It’s a hole-in-one for new Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

The man behind the city’s most famous bagel joint, H+H Bagels, pleaded guilty to tax fraud, the district attorney’s office announced May 27.

Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau indicted Helmer Toro Nov. 18, 2009, for allegedly stealing tax money taken from his employees’ paychecks and avoiding unemployment insurance tax through six shell companies. The investigation alleged that the 59-year-old Toro pocketed $369,318 in payroll taxes. The fraud is in connection with the popular Upper West Side store at 2239 Broadway and West 80th Street.

“Under no circumstances can employers gain in business by cheating their employees,” Vance said in a statement. “The city’s businesses must adhere to ethical standards and contribute to the tax revenue of the city and state, as well as protect their employees’ interests.”

Jorge Delgado, Toro’s lawyer, could not be reached at the bagel store’s main office in time for a comment.

Despite Toro’s legal problems, the bagel business is running smoothly, according to an employee who answered the phone at H+H Bagels’ main office.

“Yes we are open,” said the employee, who directed additional questions to Delgado. “So far, we employees have no problem.”

Toro, who lives on West 70th Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue, copped to grand larceny, offering a false instrument for filing and manipulating unemployment insurance tax.

It’s a hole in one for new Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

The man behind the city’s most famous bagel joint, H+H Bagels, pleaded guilty to tax fraud, the district attorney’s office announced May 27.

Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau indicted Helmer Toro Nov. 18, 2009 for allegedly stealing tax money taken from his employees’ paychecks and avoiding unemployment insurance tax through six shell companies. The investigation alleged that the 59-year-old Toro pocketed $369,318 in payroll taxes. The fraud is in connection with the popular Upper West Side store at 2239 Broadway and West 80th Street.

“Under no circumstances can employers gain in business by cheating their employees,” Vance said in a statement. “The city’s businesses must adhere to ethical standards and contribute to the tax revenue of the city and state, as well as protect their employees’ interests.”

Despite Toro’s legal problems, the bagel business is running smoothly, according to an employee who answered the phone at H+H Bagels’ main office.

“Yes we are open,” said the employee, who directed questions to a lawyer named Jorge Delgado. “So far, we employees have no problem.”

Toro, who lives on West 70th Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue, copped to grand larceny, offering a false instrument for filing and manipulating unemployment insurance tax.

Tony Avella

Mayor
If going against Mayor Michael Bloomberg is considered a long shot for Comptroller William Thompson, then Council Member Tony Avella is the longest of shots. Avella, from Queens, has spent most of his Council career as a firebrand who often casts the lone-dissenting vote on legislation. He wants to empower community boards to take a greater role in local development, pledges to increase the involvement of parents and teachers in education policy making and supports commercial rent control.

William Thompson

Mayor
When most prominent Democrats declined to take on Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Comptroller William Thompson was the last one standing, facing only Avella, a long-shot aspirant, in the primary. As comptroller, Thompson’s alternative investment strategies helped cushion the pension fund when the economy collapsed. He knocks the mayor for being overly focused on Wall Street and real estate, a strategy that he says has harmed the middle class, and he promises to diversify. He would create an independent body to study student progress, and wants to mitigate the taxes, fees and fines that he says burden small businesses.

Melinda Katz

Comptroller
In the City Council, Melinda Katz chairs the powerful Land Use Committee, which oversees all development projects that need zoning changes. That has helped her raise campaign cash from real estate interests, but Katz says she has also pushed for affordable housing, fair labor wages and buildings that fit within a community’s context. Before her Council election, she worked in the Queens borough president’s office and she was a State Assembly member. As comptroller, Katz promises to invest a portion of pension funds in successful but debt-strapped companies that do business in New York, to help spur local job creation.

John Liu

Comptroller
John Liu is a reserved City Council member from Queens, but he also has a reputation for being a pit bull during committee hearings. As chair of the Transportation Committee, he claims to be the first elected official to discover the now-infamous “two sets of books” the MTA was using. Liu promises to use his tenacity when auditing city agencies, which the comptroller must do every four years. He also wants to audit and track stimulus funds coming to the city. On pensions, Liu wants to return to traditional, low-risk, low-yield investment strategies.

David Weprin

Comptroller
David Weprin wants voters to understand that he knows the buck. The Queens Council member chairs the Finance Committee, which must pass the city’s budget. He was also Gov. Mario Cuomo’s state superintendent on banking. His position in the Council has baggage, as he was partly blamed for not catching the slush fund scandal sooner. Nonetheless, he is touting his experience and his willingness to stand up to the mayor when appropriate, as he did when opposing the term-limit extension. Weprin plans to open satellite comptroller offices that would focus on financial literacy and assistance programs.

David Yassky

Comptroller
In a field of comptroller candidates from Queens, David Yassky is the lone Brooklynite. He is also the only candidate who supports the creation of a new level of pension benefits that would ease the city’s budget woes, but that remains unpopular with unions. Yassky points to his record in the City Council, where he worked to eliminate waste in the Housing Department, assisted in closing a tax loophole used by luxury developers and supported creating gas-electric hybrid taxis. He promises to invest a small portion of pension funds into biotechnology companies and increase transparency; during the campaign, he put the city’s budget online, at www.ItsYourMoneyNYC.com.

Bill de Blasio

Public Advocate
Council Member Bill de Blasio became Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s chief antagonist during the fight to extend term limits. The successful extension ruined de Blasio’s plans to run for Brooklyn borough president, but he found a spot in the public advocate’s race. He was quickly endorsed by most of the city’s elected officials. As the city’s ombudsman, de Blasio said he would stand up to a powerful mayor when necessary and promises to work collaboratively with other elected officials to get results.

Eric Gioia

Public Advocate
This two-term Queens Council member built a network of support from unions and young professionals, winning his first term without the backing of the borough’s Democratic organization. Gioia is capitalizing on this “outsider” status in his bid to be the city’s ombudsman and is touting his effective use of publicity to drive policy change. In 2007, he went on food stamps for a week, then pushed for legislation that would put applications online. He says he will continue working to improve schools, fighting for economic justice and holding government accountable.

Mark Green

Public Advocate
Voters may remember Mark Green as the city’s first public advocate who served during the Giuliani years, when he sued the mayor for withholding information on racial profiling and police misconduct, and he served as a general foil to many administration policies. He promises to continue that “aggressive progressive” platform, standing up to City Hall and helping government better serve New Yorkers. Since his unsuccessful bid for mayor in 2001, he has been president of Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network that was owned by his real estate mogul brother, Stephen.

Norman Siegel

Public Advocate
This is civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel’s third bid for public advocate, following his unsuccessful challenge of incumbent Betsy Gotbaum in 2005. Siegel, who says the public advocate needs to be visible, a big mouth and a fighter, points to his record representing groups like the 2004 Republican National Convention protestors and West Harlem tenants in their battle against Columbia University. He plans to recruit hundreds of volunteers to be “surrogate public advocates” in each community, and create an “Institute of Advocacy” to help New Yorkers make themselves heard.

Richard Aborn

Manhattan District Attorney
Richard Aborn, a former assistant district attorney under Robert Morgenthau, stormed into the district attorney race as a dark-horse candidate. Yet his campaign has gained momentum after most of the borough’s elected officials, including Rep. Jerrold Nadler, endorsed his campaign. A gun-control advocate who was behind the federal assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill, Aborn is running on a platform of providing alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation for nonviolent offenders and expanding the use of technology in the office.

Leslie Crocker Snyder

Manhattan District Attorney
This year, Leslie Crocker Snyder is mounting her second attempt to be Manhattan’s top prosecutor. In 2005, the former State Supreme Court judge ran against incumbent Robert Morgenthau, who had been in office since 1974. Snyder, a former assistant district attorney, was the first woman to prosecute homicides, founded Manhattan’s Sex Crimes Bureau and co-authored the Rape Shield Law. As district attorney, she would create a Second Look Bureau to address wrongful convictions and connect prosecutors to local law enforcement, civic and religious groups.

Cyrus Vance, Jr.

Manhattan District Attorney
Retiring prosecutor Robert Morgenthau chose Cy Vance, his former assistant district attorney, to be his successor. Vance, the son of President Jimmy Carter’s secretary of state, has been a defense lawyer in Seattle, Wash. for most of his career, litigating white collar crimes at a national firm. He plans to develop a community-based justice model in neighborhoods to better attack problems such as domestic violence and discrimination against immigrants. If elected, Vance would tackle the criminal court backlog and form special units for mental health issues and hate crimes.

But in the months before the September primary, each has highlighted a different background to illustrate why they are the right person to run the highest profile district attorney’s office in the state.

Leslie Crocker Snyder, Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn are all vying to succeed Morgenthau. One of them will likely face Greg Camp, a liberal Republican running in the general election.

Morgenthau’s presence is still felt in the primary campaign, as his 2005 primary opponent, Leslie Crocker Snyder, is making her second bid for district attorney.

Leslie Crocker Snyder challenged Morgenthau in 2005. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

The 2005 race was highly personal and contentious: Snyder criticized Morgenthau’s tenure and said the office had been stale for a decade. In turn, Morgenthau’s campaign characterized Snyder as a supporter of the death penalty, a position that does not gel with most of the Manhattan Democratic primary electorate. Snyder lost with 40 percent of the vote.

Snyder’s 2005 talking points are still prevalent in the 2009 campaign. But she points to her first run for office as proof that she has been promoting change in the district attorney’s office for more than four years now, unlike her opponents, who are only now calling for reform.

“If they were eager for change, why didn’t they run until they got permission from Morgenthau?” Snyder said. “It makes people question whether they can effect change, whether they have the courage to take on big challenges.”

Snyder said she witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of the Manhattan district attorney’s office as a judge on the Criminal and State Supreme courts. During her time on the bench, she earned a reputation for doling out harsh sentences, but she said she also used alternatives to incarceration—“not what I’m known for,” she added. That practice is something she would continue as the borough’s top prosecutor.

She also wants to create a so-called Second Look Bureau, an office to investigate cases in which the district attorney’s office has made a mistake. This stemmed from the wrongful conviction of a man for the slaying of a nightclub bouncer, known as the Palladium case.
“If we do make a mistake,” Snyder said, “we’re going to admit to the mistakes and share training we got from that with every other district attorney.”

Despite any blowback from her 2005 challenge, Snyder is picking up support from judicial and law enforcement unions and organizations.

Cyrus Vance, Jr., however, has been getting behind-the-scenes support from Morgenthau, who is widely known to prefer the litigator and defense lawyer.
Morgenthau is not allowed to outright endorse Vance due to a rule by the state District Attorney’s Association. The district attorney can, however, express a preference for a candidate publicly and tacitly.

On May 6, Vance unveiled the endorsements of prominent former assistant district attorneys from Morgenthau’s office.

Cyrus Vance, Jr. has been getting behind-the-scenes support from Morgenthau. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

“They believe that I can best steward the traditions of this office and deliver public safety and fairness at the head of it,” Vance said. “To me it’s the most significant endorsement, not the police unions.”

Vance was also endorsed by former Mayor David Dinkins and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

Vance, the son of President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State, was a civil and criminal litigator who spent 16 years of his post-Morgenthau career in Seattle, Wash. Snyder hits Vance on this frequently, but Vance said he and his family have roots in Manhattan. And in starting a law firm in Seattle, “I acquired a lot of experience in doing a lot of complex and interesting work,” Vance said. “That gives me perspective and insight that is useful for me as D.A.”

Vance touts his current and extensive experience as a litigator and defense attorney. He’d like to expand the discovery phase of cases and ask the Office of Court Administration for more judges to process cases faster—efforts Vance said will foster a better sense of fairness for defendants.

Vance is also arguing for restructuring the Manhattan district attorney’s office to revolve around community organizations rather than the court system. He wants to pair senior assistant district attorneys with junior attorneys to tackle backlog, pair assistant district attorneys with police precincts and base a reward system for prosecutors on developing crime prevention strategies rather than the number of convictions.

“The only candidate who has talked about prevention in terms of the office’s structure is me,” Vance said.

While Vance is stressing structure, attorney Richard Aborn has become the candidate of big ideas. He drafted two major pieces of gun-control legislation—the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban—and has been a technology consultant for police departments and law enforcement agencies.

Aborn feels the district attorney’s office could coordinate with other law enforcement agencies throughout the country to share information. This, he said, would be useful in preventing illegal firearms likely to be used in crimes from entering the city.

Richard Aborn drafted two major pieces of gun-control legislation. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Aborn is pushing his background in technology to prove he can update how the district attorney’s office tracks and deters crime. He feels the new district attorney needs to be well versed in the latest crime fighting techniques to implement them effectively.

“Voters want a D.A. who has a broad vision of the office and the broad experience to implement that vision,” Aborn said.

Aborn said this strategy has captured the endorsement of seven elected officials, including the bulk of Manhattan’s office holders.

“The elected officials, in part, understand the critical roles of the district attorney, particularly in Manhattan,” Aborn said. “That office has to be a vibrant participant in the public discussion around criminal justice and I’ve done that for years.”

Aborn points to his role in the gun-control movement as proof that he can shape and frame the debate around criminal justice and build coalitions.

“We were able to push back against the NRA [National Rifle Association] and defeat them,” Aborn said. “We did that at a time where we really defied the odds.”

At a recent forum for West Side Democratic clubs, he said the same strategy could work for the death penalty. While his opponents are all against the death penalty—now unconstitutional in the state—he told voters that he would use the office as a bully pulpit to quell any attempt to reinstate it.

“There might be a drum beat to bring it back,” Aborn warned. “I will build and lead a coalition to stop it.”

At that same forum, however, Snyder brushed aside the death penalty debate.
“Let’s get real. It’s being used by my adversaries,” she said. “Ask yourself what are the real issues in this race.”

Candidates nonetheless seem eager to pass progressive litmus tests, even though most issues may not fall in the jurisdiction of the district attorney’s office. Such issues will engage the Manhattan electorate in this low-turnout election, said political consultant Norman Adler.

“Everybody’s against the death penalty, everyone’s for gay marriage. Everybody’s going to sound the same,” Adler said. “The question is, who has the most name recognition and who gets out the vote?”