This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Is the Bronx big enough for two Jamaal B.’s? We’re keeping our eye on the best rivalry north of Yankee Stadium now that state Sen. Jamaal Bailey’s quiet campaign got him the necessary votes to become the newest leader of the Bronx Democratic Party. He promises to be a bridge-builder between the establishment and progressive insurgents – and he’ll need to be, after endorsing Rep. Eliot Engel over the other Jamaal B. Your move, Bowman.

As COVID-19 cases rise across New York City, a subway car may surprisingly be the safest place to be, according to a new report that shows quiet and masked commutes have produced low virus transmission rates. As ridership slowly increases, MTA Chair and CEO Pat Foye can finally take a breather after grappling with the early onslaught of the pandemic thatleft transit workers dead and sent ridership rates plummeting.

Twelve years ago, Cariol Horne lost her job on the Buffalo police force after intervening when a fellow officer was holding a suspect in a chokehold. But this week, the city passed a law in her name that requires cops to step in when they witness their colleagues breaking the rules. However, nothing is official until Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown signs the new bill.

Residents across Brooklyn were shocked this week to open up their absentee ballot packages to find that their return envelopes had someone else’s name on it. If they tried to return it with their signature, the vote would get tossed. As far as election mishaps go, this one’s a doozy. Sal DiBiase’s company, Phoenix Graphics, a BOE vendor, bears responsibility for the mistake, which was attributed to a computer glitch. But the buck stops with Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan, who is once again left with pie on his face in the latest BOE debacle on his watch. Can we just vote Ryan out of office somehow? 

So… does this mean this weekend’s golf outing is cancelled? That might depend on whether ankle monitors affect your swing. New York State Building and Construction Trades Council President James Cahill and 10 other construction bigwigs just got arrested by the feds on racketeering, bribery and fraud charges. The feds say Cahill even took bribes to steer companies away from hiring union workers. Whatever happened to solidarity?

The NYPD commish says that New York’s Finest are living up to their name, but their actions sometimes speak louder than words. Maskless scofflaws are ubiquitous among the rank-and-file and a weekend attack on protesters and sidewalk flaneurs highlights just how much Shea is succeeding at promoting better relations between the police and people in communities across the city. Just ask Human Rights Watch about the impact the NYPD made over the summer in the Bronx!