Sheldon Silver Steps Down as New York Assembly Speaker
Image by getty images
New York State Assemby Speaker Sheldon Silver, who is facing corruption charges, will resign from his position.
Silver, 70, was arrested Jan. 22 for allegedly receiving payments from a law firm, Goldberg & Iryami, without properly disclosing them. The arrest stems from an anti-corruption investigation launched by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2013.
Silver will be replaced on Monday, Feb. 1 by majority leader Joseph D. Morelle, a Rochester-area assemblyman, according to the New York Times. Morelle will serve as interim speaker until elections are held on Feb. 1o.
Having served as speaker since 1994, Silver, an assemblyman from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, was one of the state’s most powerful politicians. He will not be resigning his seat in the assembly.
“I believe very deeply in the institution,” Silver said Tuesday, according to the Times. “I hope that they can have somebody here who can carry on the good work that has taken place.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
