You’d better not criticize Sheldon Silver if you know what’s good for you.
A Silver ally warned a GOP critic of the powerful Democratic Assembly speaker that she’d better stop her attacks — or else, The Post has learned.
Assemblywoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) was overheard telling Republican colleague Nicole Malliotakis that there would be consequences if the GOPer kept calling for Silver to step down over the Vito Lopez sexual-harassment scandal.
“You’ve been in the paper a lot talking about the speaker. You should quiet down before someone starts playing games with you,” Glick told Malliotakis on the floor of the Assembly, according to a person who overheard the conversation.
Malliotakis, who walked away without engaging Glick, declined to comment on the incident.
A call to Glick’s office seeking comment wasn’t returned.
Malliotakis, who won her Staten Island seat by beating Silver’s close pal, Janele Hyer-Spence, has been pounding the speaker for allowing Lopez to skate when sexual-harassment allegations against him first surfaced last year.
Silver has come under intense fire for approving a secret $103,080 payment to settle claims filed against the pervy Lopez by two female staffers.
The speaker has admitted he made a mistake by failing to refer the initial cases to the Assembly ethics panel.
As many as six other Lopez staffers reported his inappropriate behavior after the settlement, and two have since sued Silver for neglecting to report the conduct immediately.
Glick has steadfastly stood by the speaker — literally — since the scandal broke, appearing with him at news conferences and saying he made a mistake and should be given a second chance.
Silver and Glick have served together for more than 20 years, and her lower Manhattan district borders Silver’s. She was originally elected in 1991 as the first openly gay member of the Assembly, representing parts of Greenwich Village. Silver was elected speaker in 1994.
Malliotakis didn’t let the Glick comments dissuade her and went on to criticize Silver again over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo and Senate leaders are calling on Silver to return to Albany to pass nine of the 10 planks of Cuomo’s proposed Women’s Equality Agenda after they tanked in the final hours of the legislative session Saturday over the inclusion of an abortion measure.
Silver said the women in his caucus wouldn’t accept anything less than the 10 points and he was deferring to them. “We will continue to work in consultation with the governor to get all 10 points passed,” he said.
But GOP Senate co-leader Dean Skelos said, “New York stands at the doorstep of achieving historic new laws that will guarantee equal pay for equal work, protect the victims of domestic violence, end human trafficking and stamp out sexual harassment.
“These nine measures will improve the lives of countless women throughout our state, and it’s time for the speaker to swiftly join us in enacting each of them into law.”