In an exit interview reflecting on more than a quarter of a century in the Assembly, Syracuse-area Democrat Bill Magnarelli opened up about how Planet Albany really functions, including the parts of the status quo that frustrate him.
Magnarelli, who lost the Democratic primary in June by less than 100 votes to Mo Brown, has a lengthy list of accomplishments to his name since his first election in 1998, including securing funding for Syracuse schools, helping develop a statewide Amber Alert system, passing laws regarding infant safety, and shepherding a variety of transportation priorities to completion.
He has done all this, though, despite feeling like the chamber was completely oriented around downstate interests.
“By the time you get past Westchester, it’s like, who are these people? They’re all cows. They’re all a bunch of cows and farm animals,” Magnarelli said about the attitudes of his New York City-area colleagues.
He also noted that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has refused to formally acknowledge the existence of the informal upstate caucus. “We have every other kind of caucus in the world, but we couldn’t have an upstate caucus,” Magnarelli said.
The veteran lawmaker, who has led the transportation committee since 2019, also downplayed the idea that chairing a committee automatically came with additional power.
“The only power you have is the amount of energy and effort you put into it. Okay? There’s no power that comes with being chair,” he said. ” Your power comes from how much you’re willing to work … and how much you’re willing to push things.”
The one time Magnarelli felt like he was wielding power in a transportation committee meeting was when he took a bill off the agenda during a meeting where it was clear the committee vote wasn’t heading in the direction he wanted. The bill dealt with renaming the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
In the interview, he also reflected on his frustration with the low turnout in his primary and talked about the fallout from a failed coup by a Syracuse colleague in 2000.
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