Sheldon Silver to step down as N.Y. State Assembly speaker

Longtime New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who is facing corruption charges, will resign from his position.

Silver will be replaced on Monday by majority leader Joseph Morelle, a Rochester-area assemblyman, according to The New York Times. Morelle will serve as interim speaker until elections are held on Feb. 1o.

As the speaker since 1994, Silver was one of the state’s most powerful politicians. He was arrested Jan. 22 for allegedly receiving payments from a law firm, Goldberg & Iryami, without properly disclosing them. The arrest stems from an anti-corruption investigation launched in 2013 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Silver, who represents the Lower East Side of Manhattan, will not resign his Assembly seat.

“I believe very deeply in the institution,” he said Tuesday, according to the Times. “I hope that they can have somebody here who can carry on the good work that has taken place.”