Velazquez disputes reports of mayor getting Mark-Viverito elected speaker
The conventional wisdom following the election of Melissa Mark-Viverito as the new council speaker is that Mayor Bill de Blasio had such a strong hand in her candidacy, she might not have won without his help.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez is seeking to blow that theory out of the water.
Velazquez (D-Brooklyn-Manhattan) said the elevation of Mark-Viverito wasn’t just de Blasio’s doing and that a group of elected officials had been pushing for her to succeed Christine Quinn for more than two years.
“If there’s any media here, this is not Bill de Blasio. We were working on this 2011,” Velaquez said as she praised Mark-Viverito at the swearing in ceremony for Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park-Red Hook) at Sunset Park High School on Sunday.