22 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 14, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
John Ryan takes over as acting DA for ailing Brown
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
When it came time to select his own
replacement, Queens District Attorney
Richard Brown turned his offi ce of
nearly 30 years to “a great colleague
and, more important, a close and trusted
friend.”
John M. Ryan, who served as chief
executive assistant for the last 22 years,
was designated on March 7 to succeed
him on an interim basis until
the next district attorney is elected in
November.
Brown announced he was stepping
down early due to health complications
related to his years-long fi ght
with Parkinson’s Disease. He had
announced in January that he would
not seek an eighth term in the offi ce he
has held since 1991.
Ryan began his career at the Queens
District Attorney’s offi ce in 1972 as an
intern and became an assistant district
attorney in 1974 aft er graduating from
St. John’s University School of Law.
Early on, he handled the investigation
of the 1975 bombing at LaGuardia
Airport that killed 11 people.
Additionally, Ryan prosecuted
William Morales, a suspected member
of the Puerto Rican separatist group
FALN, who was convicted in connection
with an explosion at a Jackson
Heights bomb factory.
In October 1979, he resigned to serve
as an Assistant Attorney General in
the New York State Department of
Law where, as a special prosecutor, he
brought the Tawana Brawley investigation
to a just conclusion.
In 1991, shortly aft er Brown was
appointed Queens County District
Attorney by then-Governor Mario
Cuomo, Ryan returned to the Queens
DA’s offi ce as chief of investigations
and, in 1997, was promoted to chief
John M. Ryan (at left), shown receiving an award in 2016 from Queens District Attorney Richard
A. Brown, is the new acting chief prosecutor for Queens.
assistant district attorney, a position he
held until Th ursday.
In 2016, Brown honored Ryan for his
“innumerable contributions” during
his long tenure at the Queens DA’s
offi ce.
“As chief assistant, Jack’s contributions
to this offi ce cannot be measured
by individual criminal cases, although
his input and infl uence can be found
on many, if not all, of the major cases
prosecuted in Queens County over the
last 25 years,” Brown said. “His work
has broader ramifi cations, signifi cantly
improving the quality of life of the families
residing in many Queens communities
and eff ectively making these neighborhoods
safer places in which to live by
adapting the offi ce to the crime-fi ghting
needs of the diverse communities of
the county and seeing that the guilty are
Photo courtesy of Queens District Attorney’s offi ce
punished for their crimes.”
A spokeswoman for the Queens
DA’s offi ce said, “At this time Chief
Executive Assistant District Attorney
John Ryan’s only statement is that this
day belongs to the District Attorney
Richard A. Brown.”
Ryan will now fi nish the remaining
nine months of Brown’s term until he
is replaced by a newly elected district
attorney in January. Th ere are currently
seven candidates competing in the
June 25 Democratic primary, including
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz, Councilman Rory Lancman, former
state Supreme Court Justice Greg
Lasak, public defender Tiff any Caban,
former Queens prosecutor Mina Malik,
former state Attorney General’s Offi ce
prosecutor Jose Nieves and attorney
Betty Lugo.
Dockett named
new Queens
Parks commish
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A Laurelton man
has been named borough
commissioner
of Queens Parks. NYP
Parks Commissioner
Mitchell Silver
appointed Michael
Dockett to the position
Wednesday.
Dockett has worked
for the agency for 33
years most recently
serving as assistant
commissioner
Photo courtesy of NYC Parks
for the Urban Park Service. Dockett succeeds
Dorothy Lewandowski who retired in
December aft er holding the post since 2004.
Lewandowski, a Middle Village resident,
worked for the Parks Department for nearly
40 years.
Queens is home to more than 460 parks,
with 7,740 acres of open space. Currently,
Parks has nearly 250 active capital improvement
projects underway in the borough.
“Mike Dockett has had a lasting impact
on the many divisions he has worked in at
NYC Parks,” Silver said. “I am confi dent
that his background in environmental education,
enforcement and emergency management
will be a benefi t in his new role leading
Queens beloved green spaces.”
Dockett began his career with Parks in 1984
as an urban park ranger in Queens. He rose
through the ranks to become a ranger supervisor
and borough director in Manhattan,
Staten Island, Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Dockett went on to become the director
of central communications, and was later
promoted to park & recreation manager of
Brooklyn’s District 17 and 18, as well as being
the borough’s Green Street manager. Dockett
became Brooklyn’s chief of recreation, prior
to returning to the Urban Park Service as its
chief and eventual assistant commissioner,
which he has held since 2008. In that role he
was responsible for the operation of the Parks
Enforcement Patrol, Central Communications
and Emergency Management for the agency
while overseeing enforcement operations and
health and safety compliance during the outdoor
pool and beach seasons.
As assistant commissioner, and in conjunction
with other agencies, Dockett oversaw
the growth of the Park Enforcement Patrol
from 216 offi cers in 2007 to 351 today. He
also established and implemented plans in
response to coastal storms and other hazards
impacting parks.
Dockett earned an undergraduate degree
in accounting from York College, and a master’s
degree in business administration from
St. John’s University. He lives in Laurelton
with his wife Anne-Marie, son and daughter
Michael and Adrianna, mother-in-law Marie,
and their dog, Titan. He enjoys camping, singing
in his church choir, and is an assistant
Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America.
A miracle at Kew Gardens subway stop
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
A woman is lucky to be alive aft er she
fell onto the tracks and was passed over
by an oncoming train at a Kew Gardens
subway station.
According to police, the Ash
Wednesday miracle occurred at
around 1:45 p.m. on March 6, when
a 41-year-old woman fell off of the
southbound E/F platform of the Kew
Gardens-Union Turnpike station onto
the tracks.
Authorities say that the oncoming
train was unable to stop and passed
over the woman, who was lying on her
back in the middle of the tracks. Police
say that it is unclear if she was actually
struck by the train. Police indicated
witnessed the incident, said that a
that the woman was not a victim of
bystander pulled the victim from the
a crime.
track aft er the train passed through the
Twitter user @VictorJMooney, who
station.
Photos via Twitter/@VictorJMooney
Emergency personnel arrived to the
scene and took the victim to Jamaica
Hospital, where she is being treated for
minor abrasions.
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