Quinn on running for mayor, gambling and the living wage

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was on, what we're going to start calling, the 'pre-campaign' trail today. She brought her father along to the Hebrew Home for the Aged, and according to this 2008 Times article, when Papa Quinn is around, it's for the campaign.

Her and City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell spoke to around 150 residents of the Home, mostly about the power of seniors to fight budget cuts and the vitality that the senior community has (though we counted at least 10 seniors fast asleep during the event).

Quinn and Koppell speak to the crowd at the Home.
That's Papa Lawrence Quinn in the background, in brown.

This is the second visit Quinn's made to Riverdale in the last two months, and we couldn't remember the last time she was up here before that. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer was also up here twice in the last month on his own pre-campaign trail.

One member of the Home, while they were waiting for her to arrive, was overheard saying, "She's going to lose a lot of votes; it's not very nice making us wait." 

While they were waiting, Quinn and Koppell were touring the Hebrew Home's newest technology, the nations first low-vision living area, developed by Rensselaer Institute of Technology (RIT).

But Quinn seemed to win over most of the audience once she did arrive, taking questions from the audience until no one had anymore. They ranged from the hyperlocal, requesting W. 261st Street be paved, to the citywide, on whether or not she will run for mayor, to the statewide, on gambling.

As for running for mayor, "I won’t let my father have the microphone because he’ll tell you the answer to that question," she said. "You know, it’s something that I’m thinking about. I haven’t declared yet but it’s certainly something I’m thinking about.”

A member of the audience also questioned her about legalizing gambling (because whose grandparents don't like to gamble!? Stereotypes!). She ducked the question, but we caught up with her afterwards and got a decent answer, though still no commitment from her for either side of the issue.

Quinn speaking to Home residents.
The Home's CEO Daniel Reingold is to her left.

"I'm not a huge fan of gambling, its generally a regressive way to raise money," she said. "That said, if it's going to exist in New York, then I want it to exist in the whole state and then we can decide what we want to do on the city. I wouldn't want the city excluded from it. I'm sympatheic to Governor Cuomo's situation of having to generate revenues."

We also asked her about the living wage and whether or not she thinks it could become broader with a mayor who is more favorable to it (Bloomberg may veto the bill). “I think the key thing for creating more jobs at a living wage in the retail sector is for the Economic Development Corporation to do what L.A. and San Francisco's have done," she said. Both city's have adopted an aggressive policy "where they’re always negotiating towards [a living wage] and with that, you need a mayor who believes in it," she said.