Posted by GET NY on 20:57:01 04/07/05

Charles "Joe" Hynes Brooklyn D.A.
THE 7th MOST LOATHSOME NEW YORKER

New York Press
March 30th, 2005

The most powerful man in Brooklyn prosecutes political enemies on bullsh1t charges, talentless cronies balloon his staff, and he bursts almost every budget. His office is the top-heaviest in the city with six-figure "executive assistant" D.A.s who apparently do little more than kick money upstairs to Hynes' campaign coffers. Hynes is the only of the city's five D.A.'s who extorts campaign contributions from staff. He also runs his campaign headquarters out of his offices, which is illegal. For his 1998 run for governor, he took a bag containing $12,000 in cash also illegal but his staff prosecutors claimed not to know that taking sacks of cash is a crime. Now Hynes engineers a scapegoat prosecution against his old friend and county boss Clarence Norman Jr. for allegedly misappropriating $5000 from his own coffers. Meanwhile, three of Hynes' children have been on the payrolls of various local politicos, though Hynes promised to bring a "wrecking ball" to the cronyism and patronage in Brooklyn that rots civic life. According to the Daily News, homicide is down 10 percent citywide, but in Brownsville, it's up 156 percent; in Bensonhurst, it's up 400 percent. Brooklyn burns, and Joe Hynes punches the clock and plays with his pud.

Follow Ups: