Winners & Losers 2/5/16

In politics, yesterday’s enemy can be today’s friend, and today’s friend is tomorrow’s enemy. At least that’s the case for Mayor Bill de Blasio, who went out of his way during his State of the City address to applaud the NYPD – a group that hasn’t always been so keen on him. Meanwhile, his friendship with animal rights activists may fray if he can’t follow through on his horse carriage deal, whether it’s Day One or Day 766. But did he land on our weekly Winners & Losers list? 

 

WINNERS

Tim Hoefer – Did you hear the one about the guy on an NYPD disability pension who’s now a bodybuilder? Or another one who works as a sheriff in Florida and runs marathons? So did Hoefer, the Empire Center for Public Policy’s executive director who won another court case for the right to add the names of certain law enforcement officers receiving publicly-funded pensions to the organization’s ever-growing, searchable database.

Nick Langworthy – The Erie County GOP boss and his team will be playing host to Republicans from across the state for their spring convention. State Republican Committee Chairman Ed Cox, along with Langworthy, announced that the convention would be held at the newly-opened HarborCenter – owned by Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula – bringing the nominating event to the Queen City for the first time in years. The decision may be driven by the city’s positive momentum, but there’s no doubt Langworthy played a role in convincing the state bosses it was time for a trip out west.

Rossana Rosado – For most people, being editor and publisher of the largest Spanish-speaking newspaper in New York City would be the biggest accomplishment of their lives. But Rosado is moving on to an arguably more prominent role with her new appointment as Cuomo’s secretary of state, a role in which she will help lead New York as one of the top Hispanics in power. If nothing else, she'll get to travel the state talking about her new boss' historic agenda. And hey, the gig didn’t end up too badly for Mario Cuomo!

Jed Walentas – Walentas’ Two Trees Management is so bullish on its Brooklyn housing stock that it studied the idea of financing a lightrail route along the East River to be funded – in part – with tax revenues from a rise in home values such a line would be expected to spur. The idea appears to have seized the mayor’s attention so much that he proposed a 16–mile streetcar route from Sunset Park to Astoria in his State of the City speech.

Thomas Wilmot and Brent Stevens – The developers of the planned Lago casino in Seneca County have fended off yet another legal challenge to the building of their gambling resort, clearing the path to continue construction on the $425 million project. The builders likely have not seen the last of their foes, as opponents have vowed to appeal the decision to deny their challenge. But, for now, the walls will continue to go up on the Central New York casino.

LOSERS

John Flanagan – The fight to keep control of the state Senate was already looking difficult for the GOP majority leader, but Flanagan got more bad news this week when state Sen. Michael Nozzolio announced he would not run for re-election due to health concerns. Add that to the fact that state Sen. Simcha Felder (a Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans) and IDC Leader Jeff Klein are keeping mum about what they will do if Senate Democrats win Dean Skelos’ old seat on April 19 special election, and Flanagan must be more than a little nervous.

Melissa Mark-Viverito – It’s not that a pay raise for the New York City Council is a bad idea  – it’s more the way the Council speaker is going about it. First, the Council decided it deserved a bigger raise than a commission deemed necessary. Then, the vote was hastily scheduled for this Friday, the best weekday to bury unflattering news. Then she claimed she couldn’t control the timing of a vote – which is either disingenuous or a sign of weakness. The fact that the vote was set for the same day as a controversial carriage horse compromise didn’t help appearances any, though the collapse of that deal is just one more headache.

George Miranda – The sordid saga of the Central Park carriage horses has given us such a strong cast of characters that they could just about fill all of our loser slots for a second straight week. One that stood out was Miranda, the head of  Teamsters Joint Council 16 who had initially supported the widely criticized deal with de Blasio to reduce the ranks of the carriage drivers he represents. Then the umbrella Central Labor Council abandoned Miranda and sided with another union organizing pedicab operators. The only upside is that with the collapse of the deal, perhaps Miranda can put it all behind him.

Brian Murray – HarperCollins may be a publishing giant, but still makes mistakes. Critics rejoiced and supporters cringed when Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s memoir only sold about 3,000 copies. This week, the company announced the memoir would not be published in paperback due to such poor sales. It wouldn’t be too much of a loss for Murray, the CEO of HarperCollins, but the $1 million advance to Cuomo was a bad investment.

Ydanis Rodriguez – The city councilman asked for a raise that is not only larger than what an advisory board recommended, but also exceeded an even more generous pay hike that the rest of the New York City Council agreed to – insisting that they all need $175K to “make a living to support our families.” That comes off as a little too eager, especially for someone repping a district with a median income of $36,000. To top it off, Rodriguez was the sponsor of the failed horse carriage bill. Definitely not two pieces of legislation you want to be so closely involved with.