Morgenthau withdraws as special master from FDNY case

In a harsh exchange, the Brooklyn federal judge overseeing a discrimination case against the New York City Fire Department announced Tuesday that former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau was withdrawing as special master because of Bloomberg administration complaints about his impartiality.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis named Mary Jo White, a former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, to replace Morgenthau as special master, with instructions to make the city comply expeditiously with his orders for new FDNY hiring procedures that don't discriminate against minorities.

The judge also delivered a new tongue-lashing to the city for foot-dragging and for arguing last week that Morgenthau was biased. The former DA had once described Mayor Michael Bloomberg as an egomaniac and fought with the mayor over a grand jury investigation of the city's role in a 2007 fire at the former Deutsche Bank building in lower Manhattan.

Sarcastically calling it a "small miracle" that the city "bore this yoke of tyranny for even a day following Mr. Morgenthau's appointment," Garaufis described the city's behavior as "odious" and fumed, "The city's obstinacy, its unflagging defense of an overrun position, reflects a misguided set of priorities and loyalties."

He suggested that city lawyers should be pursuing justice instead of doing Bloomberg's bidding through delay tactics: "New York City is not a fiefdom. It is a representative democracy."

And the judge scolded the city for its attacks on Morgenthau, 90, who served as the top Manhattan prosecutor for nine terms before retiring last year.

"Questioning the integrity of a man who has done perhaps more than anyone else in the last 40 years to uphold the law and protect the welfare of New York's citizens is a dishonor," Garaufis wrote. "To whom, the people of New York may decide for themselves."

Morgenthau's own letter of resignation was mild in comparison to Garaufis' words. He said the contention that he was biased against the city was "absurd," but said the Bloomberg administration "harbors resentment" against him and their objections would slow down progress in the case.

The city law department, in a statement, disputed any claims from Garaufis that it was using Morgenthau as an excuse for delay, and praised the appointment of White.

Garaufis ruled in January in a suit brought by the Justice Department that there had been a pattern of discrimination in the fire department for years. Last week, he named Morgenthau. The city, in a letter on Friday, said the ex-prosecutor's tiffs with Bloomberg disqualified him.