Two charges of larceny, one for fourth degree Grand Larceny and one for Petty Larceny, against Mike Hirsch of New City were dropped by the New York City District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. Hirsch, 62, plead guilty at a New York County Supreme Court hearing to one count of offering a false instrument for filing, a misdemeanor. He said no sentence was issued in connection with the guilty plea.
Hirsch said the big news for him was that the district attorney dropped the larceny charges. Hirsch said there was “no basis for them.”
Hirsch’s attorney Mike Galina plead guilty on behalf of his construction business, MZM Corporation, to two counts of offering a false instrument for filing on the condition that the one felony count be rescinded if the company paid a $59,000 fine within one year. The other count was a misdemeanor charge. Hirsch said his attorney’s pleas were accepted.
His arrest in September 2012 stemmed from an investigation by New York City Department of Investigations and the city's Department of Parks and Recreation involving the Dyker Beach Junior Golf Course built for the city.
After his firm worked on the golf course project, Hirsch said discrepancies were found in the payrolls, which were corrected. The following year Hirsch said complaints about his company underpaying workers were lodged with the New York City Comptrollers Office. He said he did not know who the men were but he had to prove they did not work for him.
Hirsch said he believes the complaints were fabricated.
“I’m convinced it was somebody looking to discredit me from Clarkstown,” he asserted. “I’m convinced that somebody in Clarkstown orchestrated the whole thing or some group.”
An outspoken community activist, Hirsch founded the Clarkstown Taxpayers and called for lower taxes and reducing the size of government. He resigned from the group’s Steering Committee in October.
Hirsch, who is MZM’s president and majority partner, said their workers are nonunion. The firm’s projects are focused on the private sector.
