Two candidates in the running to replace Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau are undermining their credibility to become the city's top prosecutors by creating appearances of impropriety that subject them to conflict of interest and other charges.
Cyrus Vance Jr., backed by the outgoing Morgenthau, held his kick-off campaign party last night at Fresco by Scotto on East 52d Street in midtown which "is run by the Scotto family, whose patriarch is former longshoremen's union boss Anthony Scotto Sr. who regularly greets patrons":
Although he is said to have retired from the mob business years ago, Scotto was long listed by the FBI as a Gambino crime family captain. Scotto did a five-year prison stretch after a famous 1979 racketeering trial in which he was convicted of taking payoffs from waterfront companies (Scotto claimed he was only collecting campaign donations). Former FBI director Louis Freeh, who worked undercover in the investigation, called Scotto "a Mafia-chic socialite" in his book, My FBI. In the mid-1990's, Morgenthau's office launched an investigation of Scotto's ties to a major office contracting firm, a probe that resulted in the tax fraud conviction of construction executive Ted Kohl.
The Vance campaign is unplussed by the matter, and spokeswoman Barbara Thompson urges New Yorkers to close their eyes and suspend their judgment with an appeal to "let the past be the past."
Vance, a criminal defense attorney, previously "represented a union official charged in connection with a racketeering indictment against the Gambino crime family's acting boss":
Vance . . . served as lawyer for James Vetrano - charged in relation to a RICO case against underboss Arnold Squitieri, a close associate of John Gotti. Vetrano was alleged by Manhattan federal prosecutors in the 2005 case to be a "trusted associate" of the Gambino family, led by Gotti for years. Vetrano was head of Local 305 of the Retail and Wholesale Department Store Union, and prosecutors alleged he worked with Gambino associates to pilfer union members' benefits to provide medical coverage for accused mobsters' families.
Vance contends that his criminal defense experience will "give him greater perspective" if he secures the DA job.
Meanwhile, former city judge Leslie Crocker Snyder previously has been a diner at the Scotto establishment, and the Detectives' Endowment Association and other police unions who are backing her to become the next DA are holding a fundraiser for their candidate tonight at the club Marquee on Tenth Avenue and 27th Street in Chelsea:
The night spot paid a $100,000 fine last fall to the State Liquor Authority after undercover cops bought cocaine there eight separate times. Night club owners cooperated but detectives were back inside the club in December after the disappearance of a 25 year-old Brooklyn woman, Laura Garza, who was last seen leaving the club with a registered sex offender. Asked if this was the best place to promote a District Attorney candidacy, Snyder campaign spokesman Michael Tobman said: "We have been aware of the incidents and we believe they do not reflect on Leslie's accomplishments or qualifications."
The Snyder campaign disclosed that "one of the club's owners is donating the space as an in-kind contribution estimated at roughly $10,000."
Neither Vance nor Synder are exercising the wise judgment one would expect from attorneys who aspire to become the city's top prosecutor. Doug Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, said "appearances matter."
The third candidate for the Manhattan DA position is the reform-minded Richard Aborn who recently has picked up the endorsements of West Side state assemblyman Danny O'Donnell and "ex-NYPD and current Los Angeles police commish Bill Bratton." O'Donnell, the first openly gay man in the state Assembly and prime sponsor of the Marriage Equality Act, stated:
"When it comes to which person will crack down on crime while protecting civil liberties and defending progressive values, there is no one more qualified for Manhattan D.A. than Richard Aborn," O’Donnell said in a statement. "Whether it's taking on the NRA on guns, investigating police misconduct, or ensuring equal access to justice, Richard has shown he never backs down from a fight. He will bring his deep commitment to justice to the office of District Attorney."
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