Early Establishment Support for Martha Taylor

It's starting to look like Martha Taylor, who is running for the Queens City Council seat currently held by Jim Gennaro, has some unusually early (if unofficial) support from a couple of big names in New York politics--Bill Thompson and Malcolm Smith.

As Liz noted, Taylor currently works for Bill Thompson, and her consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, has ties to Malcolm Smith. Later, Crain’s reported that Thompson and Smith “support Taylor.”

And today, a local paper in Queens quotes one of Taylor’s consultants, Austin Shafran, saying Thompson and Smith are “very supportive of her candidacy.”

When I e-mailed Shafran, he explained, "No specific endorsements have been made as of this time."

Then he added, "[B]oth Thompson and Smith are very close to Martha as well as with Hank (as you know) who is running her campaign. Martha currently works as the Director of Affirmative Claims for Comptroller Thomson’s Office and has also enjoyed a long and friendly relationship with Malcolm Smith through her years as a District Leader in the 24th Council District."