Christine Quinn. (Photo: Getty)

Bronx City Councilman Fernando Cabrera was ready to defy established order.

He sensed that Speaker Christine Quinn was losing her grip on the legislative body.

"I'm scared," he told Politicker at the time. He kept the petitions he gathered at home--just to be safe.

Mr. Cabrera, a pastor, quietly went from colleague to colleague to rally support for two bills that the speaker had stalled, one that would let churches rent school property and another codifying a Tenants’ Bill of Rights. He said he gathered the dozen signatures necessary to give him the power to force a vote—a tactic, called a motion to discharge, that has not been deployed during Ms. Quinn’s tenure.

“I just walked up to them and said, ‘Listen, this is what I’m trying to do. Are you in?’” he later reflected. “Ninety-nine percent of them said yes.”

Mr. Cabrera’s school initiative will be among the first bills opposed by Ms. Quinn to come up for a vote in the Council. With Ms. Quinn’s leadership style coming under scrutiny by the press and political opponents as she campaigns for mayor, her famously tight control over the legislative body appears to be buckling.

Discussions with a wide range of council members, labor leaders and lobbyists—almost all of whom asked for anonymity in order to speak candidly—suggest a new sense of freedom in the Council, as well as the potential for chaos after the budget is passed in June.

According to Mr. Cabrera and others, council members have responded to Ms. Quinn’s lighter touch—whether real or perceived—by pushing their own proposals more aggressively, as well as by being bolder in their dissent.

Some challenges to Ms. Quinn’s rule are already visible. Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who is running for Queens borough president, recently gathered the media on the City Hall steps to demand that Ms. Quinn restore a scholarship named after his father, which he claims was cut after he publicly denounced her plan to rename the Queensboro Bridge. Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley has gone on national television to say that she believes Ms. Quinn slashed her budget three years ago as punishment for not giving the speaker enough credit in a press release.

Legislation mandating that most employers provide paid sick leave—which Ms. Quinn had bottled up for years—emerged for a vote so suddenly a few weeks ago that it was almost surreal. Like Mr. Cabrera, members had quietly threatened to force a vote using the motion to discharge.

And then, facing pressure from critics of stop and frisk, Ms. Quinn announced that she would allow a vote on a bill that would make it easier to sue the city’s police department for racial profiling—even though she warned the bill would create chaos for officers and compromise public safety. Never in her tenure has she allowed a vote on a bill she opposes.

Suddenly, some felt a new precedent had been set. If that bill was entitled to move forward, argued Mr. Vallone, why not everyone else’s? Since then, he has threatened to push three of his own stalled bills to the floor. One, which would create an animal abuse registry, will get a hearing next month.

While none of the Council insurgents have had to go so far as to use signatures to force a vote—thus far, they’ve merely threatened—the threats themselves suggest a new fearlessness among some members.

In the past, Ms. Quinn has silenced dissenters by defunding their district projects, known in the Council as member items. A much-cited front-page New York Times story on Ms. Quinn’s temper turned a spotlight on her use of the budget to maintain control by rewarding her allies with extra cash and doing the opposite to those who crossed her.

Although Ms. Quinn is currently the race’s front-runner, council members like Mr. Cabrera are making a calculation that her ability to push back is hampered by her mayoral ambitions. Her support could take a hit, for instance, if voters perceive her as willing to aggressively defund senior centers and other community programs.

“This year I imagine the speaker has to be very conscious that all eyes are on her,” he said. “If I do get punished, you guys are going to tell the story. And I’m going to hold a press conference.”

Ms. Quinn, who first won her Chelsea Council seat in 1999 and became speaker in 2006, has walked a fine line as she tries to manage the 51-member Council—a job that’s often likened to herding wild cats. While the tenure of her predecessor, Gifford Miller, was marked by constant squabbling with Mayor Bloomberg, Ms. Quinn, a former housing advocate, has chosen a different approach, working more closely with the mayor while keeping most of her members in line--thus far, at least. But that also puts her on precipitous footing as she seeks to balance business and labor and law-and-order types and police reform advocates, and other opposing groups as she tries to build a coalition for City Hall’s top job.

Although Ms. Quinn’s ability to wield the budget as a weapon is weakened by the media focus on her mayoral campaign, many sources predicted that greater unrest will unfold once the budget is finalized in June and the risk of funding cuts no longer weighs on lawmakers. “The budget is in a month and a half, then it’s open season,” one member mused.

Mr. Cabrera’s resolutions, relatively modest in their scope, aren’t likely to shake up the city. Neither will Councilman Oliver Koppell’s bill to require more handicap-accessible taxis, or Mr. Vallone’s proposed animal abuse registry.

But there is some concern among business leaders that their interests are no longer as protected as they have been in the last eight years of Quinn-Bloomberg collaboration.

Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the pro-business lobbying group Partnership for New York City, pointed to several pieces of legislation already winding their way through the Council, including one that would require projects that receive economic development money to complete community impact reports and another that bans employers from running credit checks on job applicants.

“We’re worried,” said Ms. Wylde about the potential push for additional business regulations. “That would be frightening to anyone that has concerns about thoughtful and responsible management of the city.”

In an interview, Ms. Quinn denied that the flurry of legislative activity indicated a fundamental shift.

“From my perspective, nothing has changed,” she told Politicker. “What’s happening now, at the end of the term, is exactly what I expected—that there would be a lot of interest from council members, especially those who might be term-limited out, in getting a lot of legislation passed,” she said, arguing that similar pushes were seen at the end of her predecessors’ terms.

“I hope and I have to believe that everyone who is running for office in this city will keep politics out of government,” she added. “We want to get as much good legislation passed into law as we possibly can.”

For their part, Quinn supporters pointed to media reports about slipping power at the end of past speakers’ terms, lapses that, they said, never actually emerged. A rebellious piece of legislation still needs to pass a chamber stocked with Quinn loyalists—the Council elected her speaker, after all, and she’s still the leading candidate for mayor. Furthermore, building support takes time. Advocates of paid sick leave worked for four years to get their vote, for example, holding countless press conferences, widening their coalition and running issue ads to build momentum.

Councilman Domenic Recchia, a close Quinn ally, argued that the legislative pushes were merely a “product of the calendar” as term-limited members try to cement their legacies, dismissing any threats as saber rattling. Councilman Mark Weprin generally agreed with Mr. Recchia’s take, as did Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the retail workers union, which has endorsed Ms. Quinn. Bronx Councilman Jimmy Vacca, who’s eyeing his own speakership bid, similarly said predictions of “chaos on the Council” were overblown, but said mayoral politics would undeniably play a role.

“To think that the Council will not be impacted by that political reality, I think, would be foolish,” he said. “Are we in a real political season, and is the politics going to be more profound going forward? Oh yeah.”

For council members as well as New York City’s government as a whole, the largest question in the days ahead could be the mayoral campaign, the outcome of which will have a significant impact on Ms. Quinn’s ability control the chamber. The September 10 Democratic primary looms large. A council member put Ms. Quinn’s situation bluntly: she’ll either be her party’s standard-bearer or a lame duck on her way out of office.

Either way, it’s going to get interesting.

“You know, there’s a fine line between mutiny and democracy,” Mr. Vallone said. “I think we’ll see a lot more of both.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Ms. Quinn first won her Council seat in 2001. It was in 1999.

Dov Hikind and his family in their Purim costumes. (Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Dov Hikind held a press conference in front of his home this afternoon responding to the uproar over a story that first appeared on Politicker today about his "black basketball player" Purim costume. In front of a small crowd of reporters, Mr. Hikind apologized that people were "offended" and reiterated his initial defense that the getup, which consisted of an orange jersey, brown face paint, an afro wig and sunglasses was merely a costume to celebrate the Jewish Purim holiday. However, even after Mr. Hikind addressed the firestorm, several members of the City Council sent letters to the Assemblyman arguing his apology did not go far enough.

"Anyone who was offended by the outfit that I was wearing on Purim yesterday ... it was not meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone in any fashion," Mr. Hikind began. "That is not what I am all about for the past 31 years in pub office and before that."

Mr. Hikind went on to describe how "hundreds and hundreds of people" came to his home during the fourteen hour party for which he donned the costume yesterday. He said "the whole idea" of the costume was "not to be recognizable."

"Anyone who was offended, I'm sorry that they were offended. That was not the intention and that's really all I can say," continued Mr. Hikind. "I just have to reiterate, it was Purim. Purim is when people get dressed up and try to look different."

The Assemblyman also assured the crowd of reporters gathered in front of his home that his costume "was never about a racial thing."

"If I was black, I might have asked the makeup person who I hire every single year and said, 'Make me look white this year. I want to look differently, I just dont want people to recognize me,'" said Mr. Hikind, referencing his tradition of hiring a makeup artist to help him prepare for the Purim festivites. "It wasn't about white, it wasn't about black, it wasn't about anything like that. So, you know, in hindsight seeing that all of you guys are out here today and this has become a real story, my God, you know I would have picked something else."

Mr. Hikind also discussed rethinking his future Purim costume choices with the New York Times.

“Next year I was thinking I’d be an Indian,” Mr. Hikind said. “But you know, I’ve changed my mind about that. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Somebody will be offended.”

Mr. Hikind's apologies clearly did not satisfy the members of the City Council's Black Latino and Asian Caucus. After the press conference, Councilmen Robert Jackson and Fernando Cabrera, the co-chairs of the 27 member Caucus sent a letter to Mr. Hikind on behalf of the group asking him to make a "true and real public apology" and meet with community leaders.

"We write, as the Black, Latino & Asian Caucus of the New York City Council, to directlyaddress the incident involving your donning of blackface at a party, and your sentimentssuggesting that no offense should be taken," the letter said. "We find it deeply disturbing that, not only didyou make the conscious decision to wear the offensive costume, but your commentsfollowing the media blowback suggest that you have no consideration for the history of  blackface and the trivialization of the black experience in this country."

Councilman Jumaane Williams, who is a member of the BLA Caucus, went a step further and sent another letter to Mr. Hikind co-signed by seven other Council members and Karim Camara, chairman of the minority caucus in the State Assembly. That letter also called for Mr. Hikind to make a "sincere public apology" and meet with community leaders.

"Your costume is offensive to a significant segment of this borough for its connection to the sordid history of blackface in American theater. People associate blackface with offensive African-American stereotypes popularized in minstrel shows and vaudeville, stereotypes such as laziness, stupidity and cowardice. In fact, this same art form negatively depicted other communities, including the bigoted portrayal of Jews as corrupt and conniving," the letter said. Not only have you appeared publicly in blackface, you have offered an initially fierce defense of your actions, declaring on your blog that 'this is political correctness to the absurd.' This is a disconcerting response, especially when we consider that on multiple occasions you have come out to loudly defend the Jewish community against real and perceived indignities."

(Photo: Getty)

The City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus is renewing a push to reform the way that street vendors are fined. In a letter to Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Dan Garodnick, the co-chairs of the caucus, Robert Jackson and Fernando Cabrera, advocate legislation to significantly reduce the financial burden of these fines.

"Under current regulations, distance-from-the-curb violations and license-display violations command the payment of fines ranging from $50 to $1000, based upon the number of subsequent violations," the letter explained. "The Caucus believes that this fine structure is unfair to the vendors because it compoundsviolations that may not be related."

The Caucus is backing two bills to change this. First, they are seeking to make it so that violations are only compounded if its the exact same type of violation. Second, they're seeking to reduce the maximum fine to $250.

An organization pushing the bills, the "Street Vendor Project" at the Urban Justice Center, additionally plans on holding a rally, “1,000 Vendors Against $1,000 Fines,” at City Hall sometime this February.

Fernando Cabrera (Photo: NYC Council)

This afternoon, Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera will be marching across the Brooklyn Bridge to ask Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Department of Education to reverse the upcoming ban on religious institutions  using public school buildings on weekends for meetings and worship.

“We stand firm on our position. Equal access for houses of worship makes New York City communities better. Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education need to see just how many people are on this side
 of the debate,” Mr. Cabrera said in a statement announcing the March.

The ban on religious institutions using public school space is scheduled to take affect February 12. Mr. Cabrera, who is senior pastor of New Life Outreach International in the Bronx, was arrested earlier this month while committing an act of civil disobedience to protest the ban.

According to the statement announcing the March, Mr. Cabrera will be joined by several other local politicians including; two likely mayoral candidates, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu, Assemblymen Nelson Castro and Marcos Crespo, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. and Council members Tish James, Ydanis Rodriguez, Jumaane Williams, Peter Vallone and Margaret Chin. Mr. de Blasio's aide, Kirsten John Foy, a minister and potential Council candidate who has been one of the main organizers of the movement protesting the ban, will also be in attendance.

In addition to putting pressure on Mayor Bloomberg and the DOE, the marchers are also expressing support for bills currently pending in the State Legislature and City Council that would reverse the ban.

"Today we are seeing the first indication that the churches in New York City, and nationally, are awakening,” Mr. Cabrera said. “Together, we will fight these restrictive laws that discriminate against hundreds of thousands of Church-goers.”

The protest stemmed from decision by the Supreme Court not to hear a case brought by a tiny evangelical church that was banned from conducting worship services at city public schools. Concurrently, the New York City Housing Authority began reviewing how shared spaces are used in their buildings, something which a group of pastors took to me they were getting evicted from space they had been using.

According to Sheila Stainback, a spokeswoman for NYCHA, none of the churches who have used their facilities have lease agreements, so "we have not evicted anyone. That language would be incorrect."

Instead, she said the churches have operated for years in the common spaces --which during the rest of the week residents sign up to hold birthday parties or block association meetings or the like--and that NYCHA is attempting to systematize how those common spaces get used.

Mr. Cabrera, newly sprung from jail, said in a brief phone interview that he didn't buy it, that instead the Bloomberg administration and NYCHA were instead using Supreme Court's actions as a pretext.

"This particular church has been there for six years. They have been a complete positive impact on the community. Why is this happening now," he said.

"We are getting the perception that we have an anti-religion mayor. I have never been arrested for anything. I don't even drink beer. This is how desperate I am."

“I am urging the Mayor to reconsider the decision to exclude prayer from the 10th Anniversary 9/11 ceremony,” Cabrera said in a statement.  “During 9/11, the faith community served as pillars for many New Yorker’s coping with the tragedy. As a pastor during the tumultuous aftermath, I know firsthand that it was a time where people were searching for meaning and things bigger than themselves. People’s faith helped fill this void and continue to serve as spiritual and emotional support.”

As he mentioned, Cabrera is a pastor at New Life Outreach International Church, and indeed, he has been everywhere touting the necessity for prayer at the 9/11 ceremonies appearing last week on CNN and on Fox News (see video below.)

Cabrera has begun an online petition to change the mayor's mind.

A mayoral spokeswoman told CNN,

The ceremony was designed in coordination with 9/11 families with a mixture of readings that are spiritual, historical and personal in nature. It has been widely supported for the past 10 years and rather than have disagreements over which religious leaders participate we would like to keep the focus of our commemoration ceremony on the family members of those who died.

]]> Mayor Bl0omberg has said that there will be no clergy or formal prayers at the tenth anniversary ceremonies for the 9/11 attacks next month, and Fernando Cabrera, a City Councilman from the Bronx, has taken up the campaign to change his mind.

“I am urging the Mayor to reconsider the decision to exclude prayer from the 10th Anniversary 9/11 ceremony,” Cabrera said in a statement.  “During 9/11, the faith community served as pillars for many New Yorker’s coping with the tragedy. As a pastor during the tumultuous aftermath, I know firsthand that it was a time where people were searching for meaning and things bigger than themselves. People’s faith helped fill this void and continue to serve as spiritual and emotional support.”

As he mentioned, Cabrera is a pastor at New Life Outreach International Church, and indeed, he has been everywhere touting the necessity for prayer at the 9/11 ceremonies appearing last week on CNN and on Fox News (see video below.)

Cabrera has begun an online petition to change the mayor's mind.

A mayoral spokeswoman told CNN,

The ceremony was designed in coordination with 9/11 families with a mixture of readings that are spiritual, historical and personal in nature. It has been widely supported for the past 10 years and rather than have disagreements over which religious leaders participate we would like to keep the focus of our commemoration ceremony on the family members of those who died.

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