Session: 1234567891011121314151617         Page 760761762763764765766767768769770771772773774775776777778779780781782783784785786787788789790791792793794795796797798799800801 of 824

do. Other than having to work that through OMB and all the other city things, that was not so complicated. It was the process of getting the general approval afterwards. You first had to have an agreement to what you were going to do, but you then had to submit to all these other bodies. so, you know, I gamely went in to this with Gordon Davis thinking, you know, “this is going to be a breeze!” then it turned to be an albatross around my neck for the next five years.

This rehabilitation agreement--I'm looking at a New York Times clipping here--was signed on July 30, 1985. By that time Stern was parks commissioner.

That was a second agreement. The first agreement was signed with Koch and Gordon Davis in 1983.

And it was the following March, according to another clipping, that Le Roy withdrew. Why don't you go in to a little more detail about what you think Henry Stern's role has been?

Henry Stern is bright, slightly crazy, and totally unpredictable. Like all public officials, he hates to have to make a decision, so he will do practically anything to avoid making a decision. Because if you're a public official, the longer you don't make a decision, nobody really criticizes you. It's only when you've made a decision that the brickbats start flying. So that's why public officials don't like to make decisions! And they're very good