The latest round of chaos, dysfunction and controversy in New York state politics can be blamed on a Blackberry.
As reported by The New York Times and other media, Malcolm A. Smith, a Democrat and then the state Senate’s majority leader, kept fussing with his Blackberry while meeting with a visitor this March in Albany.
Unfortunately for Smith, the visitor was B. Thomas Golisano, a billionaire advocate of tax reform who did not take kindly to playing second fiddle to a smartphone.
“I said, ‘I’m talking to the wall here,’” recalled Golisano, who had sought out a meeting with Smith to lobby against a proposed hike in state taxes on the wealthy.
Miffed, Golisano and his aides began working on the coup that took place Tuesday.
In a surprise move, two Democratic senators, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, voted with Republicans to change the Senate leadership from Democratic to Republican.
Republican Dean G. Skelos of Long Island was elected majority leader, replacing Smith. Espada was chosen to be president of the Senate, a position that had been held by Smith. Prior to this, Democrats had a two-vote margin over Republicans, controlling the Senate for the first time in decades.
Caught off guard, Democrats sputtered and fumed, locked the Senate doors and went to court, though the first judge to hear their case Thursday said he had no authority to act.
Meanwhile, Monserrate, one of the defecting Democrats, left the Senate chamber on Thursday, depriving the new leadership of a quorum. He refused to say whether he still backs the current leadership, though, at the same time, he told reporters he was hoping to recruit more Democrats for the coalition.
The takeover represents a victory for Golisano, 67, a man who hasn’t had that much luck getting his way previously.
He’s run three times for governor - pouring millions of his own fortune into the campaigns - with no success.
Last year, he formed Responsible New York and put up $5 million to back candidates for the state legislature, but the money did little to unseat entrenched incumbents or to change tax policy in the state.
Frustrated, Golisano, the founder of Paychex Inc. and the owner of hockey’s Buffalo Sabres, announced last month that he was changing his principal residence from suburban Rochester, NY, to Florida. He said the move would save him about $5 million a year in taxes.
After he got nowhere with Smith, Golisano began meeting secretly with Republican senators, as well as with Monserrate and Espada, to plot the overthrow.
There have been no reports of what, if any, promises Golisano made to Monserrate and Espada.
In announcing their decision to vote with Republicans on the leadership shift, the two senators said that they would remain Democrats.
Each man brings some baggage to Golisano’s reform movement.
In March, a grand jury indicted Monserrate on charges of stabbing his companion in the face with a glass.
Espada has been frequently fined for not disclosing campaign contributions. In addition, the Bronx senator may not actually be living in the Bronx. And a health care organization that he directs is under investigation for misusing funds.
The upheaval in the state Senate comes at a time when the legislature is dealing with a wide variety of issues including severe revenue shortfalls.
In addition, Gov. David A. Paterson, a Democrat, is widely unpopular.
Polls show that he even has lower favorable numbers than does his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, who resigned last year after it was revealed that he had been frequenting high-price prostitutes.
(Editor’s note: This story was updated Thursday to include new developments.)
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