Unvaccinated Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino was barred from City Hall chambers this week and voted remotely for new Speaker Adrienne Adams.
Wednesday’s vote by Zoom on her cell phone averted a standoff that could have ended with the firebrand pol being ejected by the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms.
All City Council members must be vaccinated against coronavirus to enter chambers, according to council rules. Paladino, 67, has refused to submit her medical information. Sources close to her say she remains unvaccinated.
“I will not enter chambers today [so as] not to take away from her moment,” Paladino told The Post on Wednesday. “She’s making history today and I look forward to working with Adrienne in the future. And I see a very bright future because we understand each other.”
Paladino met with Adams just hours before the vote. “We shook hands, and we hugged,” Paladino said, adding that the the conversation was “productive” and that the new speaker was a “lovely lady.”
Paladino said that she sees a ‘bright future’ with the new Speaker. J.C.RICE“I didn’t want to do anything to rattle her day,” she said.
As Adams became the first black woman to be elected speaker in the council’s history, Paladino sat crouched in an anteroom of council Minority Leader Joe Borelli’s office with her son and advisor Thomas.
“Upon my arrival at City Hall, I was informed by Council officials that several progressive members had expressed ‘serious’ concern over me being in the building, and was told that I’d be removed from chambers if I attempted to enter,” Paladino added in a tweet.
Paladino warned it was a one-time compromise and that going forward they would have to physically haul her out.
“I also made it clear that this courtesy would only be for today, and that I will fight the mandates with every resource available. Not just the council mandates, but throughout the city. Going forward, if anyone has a problem with me in the chamber, they will have to remove me,” she said.
Paladino’s son, Thomas, helped her vote remotely. J.C.RiceA rep for the new Speaker suggested Adams was in no mood to compromise.
“There will be no exceptions absent a valid request for a medical or religious accommodation. The protection of the health and safety of our staff and Council Members is of the highest priority to the Council,” Walter Chi, a council spokesman told The Post.
