Winners & Losers 2/19/16
The Presidents Day week is often slow, with lawmakers enjoying some time off. But the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the heated presidential primaries have kept things humming, and that’s just on the federal level. It got so busy, in fact, that there wasn’t any space for Chuck Schumer, Bill Bratton, Jeff Klein, Ruben Wills, Richard Emery or Vincent Gentile on this week’s loser list.
WINNERS
Danny Donohue – Seven terms! Donohue’s re-election as president of CSEA means he’ll remain at the helm of the state’s largest public employees union where he has served since 1994, giving stability to organization that has to make the other big state workers union jealous. Representing 265,000 members statewide (bigger than the city of Buffalo!), Donohue is a force to be reckoned with.
Melissa Mark-Viverito – By calling for closing Rikers Island during her State of the City address, the speaker inspired quite a bit of chatter and prompted de Blasio’s frenemy Gov. Andrew Cuomo – and even the mayor’s wife, first lady Chirlane McCray – to praise the idea. The mayor said shuttering the jail complex was “a noble idea” but poses fiscal problems. Of course, some people, including the city Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook, took issue with Mark-Viverito’s proposal.
Chirlane McCray – With Valentine’s Day last weekend, the first lady of New York City was first in the hearts of the press this week, with big profiles and interviews in The New York Times Magazine and Jezebel. And they weren’t just puff pieces, either. McCray took a stand on saying that Rikers should close, in sharp contrast to her husband’s position. Maybe de Blasio should be keeping an eye out for a 2017 primary challenge from an unlikely place – Gracie Mansion.
Brandon Baron and Joseph Ferrara – In New York there’s an unwritten rule: Giving begets giving. Evidence of this comes in the form of Empire Outlets, a retail center planned for a plot near the Staten Island Ferry landing. The builders of the shopping mall recently learned that they would receive $47 million in state subsidies – in addition to $27 million they were already set to take in from New York City. What would warrant such lucrative assistance from the state and city? Well, a cynic might point to the $85,000 donated to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign fund from various people and entities tied to the developers. Just another day in the Empire State.
Kathy Sheehan – The Capital Region may not have won big in the $1.5 billion Upstate Revitalization Initiative late last year, but the Albany mayor scored a significant victory this week when the state agreed to allot an extra $12.5 million for the city to plug a funding gap in its budget. We’re sure the mayor jumped for joy at the announcement – but probably not as high as it would have been if that funding were $500 million.
LOSERS
Andrew Cuomo – Lest Cuomo forget that the Governor’s Mansion contains glass windows, the state comptroller released an audit criticizing the administration’s oversight of homeless shelters. The audit came days after the Cuomo administration ripped New York City over its homeless facilities and after Cuomo himself touched on the topic in his State of the State address. Put on the defensive, Cuomo acknowledged that the state was not aggressive enough for a period of time.
Dennis Gabryszak – If ever a man exemplified the vile reputation of Albany’s sexist culture it’s Western New York’s own Dennis Gabryszak. The assemblyman resigned after more than half a dozen women alleged they had been sexually harassed in a variety of creepy instances while working for his office and a truly disturbing video surfaced. He was sanctioned by a state ethics panel and now has been leveled a fine of $100,000 for his indiscretions. It seems that Albany is finally making an example of someone, but why does it take such egregious acts to cause state leaders to bring down the hammer?
Ed Mangano – Whenever a politician has to say the word “sexting” at a press conference, it’s a good sign that his or her week is not going that great. Nassau police areinvestigating whether the Nassau county executive and a local marketing executive are victims of a hacking scandal related to X-rated texts sent between the two. Both have denied writing the texts. It remains to be seen what the investigation will find, but either way Mangano is sure to have a headache from the incident.
Eva Moskowitz – The Success Academy’s CEO might be the one who needs an education after missing a deadline with the de Blasio administration over securing funding for the charter school network’s prekindergarten program, which now leaves its fate in doubt. Then there was the video that emerged last Friday, in which a Success Academy teacher brutally chastised a student for failing to answer a question correctly. The behavior was widely criticized as an example of the the charter school network’s hyperfocus on test scores and results, and not on real learning. Time to hit the books, Eva.
Eliot Spitzer – Sex is sex. Money is money. And a political disgrace is a political disgrace once again, as Spitzer seems to be back to his old habits of soliciting prostitutes (or a former one, at least). He might be getting lucky – legally, that is – as the woman who accused him of assault declined to press charges and flew to Russia, meaning the investigation into what happened at the Plaza has hit a wall. Needless to say, this ends any potential return to politics. But this being New York, his real estate business will probably be fine.