Which party will control the New York Senate after November?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

It's been suggested that if an "extreme conservative" like Rob Astorino is the Republican nominee for governor, moderate Republican turnout will be suppressed and voters will be turned off enough by his candidacy to elect more Democrats to the State Senate.  On the other hand, the Senate map is sorely gerrymandered in the Republicans' favor, and while the balance of power is down to only a handful of seats, it is difficult seeing the Democrats win back the majority if they couldn't win it back with Obama on the ballot.

At this time, my guess is that the composition of the Senate will be the same, give or take maybe two seats, and enough Democrats will again caucus with the GOP to keep them in control of the chamber.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

How is the NY State Senate map so GOP friendly? Dems have controlled the gov's mansion and State House since the last census. Do both chambers have to agree on a map, thus giving the nominally GOP Senate veto power over any plan that wouldn't benefit them?

Local politics simply doesn't mirror national politics in New York.  Before 2009, Republicans had control of the chamber since 1964.  Shortly after the new Senate was sworn in, party control was put in jeopardy due to a leadership crisis.  Following the 2010 midterms, Republicans and Independent Democrats had enough seats to co-lead the chamber.  One of the reasons Republicans have an advantage in the Senate is that Upstate NY is proportionately overrepresented while NYC is underrepresented.