Winners and Losers 02/27/15

Members of the state Legislature felt like winners this week with legendary pitcher Pedro Martinez in town. Even Yankees fans, still sour from the 2004 ALCS, were quick to greet him. Unfortunately, one of New York's biggest Red Sox fans, Bill de Blasio, missed Pedro's appearance by a day. The mayor engaged in his own rivalry experience on Wednesday though, as, once again, he had to duel for the spotlight with the governor--or did that just happen in our "twisted" mind? To the scoreboard for this week's winners and losers.  

WINNERS

Jeff Klein - The Independent Democratic Conference leader took a risk last year when he promised to rejoin with the state Senate Democratic Conference to create a Democratic majority … and it didn’t work out so well. After Senate Republicans gained a majority at the polls, observers wondered if Klein was going to be persona non grata. However, his relationship with Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos must have survived because Klein has once again been included in the "three men in a room" (although, technically it’s four with Klein) budget negotiations. 

Loretta Lynch - With the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approving her attorney general nomination 12-8, Lynch is poised to go before the full Senate bolstered by this week's high-profile arrest of three men in a headline-grabbing terrorism case. Her office charged two Brooklyn men with plotting to join the Islamic State and a third with helping organize and fund their activities, which could go a long way toward dispelling any accusations from Senate Republicans that she will be soft on terrorism. 

Taylor Swift - The 25-year-old pop-singing sensation donated $50,000 to the New York City school system this week, a substantial sum albeit a drop in the bucket for a multi-millionaire who moved into a nearly $20 million Tribeca penthouse last year. The donation was part of a promise Swift made to direct all the proceeds from her single “Welcome to New York” to the schools. Unfortunately for the city's roughly 1.2 million public school students, the song only made it to No. 48 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Hopefully next time she makes the philanthropic pledge with one of her chart-toppers. 

Peter Ward - Here’s a tip: if you want to raise wages in New York, get Ward on your side. The influential Hotel Trade Council president supported an increase in the minimum wage for tipped workers, and this week the Cuomo administration agreed to bump it up to $7.50 in New York City. And when the governor publicly announced the hike, Ward was at his side.

David Zweibel - Sometimes candidate’s forums succeed where court cases don’t—just ask the head of Agudath Israel of America, an umbrella group for ultra-Orthodox communities. Agudath and others filed a lawsuit challenging the requirement in New York City that parents sign consent forms before having infants undergo a traditional circumcision procedure known to pose a herpes transmission risk. As courts weighed the matter, de Blasio committed to reforming the city’s approach while campaigning for mayor. This week, he followed through on that promise and dropped the waivers.

LOSERS

Carmen Farina - Talk about bad timing. New York City’s Department of Education approved a controversial contract worth up to $637 million Wednesday with the very same tech firm that was implicated in a kickback scandal while working for the city just a few years back. The tech firm in question, CSS, was found to have helped conceal the actions of an outside contractor accused of pocketing $1.7 million over six years. With education a top priority in the de Blasio administration, the schools chancellor can't be happy she is dealing with this debacle this week.  

David Jones and David Thomas - The Working Families Party was glad to put the legal saga surrounding the 2009 campaign of Councilwoman Debi Rose behind them this week, but two of Rose's campaign staffers were not so lucky. It was revealed this week that Jones and Thomas were indicted on criminal charges for false filing of campaign documents. There may be some holes in this case, or at least the defendants' attorneys think so, but it's still not a good week when you are in the crosshairs of the law. 

Darlene Mealy - The city councilwoman from Brooklyn faces a lawsuit contending she used her position to have a landlord arrested when he hung signs broadcasting their rent dispute. The landlord, a retired FDNY lieutenant, alleged Mealy’s campaign failed to pay $7,000 in back rent on a Crown Heights office. While the case may come to nothing, its not the type of headline an elected official likes to have hanging over their head. 

Shola Olatoye - When Olatoye took over as chair of the beleaguered New York City Housing Authority, there were plenty of problems, from a lack of funding to a backlog of urgent repairs. But reports this week that NYCHA was selling unused office supplies for a fraction of their cost was a new complaint—and one that elected officials quickly pounced on. Worse still, nobody in city government has figured out how to pronounce Olatoye’s name.  

Al Sharpton - A damning Post story ran this week that had multiple sources saying the Reverend is “all about the money.” Admittedly, it is one of many articles written in the Post criticizing Sharpton, but the accompanying videos paint a damaging picture of a man more focused on his own success than helping victims of racial discrimination.