate-side parking: In effect until Aug. 11. |
 Richard Drew/Associated Press |
| Governor Cuomo effectively controls the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and for quite some time has tried to humiliate it into changing its ways. |
| One of the most recent examples came during a radio interview last month, when he said the M.T.A. has "an incestuous relationship" with "bad contractors" that profit off the agency. |
| "If I had my attorney general hat on, I might raise other possibilities," Mr. Cuomo said, referring to the law-and-order job he held before becoming governor. |
| One thing Mr. Cuomo didn't say: His campaigns have raised a lot of money from M.T.A. contractors. |
| How much has Mr. Cuomo raised from M.T.A. contractors? |
| Emma G. Fitzsimmons, J. David Goodman and Agustin Armendariz crunched the numbers for The Times. |
| Since Mr. Cuomo took office in 2011, his campaigns have received more than $3 million from M.T.A. contractors and industry groups that represent them. Donors with ties to the M.T.A., including board members, their employers and transit unions, have donated an additional $1.5 million. |
| Why does this matter? |
| What happens in the subways and on trains can affect millions of riders. |
| M.T.A. contracts are worth millions. Some states have passed laws that limit contributions from state contractors to prevent companies from trying to influence elected officials. |
| Marc Herbst, the head of the Long Island Contractors' Association, told my colleagues that he regularly receives invitations to attend political fund-raisers. He said he encourages companies that want to give to do so, but for the greater good of the industry, not to get a particular job. |
| "You're being noticed and showing your appreciation," Mr. Herbst said. |
| Mr. Cuomo, his campaign and the M.T.A. all said there is no connection between political donations and M.T.A. contracts. |
| Who donated to Mr. Cuomo? |
| One name is the Haugland Group. After it secured a $23 million contract in October 2017 to clear clogged subway drains, the company's leaders sought to raise as much as a quarter of a million dollars for Mr. Cuomo's re-election campaign at a fund-raiser at Citi Field, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. |
| Neither the Haugland family nor their companies had donated to Mr. Cuomo before. |
| Then, Haugland was one of Mr. Cuomo's largest contributors as he ran for a third term. |
| Another company that clears subway drains also donated to Mr. Cuomo's campaign. The campaign received a contribution from the company, Welkin Mechanical, less than three weeks before it won a nearly $15 million contract in November 2017. |
| Other M.T.A. contractors that donated to Mr. Cuomo's campaign through executives and limited liability companies include: Yonkers Contracting, which helped build the new Hudson Yards station in Manhattan; HAKS Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors, which worked on subway station renovations; and Judlau, a major M.T.A. construction firm. |
| Yonkers Contracting was criticized for opening the Hudson Yards station in 2016 despite leaks; HAKS was suspended from federal highway work after it entered into a deal with prosecutors in a bribery and corruption case in May; and Judlau admitted to fraud in a 2012 settlement with the United States attorney's office. |
| Can state contractors donate to Mr. Cuomo's campaigns? |
| Yes. |
| At least a dozen states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, place limits on political donations from companies seeking or winning state contracts. New York has no such rules. |
| From The Times |
 Mark Lennihan/Associated Press |
| Two gunmen fired into a crowd at a beloved Brooklyn block party in Brownsville, killing one man and injuring 11 people. |
| "It's like watching New York melt": As towers rise, an old neighborhood fades. |
| The mother of twins who died in a car in the Bronx defended her husband, who said he thought he left the babies at day care: "He is a good person and great father." |
| A police officer was found dead at his Staten Island home after shooting himself, in what was the fifth police suicide in the city since June, officials said. |
| [Want more news from New York and around the region? Check out our full coverage.] |
| The Mini Crossword: Here is today's puzzle. |
| What we're reading |
| Therapy dogs will help children in New York City's foster care system. [amNew York] |
| Parking spots on West End Avenue in Manhattan are now "loading zones" for taxis and trucks. [West Side Rag] |
| A brownstone in Harlem that once was owned by Maya Angelou sold for $2.3 million. [New York Post] |
| A Jewish congregation in Syracuse, one of the oldest congregations in the country, will sell its 108-year-old synagogue to a developer of luxury student apartments. [Syracuse Post-Standard] |
| Coming up today |
| Attend readings and author Q. and A.s under the Brooklyn Bridge at Brooklyn Bridge Park. 7 p.m. [Free] |
| Watch a screening of shorts by young, up-and-coming filmmakers in the Asian diaspora as part of the Asian American International Film Festival at the Museum of Chinese in America in Manhattan. 6:30 p.m. [Donation] |
| — Melissa Guerrero |
| Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times's culture pages. |
| And finally: 5 of the most authentic items at Mercado Little Spain |
 Ellen Silverman for The New York Times |
| The Times's Rebecca Liebson reports: |
| There are hundreds upon hundreds of Spanish restaurants scattered across New York City's five boroughs, but according to The Times's restaurant critic, Pete Wells, very few capture the true essence of Spanish cooking. |
| Mercado Little Spain, a new Hudson Yards food hall from the Spanish-born chef José Andrés, is an exception to the rule, Mr. Wells told me. |
| [The 20 most delicious things at Mercado Little Spain.] |
| After sampling at least 100 dishes from the market, Mr. Wells recommended five of the most authentic items that bring the taste of Spain to New York. |
| 1. Paella Valenciana |
| Most American chefs use a stovetop and pan to make paella. Here, the rice dish is cooked over a large wood fire in a vessel the size of a flying-saucer snow sled. "It's an outdoor tradition, and they've brought it indoors here," Mr. Wells said. |
| $16 at Paella al Plato. |
| 2. Cochinillo |
| A decade ago, Mr. Andrés helped bring the first Ibérico hams to the United States. Now he's introducing New Yorkers to a different delicacy using pork from the same region. These prized piglets are nestled inside terra-cotta casseroles and roasted over a fire pit. "Their meat is much more flavorful and their fat is much sweeter than pigs you find elsewhere," Mr. Wells said. |
| $92 for a quarter pig and three side dishes, $370 for a whole pig and three side dishes at Leña. |
| 3. Huevas de mujol |
| The centerpiece of this dish is bottarga: dried roe preserved in salt. While you might be able to find bottarga shaved over pasta at your favorite Italian restaurant, the Spanish version — served whole and coated in beeswax — is harder to come by. "The bottarga is very sharp and salty, fishy, and then the beeswax is almost the exact opposite," Mr. Wells said. "It's this soft, almost bland thing that makes the intense flavor of the fish roe more bearable." |
| $16 at Mar. |
| 4. Liquid olive |
| A sort of edible water balloon bursting with olive juice, the liquid olive pays homage to a dish once served at El Bulli, the beloved (and now-shuttered) restaurant in Catalonia. |
| $2.50 at Bar Celona and La Barra. |
| 5. Pan de cristal con tomate |
| This ciabatta-like bread flavored with tomatoes seems relatively simple but is quite difficult to master. Mr. Wells said that at most tapas restaurants in the United States, this famous Spanish recipe is reduced to "mushy tomatoes on bread." To avoid this, Mercado imports half-baked loaves from Catalonia and finishes them in its own ovens. |
| $5 for four pieces, $10 for eight at Spanish Diner, La Barra and Frutas y Verduras; $6 for four pieces, $12 for eight at Leña. |
| Metropolitan Diary: Cab snack |
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| My daughter and I were in a taxi on our way home from her swimming lesson on a warm spring day. As we slowed to a stop at a red light, a banana sailed through the open passenger-side window and was neatly caught by the driver. |
| We tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle our laughter. The driver turned to us. |
| "Are you hungry?" he asked. "Would you like a banana?" |
| Still laughing, we declined his offer. He persisted. |
| "The banana is O.K.," he said. "That is my cousin." |
| We looked at the cab to our right. As the light changed and we began to drive away, the driver in the other cab smiled and saluted us. |
| He was holding a banana. |
| — Ann Tilley |
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