Reflections From Across The Hall
Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:54:00
There were bills to pass and hearings to convene, but as the Capitol descended into chaos in the final weeks of the session, some Assembly members were having trouble turning their eyes away from the unfolding drama in the Senate.
Assembly Democrats view the chaos with a mix of disgust and frustration, tempered by a grudging respect that the GOP’s plan to take the majority was so successfully kept under wraps.
“The confidentiality in the Capitol makes a sieve look water-tight,” said Assembly Member John McEneny (D-Albany). “So what’s happening is you’ve got some begrudged admiration that anyone could keep anything quiet for that long in Albany.”
That aside, though, most are irritated and dismayed by the events on the other side of the capitol. Assembly Member Mark Weprin (D-Queens) repeated the popular refrain of the past week that the real losers were not Democrats or Republicans, but average New Yorkers.
“I’m as cynical as the next guy,” Weprin said, “but even I am very disheartened that self-interest is ruling the day over the people. It’s very discouraging for someone who still has a little bit of idealism left in him.”
Assembly Member Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo) was blunter in his assessment.
“The players involved stink,” said Hoyt. “I mean, they stink to high heavens. From the Rs orchestrating to the Ds cooperating, to the outsiders fully engaged.”
He added: “It’s a cast of characters that make the Keystone Cops look like they know what they’re doing.”
There was also pervasive anger among some Assembly members that the coup reflected poorly on them as well.
“They hear the word ‘coup’ and they see the lights going out,” said Assembly Member Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn) of the sinking opinion of state government.
“They sort of put all of us in state government together,” he added. Though the coup was limited to the Senate, Assembly members were worried it reflected poorly on all of Albany’s lawmakers.
Yet some Assembly members were hesitant to pass judgment on their Senate colleagues.
“I like to give people the benefit of the doubt,” said new Assembly Member Grace Meng (D-Queens). But, “If reform is what their focus was, they should, you know, start reforming, start working.”
Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, (D-Brooklyn) came closest to conveying some solidarity with the renegade lawmakers.
“I think that it’s a lot of frustration about reform,” Ortiz said. “I think, is this the way to do reform? I don’t know.”
“How do I feel about my two friends [Espada and Monserrate], both of whom I know very well?” he said. “I believe they did what they thought was the right thing to do at the right time by moving in that direction. We all can see that inequality among Hispanics in the executive branch, down through both houses of government, to the Supreme Court, the judicial system.”
He added: “I think it’s fair to ask that as Hispanics, we should not be undermined or underestimated.”
--
ABOVE: Photo by Andrew Schwartz
Assembly Democrats view the chaos with a mix of disgust and frustration, tempered by a grudging respect that the GOP’s plan to take the majority was so successfully kept under wraps.
“The confidentiality in the Capitol makes a sieve look water-tight,” said Assembly Member John McEneny (D-Albany). “So what’s happening is you’ve got some begrudged admiration that anyone could keep anything quiet for that long in Albany.”That aside, though, most are irritated and dismayed by the events on the other side of the capitol. Assembly Member Mark Weprin (D-Queens) repeated the popular refrain of the past week that the real losers were not Democrats or Republicans, but average New Yorkers.
“I’m as cynical as the next guy,” Weprin said, “but even I am very disheartened that self-interest is ruling the day over the people. It’s very discouraging for someone who still has a little bit of idealism left in him.”
Assembly Member Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo) was blunter in his assessment.
“The players involved stink,” said Hoyt. “I mean, they stink to high heavens. From the Rs orchestrating to the Ds cooperating, to the outsiders fully engaged.”
He added: “It’s a cast of characters that make the Keystone Cops look like they know what they’re doing.”
There was also pervasive anger among some Assembly members that the coup reflected poorly on them as well.
“They hear the word ‘coup’ and they see the lights going out,” said Assembly Member Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn) of the sinking opinion of state government.
“They sort of put all of us in state government together,” he added. Though the coup was limited to the Senate, Assembly members were worried it reflected poorly on all of Albany’s lawmakers.
Yet some Assembly members were hesitant to pass judgment on their Senate colleagues.
“I like to give people the benefit of the doubt,” said new Assembly Member Grace Meng (D-Queens). But, “If reform is what their focus was, they should, you know, start reforming, start working.”
Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, (D-Brooklyn) came closest to conveying some solidarity with the renegade lawmakers.
“I think that it’s a lot of frustration about reform,” Ortiz said. “I think, is this the way to do reform? I don’t know.”
“How do I feel about my two friends [Espada and Monserrate], both of whom I know very well?” he said. “I believe they did what they thought was the right thing to do at the right time by moving in that direction. We all can see that inequality among Hispanics in the executive branch, down through both houses of government, to the Supreme Court, the judicial system.”
He added: “I think it’s fair to ask that as Hispanics, we should not be undermined or underestimated.”
--
ABOVE: Photo by Andrew Schwartz
