For The Record

Rudy Giuliani, in his latest attempt to rationalize his continued elevations of Bernie Kerik even after he knew he had a relationship with a man linked to organized crime, said prior to his indictment that Mr. Kerik's accomplishments as Police Commissioner overshadowed his flaws.

That argument was skewered by former Mayor Ed Koch. During a Nov. 5 interview with the Associated Press while campaigning in New Hampshire, Mr. Giuliani said, "There were mistakes made with Bernie Kerik," referring to his failure to adequately explore his relationship with Frank DiTommaso prior to appointing him Police Commissioner in August 2000.

"But what's the ultimate result for the people of New York City?" he asked, then answered: "a 74-percent reduction in shootings, a 60-percent reduction in crime, a correction program that went from being one of the worst in the country to one that was on '60 Minutes' as one of the best in the country, 90-percent reduction of violence in the jails."

There are those who question how much credit Mr. Kerik deserves for those achievements, particularly since some of the numbers cited by the Mayor included decreases that occurred before he appointed him to run the jails and the NYPD.

Mr. Koch, whom Mr. Giuliani hammered during the 1989 campaign for a scandal three years earlier involving political allies who neither worked for him nor were as close to him as Mr. Kerik was to Rudy, was astonished by his statements.

"What he's saying in effect," Mr. Koch remarked, "is that notwithstanding the warnings given to him that Kerik associated with someone tied to organized crime, he's not unhappy that he appointed him Police Commissioner and later recommended him to be Secretary of Homeland Security.

"It blows your mind to think that anyone in authority would think that way."

Mr. Koch also scoffed at Mr. Giuliani's claim that he had no independent recollection that his former Investigation Commissioner, the late Ed Kuriansky, told him about Mr. Kerik's friendship with Mr. DiTommaso prior to his choosing him as Police Commissioner. Mr. Kuriansky's diaries, according to a New York Times article published two days prior to the AP interview, indicated that he had briefed Mr. Giuliani on the matter and had also privately spoken to Dennison Young, Mr. Giuliani's top legal adviser as Mayor.

"How could Giuliani say he doesn't remember what Kuriansky told him?" Mr. Koch said. "He wouldn't accept that [claim] from someone he took before a grand jury when he was U.S. Attorney."

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One of the more astute political handicappers among union officials predicted a day before the court hearing that a Brooklyn judge would restore dues check-off rights to Transport Workers Union Local 100.

This seemed like a chancy proposition, given that the judge, Bruce Balter, is considered a political conservative.

Our union guy, who spoke on the condition that it not be attributed, based his analysis on other political factors. While Mayor Bloomberg was urging that dues check-off rights not be restored until Local 100 gave stronger indications that it would not strike again, he had no leverage over Justice Balter, whose Supreme Court term runs through 2017.

On the other hand, our theorist continued, if he wanted an easy path to reelection a decade from now, Justice Balter would not want to displease the Democratic County Chairman in his borough, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who has good relations with Local 100.

It all sounded good, particularly when Justice Balter began the Nov. 7 hearing by ruling that the Bloomberg administration was not one of the plaintiffs in the case and so could present its arguments only under Friend of the Court status.

But the next day the judge ruled like a friend of the city by denying dues restoration, even though it was favored on a conditional basis by the plaintiff in the case, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Which just goes to show you that sometimes the simplest political equation may turn out to be the correct one.