Sheldon Silver, Speaker of New York Assembly, Is Arrested in Corruption Case
By William K. Rashbaum, Thomas Kaplan And Susanne Craigjan January 22, 2015
The powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver, was arrested on federal corruption charges on Thursday, sending shock waves through the political establishment and upending the new legislative session.
Mr. Silver, a Democrat from the Lower East Side of Manhattan who has served as speaker for more than two decades, surrendered to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents early Thursday morning in Lower Manhattan, law enforcement officials said.
Mr. Silver, before entering 26 Federal Plaza, said, “I hope I’ll be vindicated.”
The investigation of Mr. Silver began after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in March abruptly shut down an anticorruption commission he had created in 2013.
The federal inquiry, led by the United States attorney for the Southern District, focused on payments that Mr. Silver received from a small law firm that specializes in seeking reductions of New York City real estate taxes.
While it is legal for lawmakers to hold outside jobs, investigators said Mr. Silver failed to list the payments from the firm, Goldberg & Iryami, on his annual financial disclosure filings with the state.
In the past, Mr. Silver has been criticized for his outside law practice, a lucrative career that supplements the $121,000 he earns as speaker.
In 2013, Mr. Silver earned at least $650,000 in legal income, including work for the personal injury law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, according to his most recent financial disclosure filing.
But what he does to earn that income has long been a mystery in Albany, and Mr. Silver has refused to provide details about his work.
In December, The New York Times reported that federal authorities were investigating substantial payments made to Mr. Silver by Goldberg & Iryami.
Mr. Silver is not known to have any expertise in the specialized area of the law in which the firm practices, known as tax certiorari, and the nature of Mr. Silver’s work for the firm was unclear.
After the disclosure, Mr. Silver said he had done nothing wrong but declined to comment in detail.
The speaker since 1994, Mr. Silver is a consummate back-room player, one of Albany’s “three men in a room,” along with the governor and Senate majority leader, who negotiate the state budget and hammer out deals on important legislation.
The day before his arrest, Mr. Silver, 70, was in Albany, where he attended Mr. Cuomo’s State of the State address and had a prominent seat on stage next to the governor.
Even after news of the investigation into Mr. Silver was made public, there had been no serious signs of dissent among Democrats in his caucus.
Mr. Silver was easily re-elected speaker this month when the Assembly gathered in Albany to begin the new legislative session.
But as news of the arrest spread, there were signs that he might have trouble maintaining support.
State Senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan, took to Twitter on Thursday to call for Mr. Silver’s resignation.
“Speaker Silver should resign for the good of the people of New York,” he wrote.
State lawmakers who are arrested can continue to serve. Upon conviction of a felony they must leave office.
Before he makes his initial court appearance, he will processed by federal agents. Generally, people facing charges are fingerprinted and photographed, have a DNA swab taken and are checked for tattoos.
Sandra E. Garcia and Marc Santora contributed reporting.