Now we know who really is the most powerful lobby in Albany… Big Yogurt. While New York again had to reset its “Number of Days Since An Elected Official Has Been Indicted” clock to zero, the State Senate was doing the people’s business voting on whether to make yogurt the state’s official snack. In other gripping news, lieutenant governor Bob Duffy announced that he would not be running for reelection with Governor Cuomo, which could have made him a candidate for Loser of the Week—if anyone cared. But there were, as always, plenty of folks who did catch our eye or make our blood boil—your Winners and Losers of the Week.

WINNERS

Alicia Glen - Mayor de Blasio’s housing czar got her moment in the sun this week with the long-awaited release of the mayor’s ten-year housing plan, which has her fingerprints all over it. The plan, which calls for the creation or preservation of 200,000 units of affordable housing, was well-received by most corners of the city’s housing community, with Glen able to thread the needle between not alienating real estate developers while committing to deeper affordability for low-income New Yorkers. But make no mistake, the plan is a huge undertaking, and much of it is dependent on federal and state cooperation to reach its lofty goals. 

Brian McLaughlin - Disgraced former Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin might be having the best week he’s had since going to prison in 2009 for stealing over $3 million from taxpayers, contractors, labor unions and even a Queens Little League team. He got four years shaved off his 10-year sentence for helping the FBI nail other corrupt state lawmakers. One agent even dubbed him the “best cooperating witness he ever had,” according to McLaughlin’s lawyer. It’s a dubious bragging right at best, but when you’re in prison for stealing from a kids’ sports team, among other things, you take what you can get. Federal prosecutors say the reduced sentence will encourage other fallen lawmakers to roll on their corrupt colleagues. Regardless of whether this is true, McLaughlin can rest easier knowing he’ll be walking free a whole lot sooner.

Carl Paladino - How did Paladino make out in “the most important election in the history of the City of Buffalo?” Pretty well—and he wasn’t actually running. A pair of candidates Paladino supported (Larry Quinn and Patti Bowers Pierce) made it onto the Buffalo Public School Board, riding what The Buffalo News called a “tide of change.” Paladino, a board member himself, has been trying to push out Superintendent Pamela Brown, whose dismissal could now be coming after a year of tension in city schools. With Quinn and Pierce joining the board July 1, Paladino will have extra support in his bid to reform the school system from the top.

Diane Savino - With both sides dug in deeply and medical marijuana legislation seemingly going nowhere recently in the state Senate, even the baby steps made this week toward passage of the Compassionate Care Act had to feel like giant leaps for Savino, the bill’s main sponsor. State Sen. Joe Robach signed onto the bill as its first Republican sponsor. While it remains to be seen how much the addition of his name will help, in making the first move he does open the door, even if it is only slightly, for others to tag along. And with Erie County Republican Chair Nick Langworthy saying he’s speaking with Republican state senators about supporting the bill in an effort to improve the party’s image among swing voters, the stalled piece of legislation may finally have some traction.

Robert Antonacci – The Onondaga County Comptroller-turned state Comptroller candidate might be virtually unknown right now, but it looks like he will have a good chunk of state funds to help him up his name recognition. Since he is likely to only GOP candidate in the field to challenge the incumbent, Tom DiNapoli, Antonacci only has to raise about $200,000 in small donations in order to eventually qualify for $4 million in matching funds and make him the first participant ever in the new state pilot program. Antonacci has embraced the new bill and looks likely to score some free media for doing so.

LOSERS

Rob Astorino - The Republicans finally got a candidate for state comptroller this week, so now the party simply has to scrounge up someone to run for lieutenant governor alongside him. That may be easier said than done, of course, given that several promising potential candidates—former U.S. Attorney Michael Battle, Assemblywoman Jane Corwin and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis—all are reportedly not interested in being Robin to Astorino's Batman. At least the GOP can take comfort in the fact that Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn't have a running mate right now, either.

Steven Banks - Nobody said this job was going to be easy. It turns out the new commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources Administration is inheriting quite the mess, as the Daily News reported that the agency fails to comply with its own procedures for processing documents, resulting in long waits for those filing complaints, and that HRA staff compounds the problem by reportedly treating customers disrespectfully and apathetically. Banks was hired by the mayor to reform the embattled agency, and he deserves a chance to do so, but one has to wonder if these issues run too deep to be fixed quickly enough.

Jim Coughlin - He's out of comptrol! The Dutchess County comptroller's Twitter history came up again, this time for his tweet that MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry should keep her "stinking paws off my kid, you damned dirty ape." Harris-Perry, who had called for more community involvement in raising children, just so happens to be black, prompting accusations that Coughlan's remark was racist. Coughlan, a Republican, denied knowing Harris-Perry’s race, and said he was just quoting Planet of the Apes. Whatever the case, it certainly won't help his current campaign for the state Senate.

Ruben Wills - Another one bites the dust. Wills, a Councilman from southeast Queens, is the latest New York City politician to be indicted in a corruption case, having allegedly pilfered money from a nonprofit he ran to buy himself some new threads and accessories at various department stores, among a litany of other crimes. Credit is due to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who gets another scalp to go along with Wills’ former boss, ex-state senator Shirley Huntley, currently serving a prison sentence for a similar offense. In fact, Huntley enabled Wills’ alleged crime by awarding a $33,000-member item to his nonprofit back in 2008. In this case, with Huntley and Wills, it seems the apple has fallen right next to the tree.

Frank MacKay – The Independence Party Chair has a problem. Liberal Democrats don’t like him. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but it is a gubernatorial election year and his party needs someone on the top of the ticket who will get 50,000 votes for the party. Four years ago, they had Andrew Cuomo to rely on, but with Cuomo courting the left, the left is calling on the governor not to take the Independence Party line. Now MacKay has a big problem. And if he doesn’t sort it out soon he may not have a viable party anymore.