By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CIPRIANI, WALL STREET — Now, it’s out.
At an awards ceremony Tuesday evening celebrating supporters of the gay and lesbian community, Mayor Michael Bloomberg finally admitted what New Yorkers have suspected all along: he has a giant man crush on Newark Mayor Cory Booker.
Booker egged on the bromance with the warm introduction he gave Bloomberg, who was being honored at the Emery Awards gala, an event held annually in connection with the East Village's Harvey Milk High School.
The Newark mayor joked to the seated audience at Cipriani Wall Street that he was there to draw attention to the mayor of “a city that sits in the shadow of Newark, that has issues of competing with us across the river all the time.”
But Booker quickly — albeit briefly — got more serious in his commendation of Bloomberg’s work in the gay rights arena.
“He is a tireless supporter of equal marriage rights,” Booker said, pausing for the thunderous applause from the crowd.
“And he did tangible things in City Hall by working to protect and guarantee equal rights and same-sex benefits to couples who were married elsewhere.”
Gov. David Paterson had put a gay marriage bill on the agenda for Tuesday’s special Senate session, but, once again, the bill — which has passed the Assembly twice — did not make it to the floor for a vote.
As could be expected, much of the talk over the evening centered on the fate of the bill.
When Bloomberg took the stage, he said he had spoken with state Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, who had personally told him that he would not make the vote a partisan issue and would allow other Republican members to vote their conscience. The mayor also made the bold announcement that he would not support the re-election of senators that voted “no” on the bill.
Former ‘N Sync member Lance Bass mingled on the red carpet with 30 Rock’s Cheyenne Jackson and “Welcome to the Dollhouse” star Heather Matarazzo, all three of whom are outspoken about the need for marriage equality.
“They didn’t even vote, they didn’t even bring it to the floor!” exclaimed Matarazzo, who was disappointed that despite being put on the agenda for Tuesday’s special Senate session, there was still no action on the bill.
She and girlfriend Carolyn Murphy, who joined Matarazzo at the event, hope that the bill would eventually pass so that they can marry.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said that state Sen. Tom Duane, who is the leading proponent of the bill, had called to say that he was sorry that he could not be at the event, but that he was busy behind closed doors in Albany trying to get the bill to the floor.
“I’m actually very, very optimistic,” Quinn told DNAinfo. “There’s real promise and potential that this [same-sex marriage bill] could move next week.”
