This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Most of us understand that you can’t have school without teachers, but it took some remedial lessons for Mayor Bill de Blasio to finally absorb that concept – which he did this week, capitulating to powerful United Federation of Teachers boss Michael Mulgrew’s threats of a strike if schools were to reopen in person next week. De Blasio delayed the start of in-person classes to later this month, but Mulgrew says that unless the teachers union’s demand of a mandatory testing program is met by then, another strike threat could be on the horizon.

In a recent Q&A with The New York Times, the billionaire real estate developer revealed himself to be a man of many contradictions. He thinks New York City is overpriced but helped create one of its priciest neighborhoods. He believes climate change is an important issue, yet he hosted a big Hamptons fundraiser for his pal President Donald Trump last summer, who has upended the U.S.’s environmental protections. But with his swanky Equinox gyms on the cusp of reopening, he probably doesn’t have time to reflect upon his own thought processes.

Sure, it sucks to be declared persona non grata in your hometown, but the embattled Queens boy scored a big win this week when he secured a one-year delay in releasing his tax returns to Manhattan District Attorny Cy Vance. This ends a years-long quest to discover more details about Trump’s finances before Election Day 2020. And at the rate things are going now, Americians might not even get a chance to see his tax returns before the Donald begins touting a third run for the White House in 2024.

If you put off making a decision long enough … it gets made for you! But even if striking a deal with the United Federation of Teachers is a win in the short term, it’s an embarrassment for City Hall overall, which had all summer to make plans and backup plans. Why couldn’t he? The mayor obviously wasn’t busy working with his transportation advisory council, which took the rare path of complaining that the man who appointed them was ignoring them.

Imagine being an anti-Trump New York Democrat hate-watching the Republican National Convention only to see yourself in a pro-Trump ad during a commercial break. Horrifying, right? Claudia Perez basically found herself in that situation after agreeing to be interviewed about the dismal conditions at NYCHA only to find out later that her words would be used by the Republican Party. Then Perez was forced to step down as president of her local Democratic club over her appearance in the TV spot. All she wanted to do was shed light on problems in public housing. No good deed … 

The New York City Department of Investigation and the Manhattan DA are both investigating Steven Richman, a longtime lawyer with the New York City Board of Elections, for alleged sexual harassment, according to reports. Though the agency didn't officially confirm the probe, other BOE employees have mentioned previous problems he's had with co-workers. Then again, such a well-run agency wouldn’t ever tolerate such misconduct, right?