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Long gone are the days when a new first lady could arrive at Gracie Mansion and announce, "I would like everything painted mauve."
The 190-year-old house has a full-time curator now and an assistant curator and a conservancy that is charged with keeping everything historically in tune or, as they say, "of the period."
So Joyce Dinkins, the first woman to occupy the house in 12 years, is treading softly as she redecorates, trying to weave her taste into the master plan left by a 1984 renovation that cost $5 million and employed everyone from archaeologists to upholsterers.
In the ballroom, where musician son-in-law Jay Hoggard likes to tickle the piano keys, she is having the antique rug restored and the wooden floors renovated.
In the dining room, where Mayor David N. Dinkins and his wife host small dinner parties for good friends such as Basil Paterson, chairman of the Mayor's Commission on the Judiciary, and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), Joyce Dinkins is replacing the crystal chandelier.
Elsewhere, she is rearranging the furniture a bit, considering a few wallpaper changes, ordering a new couch or two and having a little fresh paint splashed on some tired walls. The two-story house has 16 rooms and sits on two acres.
"I think I can work within the confines. It still gives me a chance to add my personal touches. But I realize I have to work within the framework because I would not want to do anything to impinge on the historical value," she said during a tour of the stately, Federal-style mansion last week.
There is a bit of history to such tours. When Mary Lindsay took over the mansion, she took a reporter on a white-glove, can-you-believe-this, Leona Helmsley-style march through the dusty house. Her publicized critique got Lindsay entangled in a dispute with Barbara Wagner, second wife of former Mayor Robert Wagner.
Joyce Dinkins, a coordinator with the state tax department until she resigned last year before the election, was taking no chances. When asked how she found the 190-year-old house upon the departure of Mayor Edward I. Koch, she said, "I think it was in good condition."
"It needed refreshing," offered curator David Reese.
In general, the Dinkinses, who moved into the...