NYC-WTC_000230656

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE NEW York times, Thursday, October 4,2001 lOYCE PURNICK I new financial center should be built down­ town (Mr. Green’s position) or decentral­ Metro Matters 4 ized and in the boroughs, at least at first (Mr. Ferrer's position). Both agreed that 2 Candidates ' education, parks and other essential serv­ ices would still be priorities, though goals set before Sept. 11 would now have to be Debating reached later, the two also agreed. On the sensitive issue of whether Mr. Ferrer would take advice from the Rev. Al

2 New Yorks \ 1 I Sharpton about naming apolice commis­ sioner. the borough president introduced an effective little surprise: Mr. Ferrer would appoint a panel of criminal justice F Fernando Ferrer is mayor. the city experts to propose candidates, leaving Mr.

I will be revived, education will improve, | downtown Manhattan will recover (With federal and state help), racial profil- ■— Sharpton with no role, Mr. Ferrer insisted. Although Mr. G reen is supported by Wil­ liam J. Bratton, the popular former police - ing will be forbidden, and unity will prevail, i commissioner, he seemed outflanked. The other New York, the theme on which ‘ Same with the mini-debate about “theoth- Mr. Ferrer, the Bronx borough president, er New York. ” which is odd since Mr. Fer- I ran before Sep 1.11 ? Gone, rer is the one who flip-flopped. Now to Mark Green. What if Mark Green is mayor? Ditto on all counts, except, re- , T^VACT is, Mr. Ferrer took lots of heat member, he never spoke of the other New i rS for pushing that concept throughout York. X the primary. But times have ; I In a curious debate last night that re­ vised a bit of recent political dialogue, the changed, so he was changing, too, Mr. Fer­ rer seemed to be saying. The tactic left Mr. two Democratic candidates for mayor Green all but sputtering in frustration. worked to appear restrained, even unified. The moment was emblematic of a dis­ For stretches of their 90 minutes together, cernible shift in the campaign, one that be­ it was hard to tell them apart (except for ) gan when Mr. Ferrer rejected Mayor Ru­ Mr. Green's liberal employ of the first per­ dolph W. Giuliani’s effort to extend his son singular and Mr. Ferrer’s unusually ■ term, while Mr. Green accepted it. The bor- ' subdued tones). ough president grabbed the moral high Then they got to that two New Yorks ground, putting Mr. Green on the defen- thing, and for a lew seconds it was politics as usual. It started when Mr. Ferrer — who Nobody could be foolish enough to pre- ' was so adamantly the candidate of “the । diet who will win next Thursday, based on a otherNew York’’until, well, yesterday— I few days of campaigning and one debate. pulled back a political mile and said of the ; Mr. Ferrer only won 7 percent of the white events of Sept. 11: “After that attack we all ' vote in the primary, so he has a long way to live in that other New York. We all will be go to get a majority. But his voters seem called upon to sacrifice. We all will be energized. Are Mr. Green’s? । i There are likely to be many more twists called upon to do without ’ That was too much for Mr. Green, who in this telescoped, awkward campaign that i was rammed off the tracks on Sept. 11. has been pointedly emphasizing that he is , Since Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Green qualified the candidate of one New York. “I ranona . for the runoff, it has been hard to tell who campaign of bringing the city together,” he I has been more distracted, the candidates said last night. When Mr. Ferrer said Mr. . or the public. Green "denigrated” his positions, Mr. First came the Giuliani-forever boomlet, Green said, “You can’t change the facts,” then the endorsement parade and the unof- and the two glared at each other. • ficial competition for who uttered the most । The questioning moved on. but the ten­ stupid remark of the day. (The unofficial I sion hung in the air as they discussed fiscal , winner: M r. Sharpton, for saying the ci ty matters, education, security; whether a would have come together even if “Bozo” 1 had been mayor.) , Substance? Of that there has been some, and most of it was debated last night, ev­ A restrained dialogue, erything from education to union wages. Mr. Ferrer’s promise of a 30 percent raise ' save for a few seconds , for teachers? He backed off that a bit, even as Mr. Green admonished him for citing a of politics as usual. "fantastical’number. It IS fantastical, so unrealistic that even ' the head of the teachers’ union distanced herself from it, just as some Ferrer sup- । porters distanced themselves from his con­ cept of another New York. But reality changes quickly in politics, almost as quickly as perception, and by the' end of last night’s flO-minute exercise, both; hinted that the Democratic race was now ' another campaign.

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NYC-WTC_000230656