NEW YORK CITY — Two days after earning a meager 15 percent of votes in the Democratic primary for mayor, a worn-out but chipper Christine Quinn said the loss won't impact the remaining three months of her time as speaker.
"Trust me: What people may have run against each other for a couple of days, who they may have supported for this or that a couple of days ago, that has nothing to do with the job here," Quinn told reporters Thursday, promising "a ton of legislation passed between now" and the end of the year.
“We’ve been through this Council at times when people have said this is going to tear us apart, that’s going to tear us apart, this is going to tear us apart, “ she added. "And what happens every time is that people leave politics on the steps, rally together, and do the business of government."
When asked about her plans next year, Quinn smiled, saying, “There'll be another chapter, but I haven't started to write it yet.”
Quinn fended off questions about what went wrong in her campaign, saying, “what happened is that it appears that Bill de Blasio won.”
She promised to “enthusiastically support the Democratic nominee,” and said despite technical limbo that could nudge the margin of error once all the paper ballots are counted, “I think it’s clear to most folks that person is Bill de Blasio.”
She stopped short of encouraging Bill Thompson, whose former supporters were flocking en masse to de Blasio on Thursday, from conceding victory.
Quinn’s most emotional moment came when she was asked if she thought New York City had a unique problem electing a woman mayor.
“New York City is not incapable of electing a woman mayor. They have not yet elected a woman mayor,” Quinn said, pointing out that the two were distinct and different issues.
“There will be an amazing day when history will be made in this city,” she said. “It hasn’t happened yet. But we are a city that is not only capable of everything, we’ll eventually accomplish everything.”
