Top lawyer builds case vs. Qns. pol

A Queens councilman accused of sexual harassment will be prosecuted by a former assistant U.S. attorney who led the corruption case against exAssembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

The City Council hired attorney Carrie Cohen to present evidence in the Standards and Ethics Committee case against Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Queens) — who allegedly blew kisses at a city employee, commented on her weight and paid unwanted attention to her.

Cohen is responsible for drafting charges and presenting the case against Grodenchik to the committee, according to the speaker’s office.

Grodenchik can have a lawyer there too.

He has denied the city staffer’s allegations and had no additional comment Tuesday.

The woman told Council investigators that Grodenchik focused unwanted attention on her over the course of a year, which would violate the Council’s anti-discrimination and harassment rules.

She said that Grodenchik told her she lost weight and repeatedly singled her out for hugs and kisses on the cheek in group settings, according to a finding released April 4 by the Council’s ethics committee. During a work meeting, she said the councilman blew her a kiss from across a table and then walked around it to give her a hug and a kiss at the end of the gathering.

“It is never my intention to make any person feel uncomfortable, and I sincerely apologize if my actions had that effect. For me, as is true for many of my colleagues, a hug is a common greeting for people I have known for a long time, but as others do not feel that way, I will certainly be more sensitive to that in the future,” Grodenchik said in an email to the Daily News earlier this month.

Speaker Corey Johnson (DManhattan) booted Grodenchik off the Council’s Budget Negotiating Team until the disciplinary proceeding concludes, when the Queens Village pol could also be stripped of the Parks Committee chairmanship.