The most powerful man in Rochester these days is Adam Urbanski.

The longtime-head of the Rochester Teachers Association has the power to stop all of the resistance to mayoral control in a snap, Mayor Bob Duffy said in an interview yesterday.

Duffy said he had made a deliberate appeal to both Urbanski and the leaders of NYSUT, the state teachers union, to see if there is any way they could reach some kind of common ground on the issue. But that isn't likely, Duffy said.

"All the marches, the protesting at David Gantt and Joe Morelle's offices, all the tension would stop immediately if Adam wanted it to," Duffy said. "Adam is the gatekeeper."

Duffy was slightly less upbeat than usual about his chances of getting state legislators to agree to mayoral control. He's met with local Republicans in the state Senate, Jim Alesi and Joe Robach. They didn't say they were against mayoral control, Duffy said, but he conceded that they didn't say they support his idea, either.

Urbanski, apparently, echoed their lack of commitment.

"Adam said, you may beat me in the Assembly, but I'll beat you in the Senate," Duffy said.

The legislation is being worked on, Duffy said. But the turmoil that is engulfing more of Governor David Paterson's time every day and the state's economic problems could slow the process down.

There have been numerous plans for reforming the Rochester school district, Duffy said, citing former RIT President Al Simone's "Call to Arms" among others. But the system is broken, he declared.

"When one person is going to hold the key to reform, it's the system," Duffy said.