Senator Adams Happy With the Smith Deal (Whatever It Is)

In order to assume leadership of the State Senate, Malcolm Smith had to negotiate with three Democrats who were refusing to support him, and who wanted things in exchange for their support.

Ruben Diaz Sr. didn’t want a bill to legalize same-sex marriage coming to floor for a vote.

Pedro Espada wanted to see more Hispanics in leadership roles in Albany.

Carl Kruger spoke in vague terms about wanting to see more bipartisanship.

So apparently Smith managed to strike a deal with all three of them. What he traded in order to get the deal not entirely clear.

Senator Eric Adams, a Democrat and an ally of Smith, said he doesn’t know what Smith did to make the deal, but he’s happy.

“When Malcolm left me, I told him I’m 100 percent behind him [and] whatever decisions he makes for us to get to the end-run, I’m 100 percent behind him. So, there’s so much we got to do, that I’m 100 percent behind Malcolm’s decisions, and I don’t know what they are yet, and I don’t want to give an assumption of what they are."

Adams added, "I’ll speak with him later on tonight and I’ll find out exactly what the decisions were.”