Frosty February for Silver and Paterson
February 24th, 2010 | Published in News
5:59 PM, February 24, 2010 ι By BRENDAN SCOTT
ALBANY – Need another indication of how chilly things have gotten Gov. Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan)? The two top Democrats haven’t spoken yet in February.
Silver told The Knickerbocker this afternoon that he hasn’t talked to the embattled executive since Jan. 29, when the pair agreed – with several pointed conditions from Silver – to tap Aqueduct Entertainment Group to run a long-awaited Queens “racino.”
The silence bolsters growing fears that Albany could blow the April 1 budget deadline in a big way. The state’s deficit could balloon beyond $9 billion – as per projections released by Silver Tuesday – and many lawmakers have already rejected Paterson’s proposals for tax hikes and spending cuts.