The queens chronicle: Retired cop, judge challenges DA Katz

George Grasso spent more than 30 years with the NYPD, rising from a foot patrolman studying his law school books on his dinner breaks to first deputy police commissioner before spending 13 as a judge conducting and supervising criminal courts in the city.

He retired from the bench last fall with more than two years remaining in his term to challenge Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in this year’s June 27 primary.

And he harbors no illusions and pulls no punches when discussing why, citing massive spikes in crimes such as robberies and felony assault; and what he believes is lax enforcement from the DA’s Office on things such as recidivism, violent youths, shoplifting and subway crime.

“I think my background gives me rather extraordinary credentials, starting in Southeast Queens as a beat cop,” Grasso said last week in a sitdown interview with the Chronicle’s editorial board.

As a York College student with the intention of going to law school, missing a bus at the Jamaica Depot on Merrick Boulevard caused Grasso and a friend to kill time by walking two blocks to the 103rd Precinct, where he heard they were giving out applications to the Police Academy.

With the city coming out of a fiscal crisis, he was appointed to the NYPD faster than expected — but it also got him a full scholarship to St. John’s Law School.

“At 28, I was a sergeant in the NYPD and admitted to practice law in New York State,” he said. Rising through the ranks he wound up using his legal training in the Department Advocate’s Office, where he investigated and led internal prosecutions of rogue cops.

The biggest was the “Buddy Boys” case in 1986, involving rampant corruption in Brooklyn’s 77th Precinct.

“We got 16 officers indicted and about another 50 were implicated in serious corruption,” he said.

He was appointed a judge by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in 2010.

“Look at my platform,” he said. “No. 1 is the quality-of-life platform ... Melinda Katz doesn’t even use those words. Google search ‘Melinda Katz quality of life’. You’re not going to find anything. She doesn’t talk about it. Why?”

The first plank in that platform is the establishment of a community response bureau, which would involve regular meetings in five geographic sectors of Queens; each involving Grasso, police brass including precinct commanders, clergy, civic and community leaders and even members of the defense bar to present information as to what is happening in that region, and examine options for dealing with it.

“When I look at a crime stat sheet, I’m a Johns Hopkins physician looking at an MRI,” he said. “I look at that MRI and I look at the patient and I see that patient has a serious problem. I have to look at that patient and tell them there is a significant problem. When I look at a CompStat report and I see it telling me that assaults and robberies are skyrocketing side by side over the course of two years, that patient’s got a big problem.”

He criticized Katz’s decision to not prosecute fare-beating, citing actions by Commissioner Bill Bratton in the 1990s.

“People are being shot on the subways,” Grasso said. “People are being robbed on the subways. Who was most likely to get involved in a shooting on the subway? Who was more likely to try and rob you on the subway? Who was more likely to beat you up or your wife or mother on the subway? Someone who pays the fare? Or someone who doesn’t? It’s kind of elementary.

“And, by the way, if I’m jumping over the turnstile and I’ve got warrants on me, I’m going in [to jail]. I’ve got a gun on me? I’m going in. I’ve got a big Bowie knife on me? I’m going in. And guess what — it worked. And the thing about it ... is how quickly it worked.”

Grasso points out that he initiated and contributed to numerous programs in the court system and in the de Blasio administration for youth diversion with sealed records, mental healthcare and others.

But he acknowledged that even if he were to take Katz’s place tomorrow, he still would be bound by things like bail reform and other state laws that he believes are a major part of the problem. He said the chief law enforcement officer for Queens County must be attuned to rising crime and quality of life issues.

“You made a ghost gun arrest? Great. With an elite police squad? Great. We’ve been doing that since the beginning of time. But that’s not the core of the problem here.”

“I’m a 40-year registered Democrat,” he said. “I’m not naive. I know what I’m up against running in this race.” The decision to run was a personal one, he said.

“My term wasn’t up until Dec. 31, 2024 ... It was a great job,” he said. “I could have gone until I was 70, five more years in a great job.” But he said the next five years could be very critical ones for Queens and the city in terms of rising crime.

“I’m preparing for my 70th birthday party and I’m shaving ... and we’re looking at the type of New York that I could see potentially happening. Looking at myself in the mirror I say, ‘George, you could have had something to say. You could have done something. You didn’t even try.’

“So I have no idea where this ends. But I’m saying what needs to be said. I have plans here to turn this thing round. And however this story ends five years down the road, I’m not going to have problem with that guy in the mirror.”

Written by Michael Gannon, The Queens Chronicle

https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/retired-cop-judge-challenges-da-katz/article_ed81aaf9-4ba4-5bba-8344-c0cdca5d7068.html