The Final Round A political brawler who was convicted of seven felony counts of voter fraud and is about to present his appeal to the state’s highest court is charging anew that Assemblymember Jim Brennan and District Attorney Charles Hynes conspired to unfairly prosecute him because he was a political nuisance.

John Kennedy O’Hara, who ran in and lost several elections to incumbents, was originally prosecuted by Hynes in 1997. That year, O’Hara was convicted of charges that he lied about where he lived, ostensibly so that he could run in a Sunset Park City Council race.

Technically, he was charged with using a false address to vote. After three trials and two appeals, he was ultimately convicted of five counts of illegal voting and two counts regarding his voter registration card.

From day one, O’Hara has maintained that he was unfairly targeted by Hynes and Brennan, against whom he ran in 1990, as a way to stop him from creating political dust-ups.

O’Hara says that Hynes prosecuted him on criminal charges that had never been levied before. The only similar case in New York was brought at the turn of the century against Susan B. Anthony, who was accused of illegal voting because she was a woman.

O’Hara also notes the unusual step of Hynes slogging through three trials to win the conviction on charges that are normally brought in civil court.

In fact, O’Hara was singled out to some extent. It is an open secret that some of Brooklyn’s elected officials live nowhere near their districts, where they are registered to vote and regularly cast their votes. If a candidate or elected official suspects voter fraud on the part of an adversary, the issue is normally adjudicated at the Board of Elections, and normally results in the perpetrator simply being removed from the ballot. Criminal charges on the matter are virtually unheard of.

O’Hara, on the other hand, was disbarred as an attorney, stripped of his right to vote, sentenced to five years probation, ordered to perform 1,500 hours of community service and fined $20,000.

Now O’Hara is reviving his charges that Brennan and Hynes were in cahoots, pointing to testimony given by Brennan in a deposition of an arbitration case in which Brennan and his chief of staff, John Keefe, were sued after Keefe allegedly harassed O’Hara’s girlfriend.

Asked by O’Hara’s girlfriend’s lawyer whether he ever spoke with Hynes about the case, Brennan said, "I can’t remember who called who, but I—after the first conviction and Spring ’97 I spoke for a few seconds with the district attorney and I, you know, and he said he had won and I said good."

O’Hara is convinced the testimony bears out behind-the-scenes angling by Brennan and Hynes. "What this [the testimony] means is that this whole thing has been a scam between Jim Brennan and Joe Hynes all along, and it’s costing the taxpayers millions," he said.

Kevin Davitt, a spokesperson for Hynes, disputed O’Hara’s claim. "There’s nothing inappropriate about the conversation," he said. "John Kennedy O’Hara is a legend in his own mind." Brennan did not return a call seeking comment.

At press time, O’Hara’s case was set to be heard by the Court of Appeals on Tuesday, April 24. The seminal issue will be the definition of residence. The League of Women Voters has filed an amicus brief on O’Hara’s behalf, claiming that the definition employed by the lower courts was too rigid and would disenfranchise people with two homes, depriving them of their right to vote.

Fisher Supporter Draws Attention A letter meant to demonstrate broad Hasidic support for Councilmember Ken Fisher has instead raised eyebrows because of a recent controversy surrounding one of its signatories.

The letter, signed by nine prominent rabbis, businessmen and social service providers, was received by us shortly after one source in the United New York Democrats, a Borough Park club, said that the club was leaning toward supporting Jeannette Gadson, one of Fisher’s rivals in the borough president’s race.

"Ken has always been in the forefront on issues that concern the Jewish community," the letter stated. "In 1993, he was awarded the New York City Police Department highest civilian award for bravery, when he diffused a tense racial confrontation in Williamsburg over an eighteen hour period."

The vast majority of the signatories are prominent figures in a variety of facets of Hasidic life. However, there is one name on the letter that has made recent headlines of another type.

Joseph Spitzer, a developer with close ties to Mayor Giuliani, has been scrutinized in the past two weeks after the Department of Housing and Preservation agreed to give him a potentially lucrative Upper East Side tenement instead of giving the building to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. A City Council committee—of which Fisher is not a member—is now probing the transfer.

Both Spitzer and the Met Council had applied to receive the building as part of a program where the city turns over properties that have been seized for back taxes and hands them over to new owners, many of which are non-profit groups.

Spitzer, who owns several properties in the city, has said he would do family housing in the Upper East Side tenement, located at 334 East 96th Street. The Met Council, which has a building next door where it houses mentally ill people, had wanted to use the new property to house the elderly, mentally ill or homeless people.

The transfer to Spitzer drew charges of favoritism because Spitzer raised $83,000 for Giuliani’s 1997 reelection campaign. In 1999, Spitzer received two of 11 special mayoral parking permits that allow him to park anywhere in the city.

Spitzer said that he was awarded the Upper East Side building fair and square. "I got the building on the merits. Because I am a friend of the mayor, I should not be penalized for it," he said. Spitzer said that he originally got to know Fisher when Fisher supported the effort to rezone parts of industrial Williamsburg. "I was very involved in the rezoning of Williamsburg. I’ve worked with [Fisher] and his chief of staff, John Talmage," said Spitzer. "I think he’s [Fisher} a lovely individual."

Danica Gallagher, a spokesperson for the Fisher campaign, said that Spitzer’s name appeared on the letter because of his standing in his community. "He’s a prominent businessman who’s well-respected in his community," said Gallagher, adding that the "jury’s still out" on the issue of the Upper East Side building.

Kruger To Stay Put State Senator Carl Kruger has decided that he will not run for City Council, and will instead support District Leader Lew Fidler. Kruger briefly stated his intentions after an unrelated press conference in Sheepshead Bay. The decision ends months of waffling by Kruger and allows Fidler to forcefully pursue the 46th Councilmanic District seat. "I’m certainly very grateful and appreciative of Carl Kruger’s support," said Fidler, adding that he would never consider running against the outspoken state senator.

Cohen Backs Gadson Jeannette Gadson’s campaign got another boost from a southern Brooklyn elected official, although the latest endorsement is not as surprising as the first. Assemblymember Adele Cohen announced her support for the borough president hopeful, saying that Gadson would be "the best for Brooklyn." Cohen said that she was not swayed to support State Senator Marty Markowitz, her colleague in state government.

"I know all three [candidates] fairly well. I thought it through very carefully and I considered my constituents, and I think that in the end Jeannette is the best for Brooklyn. She cares about people and I think that’s what government is all about," said Cohen.

"It’s not the most surprising thing in the world," said Markowitz. "What can I say? I expected it." Councilmember Ken Fisher had no comment on the endorsement.

Cohen’s endorsement is indeed unsurprising. She is viewed as someone who has a good relationship with the county leader, Assemblymember Clarence Norman, who is backing Gadson. State Senator Carl Kruger has also endorsed Gadson.

Hikind Defends FerrerFar be it from Assemblymember Dov Hikind to miss an opportunity to pan Bruce Teitelbaum, a close advisor to Mayor Giuliani.

Teitelbaum has come under fire recently for telling The Jewish Week that Jews should be wary of mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer because he would hire many people formerly associated with the Dinkins administration.

Teitelbaum, who was doing fundraising for City Comptroller Alan Hevesi at the time, was promptly accused of racial rabble rousing and dismissed. He has since declined to comment about the matter.

Hikind, however, quickly issued a statement criticizing Teitelbaum, one of his least favorite people. "It was a terribly stupid thing to do," he said of Teitelbaum’s remarks in a later interview. "This polarization, it’s not something we need. Bruce Teitelbaum has had a great teacher—he’s had Rudy Giuliani to learn from, and that is to be mean-spirited."

Hikind, while underscoring that he has not made a decision about whom to support, said that Ferrer "has been a friend to the Jewish community. He is a decent person. He is a mensch. He is not someone that the Jewish community needs to feel uncomfortable with—just the opposite."

Borough Politics Archive
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