Winners & Losers 06/12/15

Fear was the theme of the week. Our legislative leaders in Albany may be so scared of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara that they’re unable to come to any agreement on the remaining issues. That fear was nothing compared to what many New Yorkers are feeling afer the prison escape by two murderers upstate. Now the full power of the law is chasing those men down, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo taking every opportunity to step away from Albany to update the national press on the chase. Does that make him a winner? Read on to find out.

WINNERS

John DeFrancisco - There were a lot of great performances at this week's LCA show, but a highlight was the Republican rebuttal from the Syracuse-area state senator for his self-deprecating humor. He poked fun at his lost leadership battle, roasted several of the state's most prominent players and weaved in some musical interludes to boot. 

Harlan Juster – New Yorkers are getting burned out on cigarettes. The statewide smoking rate just fell to a record law, according to state officials, with high school smoking down by 42 percent over the past four years and just 14.5 percent of adults now lighting up—several points below the national average. A big part of the success is due to the efforts of the state’s Bureau of Tobacco Control, which is run by Juster. The only risk now is if the remarkable success leads to funding cuts in prevention programs.

Christopher Kay – American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, but the racehorse wasn’t the only big winner this past weekend. The New York Racing Authority, headed by Kay, capped attendance levels at the Belmont Stakes and took other steps to successfully improve on last year’s disastrous attempt at crowd control. In the end, the experience was much better for fans—both at the track and on the way home.

Kristy Mazurek – The Steve Pigeon ally appears to be singing her way out of the crosshairs of state and federal law enforcement officials for her role in alleged campaign finance irregularities in the filings of several political committees. Despite being the treasurer of WNY Progressive Caucus, Mazurek avoided a knock at the door from FBI agents while Pigeon and two others involved in the PAC weren't so lucky. Now, its reported she has immunity, which if true is a sweet deal with the relentless Preet Bharara on your tail. 

David Niederman – The rabbi is one step closer to limiting New York City's meddling in a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice. The city Board of Health voted to consider waiving a consent form currently required of parents. Instead, the board will consider distributing brochures on herpes risks associated with sucking blood from the wound of a recently circumcised baby. And now that Mayor Bill de Blasio stacked the board with allies, it is expected to approve the compromise in September and allow the mayor to make good on a campaign promise to a key political constituency. 

LOSERS

Brian Coll, Byron Taylor and Anthony Torres – The trio of correction officers appear poised to be U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s posterboys for Rikers Island reform. Bharara’s office charged them in the 2012 death of inmate Ronald Spear, alleging that Coll repeatedly stomped on the inmate as Taylor and Torres restrained him. The corrections officers then concocted a story about what transpired before Spears’ death, prosecutors said.

Jamshed Bharucha – After months of turmoil and investigation at Cooper Union following a decision to start charging tuition at the traditionally free school, President Jamshed Bharucha announced his resignation, right on the heels of the exit of five of the school's trustees. In April the board reportedly told the state attorney general, who is investigating the developments that led to the school charging tuition, that it would be OK with not renewing Bharucha’s contract anyway. At least he saw the writing on the wall. 

Carl Heastie – This week didn't get off to a good start for the rookie Assembly speaker. With a handful of key bills on the docket, he instead found himself dealing with another piece picking apart his past, this time The New York Times taking aim at his campaign spending. He did have on defender, as former Rep. Anthony Weiner fired back at the Gray Lady during an appearance on NY1, calling the reporting lazy. But when the high point is Weiner coming to your defense, it's safe to say it wasn't a great week. 

Joyce Mitchell – As a prison employee, your No. 1 job is to keep the inmates behind bars until the government says they can leave. Mitchell not only dropped the ball on that one, authorities are alleging she helped two convicted killers make an amazing escape from the Clinton Correctional facility in Dannemora. Something tells us she’ll be spending a lot more time in prison after this—and she won’t be working there. 

Carl Paladino - “Crazy Carl,” as he is known in some circles, has again put his foot in his mouth, with accusations of racism being hurled at the Buffalo School Board member and one-time gubernatorial candidate. The Western New York developer said those “damn Asians” were taking up an unfair amount of spots at the nearly 30,000-student University at Buffalo while getting in-state tuition after attending the school for one year. He didn't mention that international students, who mostly attend American universities on scholastic visas and make up less than 20 percent of UB students, are not eligible for the tuition discount. Paladino backpedatlled but was still panned online, in a Buffalo News column and on Twitter. The lightning rod is back in a familiar role, and if history is any indicator this won’t be the last example of “Carl being Carl."