Christine Quinn making her exit from the living wage rally. (Photo: Colin Campbell)

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn won't tolerate anyone messing with Mayor Bloomberg and Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, doesn't want messing with Ms. Quinn for angrily leaving this morning's rally celebrating the upcoming vote to pass the living wage bill after someone mocked the mayor.

Ms. Quinn made her exit from morning's rally on the City Hall steps when someone shouted a crack about "Pharaoh Bloomberg." Mr. Appelbaum, who was in attendance at the awkward rally, leapt to the Speaker's defense this afternoon with a press release reminding people of her role in getting the living wage bill vote passed in the first place.

"Make no mistake, there would be no living wage law bill without the Speaker," Mr. Appelbaum said. "Even though Chris may have left the rally after declaring her support for the bill, the most important thing for us to remember is that thousands of new Yorkers will receive higher wages because she had the courage to stand up and pass the living wage law."

Mr. Appelbaum has backed of the living wage bill. The bill is a rare point of contention between Ms. Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg, with whom she normally enjoys a rather cozy relationship.

Ms. Quinn made her break from the living wage rally after she listed off the long roster of polticial figures who were present at the event.

"Everybody but Pharoah Bloomberg!" the man shouted.

Ms. Quinn spun around and addressed the heckler.

"That’s not appropriate," she said. "If that’s what this protest is about, I’ll go right back on inside.”

And go inside she did. Ms. Quinn may disagree with Mr. Bloomberg about living wage, she clearly has no tolerance for people disrespecting the mayor--and that's all right by Mr. Appelbaum, who regularly weighs in on a variety of issues. No other city union has responded to the pharaoh flap. We're not holding our breath.

Mayor Bloomberg (Photo: Getty)

"If you think about it, the last time we really had a big, managed economy was the U.S.S.R. and that didn't work out so well," Mr. Bloomberg said. "You cannot stop the tides from coming in. We need jobs in this city. It would be great if all jobs in the city paid a lot of money and had great benefits for the workers, not good for the employers, but if you force that, you will just drive businesses out of the city."

Mr. Bloomberg said he hasn't seen the bill yet. He described it dismissively almost as a product of Ms. Quinn's imagination rather than a realistic possibility for the city.

"The bill has never been sent to us by the City Council. This is Chris Quinn writes with her staff, consulting with her members, writes a bill, talks to whoever she talks to, who she depends on, gets advice and talks to different interested parties, so they've not sent any bill to us," Mr. Bloomberg said.

Ms. Quinn described the bill as "the most impactful living wage law in the United States" when she announced its completion Wednesday. Mr. Bloomberg says he has been "told" Ms. Quinn has enough support to pass the bill and override his veto. Nevertheless, Mr. Bloomberg says he plans to veto the bill and will go to court to fight it if he has to.

"I will veto any bill. And if the veto is overridden--and there's enough people that signed up on this bill I'm told so that they would be able to assuming everybody stayed in line, veto the bill--we certainly would go to court and sue," Mr. Bloomberg said. "Whether we win or not, you never know."

Ms. Quinn reportedly dramatically cut the number of workers that would be affected by the bill as she negotiated to come up with a draft that would draw enough support. According to the New York Times approximately 400 to 500 workers would benefit from the final product and several developments would be exempted including Hudson Yards. The deal for the controversial FreshDirect headquarters in the Bronx was approved prior to the bill and would not be affected. Mr. Bloomberg said it was his understanding FreshDirect, which received over $80 million in tax exemptions and other incentives from the City as part of their agreement to keep their headquarters in New York, would have taken offers from neighboring states without the assurance the bill would only affect developments that are approved going forward.

"We were lucky that FreshDirect decided to stay here," Mr. Bloomberg said. "If it was going to keep Fresh Direct out, it was going to keep other people out. You just cannot force employers to pay a rate that doesn't--isn't sustainable in their business and it's not the government's business to do this."

Direct conflict between Mr. Bloomberg and the Council speaker are relatively rare. Ms. Quinn, a likely candidate in the 2013 mayoral election, is generally a strong ally of the Bloomberg administration who calculates her opposition to the current mayor carefully.

Mayor Bloomberg (Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained his opposition to the “Fair Wages For New Yorkers Act,” also known as the “Living Wage Bill,” at a press conference celebrating the new taxi bill in Inwood today. In response to a question from The Politicker, Mayor Bloomberg said he'd be willing to "take a look at" at a hypothetical, modified version of the bill, but he thinks New York needs to stay consistent with the federal minimum wage and the rate in neighboring states. He also believes working long hours for low pay is a key part of the "American dream."

"Fundamentally, I believe that the marketplace has got to set these things, we're in competition with other cities," Mayor Bloomberg said. "I would love to have everybody who has a job in this city get well paid and have all sorts of benefits.I think it is also practical to say that there are jobs that just would never support those kinds of benefits and the economics just dont work in those industries."The Mayor has been a longtime opponent of the living wage legislation. In his eyes, the living wage bill, which would mandate minimum wages of $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 per hour without benefits on city-subsidized projects, could cause businesses to move elsewhere. Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Minimum wages in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania all currently match the federal rate. He said it's important to balance the interests of both workers and businesses.

"Finding some ways to try to balance--I for example am a very big proponent of the minimum wage bill when they come up, but having said that, you can't do something in one place if across the street they do something different. You can't do something in one city where businesses can easily move," Mayor Bloomberg said. "There's no easy answer here, but in the end, we want to make sure, particularly in this day and age, that we find as many jobs as we can for people. Even if they're entry level jobs and they dont pay, it's a start."

Mayor Bloomberg pointed out that low wage jobs can be good for undereducated young people.

"One of the things that a lot of young people need--particularly those that dont have the formal education that modern day good paying jobs require--they need a chance to get out there and realize at a very young age what it is like to work, to show up to work collaboratively and collectively," said Mayor Bloomberg.

He also said there is a long, proud American tradition of hard, low paying work.

"The great American history--story is that people come here and they got off the boat, they went through Ellis Island, they waved to the Statue of Liberty and they took jobs that,--they just weren't the greatest jobs and they certainly didn't pay well, but they worked and sometimes they took two jobs and they never took a day off," he said.

The mayor also reminisced about his own family's experience.

"My father worked seven days a week, as far as I remember, all his life," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We weren't poor, but he didn't make a lot of money and that's just the American dream."

The future of the living wage bill in currently in the hands of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has the power to decide whether or not to bring it to a vote. Speaker Quinn has not come out for or against the measure. A majority of council members support the bill. If the bill passes the council, Mayor Bloomberg will have the power to veto it, but the council can overrule him with a two thirds majority.

Michael Mulgrew (Photo: UFT)

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew sent a letter to all 51 members of the City Council asking them to support the "Fair Wages For New Yorkers Act," better known as the "Living Wage Bill." "Millions of New Yorkers are struggling just to make ends meet, and our members–their teachers and other educators–are seeing the effects of that harsh reality in our classrooms everyday. Children who are not being fed, clothed or housed properly cannot hope to concentrate," Mr. Mulgrew wrote. "The passage of the ‘Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act’ would be a step towards improving the lives of millions of New Yorkers, and consequently, their children," wrote Mr. Mulgrew.

Mr. Mulgrew described the bill as especially necessary due to the wide gap between the rich and poor in New York City.

"New York City has earned the dubious distinction of being America’s income disparity capital; Nowhere else in this country do we see such extremes separating the 'haves' and 'have nots,'" wrote Mr. Mulgrew. "This ‘living wage’ legislation is one crucial component to reducing the number of poor NewYorkers."

The UFT has endorsed the living wage bill, which would require employees to receive minimum wages of $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 per hour without benefits on city-subsidized project. Currently, the minimum wage in New York is is $7.25 an hour.

A majority of City Council members also support the bill, but Mayor Bloomberg is opposed and Council Speaker Christine Quinn has not come out for or against the measure. Speaker Quinn's support is crucial as she can prevent the bill from being passed by not bringing it to a vote.