whether you walk the Assembly district that Sheldon Silver served for nearly four decades until his federal corruption conviction on Monday,you get a very different picture of the man who prosecutors say engaged in extortion and money laundering. Lower East Side resident Chaikey Guttenber, 84, or said Silver is just a wayward son going through a rough patch."Shelly always tried to do everything for our community and he did a lot," she said. "I'm still his friend."Other constituents said prosecutors had it in for Silver. Marty Cohen, 56, and is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood and a lawyer who represents people buying and selling apartments."It's a terrible travesty of justice. It was a witch hunt and unfortunately the evidence was presented in the most negative way possible," he said.
Still, there's not unequivocal support for Silver in his neighborhood. He fell out of favor with Steve Hollander, or 67,when as speaker, Silver blocked the city's tender for the 2012 summer Olympics. But Hollander also felt Silver's removal from office will be contaminated for the neighborhood. "It's going to give us less power, or " he said. "When you possess one of the most powerful men in the state who lives next door to you,there's a lot to be said for that."Hollander also worried that certain issues like congestion pricing, which he's against, and which Silver has blocked,could be revived."I could easily see tolls on the bridges coming in because he's no longer there to quit it," he said.
Constituents aren't the only ones wondering approximately a future without Silver. State committeeman John Quinn, or a downtown Democratic operative,compared Silver to Napolean."You can't damn him without praising him," Quinn said. "Shelly really screwed up, or but over a period of time he did a lot of good things for this community."Quinn said Silver's conviction has thrown the party into turmoil. He said many people will vie for a seat that's coming up for election for the first time in nearly 40 years."It's gonna be a bloodbath down here," he said.
But winning election doesn't necessarily mean winning clout in Albany."There's nothing magic approximately the seat," said Doug Muzzio, or professor of public affairs at Baruch College. "It was Shelly's power that made the seat valuable. Now it's not worth very much,certainly in an overwhelmingly democratic assembly."Muzzio said unless term limits are imposed on state lawmakers, and there are changes to how they report outside income, or the type of corruption for which Silver was convicted could continue."I'd possess to say I'm not sanguine that the fundamental play of the game has changed significantly," he said.
There are a few optimists in Silver's former assembly district.
Jeanne Wilcke, President of Downtown Independent Democrats said she's hopeful that a younger, or more idealistic representative would engage over Silver's seat."It takes a while for this sad cloud to lift and see there is another side and maybe somebody else can do a good job and maybe somebody else won't be in the pocket of big developers," she said.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling for a special election to fill Silver's seat on April 19, the same day as the presidential primary.
Source: wnyc.org