More than $2 million in loans were given to the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee by the National Bank of New York City, between October 20 and November 2.

There's not much readily available information about the bank, but I, and a bunch of other reporters, I assume, are busy calling around and Goolging.

The bank is located in Flushing and has a not entirely professional-looking web site, complete with clip art and an absence of pesky things like information about who sits on its board of directors. The bank identifies itself as a "privately owned" entity, and notes its "Board of Directors and Advisory Board members represent local businesses and professional practitioners. With strong ties, the bank will enhance both the economic and cultural development of the community it serves."

After I left a message at the bank seeking a comment, a woman who did not identify herself called back to say the bank does not comment on "their customers" and hung up.

A spokesman for the DSCC said it's "very common," to have a post-campaign debt. But the New York Public Interest Research Group released a statement noting the DSCC's post-election liabilities are larger than normally appear around this time.

A colleague digs up a 2002 Daily News article about DSCC owing money to this exact bank:

Daily News (New York)
July 9, 2002, Tuesday

STATE SENATE DEMS SADDLED WITH BIG DEBT
BYLINE: BY JOEL SIEGEL DAILY NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 18
LENGTH: 465 words

Like a family that can't quite eliminate its credit card balance, the state Senate's Democrats have a debt problem.

They quietly borrowed $700,000 from an obscure Queens bank in the last weeks of the 2000 elections, hoping the cash would help them win enough seats to wrest control of the chamber from Republicans, records show.

But the Democrats not only failed to pick up seats, they still owe the bank nearly $400,000 - complicating their goal of capturing the Senate in this year's legislative elections.

In an unusual twist, 18 Democratic senators are personally liable if the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee defaults on the loans. That's because the bank required them to co-sign the loans as a condition for lending the committee money, the records show.

In interviews, the Senate's Democratic leaders minimized the loans and said there was little chance of a default. They said the campaign committee has the option of refinancing the loans when they come due this fall.

"I guess when they come banging on the door [for the money], I will start worrying," said state Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn).

Still, Minority Leader Martin Connor (D-Brooklyn) said of the unpaid balance, "I live with that every day. I'd rather be like the majority, where they would brag that they have a $1 million certificate of deposit. I think, 'That is great. You have a $1 million CD and I have a $400,000 note.' "

The loans - which already have cost the Democrats $80,000 in interest - underscore the problems and pressure faced by a minority party in the Legislature.

The Democrats' campaign committee opened 2000 with $54,000 in the bank, while the Republican Senate Campaign Committee had $2.7 million, records show. The GOP reeled in an additional $4.5 million during the year, while the Democrats' committee collected $2.2 million, not including the loans.

In the Assembly, Republicans are the minority party and face a similar fund-raising disadvantage, but they never have borrowed, a spokesman said.

Senate Democrats quietly began taking out small election loans in the late 1980s under a line of credit arranged by former Minority Leader Manfred Ohrenstein (D-Manhattan) with the one-branch National Bank of New York City in Flushing, Queens, Connor said.

By the time Connor replaced Ohrenstein in 1995, the line of credit was $250,000. Connor said the Democrats' payment record was so strong, the bank offered to boost the borrowing limit two years ago to $950,000.

Democrats were eager for the cash, believing that the campaigns of Al Gore and Hillary Clinton for President and U.S. Senate, respectively, would produce a Democratic tide that would sweep the party into power in the state Senate. But it was not to be.