This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Can you imagine autonomous cars zipping through the congested streets of Manhattan? Probably not. It’s not like we’re San Francisco (derogatory). Which makes it all the more impressive that Annabel Chang, Waymo’s head of state and local policy, managed to get city officials to agree to even a pilot program. The self-driving car company is already facing fierce opposition from street safety and taxi groups, but lovers of the classic trolley dilemma can look forward to seeing how AI will treat pedestrians in the Big Apple.

Even the Sharks and the Jets would join forces to keep 70 Upper West Side parking spaces free. In the middle of the night earlier this month, city transportation officials changed the spots, on largely residential streets, to two-hour paid spots, angering local residents. Like a lioness protecting her cubs, the iconic New York City Council member jumped into action to get the change overturned. The moral of this West Side story: don’t mess with Gale. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul had a pretty good birthday week. Her first campaign ad was well received, and she’s been able to tout her defense of New York after Trump deferred to her on the deployment of the National Guard.  She was also able to add the 2027 start date for Penn Station’s renovation to her list of good news. The only thing that could have made things better would be if Rep. Elise Stefanik caught some bad headlines. Oh, well, look at that. 

Calling all lovers of irony! Lawrence McGugins, whose job at the New York City Department of Correction is literally to root out staff misconduct, was fined by the Conflicts of Interest Board for using an agency vehicle for personal use some 118 times. Driving your personal car from your Westchester home to an NYPD parking lot and switching cars just to avoid tolls seems like a lot of effort, but to each their own… 

There will be no more attempts for Andrew Cuomo to “resurrect his public image.” That’s what a state court judge said while rejecting the former governor’s efforts to keep litigating a case in which one of his former aides accused him of sexually assaulting her.  Cuomo had wanted to keep the battle going even after the aide dropped the lawsuit, but there will be no vindication on that matter ahead of the mayoral general election. 

Calling this a bad week for the head of the New York City Department of Correction might be oxymoronic, but it was a bad week for Lynelle Maginley-Liddie. The week saw yet another death at Rikers, which led to the suspension of three people. That’s the ninth recorded death at Rikers and the 10th death of someone in the DOC system so far this year. Twice as many people have died in the city jail system in 2025 compared to all of last year, and it’s still only August.