ELECTION 2019
Katz and Murray battle in Queens DA race
BY BILL PARRY
They both have offices on
Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens,
but when it comes to the
race for district attorney, the
two candidates are miles apart.
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz, the Democratic
nominee, based her campaign
on experience after nearly 20
years in public service at the
city and state level.
Republican nominee Joe
Murray says that’s precisely
why Katz should not be district
attorney: because she is “a career
politician with no criminal
court experience.” The former
NYPD cop turned criminal defense
attorney was a supporter
of Judge Greg Lasak during
the Democratic primary. Lasak
served 25 years as a top prosecutor
in the Queens district
attorney’s office before leaving
to serve 12 years on the Queens
Supreme Court bench.
When Lasak finished third,
Murray, a registered Democrat,
approached the Queens GOP
about taking its party line in
the general election after attorney
Daniel Kogan left the ticket
Melinda Katz and Joe Murray are facing off in the race for Queens
District Attorney. QNS fi le photos
following his nomination to the
state Supreme Court in August.
Katz and Murray were at
odds on the City Council’s approval
of the de Blasio administration’s
plan to close Rikers
Island and open four boroughbased
jail including one in Kew
Gardens at the location of the
old Queens Detention Complex.
Katz applauded the proposed
closing of the jails on Rikers, but
not its replacement.
“I don’t support the plan
to build a 1,500-person jail in
Queens, regardless of where
the city wants to build it,” Katz
said. “Rather, we need a small,
community-based facility that
will allow people to be closer to
their communities and receive
the services they need, but is not
so large that we end up putting
more people behind bars.”
Murray had nothing but contempt
for the progressive take
on the issue, insisting there was
no need to fast track the penal
facility and instead build new
facilities on Rikers.
“In essence, they would like
to normalize incarceration
as if it’s another after-school
program. I believe jail should
be a place you don’t want to
go back to and not something
that should be normalized in
our community,” Murray said.
“No one has ever escaped from
Rikers Island. It was built to
detain people who have committed
crimes against NYC citizens.
It was never supposed to
be pleasant and a comfortable
environment for criminals.”
The two candidates squared
off in their only televised debate
last week on NY1 and their
differing philosophies were
evident.
“My idea of criminal justice,
my idea of keeping Queens
County safe, is that we institute
programs that people don’t
want to pick up guns, and then
we work with the correctional
facilities,” Katz said. “And we
work with probation and we
work with all the people that are
already in the system, to make
sure that those who should be
punished should be punished.”
Murray was dismissive.
“I’m running because I’m
against this progressive criminal
justice reform that’s been
rammed down our throats by
Mayor de Blasio,” Murray said.
“I am a Democrat running on
the Republican line. The Democratic
Party hates me because
I’m challenging you and, God
forbid, you go against the party.
And the Republican Party
tolerates me. They tolerate me
because they know I’m a Democrat
and I’m the most qualified
person so they tolerate me. I owe
nothing to no one.”
Katz and Murray differed
on bail reform, decriminalizing
prostitution and their approach
to limiting gun violence. They
did agree they were the best
candidate to replace Acting
Queens District Attorney John
Ryan who took over the office in
March when Richard Brown, 86,
took a leave of absence in March
before dying from Parkinson’s
disease in May.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
Early voting period remains open through Nov. 3
BY BILL PARRY
The early voting period got
underway in Queens on Saturday
and continues through
Sunday, Nov. 3, in the lead-up
to the Nov. 5 municipal elections.
The eight days of early voting
makes it easier for voters
whose professional and family
obligations make it difficult to
physically get to the polls, as
well as reduce waiting times
and ease logistical burdens for
poll workers. This is the first
election in New York state
with a period of early voting.
“Too many generations
of New Yorkers have been
discouraged from exercising
their right to vote, and this
year we enacted a series of
new measures to fix that and
help bring our voting laws into
the 21st century,” Governor
Andrew Cuomo said. “Early
voting is just one of the many
steps we’ve taken to break
down barriers to democracy,
and I encourage New Yorkers
to take advantage of this opportunity
to skip the lines on
Election Day and ensure their
voices are heard at the ballot
box.”
Voters must use their site
as assigned by the Board of
Elections. Assigned sites, as
well as early voting hours, are
also available on the Board of
Elections website.
State Senator Michael Gianaris
sponsored the early voting
legislation that Cuomo
signed into law in January.
“At a time when voters
rights are under assault, we
must fight for our democracy
because there’s nothing more
important than the right to
vote,” Gianaris said. “Our new
Senate Majority made voter
registration easier and access
to the ballot box fairer.”
Initially, only seven sites
The early voting period remains open through Nov. 3.
were planned for Queens until
Gianaris pushed the city’s
Board of Election to expand
early voting sites, which are
now located at Rochdale Village
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Community Center in
Jamaica; Korean Community
Services in Bayside; The Helen
Marshall Cultural Center
at Queens Borough Hall in
Kew Gardens; The York College
Academic Core Building
in Jamaica; Laguardia Community
College in Long Island
City; The First Baptist Church
of East Elmhurst; Holy Trinity
Parish Church in Cambria
Heights; the Board of Elections
Queens Voting Machine
Facility Annex in Middle Village;
Resorts World Casino in
Jamaica; the Museum of the
Moving Image in Astoria; The
Arverne YMCA; The Cross Island
YMCA in Bellerose; and
The Al Oerter Recreation Center
and New York Hall of Science,
both in Flushing Meadows
Corona Park.
“I encourage everyone to
exercise their right to vote by
using the tools we passed this
year,” Gianaris said.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by
e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4538.
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2 TIMESLEDGER, NOV. 1-7, 2019 QNS.COM
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