Mr. Silver has adamantly denied those motives, saying that he will not accept vacancy decontrol because it would mean an end to all rent protections.

But they said they did not consider either man's position moderate, since both advocate vacancy decontrol, a process that would eventually lead to the end of most or all rent protections.

Though his group would support expanding those programs, he said they still would want to end most rent protections.

Ms. Mucha noted that Assembly Democrats had also sent out state-financed letters extolling the new rent law, which extends most rent protections for another six years.

In a recent interview, the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, said he would push for legislation to abolish all rent protections, either gradually or immediately.

Many tenant advocates do not think that there should be any means test tied to rent protections, saying that the system was not designed to give subsidies to individuals but to keep housing affordable.

The Pataki-D'Amato decontrol plan means an end to rent protections.

In that statement, the Governor indicated that he supported continuing most rent protections.

Mr. Bruno, who has called for ending most rent protections in two to four years, praised Mr. Pataki for trying to broker a compromise.

Within three years rent protections were removed from more than 400,000 New York City apartments.