After Eliot L. Spitzer was officially sworn in on January 1 as the 54th governor of New York State, the biggest question now among members of the Black and immigrant communities is, will he deliver on his promises?

A few months prior to the gubernatorial elections, Spitzer met with the ethnic and community publications in New York City, vowing to provide more employment opportunities for minorities, stop gentrification, abate crimes, curb cases of police abuse and profiling, and expand healthcare services, among other things.

“We only heard what he (Spitzer) said during his campaign, but we keep ourselves very vigilant, keeping an eye on him and watching closely what he’s going to do next,” Hazel Dukes, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in New York state, told the Amsterdam News in a telephone interview.

Hinting that social and economic issues in New York can be properly addressed if efficient leaders lead state agencies, Dukes was hopeful that Spitzer would appoint people who are going to work on reforms.

She said that the new governor should focus on departments that deal with education, criminal justice and labor, adding that “we need more minority-owned businesses, equality on education, fair treatment in criminal investigations, and new voting machines.

“Expect that we are going to give our critique after Governor Spitzer’s first 100 days in the office. We are not concerned about the politics, but we are concerned about the aims and aspirations for our community,” Dukes said.

But some Black New York City residents expressed mixed feelings on whether Spitzer could deliver reforms.

“The new governor is facing a long list of challenges. Name every sector and you can pinpoint a problem. For the graft and corruption in Albany, Spitzer said he would create ethics rules. In the Black community, profiling and racial discrimination will always be there. Do you think Spitzer has answers to that? I don’t know,” said Somara Lewis, a student activist at Brooklyn College.

Laura-Lee Smith, an advocate who independently runs whatudontknow.com – a socio-economic Web site that covers current events – agreed.

”I think that there are certain issues in the Black community that are intangible, and the only thing that Spitzer could do is to inform the public about it. We talk about gentrification and racial profiling, but what can he really do about it directly, aside from creating programs at a grassroots level?” Smith said.

Camilla Barungi, a Ugandan professional model based in Manhattan, said that the new governor should be given a chance to prove that he could deliver what he promised.

“I have to admit that I don’t know Spitzer very well, and I am sure that a lot of Black people feel the same way. But who knows, Spitzer could actually give us the right representatives in his administration who could lobby the civic and social services for the Black and immigrant communities,” said Barungi, 25, in an interview. “As a Black person, I just want to be safe here.”

Professor Gerald Benjamin, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at SUNY New Paltz, said that Spitzer needs time to carry out effective reforms in his new administration.

“It is very hard to anticipate what’s going to happen. There are issues about housing, Medicaid, ethics and many other things,” Benjamin said in a panel discussion held recently at the New School. “However, there are certain battles that cannot be won in the short term.”