Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the reason behind the city hiring a top-flight criminal lawyer to respond to subpoenas from prosecutors investigating the deadly fire at the former Deutsche Bank building is simple: "The criminal thing is not my bag."
"The criminal thing is for the (Manhattan) District Attorney (Robert Morgenthau)," the mayor said at a news conference this afternoon outside City Hall. "What the city is trying to do is to make sure that everybody is doing what they're supposed to do is keep this safe."
Sure, the city Corporation Counsel's office has 700 lawyers, but few have enough with expertise in criminal law to handle the investigation, the mayor said.
"But here there are charges that may be brought - maybe they won't be brought," the mayor said. "We have offered criminal help, legal help, to any of our employees who might need it...we will make sure this city is represented by people who know what they're doing."
Karla Schuster