Rupert Murdoch Wades Into Paid Sick Leave Debate

From today's Heard Around Town: * The fight over paid sick leave in the New York City Council is becoming a battle between the New York Times and conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. After the Times editorialized in favor of sick leave over the weekend, Murdoch took to Twitter yesterday to write: "Somebody needs to stand up to NYT which today editorialises strongly for absurd city council actions which will truly hurt small businesses." And Murdoch later tweeted that the effect of the bill on small neighborhoods would be "horrible." That prompted Brooklyn Councilman Brad Lander to himself tweet that while Murdoch was trying to stop paid sick leave, the Times and Gloria Steinem were supportive. Of course, the main person who will determine the fate of the bill is New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor in 2013. How much does Murdoch's opposition to paid sick leave mean? One operative supportive of the bill suggested that Quinn no doubt would rather have the backing of the Times than the more conservative Post in a Democratic primary. To read more from City & State [click here. ](http://www.cityandstateny.com)