ALBANY—Malcolm Smith just named State Senator Bill Stachowski as deputy majority leader, then walked out of his own press conference without taking questions from reporters, leaving Stachowski to get grilled.
The press conference had been convened to announce several new committee chairs. Stachowski, who was previously in line to take over the finance committee, was asked questions about the structure of leadership in the conference that he refused (or was unable) to answer.
Here's the video of Smith walking out, with reporters shouting questions after him. (Sorry for the fuzzy focus, it happened fast.)
