(Photo: Getty)

Earlier this week, after Mayor Michael Bloomberg breathed fire and brimstone at a plethora of politicians for failing to support his law-and-order agenda, some police reform advocates reacted harshly and said Mr. Bloomberg was deflecting from the real issues.

But not Joe Lhota. In fact, Mr. Lhota, a Republican vying to replace the term-limited Mr. Bloomberg, thought the speech was better than anything he's ever heard from a mayor.

"Bravo! Bravo to Mayor Bloomberg for that speech," Mr. Lhota exclaimed in a radio interview with Brian Lehrer this morning. "It was probably the best speech I've ever heard a mayor of the City of New York give in the 59 years I've been a resident of this city."

The abundance of praise--perhaps because Mr. Lhota used to work for former Mayor Rudy Giuliani--prompted Mr. Lehrer to interject with disbelief, asking, "What?"

"Mike Bloomberg was on target as best as I've seen him," Mr. Lhota continued. "The best speech he's ever given. He was absolutely, 100 percent correct. And I applaud him for what he said and his overall approach."

Mr. Lhota went on to defend Mr. Bloomberg's positions, calling legislation to install an NYPD inspector general "absolutely wrong" and touting the success of the police department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy.

In another part of the interview, Mr. Lhota even shared Mr. Bloomberg's disdain for The New York Times, which was passionately presented during Tuesday's speech.

"It's gross insensitivity on the part of The New York Times," Mr. Lhota said when asked about a Times editorial castigating Mr. Giuliani for placing a crisis-command bunker in The World Trade Center and comments he made at a Lhota fund-raiser. "I'm never surprised by the insensitivity of The New York Times editorial board."

Christine Quinn outlined her public safety proposals in a speech on Wednesday. (Photo: Jill Colvin)

City Council Speaker and mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn came out against a bill Wednesday that would prohibit the Police Department from profiling on the basis of race, religion and gender—but for the very first time in her tenure, said she would nonetheless allow the controversial plan to go to vote.

During a speech outlining her public safety agenda on the Upper East Side, Ms. Quinn said she could not support the bill because of a provision that would allow individuals to sue the department if they believed they were wrongly targeted.

“I believe this presents a real risk,” said Ms. Quinn, who described a worst-case situation in which multiple state court judges issued confusing, overlapping rulings, wresting policy decisions away from the mayor and Police Commissioner.

“I believe these risks could lead to a fragmentation of oversight and policy-making for the Police Department that could be detrimental to the safety of our city,” she said, warning that it might also “hamstring individual police officers and make them fearful of the decisions they have to make on a moment’s notice, putting both their safety and the public’s safety at risk.”

The argument is nearly identical to those that have been used against a companion bill to install an NYPD Inspector General—which Ms. Quinn supports.

Ms. Quinn has a long history of preventing legislation she opposes from coming to vote, even it has the support of a majority of council members. The tactic has been criticized by fellow members as well as good government groups and Ms. Quinn's mayoral rivals, who have been increasingly vocal in their attacks.

But Quinn said that, this time, she did not plan to block a vote on the bill, which currently has more than 30 sponsors, supporters said.

“I understand that this is a very important issue for a lot of people so I don’t want to stand in the way of there being a vote. And whatever happens, happens,” she told reporters after the speech, vowing not to strong-arm members into dropping their support behind the scenes.

“This is not going to be a twisting arms kind of a situation," she said,  adding: "I think it’s very likely it could pass."

If it does, it would be the very first time in Ms. Quinn's tenure as speaker that a bill would pass the council with her "no" vote, her spokesman Jamie McShane confirmed.

Asked about her decision, Ms. Quinn said the change did not represented a larger policy change, but simply the fact that, for the first time in her tenure, it was clear a deal on a bill with wide support could not be reached.

Still, proponents of the bill expressed their regret.

“We are deeply disappointed that the speaker will not support a strong ban against profiling by the NYPD,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. “But we expect that the anti-profiling bill, like the Inspector General bill, which both enjoy the overwhelming majority of support in the City Council, will get the vote it is entitled to."

The announcement came during a speech at Hunter College's Roosevelt House that Ms. Quinn titled her “Blueprint for a Safe and Secure New York.

Among the proposals, Ms. Quinn called for the hiring of an extra 1,600 police officers over the next three years to boost the department's shrinking ranks.

In the wake of the Boston Marathon terror attacks, she called for a complete review of infrastructure, suggesting replacing metal trash cans with hoop-and-bag-style receptacles in subways and near other high-profile targets to limit potential shrapnel. And she suggested installing 1,000 new mobile security cameras, which could be moved from place-to-place.

The high-tech goodies didn’t stop there. She called for equipping police officers with smartphones and said the city should create a “panic button” for smart phones that could be used by crime victims who aren’t in a position to call the police.

“With the push of a button on your phone, you could request assistance from a nearby officer who will locate you using GPS technology,” she said—not mentioning the potential risk of unintentional “butt dials.”

And to increase the eyes on the street, she proposed a new “Text Something” program that would allow New Yorkers to report suspicious activity to the NYPD via photo or text, and proposed expanding basic counter-terrorism training to the Department of Sanitation, the Department of Transportation and the MTA.

She also slapped her Democratic mayoral rivals who have vowed to oust Police Commissioner Ray Kelly if they win.

“Anyone who doesn’t recognize the incredible work that Ray Kelly has done as Police Commissioner," she said, "is simply out of touch with the reality of life in New York City."

Andrew Gounardes (Photo: Facebook)

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo gave his formal State of the State speech, laying out a legislative agenda for the next year.  In response to that, Republican State Senator Marty Golden stated his disappointment with Governor Cuomo's for not developing a full plan to address public safety and fraud. Now, his Democratic opponent, Andrew Gounardes, is criticizing Senator Golden's criticism.

"Unfortunately, Marty Golden strangely chose to criticize our Governor for being weak on public safety, despite the fact that the Governor proposed expanding the DNA database to cover all crimes," Mr. Gounardes said in a statement this morning, apparently undaunted about challenging Senator Golden, a former police officer, on public safety issues.

Mr. Gounardes then digs up the past and calls Senator Golden's criticism "hypocritical and disingenuous," due to a 2010 vote on legislation to require ammunition to have traceable microstamping. Senator Golden had missed the vote, but said he would have opposed the bill anyway.

"Marty Golden’s criticism reeks of Casablanca," the 26-year-old Democrat summed up, referencing the 1942 film famous for a scene containing fake outrage.

Due to his connections to Senator Mike Gianaris, who heads the Senate Democrats' campaign efforts, and his increasingly visible support from the Brooklyn Democratic organization, Gounardes looks to have the inside track to the Democratic nomination. However, depending on the final district lines, he'll probably have an uphill battle to unseat the popular incumbent with strong fundraising chops.

Sen. Marty Golden (Photo: Getty)

State Senator Marty Golden, possibly the most influential New York City Republican in the state legislature, found Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State speech today to be significantly lacking. The Governor's presentation, which can be read here, was wide-ranging and touched a wide variety of topics from increasing the casino presence in New York to reducing the poverty rate in Buffalo.  However, Senator Golden criticized the lack of focus on public safety and fraud.

"As a former New York City Police Officer, I am disappointed by the Governor’s failure to focus on an agenda to keep New York’s citizens and families safe," Senator Golden said in a statement. "One of the most basic fundamentals New Yorkers must enjoy is a safe State in which to live, work and raise a family. We can’t ignore the fact that there are areas of criminal justice that must be addressed."

"The Governor also failed to mention efforts to eliminate Medicaid and auto insurance fraud in our State," the Senator also argued.  "The longer we allow such acts of fraud to continue, the longer we will suffer financially as a government and as consumers." Senator Golden has been a strong advocate of New York government addressing these issues in the past.

Democrats, who are aiming to defeat Senator Golden for reelection and have already lined up a challenger, may hope to broadly drive a wedge members of the Senate Republican caucus and Governor Cuomo's popularity, as the two have worked closely together over the past year to pass the governor's agenda.  However, it's unlikely that they will focus on challenging the former police officer on widely popular issues like public safety.