This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Debates over rezoning neighborhoods in New York City are high on emotion and speculation and low on facts and figures. But the New York City public advocate's bill – first introduced two years ago and set to pass this week – will try to inject some reporting into the process, requiring a racial equity study along with any proposed upzonings. Will it stop the emotion and speculation? Absolutely not. This is politics! But the reports may be telling.

Accountability has never been so lucrative. In a new deal struck between the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association and county leadership, cops will get an extra $3,000 a year to wear body cameras. It’ll cost taxpayers $8 million every year. The PBA struck down the idea of a body camera pilot program back in 2015 over contract negotiations. Turns out James McDermott’s members just needed some monetary incentive to get on board with the devices most other major police forces across the country use.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s sister Madeline has reportedly been offering their erstwhile brother-from-another-mother help raising money to keep the fight alive against his federal bribery conviction. That answers the longtime question as to how the supposedly broke Percoco has afforded top-notch attorneys since his 2016 arrest. A spokesperson for the governor said he totally had no idea any of this was going on (that was also supposedly the case with Percoco’s original nefariousness) but at least Percoco hasn’t been totally disowned by every member of his former faux family.

Whether the use of an “R-word” to describe special needs kids was “outmoded,” its use was certainly no mere slip of the tongue, as Sen. Chuck Schumer learned after he was forced to apologize for making the flub while speaking to the podcast 1 NYCHA. A Schumer spokesperson said he was “sincerely sorry” and acknowledged use of the “R-slur,” as some call it, was “outdated and hurtful language.” Perhaps the senate majority leader should look up the definition in Merriam-Websters to watch his words more carefully next time.

Surprise, surprise, it turns out that the subway is more disgusting than usual, according to hundreds of internal Metropolitan Transportation Authority incident reports, which were obtained and reported on by the Daily News. Train cars have been found covered in feces, blood, vomit and garbage to a higher degree since the beginning of last year, despite increased efforts to clean up subway cars. As the chairman and CEO of the MTA, it’s up to Foye to sort out the subway’s messes – or at least he will be until he retires at the end of the year. 

What’s more embarrassing than making national news for falsely accusing Shake Shack of poisoning your milkshake? Getting sued over it a year later, but the plaintiff doesn’t know your name so you’re being sued as “Jane Doe NYPD officer who ordered a vanilla shake”, or “Richard Roe NYPD officer who ordered a cherry shake”, or even “NYPD Sergeant who stated When Did You Add The Bleach”. The only individual currently named in the suit is PBA President Pat Lynch, who should take some time to reflect on his obsession with fake toxic milkshake propaganda, when the real thing that’s proven to be toxic is his union’s endorsement in the Democratic mayoral primary.