Confusion Reigns in Albany; Shocking News About Coup Leader

The clowns are running the show in Albany. Only at this juncture nobody can say with any certainty which clowns.

Confusion gripped the Capitol and the Senate chamber remained dark yesterday, as Democrats feverishly scrambled to regain control after a Republican coup knocked them out of the box.

Deposed Senate leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) accused the Democratic mutineers of rank extortion and influence peddling.

The fast-paced, never-before-seen developments at the Capitol yesterday included:

* Senate business -- usually at a fever pitch in June -- ground to a halt yesterday while Democrats mulled legal action to delay a session scheduled for 3 p.m. today.

* Rumors swirled that a handful of other Democratic lawmakers were preparing to defect to the Republicans.

* The White House even jumped into the fray, trying to save Democratic control of the state Senate.

* More chaos loomed with the GOP threatening to hold a session in a public park near the Capitol today if Democrats failed to hand over keys to the gilded chamber.

"There is no constitutional requirement that we'll meet in that room," said Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., the Bronx Democrat who defected along with Hiram Monserrate of Queens to give the GOP a 32-30 working majority. "We'll just have to take it outside."

Meanwhile, Fred Dicker says Paterson has gotten what he's deserved.

The breathtaking coup that appears to have ousted Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith could claim what remains of Gov. Paterson's political career.

Not only is Paterson's record-high, tax-and-spend budget being blamed for pushing two Senate Democrats into the ranks of the Republicans, his claims to be a fiscally prudent government reformer are about to be put to the test in a way that could not have been imagined just a few days ago.

The new Republican/Democratic alliance that voted Monday to remove Smith is preparing to vote over the next two weeks on a range of conservative-oriented reforms, including a cap on state spending, a cap on local school property taxes, and the re-establishment of the popular STAR property tax rebates, which were abolished by Paterson's budget.

The problem for the unelected Paterson, who polls show is the most unpopular governor in the nation, is that he's proposed and supported both tax caps -- but he did so at a time when he was certain that neither would pass a Democratic-controlled Legislature.

Still, for my money the biggest shock to come out of this mess, orchestrated by Tom Golisano?

Dig this.

AMID all the chaos in Albany, the upstate billionaire at the center of the state Senate upheaval yesterday coyly confirmed he's dating tennis great Monica Seles.

Buffalo Sabres owner and upstate king-maker Thomas Golisano, 67 -- credited with convincing two rogue Democratic senators to join forces with the GOP -- has been spotted for months squiring around Seles, 35.

When asked yesterday if the two were a pair, the normally unflappable Paychex founder -- who was making the interview rounds all over the state capital -- seemed taken aback.

"Why do you want to know?" said Golisano, clearly more comfortable talking policy than romance.

Finally, the thrice-divorced Golisano told The Post's Jennifer Fermino, "Monica and I see each other."

The May-December pair first raised eyebrows last year, when Golisano brought her to a ceremony recognizing his $10 million donation to Niagara University.

He also brought Seles to a Sabres game, where the Tennis Hall of Famer sat with him and former President Bill Clinton. And, when asked in a Forbes.com article last fall what the coolest number in his cellphone was, Golisano crowed, "Monica Seles.' "

GOP Seizes Control of NY State Senate

Is the New York State GOP that hard up they'll take the vote of a Democrat under indictment for felony assault and another currently under campaign finance investigation?

Apparently so.

Republicans appear to have retaken control of the state Senate this afternoon after two dissident Democrats crossed the aisle in a parliamentary coup.

"An historic change in leadership is taking place at this moment and a new bipartisan, coalition is being established that is bringing real reform to the Senate RIGHT NOW," according to a news advisory sent out by the GOP.

The Associated Press reported that two Democrats -- Hiram Monserrate of Queens and Pedro Espada, Jr. of the Bronx -- are poised to announce that they have decided to caucus with the GOP out of anger at Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

The flip gives Republicans a 32-30 edge in the chamber and ensures that Smith is longer the majority leader.

I have to question what the GOP is thinking here. You really want to be associated with the likes of Hiram Monserrate?

Hello?

Espada, meanwhile, at least didn't (allegedly) whack his girlfriend upside the head with a beer bottle. He's only taking heat for some financial chicanery.

Democrats, naturally, are outrageously outraged.

Democrats said they plan to take the fight to court.

In a statement sent out by Smith's office, a spokesman called the move "illegal and unlawful"

"Nothing has changed, Senator Malcolm A. Smith remains the duly elected Temporary President and Majority Leader," the spokesman added. "The real Senate Majority is anxious to get back to governing, and will take immediate steps to get us back to work."

In no small irony, today's coup looks like it was hatched by newly-minted Florida resident Tom Golisano.

Rochester-area billionaire Tom Golisano apparently helped lead today’s coup in the Senate, emerging from the chamber after the vote.

Golisano has been critical of Senate Democrats since they took control in January, even after Golisano pumped millions into the Democrats bid to win control of the chamber in November.

Adios, New York

Why Tom Golisano fled New York. Instead of listening to him, the state will go out of their way to punish him and those unfortunate enough to be left behind.

Upstate New York has been particularly hard hit. Add unreasonable real-estate taxes to uncontrolled state spending, and you wind up with whole communities decimated. An unworkable assessment process compounds the problem further. The result: Fifteen of the 20 highest-taxed counties in America are right here in Upstate New York. While homeowners in other areas build equity, we just pay more taxes.

This problem didn't begin with the current recession. New York faced a $6 billion shortfall before the economic downturn. However, in the face of economic turmoil, Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith looked to the unions and special interests, who answered with one voice: raise taxes.

That was irresponsible -- and may just prove to be counterproductive, since the top 1 percent of earners account for about 50 percent of state revenue and are the ones who can and will leave.

Among other hikes in taxes and fees, they raised the marginal tax rate on the most successful (and most mobile) New Yorkers to 8.97 percent, the second-highest rate in the nation.

Bottom line? By domiciling in Florida, which has no personal-income tax, I will save $13,800 every day. That's a pretty strong incentive.

Like I said, I love New York. But I'm not going to pay any more for the waste, corruption and inefficiency that is New York state government.

Countless thousands will be following him.

It's Not Just Wealthy Conservatives Who Are Fleeing New York

It appears Rush Limbaugh has started a trend. A couple of months ago the radio host noted he had fled New York because of onerous taxation, and the accidental governor was happy to hear the news. Well, now one of the the state's wealthiest men is also hitting the road.

New York billionaire Tom Golisano is taking his big bucks elsewhere.

Furious over a new "millionaire's tax" that could cost him an extra $1 million this year, the Rochester-area resident and three-time gubernatorial candidate says he's fleeing the state for Florida's Gulf Coast.

Golisano called it a "quick decision" to switch his legal address to his $13 million waterfront mansion in Naples, Fla., after Gov. Paterson and lawmakers agreed to a record-breaking $4 billion income-tax hike last month.

"This budget and this increase in the level of taxation are really going to push a lot more people out of the state," Golisano told a gathering of Rochester business executives Thursday, according to The Buffalo News.

With an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, Golisano is easily one of upstate's richest residents.

The millionaire's tax -- which hiked the income tax rate to 8.97 percent from 6.85 percent on those making over $500,000 a year -- would force Golisano to pay $13,000 a day in state income taxes. That's $4.7 million a year, up from $3.6 million.

Florida has no state income tax.

To officially qualify as a tax refugee, the Buffalo Sabres owner will simply have to extend by a month or two his usual winter retreats in the Sunshine State.

He follows conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who predicted he would be the first in a wave of rich to flee the Empire State after state Democrats sealed the $132 billion budget deal.

Naturally, some of the socialists who enjoy life on the taxpayer dole aren't taking the news well.

Working Families Party Executive Director Dan Cantor, who championed the tax hike, called Golisano's move "selfish."

"It's a disgrace that this is how he pays back the state where he was presumably educated and that's been so good to him," Cantor said. "Taxes are the price you pay for civilization. He's moving to a space where there's a little bit less civilization."

Don't These Democrats Know Better Than to Have Affairs With Interns?

They never learn, do they?

The state Assembly's Ethics and Guidance Committee yesterday met behind closed doors for four hours, weighing the fate of an upstate lawmaker who carried on a hot and heavy affair with an intern.

The panel has been mulling how to discipline Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo) since last month, when a political blog posted explicit e-mails between him and a one-time legislative aide.

Neither committee members nor aides to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) would confirm reports that the meeting focused on Hoyt. But Chairman William Magnarelli (D-Syracuse) said it met "to discuss matters that could lead to the discipline of a particular person."

Buffalo voters recently rewarded Hoyt with re-election. Apparently affairs with interns enhance the resume.

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, damaged by an admission of marital infidelity, survived the challenge of his political career Tuesday to win the Democratic primary and most likely another term in Albany.

Hoyt, a 16-year veteran of the State Legislature, survived a well-financed opposition campaign funded by Rochester billionaire and Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisnao — which focused on allegations of an affair with an legislative intern — to defeat former Common Council Member Barbra A. Kavanaugh.

Some background on the affair.

A woman who had an affair with Assemblyman Sam Hoyt has told the Assembly’s Ethics and Guidance Committee that she was an intern in the spring of 2003 when they first had sex, according to a source close to the investigation.

The woman, who was 23 at the time and whose name is being withheld by The Buffalo News, was an intern in the office of Assemblywoman Teresa R. Sayward, R-Willsboro, when she first met Hoyt, a Buffalo Democrat, who was 41 at the time.

She told committee members late last month that Hoyt asked her on a date, the source said, and they later went to her apartment. She said the affair with the married assemblyman continued after she became a staff member for another legislator.

The disclosure that the woman, who has since graduated from the University at Buffalo Law School, was an intern when the affair began would not mean a violation of Assembly rules against fraternizing with interns, since they were adopted later.