Pataki=Bruno
Governor Quietly Backs Decontrol as Hundreds Protest
"George Pataki—Landlord Lackey," the 500 tenants protesting outside the South Street Seaport chanted, as drumbeats and shouts echoed off the rusting blue beams of the FDR Drive and Republican politicians and fat-cat contributors strolled by on their way to the second annual Governor’s Ball.
Pataki has steadily avoided taking a public position on rent controls since State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced his intention to destroy them last December. But the GOP supporters who had paid $500 to $1,000 to get into the ball heard the Governor praise Bruno for "helping make this great state a better place" (as well as boasting about cutting the welfare rolls and bringing the death penalty back to New York).
Cornered backstage by Tenant after the speech, Pataki refused to answer a question about rent controls and was hustled away by aides. But spokesperson Sara Gaffney said the governor supported a transition to a system that would protect the elderly, poor and disabled "while bringing rents up to market value."
That would mean that Pataki’s position is identical to Bruno’s: He supports eliminating all tenant protections for anyone with a job, even if he uses superficially conciliatory language instead of the upstate millionaire’s atom-bomb rhetoric. Gaffney said she didn’t have time to give any further details.
A few minutes later, a large man identifying himself as a state trooper ordered Tenant’s reporter to leave. "The Governor’s staff has decided you’re being a public nuisance," he said.
Another ballgoer was Paul Atanasio, a Rent Guidelines Board member appointed by Mayor Giuliani in 1995. The Staten Island investment banker has virulently opposed rent controls in the past, but claimed to have no position in the current debate. "I’m not concerned with that," he said. "I just vote on the increases."
State Senator Nicholas Spano of Westchester told Tenant on his way in that he would fight with Bruno to have the rent laws renewed as is—even though he voted against a move to do just that on April 7. Spano received $8,650 from landlord groups between 1993 and 1996.
About 20 demonstrators were ejected from the Seaport building when they protested in front of the entrance to the ballroom, chanting "No Housing, No Peace."
Outside, the crowd underneath the elevated highway was big and loud, chanting "We Vote" and "We Rent" as two drummers in the front row pounded out a Bo Diddley beat. A "fat cat" in a green vest emblazoned with dollar signs danced in front of the police barricades. Pataki was charging supporters a $1,000 contribution to have their picture taken with him; protesters outside could get a Polaroid with a cardboard cutout of the Governor for $5.
"$1,000 for a photo?? I can’t afford my rent!" read the sign carried by Anne Osmer of the Upper East Side. "If the laws aren’t kept, I’ll lose my apartment," said Tony Richardson of Harlem.
Marie Dormuth of Canal Street questioned Pataki’s attempts to avoid the fray caused by Bruno’s bluster. "He thinks he can preside over this and take a role above it," she said. "He’s got to let us know where he’s coming from. We don’t want any compromises."
For Charles Frederick of Hell’s Kitchen, the Governor’s support of cuts in welfare and public housing has made it painfully obvious where he’s coming from. "Governor Pataki should be out regardless," he said.
Brooklyn City Councilmember Sal Albanese, a candidate for the Democratic mayoral nomination, also showed up, saying he wanted to support tenants’ "efforts to embarrass Governor Pataki." He called the fundraiser an example of "a corrupt campaign-finance system driving policy."