This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Anna Wintour should have moved at a glacial pace and bored someone with questions, because then the details of her incompetence wouldn’t interest Council speaker Julie Menin. Menin knocked Wintour off her Met Gala throne this week by forcing John Galliano out as the gala’s honoree over the fashion designer’s past antisemitic and anti-Asian comments. Maybe Menin and Wintour can nosh at a new Menin-approved year-round outdoor dining booth and hammer out a theme. Maybe florals for spring? Yeah, we know, groundbreaking. 

It’s safe to say Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is breathing a heavy sigh of relief, even though things didn’t go 100% his way. The Onondaga County Legislature reached a compromise to put two competing proposals on the November ballot. Voters will decide to impose either three- or four-term limits for top county offices. The unusual solution will save taxpayers thousands after McMahon was sued over accidentally signing a local law imposing a three-term limit that he meant to veto.

AI may be embedding itself deeper into our daily lives, but it will not find itself inside New York City elementary and middle school classrooms. Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels and the city Department of Education plan to roll out a new policy banning student-facing AI from 2-K through eighth grade. That’s sure to come as a relief to concerned parents and faculty members, though it’s bad news for any toddlers using ChatGPT.

Disgraced former Rep. George Santos has achieved something no other person has in history: a lifetime ban from Kalshi, an online prediction market so obsessed with signing up new users that it’s tried to lure in women through Love Island TikTok ads. In true Santos style, this historic ban came as a result of insider trading, as Santos contributed to speculation on whether he would attend the State of the Union address only to turn a hefty profit when he decided not to at the last second.

Sending an email to all your coworkers that starts off by saying the “best part of having fuck you money is being able to tell the truth” is certainly one way to torch your career. State Assistant Attorney General Daniel Wiesenfeld, who worked in the Investor Protection Bureau, has since been placed on leave, but his accusation that state Attorney General Letitia James’ office is pursuing politically-motivated prosecutions of President Donald Trump and his friends is still creating headaches and bad press for the AG.

We at City & State don’t love the idea of influencers covering New York City politics, but we weren’t the only ones less than thrilled to learn that City Hall has a Signal chat with influencers where they receive talking points and interview offers from Emilia Rowland, director of the Mayor’s Office of New Media. Although the influencers weren’t paid for their coverage of the mayor, some were paid for campaigns with other city agencies. That raises ethical concerns, and it’s frankly just frustrating as the press corps battles for access.