Fake Shelly Is Reinvent Albany’s Aaron Naparstek

“It’s been a great honor to serve as Fake Speaker these past five years. I will not hinder the process of selecting a new Fake Speaker.”

Reinvent Albany founding board member Aaron Naparstek was unveiled as Fake Sheldon Silver in a New Yorker magazine Talk of the Town piece today. Naparstek’s @ShellySilver parody account on Twitter is closely followed by Albany insiders, who have often speculated that the author is a legislative staffer or lobbyist. (Aaron is neither.)

Naparstek launched the parody account in March 2010, during the start up of Reinvent Albany.

“It’s been a great honor to serve as Fake Speaker these past five years,” Naparstek told Reinvent Albany. “I have the deepest respect for the institution of Parody State Assembly and I will not hinder the process of selecting a new Fake Speaker.”

Naparstek, who also founded the influential Streetsblog.org, will remain on Reinvent Albany’s board where he will continue pushing for reforms like an end to outside income for state legislators, restrictions on the use of campaign contributions for personal use, and closing loopholes which foster corruption by allowing people who do business with the state to make enormous campaign contributions.

Fake Carl Heastie declined to comment.