Seabrook trial witness: I didn’t know blackface was offensive

The star federal corruption witness accusing former city jail-union boss Norman Seabrook, an African-American, of taking a bribe testified on Thursday that he didn’t know what “blackface” meant and didn’t know that painting his face black for a party was racially offensive.

The testimony by Jason Rechnitz came after Manhattan U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter allowed Seabrook’s lawyer to ask questions about a picture of him wearing blackface and his use of a pejorative Yiddish slang word for black people to try to show a possible bias against Seabrook.

Rechnitz, who has testified that he delivered a $60,000 bribe to Seabrook from a hedge fund, professed ignorance when he was first asked about the picture of him with a black face and a flashy wide-brimmed hat, which he said he wore for a Purim party in 2013.

“What is blackface?” he said to Seabrook lawyer Paul Shechtman, who explained it meant painting your face black so you look like an African-American.

Rechnitz later said he didn’t know his costume might be demeaning to black people, saying it was just a “silly robe with a fancy hat” he bought at Abracadabr that came with both black and white paint, and he used both at different times. “I meant no offense,” he testified.

The party picture was not itself shown to jurors, but Shechtman pointed out to Rechnitz that in addition to the blackface, he was also wearing a gold chain and teeth with gold, and the ensemble seemed to be consistent with a mass-merchandised ensemble.

“That was a costume that was sold as the ‘Daddy Pimp’ costume?” Shechtman said.

“It’s possible,” Rechnitz answered.

Rechnitz, 34, an Orthodox Jewish investor from Los Angeles, was at the center of a sprawling probe of corruption at the NYPD and City Hall last year. Testifying over six days, he said he bribed Seabrook for co-defendant Murray Huberfeld, a hedge fund founder, and also described money-for-favors arrangements with Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD brass.

In addition to the blackface, Shechtman cross-examined Rechnitz Thursday about an email in which he used a slang Yiddish word for black people in a negative context. Rechnitz insisted the word was not derogatory.

“It’s not a compliment,” he conceded. “It’s not a derogatory term. It just means ‘black.’ ”

Rechnitz used the same word in an email referencing President Barack Obama, but defense lawyers did not put that evidence before jurors.

Prosecutors opposed letting the jury — which includes five black people — hear any of the racial evidence and tried to soften the blow by having Rechnitz describe a cloistered upbringing in Jewish Orthodox schools where black history wasn’t taught and he had no black classmates.

Having just learned in court that his behavior might be insulting, Rechnitz said, it would not be repeated.

“I understand this is something that is offensive,” he testified. “That’s not something I would ever want to do and I will never do it again.”

Defense lawyers contend that their clients were framed by Rechnitz in a bid to get soft treatment from prosecutors on other crimes, and Shechtman says his racial attitudes would have made framing Seabrook seem unimportant to him.

Prosecutors contend the purported bias is irrelevant to Rechnitz’ testimony that he delivered a bribe to Seabrook for investing $20 million in union pension money with Huberfeld’s fund — noting that while Seabrook is black, Huberfeld is an Orthodox Jew like Rechnitz.