Former Gov. David Paterson said today that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has successfully neutralized the innate media advantages Mayor Bill de Blasio enjoys in the governor-mayor tug-of-war.
Speaking to host Joe Piscopo on AM 970 The Answer, Mr. Paterson said that the mayor of New York City usually enjoys far greater press coverage and a closer relationship with the public than the governor, and commands the support of a huge part of the state’s population
“The mayor is holding all the cards. The central media outlets are all in New York City, the governor is sitting in Albany,” said Mr. Paterson, now the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party. “Everyone sees the mayor almost every day. The mayor is far more accessible than the president. If you want to see the mayor, go down to City Hall and hang around, you’ll see the mayor. You can shake the mayor’s hand.”
“In Albany, you’re kind of away from all the action. And, to a certain degree, New York City is such an anchor for New York State that it tends to dictate policy,” he added.
Mr. Paterson even referred to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder of a large media conglomerate, as “an imperial mayor” due to his close relationship with newspaper publishers—which he said left himself, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer and former Gov. George Pataki “struggling” to win publicity battles. But Mr. Cuomo, the former governor said, has kept his own public profile high and made himself an effective counterweight to Mr. de Blasio.
“Now, this relationship may be an exception. Governor Cuomo, more than any other governor, seems to have maintained a stature where he kind of holds his own against the mayor,” said Mr. Paterson.
Last year, Mr. Cuomo very publicly promoted pro-charter school initiatives in the run-up to the state budget negotiations, even as Mr. de Blasio was attempting to curb the privately-run schools’ growth and charge them rent for the use of public school space. This year, the governor held a public cabinet meeting on expanding universal prekindergarten—one of Mr. de Blasio’s flagship policy initiatives—the same day the mayor was testifying before the legislature about the city’s needs just rooms away, a move some saw as an attempt to steal the spotlight.
That same day, Mr. de Blasio referred to some of Mr. Cuomo’s proposals for dealing with the “ill-considered” and criticized a number of his budget recommendations for education.
Mr. Paterson said the relationship is somewhat complicated because Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Cuomo have been close since they both served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration. The two have maintained an at-times frosty civility in public, and Mr. de Blasio helped Mr. Cuomo secure the Working Families Party endorsement in his re-election effort last year and campaigned for him in the Democratic primary.
“In this particular struggle, these two gentlemen were very, very good friends years ago. But their positions put them in a place where, you know, they each have a role to fight for their constituencies. And even though half their constituencies are the same people, it puts them in a place where they are at odds at times,” Mr. Paterson said.
Mr. Paterson said that the Mr. Cuomo is also using the issue of mayoral control over New York City public schools to his advantage. The former governor helped grant that power to Mr. Bloomberg, but on the condition that the state review and renew it every two years.
Mr. de Blasio has asked for mayoral control to be made permanent, but Mr. Cuomo—who will negotiate the state’s policies with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos—has said he is only interested in extending it for three years.
“The issue of whether or not, on a bi-annual basis, we’re going to renew that control, I think that’s basic politics. You know why things get renewed, Joe? To make everyone come back to the table and give the other side something. And I guess that was the original agreement and Governor Cuomo wants to hold it,” Mr. Paterson said.
The ex-governor said he personally supported Mr. de Blasio’s position.
“For me, in the end, I am for simplifying government, so if someone’s in charge, leave them in charge,” he said. “Now, I don’t know all the issues here, so I’ll have to ask the governor what the problem is. But often the problem is, you try to keep everybody in line, but the mayor of the city operates completely independently of anything you try to do.”
