The Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Shelly Silver is one of the most powerful players in Albany.

Born to Russian immigrants on the Lower East Side, Silver attended Brooklyn Law before setting up his own legal practice. In 1976, at age 30, he was elected to the State Assembly representing the 64th District, which covers most of lower Manhattan. Silver rose through the ranks, and became speaker of the Assembly in 1994 after longtime Speaker Saul Weprin suffered a stroke. He quickly earned a reputation as a confrontational maverick, clashing with then-Governor Mario Cuomo on heated issues like the death penalty (Silver was pro, Cuomo was con). With Cuomo's defeat at the hands of George Pataki in 1994, Silver emerged as the most powerful Democrat in state politics.

Silver is the most powerful member of the State Assembly: bills don't reach the Assembly floor unless he supports them. But he's gained a reputation for being consistently stubborn and frequently obstructionist. He's been criticized for killing plans for a West Side football stadium, continually blocking the construction of a Second Avenue subway (though the project is finally moving forward ahead of his objections), keeping a new train station (Moynihan Station) from being built in the Farley Post Office, and quashing Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. Not that he causes less controversy when he actually approves of something, including the reinstatement of the state's death penalty, repealing the city's commuter tax, and increasing spending for construction of new schools. He's also known for taking revenge on his enemies: When a group of Democrats tried to oust him from the speakership in 2000, Silver made sure the leader of the abortive putsch wasn't re-elected, and took away the legislative perks of those involved.

Silver still does part-time legal work for ambulance-chasing law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which primarily represents slip-and-fall victims. He keeps mum about his Weitz & Lux paycheck, but his detractors have long accused him of opposing malpractice reform legislation because it conflicts with his interests as a Weitz & Lux lawyer. [Image via Getty]