Discontent with Quinn’s greed is brewing in East Harlem:
“I am appalled that you would jeopardize our constitutional right to have equitable representation at the City Council level for what some say is straight-up political retribution.”

“Had Speaker Quinn not even entertained the suspicious map in the first place, she could have saved herself the embarrassment of a seeming quid pro quo arrangement with the odious Lopez. She didn’t, and now she’ll have to live with the consequences of having ‘done the right thing’ — only after being caught with her fingers in the redistricting jar.”

“Twenty-four hour local news channel NY1 filed a Freedom Of Information request to obtain the 2011 schedule of NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the presumptive leader in the 2013 mayoral election. What they got back was a list that included over 600 hours of blackened appointments.”

“On any number of occasions over the last two years, Ms. Quinn has made it clear that political calculation, not the common good, is at the heart of her decision-making.”

In an editorial about Quinn’s use of discretionary funds to reward and penalize local politicians, the NY Post states, “(Vito) Lopez, a state assemblyman and the subject of a federal corruption investigation, needed a front-end loader to haul away the so-called member-item cash lavished on him in the new city budget by Quinn.”

In a NY Times article entitled Quinn’s Friendship with Lobbyist May Pose Test in Mayor Bid,” Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, a government watchdog group, said, “When someone who is a close associate (lobbyist Emily Giske) is making their living and improving their financial status because of their ongoing personal relationship with an elected official (Christine Quinn), that makes you a lobbyist on steroids.”

“The City Council celebrated Lulu Day on Friday as Speaker Christine Quinn dispensed the checks she issues twice yearly to fatten the wallets of favored members.  The payments are called lulus because once upon a time the stipends were deemed “payments in lieu of expenses.” No more. Now they are paid on top of a $112,500 salary as rewards for faithful allegiance to Quinn’s agenda.”

“Each council member gets a different amount of money to spend. The speaker always gets the most. According to council members, those members who curry favor with the speaker get the most money.”

“After the criminal scandals, Quinn and this Council announced that not-for-profit groups would be welcome to seek grants by using a simple electronic application system.  The message was that all (charities) . . .  were on the same footing and would be considered on the merits. Not so at all . . .  Some of the districts with the city’s lowest household incomes got much less than more affluent areas.”