Paterson to Manhattan: ‘Get Over’ Gillibrand Pick

New York Gov. David Paterson (D) said Manhattanites angry over his appointment of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will just have to get over it.

“I live in Manhattan,” Paterson said during a forum in upstate New York, as reported by the Lower Hudson Journal News. “People in Manhattan are going to have to get over” the pick, the governor added.

Paterson has been the target of criticism for picking Gillibrand, as well as for the process that went into choosing a successor for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate. More liberal members of the New York congressional delegation — including those from the New York City area — have offered muted praise or outright skepticism toward the Gillibrand pick. Some have explored backing Long Island Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D) in a primary challenge to the new Senator in 2010.

Paterson will have to seek his own reelection in 2010. The former state senator formerly represented the Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem, where he currently resides.