STATEN ISLAND — Eric Garner's death will be a central issue in the race for the congressional seat vacated by disgraced former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, Democratic candidate Vincent Gentile said.
Gentile, who sits on the City Council and is challenging the GOP's candidate, District Attorney Dan Donovan, for Grimm's seat, said he would try to force Donovan to debate the issue. He also criticized the prosecutor for staying "in his Rose Garden" after the grand jury decided not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for Garner's death.
During an interview Sunday on the "Cats Roundtable" radio show, Gentile called out Donovan for not addressing the public after the grand jury's December decision — something Donovan has said he doesn't want to be a factor in the race.
"After the decision of the grand jury, it was incumbent upon Dan Donovan to come before the people of Staten Island and be present," Gentile said on the show.
"He did none of that. He put out a press release on a Friday afternoon giving us the results of the grand jury decision. Then when chaos broke out on the streets of Staten Island and elsewhere, Dan Donovan was nowhere to be seen. He was in his Rose Garden."
Gentile — who got the nod from the Democrats last week — also told host John Catsimatidis that he'll ask for the grand jury transcripts to be released, which Donovan continues to try to block.
After Donovan won the nomination from the Staten Island GOP, he said he hoped Garner's death would not be used as a weapon against him. Garner, a Staten Island father of six, died July 17 after police used an apparent chokehold to subdue him when he resisted arrest on charges of selling untaxed cigarettes.
"[The grand jury] upheld their civic duties, and they sat for nine weeks, and they’re the only people that heard all the evidence," Donovan told "Cats Roundtable" in January.
"I think we should respect their decision. You may not agree with it, but you ought to respect it."
A spokeswoman for Donovan bashed Gentile's statements, saying the councilman's statement was unfair.
"It's shameful he's trying to score cheap political points on this issue," said Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for Donovan's campaign. "As a former assistant district attorney and someone seeking the job of a lawmaker, he is showing a shocking lack of understanding of the law.”
In addition to the Garner case, Gentile also talked about the issues he would focus on if elected to Congress, including pushing for federal funding for transportation projects in the boroughs.
We should be qualifying for money for the North Shore Bus Rapid Transit, for the West Shore Light Rail line," Gentile said.
"When a bridge in Minneapolis fell down, they rebuilt that bridge with federal money. There's federal money going into Cleveland, Denver and other cities around the country for infrastructure projects. Why not Staten Island, why not Brooklyn?"
The special election to replace Grimm, who resigned in January after pleading guilty to tax fraud, is set for May 5.
