Editor’s note: When you’re up, you’re up and when you’re down …

I wanted to be around the political crowd in Albany last week for the governor’s State of the State address, but not necessarily in The Egg where it would be harder to manage our full team coverage. Which is how I found myself streaming Gov. Kathy Hochul’s big speech from a bench by the subterranean hallway to the state Capitol.

And from there, I watched Bill Mulrow walk through the employee entrance with a confidence befitting a man who’d worked in the building over decades, most prominently as Andrew Cuomo’s consigliere in the role of secretary to the governor.

But that was years ago. And here in 2026, a state trooper stopped him, since he didn’t tap an ID. Mulrow humbly and graciously backed up and went through the visitor entrance, briefly waiting in line with the daytrippers going through the metal detector.

It was a great reminder of the changing nature of power in state politics – something that we at City & State try to capture every year in our Albany Power 100. Mulrow peaked at No. 9 in 2015. He’s not on it this year.

I was reminded again a few days later in Queens, where the venerated Association for a Better New York hosted a fireside chat for its young professional group with political analyst Michael Lange – who gained prominence for in-depth writing about Zohran Mamdani’s primary and general election wins.

Lange might not have been in the room a year ago, but now he was headlining as an in-demand speaker on New York’s ascendant left wing.

Of course, even rising stars want access to the top of the power list. Lange gave a shoutout to “my fellow Buffalo Bills fan” and asked the crowd if anyone knew where she watched the games so he could join.