Mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson was downplaying controversy that he sat by silently while a local business owner called Speaker Christine Quinn a "whore" and could "kiss (his) ass." But the man who was caught on tape making the remarks certainly was doing his part of mop-up duty. Tea And Sympathy owner Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett wrote an email to Quinn saying, "Please believe me when I say that the comment that I blurted out was a pathetic attempt to get a laugh out of a couple of people in the room. This inappropriate and rude comment was meant as a joke (a bad one) and was made in such an off-the-cuff manner that I didn't remember having said it." The small businessman also insisted that Thompson could not have heard the ill-advised joke, be caused he never would have "entertained it." And if you could not use your power as Mayor Bloomberg's right-hand woman to mess with his business, he'd love that as well. A spokeswoman for Quinn said that Thompson did apologize for the incident privately over phone and e-mail. more ›

The Bloomberg camp is hoping some offensive remarks made by a disgruntled restaurateur about Council Speaker Christine Quinn will do some damage to city Comptroller Bill Thompson, a mayoral hopeful. Thompson—not Quinn—was present during an intimate meeting with small business owners at a Village restaurant on Wednesday morning. According to audiotape provided by the Bloomberg campaign to Politicker, Sean Kavanagh-Dowsett, the co-owner of the restaurant Tea and Sympathy, called Quinn "a whore, and you can quote me on that!" Okay! And during the ensuing laughter, Kavanagh-Dowsett added, "I'll drop my trousers, and she can kiss my ass." The tape does not record Thompson saying anything to denounce the remarks, and one witness tells the Post that "Thompson laughed with discomfort and shook his head while looking at an aide, and covered his ears for a brief moment." Kavanagh-Dowsett insists he won't apologize because he thinks Quinn, who works closely with Bloomberg, is anti-small business (and pro-prostitution?). Thompson's campaign issued a statement saying, "Bill has great respect for Speaker Quinn and believes the comments made yesterday—at a forum open to the public—were inappropriate and offensive." more ›