New York City Council

Buzz: Boss Crowley now has 32 votes ... here’s the breakdown

Queens County Democratic Chairman Joe Crowley has already secured commitments from a whopping 32 New York City Council members to vote for the candidate he determines will make the best next speaker on Jan. 3, 2018.

The count has gone up by six since we reported that Crowley had 26 votes on Nov. 26.

According to the deep throat bochinchero, this is the way the breakdown of the numbers for Boss Crowley: In Queens, he has 11 of the 14 votes of the county delegation, the Bronx has given him all of their eight-member delegation, he has eight votes from Brooklyn’s 16-member delegation, Manhattan has given him three from its delegation of 10 and he has two from Staten Island’s three members.

The total number will probably fluctuate in the next 34 days. However, another inside bochinchero assures B&B that, “By the time the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, Crowley will have chosen the next speaker.”

Of course, this selection will happen after more serious conversations are had with his counterparts in the other counties – except Brooklyn’s Frank Seddio, whom Crowley has not spoken to since Seddio broke a deal that had been reached that resulted in Melissa Mark-Viverito becoming speaker in 2014.

Through separate conversations with two other bochincheros, B&B has compiled the names of at least 21 of the Council members that have committed their vote to the candidate that Boss Crowley and his cronies pick. I have decided not to publish the names given to me for now since I have not been able to get bochincheros to confirm those on the list we currently have. Stay tuned, bochincheros, this is getting as good as the pissing match between the mayor and governor.

Bochinche & Buzz is Gerson Borrero's weekly column of exclusive scoops and insider gossip. Remember, gente, it's all bochinche until it's confirmed.