Albany watch: Sheldon Silver nears record as speaker
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver reached a milestone last week: 20 years as leader of the Democratic-controlled chamber.
Silver (D-Manhattan) is the second-longest tenured Assembly speaker on record. He needs two more years to tie the late Oswald D. Heck, a Schenectady Republican who ran the house from 1937 to 1959.
Heck, incidentally, was the last speaker from upstate.
Silver hasn't said that he would like to match or beat Heck's record. But some insiders think the tenure mark is on Silver's mind. He would have to win only one more election -- this November -- and serve out that two-year term to surpass Heck.
-- Yancey Roy
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
