Quinn Pressures NY1 To Stop Airing Attack Ad On Term Limits, Living Wage Bill
The early front-runner in the mayoral race, City Council
Speaker Christine Quinn, is finding herself subject to new attacks. She is the
subject of the first attack ad of the campaign, and she does not like it one
bit.
The 30-second spot, created by the independent group NYC
Is Not For Sale, attacks Quinn for her stance on progressive issues including
the living wage and sick leave bills.
The ad's provocative statements include, "Virtually
all of Christine Quinn's decisions were made in rooms just like this with her
friends in the 1 percent," and "How can you support her?"
On Monday, shortly after the ad started airing on NY1,
Quinn's mayoral campaign called on Time Warner Cable and Cablevision to pull
the ad, warning the stations could lose their license.
"Your station need not air the subject ad. If you
choose to do so, however your station bears responsibility for its
content," Quinn's lawyer writes to NY1 executives.
The ad also faults her for changing term limits, saying
"She is always on the wrong side. On living wage."
Quinn's lawyer says she passed the measure, so she can't
be on the wrong side. However, she delayed the vote and passed a watered-down
version.
NY1 caught up with Quinn Monday night, and she said she's
sticking with her story.
"You're not allowed to just put up false ads that
have incorrect information about candidates," she said. "That's
simply not what you're allowed to do in an election context, and we're making
that clear to the news media out there. It's also just wrong for there to be
anonymous ads out there. They have no place in our system."
Time Warner Cable says that Quinn's letter is under
corporate review.
The speaker's campaign team is clearly stung by the spot,
which they have accused rival Bill de Blasio of masterminding.
The public advocate gave a heated retort, saying,
"It's an absolutely inappropriate allegation and I resent Speaker Quinn
and her spokespeople putting that out."
To mark the ad's launch, members of NYC Is Not For Sale
gathered on the steps of City Hall on Monday morning and chanted,
"ABQ," meaning "Anybody But Quinn." Their ad takes
advantage of a Supreme Court ruling from 2010, Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission, which allows unlimited funds for non-candidates.
"We live in a world of Citizens United whether we
like it or not," said Arthur Cheliotes, who belongs to the anti-Quinn
group and Communication Workers of America.
Those behind the ad would not disclose all of their
donors, but NY1 learned one individual wants to ban horse-drawn carriages,
replacing them inside with vintage cars in a potentially lucrative business
move.
Carriage advocates said the group is but a front for
tourist entertainment in Central Park, a charge it denies.
The group behind the ad says it has pledged more than $1
million to the campaign and is spending $250,000 for the initial television
advertising.
Meanwhile, Quinn did her own attacking. Her campaign has
pointed to a remark de Blasio said in 2005, when he said he wanted the City
Council to overturn term limits, for the council only.
He said at the time, "I think we should move forward
with an additional four year-term through the legislative process."
De Blasio now blasts Quinn for the one-time term-limit
extension for city elected officials.
Quinn's campaign said her opponent was for term limits
before he turned against them.
De Blasio said he wanted a long process, the "exact
opposite" of what he says happened when Quinn and Mayor Michael Bloomberg
changed term limits three years later.
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