The extended fallout over last week's Sonny Carson street-naming battle is far from over.
Queens City Councilman Leroy Comrie now wants Brooklyn Councilman Charles Barron's chief of staff fired for saying Comrie's political goals would never be met - even if it "takes an assassination of his ass."
"I'm going to seek to deal with this as forcefully as possible," Comrie said yesterday.
"She was wrong," he said, referring to Viola Plummer. "She needs to be off the public payroll."
Comrie and Barron, who are both black, were at odds last week over an unsuccessful amendment to add the name of Carson, a controversial black activist, to an omnibus street-naming bill.
Comrie joined six other black and Hispanic Council members in abstaining - angering Barron and his supporters.
Comrie said he is "seeking the termination" of Plummer, and has asked Council Speaker Christine Quinn of Manhattan to help.
He also refused to rule out a civil suit against Plummer, saying he is "looking at all the options."
A Quinn spokeswoman said the speaker's office is "looking into legal questions both about the remarks that were made and any appropriate actions." In a prepared statement, Quinn, who led the charge against renaming a Brooklyn street for Carson, called Plummer's comments "outrageous" and "unacceptable."
Comrie was briefly given police protection as a result of the remark. The issue of Council safety has become more prominent since Councilman James Davis, a Brooklyn Democrat, was shot and killed in the Council chamber by a political rival in 2003.
Plummer and Barron have since repeatedly insisted Plummer was referring only to the death of Comrie's political life - specifically his goal to become Queens borough president. Barron called Comrie's attempt to have Plummer fired "ridiculous," adding yesterday: "She ain't going nowhere."
"You tell them to bring it," Barron said defiantly, after joking that he planned to give Plummer a raise. "They think they got something? Bring it. ... There's no threat against Comrie's life. Never was. Never will be."
Comrie said he didn't fear Plummer, but was worried about "what she might have incited and who might hear this and get it twisted."
But Barron rejected Comrie's effort as a "diversionary tactic" to draw attention away from a vote that angered some black voters who might hold a grudge against Quinn for this if she runs for mayor in 2009.
If Quinn moves to discipline or fire Plummer, Barron said, he would consider that a violation of the speaker's pledge not to retaliate against members who voted opposite her on the Carson amendment.
Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant, said Quinn "could pay for it" if she appears to be disciplining someone based on the Carson controversy.
"The faster this disappears, the better it is for all because anything that touches on race takes on a life of its own and creates problems for everyone involved," Sheinkopf said.
