Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
Kendrick Lamar dissing Drake at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show may have been the meme of the week, but this week’s news cycle here in the Big Apple is more reminiscent of the “girl explaining” meme. Valentine’s Day may be here, but there’s not much love at the moment for New York City Mayor Eric Adams – unlike his predecessor, who now has a new girlfriend. Adams has been touting the Justice Department’s call for the case against him to be dropped, insisting that his name has been cleared. In reality, the case could be reassessed down the road, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York still hasn’t rubber-stamped the directive. Adams’ rivals – and even some of his allies – are calling him the president’s puppet, but Hizzoner appears to have his blinders on.
Eric Adams -
They may not be BFFs yet, but President Donald Trump got his new pal, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a “get out of jail free” card when the U.S. Department of Justice ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors to drop the corruption case against the mayor. The move sent shockwaves through city politics, with Adams’ opponents accusing the mayor of now being a wholly-owned Trump subsidiary and Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigning in protest. But Adams can now pass go and collect his over $200K salary.
Ken Jenkins -
Patience is not only a virtue but a political strategy. Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins can remove the “acting” from his title after beating Christine Sculti on Tuesday. He’d originally run for the position in a Democratic primary against now-Rep. George Latimer before losing to him and becoming his deputy and close ally. Latimer had Jenkins’ back from the second he won his congressional election and declared Jenkins’ victory a defeat for Trump. Looks like Jenkins played the long game and won.
Rob Ortt & Will Barclay -
The attempt to delay a special election for Rep. Elise Stefanik’s empty seat to limit House Republicans' slim majority has hit a dead end for the moment. The governor decided to delay a vote on bill S4588 to use as a bargaining chip over congestion pricing negotiations with President Trump. State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay are now calling on the DOJ to open up a RICO investigation into the Democrats’ proposal.
Mohamed Bahi -
Donald Trump’s Department of Justice apparently isn’t intervening on everyone’s behalf. Mohamed Bahi is pleading guilty to conspiracy charges for allegedly organizing a straw donor scheme to boost Mayor Eric Adams’ mayoral campaign and later trying to cover it up. This may be one of the few pieces of the Adams corruption case to move forward.
Simcha Eichenstein & Julia Salazar -
Just one bill was left over from the last legislative session, sponsored by Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein and state Sen. Julia Salazar. Time was ticking away without action from the governor until finally, that inaction resulted in an uncommon pocket veto. The governor has only used the move two other times since taking office. So not only do the two lawmakers get to have the last rejected bill of 2024, but the governor didn’t even provide an explanation for rejecting it.
Linda Sun -
The one place where you might not want to see the word “super” added to a term is in the world of indictments. A superseding indictment was filed in the case of Linda Sun, a former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul. Prosecutors charged her husband, Chris Hu, with three additional money laundering charges. Sun and her husband pleaded not guilty, but it can’t be a good feeling to know prosecutors are continuing to dig up more dirt.
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