14 JANUARY 10, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
After 27 years, DA Brown says he won’t seek another term
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
The borough’s longest-serving
chief prosecutor has decided
not to seek re-election.
Queens District Attorney Richard
A. Brown announced on Wednesday
that he will not seek an eighth term in
the offi ce. He will fi nish out the current
term, which expires at the end of 2019;
he had fi rst been appointed to the post
by then-Governor Mario Cuomo in 1991.
“Aft er almost six decades in public
service, the last 27 years spent as
District Attorney of Queens County,
and aft er careful thought and consideration,
I have made the decision
to fi nish out my current term and not
seek re-election,” Brown said in a Jan.
9 statement. “It has been an honor and
a privilege to have served the people of
Queens County — the most ethnically
diverse county in the world — for these
many years as district attorney. I am
greatly appreciative and humbled to
have had the trust and confi dence that
they have expressed in me by electing
me to seven full terms in offi ce, and in
the process, making me the longest
serving district attorney in Queens
County history.”
In the ensuing years, Brown elevated
the Queens district attorney’s
offi ce to be “without a shadow of a
doubt … the best prosecutor’s offi ce in
this great nation,” but at age 85 and in
failing health, he had been rumored
by court-watchers to step away for
some time.
Prior to his appointment in 1991,
Brown had been a member of the state
judiciary. In November 1977, Brown
was elected a Justice of the Supreme
Court in Queens County and in 1982
we was designated by Governor Hugh
Carey as an Associate Justice of the
Appellate Division.
Brown thanked his staff for their
loyalty and service and thanked
his partners in law enforcement for
contributing to the city’s historic reduction
in serious crime.
“Apart, however, from our historic
reductions in violent crime and auto
theft to name but a few, I am proud
of our many innovations that have
improved not only our criminal
justice system, but our entire community,”
Brown said. “I am grateful
that the many specialty courts we
pioneered — like having one of the
State’s first Drug Courts, as well as
Mental Health Court and Veterans
Court — have enjoyed enduring
success and have been duplicated
around the nation.”
Earlier in the week, Brown had
released his annual year-end crime
report for 2018; since taking offi ce, he
touted, overall crime across Queens
has fallen 82.5 percent. Crimes
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown
in Queens fell by 2.7 percent last
year, led by an 11.4 percent drop in
robberies and a 17.2 percent drop in
burglaries.
City Councilman Rory Lancman,
retired Queens Supreme Court
File photo/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Justice Gregory Lasak and Queens
Borough President Melinda Katz
have announced they will run to
replace. Brown and his wife Rhoda
have three children and two
grandchildren.
Two Queens pols back de Blasio’s new health care guarantee
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
Mayor Bill de Blasio surprised
a national morning news
audience on Tuesday when
he announced his administration will
launch the largest, most comprehensive
plan in the nation to guarantee
health care for every New Yorker.
During and appearance on MSNBC,
de Blasio said the plan will serve the
600,000 New Yorkers without insurance
by strengthening NYC’s public
health insurance option, Metro Plus,
and guaranteeing anyone eligible for
insurance — including undocumented
New Yorkers — has direct access to
NYC Health + Hospitals’ physicians,
pharmacies and mental health and
substance abuse services through a
new program called NYC Care.
All services will be aff ordable on
a sliding scale. The programs will
include customer-friendly call lines
to help New Yorkers — regardless of
their insurance — make appointments
with general practitioners, cardiologists,
pediatricians, gynecologists and
a full spectrum of health care services.
“Health care is a right, not a privilege
reserved for those who can
aff ord it,” de Blasio said. “While the
federal government works to cut
health care for millions of Americans,
New York City is leading the way by
guaranteeing that every New Yorker
has access to quality, comprehensive
access to care, regardless of immigration
status or their ability to pay.”
Thanks to the Aff ordable Care Act,
about 8 million New Yorkers now have
health insurance, and the uninsured
rate is about nearly half of what it was in
2013. In the last two years, the city’s Public
Engagement Unit coordinated signing
up more than 130,000 New Yorkers
for plans created by the law. However,
about 600,000 New Yorkers remain
without insurance because they do not
or can not enroll, according to City Hall.
Locally, Queens lawmakers were
quick to support the NYC Cares
program.
“Health care is a human right.
Every New Yorker, no matter their
race or gender, sexual orientation,
or socio-economic status should
have accessible and reliable health
care,” state Senator Jessica Ramos
said. “This is also why I continue to
fi ght for single payer healthcare as a
New York State Senator.”
The city is taking an unprecedented
approach to health care services by
tackling mental and physical issues
holistically. Through both programs,
New Yorkers will be able to access
addiction services and opioid treatment,
mental health counseling,
and counseling services for trauma
victims. New Yorkers will be able to
call MetroPlus or 311 to be screened
for health insurance eligibility and get
connected to the best coverage options.
“Providing healthcare to all NYC
residents — including addiction,
rehabilitation and mental health services
— is a monumental step towards
the delivery of necessary treatment
for all,” Assemblyman Michael
Dendekker said. “I look forward to
working with the administration to
implement real aff ordable medical
treatment for each and every NYC
resident.”
Photo via Getty Images
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