ALBANY—I caught State Senator Eric Adams outside the chamber and asked him for his thoughts on Rupert Murdoch's apology over a cartoon that Adams and other decried as racist. His reaction is below, including a defense of his decision to burn copies of the Post at a rally this weekend. Yesterday, I asked Majority Leader Malcolm Smith what ...

ALBANY—At least one Democratic state senator is still hopeful about reaching a consensus with the wayward Gang of Three, even as a report claims State Senator Malcolm Smith is looking beyond the three to cobble together a 32-vote majority. Smith announced last week that he was suspending negotiations with the trio after earlier announcing he had brokered a deal ...

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 ...