New York State Senator Malcolm Smith is surrounded by media after exiting a U.S. court in White Plains, New York April 2, 2013. A high-ranking Democratic New York State senator was arrested on Tuesday and charged with trying to buy a place on the Republican ticket in the city&#039;s next mayoral race, an effort that prosecutors said was part of a wide-ranging bribery scandal and reflected pervasive corruption in New York politics. The charges center on Senator Smith, a Democrat from Queens, who prosecutors said made payments to a city councilman to set up meetings with top New York Republicans to assist in getting him on the mayoral ballot.   REUTERS/Adrees Latif 