Downtown Express photo by Josh Rogers
City Council Speaker Quinn just after voting.
Sweet Quinn
City Council Speaker Chris Quinn no doubt had once envisioned Tuesday as the day she would vote to help make herself mayor. But whatever sadness she might have felt inside, we saw no signs of it as we bumped into her at the P.S. 33 bake sale, just after she voted in Chelsea.
Her spirits were no doubt lifted by longtime supporters who said they were disappointed her name was not on the ballot. It was not something Quinn could readily agree to since she had endorsed Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.
“My response is, let’s buy some sugar,” said Quinn.
Message received?
Councilmember Margaret Chin had no opposition on Tuesday, but she was nevertheless out talking to voters in Chinatown and Tribeca before celebrating back in C’Town.
She made no predictions as to whether Chin the Democrat would beat Chin the Working Families Party nominee.
W.F.P. voters sometimes say they want to send a message to candidates to stay progressive, but Chin said she doesn’t see it that way since both the Dems and the W.F.P. are progressive, working together on issues like paid sick leave.
Dark humor in District 1
After Chin’s unopposed victory on Tuesday, we also heard a somewhat disturbing anecdote from a Downtown political insider, regarding a ballot cast in the election.
Apparently, a disgruntled voter chose to rebuke Chin by casting a write-in vote that referenced Alan Gerson, the former District 1 Councilmember whom Chin defeated in the 2009 Democratic primary.
But it wasn’t Alan Gerson’s name that was written on the ballot — it was Sophie Gerson, Alan’s mother.
The problem here is that, as many Downtown residents know, Sophie Gerson died almost a year ago, at the age of 88. She was a beloved Greenwich Village resident and Democratic party activist.
We’re not sure what point this apparently shameless voter was trying to make — but we do know that it wasn’t a very funny joke.
Whitewash
The first piece of Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center train station received mostly praise when it opened two weeks ago, but one observer was thinking ahead to how well the pristine concourse would hold up.
“I’m curious who will get the cleaning contract,” he told us. “It’s a white station.”
Smart money’s on maybe
You’re going to have to gamble if you want to know how Assemblymember Dick Gottfried feels about the referendum which would allow seven casinos to open in New York. Gottfried was greeting voters and passing out fliers on the referendums on Election Day, but on that one he was undecided.
For the record, Gottfried backed four of the other ballot measures, but opposed the one that would allow mining companies to do test drilling in the Adirondack forest.
Voters ended up approving the casino amendment, with about 57 percent voting in favor.
Stringer’s former liaison has a new gig
Many community board members and tenant leaders across the Downtown area have had the pleasure of working with David Czyzyk, who spent time as a community liaison for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
But now that Stringer is moving on up to become the city’s next comptroller, Czyzyk has also found himself a sweet new job.
We bumped into Czyzyk while stopping in at the West Village’s LGBT Center on the night of the election, and he told us that, a few weeks ago, he was hired as Assemblymember Gottfried’s deputy chief of staff.
Czyzyk said he’ll be based mainly in Gottfried’s district office in Chelsea, and we wish him all the best for the new gig.