Jewish Cop Transferred After Busting Prosecutor for DWI
The NYPD transferred Officer Elliott Zinstein from the Bronx to Greenpoint, Brooklyn because the neighborhood supposedly needed more Jewish cops, according to today’s NY Daily News.
But there are a couple of reasons why Zinstein — an Orthodox Jew — wasn’t buying the explanation. For one thing, the Jewish population is much higher in the neighboring 90th Precinct in Williamsburg, the paper said. For another, Zinstein believes the department’s punishing him for busting a Bronx prosecutor for DWI — and refusing to cut her a break.
According to the paper, Zinstein arrested Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Troiano on the Major Deegan Expressway last August “after she got into a three-car wreck. Reeking of booze and wandering into traffic, Troiano ‘was stumbling and falling down and unable to keep her balance,’ court records show.”
Troiano, who refused a Breathalyzer test, reportedly told the Jewish cop to call Nestor Ferreiro, chief of narcotics in the Bronx district attorney’s office, the Daily News said. “He’ll take care of this,” sources quoted her as saying. “He took care of it the last time.” The allegedly inebriated prosecutor had skirted arrest at least twice before running into Zinstein, according to the News. “He was doing his job,” a colleague told the News, referring to Zinstein’s arrest of Troiano. “He’s a good cop. He’s made a lot of arrests and has no disciplinary record.”
With that in mind, the NYPD has reportedly offered to transfer Zinstein again — to any precinct he wants. “He was told to figure out where he wants to work,” one source said. “The lieutenant said he would make it happen for him.” The News said Zinstein has yet to act on that offer.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
