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Melinda Katz

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Melinda Katz
Katz in 2025
District Attorney of Queens County
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2020
Chief Assistant
Jennifer L. Naiburg (2020-present)[1]
Preceded byJohn M. Ryan (acting)
19th Borough President of Queens
In office
January 1, 2014 – December 31, 2019
Preceded byHelen M. Marshall
Succeeded bySharon Lee
Member of the New York City Council
from the 29th district
In office
January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2009
Preceded byKaren Koslowitz
Succeeded byKaren Koslowitz
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 28th district
In office
1994 – January 6, 1999
Preceded byAlan Hevesi
Succeeded byMichael Cohen
Personal details
Born (1965-08-29) August 29, 1965 (age 60)
New York City, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
Domestic partner
Curtis Sliwa (sep. 2014)
Children2
RelativesDavid Katz (father)
EducationUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst (BA)
St. John's University, New York (JD)
WebsiteOffice website
Campaign website

Melinda R. Katz (born August 29, 1965) is an American attorney and politician from New York City, serving as the district attorney of Queens since January 1, 2020.

A Democrat, she previously served as the Queens Borough president from 2014 to 2019. Katz was also a New York City councilwoman from 2002 to 2009.[2] She had run for New York City comptroller in 2009.[3] In 2019, Katz won the Democratic nomination for Queens County's district attorney, and she won the general election in November 2019.[4]

Early life and education

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Melinda Katz was born on August 29, 1965, and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, with three older brothers.[5] She comes from a Jewish family with a long history of civic involvement. Her mother, Jeanne Dale Katz, founded the Queens Council on the Arts one year after Melinda was born.[6] Her mother was killed when Melinda was three years old, in a car accident–struck and killed by a drunk driver, and her father raised her and her brothers.[7][8][5][6][9] Her father, David Katz, a graduate of the Julliard School of Music, founded the Queens Symphony Orchestra in 1953, and also founded a music camp.[6][5] Melinda, a mezzo-soprano, has sung with the orchestra.[10] At the time of his death in 1987, when she was 21 years old, he was performing 47 concerts a year.[6][5]

Katz attended Hillcrest High School in Queens.[11] She then earned a B.A. degree in 1987 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, summa cum laude with honors, where she was named a Commonwealth Scholar..[12][13][6][5] She wrote her honors thesis in college on the challenge that gay men in the fashion industry had receiving loans, because bankers were afraid that AIDS would kill the men before they could repay the loans.[5] She earned a J.D. degree in 1990 from St. John's University School of Law, where she wrote for the Law Journal.[9][13][12]

Career

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Early years

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After law school, she clerked for Michael Mukasey, who was serving as judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York . She later interned with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York[13] and was an adjunct professor of constitutional law at Queens College.[13]

She was recruited by the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where she worked as an associate on mergers and acquisitions for over four years before running for the New York State Assembly.[5][9][5] In 1995 the New York Daily News named her "one of the one hundred up-and-coming young leaders for the 21st Century."[9]

New York State Assembly (1994–99)

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Running on the Liberal and Good Government lines, and with the endorsement of The New York Times, Katz won election to the New York State Assembly in 1994, defeating local Democratic district leader and the Queens Democratic Party candidate Michael Cohen by eight percentage points.[7][12][14][15] She served as a Member of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 1999, representing Queens' 28th District, which included Forest Hills, Rego Park, and parts of Middle Village and Glendale.[5][16] During her tenure as an Assembly member, Katz drafted 16 bills that became laws, including some crucial health care initiatives.[9] She wrote the law requiring HMOs to provide women direct access to gynecological care, without forcing them to first see a primary care physician.[9][5] She also was the Chair of the subcommittee on Urban Health.[9] Additionally, she carried several bills to increase penalties for various forms of assault, including a bill to extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse, which was opposed by the Roman Catholic Church.[7][9][13] She relinquished her seat to run for the U.S. Congress in 1998.[17]

1998 Congressional Democratic primary

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In 1998, Katz ran for Congress from New York's 9th congressional district, which was the seat held by Chuck Schumer, who was running for the U.S. Senate. She was endorsed by The New York Times, which praised her as "an advocate of health and women's issues and for her constituent services".[18] She lost the primary by 285 votes to Anthony Weiner, who went on to win the subsequent general election.[19]

From 1999 to 2002, she was Director of Community Boards for the Office of the Queens Borough President.[13][2]

New York City Council (2002–09)

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Katz was subsequently elected to the New York City Council, where she served from 2002 to 2009.[2] She represented the 29th district, which included Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and parts of Maspeth, South Elmhurst, and Richmond Hill.[20]

Katz served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Land Use, which was responsible for approving major projects and rezoning measures for wide-ranging pockets of the city, including Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Jamaica.[21] As Chair of the committee, Katz oversaw the rezoning of 6,000 city blocks, including the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning in 2005, the rezoning of 125th Street in Harlem, and the redevelopment of Willets Point.[22][5]

In 2003 she introduced legislation to make it easier for New Yorkers to have pets, including protecting the elderly from eviction from an apartment building due to their having a pet.[23] In 2005, she wrote to the president of New York City Transit, urging the installation of a camera surveillance system in Queens subway stations to deter crime.[24]

Private sector

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Term-limited out of the Council in 2009, Katz worked as a shareholder at the Greenberg Traurig law firm, where she specialized in government affairs and land use until her 2013 election as the Borough President of Queens.[25][26] In that position, she was paid to lobby for News Corporation.[27]

2009 New York City Comptroller Democratic primary

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In 2009, Katz ran for New York City Comptroller in a four-person Democratic primary. She sought to diversify pension funds, expand bank access to residents in poor neighborhoods, require greater transparency in the New York City Department of Education, and was exploring investing pension fund money in distressed debt.[5] She was the only female who was running for any citywide political office that year.[28] She finished third with 20% of the vote, behind winner Councilman John Liu and runner-up Councilman David Yassky.[29][30]

Queens Borough President (2014–20)

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In 2012, Katz announced her plans to run for Queens Borough President in 2013.[26] Her priorities were reported by The New York Times as including "an economic master plan for development in the borough ... [and] a better plan for Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where a soccer stadium is being considered."[31] She was endorsed by The New York Times, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Councilman Leroy Comrie, Pastor and former Congressman Floyd Flake, and the 1199 Hospital Workers Union.[31][32][33] She won the Democratic nomination, defeating former New York City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. and others, and went on to easily win the general election.[34]

In 2014, breaking with the position of her predecessor who had called for its demolition, she said that the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, which had been created for the 1964 New York World's Fair should be restored "for future generations to enjoy," calling it an “architectural marvel.”[35] In March 2017, she said that two significant challenges that the borough was facing were that schools were overcrowded, at 115% of capacity, and the borough's need for more housing.[36] She was re-elected in 2017.[37] In 2017, she sent three letters to New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, requesting that the process for hiring high school principals be changed. She said that the current process was “entirely shrouded under a veil of silence and secrecy.”[38]

Queens District Attorney (2020–present)

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Main article: 2019 Queens County District Attorney election

In December 2018, Katz announced her candidacy for Queens District Attorney.[39] Her platform included working to reduce the impact of the Iron Pipeline, fighting for worker protections, targeting hate crimes and housing fraud, opposing ICE agents inside the courthouse, not prosecuting low-level marijuana offenses, not prosecuting sex workers but targeting traffickers, pimps, and people who solicit sex workers, and working to prevent elder abuse.[40][41][13][8] She was endorsed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and by U.S. Representatives Gregory Meeks and Carolyn Maloney, Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl Heastie, and Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr.[42] [43][44]

In the Democratic primary, Katz faced five opponents including Tiffany Cabán, a democratic socialist public defender who was endorsed by several progressive politicians, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders.[45][46] The initial results of the Democratic primary on June 25, 2019, showed Cabán with a narrow 1.3% lead over Katz, and Cabán declared victory prematurely–telling supporters at her watch party: “We did it y’all.”[47][48][49] Katz performed particularly well in Assembly Districts 23–29, which comprise much of Southeast Queens.[50] On July 3, 2019, election officials said that Katz had pulled ahead in the final count and led Cabán by a mere 20 votes, automatically triggering the first manual recount in the borough in 64 years.[51][52] On July 29, 2019, the Board of Elections certified the results of the weeks-long recount, which resulted in Katz leading Cabán by 60 votes, out of more than 90,000 cast, and declaring victory.[53] Cabán said she would challenge the invalidation of over 100 ballots in court.[54] On August 6, 2019, Cabán conceded the race.[55] In November 2019, Katz won the general election.[56]

Katz was sworn in as the 19th Borough President of Queens on January 6, 2020.[57] She became the first woman to serve as head prosecutor in Queens.[25]

As D.A., she created a review unit named the Conviction Integrity Unit to consider potential wrongful convictions in Queens, supported a number of exonerations, and reduced her office's prosecution of a number of low-level, nonviolent crimes such as low-level arrests for marijuana.[58][59][60] In November 2021 she asked a judge to throw out 60 criminal cases that had relied on the testimony in Queens prosecutions of three former New York Police Department detectives who were later convicted of perjury, sexual assault, or official misconduct.[61] She said: "We cannot stand behind a criminal conviction where the essential law enforcement witness has been convicted of crimes which irreparably impair their credibility."[61] In addition, by November 2022 the new unit had vacated 13 convictions, and by August 2023 it had vacated 102 convictions.[62][63]

Endorsed by U.S. Representatives Gregory Meeks and Grace Meng, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, Katz successfully ran for re-election in 2023, defeating former administrative judge and former Police Department first deputy commissioner George Grasso in the Democratic primary with 71% of the vote.[64][65][66][67] In the general election, she won with 67% of the vote, defeating both Republican nominee Michael Mossa, and George Grasso, who ran as an independent.[68] In March 2026, City & State named her to its "The 2026 Queens Power 100" list, as one of the most powerful individuals in the borough.[69]

Personal life

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Katz is a mezzo-soprano, and has sung with the Queens Symphony Orchestra.[70]

Katz was in a relationship with Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, and separated from him in 2014.[71]They have two children together, conceived through in vitro fertilization over the previous five years, in which Sliwa was a sperm donor.[72][73][74][75] In 2012, Sliwa's ex-wife Mary sued Katz and Sliwa, accusing Sliwa of diverting money to Katz while he was still married to Mary, as part of a plan to build a "nest egg" for Katz and their children prior to moving in with her.[71][76][77] The lawsuit was dismissed.[71]Sliwa was later the 2021 and 2025 Republican nominee for New York City mayor. Katz now lives with their two sons in Forest Hills, in the house in which she grew up.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Queens County District Attorney - JENNIFER L. NAIBURG - CHIEF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY". Queens County District Attorney. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Candidate Melinda Katz: City Controller". The New York Daily News. August 16, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  3. ^ Ross, Barbara (May 9, 2013). "Curtis Sliwa scammed ex to give child support to mistress, lawsuit claims". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  4. ^ "Election board to declare Katz victory over Caban in Queens District Attorney race". ABC7. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "A Queens Girl at Home With the Old Boys," Observer, May 26, 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Katz’s lifetime of public service began in Forest Hills", Queens Chronicle, March 25, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "How Did a Loyal Democrat Become an Enemy of the Progressives?," The New York Times, July 25, 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Melinda Katz, pledging justice reform, wins Queens DA race," Queens Daily Eagle, November 5, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Huffington Post, The (2009). "Melinda Katz". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  10. ^ "PLAYING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD," The New York Times, July 30, 2000.
  11. ^ "NYC Campaign Finance Board 2013 Voter Guide," nyccfb.info, 2013
  12. ^ a b c "WINNERS' CIRCLE; Destination Albany: The Newest Faces," The New York Times, February 20, 1994.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g "Katz Throws Hat In The Ring For District Attorney," PoliticsNY, December 5, 2018.
  14. ^ "In Special Elections, Democrats Win Two Senate Seats," The New York Times, February 16, 1994.
  15. ^ "Two for the Assembly," The New York Times, February 14, 1994.
  16. ^ "Melinda Katz". Queensnewyork.com. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  17. ^ "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FOREST HILLS; A Lost Race: Sizing Up The Damage," The New York Times, October 4, 1998.
  18. ^ "Races for Congress in New York City," The New York Times, September 10, 1998.
  19. ^ Jonathan P, Hicks (September 16, 1998). "Weiner Is Victor Over Katz In Bid to Replace Schumer". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  20. ^ Bertrand, Donald (October 24, 2004). "Orchestrating 29th Council District Pol's Still in First House – But on Fourth Career". The New York Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
  21. ^ Craven Mcginty, Jo (September 11, 2007). "Rezoning Plan for Jamaica Wins Approval of Council". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  22. ^ Hughes, C.J. (May 1, 2012). "Where real estate meets politics". The Real Deal. Retrieved October 25, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  23. ^ "A Bill to Ease Restrictions On Living With Pets," The New York Times, December 9, 2003.
  24. ^ "When the Crime Fighter Is a Hidden Camera," The New York Times, November 6, 2005.
  25. ^ a b "DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM," queensda.org, January 2, 2024.
  26. ^ a b Cullen, Terence. "Katz creates campaign team for Queens borough president run". Terence Cullen. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  27. ^ "Pols on the Payroll". New York Magazine. July 29, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  28. ^ "Police Union Backs Weprin for Comptroller," The New York Times, May 6, 2009.
  29. ^ Kareem, Fahim (September 16, 2009). "Contrasting Candidates Appear to Send Race for Comptroller Into a 2nd Round". The New York Times.
  30. ^ "A Victory, Runoffs and Several Incumbents Ousted," The New York Times, September 15, 2009.
  31. ^ a b "New York City Election Choices," The New York Times, August 23, 2013.
  32. ^ "Katz Gets Big Endorsement: Report," Patch, March 5, 2013.
  33. ^ Ross Barkan (August 15, 2013). "Melinda Katz Scores 1199 Endorsement | Observer". Politicker.com. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  34. ^ "Statement and Return Report for Certification General Election 2013 — 11/05/2013 — Queens County — All Parties and Independent Bodies Borough President — Queens" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Board of Elections in the City of New York. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  35. ^ "In Queens, the Fate of a Towering Relic From the 1964 World’s Fair Is Debated," The New York Times, February 17, 2014.
  36. ^ "Five Leaders on New York’s Five Boroughs," The New York Times, March 23, 2017.
  37. ^ "Statement and Return Report for Certification — General Election — 11/07/2017 — Queens County — All Parties and Independent Bodies — Borough President — Queens" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Board of Elections in the City of New York. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  38. ^ "Rising Tumult Over Principal at Elite Queens High School," The New York Times, March 8, 2017.
  39. ^ Murray, Christian (December 4, 2018). "Borough President Katz Launches Run for Queens District Attorney". Sunny Side Post. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  40. ^ "2019 NYC elections Queens DA district attorney whos running candidates Melinda Katz Joe Murray NYC", Spectrum News, October 31, 2019.
  41. ^ "New York Primary Elections: Who’s Running for Queens D.A. ," The New York Times, June 25, 2019.
  42. ^ "Ocasio-Cortez Backs Insurgent Tiffany Cabán for Queens D.A., Testing Her Influence in N.Y.," The New York Times, May 22, 2019.
  43. ^ "What you need to know about each Queens DA candidate," City and State NY, June 17, 2019.
  44. ^ "Ocasio-Cortez Backs Insurgent Tiffany Cabán for Queens D.A., Testing Her Influence in N.Y.," The New York Times, May 22, 2019.
  45. ^ "Cuomo Says Progressives Have It All Wrong: ‘I Am the Left’," The New York Times, July 22, 2019.
  46. ^ Muoio, Danielle. "On eve of primary, Queens DA race turns more negative". Politico PRO. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  47. ^ Michaels, Samantha. "Progressive Insurgent Tiffany Cabán Declares Victory in the Primary for Queens DA". Mother Jones.
  48. ^ "The Latest: Caban Claims Victory in Queens DA Race". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  49. ^ "More Than 6,300 Ballots Left to be Counted in Contentious Queens DA Race". Queens Post. June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  50. ^ Hamm, Theodore. "With Queens DA Election Too Close to Call, Cabán Troops Prepare to Fight For Every Vote". The Indypendent. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  51. ^ "The Race for Queens District Attorney: A Retrospective," Queens Daily Eagle, November 7, 2019.
  52. ^ Muoio, Danielle (July 4, 2019). "Katz pulls ahead of Cabán in Queens DA primary, prompts recount". Politico. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  53. ^ "Melinda Katz says she’s ignoring the political winds," City & State NY, May 16, 2022.
  54. ^ Brown, N. "Queens district attorney primary to be certified by Board of Elections". AM New York. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  55. ^ Whitford, Emma; Sommerfeldt, Chris (August 7, 2019). "Tiffany Cabán concedes Democratic race for Queens district attorney, securing Melinda Katz's razor-thin victory". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  56. ^ "N.Y. Election Results: Voters Approve All 5 Ballot Measures," The New York Times, November 5, 2019.
  57. ^ "Melinda Katz sworn in as new Queens district attorney". January 6, 2020.
  58. ^ "He Spent 25 Years in Prison for Murder, but Was Innocent All Along," The New York Times, June 23, 2020.
  59. ^ "Queens DA’s new wrongful conviction unit has opened 10 investigations," Queens Eagle, May 6, 2020.
  60. ^ "Queens Prosecutors Long Overlooked Misconduct. Can a New D.A. Do Better?," The New York Times, January 29, 2021.
  61. ^ a b "60 Criminal Cases Are Thrown Out Because of 3 Detectives’ Misconduct," The New York Times, November 8, 2021.
  62. ^ "3 Men Exonerated in New York, 30 Years After False Confessions," The New York Times, August 24, 2023.
  63. ^ "He Was Wrongly Imprisoned at 16. Eight Years Later, He Walks Free.," The New York Times, November 17, 2022.
  64. ^ "Dem DA candidate teases third party run as he launches campaign".
  65. ^ "Queens District Attorney Democratic Primary Election Results," 'New York Times,' June 27, 2023
  66. ^ "Democrats Feel the Heat From the Right in New York Primaries," The New York Times, June 24, 2023.
  67. ^ Kaye, Jacob (November 7, 2023). "Queens election results: Incumbents cruise to victory". Queens Daily Eagle. Retrieved January 2, 2026.
  68. ^ "Election Results" (PDF).
  69. ^ "The 2026 Queens Power 100," City & State , March 16, 2026.
  70. ^ "PLAYING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD," The New York Times, July 30, 2000.
  71. ^ a b c "Curtis Sliwa Has New York’s Attention Again. Was That Always the Point?,"
  72. ^ "Melinda Katz Takes The Stand In Sliwa Child Support Case," CBS News, December 11, 2013.
  73. ^ "https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130509/forest-hills/guardian-angels-curtis-sliwa-accused-of-cheating-on-wife-with-melinda-katz/ "Guardian Angels' Curtis Sliwa Swindled Wife During Affair, Lawsuit Says," DNA Info, May 9, 2013 .
  74. ^ Karni, Annie (April 14, 2012). "Sliwa's a parent & Guardian to secret donor kids with fmr. City Councilwoman Melinda Katz". New York Post. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  75. ^ Chung, Jen (April 15, 2012). "Curtis Sliwa Was Ex-Council Member Melinda Katz's Sperm Donor And Now They're Getting Married". Gothamist. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
  76. ^ Fanelli, James (May 9, 2013). "Guardian Angels' Curtis Sliwa Swindled Wife During Affair, Lawsuit Says". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on July 31, 2013.
  77. ^ Gregorian, Dareh (December 11, 2013). "Curtis Sliwa Child-Support Trial: Queens Borough President-elect Melinda Katz Gets Grilled". New York Daily News.
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