By Hunter Walker 2/21/12 4:25pm

Litigation

Christine Quinn gave her State of the City address today. (Photo: NY1)

Christine Quinn Hails ‘Tremendous Victory’ In Homeless Shelter Suit [Update]

Today, City Council Speaker and likely 2013 mayoral candidate Christine Quinn won her lawsuit against the Bloomberg administration’s policy of asking single adults seeking space in homeless shelters to prove they have no alternative housing. In a statement on the court decision, Ms. Quinn called it a “tremendous victory” against a “wrong-headed policy.”

“Today’s Court ruling declaring the Department of Homeless Services’ eligibility requirements for single homeless adults unlawful is a tremendous victory and I commend the Court for its action,” Ms. Quinn said. “This was a wrong-headed policy that put a burden of proof on people who could least shoulder it.”

Ms. Quinn normally enjoys a rather cozy relationship with City Hall and this lawsuit was the first time the City Council sued the Bloomberg administration during Ms. Quinn’s six year tenure as Council speaker. Read More

By Hunter Walker 2/01/12 8:51am

Vows

Same-sex marriage supporters marching on Washington in 2009. (Photo: Getty)

For Gay Rights, The Honeymoon Is Over

On Sunday, as Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer and over 400 other guests looked on, Assemblyman Daniel O’Donnell married John Banta, his partner of over three decades. For Mr. O’Donnell, the wedding was the culmination of a more-than-four-year fight—which included numerous lawsuits and the introduction of five bills to the State Legislature—that finally resulted in same-sex marriage’s finally being legalized in New York last June.

“I began this battle when Eliot Spitzer was elected governor,” Mr. O’Donnell told The Observer. “I used to wake up every day thinking about how many votes I had or didn’t have. Now it’s like, what do I do now?” Read More