The Coup

Real slick.

The Senate GOP’s takeover has not only destabilized the Senate, but has also tested the leadership of Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith within his own conference.

Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., the Democrat who was tapped by Senate Republicans to serve as temporary president of the Senate, told reporters Monday evening that since the coup, he has received commitments from four or five Democrats to join his coalition with the Senate Republicans and Democratic Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens. He wouldn’t release the names, but said that he expects them to announce shortly. [Now minority leader Malcolm] Smith asserted Monday that he had the full support of the rest of the Democratic conference, beside Espada and Monserrate, but four Democrats were conspicuously absent from Smith’s press conference — former “Gang of Four” members Sens. Ruben Diaz and Carl Kruger, as well as Sens. Martin Dilan and Tom Duane.

With less than two weeks left in the regular legislative session, the leadership question leaves a number of policy issues in flux.

So the Republicans pulled this off all on their own? Hmm, don’t believe it.

In early spring, Tom Golisano went to Albany from his home in Rochester to meet with Malcolm A. Smith, then the Senate majority leader.

Mr. Golisano, a billionaire business executive, had spent heavily to help Mr. Smith and other Democrats win control of the Senate in the November election, and was angry to hear they were now planning to raise taxes on the wealthy. He expected an audience befitting a major financial patron.

Instead, he said, Mr. Smith played with his BlackBerry and seemed to barely listen.

“I said, ‘I’m talking to the wall here,’ ” Mr. Golisano recalled in an interview on Tuesday.

That meeting led to the dramatic collapse Monday of the Democrats’ grip on the Senate majority as a frustrated Mr. Golisano secretly planned with Republicans to persuade two Democrats to join them in ousting Mr. Smith…

Along with Mr. Golisano, a key figure who helped pull off the plan to overthrow Mr. Smith was Steve Pigeon, who is not only Mr. Golisano’s top political adviser but also a longtime friend of Mr. Espada’s…

After Mr. Golisano’s fruitless meeting with Mr. Smith in March, Mr. Pigeon and Mr. Golisano returned to Albany to meet with Mr. Smith’s top aide, Angelo J. Aponte, the secretary of the Senate. Mr. Golisano insisted that there had to be a way to balance the state budget without raising taxes, and at one point snatched a pad from one of Mr. Aponte’s aides and began scrawling back-of-the-envelope calculations.

One of Mr. Golisano’s aides asked whether the state could issue billions of dollars worth of bonds. Mr. Aponte said it was unlikely the bonds would find buyers in the economic slump. (Mr. Pigeon disputed that account. “We were there to hear their presentation and they didn’t seem to have any good answers,” he said.)

Mr. Golisano gave up on the Democrats and Mr. Pigeon moved quickly to set up a meeting with three top Senate Republicans. Secrecy was imperative, so they decided to meet at a small Albany rock club, Red Square, an unlikely locale for lawmakers.

Ok that is crafty, and apparently these ‘bipartisans’ are down with the whole reform thing, which is very not Albany politics (or really the whole city). How’s that going Senator Espada?

The New York Daily News has been doing excellent work reporting about some of the non-profit recipients of “member items” who then turn around and help the donating politicians with campaign labor, money and other favors. As a prime example, they cite Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. and his “Soundview Health Clinic.” Espada has also been fined for breaking the election laws.

Hmm, getting warm. Take us home Senator Monserrate!

One of the original Gang of Four, he joined with Espada to field the two defecting Democratic votes that enabled the coup. The trouble is he’s under indictment for allegedly slashing his girlfriend’s face with a glass bottle.

Yes! Now that’s the Albany politics I know! And kudos to now two-time minority leader leader Malcolm Smith for his shrewd political instincts on display as he let the plot thicken under his nose.

Of course, in a state where the governor is supposed to be all powerful (the official title is ‘His/Her Excellency’), a vacuum at the center means the rats can run free. Nice to see since we’re in great fiscal shape.