I'm just not gonna let up until I know I've done absolutely everything I can for New Yorkers.

The library of my elementary school had this great biography section, and I read all of these paperback biographies until they were dog-eared. The story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Madame Curie and Martin Luther King and George Washington Carver and on and on and on.

People used to feel oddly empowered to tell me all the reasons I couldn't win. Because I was a woman. Because I was a lesbian. Because I was from the West Side of Manhattan.

I couldn't describe how little interest I have in men. Or I could - but I don't think that it would be appropriate.

I hope there is nothing about me that people have a big problem with. You know, I like to think of myself as lovable.

We all think people deserve second chances. None of us are perfect.

Consensus doesn't happen by magic... You have to drive to it.