4 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 11, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Elected offi cials demand priority access for local residents at Aqueduct vax site
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Southern Queens elected offi cials are
calling on the state for priority access
for local residents in the neighborhoods
surrounding the Aqueduct Racetrack
Vaccination Hub to receive appointments
for COVID-19 inoculations.
Recently revealed city data showed that
nearly 75 percent of the vaccines distributed
at the state-run site inside the
Aqueduct Racetrack facility have gone to
people who live outside the city.
“Having the vaccination hub in this
community is incredible, and we are
grateful it is here, but the next step is
making sure our neighbors have priority
to a vaccine,” Assemblywoman Stacey
Pheff er Amato said. “Th ese communities
were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic
and still have some of the highest
rates of COVID positivity in the entire
city. We have come so far in fi ghting this
pandemic, and the vaccine is our light at
the end of the tunnel.”
Pheff er Amato and Assembly members
Khaleel Anderson and Jenifer Rajkumar
wrote a joint letter to Governor Andrew
Cuomo requesting priority access for
their constituents over non-residents of
the city.
“Th ough there is high demand for
COVID-19 vaccinations throughout New
York City and New York state that will
continue to grow in the weeks ahead, and
I’m hopeful to see that increased numbers
of New Yorkers are making appointments,
stakes are high as we ensure that
our community members living in the
areas with the highest COVID-19 positivity
rates have equitable access to vaccination
appointments at sites in their
own neighborhoods,” Anderson said. “I
stand in solidarity with my colleagues
to demand priority access for our constituents
to vaccines at the Aqueduct
Racetrack Vaccination Hub.”
Th e ZIP codes within the Assembly
members’ districts include the neighborhoods
of Glendale, Woodhaven,
Richmond Hill, South Richmond
Hill, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park,
Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Broad
Channel, Breezy Point, Neponsit,belle
Harbor, Rockaway Park, Rockaway
Beach, Hammels, Arverne, Edgemere,
Far Rockaway, Brookdale, Rosedale and
Meadowmere.
“I am grateful for the state’s placement
of the Aqueduct Racetrack Vaccination
Hub so close to my district. I am also
grateful to the governor’s offi ce for working
with me every step of the way to
help my constituents get vaccinated,”
Rajkumar said. “My top priority is to
ensure my constituents in south Queens
have immediate access to the COVID-19
vaccine. Th is is doubly important because
my district has some of the highest positivity
rates in the city. I therefore join
with my colleagues Assembly members
Pheff er Amato and Anderson in requesting
that our constituents here in the epicenter
of the pandemic are given priority
access to the Aqueduct Racetrack vaccination
site. I look forward to continuing
to work with the governor’s offi ce to
ensure access to the vaccine for my constituents.”
Three released from prison two decades after Astoria murder trial violated state law: DA
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
More than two decades aft er
they were convicted of a double
murder in Astoria, three
men walked out of prison this
week, newly freed aft er Queens
District Attorney Melinda Katz’s
offi ce found violations in their
original trial.
George Bell, Gary Johnson and
Rohan Bolt were released without
bail by Queens Administrative
Judge Joseph Zayas on Friday,
March 5.
Th e three men were originally
convicted in the Dec. 21,
1996, murders of Ira Epstein, the
owner of an Astoria check cashing
business, and off -duty NYPD
offi cer Charles Davis, who was
working as a security guard at
Epstein’s business. However, the
DA’s Conviction Integrity Unit
recently found that the trial
prosecutors inadvertently failed
to disclose records that would
have helped the defendants’ case,
as required by law.
Th e DA’s team said they found
documents suggesting that a
gang called “Speedstick” may
have instead been behind the
slaying, aft er one of its members
copped to committing the robbery
gone wrong to authorities.
Additionally, one of the prosecution’s
star witnesses — a man
who accused Bell, Johnson and
Bolt of committing the crime —
was found to have a history of
mental illness and was experiencing
hallucinations around the
time of the murder.
“Th is is a tragic case that has
aff ected many lives,” Katz said.
While Friday’s hearing didn’t
completely exonerate Bell,
Johnson and Bolt, the evidence
found by the DA’s unit is in violation
of New York law, which
requires the vacatur of a conviction
if there is a failure to disclose
exculpatory evidence.
“As the chief law enforcement
offi cer of Queens County,
I cannot stand behind these convictions
in light of the Brady
violations that my Conviction
Integrity Unit identified.
However, there is at this time
insuffi cient evidence of actual
innocence and therefore we are
taking this opportunity to reevaluate
and examine the evidence,”
Katz said.
As Bell, Johnson and Bolt live
free lives for the fi rst time in over
20 years, prosecutors will have
90 days to decide whether or not
to drop the murder charges.
Photo via GoFundMe
George Bell, Gary Johnson and Rohan Bolt were released from prison on Friday, March 5, 2021, after their murder conviction
was found to have violated state law.
Courtesy of the governor’s offi ce
City data shows only 25 percent of those vaccinated at Aqueduct Racetrack are residents of New York City and elected offi cials are demanding greater
access for their constituents.
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