Winners & Losers 6/24/16

In their long-running feud, Gov. Andrew Cuomo tends to get the better of Mayor Bill de Blasio. But not in this week’s Winners & Losers! New York City’s mayor got just one more year of control over the city’s schools, but it’s been clear for weeks that he wasn’t going to get a long-term extension. Cuomo, meanwhile, talked a big game on ethics reforms, but couldn’t – or wouldn’t – deliver on several of his biggest promises.

WINNERS

Barbara Bowen – Strikes work – or even the threat of one! A month after the 25,000-strong CUNY faculty and staff union voted to authorize a strike if a contract couldn’t be reached, President Barbara Bowen got to announce an end to the six-year impasse with a 10 percent salary boost. The deal is tentative, but both sides are eager for approval so that summer vacation can really begin.

David Buchwald – Many advocates had a lukewarm reaction to this year’s ethics reforms, but one thing that was included was the first step towards pension forfeiture for public officials convicted of corruption. While Buchwald’s bill wasn’t the one that ultimately passed, the assemblyman has long championed the issue – even before the arrests of two disgraced legislative leaders. This is one lawmaker who didn’t just jump on the ethics bandwagon.

Nigel Eccles & Jason Robins – The DraftKings and FanDuel CEOs can again legally offer their fantasy sports wagering services in the fourth most populous state in the union. With the approval of the state Legislature in the dying breaths of the legislative session – and now pending the signature of Gov. Andrew Cuomo – the bill brings an end to the three-month halt to the popular form of online gambling … we mean, game of skill.

Julissa Ferreras-Copeland – In the year of the tampon, the Queens city councilwoman is a hero. In a first-in-the-nation move that’s getting national press attention, New York City’s legislators voted unanimously to provide free tampons and pads in schools, jails and shelters. For any men feeling squeamish, Ferreras-Copeland has this reminder: “They're as necessary as toilet paper.”

Lovely Warren – It’s not just the below-the-radar policy legislation that come to light at the end of session. Of the $56 million in state pork barrel spending this year, one of the top recipients was Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, which is owned by the city and received a hefty $3.5 million. For the Flower City and its mayor, pork never taste so good.

LOSERS

Yougorthen Ayouni - Talk about an embarrassing way to lose your job. The Democratic “tracker” was fired after Phil Oliva, a Republican seeking to unseat Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, said that his wife caught Ayouni peering in the windows of their Westchester home. Ayouni, who is also accused of using an alias to try to interact with Oliva’s wife online, might have a tough time finding more work now that “stalker” comes up in internet searches about him.

Andrew Cuomo – Not many elected officials walked from this year’s end-of-session agreements very happy – with at least one notable exception. Gov. Andrew Cuomo claimed this year’s session one of the most “remarkably productive” ones he’s overseen. But those pushing for upstate ridesharing, a 421-a renewal, affordable housing or a change in the statute of limitations on child sex abuse would disagree – while the same goes for ethics reform.

Josh Meltzer – It doesn’t matter how many B-list celebrities you have on your side if you can’t sway the state Legislature. So tech darling Airbnb’s head of public policy saw the end of session bring more regulation to the sharing economy, with a bill passed that would mostly outlaw the rentals of entire homes or apartments. A glimmer of hope: noted hotel guy Cuomo hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it.

Tom Prendergast – The MTA chairman made it easier to report sexual harassment on New York City’s subways, but when incidents went up because of more reporting, Cuomo berated Prendergast in an open letter. Then news emerged that the first segment of the Second Avenue Subway won’t be completed in time for its targeted opening date of December without “unprecedented performance" by work crews. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Bill Bratton – The first week of summer was hardly a breeze for Bratton. On Monday, federal prosecutors arrested three NYPD commanders on corruption charges. The Post hit Bratton for reinstating two police officials who faced questioning in the probe just so they could retire. De Blasio’s own Department of Investigation and its NYPD inspector general contradicted Bratton with a report claiming cops’ enforcement of quality-of-life offenses has no bearing on the felony rate. If this keeps up, the NY-13 congressional candidates won’t be the only ones saying the NYPD commissioner should resign.