–Several jurors in the Sheldon Silver trial said they initially had their doubts about the “humble” assemblyman’s guilt. Referring to the evidence, Bianca Maynard told the Times, “Everything separately seemed O.K., but then when you put it together, that’s where it became a problem… The prosecution did a great job just putting the facts out there, and once the facts were laid out, there’s nothing you can really dispute.”
–Arleen Phillips, a juror who asked to be excused last week, was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. “I didn’t feel that there was any scheming or manipulation or anything dangerous” in awarding a state grant to a cancer researcher, said Phillips. She was ultimately swayed by omissions from Mr. Silver’s financial disclosure statements. “It’s still a gray area for me as far as what an assemblyman is entitled or not entitled to,” she said. “But the evidence that I looked at, I think, spoke for me.”
—The Daily News, in an editorial, writes, “Raise your glasses, ladies and gentlemen of New York, and toast the jury that convicted Sheldon Silver of corruption after stunningly brief deliberations.”
—The Wall Street Journal looks at Sheldon Silver’s legacy, both the good and the bad.
—Mayor de Blasio reacts to the Manhattan Borough Board’s decision to reject his rezoning proposals. “When it comes to anything that might be new development, the community (board is) often negatively disposed. That’s not a news flash. We know that. What we’re talking about is a different approach to development,” he said.
–Marolda Properties sells three Forsyth Street tenements for about $24 million, the Real Deal reports.
–Community District 3 is now #1 when it comes to rats, reports DNA Info.
–Manhattan’s Chinatown figures prominently in a new food-focused PBS documentary on the Chinese American experience.
