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Four More Years: Quinn Reportedly Has Secret Deal To Keep Ray Kelly
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 2, 2013
Modified Jan 2, 2013
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 2, 2013
Modified Jan 2, 2013
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With 2013 upon us, the race to move into Gracie Mansion (since Bloomberg presumably won't be giving up his pad) is very much on. And, according to the New York Post, City Council speaker and Democratic frontrunner Christine Quinn has a "secret" weapon in her back pocket: More cowbell Ray Kelly.
According to the tabloid, "The police commissioner and council speaker have cut a private deal that will keep him as top cop for a fourth consecutive mayoral term with a Quinn victory in the November race to succeed Mike Bloomberg." Of course representatives for both deny the pact (Quinn's spokesman says only that she "has repeatedly said that the next mayor of the city of New York would be incredibly lucky to have Ray Kelly stay on as their police commissioner.") but other sources in each camp say the deal is real. How long Kelly would stick around is not clear.
There are obvious upsides for Quinn being able to attach herself to more Kelly time as she makes her mayoral bid—crime has continued to drop over his 12 year tenure as Commissioner and he remains quite popular with many New Yorkers—but it also could backfire. Conventional wisdom already has connected four years of Mayor Quinn as a faux-fourth Bloomberg term (just as former MTA CEO Joe Lhota's potential run is already being touted as "Giuliani Time," part two) and things like the NYPD's Stop-And-Frisk policy may become problematic in the Democratic primaries that are expected to dominate the race. Other candidates like former Comptroller Bill Thompson have already said they would not be retaining the 71-year-old Kelly if elected. And hey, former top cop Bill Bratton is interested!
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christine quinn
Election 2013
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Ray Kelly
Garth Johnston
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