This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

NY-10 congressional candidate and former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander got the best of both worlds in his much-hyped day in court this week. Lander was officially acquitted of charges that he obstructed access to an elevator during a high-profile arrest at an immigration detention facility last year. And just days away from the start of early voting in his primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman, the trial, which he insisted on having even after the feds offered to drop it, also served to juice his media coverage with fresh reminders of his on-the-ground advocacy for immigrants.

You would never wish for the tragic demise of a horse – but if you’re Chris Marte, it does come with some perks. The death of a carriage horse in Central Park less than 24-hours before a pre-scheduled rally introducing his bill to ban horse-drawn carriages gave the council member a major boost, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani telling reporters the same morning that he supports removing the carriages from Central Park. Maybe Marte will finally be the one to finish one of the city’s longest-running debate.

State Attorney General Letitia James lobbied state lawmakers hard – and fast – this session, with her office quickly ramping up the pressure in the last six weeks to crack down on algorithmic and surveillance pricing that preys on consumers. But lawmakers only half listened and successfully rammed one of James’ two-bill package through both houses of the Legislature in record time. One of the measures to outlaw algorithm-based surveillance pricing is headed for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk. But it seems labor unions might hold more clout than the AG in the Assembly, which failed to vote on the companion bill to ban electronic shelf labels in grocery stores and pharmacies after successful pushback.

After basically evacuating a six-block radius around MSG, forcing employees and game attendees to go through TSA-level security and all around making life difficult for the city that gave birth to him, Trump fell asleep during Game 3 of the NBA finals after getting booed by thousands of fans inside and outside the Garden. The loss of the game was only soothed by the loss of Trump back down to DC.

New York City schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels is under investigation for awarding a hefty no-bid contract back when he was superintendent of a Manhattan school district. The probe, which is being conducted by the Special Commissioner of Investigation, focuses on Samuel’s decision to pay in installments to a company that provided language instructors several years ago to avoid seeking bids from multiple contractors. While Samuels himself acknowledged the “lapse in procedure,” the mayor has so far stuck by his side – and it’s unclear whether he’s actually done anything wrong at this point. 

Apparently someone missed ethics class. Rajiv Rao, the state’s former chief technology officer, will pay a $5,500 fine after admitting to violating state ethics law for attending and speaking at lobbyist events without permission. He also did not disclose that his son worked for a company seeking state business. Looks like the state’s assistant principals, Ethics Commission Chair Seymour James Jr. and Inspector General Lucy Lang, do count attendance and class participation as part of the grade.