Joe Bruno's retirement throws open the settled nature of New York politics, so it's worthwhile speculating on some possible developments.

His departure from the scene breaks the all-but-statutory requirement for GOP Senators to seek re-election as long as they're tolerably animate wide open. It's not unreasonable to expect Senators who have continued to serve at Bruno's request to now head for the exits; names being floated are Caesar Trunzo (born 1926), Owen Johnson (no birth date given, but first elected in 1972), Kenneth P. LaValle (no birth date given, again, but first elected in 1976), and Hugh Farley (first elected to public office in 1970, elevated to the Senate in 1976). It's an open secret in Albany that several of these lawmakers had wanted to retire for some time, but were kept in the fold by a majority leader anxious to preserve his majority. That's over, and no one would blame them for seeking retirement.

It's also reasonable to expect other Senators from the soon-to-be minority to seek greener pastures in other legislative bodies. For example, George Maziarz would probably be the strongest candidate for his party in NY-26, just as Andrew Lanza would be for the race in NY-13, where there is presently no GOP contender. I would take bets that the NRCC is on the phone with both Maziarz and Lanza right now to save something from the wreckage that republican fortunes in this state will likely become in November.

In the Assembly, meanwhile, Sheldon Silver contemplates the end of an era.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, said Monday night after Mr. Bruno telephoned him with the news. He added: “The senator certainly is a piece of Albany. An era ends with Joe Bruno leaving.”

The end of an era indeed. Two of the three men in a room in January have now stepped down, and a chamber of the legislature is in unprecedented turmoil. Is New York on the cusp of an actual change?