The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The city yesterday hired a lawyer who has handled several white-collar criminal defense cases to help in a probe of the fire that killed two firefighters at a Ground Zero skyscraper.
The city’s corporation counsel has retained Gary Naftalis and his Manhattan firm to respond to subpoenas and review documents requested by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors launched a criminal investigation last month into the Aug. 18 blaze at the former Deutsche Bank building, which killed firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino. Careless smoking by construction workers has been blamed as the cause of the blaze.
But Fire Department officials also acknowledged they did not inspect the building as required, and that the standpipe that supplied water to the building had been dismantled in the basement before the blaze.
Prosecutors subpoenaed documents from the Fire Department, the city Buildings Department, the contractors involved in dismantling the building and the state agency that owns the building, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
“The decision to retain counsel was prompted by the subpoenas that have been issued by the district attorney for voluminous documents, the need for the city to have sufficiently knowledgeable attorneys in order to advise it ... and the serious issues that have been raised about actions leading up to the fire,” the counsel’s office said in a statement.
The city last sought private counsel in a criminal investigation into the 2003 Staten Island Ferry accident that killed 11 people. The ship’s pilot later pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The city said Naftalis and other lawyers at his firm would be paid based on skill level and rates would range from a high of about $660 per hour to $265 per hour. His office didn’t return a request seeking comment.
Naftalis represented Kidder Peabody & Co. in the 1980s insider trading Wall Street scandals and Salomon Bros. in the 1990s probes of a bond trading scandal.
He also represented fired Disney chief executive Michael Eisner in a lawsuit involving Disney executive Michael Ovitz’ dismissal, and represented Kenneth Langone, who had been accused of misleading New York Stock Exchange members about former chairman Richard A. Grasso’s income.