Spin Cycle

Six State Senate Democrats plan on Friday to blast Gov. David A. Paterson’s proposed 4 percent cap on yearly increases in school property taxes minutes before a special session in Albany to vote on the matter.

The senators - Antoine Thompson of Buffalo, Neil Breslin of Albany, Ruth Hassell-Thompson of the Bronx (left), Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Westchester, Liz Krueger of Manhattan and Kevin Parker of Brooklyn – "will explain why the so-called ‘tax cap’ would have the same devastating effect on public education in New York that similar legislation had in other states," according to a media advisory.

There’s plenty of irony here.

Paterson also is a Democrat. And while the senators insist on labeling his tax cap a "Paterson-Skelos gimmick," Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) wasn’t an initial champion of capping school taxes, while Paterson was an early proponent.

Of the six, only Thompson and Stewart-Cousins came to the Senate after Paterson relinquished his job as Democratic leader to run for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Eliot Spitzer. And Parker is facing a tough re-election fight.

James T. Madore