Senate President Malcolm Smith was VERY eager to respond to the criticism he received from former Mayor Ed Koch over his comments in Niagara Falls about wanting to redistrict Republicans into “oblivion.”

After meeting with Koch earlier today, Smith called NY1′s Erin Billups at the Capitol seeking an on-camera opportunity. Upon learning she was unable to come to his office, he showed up in person for his close-up.

“First of all, the mayor’s always known for his colorful words, and I guess some of my words were colorful, too, when I talked about oblivion,” Smith said.

“But I was really referencing the June 29th article in the Times from Sam Roberts. He basically said demographics will prove that Senate Democrats will pick up four or five seats just on the basic lines.”

“So, I told the mayor we could be fair if we had to. You know, he explained to me the way the redistricting commission would function, which really they are appointed by the members of our conference. They get three shots at changing the lines if we disagree and then on the third time we actually would be what we want.”

“So I told him, I’m open to it, but still I believe that Democrats could be fair.”

(I’m note sure, but I think Smith was referring to this Roberts story, which ran on June 28, 2009 as the Democrats were battling to take control of the Senate from the GOP).

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