WINNERS LOSERS

Remember Christopher Columbus? The explorer who arrived to Haiti, an island with a population of about 3 million Taíno people, in 1492? Fifty years after his first voyage, 500 Indigenous people remained. Soon after landing, he wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella, monarchs of Spain: “With 50 men all of them could be held in subjection and can be made to do whatever one might wish.” Anyway, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Lee Zeldin are down to march in the Columbus Day parade to honor that guy.

Good news for small-business owners. Thanks to a measure sponsored by New York City Council Member Julie Menin, anyone wanting to roll out their own business will have an easier time doing so going forward. The council gave its stamp of approval to Menin’s legislation, known as the One-Stop Shop NYC Business Portal, that will bring crucial documentation and application info under a single web portal.

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

It’s tough running as a Republican in New York, we get it. A statewide race is an uphill battle, both ways, in the snow. Polling showed he’s down by 17 percentage points. But Rep. Lee Zeldin didn’t just dispute the numbers, he offered his own. His campaign released an internal poll that showed he was only 6 points behind Hochul. Which just didn’t really feel like quite the brag he was hoping for.

Kickboxing crime, on company time? One of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ deputy mayors is decidedly behind the scenes, staying out of the spotlight since he was an unindicted co-conspirator in a corruption case. But his public schedules suggest that Banks is a power player in the administration.

The 21-year-old son of Digital Gadgets founder and CEO Charlie Tebele was revealed to have had an internship with the governor’s campaign, which then became a full-time position as campaign finance associate. Tebele’s dad and his company have been caught in the middle of the COVID-19 test kit scandal.

Adams’ embattled jails commissioner came under a fresh wave of scrutiny. He was accused of pushing for the release of a dying man in order to lower the death count on Rikers Island and faces the likelihood of the City Council passing a bill to ban solitary confinement.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was roasted by Adams. “Kansas doesn’t have a brand,” he said while laughing. “When you go there, OK, you’re from Kansas. But New York has a brand.” In response, Kelly declared Kansas to be the “best state in America.”

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Vol. 11 Issue 38 October 3, 2022

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A look inside the chaos of Rikers Island — New York’s largest psychiatric care provider.

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October 3, 2022

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