State District Attorney Association dedicates
Albany HQ to late Queens DA Richard Brown
BY BILL PARRY
The family of the late Queens District
Attorney Richard A. Brown gathered in
Albany Sept. 26 as a building was dedicated
to his legacy.
The District Attorneys Association of
the State of New York (DAASNY) held a
ceremony and celebration of Brown’s life
at their landmarked headquarters at 107
Columbia Street.
“Judge Brown’s legacy will forever be
a part of the fabric of every prosecutor’s
office in this state,” DAASNY President,
Orange County District Attorney David
Hoovler said. “We all learned so much
from DA Brown about interacting with
our communities, partnering with law
enforcement and making our neighborhoods
safe and welcoming for all of our
residents.”
Brown served Queens for nearly 28
years as its top law enforcement official
beginning in 1991 when he stepped down
as a Justice of the Supreme Court and
was appointed Queens district attorney
by Governor Mario Cuomo. Brown was
re-elected seven times and held the office
until his death in May 2019.
Brown was 86 years old and had been
battling complications of Parkinson’s
disease for several years. He announced
last March that he was taking a leave of
absence and handed over his duties to
his top deputy, Chief Assistant John M.
Ryan, who is currently serving as acting
Queens district attorney.
“My longtime friend and mentor,
Judge Brown, who was a past president
of DAASNY and long term chairperson
of its New York Prosecutors Training
Institute, was a proud member of this organization
for too many years to count,”
Ryan said. “He loved being a prosecutor
and dedicated his life to public service.
Naming this historic building for Richard
A. Brown would please him immensely
because it relays the utmost respect
and honors him and his work and
commitment to excellence.”
Brown was part of DAASNY at a time
when the role of district attorney was
evolving and he was able to transform
his role as a prosecutor and his office to
meet the new expectations. He pioneered
specialty courts for drug issues, mental
health issues, veterans and sex trafficking
and he hired staff that reflected
Queens, the most diverse counties in the
nation.
Former Queens DA Richard Brown’s family,
son-in-law Bruce Foodman (l. to r.),
grandaughter and West Point Cadet Leah
Foodman, duaghter Lynn Foodman ad
Rhoda Brown, his wife of more than 50
years, attend a dedication ceremony in
Albany. Courtesy of DAASNY
Brown was also a vocal advocate for
improvements in criminal justice legislation
and procedures, always trying
to balance the concerns of victims and
rights of defendants.
Last April, Ryan admonished several
of the “progressive” candidates, who
were running for Queens DA in the contentious
June Democratic primary, for
distorting Brown’s record.
“To hear some of the candidates running
for Queens district attorney, you
would have to be forgiven for thinking
that the Queens DA’s office was stuck
in the 1970s, with no programs for defendants,
no treatment programs, no alternative
sentencing options and no specialized
courts,” Ryan wrote in his first
report to the people of Queens.
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz ultimately won the Democratic primary
and will face Republican nominee
Joe Murray in the general election in
November.
“District Attorney Brown set the example
of what a prosecutor and public
servant should be,” said past DAASNY
president Albany County District Attorney
David Soares. “Judge Brown was a
vocal advocate for improvements to the
criminal justice system and led the way
for prosecutors across the state to expand
best practices inside and outside of the
courtroom. Judge Brown also focused on
creating diversity in his office and within
all the organizations he participated
in. His legacy will carry on in so many
ways in so much of what we do.”
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