Phil Reisman: The 4th hardest job in America

Bill Mulrow is a seasoned political operative, but he also is the "un-Schwartz."

By that I mean he bears little if any surface resemblance to the man he just replaced as secretary to Gov. Andrew Cuomo — Larry Schwartz, a consummate Machiavellian hatchet man whose insider's skill set does not include a surplus of charm.

Mulrow, 58, is a "class act with brains" said David Alpert, a former chairman of the Westchester Democratic Party.

Nice guy, that's Mulrow.

He's the kind of guy you can have a beer with — and I recall having a glass or two with him once at Craven's, an Irish joint in Bronxville that I regret to say no longer exists, having been replaced by a more refined restaurant that feeds raw fish at premium prices to the yuppie hordes.

A Bronxville resident and an investment banker by trade, Mulrow went to Harvard and Yale, but drinking a pint of suds at Craven's was an appropriate nod to his blue-collar roots. His father was a Penn Central Railroad machinist from County Galway and his mother, also from Galway, was a waitress who, with young Bill's help, counted her tips every night at the family kitchen table in the Bronx.

Mulrow is a successful businessman in spades. He is also a loyal Democrat and a dedicated public servant.

In 2002 he vied for state comptroller, but unfortunately lost the party nomination to Alan Hevesi, an established hack who eventually went to jail for bribery.

Mulrow has always been held in high regard. Over the years he has been brought up as a possible candidate for open legislative seats and the like, but the run for comptroller was his first and last attempt at getting elected to public office.

However, over the years he has held some important appointive offices. He headed the Westchester Industrial Development Agency and, during Ed Koch's administration, was chairman of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board — a thankless job that makes no one happy.

It was such hazardous duty that hearings were held in the protective confines of 1 Police Plaza. After one contentious session, Mulrow gave a TV interview that was rudely punctuated by a landlord representative who walked up behind him and made an obscene gesture on camera.

"There was one criteria I had for whether or not you did a good job, and that was that both sides were mad at you, " he once told me. Few appreciate the virtue of fairness when money is at stake.

Mulrow said that chairing the rent board was the third hardest job in America, the first being president and the second being New York City mayor. He wasn't kidding.

Now he has assumed what very well may be the fourth hardest job.

Managing affairs of state for the notoriously temperamental and controlling Cuomo has to be a trying experience. Schwartz did an excellent job as a factotum and master manipulator. Cuomo loved him to pieces — and said as much in his autobiography. "Larry Schwartz runs the ship," he wrote.

Mulrow is the un-Schwartz, but that may be a good thing. Jeff Binder, a political consultant with the Mamaroneck-based Strategic Political Group, wondered: "Is this a kinder-gentler Governor Cuomo?"

It's possible that Cuomo will want to mend some fences in his second term, principally with labor and the disaffected left wing of the Democratic Party. Mulrow, who was vice chairman of the state party and has a long history of good relations with public and private unions, could be just the man he needs.

Whatever the task, Mulrow should be up to it. But he won't have to take any undue amount of grief from the governor either. After all, as senior managing director at the Blackstone Group, he doesn't need the money.

Memo to political junkies: I doubt we've heard the last of Schwartz.

The White Plains resident has taken a private-sector job, but it wouldn't at all be surprising if he plays a behind-the-scenes role in the 2018 Westchester County executive's race.

Cuomo will have a strong say in who the Democrats pick to run against Rob Astorino assuming, of course, that Astorino chooses to run for a third term.

At any rate, Astorino mightily irritated Cuomo in the governor's race — and the governor would like his scalp. Schwartz would be his ideal man on the ground to do the vengeful dirty work.

So let the parlor game begin. Who would Cuomo back? One possibility that immediately comes to mind is Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano. That his brother, Nick, the former state senator, has political ties with Schwartz is just one cause for speculation.

But that is far in the future. For now, we will celebrate the start of a new era in Albany. Mulrow has taken the helm. Raise a glass of Guinness Stout to the un-Schwartz.

Reach Phil Reisman at preisman@lohud.com. Twitter: @philreisman.