NUT’S SLAP SHOT
Quinn rally violence
THE OVERHEATED mayoral campaign turned violent Monday.
At a Manhattan news conference organized by Christine Quinn’s forces, a supporter of rival Bill de Blasio slapped a state senator and a Quinn volunteer.
The disturbing scene unfolded at the corner of 12th St. and Seventh Ave., directly across from the site of the now-shuttered St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
The Quinn and de Blasio campaigns had scheduled dueling news conferences — Quinn’s at 11 a.m., de Blasio’s at noon — to talk about each candidate’s efforts to keep hospitals open.
But several dozen anti-Quinn protesters turned out for the Quinn campaign event, hoping to drown out the speakers. Quinn herself did not attend the gathering.
“No one has worked harder for health care,” former state Sen. Tom Duane (D-Manhattan), a Quinn ally, said over the din.
Shaking with anger, a longtime neighborhood resident, George Capsis, then got in Duane’s face.
“Why do you keep talking?” growled the elderly Capsis, publisher of the monthly newsletter, WestView News. “Get out of here!”
Duane calmly said, “Take a deep breath.” Capsis glared.
When state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) — who was holding his 21/ 2- year-old daughter — intervened, Capsis struck him in the face.
A Quinn campaign intern told Capsis to stop — and was slapped several times in the face. The young man ran off in tears.
Capsis said he was emotional because his wife died two days ago in a Bronx hospital, where she was forced to go after St. Vincent’s closed in 2010.
“I had to travel an hour and a half to see her,” he said. “I have pentup anger.”
In addition to shouting at Quinn speakers, protesters hurled insults. “Hey Tom Duane, have another drink!” one yelled. Duane is a recovering alcoholic.
The Quinn campaign said the intern filed a police report. The NYPD said it had no record of that.
In a statement, the anti-Quinn group “New York City is Not for Sale 2013” lauded members for having “unleashed a bold counterprotest.” The release made no mention of the slapping incident.
Quinn said, “There is no place in this city — let alone a political campaign — for violence or intimidation of any kind.”