CUOMO ATTACKS MCCALL, WHO ATTACKS PATAKI, WHO...

H. Carl McCall looked beyond the coming Democratic primary yesterday and
spent the day campaigning against the Republican candidate for governor,
George E. Pataki, whom he accused of postponing difficult decisions for the
state until after the election.

Mr. McCall's Democratic primary opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, kept after Mr.
McCall, saying that he had approved a state budget riddled with
inconsistencies and had failed to use his post as state comptroller to
invest in New York State.

With 22 days to go before the primary on Sept. 10, both Democratic
candidates strode into the week with sharpened tactics, as if their
televised debate on Sunday had been a suspenseful overture instead of
something akin to a polite game of bridge.

But in many ways, it was as if they were running in two separate races: Mr.
McCall, buoyed by recent polls, directed his attention to Mr. Pataki, whom
the Democratic nominee will face in the November election. And Mr. Cuomo,
fervently attacking Mr. McCall's record, sought to remind him that he still
has a primary to contend with.

Appearing outside the governor's headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, Mr.
McCall listed major issues for which Mr. Pataki has promised solutions in
December, after the Nov. 5 election.

"George Pataki is unwilling to step up and provide the leadership and make
the tough decisions about what the future's going to be like," Mr. McCall
said. "On issue after issue, the important issues that have to be decided,
the governor's response to this is, 'Manana, let's make these decisions
tomorrow.' "

Mr. McCall pointed out that December is supposed to be a milestone for
narrowing the number of plans for Lower Manhattan, and it is the deadline
for a report commissioned by the governor on whether to close the Indian
Point nuclear plant.

In addition, Mr. McCall said, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
board, which the governor controls, will not decide on a possible fare
increase until at least December. He also said Mr. Pataki had dragged his
feet on facing the state's fiscal problems, changing the Rockefeller-era
drug laws and enacting campaign-finance reform.

At a news conference later, Mr. Pataki's face took on a wounded look when
he heard of Mr. McCall's remarks. But he stuck to the script he has used to
distance himself throughout the primary: They are politicians. I am the
governor.

"That's just politics as usual," he said. "I will continue to work hard
every day to bring the people of New York together, to move us forward
together, to make the important decisions when they should be made, not for
anyone's political agenda."

Mr. McCall, even when asked by reporters about Mr. Cuomo, refused to be
distracted: "I'm running against George Pataki, he is presently the
governor, and I'm talking about the differences between me and him. It's up
to my Democratic opponent to point out the differences that he has."

But when reporters asked him about an event the governor was at that moment
attending, Mr. McCall was quick to unleash a new volley. He labeled
"suspect" Mr. Pataki's publicized lunch marking the 11th anniversary of the
incident that touched off the Crown Heights disturbance.

The lunch was with Carmel Cato, the father of Gavin Cato, the child who was
killed by a car in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and Norman Rosenbaum, the
brother of Yankel Rosenbaum, the Jewish scholar who was killed in the
ensuing unrest.

Mr. McCall implied that the lunch, of corned beef sandwiches, to mark the
one-year-old friendship between Mr. Cato and Mr. Rosenbaum was politically
motivated.

"I have not seen him reach out to try to reconcile differences between
competing groups, have you?" Mr. McCall asked.

Again, the governor defended himself. "That's just very disappointing, and
I think Carl McCall's better than that," he said. "I don't think I have to
stand here and justify a lifetime of working to bring the people of every
community I've represented together."

"If Carl McCall were doing something to bring people together, I'd applaud
him for doing that," he added.

Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Rosenbaum family, later called reporters
to defend the governor, saying Mr. Pataki had been in frequent contact with
both families. "Mr. McCall had 11 years. Did he make a call to Mr. Cato?"
he asked. "No, he did not, and the question is: 'Why?' "

Meanwhile, Mr. Cuomo, appearing on the steps of the State Capitol, railed
against the way business is done in Albany, a recurring theme in his
campaign. With another of his policy papers, he proposed opening the
legislative process to public participation, streamlining the court system
and setting up a nonpartisan commission to draw new legislative and
Congressional district lines.

"God did not make Albany this way," he said, criticizing the state
government for moving too slowly and secretively. "This is not from the
heavens. Moses did not come down with the tablets and say the budget shall
be late every year."

Mr. Cuomo included Mr. McCall in his criticism, ridiculing him for
certifying a state budget dependent on questionable revenue estimates. "How
can you criticize the budget when you approved it?" he asked.

Mr. McCall said in response that his approval of the budget is a nominal
process that ensures only that projected revenues and expenses match, not
that they are realistic.

Mr. Cuomo also said that the portion of the state pension fund invested in
New York State under Mr. McCall has dropped, to 6 percent from 10 percent.
Mr. McCall disputed the claim, saying the percentages were lower but the
amount of money was much higher - rising to $24 billion from $14 billion,
his spokesman later said.