Longtime State Sen. Joseph Bruno Dead at 91

Longtime New York State Sen. Joseph Bruno died Tuesday, Oct. 6. He was 91. 

Bruno was born in Glens Falls in 1929, and first began serving in the New York State Senate in 1977. He was Senate Majority Leader from 1994 to 2008. 

In June 2008, Bruno announced he was stepping away from the political theater after 32 years of service. One month later, he made one final trip to Saratoga Springs on his farewell tour as state senator, were he announced he had secured an additional $6 million from the state Dormitory Authority to help fund the expansion of the Saratoga Springs City Center. He had previously delivered $6 million in 2006 toward the $16 million City Center expansion project. 

Earlier, the Republican senator from Brunswick delivered a $4 million grant from the state that was used to complete the new 54,000-square-foot Zankel music center on the campus of his alma mater. “I graduated from Skidmore College before most of you were even born,” quipped Bruno, a Skidmore graduate of the class of ’52. 

Bruno died at his Brunswick home, surrounded by family, according to the Associated Press.