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Shelly Silver’s Arrest: 5 Immediate Impacts on Albany


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Silver, right, and Cuomo face shifting power dynamics (photo: @NYSA_Majority)


A former member of the New York State Assembly once told me off the record that the real reason Sheldon Silver didn't disclose who his law clients were was not because he was afraid of being exposed for doing their bidding in the Legislature, as Silver's critics have long alleged; Silver's real secret was that he didn't actually have any law clients whatsoever and that he was being paid millions of dollars by the firm Weitz & Luxenberg for doing no work at all. Thursday's five-count indictment of Silver by the U.S. Attorney's Office appeared to affirm that portrait of the Speaker's outside income from Weitz & Luxenberg and another firm, Goldberg & Iryami.

While Silver, an extraordinarily resilient politician, could certainly survive the charges brought again him and hang on as Assembly Speaker, his arrest will undoubtedly weaken him immensely for the rest of his career in office and have major implications for the current political and legislative landscape in Albany. The following are five immediate ramifications of Thursday's bombshell turn of events:

1) POWER SHIFT: For over a generation, Silver has been one of Albany's "three men in a room" and during the troubled administrations of Govs. Spitzer and Paterson emerged as the most powerful of the three, often appearing to be the lone responsible party keeping the ship of state from crashing into the rocks. That power dynamic shifted when Gov. Cuomo, a forceful chief executive, took office in 2010, and Silver was wounded by the series of scandals that have rocked the Assembly in recent years—most notably, the Vito Lopez sexual harassment cover-up complaints—as well as the arrest and conviction of one of Silver's closest friends and associates, Willie Rapfogel.

Still, Silver has consistently been, at least on paper, progressive Democrats' foremost champion in the Capitol. If he does remain Speaker, Silver will have a very difficult time holding the line on progressive priorities, particularly if the consistently rock-solid support of his members starts to break down. If Silver gives up his post or is forced from it, Gov. Cuomo is almost certain to try to heavily influence the succession process to ensure that the next Speaker is a pliant ally. If Cuomo prevails, he will further tip the balance of power in Albany in his favor. If the Legislature holds out for an independent Speaker, there will be enmity in the proverbial "room" which will shake up the relatively amicable working relationship Cuomo, Silver, and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos (and IDC head Jeff Klein) have enjoyed for the past four years.

2) POSSIBILITY OF REFORM: Silver's arrest is already prompting yet another call to address Albany's appalling epidemic of political corruption. Since the allegations against Silver stem from his outside income, the Legislature's rules governing what money senators and Assembly members can make from their other jobs and how they have to disclose it—rules good government groups have long slammed as far too lax—are certain to come up for review. A debate over whether the Legislature should become full-time to eliminate the possibility of members being entangled in any perceived or actual conflicts of interest is also likely to arise, though the Legislature would probably only sign off on this change in conjunction with a significant pay raise for legislators, which it is hard to believe could pass amid the current political atmosphere without a serious voter backlash in 2016.

Leadership term limits may also now be on the table in light of how long Silver was allegedly enriching himself via his position. Since Gov. Cuomo shuttered the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption in March as part of a deal with Skelos and Silver, he will be under significant pressure to demonstrate that he didn't let Silver almost skirt free, and to prove that he is as determined to clean up Albany as he has repeatedly professed. Silencing his critics who claim that he has been soft on—if not complicit in fostering—Albany's culture of corruption will now become one of the governor's chief concerns for the foreseeable future—and will encumber his ability to focus solely on achieving the ambitious agenda he laid out yesterday—with Silver on stage beside him—in his State of the State address.

3) HOUSING FIGHT UNCERTAINTY: Tenant advocates hoping to preserve and strengthen New York City's rent control laws and other key pieces of housing legislation that are sunsetting this year have placed a lot of their eggs in Shelly Silver's basket. Though Silver was Speaker two of the times the city's housing laws were weakened in Albany, tenant advocates widely regard him as their foremost bulwark in the Capitol, as they are suspicious of where Gov. Cuomo, who received millions of campaign dollars from the real estate industry, sides in the fight, despite his having helped them win stricter limits on the deregulation of apartments in 2011 and creating the Tenant Protection Unit, which landlords generally do not like.

If Silver remains Speaker, it will be far more difficult for him to defend the city's rent laws, and if he is ousted, it will matter significantly who takes his place. If his successor is Assembly Housing Committee Chair Keith Wright, who is always quick to point out that he lives in a rent control apartment, a change could end up potentially benefitting tenant advocates, but Wright is also a close ally of Cuomo, who appointed him co-chair of the New York State Democratic Party in 2012, and unlikely to cross the governor. In any event, an already tense situation for tenant advocates got much more stressful for them on Thursday.

4) TORT REFORM BACK ON THE TABLE: Supporters of modifying or eliminating New York State's Scaffold Law undoubtedly are rejoicing today. The law, which holds contractors and property owners 100 percent liable if a worker falls on the job, is detested by business groups and the real estate industry, which insist it dramatically drives up the cost of building, and fiercely defended by union advocates and trial attorneys, the latter of whom receive a lucrative percentage of the often large settlements that can result from lawsuits that hinge upon the statute. Since he became Speaker in 1994, there has been no more dependable and aggressive ally than Silver of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, on whose board Weitz & Luxenberg partner Arthur Luxenberg sits.

Last year Gov. Cuomo called the trial lawyers "the single most powerful political force in Albany" in explaining to Crain's why there was no current path to reforming the Scaffold Law, and that power largely emanates from Silver. With Silver hobbled and his financial ties to law firms centrally related to his indictment, it will be much harder for the Trial Lawyers and related lobbies to rebuff any efforts at reforming the Scaffold Law and other favorite targets of tort reform advocates, like contingency fee limits and trespasser responsibility.

5) MORE SCALPS?: The reason Shelly Silver is only a year short of becoming the longest serving Speaker in Assembly history is because he has been very good at his job. The speaker's principal responsibility is to protect his members, and in that regard Silver has been exemplary, often taking the heat for bad and criminal behavior by his members when he could have easily opted instead to hang them out to dry. With Silver on the ropes, he won't be in a position to protect his members any more, and human nature being what it is, now that they are exposed to the elements some of his members may turn on each other or on him, creating a general atmosphere of paranoia, hostility and shameless opportunism.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has every reason in the world to put in jail every corrupt elected official in the state, particularly after he so publicly took over the Moreland Commission's investigations, and so far he has demonstrated a dogged willingness to do so. In the past there has been an omertà in Albany, kept sacred by the leaders of the Legislature. It's hard to believe that Skelos and Silver will be able to enforce that code of silence moving forward with the same vigilance.

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Morgan Pehme is the former editor-in-chief of City & State, and a frequent commentator on New York politics and government on television and radio.

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Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? E-mail editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Spike in Concerns About Race Provides Opportunity


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Mayor de Blasio speaking at BAM on MLK Day (photo: @BilldeBlasio)


It's hard to imagine a single Martin Luther King Day event in New York City this week which did not include urgent expressions of concern about race in our hometown—both from the podium and in the crowd.

After a torrid summer and fall of protests following the tragic deaths of two unarmed black men – Eric Garner and Akai Gurley – at the hands of police, we are now suffering through a winter of cold war between police unions and City Hall after the assassination of two officers, appallingly gunned down amid the strife.

Recent polling reflects the mood of a troubled public stuck in the middle of all this, supporting police but clearly hearing protesters. New Yorkers are also fearing what the ongoing conflict means for race relations. Just two years ago, more than half of New Yorkers thought race relations were excellent or good. Now less than a third do, according to a Siena College survey released Monday.

Those numbers have undoubtedly dropped because of the disturbing string of events having to do with the police, including the standoff between the police unions and Mayor de Blasio—a fight which is rooted in a basic disagreement over how to even talk about race.

But New Yorkers' race-related anxieties were already piquing during the 2013 mayoral campaign. Though it's reasonable to argue the recent policing issues rapidly escalated concern, our mayor's victory a little more than a year ago was due in no small part to his ardent criticism of the overuse of Stop-and-Frisk in communities of color.

And New Yorkers are not just concerned about race in policing, but also about race's role in general inequality. For instance, more than half of New Yorkers now think the entire criminal justice system treats people of color unfairly. Politicians from every corner of the city talk about a yawning income gap between the haves (mostly white) and the have-nots (mostly black and Latino).

To many in New York, it's as if racial inequality 2.0 is just now being uncovered. Actually though, it's a deep-seated problem that never went away, and has seen little improvement in decades. Yet a large group of people is suddenly realizing how serious a problem it is. Those people, by the way, are mainly white.

When more than half of all New Yorkers thought race relations were excellent or good two years ago, black New Yorkers disagreed. More than half of them thought they were only fair or poor. Since then, there has been a huge increase in the percentage of white New Yorkers who are concerned - just 8 percent thought race relations were poor in 2013. Now that number has tripled to more than a quarter who think so.

It's easy to be pessimistic about progress from here. But, believe it or not, this level of distress is exactly what had to happen for things to get better.

With attention focused on the different experiences whites and blacks have in this city and state, there is an historic opportunity to make real, lasting changes. NYPD Commissioner Bratton, Governor Cuomo and other lawmakers have already put forward policies which could reduce inequality in our criminal justice system. But next we have to recognize other systemic causes of racial inequality, and seek to fix them as well.

Schools that are predominantly black are far more likely to be underfunded and underperforming. Unemployment remains devastatingly high in neighborhoods with large black populations. Even basic things like renovated subway stops and cleaner sidewalks are harder to find in majority-minority areas.

This month, the governor and mayor are setting their agendas for 2015, and our State Legislature and City Council will soon go about the annual task of doling out government funds through their budget processes. This is when we prioritize what's most important to us. This is when we have a chance to reduce the inequality that has created a far less perfect city than we are capable of and deserve.

This may be the most pivotal Martin Luther King Week we New Yorkers have had in a very long time. The current controversy over policing is important and must lead to reform. But it is also necessary to admit there is a broader problem, be determined to fix it, and to act, not just worry. We must do it now, while so many New Yorkers are finally paying attention.

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Evan Thies is the president of Brooklyn Strategies, a public affairs and strategic planning firm that offers political advice.

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Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? E-mail editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Three Keys to Positive Criminal Justice Reform in New York


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Gov. Cuomo speaks to ABNY (photo: @NYGovCuomo)


It has been encouraging to hear Governor Andrew Cuomo call for a resolution of the unfortunate conflict that has broken out between Mayor de Blasio and the leaders of the NYPD unions. A number of our elected leaders are proposing responses to this affair and to the larger issue of the execrable state of police/community relations that has erupted across the nation over the past year catalyzed by the Ferguson and Staten Island deaths of young men of color at the hands of police officers.

Based on my experience as a lawyer and legal reform consultant, including several years as criminal justice advisor to the administration of Governor Mario Cuomo, I have three recommendations to make regarding criminal justice reform in the State of New York.

First, over the past two decades, a once vibrant movement toward community policing -- police service founded on true partnership with community stakeholders -- has been all but totally eclipsed by the kind of data-driven policing that Bill Bratton debuted in New York City in 1994. I am a witness to the fact that this style of numbers-driven policing was aggressively promoted throughout the nation and has been hugely influential. It has fundamentally changed the relationship between municipal police agencies and the public they serve and not for the better.

While many credit CompStat and other policing tactics that are descended from it for the historic reductions in crime nationwide, this style of policing has driven a wedge between police and communities of color. Crime may be going down, but public dissatisfaction has been skyrocketing. That is what protesters across the nation are saying. That is what New York City voters were saying when they elected Bill de Blasio last year. Their complaint is both legitimate and urgent. Whomever is tasked with the Cuomo Administration response to this phenomenon should be given a clear mandate to reignite the community policing movement.

Second, former Governor Mario Cuomo, may he rest in peace, signed into law Chapter 55 of the Laws of 1983, the Neighborhood Preservation Crime Prevention Act (NPCPA). This DCJS-administered program was intended to foster the creation of an infrastructure of community-based nonprofit organizations that could access new resources and collaborate with police and other municipal agencies to improve quality of life in neighborhoods that otherwise would slide into decay and criminality. This inspired piece of legislation would have empowered neighborhoods and their residents to have a major impact on the quality of life in their communities. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, NPCPA was never funded, staffed, implemented.

The kind of community-based infrastructure it would have created would have helped neighborhoods and police agencies work together in productive partnership. This law is still on the books. As the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo moves forward in developing its response to the police/community relations crisis, I would strongly suggest taking up this piece of Mario Cuomo's legacy and fulfilling its promise at last.

Third, for over half a century, the decision of the US Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright has guaranteed that poor persons who get swept up in the machinery of the criminal justice system should have effective legal representation. As all know, this promise has not been kept. Certainly, were we to address this decisively and dramatically, we would be leveling the playing field between the poor accused and the police and prosecutors who arrest them in their tens of thousands and force them into plea bargains that ruin their lives.

Any thoughtful person who contemplates the many decades over which this issue has been left on the backmost burner can only condemn the total lack of engagement by the Executive, the Legislature, and the Bar in doing what is so obviously the right thing. The shameful fact is that there has been no meaningful judicial reform in New York since the administration of Nelson A. Rockefeller and he accomplished what he did because he made it a top personal goal of his own. I ask Governor Cuomo to accept the challenge of Gideon right now when doing so would do the most good.

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Terry O'Neill is Director of the Constantine Institute in Albany, an organization that promotes constitutional, legal and ethical standards in law enforcement and advises state and local governments on police issues. He is a lawyer and served as a criminal justice advisor to the administration of Governor Mario Cuomo from 1988 to 1994.

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Have an op-ed idea or submission for Gotham Gazette? E-mail editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



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