PROFILE IN TREACHERY

By Council Members
Hilton Clark, Miriam Friedland, Carol Greitzer,
Carolyn Maloney, Ruth Messinger, Stanley Michels

The Newsletter of the New York County Democratic Committee
February 1986

    As a result of the treacherous actions of our "colleague," Robert Dryfoos, Manhattan and its Council Members suffered a major setback in the recent reorganization of the City Council that will have repercussions for years to come. The historic Manhattan-Brooklyn alliance that was forged to create new leadership in the Council would have led to the fulfillment of some major Council reforms long sought by Manhattan as well as action on important issues that have long been deferred, such as gay rights and an independent study of comparable worth.  Another positive result would have been that for the first time, two women—one a minority woman—would have filled leadership roles.

    Historically, Manhattan has been bypassed for committee chairs because of its independence.  We expected this to change as a result of the Brooklyn-Manhattan coalition that we believed was fully endorsed by both delegations.  On every occasion prior to voting for the Queens-Bronx candidate for Majority Leader, even up to the very moment the roll call began, Dryfoos had assured us, as well as the Council members from Brooklyn  and anyone else who inquired, that he wholeheartedly supported the Manhattan-Brooklyn alliance and its candidate.

    When he rose to vote on the floor of the Council, he pulled from his pocket a typed statement supporting Vallone—a statement he clearly had in his possession even as he had declared to us all a short time earlier at a caucus meeting that he was voting for Horwitz.  Later that week, he admitted to the New York Times that he had committed himself to Vallone a long time before.

    We wish to make clear that the issue is not Bob Dryfoos' right to vote as he chooses or in opposition to the rest of the Manhattan delegation.  The real issue is why he decided to lie and deceive his colleagues, to their detriment and to the detriment of Manhattan's progressive agenda and future influence in the City Council.  In our discussions, he continuously and adamantly denied the rumor that he had already pledged himself to Peter Vallone of Queens, and despite his claim that he believed Vallone was the better candidate, never urged us to vote for him as Majority Leader.  In fact, he expressed great satisfaction that Manhattan and Brooklyn were united and backing Horwitz of Brooklyn in an alliance that offered the most promise of positive change in the Council.  If he really believed in Vallone, why was he so reluctant to tell us?

    It is now apparent that Dryfoos deliberately attempted to undermine us and manipulate us during the weeks prior to the vote for what we can only believe was his own personal gain.  At several meetings of the Manhattan delegation hosted in his comfortable law office across from City Hall, Dryfoos continuously criticized County Leader Denny Farrell for not being a tough enough negotiator and tried to goad each of us into making greater and greater demands.  In fact, Denny ably represented us and satisfied virtually all of our requests in reaching the pact with Brooklyn.  

    Had we won the leadership fight, the Manhattan delegation, including Dryfoos, would have acquired an unprecedented six chairs and been a full partner in running the Council.  Dryfoos' vote scuttled all of these plans and set Manhattan back to the same disadvantaged position we have been relegated to for years.  Under "Phase 1" of Vallone's reorganization, we have been granted three chairs, as many as we had before.  Greitzer and Friedlander remained chairs of the Consumer and Women's Committees respectively.  Not surprisingly, Dryfoos was rewarded with the Committee on State Legislation and four other choice committee assignments.  Messinger and Michels were again denied leadership positions as six members with less seniority (including Dryfoos) were jumped ahead of them.

    In a further act of audacity, Dryfoos tried to steal at least 50 of our bills, excising the sponsors' name and submitting them as his own. Vallone wisely took the unprecedented step of delaying the printing of bills to allow the proper sponsors to eliminate this blatant violation of legislative ethics.

    No one disputes Dryfoos' right to vote for Vallone, who is a decent and honorable man with the capacity to be a strong Majority Leader.  We do deplore Dryfoos' duplicity and deception that injured 17 of his colleagues and the future standing of Manhattan in this branch of government.  He took our character, our political integrity and our leadership potential, and attempted to destroy us in the interest of promoting himself.  This is perhaps the ultimate act of treachery.

    We will not forget it, nor should any of the highly motivated men and women who have entered the political arena in a spirit of good faith and who have sought to make public service an upstanding profession, free of guile and deceit.