Robert Morgenthau

It's eleven months before the 2009 elections and Manhattan district attorney candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder is rolling out her endorsements.

At a press conference this afternoon on the City Hall steps, Crocker was joined by unions representing law enforcement groups that are endorsing her candidacy. The groups are:

NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association
NYPD Captains Endowment Association
NYPD Lieutenants Benevolent Association
NYPD Hispanic Society
Policewomen's Endowment Association
New York State Court Officers Association
New York State Supreme Court Officers Association
New York State Court Clerks AssociationMetropolitan Transportation Authority PBA
Port Authority DEA
Port Authority PBA
Port Authority SBA.  

Crocker is trying, again, to unseat Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau, who will be 90 years old next year. He said he's running for re-election, but if he doesn't, attorney Cyrus Vance said he'll enter the race. 

Manhattan District Attorney candidate Cyrus Vance is having a fund-raiser at Caroline’s comedy club tonight. (How many jokes about A-Rod and divorce lawyers can you fit into one night?)

Vance has already hired Bill Lynch Associates and Cindy Darrison for his campaign, but maintains that he’ll only run if Morgenthau does not seek reelection. Also looking to run for the seat is Morgenthau's 2005 opponent, Leslie Crocker Snyder.

Here's the invitation to Monday's fund-raiser for possible Manhattan District Attorney candidate Cyrus Vance, Jr.

The event, which was reported by Crain's Insider, is being organized by Linda Fairstein, a former aide to the current Manhattan D.A., Robert Morgenthau.  read more »

Former Eliot Spitzer fund-raiser Cindy Darrison, who recently was hired to help David Paterson, is working with another candidate in a potentially high-profile race for Manhattan district attorney.

If the seemingly unstoppable 89-year-old Robert Morgenthau decides not to run for reelection, Cyrus Vance, a Manhattan attorney, might.  read more »

An executive at Turner Construction Co., one of the world’s largest construction companies, has admitted to extorting subcontractors on city-funded waterfront projects into sprucing up his home heating system, according to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

George Pauliny, who was a vice president at Turner, asked a subcontractor to install for free a new boiler and a heating system in his driveway, threatening not to include subcontractors as part of the development of Manhattan’s Pier 88 and Brooklyn’s Passenger Ship Terminal in Red Hook, according to Mr. Morgenthau’s office. Mr. Pauliny pleaded guilty to extortion and grand larceny today, for which he will be terminated from his job at Turner (he’s been suspended since last year) and must pay the subcontractors about $10,000 in restitution.   read more »

This morning at a breakfast held by the Association for a Better New York in Midtown I ran into Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and I asked the D.A. if he watched last night's Democratic debate.

Morgenthau waved his hand disapprovingly and said, "No--It's too much already."

Our friend and sister-wife (via Observer blog The Media Mob) John Koblin was out in Soho last night and files this report:

At a little after 8 p.m. last night, the 88-year old Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau strolled into Balthazar.

If you tried to get a table at that time you were told there was a 90-minute wait. But not Mr. Morgenthau, who model-stomped deliberately up to the hostess stand and flashed open his wallet to show his ID. He was immediately ushered to a table.  read more »

• 0 comments

* Pictured above is Councilman James Gennaro with Josh Tickell, the producer and star of “Field of Fuel,” a documentary about foreign oil dependence that has been selected for the Sundance Film Festival. As Gennaro’s press release puts it, “The film also features a variety of people, including Woody Harrelson, Julia Roberts and Councilman James F. Gennaro, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection.”

* Councilman Simcha Felder will hold the second of two kick-off fundraisers for his bid for comptroller in Queens this Thursday. The suggested donation is $18, perhaps an effort to draw a contrast with rival David Yassky, who asked supporters for $500 at his kick-off. Felder’s first event was in Brooklyn on Monday night.  read more »

Tribeca seafood restaurant Fresh "doesn't get enough attention," according to the latest Zagat Survey.

Its owner, Eric Tevrow, though, has attracted plenty -- albeit not the favorable kind.

Mr. Tevrow, who also owned the now-shuttered downtown eateries Coast and Shore, pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing sales taxes collected from all three restaurants.

According to the Manhattan District Attorney's office this afternoon:  read more »

The former Manhattan Republican Chairman James Ortenzio just pleaded guilty to tax evasion, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.

From a press release that just went out:  read more »

Robert Chambers, the 41-year-old who made headlines as a York Prep kid in the 80's when he was convicted of manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin, has been busted again.

According to the Manhattan District Attorney's office, he and 39-year-old Shawn Kovell had been the target of a three-month investigation after "citizen complaints" that they were selling drugs out of an apartment they shared on East 57th Street.

It looks like they've got him dead to rights, too: "The investigation utilized surveillance techniques and an undercover detective to purchase quantities of cocaine directly from Chambers and Kovell near and inside their residence," the D.A.'s office announced in a press release.

They were arrested last night on multiple counts of felony narcotics sales after police turned up drug paraphernalia including crack pipes and "packaging materials" in the apartment.

The 14 counts Mr. Chambers is charged with carry sentences ranging from three and a half to 30 years in prison each.

The district attorney described a "violent struggle" during the arrest and did not rule out further charges coming from those.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced today that his office has opened an investigation into the Aug. 18 fire at the Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero "to determine whether any criminal violations occurred in connection with the fire."

There's a lot to go on.

Did a construction worker's lit cigarette spark the fire? Bloomberg reports:  read more »

Robert Morgenthau and John Edwards are having separate fund-raisers in Manhattan next week.

Morgenthau's event is on the 20th in Soho. Edwards is on the 21st at 6 Riverview Terrace in Midtown.

The event details, courtesy of gadfly Alan Flacks, is after the jump.  read more »

The government may have stripped him of his title as C.E.O.  read more »

Andrew Cuomo is pulling out all the stops to fend off the challenges on the credibility of his public record.

Yesterday, Cuomo was endorsed by the attorney general from Connecticut, who was involved in the lawsuit over HUD's failure to enforce pesticide regulations when Cuomo led the agency. Then, Cuomo's team released a letter from Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau thanking Cuomo for his "three years of public service..." (A Cuomo aide notes that those three years weren't all in Morgenthau's office, but rather referred to time Cuomo also worked for his father, the newly elected governor.)

Today, Cuomo announced he was endorsed by the New York League of Conservation Voters and is trotting out Ed Koch at an event tomorrow later today in order, basically, to endorse Cuomo again.

-- Azi Paybarah

The Times reports on Eliot Spitzer's fundraising numbers, and those of the candidates trying to replace him.

Term limits come up again, via a poll commissioned by Christine Quinn.

The Daily News reports on the Spitzer family's political contributions.

Ben Smith reports on a messy meeting between Christine Quinn and Robert Morgenthau.

—Nicole Brydson

• District attorney (and reigning power geezer) Robert Morgenthau, recently purchased a two-bedroom unit above his Upper East Side apartment. Mr. Morgenthau has not yet filed plans to join the two apartments, so perhaps he is waiting for a nice project to complete when, or if, he retires. Also, Julianne Moore buys an apartment in the West Village. (New York Times)
• Already, sales at 15 CPW have crossed the billion-dollar mark. That’s where Daniel Loeb is breaking the sales record, with his $45 million purchase. (New York Post)
• Frédéric Fekkai has gone into contract for a 3,500-square-foot duplex on Fifth Avenue. Reportedly, the stylist is paying closer to $7.95 million for the pre-war pad, down from the earlier $10.5 million asking price. (New York)

-Michael Calderone  read more »

On a recent Wednesday evening, Robert M.  read more »

As the clock ran out on a Democratic Mayoral primary notable for its lethargy, front-runner Fernando  read more »

On Tuesday, Sept.  read more »

On Tuesday, Sept.  read more »

A couple of things The Politicker had wrong over the last two days:

Robert Morgenthau's ad that showcases Leslie Snyder's stance on the death penalty apparently wasn't a direct response to the Times endorsement, although it only aired after the endorsement ran. The ad, Morgenthau's campaign spokesman Bob Liff says, was delivered to television stations Monday, in advance of the endorsement.  read more »

And, in my attempt to overhear a heated exchange between Ed Skyler and Bob Hardt last night, I fear I mis-heard it. The Mayor's staff was upset at that he was spending more time taking questions than planned, not about the content of the questions.

The Politicker regrets the errors.

To the Editor:    read more »

To the Editor:I was surprised to read your endorsement of Robert Morgenthau for Manhattan District A  read more »

New York has been blessed with the talents of some of the most famous federal and local prosecutors  read more »

In the Observer this week, Lizzy Ratner captures the texture of Bob Morgenthau's toughest race yet, leading with this scene: Robert Morgenthau, the 85-year-old Manhattan District Attorney, stood in the amber-lit lounge of the Chelsea hot spot XL on a recent Monday evening, clutching a brown T-shirt that said "Look Better Naked." The T-shirt had been given to him moments earlier by the fitness-club guru David Barton as more than 50 gay and lesbian Democrats looked on and applauded. "This is the highest honor I can bestow on anybody I admire," Mr. Barton said.  read more »

Leslie Crocker Snyder was never much one for taboos.  read more »

Years ago, Ronald Reagan's former Labor Secretary, Ray Donovan, found himself cleared of corruption  read more »

To the chagrin of some environmentalists, Joel Miele, theGiuliani administration's confrontational D  read more »

The lawyer for the accused killer of Jonathan Levin, the popular high school teacher and son of Time  read more »