This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

It was victory after victory for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams this week – even if the Board of Elections ended up putting proposals on the ballot that she’d hoped to defeat. Not only did a judge once again rule in the City Council’s favor as the chamber fights to prevent federal immigration authorities from returning to Rikers Island, but members also overturned three of the mayor’s vetoes in one fell swoop – voting to revive the legislation at the most recent stated meeting.

They were at his campaign launch, so it was only a matter of time, and now Citizen Action of New York has officially become Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s first endorsement in his bid to unseat his boss. Is it anything compared to the slew of endorsements Hochul received when Delgado first announced? Maybe not, but it’s a milestone for the campaign nonetheless and sure to lend credence to Delgado’s progressive bonafides. Plus, the LG managed to capitalize on Hochul’s latest gaffe (see below), which doesn’t hurt, either.

As chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus, Assembly Member Michaelle Solages was already one of the most prominent and powerful members of the state Legislature, but she had yet to lead one her chamber’s committees. The wait is now over, as she was named chair of the local governments committee, replacing her departed colleague Billy Jones. Looks like local government legislation will see some Long Island flair going forward.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was just joking with old friends, but not everyone is laughing after she told a Black church congregation in Buffalo that they should not “stop by the liquor store” when they receive their state rebate checks. Not a good look, especially since she was criticized last year for saying that some Black children in the Bronx don’t know what a computer is. But Hochul is being defended by Buffalo’s most prominent Black leaders, with one calling her “family” to church congregants.

He hasn’t been president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association in almost three years, but at least Thomas Mungeer still had his badge. Well, that was fun while it lasted. Mungeer resigned on Sept. 10, as he is expected to face criminal charges for alleged financial misconduct in his former union role. But his retirement takes effect Oct. 1 – and if there’s no court decision by then, he could at least keep his pension.

As the Trump administration seeks to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and eliminate the Head Start program in next year’s budget, New York City is starting to feel the effects of the federal pullback. Simone Hawkins, the city’s deputy chancellor of early childhood education, said the department did not receive a $71 million Head Start grant from the feds. While the grant denial won’t immediately put the early childhood education program in limbo, its future funding is now unclear.