7/27/2019 Bill Thompson Lijworld

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By AUSTIN FENNER

Bill Thompson is hoping

the second time is the

charm.

The mayoral candidate came

as close as you can get to win-

ning one of the most coveted

political seats in the world.

He lost to Michael Bloomberg

by the slimmest of margins in

November 2009. It was a 4.5 per-

cent difference that gave

Bloomberg the edge over

Thompson.

Bloombergs $90 million war

chest and the strength of his

incumbency should have cement-

ed his grip for a third term, but

many voters were angry at Mayor

Mikes third-term grab for power.

It fueled Thompsons chances to

vault over him, though not

enough. In the end, there are no

laurel wreaths for a second place

finish.

That was then. This is now.

Thompson, 60, a Brooklyn

native, is running a low-key elec-

tion campaign against a talented

pool of savvy Democratic candi-

dates hoping to win the Sept. 10

primary.

Most political analysts say

Thompson, the sole African-

American candidate in the race,

can win the primary if he finds

himself in a run-off race with

his most likely rival, ChristineQuinn, speaker of the New York

City Council, an openly gay

candidate.

Christine Quinn is ahead. Its

scrambled up with Weiner, Bill

de Blasio and Thompson tied,

said Maurice Carroll, the direc-

tor of the Polling Institute at

Quinnipiac University in

Connecticut. No one is near the

40 percent needed.

Carroll said most black voters

are heading toward Weiner and

Quinn.

He doesnt have most of the

black vote. What he has to do is

energize the black vote, said

Carroll. Thompson is not run-

ning as a black candidate. Hesrunning as a mainstream

Democratic official.

Carroll said Thompson earned

valuable political capital in his

strong showing against Bloomberg

in 2009.

He gave Bloomberg a run for

his money, said Carroll. Its

not a flashy campaign. Hes run-

ning a low-key candidacy. He

can win with that strategy. All he

has to do is get to the runoff.

Thompson certainly has the

chief executive bona fides to

become mayor. He served as

president of the Board of

Education for the City of New

York and won two elections as

the comptroller of the City of

New York.

Areporter for the ManhattanJewish Sentinel group ofnewspapers spent hours with

Thompson last week, as the can-

didate visited food pantries in

Far Rockaway and listened to

how New Yorkers are still coping

from the after-effects of

Superstorm Sandy. He toured the

Jewish Community Council of

the Rockaway Peninsula, meet-

ing with Nathan Krasnovsky,

executive director of the JCCRP,

and spoke with AssemblymanPhil Goldfeder about the future

of the Rockaways.

Thompson also met with a

group of rabbinical leaders at

Yeshiva Darchei Torah. They

gave Thompson a tour of their

privately financed campus, a $30

million gem, complete with new

science and computer labs and

technical schools.

Thompson then whizzed by

P.S. 262 in Bedford Stuyvesant

where his mother, Elaine

Thompson, taught for 29 years

to participate in some media

interviews.

A proponent of charter

schools, Thompsons education-

al agenda is to expand universal

pre-kindergarten for all city chil-

dren, fight for more state and

federal funding, cut the size of

overcrowded schools with school

construction, and have an inde-

pendent body audit test scores

and graduation rates.

Later that evening, Thompson

seized a chance to speak to thou-

sands of concert-goers about his

Caribbean roots at a West Indian

Summer concert series on the

sprawling fields behind Wingate

High School in the

Lefferts Garden se

Brooklyn.

With his sleeves

Thompson grabbed t

phone and urged the

vote for him in the prim

If I win this electithe first mayor with

roots, Thompson said

stage. His grandpare

grated from the the isl

of St. Kitts in the Wes

The Sept. 10 pri

decide the direction

York. If you are tired

of affordable housing

vote for me as the nex

he said. Go to the

bring a few friends. I

JEWISHWORLD AUGUST 16-22,

Back in the RaceBill Thompson discusses his new campaign

ELECTION 2013

continued

Bill Thompson visitsthe JewishCommunity Councilof the RockawayPeninsula.(L-r): NathanKrasnovsky,JCCRP executive

director; MenachemWalfish, JCCRPboard secretary;Thompson; HillelAdelman, JCCRPboard member;Yoni Dembitzer,JCCRP vicepresident;AssemblymanPhillip Goldfeder;and Pesach Osina.

Im going to work

hard to attract thesupport of all

voters. The Jewish

vote in the city of

New York is

definitely a vote

Im going after.

PhotocourtesyJCCRP