ALBANY — Take down this wall!
Gov. Cuomo began his first full day as the state’s top executive with a grand gesture — ordering removed a wall of concrete barriers that had hemmed in the state Capitol building since 9/11.
He also reopened the Executive Chamber to the public for the first time in 15 years by relocating a security desk that had prevented access to the governor’s office suite on the second floor.
Gov. George Pataki closed off the hallway after his defeat of Cuomo’s father in 1994.
The security measures, including partitions, a uniformed state trooper and the series of concrete barriers blocking one Capitol entrance, were dubbed “Fort Pataki” by critics.
“We will reopen the Capitol, literally and figuratively,” Cuomo said in his inaugural speech.
On the floor that houses the governor’s chamber, a guard had blocked people from viewing — absent of a guided tour — a collection of portraits of the state’s previous executives and even prevented journalists from the governor’s press office.