EYE AYE: Christine Quinn, seeking conservative support, has a deal to keep Ray Kelly on as police commissioner if she wins this year’s mayoral race, insiders say. (
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The Kelly Dynasty will continue at the NYPD if Christine Quinn gets elected mayor, The Post has learned.
The police commissioner and council speaker have cut a private deal that will keep him as top cop for a fourth consecutive mayoral term with a Quinn victory in the November race to succeed Mike Bloomberg, sources said.
Confidants in both camps confirmed the secret pact — which will bolster Quinn’s anti-crime credentials while allowing Ray Kelly, 71, to keep the powerful post he loves.
“Ray is going to stay on if it’s Quinn,” said a source close to Kelly, adding that the commissioner decided months ago that he would agree to keep his job if the next mayor asks him.
A source close to Quinn said, “She has made her intentions clear” that she will retain Kelly if elected mayor.
Their deal does not specify how long Kelly would keep the job, the sources said.
Kelly, who previously served two years as commissioner under Mayor David Dinkins, is beginning his 12th year as Bloomberg’s commissioner.
It’s the longest tenure by far of any New York top cop since a sole commissioner began overseeing the NYPD in 1901.
The move could backfire if Quinn’s Democratic rivals cite his controversial police tactics like stop-and-frisk to lure away primary voters.
Former city Comptroller William Thompson and current Comptroller John Liu have both said publicly they would not retain Kelly if elected mayor.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has not committed to replacing Kelly, but has been a vocal critic of stop-and-frisk — which disproportionately affects minorities and faces a federal court challenge.
Sources say Quinn is taking the gamble to appeal to constituencies that can help her win both the primary and general elections — conservative outer-borough Democrats, business and real-estate community leaders, and Republicans.
Kelly is popular with those groups for keeping crime down in the Big Apple — including a record low of just 418 murders in 2012.
Quinn felt keeping Kelly was even more imperative in recent weeks as Joe Lhota resigned as MTA chief to contemplate running for mayor as a Republican.
Quinn may undercut Lhota’s ability to cite the crime-fighting legacy of his former boss, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as a reason to elect him as Bloomberg’s successor.
Questioned about the secret deal, Quinn spokesman Jamie McShane said only that the speaker “has repeatedly said that the next mayor of the city of New York would be incredibly lucky to have Ray Kelly stay on as their police commissioner.”
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne insisted in an e-mail that “no such discussion — ‘private’ or otherwise — has taken place between Speaker Quinn and Commissioner Kelly” about him keeping his job.