Who's up and who's down this week?

Was anyone a bigger winner this week than NYSNA's Jill Furillo, Billy Joel, or City Council members Corey Johnson and Antonio Reynoso? Did anyone have a worse week than President Donald Trump? Vote for the latest Winners & Losers!

Grey box with words "Winners & Losers" written in black

Grey box with words "Winners & Losers" written in black

The Discovery Channel says Shark Week starts this weekend, but everyone’s favorite vicious fish couldn’t wait, and a couple of them took a bite out of some bathers on Fire Island. Forget a Moreland Commission – the sharks are now the target of a state Morewater Commission to Investigate Public Consumption. The human victims will be fine, and given how Cuomo’s handled investigations in the past, the sharks probably will be too.

WINNERS:

Jill Furillo -

In a historic victory against nurse stereotypes (Remember Greg Focker from “Meet the Parents”!?), Furillo’s New York State Nurses Association won a $20.8 million settlement with New York City over gender discrimination complaints. NYSNA’s lawsuit contested that the fact that nurses were forced to wait longer to retire with a full a pension while their counterparts in male-dominated professions get to receive a full pension at 50. As long as the court approves, it’s a win for Furillo – and especially the nurses at city-run hospitals.

Billy Joel -

You can say it’s political, but it’s still rock ‘n’ roll to Andrew Cuomo. Shortly after the disclosure of a $26,992 in-kind contribution from both Billy and Alexis Joel to Cuomo’s campaign, the governor released a proclamation on a parchment pdf that July 18 shall henceforth be known Billy Joel Day. Break out a bottle of red and a bottle of white, because, love or hate his music, now we all have celebrate him once a year.

Corey Johnson -

It’s a good day for prisoners. The New York City Council speaker sponsored a bill which allows incarcerated individuals to make domestic phone calls for free, and the legislation passed easily. He co-sponsored a bill that puts limits on Airbnb – which is also a big win for Peter Ward and the Hotel Trades Council, who are allies of the speaker. And on a truly serious note, congrats to Corey for nine years sober!

Antonio Reynoso -

One man’s trash was Reynoso’s treasure, as the Sanitation Committee chairman finally passed the waste equity bill that’s been wallowing in the New York City Council since the Quinn days. Passing the bill, which aims to limit the amount of garbage trucks in overburdened neighborhoods, is a win in itself, but it also bodes well for the tougher fight ahead over commercial waste zones, which will feature many of the same players and much more money.

Cameron & Tyler Winklevoss -

Remember the Winklevii? Well, they’re relevant again after getting the idea for Facebook stolen. The duo are now trying their hand at cryptocurrency. And they’ve had some luck! New York state approved their cryptocurrency exchange … less than a month after the twins gave Cuomo’s re-election campaign $100,000. The twins gave another $30K after the approval. It was the first time they ever donated to Cuomo. Coincidence? We leave that up to you.

LOSERS:

Mark Gjonaj -

The New York City Council just pulled the plug on $130,000 slated to go to a nonprofit Gjonaj cofounded. The freshman councilman insists he was just a regular-shmegular volunteer, even though the group's application to the IRS names him as an officer, director or trustee. “Not good optics,” explained Speaker Corey Johnson. The optics got a little worse for Gjonaj when he opposed the council's recently passed trash bill, which would hurt a controversial trash-hauling business with ties to his brother.

Christopher Kim -

Cynthia Nixon was hammering Gov. Andrew Cuomo for all his high-dollar campaign contributions. So why not bring down the average by making a lot of $1 donations? That was the brilliant idea of this overzealous Cuomo supporter, who gave to the governor’s re-election campaign 69 times over the course of three days as the filing deadline neared, for a total of $77. Kim also just so happens to share an address with a Cuomo advisor, and didn’t seem to think this might backfire. In the end, the Cuomo camp’s claim that 57 percent of contributions were for $250 or less didn’t tell the whole story.

Josh Meltzer -

The war between Airbnb and New York City seems to have come to a Bignbad end for the online home-sharing company. The City Council unanimously passed a bill forcing the company to share names and addresses of its hosts with the city in an effort to curb illegal rentals. Airbnb – including Meltzer, a top New York employee – hasn't held back on its criticism of the bill, attacking council members for being in bed with the hotel industry and questioning the methodology of research that backed the bill. Can't blame the company for being scared – a similar law in San Francisco halved its listings.

Dean & Adam Skelos -

The corrupt father-son tag team are down for the count once again. A jury found that former state Senate leader and Long Island power broker used his official power to corruptly secure work for his son in a retrial that literally ended with a crash of thunder. The doomed duo had done their best to dodge a second corruption conviction, with the elder Skelos even testifying in his own defense this time around. Alas, a father’s cries about his troubled son’s incompetence fell on deaf ears. Leave it to Albany to produce politicians so crooked that we need to convict them twice.

Donald Trump -

We wouldn’t not say it’s been a bad week for the Donald. The president trashed the British prime minister in an interview – while in the UK – and then denied he criticized her, despite audio recordings. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and ended up looking weak – or worse – on the international stage. He walked back his comments denigrating American intelligence – and then walked back the walk back. And back home in New York, his foundation is under investigation by the state Department of Taxation and Finances.