Tracking Patronage & Corruption in New York State Politics (BETA)

Spotlight on Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

May 22, 2013 ~ Written by admin

NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon (“Shelly”) Silver has taken a lot of heat for his role in “investigating” the sexual harassment charges against his Assembly colleague Vito Lopez.  This is now the second time in about a decade that Silver has faced criticism for his handling of a sex scandal.

About ten years ago, Silver’s former chief counsel, Michael Boxley, pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from his alleged rape of a legislative staffer.  Boxely’s victim in that case was actually the second female staffer to report that she had been raped by Silver’s top lawyer.  The first woman alleged that when she reported Boxley to Silver, Silver just sat there and ate pretzels and then referred the matter to the Assembly’s notoriously lenient ethics panel, which was led by one of Boxley’s close colleagues and associates.

According to reports, Silver has no intention of resigning over his handling of the Lopez affair.  And why should he?  For some reason, his constituents in lower Manhattan simply don’t care enough about his repeated and blatant actions to shield the Assembly from sexual harassment and rape allegations to vote him out of office.

Nor is there any pressure from his fellow New York Democrats to push him out.  As some of the profiles of Silver below point out, after 20 years Silver is still very popular in his party.  And no wonder.  Not only does he hand out pork “member items” to his loyal followers, he has repeatedly demonstrated that he will reward that loyalty by doing his absolute best to protect Democrats in the Assembly from any ethics or criminal charges, no matter how disgusting, that anyone brings against them.

  • Silver Wields Power by Keeping Albany Guessing, NY Times (June 20, 2007)(“In the last fiscal year he was the sole sponsor of $7.2 million in member items and directed about 70 percent of that to organizations and services in his district, many affiliated with his important Jewish and Chinese constituents.  Among the most favored beneficiaries in the last fiscal year was the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and its affiliated organizations, which received nearly $1 million. The group’s chief executive, William E. Rapfogel, is the husband of Mr. Silver’s chief of staff, Judith Rapfogel. The council is widely acknowledged to provide useful services to all ethnic and racial groups throughout the city, and has long received generous public financing.”)
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