Chick-fil-A fails Christine Quinn's litmus test, and who else?
Briefing: Quinn, Bloomberg and Kelly. Azi Paybarah via flickr
8:44 am Jul. 30, 20121
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Chick-fil-A is "not welcome in New York City" because its owner continues to "uphold and promote" discriminatory views. The move is at odds with the position of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and most of the city's business establishment, who effectively regard Quinn as the most acceptable potential successor to Bloomberg among the Democrats who are running.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has attacked companies for the way they spend their money in campaigns, but Quinn's approach raises the question in a more serious way of whether there is now a litmus test for institutions doing business in New York City. Of course, that all gets really complicated really fast. What is the difference, for example, between the Chick-fil-A owner's expressed opposition to gay marriage and the decision of Mets owner Fred Wilpon to give a $2,500 donation to an anti-gay-marriage, anti-gun-control presidential candidate? Does Christine Quinn have anything to say to him regarding how welcome his team is now?
Quote
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver: "I believe a governor and members of the Legislature have a right to correspond with someone in confidence, in a way that is not reportable or traceable." [Fred Dicker]
Events
Andrew Cuomo is in New York City and has no public schedule.
10 a.m. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a Q&A after announcing an agreement to create a data and science institute at Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, in Manhattan.
10:30 a.m. State Senator Eric Adams, Assemblyman Karim Camara and others urge Bloomberg and Cuomo to allocate $50 million to help curb gun violence in high crime areas, at the corner of Rockaway Avenue and Riverdale Avenue in Brooklyn.
12 p.m. Democratic district leader Lincoln Restler is endorsed by Adams, Camara, State Senator Dan Squadron, assemblymembers Jim Brenan, Joan Millman and councilmembers Diana Reyna, Letitia James, Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
12 p.m. New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy unveil new gun control legislation, on the steps of City Hall.
Birthdays: Sean Patrick Maloney and Jordan Barowitz.
2012
Bill Clinton will formally place Barack Obama's name into nomination at the convention, "another milestone in the complicated and evolving relationship between the two presidents." [Jeff Zeleny]
A staff writer at the New Yorker is very unimpressed with Mitt Romney's trip abroad. [Steve Coll]
Fred Wilpon, the owner of the Mets, donated $2,500 to Romney. [Carl Campanile]
"The exchanges have been so fierce that hardly a positive ad has been broadcast in July." [Jeff Zeleny]
Washington
Still on pace to deport a record number of undocumented residents, Obama needs "clear, enforceable guidelines" for dealing with immigration lawyers and the Department of Homeland Security, writes former Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau. [Daily News]
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the Second Amendment is not absolute and "reasonable limitations" will be decided in future cases. [Thomas DeFrank]
The assault weapons ban was a "failure," and talk about its return boost gun sales. [Brad Parks]
State Senator Eric Adams drove upstate and bought an assault rifle, to show how easily guns get into New York City. [Bob Fredericks]
"Two Children Among Six People Shot in Brooklyn." [New York Times]
Incoming congressman Hakeem Jeffries raised a lot of his money from out-of-state supporters. [Alison Gendar]
The U.S. attorney's office is investigating taxpayer money Rep. Greg Meeks sent to the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. [Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein]
2013
In an op-ed, New York City Comptroller John Liu argues against the mayor's plan to have a private company operate city parking meters, and says the employees who do that for the city now bring in more money, per person, than JP Morgan. [Daily News]
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said Chick-fil-A is "not welcome in New York City as long as the company's president continues to uphold and promote his discriminatory views." [Candice Giove]
More cops should be hired, especially as the city approaches the post-Blomberg era. [New York Post]
City Hall
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's top spokesman, Stu Loeser, is leaving next month to start his own firm. [Michael Grynbaum]
Flashback: Loeser spoke to Wall Street firms back in 2010 about going to work there. [Max Abelson]
Bloomberg wants hospitals to steer new mothers away from formula, and is ordering them to keep it locked up. [Mary Kay Linge]
Matt Drudge noticed. [Twitter]
A City Council law to provide more scrutiny on contracts over $200,000 has not been used once. [David Seifman]
Surrogates Court is a racket. [Brad Hamilton and Michael Gartland]
Loeser's replacement has not been named. [Josh Margolin]
Albany
Governor Andrew Cuomo's "transparency problem could easily put a dent in his growing national reputation." [New York Times]
National Democratic operatives disagree, and defended the governor, mostly without their names attached. [Ken Lovett]
Instead of just yelling at Con Ed like Quinn, Cuomo got into a room and hammered out a deal. [New York Post]
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said Apple unfairly collaborated with the MTA in order to win a bid at opening a store in Grand Central Terminal. [James Covert]
Don't get too comfortable with the good news coming from the MTA. In 2014, they have a $129 million deficit, and it's growing. [Nicole Gelinas]
"[T]here were 193 absences for the 26 Democrats and just 59 missed days for the 33 Republicans." [Erik Kriss]
Assemblyman Eric Stevenson donated $6,000 to the family of a four-year-old boy shot and killed last week. [Associated Press]
Stevenson, Assembyman Carl Heastie and Assembly candidate Mark Gjonaj visited grieving relatives of gun violence victims. [Nate Schweber]
Assemblyman Vito Lopez spent $3,000 in campaign cash over three years at Peter Luger. [Michael Gartland]
State Senator Marty Golden, State Senator Dan Squadron and Councilman Domenic Recchia took a bow for restored bus services, which, technically, they had nothing to do with. [Pete Donohue]
Flashback: Courier Life was onto this story. [William Bredderman]
On Air
Jimmy Vielkind analyzes Bloomberg's endorsement of Scott Brown: The mayor was worried about Elizabeth Warren's Wall Street activism so "he picked the other candidate." [Inside City Hall]
Matt Taibbi: "The choice of Timothy Geithner will eventually go down as one of Barack Obama's biggest mistakes." [Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer]
Front Pages
[click to enlarge]
Well, thanks to the short-sightedness of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, many people who could have been employed, and taxes that could have been collected, are cast aside due to the comments of one person. By that logic, we should prevent, or force closed many businesses who had someone say something we don't like. Last time I checked, the 1st Amendment still existed. The business prevents no one for working or buying from the business and violates no law, but, just because we don't like what one person says... We are getting so "politically correct" I want to throw up! Let he, who is without sin, cast the first stone!