This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Three laws, two wallets, one vaccine. Cuomo signed the Manhattan state senator’s (and Assembly Member Latoya Joyner’s) bill to report demographic data for judges, his (and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz’s) bill to make it easier to cancel gym contracts AND his (and Assembly Member Helene Weinstein’s) bill to crack down on intimidating SLAPP lawsuits. Since he had enough bills of his own, Hoylman also found and returned two constituents’ wallets. And that Pfizer vaccine that could save the world? He’s been doing his part as a test subject. What a week! 

Democrats can argue all they want about whether Joe Biden or AOC is setting the political pace, but the fact is they all got outrun by Perry – who got 99.85% of the vote in his Brooklyn district. That makes the Jamaica native and longtime incumbent the biggest winner of all in New York City this election, at least in terms of percentage. Sure, he was running unopposed, but so were a ton of other lawmakers, and it must be nice to start your 15th term in office with the fewest write-ins.

The reelected Democratic leader may or may not be presiding over a 50/50 split Senate come 2021, but man did he have a helluva weekend! Driving around the boroughs with his Biden Harris paraphernalia, he led sing-alongs, joined outdoor dance parties, and even held up his handy-dandy flip phone to the roaring crowds while on a call with the newly minted president-elect. Can he direct some of that same energy toward dealing with Mitch McConnell?

Revealing a new effort to remove the NYPD from responding to mental health emergencies should've been a slam dunk among police reform activists, but the plan from de Blasio and McCray felt half-baked. It's happening in just two unspecified neighborhoods. It's unclear how much it will cost. It doesn’t have a name. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and mental health advocates have already been eying the announcement with skepticism. On top of that, the first lady's signature initiative to help new mothers at risk of postpartum depression got axed on account of the city's strained finances. Like so many of the power couple’s good intentions, these proposals landed with a splat.

The president of the New York State Restaurant Association pushed hard to get the state to allow indoor dining during the pandemic. Now, the table is set for a fresh round of conflict after Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he was kicking late dinner service to the curb to slow the nighttime rush of COVID-19 across the state. Fleischut is hardly the only one in the struggling industry feeling a bit bitter, especially after a $500 million lawsuit brought by restaurateurs turned out to be a legal lemon this week. Can she squeeze some political lemonade from it all?

We’ve had a lot of losers on this list over the years, but nobody whose loss inspired an entire city to party in the streets. As soon as Joe Biden emerged victorious, New Yorkers erupted in celebration, blasting music, dancing and literally popping bottles of champagne. After endless insults from President Donald Trump dubbing this hometown a "ghost town," an “anarchist jurisdiction" and more, locals finally flipped the script on the Queens native, declaring: "You're fired!"