by DAVID SEIFMAN
Even as the city is trying to cut the budgets of the district attorneys, it's "made a couple of firms rich" defending its conduct in the fatal Deutsche Bank fire, Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said yesterday.
"We're forced to spend a lot of money to deal with these private firms that are experts in running up bills," the DA said after testifying at a City Council budget hearing.
He estimated the city has paid about $1.5 million so far to Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, while the state Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has added $1 million to the coffers of Dechert LLP.
The DA said his office is sifting through 3 million documents in the complex case, which could take another two months to complete.
Two firefighters died in an Aug. 18 blaze at the former Deutsche Bank building, where a 42-foot section of standpipe had been removed from the basement without authorization.
"You've got 100 firemen going into a building without water," said Morgenthau.
"A 6-year-old child knows firemen have got to have water."
The Bloomberg administration has proposed cutting about $7.9 million from the $267.9 million allocated to all the city's prosecutors in the mayor's latest executive budget.
The council typically restores much of the funds.
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