Well the session is over and he does not have to campaign so why not… So long Joe.

NY Senate leader Bruno to resign seat by Friday - NewsChannel 9 WSYR

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York Sen. Joseph Bruno, the chamber’s Republican majority leader since 1995, said Tuesday that he will officially leave office by Friday.

He surprised most in state government last month when he said he would resign but had not given a firm date when he would leave the office he’s held since 1976.

The 79-year-old resident of Rensselaer County near Albany said he would like to return to the private sector and run a business.

State law prohibits him from a lucrative job of lobbying the Legislature for two years.

Republican Sen. Dean Skelos of Long Island has been chosen to replace Bruno, with Bruno’s support.

In the two years since Gov. George Pataki left office, Bruno has been New York’s top Republican leader.

“Frankly, my work is fairly well done,” Bruno said Tuesday at his last major public event, an announcement of an IBM Corp. high-technology project in Albany. “I feel like my transition is done. The furniture is moving out of my office tomorrow, the pictures are off the walls.”

Then Bruno, true to form, joked: “It can get depressing if I hang around. I push the buttons and nobody’s answering.”

His term would have ended Dec. 31. A general election in November will pick Bruno’s successor, who will be sworn in in January.

He said his exit doesn’t threaten the Republicans’ majority, now that the regular session is over. The Senate’s Republican majority would likely only convene a special session if there was broad agreement on issues with the Democratic minority.