Is Quinn Backing A Hypocrite For Her Council Seat?

Queens Politics
June 25, 2013

Birds of a feather...

Alleged Quinn-backed candidate's record of deception and hypocrisy revealed.

Rumor has it Corey Johnson is Quinn's pick for her Council seat, and while her endorsement could be in the making, that hasn't stopped a bevy of Quinn's allies circling the wagons around Johnson's campaign for her council seat. But that's not the main issue. Eyebrows are being raised as what seems to have been overlooked in the media is Corey Johnson's record of deception, hypocrisy, and outright lies.

Luckily, the community cannot be bought off with cheap campaign rhetoric. So here's the scoop.

The word hypocrite applies to a person who pretends to be something he is not. Corey Johnson seems to fit the bill. On Corey's campaign website you'll notice an entire section glorifying his role in creating affordable housing, but this could not be further from the truth.

In fact Corey worked for a billion dollar real estate company, GFI Capital, which has made a habit of evicting poor and middle class workers and replacing SRO's with luxury hotels and condos. His former employer has even been sued by the Department Of Justice Civil Rights Division for discrimination.

According to the New York Times, "GFI, which says on its Web site that it originates more than $1 billion a year in mortgages, admitted that an analysis by the federal government showed that it charged higher rates and fees to black and Hispanic borrowers than to white borrowers."

The case inevitably led to a 3.5 million dollar settlement by the company for mortgage bias. And yet, somehow after 3 years with GFI, with the title Director of Government Affairs (by the way, not a registered lobbyist), Corey Johnson still tries to pass himself off as a champion of affordable housing.

Parties affected in this case have been ongoing since 2005. In the meantime Quinn, who has been voraciously seeking the Mayoralty, could be secretly waiting to endorse him (again, Corey's existing endorsements aren't the only clue), but before that day comes,  critical questions remain unanswered regarding the validity of Corey's claims on his campaign platform.

After all, you can't be a "champion of affordable housing" when you worked for a company that evicts poor and middle class tenants from their homes and discriminates people based on color.

Christine Quinn, you'll never be able to say you didn't know.