In the more than 10 years that Mayor Anthony Russo has been in public service, he has had his fair share of struggles, but none of them are as big as the one that he is currently involved in. Two weeks ago, doctors removed a tumor that the mayor said was “slightly larger than a golf ball” from the right side of his brain in an operation at the New York University Medical Center. This week, Russo’s doctors told him that the tumor was malignant. Although the mayor says that he has been assured that they removed 100 percent of the tumor, he is still going to undergo four weeks of radiation therapy to try and eliminate any microscopic cancerous cells that were not taken out in the surgery. That sort of trauma would leave most people lying flat on their backs recuperating for weeks, but it seems to have only slowed down the energetic 52-year-old mayor. “I’ve rested for a few days at the hospital and a couple days here at home, and it’s funny, but I really don’t feel like there is anything wrong,” said Russo in a phone conversation Thursday. “I don’t feel tired. I don’t feel pain. Now of course that could all change once I start the radiation treatment. But if that is the case, I will rest intermittently at that time. In the meantime, I am going to do as much as I can do.” On Wednesday, less than a week after his brain surgery, Russo said that he spent a few hours in City Hall catching up on city business. At the City Council meeting that night, Business Administrator George Crimmins made a point of telling the crowd that the mayor himself had provided an “authentic signature” on a proclamation that was being delivered to a representative of the Stevens Cooperative School that night. And the police station was buzzing Wednesday afternoon after a pair of officers mentioned that they had seen the mayor casually enjoying lunch at a local restaurant. “My thinking is that I am the mayor, and I will continue to be the mayor,” Russo said. “If, in the future, some unfortunate circumstances surround me that would keep me from doing the job, I will deal with that. But right now, I am just taking it one day at a time.” Michele Russo, the mayor’s wife, said that she was delighted with the progress her husband was making. “Two hours after the surgery, he was up and talking normally,” she said. “I didn’t expect him to be doing so well. I’ve had several family members who have been through this, so I know how hard it can be.”
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