Welcome to the inaugural “Winners and Losers,” your guide to the week’s heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and smart growth.

This week’s winners (who did things we like):

Senator Chuck Schumer— New York’s stalwart Senator is leading the fight to restore the federal transit tax benefit, which lapsed at the end of 2011. Currently, public transit commuters can spend up to $125 per month in pretax income on their commute, while drivers can spend up to $240 in pretax income on parking at their job. Chuck Schumer sees the insanity of such an arrangement.

The Genting Group— the Wall Street Journal reported that the private backers of Governor Cuomo’s proposed convention center would “work with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to fund uninterrupted subway service between Midtown Manhattan and the proposed convention center.” The jury’s still out on the plan itself, but we can get behind developers that think seriously about transit access (are you taking notes, Triple Five?)

Melissa Mark-Viverito— the NYC councilwoman wrote a editorial for the New York Daily News in support of an East Harlem bike lane. We’re all fans.

This week’s losers (who did things we dislike)

The Government of the State of New Jersey— 2011 was a dark year for smart growth-oriented transportation policy in the Garden State. New Jersey defunded the Transit Village Program, increased funding for new highways, and gave $200 million in tax breaks to The American Dream (a retail development in the Meadowlands with very limited transit options). Traffic fatalities were also at an all time high. On Monday, the Legislature has a chance to redeem itself by stopping a proposal that could encourage sprawl development and dirty water.

Opponents of station improvements— Some Upper East Side residents have banded together to oppose the construction of two new entrances to the 68th St./Hunter College station. The improvements would also include an elevator, which would make the station ADA-accessible, but one resident protested that “[by] putting this subway entrance in front of our building, you turn 69th Street into 68th Street, which is a busy commercial street.” Ugh.

Governor Cuomo— New York’s Governor hardly mentioned transit in Wednesday’s State of the State speech. Transit advocates have been critical of the Governor’s reduction in the MTA’s dedicated funding and the removal of transit from the Tappan Zee Bridge project.