Winners & Losers

This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Who’s up and who’s down this week?

By City & State

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Besides turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, we’ve got winners, losers, weepers and swinging lawmakers on the Thanksgiving menu.  No one will be asking to pass the polling memo at Gracie Mansion or the Governor’s Mansion this week as neither Mayor Eric Adams nor Gov. Kathy Hochul are knocking it out of the park in new polls. Over at the Trump trial, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney broke down in tears when he testified that he quit because he couldn’t handle the legal scrutiny. One very thankful person is North Castle Supervisor-elect Joe Rende, who was confirmed a winner this week by three votes. And, finally, the cure for any dinner time dispute about politics, football or the pie: video of Assembly Member Alex Bores swing dancing! 

Now check out the best, the worst and remember to thank the chef.

WINNERS:

Félix V. Matos Rodríguez -

CUNY saw a 386% jump in applications last month compared to last year, largely thanks to the efforts of CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez and other leaders. They came up with the idea to send a letter of encouragement to every graduating public high school senior and waive their application fees. Seems like Matos Rodríguez is working hard to earn his $670,000 salary, which along with other bonus income made him the state’s second highest-paid official in 2022.

Mark Levine -

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has made a show of taking housing development seriously. He compiled a list of 171 sites in the borough where new housing could be built, and when a developer came forward hoping to build a tower with more than 400 units on one site on the Upper East Side, Levine’s office approved the application in just four days – much quicker than the office’s maximum 30-day window. Who said borough presidents are just cheerleaders with no real influence!

Eddie Caban, Laura Kavanaugh & Jessica Tisch -

For the NYPD, FDNY and DSNY to be spared another round of cuts deserves singling out this trio of commissioners in what’s turned out to be the Adams administration’s version of “Survivor,” especially considering that other city department heads know that budget knife is still coming after them and may soon start cutting too close to the bone.

LOSERS:

Stuart Seldowitz -

In a little over a decade, Stuart Seldowitz went from the upper echelons of the American foreign policy establishment to yelling Islamophobic nonsense at a halal cart vendor on the Upper East Side. After the former Obama aide’s racist tirade was caught on video, the lobbying firm Gotham Government Relations – which had named him Foreign Affairs Chair last year – quickly cut all ties with him, while New York politicians lined up to denounce his behavior.

Bruce Karam and Louis LaPolla -

Utica City School District Superintendent Bruce Karam was arrested on Tuesday for misappropriating district funds as part of an election fundraising scheme. Earlier, former Utica Mayor Louis LaPolla was arrested in September for mail fraud after organizing a fundraiser unrelated to the district. According to police, Karam used district funds to help the campaigns of school board members who decide his compensation and LaPolla used taxpayer money to send invites for the aforementioned fundraiser. Both face felony grand larceny and public corruption charges.

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