- Stringer 2013 -

City Council president Christine Quinn might not want to start picking out wall-paper for Gracie Mansion just yet. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has found a crucial celebrity ally in the 2013 mayoral race: actress Scarlett Johansson.

A lifelong New Yorker who grew up in Greenwich Village and was a strong supporter of Pres. Obama’s election, Ms. Johansson told PolitickerNY she will be working to help make Mr. Stringer the city’s next mayor. She’s currently helping to plan an October kickoff party, and plans to pledge the maximum of $4950 in addition to enlisting friends to the cause.

“I love Scott,” she said. “He’s so the right guy for the job.”

The star of Lost in Translation, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and The Nanny Diaries will next appear in December’s We Bought a Zoo, opposite Matt Damon. But it’s her string of appearances in Woody Allen films (Vicky Christina Barcelona, Match Point and Scoop) that could prove crucial to Mr. Stringer on the Upper West Side and in parts of Park Slope.

Ms. Johansson said after three terms of “a money man, a businessman” the city was ready for someone with a different orientation. “Scott’s very environmentally aware, and he wants to reinvest in New York in a cultural way, in a social way—to make the city affordable and available and enjoyable for New Yorkers. That’s what I want to see. Everyone I know that grew up here or lives here or works here, we want that. We want to see transportation expanded. We want a greener New York, a cleaner New York.”

The actress’ ties to the Stringer camp run deep: her twin brother, Hunter, is a volunteer for the campaign, and her grandmother, a former schoolteacher, fought alongside Mr. Stringer back in the ’80s to expand Mitchell-Lama housing.

“Growing up, all my friends lived in affordable housing, which is something that I want to fight to get back,” Ms. Johansson said. “Scott’s been a big advocate of affordable housing. I want my friends back in the city. So I believe in Scott. He’s an awesome guy.”

She was asked how Mr. Stringer could vanquish Ms. Quinn, who is widely considered the front-runner. “It’s still early, very early,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of campaigning to do.”