[caption id="attachment_66585" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Christine Quinn."]
The prospects of Christine Quinn becoming the first woman mayor of New York city are being boosted by ever more evident support of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the three term incumbent whose star has lately risen again after his handling of the Hurricane Irene crisis.
The New York Times reported this week that Bloomberg "has told almost everyone who asks - but only privately, so far" that he hopes the City Council speaker will succeed him as mayor in 2013.
At the same time the report points out that few mayors have had success when it comes to anointing a successor.
"Mr. Bloomberg, an independent, has refrained from specifying an heir publicly, since he seems to prefer to keep Ms. Quinn, a Democrat, and other prospective candidates as compliant as possible in the two years remaining before the next mayoral election," the Times report stated.
And Jamie McShane, a spokesman for Quinn, told the daily: "She has never asked for nor has he offered his support." Still, the report added, "the mayor has made it plain in private conversations with other politicians and civic leaders that he prefers the City Council speaker.
"There's no question in my mind that of all the candidates, he sees Chris Quinn as far better for the city of New York," former Mayor Ed Koch added by way of comment.
The Times story noted that last Saturday, Bloomberg "trotted out Ms. Quinn, who unlike his commissioners has no operational authority, during a Hurricane Irene update at the city's emergency command center, introducing her as the "great" council speaker."
If elected, Quinn, a former Irish Echo Irish American of the year, would be the most obviously Irish American mayor since William O'Dwyer.
