Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is setting up another run to become mayor of New York City, sources said Tuesday.
“Chris has conversed with people about running for city hall leader. She’s conversed with me about running for mayor,” said a source who is friendly with Quinn and who mentioned anonymity.
“I think she will run. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes a declaration one week from now — after the Thanksgiving occasion,” the political insider said.
Another source familiar with Quinn’s thinking stated, “She didn’t lose interest in running City Hall her rival Bill de Blasio was confirmed as mayor.”
Speculation has been rampant over the past year that Quinn was eying a run, including the leaking of a private poll about the 2021 mayor’s race that included many questions about her.
Quinn currently is CEO of the homeless services organization Women in Need. Her managerial experience gives her insight in trying to address one of the city’s most pressing problems, her admirers say.
She also is vice chairman of the state Democratic Party.
Quinn did not dispute that she’s weighing a run.
“Chris Quinn has made no decision on a prospective run for mayor,” said Quinn spokesman Mike Morey. “Right now she is focused on her work advocating for homeless families in New York.”
Some political insiders say it’s late for Quinn to jump into the race. The Democratic primary is in June and some key labor leaders and activists who backed her bid in 2013 are now behind other candidates.
Quinn finished third in the 2013 Democratic primary behind Mayor Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson.
Some liberal activists in the Democratic Party then perceived her as being too close to former Mayor Mike Bloomberg. She supported a controversial law that paused term limits, permitting Bloomberg to seek and get elected to a third term.
Quinn was also the target of attack ads from well-heeled donors tied to the animal rights group, NYCLASS, for opposing their bid to ban horse carriages. Claims surfaced that the anti-Quinn group and the de Blasio campaign were in cahoots.
Quinn also speaks her mind — and that occasionally has landed her in hot water.
She backed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s bid for a third term in 2018, calling his Democratic primary rival, Cynthia Nixon an “unqualified lesbian” for the office.
Quinn, who like Nixon is gay, quickly apologized for referencing the “S*x and the City” star’s s*xual orientation when discussing her qualifications for governor.
But with potentially 10 other candidates in the mayoral race, Quinn may think she has a shot to come out on top — particularly with the new ranked choice voting system that will be in effect for the mayoral primary.
The City Hall wannabes include city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former de Blasio mayoral counsel Maya Wiley, former city Veteran Affairs Director Loree Sutton, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, Citigroup executive Ray McGuire, Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca, Diana Morales and Zach Iscol.
One Democratic activist said he’s surprised Quinn is attempting a comeback bid because she’s out of step with the city’s left-leaning primary voters.
“When she was council speaker, she catered to landlords and developers and that’s not what primary voters want to see,” said Allen Roskoff of the Jim Owles LGBT Democratic Club.
