NEW THIS MORNING

RACE FOR QUINN'S SEAT REFLECTS SPLIT IN LGBT COMMUNITY: In the Council race to replace Council Speaker Christine Quinn, four likely LGBT candidates are straddling the line between their more moderate political allies and the liberal activist LGBT community – a line that Quinn has herself straddled. http://bit.ly/z0qtc0 NEW THIS MORNING: * Despite a wave of criticism and scandal, support for NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly remains strong, a new Quinnipiac poll shows. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's casino and convention center plans also scored high marks: http://bit.ly/AcGpTo * Long Island Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's district will be one of the two congressional districts eliminated this year, as state legislators look to merge her district with that of neighboring Rep. Gary Ackerman, the Daily News reports: http://nydn.us/wFICrA   * New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has signaled a willingness to sign on to a $26 billion mortgage settlement between government authorities and the nation's five largest banks late Wednesday night, after holding out for a more narrow immunity for the banks, the New York Times says: http://nyti.ms/yBR0Po * Sources told the New York Post that Schneiderman's consent hinged on keeping alive his lawsuit against the banks over their misuse of the electronic mortgage database MERS: http://nyp.st/AeBrJ7 * Seven months after sponsoring legislation to run a natural gas pipeline under Queens, Rep. Michael Grimm accepted $3,000 in campaign contributions to its backers, the News reports: http://nydn.us/wkHSfs    * City officials have not backed off plans to build a convention center at the redeveloped Willets Point, despite Cuomo's announcement that another, larger convention center would be cited nearby at the Aqueduct racetrack, the Times says: http://nyti.ms/xXipzS * Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver helped former Staten Island Assemblywoman Janelle Hyer-Spencer land a high-paying job at the State Education Department after she lost her re-election in 2010, the Post says: http://nyp.st/yGEIna