Metro

Behind Sheldon Silver’s dramatic fall from grace

Sheldon Silver’s absolute power in the 21 years he ruled the Assembly first showed signs of cracking in 2007, when The Post raised questions about his ties to the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

Silver refused to divulge how much he made as “of counsel” attorney for the asbestos litigation specialists or precisely what he did to earn his salary and fees.

It was that relationship and the quid-pro-quo deals that were spun from it that largely led to his conviction Monday on a spate of federal corruption charges that could land the 71-year-old Silver behind bars for decades.

But before his fall from grace, the Lower East Side native, who never moved out of the old neighborhood, consistently frustrated governors, Big Apple mayors and reform-minded good-government groups with his power plays and mercurial ways.

Silver was first elected to the Assembly from the 65th District in 1976, and was named Assembly speaker in February 1994, following the death of Saul Wep­rin. He was re-elected speaker 11 times, wielding enormous power as one of the infamous “three men in a room,” along with the governor and state Senate majority leader, who determined the state’s budget and legislative direction.

One of his first major victories was the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1995 — although the courts overturned the law nine years later, after not a single execution.

In 2005, following the murders of two cops, then-Gov. George Pataki pushed for its reinstatement, but by then, Silver no longer supported the death penalty.

In 1999, he spearheaded the drive to repeal New York City’s commuter tax, which levied nonresidents at the same rate as people who lived in the city — a move that infuriated then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani because of the loss of revenue.

He also angered Giuliani’s successor, Mike Bloomberg, when he declined to even schedule a vote on the mayor’s congestion pricing plan.

Bloomberg argued that it would reduce congestion and pollution and raise cash for public transportation. But Silver said it would hurt the little guy.

Silver also foiled Bloomberg’s plan for a Jets stadium in Manhattan.

Perhaps the most controversial episode of Silver’s career before his indictment was his handling of rape accusations against top aide J. Michael Boxley and, later, sexual-harassment allegations against the recently deceased Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic power broker Vito Lopez.

In 2006, Silver and Assembly leaders forked over roughly $500,000 to settle a suit by a Boxley accuser. The state also paid to settle serial harassment charges against Lopez.