It’s Primary Day in New York City
Richard Ravitch, who helped New York City avoid bankruptcy in the 1970s and its deteriorating transit system avoid financial collapse in the 1980s, died on Sunday. Sam Roberts, who wrote Ravitch’s obituary, says that Ravitch left an indelible mark on government as one of the behind-the-scenes “wise men” who navigated high-pressure problems. (Ravitch was also lieutenant governor for a year and a half in 2009 and 2010, appointed by David Paterson after Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor and Paterson succeeded him.)
I asked Sam to reminisce about Ravitch, whose day job was being a private-sector developer and who was a progressive in the tradition of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson. Here’s what Sam told me:
In the 55 years that I knew Dick Ravitch, what distinguished him from virtually every other public official I covered was his selflessness. He never wanted anything in return. He did favors for people but didn’t ask them to reciprocate. He was tough, a little self-righteous at times, but the fact that his primary goal was the public good, as he saw it with utter certitude, imbued him with a rare and robust independence.
It may also explain why he was never elected to political office and why so few elected officials listened to him.
He was also a Renaissance man, not just a good government wonk. He was a great gardener. He made great gazpacho. He was an accomplished woodworker. And he genuinely cared about his extended family, his business partner Peter Davis and longtime friends like Betsy Gotbaum, who was the Parks commissioner in the 1990s and the public advocate in the early 2000s.
He once paid me an ultimate compliment (at least I think it was): He said I had a healthy disrespect for everyone. I had a lot of respect for him. He deserved it.
Source: The New York Times
