Hours after the war between the state's two leading Democrats escalated, the state Republican Party held its annual gala on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Zack Fink filed the following report.

Republicans have no formal role to play in the ongoing battle between Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. But at the annual Republican State Gala, there were plenty of observations about their escalating feud.

"It gets very unseemly," said Republican State Committee Chairman Ed Cox. "The mayor and the governor, yes, institutionally, they have differences. But they shouldn't be going after each other from an almost personal point of view."

"I guess there is the old axiom in politics: when your opponents are killing each other, let them commit suicide," said Rep. Peter King, whose district covers parts of Long Island. "I think Mayor de Blasio is so far to the left. Governor Cuomo is trying to have some sort of moderation."

Tension between mayors and governors is nothing new. When George Pataki was governor in the 1990s, he, too, had struggles with the city's mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, also a Republican.

Giuliani endorsed Pataki's opponent in 1994, former Governor Mario Cuomo. The tensions, though rarely spilled out into public view.

"I'll tell you, I worked great with Rudy and his team. I worked great with Mike Bloomberg and his team," Pataki said. "Sure, we had differences. Sometimes, they were advocating for the city, and I had to represent the whole state. There is always going to be that inherit tension, but you try and keep your eye on what's good for everybody and reach common ground."

Meanwhile, the state's Republican party leader defended Albany's legislative session, which has been heavily attacked by some Democrats, including de Blaiso.

"Just because the the legislature didn't do anything doesn't mean that it didn't do the right things. Legislatures can do some very bad things," Cox said. "In the end, the legislative session, I think, was a successful session."

But some upstate Republicans feel the Republican-controlled state Senate failed to deliver for them also.

"There was nothing in it for upstate," said former candidate for governor Carl Paladino. "Our upstate senators that betrayed us and joined Flanagan's crowd down here, they gave us all those assurances that they would bring home the bacon for upstate."

Republicans say the party is in good shape. Even though registered Democrats outnumber them by nearly 3 to 1, Republicans point to the fact that they have managed to expand their Republican congressional seats in New York State, going from just two before 2010 to nine after 2014.