ALBANY — After 21 years dominating Albany through his stoicism and unyielding will, Sheldon Silver met his downfall, appropriately enough, after an uncomfortable silence.

Late on Monday afternoon, Mr. Silver, the longtime speaker of the New York Assembly, addressed scores of his Democratic colleagues who had grimly gathered in a corner conference room in the State Capitol. The mood was as serious as the charges he faces: that he exploited his office to obtain millions of dollars in payoffs.

Mr. Silver spoke for less than 10 minutes before offering to leave the room, to help facilitate a freer discussion.

No one asked him to stay.

So it was that Mr. Silver, one of the most powerful men in New York, and suddenly the face of Albany’s continuing corruption crisis, shuffled out.