FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM AUGUST 22, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Queens Dems want reform the old fashioned way
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
In the wake of a neck-and-neck primary
for Queens district attorney that pitted a
newly activated voting block of young progressives
against the endorsement of the
County Democratic Party, both factions
of Queens Democrats are in the process of
fi guring out their next move for 2020.
In conversations with QNS, members of
two groups within the county party hierarchy
— the county commissioners and
political club leaders — are saying that a
push for reform is imminent.
However, these two groups mentioned
diff erent ideas about reform — and its
relationship to the current power structure
within the party — that would lead
to diverging outcomes.
Th e Democratic County Committee, an
oft -unsung body whose members number
over 2,000 and represent a geographical
area of only a few blocks each, is one
level of the party structure where reformers
are trying to make changes.
A group consisting of about 40 members
called the County Committee for
All recently met with Congressman Greg
Meeks to convince him to put in measures
that would give them a larger role in the
party’s inner workings.
Th e group was asked Meeks for a more
rigorous judicial selection process, more
frequent and regular county committee
meetings, a ban on elected offi cials from
running for district leader, a ban on county
party endorsements in primary elections
and increased transparency around
executive committee meetings.
Th e QCC4All sees a problem with the
way district leaders are elected in the
party. Th ey want to see structural changes
that would make it easier for members
without a wide network of connections
within a local Democratic club or campaign
cash and notoriety from holding
public offi ce to get a fair shake in a district
leader election.
District leaders, two of which are elected
from each Assembly District ultimately
vote to elect the chair of the party, who is
currently Meeks. According to Meeks, he
also weighs their vote in deciding who to
endorse during primary elections.
Prameet Kumar, a QCC4All member,
said that he sees these district leaders as
unaccountable because they oft en fail to
communicate with their county committee
members, who are left without input into
the top-down decision making of the party.
“We were elected and there’s been really
nothing for us to do — no involvement
that the party has asked of us since then,”
Kumar said.
Meeks, who is currently working on a
tour of all the political clubs in Queens,
has suggested that he sees club participation
as the principal way to enter the
running for district leader. To him, party
reform means bringing more new members
into political clubs.
Leaders of political clubs, who oft en
also are district leaders, have shown interest
in trying to harness this new grassroots
political energy and weave it into
the existing power structure of the party.
Anthony Andrews, a district leader and
president of the newly formed Fred Wilson
Democratic Club, said that he encourages
the new far-left voting block of getting
involved in politics at the club level.
“Greg Meeks talks about this all the
time, there’s room under the umbrella for
everyone. Well, we’ve gotta be able to listen
to what they’re saying,” Andrews told QNS.
Believing that his assembly district needed
new political direction, Andrews revived
the defunct Fred Wilson Political club
under his leadership a year and a half ago.
He’s not the only one to make this move.
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi also held
a closed-doors meeting with members of
his district this week about starting a new
political club in Forest Hills.
Not everyone, however, is as optimistic
as Meeks and Andrews about the future of
Queens political clubs.
Archie Spigner, a lionized political fi gure
in southeastern Queens who has
served as district leader for over 30 years,
suggested to QNS that he didn’t think that
political clubs could ever be revived to
their former infl uence. He said that social
media irreparably changed the way that
people run campaigns.
“Political clubs now are not as strong
as they once were because they don’t
play the central role in the lives of people.
Th ere are alternatives to public service.
Th ere are better alternatives for people
to gain attention and the run for public
offi ce. You could run for public offi ce
and never step foot in a Democratic club,”
Spigner said.
Read more at QNS.com
Kogan out, former cop could be Republican nominee for Queens DA
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Attorney Daniel Kogan is no longer
the Republican nominee for Queens district
attorney and the GOP appears to be
leaning toward a “regular Joe” to take on
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz
in November’s general election.
Kogan was nominated to the state
Supreme Court during the Queens
County Republican Party judicial convention
Wednesday night, Aug. 14.
“He did get the nomination for state
Supreme Court and he accepted the nomination,”
Queens Republican Chairwoman
Joann Ariola confi rmed to QNS on Aug.
15.
By law, the vacancy enables the Queens
GOP committee to select a replacement
candidate. Multiple sources in Republican
circles told QNS that momentum is gaining
for defense attorney Joseph Murray
to replace Kogan on the Republican line
for Queens district attorney in November.
“Joe Murray has approached us and he
is interested, and now that the party line
has been vacated, we’ll see,” Ariola said.
“I have met with him, yes, but he has not
met with the state committee so he is not
yet a candidate.”
Murray is a 52-year-old former police
offi cer; he spent much of his 15 years
with the NYPD with the 115th Precinct
in Jackson Heights as well as the Queens
North Task Force in Flushing. Murray
grew up in Howard Beach and currently
resides in Bellerose.
His firm is located on Queens
Boulevard in Kew Gardens, just across
from the Queens district attorney’s offi ce.
Murray was a supporter of retired Judge
Greg Lasak, who fi nished third in the
Democratic primary.
“I would be honored to run even
though I’m a Democrat, I’m a conservative
Democrat and aft er watching all of
the DA debates I got fed up with all of the
politics,” Murray said. “I’m so sick of politicians
and they shouldn’t run for the DA’s
offi ce. If I were to win I’m going to be like
a category 5 storm, I’m gonna tear up the
politicians.”
One might describe Murray, a former
member of the NYPD Boxing Team, as
someone who doesn’t pull any punches.
His departmental career ended in fi sticuff
s with a fellow offi cer — a tale Murray
retells on his law offi ce’s website.
In 1993, he was arrested while on duty
and in uniform and charged with felony
assault aft er breaking the jaw of another
on duty NYPD offi cer at Manhattan’s
10th Precinct.
“He threw the fi rst punch and I was a
little bit better, I was the heavyweight on
the NYPD boxing team,” Murray recalled.
“I didn’t mean to bust his jaw.”
A grand jury failed to indict Murray but
the NYPD still sought to terminate him.
He retained the services of famed attorney,
Bruce Cutler, who negotiated a plea
which allowed Murray to accept a suspension
for the department charges without
admitting any guilt.
Read more at QNS.com
Courtesy of the Law Offi ce of Joseph W. Murray
Former cop and boxer Joe Murray may replace
Daniel Kogan as the Republican nominee for
Queens District Attorney in November.
Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, surrounded by County Party leaders, addressed the Democratic judicial convention Aug. 8 before it nominated
Supreme Court Justices.
politics
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