Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
Winners & Losers City & State
Your status as a famous television writer won’t save you from the onslaught of ridicule of New Yorkers when you tweet (sorry, post on the website formerly known as Twitter) some dumb stuff about the Big Apple. David Simon, of The Wire fame, learned that the hard way when he decided to take to the internet and complain about a $50 speeding ticket for driving 36 mph in a 25 mph school zone at 5 a.m. in July. And many – from lawmakers to journalists to the city Department of Transportation itself – read him to filth. They correctly noted that the entire city’s speed limit is 25 mph, Simon was still speeding and he’s complaining about the consequences of breaking the law. That didn’t stop him from continuing to fight his losing battle. Word of the wise to Simon: we don’t know how things are done in Baltimore, but that stuff doesn’t fly here.
Romeo Ortiz & Bill McDonnell -
Ortiz and McDonnell became heroes this week when a 65-year-old woman was bitten by a shark in Rockaway Beach just 10 minutes before the two lifeguards were set to come off duty. Ortiz heard the swimmer’s screams and ran to save her, wrapping a pair of sweatpants around the wound while McDonnell used the rope of a rescue float as a tourniquet. The brave save comes as the city faces a massive lifeguard shortage and an uptick in shark sightings.
Justin Driscoll -
The Socialists in Office touted two major accomplishments at their recent check-in meeting: defeating the nominations of Hector LaSalle to be the state’s top judge and Justin Driscoll to head the New York Power Authority. Their laurels must be really squashed from all that sitting! Driscoll got to become NYPA president automatically because the state Senate never voted on his nomination, Politico New York reported. He’s not that into the socialists’ Build Public Renewables idea, so this will be interesting to watch.
Pierina Sanchez -
Many New Yorkers have déjà vu when it comes to hearing about plans for the historic Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. After years of failed proposals for the massive landmarked building, City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, along with other elected officials, announced that the armory will get $200 million from the state and city for a long-overdue revitalization. Possible uses for the building include film, urban agriculture, or emerging technologies. Hopefully for Sanchez, co-chair of a vision planning process for the armory, the project will actually get off the ground this time.
Howard Redmond -
Recently fired New York Police Department Inspector Howard Redmond pleaded guilty to obstructing and tampering with a Department of Inspection probe into Bill de Blasio’s use of his mayoral security detail during his 2020 presidential run. Redmond, the former head of de Blasio’s security detail, got off with community service but lost his job in the process. It turns out loyalty to de Blasio doesn’t get you very far these days.
Louis Molina -
New York City Council Member Bob Holden’s visit to Rikers Island might have been the best part of Louis Molina’s week. While Holden and others on the Council’s Common Sense Caucus praised the Department of Correction for vast improvements at the embattled jails complex, that opinion was not shared by the judge who will ultimately decide whether Rikers should be put under a federal receivership. And if that wasn’t enough, the department is now facing a lawsuit from the watchdog Board of Correction over a rollback in longstanding transparency practices.
Scott Stringer -
Former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer suffered a setback in his attempt to restore his reputation after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances in 2021. A court dismissed Stringer’s defamation suit against his accuser Jean Kim, saying that the statute of limitations for the suit had already been exceeded. But the episode and the political fallout – Stringer was a top mayoral contender until the accusations came out – are still fresh in Stringer’s mind, and he’s planning on an appeal.