Christine Quinn Brokers Deal to Build Atop Chelsea Market Despite fierce opposition from many of her own neighbors, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, has brokered a compromise that would allow a developer to build two office towers atop Chelsea Market, substantially expanding the structure that houses the popular food emporium. The issue had been one of the most vexing facing Ms. Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor next year who lives in the neighborhood, because it pitted major constituencies against one another. On one side were big-money donors, real estate interests and several major unions whose endorsements are prized by all the probable mayoral candidates, all of whom praised the project as a job-creating development engine. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg voiced avid support, as well. On the other side were local activists who once worked alongside Ms. Quinn, a former tenant organizer, and even her own political club, who warned that the project would be far too large for the low-rise neighborhood. Ms. Quinn, who remained conspicuously quiet about the issue for months - she did not even attend a public hearing on the proposal earlier this week - left little doubt on Thursday that she had been the driving force behind the deal. The amended proposal cleared the Council's land-use committee in two nearly unanimous votes that took less than 12 minutes, all but guaranteeing that the entire Council would easily pass the measure next week. Shortly after the vote, Ms. Quinn released a 1,000-word statement saying that deal "strikes the appropriate balance between the need for development and economic growth while preserving the distinct character of an iconic city building" But after the vote, Michael McKee, a longtime advocate for tenants" rights, his voice rising, criticized council members as "sheep" because "they live in fear of the speaker." "This is an outright betrayal by Chris Quinn of her community, someone that I used to work with," he said. Where is that Chris Quinn? Who is she now? Under the proposal, the developer, Jamestown Properties, would build on the existing structure two office towers: an eight-story, 210,000-square-foot building along 10th Avenue, and a seven-story, 80,000-square-foot building along 9th Avenue. Jamestown would set aside roughly $13 million for a new fund, to be administered by the city, for the High Line, a project Ms. Quinn has supported and whose board members have contributed to Ms. Quinn's campaign. The new fund would help pay for capital projects at the High Line, including doubling the number of bathrooms and building a freight elevator. The developer would also, at Ms. Quinn's behest, contribute almost $5 million toward a fund that would build low- and moderate-income housing on an empty lot adjacent to Fulton Houses. The proposal would also ensure that Chelsea Market's distinctive facade remained, and that 75 percent of the ground-floor retail space be preserved for food-related businesses. "This agreement ensures the Chelsea Market we know and love today will be allowed to grow in a way that preserves its current facade and keeps it in scale with the surrounding neighborhood," Ms. Quinn said in her statement. If approved, construction would begin in 2015, and take 18 months, said Michael Phillips, Jamestown's chief operating officer, who said that he was "gratified" by the Council committee's votes. But neighborhood activists vowed to continue their fight, and said they were considering legal action in an effort to block the project.