Winners & Losers 06/26/15

The legislative session now over, making the LCA reporters the biggest winners this week. Gov. Andrew Cuomo made out OK too, sneaking in a measure giving his office the power to officiate weddings--prompting lots of speculation in the Capitol. Mayor Bill de Blasio didn't make out nearly as well in Albany--but what else is new? Did any of them make our Winners & Losers list? Read on to find out.

WINNERS

Bill Bratton - The NYPD commissioner spurred New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s change of heart in the decision to fork over the money to hire nearly 1,300 additional cops in this year’s budget. Backed by the City Council, Bratton spent months requesting more officers. The New York City dailies editorialized about Bratton’s victory, with the Daily News going so far as to describe de Blasio’s decision-making an “astonishing, confidence-sapping mess.” For Bratton, it's now clear who wears the pants in this relationship.

Ron Kim and Martin Golden - De Blasio finally followed through on his campaign pledge to give kids in New York City the day off from school on the Lunar New Year, and while this marks a victory for an entire subset of the population—and any number advocates and elected officials—we’re handing the win to Assemblyman Ron Kim and state Sen. Martin Golden, who sponsored state legislation that would have forced the city to give students the day off anyway. Golden’s bill had already passed in the Senate, and the Assembly was said to be on the verge of a vote—so thanks, Ron and Marty, for lighting a fire under the mayor’s ass and helping him keep his word.

Michael Ryan - The executive director’s staff at the New York City Board of Elections may be feeling more amenable now that several managers are slated to get raises collectively valued at $202,000 a year. Ryan will personally be taking home $198,200, thanks to a nearly 10 percent raise. He said the new compensation rates, agreed to behind closed doors, were fair because it came after an analysis found other city agencies’ managers earn more.

Eric Schneiderman – The attorney general had a busy week. Cuomo said he would make Schneiderman a special prosector for cases of police shootings of unarmed civilians, and the AG also struck a deal with e-cigarette companies, launched an ad campaign to discourage mortgage scammers and penned two op-eds. In particular, the naming of Schneiderman as the special prosecutor is a big victory, as Cuomo, who was rumored to have been wary of giving the AG more power, may have to face the state’s top lawman in a primary in 2018.

Wayne Spence – Goodbye, Sue, and hello, Wayne. When Susan Kent was elected president of the Public Employees Federation three years ago, she pledged to put up more of a fight than Ken Brynien had in contract talks with the Cuomo administration. But after she fired top staffers and later pushed the union to back Zephyr Teachout’s primary challenge against the governor, some members figured she just didn’t know how to pick her battles. So this week, PEF’s rank and file ousted her in favor of Spence, a Long Island parole officer who had been the union’s No. 2.

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio – Senate Republicans blocked or weakened de Blasio’s top priorities in Albany. Assembly Democrats, his supposed allies, grumbled, calling him arrogant and out of touch. Sources from the office of his “friend” the governor dismiss him as “incompetent” and “bumbling.” Even the NYPD commissioner got him to back down this week, as the mayor agreed to add hundreds of new cops. Maybe he just needs to campaign harder for his progressive agenda—here at home.

Joseph D'Amico - Every day the escaped murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt are free is a bad day for the superintendent of the State Police. But on top of that ongoing nightmare, he was also forced by a FOIL request to finally release the SAFE Act registration numbers that clearly show many New Yorkers are not complying with the law. Maybe next week will be better for D'Amico. 

Carl Heastie – The new Assembly speaker faced an uphill battle this year at the negotiating table with Cuomo and state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and it showed in the final deal. Due to the governor’s close ties to the state Senate Republicans, many Assembly members said it was two-against-one in the closed-door meetings to decide the fate of the expired rent regulations and other end-of-session issues. Maybe next year MMA will be legalized and Heastie and Cuomo can settle this fight in a different fashion. 

Shola Olatoye - Whether or not New York City Housing Authority chairwoman is really to blame for NYCHA keeping its apartments vacant for an average of seven years while doing renovations (see Scott Stringer’s audit) is beside the point. Although she’s only been in her position for a year and change, Olatoye has to deal with the reality she’s been handed—and Stringer’s audit, coupled with a coalition of angry tenants and faith leaders calling for her ouster, definitely adds up to a bum week for her.

Crystal Peoples-Stokes - The veteran assemblywoman laid out an ambitious education-focused agenda for the 2015 legislative session, but came up short on a number of the bills she was promoting. The Buffalo Democrat pushed hard on a bill that would have handed control of the long-troubled Buffalo School District to her political ally Mayor Byron Brown, but many of her fellow Western New York legislators met the proposal with responses that ranged from lukewarm to cold. In addition, a bill to allocate $25 million for community schools across the state and the education investment tax credit, which she supported, didn’t make it through the process.