This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

This girl is on fire! But she’s now officially got about 10,000 uniformed firefighters under her watch that can help with that, after being named fire commissioner for New York City – the first woman to lead the FDNY. Her emergency responders better get to calls faster than Mayor Eric Adams makes his appointments. Kavanagh has been acting commissioner since February, and the delay in appointing a full-timer was a major topic of City Hall gossip. 

It’s not every day that the president calls and asks for a favor, but two prominent rebbes are now in the spotlight for exactly that. Joe Biden’s historic request for the Orthodox Jewish Skverer and Vizhnitzer Rebbes? Their endorsement of Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who is currently locked in a competitive contest in the new Rockland County district.

It’s officially an all-out war on New York City’s rats. The City Council passed a package of bills taking aim at the city’s fattened, spoiled street rodents this week, including legislation supporting the mayor’s push to shorten their feeding time by delaying when trash is allowed on streets. Behind this latest offensive is the council’s self-appointed Rat Pack, which had some mousy-looking members of the rat lobby outnumbered at City Hall press conference celebrating their legislation on Thursday.

The interim vice chairman of New York's new independent ethics panel, Leonard Austin, got himself in a pickle for attending a campaign fundraiser for an assembly member. Members of the commission are not allowed to contribute to any candidate running for statewide office. Although Austin denies making any campaign contributions, ethical eyebrows have already been raised.

This week, state Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement agreement with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo on a 2020 lawsuit that accused the Diocese and it’s leadership of covering up child sex abuse allegations. Per the agreement, the Diocese, under the new leadership of Bishop Michael Fisher, will have to submit to extensive government oversight for the next 5 years. Bishop Fisher now has to contend with two levels of oversight: the almighty and the government.

Leadership sometimes takes a big risk making unilateral decisions, and the head of the city’s principals union looks like he’s made one that’s put him on the fast track to retirement. Cannizzaro is reportedly stepping down in December after he ruffled feathers over the ouster of a longtime union official. Cannizzaro sacked union executive Sana Nasser after a disagreement over staffing. After getting flack over the termination, Cannizzaro now finds himself walking out the door.