FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM OCTOBER 31, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Katz and Murray face off in race for Queens DA
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th ey both have offi ces on Queens
Boulevard in Kew Gardens, but when it
comes to the race for district attorney, the
two candidates are miles apart.
Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz, the Democratic nominee, based her
campaign on experience aft er nearly 20
years in public service at the city and state
level.
Republican nominee Joe Murray says
that’s precisely why Katz should not be district
attorney: because she is “a career politician
with no criminal court experience.”
Th e former NYPD cop turned criminal
defense attorney was a supporter of Judge
Greg Lasak during the Democratic primary.
Lasak served 25 years as a top prosecutor
in the Queens district attorney’s offi ce
before leaving to serve 12 years on the
Queens Supreme Court bench.
When Lasak fi nished third, Murray,
a registered Democrat, approached the
Queens GOP about taking its party line in
the general election aft er attorney Daniel
Kogan left the ticket following his nomination
to the state Supreme Court in
August.
Katz and Murray were at odds on the
City Council’s approval of the de Blasio
administration’s plan to close Rikers
Island and open four borough-based jail
including one in Kew Gardens at the
location of the old Queens Detention
Complex.
Katz applauded the proposed closing
of the jails on Rikers, but not its replacement.
“I don’t support the plan to build a
1,500-person jail in Queens, regardless
of where the city wants to build it,” Katz
said. “Rather, we need a small, community
based facility that will allow people
to be closer to their communities and
receive the services they need, but is not
so large that we end up putting more people
behind bars.”
Murray had nothing but contempt for
the progressive take on the issue, insisting
there was no need to fast track the
penal facility and instead build new facilities
on Rikers.
“In essence, they would like to normalize
incarceration as if it’s another aft erschool
program. I believe jail should be
a place you don’t want to go back to and
not something that should be normalized
in our community,” Murray said. “No one
has ever escaped from Rikers Island. It
was built to detain people who have committed
crimes against NYC citizens. It was
never supposed to be pleasant and a comfortable
environment for criminals.”
Th e two candidates squared off in their
only televised debate last week on NY1
and their diff ering philosophies were evident.
“My idea of criminal justice, my idea of
keeping Queens County safe, is that we
institute programs that people don’t want
to pick up guns, and then we work with
the correctional facilities,” Katz said. “And
we work with probation and we work with
all the people that are already in the system,
to make sure that those who should
be punished should be punished.”
Murray was dismissive.
“I’m running because I’m against this
progressive criminal justice reform that’s
been rammed down our throats by Mayor
de Blasio,” Murray said. “I am a Democrat
running on the Republican line. Th e
Democratic Party hates me because I’m
challenging you and, God forbid, you go
against the party. And the Republican
Party tolerates me. Th ey tolerate me
because they know I’m a Democrat and
I’m the most qualifi ed person so they tolerate
me. I owe nothing to no one.”
Katz and Murray diff ered on bail
reform, decriminalizing prostitution and
their approach to limiting gun violence.
Th ey did agree they were the best candidate
to replace Acting Queens District
Attorney John Ryan who took over the
offi ce in March when Richard Brown, 86,
took a leave of absence in March before
dying from Parkinson’s disease in May.
Election
QNS fi le photos
Melinda Katz and Joe Murray are facing off in the race for Queens District Attorney.
Early voting period in New York
City remains open through Nov. 3
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e early voting period got underway
in Queens on Saturday and continues
through Sunday, Nov. 3, in the lead-up to
the Nov. 5 municipal elections.
Th e eight days of early voting makes
it easier for voters whose professional
and family obligations make it diffi cult
to physically get to the polls, as well as
reduce waiting times and ease logistical
burdens for poll workers. Th is is the fi rst
election in New York state with a period
of early voting.
“Too many generations of New Yorkers
have been discouraged from exercising
their right to vote, and this year we enacted
a series of new measures to fi x that
and help bring our voting laws into the
21st century,” Governor Andrew Cuomo
said. “Early voting is just one of the many
steps we’ve taken to break down barriers
to democracy, and I encourage New
Yorkers to take advantage of this opportunity
to skip the lines on Election Day
and ensure their voices are heard at the
ballot box.”
Voters must use their site as assigned by
the Board of Elections. Assigned sites, as
well as early voting hours, are also available
on the Board of Elections website.
State Senator Michael Gianaris sponsored
the early voting legislation that
Cuomo signed into law in January.
“At a time when voters rights are under
assault, we must fi ght for our democracy
The early voting period remains open through Nov. 3.
because there’s nothing more important
than the right to vote,” Gianaris said.
“Our new Senate Majority made voter
registration easier and access to the ballot
box fairer.”
Initially, only seven sites were planned
for Queens until Gianaris pushed the
city’s Board of Election to expand early
voting sites, which are now located at
Rochdale Village Community Center in
Jamaica; Korean Community Services
in Bayside; Th e Helen Marshall Cultural
Center at Queens Borough Hall in Kew
Gardens; Th e York College Academic
Core Building in Jamaica; Laguardia
Photo: Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Community College in Long Island
City; Th e First Baptist Church of East
Elmhurst; Holy Trinity Parish Church in
Cambria Heights; the Board of Elections-
Queens Voting Machine Facility Annex
in Middle Village; Resorts World Casino
in Jamaica; the Museum of the Moving
Image in Astoria; Th e Arverne YMCA;
Th e Cross Island YMCA in Bellerose;
and Th e Al Oerter Recreation Center
and New York Hall of Science, both in
Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
“I encourage everyone to exercise their
right to vote by using the tools we passed
this year,” Gianaris said.
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