How de Blasio Can Avoid Being Dinkins

Standing amid the de Blasio celebrants last November, I wondered, “Who would have thought that the Dinkins mantle would fall to Bill de Blasio?”

And so it seems with the election of Bill de Blasio, the Dinkins restoration began. Perhaps de Blasio will fulfill the promise offered by the election of the city’s first black mayor back in 1989.

In choosing de Blasio, voters thought he would best solve the jobs, housing affordability and income inequality crises hurting many neighborhoods.

My thoughts regarding a Dinkins restoration coincided with the release of the former mayor’s book wherein he looks back on his tumultuous one-term mayoralty. De Blasio was an aide with an insider’s view of that administration’s successes and failures.

Mayor David Dinkins was undone by the widespread perception that he was unable to govern the city. I, like many people in his base, felt that he failed to deliver for the communities that had the highest expectations for his success.

One political veteran said that Dinkins had the best of intentions, but his deliberative manner and air of indecisiveness hurt him, for example, in the case of his reaction to the riots in Crown Heights.

A number of the people I spoke with insisted that to avoid the same fate as his former boss, de Blasio must be perceived as on top of situations and issues. They added that he must be direct, and act quickly and decisively.

“Rudy Giuliani was wrong, but strong all the time,” said another longtime observer of City Hall. “Giuliani exuded leadership.”

Freshman Bronx Assemblyman Luis Sepúlveda believes Mayor de Blasio must distinguish himself in three areas: restoring police-community relations, securing his pre-K tax hike and delivering on his affordable housing plan.

Sepúlveda says developing solid relationships with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature are essential keys for de Blasio to achieve his tax and public policy agenda.

He noted that Mayor Dinkins succeeded in getting a tax increase through Albany to fund his “Safe City, Safe Streets” initiative, which led to significant drops in crime during his tenure. But Cuomo fils insists that he will not collaborate with de Blasio in raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers to fund universal pre-K in the city.

In his State of the State, Cuomo proposed statewide universal pre-K funded by “found” money instead of higher taxes.

I believe Mayor de Blasio will find success because he has hired seasoned government operatives like Dean Fuleihan, his budget director, to help steer his signature programs through the Albany swamp.

Additionally, while de Blasio rode the wave of opposition to hospital closures from Brooklyn to Gracie Mansion, he must fix the city’s healthcare safety net.

Manny Rosa, a former aide to Gov. Mario Cuomo, says that hospitals are indicators of the health of a community. He hopes that like Dinkins, de Blasio will lead a robust discussion of access to healthcare and public financing of the Health and Hospitals Corporation.

In my view, hospitals, like firehouses, are outmoded. Hospital-based care and its financing remain mired in the mid–20^th century. Balancing the new economics of healthcare with the political debt he owes healthcare union powerhouse 1199 SEIU will be a challenge for de Blasio.

The mayor has an aspirational agenda for an aspirational city populated by aspirational people from around the globe. De Blasio’s early hires are clear-headed, pragmatic, seasoned professionals, eminently qualified to lead city agencies. But to be successful, he must deliver on his core promises, act decisively at every turn, and project strength as the head of the city’s government.

No doubt insights gained from the tumultuous Dinkins years form the core of de Blasio’s decision-making.

The success of—or rather, an improvement upon—a Dinkins restoration will rest upon Mayor de Blasio’s ability to manage expectations while taking charge of the city’s massive bureaucracy. If he fails to do so, he’ll be gone in four years too.

Former Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem on Twitter) represented the Bronx for eight years.