NEW YORK, NY October 12, 2008 —City Council speaker Christine Quinn is backing Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to change the city's term limit law.

REPORTER: Quinn, who has mayoral ambitions of her own, told reporters at City Hall that she made the decision she did because she fears that the effects of the global economic crisis will become more severe in New York in the coming years:

QUINN: In these difficult times, I believe voters should have the choice to keep the current leadership of our city. If voters are not happy with any of us, they have the right to vote us out of office next Fall.

REPORTER: Quinn says the Council will hold hearings Thursday and Friday on the proposal, which would allow the mayor and councilmembers can run for a third term of four years. Opponents of the proposal say New Yorkers should have a chance to vote on the term limits modification plan itself in a referendum.