Meet the old boss …
Mayor de Blasio gripped and grinned Friday with Clarence Norman Jr., the former Brooklyn Democratic Party kingmaker sent to prison for a judgeship-selling scheme that rocked city politics.
The exchange took place near the end of the African American Clergy and Elected Officials Breakfast Conference, which was hosted at Bedford-Stuyvesant’s Antioch Baptist Church.
The mayor and one-time Brooklyn Democratic Party boss briefly and quietly spoke to each other and grabbed each other’s shoulder during the exchange.
The conversation appeared to end abruptly as de Blasio turned to schmooze with another nearby attendee, which left the disgraced former assemblyman looking flustered.
A Post photographer and reporter present could not hear what was said but the entire exchange lasted just seconds.
Two decades ago, Norman was one of the most powerful men in Brooklyn — elected to the Assembly and the leader of the Kings County Democratic Party, which dominated the borough’s judicial and political patronage appointments.
His reign began to unravel in 2003 when then-Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes indicted Norman on a slew of charges stemming from a judgeship buying scandal that rocked the party and borough courthouses.
Norman was convicted on a slew of charges, including extortion, accepting illegal campaign contributions and stealing from his campaign account.
Hizzoner came up through ranks of Brooklyn Democratic politics, winning election to the local school board and City Council while Norman dominated the party — and has faced a myriad of favor-trading scandals of his own.
De Blasio’s failed 2020 presidential campaign faces an FEC inquiry over its use of lightly-regulated political accounts to pick up expenses during its cash-strapped early days.
And the mayor barely avoided indictment from local and federal prosecutors in 2017 over allegations he traded favors for campaign contributions.
Asked to comment on the run-in, de Blasio spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie said, “The Mayor attended a clergy breakfast, where — shocker — he said hello to guests.”
With additional reporting by Paul Martinka