ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is telling his political backers he believes that indicted ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is still calling the shots in the chamber, the Daily News has learned.
Cuomo made the comments at a closed-door breakfast with members of his campaign finance committee, according to a source with direct knowledge of the statements.
Cuomo was bemoaning the fact that nothing has changed since Silver was forced to resign his leadership post in early February after being hit with federal corruption charges, the source said.
Cuomo, the source said, described new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie as Silver’s “instrumentality” in keeping power.
The governor claimed that Silver, who remains in the Assembly, is still ruling through his team that Heastie has left in place, notably counsel James Yates and Program and Policy Secretary Lou Ann Ciccone.
The source said that Cuomo added that Silver also has his imprint at City Hall through de Blasio’s budget director Dean Fuleihan, a former longtime Silver aide.
“Shelly and the teachers union run everything through Fuleihan, Yates and Lou Ann,” the source quoted Cuomo as saying.
The governor, the source said, also commented that he wouldn’t be surprised if Silver tried to reclaim his powerful post if he is cleared of the three federal corruption charges brought against him by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
A Cuomo spokeswoman declined comment.
A Heastie spokesman also had no comment.
But one Assembly Democrat dismissed the governor’s comments as a mean rant in the midst of contentious budget talks.
“That’s what he does,” said one Assembly Democrat. “It’s government by temper tantrum.”
The governor’s statements came the same week he publicly praised Heastie’s performance after announcing a two-way agreement on an ethics reform package.
But the two are now battling over Cuomo’s push for education reform, which Heastie’s Democratic members strongly oppose.
Heastie on Thursday took his strongest public shot at Cuomo since succeeding Silver in February by saying that “just blaming teachers and saying you want to close schools and open charter schools is not the right way to go.”
The new speaker also sided with Senate GOP Leader Dean Skelos in saying that the state should consider requiring domestic partners of public officials — like Cuomo’s live-in girlfriend, celebrity chef Sandra Lee — publicly disclose their financial information as spouses must.
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a Brookly Dem who was in the running to replace Silver, said he “wholeheartedly” disagrees with Cuomo’s assessment.
“It’s just antithetical to the way I’ve seen Carl operate,” Lentol said.
Baruch College political science Prof. Doug Muzzio said Cuomo could be trying to undercut Heastie with his members.
“You know they play hardball,” Muzzio said. “You also know that they have strategically thought this out.”
