Liberal Councilman Emerges as Gadfly for Mayor and Speaker
Ross Barkan
The City Council has always had its prickly, sharp-tongued and press-savvy independents.
Among the roster of rogue lawmakers who have recently filled its ranks: Charles Barron, a self-identified Black Panther who frequently decried the “racist” powers-that-be; Peter Vallone Jr., a motorcycle-riding law-and-order crusader; and Tony Avella, who didn’t flinch before launching a quixotic campaign for mayor against the Democratic establishment’s choice.
The newest addition to the lineage of independents–or at least those council members unafraid to jab the speaker and mayor on the record–is Queens Councilman Rory Lancman, an ex-assemblyman and proud liberal.
Mr. Lancman’s recent acts include voting against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s pick to lead the Department of Investigation, holding a press conference challenging the mayor on water rates, calling for a hearing to look at the de Blasio administration’s snow-response efforts and describing the council’s new “working group” as “ominous.”
http://observer.com/2014/04/liberal-councilman-emerges-as-gadfly-for-mayor-and-speaker/
