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Just when I thought I wasn't going to have to write about New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver anymore, he shows up in town with a fresh load of, uh, grist for my mill.
Appropriately, state lawmakers picked Halloween night to gather at the Prospect Point Visitors' Center for a spooky ceremony in which Gov. George Pataki signed the legislation that will bring Seneca Indian gaming to Niagara Falls. Silver and Pataki each wore masks designed to conceal the fact they can't stand each other, while our own Albany contingent -- Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte and state Senators George Maziarz and Byron Brown -- played the pilgrims at long last delivered to the promised land.
All was sweetness and light. The better-prepared members of the audience came wearing rubber hip boots.
Silver, you'll remember, held up passage of the legislation for five months following Pataki's premature announcement of the Seneca deal last June. On Halloween, the Speaker said he only did it for the good of the poor people of Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Those with the rubber boots began furtively looking around for shovels.
Taking personal responsibility for upping the local municipalities' share of the state's take of slot machine revenues, Silver then chastised local elected officials.
"Those same local leaders thought it was politically unwise when they were getting 3 percent," he said. "I was the only one who stood out and said the local share wasn't enough."
What a charmer. The fact that just about every Western New York official, from Niagara Falls City Councilman John Accardo to Rep. John LaFalce went on record as saying 3 percent wasn't enough apparently didn't register with Silver, who only gets out of his fashionable Manhattan district for the occasional short Gulfstream hop to Albany.
"None of them joined me, because they were not heroes," he modestly added.
As Silver made those remarks, he was standing on a podium with DelMonte, Maziarz, Brown, Mayor Irene Elia, county Legislature Chairman Clyde Burmaster and Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, individuals who have worked long and hard to make casino gaming a reality here. Talk about a slap in the face.
The ceremony came as a relief to DelMonte, who has made the casino issue her No. 1 priority during her first year in office. For her, the past five months have been a political firestorm, caused not only by Silver's obstinacy, but by the fact that Pataki announced the deal before there was a deal to announce.
DelMonte's dedication to this mission has been such that she has not held a single fund-raiser since taking office, even though she will likely face a strong and well-funded Republican challenge just 12 months from today.
By that time Niagara Falls will be a different place than it is today. Seven million dollars will go directly to local government for road projects, increased police and fire protection and other services. Revenues from the county sales tax and the city's bed tax will increase dramatically.
As many as 2,500 permanent new jobs will be created, to say nothing of the thousands of jobs for the skilled trades as the casino and associated hotels, entertainment centers and other projects are erected.
And the people working those jobs will want new cars and clothes and television sets. They'll want to go out to dinner and the movies.
Frank Amendola has already started work on the Niagara Aerospace Museum downtown, David Cordish will reopen Rainbow Centre in some fashion, Niagara Falls Redevelopment has numerous projects ready to go and Harry Williams will probably even get AquaFalls back up and running. In all, more than $1 billion in new development is expected.
Sheldon Silver will probably grace us with his presence here again next year when the casino opens. I can hardly wait. And Francine DelMonte will likely be returned to Albany by the grateful voters of Niagara Falls.
Politics can be a wonderful thing, as any careful observer of the way things actually work can tell you.