Opinion

New York’s other sex scandal

Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer aren’t the only big-time New York pols with big-time sex-scandal woes: Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver has got his own — the latest involving a top counsel who swept claims of sexual harassment under the rug. Just as Silver, no doubt, would have wanted him to.

The lawyer, Bill Collins, sat on 15 pages of online chats he was given in 2009 in which Assemblyman Micah Kellner made sexually suggestive remarks to a junior aide. Among other things, Kellner told the staffer he hired her because she was “cute” and “wouldn’t mind falling asleep” with her.

No one probed the matter or referred it to the Assembly ethics committee. As a result, Silver’s office said Tuesday that Collins was stepping down. But shouldn’t Silver be the one to take the rap?

Shelly’s spokesman says Collins never shared the complaints with his boss, who only found out about them last month. Even if true, Collins didn’t need to tell Silver to know what to do; he would have known on Assembly tradition, set by his boss. Indeed, better if Silver didn’t know.

Let’s face it: Silver’s been shielding Assembly members and staff maybe since first becoming speaker in 1994 — hiding sex-harassment claims, for instance, against ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez and even his own prior top counsel, Michael Boxley. Collins himself helped craft a $103,080 settlement in an effort to keep Lopez complaints quiet.

Silver may be losing yet another top counsel, but he’ll find another. As for the scandals and coverups, count on them to keep a-comin’ — so long as Silver’s speaker.