NEW YORK -- John F. Kennedy Jr., declared the 1988 People Magazine Hunk of the Year and a trendsetter on the 1989 International Best Dressed List, on Monday assumes a new title -- assistant Manhattan district attorney.
The handsome only son of the late President John F. Kennedy is among the new crop of 64 'rookie' prosecutors who will be sworn in, photographed and fingerprinted at the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau on Monday.
Morgenthau gained prominence as a federal prosecutor after President Kennedy appointed him U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1961. He was later elected Manhattan district attorney.
The district attorney's spokesman, Gerald McKelvey, vowed to block reporters from interviewing the publicity-shy Kennedy, 28, on the job, saying he would be treated 'just like everybody else.'
However, the district attorney's office has taken extraordinary steps to bar reporters from contacting the new celebrity prosecutor, measures never before taken to shield the 475 other assistant prosecutors. The district attorney's complex at Manhattan Criminal Courts Building -- typically accessible to anyone with proper press credentials -- has been declared off limits to reporters unless they have special permission from the district attorney.
Morgenthau, the son of Roosevelt Administration Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr., likes hiring famous sons. In the past he brought on Andrew Cuomo and Cyrus Vance Jr.. Currently Dan Rather, son of the CBS anchorman, is on staff.
One other celebrity hire, John Jr.'s cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wound up resigning under a cloud of suspected drug abuse. After being sworn in in 1982, RFK Jr. failed the bar exam and resigned in July 1983, saying he needed a rest. On Sept. 16, 1983, he was charged with heroin possession in Rapid City, S.D., a few days after he fell sick on an airplane there. He entered a drug treatment program and received a suspended sentence and two years probation. He eventually was admitted to the New York state bar in 1985.
This year's new recruits were chosen from 1,000 applicants and each will earn $30,000 annually during their three-year stint.
As an assistant prosecutor, John Kennedy Jr., a 1989 graduate of New York University School of Law, will research legal issues and, once he passes the New York State bar exam, bring criminal cases to trial.
During his three-week orientation, Kennedy will meet with the criminal bureau chiefs, get a lecture on criminal procedure and ethics and observe trials and arraignments. He also will ride with police officers on patrol and visit Rikers Island. Finally, he will be assigned to either the trial or appeals division.
To prepare for his new job, Kennedy paid off $2,000 in fines for outstanding parking tickets.
Then, in July, he was pulled over on his way to Kennedy Airport by Port Authority police who said he was driving 63 mph in a 50-mph zone at 3 a.m. Kennedy was alone in the car, which was unregistered, uninsured and uninspected, police said. He was issued four summonses and his car was impounded, forcing him to take a taxi to the airport.
Kennedy, who lives in a two-bedroom apartment on West 91st Street, just off Central Park West, has held a string of other public jobs.
In 1984, he held a $20,000-a-year position in the Office of Business Development for New York City, where he worked to attract and keep business in New York. In 1986, he moved to the 42nd Street Development Corporation as acting deputy executive director, conducting negotiations with developers and city agencies. His mother, Jackie Onassis, was on the nonprofit company's board.
During law school, he also worked in Brooklyn Family Court, where, as a member of NYU's Juvenile Rights Clinic, he defended minors accused of felonies. He also worked for the Reagan Justice Department's civil rights chief, making $358 a week as one of seven interns.
