According to Michael Bloomberg, Christine Quinn is the only "rational" Democratic candidate to succeed him as mayor of New York City.
And-- save a run from NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly or departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton-- Quinn is Bloomberg's presumptive endorsee.
Although this is good news for Quinn-- already considered the frontrunner-- it's been widely observed that she'll need to distance herself from the three-term hizzoner in order to a secure a win come November.
Take, for example, how Bloomberg manages to steal the spotlight from Quinn in Quinn's very own New York profile.
The most memorable moment in Jonathan Van Meter's cover story is a funny anecdote about Bloomberg at a fancy party, where we see the aging billionaire admiring a woman's derriere:
As it happens, I was at a Christmas party for the rich just a few weeks ago. It was at a townhouse in the East Sixties, just off Park Avenue, and several times over the course of the evening the subject of Quinn came up. Each person I spoke with expressed doubts about whether she’s tough enough and smart enough to run the city. Implied, or overtly stated, was that the Bloomberg years have been marvelous and she’s no Bloomberg. By which they meant, if I understood correctly, that’s she’s just another politician.
Later in the evening, the host interrupted me to point out that the mayor himself had just arrived. Did I want to meet him? Sure. My friend and I followed the host over, shook Bloomberg’s hand, and my friend thanked him for his position on gun control. Without even acknowledging the comment, Bloomberg gestured toward a woman in a very tight floor-length gown standing nearby and said, “Look at the ass on her.”
However you take Bloomberg's quote-- as slightly endearing in a creepy-old-grandpa sort of way, or as wildly inappropriate and misogynistic coming from our city's top official-- it is the story, and not Quinn.
Bloomberg's office still hasn't commented on the quote and, as Gothamist notes, they probably won't.