Is this the greatest villain in NYC political history? – SILive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. He was arguably one of the most powerful New York politicians since the notorious William Boss Tweed.

And like Tweed, hes remembered today more for his own political venality than for anything he did to help the public.

His personal corruption aside, his political offenses have done enduring damage to the state, the city and to Staten Island.

His misguided political gambit more than two decades ago continues to cost New York hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue each year.

He crushed Mayor Michael Bloombergs congestion pricing plan without ever letting it come to a vote in the state Legislature.

He killed a proposed West Side stadium and thus New York Citys chances to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2012.

He ignobly stalled the renovation of the 1/9 subway station at South Ferry following the 9/11 attacks.

He stopped the Staten Island secession movement dead in its tracks.

He is former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

COSTING NEW YORK BILLIONS

Silver was the undisputed leader of the Assembly from 1994 to 2015, when corruption charges finally brought him down.

During that time, he was one of the enormously powerful three men in a room, along with the governor and the state Senate majority leader, who divided the spoils in the state budget every year.

No legislation could proceed without Silvers assent. Assembly members voted the way he told them to.

His ability to rule by fiat was seen over and over again, but the most costly instance was when Silver spearheaded the repeal of the commuter tax in 1999.

Commuters get on and off a New Jersey Transit train at Newark Penn Station. (Larry Higgs/NJ.com)

The commuter tax was a 0.45 percent income levy on suburbanites who commuted to the city for work.

The logic was that the workers got the benefit of New York City police and fire protection and sanitation services while at work, so they should help pay for it all.

The commuter tax brought about $360 million into the citys treasury every year.

Politics, not economics, fueled Silvers decision to scuttle the tax.

Retiring GOP state Sen. Joseph Hollands seat in Rockland County was up for election that year. The Republican candidate running there opposed the commuter tax. To help the Democratic candidate be more competitive in the race, Silver moved to get the tax repealed.

But Silvers gambit failed and the seat remained in Republican hands. Meanwhile, state coffers are $7.2 billion, and counting, poorer because of the repeal of the commuter tax.

It could be argued that the congestion pricing plan currently under review might not be necessary were revenue from the commuter tax still rolling in.

KILLED CONGESTION PRICING TOO

Speaking of congestion pricing, Silver also killed Mayor Michael Bloombergs congestion pricing proposal in 2008, a proposal that pre-dates the one being looked at now.

Bloombergs plan would have charged motorists $8 and truckers $21 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.

The silver lining for Staten Islanders and other outer-borough drivers was that under Bloombergs program, any tolls paid on the way to the congestion zone would offset the fee, eliminating the congestion charge outright for many.

With key assistance from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Bloomberg saw his congestion pricing plan approved by the Council.

All that remained for a congestion pricing pilot program to go forward was for the state Legislature to give its OK.

Thats where Silver stepped in, rejecting the proposal without even bringing it up for a vote. Silver claimed that there was scant support for congestion pricing in the Assembly.

The move killed congestion pricing and hung out to dry Council lawmakers whod publicly voted in favor of it even through their constituents were against it.

There are no indications that the current congestion pricing plan under review by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will include toll carve-outs for outer-borough motorists.

NO FRIEND OF BLOOMBERGS

It wasnt the only time that Silver cut the legs out from under Bloomberg.

The mayor in 2005 was leading the effort to have New York City host the 2012 Olympic Summer Games.

The centerpiece of the citys pitch was the building of a new 80,000-seat stadium on the West Side of Manhattan.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005 makes pitch for New York City to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. (Monika Graff/Staten Island Advance)

Once the Olympics were over, the new stadium, with a retractable roof and other amenities, would be the new home of the New York Jets, meaning that at least one of New Yorks two NFL teams would actually play in New York and not New Jersey.

Unanimous approval by the three-member state Public Authorities Control Board was needed in order for the stadium plan to proceed. While GOP Gov. George Patakis representative on the board voted in favor, reps for Silver and GOP state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno turned thumbs-down.

Silver had said that the New York Olympic bid was a long shot and that he didnt see a great need for a West Side stadium.

The scuttling of the stadium doomed New Yorks Olympic bid. London won the balloting to host the 2012 Summer Games. And the Jets still play in New Jersey and still share a stadium with the New York Giants.

NO FRIEND TO STATEN ISLAND

Silver in 1994 refused to allow Assembly lawmakers to vote on the question of whether Staten Island should secede from the other four boroughs, even though then-Gov. Mario Cuomo said that he would sign secession legislation if it ever reached his desk.

Silver by one-man fiat thwarted the will of tens of thousands of Staten Island whod overwhelmingly voted in favor of exploring secession.

The borough charter commission in 1994 had submitted a bill to the Assembly and state Senate to create a City of Staten Island.

In this 1994 photo Gov. Mario Cuomo, seated, has just signed a measure authorizing a study and initiating the process of Staten Island's secession from New York City. Shaking Cuomo's hand, left, is state Sen. John J. Marchi. Applauding the signing are, from the left, Assemblywoman Elizabeth A. Connelly, College of Staten Island president Edmond Volpe and Assemblymen Robert Straniere and Eric Vitaliano. (Irving Silverstein/Staten Island Advance)

But Silver said that he would not permit the bill to come to a vote without a home-rule message from the city, which was as good as killing secession because Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and then-Council Speaker Peter Vallone both opposed secession.

Silvers home-rule edict was challenged in the courts to no avail, and the secession movement died.

POST-9/11 SUBWAY STALL

In another egregious slap at Staten Islanders, Silver in 2004 stalled the $400 million reconstruction of the 1/9 subway station at South Ferry, a rebuild that was part of the citys recovery from the 9/11 attacks. Tens of thousands of Island commuters use the station every day.

Silver said that the South Ferry improvements werent related to the damage wrought by the 9/11 attacks, but the federal Department of Transportation, the MTA, Bloomberg and Pataki were all on board with allocating the $400 million to the South Ferry station.

Silver denied accusations that he wanted to steer the money instead to his pet Second Avenue subway project.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, right, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announce the deal on the South Ferry 1/9 subway station in 2004. (Frank Johns/Staten Island Advance)

Silver eventually relented on South Ferry in return for $15 million in improvements to Battery Park.

But the snub of the Island was clear: When the funding agreement was announced, then-GOP Rep. Vito Fossella, whod publicly stood up to Silver, was pointedly not invited to the press conference. Pataki was also excluded.

END OF THE ROAD

It all finally came crashing down for Silver in 2015, when he was was arrested on federal corruption charges connected to his outside legal work, including his work with a top city asbestos firm.

Silver was found guilty at two separate trials but served less than a year in prison before being furloughed during the COVID-19 epidemic. He is serving out the remainder of his six-and-half-year sentence under home confinement on the Lower East Side.

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Is this the greatest villain in NYC political history? - SILive.com