Hold the Chicken and the Cheesecake; New York Mayor Koch Cancels Visit

America’s Finest City got jilted Tuesday by a middle-aged guy with a balding dome and a nasal twang who opted instead to take a helicopter ride to Albany, N.Y., to talk about, of all things, subway tokens.

New York City Mayor Ed Koch gave the heave-ho to Mayor Maureen O’Connor, Horton Plaza, the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Seuss, the U.S. Grant Hotel, cheesecake for 650, Cagney and Lacy, and 35 fruit salads with pomegranate dressing.

Instead, he spent the day jawboning six state senators from New York City to support a gasoline tax and hold subway fares to $1. He talked with the New York governor, spoke to that state’s Assembly and flew back to Manhattan in time for dinner.

San Diego took the news with a stiff upper lip. “Disappointing” was the word of the day.

O’Connor initially intended to forge ahead, even without Koch, with a tour of the border aimed at explaining to Koch that not all Mexicans smuggle drugs. But the New York press corps, holed up in the Westgate Hotel, bolted homeward, so O’Connor’s office called it off.

The Chamber of Commerce was trying to salvage its sold-out luncheon today for 650, negotiating to have Koch beamed in to the U.S. Grant’s grand ballroom for a teleconference. But Koch’s aides seemed uncertain he would get to the phone. So the hotel may be heavy on chicken specials.

Only the Tuesday night gala dinner hosted by O’Connor in the California First tower went ahead as planned--roasted stuffed chiles, miniature tortillas, City Council members and all. The guests, all pillars of the community, reaffirmed their attendance, Koch or no Koch.

“We’re still going to celebrate the good things we have in San Diego,” said Paul Downey, O’Connor’s press secretary. “And if Mayor Koch is not able to attend, we’re sorry. But we have a lovely dinner planned, and we’re going to go ahead and have it.”

City Manager John Lockwood, ever sanguine, remarked: “If I spill my water now, I won’t be embarrassed.”

The word came shortly after dawn Tuesday: Mayor Koch had been summoned to Albany by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. The New York state Legislature, in special session, was suddenly considering a plan that could raise subway and bus fares in New York City to $1.10.

The Republican Senate leadership had presented the plan Monday, Koch aides said. The Democrats were opposed, but they were slightly outnumbered. Koch’s mission was to win over New York City’s six Republican senators and shift the balance in the Democrats’ favor.

“If you know anything about New York City, you know the subway fare is a traditional flash point,” said Larry Simonberg, a deputy press secretary to Koch. He called the dollar fare “a psychological figure.” Break that “sound barrier” and who knows where you stop?

“I certainly hope that the citizens of San Diego take no offense, because it certainly wasn’t meant that way,” said Lee Jones, another deputy. “I guess what I’d say is if they will forgive us for having to cancel the trip, maybe they can pat themselves on the back for helping us to save the fare.”

It was unclear Tuesday whether that would be sufficient consolation.

Lee Grissom, chamber president, had been looking forward to “educating” Mayor Koch--ever since, he says, Koch bad-mouthed America’s Finest City on a spin through Japan. Koch was trailing a San Diego delegation, and Grissom claims Koch let loose “some nasty comments.”

“He said we were a ‘cultural desert,’ ” Grissom remembered Tuesday. “He said the crime rate in San Diego was greater than in Manhattan and he said unemployment in San Diego was greater than in Manhattan. All of which were, of course, untrue.”

So Grissom had prepared a surprise package for Koch, for presentation at the Chamber lunch today. Six hundred and fifty members had shelled out $15.25 each to attend. Only the likes of Walter Cronkite and President Gerald Ford had ever sold out a Chamber function so fast.

And only George Gallup had ever canceled.

Among Grissom’s goodies was a T-shirt from San Diego skipper Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes--a reminder that the New York Yacht Club is out of the running for the America’s Cup. There were three Dr. Seuss books, in memory of a political rival’s comparison of Koch to Seuss’s Yertle the Turtle.

But unintentionally, Koch got the last laugh.

Chicken for 650 and “special cheesecakes” had already been laid in by the time Grissom got the word. The catering staff was scheduled, the cooks were prepping the chickens. A U.S. Grant caterer said: “I mean, everything was ready to roll.”

“We have a real busy weekend, so fortunately the chickens won’t go to waste,” said the caterer, who asked not to be named. He predicted “a lot of chicken specials in the restaurant.” As for the cheesecakes, their fate was undecided. The chamber will eat at least part of the cost, if not the lunch.

Plans for a police motorcade for the trip to the border were called off. Channel 10 filled the gap on its Newsmakers show with the Building Industry Assn. president-elect. KFMB radio persuaded Koch to speak briefly by phone hook-up on its show, Talk to the Mayor.

In Los Angeles, where Koch was to have stopped off tonight, he was dropped from a planned segment of the police show Cagney and Lacy. And in Burbank, where he stood up Johnny Carson, the Tonight Show recovered with aplomb.

“To quote my mother, ‘When the Lord closes one door, he always opens another,’ ” remarked executive producer Fred de Cordova, according to Charles Barrett, a spokesman for the show.

As if on cue, the show filled Koch’s chair with Jim McMahon, the Chicago Bears quarterback and author of a much-touted new autobiography. McMahon, who had undergone shoulder surgery, was released Tuesday from a Los Angeles hospital, just in time.