{"id":83724,"date":"2020-10-07T16:51:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/joseph-bruno-former-nys-senate-majority-leader-dead-at-91\/"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:51:14","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T13:51:14","slug":"joseph-bruno-former-nys-senate-majority-leader-dead-at-91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/joseph-bruno-former-nys-senate-majority-leader-dead-at-91\/","title":{"rendered":"#Joseph Bruno, former NYS Senate Majority Leader, dead at 91"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Joseph Bruno, former NYS Senate Majority Leader, dead at 91<\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

\n Joseph Bruno, the powerful former Senate majority leader and ex-Army boxer who went toe-to-toe with disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer \u2014 and twice beat corruption charges himself \u2014 died early Wednesday, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Bruno was 91. He had prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

Bruno, who grew up poor as one of eight children in Glens Falls in the Adirondacks region, was majority leader from 1994 through 2008 \u2014 spanning the governorships of George Pataki, Spitzer and David Paterson.<\/p>\n

Bruno, a Republican, was first elected in 1976 to represent upstate Rensselaer County and Saratoga County in the state Senate.<\/p>\n

As majority leader, he was part of the triumvirate \u2014 nicknamed Albany\u2019s \u201cthree men in a room\u201d along with the governor and Assembly speaker \u2014 that negotiated the state budget and legislation behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

Bruno championed New York business interests and tax cuts and was a strong ally of fellow three-term Republican Gov. Pataki. And he also maintained close ties to the state\u2019s powerful health care workers union, Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cLibby and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our good friend Joe Bruno. Joe left his mark as the leader of the New York State Senate,\u201d Pataki said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 12 years Joe Bruno was a tremendous partner in Albany as we tackled the tough problems to bring New York back from the brink of ruin. On issue after issue, Joe was an indispensable ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom reforming our criminal justice system to keep violent criminals behind bars to jobs and economic development, Joe was a stalwart leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bruno was not shy about publicly airing out his grievances with Pataki or other Republicans as well as Democrats.<\/p>\n

Pataki said he respected Bruno\u2019s candor \u2014 if and when they disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the best of times and the worst, I could always count on Joe to be forthright with his opinion. And while we didn\u2019t always agree, Joe\u2019s handshake was his bond and together we made a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe will be remembered for his leadership, wit, candor, grit in the face of adversity and his fierce advocacy for the Capital Region.<\/p>\n

Bruno\u2019s district included Saratoga Race Track and he was a staunch advocate of the horse racing industry. He was an avid outdoorsman and had a stable of horses on his farm.<\/p>\n

While adhering to his beliefs, Bruno was a charismatic figure who could charm and disarm rivals and cultivate personal friendships across the aisle.<\/p>\n

But Bruno said there was one political figure he detested \u2014 \u201cSteamroller\u201d Eliot Spitzer,<\/p>\n

In his memoir \u201cKeep Swinging\u201d, Bruno said he would not be bullied by Spitzer and recounted that he nearly came to blows with the \u201ccertifiably crazy\u201d ex-governor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I never claimed to own a crystal ball, I had to be among the first to recognize that Spitzer was unbalanced,\u201d Bruno said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Spitzer was a spoiled brat with a chip on his shoulder. I knew this was the most incendiary charge that I could make against him, because I suspected at some level that he believed it about himself,\u201d he recalled in his book.<\/p>\n

After Spitzer threatened to \u201cknock my head off,\u201d Bruno said he shouted in the governor\u2019s face, \u201cI\u2019ve been threatened by mobsters \u2014 professionals. And I\u2019ve dealt with thugs and bullies like you my entire life. I know how to deal with them. You\u2019re an amateur. I\u2019m not scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Spitzer would soon resign in disgrace, Bruno faced his own scandals, with a 2009 corruption conviction that was later vacated, and a fraud indictment that ended with his acquittal in 2014.<\/p>\n

But Bruno got along well with Spitzer\u2019s successor as governor, David Paterson, who had been the lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

Paterson, a Democrat from Harlem, said he and Bruno were buddies who stayed in touch after both left office.<\/p>\n

Before he became governor following Spitzer\u2019s hooker scandal, Paterson was the Democratic minority leader while Bruno was the majority leader.<\/p>\n

Paterson recounted a story about an agreement he had with Bruno that Democrats would join Republicans in overriding the governor\u2019s vetoes in exchange for more funding for his members. Bruno held up his end of the bargain after Paterson complained that the majority\u2019s leader\u2019s staffers blocked the funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I became governor, Joe asked for a meeting. He brought two pieces of banana cream pie and a bottle of red wine. We had a toast,\u201d Paterson recalled fondly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I still had one friend left in Albany,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to miss him. It\u2019s a real loss,\u201d Paterson said.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Sen. Al D\u2019Amato said he was \u201cheartbroken\u201d when hearing of Bruno\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe was a terrific leader. If Joe Bruno had been leader now, we wouldn\u2019t have these laws letting criminals out without bail,\u201d said D\u2019Amato, who drummed up GOP support for Bruno\u2019s successful bid to become majority leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a wonderful, wonderful person. He fought for common sense and the common man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruno also swung at powerful GOP figures who believed betrayed the cause.<\/p>\n

He mocked then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani as \u201cJudas Giuliani\u201d in 1994 for crossing party line and endorsing Democrat Gov. Mario Cuomo \u2014 the father of current Gov. Andrew Cuomo \u2014 for re-election to a fourth term over Pataki, then a state senator. Pataki won.<\/p>\n

Bruno later became a convert and supporter of Giuliani after app<\/a>roving of his policies running the Big Apple. He supported an aborted bid by Giuliani to run for US Senate against incumbent Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

Bruno lived a vigorous life before entering politics.<\/p>\n

He served in the Korean War as an infantry sergeant and honed his skills as a boxer and became Army lightweight heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n

A successful businessman, he founded the Coradian Corporation, a firm that sold telephone systems to private businesses and government agencies.<\/p>\n

Bruno is survived by his partner Kay, four children \u2014 Joseph, Susan, Kenneth and Catherine \u2014 and many grandchildren.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Joseph Bruno, former NYS Senate Majority Leader, dead at 91” Joseph Bruno, the powerful former Senate majority leader and ex-Army boxer who went toe-to-toe with disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer \u2014 and twice beat corruption charges himself \u2014 died early Wednesday, sources told The Post. Bruno was 91. He had prostate cancer. Bruno, who grew up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/joe-bruno-01.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[74675,74729,72693,3885],"class_list":["post-83724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-7-20","tag-joe-bruno","tag-new-york-state-senate","tag-new-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}