Remembering Tom:
Community Mourns White’s Passing
By SASHA AUSTRIE and Domenick Rafter
Councilman Tom White Jr. (D-South Ozone Park) died on Friday morning at North Shore LIJ Hospital at the age of 71, after a long battle with lung cancer.
“He did very well representing his community,” said Adjoa Gzifa, Community Board 12’s chairwoman. “He was very much a person who cared about his constituents.”
White served a combined 15-year tenure in the City Council, beginning with a 10-year stint in the 1990s. After being term limited out in 2001, he regained the 28th District’s Councilmanic seat in 2005.
“Today, Southeast Queens lost an iconic advocate, and I lost a dear friend,” said State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans). “City Councilman Thomas White Jr. served his community with great pride and distinction for over three decades, fighting to keep our streets safe and drug free, and improve the quality of life for seniors, children, and small business owners.”
Councilman James Sanders (D-Laurelton) said that White was an “inspiration” to both his colleagues and constituents.
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| White’s leadership and activism earned recognition from leaders of all stripes, including Rev. Al Sharpton. |
“Tom served his community, his constituency and his City with pride and distinction, and his voice will be sorely missed in City Hall,” Sanders said. “New York City has lost a great public servant; working people have lost a tireless champion and fearless advocate; and I have lost a dear friend.”
White is survived by his mother, two children and two grandchildren. His services were held at The Greater Allen A.M.E. on Thursday at 10 a.m.
As chair of the Council’s Economic Development Committee, White was praised for his prowess in bringing home funds to Queens and his district. Smith said White’s support of women and minority-owned businesses, along with the revitalization of economically distressed areas, have created “countless jobs and helped families struggling to get by put food on their tables and pay their bills.”
“He searched for ways to break the cycle of poverty and violence,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan). “He fought for job training and placement programs, and investments in long-term economic growth. He had a particular soft spot for women and minority business owners, pushing for additional resources to help them stay afloat and create good jobs for their neighbors.”
Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) said White championed and secured funds for seniors, educational, social services, youth programs and economic development projects, all while encouraging beneficial zoning changes.
“His tenure as chair of the Council’s Economic Development Committee was marked by his unrelenting pressure on the City to ensure that minority and women- owned businesses received their fair share of contracts,” he said. “Council Member Thomas White was a quiet leader and community servant who will be missed tremendously. I mourn his passing and will miss my friend.”
White’s colleagues in government dubbed him an activist and friend who served Southeast Queens in more than just a City Council capacity. White was the co-founder and executive director of J-CAP, a drug and alcohol treatment program in Queens.
“Born and raised in Queens, Tom spent over 30 years trying to improve his Southeast Queens community,” said Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
For more than 40 years he stood at the helm of J-CAP, carrying out the organization’s mission “of helping people help themselves.”
“His lifelong mission was the promotion of individual self empowerment and higher education,” a statement from J-CAP read. “Emphasizing the importance of reconnecting with family and community, he inspired tens of thousands of individuals in recovery. His commitment to the treatment of addictions in the Southeast Queens community and beyond will live on through the programs he created and the people he helped.”
Gladys Sullivan, J-CAP’s director of public affairs, said White was “wonderful” to work with.
“He demanded the best from you in a good way,” she said.
Gzifa said J-CAP faired “very well” under White and members of the community and their children benefited from the organization’s programs.
“As Executive Director of one of the largest substance abuse programs in the state, he cared for New Yorkers who have often been marginalized, forgotten and incarcerated from an early age,” Quinn said. “He gave them hope, a shot at redemption, and a chance to build a better life.”
Gzifa said she knew White was ill, but did not grasp the extent of his sickness.
“I didn’t know he was that close to dying until the day before his death,” Gzifa said.
Asked what she would remember about the councilman, Gzifa remarked with a smile in her voice, “Those eyes, ah those eyes.”
