A TRUE PRINCE OF CITY
Mollen, 97, dies
DISTINGUISHED lawyer and judge Milton Mollen, who presided over a high-profile early 1990s police corruption investigation, died Sunday. He was 97.
Mollen, a World War II veteran, had a profound impact on the city, serving in senior positions on the bench and in key roles across two mayoral administrations.
“If you called central casting and said send me a judge, they would send someone who looked like Milton Mollen,” said former Mayor David Dinkins. “He was an amazing guy and a dear friend.”
Dinkins appointed Mollen as deputy mayor for criminal justice and worked closely with him in persuading the state Legislature to approve hiring 6,000 additional cops — a move that helped drive down crime. After the so-called “Safe Streets, Safe City” initiative was approved, Dinkins tapped Mollen to head the probe of corruption in the NYPD. That became known as the Mollen Commission.
Mollen insisted that the commission be made up of Democrats, Republicans and a Liberal Party member to give it credibility. As a result, its recommendations were praised by both the right and left.
“He believed strongly that New York City has had and does have one of the best police departments in the world,” his son Scott Mollen, 68, said Tuesday.
Mollen had further impact on the city. As the top housing official in Mayor Robert Wagner’s administration in the early 1960s, he led the Mitchell-Lama middle-income housing program.
A service for Mollen will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Riverside Memorial Chapel on W. 76th St. near Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side.