One of the borough’s elder statesmen was injured Thursday morning during the long-awaited opening of the Louis Armstrong Center in North Corona.
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, 75, had just completed his opening remarks and stepped away from the microphone when an alleged car thief ran into him as he attempted to flee on foot from police. Aubry, 75, who has been one of the state’s foremost criminal justice reformers during his three decades in Albany, fell to the ground striking his head, as elected officials and paramedics rushed to his side.
The NYPD had cordoned 107th Street in front of the Louis Armstrong House Museum in North Corona. The event went from a high-energy, joyous environment with live musical performances to near-panic and confusion when the 23-year-old driver of a stolen silver Honda Civic with Pennsylvania plates drove past the police barricade and jumped the sidewalk near the new center.
The suspect jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to elude the officers who were pursuing him. The man then collided with Aubry, who appeared to be momentarily unconscious, and was chased by cops who arrested him a short while later a few blocks away.
EMT’s from Flushing Medical Center, who had an ambulance on site, quickly wrapped Aubry’s bleeding head and brought him through the crowd on a stretcher. He waved to the gathering of more than 200, and was transported to Elmhurst Hospital Center where he was treated for a laceration to his head and released a short while later.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Louis Armstrong Center, which was two-decades in the making, resumed with a more somber tone with each speaker offering their well-wishes to Aubry before moving on with their remarks. Opening to the public on July 6, the new center will preserve and expand the legacy and ideals of America’s first Black popular music icon, known internationally as Satchmo, who spent the last 40 years of his life in Corona with his wife Lucille in what is…
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