This week's biggest Winners & Losers

The New York Senate confirmed Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and Anthony Cannataro, administrative judge in the Civil Court of the City of New York, to the state’s highest court Tuesday, filling the seats of retiring Judge Leslie Stein and the late Judge Paul Feinman respectively. This means all seven of the justices on the Court of Appeals have been selected by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. While Singas’s time as a prosecutor on Long Island became a point of contention after some progressive Senate Democrats expressed concerns about her record, Singas defended her role at a Judiciary Committee meeting, saying it’s unfair for her to be placed in a box because of her profession and that people should look at her record instead. 

The hour may be late, but New York City’s progressives are finally uniting behind Maya Wiley for mayor. Sure, it may be by virtue of every other left-leaning candidate’s campaign fallingapart, but that doesn’t make an AOCendorsement any less sweet. Wiley is even cashing in on the exodus of volunteers that Dianne Morales just fired, with a slew of young organizers changing their Twitter brands at last minute to include #Mayamentum.

The Democratic state Senate majority leader has shepherded some big legislation through her chamber as the legislative session winds down. Changes to sexual harassment laws, first-in-the-nation antitrust provisions and the Adult Survivors Act are a few examples. That shifted the political pressure to her on-again, off-again Wonder Twin Carl Heastie, whose chamber has been playing catch up for weeks. Guess who is getting the blame for all those big bills that passed one house but not the other?

After a Politico story questioned where Brooklyn borough president and mayoral contender Eric Adams actually lives – following up on last year’s discovery that he had been sleeping in Borough Hall during the height of the pandemic – people began to wonder whether or not Adams’ primary residence is in New York City. And the scandal entered new depths of strangeness when Adams decided to invite several reporters into his supposed Brooklyn apartment to prove that he lived there. The bizarre incident feels perfectly on brand for Adams but it’s doubtful that this home truth will sit well with voters ahead of the primary.

The Dianneverse has officially imploded. Mayoral hopeful Dianne Morales’ campaign suffered a devastating blow last month when scores of her staffers went on strike, accusing the furthest left candidate in the race of being anti-union. Morales refused to meet many of the union’s demands, citing concerns about violating campaign finance laws, and over 40 of those workers were fired this week. Now, her campaign is not just in disarray, but completely unmoored, having lost the support of pro

After over a year in a pandemic that laid bare the health care inequities in both the state and the country, there were many who hoped this would be the year the state finally passes the New York Health Act. It’s been 29 years since Assembly Member Dick Gottfried introduced the legislation, but it seems the state is still not ready to adopt his and state Sen. Gustavo Rivera’s plan to bring single-payer health care to New York. By all appearances, it has the votes in both chambers to pass, but it still never came up for a vote, much to the chagrin of freshman left-wing lawmakers. Maybe the 30th time’ll be the charm, Dick.