Back to 'Normal' in Albany

The coup is over.

Turncoat Democratic Senator Pedro Espada Jr., the catalyst for the June 8 uprising that led to the month-long leadership crisis in Albany that paralyzed the state government and set off a bitter partisan conflict, has turned his coat once more. He abandoned his one-time Republican allies and returned to the Democrats he had, weeks ago, spurned. This move returns control of the Senate to the Democratic Party with a slim 32-30 majority, burying the GOP-led coup and, with it, their hopes of cementing the authority they had claimed in its aftermath.

The uprising has officially reached Thermidor.

What does it take to convince a prodigal senator to return home? Apparently, the same thing it took to get him to leave.

During the four-week leadership crisis, Espada enjoyed a significant jump in the legislative pecking order by being anointed president pro-tempore by the insurgent coalition shortly after seizing power, with Republican Dean Skelos assuming the title of Senate Majority Leader. Upon his return to his fellow Democrats, some of whom vowed to never accept him back into their ranks, he was introduced to the general public as the new Senate Majority Leader, sharing power with his predecessor Sen. Malcolm Smith, who will now serve as president pro-tempore.

Smith, a week after the coup took place, had been unceremoniously dumped by his fellow Democrats, who named Sen. John Sampson of Brooklyn as their de facto leader as part of what was ultimately a successful attempt to woo back Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens, who had left the party along with Espada on June 8. Sampson, under the new order that has arisen in the coup’s aftermath, has assumed leadership of the senate Democratic caucus.

Leadership in the Senate is now in the hands of President Pro Tempore Malcolm Smith, Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, Deputy Senate Majority Leader Jeffrey Klein and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson.

In a press conference held last night, Espada apologized for all the trouble caused by the 31-day standoff, stating “this has obviously taken a toll on the institution, on the families of all the senators, on our work, on the 19.5 million people throughout the state that witnessed chaos and dysfunction on its highest levels. I profoundly apologize.” While his Senate colleagues seem to have accepted this act of contrition, others will need some more convincing.

Gov. David Paterson, during a press conference of his own, said he was glad that the coup had ended, but cautioned about any overweening optimism, noting that “the Senate has resolved its conflict, but it is fragile. The majority is 32-30 and I am sure there are quite a few people who don’t like how things turned out today and I’m sure that tension will exist.”

Paterson is currently engaged in a legal conflict with the GOP that, in the coup’s aftermath, seems vaguely anachronistic and, yet, continues on. Two days ago, Paterson appointed former MTA chair Richard Ravitch to the lieutenant governor’s office, a move that he said had more to do with matters of succession than with ending the stalemate in the Senate – but which, by sheer coincidence, would also have ended the stalemate in the Senate (and in favor of the Democrats, no less). The GOP, concerned with the legality of the appointment, and probably also with preserving a stalemate that no longer exists, acquired a court order to prevent Ravitch from assuming office. While this order was overturned by an appellate court in Albany, further court hearings regarding the appointment, and its legality, are scheduled for next week.

Still, now that the coup is over and order has been restored to the Senate, our hard working legislators can get back to work on the roughly 90 bills that have been backed up since the initial uprising, the serious business of New York State once more getting underway with a minimum of drama and partisan bickering.

Right?