THE elderly Chinese-Americans got through, thanks to their political juice.
The Hasids arrived late and, with no connections, were left waiting at the gate.
Yesterday’s term-limits hearing at City Hall was filled with drama, a degree of intrigue, and the kind of public confrontations that haven’t been seen since the gay-rights bill was debated in the 1980s.
If it wasn’t the greatest show on earth, it certainly qualified as the best political theater in town.
And it drew a crammed audience of 350, including 30 Chinese-Americans shipped in by the mayor’s office and a dozen members of ACORN, the grass-roots group whose voter-registration tactics have become an issue in the presidential race.
One mystery contingent of about 70 grabbed five rows of seats before most arrived, holding printed signs in support of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan. They refused to talk to the press. Some fell asleep.
At 2 p.m., a Post reporter followed a group of the untalkative supporters to a Blimpie’s near City Hall, where two organizers dispensed lunch money from paper envelopes.
“When you finish, you have to go back,” instructed the organizer.
There was Karen Koslowitz, the deputy Queens borough president, whose political career is one of many on the line in the term-limits debate.
“I’m just here to listen,” was all she would say.
There were Patrick Brennan and Bradley Tusk, political operatives for the administration, working largely unrecognized in the City Council chambers to shore up support for the mayor.
There was Frederick A. O. Schwarz, a City Charter expert and former chairman of the Campaign Finance Board, who was stuck waiting on line outside City Hall for 20 minutes until someone realized he had been invited to testify.
Four Hasidic men in traditional black garb had no such luck. They were still waiting at 3 p.m. The hearing began at 1 p.m.
“I’ve been around since 1984,” said Mike Nieves, a veteran council staffer, marveling at the size of the packed house. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The highlight, for those drawn to spectacle, was the showdown between Mario Cuomo and Councilman Charles Barron, who lectured the former governor after he announced his support for eliminating all term limits.
“How dare you come to this body and say term limits didn’t work?” demanded the fiery Barron. “That’s an insult to every one of us who came in through term limits.”
But Cuomo didn’t take the bait. He responded calmly and even praised Barron’s “intelligence” and “strong point of view.”
“I watched Barack Obama,” Cuomo explained afterward.