City Council Speaker Christine Quinn delivering her speech Monday. (Photo: Twitter/Quinn4NY)

Christine Quinn’s speech on Monday morning marked a turning point for the City Council Speaker as she struggles to maintain her status as the mayoral race's decisive front-runner in the face of lagging poll numbers and former Congressman Anthony Weiner's headline-hogging jump into the race.

In the address, Ms. Quinn, who up until now has tried to keep an above-the-fray approach, first focused on touting her Council record but soon switched into full attack mode, taking shots at her opponents and making the most overt comparison-based case yet of any candidate to voters about why she should be the city’s next mayor.

But the move left several of Ms. Quinn's rivals and other observers scratching their heads.

"The timing and the substance of the speech today confuse me. Front-runners generally don't do speeches hyped up as them blasting their opponents,” said one Democratic consultant unaffiliated with any of the mayoral campaigns. “It makes me think that Quinn's internal polling confirms what the public polling has found: the pack is catching up to her and now she has to try and define them negatively where before she could coast."

Several rival campaign sources similarly speculated that Ms. Quinn's team may have been spooked by a recent internal poll that perhaps showed her support continuing to tumble, instead of leveling out.

“I think it’s about trying to re-set because people are clearly beginning to take her down a couple of notches," said one souce, who also pointed to the New York Times endorsement interviews happening this week. “I think the accomplishment thing is partially pitched at the Times endorsement.”

Ms. Quinn’s campaign, however, dismissed the theories and said the race was simply heating up. With more voters tuning in, they felt it was time to crystallize the distinctions between Ms. Quinn and her rivals in the starkest terms- as "a contest between leadership and talk," per a press release.

But the campaign was also seizing on an opportunity created by last week's critical Times story about Mr. Weiner's congressional record, which provided an unexpected opportunity to shift the conversation, according to campaign source.

"Recent press reports on both Weiner's lack of a record and the back and forth over the Upper East Side transfer station gave us a huge opening to talk about Chris Quinn's record, leadership, and the pandering her opponents are engaged in,” said a Quinn campaign insider. “The campaign seized those opportunities and we will continue to do so."

But some rival campaign sources are questioning even that tactic.

For example, one argued accomplishment-based messaging had failed for both of Ms. Quinn's Council speaker predecessors, who lost their  own mayor bids.

Another questioned whether voters were really looking for a long resume, and instead argued most want a candidate who shares their values, pointing to President Barack Obama’s decisive 2008 win over Hillary Clinton—whom most voters considered more experienced.

“I’m just very skeptical that the accomplishments thing is effective,” the source said.

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn giving her most political speech to-date in East Harlem Monday.

Some candidates revere former mayors and presidents as their political inspiration. But for Christine Quinn, it’s all about Bruce Springsteen.

The City Council speaker and mayoral candidate delivered a scathing speech against her rivals Monday morning, touting her record and vowing to run the city in the model of her musical idol, "The Boss."

“Anyone who’s ever been to a Bruce concert will tell you he doesn’t hold anything back. He leaves everything on the stage. He gives everything he has to give," she said. "And if I’m lucky enough to become our next mayor that’s how I’ll spend every day. Delivering results for New Yorkers. Holding nothing back. Emptying my tank."

In what was billed "a major speech" in the back room of an East Harlem asthma center, Ms. Quinn delivered what was--by far--her most overtly political and blistering remarks to date. Ms. Quinn, who has up until now stuck largely to touting her own record, shoveled out the criticism, taking one thinly veiled shot after the next.

“This election is not about who can get the most press or give the most pithy sound bite," Ms. Quinn said at one point, for example, obviously referencing former Congressman Anthony Weiner's high-profile candidacy. "It isn't about who can yell the loudest or be the most critical."

She even slammed Mr. Weiner's policy proposal book, which borrowed heavily from his aborted 2009 bid.

"I offer something else, the toughness to lead," she said. "Comprehensive solutions to complicated problems--not 4-year-old position papers dusted off for a comeback run."

On former Comptroller Bill Thomson, with whom Ms. Quinn has repeatedly clashed over the controversial Upper East Side waste transfer station: “Some of my opponents in this race continue to pander to residents of the Upper East Side,” the speaker said.

"Like me, my opponents have spent many years in public office," Ms. Quinn said later, leveling fire at the whole field. "But when you look at their records, there's a great big hole where results should be. You may not agree with everything I've done, but there's never been a time in my career when I wasn't getting results for New York."

“That’s what we need from the next mayor," she added. "Not just empty promises, silly press stunts, or nonstop criticism, but a real plan on how to deliver for New Yorkers.”

The speech comes at a vulnerable moment for Ms. Quinn, the race's front-runner who has found her once-dominating poll numbers slipping and her position as the race's most visible candidate eclipsed by Mr. Weiner's entrée three months before primary day.

Today, she tried to shine the spotlight back on her record on issues like education, affordable  housing and the waste station, which she argued put her far ahead of her crowded field of opponents.

"If you want a candidate who lobs criticism on the steps of City Hall or on the floor of Congress, I’m not your gal. I would rather roll up my sleeves than point my finger, because that’s how progress is made. It's what I've always done. And if I'm lucky enough to be Mayor, it's exactly what I'll continue to do," she told the audience of loyal supporters.

"Talk is cheap. Voters will decide based on actions," she added.

After her remarks, Ms. Quinn was nonchalant about the timing of her speech, which she noted comes as many voters are tuning in to the race.

"We are clearly in the thick of the election season now and this race is about the future of New York," she said, immediately pivoting back to her record, which she said tops all of her opponents in the race. “We are less than three months away from primary day and I think it's really important to lay out exactly what the choice is. And that's what I've done today."

One reporter noted that the same argument failed for her two City Council speaker predecessors, who lost their bids for mayor.

"With all due respect to my predecessors, I don’t think you can touch the record of the City Council since I've been speaker," she replied boldly. "I’ll stack my record against anyone who's running and quite frankly anyone who has run."

But the other candidates quickly began shooting back.

And Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's campaign manager, Bill Hyers, said Ms. Quinn had her priorities backwards.

"Speaker Quinn's accomplishments include giving Mayor Bloomberg a third term, proposing to shower big developers with a billion dollar giveaway, and blocking key progressive legislation for years to placate big business. Bill de Blasio has fought to protect abused kids, expose slum landlords, and invest in education by asking the wealthy to pay a little more in taxes. This election is not a contrast in getting things done -- it's about who you are fighting for."

A demonstration outside the Bronx mayoral forum in support of the Upper East Side transfer station.

It appears the gloves are finally off.

At a forum in the Bronx on Wednesday, Sal Albanese accused Public Advocate Bill de Blasio of fibbing, disputing his assertion that a garbage transfer station in Red Hook was actually within "walking distance" of Mr. de Blasio's Park Slope home. And in a rare moment in the endless parade of forums, Mr. de Blasio, actually shot back.

"Sal, Sal, I have long tolerated your reconfigurations of the truth and I actually can walk easily from my house at 11th Street and 6th Avenue to the Hamilton Avenue station," Mr. de Blasio sharply told his lesser-known rival and fellow Brooklynite at the contentious forum. "I guarantee it Sal, I'll come walk with you one day."

For Mr. de Blasio, it represented what may be a turning point for himself and his Democratic rivals in the increasingly tight primary: they are becoming more willing to go on the attack against each other in person.

Just as Mr. de Blasio previously ignored Mr. Albanese's jabs at his character and record, Council Speaker Christine Quinn seemed to tire of brushing off constant broadsides from Mr. de Blasio. And Bill Thompson, not typically the focal point of any verbal clashes, found himself enduring  the wrath of Mr. de Blasio and even members of the crowd at Hostos Community College in the South Bronx.

(Anthony Weiner, barring moments when he drew boos and catcalls from the crowd for speaking out against a proposed Upper East Side trash transfer station, managed to avoid the fray.)

"I have to take issue with Speaker Quinn saying that she wants to differentiate from Bloomberg's policy on this because she has been the mayor's chief ally while he's been doing this," Mr. de Blasio said at one point, responding to a question about the supposed inadequate funding of Latino nonprofits. “The third term was brought to us by Speaker Quinn working in cooperation with Mayor Bloomberg to change the term limits law."

Ms. Quinn, a strained smile on her face, hit back at Mr. de Blasio for doing little more than issuing a "press release" to prevent nonprofit cuts from his less-powerful perch as public advocate

"When the mayor had a proposal out there to close down senior centers ... with my colleagues I didn't just criticize it. I just didn't have a press conference; I stopped it," Ms. Quinn said. "Last year, when there was proposal to close daycare centers all over the city, ones in the Bronx and communities of color that didn't score well enough on the [request for proposals], we didn't just issue a press release, we put that money back in the budget ... So that's what it's about, not way you say, not what you promise, what you've done."

"I just have to have a 'get real moment' here," replied the public advocate. "You can't say you brought back the mayor back for a third term and you made things a little less bad. It doesn't work that way."

"It does," Ms. Quinn began, as applause drowned her out. "If you're one of those parents who still has a daycare center to go, if you're one those daycare workers who has a job, if you're one of those children who's learning in the same environment because of what I did with my colleagues last year, that's what you care about."

The forum, hosted by several Hispanic organizations including the newspaper El Diaro, encouraged the Democrats to clash on a variety of issues that impact the city's growing Latino community, including immigration and the distribution of garbage transfer stations in the five boroughs. The proposed construction of a waste transfer station on the Upper East Side of Manhattan has become a hot-button issue of the primary. Advocates of the station, including protesters at the forum, argue it forces higher-income neighborhoods to finally share the burden of dealing with the city's trash. Detractors say the Manhattan station will destroy a park and hurt residents who live in a nearby housing project.

While Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson have already fought over the station, Mr. Thompson's opposition to the construction was questioned by another rival and openly challenged by furious spectators in the auditorium.

"Go visit the site, it bisects a development for children, Asphalt Green, the rail runs down the middle of Asphalt Green ... It is a bad site," Mr. Thompson said as boos rained down upon him. "We need to move forward in reducing the number of sites in African-American and Latino communities ... We need to look at other sites as a part of the larger, solid waste plan."

After Ms. Quinn defended the Upper East Side station--Mr. Thompson interrupted her several times, blurting out, "this is not true" and "we can find other sites"-- Mr. de Blasio took a rare shot at Mr. Thompson.

"I have to say, with absolute respect to Bill Thompson, you can't have it both ways on this issue," he said. "The site has to stay there--there's no two ways about it."

Christine Quinn posing with charter school kids outside the forum Tuesday night.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson both pulled out of a mayoral forum hosted by charter school advocates at the last minute Tuesday--earning the ire of audience members who accused them of being too scared of crossing the powerful teachers' union a week before their endorsement vote.

Mr. de Blasio dropped out less than an hour before he was supposed to appear on stage, and Mr. Thompson pulled his RSVP Tuesday afternoon, according to an event organizer.

"We are disappointed that the more than 800 families who came from across the City tonight didn't get to hear a diversity of opinions because some candidates weren't able to talk about where they agree and disagree with school reform," Jeremiah Kittredge, the Executive Director of Families for Excellent Schools, the group that hosted the forum, said in a statement.

Parents in the audience booed when they heard the news.

"I think they showed a lack of courage. And it's also insulting to the people who organized this," said fellow candidate and former City Councilman Sal Albanese, who called the cancellation showed a "lack of class."

"Unless there's real extenuating circumstances ... I think they're afraid of facing charter school parents because they may alienate the United Federation of Teachers that is going to make an endorsement very soon,"  he concluded.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Thompson, who has attended the vast majority of this year's many forums, blamed his cancellation on a scheduling conflict. Mr. de Blasio, usually a diligent attendee (minus a Crain's New York Business forum), did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But both men have been heavily courting the UFT, which is set to endorse next week.

While the two are often darlings at traditional public school forums where their attacks on charter school founders and calls for a moratorium for co-locations win loud applause, Tuesday's forum was a very different world.

There, in a Salvation Army auditorium on West 14th Street, the crowd applauded loudly for the more moderate approaches of ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was mobbed after she spoke by little girls eager for autographs and hoping to pose for photos with the woman who, if elected, would become the city's first female mayor.

On stage, Ms. Quinn seemed relaxed and friendly (as if she were chatting with friends over coffee, as one attendee described), mostly stuck to touting her education accomplishments, including a new pilot program that will lengthen the school day at some schools, and previously announced ideas like replacing textbooks with tablets. She also chided the current mayor, a close ally, for failing to make parents feel engaged

As Council speaker and candidate, she said she's heard from too many parent who "feel like their voice not only isn't heard, isn't wanted." She added, "I don't just want to hear it. I need to hear it," arguing that parents should have a direct line into the mayors office.

"You know, there's not a lot I miss about Rudy Giuiani. But he used to go out and have all these town halls in communities, which were a good thing, 'cause people got an opportunity to speak directly to the mayor," said Ms. Quinn who herself recently came under fire for skipping another education forum hosted by a group extremely hostile to the current administration.

Anthony Weiner on stage at the charter school forum.

The reception was also positive for Mr. Weiner, who appeared perfectly at home on the grand red-draped stage, standing and gesturing with his arms as he answered questions about how to deal with failing schools, co-locations (an option) and whether charter schools should have to pay rent (no).

Mr. Weiner, for his part, called on both charter advocates and their opponents to ratchet down the rhetoric, which has often placed charter schools and traditional public schools at odds.

"The fight and the choice between quality public schools and the charter movement is a false one that I think has been perpetuated too long ... It's also been perpetuated too long by the people in this room," said Mr. Weiner, who noted charters comprise only about five percent of the city's 1.1 million students. "I am gonna try to turn down the temperature on this conversation to get a place that it's less us against them."

But the son a school teacher did make one revelation: that he failed freshman math in high school. ("I was forced to walk with my tail behind my legs and ask my mother for help," he recalled.)

Still, he also declined to jump into the fray over the Bills' absences.

"None of us can make it to everything. All I can do is be accountable for my own schedule," he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg outlining his plans to make the city more resilient to future storms.

He may not be seeking a fourth term, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg will nonetheless have an outsized influence in the coming years on City Hall.

With just 203 days left of his administration, Mr. Bloomberg unveiled a far-ranging, 250-plus-point plan to harden the city against future storms like Hurricane Sandy, dumping a massive--and hugely expensive--$19.5 billion to-do list on his successor’s lap.

"This plan is incredibly ambitious--and much of the work will extend far beyond the next 203 days. But we refuse to pass responsibility for creating a plan into the next administration," Mr. Bloomberg said Tuesday as he unveiled the plan  in a former printing press in the Brooklyn Navy Yard that had been devastated by Sandy.

The plans includes new levees, barriers, removable flood walls surrounding vulnerable stretches of Manhattan, new dunes and bulkheads--as well as a proposal for an entirely new neighborhood, dubbed "Seaport City, which would be built on the east side of Manhattan and modeled after  Battery Park City.

"This is urgent work--and it must begin now. So we will use every one of the next 203 days to get as much work as possible underway, and to lock in commitments wherever we can," he said, later telling those gathered--twice: "It's up to you to hold the next administration accountable for getting it done."

Administration officials argued it was crucial to begin improvements as quickly as possible, and pointed to about 60 items they believe they can get done within the next six months, before they leave office. Those include securing an estimated $15 billion in funding (they say they already have $10 billion in place), getting started on design work and studies for some of the longer-term projects, and making changes to building codes and other regulations. They also expect to be able to complete construction on some projects, with beach reconstructions and dune building already underway.

Chris Ward, the former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and now chair of Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, said he thought the mayor had struck the right balance in terms of how much would be left up to whomever succeeds him at City Hall.

"I think the mayor, to his credit, is leaving his input in terms of where the city should go without saying it has to happen to be a great city. But here's something that we should clearly, clearly think about," said Mr. Ward. "I think you could only say that the mayor's over-reaching in the extent that he's putting a marker down that the next administration cannot ignore ... I think this is a call to the next administration and the next administrator after that."

"Whether they adopt his plan, that's one thing. But if they're not going to adopt his plan, they better have another alternative besides what he proposed,"he said.

Politicker reached out to the major candidates to hear their takes.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner, often at odds with Mr. Bloomberg and his administration, offered some humble praise. "There is usually little reward in politics for thinking big thoughts about the distant future," he said in a statement. "I honor Mayor Bloomberg for leading this conversation."

Some, including former MTA Chair Joe Lhota, who is credited with getting the transit system back up and running post-storm, seemed to agree.

"I commend Mayor Bloomberg for putting in place a roadmap for dealing with the realities of climate change and the impact it will have on our communities. The mayor laid out an ambitious plan that will proactively protect the city in the event of future natural disasters," he said in a statement. "The plan contains several ambitious capital projects that will be started under this administration, and I will continue to implement as the next mayor."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn also thanked the mayor.

“As I’ve said before, strengthening our City against future climate risks, such as the devastation we experienced after Sandy, is this is the single most important infrastructure challenge of our time," she said. "The neighborhoods hit by Sandy each have their own unique needs, that’s why it is so important that the Mayor’s report addresses these specific issues. We have seen the terrible consequences storm driven flooding can bring to too many parts of our city.  It's one of the reasons I have advocated so strongly for strengthening our coastal defenses, and I'm glad to see the Mayor facing this challenge head on.”

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio also responded positively.

“While my office has just begun to review the plan, I believe that it can be a foundation for the next administration’s efforts to prepare New York City for the inevitable impacts of climate change," he said in a statement. "The plan rightly focuses on bolstering our resilience through infrastructure improvements like flood walls, tidal basins, sand dunes, surge barriers and green infrastructure, and is right to take a multi-sector approach emphasizing residential homes, businesses, the electrical grid and health care assets."

But former Comptroller Bill Thompson focused his criticism on Mr. Bloomberg's handling of the storm.

"When I'm Mayor, communities in southeast Queens, the South Shore, City Island, and Coney Island will receive the same attention and resources as corporations on Wall Street or businesses on 5th Avenue," he said, noting that gas rationing lasted 15 days in the city--four days longer than in New Jersey and six days longer than in Long Island. "Families and businesses across the city waited in line for hours or walked for miles in the cold to get the essential fuel they needed. And then had to do it again the next day. And the next. That's unacceptable."

And businessman John Catsimatidis showed the most outright skepticism of the plan itself.

"In 1938 the 'Great Hurricane' hit Long Island; 74 years later Superstorm Sandy devastated New York City," he stated. "Today, we need to plan for the future. The $19.5 billion price tag is a huge amount of money. As a businessman, I have to ask the question; will $1 billion, or $2 billion or $3 billion protect us from 90% or 95% of the damage as opposed to spending the full $19.5 billion price tag. That's the question we need to ask."

This post has been updated with Mr. Weiner's and Mr. Catsimatidis's responses.

Christine Quinn (Photo: YouTube)

When arguably the most powerful county organization in New York City, the Queens Democratic Party, endorsed Christine Quinn for mayor, political observers believed it was a coup for Ms. Quinn because Queens's famously loyal elected officials would quickly back the Council speaker. But since party chairman Joe Crowley announced he was supporting Ms. Quinn on May 20, few Queens elected officials have followed suit.

"They've been surprised by the lukewarm reception for Quinn," said one Queens Democratic operative, unaligned with any candidate. "Especially considering only three district leaders dissented at her endorsement."

The black political leadership in southeastern Queens was irked on May 20 when Ms. Quinn was chosen over the race's one African-American candidate, Bill Thompson, but the dissent was still relatively limited to a few older power brokers like former Councilman Archie Spigner. Ms. Quinn has secured the backing of some Queens elected officials, including Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, but thus far most have remained neutral.

Congresswoman Grace Meng, for example, has not endorsed Ms. Quinn, despite her close ties to the county organization. The same is true for elected officials like State Senator Toby Stavisky, State Senator Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz. There is still time for elected officials to endorse Ms. Quinn and political insiders believe more, like Councilman James Gennaro, will back her. But she may also have an uphill battle in pressing her case to representatives of certain ethnic enclaves that have their own chosen candidates.

"Quinn is a tough sell in a few different communities: she's a tough sell in the black community because of Thomspon, a tough sell with the Asian community because of John Liu and a tough sell in Jewish communities because of her natural base issues there and with Anthony Weiner in the race," said another Queens Democrat familiar with the endorsement process.

Indeed, the presence of Comptroller John Liu, a former Flushing councilman and icon in the Asian community, could be keeping Ms. Meng, the first Asian-American elected to Congress in New York State, and Ms. Stavisky, a white elected official representing a majority-Asian district, from immediately backing Ms. Quinn. Councilman Peter Koo, who replaced Mr. Liu in the City Council, has already endorsed Mr. Liu's candidacy.

In the southern, whiter and more moderate portions of the borough, natural support for Ms. Quinn also bumps up against the types of socially conservative districts that Mr. Addabbo and Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, an active Rockaway Democrat and party loyalist, represent. Both Mr. Addabbo and Mr. Goldfeder have significant Orthodox Jewish populations who may not be warm to Ms. Quinn because she is openly gay. Mr. Simanowitz, also very close with the party, represents a large Orthodox population, too.

Despite this, more Queens elected officials are expected to endorse Ms. Quinn and it is possible the campaign simply does not want to unveil all of their endorsements at one time. Indeed, Ms. Quinn has plotted a strategy of slowly rolling out one or two endorsements in a given day, keeping the steady drumbeat of positive developments flowing into the news cycle.

For their part, Mr. Addabbo and Mr. Goldfeder's offices said they simply had yet to make endorsements and Mr. Simanowitz's office did not immediately say whether or not he was backing Ms. Quinn, though he is not listed as one of her endorsers by the Quinn campaign. Ms. Meng's office didn't elaborate on why she had not endorsed yet. Ms. Stavisky declined to comment.

Bill de Blasio and John Lue. (Photo: Rob Kim/Getty Images)

There can only be one "most progressive and consistently progressive candidate" in the mayor's race, and two candidates--Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu--are in dispute over which one holds the honor.

"I think I present the most consistent progressive platform and I think it's what people in this city want and need right now," Mr. de Blasio said Monday morning during an interview on The Brian Lehrer Show when he was asked about his claim.

Mr. de Blasio quickly ran through his challengers.

On City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, he said, "I can say it plainly: Speaker Quinn wants to continue the vast majority of [Mayor Michael] Bloomberg's policies--in effect wants to continue the Bloomberg administration."

Mr. de Blasio further said 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson is "not willing to tax the wealthy as I am, not willing to focus on living wage legislation and paid sick days, as I am, does not agree with an inspector general or a racial profiling bill for the police department."

Mr. Lehrer, however, took issue when Mr. de Blasio got to Mr. Liu, whom he noted has repeatedly positioned himself to the left of the field on issues ranging from education to the minimum wage. While Mr. de Blasio has proposed reforming stop-and-frisk, for instance, Mr. Liu wants it abolished; while the other candidates generally want more community input into charter school co-locations, Mr. Liu was the first to call for an outright moratorium. (Mr. de Blasio wants a moratorium  for the rest of Mr. Bloomberg's term.)

But Mr. de Blasio argued that he, unlike Mr. Liu, supports a plan to install an inspector general over the NYPD--something Mr. Liu has argued would be unnecessary once he abolished stop-and-frisk as mayor. He also said his plans are more practical.

"I would say there are areas like policing where my positions are more progressive than his. It’s easy to say 'abolish,'" he said, arguing that stop-and-frisk is a critical police tool, if used correctly. "I think what John has put forward  isn’t realistic in terms of how we actually police."

The comments prompted pushback from Mr. Liu's campaign, which said Mr. de Blasio was wrong.

"John has been the most progressive and consistently progressive candidate on the major issues facing our city and our future, from policing and housing to education and economic policy," a Liu spokesperson told Politicker when asked about Mr. de Blasio's remarks. "As Comptroller he has conducted thorough research and as mayoral candidate he has clearly laid out his vision for the future and specific plans for changes we clearly need in New York City."

Mr. Lehrer also questioned whether New Yorkers really want a progressive mayor, after repeatedly failing to elect Democrats from Ruth Messinger to Freddy Ferrer. But Mr. de Blasio argued that this year's race--the first since the consequences of the economic collapse became clear-- will be very different.

“It is not the same New York City that the vast majority of us want and believe in. We have to fight to get that back," he said, adding that New Yorkers are also tired after 12 years of the current mayor.

“I think there is a Bloomberg hangover here," he said. "I think the lack of debate, the lack of transparency, the elitism, has caused many people, particularity Democrats, to want much more profound change."

Christine Quinn. (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn doesn't care if you like her or not. She's angling for your respect.

During an appearance on CBS This Morning touting her new memoir, Mr. Quinn was asked about her past insecurities and how she copes with the scrutiny that comes along with her campaign for mayor.

"Now you're going after a job where they have to like you, Christine, in order to get the job," anchor Gayle King told her.

But Ms. Quinn shot down the premise

"Well, they have to respect you," she said, arguing that politicians often get in trouble when they "want everybody to like you, which means sometimes people end up saying what they think people want to hear."

"That's not what people want in a mayor," she asserted. "They want a leader. And to lead, you need to accept that not everybody is going to like you, but you want them to respect you. And respect comes from telling people, 'This is what we're going to have to do, even if you don't think it's the right thing for your neighborhood.'"

(The neighborhood reference was perhaps veiled shot at former Comptroller Bill Thompson, whom she has accused of pandering after he came out in opposition to the East 91st Street waste transfer station, which she supports.)

Ms. Quinn's poll numbers--including her favorability ratings--have been sagging in recent weeks as her challengers have ramped up their attacks and with ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner's jump into the race.

Still, she ducked a question about whether she was surprised by Mr. Weiner's gains and the fact that he is now only a handful of points behind her.

"You know, I think polls go up and down. Who knows?" she said, pivoting back to her campaign message. "What I really am most concerned about is not so much the other folks who are running, but the voters I'm getting to talk to ... They are really very concerned that the next mayor has a real record and a real vision, and I'm glad to be that person."

Ms Quinn, who kicked off petitioning efforts this week, said that, overall, voters seem generally excited about the future of the city.

She added, "But they want to make sure they have mayor who's ready to go, tough enough to lead and make sure this city moves forward."

Steve Brodner

It was just after Hurricane Sandy struck the city when the president of the New York City teachers’ union started getting calls from the prospective mayoral candidates. His home had been destroyed by floodwaters, and an estimated 10,000 of his members lived in evacuation zones, many trapped without power or transportation.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn arrived with a handful of staffers on Saturday and spent three days by his side. “Chris Quinn, you know, she’s out in Staten Island with me, we’re up to our butts in mud, shoveling out houses,” the president, Michael Mulgrew recalled. “Just full of mud, the two of us.” One by one, the other candidates followed, helping to gut homes and hand out supplies.

It's the kind of treatment that flows freely to Mr. Mulgrew, arguably the most courted political player in the mayor’s race. His claim that the United Federation of Teachers' endorsement can swing the mayoral primary on Sept. 10 is questioned by some political observers — but apparently not the candidates, who compete aggressively for his affections.

This year’s mayoral race is one of the most chaotic in decades, with more than seven Democratic hopefuls fighting for slivers in a primary that is expected to turn out fewer than 600,000 voters. With the primary still wide open, Mr. Mulgrew believes that his union has the power to crown the new king or queen.

"We’re not about picking a mayor,” Mr. Mulgrew told Politicker last week at George’s, a diner near the union’s lower Manhattan headquarters. “We’re about making a mayor, making the winner. And that’s what we’re gonna to do.”

John Liu and UFT's Michael Mulgrew post-Sandy. (Photo: Facebook/UFT)

For the past four years, the UFT has been working to build up an army of volunteers, pollsters and operatives. By the union’s count, its endorsements will deliver more than 230,000 members, when retirees, family members and others who live in members’ homes are included. The union is also planning to spend in the mid to high seven figures on the race, according to a source familiar with the organization’s finances.

Four years ago, as Mr. Mulgrew tells it, Mayor Michael Bloomberg “declared war” on the teacher’s union when he made a speech in Washington, D.C., doubling down on an agenda that included using state test scores in teacher evaluations—something the union has long fought. “It’s pretty clear that this is the worst the relationship has ever been between the union and the city,” he said over an egg-white omelet with bacon and Swiss.

Since then, the mayor and Mr. Mulgrew have been locked in an acrimonious battle marked by personal insults, protests and legal battles. The standoff came to a head in January, when an impasse over a new teacher evaluation system cost the city more than $250 million in state education aid. Mr. Mulgrew accused Mr. Bloomberg of “lying,” Mr. Bloomberg said Mr. Mulgrew was trying to pull off a “sham,” and both were slammed by the governor as petty. A deal was finally imposed by the state this weekend, leaving both sides’ pride intact.

Now Mr. Mulgrew sees a chance to install a friend in City Hall, one he hopes will halt school closings, end the expansion of nonunion charter schools, negotiate a friendlier evaluation deal and—most importantly—deliver the $3.2 billion in back wages that Mr. Mulgrew claims his members are owed after working for the past four and a half years under an expired contract with no raises.

“Hearing from all of the candidates, they all get that things have to change dramatically,” Mr. Mulgrew said.

It wasn’t always this way between City Hall and the UFT, which was founded in 1960 as a voice for teachers who felt they weren't being treated fairly. Mr. Mulgrew’s predecessors, including the legendary labor leader Albert Shanker and his successors Sandra Feldman and Randi Weingarten, were all tough, commanding figures, but they nonetheless seemed to be able to work with City Hall. Relations got tricky with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but “really unraveled with Mulgrew’s ascendancy,” observed Hunter College professor emeritus Kenneth Sherrill, who blamed the fallout partially on a clash of personalities. “Some of that’s born from personal animosity between the two. They just don’t get along with each other.”

Michael Mulgrew. (Photo: Amanda Cohen)

Mr. Mulgrew—a former carpenter with a thick Staten Island accent and a booming voice—had been Ms. Weingarten’s right-hand man before she stepped down after a year of juggling the post with her new role as president of the national American Federation of Teachers.

When Mr. Mulgrew, who was handpicked by Ms. Weingarten over more experienced leaders, took over the UFT in 2009, “I knew political infrastructure wasn’t where it should be,” he said. “When the mayor declared war on us, we went really hard.”

The union began to invest in community outreach, appointing captains in neighborhoods across the city, creating a database of members and their families, training members to go door-to-door and pushing for contributions from members’ paychecks.

The first test of the union army came in 2010. There’d been a long-standing saying that, in New York, it was more likely for a lawmaker to die or be indicted than get voted out of office—in part owing to union groups’ historical backing of incumbents. Mr. Mulgrew wanted to prove the saying wrong.

“So I said, ‘We’re gonna take somebody out,’” Mr. Mulgrew recalled with a mischievous smile.

The target: then-State Senator Frank Padavan, a popular Republican who’d held his Queens senate seat for 38 years, winning again and again with the UFT’s blessing. But this time, the union, angry over Mr. Padavan’s support for charter schools, backed challenger Tony Avella. The district’s 7,000 UFT members flooded neighborhoods with flyers and made thousands of calls.

“It was the UFT against everyone: all the unions, advocacy groups, everyone was on the other side,” Mr. Mulgrew said. Mr. Avella won—handily--shocking observers.

They’ve also tried to push back against a national movement to weaken teachers unions, sending teams to Ohio and Wisconsin to fight moves to limit collective bargaining. And during the presidential election, members flocked to Florida, where retirees armed with burner cell phones and call sheets gathered in homes and pizza parlors near public schools, placing thousands of calls to fellow teachers to get out the vote; others fanned out across the affluent I-4 corridor, making the case for President Obama re-election in the crucial swing state.

"The UFT’s political operation has greatly improved over the past couple of years,” said Marc Lapidus, a political consultant and senior partner at Red Horse Strategies, which has done political consulting for the UFT in recent years. “I think Mulgrew certainly put it into overdrive.”

The union’s mettle was on display during a series of recent forums where the Democratic candidates practically fell over one another trying to woo the rooms, a showing that Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson dubbed “PanderPalooza.”

“I talk to them constantly. All of them,” said Mr. Mulgrew of his relationships with the contenders, including Ms. Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and current Comptroller John Liu. “I know all about all of their families. I know about their dogs and this and that.”

He pointed to the outpouring of support after Hurricane Sandy.

“I called the politicians and they’re like, whatever you need,” he said, sharing the story of Ms. Quinn in the mud. “I did the same thing with John Liu. We’re shoveling mud and we’re also handing out supplies in Brooklyn. We were out with Quinn in Brooklyn. Bill de Blasio, we just kept unloading trucks out in the Rockaways."

Michael Mulgrew embraces Speaker Christine Quinn. (Photo: City Council/William Alatriste)

For Mr. Mulgrew, the wooing is part of the fun. “Do they want the endorsement? Sure they do,” he said. “Our approval rating’s much higher than the mayor’s.” Indeed, recent independent polls show that when asked whom they trust to advocate for students, more New Yorkers side with the union than with the mayor.

At six feet tall and 230 pounds, Mr. Mulgrew, a tough-talking Staten Islander with the swagger of a teenage instigator, has little in common with the billionaire mayor. He was raised by a single mother juggling three jobs and four kids. He says he got into trouble frequently. “I wasn’t the easiest teenager, to say the least,” he recalled.

He worked construction after graduating high school but took classes at nights and on weekends and began working in schools as a substitute teacher during the off-season. Because of his size, he was assigned to deal with emotionally disturbed children, in a basement classroom where his day could involve ducking thrown chairs.

He later taught computers and English literature, using filmmaking to engage with his students. He was hesitant to run for chapter leader, but he was arm-twisted into running for the job and quickly made his way up the union ranks, impressing higher-ups with his bluster and bravado.

But Mr. Mulgrew—described as a deeply loyal advocate by friends and a thuggish bully by detractors—has eschewed his predecessor’s hobnobbing. At home in storm-ravaged Oakwood Beach, where he lives with his girlfriend, he prefers sheetrocking and barbecuing to power lunching with the city’s elite.

“I like flip-flops and shorts in the summer, having a beer in the backyard with my friends,” he said, admitting to sometimes grocery shopping with a hoodie on to avoid being recognized. “Why change? You shouldn’t be too impressed with yourself. Keep it simple, man, keep it simple.”

The endorsement vote by the union’s large Delegate Assembly is scheduled for June 19, and Mr. Mulgrew—though tight-lipped—appeared genuinely unsure about the outcome. He rebuffed the suggestion that the union favors Mr. Thompson, a widespread assumption after Ms. Weingarten personally endorsed him last month.

“About two months ago, I heard I was endorsing Mr. de Blasio. That was out there all over the place. Then they all freaked out because I was endorsing Ms. Quinn. My phone just did not stop for a week and a half. And now I hear I’m doing Mr. Thompson,” he said wryly.

The decision, he said, will rest on the candidates’ policy positions—not just on education, but also on economic inequality and poverty—as well as on their standing in the polls. He wants a candidate with a clear path to victory--and a team capable of getting them there. He also needs someone his members will rally around—making Ms. Quinn, who has allied herself closely with Mr. Bloomberg, a potentially tough sell.

Michael Mulgrew. (Photo: Amanda Cohen)

To complicate matters, there is no clear labor candidate in the field. District Council 37, the city’s largest public employee union, recently endorsed Mr. Liu, while 1199 SEIU, the health care workers union, has endorsed Mr. de Blasio.

In the face of Mr. Mulgrew’s mobilization efforts, Bloomberg administration has gone on the attack, urging candidates to resist becoming pawns of the UFT. “The fate of our schools is hanging in the balance,” the normally mild-mannered Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott warned in a recent speech.

To advance his agenda after leaving office, Mr. Bloomberg’s allies, including Joel Klein, founded StudentsFirstNY, a group created as a counter-voice to the UFT.  The group’s executive director, Glen Weiner, said that the UFT would be “a formidable force” during the primary, but warned that it is “a scary proposition to think of them electing the next mayor.” He argued that rolling back Mr. Bloomberg’s policies would set back progress in outcomes such as graduation rates.

Like others, Mr. Weiner said that Mr. Mulgrew’s claims of influence are overblown.

The union has an uneven track record when it comes to mayoral endorsements. The last time a union-backed candidate won Gracie Mansion was back in 1989, when David Dinkins narrowly bested Mr. Giuliani in a contentious race. The group chose to sit out the 2009 race between Messrs. Thompson and Bloomberg and the 2005 race because of contract negotiations, and it was also silent in 1997 and 1993. In 2001, the UFT did endorse—three times—and managed to lose all three elections: the primary (Alan Hevesi), runoff (Fernando Ferrer) and general (Mark Green).

Kevin Finnegan, the political director of the also-powerful 1199, questioned the ability of any single union to crown a winner. “I don’t think there’s any single institution in the city that can get the mayor elected,” he said. “We just don’t have the numbers to get it done.”

“They’re overselling it,” said another source, who argued that sophisticated, generally well-educated UFT members are more likely to break with their leadership than members of other unions. He pointed to concessions the UFT has recently been forced to accept, including the new teacher evaluation deal.

“The teachers have had to accept things over the years that they would never have accepted before,” said the observer. “They’re not as mighty as they used to be.”

But Mr. Mulgrew insists otherwise.

“If we all get behind our candidate,” he recently told members, “that candidate will be the next mayor.”

Anthony Weiner rides the train with some press. (Photo: Getty)

Riding in a van with reporters on his five borough tour yesterday, candidate Bill Thompson weighed in on the media storm that has engulfed Anthony Weiner since he jumped into the mayoral race two weeks ago.

"If anything, I didn't know that CNN was interested in this election," Mr. Thompson said with a smile. "It has created additional media attention--that it has done. I don't know if it's increased the attention on the public's part but I know it has increased media attention," he said. "Other than that, I don't know that there is any real change."

Mr. Thompson, of course, has a reputation for being more far more tempered than his wise-cracking rival, and has generated fewer headlines than some of the other candidates in the race. Still, he refused to emulate Mr. Weiner's tricks. Mr. Thompson was asked, for instance, whether he would consider adopting Mr. Weiner's notable debate posture: standing up to answer questions. How about rolling up his sleeves?

"I think I'm going to be continuing what I've been doing," Mr. Thomspon maintained.

Mr. Thompson, who is frequently seen whispering with Mr. Weiner at mayoral forums, said he didn't interact much with the scandal-scarred former congressman when Mr. Weiner was in office, but added that any discussions between the two when Mr. Thompson was comptroller had been "friendly" and "cordial."

When reporters finished pelting Mr. Thompson with questions about his new rival, he turned around to ask one of his own.

"How long do you think the extra coverage goes?" he asked.

There was laughter in the van, then silence.