'Harlem Son' Sworn in as Governor

David Paterson, CC ’77 and adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, kicked off his first week as governor of New York on Monday, March 17.

This changing of the guard signaled a possible change in New York government spending, as well as what some hoped and saw as a return to trust in state government, after former Governor Eliot Spitzer abruptly resigned due to a sex scandal earlier this month.

After serving in the largely ceremonial role of lieutenant governor for the past year, Paterson had to quickly prepare for his new post, including working with the legislature to pass a state budget. Paterson has expressed his determination to push the budget through, and he is working to cut down government spending.

“We are looking at the economy that is reeling, and I must say to all of you in government and all of you in business that you must meet with me in the next couple of weeks and adjust our budget accordingly,” he said during his swearing-in ceremony last Monday.

In addition to tackling the budget, Paterson also confronted personal trials over the past week. In the wake of Spitzer’s controversial and sudden resignation over his ties to a high-end prostitution ring, Paterson spoke about his own family’s history with infidelity.

Paterson publicly admitted to having cheated on his wife with a state employee, adding that his wife also had affairs of her own. Yet the governor asserted that the couple has put all extramarital relationships behind it, and that neither he nor his wife had committed a crime. Although adultery is technically a violation of New York State law—punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine—few are actually prosecuted.

“I am trying to publicize what I feel will help me to govern the state,” Paterson said.

Many New Yorkers seem optimistic about Paterson, marital infidelities aside. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 75 percent believing Paterson will govern effectively, while 67 percent believe that he will restore trust in state government. “Gov. David Paterson begins with good wishes. By big margins, New Yorkers think he’ll restore public trust—boy, can Albany use that—and be able to govern effectively,” wrote Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute, in a press release.

At a recent meeting of the Harlem Tenants Council meeting, director Nellie Bailey discussed the local implications of regime change in Albany. Bailey referred to Paterson as a “Son of Harlem,” and lauded his “record of tenacious fighting and strategic thinking.”

She recalled an August 2005 press conference in City Hall, at which then State Senate Minority Leader Paterson called for a moratorium on the use of eminent domain—a crucial issue for Columbia’s Manhattanville campus project.

But for now, Bailey believes that it is best to remain cautiously optimistic about how Paterson’s past policy will translate into his new role as governor. “Already, the New York City real estate industry has come out and is beginning to attack Paterson on the issue of eminent development projects and what his visions might be on eminent domain,” she explained to the council.

Professor David Eisenbach said his hunch was that, in his new post, Paterson has not yet formulated an official stance on eminent domain.

Political pundit Gerald Benjamin, GSAS, predicted that the new governor would focus primarily on maintaining continuity and passing the budget during this period of transition.

Although Spitzer was in the midst of a major initiative for public universities, the extent to which Paterson will advance that project and its impact on private universities, like Columbia, remains to be seen.

Paterson “brings a certain symbol of diversity to the state,” Benjamin said. Yet, the new governor’s ties to the political establishment suggest his move into power “will not be winds of change at all,” he added.

But Bailey said she believes that Paterson’s long-established political roots will not hold him to any certain ground. “He has been thrust into a historic position at a historic moment,” she said.

betsy.morais@columbiaspectator.com