This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Losing her election certainly did not spell the end for New York City Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel, who has successfully failed upward to the post of regional administrator for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It doesn’t hurt to know the Senate majority leader either, who gave the down-on-her-luck Council member his seal of approval. A former NYCHA official, Ampry-Samuel does come in with more relevant experience than her Trump-appointed predecessor, but still goes to show that who you know can make all the difference.

The Brooklyn Assembly member and erstwhile state senator got some love from progressives after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Less is More Act into law, which limits how people can be sent back to prison for technical parole violations. This gave Benjamin a chance to flex his power as the new lieutenant governor while Souffrant Forrest – an insurgent candidate for office last year – has another accomplishment to tout to voters next year. 

After sustaining New Yorkers through all matter of health and natural disasters, food delivery workers are getting new labor rights under a package of legislation passed by the New York City Council this week. Ligia Guallpa and Hildalyn Colón Hernández, leaders at the Workers Justice Project, and Los Deliveristas Unidos – a group of immigrant delivery worker activists – have fought for increased protections for gig workers and have now advanced landmark minimum pay rules, access to restaurant bathrooms, protections for workers’ tips and more. Meanwhile, the state Legislature has yet to advance labor reforms for gig workers. 

Furor over the chaos and poor conditions at Rikers Island has only amplified, as two more people held at the jail complex died this week. Staffing shortages have worsened the state of affairs there, with detainees unable to access medical care and other basic needs. Solving the matter hasn’t been made much easier as tensions between city officials and the corrections union are also on the rise. The city ended up filing and then promptly dropping a lawsuit against the union, which accused it of encouraging employees to not show up to work. There’s plenty of pressure on the city’s Correction Commissioner Vincent Schiraldi and other government officials to improve conditions on Rikers – and soon.

Last week, Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Jacobs took a “much-coveted” loss for failing to report 13 stock transactions within the 45 days mandated by the STOCK act. That’s playing for the minors compared to his fellow New Yorker from the other side of the aisle. According to a complaint from the Campaign Legal Center, Rep. Tom Suozzi failed to report approximately 300 transactions. Those are the numbers of a top athlete — perhaps a legend of the game. So when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand muscled the STOCK Act through the halls of Congress back in 2012, did she foresee all these New York legislators would be striking out?

It was announced that the New York State health commissioner would be resigning from his post on Thursday, even though Hochul previously said that he would “stay on board” in her administration until she found a replacement. The physician, who thinks he was the inspiration for Doogie Howser, has faced fierce scrutiny over the past several months, for whatever role he may have played in covering up the true number of COVID-19-related nursing home deaths during the height of the pandemic. Looks like Zucker should schedule a check up for his career.