New York a ‘Sinking Ship,’ Says Halloran

Councilman Dan Halloran today clarified comments he made during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference where he stated New York was a "sinking ship."

“My point was, as long as there’s one Republican out there fighting the good fight, we can still save the city, we can still be fiscally responsible,” said Halloran, R-Bayside, noting the city budget is $6 Billion in the hole.

During his speech to the CPAC crowd on Saturday, Halloran made it clear he's aware of the negative press he's received lately and reacted to it partly by stressing his stance on assisting 9/11 families as he unleashed his view on the city's future.

“There are some of us who will never forget that day, and will never give up even the sinking ship of the City of New York,” he said. 

“Because if there’s one good person left, the city should get spared—I think somebody once said that in history," Halloran continued. "Well, we’ll try to find that one person in New York.”

Halloran had been introduced to the CPAC crowd during the premiere of the film “The Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of 911 Attacks,” by eminent conservative blogger Pamela Gellar, who this month proposed Halloran should run for mayor.

The council member took a knock recently from a New York Times article, which pointed to Halloran’s of three Department of Sanitation whistleblowers.

The Times claimed that two Dept. of Transportation workers who Halloran said came forward with information on a , were not corroborating his story with investigators.

The article also touched on Halloran’s personal life, revealing that he and his wife have plans to divorce, that the couple’s home is in foreclosure, and his wife, Cynthia filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after mounting $116,521 in credit card debts.

“I had the dubious distinction of being slimed in a front page article in the New York Times because I dared to point out that certain members of the Uniformed Sanitation service slowed down the snow response,” said Halloran at the CPAC, adding, “That was me.”

Halloran believes some of the negative press attention stems from his political stances.

“I know in the coming weeks I will be attacked again and again because I supported Wal-mart’s right to come to New York City,” he said.

“I know I’ll get attacked because at the end of the day, I’ve stood up for 9/11 families, and spoke out against the mosque, so of course I’m a racist, I’m an Islamophobe, I’m a bigot despite the fact that I’m no longer a Christian and I’m in a very minority religion,” he noted sarcastically.

The Council Member said it was easy for him to stick up for 9/11 families, because he is a member of one, revealing that his cousin, Firefighter Vincent Halloran, was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, leaving a widow and six children.

“People ask me why a conservative Libertarian-Republican would stay in New York City,” Halloran said during his speech. “And I’m beginning to ask myself that question."