Personality
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
We love taking the train to the game! Crowding onto the No. 7 train to Citi Field or feeling like a sardine on the No. 4 train to Yankee Stadium? Both rites of passage for summer in the city (and we’ll take the $3 OMNY ride over obscene stadium parking prices). But the train to the beautiful game? That’s a whole other ball game. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill took heat this week after NJ Transit said it plans to charge more than $100 to take the train to the World Cup this summer. And now $150 train tickets are being floated?! You can (sometimes) get into a Knicks game at the Garden for that much. (Though not this weekend’s playoff game – go Knicks!) Read the room!
Brad Hoylman-Sigal -
Congratulations to Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and everyone else who worked to get the Pride flag back up at the Stonewall Inn national monument after the Trump administration tried to take it down. That includes the Gilbert Baker foundation, named for the designer of the Pride flag, which brought a successful lawsuit to restore the flag to its rightful place. Hello (again), gorgeous!
Nadia Shihata -
It may have looked shaky there for a minute, but now it’s official: the City Council has approved Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s nominee to lead the Department of Investigation, Nadia Shihata. Some council members had questioned the former federal prosecutor’s impartiality, pointing to donations she’d previously made to the mayor’s campaign. Ultimately, though, her hefty étriumphed – with the help of a little political wrangling between the mayor and City Council Speaker Julie Menin.
Lee Zeldin -
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin, the 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate who came within 6 points of unseating Gov. Kathy Hochul, is taking a victory lap as the Northeast Supply Enhancement natural gas pipeline broke ground this week. The pipeline will transport natural gas from Pennsylvania underwater through the Lower New York Bay to serve National Grid customers in Brooklyn and Queens and on Long Island. The Trump administration has long backed the project, and got Hochul to approve the permits to build it – though the governor did not attend the groundbreaking.
Ken Griffin -
It’s $50 billion net worth versus 50 billion clicks on social media. Hedge funder Ken Griffin has unwittingly become the face of New York Democrats’ pied-à-terre tax proposal after Mamdani posted up on Central Park South in front of Griffin’s penthouse apartment (purchase price $238 million) and said we’re taxing the richest of the rich who don’t live here full time. It gets worse. Fellow hedge funder and Twitter punching bag Bill Ackman just defended him online.
Stefan Pildes -
Turns out the founder of SantaCon is actually a Santa conman (allegedly). Federal prosecutors charge that Stefan Plides stole $1.5 million from money raised through the annual bar crawl meant for charity. Much to the chagrin of many New York City residents, SantaCon will likely continue unimpeded. But Plides may end up trading his Santa suit for a prison jumpsuit.
Sean Ryan -
How on Earth can a city famous for blizzards only have 14 working snow plows, when they need 35? Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan wants to fix that, along with a building literally collapsing around him, broken street lights and traffic signals and much more. But there’s a catch, Ryan needs a 25% property tax hike. Few elected officials would take the risk, but Ryan hopes his messaging keeps the City of Good Neighbors from grabbing the pitchforks and torches.