New York’s Silver, avowed tenant champ, dethroned by developer kickbacks
Indicted and soon to be outgoing Speaker of the New York Assembly Sheldon “Shelly” Silver has long represented himself as an advocate for New York City renters and low-income tenants. But he is now accused of having sold them out for personal gain.
Born and raised in a once predominantly working-class neighborhood of lower Manhattan, Silver claimed to be a do-good liberal: the tenement son who never forgot his roots. In decades of negotiations at the state capital, Silver twisted arms and traded votes to renew the state rent stabilization law, which protects over 2 million longtime tenants from the caprices of urban real estate markets, mostly in New York City. This statute is up for renewal again in June, along with other programs that incentivize the creation of affordable housing by giving tax breaks and subsidies to developers. Some tenant advocates say the abatements, dating back to the city’s fiscal crisis of the 1970s, are a giveaway to corporations that do little for low-income New Yorkers.
Two of these tax-incentive programs form the alleged basis for Silver’s kickbacks. The speaker was arrested Jan. 22 by federal authorities, accused of having pocketed $4 million to $6 million, passed off as legal referral fees, since 2002. Most of this money was compensation from a personal injury law firm that employed Silver, though he never worked on any of the litigation in question. The balance, however, allegedly derived from the real estate law firm run by Silver’s former attorney, to which the assemblyman directed two luxury developers seeking affordable housing tax credits and subsidies. (Silver's press office did not respond to requests for comment.)
The corporations in question retained the law firm that then passed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Silver. They also lobbied the state Assembly, which was under his iron-fisted control, for continued support of favorable legislation and amendments to existing laws. One of the two developers is the largest political contributor in the state; the other owns multiple properties in Silver’s district. As the criminal complaint details (PDF), Silver “was considerably more favorable to the real estate industry than expected” in the 2011 debate over rent regulations.
Monday night, as most of New York was preoccupied with an approaching nor’easter, Democratic legislators in Albany tackled a storm of their own. After five hours of closed-door meetings, Silver — Assembly speaker since 1994 and arguably the most powerful man in the state — had been, for all intents and purposes, dethroned.
That he was taken down by allegations of corrupt real estate dealings appears to some as justice long overdue. But others fear that his removal from the speakership (even as he retains his seat in the Assembly) could have grave implications for the future of affordable housing at a time of rising rents and historic levels of family homelessness across the country.
In the past, real estate interests, which traditionally support tax breaks and oppose rent stabilization, have donated massive sums to state Republicans. In November the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA), a high-profile landlord group, told the website City & State that strict rent regulation was an “artificial preservation” and that the organization recently saw more support for its agenda from Assembly Democrats. For the 2014 elections, the RSA’s PAC spent about $422,500 on campaign donations, compared with just $47,550 by prominent renters’ lobby Tenants PAC. (The RSA did not respond to requests for comment on this article.)
Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said that his trade association has a working relationship with all members of the Assembly and that the association's "agenda remains the same — a realistic affordable housing program and a balanced budget."
“What we’ve seen of Silver is that he’s been totally in the pocket of developers,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, a group in Silver’s district that organizes low-income tenants. She offered a list of betrayals dating back several decades — how he abandoned promises of affordable housing on public land, let a much-needed supermarket give way to costly apartments and agreed to luxury development after 9/11. “He’s good here and there, on rent stabilization and teachers’ unions, but overwhelmingly, his record is about taking our land and resources to enrich developers,” she said. “If we don’t do anything about low-income housing development, then we’re going to have a crisis in shelters and homelessness.”
While Lum views Silver’s downfall as a chance to reimagine Albany politics, other housing advocates are less sanguine. “The idea this year was, we were going to see strengthening of the rent laws, but we might lose now, not having a powerful speaker behind us,” said Harvey Epstein, a housing lawyer and tenant-member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. “We’re losing [10,000] to 15,000 units a year in rent-stabilized housing. The deal on the table for landlords is strengthening [tax-abatement]. Before, with Shelly, we had at least somewhat of an ally.”
Bill de Blasio, New York City’s freshman mayor, promised to make affordable housing the hallmark of his tenure, a vow echoed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his State of the State address last week. And Silver was their champion in the Assembly. In his absence, struggling tenants must hope for a new powerful advocate or force open a system run by three men in a room.
SUBHEAD
Monday night, as most of New York was preoccupied with an approaching nor’easter, // http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/27/winter-storm-juno-hammers-the-northeastern-united-states.html Democratic legislators in Albany tackled a storm of their own. After five hours of closed-door meetings, Silver, Assembly Speaker since 1994 and arguably the most powerful man in the state, had been, for all intents and purposes, dethroned.
That Silver was taken down by allegations of corrupt real estate dealings appears, to some, as justice long overdue. But others fear that his removal from the speakership (even as he retains his seat in the Assembly) could have grave implications for the future of affordable housing in New York City and beyond — at a time of rising rents and historic levels of family homelessness. //https://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/17/us-homelessmes-amongchildrenrising.html
In past years, real estate interests, which traditionally support tax breaks and oppose rent stabilization, have donated massive sums to state Republicans. (Neither the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) nor the Real Estate Board of New York, two high-profile landlord groups, responded to requests for comment.) In November, the RSA told City & State that strict rent regulation was an “artificial preservation” and that the organization had recently seen more support for its agenda from Assembly Democrats. // http://www.cityandstateny.com/2/83/infrastructure/high-stakes.html#.VMkQGUs-AVo For the 2014 elections, RSA’s PAC spent about $422,500 on campaign donations, compared to just $47,550 by prominent renters’ lobby Tenants PAC.
“What we’ve seen of Silver is that he’s been totally in the pocket of developers,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, a group in Silver’s assembly district that organizes low-income tenants. She offered a list of betrayals dating back several decades: how he abandoned promises of affordable housing on public land // http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/03/23/speaker-sheldon-silver-allegedly-kept-spura-empty-for-decades/, let a much-needed supermarket get replaced with costly apartments and agreed to luxury development after 9-11. “He’s good here and there — on rent stabilization and teachers’ unions — but overwhelmingly, his record is about taking our land and resources to enrich developers,” Lum said. “If we don’t do anything about low-income housing development, then we’re going to have a crisis in shelters and homelessness.”
While Lum views Silver’s downfall as a chance to reimagine Albany politics, other housing advocates are less sanguine. “The idea this year was, we were going to see strengthening of the rent laws, but we might lose now, not having a powerful speaker behind us,” said Harvey Epstein, a housing lawyer and tenant-member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. “We’re losing 10 to 15,000 units a year in rent-stabilized housing. The deal on the table for landlords is strengthening [tax-abatement]. Before, with Shelly [Silver], we had at least somewhat of an ally.”
Bill de Blasio, New York City’s freshman mayor, promised to make affordable housing the hallmark of his tenure, a vow echoed by Governor Cuomo in his state-of-the-state address last week. Silver was their champion in the Assembly. In his absence, struggling tenants must hope for a new, powerful advocate or force open a system run by “three men in a room.”
SUBHEAD
Monday night, as most of New York was preoccupied with an approaching nor’easter, // http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/27/winter-storm-juno-hammers-the-northeastern-united-states.html Democratic legislators in Albany tackled a storm of their own. After five hours of closed-door meetings, Silver, Assembly Speaker since 1994 and arguably the most powerful man in the state, had been, for all intents and purposes, dethroned.
That Silver was taken down by allegations of corrupt real estate dealings appears, to some, as justice long overdue. But others fear that his removal from the speakership (even as he retains his seat in the Assembly) could have grave implications for the future of affordable housing in New York City and beyond — at a time of rising rents and historic levels of family homelessness. //https://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/11/17/us-homelessmes-amongchildrenrising.html
In past years, real estate interests, which traditionally support tax breaks and oppose rent stabilization, have donated massive sums to state Republicans. (Neither the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) nor the Real Estate Board of New York, two high-profile landlord groups, responded to requests for comment.) In November, the RSA told City & State that strict rent regulation was an “artificial preservation” and that the organization had recently seen more support for its agenda from Assembly Democrats. // http://www.cityandstateny.com/2/83/infrastructure/high-stakes.html#.VMkQGUs-AVo For the 2014 elections, RSA’s PAC spent about $422,500 on campaign donations, compared to just $47,550 by prominent renters’ lobby Tenants PAC.
“What we’ve seen of Silver is that he’s been totally in the pocket of developers,” said Joann Lum, executive director of the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, a group in Silver’s assembly district that organizes low-income tenants. She offered a list of betrayals dating back several decades: how he abandoned promises of affordable housing on public land // http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/03/23/speaker-sheldon-silver-allegedly-kept-spura-empty-for-decades/, let a much-needed supermarket get replaced with costly apartments and agreed to luxury development after 9-11. “He’s good here and there — on rent stabilization and teachers’ unions — but overwhelmingly, his record is about taking our land and resources to enrich developers,” Lum said. “If we don’t do anything about low-income housing development, then we’re going to have a crisis in shelters and homelessness.”
While Lum views Silver’s downfall as a chance to reimagine Albany politics, other housing advocates are less sanguine. “The idea this year was, we were going to see strengthening of the rent laws, but we might lose now, not having a powerful speaker behind us,” said Harvey Epstein, a housing lawyer and tenant-member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. “We’re losing 10 to 15,000 units a year in rent-stabilized housing. The deal on the table for landlords is strengthening [tax-abatement]. Before, with Shelly [Silver], we had at least somewhat of an ally.”
Bill de Blasio, New York City’s freshman mayor, promised to make affordable housing the hallmark of his tenure, a vow echoed by Governor Cuomo in his state-of-the-state address last week. Silver was their champion in the Assembly. In his absence, struggling tenants must hope for a new, powerful advocate or force open a system run by “three men in a room.”
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