Former Community Board 9 District Leader Mary Ann Carey passed away earlier this month at the age
of 81. QNS fi le photo
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | MAY 21-MAY 27, 2021
BY BILL PARRY
The Queens district attorney’s
office is reviewing an indeterminate
number of cases
that could have unforeseen
ramifications for some residents
of southeast Queens.
The probe comes after The
Legal Aid Society, The Exoneration
Project and Queens
Defenders issued a letter requesting
relief for those convicted
in crimes in which two
current and one former NYPD
officers at the 105th Precinct in
Queens Village played a role.
The officers — Heather
Busch, Rober Hassett and
Robert Smith — were arrested
on May 11 and charged with
various federal crimes in
connection with a corruption
probe. The defendants’ status
as police officers was essential
to their alleged criminal conduct.
Smith also engaged in
violent behavior and routinely
used anti-Black slurs, according
to court filings.
The letter follows correspondence
dated May 3 in
which the Exoneration Project,
Legal Aid and a coalition
of other defenders and innocence
organizations identified
22 current and former NYPD
officers who had been convicted
of crimes relating to their
duties and asked all of New
York City’s district attorneys
to vacate convictions in which
those officers played an “essential
role” and to conduct a
transparent review of all other
cases.
The May 12 letter added the
three indicted officers from
the 105th Precinct to the May
3 list. Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz responded
to the May 3 letter stating that
she had instructed her staff to
gather and analyze the officers’
cases in which no prior remedial
action has been taken.
“The DA’s office is aware of
these arrests and currently assessing
the officers’ case histories
in Queens so that we may
meet our disclosure and ethical
obligations,” a spokesperson
from the Queens district
attorney’s office said.
The current and former officers
from the 105th Precinct
were named in a nine-count
indictment that included
charges of using interstate
facilities to commit bribery,
violations of the Travel Act
and drug trafficking. All three
proclaimed their innocence.
“When police officers are
charged with crimes in connection
with their duties, all
of their cases should be immediately
reviewed,” The Exoneration
Project Director of the
Mass Exoneration Initiative
Karen Newirth said. “This is
what we’re asking of District
Attorney Katz; the request is
particularly urgent given the
allegations of abuse of power
and disregard for the law and
the special responsibilities of
law enforcement against each
of these officers, and the explicit
and violent racism that
Mr. Smith is alleged to have
engaged in.”
Busch and Hassett were
suspended without pay by
the NYPD while Smith, who
retired last March, faces life
in prison if convicted of the
charges.
BY BILL PARRY
The southern Queens community
is mourning the passing
of longtime civic leader
Mary Ann Carey, who served
as Community Board 9 district
leader for more than three decades.
Carey died after suffering
a stroke earlier this month
at the age of 81.
The Ozone Park native
helped generations of immigrants
acclimate to central
Queens, guided Jamaica Hospital
through its renaissance
and ushered in improvements
at Forest Park in Woodhaven.
Carey began working as a secretary
at Community Board 10,
which covers Howard Beach,
South Ozone Park and parts of
Richmond Hill, in 1979 and then
migrated to Community Board
9, which covers portions of Richmond
Hill, Woodhaven, Ozone
Park and Kew Gardens, when
an assistant district manager
job opened. She later ascended
to the district manager role.
When she retired in 2014,
Carey said she was particularly
proud of her role in preventing
the carousel in Forest Park from
being sold in the 1980s. She also
assisted the board in fighting
for a park administrator.
“It was starting to deteriorate.
There were all kinds of
bad activities going on in the
parking lot. We had police there
constantly,” she said. “It’s not
anything like that now.”
After growing up in Ozone
Park, Carey lived in Howard
Beach and watched Community
Board 9 welcome waves of newcomers,
with Puerto Ricans and
Dominicans moving in during
the ‘80s and Guyanese, Trinidadians
and Asian immigrants
coming in later years.
“The neighborhood has
changed drastically,” Carey
said. “I remember once my mom
was sick and I was driving her
to the hospital and she yelled,
‘Don’t take me to Jamaica Hospital.’
I was here when Jamaica
Hospital was a junkyard. Now,
it’s beautiful.”
Community Board 9 established
a committee to guide the
emergency facility’s remodeling
work and then Carey joined
the hospital’s advisory board,
a position she maintained well
into her retirement.
“Mary Ann Carey was a
jewel in the crown of Queens
County and a beloved member
of our community. I am saddened
to hear of her passing,”
Councilman Eric Ulrich said.
“Mary Ann was truly a caring,
dedicated and selfless individual.
For many years, she
served as the district manager
of Community Board 9, where
she worked tirelessly on behalf
of local residents and small
businesses.”
Carey’s husband Donald
died in 2008. She is survived by
two children, Spies and Christine
Guardino; seven grandchildren;
and two great-grandchildren.
“Above all else, Mary Ann
was a trusted and loyal friend
to many, including me,” Ulrich
said. “She was always generous
with her time and a very kind
person, a rare and enviable
quality not found much these
days in public life. She is reunited
with her late husband Donald
and now basks in the glow
of God’s presence. My thoughts
and prayers are with her family
and friends. She will be sorely
missed.”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has her team assessing
the case histories of the NYPD officers who were arrested for a
bribery scheme at the 105th Precinct. QNS fi le photo
DA assessing case histories
of 105th Precinct offi cers
busted in bribery racket
Southern Queens civic leader
Mary Ann Carey dies at 81
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