Not Spitzer After All: Paterson Apologizes for 'Vacation' Remark About Legislators

In a press conference at his midtown office about the fiscal crisis this morning, David Paterson apologized for suggesting that Albany legislators were on “vacation.”

“I meant, the period after July that we’re not in session,” he said just now. He went on to say that “the legislators point out, correctly, they’re in their district offices” when not in Albany. The vacation line stood out yesterday because it was much more reminiscent of the way Eliot Spitzer related to state lawmakers than of Paterson's less assertive style.

Trying to put that imagery behind him, Paterson said today, “I am not going to have an acrimonious relationship with the legislature.”