The trial of Abraham Hirschfeld, the eccentric parking garage developer accused of hiring a hit man to kill his former business partner, ended in deadlock last night, with the jury evenly divided over his guilt or innocence. Jurors said that after four days of deliberations they could not reconcile their views. Those favoring conviction said Mr. Hirschfeld's guilt was proved by a tape recording of a conversation in which he says he wants the former partner, Stanley Stahl, killed. But jurors who favored acquittal said that there were many holes in the prosecution's case and that Mr. Hirschfeld was the victim of a prosecutorial vendetta.

''It was a railroad,'' said one of the jurors who wanted to acquit Mr. Hirschfeld, Thelma Hines, a middle school teacher. ''The defense did a great job.''

It was the second trial in two months in which jurors have deadlocked over Mr. Hirschfeld's guilt or innocence. Last month, a single holdout on the jury prevented a verdict in Mr. Hirschfeld's trial on charges of failing to pay $3.3 million in taxes from 1989 to 1995.

The prosecutor in both trials, Assistant District Attorney Gilda Mariani, repeatedly accused Mr. Hirschfeld of trying to tamper with jurors. Mr. Hirschfeld paid all but one of the jurors in his tax fraud trial $2,500 each after they deadlocked. He said he could not find the holdout juror to pay him. In addition, the judge in the second trial, Justice Harold Beeler of State Supreme Court, said last week that subpoenas he had issued produced evidence that, earlier this month, Mr. Hirschfeld had paid for full-page advertisements favorable to his case in four New York newspapers that could have been read by the jurors. The usually publicity-hungry developer declined to comment on the jury's deadlock last night.

His lawyer, Arthur L. Aidala, said the two juries had sent a clear message to prosecutors. ''When you look at the two cases, the tax case and this case, and the contempt charge, it's very obvious that the New York County District Attorney's office is focused on putting'' his client in jail, he said.

Jurors from both sides said they had difficulty believing the key prosecution witness in the case, Joseph Veltri. An occasional employee of Mr. Hirschfeld, Mr. Veltri testified that the developer had him deliver envelopes holding $75,000 in cash, a photo of Mr. Stahl and his address and license plate number to a man sitting in a limousine in midtown Manhattan in the fall of 1996.

On cross-examination, Mr. Aidala, the defense lawyer, was able to point out numerous contradictions in Mr. Veltri's testimony. Prosecutors said that Mr. Hirschfeld not only paid jurors after the first trial, but also tried to tamper with their deliberations by taking out newspaper ads calling the trial unfair. They also accused him of leaving copies of a flattering editorial near the jury room and arranging a demonstration proclaiming his innocence outside the courthouse as jurors entered the building. Mr. Hirschfeld denied any involvement.

He could be back in court within days. Justice Beeler has vowed to ''get to the bottom'' of the responsibility for the latest newspaper advertisements. If a hearing determines that Mr. Hirschfeld did pay for the ads, he could be ruled in contempt of court, sentenced to up to 30 days in jail and fined $1,000. He could also be separately prosecuted for criminal contempt.

Mr. Hirschfeld's first trial bordered on the circuslike at times since the judge, Justice Bruce Allen of State Supreme Court, allowed him to defend himself with the assistance of a lawyer. Mr. Hirschfeld took the opportunity to regale jurors with jokes more appropriate for a Catskills comedy review. But during cross-examinations, he used his questions as a way to get across his version of events without being cross-examined himself.

In the second trial, State Supreme Court justices made a concerted effort to control Mr. Hirschfeld. They issued orders barring him from taking out newspaper ads, arranging demonstrations and paying jurors. Justice Beeler, who oversaw the hit-man trial, also forced Mr. Hirschfeld to choose between defending himself alone or turning the defense over to a lawyer. Mr. Hirschfeld chose to have two lawyers, Mr. Aidala and Mario D. Romano.

Mr. Hirschfeld is scheduled to be tried again on the tax fraud charges later this fall. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years. Mr. Hirschfeld, who cried during his lawyer's summation and dozed during the prosecution's closing argument, arrived in court yesterday wearing a yarmulke and prayer shawl and reading scripture. Judge Beeler forced him to take the shawl off and stop reading when the jury was in the courtroom.