Winners & Losers 4/22/16

It’s been quite the week in the Empire State. The New York primaries, won by New Yorkers in both major parties, had the country’s eyes on us, as they always should be, and one of our state’s most famous politicians, Alexander Hamilton, had his likeness spared from removal from the $10 bill. So while the state as a whole was a winner this week, our readers as always must deem one lucky person this week’s winner, and one unfortunate soul the loser.

WINNERS

Alice Cancel – The Lower East Side district leader won former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s seat, securing about 39 percent of the vote in a four-way special election. Her new assemblywoman title, however, is only temporary – she’ll likely face a slew of challengers in the Democratic primary this September.

Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump – The former secretary of state, who once served as a U.S. senator for the Empire State, and the bombastic New York City-based real estate mogul took the New York primaries by wide margins. While Clinton’s win was less decisive – she only won by 16 points to Trump’s dominant 35 points – both moved into commanding positions in their efforts to secure first-ballot nominations at the conventions this summer. After long stints on the campaign trail criss crossing the country, it was good to be home for the frontrunners.

Alicia Glen – De Blasio’s deputy mayor for affordable housing and economic development can check the first of 15 potential neighborhood rezonings off her list. The City Council voted to implement the mayor’s signature Mandatory Inclusionary Housing zoning template – which allows for larger residential projects but requires that a portion of the new units be permanently affordable – in East New York. Glen’s got to be celebrating, considering that she’s been talking about affordable housing since the day she was appointed.

Todd Kaminsky – Although his rival has yet to concede in the contest for Dean Skelos’ old seat in the state Senate, Kaminsky and his fellow Democrats felt comfortable enough with their 780-vote lead to declare victory. In his election night speech, the assemblyman got a bit cocky (“The ‘T’ in my name wasn’t for taxing, it was for ‘I told you so!’”) and even a bit over the top. But after one late-breaking poll showed him down by 8 points, can you blame him?

Andrea Stewart-Cousins – The state Senate Democratic leader scored a huge victory this week when Kaminsky won the race to replace the disgraced Skelos. Republicans in the chamber still (barely) maintain a majority, but only thanks to a Democrat who caucuses with them. Losing the 9th Senate District race will make it all that much harder for them to retain their control of the Senate after the November elections. We imagine Senate Republicans are more than a little nervous right now.

LOSERS

Evgeny Freidman – Freidman, the de Blasio-allied taxi medallion mogul, has filed for bankruptcy, seen his business model seriously compromised by ride-sharing services like Uber and now has to pay a $250,000 fine, plus restitution to drivers he is accused of bilking out of pay, as part of a consent decree agreement with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. How does a taxi kingpin catch a break in this town?

Alex Lichtenstein – It’s the headache that just won’t end for City Hall, and Lichtenstein is just the latest crooked New Yorker caught up in the federal probe of the NYPD. Lichtenstein was arrested over the weekend in Rockland County, accused of bribing NYPD officers with cash to get handgun permits. Those guns were presumably going to the Borough Park Shomrim, the Brooklyn neighborhood’s Orthodox civilian patrol of which Lichtenstein’s listed as CFO. No to packing heat. Yes to a funding freeze.

Bill Lipton – Not only did the Working Families Party have a bad day at the polls last Tuesday, the political party has had a bad few years. It started in 2014, when the political party controversially endorsed Gov. Andrew Cuomo for re-election over Zephyr Teachout, and it continued to this week, when favored candidates like Bernie Sanders and Yuh-Line Niou failed to beat their election foes. On top of that, the party has lost the financial backing of several of the state’s biggest unions. As the party’s state director, none of this reflects well on Lipton.

Patricia Lynch & Janele Hyer-Spencer – If the anonymous sources in the tabloids are to be believed, Lynch, a lobbyist, and former lawmaker Hyer-Spencer both had affairs with Sheldon Silver, once one of the powerful men in the state. (This mess makes Silver a loser, too, but we’ll wait on his sentencing before putting him back on this list yet again.) Apart from any moralizing, the conflicts of interest alone are enough to condemn the relationships, and it’s clear none of the parties wanted these sordid details to get out.

Michael Ryan – We can’t hold the executive director of New York City’s Board of Elections accountable for all of the city’s primary problems (we’re looking at you, board of directors). But this week Ryan was faced with countless voting violation reports across the city, possibly tens of thousands of mistaken voters purged from the database in Brooklyn, threats to journalists from poll workers and now probes from both New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. You’ve got about six months until November, Ryan. Don’t screw this up twice in one year.