It is probable that only a small percentage of city residents can name their state legislators. But it’s hard to imagine that anyone in the northwest Bronx does not now — or won’t soon — know that their state senator is Pedro Espada.

Espada, a newly elected state senator for the 33rd Senate District, which includes all the neighborhoods of Community Board 7 and much of Community Board 5, seems to have catapulted himself to the top of the Senate leadership with some audacious, bare-knuckles deal-making.

By threatening not to support Queens State Senator Malcolm Smith in his bid to ascend to majority leader now that the Democrats have a two-seat majority in the chamber, Espada and two other renegade Dems – Ruben Diaz, Jr. of the Bronx and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn — extracted tremendous concessions from Smith.

Under the deal, which still has to be approved by the full Senate, Smith will still be the top Democrat in the chamber, but he’ll only retain the Constitutionally-proscribed title President Pro Tempore. Espada, will be the majority leader and will be vice chair of the Rules Committee, through which all legislation flows. It is still unclear, however, how much power Espada will wield, since Smith said on Monday in a press conference that current Deputy Minority Leader Jeffrey Klein, a Bronxite who has rapidly climbed the Senate’s leadership ladder, will remain his number two and take on the title of Vice President Pro Tempore.

(At press time, Espada, who did not return a call Tuesday, told the New York Times that he was “tremendously dismayed and disappointed” that his new post came with few responsibilities.)

Diaz was promised the chairmanship of the Aging Committee and Kruger the helm of the powerful Finance Committee.

The deal was reportedly brokered by Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks and upstate billionaire and perennial political aspirant Tom Golisano in a meeting also attended briefly by Governor Paterson.

Also reportedly part of the deal, and a concession to Diaz, was a promise not to bring legislation legalizing gay marriage to the floor of the Senate next year, according to the New York Times.

The Gang of Three or Three Amigos – as they’ve been called in the press – also exacted changes in the way the Senate is run, making it easier for Republicans to bring their legislation to the floor and assigning seating by alphabetical order rather than by party. The three Democrats have flirted with supporting the Republican leadership, making them unpopular on their own side of the aisle. But they’re now on the verge of becoming among the most powerful legislators in the Capitol.

As the New York Times put it: “The deal is a particular triumph for Mr. Espada and Mr. Kruger, who went from being pariahs in their own party to being two of its leading members.”

The rule changes that will allow Espada — who still has not registered his campaign committee a month after the election — to ascend to the carved out position of majority leader will have to be voted on in January, so anything could still happen. Democratic senators who oppose the plan gave Smith an earful at a closed-door meeting over the weekend, arguing that he had given away too much.

If Espada is ultimately successful, it takes some of the pressure off Gov. Paterson to appoint a Hispanic to Hillary Clinton’s U.S. Senate seat. Espada and Diaz said the lack of Hispanic leadership in significant positions was a key motive for their high-stakes political gamesmanship.

Ed. note: A version of this article originally appeared on the West Bronx Blog (www.west bronxnews.blogspot.com). Check the blog for regular updates on this and other political stories.