Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
Asking for a friend: Does opposition research make our democracy stronger or not? For example, do Justin Brannan’s (very gross) internet comments on *checks notes* whether he could use the Columbine shooting to promote his punk rock band in 1999 somehow help voters understand how he would manage the city’s finances as comptroller? The Gray Lady wrote this week about “a new trove of online messages” that “has emerged from (Brannan’s) past” as if by their own accord. Mark Levine, Brannan’s main opponent in the race who currently has a sizable lead in the polls, paid notorious opposition researcher Jonathan Davis during both his 2021 Manhattan borough president campaign and his 2016 council campaign. Time will tell what sort of research services show up in the filings for this race.
Crystal Hudson & Chi Ossé -
After years of laying the groundwork, a 21-block swath of Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant will soon be transformed through a major rezoning recently passed by the New York City Council. Council Members Crystal Hudson and Chi Ossé were key to bringing the plan across the finish line. Now on the horizon? Around 4,600 new homes and a slew of retail, office and light industrial space.
Michael Grimm -
When former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm threatened to break a NY1 reporter “in half like a boy" and throw him off a balcony over questions about his campaign finances, it must have made a lasting impression on Donald Trump. Grimm, who served seven months behind bars and one month of house arrest for tax evasion after resigning in 2015, was among 25 people granted an official presidential pardon this week. So much for grim justice.
Andy Byford -
Train Daddy’s back, back in the New York groove! The one-time New York City subway chief has been tapped by the Trump administration to oversee the renovation of Penn Station. Andy Byford’s return is being greeted enthusiastically in transit circles, and amid hope that the internationally renowned transit leader will breathe new life into the long-stalled project. But Byford may have to contend with his old foe Andrew Cuomo if the former governor – and erstwhile Penn Station renovator-in-chief – gets elected mayor.
Paul S. Ryan -
We’ll give the New York City Campaign Finance Board this: When they fail, they fail big. We’re talking Major League, multilingual failures at the city agency that Paul S. Ryan runs. Its voter outreach efforts this week included a big screen ad at a Mets game that broadcast the wrong date of next month’s primary election and a voter information guide sent to 3.5 million New Yorkers and printed in 14 different languages that incorrectly listed Mayor Eric Adams as a candidate in the Democratic primary. For the record, the primary election is on June 24, and Adams, who is now running as an independent, is not on the ballot.
Jessica Ramos -
Last year, state Sen. Jessica Ramos refused to introduce legislation that Mets owner Steve Cohen needed to make way for his Citi Field-adjacent casino plan. It seems standing up to Uncle Stevie did not pay off – the Senate passed that bill this week after Ramos’ colleague, state Sen. John Liu, sidestepped her. So Liu could get his Skypark, Cohen may get his casino and Ramos … gets nothing. You can bet Cohen isn’t donating to her struggling mayoral campaign any time soon.
Chris Marte -
People deal with their political opponents differently – some shake hands and others steal campaign flyers. Ring camera footage caught City Council Member Chris Marte removing what is believed to be his challenger’s campaign ad from a Lower East Side apartment. He stuffed the flyer into his shoulder bag and side-eyed the camera on his way out the door. It seems the candidate took a page out of former Rotterdam Town Board Member Joseph Mastroianni’s campaign strategy playbook.