And he has had nothing but kind words for President Bush, even as city Democrats have complained that the president should send the city more aid.

This ad depicts city Democrats, quite literally, as rapacious sharks gobbling up tax dollars.

He has also been much more: the negotiator, the bully, the one-man political brain trust for city Democrats, including Peter F. Vallone, the Speaker of the Council.

He is best known as an unflinching advocate of laissez-faire, and a leader of the Loco-Focos faction of city Democrats.

While Mayor Bloomberg continued his policy of public civility toward the governor, city Democrats were less restrained.

But the legislation's fate is less clear in the Democratic-controlled Assembly, where consumer groups, advocates for the poor, and city Democrats are waging an intense lobbying campaign against it.

New York City's once dominanant role in state Democratic politics is dwindling, opening the door to more regional conflicts between city Democrats and their upstate and suburban cousins.

So, with the blessing of Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, and other city Democrats from the city, the tax was repealed.

And in the good-news-bad-news department for city Democrats, only 17 percent of registered voters interviewed said they were paying close attention to the race.

Like most city Democrats, Mr. Green is very strongly opposed to providing taxpayer-financed tuition vouchers to allow public school children to transfer to private schools.