ALBANY – Gov. Spitzer spent just 47 nights in the Executive Mansion here in 2007, The Post has learned.
All told, his aides said in response to inquiries from The Post, the new governor was in Albany a total of just 99 days last year – a time in which state government experienced its first gubernatorial transition in 12 years.
Spitzer and his family spent most nights in their Fifth Avenue apartment in a building owned by his wealthy real-estate developer father, as well as at an upstate farmhouse the governor and his family own.
Russell Haven, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said Spitzer’s lack of presence in the capital sends the wrong message when little is being accomplished in state government.
“The public normally doesn’t really care where the governor’s head hits the pillow, but when there’s gridlock in Albany, it feeds into the perception that he should be in town more often,” Haven said.
The last governor to live full-time in the mansion was Mario Cuomo, who famously spent few nights away from Albany.
While Cuomo wouldn’t criticize Spitzer for choosing to live in New York City, he said he felt it was important during his years as governor to be a regular presence in Albany.
Cuomo made the move even after former Gov. Malcolm Wilson suggested he spend more time in Manhattan “because that’s where the money is; that’s where the power is.”
“I chose to stay in Albany because that’s where the government was,” Cuomo told The Post.
“We enjoyed it. I was closer to government; the agencies and the agency heads. There’s a lot more to the government than just the Legislature.”
Before Cuomo, Gov. Hugh Carey lived at the mansion with his 13 kids.
Gubernatorial spokesman Errol Cockfield said that during the 2006 campaign, Spitzer committed to staying in Albany “as much as possible, given the fact he has three teenage daughters who are in high school.
“While the governor has to be in the state Capitol conducting business, he also has to be where there are many powerbrokers in the state, which is why there is an Albany office and a New York City office,” Cockfield said.
New York spends $175,000 a year on the mansion to cover operating costs, including utilities, laundry, food, housing, events, and equipment, according to state Budget Division spokesman Jeffrey Gordon.
That does not include the salaries of those assigned to work there, he said.
Spitzer’s frequent absences from Albany continue a trend started over the previous 12 years by his predecessor, George Pataki, who was frequently criticized for his time away from the capital.