EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Fond farewells to the late District Attorney
We in Queens County have
been so fortunate that Richard
A. Brown was our District
Attorney for nearly 28 years.
He had vision and innovative
programming to support his
principles of justice, safety
and accountability.
He created the Domestic
Violence Unit in 1997 and three
years later, he established the
Domestic Violence Bureau.
DA Brown also recognized
that pets and other animals
can be victims of violence as
well as other forms of cruelty.
Three years ago he created an
Animal Cruelty Prosecutions
Unit in pursing allegations
of animal cruelty, abuse and
neglect in Queens County.
“Such atrocities, which
studies have shown can be a
precursor to crimes against
people, constitute criminal
activity against innocent
and abused animal victims
in our communities and
warrant prosecution,” wrote
DA Brown.
He leaves a legacy of
decency and commitment to the
welfare of all living beings.
Ann Michitsch, Ridgewood
DA Richard Brown, a legal
giant and an icon in Queens,
was a dedicated public servant
who fought hard for the people
of Queens.
He changed the way prosecutors
handle cases involving prescription
pills, mental-health issues, veteran
affairs and animal cruelty cases.
He served the justice system as a
true champion and try to do the
right thing.
I myself have served in the last 25
years on seven juries as a juror. I saw
how these cases were presented and
now feel it was because of DA Brown.
He has served with true dedication
and courage.
DA Richard Brown, you will
be truly missed and my heartfelt
prayers go out to your family, friends
and all those you affected for good.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
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WHAT IS HE THINKING?
While he continues to bewilder New Yorkers
with his Don Quixote-like fixation with a White
House run, a recent Quinnipiac poll found 76
percent of NYC voters believe Mayor Bill de Blasio
should not run for president.
You would think he would want to avoid any
reminders of his administration’s dreadful
mismanagement of NYCHA over the years.
Instead, after he released details of his
record $92.5 billion executive budget in which
he boasted of $916 million in savings, de
Blasio finds himself in another self-induced
NYCHA blunder.
City Councilman Costa Constantinides blew
the whistle on City Hall’s plan to close the
Astoria Houses Senior Center when the new
budget kicks in on July 1. That is about the
very same time that hundreds of senior citizen
residents of the Astoria Houses were planning on
celebrating the grand reopening of their center
following a $500,000 renovation project.
The scenario is so bizarre, one
Constantinides’ staffer compared it to a
Kafka novel.
While City Hall claims this is a good thing
for the Astoria Houses seniors and that they will
provide buses to transport them nearly a mile
away to the Queensbridge Houses senior center,
Constantitinides is not the only one ready to fight
the de Blasio administration over this.
Claudia Coger, 84, raised seven children while
living at the Astoria Houses for more than 60 years.
As the longtime president of the Astoria Houses
Tenant Association she knows the residents better
than anyone.
Coger knows they will never allow themselves to
be bussed to Queensbridge and miss out on the one
hot meal they get a day at their own senior center.
She said the closing of the senior center
would save about $220,000 a year, but it is part
of a larger plan to close 12 NYCHA operated
senior centers across the city for savings of about
$3.1 million.
When asked about de Blasio’s prospects in an
already crowded field of Democratic wannabes,
Coger let out a laugh.
“He don’t really want to go and do that now,”
She said there are thousands of NYCHA seniors
across the city who are now “woke” to what the
Mayor really thinks of them.
And like most New Yorkers, they want de Blasio
to focus on Astoria, not Iowa, and do the job he was
elected to do. We couldn’t agree more.
HOW TO REACH US
she said.
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16 TIMESLEDGER, MAY 10-16, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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