Lights go dark on Broadway

The lights have gone dark inside 487 Broadway, the photographs removed from their frames on the walls, packed into boxes and taken away.

A pair of flags, one of the country, one of the state, are visible through the storefront window, their cloth shoulders slumping behind a sign that reads: Closed.

The only sign of life comes from a banner that hangs down from a business on the second floor that reads, "rehydrate your spirit."

The only reminder of the rush of activity that occurred inside the first floor of the red-brick building is the oval decal on the front door depicting a proud eagle on a bed of stars and stripes and, in gold-stick lettering, the words: Representative Kirsten E. Gillibrand "” 20th District, New York.

The office is one of the casualties of this "special election," which will see a new representative crowned in the kingdom of the 10-county congressional district on Tuesday.

"It's a weird dynamic," said Michael Russo on Wednesday afternoon, before the lights were turned off inside the room for the last time. "What we have here is almost a ghost office."

Russo, the former district director for Rep. Gillibrand, is preparing to take over his new position in Albany as director of a 12-county district for Gillibrand's office.
Since late January, when Gillibrand was selected to succeed Hillary Clinton in the United States Senate, Russo has been the director of the congressional district, with no party affiliation and no representative's name attached.

"When the representative leaves, the office still has to function. When the congresswoman was here, people got into the habit of calling on her, and we have worked very hard to not miss a beat," he said.
Russo estimated the office settled about $200,000 in benefits that were due to military veterans, as well as a variety of other pending issues regarding district residents.

Everything else, such as office supplies, were being boxed up "in an orderly fashion," Russo said for the next congressional representative.
"It was a struggle when we first came in. Very difficult. What I learned from that is to make it as easy as possible for the next representative," said Russo, although it is not known who that person will be or where he will set up offices.

Gillibrand had offices in Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls and Hudson. The next representative can set up wherever he wishes, as long as it fits into an allotted budget.

A spokesman for James Tedisco said keeping an office in Saratoga Springs would be "of paramount importance." Officials with Scott Murphy's camp were not sure where they would be putting down their official roots, should he emerge victorious.

Certification of a winner may take some time. Nobody knows how long. Until that time, the office will remain dark, and the boxes will remain sealed.


by Thomas Dimopoulos, Saratoga Bureau writer.
Published in The Post-Star, March 28, 2008.