Gov Paterson (ap)
(BLOOMBERG NEWS)
ALBANY An era of decay and deca dence comes to an end to night as New York moves beyond the painful legacies of three governors who presided over its accelerating deterioration.
Like an animal in its final death throes, state government quivered and quaked under the incompetence and corruption of David Paterson and the arrogance and immorality of Eliot Spitzer and the money-grubbing selfishness of George Pataki for well over a decade.
The painful results can be seen in the massive loss of jobs and population that have scarred upstate, the runaway property taxes and aging populations that threaten the suburbs and the middle class’ decline in New York City.
But the toll taken on the state by a succession of failed governors, and by Paterson and Spitzer most recently, is actually much greater.
The proud Empire State that produced such national-class governors as Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Al Smith, Tom Dewey, Nelson Rockefeller and Hugh Carey became a national laughingstock, and deservedly so.
What Trenton, Providence and Baton Rouge used to connote to government corruption and incompetence, Albany now does.
New York once stood as a national model of how to deal with pressing social and economic needs, but now stands as an example of what states must avoid.
That’s a key reason Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo, who’ll be sworn in tonight, has had such difficulty attracting top-flight talent for many high-level administrative posts he’s trying to fill.
Spitzer promised that all would change on Day One.
Boy, did things change.
Almost from the start, he made things worse, picking an unnecessary fight with his fellow Democrats in the Legislature over a new state comptroller, and then losing the battle — even before he took office.
Spitzer, who pledged to end Pataki’s profligate spending and stem the out-migration of upstate residents, declared himself a “f—ing steamroller” before the end of his first month in office. By the end of the third month, he found him self steamrolled as he bought into the Legislature’s business-as-usual, big-spending budget.
Spitzer almost immediately claimed credit for what he called the “toughest new ethics law” ever enacted, only to unethically misuse the State Police against a political foe while engaging in arguably illegal conduct involving banking transactions and a high-priced prostitute. A local district attorney even suggested that Spitzer could’ve been criminally indicted in the Troopergate affair had he not so abruptly quit office.
Then came the ascension of Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who was welcomed with cheers and high expectations.
Paterson brought the state to a historic new ethical low point days ago when he was slapped with an unprecedented $62,125 fine for violating the same ethics law touted by Spitzer, and then lying about it under oath.
Paterson kicked off his tenure on a doubly sour note, declaring on the day he was inaugurated that he had repeatedly cheated on his wife — and that his wife’s own alleged infidelity had forced him to do so.
Paterson would have as his legacy a string of scandals — from the Yankees/World Series tickets shakedown effort, the Aqueduct/AEG bid-rigging conspiracy, the David John-
son/Sherr-una Booker witness-tampering plot and the humiliating Caroline Kennedy private-records leak.
Four years ago, New Yorkers didn’t think things could get much worse — and then they did.
Today, many at the state Capitol wonder if anyone, even someone as obviously well-prepared and tough as Cuomo, can turn things around. It’s a fair question and, fortunately, one that’ll be answered soon — probably within the next three months.
Cuomo has vowed to balance the state budget that’s due April 1 without any new taxes or fees, despite a looming $10 billion deficit.
Between tomorrow and budget-adoption time, he’s also pledged to cap our runaway school, county, city and town property taxes, which are close to destroying what remains of the solid middle classes in the suburbs and upstate.
Closing the state budget gap without new taxes and fees will require an unprecedented victory over special-interest pleaders — teachers, hospital workers and the health-care industry and state-government unions — and their allies in the Legislature.
Passing a local property-tax cap will mean an even greater victory over an array of unions that are often more powerful than the elected officials who are supposed to be in charge.
So if you’re packing your bags and getting ready to leave the state, you might want to hold off a bit longer and give Cuomo a chance.
If he achieves his two top goals — and we’ll know shortly if he can — there’s still hope that New York can be saved from its decades-long decline.
But if Cuomo, with all the effort, energy and thought he’s prepared to put into the job, fails in his effort, you might as well get going and beat the coming rush.
After 30 years of intensively chronicling the decline of New York and its government, I’m likely to be there with you.
Fredric U. Dicker is The Post’s state editor.