Malcolm Smith

Earlier, I wrote that some Democrats are not very enthusiastic about seeing fellow Democrat Jimmy Dahroug make a third attempt to unseat Republican State Senator Caesar Trunzo on Long Island.

Today's Newsday has more on the story.  read more »

A person attending Reform Day in Albany called just now to relay a few remarks made there by Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith.

“Joe Bruno, your time has come -- reform is on its way,” Smith told the audience of more than 150 people, according to the attendee.

Smith went on to say that he will push for campaign finance reform and nonpartisan redistricting, the attendee said.  read more »

 

City Councilman Tom White said today he didn’t think the Sean Bell case is “black against white,” citing the racial diversity of two of the officers on trial (two were black, one was white).

Some, like State Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., think otherwise.

When asked, State Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith seemed to disagree with White, and quickly moved on to the next question.

I just got back from Michael Bloomberg's press conference at a job center in Jamaica, not far from where Sean Bell was killed in 2006.

Bloomberg said he doesn’t expect any violence in response to today's verdict, and added that there is room for peaceful dissent and possibly legal action.

Also there were Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council members Leroy Comrie and Tom White, and State Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith.  read more »

From earlier today, and worth mentioning if only for the unusual starkness of rhetoric:

State Senate Democrats are hoping stop private insurance companies from increasing the cost of health care for thousands of New Yorkers, arguing that a change in New York's three-tier system of calculating costs -- allowing insurance companies to apply for a Tier 4 reimbursement level -- would raise the price of prescription drugs for patients.  read more »

Al Sharpton just finished a press conference with friends and family of Sean Bell, saying they hoped justice would be dispensed by the trial judge, who will announce a verdict Friday.

Sharpton also refuted the notion that their supporter need to be reminded not to act violently if they are unhappy with the decision.

He went on to say that it was the police who acted recklessly when they approached and fired on Bell and his friends without just cause.  read more »

Malcolm Smith is downplaying the notion that David Paterson might force the positions he held as a State Senator into the governorship.

The Senate Minority Leader emphasized that Paterson "understands that he's in a new role" during an interview with Gabe Pressman, taped this morning for NBC's News Forum.

Here's the exchange, from a transcript the network sent over:  read more »

On the agenda for David Paterson today…a lot of smiling.

From his schedule, which the governor's office just sent out:  read more »

 

About 25 seconds into this clip from Joe Bruno’s press conference in Albany yesterday, he explains that when Governor Paterson is out of state, “the majority leader of the Senate assumes all the responsibilities of the lieutenant governor, and that, by definition, includes a vote on the floor of the Senate.”

That vote, plus the one Bruno already has, would give him two votes.

According to the New York Post Senate Minority Leader Malcom Smith's aides have threatened to sue Bruno if he attempts to vote twice..

Curtis Taylor, the communcations director for State Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, just issued a brief statement that doesn't address what is, for nearly everyone, the only Spitzer-related issue there is at this point: whether or not the governor should resign .

The statement: “This is a difficult day for all New Yorkers but most of all our hearts and prayers go out to the Spitzer family.”

Here are some more reactions from the big Democratic victory in last night’s special election, which cut the Republican majority in the state Senate down to one seat.

Roger Stone:

“A coup in the Senate would be a power-grab but Malcolm Smith might find he doesn’t have all the Democrats. Remember the difference between a caucus and a cactus? With a cactus all the pricks are on the outside.  read more »

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I’ve called a few state senators to get their thoughts on the cost-cutting measures Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith introduced in Albany this morning, including reducing the state’s non-essential workforce by 6,000 through attrition, a part of the plan that has already drawn criticism.

State Senator Diane Savino, a former labor activist with Local 371 of AFSCME, offered a sort of preview of how the Democrats intend to defend some of the more contentious aspects of what they're proposing.

“We have to accept the fact that next year, we’re going to have a serious budget deficit for a variety of reasons," she told me.

More after the jump.  read more »

One of the more interesting moments from last night's Empire State Pride Agenda’s fund-raiser: Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell telling attendees that they have to protect lawmakers who voted for his bill to legalize same-sex marriage because if any of them lose, for whatever reason, it’ll be tied to this vote.

Also noteworthy was state Senator Malcolm Smith’s speech. Last year, he waffled briefly on whether to support gay marriage. Last night, he said he threw away his speech, “because how I feel about the issue in my heart and how I feel about the LGBT community, there is no reason for anybody to write anything for me.”

And I can’t pass on noting Smith’s opening remarks acknowledging to other attendees: “Tell me, don’t we have a gorgeous and eloquent First Lady for the state of New York? Congressman Weiner, don’t be jealous now. I’m talking about Silda.”

Here is a copy of the letter John Sampson, Liz Krueger and Velmanette Montgomery drafted with the aim of getting the IRS to investigate Joe Bruno.

It reads, in part:

“Both Attorney General Cuomo’s report and the recent disclosure by the Albany Times-Union suggests that Senator Bruno has repeatedly used the aircraft for travel that was not primarily for bona fide state business and as such, we believe that he should be reporting imputed income for unreimbursed travel as members of the New York State Senate, we urge you to conduct a review into Senator Bruno’s use of the aircraft and his obligation and his obligation to pay federal income taxes on the fair market value of the unreimbursed non-official portion of his travel.”

Malcolm Smith released a statement reaffirming the fact that he (and others) have suspicions about Bruno’s travel, but saying that he decided not to pursue the issue because “it would be a distraction from us getting back to the people's business.”

Smith's full statement is after the jump.  read more »

Joe Bruno may be paranoid that Eliot Spitzer is after him. But it doesn’t mean he’s wrong, either.

News of an aborted plan by Democrats in the state Senate to sic the IRS on Bruno broke today. But in a statement Bruno just put out, he talks of a conversation he had with Senator Malcolm Smith who, Bruno says, admitted the governor was involved in the plot, and that more was underway.

From Bruno’s statement:

“Senator Smith called me last night to confirm that his office had
written the letter, but that he stepped in to stop it. He also informed me
that Spitzer administration officials were involved in this plot and that
other similar dirty tricks were planned, the IRS effort being just one.
This latest revelation confirms that Governor Spitzer and his subordinates
continue to obsess with efforts to personally attack me and have no
interest in governing.

The full statement is after the jump.  read more »

I’m at the Garden City Hotel right now for the state Democratic Party’s fall meeting, which began with a breakfast hosted by the Nassau County Democratic Committee.

Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith livened up the crowd with some blunt, Rangel-esque words about George W. Bush: “Our president, no question, has left every child behind. Our president, no question, has lost his mind.”

Speaking after him was Rep. Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, who spoke about health insurance and ways to solidify Democratic control of New York State.

In the middle of the room there are tables for a few presidential campaigns. Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton‘s table has prime real estate, greeting visitors as they walk into the room, and Barack Obama's and Joe Biden’s tables are on either side of hers. The table for John Edwards is facing the back of the room.

Malcolm Smith, whose evolution on gay issues seems to have occurred around the time he become the Democratic leader in the state Senate, is hosting a “Salute to Pride” event in City Hall on October 11.

The RSVP contact person: Allen Roskoff.

Roskoff is a gay rights activist who has been on the scene since the 1980s (ask him what he thinks of Ed Koch!) and he takes his politics pretty seriously.

During the 2005 mayor’s race, Roskoff attended a candidates’ forum at NYU featuring Freddy Ferrer. He proceeded to pepper the candidate with questions about a vote Ferrer cast when he was in the City Council, in 1986. Talk about a memory.

But Roskoff isn’t holding anything against Smith, who at one point had some difficulty explaining whether he personally supported gay marriage. At a press conference on the City Hall steps announcing he’d be the new minority leader, Smith simply balked at a question on the subject. Later that same day, he turned up at a Pride Agenda event with state Senator Tom Duane at his side and said he was for it.

State Senator Malcolm Smith, who had some trouble explaining his position on same-sex marriage earlier, came out strongly in support of it today, in response to a court ruling on the issue. From a statement:

"Today's State Supreme Court Decision upholding the rights of gay marriages to benefit from the state pension system as any other couple is a step in the right direction in our struggle to provide full marriage equality to all families. While other states and countries have moved forward, New York can not continue falling behind on this important civil rights issue. As we demand civic obligations from every citizen, today's court decision is a resounding message on the need to provide equal protection to all.

"Though same-sex marriage is not legal in New York State, it is encouraging that the court sees the importance of extending benefits to those whose same sex unions are sanctioned by other states and jurisdictions"

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli also sent out a statement of support, saying, “New York State recognizes any marriage that has been conducted in accordance with the laws of other states and countries – and that includes same-sex marriages.”

 

Here's Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith at a press conference in his Albany office, explaing that the bill-drafting process is still "fluid" and that the congestion pricing bill that will likely be voted on today "is not the final bill." Which suggests that, as far as he's concerned, the hard deadline Michael Bloomberg has described isn't all that hard.

 

State Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith said he and his members would oppose Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan if it comes to the floor without the support of the Assembly Democrats.

Smith, speaking to reporters in his third floor office in the capitol, said his conference had issues with enforcement of the congestion charge, the transportation improvement projects that accompany the plan, and the actual boundaries of the zone.

Then he said won’t put his members “on the line” for a one-house bill.

When asked if he would vote against or abstain from voting if the bill does come up for a vote, Smith noted that there are not abstentions because “the rules of our house are a little antiquated.” That’s something Smith said he’d like to change in the future.

Why?

Because, as he told one reporter after the press conference, sometimes you’re just “not there yet” on an issue.

Liz pulled out a startling line from a recent Roll Call article (which we linked yesterday morning) about Malcolm Smith's trip to Washington D.C., where he tried to drum up financial support to help Democrats retake the state Senate. In doing so, Smith downplayed a major initiative advocated by Eliot Spitzer: redistricting.

From her site:

According to Roll Call, Smith "hopes the governor can be persuaded to leave the map-making in the hands of the politicians."

That's startling. The perception for a while now has been that there's little to no daylight between the two men, leading one of Smith's critics to say he is "a wholly owned subsidiary of the governor." Which seemed to be on display when Smith and the Senate Democrats supported a bill opposed by Spitzer--only briefly.

One explanation could be that the only way to shake money out of lawmakers in D.C. is to play down redistricting reform. Obviously, members of Congress get nervous when the little guys in the state legislatures start talking about redrawing their districts.

I emailed Spitzer and Smith's offices to get some clarification on all this and will update you if any is forthcoming.

UPDATE: Citizens Union is concerned with Smith's position on the issue.

In this day of stealth campaigns and non-stop politicking, it’s easy to see endorsements in just about anything.

Case in point: At a fund-raiser for Lieutenant Governor David Paterson on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith had some very kind words for City Comptroller Bill Thompson, whose interest in running for mayor is well-known.

Smith had jokingly offered to endorse Thompson for mayor that night, according to a source, who said of Smith‘s remark‘s, “It definitely sounded like a resounding endorsement to me.”

I ran into Malcolm Smith last night outside a fund-raiser for the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and asked him about it.

"Somebody yelled it out," Smith told me. "They were trying to drag it out of me."

To be clear, Smith said he made no endorsement in that race, but seemed amused at being asked.

Read into that what you will.

What latitude does the leader of a political conference have in speaking for his conference?

That question is at the heart of Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith's complaint about the Republican Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who said yesterday that he gets plenty of feedback from his conference members and could therefore speak on their behalf at meetings of legislative leaders.  read more »

So, what does Hillary Clinton think about the much-discussed prospective presidential candidacy of Mike Bloomberg, who she's sort of friendly with and who, like Hillary, is in the Capitol today?

I tried asking her earlier as she left the third floor office of Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, where she held a brief meeting with Senate Democrats (but not a media availability).  read more »

About that meeting yesterday in Albany for Democratic Senate staffers with Minority Leader Malcolm Smith...

Senate Democratic staffers came “from locations as far away as Buffalo and Long Island” and the event was, according to a statement from Smith's office, "historic.”

From the statement:

“The purpose of the meeting was to unveil the Conference’s ‘9 to 5 Agenda’ for improving quality of life in New York. It also
mobilized staff to develop a comprehensive plan for putting the needs of hard-working New Yorkers and families first.”

It's worth noting that since this was a political event and not a governmental one, officially speaking, the staffers from Buffalo, Long Island and everywhere else had to pay their own way to get there.

A spokesman for Smith, Curtis Taylor, confirmed that the staffers were not reimbursed for travel expenses associated with the meeting.

UPDATE: Curtis Taylor, a spokesman for Smith, called to object to the description of the meeting as “political,” saying it was similar to other Democratic conference meetings at which officials and staffers discussed policy objectives.

The main difference, as noted in the press release they sent out, is that the gathering at the State Museum was “the first ever meeting of the Senate Democratic Conference’s entire 300-person staff."

The full statement from Smith is after the jump.  read more »

The AP has an official statement from Democratic Senate Leader Malcolm Smith explaining why he pulled his entire conference off a bill raising salaries for state lawmakers--something Governor Spitzer opposed. Smith said the conference changed position because Senate Republicans didn't agree to campaign finance reform.

As a result, the members of the minority conference will remove their names as sponsors of Sen. Bruno's pay raise bill," Smith said in a prepared statement. "Moreover, we will oppose this bill absent an agreement by the majority to embrace meaningful campaign finance reform.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, needless to say, thinks that Smith got steamrolled.

Somewhere, political consultant Norman Adler -- who once called the Senate Democratic conference a "wholly owned subsidiary" of Spitzer's operation -- is chuckling.  read more »

This is odd.

All Democratic Senate staffers are being called to Albany for a meeting on May 1st about some kind of “staff development,“ according to two knowledgeable staffers.

As one source, who learned about the all-hands meeting in an email, told me, “I don’t think district people usually go up there. Very bizarre.”

One Senate staffer who confirmed the meeting told me “it is unprecedented.”

A call to Senate Minority leader Malcolm Smith’s office was not immediately returned.

Anybody know more?

[UPDATE] Someone just passed on the memo from Smith. It's after the jump.  read more »

9 a.m. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute will release results of a poll asking New York state voters about 2008 presidential hopefuls.

9:30 a.m. Sen. Malcolm Smith kicks off a listening tour in Far Rockaway at the Rockaway-Inwood Ministerial Coalition, 2123 Birdsall Avenue; then moves on to Rockaway Childcare of Redfern, 1466 Beach Channel Drive, at 10:50 a.m.; JASA, 1915 Seagirt Boulevard, at noon; the Ocean Bay Community Development, 434 Beach 54th Street, at 1:30 p.m.; and the Redfern Housing Development, 1456 Beach Channel Drive, at 4 p.m.  read more »

More budget pessimism in Albany...

Malcolm Smith, the Democratic Senate Minority Leader, didn't sound too optimistic about getting a state budget on time. During an interview he taped with Channel 4 today, airing Sunday, Smith said:

If we pass Monday, that's it, we're going to be in pretty bad shape and you're looking at a late budget. And then if the governor chooses just to go ahead and deal with essential services, you know, the other part of big government will shut down.

UPDATE: The full transcript from the show is here. . -- Azi Paybarah

Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith just said that his conference is going vote Martha Stark for comptroller.

Here's a snippet of the exchange Smith had with a radio reporter who asked why they're backing Stark.

Smith: "It's a conference decision."

Reporter: "But why is she more qualified than the other two?"

Smith: "Because Martha Stark is the person we voted for."

Reporter: "I didn't ask why, who you voted for. I asked why is she more qualified than the other two?"

Smith: "Did you look at her background?"

Smith wasn't much clearer when addressing the claim that two Republican senators were ready to switch parties, which would give the Democrats control of the Senate and make him majority leader. Citing the theoretical notion of "Zones of Potential Agreement" he said he learned about at a seminar at Harvard, Smith said that some other members of the legislature were "in the zone."

He declined to name names.

-- Azi Paybarah

With Barack Obama is officially considering a run, I was reminded of a report that he was seeking to recruit influential operative and former deputy mayor Bill Lynch to help get his bid off the ground.

Here's what Lynch, who worked for Hillary Clinton in 2000 and 2006, told me earlier today:

"I think there was a story in New York Magazine about a month ago where the Obama people reached out to me and said they wanted to meet, but I have not heard back from them."

"He has not reached out to me to ask me to be involved at all," Lynch added. "Right now, I'm helping Malcolm Smith in the Democratic state senate race in Nassau County."

I asked if he'd definitely be getting involved with Obama or Hillary or any of the other 2008 candidates once the special election was over.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," he said.

-- Azi Paybarah

Pictured here at Malcolm Smith's inauguration ceremony in Queens on Friday night are Albert Baldeo, the Democratic candidate who narrowly lost to Republican state Senator Serph Maltese, and political consultant Gary Tilzer, who blogs under the name "Oneshirt".

The two have been making the rounds at Democratic events, reminding everyone that they came within about 900 votes of ousting an incumbent state senator -- without any organizational aid from the party. Needless to say, they wouldn't mind a little help the second time around.

-- Azi Paybarah

"Welcome to my house."

That's how the ever-affable Senator Malcolm Smith greeted some people who arrived at Gracie Mansion last night for Mayor Bloomberg's annual party with state Senators, according to one attendee.

It was a bi-partisan affair, with guests including senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Manhattan senators Tom Duane, Liz Kruger, Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, and others in attendance. Unlike some other parties the mayor has held at Gracie Mansion, Bloomberg posed for pictures with nearly every guest (anybody want to send me their copy?).

The timing of this annual party couldn't have been better, coming one day before a pivotal special election for Michael Balboni's seat in Nassau kicks into high gear. While Governor Spitzer, Tom Suozzi, and key Democratic operatives are all heading to Nassau to help Craig Johnson, a local legislator, its not clear how much Bloomberg will get involved to help Republicans and their candidate, Nassau County Clerk, Maureen O'Connell.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's to the folks who work overtime to dispel the notion of a slow news day. (Like, say, today.)

Over the past month, the Queens Chronicle has collected every e mail and fax sent by Queens representatives at all levels of government: city, state and federal. The paper tabulated the total number of communications and [John] Liu came out ahead by a large margin.

The highly scientific results:

The Press Release Champs

City Council: John Liu (D Flushing), 37 e mails, 3 faxes

State Assembly: Mike Gianaris (D Astoria), 7 e mails, 4 faxes

State Senate: Malcolm Smith (D St. Albans), 10 e mails, 14 faxes

Federal Government: Sen. Hillary Clinton, 32 e mails

--releases collected between Nov. 21 and Dec. 21, 2006 by the Queens Chronicle

-- Azi Paybarah

Check out this teaser New York magazine just sent out about their upcoming story on Alan Hevesi.

"No one is more upset about the Alan Hevesi chauffeur scandal than Alan Hevesi. But just because he spends most nights morosely fixating on his troubles doesn't mean he's going to accept whatever punishment his former friend Eliot Spitzer decides to dish out. And he's got a better chance of keeping his job than most people think."

Just to review: If Eliot Spitzer asks the state Senate to recall Hevesi, two thirds of the chamber will need to go along with it. So if Joe Bruno supported it, but not Malcolm Smith and the minority Democrats, it wouldn't be enough votes.

Smith, so far, has said he won't discuss the issue in detail because he's like a prospective juror on a trial.

If Hevesi resigned, it would create a vacancy which the state constitution says needs to be filled by both chambers of the legislature. Since the 108 Assembly Democrats are the largest bloc of votes, the decision would be in the hands of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

If Hevesi, Silver and Smith all decided to push back against Spitzer on removing the comptroller, then... what?

-- Azi Paybarah

Remember when Malcolm Smith caught some heat for saying the election strategy for Democratic minority in the state Senate this year was basically to try to hold on the seats that they already have. Some people said afterwards Smith was misunderstood.

Well it's not as if we need much additional evidence at this point, but that first analysis seems to have been on the mark, according to Eliot Spitzer. Here's what he told Jewish Week:

"Joe Bruno is clearly a significant player in Albany. I don't want to concede that we won't take a majority in the Senate, nor do I want to be polyannish and say we're going to, but it certainly it seems most likely he'll be the majority leader of the state senate..."

-- Azi Paybarah

Malcolm Smith was at last night's annual fundraiser for the Empire State Pride Agenda, where I photographed him with former New York Blade editor Steve Weinstein (l) and Sen. Tom Duane (r). Smith said told me last night that supports gay marriage, and added, "I always have."

That's a little different from what he said earlier in the day.

When I asked him about an old Queens Chronicle cover story in which said that he wouldn't state his position on gay marriage, Smith said that the story was written when he was on vacation.

Going by the piecemeal evidence that we have, then, Smith's evolution on the issue coincides with the speech Eliot Spitzer gave last night in which he told the state's largest gay lobby that he fully supports gay marriage.

Looks like Smith will be the kind of minority leader Spitzer can do business with.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

At the Brooklyn Democratic County dinner earlier this year, Democratic county leader Vito Lopez made two things clear. He's backing Marty Dilan and that he expects the Queens county organization to join him, much the way they teamed up to pick a Speaker for the City Council.

With only 26 senate Democrats, whoever gets 14 of those votes becomes the next minority leader. If all the senators from Brooklyn and Queens got together, that would be 13 votes right there. Theoretically.

Now, the buzz -- nicely documented by Ben and Liz here and here is essentially all about Senator Malcolm Smith being on the verge of declaring victory.

So what happened to the Lopez plan?

"Vito Lopez is 100% behind Marty Dilan," Lopez's spokeswoman, Alison Hirsh just told me. "And Queens and Brooklyn made a commitment to work together one way or the other."

-- Azi Paybarah

A reader passes on word that Malcolm Smith, the Queens state senator who is agressively campaigning to become the next minority leader, scheduled a press conference yesterday with senate members -- but abruptly cancelled it. A sign, perhaps, that Smith doesn't have the votes he thought.

Smith's spokeswoman said no such meeting was planned or scheduled and dismissed the story as a rumor.

Maybe. Maybe not. This race is similar to the speaker's race in the City Council: most if not all the jockeying is behind closed doors. Since only elected officials vote, the public has zero input, but folks in labor, lobbyists and, of course, the county leaders all have their say.

That's where it gets interesting. Brooklyn and Queens teamed up to help pick Christine Quinn as the City Council Speaker. But for senate minority leader, that two-borough formula may not be working together.

At the Brooklyn Democratic County dinner earlier this year, Brookyn County Leader Vito Lopez indicated that his candidate for the job was Martin Dilan. The Executive Secetary of the Queens Organization, Michael Reich, said the two boroughs should work together, which Lopez seemed happy about at the time.

That's all to say allegiances, votes and promises aren't finalized until the votes are cast.

-- Azi Paybarah