n Bronx County Democratic leader Friedman, as a member of the New York City Board of Estimate, was implicated in a contract fixing scheme, Koch defended him. When persistent investigations validated the charges against Friedman, Koch professed profound shock. Perhaps, Koch was shocked, and it is unlikely that Koch himself was ever implicated in corrupt acts. Koch, however, appears to have attempted to protect friends and appointees who were so involved.
Probably the most celebrated political corruption case of the Koch mayoral era was the one involving Bess Myerson. While head of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Myerson was accused of bribing New York State Supreme Court Justice Hortense Gable, in order to obtain a reduction in the amount of alimony payments Myerson's lover of the day, Carl Capasso, was required to pay to his former wife4 The payoff to Judge Gable was alleged to be a job in Myerson's New York City Department of Cultural Affairs for Gable's daughter, Sukhreet Gabel. In return, Capasso's alimony payments were to be reduced from $1,850 per week to $680 per week. Subsequently, Sukhreet Gable was hired by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Capasso's alimony payments were reduced by Judge Gabel. Those actions were circumstantial, however, and the prosecution was unable to persuade a jury that any criminal wrong doing could be proved beyond reasonable doubt.5 Among other things the jury was doubtful about, however, was just who was the guilty party. The end result was that Capasso, Gabel, and Myerson escaped conviction for political corruption.
The Myerson case involves the question of political corruption in New York City to a far greater extent, however, that it appears on its face. The initial finding of misconduct in the case was made by the city's Tyler Commission, named for its head, former federal judge Harold Tyler, Jr. Tyler had previously acted as a mentor for ...