This is the chance New Yorkers have needed and it still could be an opportunity for Gov.

David A. Paterson to leave a legacy that could make a difference. If he survives legal and

political challenges and remains in office, He needs to take advantage of it.

It all came about because of the governor&#8217s political weakness. Paterson announced

Friday that he will not run for governor in this year&#8217s election. The decision, made

under pressure, came after revelations of contact between him and a woman who had filed a

domestic violence complaint against David Johnson, a top aide to the governor. Some critics

have suggested that Paterson and state police had pressured her to drop the action. Attorney

General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is expected to run for governor, is investigating.

The governor has denied any wrongdoing and says the woman called him, although there are

accounts the call was arranged. Unless a proven violation of tampering laws or intense

political pressure like that now being leveled by the National Organization for Women forces a

resignation, though, his decision not to run could free Paterson to conduct negotiations on

the state budget with all the legal clout of his office, wielded without concern for its

impact on his election prospects. He won&#8217t have to bow to the unions or the trial lawyers

or any of the other special interest groups that so often determine the outcome of state

legislation. He can speak truth to power; he can advocate forcefully doing what&#8217s right

for the state and its taxpayers.

Paterson has been sending signals for months now that he intended to hold the line on

spending and taxes as the budget, due on April 1, wended its way through the Legislature.

Indeed, Paterson&#8217s standing with voters rose as he challenged lawmakers to adopt a mantle

of fiscal responsibility in the midst of a collapse of state revenues.

But elections have a way of corrupting good intentions. If he wanted union members manning

telephone lines for him &#8212 and to avoid the television ads they could run against him

&#8212 he would have to placate them as he negotiated the new budget. With his decision not to

run, Paterson is now free of those influences. He might still be swayed by factors relating to

his plans for work after his term ends in January, but that also could work to taxpayers&#8217

benefit, depending on where he hopes to land.

However that plays out, Paterson should keep prominently in mind the unique and historic

opportunity that his political pain has opened for him and for taxpayers of the nation&#8217s

highest-taxed state. He could wrap up his accidental term as governor by making a difference

to a state that badly needs an intervention &#8212 of the financial, political and ethical

kinds &#8212 but never gets it.