TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/112089/11208900.050

Text File | 1990-09-19 | 5KB | 85 lines

NATION, Page 60

A Nice Guy Finishes First

But Dinkins may not be tough enough to cope with New York

By Joelle Attinger


    For more than two decades, blacks in New York City watched
longingly as African-American mayors took control of a score of
major cities. Though they constituted Gotham's second largest
ethnic group, blacks had not won a single citywide office. Last
week they finally exulted in a triumph of their own. Drawing
support from what he called a "gorgeous mosaic" of black, Hispanic
and white voters, David Dinkins edged out former U.S. Attorney
Rudolph Giuliani to succeed three-term Mayor Edward Koch.

    Except for his race, the former Manhattan borough president
was hardly a bold choice for a city accustomed to setting trends.
Courtly, cautious and unfailingly polite, Dinkins, 62, is a classic
clubhouse politician who spent 35 years loyally trudging up the
Democratic Party ladder while more dynamic black leaders
overshadowed him. Seemingly content to forge a career based more
on amiability than activism, he had never displayed the ruthless
ambition and toughness most New Yorkers thought it took to reach
the top. Says his old friend and former Deputy Mayor Basil
Patterson: "David was always showing up."

    Yet after he announced his candidacy last February, Dinkins'
dignified demeanor struck a chord among New Yorkers who had grown
weary of Koch's prickliness and flip remarks. In the Democratic
primary in September, 32% of white voters combined with huge
majorities of blacks and Hispanics to give Dinkins the nomination.
Said Dinkins: "You voted your hopes and not your fears." The No.
1 hope: that Dinkins could heal the racial divisions that are never
far from the city's surface.

    So far, Dinkins has not done much -- beyond showing up -- to
respond to that hope. After trouncing Koch, he seemed prepared to
coast into city hall on the euphoria of his primary win. He
glad-handed his way through the general election, underestimating
the potent challenge Giuliani was mounting under the tutelage of
media meister Roger Ailes. In the closing weeks of the race,
Giuliani nearly overcame Dinkins' double-digit lead in the polls.
Giuliani launched a subtle appeal to the fears of white voters and
exploited widespread disgust with the corruption that plagued
Koch's final term by raising troubling questions about Dinkins'
monumentally sloppy handling of his personal finances, including
failure to file income tax forms for four years in the early 1970s.

    Giuliani claimed that Dinkins was seeking to evade taxes in a
murky sale to his son of stock in a black-controlled broadcasting
company. He followed up by disclosing that Dinkins had not listed
on required financial-disclosure forms a vacation trip to France
paid for in part by a close friend. Though Dinkins provided
plausible explanations for the lapses, the explanations were slow
in coming. With more time, Giuliani might have been able to
capitalize on his reputation as one of the nation's toughest
lawmen. When the candidates squared off in televised debates,
Dinkins complained that Giuliani was behaving more like a
prosecutor than a mayor. Giuliani fired back, "I think the people
of this town want a mayor who has nothing to fear from a
prosecutor."

    New York Governor Mario Cuomo observes that what Dinkins does
with his victory is "more relevant" than the number of votes that
carried him into office. If the new mayor is to justify the hopes
invested in him, he will have to display something more than the
clubby conciliation that marked his previous career. The problems
of crime, drugs, homelessness and substandard education cry out for
solution or at least amelioration. The infrastructure is literally
blowing up, with a seemingly endless series of water-main
explosions. Especially worrying are Dinkins' close ties to powerful
labor unions, some of which may clamor for pay increases just as
the city grapples with a projected $1.3 billion budget deficit.
Even some of Dinkins' backers have qualms about his ability to hold
the unions in check. Says financier Felix Rohatyn, head of Dinkins'
informal team of economic advisers: "He is so innately decent that
he is really not used to having to disappoint people. And yet, in
this job, he'll have to."

    Dinkins' campaign manager Bill Lynch insists that the new
mayor's consensus-building style will enhance his ability to deal
with New York's seemingly intractable problems. Says Lynch: "The
image that you have to be a tough guy to be mayor of New York is
wrong." Perhaps, but the choices that the new mayor will face are
certainly going to be tough. Says Ray Harding, head of the Liberal
Party and Giuliani's earliest political ally: "David Dinkins brings
tranquillity, and that's evidently what New York wants." As tough
times hit, New York might need much more than that.