This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

The governor is publicly taking a “wait and see” approach to the mayor, but privately, she’s reportedly pressuring Mayor Eric Adams to clean house. And her pressure campaign seems to be yielding results – with Adams firing controversial adviser Tim Pearson, which Hochul called “a good first step,” and forcing Schools Chancellor David Banks to resign earlier than planned. Whether or not Adams is actually listening to Hochul, she looks like a cool-headed executive working for the good of the city. But it remains to be seen whether that will actually help her poor poll numbers.

Turns out all Buffalo Common Council President Christopher Scanlon had to do to be mayor was not want to run a horse betting operation. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is set to take the reins of Western Regional Off Track Betting, ending his nearly 20 years running New York’s second-largest city, and Scanlon is in line to become acting mayor. Scanlon is not the only politician in the Queen City hoping to succeed Brown, but he has the advantage of entering the race as a quasi-incumbent.

Who in the Adams administration wouldn’t want to be Keechant Sewell right now? The former police commissioner is now living her best life as a senior Mets executive. Instead of dealing with corruption investigations at 1 Police Plaza, a boss under indictment, random FBI pop-ins and palace intrigue, Sewell gets to have champagne celebrations with the team. Now she just needs to fend off former colleagues calling to see if Steve Cohen is hiring.

When King served as treasurer for Anthony Jones’ failed 2021 run for Brooklyn borough president, federal prosecutors allege that she organized a $25,000 straw donor scheme in the hopes of getting $400,000 in New York City matching funds. But the extra money may not have mattered, since Jones only managed to win 4% of votes in the Democratic primary and nearly 3% in the general.

The mayor's senior adviser hopped off the plane at JFK and was immediately met by both the FBI and investigators with the Manhattan district attorney's office, who took turns serving her with a subpoena and seizing her phones. Former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton, who was traveling with Lewis-Martin, also had his phones seized at the airport – all while the feds searched Lewis-Martin’s home. But don’t worry, she explained everything in a live interview on her attorney’s radio show.

For now, New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda still has his job, despite multiple probes into his office’s work. Investigators with the city Department of Investigation searched the Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Queens last week, recovering cash that was allegedly seized during raids on illegal cannabis dispensaries. And all those pot shop raids may have contributed to unchecked overtime at the office, which a comptroller report this week said exceeded its budget by 542%. How long until there is a new sheriff in town?