Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
It’s “budget week” in New York City, per unofficial proclamation by Mayor Eric Adams. Too bad New York state is weeks behind on nailing down its own budget deal, taking whatever wind in the sails Adams hoped to catch in presenting what he dubbed the “best budget ever” on Thursday. While City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams had tepid praise for Adams’ executive budget – presented campaign-style in the sparsely-attended auditorium of his high school alma mater – she and Comptroller Brad Lander continued to criticize the mayor’s cut-and-refund budgeting tactics. All three officials just so happen to be running for mayor at the same time, and we have the utmost confidence this year’s budget process will be totally drama-free and apolitical.
Frank Morano -
Though it’s not exactly a surprise that a Republican won a Staten Island City Council special election, radio host Frank Morano turned heads with his nearly 40-point win in what was expected to be a tight race. Ultimately, Griffin Fossella, son of Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, came in last behind both him and Democrat Clifford Hagen. Morano still has to win the primary and the general to stay in office past December, but now, both look more likely.
Amy Paulin -
A death should never be something to celebrate. But for advocates of the Medical Aid in Dying Act, it is something that can bring relief, comfort and a peaceful end to years of suffering. So they had cause for celebration when the bill, shepherded by Assembly Member Amy Paulin, passed in the Assembly for the first time ever. Normally, passing in just one house is not a major accomplishment, but for such a personal and morally complex issue, Paulin has reason to feel proud.
Kenny Burgos -
This is an era of warming, of drill baby drill, of melting polar icecaps. Things don’t really freeze in 2025, and that apparently includes the rent. The New York City Rent Guidelines Board informally voted to raise one-year rents by 1.75–4.75% this week. (They’ll settle on a precise number in the next couple of months.) That’s good news for landlords of rent-stabilized apartments, right? Kenny Burgos, who leads the New York Apartment Association, said actually, no, they wanted an even bigger increase than that. But you gotta take a win where you can get one on this rapidly heating planet, don’t you Kenny?
Palmer Harvey -
You had one job – well, several, it is a campaign after all, but maybe try not to do fraud. Onondaga County Democrats won’t have a candidate in the 9th District after incumbent County Legislator Palmer Harvey was found by a judge to have committed fraud by falsely claiming to have been an eyewitness to all her petition signatures. It’s a safe seat for Democrats, but that’s complicated by the fact that she won’t be on the ballot. Honesty is usually the best policy, or at minimum, easier than pleading the Fifth on the stand.
Mike Lawler -
It just isn’t Rep. Mike Lawler’s week. The Hudson Valley Republican held an in-person town hall meeting that quickly became a chorus of criticism. Lawler’s planned gubernatorial bid is sinking faster than the Titanic, as Rep. Elise Stefanik holds a commanding lead in a GOP gubernatorial poll and House GOP leaders want Lawler to stay put in his swing district. But at least Lawler is willing to hold in-person town halls, while many of his GOP colleagues run from them.
Mike Spano & Nick Spano -
If it’s not already a verb, then getting “Chris Bragged” should enter the New York political vernacular. Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and his brother Nick, a former state senator and current lobbyist, are the latest victims of the investigative reporter’s prowess. Mayor Spano has claimed that his brother’s firm has never lobbied the administration, and the firm filed documents attesting to that. But emails uncovered by Bragg show that the pair appear to be fibbing. A little embarrassing at best, some significant corruption at worst.