ALBANY - The officials who make up the much-maligned, three-men-in-a-room system of governance for New York state haven't changed in a decade and are about to embark on Year 11, a record of longevity unmatched in the state's 227-year history.
It was in early 1994 that Sheldon Silver became speaker of the state Assembly after his fellow Democrat, Saul Weprin, had a stroke and died.
In early November of that year, Republican George Pataki defeated Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo in the governor's race. With the governor-elect's help, Joseph Bruno staged a coup later that month against fellow Republican Ralph Marino to become the state Senate's majority leader.
Over the next 10 years, the trio survived disloyal lieutenants, serious health problems and ambitious underlings. The three, usually meeting behind closed doors, negotiated agreements on most major issues facing the state. They got credit for successes and blame for the state's increasingly systemic gridlock which has, among other things, produced 20 years of late budgets.
"In some ways, it is like a bad marriage," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a frequent critic of the system. "They have accumulated a long history together and they know what to do to drive the other one crazy."
A look at the three:
€ Pataki, 59, is the nation's senior governor. In the past 100 years, only fellow Republicans Nelson Rockefeller (15 years) and Thomas Dewey (12 years), and Democrat Cuomo (12 years), have served longer as New York's chief executive.
Pataki easily won a second term in 1998 and, in the process, dumped his first lieutenant governor, Betsy McCaughey Ross. She became a Democrat and unsuccessfully sought her new party's nomination to challenge Pataki's re-election.
Bruno and Silver have both had up-and-down relations with the governor, each accusing him of cutting deals with the other. They, in turn, have occasionally ganged up on Pataki to impose tax increases and spending hikes over his vetoes. Silver routinely accuses the governor of refusing to negotiate and of neglecting affairs of state. Unlike his predecessor, Pataki loves to take vacations. He just spent 10 days with his family in central Europe over the Christmas holidays.
Pataki is a lawyer, a former mayor of Peekskill and was a member of both the state Assembly and Senate. He is a potential 2008 presidential candidate, although his moderate stance on social issues - he favors abortion rights and tough gun-control laws - could make getting the GOP nomination difficult. He is 6-foot-5 and has a soft-spoken demeanor.
Pataki is Roman Catholic, married and has four children.
€ Bruno, 75, has been in the Senate for 28 years and is a millionaire former communications company executive who lives on a horse farm just outside Troy, not far from Albany. He is the most impatient of the trio when it comes to negotiations and the most outspoken.
Bruno survived prostate cancer in 2003 and had a torn artery in his stomach surgically repaired in 2004. Nonetheless, the former Korean War infantry sergeant still regularly sprints up nine flights of stairs to his office atop the Legislative Office Building. His trim appearance and senatorial silver mane are trademarks.
Only fellow Republicans Walter Mahoney of Buffalo (11 years) and Warren Anderson of Binghamton (16 years) have served longer than Bruno as Senate majority leader in the past 100 years.
A conservative when he became majority leader, Bruno has drifted to the left in recent years as he sought to protect his GOP majority in a state where there are 5 million Democrats and 3 million Republicans. In November, however, the GOP lost three Senate seats and possibly four depending on the outcome of an ongoing recount in one district. Republicans began 2004 with 38 of the Senate's 62 seats and enter 2005 with just 35 seats and possibly only 34. There has been grumbling within GOP Senate ranks about that, but thus far no open move against Bruno's leadership.
Bruno is Roman Catholic, married and has four children.
€ Silver, 60, was elected to the state Assembly in 1976 and represents an area of lower Manhattan that includes ground zero and Chinatown. Since Cuomo's loss, Silver has been viewed as the most powerful Democrat in state government - a sort of "Dr. No" to Pataki and Bruno. In the past century, only the late Republican Oswald Heck of Schenectady has served longer (22 years) as Assembly speaker.
Silver has personal experience with grumblers. In May 2000, his chief lieutenant, then-Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman, was set to launch a coup, claiming Silver was autocratic and unresponsive to rank-and-file Assembly Democrats. Unfortunately for Bragman, word leaked out and Silver quashed the coup attempt. Stripped of the majority leader's job, Bragman soon found himself in an office little bigger than a broom closet and resigned from the Legislature at the end of 2001.
In early November of that year, Republican George Pataki defeated Democratic incumbent Mario Cuomo in the governor's race. With the governor-elect's help, Joseph Bruno staged a coup later that month against fellow Republican Ralph Marino to become the state Senate's majority leader.
Over the next 10 years, the trio survived disloyal lieutenants, serious health problems and ambitious underlings. The three, usually meeting behind closed doors, negotiated agreements on most major issues facing the state. They got credit for successes and blame for the state's increasingly systemic gridlock which has, among other things, produced 20 years of late budgets.
"In some ways, it is like a bad marriage," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a frequent critic of the system. "They have accumulated a long history together and they know what to do to drive the other one crazy."
A look at the three:
€ Pataki, 59, is the nation's senior governor. In the past 100 years, only fellow Republicans Nelson Rockefeller (15 years) and Thomas Dewey (12 years), and Democrat Cuomo (12 years), have served longer as New York's chief executive.
Pataki easily won a second term in 1998 and, in the process, dumped his first lieutenant governor, Betsy McCaughey Ross. She became a Democrat and unsuccessfully sought her new party's nomination to challenge Pataki's re-election.
Bruno and Silver have both had up-and-down relations with the governor, each accusing him of cutting deals with the other. They, in turn, have occasionally ganged up on Pataki to impose tax increases and spending hikes over his vetoes. Silver routinely accuses the governor of refusing to negotiate and of neglecting affairs of state. Unlike his predecessor, Pataki loves to take vacations. He just spent 10 days with his family in central Europe over the Christmas holidays.
Pataki is a lawyer, a former mayor of Peekskill and was a member of both the state Assembly and Senate. He is a potential 2008 presidential candidate, although his moderate stance on social issues - he favors abortion rights and tough gun-control laws - could make getting the GOP nomination difficult. He is 6-foot-5 and has a soft-spoken demeanor.
Pataki is Roman Catholic, married and has four children.
€ Bruno, 75, has been in the Senate for 28 years and is a millionaire former communications company executive who lives on a horse farm just outside Troy, not far from Albany. He is the most impatient of the trio when it comes to negotiations and the most outspoken.
Bruno survived prostate cancer in 2003 and had a torn artery in his stomach surgically repaired in 2004. Nonetheless, the former Korean War infantry sergeant still regularly sprints up nine flights of stairs to his office atop the Legislative Office Building. His trim appearance and senatorial silver mane are trademarks.
Only fellow Republicans Walter Mahoney of Buffalo (11 years) and Warren Anderson of Binghamton (16 years) have served longer than Bruno as Senate majority leader in the past 100 years.
A conservative when he became majority leader, Bruno has drifted to the left in recent years as he sought to protect his GOP majority in a state where there are 5 million Democrats and 3 million Republicans. In November, however, the GOP lost three Senate seats and possibly four depending on the outcome of an ongoing recount in one district. Republicans began 2004 with 38 of the Senate's 62 seats and enter 2005 with just 35 seats and possibly only 34. There has been grumbling within GOP Senate ranks about that, but thus far no open move against Bruno's leadership.
Bruno is Roman Catholic, married and has four children.
€ Silver, 60, was elected to the state Assembly in 1976 and represents an area of lower Manhattan that includes ground zero and Chinatown. Since Cuomo's loss, Silver has been viewed as the most powerful Democrat in state government - a sort of "Dr. No" to Pataki and Bruno. In the past century, only the late Republican Oswald Heck of Schenectady has served longer (22 years) as Assembly speaker.
Silver has personal experience with grumblers. In May 2000, his chief lieutenant, then-Assembly Majority Leader Michael Bragman, was set to launch a coup, claiming Silver was autocratic and unresponsive to rank-and-file Assembly Democrats. Unfortunately for Bragman, word leaked out and Silver quashed the coup attempt. Stripped of the majority leader's job, Bragman soon found himself in an office little bigger than a broom closet and resigned from the Legislature at the end of 2001.
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