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| Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times |
N.Y. TIMES
Sheldon Silver, who faces federal corruption charges, is being replaced as speaker of the New York State Assembly next week, Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday, paving the way for them to choose a new leader in an election to be held Feb. 10.
A Rochester-area assemblyman, Joseph D. Morelle, who is the majority leader and a top contender to succeed Mr. Silver, will become interim speaker on Monday, officials said.
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| Assemblyman Joseph D. Morelle, first elected in 1990, was named interim speaker. Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times Mr. Silver, amid a crush of reporters as he slowly left the Capitol later Tuesday evening, said he would not resign his Assembly seat because he had been duly elected by his constituents.
But he added, “I will not hinder a succession process.”
The developments appeared to give Mr. Morelle a running start in a contest that also features several downstate aspirants, and that could hold immense consequences for New York City.
An affable floor leader with an M.C.’s demeanor and a wrestler’s build, Mr. Morelle, 57, who was first elected to the Assembly in 1990, was for nearly a decade the party chairman in Monroe County, a Democratic enclave in a largely conservative part of upstate New York.
Among the Assembly members from the New York City area who may also join the race, Carl E. Heastie, 47, of the Bronx, is the most-talked-about candidate. If successful, he would become the first African-American to hold the position. Mr. Heastie, a onetime budget analyst in the city comptroller’s office who was first elected to the Assembly in 2000, has what could prove valuable experience in the trench warfare of New York politics: He was involved in a raucous takeover of the Bronx Democratic Party in 2008, leading an insurgent faction that overthrew the borough leader, Assemblyman José Rivera.
Assemblyman Carl E. Heastie of the Bronx is also a possible successor to Mr. Silver.Mike Groll/Associated Press
There were intimations of maneuvering by officials including Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, though both said they were not getting involved.
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