1.   And on the rent laws, Republicans and Democrats accused each other of intransigence.

2.   As for the rent laws themselves, the day was at best indifferent.

3.   At the same time, other elemental provisions of the current rent laws hang in the balance.

4.   A savvy and sometimes pugnacious political strategist with an ever-present cigar, Strasburg said the group had been largely responsible for pushing the Republican leadership to attack rent laws.

5.   Aides to Gov. George Pataki and the leaders of the Legislature are expected to hold their first negotiations on the rent laws within a few days.

6.   Bruno has said that he will not allow the Senate to approve any temporary extensions of the rent laws to buy time.

7.   Bruno, a Republican from a suburb of Troy, has vowed that he will not extend the rent laws without vacancy decontrol.

8.   Bruno is prodding the Senate Republicans to support his plan, which would end the rent laws over several years.

9.   Bruno has long argued that the rent laws discourage the building of new houses, worsening the housing shortages and, paradoxically, driving up rental prices.

10.   But it was bound to incense supporters of rent laws.