High life
Fixing Felix
Taki
elix Rohatyn is the senior partner of Lazard Freres, chairman of the Municipal Assistance Corporation, and the man who got the credit for saving the Big Apple during its fiscal crisis of ten years ago. His admirers think he can see around corners, which proves to me beyond a reasonable doubt that conjurers, sorcerers, and snake- oil salesmen are the real movers and shakers of this town.
And Rohatyn certainly is. A mover and shaker, that is. Rohatyn (the 'h' is silent, unless you are one of his Arab clients) used to be known as Felix the Fixer, but ten long years of writing essays for left-wing maga- zines, plus a lot of stroking of the media, have given him a new, improved, bur- nished image. You know the kind. That of the concerned and responsible tycoon, whose public statements and exposure are altruistic practices, and not exercises for his own stardom.
Well, I ain't so sure. As far as I ant concerned, Felix is still fixing, and trying to get the real fix on him is like trying to pin down quicksilver. Take for example what New York magazine pointed out last week as some of his more blatant contradictions. Rohatyn, as senior partner of Lazard Freres, has engineered more mergers and takeovers than Jeffrey Bernard has had hangovers, yet he has now gone on record as saying that the system has got badly out of hand. Better yet are his economic predictions of the last five years. None of them has come to pass, yet Felix is still man eagerly sought by the press for his economic views and forecasts. The one I like the best is his latest, however.
He and his wife were recently on the cover of Manhattan Inc., a glossy New York monthly that deals with business. The cover story was about the Rohatyn family's outrage over the lack of interest shown by New York's rich and powerful for the nonglamorous charities. i.e., the hungry, the homeless, and the unwed mothers. Now I happen to agree with the Rohatyns that the charity business in New York is just a vehicle for nouveau social climbers to meet and rub elbows with, say: people like Brooke Astor, Jackie KO, and the Rohatyns. In fact, I have often written about this in the Spectator, and every time I did my research about who the heads of the committees that run these sham char- ities were, the names of Felix and his wife popped up as often as Jeffrey Bernard has passed out in the Coach and Horses. Which is not to say that Rohatyn Is wrong. After all, I am against drugs, yet got caught with some in my possession. What I take exception to is the smooth waY Felix and Elizabeth Rohatyn talked to the Manhattan Inc. writer for 5,000-odd words without naming one single name, or accus- ing a single person or charity of being scrooge-like or worthless. They are against the giving being tied to the glitz, but not against it enough to be specific — or to resign from all the committees, and start their own unfashionable charities. As they say, charity begins at home, and Lazard Freres, sure can afford it.
But perhaps I am being too rough 011 Felix. Perhaps the man can't help it. He had Andre Meyer, now fixing things down below, as his mentor, and people who learned from Meyer know that it doesn't pay to tell the whole truth. Especially when that truth deals with the rich and powerw' — or 'Governor Garlic', as the American Spectator irreverently called Governor Cuomo this month.
Cuomo, like Felix, thinks a lot about black teenage pregnancies. But neither Mario nor Felix are willing to get tough on teen mothers; i.e., cut welfare allowances drastically, instead of raising them with each new baby. A limit of two children should be imposed as long as the mother refuses or is unable to work to support her children. There is no reason for girls under 20 to have four or more children, and receive a larger cheque with each new arrival.
Needless to say, these are not pleasant subjects to discuss, and — believe me they are not being discussed. Mario 'Give Away the Taxpayer's Money' Cuomo, and Felix Rohatyn are birds of a feather. They mean well, but are not willing to put their money where their mouths are. And perhaps they're right. Rohatyn is a multi- millionaire and a real power in the land, and Cuomo will probably one day be the biggest power in the land. Why should they risk any more than they have to? In the meantime, Diogenes is still looking, but his flashlight is about to run out of batteries.
Previous page
