By Juan Soto
Borough President Melinda Katz said Queens residents “really want a moment” after two police officers were assassinated in Brooklyn as they sat in their patrol car.
Katz, who attended several candlelight vigils at precincts across the borough to mourn the deaths of Officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjein Liu, 32, said support for the NYPD “does not preclude having a discussion” about police-community relations.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the borough president said there is distrust between some communities and the police, and that’s why “we need to have an open discussion and address the issues that are out there.”
She added, “We have to be honest about it. The city is tired and needs to heal.”
Ramos and Liu were ambushed by gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley just outside the Tompkins Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant Saturday who was seeking revenge for the recent killings of two black men by police.
Brinsley, 28, later killed himself in a nearby subway station.
Katz cautioned that the reaction to the Eric Garner case, and the conversation about race and police relations taking place “should not be hijacked” by the senseless killings of the two cops. “This was an attack on public safety, on our values,” she said.
Garner died from a police chokehold while he was being arrested for selling loose cigarettes. A Staten Island grand jury’s decision not to indict the white officer involved in his death sparked largely peaceful protests across the city demanding justice for the Garner family and for other victims of fatal police confrontations with unarmed civilians.
Garner’s death also prompted the City Council to ask the NYPD Inspector General to investigate how the department tracks cases of abuse by cops.
Katz agreed with calls from Mayor Bill de Blasio and other elected officials asking city residents to put a hold on the demonstrations until both officers are laid to rest.
The borough president said Queens is home to the largest number of police officers in the city.
Asked how Queens has responded to the killings of the two officers, Katz said: “I got a lot of mixed reactions [on the streets], but folks really want a moment.”
She said the families of the fallen cops should be able to pay tribute to them and mourn their losses against a quiet backdrop.
“It is time for the city to mourn and move forward,” Katz said.
With tensions between police unions and the mayor at a delicate juncture, Katz hopes the horrific act of violence will improve relationships and defuse rhetoric.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said hours after the murders of the cops “there is blood on many hands,” particularly the mayor’s.
Just days before the killings, the PBA posted a letter on its website asking cops to sign it to request the mayor and the City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito not to attend their funerals if they were killed in the line of duty.
Like Katz, other elected officials also said it was time for reflection and healing.
“In the face of such senseless violence, we should calm down the rhetoric and work together to find a way to create a safer and more peaceful city,” said Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria).
Just days before the cops’ murders, a majority of New Yorkers approved of the mayor’s handling of the demonstrations in response to fatal police confrontations with unarmed civilians, according to a poll.
The Quinnipiac University survey was released just three days before the executions of Ramos and Liu. It found that 60 percent agree with de Blasio’s position on the demonstrations, allowing New Yorkers to march and block streets and bridges, with 30 percent disagreeing with his approach to the mostly peaceful protests.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown offered condolences to the Ramos and Liu families, and said “we must find a way to channel our emotions into achieving positive change for our city.”
A wake for Ramos was planned for Friday at the Christ Tabernacle Church, at 64-34 Myrtle Ave., in Glendale, from 2 p.m. to 9. The funeral was scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.
The officer will be laid to rest at Cypress Hills Cemetery, in Brooklyn.
Funeral arrangements for officer Liu were being finalized at press time.
U.S. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) and Grace Meng (D-Flushing), among others, offered condolences to the families of the slain cops.
“This heinous shooting is an instance of senseless violence that sought to destroy the very fabric of our society and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Meeks said.
Meng added, “These types of violent acts are un-American, and I ask all New Yorkers to join me in condemning these horrific crimes.”
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4564.
