Observers were taken aback to see Sen. Jose Peralta engaged in deep and prolonged discussion with the man whose comeback he thwarted, expelled ex-Sen. Hiram Monserrate, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany this past Saturday night.

hiram and peralta, 2

Both men were in town for the annual Somos el Futuro Spring conference. Monserrate kept a rather low profile, while Peralta was feted at various receptions throughout the evening, jokingly introduced as the “senior senator” at an event he co-sponsored with Assemblyman Adrian Espaillat and Sen. Eric Schneiderman. (More on that get-together later).

The tete-a-tete between Monserrate and Peralta lasted for at least half an hour, during which I had the opportunity to snap this (rather dark and fuzzy) photo from across the bar. I later asked Peralta what the erstwhile opponents had discussed, but the senator would only tell me that Monserrate was “wishing me well.”

A source close to Peralta who was briefed on the chat characterized it as a “long-overdue conversation in which Monserrate conceded that Jose won the race.” (The two Queens Democrats apparently had not spoken face-to-face, if at all, since the March special election in which Peralta defeated Monserrate’s attempt to win back the seat from which he had been ejected by his former colleagues).

The source said Monserrate also discussed a recent trip he took to Russia and expressed an interest in “moving on,” although he didn’t provide any details. He has been speculated to be eyeing Peralta’s 39th AD Assembly seat, but there are already at least two Democrats in the running: Francisco Moya, the establishment favorite, and Bryan Pu-Folkes.

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