Quinn-Bashing breaks out at Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce mayoral forum
Candidates basically agree on small-biz issues
Small business was the theme of Tuesday’s debate among this year’s Democratic mayoral hopefuls at St. Francis College.
But within a short time, criticism of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn for her support of Mayor Bloomberg’s 2008 bid for a third term came to the fore, with three of the participants delivering sharp criticisms of their fellow candidate.
The forum was sponsored by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. In addition to Quinn, participants included Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller John Liu, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, former City Councilman Sal Albanese and businessman Erick Salgado.
The “elephant in the room” was controversial former Brooklyn Congressman Anthony Weiner, who was not present but who recently said he is considering running for mayor. The discussion’s moderator, Dave Evans of WABC, even said, “No questions about Anthony Weiner, or the Nets, or the Knicks. We’re going to stay on business.”
Most of the candidates had the same basic message: Small business is the economic engine of New York City and creates the most jobs, but the city administration stifles it with overzealous enforcement and excessive fines and favors big corporations and Wall Street.
Among the candidates, Quinn was the only one who didn’t criticize the Bloomberg administration, but instead pointed to measures she instituted in the Council to make life easier for businesspeople.