Shelly You Jest: Open Mic Night at Governor's Office

Paterson and Silver trade barbs at a news conference

Sarcasm is an inexact science. Especially when it comes to politics.

With cameras rolling and a microphone recording their asides, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Governor David Paterson had a "private" conversation that might have been inaudible to the gathered audience at the Governor's Manhattan office, but  came through loud and clear on the streaming feed. 

Silver can be heard clearly needling Paterson. The subject? The Governor's apparent failure to share his travel plans with the Speaker in advance.

"So, you were hanging out in my district?" Silver asks the governor before the press conference begins.

"When was this?" Paterson responds.

"Wall street...," says silver, jogging the govenror's memory.

"I heard you're going back somewhere else Monday," says Silver, whose district includes lower Manhattan.  "To Wall Street? The Stock Exchange? I own that."

Paterson then appears to feign surprise.

"You own the stock exchange? I have to make sure you come along."

Then Silver hints that he's not completely kidding.

"When you go to [Senator] Johnson's district, you make a big deal out of it."

So what's the big deal? The Governor has been critical of state lawmakers for weeks as Albany confronts an economic crisis. Silver is arguably the most powerful lawmaker in the Assembly. So, you do the math. 

But  Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who was standing just to the Governor's right during the exchange, says the barbs were playful, and reflect the usual dynamic of the two men.

"The Governor's attempts at humor work 98% of the time," says Brodsky.

At any rate, after the verbal jousting, the politicians got down to the business of the day: They agreed to form an independent watchdog for public authorities like the MTA. And that's no joke.
   
 

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