Winners & Losers 7/3/15

We are a week removed from the Big Ugly and are starting to get a more clear picture of the winners and losers from the end of session scramble. And speaking of ugly—it got ugly this week with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio taking a public shot at Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But did either make our list? Read on to find out.

WINNERS

Jay Cook - The massive manhunt for two upstate fugitives ended as it began: like a movie. Alone in the countryside and spitting distance from the Canadian border, this state police sergeant faced off with cop killer David Sweat. When Sweat ran, Cook did his best Tommy Lee Jones impression and brought him down—alive. The governor—not to mention the national news media—hailed him as a hero. We’d like to think that Cook tipped his hat, said “Just doin’ my job,” and strode off into a sunset. 

Paul Fernandes and Pat Purcell - When construction union advocates made a late session pitch to try and tie prevailing wage to 421a most Albany insiders dismissed the idea, suggesting there wasn't enough time or political will to make something like that happen. In the end, the Up4NYC advocates forced the legislature to give them 6 months to broker a deal with real estate interests on a reformed 421a. A lot can happen in that time, but just getting to the table is a victory for the unions. 

Steven Matteo - Turns out ties to Progressive City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito did not trump the Staten Island son’s desire to keep the GOP minority leadership position on the island. After Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich highlighted his relationship with Mark-Viverito while campaigning to lead the three-member caucus, Matteo and outgoing Staten Island Minority Leader Vincent Ignizio held a two-person vote anointing Matteo the next leader. 

John Sexton – That’ll teach those pesky neighborhood groups a lesson! Sexton, the president of New York University, came out on top this week when the state’s highest court upheld his ambitious plan to expand the flagship Washington Square campus into Greenwich Village. The controversial push made plenty of enemies, but it paid off in the end, giving him a big victory on his way out next year.

Claire Shulman – The former Queens BP scored a sweet deal when her small nonprofit was designated to develop a portion of Flushing in one of the city’s 15 rezoning projects across the city. What’s odd about the arrangement is that all of the other ones are being run by the city’s Planning Department. That’s a hard one to explain for the de Blasio administration, but it’s a win for Shulman—who actually hired the city rather than the other way around.

LOSERS

John Dunleavy - Gay marriage was legal across both America and Ireland, but one powerful, seemingly insurmountable obstacle remained for the LGBT community: the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. For 22 years, the parade’s chairman blocked gay groups from participating, because as everyone knows, St. Patrick’s Day in the Big Apple has always been a model of traditional moral behavior. This week, though, the parade’s board decided enough was enough, and ousted Dunleavy from his post—clearing the way for folks who really know how to throw a parade.

Aurelia Greene - We all slip up when we talk. Maybe say something we didn't exactly mean to say. Well, for the Deputy Bronx Borough President, a slipup in a robocall cost her $3500. By saying her name in a re-election call for BP Diaz Jr. in 2013, Greene was found to have violated the city charter and was slapped with the hefty fine by the Conflicts of Interest Board. It may have just been an honest mistake ... but it was a costly one. 

Allie Feldman - It sounds like the NYCLASS executive should be holding her horses—at least when it comes to lobbying lawmakers. The New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets’ latest ad campaigns have put off some, including City Councilwoman Debbie Rose who claimed she’s been so inundated by those calling for a ban on horse carriages that she opposes the measure. In the Bronx, City Councilman Ritchie Torres described mailers alluding to carriage drivers’ alleged derogatory statements as “deeply offensive,” and at least five others said it left them less inclined to support the proposed horsecarriage prohibition. 

Malcolm Smith – Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Malcolm Smith once led the Senate Democrats to the promised land of the majority. But he strayed from the straight and narrow path and was laid low, cast out by his conference and judged to be guilty. Humbled and downtrodden, he did not repent of his deceitfulness and covetousness, and for his sins he was sent to prison for seven years.

Joseph Strasburg – Tenant advocates were furious that they didn’t get a better deal with the renewal of rent regulation in Albany, but that doesn’t mean landlords are exactly happy. That’s because New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board approved its first-ever rent freeze, prompting Strasburg, the head of the landlord group the Rent Stabilization Association, to call the decision “unconscionable” and “politically driven.”