The tax break, 421a, will not include a requirement that developers of any project over 80 units pay workers a prevailing wage -- which would be a boon to unionized labor. Without the requirement, developers get a tax break and can, theoretically, pay workers a lower wage.

One of New York City's Republican State Senators, Andrew Lanza, signed onto a Democrat's proposal that included the prevailing wage requirement. Golden, the city's only other Republican State Senator, did not.

"Lanza gets a pass," this political operative said to me. Golden, he said, doesn't.

Golden told me he did "everything I could" to get prevailing wage included in the deal. (He proposed having it affect projects 120 units or larger, thinking it would get negotiated down to 100, he said.)

Golden said two other, more powerful people, opposed the measure.

"The governor was against it," said Golden, who then, rhetorically asked, "If it was so important why didn't Shelly Silver get it done?"

That gives advocates 29 Democratic votes (Democratic State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister, is not expected to drop his opposition).

So far, no Republican has come out in support of the bill, but a handful of "undecided" GOP members are thought to be possible converts, including Jim Alesi, Greg Ball, Mark Grisanti and Andrew Lanza.

Bloomberg, center, with GOP State Senator Greg Ball, right. photo credit: azi paybarah / ny observer

Michael Bloomberg was in Albany lobbying Republican State Senators to legalize same-sex marriage.

So far, it doesn't appear to have gotten any of them on board.

The mayor attended a press conference in the morning about anti-terrorism funding, along with two Republican State Senators, Greg Ball of Putnam County and Marty Golden of Brooklyn.

Later, both said they were not on board with supporting same-sex marriage.

Ball told reporters, "Right now I'm absolutely undecided."

Golden told me the opposition that blocked the marriage legislation in 2009 has not changed. When I asked him about the political fallout for Governor Cuomo, who has said he wants the bill passed "now," Golden said there wouldn't be much and that "people don't give a rat's ass about social issues. People are worried about paying their mortgage, paying their rent."

Before walking into a meeting with State Senate Leader Dean Skelos, the mayor stood and chatted with Lee Zeldin, a freshman from Nassau County. Zeldin told me he opposes same-sex marriage and that "I got to let my my principles guide my way, not where a particular donor wants you to be."

John Flanagan of Long Island emerged from the Skelos/Bloomberg meeting early and said he had already had gotten a visit from the New York City mayor. When I asked Flanagan about same-sex marriage, he said it was one of the topics he and the mayor discussed and that Bloomberg was "gracious" about it. (The other topic was changes to the teacher evaluation system, which Flanagan said wasn't likely to happen this year.)

After a nearly 20-minuted closed-door meeting with Skelos, Bloomberg left, telling a gaggle of reporters only that he was happy to be in the state's capital.

A spokesman for Skelos later emerged to say the Senate Leader went immediately into another meeting and was not available for comment. The spokesman also said Skelos hasn't polled his members and it was unclear if the bill would be considered for a vote.

State Senator Andrew Lanza of Staten Island searched for a way to define his position during a scrum with reporters yesterday afternoon.

"I am unequivocally a 'No,' today," said Lanza, standing outside the Senate chambers.

"This is not a good place to be if you're a politician." He added, "This is not a good place to be in. This is an honest place I find myself in."

"I'm trying to be honest with you," Lanza continued. "I find myself in this sucky position of not having a firm position," and "I might be a yes one day, as long as I'm open to it. But right now, I am not."

I asked Lanza who has made the more effective lobbying effort: Governor Cuomo with a statewide tour, or Mayor Bloomberg with personal meetings in Albany?

"I think the governor's statewide tour is pretty irrelevant," said Lanza.

Down the hall was Senator Ball.

He said he objects to the bill because it would expose religious institutions to discrimination lawsuits. When asked if the mayor was receptive to that line of argument, Ball said, "absolutely."

"Look," he added, "you don't want to see Catholic adoption agencies shut down, right? Who would want to see that happen?So, if that is happening in other states, [we should] prevent that from happening here. You don't want to see a church being sued, or another religious institution being sued because they failed to rent out their basement, okay. So there are basic protections that need to be in place in a comprehensive bill."

As advocates of same-sex marriage prepare for the final push in their effort to get it passed before the end of the legislative session in June, Tom Wrobleski gets wind of an interesting survey on Staten Island [2nd to last item]:

A Dem reports that he got a polling call at home recently, asking if he would be more or less likely to vote for Lanza if Lanza supported gay marriage.

Lanza said he didn’t put the poll in the field himself, nor did Albany Republicans.

“This is the first I’m hearing of this,” he said in response to our question.

Lanza’s guess was that one gay advocacy group or another was behind the poll.

Having voted “no” when the question of gay marriage was last in the Senate, Lanza said advocates had asked him if he wanted a poll about the topic done on his behalf.

Lanza declined.

“I don’t care about polls,” he said. “For me, it’s about doing what I believe is right.”

He said gay marriage advocates have been making a new push on the subject in Albany recently, with clergy members and parents of gay children calling lawmakers.

As for the Dem who gave us the tip, he said he would never support Lanza no matter how Lanza votes on gay marriage.

Mayor Bloomberg speaks at Kips Bay Showhouse President’s Dinner. April 21, 2011 (Photo Credit: Kristen Artz)

Taxes: Don't raise them on the rich; "deficits matter" says Bloomberg. [FoxNews.com]

Taxes: S&P's downgrading is a "warning" to America, says Bloomberg. [Glenn Thrush]

Taxes: There's a bipartisan failure to lead on deficit reduction. [Doug Schoen]

Bloomberg's Advice: Obama should schmooze GOP; Republicans should drop birthed talk. [Glenn Thrush]

Bloomberg's Advice: Obama "has to to go build friendships." [Taegan Goddard]

Bloomberg Property: NYC may unload underutilized office space; locations not specified.  [David Seifman]

Cuomo's Agenda: Editors want property tax cap; unhappy with closed-door negotiation on ethics. [Buffalo News]

Cuomo's Home: "Mr. Cuomo declined to be interviewed about what he identifies as his hometown." [Thomas Kaplan]

2012: "There is no one that excites me" says GOP Gov Nikki Haley of South Carolina. [Neil King and Jonathan Weisman]

Trump: McCain says the developer is having "the time of his life" with 2012. [Glenn Thrush]

Trump: He's a "New York icon" says Bloomberg. [NBC]

Trump: Oddo laughs at his candidacy; "statesman and polish" needed say Lanza. [Tom Wrobleski]

Trump:  His "companies have sought protection from creditors to avoid financial collapse at least three times." [Robert Gearty and Greg Smith]

Trump: Didn't vote in primaries for 21 years. [Michael Herzenberg]

Trump: Threatens reporter,"You're going to pay a big price because you're wrong." [Cynthia Fagen]

Gun Control: Good signs from incoming DNC chairwoman. [New York Times]

Changing Chancellors: "Walcott struggled to name any achievements for which he had been the driving force." [David Halbfinger]

Park 51: Development moving ahead. [Sharif el-Gamal]

Same-Sex Marriage: Support on the rise, in NY. [Mike Gormley]

Lobbyist:  Suri Kasirer hired by attorney connected to CityTime company. [David Seifman]

School Probe: 32BJ official wants full probe after 2 janitors with no-show jobs got good reviews from supervisor. [Rachel Monahan]

Teacher Layoffs: A teacher argues against them on HuffPo. [Arthur Goldstein]

Teacher Evaluations: State program "threatens to become the terrible teacher's protection guarantee." [Daily News]

Ticket Fixing: Cops found ways around computerized system, which Bloomberg said would cut down the problem. [Reuven Blau and Brad Hamilton]

Ticket Fixing: "[A]n accepted practice so long that no cop should have his career urinated over it." [Michael Daly]

Congestion Pricing: Nobody's s advocating for it today. [Jeremy Smerd and Shane Kavanaugh]

Hydrofracking: Green Party wants Cuomo to ban it. [Brian Nearing]

Medicaid Cuts: May drive dentists out of NY. [Cathleen Crowley]

Bike Lanes: Hardcore cyclists not in love with them. [Andrew Grossman]

Parking Placards: Hogging parking by ferry terminal."the Advance found that nearly all the parking spots on Stuyvesant were taken by cars with NYPD placards on their dashboards...Others vehicles had Patrolmen's Benevolent Association cards displayed, as if those were as good as a placard." [Tom Wrobleski]

GOP Optimism: Reasons for hope, in Islip? [Rick Brand]

Cigarette Lawsuits: Bloomberg predicts kid will sue parents. [David Seifman]

Archives: NY Public Library won't return files donated by unhappy investigate journalist. [Michael Barbaro]