Silver Takes Precautions Against Primary Foes

The speaker of the state Assembly, Sheldon Silver, is expected to trounce his two primary opponents this September. But judging by his recent legislative maneuvering, the longest-serving Democratic speaker in state history isn't leaving anything to chance.

Mr. Silver, 64, is taking what political observers see as shrewd precautionary measures to deprive his adversaries of a potentially damaging campaign issue over rent laws.

The Assembly for years has allied itself with tenants' groups, in contrast to Senate Republicans, who rely heavily on contributions from landlord and real estate groups and have been an effective buffer against legislation expanding rent regulations in New York City.

This year, as many in Albany have observed, Mr. Silver has elevated the issue of rent regulation to the top of his personal agenda, granting a special platform to tenant-backed legislation that would ordinarily be piled on top of the myriad of one-house bills that pass through the chamber without much notice toward the end of session.

Mr. Silver's aggressive championing of rent restrictions has startled Senate Republicans, who would like to avoid clashing on an issue that could create headaches for two of their most vulnerable senators, Serphin Maltese and Frank Padavan, both of whom represent districts in New York City.

The speaker's maneuvering comes just as his opponents are stepping up their campaigns and have focused their attacks on what they see as his failure to stop the escalation of rents in his Lower Manhattan district, which includes Chinatown and parts of the Lower East Side, areas that have seen an influx of wealthier residents and an exodus of lower- and middle-income constituents.

"The Legislature should have acted to protect tenants long ago, and a great deal of housing has been lost under Speaker Silver's leadership," an attorney who is one of Mr. Silver's challengers, Luke Henry, said. "That said, it is good that Speaker Silver is taking steps to solve the problem that he helped to create."

Mr. Henry and his other primary opponent, Paul Newell, a civic activist, have sought to exploit lingering anger among tenants' associations and other liberal grassroots organizations over Mr. Silver's role in the rent regulation battle of 1997.

That year, Governor Pataki, Mr. Silver, and the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, settled on a deal under which apartments are regulated with fixed annual increases until their rent eclipses $2,000 a month. They also agreed to allow landlords to raise the rents of vacant apartments by at least 20%. Tenants' groups had hoped for a more gradual phasing out of rent regulations, and many blamed Mr. Silver for not demanding more.

Last week, Mr. Silver held a press conference to announce that the Assembly was passing a package of nine bills, most of which tighten rent laws and beef up tenant protections.

The most significant of the bills would repeal the so-called Urstadt Law, a Rockefeller-era provision that gave Albany authority over New York City's rent regulations. Tenants groups have long sought to end the law to sidestep the state Senate and empower the New York City Council, where support for expanding rent restrictions is almost universal.

The speaker himself sponsored one of the bills, which would increase fines against landlords who harass their tenants.

"It was a very strong showing of pro-tenant legislation," a Democratic senator of Manhattan, Eric Schneiderman, said. "There is now a very clear distinction drawn between Joe Bruno and the Assembly Democrats who are standing with the tenants."