Vance and Meeks top the week's biggest winners
From Gregory Meeks being named the new Queens County Democratic Party to presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand dealing with her recent sexual harassment scandal, it's been a mixed bag this week for New York's politicians. Now it's time to vote for who you think had the best and worst week.
Ed Reed / Mayoral Photography Office
Update: Rep. Gregory Meeks, who became the next Democratic boss in Queens, and Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., who had a lot of good press for taking on Paul Manafort and testing old rape kits, were in a virtual dead heat for in the biggest winners tally. On the losers side, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand continued to get snubbed by her home state, as she contends with a sexual harassment scandal in her own office.
For all the analogies that have been drawn between the Trump Organization and the Mafia, there were a few reminders of the real mob’s presence in New York this week – from an old-school boss who was gunned down on Staten Island to two alleged mobsters who were acquitted in court. To see who was a big earner this week – and who got whacked – read on.
Eric Adams -
The Brooklyn borough president has made no secret about wanting to be the top dog in New York City politics. However, the “Meatless Mondays” that public schools are dishing out gives an in with an often overlooked constituency – the teens who will be voters in 2021. In the meantime, the vegan mayoral hopeful might want to share his best recipes with the lunch ladies to make sure they leave prospective constituents with the right flavor.
Kevin Barwell -
The president of the Limousine Bus Taxi Operators Of Upstate New York may have avoided a major speed bump for the industry following a tragic limo crash last fall that killed 20 people. The state Legislature’s one-house budget bills dropped Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal for stricter regulations and even a ban on stretch limos, and Barwell couldn’t be more pleased: “That (result) was totally what we were asking for,” he said.
George Gresham & Ken Raske -
It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride this session for 1199 SEIU’s George Gresham and GNYHA’s Ken Raske. First, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a boost in health care funding. Then, he said he needed to cut $550 million for Medicaid to close a state budget gap, drawing the ire of Gresham and Raske. But now, Cuomo is moving to drop his proposed cuts to Medicaid – but with Cuomo back-and-forth on the matter, these two Albany power brokers aren’t leaving anything to chance.
Greg Meeks -
Meek? Seems like a misnomer for a politician willing to take the helm of the Queens County Democratic Party, the once-and-future powerful political institution, now defending itself against the open hostility of liberal reformers. It’s a tale as old as time, and with his election as the county’s new party leader, Boss Meeks is the latest protagonist.
Cy Vance -
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. is seeking to ensure that Paul Manafort will do time even if the president pardons him, putting himself in the national spotlight by filing 16 new charges in New York against Trump’s former campaign chairman. Vance also got a local boost as his initiative to end the rape kit backlog has been deemed successful. He committed $38 million in forfeiture money in 2015 to help authorities around the country test rape kits, resulting in 165 prosecutions and 64 convictions.
Gregory and Marcia Abbott -
Gregory and Marcia Abbott, a big time New York beverage distributor and his wife, are among 50 parents to go down for what has been called the biggest college admissions cheating scandal in history. The two allegedly paid over $100,000 to have their daughter’s test scores artificially increased by a test fixer, and they will appear in court separately. Their son defended them outside of the family’s Fifth Avenue apartment, saying that his parents, who may have bought their daughter’s way into college, were “roped” into the scheme and “cheated.” Now we’re all wondering if cheaters really do win.
Al D’Amato & Rudy Giuliani -
Two of New York’s most prominent members of the party of Family Values are mired in messy legal proceedings. Ex-Mayor Giuliani is going as far to ask his ex-wife Judith Nathan not to approach him if they see each other at the Emerald Dunes Club in West Palm Beach. And Ex-Senator D’Amato is being sued by *his* ex-wife, who accuses him of false imprisonment and much, much more.
Kirsten Gillibrand -
New York’s junior senator has made feminism a theme of her congressional career and extended it to her fledgling presidential campaign. But a former staffer is claiming that she is a #MeToo hypocrite because she went easy on a top aide accused of sexual harassment. It doesn’t help that no one in the New York delegation will endorse her – including Reps. Kathleen Rice and Sean Patrick Maloney, who just joined the Beto bandwagon.
Kenneth C. Griffin -
New York is waging a war against billionaires, and Kenneth C. Griffin may be to blame. The hedge fund manager bought a New York apartment as a second home for a record-breaking $238 million, renewing the idea of enacting a tax on the owners of multimillion-dollar second homes. Now, the “pied-à-terre” tax is gaining ground – and not just with legislators in Albany, but with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. If it passes, Griffin will have likely have an angry horde of billionaire friends to face.
Edward & Linda Mangano -
The second time’s the charm – for prosecutors, that is. The retrial of the former Nassau County executive and his wife ended in a guilty verdict after a jury decided that the pair did in fact partake in corruption. Maybe they thought that the trial would go their way after the first go-around ended in a mistrial. But the Manganos wound up following in the felony footsteps of scores of New York public officials before them.