Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
Would you ever guess Gov. Kathy Hochul has a sense of humor when it comes to her biggest political downfalls? Hochul brought the house down at this year’s Legislative Correspondents Association show – revered by some as a “great Albany tradition.” Speaking of great performances, our very own Peter Sterne was in, not just one, but TWO Hulk Hogan documentaries. But perhaps the best performance was from Long Island high schooler Ethan Brown who successfully convinced his school district to close schools on the Friday before the Memorial Day weekend.
Christine Quinn and Diana Ayala -
The former New York City Council Speaker-turned-homeless services advocate has been lobbying hard for a package of bills backed by the (current) Deputy Speaker aimed at making it easier for people in shelters to get housing vouchers, freeing up shelter space to house more asylum-seekers. Mayor Eric Adams – last seen trying to convert schools and libraries into migrant housing – unexpectedly opposed the reforms due to the cost of the vouchers. But Quinn and Ayala ultimately prevailed. This week, the Council passed the bills with a veto-proof majority.
Jeffrey Gural -
Jeffrey Gural showed how a real developer buys a building at auction after he cast the winning bid for Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron Building and actually followed through on the purchase. A previous winning bidder who came up short didn’t even make a $19 million down payment. Gural, an owner of Tioga Downs, doesn’t seem to have a problem cashing in his chips. Could the Flatiron become a casino? For now, Gural may convert the building into apartments and leave the rest as office space.
Michael Carrube -
Around the New York City metropolitan area, 4,100 lucky people are celebrating a 9.5% raise after months of negotiations. They’re all part of the MTA Subway Surface Supervisors Association, and their new contract was ratified May 19. Michael Carrube is the president of the city’s second-largest transit union, which is not in charge of tiles, concrete and steel, but rather supervisors in the subways and on the surface (buses). Maybe when it comes to union clout, name recognition isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
Eric Adams -
Maybe you should’ve made her a deputy mayor? The New York City mayor’s obsession with naming chief something officers and whatever czars might be hurting him, as Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz is planning to leave City Hall while Eric Adams continues to struggle to find housing and provide services for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers. And on top of that, the City Council is passing a housing voucher bill he hates and daring him to just deal with it.
Hector Rosas -
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that Hector Rosas, Dunkirk’s former festivals coordinator, was indicted on charges of allegedly stealing $57,000 from the city, including $15,000 raised to help hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and $42,000 in festival beer sales. Rosas, the brother of Dunkirk’s mayor, is a former city water meter reader and laborer who was promoted to festivals coordinator in 2016. The indictment hasn’t slowed Dunkirk’s jam packed festivals calendar, with a full slate of summer concerts planned.
Vickie Paladino -
New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino may want to consider buying a shovel. Not because she’s apparently nearly $20,000 in the hole – this is New York City after all and debt runs almost as rampant as its rat population – but because misrepresenting yourself on financial disclosure forms (in this case a 2021 filing with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board) is a slippery slope. Just ask her friend George Santos.