George Grasso

George A. Grasso (born August 15, 1957) is a retired judge from New York City. He is also a 30-year veteran of the New York City Police Department. He retired as first deputy police commissioner in 2010 to become a judge. Grasso retired as Administrative Judge, Queens County Supreme Court for Criminal Matters in August 2022.

He announced his candidacy for Queens District Attorney in October 2022. He was defeated by Melinda Katz.

Early life and education George Grasso was born in Hollis, Queens and grew up in Valley Stream, New York. His father, George, worked as a printer and his mother, Rosalie, worked as a homemaker and comptometer operator. In the 1920s, his grandparents, Maria and Angelo, immigrated to Brooklyn, NY from Avellino and Basilicata, Italy.

Earning a full-tuition scholarship, Grasso attended law school through night classes at St. John’s University. He graduated with a J.D. in 1984. In 2014, Grasso was appointed as a co-chair on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Behavioral Health Task Force. As a co-chair, Grasso led the development and implementation of New York City's first citywide supervised release program.

Grasso took a special interest in creating restorative justice programs for young people, such as Project Reset and DAT-Y. These programs were designed to foster consequential decision making and self-esteem in New York City's youth and eliminate all underlying charges.

Grasso was appointed supervising judge for Bronx Criminal Court in June 2016. In this role, he created the Overdose Avoidance and Recovery Court, which was expanded citywide. Under his supervision, the backlog of misdemeanor cases decreased over 80%.

In August 2021, Grasso became Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters for Queens Supreme Court. He led a citywide Gun Initiative to expedite the processing of Top Count Gun cases pending in New York City’s Criminal and Supreme Courts. He also created a diversion part to apply restorative justice principles to felony firearms possession cases for select cases involving defendants between the ages of 18 and 24 years old. Grasso emphasized the central role of district attorneys in enforcing the law and maintaining public safety in the communities they were elected to serve by working within the full scope of their authority, while also continuing to engage in restorative justice practices. He was defeated by Melinda Katz, as he received 14.3% of the vote.

Election results