City & State ranks Joe and Clara Wu Tsai #45 in the Brooklyn Power 100, returns Social Justice Fund head Gregg Bishop to the list. A key lobbyist on AY, too.

The political publication City & State New York recently published its annual The 2026 Brooklyn Power 100, with the subheadline, "The political hierarchy of Kings County."

Last July--less than a year ago--the publication ranked Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai #43, which I thought was too low. After all, they'd sold a slice of holding company BSE Global to the Koch family at at high valuation, and sold a slice of the New York Liberty to several investors at another high valuation.

More importantly, and also unmentioned, the Tsais had begun to build a Brooklyn "ecosystem" of media and entertainment.

So I still think their ranking is low, especially since the associated philanthropic enterprise, the Social Justice Fund, has won them many allies, even if its spending claims aren't documented.

Indeed, though I hadn't noticed it at the time, BSE Global bought a City & State advertisement (see below) saluting the honorees, with trademarks for its holdings, not just the Barclays Center (operating company), the Brooklyn Nets, and New York Liberty, but also the Long Island Nets, BK MAG, the Brooklyn Wine Club, and Type.Set.Brooklyn. 

From City & State New York, 2025

While City & State offers lots of good journalism, its regular lists are arbitrary affairs designed, at least in part, to generate thankful advertising from those honored.

The 2026 ranking

In the latest ranking, Joe Tsai & Clara Wu Tsai, described as Chair and Vice Chair, Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (the holding company's new/old name), this year ranked #45, a notch down, so that's still too low. The text:

Joe Tsai has the Brooklyn Nets in a rebuilding year while banking on a high pick in the next NBA draft, but that hasn’t changed his long-term commitment to professional sports in the borough. The Alibaba Group chair brought the Nets to China last year in their first visit since 2019 and said he wouldn’t want to be a majority NFL owner until the Nets got better. He also is a member of the JPMorgan International Council, Exor Partners Council and a trustee of The Lawrenceville School. As founder of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, Clara Wu Tsai has given tens of millions of dollars through their foundation to support its economic mobility, social justice and humanitarian initiatives. She also oversees fan development and community engagement matters for the Nets and New York Liberty and serves on the boards of trustees for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Last year, after deciding not to renew Liberty coach Sandy Brondello’s contract, she led the search for its new coach, Chris DeMarco.

It's worth noting that, as the name suggests, Clara Wu Tsai is not the sole founder of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation.

The advertisement below, from Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, took the less-is-more approach, relying on an image of the arena, without having to remind readers of some lesser-known properties.

From City & State New York, 2026

On the Brooklyn Power 100, the Tsais were #43 in 2025, #41 in 2024, #42 in 2023, #33 in 2022 and #37 in 2021. In 2020, Joe Tsai (alone) was #20 on City & State NY's new Brooklyn Power 50. See coverage here and here.

Also of note: SJF's Bishop

At #89 on the list is Gregg Bishop, Executive Director, Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation Social Justice Fund. The text:

Gregg Bishop came to the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation in 2021, a year after the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty owners launched a social justice fund. Bishop, the former New York City Department of Small Business Services commissioner, helped the Tsais focus their philanthropic efforts toward founders of color and women pursuing initiatives that improve economic mobility and combat discrimination. The fund, which will commit $50 million through 2030, gave its first set of grants in 2020 to an ER doctor, a climate think tank, a journalist, a charter school leader and a formerly incarcerated activist.

That's not exactly a comprehensive take on whether the fund has fulfilled its promises. 

The text adds, "Editor’s note: Gregg Bishop is a member of City & State’s advisory board." 

Those advisory boards are supposed to help the publication choose its lists. They also probably inoculate against critical coverage. (Bishop was named to the advisory board before he joined the Social Justice Fund.)

Bishop was #87 on the 2022 list.

Also of note: lobbyist Scarlett

At #32 on the 2026 list is Juanita Scarlett, Partner, Bolton-St. Johns. The text:

Juanita Scarlett joined Bolton-St. Johns seven years ago after honing her lobbying skills at Park Strategies as well as McKenna Long & Aldridge – and serving as an executive at Empire State Development. She guides clients in the education, energy and economic development sectors and has helped position Bolton-St. Johns as a top lobbying firm in New York City, reporting over $10 million in compensation in 2024. Scarlett has published op-eds about health care and was featured in a New York Times story about Brooklyn’s sisterhood of Black leaders.

She too is a member of City & State’s advisory board.

Scarlett and her colleagues at Bolton-St. Johns represent Cirrus Workforce Housing on its efforts to get the state and city to approve new subsidies, and more bulk, for Atlantic Yards.

Note: when, in April 2025, City & State published an admiring profile of NY1 anchor (and New York magazine columnist) Errol Louis, I asked why the publication didn't ask Louis how he navigates potential conflicts of interest regarding subjects his wife's firm lobbies on. 

Also, I asked, shouldn't the publication in that article disclose that their subject's wife is on their Advisory Board? No response.