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August 26, 2006

Chris Quinn: Secret Establishment Favorite

New York Observer traces City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's trajectory from bare-breasted gay activist to "redder-haired, better-dressed" advocate for overdevelopment. Included is a puzzling quote from someone confusing community activists with arsonists.

Some of the projects Ms. Quinn has supported include the expansion of the Javits Center, a rezoning of the West Side and a citywide garbage plan that includes putting a recycle plant in her own Chelsea district.

The political director of the New York City District Council Carpenters, Stephen McInnis, says he sees officials as advocates of one of three worldviews: “build everything, platform over the Hudson River and build 60-story high-rises”; “let’s burn it all down, Atlantic Yards is the worst thing ever, and I’m going to get my name in the paper by saying it’s the worst thing ever”; and, finally, “the middle ground.”

Ms. Quinn, he said, is the latter category, skewing toward “build everything.”

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Posted by amy at August 26, 2006 11:13 PM