US News

GOV IN A NEW WAR OF 1812

ALBANY — Gov. Paterson yesterday declared his own war on the War of 1812 — or at least on a $2 million effort to commemorate it.

A proposal for a 24-member commission to promote the bicentennial of the war was among more than a dozen bills vetoed by the Democratic governor yesterday in the name of fiscal restraint.

Paterson is attempting to close a $2.1 billion budget gap.

“We will not reach that destination by undertaking expenditures that are not absolutely necessary,” Paterson said.

The governor said his office estimates the “War of 1812 200th Anniversary Commemoration Commission” would cost the state $2.25 million over its five-year life, based on similar anniversary events.

Paterson called the cost “not insignificant and one that I am not convinced is necessary.”

Labor unions have criticized Paterson for spending $4 million on commemorating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of New York while threatening state layoffs.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who co-sponsored the War of 1812 commission, dismissed the governor’s budget projections, insisting the unpaid panel carries “no appreciable cost.”

“The purpose here is to stimulate tourism and activity that generates revenue,” Brodsky said.

In his veto message, Paterson said he had directed relevant state agencies to find less costly ways to meet the bill’s “worthy goal of historic remembrance.”

Lake Erie and Lake Champlain were the sites of two critical naval battles in America’s conflict with Britain, a three-year conflict sometimes known as the Second War of Independence.

The war was also notable for the successful American defense of Baltimore that led Francis Scott Key to pen “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Among other bills vetoed by Paterson yesterday was a $1 million-a-year proposal to create a “division of minority mental health.”

brendan.scott@nypost.com