By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't mince words when asked about gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino's position on the "Ground Zero Mosque."
"Huh?" the mayor responded, according to the New York Daily News. "He's not going to get elected, so let's go on to the other topic."
Paladino, a Republican real estate developer who, like Bloomberg, plans to finance his own campaign, has called on the mayor to "stop all construction and permit proceedings" on the controversial mosque and community center that is planned to go up two blocks from Ground Zero.
Responding to the Bloomberg's snub, Paladino's camp suggested that the mayor was out of touch with New Yorkers' views on the subject.
“We believe the mayor should get outside of Manhattan more often," Paladino's campaign manager, Michael Caputo, told the News. "Because he would get a better grasp of just how opposed New Yorkers across the state are to this mosque."
“As for his comment that Carl won't win," Caputo reportedly added. "Mayor Bloomberg should remember his critics said the same about him until late in his first election."
