NEW THIS MORNING

WINNERS AND LOSERS: This week we found that Charlie Rangel had secured his Congressional seat at long last, that Cuomo bobblehead dolls were extremely popular and that Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks we could all get along just fine in extremely small apartments. But even in a laid-back week, there are winners, and there are losers: http://bit.ly/PUT9Wo   NEW THIS MORNING: * Con Ed admitted it gave $250,000 last year to the Committee to Save New York, a Cuomo-friendly pro-business group, raising questions since the governor appoints board members who regulate the utility, the Wall Street Journal learns: http://on.wsj.com/NFGdja * Taxi fares in New York will rise 17 percent, allowing cabbies, who have not seen an increase in eight years, to take home higher wages, the New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/MluN6D * The city's Conflict of Interest Board drafted a new proposal requiring unpaid members of policymaking boards and commissions to follow state law and file financial-disclosure statements, the Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/OhCdSt * The city's public housing authority has failed to install a single security camera even though it has $42 million to spend on the improvements thanks to the agency's foot-dragging, the Daily News learns: http://nydn.us/PUQhJ9 * Nearly two-thirds of sixth grade students are at the same reading proficiency level in sixth grade that they were three years ago, a new Independent Budget Office report claims, but the city questions the study, the News reports: http://nydn.us/NkxWiF * The officer who sparked the NYPD ticket-fixing scandal tried to hire a hitman to kill a witness in the case and planned to use NYPD pension money to pay for the hit, the New York Post reports: http://nyp.st/SdiMiz * Councilwoman Gail Brewer will hold an oversight hearing to determine what went wrong in the ballot-counting process during last month's contentious Northern Manhattan congressional race, the Times notes: http://nyti.ms/N4UmIX * Senator Chuck Schumer called for new federal regulations to divert helicopters carrying ultra-rich Hamptonites over waterways instead of Eastern Long Island towns after residents complained vociferously, the News writes: http://nydn.us/Nu2KvS * Parks advocates and preservation groups are suing to prevent the Parks Department from tearing up the wooden Coney Island Boardwalk and replacing it with concrete and plastic, the Times writes: http://nyti.ms/PUMQlN * Conservative Party hopefuls Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione and Ed Gilbert are eager to challenge Republican state Sen. Roy McDonald in a heated primary this fall, the Times-Union reports: http://bit.ly/NEW1Td * State lawmakers are looking into whether E-ZPass is overcharging customers who travel in big rigs across the state's highways, the Albany Times-Union reports: http://bit.ly/MpTWH5