Pubdate: Thu, 27 Dec 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Authors: Sherri Day, Samuel D. King

IN FAREWELL ADDRESS, GIULIANI LISTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND PRAISES CITY

In his farewell address to the city, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said today 
that because of the bravery of New Yorkers, the city and the nation have 
already won the war against terrorism.

"This war will go on for some time to find the terrorists, to eliminate 
terrorism, to eliminate terrorists," Mr. Giuliani said. "It will go on 
probably for a longer time than we would like, but I hope you realize that 
we've already won it. It's just a matter now of finishing it."

Standing before his supporters, Mr. Giuliani delivered his final address to 
the city at St. Paul's Chapel, an Episcopal church near ground zero. He 
said the site was thrice hallowed ground, as it was consecrated as a house 
of God in 1776, the place where the newly inaugurated George Washington 
prayed after he took his presidential oath in 1789 and literally a pillar 
of strength after the attack on the World Trade Center since the building 
sustained no damage from the attacks.

As for the site where the twin towers once stood, Mr. Giuliani said it 
should be preserved as a "soaring, monumental, beautiful memorial" that 
would draw millions of people to see it.

"We shouldn't think about this site out there as a site for economic 
development." Mr. Giuliani said. "We should think about how we can find the 
most creative minds possible who love and honor Americans and can express 
that."

Mr. Giuliani, 57, is to leave office on Dec. 31 after serving two four-year 
terms. He is barred by city term limits from seeking or serving a third 
consecutive term.

He is to swear in his successor -- Michael R. Bloomberg, a Republican and 
billionaire businessman -- on New Year's Day at 12:01 a.m. in Times Square.

In 1993, Mr. Giuliani became the first Republican mayor in heavily 
Democratic New York City in 27 years when he defeated David N. Dinkins, the 
city's first African-American mayor.

A former federal prosecutor with a reputation for his commitment to 
fighting organized crime, Mr. Giuliani made an unsuccessful bid for mayor 
in 1989 against Mr. Dinkins. He lost that race, but defeated Mr. Dinkins 
four years later in large measure by criticizing Mr. Dinkins' governance of 
the city, saying that crime was out of control. In 1997, Mr. Giuliani 
trounced Ruth W. Messinger, a Democrat and the Manhattan borough president, 
in a landslide victory for his second term in office.

When he entered office in 1993, the mayor said, he saw the city deteriorating.

"It seemed to me that what I had to do was to totally change the direction 
and course of New York City," Mr. Giuliani said. "I felt that my job as the 
mayor was to turn around the city because I believed rightly or wrongly 
that we had one last chance to do that, to really turn it around in a 
totally opposite direction. That created a lot of hostility and anger, and 
I knew it would."

In his speech today, the mayor, who is largely credited with overhauling 
the image of New York City, ticked off a list of his accomplishments, 
including a sharp decrease in homelessness and crime. Last week Mr. 
Giuliani said that crime in New York City was at its lowest point in 30 
years, excluding the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. This year, violent and 
other crimes fell 7.6 percent. At Mr. Giuliani's urging the Police 
Department made a concentrated effort to rid the area around Times Square 
of its sex shops and prostitutes and to reduce petty crimes, including drug 
dealing and jaywalking.

The mayor also took credit for reducing the city's welfare rolls, saying 
that there were 695,000 fewer people on welfare than there had been when he 
took office. According to Mr. Giuliani, his administration also improved 
the city's financial situation. Mr. Giuliani said that in 1993, he 
inherited a $2.3 billion budget deficit. The new mayor, Mr. Giuliani said, 
would take over "what looks to be a surplus over $1 billion."

Seeking to further cement his legacy, Mr. Giuliani highlighted the fruits 
of his pro-development stance, including the first hotel in Brooklyn in 50 
years, the redevelopment of 125th Street in Harlem and the new headquarters 
of AOL Time Warner, which is under construction at Columbus Circle in 
midtown Manhattan.

Absent from his farewell speech was the politician's often abrasive persona 
that many have come to associate with Mr. Giuliani. As mayor, he fought 
with nearly every city agency including the school board, which he 
suggested that he should control. He will leave office without having 
reached a contract agreement between the city and its public school 
teachers. Even though Mr. Giuliani was widely praised for his efforts to 
reduce crime throughout the city, two of the most controversial acts 
involving the police department occurred on his watch. In 1999, Amadou 
Diallo, an unarmed black man, was shot 41 times by the police in the 
vestibule of his apartment building. And in 1997 Abner Louima was brutally 
abused by police, leading to one of the largest legal settlements in the 
city's history.

Mr. Giuliani's personal life was also fodder for controversy. Last summer, 
the already public disintegration of his marriage to Donna Hanover was 
further complicated by his relationship with his girlfriend, Judith Nathan. 
Mr. Giuliani eventually moved into an apartment on the Upper East Side, 
leaving his wife and their two children at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's 
official residence.

And then came Sept. 11.

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center thrust Mr. Giuliani into 
the international spotlight. His 18-hour a day schedule and at least twice 
daily news conferences in the weeks after the attack made him at once a 
calming presence for millions of New Yorkers eager to know the latest 
details about the rescue and recovery efforts at ground zero and a hero to 
workers who toiled at the site.

In the weeks following the attack, Mr. Giuliani led dignitaries ranging 
from French President Jacques Chirac to Congressional leaders on tours of 
ground zero. When President George W. Bush visited the site, firefighters 
reserved their loudest applause for Mr. Giuliani. In an interview on her 
television talk show, Oprah Winfrey called Mr. Giuliani "America's Mayor." 
Mr. Chirac also heaped accolades upon the mayor, proclaiming him 
"Maire-heros," or what he called the French equivalent of "Rudy the Rock." 
Victims' families and survivors also shared an affinity for the mayor, as 
he attended a steady stream of funerals and memorial services. Despite his 
hectic schedule, Mr. Giuliani made time for his beloved New York Yankees, 
arguably becoming their No. 1 fan. During his tenure, he held four 
tickertape parades to honor the Yankees as World Series champions.

The surge in his popularity after Sept. 11 prompted Mr. Giuliani to briefly 
consider extending his term as mayor, an act that he said would help to 
ensure a smooth transition of administrations in perhaps the city's most 
troubling time. His suggestion, however, was cooly received by the mayoral 
candidates and by politicians throughout the state.

The mayor ended his speech by quoting from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Mr. Giuliani has not said what he will do after his term ends on Monday 
night. But he did indicate that he would continue to be a voice in New York 
city politics -- especially concerning the redevelopment of ground zero.

" Although I have to leave you as mayor soon, I resume the much more 
honorable title of citizen of New York, and citizen of the United States," 
Mr. Giuliani said.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens