ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Warren Anderson, the courtly Republican majority leader of New York’s state Senate from 1973-88, has died, the managing partner of his Binghamton-based law firm said Friday.

Anderson was 91. He died early Friday afternoon at Wilson Hospital in Johnson City, said James Orband of Hinman, Howard & Kattell. No cause of death was immediately available.

Mr. Orband said Anderson had worked until Wednesday of last week when he felt ill and was later hospitalized.

Anderson served in the Senate from 1953-88.

“New York state has lost one of its greatest leaders,” said state Senator Libous, a Broome County Republican who succeeded Anderson in the Senate, “When Warren Anderson gave you his word, it got done.”

The white-haired Anderson, who looked as if he had come out of central casting, was a key player with Governor Carey and the late Stanley Steingut, a Brooklyn Democrat who was state Assembly speaker, in fashioning the package that saved New York City from bankruptcy in 1975.

“Warren got him the (Republican) votes he needed,” recalled Mario Cuomo, the former governor, of the Carey-Anderson partnership in 1975.

Anderson had been a close ally of Governor Rockefeller and shared the patrician Republican’s moderate-to-liberal leanings. An abortion rights supporter, it was Anderson who championed a 15 percent increase in welfare benefits in 1981. A year later, he played a key role in enacting a surcharge on corporate franchise taxes in order to bail out the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the New York City area’s mass transit system.

One of Anderson’s closest friends in Albany was the late Stanley Fink, a Brooklyn Democrat who served as Assembly speaker from 1979-86. When Fink died in 1997 at age 61 after a lengthy battle with cancer, Anderson said he had lost “one of my dearest friends.”

Anderson briefly considered running against Carey when the Democrat sought re-election to a second term in 1978, but eventually rejected the notion. Mr. Carey went on to easily win the race.

Anderson was famous in Albany for his own special way of declaring when it was time for the Senate to wrap up its annual sessions. He would appear on the floor of the Senate chamber wearing outrageously garish sportcoats. One year, it was a red coat with tails that looked like it belonged on a circus ringmaster. Another favorite was a red, yellow and gold jacket that he left to the Legislative Correspondents Association when he retired from the Senate. The LCA is made up of the news reporters who cover state government.

“When I saw that coat, I knew it was the end of the session,” recalled Mr. Cuomo who presided over the Senate as Carey’s lieutenant governor from 1978-82. “As far as I was concerned, that was the sun coming up.”

The sportcoat was also remembered by George Pataki, another former governor. Mr. Pataki was a Senate staffer and then a member of the state Assembly when Anderson ruled the Senate.

“You knew that if you didn’t get your bill passed, it would have to wait until next year,” Mr. Pataki said Friday. Nonetheless, Mr. Pataki also said that appearance of the jacket “would lift everyone’s spirits after being in session for seven or eight days.”

“It’s just the end of an era,” said Mr. Pataki. “He was truly one of the great leaders the state has had in my lifetime.”

“Warren Anderson is a legend in Albany and with good reason,” said Governor Spitzer. “He rose through the legislative ranks on the merits and represented his district and his conference with skill and style for many years. At the same time, he was someone who truly cared about the entire state and who worked well with others to get things done. He was a great New Yorker.”

“Senator Anderson was an icon in politics. He was a true statesman, the likes of which we have not seen in the leadership of Albany since he left there,” said Mr. Orband. “It’s a sad day for the firm, a sad day for this community and a sad day for the state as a whole.”

Anderson joined the law firm in 1949 and became a partner in 1950, Mr. Orband said.

After retiring from the Senate, Anderson continued to practice law in Binghamton.

“Warren has been at work every day. It was his life,” Mr. Orband said.

“The people of New York have lost a tremendous, dedicated public servant and a true and caring friend,” said current Senate Republican Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

Mr. Bruno said Anderson led the Senate “during very challenging times. He was a strong advocate for tax relief, increased government accountability, and greater state investment in schools.”

“Perhaps Warren Anderson’s greatest accomplishment was the creation of the Tuition Assistance Program,” said Mr. Bruno, referring to the state aid program that helps New York students pay for college.

“While Warren Anderson was a great leader of the greatest state, he never lost the warm, small-town touch of his beloved Southern Tier roots,” Bruno added.

The interstate highway that runs southwest from near Schenectady to Binghamton is named in honor of Anderson.

Anderson was born Oct. 16, 1915 in Bainbridge near Binghamton. He was a graduate of Colgate University and Albany Law School. His father, Floyd, held the Senate seat for the decade prior to his son’s election in 1952.

He is survived by four sons and daughters-in-law and seven grandchildren. His wife of 55 years, Eleanor, died in 1996 at the age of 80.

A private service will be held Tuesday for Anderson’s immediate family.

A public memorial service will take place in the next few weeks at First Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, his son Richard Anderson said. The family has not yet determined a date.

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Associated Press writer Michael Gormley in Albany contributed to this report.