WINNERS & LOSERS

Who was up and who was down last week

You’d be forgiven if you missed the news that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo just turned 65. But the Sagittarius who once ruled the state was joined by at least one notable guest at his Manhattan birthday party: Cheese. Wait sorry, New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The photo on the New York Post’s Page Six showed a lot of delicious looking cheese – and the two politicos chumming it up. The former guv looked cheery, which may have been due to the difficulties facing the state attorney general.

BRIAN BENJAMIN

Former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin has dodged three of the five charges against him. Benjamin resigned in April after federal prosecutors charged him with bribery, wire fraud and other offenses. The three concerning bribery and wire fraud were dropped by a federal judge. Apparently, prosecutors failed to establish an explicit quid pro quo, but he’s not completely off the hook.

WINNERS

OUR PICK

LOSERS

OUR PICK

STEPHEN CORNWELL

It’s not the crime – it’s the coverup. You’d think a prosecutor would know that but ... Stephen Cornwell’s 1995 drunken driving arrest was long forgotten by the time he was elected Broome County District attorney in 2015. Now everybody knows about it, after he pleaded guilty to stealing his own arrest files and deleting his name from the digital copies so nobody could find them.

THE BEST OF THE REST ALVIN BRAGG

While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has faced his (not so fair?) share of criticism, he finally had a good week. A jury found former President Donald Trump’s organization guilty of 17 counts, including tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records.

JOHN KING

John King, the former state education commissioner, is taking over as SUNY chancellor. In addition to a nice housing allowance and a slate of other lofty perks, he’s going to make $750,000 a year. King, who was unanimously chosen to lead the 64-campus system, is also the state’s first Black and Puerto Rican chancellor.

THE REST OF THE WORST IBRAHIM KHAN

It’s one thing to lose your job; it’s another to drag your boss down with you. Ibrahim Khan, state Attorney General Letitia James’ former chief of staff, resigned from after allegations of sexual harassment emerged against him. Not only that, but the office hired outside investigators to look into the allegations who found at least one to be credible.

TONJA WILLIAMS

Buffalo public school teachers have lost confidence in Superintendent Tonja Williams. The Buffalo teachers’ union took a vote of no confidence in Williams following a delay in securing a contract for teachers.

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Vol. 11 Issue 47

December 12, 2022

THE 2022 RESPONSIBLE 100

Winners

of the Year

Reps. Pat Ryan & Hakeem Jeffries were bright spots, but many New York Dems were LOSERS in 2022.

CITYANDSTATENY.COM @CITYANDSTATENY December 12, 2022

Cover photograph: Stephen Voss

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