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.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Is Pope Leo Jewish? Ask his distant cousins — like me
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
News In Edan Alexander’s hometown in New Jersey, months of fear and anguish give way to joy and relief
-
Fast Forward What’s next for suspended student who posted ‘F— the Jews’ video? An alt-right media tour
-
Opinion Despite Netanyahu, Edan Alexander is finally free
-
Opinion A judge just released another pro-Palestinian activist. Here’s why that’s good for the Jews
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.