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July 9, 2009

NY Senate standoff ends

By MICHAEL GORMLEY

ALBANY — A dissident Democratic senator is back with his party after helping lead the Republican-dominated coup that shut down New York’s Senate for more than a month.

Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada’s return gives Democrats a 32-30 majority for the first time since the June 8 coup.

As part of the deal, Espada takes the title of Senate majority leader.

Espada’s move comes after Democratic Gov. David Paterson’s shocking decision to appoint a lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate, giving his party the upper hand in a chamber that’s been divided 31-31.

“It was never about power, but about empowerment,” Espada said at a Democratic news conference where he was introduced as the majority leader.

“As Democrats, we have differences of opinion, different concerns,” said Sen. Malcolm Smith of Queens, now president of the Senate but no longer majority leader. “Yet at the end of the day, Democrats always come together.”

Then Smith announced the end of the standoff, with Espada at his side: “Democrats have come together to move the state’s business forward.”

“The Democrats are back in charge now,” said Sen. Jeffrey Klein, a Bronx Democrat and deputy majority leader.

For more than a month, the Senate’s paralysis stalled action on mayoral control of New York City’s schools, taxing authority in some municipalities and economic development programs.



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