Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is now claiming he asked Assemblyman Vito Lopez to step down following accusations against him of sexual harassment in the workplace. These claims follow evidence in recent weeks Silver agreed to pay $100,000 to settle workplace harassment claims made against Lopez. Silver also stripped Lopez of his Assembly chairmanship, reports Gothamist. 

As criticism was leveled against Silver, he responded he had originally asked Lopez to resign, but the 71-year-old Lopez was not happy to hear it. Silver told the New York Times he no longer believed Lopez would be able to fulfill his duties, but seemed to avoid the subject of the allegations altogether.

“He won’t be a committee chair anymore,” Silver told the Times, “and his ability will be impaired significantly as a legislator.” Silver, reportedly, was not able to convince Lopez to step down.

Lopez also formerly paid $32,000 to the two staffers making accusations against him, reports Gothamist. Other female staffers have also come forward, many anonymously, to report inappropriate advances made by Lopez against them.

It’s impossible to fully summarize Tom Duane’s political career, which has spanned over 23 years, but we’ve identified some of the most notable moments along the way.

1989- After working as a Wall Street broker, among other professions, Tom Duane starts to volunteer for his local community board and eventually starts working for City Comptroller Elizabeth Holtzman. Duane runs against incumbent candidate Carol Greitzer for City Council but is defeated; Greitzer secures the Democratic line.

1991- Duane runs again for the City Council. On Aug. 7, Duane announces he is HIV positive. He goes on to beat Liz Abzug and Victor Del Mastro, becoming the nation’s first openly HIV-positive person elected to office. He and Antonio Pagan become the first two openly gay New York City council members.

1993- Local Law 44, co-sponsored by Duane, becomes law. The legislation prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants and applicants receiving Section 8 aid or other government-funded housing assistance.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Duane's office.

1994- Duane challenges Rep. Jerrold Nadler in the Democratic congressional primary, but Nadler wins re-election.

1997- The City Council unanimously passes the Chelsea 197-A plan, a community-initiated land use plan, which Duane had worked on for over a decade.

1998- Duane wins election to the New York state senate, becoming its first openly gay and HIV-positive member.

1999- Duane and City Council Member Christine Quinn, his former chief of staff, get arrested after leading a gay contingent trying to join the St. Patrick’s Day parade. They were demonstrating against an Irish-American group that banned a gay Irish contingent from participating in the parade.

2001- Duane first proposes the Marriage Equality Act in the New York state Senate. Sen. David A. Paterson co-sponsors it. Eighteen Democrats sign on as co-sponsors in 2007. It was voted down that same year.

2002- Duane helps lead the successful passage of the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, known as SONDA.

2006- Duane helps lead the successful passage of Timothy’s Law, which includes the addition of mental health parity by insurance companies for all patients.

Duane at an Anti-Graffiti Rally in August 2009. Photo Courtesy of Tom Duane's office.

2009- Duane once again introduces the Marriage Equality Act to the Senate after it passes the Assembly, but the bill is defeated 38 to 24 that same year.

2011- After a decade of fighting for same sex marriage, the Marriage Equality Act was signed into law June 24, taking effect a month  later. “What this bill will do is say that we are family in a way that no other word can. And that word is marriage,” Duane reportedly said at the time.

2012- On June 4, Duane announces his retirement from the state senate. His last day in office will be Dec. 31.

He was not too happy about it.

But when we reached him on Friday, Barron was looking toward the future and throwing a few jabs at the city’s political establishment.

City & State: How are you doing and how did the election go?

Charles Barron: We’re riding high. We were up against an alignment of unprecedented forces in the annals of New York State politics. I don’t think a candidate has ever faced a presidential photo-op during a Democratic primary. [Jeffries] even reduced the governor to a robocall in a Democratic primary.

I’m talking about the President, the Governor, two state senators, the city council speaker assigning staff people to his campaign, two borough presidents, two county leaders – these are powerful people. A lineup of assembly people, a line up of state senators.

All for me. It turned into a “Stop Barron” campaign. The New York Times endorsed him, the Daily News, the Wall Street Journal endorsed him. Crains. The Observer. The only way the New York Post helped me is by endorsing my opponent.

CS: Was all this about Jeffries or was this about you?

CB: It wasn’t focused on him. They could have done this with Donald Duck and won. Have you ever been involve din a campaign with that kind of alignment. Why? They called me a monster, a racist, a bigot, a malignant clown. I joined a press conference about the congressional redistricting to speak out against the new lines. It wasn’t in my interest to have Jeffries’s own assembly district in there. And he even sent out a mailer with Daily News saying I was a malignant clown

CS: Any positives from the campaign?

CB: In spite of all of that, with just $100,000 and 200 dedicated souls volunteering, we got 10,000 votes. We’re going to continue to build this movement. We’re going to run other candidates. We’re going to continue to build the Freedom Party and we’re going to continue to use running in democratic parties to get access to power.

CS: Why did you vote no on yesterday’s City Council budget?

CB: When I first came into Council in 2001 there were 83,000 summer employment jobs. Now there are a mere 31,000 slots. And over 140,000 youth will apply for these slots. We’re in for a long hot summer. There’s a $65-billion budget. And there’s that money from the Citytime settlement. You’re telling me you couldn’t squeeze out a few million to keep our youths off the streets?

CS: What’s next for you? Are you thinking about Albany and who your replacement will be?

CB: My future is bright and I’m going to make voice louder than ever and continue the movement for justice, liberation, economic emancipation and peace abroad. I haven’t been looking at [William Boyland Jr.’s seat]. Yes I would be very strong for that, but that’s something I am not looking at right now.

As for East New York, I want to maintain the city council seat, and get someone in our ranks to take my place.

To read the full interview click here.

Sasson

Self-funding lotto millionaire Isaac Sasson, who narrowly lost a City Council bid in 2009 and a state Senate bid in 2010, is now seriously weighing a run for Assemblywoman Grace Meng’s seat, according to political consultant Jay Golub, a key advisor during Sasson’s 2010 campaign.

“He is weighing his options,” Golub said in an email. “Many of his strongest supporters and leaders in the community are encouraging him, but he hasn’t ruled anything in or out as of yet. He should have a decision early next week.”

As we reported recently, Korean-American business leader Myungsuk Lee is also eying a run, as is Yen Chou, who beat Sasson narrowly in the 2009 City Council primary in Flushing. The Council race was ultimately won by Republican (now Democrat) Peter Koo.

In 2010, Sasson lost a fairly close three-way race to State Sen. Toby Stavisky, but apparently has decided not to take on Stavisky in her redrawn district this year.

A Sephardic Orthodox rabbi, Sasson has a strong natural base in Flushing, but his campaigns in the past have brought clashes with Flushing’s growing Asian-American population, especially in 2003, when he ran against then Councilman John Liu. He won a $13 million dollar jackpot several years later.

The Queens Democrats delayed picking a candidate to run for Meng’s seat on Monday, but are expected to pick a candidate soon. Sasson, after running against county-backed candidates several times, would face long odds in landing that particular jackpot. Of course, there’s no guarantee the seat will even be open, since Meng could potentially lose her congressional bid and run for Assembly re-election.