C.B. 1 member ousted over assault arrests

By Julie Shapiro

An arrest record kept Andy Neale from being reappointed to Community Board 1, Downtown Express learned this week.

Neale, 43, was arrested twice in the last year for assaulting his wife, according to the District Attorney’s office. Charges for the second incident, in which he threw a corkscrew at his wife, are still pending. Neale was co-chairperson of the Tribeca Committee.

“We were informed a short time ago by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office of the incidents involving Mr. Neale,” Dick Riley, director of communications for Borough President Scott Stringer, said in a statement. “While we do not normally discuss individual appointments, clearly these incidents contributed to the borough president’s decision to not reappoint Mr. Neale to the community board.”

On June 26, 2007, police arrested Neale at Thalassa Restaurant at 179 Franklin St. at 11 p.m. in an incident involving his wife and another person. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation less serious than a misdemeanor, on Aug. 17. Judge Ellen Coin issued a protective order against him for his wife, and Neale was conditionally discharged to a treatment program.

Then, on Dec. 7, 2007, police responded to a domestic dispute between Neale and his wife at 10 p.m. in their north Tribeca home. He pinned his wife to the sink and threw a corkscrew at her back, causing a laceration, according to the police report. The laceration was not described as deep and there was no mention of stitches in the police report. Police arrested Neale and charged him with assault in the second degree, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt in the first degree and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

The police found a .12 gauge shotgun and .35 mm rifle in the apartment, a violation of the protective order, which also prohibited Neale from assaulting or harassing his wife. The two guns that the police found were family heirlooms that belonged to his grandfather and uncle, Neale said. He added that he has used one of them for skeet shooting. He kept them unloaded in a gun safe, he said. Neale said the licenses had expired.

The District Attorney’s office had one other record of an arrest for Neale early in the morning of Oct. 12, 2001, at 139 Duane St. Neale described the incident as a bar brawl of about a dozen people, which he stepped in to break up. He pleaded guilty April 16, 2002 to attempted assault in the third degree, a misdemeanor, and on Nov. a27, 2002 he was conditionally discharged, according to the District Attorney’s office. Neale was close to the World Trade Center on 9/11 and sought treatment after the arrest, he said.

Neale, visibly shaken, spoke to Downtown Express Wednesday and said the arrests were tied to an alcohol abuse problem, which he traces back to a serious ankle injury last March. After Neale underwent surgery, several doctors prescribed him Vicodin and Percocet for the pain, he said, and he found it difficult to stop taking the pills.

Later that spring, he said his wife was diagnosed with a serious illness, with an uncertain prognosis. Neale was able to get off the painkillers but replaced them with alcohol, which he said he used to self medicate. He was drunk at the time of the June 26 incident, and said he only grabbed his wife lightly on the arm.

In the fall, Neale’s wife’s prognosis was better, but his drinking continued. On the night of the Dec. 7 incident, he and his wife were arguing and Neale, was opening a bottle of wine when he threw the corkscrew at his wife.

“She called the police, quite rightly so,” Neale said. “This time I knew it was time for me to stop drinking.”

He said it was his first and only act of violence against a woman. “It was the only time I ever touched a woman in my life,” he said.

After being arrested, Neale checked into a rehab center in Connecticut, where he underwent a seven-day detox and then a 28-day program.

“It’s the best thing I’ve done,” Neale said. “I haven’t drank a drop since Dec. 7.”

Now, Neale is working with the District Attorney's office on the charges pending against him. His next court date is in June. He is going to regular meetings as part of a 12-step program and is undergoing outpatient treatment. Neale said he and his wife, who have been married for five years, are working on their marriage. They own an import-export business together.

“It’s about redemption now,” Neale said. “I’ve done some bad things, but redemption is key here.”

In January, Neale told C.B. 1 chairperson Julie Menin about his alcohol problem and offered to resign from the board because he might have to miss meetings. He did not tell Menin about the arrests, and she encouraged him to remain on the board. In the meantime, Neale told four or five board members about the arrests, he said.

Neale spoke with Menin earlier this week after finding out that he had not been reappointed to C.B. 1 and Menin reassured him that he could stay on as a non-voting public member. After their conversation, she heard of the arrests from another board member and now plans to talk to Stringer’s office to get more information.

“Given the circumstances, it would be inappropriate to appoint [Neale] as a public member,” Menin said Wednesday. “It’s something we’re really going to need to look into.”

Julie@DowntownExpress.com