NEWS CONFERENCE 723

Q. Governor, has Governor Rockefeller indicated to you what he
plans to say at his press conference today?

A. No he hasn't, and I'm just as glad to tell you the truth. I haven't
really placed any heavy pressure on him to let me know what his
decision is because, at the moment, it is more comfortable to be in the
dark.

Q. Governor, could we go back a moment to talk about the Police
Commissioner? When do you think the accomplishment of the turn-
over from your command, as far as the appointment of the Police
Commissioner is concerned, to the City command will take place?

A. Well, I suggested when this was brought up before that it should
be done in 1969 or 1970. I have no objection to the accomplishment
of it sooner, if the matter can be turned over flexibly and without any
difficulty. I don't know what statutory arrangements are necessary or
what procedural arrangements within the Police Department have to
be satisfied. As far as I am concerned, I could be divested of it im-
mediately without it bothering me at all, but I don't want to thrust
it on to the Mayor's hands until the City has an opportunity to pre-
pare for it.

Q. Governor, are you still as optimistic about your legislative pro-
gram as you were last week?

A. Yes, I am even more optimistic about it, and I frankly find it
very difficult to take the overall pessimistic view that's been reflected
by some. The reason I say this is that bills that are characterized as
administration failures are really bills that have been before legis-
lative sessions sometimes for two, and three, and four years. I am
talking about bills like implied consent and the abolition of capital
punishment. While I think these bills are important enough to de-
serve my support, and I am not denying that they are part of my pro-
gram, I don't think that failure again to get them through is a failure
on the part of the administration. It just proves that it takes a long
time to erode the opposition to some of these measures. The pollu-
tion bill is in good shape. I understand the roads bill is in excellent
condition. Many other bills that we are interested in have passed one
house or another, or are being favorably considered in committee.
While I don't want to refer to them specifically until they move along,
I don't think that you'll find, when you look at the legislation that's
been passed at this session, that the record is bad. I think you'll find
it's a pretty good record, and that there have been a lot of failures
mainly because there have been a lot of bills introduced.