11
QUEENS WEEKLY, JAN. 13, 2019
Gas
Continued from Page 1
2018,” Moya said. “These violations
indicate not only a
continual flouting of safety
regulations but also raise
the question of whether the
property owner is permitting
construction in flagrant
disregard of the stop
work order at the site.”
The DOB told QNS on
Tuesday afternoon that enforcement
action had been
taken in the form of fines and
stop work orders, and the investigation
into the cause of
the destruction is still ongoing
within their agency.
“We thank Councilmember
Moya for relaying his
concerns regarding this
site,” a DOB statement
read. “DOB has inspected
this site regularly since
construction permits were
issued in 2017, and have
taken multiple enforcement
actions, including in April
2017, when we issued the
first of several stop work
orders at the site.”
The latest complaint issued
at the address, aside
from Friday’s incident, was
the Appellate Division.
“When I was first appointed
District Attorney
by then Governor Cuomo
in 1991, one of my chief
goals was to elevate the
standards of professionalism
in the office by hiring
people on merit, not
political connections,”
Brown said. “Without
question, we have overwhelmingly
achieved
that goal. Whatever success
I have attained over
the years is due in large
measure to the fact that
from the beginning I have
surrounded myself with
the most talented, capable
and dedicated professionals
imaginable — men
and women of exceptional
ability and commitment.”
Brown thanked his
staff for their loyalty and
service and thanked his
partners in law enforcement
for contributing to
the city’s historic reduction
in serious crime.
“Apart, however, from
our historic reductions
in violent crime and auto
theft to name but a few, I
am proud of our many innovations
that have improved
not only our criminal
justice system, but our
entire community,” Brown
said. “I am grateful that
the many specialty courts
we pioneered — like having
one of the State’s first
Drug Courts, as well as
Mental Health Court and
Veterans Court — have
enjoyed enduring success
and have been duplicated
around the nation.”
Brown also praised
other programs such as
the Queens Court Academy,
where young offenders
are not only spared incarceration,
but are given
the chance to complete
high school and avoid rearrest.
The Queens Treatment
Intervention Program
or QTIP, to address
the scourge of the opioid
crisis, and he is proud of
institutional technological
changes that allow the
office to process arrests
more quickly.
“We have been a leading
advocate for improvements
in criminal justice legislation,
including measures
to ensure the recordings of
interrogations, enhanced
identification procedures
and for the sealing of old
convictions,” Brown said.
“As I finish my tenure as
Queens District Attorney,
I will continue to seek innovations
to help all of our
2.5 million residents and
ensure that I leave my office
dedicated to the standard
of excellence which
has been our hallmark.”
City Councilman Rory
Lancman, retired Queens
Supreme Court Justice
Gregory Lasak and Queens
Borough President Melinda
Katz have announced
they will run to replace.
Brown and his wife Rhoda
have three children and
two grandchildren.
“While it is difficult
to say goodbye, I am comforted
by the knowledge
that I leave a legacy of accomplishment,
excellence
and government at its best,
for which anyone can be
proud,” Brown said. “On
behalf of my entire family,
I offer my best wishes and
warmest thanks.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Brown
Continued from Page 1
sideration, I have made
the decision to finish out
my current term and not
seek re-election,” Brown
said in a Jan. 9 statement.
“It has been an honor and
a privilege to have served
the people of Queens
County — the most ethnically
diverse county in the
world — for these many
years as district attorney.
I am greatly appreciative
and humbled to have had
the trust and confidence
that they have expressed
in me by electing me to
seven full terms in office,
and in the process, making
me the longest serving
district attorney in
Queens County history.”
Prior to his appointment
in 1991, Brown
had been a member of
the state judiciary. In
November 1977, Brown
was elected a Justice of
the Supreme Court in
Queens County and in
1982 we was designated
by Governor Hugh Carey
as an Associate Justice of
A Con Edison gas main burst
in East Elmhurst, making a
mess of Northern Boulevard.
Courtesy of FDNY
on Dec. 28, 2018 for work continuing
despite the SWO but
no violation was issued because
the site was closed and
secured upon inspection, according
to the DOB site.
But Con Edison said on
Jan. 4 that they believe the
collapse of a below-street
level excavation wall was
the culprit. When the concrete
barrier to the below
ground site gave way, soil
spilled through leading to a
rupture in the gas line and
concrete to collapse into
the hole.
There was only one
injury from the incident,
which FDNY said may
have been unrelated to the
blast from the gas main
breaking and ConEd said
there was no loss in service
for the residents.
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