'Judge Brown' remembered fondly at his funeral

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown was remembered during an emotional funeral on Tuesday as a lion of the legal community, an inspiring boss, and a loving family man.

Members of the New York City political and law enforcement communities — past and present, — packed into the Reform Temple of Forest Hills to honor the revered prosecutor, who died on Friday from health problems associated with Parkinson’s disease. He was 86.

“His legacy lives on because Queens is a safer place … the city is a safer place,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told the crowd, which spilled out into the temple’s mezzanine. Officials from Brown’s office said his funeral attracted a crowd of about 1,000.

Brown was first appointed Queens district attorney by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1991 and held the office for 28 years, making him the longest serving district attorney in the history of New York City.

Brown’s funeral procession passed the Queens Criminal Courthouse on Queens Boulevard and his office on the way to the temple.

Mourners included former mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner James O’Neill and New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark attended. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez was out of the country and sent a representative. There was also a large contingent of judges, clad in their black robes.

De Blasio called Brown an innovator, with integrity that was “unmistakable.”

“It’s not an overstatement to say Judge Brown commanded universal respect,” he said.

Attorney Robert Tucker, one of Brown’s protégés, recounted driving him to crime scenes all hours of the day and night.

“Nobody knew the streets of Queens better,” Tucker said. “He was his own Waze navigation map.”

Those visits also helped build strong ties between the DA’s office, the NYPD and the community, he said.

In March, Brown, a Democrat, announced he would step down on June 1, for health reasons. He had previously confirmed he would not seek another term in office.

Brown’s decision to not to run for re-election sparked a crowded field of candidates vying for his seat in the coming June primary. His former chief assistant, John Ryan, is serving as acting district attorney.

Under Brown’s watch, the Queens district attorney’s office created one of the first drug courts and domestic violence bureaus, as well as mental health and veterans’ courts. He created a high school for at-risk youth, employed alternative sentencing and created an animal cruelty squad.

But Brown was also criticized for a hard-line approach to minor offenses and plea bargains that some people said unfairly impacted African-Americans and Latinos.

Many of the candidates running for his seat have promised progressive reforms.

Throughout the service, speakers pointed to Brown’s devotion to his wife, Rhoda, and three children, Karen, Todd and Lynn. He especially doted on granddaughters Leah, a cadet at West Point, and Alana, who will start at the military academy in the fall.

They all are among his survivors.

Tucker, who went on to serve as an assistant district attorney under Brown, recounted his former boss’ love of talking to the media, and self-deprecating humor. He joked that Brown was even known to keep an extra can of hair spray on hand so he could be ready for news conferences.

Ryan spoke of Brown’s loyalty to his staff, which he also considered family.

“Honor him by doing honor to what he taught us,” Ryan said. “That will be his everlasting legacy.”

Brown was born in Brooklyn, and raised in Queens, and Brown graduated from Hobart College, in upstate Geneva, in 1953 and New York University Law School in 1956.

Before becoming a judge, in 1973, Brown worked for the leadership of the State Legislature. He was a Criminal Courts judge, a supervising judge in Brooklyn and chief legal adviser to Gov. Hugh Carey.

Among his most notable prosecutions: the murder conviction in 1995 of an obstetrician for a woman’s death during an abortion; robbers who murdered witnesses to a Wendy’s holdup in 2000, and the officers who shot unarmed Sean Bell in 2006 on his wedding day.

For years, Brown struggled with Parkinson’s — shaking and walking while holding the hand of his police bodyguard — but kept working.