Sheldon Silver
We have already posted from "the silent edge" in Central New York about NYCO's rightful rant on Uncle Shelly and the problems he might cause Eliot "the Great Pumpkin Reformer" Spitzer.
No Land Grab excerpted this piece by Fred Siegel of The New Republic Online about Silver expected battles with Bloomberg:
Bloomberg is likely to clash with Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the state assembly, over office construction at Ground Zero. Bloomberg is against it, but he's in favor of subsidizing 1.9 million feet of new office space being proposed by developer Bruce Ratner in Brooklyn. That's sure to leave Silver, who represents lower Manhattan, angry, complicating Bloomberg's chances of getting additional money out of Albany.
Meanwhile, Siegel doesn't sound so happy about Bloomberg either.
Gotham got lucky. Incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had been expected to win by as many as 38 points in some polls, had to settle for a 20-point margin of victory over the hapless Fernando Ferrer. It's hard to imagine what a 38-point victory would have done to swell Bloomberg's already ample ego. ...
Buffalo Pundit posts with glee about Baby Shelly:
"I love it when Silver’s angry."
Fit to Print? A daily (almost) review of The New York Times had this to say about Silver and Bloomberg:
No Need to Be So Nice to Mike
More genuflecting in front of the Bloomberg-god...Today the Times's editorial about Bloomberg's re-election lauds the mayor and the few negative comments concern the amount of money he spent (according to some sources, Bloomberg spent almost $100 per voter on advertising for his campaign. Hey, I could have used that money!)
Fit to Print? is also very upset about Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan:
It's frankly unbelievable that four years after the attacks in Lower Manhattan, the site is still basically a hole in the ground. And, the editorial makes no mention of the egregious stadium debacle, which was short-circuited by Democrats but wasted a lot of people's time and energy in the meantime, as they organized against this boondoggle before Sheldon Silver came to the rescue.
So New York Online - What's good (or bad) in The Big Apple didn't have a comment by Sheldon Silver but had a wire service story on the two ballot referendums we missed.
Continuing Education Info had this story on a bunch of crash dummies:
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and over twenty legislators headed by NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver along with Congressman Gary Ackerman and dozens of automotive executives, area dealers and educators helped celebrate the grand opening of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association's (GNYADA) brand-new Center for Automotive Education & Training.
Follow THAT money.
The End of the Trail
The Lone Ranger of Albany, J.P. Sullivan, the Republican candidate for Mayor in that city, laments the condition of Albany and says that "this is the end of the political/neighborhood trail" for him.
I know a lot of people who felt that way this week.
Sullivan had this to say to incumbent Mayor Jerry Jennings:
The turnout was pathetic. You won a November election with not many more votes than you received in the September Democratic Primary. Yet, every one of those votes was hard won and literally dragged to the polls.
Being Mayor of the City of Albany, where the vast majority of eligible voters don't even bother to go to the polls- is a cause for concern.
The inescapable conclusion is that The City of Albany has a bleak future.
Sullivan adds a little warning to Jennings about his rivals and, finally, Sheldon Silver:
You lost your bid to control the school board. The failing city schools will continue to decline. City voters can expect another, business as usual high school construction bond act vote next May. There won't be a return to K-8 neighborhood schools which are best for kids, parents and neighborhoods.
Your rivals in the liberal Democratic-WFP Coalition have won the Common Council Presidency and a number of Council seats. You can look forward to more the the same political divisiveness, from within your own party,that has plagued you for the past 12 years, and rendered the Common Council a dysfunctional, ineffective body
Shawn Morris' husband works for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver who will now call the shots on the Albany Common Council.
...Albany...
Alan Chartock always has a lot to say about the State Capitol, particularly the State Legislature -- and he expresses that outgoing Assembly Education Committee chair Steve Sanders shouldn't join Dennis Vacco's lobbying firm.
Chartock speculates about Silver's working relationship with Silver -- and the strategic relationship he might have as a lobbyist, or not:
Steve Sanders speaks very well of his former leader, Speaker Shelly Silver. That is a bridge that you do not want to burn. In fact, Sanders goes out of his way to tell of his expectations and hopes that Silver will stay exactly where he is. I don’t blame him for saying that. Once the cast of characters changes and your friends and mentors leave, you’d think your connections don’t mean as much. The problem, of course, is that they do.
There are two kinds of successful lobbyists in Albany: the professional ones and the connected ones. The pros know how to slog it out and the connected ones dread the day that George Pataki leaves office because then their days are numbered.
News Copy hopes Sheldon Silver accepts another long vacation far from Albany, preferably into his retirement and at least a hemisphere away.
The Awful Truth shares the awful truth about Fernando Ferrer "two cities" and names Silver as one of the true culprits:
So Ferrer is citing class warfare. But let's look at things. People like Ferrer, Dinkins, Morganthau, Robert Johnson, Virginia Fields, Sheldon Silver, George Pataki have successfully pushed the middle class out of the 5 Boroughs. They did it by raising taxes, and fees, making it cost a fortune to live in New York. Secondly the taxes and regulations pushed all the middle class jobs out of New York City and New York State. Those with middle class jobs in the city don't want to send thier children to piss poor schools, so guess what? It's out to the Island and Westchester.
... or Putnam, Rockland, Dutchess or Orange... if you like a 2-3 hour commute.
Rudy Giuliani is increasing his vast lead in a very unscientific GOP Presidential Straw Poll conducted by national blogger Hugh Hewitt over the Thanksgiving weekend
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