The Ad Campaign: Group Frames the Choice as Anyone but Quinn

A political action committee dedicated to thwarting Christine C. Quinn’s mayoral ambitions released three new advertisements on Thursday, featuring New Yorkers explaining why they do not like Ms. Quinn, the City Council speaker, and will not vote for her. The committee, called NYC Is Not for Sale 2013, was founded by the president of Local 1180, which represents communications workers; an animal rights group that has sparred with Ms. Quinn over horse-drawn carriages; and a wealthy businesswoman. It is legally allowed to spend unlimited amounts on political advertising as long as it does not coordinate its activity with a candidate. The ads began running Thursday on several cable channels in the city, and was produced by The Advance Group.

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• 0:04  Closing St. Vincent’s

  The ad suggests that Ms. Quinn held some of the blame for the closing of St. Vincent’s Hospital in the West Village. In fact, she was on a task force that tried to save the hospital, which was $1 billion in debt, and she played a role in arranging for it to be replaced by a 24-hour emergency facility, which is scheduled to open next year.

• 0:10  Bloomberg and Quinn

  The man in the ad suggests Ms. Quinn regularly does Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s bidding on the City Council and that her mayoralty would be a continuation of his. Ms. Quinn has been a close ally of Mr. Bloomberg, and, as speaker, she led the Council in voting to temporarily lift term limits to allow him (and many City Council members, including herself) to run for a third term. But she has also split with him on his administration’s homeless policy and on legislation that the Council has passed to give some private sector workers higher wages and paid sick leave. In the last two years, Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Quinn have sued each other â€" Ms. Quinn over the mayor’s policy on the homeless, and Mr. Bloomberg over the wage legislation.

SCORECARD The ads reflect the vitriol of some of Ms. Quinn’s opponents. They don’t make many specific claims, instead emphasizing Ms. Quinn’s perceived closeness to the mayor and asserting that she is self-interested. Still, the ads present a challenge to Ms. Quinn, by putting negative images before the public now while she waits until later in the campaign season to spend money on ads.