Insults Fly Between Democrats in New York Senate, Underscoring Rift.

ALBANY — In the tense world of New York State politics, threaded with corruption charges and enigmatic alliances, the exchange rippled through the Legislature like a menacing current — and underscored the predicament Democrats find themselves in.

In mid-March, Senator Michael N. Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, accused a group of eight breakaway Democrats, who have partnered with the Senate Republicans, of being President Trump’s “New York Democrats” — “happy to eat the crumbs from the Republican dinner plate.”

One of those renegade lawmakers, Senator Marisol Alcantara, a Manhattan Democrat and a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, soon shot back at Mr. Gianaris, saying he was a product of Harvard and guilty of having “white privilege.” (Mr. Gianaris is Greek-American, while Ms. Alcantara emigrated from the Dominican Republic as a child.)

The exchange prompted a new round of hand-wringing over the deteriorating relations among Democrats in the Senate, who technically hold a majority but whose divisions have effectively given power to the Republicans. Observers say the vitriol, tinged with allegations about race and class, does not augur well for a reconciliation anytime soon.

“Race is an underlying factor and dynamic among the Democrats in the Senate,” said Gerald Benjamin, a professor of political science at the State University of New York at New Paltz. “It’s always beneath the surface.”'>>>

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