CB 9 District Manager Mary Ann Carey and Chairman Jim Coccovillo read statements of apology to one another at the board’s Tuesday night meeting in Kew Gardens.
After months of strained relations on Community Board 9, much of it centering over tension between the group’s district manager, Mary Ann Carey, and chairman, Jim Coccovillo, the two community leaders read statements of apology at a meeting Tuesday night.
“Mary Ann and I have agreed to put all…concerns behind us,” Coccovillo said at the board’s meeting in Kew Gardens and noted that he would “like to thank the borough president’s office” in “resolving” issues on the board that has long been marred by strife.
Carey too read a statement, which followed complaints she made about Coccovillo at last month’s meeting.
“If I made statements that were inappropriate…I apologize,” said Carey, who went on to say that she aims to move beyond the problems with Coccovillo and “focus on issues of important to the board and the community.”
“I am confident that’s something we will all strive for,” she said.
Last month, at a meeting not attended by Coccovillo, Carey reportedly said she and her staff were being harassed so much so that they were concerned about holding onto their jobs. The two have had a problematic relationship for months, and Coccovillo had wanted to remove Carey from her position as the district’s longtime manager last June.
After leaving Tuesday’s CB 9 meeting for several minutes following her original statement, the district manager returned and issued a continued proclamation.
“If any of my comments were hurtful to him or his family, I apologize,” Carey said. “…Some of the comments I made were not entirely accurate.”
Up until this point, Carey and Coccovillo had not directly spoken to one another and had made little eye contact, but at this point, the chairman said to Carey, “A long time coming, Mary Ann, a long time coming.”
During Tuesday’s two-hour meeting – a relatively quick affair for a board known to often drag on into the late-night or even early morning hours – a representative from Assemblyman Mike Miller’s (D-Woodhaven) office announced security cameras at and around Forest Park are expected to be placed in the near future.
Miller and state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) allocated $250,000 for the security cameras following a string of sex attacks at Forest Park.
Miller’s representative said the cameras will likely be placed at the following locales, though these could be changed: Park Lane South and Woodhaven Boulevard, by the park’s bandshell, on Freedom Drive and Myrtle Avenue, by the Buddy monument at Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue, and by 80th Street and Myrtle Avenue.
Since the end of last August, police have been searching for a stun-gun wielding man who they say raped an elderly jogger around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 26 in the section of the park near 72nd Street and Union Turnpike.
Police believe the same attacker is linked to at least five other sexual assaults in the area since 2011 – including attempting to rape a 13-year-old girl walking near Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue.
The attacker is described as a white man between the ages of 30- and 40-years-old, stands at about 5-foot-10, and has a thin build and short hair, according to police.
Anyone with information should contact the NYPD at (800) 577-TIPS.
By Anna Gustafson
