Winners and Losers 05/15/15

This week in New York was like an episode of Game of Thrones with so many storylines you can't keep them straight. We saw a political power shift in the state senate, New York City’s mayor traveling the country, Gov. Cuomo making a public appearance with Cardinal Dolan—and all of it overshadowed by the ominous Amtrak tragedy and the scary reports of a fire at Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.

Hopefully our Winners and Losers will get you up to speed. 

WINNERS

Bill Bratton - He’s beating the boss. A Quinnipiac University poll found more New York City voters approve of the NYPD commissioner’s tenure—55 percent—than how Mayor Bill de Blasio handles the police—35 percent. New Yorkers of all races support the so-called Broken Windows policing tactic endorsed by Bratton. And amid intense local and national scrutiny of police-involved shootings, Bratton’s force managed to skirt such questions when an officer shot a suspect four times. Video surveillance appeared to back up cops’ description of a man believed to have assaulting passersby with a hammer coming at a cop. 

Timothy Dolan - New York’s archbishop is trying yet again push through a tax credit that would benefit private Catholic schools across the state, and this time Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making it seem like it’s truly a top priority. The legislation still faces hurdles in the Democratic Assembly, and the increasing emphasis on private over public schools in the governor’s bill might not help the cause much, but advocates were emboldened by the governor's actions this week. 

Judith Enck - Enck and local environmentalists rejoice! Gov. Cuomo dropped his appeal of the federal government’s decision to reject the administration’s plan to help finance the new Tappan Zee Bridge with $511 million from a fund intended for clean-water projects. Just this once, it appears the administration has been thwarted in one of its many moves to divert money intended for one thing to something else entirely.  

John Flanagan - Strong Island lived up to its name as the veteran lawmaker ascended to the majority leader role over the politically dead body of Dean Skelos. It may have been a bloody battle behind closed doors, but the conference wants everyone to know that they are united behind him, especially his top rival John DeFrancisco publicly stating his loyalty every time he walks by a tv camera. 

Mark Weprin - Being on good terms with plenty of politicians at the city and state level wasn’t enough for the Queens councilman to land the job of Council speaker last year, but it certainly could help him in the new job he’s taking as the governor’s deputy secretary for legislative affairs. Plus, his vacancy might shape up nicely for his brother, Assemblyman David Weprin, to spend more time back in the borough ... or not.  

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio – The mayor is dominating at one thing—amassing poor poll figures. Two consecutive Quinnipiac University polls found majority of voters disapproved of de Blasio’s handling of police and 46 percent believed his involvement in national affairs was distracting him from city duties. Oh yeah, and overall he got his lowest approval score to date—44 percent. Several editorials ripped de Blasio’s trip to D.C., even as a deadly Amtrak derailment underscored why he was calling for more federal transit investments. The trips did distract some from a Joint Commission on Public Ethics investigation into whether his nonprofit campaign group has circumventing lobbying rules and from uniformed unions’ dissatisfaction with his proposed disability benefit changes. 

Joseph Boardman - The President and CEO of Amtrak had a nightmarish week dealing with the tragic train derailment that killed eight people. As if things could get any worse for Boardman, the House Appropriations Committee killed a bill that would have increased funding for rail infrastructure with the express goal of improving safety. As it stands Amtrak would actually see a $300 million decrease in funding next year. 

Leo Denault - The fire at the Indian Point power station gave Andrew Cuomo the perfect excuse to remind us all that he’d really prefer it if the nuclear plant was no longer operational, which can't make the CEO of Entergy happy. The fire posed no threat to residents in the surrounding area, and it’s unclear if any oil from the accident actually reached the Hudson River, bit it’s still a bad development for the 2,000-megawatt gorilla in New York City’s living room (or backyard), which would probably prefer to keep as low a profile as possible. 

Dean Skelos - Another one bites the dust. Last week, Skelos and other state Senate Republicans swore their continued faith and support for the Senate majority leader after he was arrested on corruption charges … clearly that didn’t last. Skelos stepped down on Monday after facing pressure from fellow Republicans and donors. As if Albany politicians had been afraid already of Bharara’s attention, this appears to be the first time both leaders of the state Legislature have been arrested on corruption charges in the same session. Even for Albany that’s pretty bad.

Howard Zemsky - Holding the state’s top economic development post brought headaches this week as the ESDC Executive Director had to deal with the fall out from a damaging State Comptroller’s Office audit of Start-Up NY, the Cuomo administrations heavily-touted program creating tax free zones. The audit said that the state’s use of $45 million to advertise Start-Up NY showed “no tangible results,” creating just 76 jobs in the first year of the program. In addition, the University at Buffalo has seen the highest number of sites awarded Start-Up status. Even though he is new to the job, Zemsky’s tight relationship with his former co-chair of the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council, UB President Satish Tripathi, could open him up to criticism as well. State officials say that the program is too young to judge. But not too young to incur the wrath of those looking to knock the governor down a peg.