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Volume 65, No. 84 Monday, AUGUST 12, 2019 50¢ Queens Dems QUEENS pick five new candidates for TODAY Supreme Court — August 12, 2019 — By David Brand Queens Daily Eagle EMPLOYERS WILL NO LONGER BE The Queens County Democratic Par- able to discriminate against job candidates ty designated five candidates for positions based on religious attire or facial hair, on the state Supreme Court bench and re- nominated one veteran justice at the orga- according to a new law signed by Gov. nization’s judicial convention Thursday in Andrew Cuomo on Friday. Sikh New Yorkers, Queens Village. including the community of Richmond Hill, Current New York City Civil Court Judg- had long advocated for the legislation. es Lourdes Ventura, Donna-Marie Golia, Maurice Muir and Phillip Hom were among the nominees. The county party also nomi- “AS NEW YORKERS WE CELEBRATE nated defense attorney and former Queens our diversity and we champion freedom of prosecutor Wyatt Gibbons for a position in religious expression in all places, including the Supreme Court, less than two months after workplace,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This Gibbons lost a Democratic primary for a civ- law will protect people from discriminatory il court judgeship on June 25. employment practices based on religious Judge Maurice Muir was designated as a candidate for the state Supreme Court bench attire or facial hair and makes it crystal clear by the Queens County Democratic Party Thursday. Eagle file photo by Andy Katz Continued on page 16 to anyone who may still have doubts that New York has zero tolerance for bigotry of any kind.” NYPD arrests people of color for fare evasion THE NEXT TIME YOU PLAY SCRA- bble, score some serious points with these two words: J-a-c-k-s-o-n H-e-i-g-h-t-s — the game’s birthplace. Though you can now find at ‘grossly disproportionate’ rate, data shows the quintessential word scramble game in By David Brand living room cabinets, phones and classrooms Queens Daily Eagle across the nation, the first game of Scrabble More than 60 percent of people arrested for was dreamed up in Queens. Read the Eagle’s fare evasion in the second quarter of the year debut column, Made In Queens Monday, on were black or African-American, according page 15. to the most recent fare evasion data published by the NYPD. Another 25 percent were listed as “Hispanic.” AT THE QUEENS CENTRAL LIBRARY Black and African-American people ac- in Jamaica, resident social worker Shantel counted for 414 of the 682 people arrested Johnson oversees a team of library case from April 1 to June 30, while Latinx/His- managers, but she's also available to help panic people accounted for 175 arrests. City librarians communicate with struggling law requires the NYPD to publish the fare patrons, connect visitors to services or just evasion arrest data every quarter. listen to people. “The city continues to arrest black and brown people for fare evasion at rates that are grossly disproportionate when compared to “THEY'LL OPEN UP TO STAFF, AND rates of white people,” said Councilmember staff is doing 14 different things,” Johnson Rory Lancman, who last year sued the NYPD said. She says she regularly helps patrons who to obtain the fare evasion data under city law. are homeless, experiencing abuse or having Lancman sponsored the 2017 bill mandating trouble applying for jobs. Read more on page 7. the reports. The NYPD publishes the racial, age and gender breakdown of the 10 stations with the NBC HAS PICKED UP A SHOW CALLED highest arrest totals. Seven of those stations “Sunnyside,” following characters within the are located in Brooklyn, two are in the Bronx and one is in Manhattan at 125th Street. titular Queens neighborhood. The show will The disproportionate arrest rate for people star Kal Penn, who plays a New York City of color is even more drastic at those 10 lo- councilmember who lets lust for political fame cations, where 68.2 percent of the 148 peo- undermine his priorities and kill his career. It ple arrested were black or African-American debuts Sept. 26. A man swipes through the turnstile at the Ditmars Boulevard station in Astoria. Continued on page 2 Eagle photo by Jonathan Sperling Continued on page 2 SAVE THE DATE 10.03.19 Tickets/Information: Michael Nussbaum (718) 422-7409 ‧ [email protected] PRESENTS Guardians of Justice guardians-of-justice.eventbrite.com NYPD arrests people of color for fare evasion at ‘grossly disproportionate’ rate, data shows QUEENS Continued from page 1 (101 of 148), and more than 20 percent (30 of 148) were identified as Hispanic by the NYPD. Fare evasions citywide have dropped sig- nificantly in recent years as district attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn have declined to TODAY prosecute most subway fare evasion offenses, but the NYPD continues to target people of — August 12, 2019 — color for “what is basically a crime of poverty,” said Legal Aid Society Supervising Attorney Anthony Posada. AS CNN GEARS UP TO HOST ITS SEPT. 4 All but 14 of the people arrested in the sec- climate town hall in New York City, 12 Queens ond quarter were issued a desk appearance lawmakers, and one from Brooklyn, have ticket, an order to appear in criminal court to written a letter urging network President Jeff respond to the misdemeanor charge. Though a Zucker to move the climate crisis summit to the fare evasion charge alone rarely results in jail- outer boroughs. time, it can still affect employment and access to public benefits for those arrested, Posada added. AT A RALLY ON THE STEPS OF CITY The charge is particularly dangerous for im- Hall Friday, the Queens pols stood alongside migrants, who could be exposed to the threat environmental advocates to argue that Queens of Immigration and Customs Enforcement ar- residents are at an increasing risk of rising sea rest and deportation by appearing in court, he levels, toxic air and violent weather related to said. the climate crisis. Read more on page 15. “It has been abundantly clear for years now that the NYPD is incapable of curtailing its disparate enforcement and we urge the city to Black and Latinx New Yorkers are disproportionately arrested for fare evasion, even as A FORMER DEPARTMENT OF CORR- cease criminalizing poverty because the hu- ection officer who was employed at a jail on man cost is too high,” Posada said. total arrests decrease. AP Photo/Seth Wenig Rikers Island pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday after being arrested for smuggling in contraband, including marijuana, in exchange Queens County Criminal Court Calendar — August 12 — for bribes. SENTENCING FOR appears in TAP B for sentencing. MAN CHARGED WITH MANCONVICTED OF On his website, Barizone wrote that his STABBING NEPHEW SIMON GORDON, 24, AGREED TO ACC- DOGFIGHTING puppies have “tremendous mouth” and Eric Coleman is changed with first-de- ept bribes in exchange for smuggling the Dominick Barizone was convicted of “extreme skills,” and are descended from gree manslaughter for allegedly stabbing contraband into one of the jails on Rikers fifth-degree conspiracy after a jury found championship fighting dogs, prosecutors his nephew to death. Coleman appears in between January and July 2018. him guilty of breeding dogs for fighting. say. When police searched Barizone’s AP6 for a conference. Prosecutors said he sold a pitbull puppy home, they found 19 pit bulls with dog JUDGE KIRSCHNER PRESIDES to an undercover Queens detective in June fighting scars. AN INNOVATIVE VIDEO INSTALLA- 2018. Barizone, a Crawford, NY resident, JUSTICE BUCHTER PRESIDES ••• tion by Jamaica-based artist Jason Anthony Lalor depict the personality and diversity of his neighborhood — but you’ll have to wait til the sun sets to see it. Gary F. Miret LALOR’S “THE AVE” WILL BE ON view from 8:30 p.m. to midnight every night Attorney At Law until August 17. The videos are screened on a wall along 149th Street between Jamaica and Archer Avenue. Read more on page 7. T: (718) 274-6900 ‧ F: (718) 274-7500 31-17 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria, New York, 11105 E-Mail: [email protected] FORMER PROSECUTORS FIGHTING FOR YOU! Dominic Addabbo, Esq. | Todd Greenberg, Esq Get 'The Best of the Nest' Visit us Online delivered to your inbox every week: queenseagle.com Experience ‧ Criminal Cases QueensEagle.com/Subscribe Equals ‧ Personal Injury Follow us on Twitter Results. ‧ Real Estate Matters @queenseagle Addabbo & Greenberg 118-21 Queens Blvd. Suite 306, Forest Hills, N.Y. 11375 PUBLISHERS: Like us on Facebook Michael Nussbaum J.D. Hasty Call or Click: facebook.com/queenseagle [email protected] [email protected] 718.268.0400 ‧ www.QueensLaw.com MANAGING EDITOR David Brand [email protected] DIGITAL EDITOR Jonathan Sperling [email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Kat Ramus [email protected] LEGAL ADVERTISING MANAGER Gina Ong [email protected] For Display Advertising QUEENS please contact Maureen Coppola at: Is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and Federal Holi- [email protected] days by Queens Public Media, 8900 Sutphin Blvd., Lower Suite, LL11, Jamaica, Queens, NY 11435. Subscription price is $130 per year, $65 for six months. Periodicals Postage paid at Brooklyn, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Daily Eagle, Circulation Office, 16 Court Street, 30th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11241. Telephone: 718-643-9099, ext: 103. Fax: 718-643-9485. 2 • Queens Daily Eagle • Monday, August 12, 2019 Librarians facing new tasks because of cutbacks By Ali Swenson Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When Jackie Narkiewicz switched ca- reers and became a librarian, she thought she’d spend her work- days “drinking hot beverages and discussing literature with peo- ple.” But during her 16 years as a librarian on Long Island, Nark- iewicz has also faced a man threatening to kill her and a patron screaming while cutting her own hair in the bathroom.