Ruben Diaz Sr.

ALBANY—Apparently, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli made good on his word to not pay still-fighting state senators, and they're taking it as a joke.

A legislative staffer picking up his paycheck sent along this account from the payroll office on Wednesday afternoon:

Sen. Monserrate and Sen. Diaz strolled into the payroll office joking around and asking "where is my pay check" and (Monserrate) "why don't I get one" and laughing about it. I turned to the clerk and she looked pretty pissed. Right outside Sen. Martin Malave Dilan was waiting for them to stop screwing around and Sen. Sampson was coming down the hallway and said, smiling, "I hope you're not making plans without me!"

ALBANY—It's Thursday, so what will the Amigos do to blow up the State Senate stalemate?

"We said if they didn't do something, we're going to do something. They did something. So what do you want me to do now? Whether it's legal or illegal is his problem," Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., the spokes-amigo, told me. "Today we're going to pass some bills. They solved it."

I asked him what the amigos were going to do.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," he replied, letting it sink in that either the world will never know his true political brilliance, or he was bluffing the whole time. "It's over. My 15 minutes of fame are over. The governor moved. It's over for me."

Jimmy Vielkind

Why didn't the shorter amigos stand in front?

ALBANY—Thursday Thursday Thursday!

The now-five amigos emerged from their breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel several minutes after Democratic Senate leader John Sampson. They designated the somehow-always-quotable Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. to be their spokesman.

"Today we're celebrating the first 30 days of the coup, and this is the beginning of the end. We are keeping with our Thursday deadline, and we are asking both leaders and the governor and anyone to issue, by tomorrow, come to an agreement," Diaz said.

Neither he nor any of the other senators present—Martin Malave Dilan, Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate—would elaborate on what unspecified action they would take on Thursday.

Jimmy Vielkind

Now there are six.

ALBANY—Make that a table for six.

The four amigos—who announced this morning they would be joined by State Senator  Martin Malave Dilan—once again broke bread (bagels?) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany. Dilan yesterday joined the amigos in walking out of a regular session called by Democrats.

Once again, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. announced the meeting to reporters. But surprisingly, the amigos—Diaz as well as State Senators Pedro Espada Jr., Carl Kruger and Hiram Monserrate—were joined by State Senator John Sampson, a leader of the Democratic conference.

"We just had breakfast," Sampson told us while leaving.

Jimmy Vielkind

Carl Kruger walks away.

ALBANY—Three Democratic state senators walked out of the still-divided chamber this afternoon before their Democratic colleagues convened into a regular session. While it didn't have any effect on the session's outcome--there was no quorum, and as such, no bills were acted on--it was a very public show of disunity in a conference that looks increasingly frayed.

"I think all of the members are under stress, and we will try to be as patient as we can to resolve this matter," Senator Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, calmly insisted. "Our members are holding strong."

Senators Hiram Monserrate, Ruben Diaz Sr., Martin Malave Dilan and Carl Kruger walked out.

Jimmy Vielkind

For the second day in a row, Kruger picked up the tab.

ALBANY—Over bagels and cheese grits with Frank Sinatra crooning in the background, the "four amigos" made a spectacle of their continued discussions about the leadership struggle in the State Senate.

"The only thing I can say is that my colleagues and I are here to find a solution," State Senator Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who is now back sitting with the Democratic conference, said. "I think we're going to find a way to resolve this by Thursday."

The foursome--which also includes Democrats Carl Kruger and Ruben Diaz Sr. as well as Pedro Espada Jr.--met yesterday for lunch before a long meeting of the Democratic conference.

ALBANY—The so-called gang of four that once opposed State Senator Malcolm Smith in his quest to lead the State Senate had a reunion lunch this afternoon before another extraordinary session in which nothing of substance was accomplished.

But they are a gang no longer. Two of them—Senators Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate—defected from the Democratic ranks to spark a crippling leadership battle. Monserrate has since returned to the Democratic fold. Espada said he wasn't trying to convert his old compatriots to the "coalition" government in which he is the lone Democrat, they just talked about issues of "information flow."

"I think, hopefully today, there will be a quantum leap in terms of the information flow," Espada said.

Jimmy Vielkind

We'll always have Albany.

ALBANY—State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. is going home.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but definitely Saturday and for the rest of the weekend.

"I don't know yet. But Saturday I will not be here. Sunday is work. I'm preaching Sunday: You should come to my pulpit, Jimmy, oohhh," Diaz told me and other reporters, wandering the halls of the Capitol this morning.

He also said that Senator Frank Padavan, who inadvertently broke the deadlock in the hobbled State Senate Tuesday when he walked through the chamber and was counted toward a quorum, should have known better. He also thought it was silly that David Paterson has

Jimmy Vielkind

ALBANY—This was supposed to be David Paterson's moment to step into the fray created by the State Senate leadership struggle and restore working government to New York. Instead, his attempts to force Albany back to work have prompted the Senate to spiral toward a new level of chaos, partisan rancor and legal purgatory.

"I've been a public servant here for over 20 years," Paterson told reporters who gathered in the Red Room around 5 p.m. yesterday. "And what I've seen in the last two weeks from the Senate is disgusting. The Senate's inaction is a dereliction of duty. They have clearly forgotten who they serve.

ALBANY—State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. insists he will remain a part of the Democratic conference, despite David Paterson's call for a vote tomorrow on a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday.

Speculation raced through the chamber when Diaz went to the office of Senator Dean Skelos, a Republican, after the announcement.

"I just went there to eat a sandwich. Pedro Espada and Senator Skelos invited me to eat a sandwich. Tuna fish sandwich," Diaz Sr. explained.

"Tomorrow is tomorrow, today is today. We have to wait until tomorrow."

A Democratic source said Diaz was assured by the conference leadership that even though the bill was put forward by Paterson, it will not be acted upon.