Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan’s District Attorney for nearly 35 years, has decided not to seek re-election this fall, The Post has learned.
Morgenthau has begun privately calling top deputies into his office to deliver the news – which will instantly spark a crowded race for his coveted seat and will include his longtime chief deputy Dan Castleman, sources familiar with the plans said.
He is holding a large meeting with his staff this afternoon to inform them all, and then will make his news public in a press conference.
Morgenthau was first elected to the post in 1974, and will turn 90 on his next birthday this summer.
Rumors that the DA had made the decision not to seek re-election this time have been swirling for weeks, with several fits and starts by Morgenthau himself – who once suggested he intended to be carried out of office and who sources said grappled with the decision.
Yet several sources said he had hashed it out about a month ago, and one noted, “He’s always talked about spending more time with his family.”
Sen. Charles Schumer was first out of the gate with a statement a few hours before Morgenthau’s official announcement, saying, “Every so often a giant in their field comes along and in the world of criminal justice Robert Morgenthau was just that man.
“To say that we will miss him does not scratch the surface of the void he will leave.”
Morgenthau faced a primary challenge last time around from Leslie Crocker Snyder.
He beat her handily, but she scored just over 40 percent of the 2005 primary vote and is now the only candidate who’s formally declared that she’s running in advance of knowing whether Morgenthau would run again.
In addition to Crocker-Snyder, the field of potential candidates includes former Assistant DAs Richard Aborn and Cyrus Vance Jr. – who had said they wouldn’t run against their old boss if he sought another term – longtime Giuliani aide and former deputy mayor Randy Mastro, and State Sen. Eric Schneiderman.
Castleman, Morgenthau’s longtime top deputy and the man who for years had been seen as the heir apparent to his boss, is also planning on running, a source familiar with his plans said today.
He hasn’t yet formed a committee or started raising money – and can’t campaign while he’s an assistant DA.
Heading into this week, some sources said they believed Vance – who’s raised a hefty pot of cash for the race – was likely to be Morgenthau’s preferred replacement.
Yet several insiders believe that Morgenthau would be hard-pressed to back someone other than Castleman should his chief ADA decide to jump into the fray.
Crocker Snyder, a former judge who has declared herself the frontrunner in the race, ran hard against the DA’s age and length of time in office – and has been strong in her criticism of Morgenthau this time around.
She raised eyebrows among Morgenthau supporters in a recent interview with Jewish Week, in which she said he’s not really running the office and added, “The office also has no leadership. [Morgenthau] is trotted out and propped up for press conferences. I’m not attacking his physical condition; he’s just not as vigorous.”
She declined to elaborate on that in a Post interview today, saying that it wasn’t the day for it.
“I think Morgenthau’s been a great DA, an institution, he served New Yorkers well for a very long time and I wish him only the best,” she said.
Morgenthau’s retirement at the end of his ninth term caps a lengthy career in which he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy as Manhattan’s federal prosecutor, and shortly after was elected to the DA post – one that he became synonymous with.
He was immortalized as the inspiration for the initial DA character in the hit show “Law & Order.”