This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

After nearly 30 years working up the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ladder, Demetrius Crichlow was officially named the president of New York City Transit, a position he’s held on an interim basis since the summer. He’s the first Black person to take the job. Of course, it’s a far from easy time to step up. The agency faces a myriad of challenges, but with three generations of MTA employees behind him, Crichlow seems determined to stay for the long haul.

Rumored City Council speaker hopeful Julie Menin scored a major legislative victory this week when her Safe Hotels Act overwhelmingly passed the City Council. The bill would require hotels to meet certain safety standards in order to be licensed – and face fines if they don’t. It would also restrict how often large hotel owners can hire subcontractors rather than directly employing people. The Hotel Trades Council is thrilled. Not a bad ally to have in your corner.

It’s too soon to crown Democrat Laura Gillen the winner of the 4th Congressional District race, but she’s a winner in our book this week. The latest poll from Siena College and Newsday puts her 12 points ahead of Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a stark shift in a Long Island contest previously considered a toss-up. D’Esposito currently faces a scandal for allegedly hiring his fiancée’s daughter and his lover at his district office, and it appears Gillen is capitalizing on that fallout.

Ring may have found its next viral ad. Joseph Mastroianni, a Republican challenging Democratic Assembly Member Angelo Santabarbara in Assembly District 111, was caught on a doorbell camera removing campaign flyers for Santabarbara from a resident’s mailbox and replacing them with his own. The consequences for Mastroianni could be worse than just embarrassment. Stealing mail is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison. Mastroianna was right, it is “bad, bad, bad.”

It’s been a quiet week for Mayor Eric Adams’ allies, but all good things must come to an end. Jesse Hamilton, a top official with the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, is now in hot water for allegedly overriding the results of his agency’s lease bidding process to benefit an Adams donor. The new revelation comes as Hamilton faces increased scrutiny from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which seized his phones a few weeks ago as he returned from a trip to Japan with another close Adams ally.

Looks like Mayor Eric Adams’ plans to deploy gun detectors in subway stations has some evolving to do. Following multiple requests for the results of the subway pilot of Evolv gun scanners, Adams said that NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry would provide the data. It’s not surprising that Daughtry and the NYPD took two months to do so, given the less than stunning results: the machines produced 118 false positives out of 2,749 scans, recovering just 12 knives and zero guns.