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Susan Kang, a professor of political science at John Jay College who has written extensively on New York under Cuomo and the IDC, told Salon that this sort of maneuvering to prevent a Democratic-controlled legislature was typical of Cuomo during his time as governor.

Kang also referenced the post-2010 Census redistricting process, in which Cuomo signed off on maps drawn by the state legislature, with the then Republican-controlled state Senate proposing legislative districts designed to help them retain control of the chamber.

Kang said that, politically speaking, having a Republican-controlled state Senate was useful for the former governor because it meant “he got to control the spigot of changes coming out of Albany.”

“I think he wants to present himself as sort of like a bipartisan compromise-maker in a state where you don't have to do that,” Kang said.

Seok “Serk” Kang, a taciturn professor at a Michigan university, accepts a year’s appointment at a college in a Japanese town close to Osaka in 1978.