By Austin Fenner
Special to DNAinfo
MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson had a change of heart Thursday, deciding that he would attend a public memorial service for Percy Sutton, one of New York’s most influential black leaders, despite having to rush back to Albany to deliver the State of the State address later that day.
Sutton, a trailblazer in Manhattan politics who served as Malcolm X’s lawyer and built a media empire with his acquisition of the WBLS radio station, was a father figure and mentor to Paterson.
Earlier, the governor’s spokeswoman, Marissa Shorenstein, told DNAinfo that Paterson would be unable to attend the funeral because he will be delivering the State of the State on Jan. 6.
But Shorenstein confirmed Thursday that Paterson changed his mind and will attend the beginning of the services before heading back upstate for his speech.
“He was someone who the governor was very close with and he was a mentor to him,” Shorenstein said.
State Sen. Bill Perkins, whose district includes Harlem, said that he'd like to hitch a ride with the governor from the services to the capitol.
“I obviously am torn, but I think I’ll have to be at the speech,” said Perkins of the scheduling conflict.
“I think Mr. Sutton would prefer that I be at work in a crisis period... He’d say, 'Bill, get up to Albany.'”
The 11 a.m funeral will take place at Riverside Church, said Sutton family spokeswoman Terrie Williams. Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy.
Sutton passed away in his sleep Saturday. He was 89.
The former Manhattan borough president is remembered as one of the so-called “Gang of Four,” a reference to the powerful Harlem political clubhouse of U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, former Mayor David Dinkins and the governor’s father, Basil Paterson, a former secretary of state.
A spokesperson for Congressman Charles Rangel said his attendance at the Wednesday memorial depends on the schedule of the House's Health Care Committee, however Rangel will be attending another private service for close friends and family.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Sutton made his way to New York City as a teenager. He eventually became a Tuskegee Airman, civil rights activist, lawyer and businessman. Eventually he was simply referred to as “The Chairman” because of his success as a media titan.
Dinkins praised Sutton for his outreach to Jewish communities and said he laid the first brick of what Dinkins eventually called his “gorgeous mosaic.”
“I will miss him,” Dinkins said.
Heather Grossmann contributed reporting
