Winners and Losers 05/01/15

This coming Tuesday, voters in a House district spanning Staten Island and Brooklyn will vote for a replacement to ex-Rep. Michael Grimm, and some Brooklynites will pick the successor to former Assemblyman Karim Camara—likely yielding two clear winners. In the meantime, we have our own ballot of winners and losers—and everyone is allowed to vote. 

WINNERS

Andrew Cuomo – Imagine it: the governor is playing guitar in his garage when he realizes the clocks are all 25 minutes slow. “Are you telling me it’s 8:25?” he asks. “I’m late for work!” So he jumps in his car, flips on the SIRENS, and makes it to the Capitol by 9. That’s right, the Cuomo administration just classified the governor’s ride as an emergency vehicle. That goes for his top aides, too. So when you see a classic Corvette roaring through a red light with Sandra Lee riding shotgun, don’t sweat, folks—that’s what a winner looks like.

Dante de Blasio – Congrats, Dante! Mayor Bill de Blasio’s son is off to Yale, First Lady Chirlane McCray announced this week, spurning other top tier and Ivy League institutions to join the Bulldogs. And he’ll be just two hours away—a quick trip back for whenever the mayor needs to #GoWithTheFro to boost his re-election campaign in a few years.

Tom Prendergast – The MTA’s leader hasn’t always enjoyed strong public support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has questioned the size of the cash-strapped transit agency’s proposed capital budget proposals. But a week ago the governor made the surprise announcement that he wants Prendergast to stay on for a full six-year term, which could offer some much needed consistency and stability. Now all the widely respected Prendergast has to do is close a $15 billion funding gap.

Linda Rosenthal - No matter what you think of the fight over Airbnb and illegal hotels, you have to admit that the assemblywoman went the extra mile to get her point across this week. Running her own hidden camera sting, she caught an illegal Airbnb operator in the act, and grabbed a splashy headline to boot. 

Michelle Titus – New York took a progressive step forward this week with the passage of a package of gender pay equity bills, after the Assembly followed the state Senate and passed the bills that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign. There were many sponsors and co-sponsors, but the Queens assemblywoman was the most visible advocate, so she lands on our winners list. 

LOSERS

Didi Barrett – The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times. The assemblywoman sent the same press release 1,500 times.

Pamela Geller – When most people think about government, “alacrity” isn’t the first word that comes to mind. But the MTA sprang to life this week with a ban on all political ads on its subways and buses, in response to a judge’s ruling that the authority had to display an ad from a pro-Israel group featuring the phrase “Hamas Killing Jews.” About this time last week, the group’s leader, Pamela Geller, thought she’d outgunned the MTA. Now it looks like she’ll have to take her campaign against Islam elsewhere.

Andy King ­– The chair of the New York City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus stands accused of firing a former staffer after she rebuffed his sexual advances. While the lawsuit has yet to be filed, the news of the impending litigation has already damaged his reputation. Regardless of how things play out in court, the accusations make this a week to forget for the councilman.

William Scarborough – The (soon to be former) assemblyman has changed his tune. Last year, he stood outside his legislative office in Albany after federal investigators had raided it and proclaimed his innocence. Now he says he’ll resign and plead guilty to charges that he received $40,000 for fraudulent state travel vouchers since 2012. But, we’re sure voters completely buy into the argument that this is an example of why state legislators need a raise!

Curtis Sliwa – Adios, papi. NY1 suspended Sliwa after activists planned a protest calling for the network to oust him from his “Inside City Hall” gig. Sliwa offended viewers when he capped off a rant about his attraction to New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito by saying, “Melissa, I’m you’re papi, right?” Sliwa initially responded to criticism on his radio show by saying he would like to sleep with the speaker. The remark was not well received. And, by the end of the week, he was claiming the schtick was satire.