Like Eddie Murphy And Nick Nolte, You Now Have 48 Hours

Thanks for the op-ed. Here is how we repay you:

Ronald S. Lauder, the billionaire cosmetics heir and term limits champion, said Sunday night that he would vigorously oppose a plan, outlined by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council members, to permanently change the city’s term limits law to allow 12 years in office rather than 8.

His opposition jeopardizes a carefully constructed alliance that was considered key to Mr. Bloomberg’s bid for a third term.

Mr. Lauder, under pressure from friends and Mr. Bloomberg himself, said early last week that he would agree to a temporary revision of the term limits law, which would allow current officeholders to serve three four-year terms.

Mr. Lauder, who bankrolled the 1993 campaign to create term limits in New York City, pointed to the deepening financial crisis, which he said required Mr. Bloomberg’s steady hand.

But when Mr. Bloomberg, a fellow billionaire, and Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced last Thursday a plan to allow the City Council to revise the law, Mr. Lauder was upset to learn that they envisioned a permanent change, rather than a one-time exception.

“If there is a permanent change, I will fight it,” Mr. Lauder said in a telephone interview on Sunday night. “As far as I am concerned, it’s a one-time only exception. That is it.”

For further research: The Times’ Joyce Purnick, who is writing a book about the mayor, seemed to indicate on today’s Brian Lehrer Show that this could be a coordinated move between Bloomberg and Lauder — something about OK’ing a third term permanently (since it may be illegal for the City Council to vote for a special one-time suspension), then having Lauder on the Commission that restores the term limit law to two terms once the election happens. Not sketchy at all!