NYC Reporters Sharing the Burden On Paid Sick Leave Deal With Bill de Blasio

A lot has been said about Christine Quinn's dominating the political discourse now that she has compromised and taken a lead on passing the sick pay leave bill, especially after Mike Bloomberg vowed to veto it. 

There is also no doubt that no one lost more from this deal than it's main advocate: Bill de Blasio. As Chris Bragg writes: "Now, he has to make a very complicated argument to voters—that the deal didn't go far enough—even as both advocates and opponents have largely been co-opted into supporting the final agreement. Who in the media is going to pay attention to his attacks against Ms. Quinn on the issue now? And what other clear points of policy difference are there between Mr. de Blasio and Ms. Quinn that could animate the progressive base Mr. de Blasio is counting on? And with 32BJ likely going into Ms. Quinn's camp, his chances of landing the key Working Families Party endorsement are looking slimmer."

McDonald and Thompson Among The Losers of the Week

Two of the mayoral candidates managed to get into City and Stae NY's list of losers of the week.

George McDonald - for failing to match ground with his two rivals in the Republican primary. And Bill Thompson - for siding with Kelly on the Inspector General issue, which didnt play out too well and appealing to his Democratic party base of voters, and for violating the City's campaign finance board's campaign contribution laws. 

Quinn Deflates de Blasio's Campaign Theme With Paid Sick Deal

“It protects people, protects small businesses and I’m incredibly proud with this final piece of legislation,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn as she stood with her fellow lawmakers on the steps of City Hall to officially announce the 'Paid Sick Leave' agreement, which was reached Thursday night. 

Under the bill proposed, businesses with 20 or more employees would be required to provide five paid sick days to their workers beginning April 1, 2014 and to businesses with 15 or more employees by October 1, 2015. Quinn called it a “good, strong, and sensible piece of legislation that recognizes the needs of everyday New Yorkers and the realities that our struggling small businesses face.”

In 1999 Profile, Joe Lhota Is Described as 'Calm, Easy Going and Quirky' In City Hall

While Mayor Giuliani was known for his temper, Joe Lhota, who served as his deputy mayor and is now a Republican candidate for mayor of NYC, was described in a NY Times profile in 1999 "as the most easygoing member of the Mayor's tightly knit, tightly wound inner circle. While he can bluster as expertly as any other Giuliani aide, Mr. Lhota is better known for what sets him apart: his willingness to talk openly and his insouciant humor, which make him one of the quirkiest personalities in City Hall."

Unlike his Democratic counterpart, City Council speaker Christine Quinn, who was described in an extensive NY times piece by Mike Grynbaum and David Chen this week as "controlling, temperamental and surprisingly volatile," Joe Lhota's work at City Hall was described as totally the opposite: A calm voice for a combative mayor.

'If I Was A Democrat' Giuliani Likes Quinn and Thompson For Mayor

Rudy Giuliani, known currently as the backbone behind Joe Lhota’s bid for mayor, offered his reference to Michael Howard Saul of the WSJ, were he a Democratic primary voter. During an interview discussing Quinn's push for an inspector general, Giuliani said he would have difficulty choosing between Quinn and Thompson.

“I worked with Billy and I found him to be a very honorable man and a very level-headed man,” Giuliani said. “A lot of the stuff he thinks, I don’t agree with. But if you’re asking me which one would be the better chief executive, it would be between the two of them.”

Asked by the WSJ if he is frustrated about Bloomberg’s apparent support for Quinn instead of Lhota, the former mayor replied: “Well, let’s see how long that lasts, right?”

Joe Lhota's Museum Controversy That Might Haunt Him as A Candidate To Handle A Diverse City

Joe Lhota's handling of 1999 Museum controversy may come to haunt him shall he become the Republican nominee for mayor, raising questions about how he would operate in a diverse city whose current mayor champions unpleasant speech from every quarter.

In 1999, Lhota, as deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration threatened to cut funding and evict the Brooklyn Museum over a controversial piece of art that incorporated elephant feces in a depiction of the Virgin Mary. "The mayor and Mr. Lhota decided this exhibition offended their sensibilities. O.K. Then they said that if the museum did not kill it, they might evict it," Michael Powell recalled in a December article. Mr. Lhota offered his “8-year-old rule”: “I would not want my daughter to see a naked man, a statue or a caricature or a painting.”

Did Queens Senator, Serphin Maltese Sell His Endorsement of Catsimatidis?

Republican mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis was endorsed Tuesday afternoon by former State Senator Serphin R. Maltese of Queens. Maltese, who also served as Queens County Republican Party Chairman, called Catsimatidis “the only candidate, Republican or Democrat who has the hands on experience needed to run a city like New York.”

Short of Money, Mayoral Hopeful McDonald Drops Oppo Memo Against Lhota

While Catsimatidis is touting on his Democratic background as an electability argument against Joe Lhota in the Republican primary, Goerge McDonald, who is running low in campaign funds, is doing the opposite. In an internal six-page memo leaked to the WSJ (intentionally?), the McDonald campaign has decided the path to victory is by going on offense to explain Republican voters why Joe Lhota is "simply unelectable." 

"The paradoxical challenge of Lhota's campaign strategy is that to win the primary he must closely identify with Mayor Giuliani but in doing so he creates a political environment that is simply insurmountable in the general election," according to the March 25 memo sent to the McDonald campaign's finance-committee members.

Twitter Debates: Was NYT's Temperament Profile of Christie Quinn Sexist?

Unapologetic Quinn Pushes Back on National TV: At Times I Get Emotional and Forceful

What Mitt Romney used to tout his love for America, Christine Quinn is now using the same terminology "No Apology' to express her love for New York City.

 

Mayoral hopeful, Christine Quinn denied on national TV that she had used the power of her office to avenge grievances with elected officials who disagreed with her. "I am not going to apologize for that because that has made us efficient and more focused on the needs of New Yorkers," Ms. Quinn told CNN.