Winners & Losers 07/22/2016

One convention down, one to go. While Cleveland didn’t bring the riots and violence that many expected outside the Quicken Loans Arena, the Republican National Convention sure featured plenty of chaos inside, leading to a lot of winners and losers. But did any New Yorkers make our list? Check it out and vote for this week’s contestants!

 

WINNERS

Chris Collins - When he became the first Congress member to endorse the Donald, a lot of political observers wrote off Collins’s political future. But just as the Republican Party has been turned upside down by Trump, so has Collins’s importance. The Western New York representative got a primetime slot at the Republican National Convention this week, and regardless of the results in November, Collins’s stock has certainly risen this cycle.

Barry Diller – It’s been a tough week for some media moguls, but IAC Chairman Diller got a minor win for his pet project this week as an appeals court modified an order and allowed some work to continue on Pier55. With Cuomo and even the notoriously NIMBY-ish community board on his side, Diller’s giant, undulating offshore park in the Meatpacking District may yet become reality.

Letitia James - The office of public advocate is often considered one of the least powerful in New York City and James has had plenty of difficulty in the past achieving victories, especially in the legal realm, which is one of the only options she can use to hold people accountable. But this week she scored a win with a court order forcing the city to run air-conditioning on two school bus routes that had little-to-no cooling. It may be a small victory, but big enough to land on our winners list.

Stuart Rabinowitz While Hofstra University is no stranger to hosting political debates – it never hurts to have one more. After Wright State University bailed citing cost and safety concerns, Hofstra University, which had earlier agreed to be an alternate location, will now host the first of three presidential debates. A lot of observers are calling this presidential race one that will go down in history, but Hofstra University President Rabinowitz made a different kind of history (albeit a lot more boring) – being the first school to host presidential debates in three consecutive presidential election cycles.

Mitchell Silver - Subverting their reputations as cesspools full of harsh chemicals and, uh, Baby Ruths, an investigation by the Post found that city pools are clean! Just in time for another heat wave, the City Parks Commissioner can proudly direct New Yorkers towards pools with a clear conscience ...as long as they don’t bring up gender discrimination.

 

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio - Despite investigators complaining some of their record requests were stymied, the mayor’s own investigatory arm said it was able to piece together that de Blasio officials were “aware of and involved” in the discussion to remove deeds on the Rivington Street property. The Department of Investigation report raises questions about the mayor’s repeated claims that the city was misled, specifically citing an email from First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris to de Blasio that discussed the disputed property. (De Blasio told investigators he didn’t recall receiving the email.) Now one city councilman has called on the DOI to sue the city’s Law Department and the editorial boards are fired up - with the Post lobbing a triple-hit: first paging Preet Bharara; then contending the mayor failed to dole out consequences and finally arguing things must be bad when the mayor’s frequent ally Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito describes the situation as “very troubling.”

Lisa Coico - In the era of high college tuitions and recent graduates stressed out about finding jobs, you don’t want to be a college president accused of living high on the hog. It's the early stages of this investigation, but this can’t be good for Coico’s cred with the millennial crowd.

John FlahertyErie County’s acting D.A. is allowing the long shadow of indicted political operative Steve Pigeon to creep onto his campaign. He got slammed by opponents this week for sharing some petitioners with close Pigeon associate and Assembly candidate Kristy Mazurek. A few degrees removed, sure, but anybody looking to be the county’s top law enforcement officer should probably stay as far away from Pigeon as possible right now.

Micah Lasher -  The state Senate hopeful may appear to have himself in a bind, now that prominent Washington Heights elected officials like state Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez are lining up behind Marisol Alcantara for the open seat. (And it likely stung a little more since Rodriguez initially backed Lasher.) But, given the Upper West Side politico’s prolific reference guide on magic tricks, he may be able to wave a wand and still propel himself Albany.

Debbie Medina - This story is just sad. 

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NEXT STORY: Winners & Losers 07/15/16