David Paterson's Harlem roots

If you speak to most Harlem residents today, there is uneasiness about the future that can be heard in barbershops, restaurants and on doorsteps and street corners.  Harlem is in the midst of its second so-called renaissance.  This time, the cultural and artistic eruption embodied by Langston Hughes and Claude McKay in the early 1920's is overshadowed by towering residential condos, fancy restaurants serving caviar and champagne, multi-million dollar brownstones and an influx of White residents. 

Culturally and politically, this presents a conundrum for Harlemites who are happy for the new amenities, improved housing and better city services but feel no longer welcome in a neighborhood they've called home for decades due to inhospitable market forces.

For this reason, David Paterson's ascendance to Governor of the State of New York will seem to many as a glimmer of hope in otherwise troubling times.

Paterson, the son of political heavyweight and long-time ally of organized labor Basil Paterson, is a brilliant attorney and strategist.  An African American who is legally blind, his knowledge of statewide issues germinating in his tenure as state senator from 1986-2006 garnered him respect among his peers in both houses of the legislature.  In Harlem and Upper Manhattan where his previously held state senate district lay, Paterson is known as a humorous political figure whose engaging manner and intelligence contributed to Harlem's status as a cultural and political powerhouse. 

That reputation was cemented in Paterson's bold move to become senate minority leader in 2002, unseating entrenched political icon Martin Connor with shrewd political maneuvers and some intense negotiation.  The powerful seat in a house which has for six decades been ruled by Republicans was the first in many victories in a state which then saw few major shake-ups in government.  He set a foundation that allowed his successor to be one victory away from regaining Democratic control of the senate.

2006 also proved to be a watershed year for Harlem politics.  Legendary member of Congress Charles Rangel, also from Harlem, wrested Democratic control of the House of Representatives from his Republican foes and became chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.  That same year, Paterson, who was not publically known to be interested in the position of Lt. Governor, was endorsed by the now ignominious Eliot Spitzer -- the man he now succeeds as Governor.

It is Paterson who now sits at center stage and in the middle of budget negations -- a State budget notorious for being so late that many government workers have gone without pay for weeks until differences could be resolved among Democratic and Republican leaders.  He will also have a difficult time managing an outrageous health care budget and ballooning costs for infrastructure in the state's urban centers like New York City and Buffalo.  He must try to address the fallout from the housing crisis which has frustrated housing advocates and those in search of more affordable housing opportunities.  

Also important to watch are the powerful agencies where Governor Paterson will have major influence -- namely the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) which just hiked painful subway and bus fares as well as tolls on bridges and tunnels.  He also appoints individuals to run the Empire State Development Corporation which will have major influence on three large-scale development projects:  Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn where the New Jersey Nets intend to build their new arena, Hudson Yards on the West Side whose fate is uncertain and the controversial Columbia University expansion.

What makes the Columbia Expansion so interesting from a political standpoint is that their proposed new construction covers over 20 acres in West Harlem -- Paterson's backyard.  Although the project was approved by city agencies and the city council it is vehemently opposed by many Harlem residents concerned about gentrification.  It may prove to be an interesting test of the new governor's vision and tenacity.  He will have difficulty in successive years proving that he is a governor for the entire state with a budget and earmarks reflecting that notion.  After all, Harlem is as much symbol of Black culture and power as it is in actuality.  Many will look to Paterson to uphold both while he tries to be a leader for all of New Yorkers.

I have had the privilege of knowing and observing David and his wife Michelle, herself a health care advocate, for more than ten years.  New Yorkers will get to know them also and, I believe, come to appreciate a new and more collaborative style of governance which we haven't seen in quite a while from our state capital.  Paterson is the first Black to be governor of New York and only the fourth in this country's history.  While he will be tested in the cauldron which is New York politics by his new constituents in undoubtedly the biggest media market in the country, Harlem is once again proud of its native son and can for a short while, take a moment to pause and enjoy its moment in history.