Even the stunning federal corruption charges against him haven’t stopped Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver from conducting business as usual.
The disgraced Manhattan Democrat is scheduled to vote this week on handing out nearly $95 million in state grants and loans — despite allegations he funneled taxpayer money to a leading cancer doctor as part of a long-running kickback scheme.
The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board — where Silver is one of just three voting members — also includes a residential real-estate project in his lower Manhattan district.
The 168-unit apartment building in the Financial District got some $78.5 million worth of financing through a program that the feds highlighted in the criminal complaint against Silver.
As Assembly speaker for more than two decades, Silver is one of the infamous “three men in a room” who control state government, a fact Gov. Cuomo lampooned in a spectacularly ill-timed joke during his State of the State speech on Wednesday when Cuomo illustrated a planned trade mission to Mexico with an image of himself, Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-LI) as the “Three Amigos” from the 1986 comedy of the same name.
The next day, Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara had Silver under arrest and called the “three men” practice into question. And Friday, addressing New York Law School, Bharara poked further.
“So three men in a room — is that really how government should be run? Is that really the way to run a state of almost 20 million people? When did 20 million New Yorkers agree to be ruled like a triumvirate in Roman times?” Bharara said.
Silver is scheduled on Monday to face the Assembly’s Democratic caucus for the first time since he was slapped with charges that could carry a maximum 100 years in prison.
Dick Dadey, of the good-government group Citizens Union, said Silver should be booted from the Control Board, which funds many of the state’s biggest projects.
“Any action he takes is now going to be viewed through the prism of these corruption charges,” Dadey said.
State Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem), who serves as a non-voting board member, said it would be wise for Silver to give up his seat.
“In the best interest of perception, of making the public feel that the process is right and innocent, it wouldn’t be a bad thing [for Silver] to say, ‘I’m innocent, but I want the public to feel comfortable, so I’m going to step aside,’ ” he said.
Wednesday’s agenda includes decisions on a nearly $25 million grant to the SUNY system and $43.9 million in low-cost loans for water-related public-works projects around the state.
According to the feds, Silver used his power over development incentives to scam about $700,000 in kickbacks from a law firm to which he steered business from two major developers, including 100-year-old billionaire Leonard Litwin.
Silver is also accused of doling out $500,000 in grant money and other favors to oncologist Dr. Robert Taub in exchange for Taub sending asbestos-related cancer cases to the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm, which paid Silver more than $3 million in referral fees the feds say were really illegal kickbacks.
Reps for Silver and Cuomo didn’t return requests for comment on Sunday.
Additional reporting by Aaron Short