There’s been a subtle shift in the 2013 mayoral race that has gone unnoticed by all but a few insiders: Mayor Bloomberg isn’t as sold as he used to be on Council Speaker Christine Quinn replacing him.
“I think it’s fair to say there’s been a bit of a cooling off,” said one source.
Bloomberg and Quinn had once been viewed as so tight that critics derisively described her as a “deputy mayor.”
The two appeared together so often that most observers assumed Bloomberg’s endorsement of Quinn was in the bag.
But sources said that was never the case. The vagaries of politics, along with unforced errors by Quinn, indicate the Speaker will have to work harder than she might have expected for Bloomberg’s backing.
Bloomberg certainly wasn’t happy that the City Council passed two bills that his administration is now trying to undo in court, one mandating a “living wage” and another a “prevailing wage” on certain city projects.
In both those instances, Quinn was in a bind. Short of going to war with the unions she’s hoping to win over for her campaign, Quinn had to do something.
There was also enormous support within the Council for both bills and, distressed as the mayor may be, the outcome could have been worse if the “living wage” measure hadn’t been amended.
But what would explain her opposition to Bloomberg’s proposal to ban sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces?
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, two mayoral rivals, had no problem lining up with the mayor on this one.
Then there’s the matter of the mayoral forum in June where all the candidates were asked to grade Bloomberg on providing contracting opportunities to minority and women-owned businesses.
“C or C-minus,” offered Quinn after the moderator pressed for a letter grade. Big mistake. Stringer and former Comptroller Bill Thompson, who went next, simply rebuffed the moderator and didn’t give grades.
After Bloomberg defended the right of Chick-fil-A to open here despite its CEO’s opposition to gay marriage, Quinn fired off a letter to NYU questioning why it had a branch of the fast food outlet. It was one step too far.
On the flip side, Quinn still has plenty of credits in the mayor’s ledger.
She was on his side in the contentious term limits debate, helped pass 11 city budgets with relatively little public rancor and works well with the administration day-to-day.
Mayoral aides insist the partnership isn’t frayed.
“The mayor has said for years that Speaker Quinn has been a great partner in government and that view hasn’t changed,” said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson.
One executive in the real estate industry predicted Bloomberg would eventually wind up in Quinn’s corner, if for no other reason than the other contenders would be tough for him to swallow.
“He’s got nowhere else to go,” observed the executive.