George Grasso, ex-top NYPD official, judge challenges Melinda Katz for Queens DA
Fed up with an increase in crime and pro-criminal policies, former top NYPD official and retired judge George Grasso plans to challenge incumbent Melinda Katz in next year’s Democratic primary for Queens district attorney.
Grasso, 65, worked his way through the NYPD ranks, from street cop, then earned a law degree to become deputy commissioner of legal matters and first deputy commissioner.
More recently, Grasso served as administrative judge for criminal matters in Queens Supreme Court and previously as supervising judge for Bronx Criminal Court.
He retired from the bench on Aug. 31 to run for district attorney.
“Mayor Adams needs someone like me to stand up. He can’t do it alone,” Grasso told The Post Tuesday.
He rattled off the double-digit increases in major crimes in Queens, particularly mentioning the brutal beating of a woman in a subway in Howard Beach and innocent bystanders who were shot in a park in South Ozone Park.
“I’m not happy with the performance of the Queens district attorney. There has to be accountability there. Don’t district attorneys take credit when crime goes down?” Grasso said.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s a poor performance at this point. I don’t think she’s measuring up. I’m giving Democrats a real choice in the primary.”
Grasso, who was born in Queens and lived in the borough much of his life, said he’ll stack up his 43-year record in the NYPD and the judiciary against Katz, the former Queens borough president and councilwoman who was elected DA in 2019.
“Isn’t it a coincidence that she was term-limited as borough president when she ran for district attorney?” he asked.
“I’m running as the centrist, common sense candidate. We need a vigorous debate in the Democratic Party on criminal justice that Melinda Katz won’t provide. I don’t see her tackling the problem the way I will.”
He slammed as “basically meaningless” the tweaks Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic lawmakers made to the controversial cashless bail law earlier this year.
The bottom line, he said: The law does not provide a “dangerousness” standard allowing judges to detain criminal defendants deemed a violent threat to public safety.
He said statehouse Democrats left the judiciary with a “hot mess.”
Grasso, meanwhile, slammed as “defective” the city’s plan to close the Rikers Island jails complex and replace it with four smaller borough jails because it’s based on “phony numbers” projecting a much lower jail population.
He said city officials should devote more resources to fix Rikers now –including having Bellevue hospital open a satellite office there to treat the high percentage of inmates with mental health and substance problems.
Grasso made his pitch for Queens DA at the NYPD’s Columbia Association luncheon that followed Monday’s Columbus Day parade.
“I have resigned from the bench to put my skills and experience to better use in turning the tide around from the insanity that is hurting our city before it is too late,” Grasso said in a note to a supporter.
“George is a great guy. He’d be a great district attorney,” said Angelo Vivolo, president of the Columbia Heritage Coalition, the umbrella group representing Italian-American civic groups in the city.
Katz won the 2019 Democratic Primary in a squeaker against left-wing defund-the-police supporting democratic socialist Tiffany Caban, who subsequently was elected to the council.
Katz said she’s ready to defend her record when asked about a Grasso challenge.
“DA Katz is focused on protecting the residents of Queens. She’s led an office that’s centered on fairness, safety and accountability and she’s been a steady hand in turbulent times,” said Katz campaign spokesman Max Kramer.
