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City Clears Top Mayoral Aide of Wrongdoing in Background Check Omission

By Murray Weiss | October 3, 2014 5:36pm
 First Lady Chirlane McCray announcing the pick of her new chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger, with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Al Shaprton on January 20, 2014.
First Lady Chirlane McCray announcing the pick of her new chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger, with Mayor Bill de Blasio and Al Shaprton on January 20, 2014.
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DNAinfo/Colby Hamilton

NEW YORK CITY — The mayor’s office has cleared Rachel Noerdlinger of wrongdoing by omitting from her city background forms that her convicted killer paramour lived with her.

DNAinfo New York revealed late Thursday that Noerdlinger, the chief of staff to First Lady Chirlane McCray and an aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio, did not disclose in violation of city regulations that her beau, Haussan McFarlan, lived with her and her son in her Edgewater, N.J., apartment.

By Friday afternoon, a spokesman for de Blasio said in a statement that the city Department of Investigation, which was conducting the background check, was finished with its probe.

“The inquiry found that Ms. Noerdlinger failed to reveal on her DOI Background Questionnaire that Mr. Hassan resided with her,” said Phil Walzak, the mayor’s spokesman.

“DOI found no evidence of intent to deceive the mayor or City Hall,” he continued. “Given these findings, and that City Hall takes seriously the importance of the DOI Background process and questionnaire, City Hall has noted this omission in Ms. Noerdlinger's personnel file and believes no further punitive action is necessary.”

Patrick J. Lynch, president of the city's police officers union, decried the lightning-speed probe.

"The double standard is alive and well in the de Blasio administration: one standard for the elite at City Hall and another for the rank and file workers," he said.

DNAinfo New York broke the news that she was living with convicted killer and drug dealer who spewed anti-cop and sexually charged misogynist rants on the web after also disclosing she attending confidential NYPD Compstat meetings.

De Blasio has expressed full confidence in Noerdlinger, who was chief spokesman for Rev. Al Sharpton, before taking the $170,000 a year City Hall position.