Last night I had the chance to chat with Marty Golden, a Republican state Senator from Brooklyn, who was attending a Republican fund-raiser on 14th Street.

I asked Golden about Michael Bloomberg’s assertion that the Senate Republican conference--where 28 of 32 members are from upstate outside the city--represent New York City’s interest better than the Senate Democratic conference (whose members are almost exclusively from New York City).

“Well, in turn you have a couple of powerful downstate Republicans who know how to sell the message,” Golden said. He added that people recognize the city’s importance, “even though they try to play that downstate-upstate mentality.”