NYC Council speaker-wannabe draws ire for sudden Pledge of Allegiance embrace

NYC Council speaker-wannabe draws ire for sudden Pledge of Allegiance embrace

Melissa Mark-Viverito had stayed silent during the Pledge because of her opposition to US control of Puerto Rico, contends Queens Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz. The East Harlem councilwoman only began reciting it at Council meetings in October.

BY ERIN DURKIN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013, 10:05 PM

PEARL GABEL/PEARL GABEL/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

New York City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito’s spokesman has said she didn’t recite the Pledge because she was born in Puerto Rico and unfamiliar with the tradition.

It’s a campaign pledge of a different sort.

A top contender for New York City Council speaker declined to say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of meetings until she began getting serious about her candidacy this fall, according to a colleague.

Melissa Mark-Viverito stood but stayed silent during the Pledge because of her opposition to U.S. control of Puerto Rico, Queens Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz said.

“When I met with her months ago, I asked her why she didn’t pledge to the flag,” Koslowitz said. “She told me she wanted Puerto Rico to be independent.”

RELATED: TEACHER FORCES JEHOVAH’S WITNESS TO RECITE PLEDGE

The liberal East Harlem councilwoman only began reciting the Pledge at Council meetings in October.

“A couple weeks ago, we met again and she said she has been giving it a lot of thought,” Koslowitz said.

WARGA, CRAIG/NY DAILY NEWS

Another New York City Councilwoman, Karen Koslowitz, says her fellow Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito told her ‘months ago’ that she didn’t say the Pledge because ‘she wanted Puerto Rico to be independent.’

The comments were first reported by Crain’s New York.

The account contradicts Mark-Viverito spokesman’s explanation to Capital New York earlier this week that she didn’t recite the Pledge because she was born in Puerto Rico and was unfamiliar with the tradition.

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“The reality is she’s lived in New York for a lot of years. That doesn’t even make sense to me. She’s a very smart lady,” Koslowitz said.

A spokesman for Mark-Viverito did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

In the past, she did not make a public issue of her refusal to say the Pledge — unlike her firebrand colleague Charles Barron, who has vocally refused to pledge because of America’s history of racism.

Mark-Viverito, co-chair of the Council’s progressive caucus, is a favorite of its liberal flank, and her candidacy for speaker has been pushed by allies of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, though de Blasio has yet to take a public position on the race.

Other main contenders include Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick and Queens Councilman Mark Weprin.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nyc-council-speaker-wannabe-suddenly-embraces-pledge-article-1.1516272#ixzz2kags1l48