16 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 3, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens DA nominee stands up for
disgraced lawyer at sentencing hearing
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
When he agreed to be the Republican
nominee for Queens district attorney
and take on Borough President Melinda
Katz in the general election, Joe Murray,
the former cop turned defense attorney
vowed he was a “regular Joe” and not a
politician.
A politician would not have stood up
as a character witness for disgraced Kew
Gardens criminal defense attorney John
Scarpa Jr. during his sentencing hearing
Monday in Brooklyn federal court as
Murray did so close to Election Day, he
claims.
“John Scarpa is a friend of mine. We
had offi ces right next to each other on
Queens Boulevard,” Murray said. “It was
a no brainer for me. I had no hesitation
whatsoever.”
United States District Judge Carol
Bagley Amon sentenced Scarpa to 30
months’ imprisonment and fi ned him
$10,000 for bribing a witness to commit
perjury in a double homicide trial in
Suff olk County Supreme Court, prosecutors
announced Monday. Scarpa was convicted
following a four-day trial in May
2019.
“Look, this guy was a prosecutor for 30
years,” Murray said. “He’s not a perfect
person but who is? I remember when I
was arrested and charged as a cop. It was a
very lonely feeling as people ran for cover.”
Murray spent much of his 15-year career
in the NYPD with the 115th Precinct in
Jackson Heights as the Queens North
Task Force in Flushing but the heavyweight
champion on the NYPD boxing
team got into trouble in 1993. Murray was
arrested while on duty and in uniform and
charged with felony assault aft er breaking
the jaw of another on-duty NYPD offi cer
at Manhattan’s 10th Precinct.
Although a grand jury refused to indict
Murray, the NYPD still sought to terminate
him leading to a long legal odyssey
and his eventual legal career.
“I met John Scarpa when I was living
in Bayside in 2006 when I was applying
for a job in the Queens District Attorney’s
Offi ce,” Murray said. “He was a longtime
ADA himself and he did everything he
could to help me. I didn’t get the off er in
the end because I had my NYPD pension
and there’s a law against double dipping.
But John and I remained friends and I
never abandon a friend.”
Murray was not alone in standing up
for Scarpa. Judge Amon received dozens
of character witness letters from NYPD
veterans, educators, attorneys and former
assistant district attorneys.
“I had no hesitation whatsoever and I
wasn’t alone,” Murray said. “Th ere were
four nuns, a priest and a bishop sitting
between me and the Scarpa family. Being
there in court I was happy to be there for
him. And he’s going to appeal the conviction,
Former cop turned defense attorney Joe Murray, now the GOP nominee in the district attorney’s race,
had no qualms about being a character witness for John Scarpa so close to Election Day.
and I think he will prevail.”
Murray is a registered Democrat, but he
was off ered a spot on the GOP party line
Courtesy of Joe Murray
when their previous nominee, attorney
Daniel Kogan, accepted a nomination for
state Supreme Court.
Schneps Media acquires AM New York from Newsday Media Group
BY JAMES T. MADORE
Newsday
Special to Schneps Media
Newsday Media Group is selling
amNewYork, its free commuter newspaper
in New York City, to Schneps
Media, eff ective Oct. 11, offi cials
announced Wednesday.
Th e price was not disclosed. Schneps
executives said they will expand amNewYork
through events programming
and broadcasting.
Launched in 2003, amNewYork is
Manhattan’s highest daily circulation
newspaper and has almost 1 million
unique visitors to its website each
month.
Newsday publisher Debby Krenek
said: “amNewYork has become an
important part of daily life in the city
… We are confi dent that this tradition
of serving New Yorkers will continue
with Schneps Media, whose
strong commitment to local media makes
them the ideal new publisher of amNewYork.”
Schneps owns 33 newspapers, 28 magazines
and specialty publications and 20
websites, produces numerous podcasts
and hosts 50 annual events. Among its
publications are Th e Queens Courier,
TimesLedger, Th e Brooklyn Paper, Th e
Villager, Long Island Press and the
Spanish-language paper Noticia Long
Island.
“Moving forward Newsday Media
Group will fully focus on serving Long
Islanders with news, information and
experiences as we continue to expand our
multimedia products and platforms, and
fulfi ll our mission of being the primary
source of powerful local journalism
as ‘Your Eye on LI,’ ”
Krenek said.
Last month, Newsday
moved into a new multimillion
dollar headquarters in
Melville that will feature a
television studio and auditorium
capable of streaming live
events on newsday.com.
Schneps president and publisher
Victoria Schneps said:
“We are delighted to add amNewYork
to our media company.
We thank Newsday for this
opportunity to carry on the
commitment of amNewYork
to deliver the best and most
important local news stories.”
Schneps started her company
in the mid-1980s with a
weekly paper published from
the living room of her Bayside,
Queens, home.
Her son Joshua Schneps, the company’s
CEO and co-publisher, said, “We look forward
to enhancing amNewYork’s brand
through our expertise in multiplatform
media, including print, digital, events,
social media and broadcasting.”
Eff ective Oct. 11, Schneps Media will
be acquiring amNewYork.
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