Who's up and who's down this week?
Was anyone a bigger winner this week than gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon? Did anyone have a worse week than Manhattan DA Cy Vance or former Council Speaker Christine Quinn? Check out the latest Winners & Losers to find out!
Grey box with words "Winners & Losers" written in black
Never underestimate the power of a reclaimed political insult. Have you seen all the proud “Deplorables” or self-proclaimed “Nasty Women” on Twitter? Cynthia Nixon’s fledgling gubernatorial campaign received a sobriquet bouquet this week, with Cuomo demeaning queries about the race as “small questions” and criticisms of his administration as part of “political silly season,” and – the crème de la crème – Christine Quinn’s “unqualified lesbian.” Will we coin our own insults this week? Just think of what Trump has done for “loser!”
Fred Dixon -
No matter how much New Yorkers complain about Times Square Elmos, slowing subways, and our anti-immigrant president, out-of-towners haven’t gotten the message. They love this place! New York saw another record high number of tourists in 2017, continuing a trend that’s lasted for years. A lot of credit goes to Dixon, president and CEO of the city’s tourism agency NYC & Company, who’s doing his best to counteract the gripes of locals.
Mark Eagan -
Some downstate residents think of upstate as a desolate wasteland with many farms and few people. In the Capital Region, however, that isn’t the case. According to census data – and Eagan, the CEO of the Capital Region Chamber – it is only growing region in upstate. News flash for elitist downstaters: Colonie doesn’t suck.
Hector Figueroa -
The Fight for $15 is so 2015. As we approach 2019, how about a Fight for $19 instead? That could be the new wage level for New York City airport workers, thanks to the work of 32BJ SEIU’s Figueroa, who led the charge in pressuring the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to agree to consider the new wage floor. Although it wouldn’t be phased in until 2023, it would easily be one of the highest minimum wages in the country.
Carlo J. Marinello II -
Most people don’t have any luck in trying to defy the Internal Revenue Service. But apparently, Carlo J. Marinello is not most people. He took his obstruction case all the way to the Supreme Court, where, after four years, SCOTUS overturned his obstruction conviction. The justices ultimately decided that Marinello may have kept poor records, but that shouldn’t land him in federal prison.
Cynthia Nixon -
People magazine, the BBC, Fox News – Terry Gipson did not get this level of coverage. It’s no surprise that the actress/activist’s run for governor scared off the former state senator, but the mighty Gov. Andrew Cuomo may be running scared too – or at least he’s appearing publicly more than usual. But it’s not just the media that excited. Nixon touted 2,214 contributions of less than $200 in her first couple days – supposedly more than Cuomo’s gotten in seven years.
Brian Gestring -
In February, when Politico reported that more than 1,000 people in New York state government had filed complaints of sexual harassment since 2012, a top Cuomo aide said the administration is “doing a good job of educating people of their rights and responsibilities.” But new reporting by the Times Union raises questions about whether the state respected the rights of two women who were punished after testifying about alleged misconduct by Gestring, a top official at the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. Gestring apparently got away with a lot, but the story’s damning details finally got him punished, too.
James O'Neill -
The commissioner of the New York Police Department has gotten a lot of good press since he took the job, thanks primarily to record-low crime rates, it was only a matter of time before something came along to change that. An investigation by The New York Times found that police not only continue to lie on the stand, but that many are never punished. “Testilying” is not a good phrase to have associated with the police force you lead.
Christine Quinn -
Quinn, an openly gay Cuomo ally, caused quite a kerfuffle when she referred to Cynthia Nixon as an “unqualified lesbian.” She walked back the remarks, but it was too late – Nixon had turned the insult into a war cry, fundraising off of Quinn’s comments and using it in her speech to donors on Wednesday. Quinn may be the self-appointed authority on what makes a lesbian “qualified” or “unqualified,” but being a “qualified lesbian” didn’t help her win against Bill de Blasio in 2013 – and it certainly didn’t help her navigate the brouhaha over her demeaning remark about Nixon.
Cy Vance -
If the Manhattan DA ever wished A-list celebrities like Reese Witherspoon to be all a-Twitter about him, he probably wasn’t wishing for an #InvestigateVance hashtag alongside the ongoing allegations that he shielded supposed serial sexual assailant Harvey Weinstein. Vance’s office has rejected the criticism, but the governor has sicced state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on him with an investigation of his conduct.