Queens and city pols offer condolences for White [Updated]
Posted on August 27, 2010 by Ivan Pereira in City Council, City Offices, District 28
City Hall’s top-ranking leaders released statements Friday afternoon reacting to the death of Councilman Thomas White (D-South Ozone Park).
In his statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the longtime councilman died of cancer.
The statement read,
My friend Council Member Tom White lost a long battle with cancer today, and on behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to express my condolences. Born and raised in Queens, Tom spent over 30 years trying to improve his Southeast Queens community, and not just through his work with the City Council. He was the executive director of J-CAP, which serves Queens with a recognized alcohol and substance abuse treatment program. He served as Chair of the Council’s economic development committee, and because of his efforts, we were able to create programs that range from providing loans to help small businesses stay afloat and grow to helping New Yorkers avoid foreclosures. Tom’s legacy will live on in the results of his work, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones.
City Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) commended White’s work both as an elected official and as the executive director of J-Cap, a drug rehab center in southeast Queens.
“He searched for ways to break the cycle of poverty and violence. He fought for job training and placement programs, and investments in long term economic growth. He had a particular soft spot for women and minority business owners, pushing for additional resources to help them stay afloat and create good jobs for their neighbors,” she said in a statement.
Fellow southeast Queens Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) said he was surprised by the news because White kept his personal life low-key.
“The passing of my friend and colleague Tom White is truly a changing of the guard. Tom represents one of the pioneers in southeast Queens politics and opened the door for us to come through. His sense of humor and good manners will surely be missed. New York City is a far poorer place without him,” Sanders said in a phone interview.
State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans) also remarked on how White helped revitalize the neighborhood during his tenure.
“His support for the commercial revitalization of economically distressed areas, and expansion of opportunities for minority and women owned businesses created countless jobs and helped families struggling to get by put food on their tables and pay their bills,” he said in a statement.
Borough President Helen Marshall also offered condolences.
“Tom White was a longtime friend and colleague in government. He was also a person who cared deeply about the communities he represented during his terms in the City Council. He was a native of the area he served and understood completely the need for government to effectively be involved in youth to senior programs,” she said in a statement.
