Several were swept in amid a blue wave that saw incumbents — Democrats and Republicans alike — unseated in the primaries or the general election, giving Democrats control of the Senate for the first time in a decade.
But before the new senators can get down to the people’s business, there are some logistical hurdles to overcome. They must learn how to navigate, both literally and metaphorically, the corridors of a state Capitol fabled for its traditions, secrets and, often, impenetrability.
Figuring out legislative house rules? Slow down. Let’s start with figuring out where to park.
The New York Times followed four of the new senators on Tuesday and Wednesday — the first day of the legislative session — to see how they were adjusting to a state lawmaker’s life.
Tuesday
2 p.m.
The walls in Sen. Zellnor Myrie’s office were bare, which made the furniture all the more prominent. There was a stately chair and a sprawling desk, behind which Myrie still had not ventured.
“I’ve never had an office like this before,” he said as he perched atop an empty shelf. “I certainly have never sat in a chair like that.”
Myrie, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn, was touring his office for the first time, after a morning meeting with various county election officials — he will chair the Senate’s elections committee — and an interview with a job candidate for his staff.
Before winning his general election in November, Myrie said, he had been to Albany five or six times. He found the Capitol’s layout overwhelming.
“I go downstairs, and I just ask the first person that I see in the lobby, ‘Where can I get a coffee or a munch?'” he said. “To the extent I have a favorite place to eat, it’s the little corner where the vending machines are.”
Myrie, 31, is one of a cohort of young new senators. Sen. Julia Salazar of Brooklyn is 27; Sen. James Skoufis of the Hudson Valley is 31. Walking the halls, Myrie said he was acutely aware of his youth.
“It’s going to take awhile for people to adjust and say I’m the senator,” he said. “It’s cool. It’s a new energy. I get the sense that people are reinvigorated.”
The start of session Wednesday was giving him jitters, so he planned to pump himself up by listening to “Sunflower,” from the soundtrack of the latest “Spider-Man” movie. (“Don’t laugh,” he said.)
Myrie had not really considered office décor, but at least one piece was settled: the nameplate outside his door.
His mother was traveling to Albany for his swearing-in Wednesday.
“She’s going to get a kick out of seeing her son’s name on the wall.”
3 p.m.
Sen. Rachel May had trouble finding parking.
May, a Democrat who represents the Syracuse area, was a few minutes late to her first tour of her office because she could not get into the parking garage for lawmakers near the Capitol.
“Somehow the magic words ‘incoming senator’ didn’t quite work,” she said with a laugh.
May, who coordinated sustainability education at Syracuse University before running for office, at times seemed almost surprised to realize the influence she could wield in state policy. She had hoped to take the train to Albany most weeks, she said, because it was a low-carbon alternative to driving, but only a few trains ran each day from Syracuse.
Then she perked up as she remembered that she could talk to her fellow legislators about improving infrastructure upstate.
May’s sister, a Hollywood costume designer, had sent boxes of clothing to May that matched her vision of how politicians dressed. “She wants me to look like ‘Veep’ or something, but it’s not my style at all,” May said. “No power heels.”
4 p.m.
Sen. Anna Kaplan was still unwrapping presents as the sun went down. Kaplan, a Democrat, was elected to represent Nassau County, where she had sat on the town council in North Hempstead.
They were sad to see her go, she said, and they sent her to Albany with a bevy of gifts, including one representing her penchant for high heels: a tape dispenser in the shape of a stiletto. She also received a glass nameplate reading, “Anna M. Kaplan, New York State Senate.”
Kaplan’s rise to senator caps a personal saga, which includes fleeing her native Iran as a Jewish teenager during a repressive time. Considering that back story, and her surprising win in November, Kaplan was emotional Tuesday.
“I think back to that 13-year-old girl, who came here on a very cold night, without my parents and with 40 other kids,” she said, pausing to gather herself. “And now I’m elected to the New York state Senate. I’m one of 63. Really? How amazing.”
Kaplan said that she said a prayer when she entered her office Tuesday and promptly filled shelves with photographs of her husband and two college-age daughters, one of whom is set to graduate from nearby Union College in Schenectady.
Like other newly empowered Democrats, Kaplan has an ambitious agenda that includes gun control and more funding for public schools. But on Tuesday, at least, Kaplan was giving herself a moment or two to reminisce.
“I look around at all of these pictures,” she said, “and really see how far I’ve come.”
5 p.m.
The Capitol is full of historical treasures, from the imposing grandeur of its architecture to artifacts stashed, half in shadow, in the corners of the legislative galleries.
May and her husband, as well as her brother and sister-in-law, took advantage of the mostly empty Capitol to play tourist, admiring an old desk near the entrance to the Senate chambers — “doesn’t look very comfortable” — and strolling the steps of the so-called Million Dollar Staircase, the reddish-gold opulence of which can inspire even seasoned legislators to stop in awe.
“I thought we were downsizing,” May joked to her husband.
Wednesday
11 a.m.
Myrie stood outside the Senate chamber, waiting for his turn to be sworn in by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. His father stood facing him, and his mother was seated on a couch to his left.
Afterward, Myrie said he had succeeded in avoiding choking up — barely.
“I was trying to sound confident in my swearing-in,” he said. “I had to clear my throat a couple of times.”
A big cheer had gone up when Myrie was sworn in, and then he and his friends and family crowded the dais for a photo. As Sen. Brian Benjamin of Manhattan watched the proceedings, he mused, “Zellnor brought the whole borough of Brooklyn.”
Noon
Bob Antonacci, a Republican, knew he was heading to Albany at a rough time for his party. After decades of almost uninterrupted rule of the Senate, the Republicans got clobbered in November, losing their majority, their committee chairmanships and the bigger suites of offices in the Capitol.
Not that Antonacci, who represents the Syracuse area, plans on spending too much time in the building.
“I’m not a creature of Albany. I want to come here, do my job and go back,” he said, adding: “I don’t see myself being a swamp thing.”
On Wednesday, however, Antonacci, 54, was surrounded by his wife, Michele, and their two children, and seemed to be enjoying the bustle of opening day. He was amiably chatting with well-wishers and colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
As for his hopes for the GOP, Antonacci said, “We can rebuild. We can rebrand.” But he conceded that sitting in the minority is not optimal. And while he said he does not care about perks — “Give me the broom closet,” he said. “It is what it is.” — he still thought that coming to Albany was the right move.
“You have got to go where the policy is made,” he said.
3 p.m.
After the session ended, dozens of people crowded the office of new Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for a reception and a chance to schmooze with senators. Kaplan, who with her family was led by an aide from the Senate chamber to the reception, looked shocked at the line winding against a wall.
“You don’t have to wait in line,” the aide told her.
“Oh, I like that!” Kaplan said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.