ELECTION NIGHT: ON WINNING A PLACE IN THE PUBLIC ADVOCATE RUNOFF

And now, as expected, overtime!

First, I very much want to thank my wonderful family, staff and volunteers for a relentlessly positive and substantive campaign about our future. We explained how public policies could make us THE Creative City of the 21st Century, how we could generate a greener environment and economy, how we should consider at least 100 new ideas to solve old problems.

Second, I want to congratulate both Eric Gioia and Norman Siegel for their high quality, high-energy campaigns. You should both be proud of how many friends you captured over these many months, who I hope to convince now to join the Green Team. And to Eric and Lisa, a big Mazel tov from Deni and me on your new baby Democrat.

But now, after some 50 four-way candidates' evenings and forums, we finally have a one-on-one contest where New Yorkers can contrast and compare two very different people with very different records.

Who do voters best trust to make sure that city services are getting to those who need them and that we provide a check and balance to a powerful mayor?

Who has shown that he's an effective fighter for a middle class running faster after an accelerating bus called prosperity? Who has shown that he's built to stand up to powerful politicians and interest groups who don't give a damn about poor people or average consumers? Who's gotten laws enacted that help women where they work and live, helped kids stay healthy, help seniors enjoy what they deserve?

Political and labor endorsements are fine. But in the words of that great Baptist hymn, "may the deeds I've done speak for me."

Because I believe that actions speak louder than words, I'll tomorrow explain why this race for Public Advocate is a now a contest between a lifelong consumer advocate and a political insider. That's a fight I relish and that voters deserve.

The stakes are high just because so many people are now down. So I intend again to be a socket that constituents can plug into, to propose innovative ways to expand affordable housing, shrink class size in early grades, assure quality health services, provide for a sustainable financial and green transportation system...and grow the next generation of jobs for our next generation of workers.

Some well-intentioned but misguided critics attack the entire concept of this ombudsman office, an office once held by Al Smith and Fiorello LaGuardia. I showed how relevant it can be to your quality of life in this city. And how it will be again.

As my friend and supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr, explained last week, "Public Advocate is The Conscience of the City. It is supposed to remind us how democracy should function, how the little guy should have as much power as big wealthy voices. There is nobody who understands this office and these principles better than Mark Green."

You see, ultimately this contest to be the #2 official in the #1 city is about what comes next. So this two week Runoff is not only about our current problems but also who has the experience, vision and independence to help us survive and thrive for the next decade and century.

As O Henry wrote, "New York would be a great place if they ever finished it."

Help me finish this Runoff and then together we'll keep pursuing the promise of New York, a unique place of democracy and diversity where anyone can succeed and everyone can live up to their potential. Where all of us know more than any of us. You give me two weeks and together we'll start putting the new back in New York starting on January 1, 2010 on the steps of City Hall. Then when

I take the oath of office as not only the first but also the third Public Advocate, it won't be about me it'll be about us.