Yesterday, City Council Speaker and one-time mayoral frontunner Christine Quinn presided over her last meeting—which included the e-cigarette ban— at City Hall. She said, "We were tough. We didn’t take any s-t."
According to the NY Times, the accolades from her colleagues took about three hours (they also thanked other members not returning next year):
One of Christine C. Quinn’s longtime nemeses on the New York City Council, Letitia James, had nothing but praise for her on Thursday, saluting her ability to overcome personal obstacles and become “the backbone of our institution.”
Another member, Inez E. Dickens, while suggesting that some of the criticisms leveled against Ms. Quinn, the Council speaker, were “justified,” nonetheless said that “most were unfair” and that she was a “phenomenal leader.”
Yet another member, Lewis A. Fidler, who backed one of Ms. Quinn’s rivals in the bitterly contested Democratic mayoral primary race, conceded that “she probably paid a price for having done so well.”
Her friend, Council Member James Oddo (R-Staten Island), said, "You are smart, you are funny, you are good."
The Wall Street Journal's Joe Jackson took this video of Quinn leaving City Hall:
Quinn and her wife will be going on vacation in Asia. Earlier this week, Quinn told the Daily News, "I really believe that everything happens for a reason. It’s not my plan, but I really believe this is God’s plan." She added she'd be open to working for Hillary Clinton.
