Personality
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
A complicated man once said, “New York City is the Dublin of America.” Is it still? New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was unprepared to opine on the question of Irish reunification on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. He might want to take a lesson from Irish Americans, who are experts at clinging to even distant traces of Irish ancestry to stake out stubborn positions on the homeland. Take Gov. Kathy Hochul, who didn’t hesitate to state her support for a united Ireland and somehow came off looking like the more anti-colonial leader.
Gregory Anderson -
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has only a few more key appointments left to make in his administration – and that list just got shorter. Gregory Anderson, previously deputy director of state operations in Albany, was just named the new sanitation commissioner. A former deputy commissioner of the department under Kathryn Garcia, Anderson is ready to lead the agency he worked for for nine years. Bonus: those two giant snow storms we had in the Big Apple? Not his problem!
Ligia Guallpa -
In a win for delivery workers across the five boroughs, New York City cops will no longer give criminal summons to cyclists for minor traffic violations. The city already informally stopped enforcing the Adams-era crackdown, and Mamdani has now made the return to the previous, car-equivalent enforcement action official. And in more good news for Ligia Guallpa and Los Deliveristas Unidos, the mayor plans to launch a delivery worker safety program next month.
Robert Smullen -
The state Republican committee made the rare decision this week to weigh in on a House primary race, endorsing Assembly Member Robert Smullen to succeed North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik – in the hopes of throwing a wrench into Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino's campaign. The party is backing Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel, to avoid a split vote in the rural, deep-red district over Constantino, whom state Conservative Party chair Gerard Kassar is suing for defamation.
Eric Adams -
Say what you will about the three-decade-old sexual misconduct lawsuit that was filed against former New York City Mayor Eric Adams back in 2023 – he said it was totally made up – but more than a few people found it curious that he would give himself city-funded legal representation to fight the case. And grant it to his personal friends Tim Pearson and Jeff Maddrey, too. So Mamdani yanked the city from the cases. Now the three need to cover their own legal bills.
Jabari Brisport -
What happens on the DSA Zoom doesn’t stay on the DSA Zoom. State Sen. Jabari Brisport used crude language when discussing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s planned investments in child care. “This is the governor wiping her own butt by putting in the extra billion dollars. Glad we did it, but it should have been done two years ago,” Brisport said on a call leaked to Politico. The comment from Mamdani’s close friend follows another incident where the governor’s team forced Brisport out of a child care photo op.
Dan Levy -
Politics 101 says you can’t make the ballot if you ignore the rules. Apparently, Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy skipped class that day. Levy did not sign the witness statements on petitions for him and his slate, ending the reelection bids for Levy, three village trustees and the village justice. Levy claims he decided not to seek reelection while one disqualified village trustee says the paperwork needs to be more “sophisticated.” With explanations like this, maybe these Long Islanders should retake Logic 101, too.