RSS
Home
Pedro Espada returns to Democratic Party
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Albany politics can be described in one word these days: schizophrenic. As quickly as the Senate coup came about, it has just as quickly been reversed. The man at the center of much turmoil over the last month, Senator Pedro Espada Jr. has returned to the Democratic party which once again has a 32 member advantage. As a condition of his return, Espada has been appointed as the Senate majority leader, displacing Dean Skelos. Senator Malcolm A. Smith of Queens will be acting Senate President for the time being while John L. Sampson heads the Democratic caucus.
For the first time since the June 8th coup the Senate Democratic rank and file put on the face of unity with Espada himself going so far as to show remorse over the lack of movement on several key bills, "This has obviously taken a toll on the institution." No kidding.
According to Danny Hakim of the New York Times, billionaire Tom Golisano, the moneychanger with a finger on the pulse of the original take over, kept a presence by proxy in the Senate halls. Steve Pigeon, an aide to Golisano huddled with Senate Republican George D. Maziarz by Espada's office as the deal was being completed. Maziarz claimed that the reforms which Republicans forced through the Senate should remain in place. Espada's partner in crime, so to speak, Senate Hiram Monserrate chimed in saying that the move should not be seen as a win of one party over another.
Now time will tell if some of those bills that many of New York state's most active community groups have been pushing for since the Democrats regained the first majority in more than 40 years. Some of these bills include the repeal of vacancy decontrol, the domestic workers bill of rights and legislation to create public funding for elections, which would cut down on the stranglehold exerted by landlord and real estate interest groups on many of the policies pushed through by some lawmakers. If the news from the past weeks is any indication, one of the first bills heading to the floor as early as tomorrow is a slight increase of New York City's sales tax. There should be little doubt that a push to reinstate Michael Bloomberg's control over the City's school system will be next.
Since Pedro Espada continues to refuse to sign onto to the repeal of Vacancy decontrol or the strengthening of Mitchell-Lama housing throughout the state it remains unclear if either proposal will see the light of day. With Malcolm Smith as majority leader, housing advocates still held some optimism for the passing of these and other progressive pieces of legislation. But the new Senate majority leader has shown strong ties to landlord and building owners groups, even going so far as calling the legislation, "bad bills."
As Alex Kratz of Norwood news reported in a May 19th article, Pedro Espada dined with representatives of the Neighborhood Preservation Political Action Fund, a group supported by landlords, at the upscale Water Club while members of a community group protested outside demanding Espada's support for vacancy decontrol. The Bronx Senator never came out to show his support for the group. Just as telling was his timing of the coup. As I've reported on a few occasions, Espada and Monserrate decided to defect on the day that some of the before-mentioned bills were to go up for a vote. Now time will if any of the proposals will ever see the light of day. The hope here is that lawmakers like Liz Krueger, Eric Schneiderman and Tom Duane will continue fighting to keep these issues at the forefront.
Until next time…
