Councilman White Loses Battle With Cancer

Served Residents of Southeast Queens for Decades

Councilman Tom White (D-South Ozone Park) passed away Friday after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 71.

White was City Councilman from 1992-2001 before leaving office because of term limits. He reclaimed the office in 2006 after residents urged him to run once again. For years, White has fought for years for his southeast Queens community.

“[White] searched for ways to break the cycle of poverty and violence. He fought for job training and placement programs and investments in long term economic growth,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) said in a statement.

White was a strong advocate for community programs for senior citizens and youth in his district. He was especially diligent fighting for alcohol and substance abuse. He was the cofounder and executive director of J-CAP, one of New York’s largest alcohol and substance abuse residential treatment programs.

In a statement, J-CAP commended White’s dedication to helping cure addiction in his community: “His lifelong mission was the promotion of individual self empowerment and higher education. 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 pro- grams he created and the people he helped.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said White’s “legacy will live on in the results of his work”
and praised White for serving as chair of the Council’s Economic Development Committee.
He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Marie White; his son, Bryan D. White and wife, Seleste; his daughter, Lucille Precious Middleton; and two grandchildren, Lamar White and Jacob Tom.