By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

My daughter Allison celebrated her Bat Mitzvah this week – the Jewish right of passage when a student accepts adult responsibility as a member of the Jewish community and is eligible to read from the Torah.

Below, is my toast to Allison, given at a party in her honor at Caffé on the Green:

Allow me the privilege of making a toast,
Of telling a story, and permit me to boast,
Sit back, relax, I’m taking my time,
Of our Allison Carly, I’ve written this rhyme.

On behalf of Lillian and brother Lee,
On behalf of both grandmas and the whole family,
We thank you all for coming and sharing this day,
We wouldn’t dream of doing it any other way.

Since her beginning, she’s been making us smile,
With her spunk, and her wisdom, her wit,
and her style,
Born the flying “Mooshkie,” and raised as the “Moo,”
She’s an utter pleasure, and she’s moovelous, too.

She is our little lady and we love her, and how,
Said when she grows up, she wants to be a cow,
Or an actress, or teacher, or lawyer,
or writer like me,
Whatever it is, she’ll be the best she can be.

Today at her Bat Mitzvah, she made us all proud,
She studied the language and chanted out loud,
She’s a diligent student, a hard-working girl,
If she puts her mind to it, she can conquer the world.

She’s proved it in school, in orchestra and more,
She’s talented and gifted and writes like her pa,
She’s got the wisdom of ages and a wit that is rare,
A punster, a gamester, is our daughter fair.

She’s polite to a fault; don’t know where it comes from,
She’s serious quite often, but loves to have fun,
She plays with her friends, and she rides her bike,
But she doesn’t go camping and she’ll never hike.

She likes to draw and she loves to write,
She’s a wiz on computer and online all night,
Words are her fodder, she spins them with skill,
Reading her writing gives me a thrill.

But without all the talent, and without the poise,
And without comparing her to girls and to boys,
Without the pleasures she’s brought to our life,
She gives wondrous meaning to me and my wife.

It’s her hugs and her smiles, she whispers, “I love you”
She’s full of warmth, and full of other things too,
To us, she’s the best, just ask brother Lee,
Cause even when wrong, she’s all right to us three.

So Allie, some advice from a father, who loves you so much,
Use your mind, and your charm, and your special touch
To try to right wrongs and help those who are in need,
In Hebrew, it’s Mitzvah, but it’s just a good deed.

I know that you’re caring, and know wrong from what’s right,
I know you’ll do battle with all of your might,
I know the world needs you, your friends, and lots more,
Civilization’s at stake, and I don’t like the score.

I’m not going on, she’s embarrassed enough,
But I don’t get to brag often, so Allison... tough.
On behalf of those who couldn’t make it and everyone here,
We raise our glasses and wish you good cheer.

A life filled with challenges, with happiness and health,
What you do to help others is the real wealth,
I’m not worried a bit, cause I knew right from the start,
That of all of your wonders, the best is your heart.

So today is the beginning of the rest of your life,
May it be filled with happiness more than with strife,
May you always see beauty, may you always spread joy,
May you get as much pleasure from your own girl or boy.

To my “Mooshkie,” my “Allie,” my “Baby,” my “Moo,”
No matter how far, we’ll always love you,
No matter how old, you’ll still be our girl,
Even though someday you’ll conquer this world.

So all dance and make merry and party today,
And celebrate Allie and her special day,
We thank you for coming; you’ve made us quite glad,
Now Allison Carly, come kiss your dad!

Mulrow: Focused & Driven

By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

Bill Mulrow called and asked to meet. Sure I knew the name; I had seen his picture — I’m not sure I would have recognized him; but I knew he was the Democratic candidate in the race for State comptroller against Alan Hevesi.

Now if I didn’t express it adequately last week in my interview with Hevesi – written before I met with Mulrow – Alan is bright, knowledgeable and a Queens kid who grew up on the same streets and attended the same schools as I did. After a long career in public service and a rocky run for Mayor, I assumed Alan would waltz into a well-deserved position as NYS comptroller.

Well, things don’t always come that easily in politics.

Although I was ready to meet with Bill Mulrow, I was also ready to be cordial and quickly dismiss him as a viable alternative to my friend from Forest Hills.

I couldn’t.

Bill Mulrow is driven, charismatic, knowledgeable, bright, articulate and a very impressive political neophyte. In an interview, he handles himself as well as any. He stood up to the toughest challenges and has obviously schooled himself in public finance and the job of NYS comptroller. Bill Mulrow deserves serious consideration. Whether or not I wind up where I expected to be, Bill Mulrow will be in this race till the end — closing the huge name recognition gap that 30 years of public service and four citywide campaigns have given to Hevesi. This race will be a lot closer than I would have imagined and a lot closer than Hevesi could have expected.

Mulrow is charming. “Why are you running?” I asked.

“My wife asks me that every once in a while,” retorted the successful investment banker who has so far poured a million dollars into his own campaign. “This is the right time and right office for me,” explained Mulrow. And for a position of checks and balances requiring independence, Mulrow believes he is in a “better situation” than an opponent who is a product of the system.

This was just one of a number of well-placed strategic shots aimed at Hevesi in the middle of Hevesi country.

New York City’s pension fund has “under-performed its peers,” he charged. However, as of this writing, Mulrow’s staff has not produced the backup to validate the claim.

“We have a $6 billion budget gap today, but the past 10 years have been the best in history of mankind in terms of economic boom,” and he asked where is the boost to City from that? What happened to the investment? he posed.

He inquired, “Where was the Comptroller’s office was on the School Construction Authority gap... the 3-plus billion dollar shortfall that occurred while Hevesi served as City comptroller.

“Giuliani was a strong Mayor and he ruled the city as he pleased,” charged Mulrow, suggesting that Hevesi was not an effective watchdog.

The Comptroller’s, “first, primary and most important role has to be fiduciary because you are a public pension fund manager,” explained Mulrow citing his independence and experience to set him apart.

“[Bill] Thompson is doing a good job,” he said of Hevesi’s successor, explaining he has “revamped the investment policies of the City and he is a player in trying to estimate the budget gap.”

Mulrow’s other theme throughout the hour-and-a-half interview was of his very modest economic roots. The product of Irish immigrants repeatedly reminded us he was, “raised in the Bronx in a five-story walk up.” Mulrow lived in Bayside for a couple of years and still has fond memories of “walking down 42nd Avenue in this nice little neighborhood of houses and trees . . . a city street that looked like a suburban street.” His Wall Street jobs took him to Manhattan then finally Westchester.

He attacked the State budget as “laughable,” placing all the blame on Governor Pataki without criticizing a single Democrat.

The State is #1 in “general obligation debt in the country with $38 billion; California is second with $22 billion....There is $60 billion worth of off balance sheet debt,” charged Mulrow. He challenged the growth rate assumption and pointed to “one-shot” fixes that will haunt the State in the future. Yet, when asked if either State Comptroller Carl McCall or Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver were at all responsible for the situation, Mulrow seemed to play the perfect party politician and avoided blaming any Democrat for contributing to the State’s failure.

Mulrow opposes term limits, calling for public finance of campaigns on a statewide level to fix the broken system.

He pledged, in the future, to personally cap contributions to avoid the appearance of conflict. He pointed to the need to attract “better people to public life.”

He favors casino gambling both upstate and in the Rockaways as an additional revenue stream.

Capturing a majority of the State convention and 40 out of 62 State County Democratic leaders, Mulrow claimed victory in the inside political game against a 30-year political veteran Hevesi. “Name recognition in politics is the easiest thing to get,” he claimed dismissing the great disparity in the polls between himself and Hevesi.

“I’m out there talking about the issues. I’m working. I’ve been in the financial business for 30 years. There’s something right about that,” explained Mulrow responding to how he was going to overtake the poll leader.

“New York needs long-term solutions,” he explained. “We got into this problem over the course of many years....Taxes aren’t the real answer,” he insisted. “This is the largest tax state in the country,” he emphasized. The real answer is the “State and the City are going to have to live within their means . . . we must bring more business to the state to raise revenue.”

If you are “clearly not happy with what has gone on in government, then you need me,” he resonated. “I’d like to change the way they do business.

“I’m experienced, independent, honest; someone who can be a financial watchdog and fight for the average guy on the street,” he concluded.