With Mayoral Voting on Hold, Candidates Stay Silent

The next mayor of New York will face the herculean task of rebuilding the infrastructure--and psyche--of America’s largest city. But even though an election is scheduled for Tuesday, most of the candidates are in seclusion and voters have few clues about what they are thinking, or even where they are.

Although many New Yorkers would like Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani to stay in office, term limits require him to leave City Hall on Jan. 1. Six candidates had been campaigning furiously to succeed him when the Sept. 11 primary was canceled hours after the World Trade Center attacks. Ever since, they have refrained from comments out of sensitivity to the situation. At first, it seemed the dignified thing to do. But now questions are growing about this continued silence because none of the candidates are available to address some of the most crucial problems facing New York: How will the next mayor make the city safer? And can its economy recover?

“I’m sure all of these candidates wish they had a few more weeks in which to campaign, and to do so in a manner which would not be offensive,” said Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.). “They are having a difficult time getting their message out, and we just have to do the best that we can.”

Local editorial pages voice similar concerns. The Daily News called for an extension of Giuliani’s term, something only the governor and state Legislature could do. The New York Post blasted the stealth campaigns: “Which of the mayoral candidates is best equipped to lead New York into the brave new world forged at the World Trade Center last week? Who knows?”

Most of the candidates have kept out of sight, further obscuring the election picture. The only aspirant whom New Yorkers have seen is City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, a Giuliani ally who has stood by the mayor’s side during televised daily briefings. While his face may have become more familiar through this exposure, he has said virtually nothing.

“A New York City election is typically filled with elbows flying, but we’re facing an unprecedented situation,” said one political consultant. “This city is in a state of shock, siege and pain, so there’s no political playbook to follow. There’s no place for campaigning as we know it.”

The decisions to cancel last week’s primary and reschedule it for Tuesday were made by Gov. George Pataki and the Legislature. Although state leaders have said it is important to keep the election season on track, few anticipated that the city would be in such turmoil two weeks later. Late Thursday, several political sources indicated that Pataki was considering postponing the election again, but no final decision had been made.

The outcome of the Tuesday primary is important--Democrats hold a 5-1 registration edge in New York, and winning the nomination is usually tantamount to victory. If no candidate gets 40% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will meet in a runoff two weeks later. The general election will be held as scheduled Nov. 6.

More than two-thirds of the City Council seats also will be up for grabs, along with comptroller and public advocate positions. Besides Vallone, the Democratic mayoral candidates include Public Advocate Mark Green, Bronx borough President Fernando Ferrer and City Comptroller Alan Hevesi. On the Republican side, media mogul Michael Bloomberg is running against former Bronx Congressman Herman Badillo.

In the days before the attacks, some Democratic candidates were attacking Giuliani’s combative style, pledging to run a kinder administration. All vowed to tear down a security fence the mayor had built around the plaza in front of City Hall. Most want voters to forget those comments now, preferring instead to be seen as tough, worthy successors to Giuliani, according to a political observer who has worked in several high-profile city campaigns.

Calls to the major campaigns for comment were not returned.

As he basks in national praise, Giuliani has thanked New Yorkers for their enthusiastic support. He grins as recovery crews at the World Trade Center shout “10 more years!” whenever he passes by. Aides suggest he might be eager to lead a new Reconstruction Commission when his terms ends, but the mayor has been coy about whether he would encourage a decision to extend his term.

A plurality of New Yorkers--49% in a Marist Poll released Thursday--said they want the election to go on as planned. The candidates’ silence is expected to end Sunday, when local stations plan to air videotaped statements outlining their plans to rebuild New York.

Meanwhile, there are huge logistical problems, including what to do with the voters in nine election districts that were destroyed by last week’s attacks. Phone service and electrical power were only recently restored at the Board of Elections. The city, which administers a matching funds program for most of the New York mayoral candidates, announced earlier that no more funds would be made available before Tuesday’s primary.

On New York’s jittery streets, the election seems to be the last thing on people’s minds. As he stood by a wall plastered with election posters, Wall Street trader Sandy Whittacker grimaced when the subject came up.

“I don’t have time to think about voting,” he said, eager to hail a cab. “It’s crazy that the city is doing this at all.”