City officials cut the ribbon on a new enforcement substation in
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | OCT. 29 - NOV. 4, 2021
BY BILL PARRY
With his harrowing 26-
year odyssey through the
New York criminal justice
system now behind him,
Chad Breland was home
with his family in Far Rockaway
after spending more
than half his life behind
bars for crimes he did not
commit.
Breland was released
from prison Friday, Oct. 15,
after Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz filed
a joint motion with the
defense to vacate his
conviction and 15-year
sentence in a 1995 armed
home invasion.
Queens Supreme Court
Justice Michelle Johnson
granted the motion and dismissed
the indictment “at
the People’s request,” and
hours later, Breland walked
out of prison a free man.
The motion cited newly
discovered evidence uncovered
by the DA’s Conviction
Integrity Unit (CIU) that
both implicates another
man in the crime and undermines
the identifications
relied on at trial to
convict Breland.
The CIU’s investigation
stemmed from the discovery
of an April 2000 fingerprint
report connecting
another man to the crime
scene. Other evidence developed
in the CIU’s investigation
further implicated the
man, and not Breland, to
the crime.
Although the April 2000
fingerprint report was forwarded
to the 101st Precinct
in Far Rockaway and
other NYPD officials at the
time, the Queens district
attorney’s office was never
notified of the fingerprint
identification.
The Conviction Integrity
Unit has now vacated nine
convictions since it was
formed by Katz after she
took office in 2020.
“The discovery of new
forensic evidence has
raised serious questions
about the conviction of Mr.
Breland more than two decades
ago,” Katz said. “The
fingerprint report at issue
did not exist at the time of
Mr. Breland’s trial and was
never forwarded to the district
attorney’s office. In
light of the new evidence,
justice requires vacating
Breland’s conviction. Our
office has also taken steps
to ensure that, in the future,
similar fingerprint
evidence developed by the
NYPD Latent Print Section
after a case is closed is forwarded
to our office in a
timely manner.”
Because Breland has
completed his 15-year term
on the remaining indictment,
he was released from
prison Friday from the
Woodbourne Correctional
Facility in upstate Sullivan
County, according to his attorney
Justin Bonus, who
picked up Breland’s case in
2016.
Read more on QNS.com.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
BY BILL PARRY
Rufus King Park in Jamaica
now has a new permanent
Parks Enforcement substation
for its patrol officers to report
to, as well as a home base for
fixed-post maintenance staff
and equipment, and an improved
comfort station for
parkgoers.
The Parks Enforcement
Patrol is a team of dedicated
officers who preserve and
protect parks and public facilities
by enforcing NYC Parks
rules and regulations, educate
the public, respond to the
concerns of park patrons and
ensure that parks and public
spaces are safe and welcoming
to all visitors.
Councilman James Gennaro
joined Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards,
NYC Parks officials and community
leaders for a ribboncutting
ceremony on Tuesday,
Oct. 19, where they announced
$4.6 million in funding to reconstruct
the playground at
the historic park.
King Manor Museum and
Park in Jamaica was once
home to Rufus King, a distinguished
lawyer, statesman
and gentleman farmer who
lived from 1755 to 1827. The son
of a wealthy lumber merchant
from Maine, King graduated
from Harvard in 1777.
He suspended his law studies
to serve in the Revolutionary
War in 1778. King served
as a member of the Confederation
Congress from 1784
to 1787 where he introduced a
plan that prevented the spread
of slavery to the Northwest
Territories. He went on to be a
delegate to the Constitutional
Convention in 1787, and made
his most famous contribution
to American history as a
framer and signer of the Constitution.
“Rufus King Park is a local
treasure. Its meaningful
history makes it a wonderful
destination for visitors across
the country,” Gennaro said. “I
am proud to help fund these
much-needed improvements
to the park, the playground
and the King Manor Museum,
which will not only make our
park safer, but will also help
to preserve the legacy of Rufus
King and Queens’ role in the
anti-slavery movement.”
Gennaro allocated $3.8 million
in funding for improvements
and reconstruction of
the playground, a new Rufus
King Park entrance and fence
reconstruction, a passive recreation
area and an additional
$30,000 to King Manor Museum
in the park.
Design for the park, including
providing accessible,
playground renovations, will
kick off in the spring with a
community scoping meeting.
Improvements will include
landscaping, new spray showers,
lighting, seating and safety
surfacing. In addition to the
$3.8 million from Gennaro’s
office, Mayor Bill de Blasio
added $817,000 toward the project.
“Our parks are the anchors
of our communities and all
Queens families, regardless of
neighborhood, deserve nothing
less than first-class parks
and playgrounds to call their
own,” Richards said. “As we
recover from the pandemic,
fairness and equity must be at
the heart of all that we do, including
providing accessible,
high-quality recreation space
for our children. Thank you
NYC Parks for your partnership
as we make Rufus King
Park an even safer and more
inviting place for our families.”
The improvements build on
other recent upgrades to the
park, thanks to $2.8 million
in City Council and mayoral
funding. A new HVAC system
was also installed in June
at the King Manor Museum,
thanks to $717,000 in funding
from the Council, mayor and
the borough president’s office.
“Rufus King Park is in the
heart of a busy transit hub,
vibrant shopping and cultural
center in Jamaica,” NYC
Parks Queens Borough Commissioner
Michael Dockett
said. “These improvements
will make the very popular
and highly trafficked park
safer, more welcoming and
even more fun. We are grateful
to Mayor de Blasio and
Council member Gennaro
for funding these important
improvements.”
Photo courtesy of Breland’s lawyer
Far Rock man released from
prison after armed robbery
conviction was vacated: DA
Historic Jamaica park opens
new enforcement substation
Jamaica’s Rufus King Park. Courtesy of NYC Parks
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