Council Speaker Christine Quinn just stripped firebrand Councilman Charles Barron of his chairmanship (or chairpersonship).
Earlier this month, Mr. Barron—who had previously chaired the Higher Education Committee—tried to mount a challenge to Ms. Quinn for the speaker’s title. The thinking seemed to be that, with the Council now a majority-minority body, the speaker should be a person of color. (Mr. Barron believed that even before this year’s elections.)
But, in the end, the Council uniformly backed Ms. Quinn—with the exception of Mr. Barron, who cast the lone nay vote. His supporters chanted “Uncle Tom” and “sell-out” as members voted for Ms. Quinn.
The Higher Education Committee will now be chaired by Ydanis Rodriguez, who represents Northern Manhattan.
“I’m going to say it’s racist,” Mr. Barron told the Daily News upon learning the news that he’d lose his committee. He added: “She’s going to be in for the fight of her life.”
