ALBANY — To wander into the grand pile of stone that is the State Capitol, to walk its cavernous sandstone and marble halls, is to find an absurdist play in its third act.

Up on the third floor, in the State Senate, no party can muster a voting majority, and, pending a special election in two weeks, a convicted domestic abuser could cast the deciding vote.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/nyregion/06albany.html