JOB Criminal defense attorney whose high-profile clients have included mob boss John Gotti, Long Island Rail Road gunman Colin Ferguson and convicted terrorist Khalid Duhham Al-Jawary. Kuby, 52, is also the radical lefty host of a namesake Air America radio show, “Doing Time With Ron Kuby.” We met up with the ponytailed aging hippie in his cheery, well-ordered Chelsea office.
DESK A massive mahogany piece illuminated by an antique brass lamp. Its formality contrasts with the rest of the office, which, with mismatched furniture and family photos galore, is casual and welcoming.
A pile of letters from prisoners proclaiming their innocence and clamoring for Kuby’s attention occupies one corner of the desktop. “It’s Wrongful Conviction Friday,” Kuby says, sifting through the mail. The lone book on the desk is a tattered copy of “Our Vanishing Civil Liberties,” a gift from a couple being investigated for possession of child porn.
DECOR Yellow walls, oak floors and large, sun-filled windows make the space homey, but trial memorabilia dominates. Shots of William Kunstler, the legendary lawyer and Kuby’s mentor until his death in 1995, occupy every surface. Two paintings share a wall, one of a much-publicized trial in which the duo defended a schizophrenic who stabbed an ex-Rockette to death, one of the infamous Bernie Goetz trial. Kuby won a $43 million judgment against Goetz for his client, a youth paralyzed by the shooting.
DETRITUS A framed proclamation commemorating the anniversary of “Curtis and Kuby,” the radio show in which Kuby sparred with Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. “It came three weeks too early,” Kuby notes. (The show was canceled three weeks before the anniversary.)
A beret covered in Soviet medals, a gift from “the widow of a prominent Communist leader,” dangles from a light fixture near a machete given to Kuby by “the head of the Macheteros [a Puerto Rican independence group] in exchange for legal services.” Court TV tapes from Kuby’s stints as a guest anchor are stacked a foot high on the floor. “Demos. In case anyone comes knocking.”
PETS The law office has Big Dog Days, attended by one associate’s pit bull and another’s Doberman, and Small Dog Days, when Kuby brings his bichon frise, Lily.
WORK PHILOSOPHY “The difference between the show and my law work is no one dies or goes to prison at the end of a show. Clients and cases stay with you forever.”
ROUTINE Kuby’s up at 7, then in the office or in court by 9:30. At 1:30, he heads to the station, preps for the show, goes on-air from 3 to 6 p.m., then returns home for family time, legal paperwork and the occasional beer.
Want to know how he manages it all? Check his coffee mug — the java junkie drinks 10 to 15 cups a day. “The food-and-beverage police keep looking for an issue with coffee — that it causes cancer or something — but they haven’t found anything yet.”