New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had his eyes less on the evils of guns and big gulps at a Christmas party last month than on the assets of a female party guest.
In a New York Magazine profile of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, author Jonathan Van Meter recalls how in researching Quinn’s prospects as a candidate for mayor at “a Christmas party for the rich,” he was introduced to Mayor Michael Bloomberg who subsequently ignored praise for his gun-control advocacy to instead admire a woman’s backside.
“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,” Van Meter writes. “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.’”
Later in the piece Quinn, one of the most prominent lesbians in New York, detailed to Van Meter how Bloomberg insists that women wear high heels. “The mayor has no use for flat shoes,” she said.
“I was at a parade with him once,” Quinn explained, “and he said, ‘What are those?’ and I said, ‘They’re comfortable,’ and he said, ‘I never want to hear those words out of your mouth again.’”
According to Quinn, “He likes me in high heels,” and offers her hair tips.
“Another big thing with the mayor, when I am rooting … like, the couple of days a week before I need to get my hair colored,” Quinn said, “he’ll say, ‘Do you pay a lot to make your hair be two colors? Because now it’s three with the gray.’ And I’m like, ‘Did you wake up being this big of an asshole? Or did it take, like, all day to ramp up to it to be able to insult me like that?’ ”
Despite the fashion criticism, Quinn acknowledged her “good relationship with Bloomberg” and explained that while they do not agree on everything they have a good working relationship, free of “petty politics or stupid foolery.”
“He’s actually much more silly than people think. Sometimes in meetings he’s just telling stories and goofing around,” she said. “And he’s got a potty mouth.”