Winners & Losers 7/7/17

The press has been bashed and battered in recent weeks: The New York Times is under fire for its plans to thin its copy editing ranks, CNN had to retract a story about a President Donald Trump ally – and the president has showed the first lady what cyberbullying is all about with a series of bizarre online attacks against the media. Then again, maybe any press is good press. With that in mind, here are this week’s Winners & Losers.

WINNERS

Robert Ortt - The Republican state senator garnered his second straight win as the state Legislature approved a $55 million relief fund for flooding along Lake Ontario. The deal will allow homeowners to qualify for up to $50,000 for repairs, and also benefits businesses and municipalities. The initial push by Ortt and other lawmakers was for $90 million, but unlike in Washington, there’s still room for compromise in Albany. And as Ortt said, it “will provide much-needed relief to families devastated by the unprecedented man-made disaster.

Bridget RohdeWhile the Southern District feds get all the good press for nabbing ancient politicians, Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde and her colleagues in the Eastern District are getting props for saving ancient artifacts – specifically, the clay cuneiform tablets allegedly looted from Iraq that Hobby Lobby smuggled into the U.S. as tile samples. With the story making Fox News, Rohde’s all but guaranteed a permanent spot in the Trump administration.

Barbara Sears Nevergold – The president of the Buffalo school board was re-elected on Wednesday, despite the machinations of Carl Paladino, who tried to nominate his colleagues for the presidency one by one instead. While the board’s reputation may be tarnished by the drama surrounding the trial to remove Paladino, Sears Nevergold seems to have emerged a victor regardless – she was also named vice chairwoman of the Conference of Big 5 School Districts for 2017-18.

Keegan StephanAfter a lengthy lawsuit, the NYPD has stated it will now accept and respond to Freedom of Information requests over email. The lawsuit was brought by law school student Keegan Stephan, who’s been pushing for greater NYPD transparency for years. Apparently the NYPD should have been doing this since 2006, but who would have thought the police might not always abide by the law?

Adam WeitsmanGov. Andrew Cuomo is a man of the people: He’s paying for your kids to go to college, he cut taxes for the middle class and he’s doing the dirty work of cleaning up Albany. So it’s no surprise that when he wants to meet with wealthy folk like Weitsman, the Skaneateles restaurateur and art collector, it somehow doesn’t end up on his public schedule. Fortunately for everyone else who doesn’t have enough cash to roll with the guv, Weitsman offered to take suggestions on what to ask.

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio – If sticking taxpayers with $2.3 million in legal bills, or presiding over a 40 percent increase in street homelessness wasn’t bad enough, the mayor made his no-good-very-bad week just a little bit uglier when he was caught sporting cargo shorts and a belt during a stretch session at the gym. Who pays the legal bills might be lose-lose, and the homelessness metrics may be HOPE-lessly faulty, but cargo shorts, Bill?

Chris Christie – If it wasn’t bad enough that a government shutdown closed all New Jersey state parks and beaches just in time for July Fourth weekend, the photos that emerged of Gov. Chris Christie enjoying the beach with his family on Sunday were truly the icing on the cake. To top it all off, the Times reported that the governor diverted funding meant for a Hudson River train tunnel to a ferry service barely used by commuters.

John PorcariThe Gateway Tunnel, already facing more uncertainty than an 8:35 from Secaucus, just hit another bump as Trump’s Department of Transportation pulled out of its space on Porcari’s Gateway Development Corporation board. Commuters fear it could signal a lack of support for the crucial rail tunnel under the Hudson … which could turn one “Summer of Hell” into an ongoing “traffic armageddon.”

Tom Suozzi Rep. Tom Suozzi has been taking some heat for his apparent attempt to find a way for commercial planes to D.C. to wait for him when he is running late. A Suozzi staffer reportedly emailed other congressional staff members asking if they knew of any ways to hold flights for their bosses. Unfortunately for Prince Suozzi, it seems to most airlines us plebeians matter too. Sad!

Ruben WillsOpening arguments in the case against Wills, who was indicted for repurposing public funds for personal shopping sprees in 2014, began this week. In a stunning defense, the councilman’s lawyer said Wills was merely guilty of being “sloppy” with his bookkeeping, which is to be expected since he “isn’t a Harvard graduate.” Wills may be innocent until proven guilty, but the burns he received by his own defense attorney would make any victory seem hollow.

WINNERS:
LOSERS:
X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.