4
QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 21, 2019
Queens DA primary recount rolls into second week
First days of checking 90,000 ballots include calls for fairness and objections over discrepancies
BUS INES S , B ROOKLYN S T Y LE
Dr. Enrico Ascher provides the best vascular care
We don’t have to travel to Manhattan
to get the best vascular medical
care because we have Dr. Enrico
Ascher, Chief of Vascular and Endovascular
Surgery at NYU Langone
Hospital-Brooklyn, and founder of
the Vascular Institute of New York.
Dr. Ascher is an internationally
recognized vascular surgeon who pioneered
several techniques that are
now utilized worldwide. In addition
to being one of the most experienced
surgeons in this country with over
25,000 procedures and operations performed
over a 3 decade span he finds
time to author and co-author over 300
scientific articles in addition to be the
Chief-editor of a classic textbook in
vascular surgery. His enormous contributions
to the minimally invasive
management of vascular diseases
including aortic aneurysms, stroke
prevention, wound care, varicose
veins and angioplasty and stenting
for PAD have not gone unnoticed. Dr.
Ascher is the only surgeon in the tristate
region to be elected as President
of the Society for Vascular Surgery as
well as The World Federation of Vascular
Societies. During his tenure as
leader of these societies Dr. Ascher
was able to help shape the specialty
and reached out to the medical community
in a partnership to improve
the vascular health of the US population.
Dr. Ascher conceived and develop
the first clinical guidelines for
the management of vascular diseases
and he is recognized by his peers as a
superb surgeon with tremendous talent.
As an example of one of his creative
contributions one can describe
his technique of performing balloon
angioplasty and stenting (in patients
who experience pain in the legs upon
walking) without the use of potentially
harmful contrast material and
with no exposure to radiation!
Dr. Ascher also developed the
mini-incision carotid surgery where
a life threatening plaque can be safely
removed from the artery via one inch
small cut instead of 5-7 inch incision
in the neck. “We have the lowest rate
of complications in the country since
I have not had a single major issue
with hundreds of patient treated with
this technique” - says Dr. Ascher
His groundbreaking techniques
have been adapted worldwide as they
causes less trauma to the patient.
Limb salvage is yet another field
in which Dr. Ascher has earned acclaim.
“We are the first to create a comprehensive
care plan that has vascular
medical specialists and surgeons
working together to treat patients,”
he says. For the most part, vascular
surgeons elsewhere work separately
from vascular medicine physicians,
he says. But by working as a team,
the patient is assured of optimum,
unbiased treatment.
Patients from New York City and
surrounding states have sought Dr.
Ascher’s services, after being told by
other institutions that their limbs
could not be salvaged, and that amputation
was the only option. Yet,
Dr. Ascher and his team were able
to transform their lives by utilizing
techniques they developed to save
the limbs.
“These patients are now walking
on their own two feet,” he says.
Research, studying, and learning
are Dr. Ascher’s passions. He
was the first to perform bypass to the
plantar arteries of the foot, and this
is now widely considered standard
procedure for limb salvage.
Swelling of the legs is a common
problem that causes tremendous
pain, inhibiting lifestyles. This is
another area in which the Vascular
Institute can help, as Dr. Ascher has
published extensively on the subject
of varicose veins. He and his team of
board certified vascular specialists
have performed more than 15,000
laser procedures for the treatment
of varicose veins and leg swelling,
offering several different devices to
customize treatment plans for the
patients who come to his Vascular
Center for relief of symptoms or
for aesthetic reasons. He notes that
swelling of the legs can be caused
by veins that are not visible, so a
thorough examination is really important
to detect the cause of these
problems and to fix them to obtain a
meaningful result.
More than 20 years ago Dr. Ascher
was helping people with aortic
aneurysms — ballooning of the arteries
in the stomach or chest.
“We are so comfortable with
the new, modern techniques, we
are sending patients home the same
day. Just 5 years ago we were keeping
patients for at least 2 days in the
hospital,” he says. “They leave with
a small puncture in the groin, go
home with no pain, and have dinner
with their families.”
This potentially life-threatening
issue is more common than people
realize, he says, and is often found
accidentally when patients undergo
ultrasounds or CAT scans.
“When it becomes painful, these
aneurysms (ballooning of the arteries)
are ready to pop with critical
consequences. So it’s better to fix
them when they achieve a certain
size,” he says.
Notably, the Vascular Institute
was the first wound care center in
New York, and remains one of the
busiest wound care centers in the
area.
Dr. Ascher’s esteemed staff includes
Dr. Anil Hingorani, Dr. Natalie
Marks, Dr. Sareh Rajaee, and
Eleanora Iadgarova, a nurse practitioner.
The practice is open every day,
including weekends, and the staff
can always find an opening to ac -
commodate patients who need immediate
treatment, says the doctor.
Vascular Institute of New York
960 50th St.between Ninth and 10th
avenues in Borough Park, (718) 438–
3800, www.vascularnyc.com. Open
every day, 8 am – 5 pm. Additional
locations: 9920 Fourth Ave. in Bay
Ridge; 5801 Woodside Ave., Queens;
97-32 63rd Rd., Queens; 432 E. 149th
St. in the Bronx.
BY MARK HALLUM
After nearly a week of
just sorting over 91,000
ballots, the recount phase
has finally begun in
Democratic primary for
Queens district attorney.
July 15 saw close to 60
people at the BOE facility
in Middle Village flipping
through ballots and
watchers tallying for either
Borough President Melinda
Katz or Tiffany Cabán.
Both campaigns told the
media that they wanted
every vote counted; Katz’s
team said as much during
a Sunday conference
call with reporters, and
Cabán’s attorney echoed
those sentiments at a press
conference outside the
BOE facility.
But Katz’s campaign
threw the first punch
with attorney Frank Bolz
objecting to one ballot
that had a distinguishing
mark. The ballot, a vote for
Cabán, was deemed void by
BOE staff and placed in an
“objected” folder.
By July 17, workers in
the Democratic Queens
district attorney primary
recount had not only been
indefatigable, but also made
strides that leave them
believing the full manual
canvas will be done within
the span of two weeks.
Originally, the recount
was estimated to require
about 15 days for completion.
But the Board of Elections
finished Tuesday night
with 22 percent of ballots
taken into account.
As far as objections go,
workers for both Tiffany
Cabán and Melinda Katz
say there has been any
conflict in terms of which
ballots should be voided.
One source told QNS
that a ballot had been
voided because the voter
had written a paragraph
off to the side of the ballot
criticizing Cabán as a
socialist, which both
groups not only agreed
was the proper step but
served as one of the lighter
moments in an otherwise
contentious race.
In the 24th Assembly
District, represented
by Assemblyman David
Weprin and containing over
90 election districts, Katz
had the clear advantage
over Cabán. An accounting
attorney “with the county
organization” overseeing
the tally for Katz, however,
told QNS that Gregory
Lasak had damaged
the borough president’s
numbers in the district.
Katz won the 24th
AD with 1,968 votes over
Cabán’s 1,197, though the
BOE has not officiating any
numbers at this point.
This is only an
advancement of 116 votes for
the borough president from
the election night results in
this AD, which placed Katz
at 1,852 and Cabán at 1,175.
The margin in this district
only changed by a total of
94 votes from 677.
There were plenty of
indications that people
might not understand
how votes would be
counted. For example,
one person penciled in
Republican candidate
Daniel Kogan in the closed
Democratic primary.
Cabán finished primary
night on June 25 with
1,100 votes ahead of Katz,
but after a count absentee
ballots the following week
the BOE stated that Katz
had taken the lead by 20.
This was then reduced
to 16 by several affidavits
that had been redeemed
after previously being
invalidated by the BOE.
A Board of Elections worker poring through ballots in Middle Village on July 17.
Photos: Mark Hallum/QNS
/www.vascularnyc.com
