3 Jail meeting in Kew Gardens closed to press
City imposes media blackout on committee for launch of borough-based detention center
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 24, 2019
BY MARK HALLUM
The Mayor’s Office of
Criminal Justice further
alienated the public in
regard to the proposal to
build a 29-story jail facility
in Kew Gardens when it
barred reporters from covering
a meeting Tuesday
night — a move which was
quickly criticized by the
Neighborhood Advisory
Committee who already believed
the de Blasio administration
was leaving the
community out of the conversation
from the start.
In a conversation with
Patrick Gallahue, press
director for the Office of
Criminal Justice, The Courier
was told that the city is
under the impression that
the presence of reporters
are detrimental to dialogue
with the public.
It was the second time
that reporters were prevented
from their doing
their job and covering
this committee meeting.
The Feb. 28 session of the
Neighborhood Advisory
Council was also closed
to reporters, but that decision
was not announced
prior to the meeting and
the fact that all reporters
but one were turned away
at the door did not come
to the surface until after
the meeting.
Patch reporter Maya
Kaufman and Queens
Chronicle reporter David
Russell were told leave
upon arriving at the
February meeting.
Despite what Gallahue
told QNS on March 19,
the public attending that
meeting disagreed with
his assumption about the
press’ presence.
In a recording of the
meeting provided by an attendee
to QNS, members of
the Neighborhood Advisory
Committee brought up
the issue of press coverage
before any other discussion
took place regarding
the jail.
“I’m sorry, before we
proceed, why was the
press thrown out?” an
attendee asks.
A De Blasio administration official riled residents when they banned the press for the second meeting in a row regarding the Kew Gardens Jail proposal which
begins the ULURP process March 25. Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice
To which an official
responds, “These are private
meetings that we are
– Again we are not going
to exclude members of the
public, but we need private
meetings with the group
to talk about this and
haven’t invited members
of the press–” a city official
is heard saying before
being interrupted.
“Have you read the
First Amendment?”
someone said. “On what
grounds are you excluding
the press on a matter great
public interest and importance?
We have the space
and we have control.”
Members of the council
told The Courier outside
the meeting space on
March 19 that they welcomed
the press and felt
the administration was
overstepping a boundary
by restricting coverage
in the Kew Gardens Community
Center, which they
view as their turf.
Another person said
she felt the de Blasio administration
is damaging
morale in the process of developing
a jail facility that
is safe for the community
and one accused Gallahue
of protecting himself from
criticism as opposed to
protecting the public.
“We established these
meetings to have frank
conversations with the
community. There are
meetings that take place
with the public and then we
wanted some that were in
private where people could
air opinions and ideas, and
we don’t discourage anyone
from speaking to the press,
but that’s the purpose of
these meetings,” Gallahue
told the council.
Members of the public
were skeptical that Gallahue
was protecting their
ability to speak freely and
expressed the perception
that he was only protecting
himself. Mara Einstein
said a number of people attending
the meeting who
were not on the council had
no knowledge of the jail
proposal until recent weeks
while the ULURP process
is set to begin March 25.
“You think we’re going
to be inhibited by press?”
an incredulous voice
asked Gallahue.
In a phone conversation
with QNS, Gallahue
seemed surprised that reporters
regularly attend
community meetings and
could not explain how he
justified welcoming the
public, but sorting the
press from the public.
According to Section
103, Paragraph A of the New
York State Open Meetings
Law, “Every meeting of a
public body shall be open to
the general public, except
that an executive session
of such body may be called
and business transacted
thereat in accordance with
section one hundred five of
this article.”
Raul Contreras, a
spokesperson for the Mayor’s
office, told The Courier
in an email that the
meetings are informal and
are designed to inform the
public even though who attended
was strictly monitored
at the door.
“As the mayor has said,
we’re going to have broader
community meetings
that are open to members
of the media soon, especially
when the ULURP
process begins. Neighborhood
Advisory Committee
meetings are purely
advisory and don’t have a
formal government role,
nor do they vote on any
aspect of the plan. Their
purpose is to gain valuable
initial feedback before
having broader community
meetings that will
be open press,” Contreras
said. “Also, I do want to
note that the Neighborhood
Advisory Committee
meetings are an additive
to the normal, broader
community engagement
process that we’re still
going to do.”
Gallahue said meetings
are not recorded in any
fashion apart from providing
minutes to the public
after the fact, and said he
would seek a legal opinion
on the legality of closing
meetings to the press.
Read more at QNS.com
Robert Pozarycki
contributed to this report.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or
by phone at (718) 260–4564.
/QNS.com
/schnepsmedia.com
