Winners & Losers 5/20/16

Sheldon Silver will be a free man for at least another two months. Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, will also get to soak in some summer sunshine before heading to the slammer. And John Sampson hasn’t even been sentenced, thanks to a judge’s postponement  until June. The temporary reprieves weren’t enough to make any of them winners, but they’re not losers this week, either. So check out who did land on our Winners & Losers list.

WINNERS

John Doe – We have no idea who he is … and that’s exactly how he wants it. We do know that he won – at least temporarily – a legal battle to block the release of a list of alleged co-conspirators in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal. While any very public effort to maintain anonymity can backfire (the Streisand effect, anyone?), this one is working. Though it hasn’t stopped a “Bridgegate fantasy league” among watchers of the cast guessing John Doe’s identity.

David Greenfield – Greenfield has spent years pressuring the MTA to restore express F train service in Brooklyn, and while the MTA has made it clear that nothing is set in stone just yet, the fact that the MTA is for the first time seriously considering and giving an estimate start date for shortened commutes for F train riders in South Brooklyn could lead to one of those victories elected officials can capitalize on to carry them with voters for years to come.

John Katko – Congress this week overwhelmingly passed a bill the New York congressman sponsored to bolster counterterrorism efforts. The bill passed 389-5. Considering Congress’ bipartisanship and productivity in recent years – or the lack of it – that’s quite the accomplishment.

Joseph Tortorella – The Western New York police officer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Valor this week. Tortorella, with his family looking on, had the medal draped over his neck by President Barack Obama, who honored the Niagara County deputy sheriff  for his actions during a standoff with an active shooter last year near an elementary school while classes were in session.

Deborah Wortham – Being a school superintendent isn’t an easy job – and being superintendent of a school district that reports eight of the district’s schools as troubled doesn’t make it any easier. Wortham, who has run the district since October, this week was appointed to be the district’s permanent superintendent. Not only that, she’s excited to try to turn around the problems in the district.

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio – It’s not easy being the equalizer in chief. Questions keep coming about potential conflicts of interest posed by his fundraising, even as he claims he needed the money to fight the status quo and achieve his ambitious agenda. The mayor this week went so far as to say he’ll release a list of donors whose projects were rejected by the city to prove he ran a clean City Hall. Meanwhile, state politicians have found the concerns a convenient excuse to hold up de Blasio’s continued control over public schools and state support for a Brooklyn Bridge Park development. De Blasio even took heat from allies like Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who compared his budget tactics to those used by Michael Bloomberg.

Rudy Giuliani & George Pataki – It’s been an awkward week for two of New York’s most prominent Republicans. There’s Giuliani, a Donald Trump supporter (but not endorser, since there’s apparently a difference) being accidentally named a New York delegate for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Then there’s Pataki, who ended up pulling out as a delegate for Trump after reports emerged that Trump loyalists were furious the former New York governor, an outspoken opponent, was now trying to be an official supporter at the Republican convention.

Michael Milici & Peter DeBlasio – Due to his last name, NYPD Inspector Peter DeBlasio is likely to be better remembered than some of the other senior police officials that have been placed on modified duty amid an expansive probe into two businessmen’s attempts to influence the NYPD and the de Blasio administration. But detective Michael Milici, whose reassignment turned into his termination, had it even worse this week.

Kevin Ryan & Mark Lazar – City Hall is having a tough time getting the city's homeless population into safe housing, and these two are adding to the headache. Lazar’s LCG Community Services is operating cluster site housing that’s apparently so horrible that the city is suing the buildings’ landlords for gross conditions like like leaky ceilings, rats and no fire exits. And Covenant House, the nonprofit shelter for teens and young adults run by Ryan, is getting its funding suspended while the city investigates a report that it’s fudging the numbers of youth its serves. Still optimistic, Commissioner Banks?

Howard Zemsky – Just months after contractors walked off the job at the Riverbend site – the key project in Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion initiative – because the state was far behind on payments, funding for the massive solar panel factory set to be run by SolarCity is again in limbo. Reports of fewer jobs didn’t help, as the company scrambled to explain discrepancies between their public promises and information in SEC filings. Top that off with the continuing flurry of reports on the investigation into the Riverbend project and other economic development projects across the state, and this week’s been nothing but a bucket of headaches for the state’s economic development czar.