The City Council’s near-coronation of Corey Johnson as Speaker Jan. 3 featured two familiar rites: the attendance of Peter F. Vallone Sr., who held the job for 16 years after it displaced the old title of Majority Leader in 1986, and Charles Barron protesting the choice on the grounds of pigmentation.
In fact, the wife of the now-Brooklyn Assemblyman, Inez Barron, made a last-minute entry into the contest after the two black Brooklyn Council Members who had been slow to concede the nomination to Mr. Johnson once he consolidated his support among colleagues and the Democratic County Leaders of Queens and The Bronx shortly before Christmas withdrew their bids. Robert Cornegy threw his support to Mr. Johnson five days earlier, while Jumaane Williams skipped the vote to journey to Albany for the State of the State speech of Governor Cuomo, whom he has said he might oppose for re-election.
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