Katz and Queens Women’s Bar honor female trailblazers in New York law and politics
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Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz (left), former Brooklyn District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman (center) and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark are the only three women elected to serve as top prosecutors in New York City. File photo via Queens DA’s Office/Twitter
By Rachel Vick
A century after women first voted, the Queens County Women’s Bar Association and District Attorney Melinda Katz gathered to honor female trailblazers from across the city and state to celebrate on Monday night.
Nearly 200 people logged into Zoom to watch “Trailblazing Women: Heroic Firsts in the Legal System and Beyond,” a virtual celebration recognizing leaders in law and politics, including Queens’ own U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, the first Asian woman elected to Congress in New York, and Chief Judge Janet Difiore.
“We celebrate the successes and accomplishments of women despite all the odds and barriers placed in front of them,” said QCWBA President Soma Syed. “They’re breaking barriers, they’re smashing ceilings and they’re leading the way.”
Other honorees included former U.S. Rep. and Brooklyn DA Elizabeth Holtzman, Justices Doris Ling-Cohan and Ushir Pandit-Durant, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
Meng, an Elmhurst native, reflected on her start in politics, when she received support from trailblazers like fellow honorees Holtzman and Ling-Cohan.
“There weren’t a lot of women of color. There weren’t a lot of women period,” Meng said. “Especially for many of us who are the first, and hopefully not the last, the concept and practice of mentorship is rare and so important.”
James, the first African American woman elected to a statewide office in New York, noted her roots as “just a girl from Brooklyn, dreaming about justice and equality for all,” the power of determination and the “sheros” who inspired her.
James also commended Katz for appointing women to top roles within the Queens DA’s Office, including Chief Executive ADA Chief of Staff Jennifer Naiburg and Chief of Staff Camille Chin-Kee-Fatt .
“When women are in charge, policies are more inclusive and better for working families and everyone knows if you want something done, and done right, give it to a woman,” James said. “Today, we are not asking for a seat at the table, we are demanding it.”
Katz, the first woman to serve as Queens DA, marked the occasion by unveiling a wall of portraits of trailblazing women, like Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Until recently, the wall only featured portraits of Katz’s male predecessors. She said she walked by every day and thought, “We should do something about this,”
“I believe that I would not be the Queens DA were it not for so many women who came before me,” Katz said.
“Every time you succeed, especially as women, reach down and pull someone with you,” Katz continued. “Make sure other women, other young women, have the opportunities we never had, but that because we’re here we’re creating for them — that’s really when we’ve all succeeded.”
