Personality
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
New York City officials just can’t seem to beat back Legionella bacteria and its attempts to root itself across the five boroughs. After two deadly outbreaks of the disease swept across the Upper East Side and the Bronx this summer, health officials have now identified another site, this time on Staten Island. So far, two residents at the Castleton Park Apartments complex have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease after the building’s water system tested positive for the bacteria late last week. Here’s hoping this latest outbreak ends here.
Julie Menin -
Can the New York City Council do anything to stop the destruction of humanity at the hands of tech companies racing towards superintelligence? Maybe not. But Speaker Julie Menin sure made a convincing case this week that it can try, leading the council in a 10-hour hearing that garnered wall-to-wall press coverage, national attention and disappointingly anemic answers from those tech companies. Put simply, Menin looked like she was owning the AI issue in New York.
Christopher Watler -
Criminal justice advocate Christopher Watler was named chair of the New York City Board of Correction – a high-profile job and a high honor, but it won’t be a cake walk. Watler’s got experience serving as president of a nonprofit focused on improving reentry for incarcerated people. But he steps up to the plate amid the long-awaited and delayed closure of Rikers Island, and will have to juggle this with the broader obligation of improving carceral conditions.
Blake Gendebien -
Democratic congressional nominee Blake Gendebien is ready to paint the town blue! The Democratic congressional nominee for former Rep. Elise Stefanik’s old seat in the North Country has been added to the DCCC’s coveted “Red to Blue” program, signaling that his race is a top priority for national Democrats. Even better, state police just cleared Gendebien of an illegal dumping complaint filed by his GOP rival Anthony Constantino.
Bruce Blakeman -
Mo’ money may cause mo’ problems, but so does less money. And Bruce Blakeman is suffering from both. He’s reporting just $178,000 cash on hand a month out from Election Day – and he may have even less than that. Blakeman apparently double and triple-counted contributions by mistake and accepted donations higher than the legal limit that he’ll need to repay. Combined with new polling that still has him down by 12 points, it’s looking like a tough home stretch for the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
Zohran Mamdani -
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place as he attended an Oct. 7 vigil alongside people highly critical of his stance on Israel, while being heckled by members of the Young Democratic Socialists of America and other anti-Israel protesters. Depending on who you ask, he’s either kowtowing to Zionists or disrespecting the victims of Hamas’ terrorism.
Kevin Byrne -
Which is worse – violating campaign finance law, or being left out of a friendly trap shooting competition between the two of your challengers? Putnam County executive Kevin Byrne happens to have experience with both. This week, a judge ruled Byrne violated campaign law by accepting 10 donations that exceeded contribution limits, and GOP incumbent Byrne missed the shooting showdown between the Democratic and Conservative party nominees for his seat.