This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh may not have had reason to celebrate U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo before, but certainly they do now. Raimondo announced that Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse together will serve as one of 31 new tech hubs around the country. The designation, which follows Micron’s investment in Syracuse, and decades of work on bioinformatics in Buffalo and photonics in Rochester will allow for more federal technology investment in the Thruway corridor.

Occasionally, persistence pays off in unexpected ways. That’s the case for Justin Sherwood, who over nine months complained to 311 over 900 times about police parking illegally on sidewalks and bike lanes near precinct station houses, especially the 84th Precinct in Downtown Brooklyn. Yes, he did have to deal with an ominous call from an annoyed officer who somehow thought posing as a 311 operator was a good idea, but receiving a $25,000 settlement after filing suit is a pretty good conciliation – some of which will come from said cop’s own pocket.

Have you ever left your phone at home and gone on an aimless walk through Prospect Park for a couple of hours? Would highly recommend – the park is full of nooks and crannies. No matter the season, every time you go you’ll find a new spot. Prospect Park Alliance President Morgan Monaco is celebrating the reopening of the Fallkill Trail, which was closed to the public in the 90s. In the interim, the area around the manmade waterfall was apparently a go-to spot for graffiti artists and teens and is littered with beer cans and bongs – meaning it must be cool.

False alarm? That’s a real problem for Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who agreed to plead guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge of falsely pulling a fire alarm. He’ll have to pay a $1,000 fine and write an apology letter to the Capitol Police, but at least it won’t go on his permanent record. Federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss the case in three months – so long as the former middle school principal stays out of trouble.

Calls were intercepted between Yahya Mushtaq and an associate as they planned out a straw donors scheme for Eric Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. With that and other evidence, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office indicted him and his brother Shahid, who pled guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy. Didn’t they see Goodfellas? Never on the phones guys! Though the brothers were let off a bit easy with a $500 fine and 35 hours of community service, any hopes of currying favor with the Adams Administration were dashed.

Here’s hoping Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber got an extended warranty on those shiny high tech R211 trains. Heralded as the first brand-new fleet of subway cars in five years when they debuted in March, the R211s are now out of service due to faulty gearboxes and flat wheels. Could this be a comeback opportunity for the R32? They’re old, rusty and retired, but they did ride the rails for nearly six decades.