Some of us claim that New York City is the capital of the country, indeed the capital of the world. Now, that may be a bit much for those who don't come from New York, but clearly we are an important city for reasons of our cultural advantages.

So it's a mistake for someone to think that they bailed New York out. They did assist us, for which we are grateful, but it's a mistake to say we bailed New York out by giving them a grant of money to help those poor people who throw it away on welfare.

I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.

I finished law school in '56, but I was working two jobs.

I love children, and most of my involvement now has to do with children or youth programs.

My mother came here to New York. She and my grandmother were domestics, cooking, cleaning for other people.

As a matter of fact, even when I finished law school, I had no notion of public service then.